Echoes of Returns Lost: The History of The Telecom Digest

Presented at HOPE X (2014), July 20, 2014, 5 p.m. (60 minutes).

This talk is a brief history of the people and events which shaped The Telecom Digest's history, presented by its current editor. (The Telecom Digest is the oldest continuously running electronic magazine about telecommunications on the Internet - and one of the oldest mailing lists still on the Internet in any category.) Bill will discuss the previous moderators and the events that led to his stewardship. There will be anecdotes from the archives, some discussion of the personalities that formed the digest, and brief speculation about its future. There have been some truly memorable posts over the years which will be focused upon. The day-to-day workflow will be described, along with the ways things have changed over the years, from manual efforts to Usenet access to the current Majordomo II list management software. Hear about the evolution of the digest from a mostly "Bell" centered e-zine, to the Wild West days of MCI and Sprint, up to the re-consolidations now underway. In addition, Bill will explain his philosophy of moderation and the ways he goes about it while seeking to lighten the moderator's technical workload, automate manual procedures, and his preparations to adapt for the new YaGooMail "walled garden" paradigm.


Presenters:

  • Bill Horne
    Bill Horne had a career at "Mother Bell" that spanned 25 years. He joined New England Telephone and Telegraph Company as a technician, worked his way up to systems analyst at NYNEX, and was chosen for the SS7 groups at Verizon Engineering during the last part of his Verizon tenure. He was, at various points in his engineering years, in charge of the E911 network in New England, part of the "RFP" team for the Tekelec Eagle STP units employed to enable local number portability, and was also responsible for PC security in the Marlborough, Massachusetts Verizon office. Since accepting an early retirement offer, Bill has run his own business, offering PBX, VoIP, and network services to various customers in the Boston area.

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