Somewhat OT, perhaps, But I can't let this pass:

It wasn't that many years ago in the United States when there was one big, monolithic telephone company.

HorsePucky. There were in the 80's roughly 1100 independent telcos in the US. (Can anyone say "REA"?) There was also GTE & AllTel (who were quietly buying up many of the 1100...) and don't forget ConTel. Now? We are far far closer to err.. quad-opoly control of the PSTN and the last mile than back then. -- A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com & no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433 is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433