<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div>G, a presentation on the "hidden history " of indie telco networks would be really cool to me! </div><div><br></div><div>Would it interest one of the public school history teachers? </div><div><br></div><div>Then the 510 network people could show how the history is relevant to what they're doing now. <br><br>What do ya think of that? <br><div>---</div><div><br></div><div>Romy Ilano</div><div><a href="http://www.snowyla.com">http://www.snowyla.com</a></div><div><a href="mailto:romy@snowyla.com">romy@snowyla.com</a></div></div><div><br>On Mar 26, 2013, at 23:15, Anon195714 <<a href="mailto:anon195714@sbcglobal.net">anon195714@sbcglobal.net</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div>
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<br>
Yep, and I could give an all-day presentation on the topic,
including the UK and Australia as well as the USA. <br>
<br>
The Bell System operated according to engineering standards that
called for design and installation details that were too expensive
to provide in rural areas without raising the price of service to an
unacceptable level. So the Bell stayed out of those areas at first,
and smaller independent telcos sprang up to serve them.<br>
<br>
Farmers in some rural areas not served by Bell, set up "telephone
cooperatives" where they all bought in and paid for the equipment,
and chipped in labor or hired someone to go about setting up the
systems. The earliest implementations ran their wires along the
tops of the fences between farm properties. <br>
<br>
Another story that's fairly well known: how the dial phone was
invented.<br>
<br>
Undertaker Almon Strowger noticed that he was losing business to a
competitor who had a relative working as an operator. When someone
said "operator, get me an undertaker," she'd put them through to her
relative. Strowger decided he'd had enough of that, and set about
inventing the Automatic Telephone. In a way, you could consider
Strowger to also be the inventor of the concept of "net neutrality."<br>
<br>
This was the origin of the Strowger or (in Bell System lingo)
"Step-by-Step" switching system. These machines are a beauty to
behold as they go through their clever mechanical motions to connect
calls. I spent my teenage years in an area served by a Strowger
switch, and I had the chance to work on Strowger PBXs a couple of
times, as well as building some nifty stuff from Strowger
components. Most noticeable is the definite sense of being in a
distinct "place" in cyberspace, a unique route through the machine,
with subtle acoustical characteristics that a trained tech (or a
teenage phone phreak) could recognize. <br>
<br>
Strowger switches served in the USA from about 1896 (the very first
one) to the late 1980s, and in the UK and Australia from the late
1920s or so through the late 1980s. They were immune to the
electromagnetic pulse (EMP) created by atomic bombs. And overnight
when traffic was light, they used less power than today's digital
switches. <br>
<br>
There are oodles of stories to be told about Strowger. <br>
<br>
For one thing, "wiretaps" required physical connections to the lines
at the exchange. In the days when the GPO (General Post Office) ran
the telephones in the UK, GPO engineers were tasked with showing
military intelligence and law enforcement where to find the correct
places to make the connections. But if they (the GPO engs.) decided
that a particular wiretap was political or otherwise an abuse of
authority, they would wait until the coast was clear and then just
disconnect it. <br>
<br>
Today, with CALEA and Google Voice, we have no control over who gets
into the telephone switches via the back door, or who intercepts
calls from elsewhere in the network, and no way to stop them. Some
would call that "progress." <br>
<br>
Going back to WW2, resistance members in the telephone engineering
staffs in Nazi-occupied countries figured out a clever way to "route
around the damage" of Nazi eavesdropping. I'll save that story for
some possible future presentation. <br>
<br>
I also have a working English uniselector dial system that uses
Strowger components, that I could bring in and demonstrate at some
point if anyone's interested. <br>
<br>
-G.<br>
<br>
<br>
=====<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 13-03-26-Tue 10:24 PM, Romy Ilano
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote cite="mid:CAFqWQB_K3GRu5Ch9uRTRRwmk23FMPz8zxMg4U+=JePohN9CPag@mail.gmail.com" type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">side note:
<div>did you know the history of telephone companies in the usa?
i was reading about it. (someone smart left a book for me to
read) =D</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div> it's so fascinating. before the depression, it wasn't
profitable for major telecoms to go to rural communities,
especially in the midwest. they disrespected the farmers and
thought they were yokels...</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>so the midwest used to be pretty left wing too (and the
source of a lot of unrest with the farmers etc), so there was
this big tradition of DIY telephone and telegraphs. someone
gave me this history to read, it was so neat! it's weird that
nobody talks about this history now. it's like it was
forgotten! <br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div style="">it's so weird how all these rabblerousers and
farmers from the midwest are totally buried. nobody learns
about it in us history, especially kids in Kansas.</div>
<div style=""><br>
</div>
<div style="">
it reminds me of the indie network you are constructing at 510</div>
<div style=""><br>
</div>
<div style=""><br>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Mar 26, 2013 at 6:14 PM,
Anon195714 <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:anon195714@sbcglobal.net" target="_blank">anon195714@sbcglobal.net</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> <br>
<br>
Anthony, I know you didn't mean "no grids," but I was
concerned that a quick skim of this discussion by anyone
who didn't know the material in depth, might lead to the
wrong conclusions. <br>
<br>
For an example of the danger of over-centralization:<br>
<br>
Consider the conversion of the public switched telephone
network to VOIP, in light of the desire on the part of
telcos to reap a huge honking windfall by selling off
their vast real estate holdings. AT&T owns about
5,000 central offices, at least one in just about every
medium or larger city in the USA. Comcast has FIVE
nationwide, and AT&T would love to do likewise, and
conversion to VOIP will accomplish just that. <br>
<br>
I'm sure you know what it's called when you centralize
something by a factor of 1,000 to 1: <br>
<br>
"A high-value target." <br>
<br>
Something that's just begging to be hit hard and taken
out, by a crazed dictator or an international terrorist
group, or perhaps by a few sociopaths of the same kind who
run ID theft rings and bank-card skimmer rings, or perhaps
by someone out for the sheer thrill of smashing and
wrecking.<br>
<br>
The plans for the "smart power grid" will produce more
high-value targets: regional power control systems,
centrally managed, all internet-connected and just daring
the assholes of the world to hit them.<br>
<br>
Already, smart meters provide a tasty treat for
predators. I'm aware of a couple of vulnerabilities that
haven't been published, that would enable a single person
with a grudge to black out a neighborhood for a couple of
days. This situation will compound as smart meters, smart
grids, and stupid regulatory officials converge. <br>
<br>
All of this over-centralization, and over-reliance on
"smart" things, is causing our entire society to crawl
further and further out on a limb that becomes more and
more fragile every day. Sooner than later, something will
break, bigtime. <br>
<br>
In a very practical sense, we have to be concerned with
resilience. <br>
<br>
About which more in my next post.<br>
<br>
-G.<br>
<br>
<br>
=====
<div>
<div class="h5"><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<div>On 13-03-26-Tue 5:28 PM, Anthony Di Franco wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_default">To be clear, I don't
mean to say "no grids!1!!1!!!" but just "use
large-scale grids only for what they're best for
in the context of a broader heterogeneous
system, not for almost everything as they are
now, and take into account in a rigorous way
overall system efficiency and other concerns
like vulnerability to failures both routine and
rare and corruptibility of the social systems
that grow up around the technical systems."</div>
<div class="gmail_default"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default">I remember discussing
these points a few times in the past with you,
George, and Hol, and others around sudo room;
might we like to get some documentation together
on interesting specifics? A section of the wiki
maybe, where we can throw ideas up about the
details and see what sticks?</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Mar 26, 2013 at
5:06 PM, Anon195714 <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:anon195714@sbcglobal.net" target="_blank">anon195714@sbcglobal.net</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0
0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc
solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> <br>
<br>
A lot of the arguement against power grids
is ultimately rooted in opposition to having
our energy supply controlled by distant
corporations whose decisions are not
sustainable and not in our interests. <br>
<br>
I agree that over-dependence on greedy
corporations for vital infrastructure,
merely for the sake of convenience, is a
shortcut to servitude. Google is the worst
offender, with its seductive Gmail and
Google Voice offering "convenience" in
exchange for intensive and intrusive
surveillance, not only of those who use the
services, but of everyone they communicate
with. (Worst of all, Google Glass: "become
a volunteer surveillance drone!")<br>
<br>
The model we should be looking toward, to
manage the power grid, is one of
municipally-owned transmission
infrastructure (the wires along the
streets), and diversification of power
producers (from individual households to the
existing power utilities). Everyone would
be paid the same rate for power they
"upload" to the grid, and everyone would pay
the same rate for power they "download."
This would immediately level the playing
field and provide an enormous incentive for
all manner of renewable and new-tech power
generation. <br>
<br>
Further, the municipal ownership model
should also apply to the wired telecoms
grid: telephone and internet. (Even your
mobile device is only "wireless" for the
last half mile at most; the rest of the way
it's as wired as my antique dial phones.)
All of these things are using the public
rights-of-way along the streets; they are
arguably public rights-of-way in themselves,
and as such, should be owned by the public.
<br>
<br>
The municipal internet of electricity would
entail each local power producer (household
or larger) having small storage capacity
on-site, and a switching synchronized
inverter to connect to the grid. An onboard
microprocessor with an analog voltage
sensors would monitor line power to
determine when power should be uploaded to
the grid or downloaded from the grid.
Simple "net metering" would keep track of
the billing. <br>
<br>
The small decentralized battery packs would
act primarily as buffers, to level out power
production and consumption among users.
Overnight and over multiple cloudy days, and
during peak demand hours, the decentralized
solar would be supplemented by other power
sources such as micro-reactors and natural
gas turbines. <br>
<br>
The uniform pricing mechanism would prevent
predatory "arbitrage" of electricity, and
provide the incentive to install solar
panels on every solar-accessible flat
surface, even on bus shelters and other
street kiosks. <br>
<br>
The point-of-production microprocessors
would be isolated from the internet to
prevent cyber-attacks against the grid: the
best kind of "smart grid" is one that
self-regulates locally without being
vulnerable globally. <br>
<br>
I should also mention: Yes, electric
automobiles can provide household power
storage in the absence of having a grid, but
a) not everyone owns or even wants an
automobile, b) if you've drained your car
battery pack overnight to power your house,
it's not available the next morning to get
you to work, and c) even if everyone could
afford a new electric car, there are good
reasons to reduce car ownership and usage in
favor of bicycles, scooters, motorcycles,
buses, and trains. <br>
<br>
Beyond that, we should not be destroying our
civic infrastructure in favor of requiring
everyone to have their own i-Things or do
without. Public phones, public bathrooms
(do you really want to carry an i-Pee
around?), public drinking fountains, public
benches for sitting, public transport, etc.:
are all civic goods that make the public
sphere more user-friendly and accessible. A
public power grid is another example, as
with public water supply, public sewage
treatment, and refuse disposal: life without
those things would be worse than miserable.<br>
<br>
Don't destroy it: reclaim it, revision it,
and rebuild it. <br>
<br>
-G.<br>
<br>
<br>
=====<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<div>On 13-03-26-Tue 3:41 PM, Anthony Di
Franco wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_default">Production of
alternative energy can be and for most
reasons probably should be much less
centralized, equivalently,
smaller-scale, than production of
energy mostly is now. (Off-grid, as
you mention, but very literally.)</div>
<div class="gmail_default">Large-scale
up front + large, complex distribution
networks is revealed as an obsolete
architecture; large scale distribution
networks become relatively less
important, so even if the answer to
your question is no, which it probably
isn't given crowdfunding and other
disintermediated finance gaining
momentum, it's moot, or at least of
much less relative importance.</div>
<div class="gmail_default">Put another
way, when the most important goal is
maximum efficiency rather than maximum
centralization, large upfront capital
investment + large, complex
distribution network is stupid; <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://homebrewindustrialrevolution.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">proper accounting</a>
of all costs and benefits in a global
rather than piecewise local sense
reveals this now for agriculture,
manufacturing, energy, ...</div>
<div class="gmail_default">Even now,
buffering between supply and demand is
a constraint on grid architecture
leading to great economic demand
within the current paradigm for
distributed storage / production of
energy according to someone who came
through sudo room whose name escapes
me.</div>
<div class="gmail_default">This
loosely-drafted email brought to you
by the <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2010/11/eaas-non-rival-goods-vs-rival-goods.html" target="_blank">slogan</a>, <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.miiu.org/wiki/Resilient_Things_by_Top-Level_Category" target="_blank">"localize
production, virtualize everything
else"</a> and the acronym <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.accelerationwatch.com/mest.html" target="_blank">STEMI</a> <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2008/11/stemi.html" target="_blank">compression</a>.</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Mar 26,
2013 at 3:17 PM, Romy Ilano <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:romy@snowyla.com" target="_blank">romy@snowyla.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc
solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">Is it possible to
create alternative energy
distribution networks
(biofuels/solar/ wind etc) that
replace mainstream petrol and
natural gas based energy without a
large financial sector?
<div><br>
</div>
<div> the vc system that funds
these alternative energy
start-ups piggy backs off the
investment banks, etc. and big
private equity and institutional
investment funds. vcs are like a
fly on the @ss of a financial
hippo.</div>
<div> <br>
</div>
<div>I haven't heard people
discuss off-grid that much in
the tech talks I've been to(
which are excellent). Is there a
conversation here that would
show how off grid is a viable
alternative, even if it's not a
big money solution?<br>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On
Tue, Mar 26, 2013 at 1:56
PM, <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:hol@gaskill.com" target="_blank">hol@gaskill.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc
solid;padding-left:1ex">this
talk about imports and
exports always reminds me
of energy flow<br>
<br>
compare 2011<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://www.llnl.gov/news/newsreleases/2012/Oct/images/25306_LLNLUSEnergy2011650.jpg" target="_blank">https://www.llnl.gov/news/newsreleases/2012/Oct/images/25306_LLNLUSEnergy2011650.jpg</a><br>
<br>
<br>
with 2002<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.hubbertpeak.com/us/images/us_energyflow2002.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.hubbertpeak.com/us/images/us_energyflow2002.jpg</a><br>
<br>
fascinating<br>
</blockquote>
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