You are currently browsing the Alan Spicer Marine Telecom Blog weblog archives for January, 2009.
30. January 2009 by admin.
http://outbound.afa.net/track?type=click&mailingid=alert_nbcrejects_20090130&messageid=alert_nbcrejects_20090130&databaseid=1234&serial=1181235670&emailid=a_spicer@bellsouth.net&userid=15970148&extra=&&&101&&&https://secure.afa.net/afa/activism/TakeAction.asp?id=343
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Blog/Default.aspx?id=404524
* Maybe NBC sees Dead People … like the movie quote from that movie Sixth Sense (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167404/quotes) or would rather show commercials about dead people rather than live people? NBC: It’s an AD. Run the damn thing! It doesn’t reflect on NBC’s opinions on the thing, if NBC likes dead people rather than live people - fine! But I think a lot of people should get to see it. You’ve run anti-kill-yourself-smoking ads … why not an anti-kill-people-before-they’re-born ad?
NBC television has rejected a pro-life advertisement which Catholicvote.org bought for a slot in the Super Bowl because the ad contains a pro-life message. The 30-second ad features ultrasound pictures from a baby in its mother’s womb. There is nothing either graphic or political and the word abortion is not even used. In fact, no words are spoken, only graphics that appear on-screen. Yet, the message is extremely powerful. You can view the ad here (see link above.)
That wonderful pro-life Obama commercial you may have seen here recently was supposed to run during the Super Bowl on Sunday. After first accepting it, NBC apparently changed its collective mind, saying it wasn’t going to run advocacy ads during the big game.
Brian Burch, President of Fidelis, a Chicago-based Catholic organization responsible for the commercial, says that NBC initially responded positively and he was raising money to pay for it. Watch the commercial below, and imagine the impact it could have had on the millions who watch the Super Bowl.
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Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245
Posted in WiFi Hotspot and Onboard WiFi Wireless, Main | No Comments »
30. January 2009 by admin.
Yachts/Marine - Just as on land is transitioning to Digital TV, Distress Alert Epirb’s also Change to Digital and a New Frequency
There’s a transition going (supposedly in February 2009, but reportedly delayed by the US Government) in Broadcasting of the old Analog Television - that will be used to recover many of the frequencies used by the old analog system for use by other Radio Services and perhaps Internet Access Providers via Wireless. The reason that a lot of frequency spectrum can be recovered is that the Digital Transmissions are more efficient in frequency usage - they can put a lot more signal and thus channels in a much smaller frequency space.
The Coast Guard wants to remind mariners that there is also a digital and frequency shift change on February 1st for Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons. If you are on a yacht, chances are you already know what these are and how important they can be and what regulations there are that require you to have them. So now on with the news…
News Release
Date: January 29, 2009
Contact: Lt. Cmdr. Eric King
(843) 724-7630
Coast Guard reminds mariners of upcoming EPIRB frequency shift
CHARLESTON, S.C., - Similar to the broadcasting world, which is transitioning from analog to digital frequencies, beginning Feb. 1, the Coast Guard will only receive distress alert broadcasts from digital 406-MHz Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons.
The Coast Guard will no longer process analog signals transmitting on 121.5 or 243 MHz.
The Coast Guard urges mariners and aviators to upgrade their onboard analog equipment to include a digital 406-MHz EPIRB.
Advantages of the 406 EPIRB signal include:
* Worldwide coverage
* More reliable position information to withineight square nauticalmiles on non GPS-enabled units and 300 feet on GPS-enabled models
* More stable and sustained signal resulting in faster response
* Digitally encoded data, including latitude and longitude, helps tocurb false alerts,speeds up response timesand conserves tax dollars
* A signal 50 times more powerful, allowing for more accurate search areas and quick resolution of unintentionally activated EPIRBs
GPS-enabled features and water-immersion activation devices in select models further improve chances of a safe, swift rescue. Some have more ecologically compatible batteries as well.
EPIRB owners are required to register their beacons with the 406 MHz Beacon Registration Database online at http://www.beaconregistration.noaa.gov, or by calling 1-888-212-SAVE. Federal law also requires EPIRB owners to update pertinent contact and vessel identification information every two years or when the information changes through the 406 MHz Beacon Registration Database online at http://www.beaconregistration.noaa.gov.
The information provided helps to take the search out of search and rescue by allowing rescuers to quickly gather vital information about missing boaters, their vessel and their location, which results in faster rescues and increased chances of survival in distress situations.
—
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245
Posted in Main | No Comments »
30. January 2009 by admin.
http://www.techspot.com:80/news/33387-google-and-partners-to-expose-network-meddling.html
Google and partners to expose network meddling
By Jose Vilches, TechSpot.com
Published: January 28, 2009, 6:18 PM EST
[Alan’s Note:]
I’m a supporter of Net neutrality… which means we should all get equal access to the Internet. I’m very glad to read this about Google and partners working to expose such meddling in our network connections by Internet Service Providers (ISP’s). I think they should also look at incoming port blocking on cellular, satellite, and land-based networks. I’ve had it up to HERE with the BS I hear about reasons why network TCP/IP Ports (UDP and TCP inbound ports) are blocked. I was forced into Business Class Service on DSL just to get one measely port open, Port 25, in order to run a Mail Server. Even though I was already Fixed (Static IP) which removes the excuse that I might spam and the ISP wouldn’t be able to tell that it was me doing it. Well Bellsouth (now AT&T) that’s not true - on a fixed IP you wouldn’t have that problem and thus that excuse. So thanks (NOT!) for the hassle and added COST! The latest was (an unnamed) Cellular ISP telling me it was for security reasons… that all inbound ports are block on 3G Cellular Internet. There are also usually these ugly AUP (acceptable use policies) that prevent you from running any kind of camera or service/server on your connection (anything other than a pencil sharpener is probably not allowed) - which leaves you just to whatever you connect out to that will work. Even if you were able to initiate out - all of the common incoming ports - other than probably the Reply Connections (established, related to outbound connection request) are probably blocking coming in. But nothing can be accepted coming in alone. That’s just plain rediculous. We’re at the point of 3.5G moving forward towards 4G… it’s time for Ronald Reagan to stand up and say “Tear down these walls!!!!”. “Well we’re preventing Spam” - the ISP’s will say. “Ahem… well that’s obviously not working” - Alan Spicer says. We are in the age when people want to provide services, be creative, blogging, social networking, share videos and photos, - people want to Provide Services on their connection. To some extent this is allowed on land-based connections, but it gets “meddled with” as the article tells about. On cellular they’re apparently not letting this stuff at all. And I think they should. We just need more people - or a Federal Agency to tell them that they must. People are already replacing traditional telephone service with cellular service. They will begin to replace traditional land-based Internet service with cellular as well. So the cellular networks should allow the same capabilities as the land-based Internet services do. Or at least it should be an option. If certain users (or class of users) wants to have all ports blocked - they should get it. But if other users (or class of users) does not want these things blocked then they should have that option - to not have ports blocked. To say that is a security feature… well I think it’s more than that. That’s all I’m going to say for now. So off to the article…
[end of Alan’s Note]
As promised several months ago, Google and a group of partners have formed the Measurement Lab platform, an open project of distributed servers meant to help researchers gauge just how well an internet connection is working and conversely help customers determine if their ISP is blocking or throttling particular applications.
As part of the plan, Google will provide M-Lab with 36 servers in 12 locations in the U.S. and Europe to run a set of tools which initially include: a network diagnostic tool, which reports the upload and download speeds and also attempts to determine what problems limited these speeds; a tool to detect whether your ISP is performing application-specific shaping; and network and path application diagnosis (NPAD), which diagnoses some of the common problems affecting the last network mile and end-users’ systems.
Google insisted that the effort was not just another means to push Net neutrality and said it believes that consumers should have the right to clearly understand the exact nature of the connection they’re paying for. To help with that goal, M-Lab says two additional tools should arrive shortly, DiffProbe and Nano. The first will attempt to detect if an ISP is classifying certain kinds of traffic as “low priority” (a technique Comcast began using not long ago), while the latter will attempt to detect if an ISP is degrading the performance of a certain subset of users, apps, or destinations.
—
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245
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28. January 2009 by admin.
NewsDesk: Calling Time on Nortel
NewsDesk for week-ending 16/01/2009: Bye Bye Nortel; the one-time telecoms giant files for Chapter 11. And as the recession deepens, it’s time for Cellular Crunchonomics, whilst the threat of counterfeit phones rises. Plus, a tale of texting gone mad.
Name: Ian Shircore, Joss Gillet
Title: Head of Marketing, Senior Analyst
Company: Envisional, Wireless Intelligence
Recorded: 15/01/2009 - London Wall Studios, London Wall
—
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245
Posted in Cellular Voice and Internet | No Comments »
28. January 2009 by admin.
[Alan Spicers Note - first]
LTE or Long Term Evolution - described here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3GPP_Long_Term_Evolution is the next generation of how almost all cellular and cellular broadband Internet will be done. This will make the U.S. cellular carriers technologies “the same” rather than “different” as they are currently. For example Sprint and Verizon are CDMA (CDMA EVDO) while AT&T and T-Mobile are GSM (UMTS/ HSPA). In the future both CDMA/EVDO and GSM/UMTS/HSPA will both evolve and get upgraded to LTE - the name given to a project within the Third Generation Partnership Project to improve the UMTS mobile phone standard to cope with future technology evolutions. Goals include improving spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use of new spectrum and refarmed spectrum opportunities, and better integration with other open standards. If you want, see more at the Wikipedia link above.
[end of Alan Spicers Note]
Advertorial: LTE - The industry’s mainstream technology
Ericsson’s Erik Ekudden provides his perspective on the role LTE will play in the industry’s vision for Broadband Everywhere.
Name: Erik Ekudden
Title: VP, Technology and Industry
Company: Ericsson
Recorded: 26/01/2009 - London
—
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245
Posted in Cellular Voice and Internet | No Comments »
28. January 2009 by admin.
NewsDesk: Ericsson Bucks the Downturn Trend
NewsDesk for week-ending 23/01/2009: Ericcson posts surprise profit but promises job cuts. Plus, mobile instant messaging is aided by social networking , bringing it all back home with Femtocells and inauguration overload…..
—
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245
Posted in Cellular Voice and Internet | No Comments »
27. January 2009 by admin.
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom got mentioned in both January and February “The Triton - Nautical News for Captains and Crews” an industry magazine that Alan Spicer loves, and Captains and Crews love as well.
The first time was in section C page 14 (C-14) of January 2009. It starts on C-1 as…
TRITON SURVEY: INTERNET USE
Yachts rely on Web dockside and at sea By Lucy Chabot Reed
* One of the captains surveyed mentioned their Ericsson W25 Cellular Voice and Internet System from Alan Spicer (www.marinetelecom.net.) Whoever that was - Thanks for the mention!!!!
The second time was in section A page 26 (A-26) February 2009. I had written a letter and spoke on the phone with Lucy of the Triton - she wanted to publish my letter in the Letters section in a follow up to the original SURVEY article. I pointed out some discrepancies I had noticed in nomenclature or terminology in descriptions of different types of Cellular and Satellite Internet Communications systems and made other comments. Thanks for posting my letter!!!! (Clarifying Internet Terms.)
Here it is:
Clarifying internet terms
I enjoyed your e-survey [”Yachts rely
on Web dockside and at sea,” January
2009, page C1]
There were some technical things
that might have been wrong. For
example, Ericsson W25 is a cellular 3G.
Many boats may still be running laptop
card cellular routers using Verizon,
Sprint or AT&T cards. Some might
even be sharing the connection off a
laptop or a desktop PC with a card in it.
I’m not sure what a “marina wi-fi”
is. If you mean a wi-fi sharing system
(a wi-fi bridge or router), that connects
to a marina (or any wi-fi hotspot) and
shares on the boat. Syrens is also one of
those. By the way, Syrens is no longer
what you think it is. I think I blogged
about it when I learned of it.
There is actually no marine BGAN,
or at least it’s not called that. It’s
called Fleet broadband, and it’s from
Inmarsat, despite who claims to be the
best seller of it. Those other companies
actually only make the antennas and
Thrane-and-Thrane makes the actual
transceiver/router unit.
So it’s confusing when you say
Inmarsat when Mini-M, Fleet 33, Fleet
55, Fleet 77, and Fleet Broadband are
all Inmarsat.
Wimax I don’t think is really out of
the gate yet. I don’t know why captains
would be saying that they want that
when it won’t be available anywhere
that they go, unlike wi-fi and cellular
(and satellite) that are. And Wimax will
probably cost money, as expensive as
cellular 3G, if not more expensive on
the monthly rate. I haven’t seen any
marine Wimax equipment. I wonder if
there are any marinas offering Wimax. I
would think not, too expensive.
I did work on a yacht, Hayfu II, with
a Fleet Broadband. I was able to add it
into an onboard network arrangement
and switch it in. It connects quite
handily and was reasonably fast. I think
we measured 300kb/s on a speed test
before shutting it off to avoid costs.
I did have one boat, a couple years
back, 110-foot Broward or something,
that wanted to take me on a trip up
north with them because they liked the
idea of having a marine Internet guy
onboard. Most of my customers feel
that way.
Alan Spicer
Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
—
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245
Posted in Main | No Comments »
26. January 2009 by admin.
Several megayachts left Antigua’s English Harbor and Falmouth Harbor this weekend as a sign of protest at the murder of Capt. Drew Gollan, skipper of the 165-foot Perini Navi S/Y Perseus.
Gollan was shot Jan. 22 walking on the road between the harbors after dinner with his partner and their daughter. High-level government officials met with about 350 members of the yachting and tourism industries the next day, promising an increased police presence in the dimly lit area.
“I told them at the meeting we are not feeling safe, happy or welcome here,” said one captain who joined the protest. “We will come back in a week or so and see how it is then and decide at that time if we should stay or not.”
Check back for more news on this story as it develops.
http://www.the-triton.com/
—
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245
Posted in Main | No Comments »
23. January 2009 by admin.
From: http://www.the-triton.com
A megayacht captain was shot and killed in Antigua about 10:30 last night as he was walking back to a rented seaside home with his wife and young daughter who were visiting. Although more details are not being released this morning, The Triton confirmed the news with several sources in Antigua and Ft. Lauderdale. The Triton will post updates at www.the-triton.com as they become available.
—
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245
Posted in Main | No Comments »
22. January 2009 by admin.
The Ericsson W25 - International Travel Capable 3G (GSM, UMTS, HSDPA) Internet and Cellular Voice Router -
Presidential Season Special (not $769.95!) but $700.00 + 50.00 shipping ($750.00 Total [not $819.95!]) Within Florida add $42.00 Sales Tax (Florida Customers Total on E W25 = $792.50 [not $866.15]) Please mention W25-GO-OBAMA-SPECIAL. Sale Starts 01-22-2009 and Ends 02-22-2009.
746 Quad Band+ Marine Cellular antenna also on sale: $145.00 [not $180.00] + shipping. Ask for the whole Marine Kit (radio pigtail, LMR400 low-loss cable, E W25, and Marine Antenna 746. Other antennas available for land vehicle applications or fixed / temporary location applications.
Runs on 10-28vDC or the included 100-240vAC 50/60Hz adaptor - great for yachts and boats, and other mobile and emergency platforms - land fixed line replacement, work sites, trucks and buses, and more.
Very Flexible! Very Unlocked GSM Fast Internet and Voice Terminal! Very Portable for use in multiple vehicles or vessels and at multiple locations. Takes just a GSM/UMTS 3G Sim. Worldwide Data/Internet Travel Plans available from AT&T Wireless to save on crazy roaming charges problems.
Please see: http://www.marinetelecom.net/Ericsson_W25/
—
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245
Posted in Cellular Voice and Internet | No Comments »