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Today's Topics:
1. Tornado in Kansas (Greg Williams)
2. Mission Accomplished for Arianespace Astra 1L and Galaxy 17
in orbit (Dishnut)
3. Yahoo Asks Users to Switch Photo Sites (George Antunes)
4. FCC warns carriers to stop blocking free conference calls
(George Antunes)
5. Station WAGE Staff Surprised In Restructuring (Virginia)
(Greg Williams)
6. FCC seeks comments on Frontline spectrum plan (George Antunes)
7. WORLDSPACE Develops 'Blueprint' for European Satellite Radio
Receivers (George Antunes)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Sat, 05 May 2007 01:51:48 -0400
From: Greg Williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Tornado in Kansas
To: medianews@twiar.org
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
http://www.ksn.com/news/local/7166856.html
Live coveage of tornado.
Reports coming in:
"Downtown Greensburg is gone"
None of the news channels are covering this. Weather channel is showing
a "Top 100 weather events" documentary.
--
Gregory S. Williams
gregwilliams(at)knology.net
k4hsm(at)knology.net
http://www.etskywarn.net
http://www.twiar.org
http://www.icebearnation.com
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Sat, 05 May 2007 07:32:44 -0700
From: Dishnut <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Mission Accomplished for Arianespace Astra 1L and
Galaxy 17 in orbit
To: Medianews <medianews@twiar.org>, [EMAIL PROTECTED], Tom &
Darryl Mail List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, TVRO Newsgroup
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Arianespace release
Mission Accomplished for Arianespace Astra 1L and Galaxy 17 in orbit
On Friday evening, May 4, Arianespace placed two communications
satellites into geostationary transfer orbit: Astra 1L for the European
operator SES Astra, and Galaxy 17 for the international operator Intelsat.
32nd Ariane 5 launch, 18th success in a row
The latest successful launch of an Ariane 5, the second in 2007,
confirms that Arianespace's launch Services & Solutions continue to set
the standard for all major telecom operators worldwide.
Today, Ariane 5 is the only commercial launcher in service capable of
simultaneously launching two payloads.
A launch for two prestigious, loyal customers
Astra 1L is the ninth SES Astra satellite to be launched by Arianespace.
SES Astra is the leading direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast system in
Europe, serving more than 109 million households via DTH and cable
networks. Satellites in the SES Astra fleet transmit 1,864 TV and radio
stations.
Galaxy 17 is the 45th Intelsat satellite to use an Ariane launcher since
1983. More than 60% of the Intelsat satellites in service today were
orbited by the European launch vehicle. Intelsat is currently the
world's largest supplier of fixed satellite services (FSS). Its services
are used by an extensive customer base including some of the world's
leading media and communications companies, multinational corporations,
Internet service providers and government/military organizations.
Record backlog of orders
Arianespace has signed six new launch Service & Solutions contracts
since the beginning of the year, bringing its backlog to 39 satellites
to be launched after this evening's mission. Four more Ariane 5 launches
are scheduled by the end of 2007.
Astra 1L/Galaxy 17 mission at a glance
The mission was carried out by an Ariane 5 ECA launcher from Europe's
Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Liftoff was on Friday, May 4, at
7:29 pm local time in Kourou (6:29 pm in Washington, DC, 22:29 UT, and
on Saturday May 5 at 12:29 am in Paris).
Provisional parameters at injection of the cryogenic upper stage (ESC-A)
were:
Perigee: 248.2 km for a target of 248.2 km (?3)
Apogee: 35,958 km for a target of 35,947 km (?160)
Inclination: 5.9 degrees for a target of 6.0 degrees (?0.06?)
Astra 1L, built by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS)
using an A2100 AX platform, will weigh about 4,500 kg at launch.
Equipped with 29 Ku-band active transponders and 2 Ka-band active
transponders, Astra 1L will be positioned at 19.2 degrees East, and
provide high-power satellite services across Europe. Its design life is
approximately 15 years.
Galaxy 17, built by Thales Alenia Space using a Spacebus 3000 B3
platform, is designed to provide television and telephony services for
North America. Weighing about 4,100 kg at launch, it is fitted with 24
Ku-band and 24 C-band transponders. Its design life is about 15 years.
--
Dishnut-P
====================================================================
Operator of RadioFree Dishnuts - Producer of The Dishnut News
heard Saturdays at 10pm ET. on:
RFD, W0KIE Satellite Radio Network Galaxy-26 (Telstar 6) @93? W -
Transponder 1 / 6.2 & 6.8Mhz (4DTV T6-999) also via Digicipher on AMC 3
@87? W - Transponder 7 4DTV (DSR-922) W3 958 (Stereo) - WTND-LP 106.3,
and many micro LPFM stations.
http://dishnuts.net
RFD Listen Links: http://dishnuts.net/#Listen
Show Archives: (Partly Up) http://dishnuts.net/archive/
**In Loving Memory of Mom (Dishnut Gerry)**
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Sat, 05 May 2007 11:30:39 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Yahoo Asks Users to Switch Photo Sites
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed
May 5, 2007
Yahoo Asks Users to Switch Photo Sites
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/05/technology/05photo.html?ref=technology&pagewanted=print
SAN FRANCISCO, May 4 (Reuters) ? Yahoo is shutting down Yahoo Photos, a
photo storage site, and asking users to move instead to its photo-sharing
site Flickr, which emphasizes community features, a Yahoo executive said on
Thursday.
In June, tens of millions of registered users of Yahoo Photos will be
notified of their options, including moves to Flickr or various competing
photo-storage sites, according to Stewart Butterfield, a co-founder of
Flickr and a director of product management at Yahoo.
Mr. Butterfield and Caterina Fake, his wife, sold Flickr to Yahoo in 2005.
Yahoo continued to operate both its older photo service and Flickr over the
last two years, reflecting the different customer base of the two sites.
Yahoo Photos is a more conventional photo-finishing site, full of family
snapshots, while Flickr has attracted a passionate fan base of amateur and
professional photographers who use the site to share digital photos online,
and for whom printing is largely an afterthought.
According to data from comScore supplied by Yahoo a year ago, Yahoo Photos
counted 30 million registered users, who had uploaded two billion photos as
of June 2006.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Sat, 05 May 2007 11:34:10 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] FCC warns carriers to stop blocking free
conference calls
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
FCC warns carriers to stop blocking free conference calls
By Jacqui Cheng
Ars Technica
May 04, 2007 - 10:48AM CT
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070504-fcc-warns-carriers-to-stop-blocking-free-conference-calls.html
The Federal Communications Commission has told large telcos and carriers to
stop blocking calls to conference calling services routed through Iowa. FCC
Chairman Kevin Martin said after a public appearance yesterday that the
Commission told the big telcos that if they do not stop blocking the calls,
the FCC "would end up taking action as we saw necessary," according to GigaOm.
Last month, Cingular/AT&T made waves by publicly acknowledging that they
had begun to block calls to various "free" conference calling services,
such as FreeConferenceCall and FuturePhone. The reasoning behind the block,
according to AT&T, came from the exceptionally high "termination fees"
charged by the Iowa telcos that the services are routed through. Although
the calls were free to the end customer, they most certainly were not free
to AT&T or other carriers who were required to pay high calling rates to
those tiny, rural exchanges.
At the time of the block, AT&T's Mark Siegel told Ars that the fees were
becoming so exorbitant that they could impede the carrier's ability to
provide good service to its customers. "In the wireless part of AT&T's
terms of service, we're very clear that wireless calling is meant for one
person to talk to another. It's not meant for one person to call one of
these lines, and we reserve the right to block calls to a variety of lines.
We have chosen to do so here," he said.
But that isn't going to sit well with the FCC any more. Martin said after
his appearance on Thursday that if the carriers did not stop blocking the
calls immediately, the FCC would begin the formal process for taking legal
action within several days. Apparently, all of the carriers responded to
the FCC immediately, claiming that they would stop blocking the calls,
although one attempted to restrict access to the Iowa telcos. "We called
them back and said, no, no, you can't artificially degrade [service]
either," Martin said.
AT&T spokesperson Michael Balmoris confirmed to Ars Technica that AT&T had
stopped blocking calls to the free conference calling services. "In late
March we decided to provide our customers access to these phone numbers,"
he told Ars. "Our issue was never with our customers, but with the
unscrupulous carriers and the calling services they fund through unlawful
kickbacks of artificially inflated access charges."
AT&T and other carriers have filed lawsuits against the Iowa telcos for
their "scam" operations. They have also filed complaints with the FCC over
the access charges, which Martin says is an entirely separate issue. "If
you have a dispute about the intercarrier compensation rules, you can file
petitions, and come to the commission to get redress. But you can't just
stop letting consumers make those calls," he said.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Sat, 05 May 2007 12:48:15 -0400
From: Greg Williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Station WAGE Staff Surprised In Restructuring
(Virginia)
To: medianews@twiar.org
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
WAGE Staff Surprised In Restructuring
http://www.leesburg2day.com/articles/2007/05/03/loudoun_business/biz979wage050307.txt
By Margaret Morton & Molly Novotny
(Created: Thursday, May 3, 2007 8:59 AM EDT)
All but two of WAGE Radio's employees resigned or were fired late last
week, days before the company announced "various programming and
personnel changes."
"It's like a death in the family," said longtime broadcaster Paul
Draisey in describing the firings.
Draisey, along with news director Tim Jon, Ron Kitzmiller, Dave
Scarangella and two salespeople were all let go. Only Chris King and
Mike Berry remain at the Leesburg radio station.
Over breakfast Tuesday morning, Scarangella and Jon, whose real name is
Steinbrecher, reminisced about the people they've worked with, stories
they've uncovered and fun they've had during their time at WAGE.
Scarangella said after learning a few weeks ago that the station was
revising its format, he decided to step down and, along with Kitzmiller,
planned for his last day to be May 4. That was cut short by a week and
Scarangella said he resigned April 26. "I really didn't know this was
coming," he said about the mass of firings that followed the next day.
Jon said he was totally caught off guard the morning of April 27,
although in his line of work, he said layoffs and company changes can be
commonplace.
"The bottom line is, I'm looking for work," Jon said Tuesday, refusing
to lament about the situation. With WAGE for 10 years, Jon moved to
Loudoun after graduating from broadcasting school. WAGE has been his
only job in broadcasting, and the job was much more than about relaying
the news.
"It wasn't about radio; this was being part of this little world," that
is Loudoun, he said. "I could eat, live and sleep Loudoun County."
In addition to his work at WAGE, Jon has made a name for himself in the
Loudoun acting community and said he will continue to direct Henry V at
Morven Park in July and portray Gen. George Marshall for Dodona Manor's
4th of July festivities.
Draisey said the announcement also surprised him, although the news of
Scarangella's departure left him on edge. He received a phone call from
the station's engineer the next day and was told he didn't need to come
in to work.
Draisey, who first went on the air with the Leesburg-based AM radio
station Jan. 6, 1971, had returned in 2000 to take over the morning
show. After leaving again, he returned last year to the afternoon drive
time slot.
In learning of his dismissal, Draisey said the engineer only told him
the company was "making some operational changes."
As a veteran newscaster, Draisey said he understood why the reporters
and on-air personalities weren't allowed to go back on the air after
learning they were let go.
"You can't take a chance and put someone back in the control room," he
said, adding, "It is sad, you don't get to say goodbye to your
listeners. I'll miss talking to everybody."
Scarangella and Jon said they also were not privy to the planned changes
at the station, joining Draisey in only being able to speculate.
The news release that WAGE Radio sent Tuesday announced that vice
president Alan Pendleton would assume the additional responsibilities of
general manager; Brian Edwards was appointed director of operations.
The program, The Wall Street Journal This Morning, will be filling the
morning drive time, according to the WAGE news release.
Although Kitzmiller and Scarangella had planned to leave May 4, their
dismissal a week early eliminated their plans to let listeners know
about their plans to leave and to hear from their audience in return.
"I'll miss the guys, because I listen to the station to hear them in the
morning to talk about the local things that are going on in the county,"
said Janet Tyson, owner of Jerry's Florist. "They're fun, we will really
miss them," she said.
Draisey said the radio had a true relationship with Loudouners.
"That radio got a lot of people through some difficult times: for
example, the blizzard of '66, [Hurricane] Agnes in '72-I was there for
that one, that's what got me the radio bug-and 9-11."
One story he recalled from six years ago seemed particularly apt in
demonstrating the significance of radio in the lives of everyday Loudouners.
"I had a call from a woman who lived south of Leesburg two days after
9-11, at a time when patriotism was at a fever pitch. She called at 7
a.m., very upset, saying she had an American flag at the end of her
driveway and someone stole her flag.
"I've listened to you for so long," she told Draisey, "I didn't know who
else to turn to."
"That's what we do," Draisey said with some pride.
Jon agreed that it wasn't the famous people he's interviewed over the
years that were the best stories, but the everyday Loudouners he has
come to know.
"They are all part of the palate of Loudoun County," he said Tuesday.
Part of that palate are people such as author, historian, actress and
playwright Meredith Bean McMath and her mother, local actress and radio
producer Maxine Bean.
"What will we do for snow days?" lamented McMath, assuming that local
programming would disappear and the usual news of school closings would
not be available.
It is no joke to McMath and Bean. The latter is producer of the Carver
Radio Show, which is broadcast on WAGE Radio every other month; both
women have been doing radio shows through WAGE for the past six years.
To McMath, who directs the Aurora Theatre Company, a potential end of
local programming is a direct hit to the success of local theatrical
productions.
Interviews with Chris King and announcements of upcoming shows helped
increase attendance, she said.
It was local news of emergencies, and early morning interviews "with
people who know people in Loudoun and what's going on in Loudoun," that
mattered, she said.
WAGE Radio began as a local company, when Richard Lewis and his family,
who also owned WINC's AM and FM stations in Winchester and stations in
Fredericksburg and Carlisle, PA, founded the station in 1958.
Radio engineer and broadcaster John Gill sent the first WAGE radio
signal March 6, 1958.
In the early 1960s, the Lewis Group sold the station to Bill
Stubblefield. Control passed to James "Jim" Symington, "who was a ham
radio guy," and a big shareholder, Draisey recalled. Together with Gill
and his buddy, A.V. Tidmore, Symington ran the company until increasing
blindness and illness forced him to step down. His brother-in-law,
Huntington "Hunt" Harris, who was a small shareholder, stepped up to
take over the family representative position.
Following that succession of owners, Grenville T. Emmet purchased the
station in 1980 and held it until 2005 when he sold it to Potomac Radio,
LLC's parent company New World Radio.
Upon selling the station two years ago, Emmet said he did not know the
changes were forthcoming.
He said this week he was very sad about the news, noting that the
company has an application in to the Federal Communications Commission
to move to a different frequency and to go to a 50,000-watt signal. He
said he thinks the station is intended to become a Washington area station.
At the time of the purchase, Potomac Radio invested thousands of dollars
in new digital audio equipment to improve the station's sound and
efficiency.
A phone call to Pendleton was not returned.
--
Greg Williams
K4HSM
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.twiar.org
http://www.etskywarn.net
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Sat, 05 May 2007 12:47:17 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] FCC seeks comments on Frontline spectrum plan
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
05/04/07 -- 05:46 PM
FCC seeks comments on Frontline spectrum plan
By Alice Lipowicz
Washington Technology
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/30572-1.html
The Federal Communications Commission invited public comments this week on
a proposal advanced by Frontline Wireless LLC to set aside a 22 MHz block
of radio spectrum for a wireless broadband network for first responders.
Comments are due by May 23.
In a notice published on May 2, the commission said it is seeking comment
on Greensboro, N.C.-based Frontline's proposal and other details related to
the allocation of spectrum in the 700 MHz band in an upcoming auction to be
held on or before Jan. 28, 2008. The spectrum previously was allocated to
television broadcasters but is being auctioned off and a portion
reallocated to public safety as part of the transition to digital
television. Comments are due by May 23.
Under plans previously approved by Congress, 60 MHz of spectrum will be
auctioned off, and 24 MHz has been allocated for first responders. The FCC
proposed in December 2006 that 12 MHz of the public safety spectrum should
be dedicated to a nationwide wireless broadband network for first
responders to enable easier exchange of data and digital communications.
However, several public safety groups said 12 Mhz is not enough spectrum to
meet their current and future needs.
Frontline's plan is that the FCC would auction off a license for a block of
10 additional MHz of spectrum, adjacent to the public safety band, with a
requirement that the buyer build out a broadband network and make it
available on a priority basis to first responders. During periods of low
usage, however, the spectrum would be available to commercial carriers.
An earlier proposal, known as Cyren Call, advanced by start-up firm Cyren
Call Communications Corp. of McLean, Va., a year ago, won initial support
from public safety groups. Cyren proposed that the FCC set aside an
additional 30 MHz for first responders to create a network under a single
nationwide license to be held by a public trust. However, the FCC declined
to consider Cyren Call because the commissioners said it does not comply
with the auction terms mandated by Congress.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Sat, 05 May 2007 12:59:42 -0500
From: George Antunes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] WORLDSPACE Develops 'Blueprint' for European
Satellite Radio Receivers
To: medianews@twiar.org
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Message-ID:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
WORLDSPACE Develops 'Blueprint' for European Satellite Radio Receivers
Telematic Journal
May 2, 2007
http://www.telematicsjournal.com/content/topstories/1941.html
WORLDSPACE Satellite Radio has signed a contract with Fraunhofer Institute
for Integrated Circuits IIS, part of Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, to develop a
receiver reference design (or engineering blueprint) for the European
market. The agreement brings WORLDSPACE's European subscribers one step
closer to mobile satellite radio service, beginning with Italy.
The WORLDSPACE European receiver will be the first satellite-terrestrial
hybrid receiver developed to comply with the satellite digital radio (SDR)
standard, newly established by the European Telecommunications Standards
Institute (ETSI). The standard enables the combination of terrestrial
repeater networks and satellites, which will help to maintain excellent
service quality for consumers in difficult reception environments.
WORLDSPACE Europe contributed technological proposals to the SDR working
group from the beginning of the ETSI process.
WORLDSPACE's European strategy is to roll out its service on a sequential,
country-by-country basis. In addition to Italy, the Company's target
markets include France, Germany, Spain, Turkey and Poland, representing a
combined population of approximately 361 million people and 148 million
automotives.
"We are pleased to continue our long-standing relationship with WORLDSPACE
during this important juncture of their European expansion," said Michael
Schlicht, programme manager satellite radio at Fraunhofer IIS. "For over 10
years our two companies have worked closely together on a number of
satellite radio initiatives including the development of a
'proof-of-concept' for WORLDSPACE's overall satellite radio system, to the
development and implementation of the technology used for the terrestrial
retransmission of the satellite signal on the ground."
"Fraunhofer IIS is recognized as the premier applications research firm in
the world for the digital distribution of content," said Hussein Sallam,
Chief Technology Officer, WORLDSPACE Satellite Radio. "As we move closer to
our planned launch of mobile service in Europe, we continue to bring
together the best technology partners. They will enable us to deliver the
highest quality service to our subscribers. Based on its global reputation,
industry experience and 10-year history with WORLDSPACE, Fraunhofer IIS was
an obvious choice."
The reference design developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated
Circuits IIS will be the certified design of the core receiver technology,
from which physical implementation of WORLDSPACE's European automotive and
consumer products will be based. This announcement builds on the momentum
of several previous agreements instrumental in the delivery of mobile
satellite radio services in Europe.
In January 2007, WORLDSPACE signed an agreement with Telecom Italia to
design and deploy a terrestrial repeater network throughout Italy.
Previously, in May 2006, WORLDSPACE Italia received approval from the
Italian Ministry of Communications to launch a subscription-based satellite
radio service in Italy, utilizing 12.5 MHz of the L-band frequency
spectrum, the only frequency band harmonized for satellite radio over Europe.
Today, the company has two operational satellites that cover Europe, Africa
and the Middle East, China, India and Southeast Asia. A third satellite,
already built and in storage in Toulouse, France, is expected to provide
the additional capacity needed to extend its service offering over Europe,
by providing consumers with approximately 50 channels per country of
diversified sports, talk and commercial-free music programming at the
service's maturity.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
------------------------------
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