[IP] L.A. Quake -- Warning about phone usage

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

________________________________________
From: Lauren Weinstein [lauren@vortex.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 3:30 PM
To: David Farber
Cc: lauren@vortex.com
Subject: L.A. Quake -- Warning about phone usage

Dave,

As you've probably heard, the L.A. area (epicenter Chino Hills) just
had a 5.4 quake.  It was a good rolling ride here at the northwest
edge of L.A. city.  No reports of significant damage, and despite the
high frequency shake and low frequency roll nothing obvious knocked
out of place here -- just a "gentle" reminder between the main
events.

Reports have been coming in of widespread cell network blocking.
With many people ditching landlines for cell phones, it's important
to remember that the cell networks have extremely limited capacity
compared with conventional landline circuits, and microcells can
start failing rapidly once their batteries quickly run out if A.C.
power is cut.

Also, this is a good time to remind people that during an emergency
when there is heavy phone usage (or lots of phones knocked off hook
-- and please avoid unnecessary phone usage during such events!) you
may not get a landline dial tone immediately upon going off hook.

In that instance, *do not keep hanging up and trying again*.  Every
time you hang up, you *lose* your place in the queue.  If you hold
on through the silence, the switch will get you a dial tone as soon
as possible, even if it takes minutes or more.

Shake and Bake, indeed.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com or lauren@pfir.org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, NNSquad
   - Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com




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