On Thu, 05 Apr 2012 22:38:01 +0100, "
wrote:

On 04/04/2012 02:09, Charles Ellson wrote:
On Wed, 04 Apr 2012 01:22:53 +0100, "
wrote:

On 01/04/2012 18:19, wrote:
On Apr 1, 6:53 am,
wrote:

Also, there are new countries in the NANP.
The newest one that I can think of is St. Maarten, which joined NANP on
30 September with the 721 area code, from its previous country code of +599.
I know that Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands
switched their respective country codes to area codes in the late 90s.
Has there been or anybody else as of late will there be? Does St. Pierre
et Miquelon plan to eventually join NANP? (I can't see that happening,
to be honest.)-

Originally Mexico was to have an area code, but that was changed to a
separate country code. Not sure why, it would seem to make sense to
make it part of NANP.


Are any plans like that in the offing?

As to St. Pierre and Miquelon, there are so few people living there it
probably doesn't matter.

Yet it did matter that it had a separate country code of +508. But
that's the French, I suppose.


It is amazing that there is a French colony
embedded within the US and Canada. Very few people know about it.

The last French colony in that part of the world.

ITYF hasn't been a colony for many years but is now a partly
self-governing overseas territory of the Republic of France (having
chosen that option in 1958 according to Wonkypaedia), also making it
part of the European Union.

It is an Overseas Territory, IIRC. I anachronistically used the term
colony in my previous post.

The actual differences probably need several lines of description
rather than the simple ones we've been using. IMU the Departements
Outre-mere are now for most practical purposes exclaves of France with
more connection/integration than exists with e.g. the UK and Gibraltar
or the Channel Islands.

Stephen Sprunk wrote:
On 01-Apr-12 12:19, wrote:
On Apr 1, 6:53 am, " wrote:

Also, there are new countries in the NANP.

The newest one that I can think of is St. Maarten, which joined NANP on
30 September with the 721 area code, from its previous country code of +599.
I know that Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands
switched their respective country codes to area codes in the late 90s.
Has there been or anybody else as of late will there be? Does St. Pierre
et Miquelon plan to eventually join NANP? (I can't see that happening,
to be honest.)-

Originally Mexico was to have an area code, but that was changed to a
separate country code.

Two area codes: 905 for Mexico City and 706 for northwest Mexico.

That ended in 1991.

They were reserved area code-like dialing patterns within the NANP to
reach parts of Mexico; outside the NANP, the country code 52 had to be
used. Prior to international direct distance dialing, it meant that the
caller could dial the number himself without an intercept operator. After
IDDD, the country code or area code was permissive.

You may recall that until 1980, northwest Mexico was dialed with 903.
Mexico changed its numbering pattern. That part of Mexico got a "city code"
of 6, so the NANP area code was changed to 706.

Not sure why, it would seem to make sense to make it part of NANP.

Apparently, they preferred having a country code (+52) of their own,
like the rest of Latin America (World Zone 5) rather than be a vassal
state of the imperialist gringos that run the NANP (World Zone 1).

And, if Mexico _had_ fully joined the NANP, would that imply the rest of
Central America should as well, as well as the Spanish-speaking
countries in the Caribbean? Why not South America too?

Parts of the ex-Spanish Caribbean are in NANP: Dominican Republic. As
discussed elsewhere, an ex-Dutch part of the Caribbean joined NANP. None
of the former French colonies (that weren't later conquered by another
European power) joined NANP.

On Thu, 5 Apr 2012 23:42:35 +0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
wrote:

Stephen Sprunk wrote:
On 01-Apr-12 12:19, wrote:
On Apr 1, 6:53 am, " wrote:

Also, there are new countries in the NANP.

The newest one that I can think of is St. Maarten, which joined NANP on
30 September with the 721 area code, from its previous country code of +599.
I know that Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands
switched their respective country codes to area codes in the late 90s.
Has there been or anybody else as of late will there be? Does St. Pierre
et Miquelon plan to eventually join NANP? (I can't see that happening,
to be honest.)-

Originally Mexico was to have an area code, but that was changed to a
separate country code.

Two area codes: 905 for Mexico City and 706 for northwest Mexico.

That ended in 1991.

They were reserved area code-like dialing patterns within the NANP to
reach parts of Mexico;

There was a rough equivalent to that in the UK with a code for calls
to the Dublin area before there was full access to the rest of the
Irish Republic.

outside the NANP, the country code 52 had to be
used. Prior to international direct distance dialing, it meant that the
caller could dial the number himself without an intercept operator. After
IDDD, the country code or area code was permissive.

You may recall that until 1980, northwest Mexico was dialed with 903.
Mexico changed its numbering pattern. That part of Mexico got a "city code"
of 6, so the NANP area code was changed to 706.

Not sure why, it would seem to make sense to make it part of NANP.

Apparently, they preferred having a country code (+52) of their own,
like the rest of Latin America (World Zone 5) rather than be a vassal
state of the imperialist gringos that run the NANP (World Zone 1).

And, if Mexico _had_ fully joined the NANP, would that imply the rest of
Central America should as well, as well as the Spanish-speaking
countries in the Caribbean? Why not South America too?

Parts of the ex-Spanish Caribbean are in NANP: Dominican Republic. As
discussed elsewhere, an ex-Dutch part of the Caribbean joined NANP. None
of the former French colonies (that weren't later conquered by another
European power) joined NANP.

It is an Overseas Territory, IIRC. I anachronistically used the term
colony in my previous post.

Mais non, it is a collectivité d'outre-mer, which seems to translate
as Territorial Collectivity, like St Barts and French Polynesia. It's
self-governing and sends members to the Senate and Assembly, but isn't
big enough to be a Region or Department like Martinique.

The only remaining territories are the islands in the southern ocean
with no permanent population.

R's,
John



--
Regards,
John Levine, , Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. http://jl.ly

On 4/5/2012 2:41 PM, Peter Masson wrote:


"Graeme Wall" wrote

Just before nationalisation, the GWR had a plan for an Automat fitted
buffet car. I've only seen artists impressions so I assume it never
went ahead.

In the early 1960s an SK had a compartment stripped and fitted with some
vending machines, billed as an 'Automatic Buffet Car'. For a time it was
rostered on the Cambrian Coast Express between Aberystwyth and
Shrewsbury (where it was detached from the up and attached to the down
train). I don't think it had much success, and it certainly didn't last.

Peter

In the USA, Southern Pacific had Automat cars on some trains in the
1960s. Advertized as a "feature" they were a replacement for a real
diner or cafe car, as SP was trying to get out of the passenger business
by degrading the trains to the extent that nobody wanted to ride.

Note that in the decades before this abomination, SP was famous for its
cuisine, and published cookbooks with its celebrated recipes.

Pity.

Regards,

DAve

On 05/04/2012 22:25, wrote:
On 05/04/2012 09:10, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 01:35:19 on Thu, 5 Apr
2012, " remarked:
Does the UK have fast food chains similar (or the same) as the US'
McDonald's, Burger King, etc.?

McDonald's? What's that?

An entry in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's

Wooow, that's something. We're looking forward to the day we get
television here in Britain.

Yoy don't want it, I've seen it and it's crap!

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

On 05/04/2012 22:31, wrote:
On 05/04/2012 10:20, Graeme Wall wrote:
On 05/04/2012 10:04, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 09:51:38 on Thu, 5 Apr
2012, Graeme Wall remarked:
Emirates aeroplanes are now equipped on certain routes with
equipment
that allows in-flight mobile phone service.

BA have had built in mobile phones on some routes for several years
now.

There's a possibility for confusion between planes with seat-back (or
other) "built-in" phones which you can use, and being able to operate
your own mobile phone from within the plane.

Being pedantic they are both mobile phone services.

That's why I wanted to clarify the difference between the two cases, to
avoid confusion.

One is a phone service that's mobile because planes move around,

AIUI it uses mobile phone technology where available, I assume it uses
sat-phone technology when out over the Atlantic.

the
other allows use of a subscriber's regular GSM (mobile) phone.

Which uses exactly the same technology as the built-in phones. The
difference being that the planes' on-board systems (non-phone) have been
proved to be immune from interference by random models of domestic
mobile phones.

As an aside Varig allowed mobile phone use except during take off and
landing some years ago.


Yeah, but you can't really get a signal at such attitude, from what I
have seen.

I didn't actually try, though a lot of people used their phones while we
were taxiing.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

In message , at 22:34:19 on Thu, 5 Apr
2012, " remarked:
I think you'll find it's satellite everywhere. Apart from anything else
it's prohibited (in USA for example) to make cellular calls from an
aircraft, and the transnational billing issues would be a nightmare.

If I understand you correctly, your mobile on such flights hooks up
with a provider that the airline has contracted with. You will pay
quite handsomely for that service in any event, I'm sure.

One of the problems is that money has to flow from the subscriber to the
airline (via some transit providers) so you need to be in effect
"roaming" in a pseudo-country, or perhaps in a number range belonging to
a real country[1].

Which is fine, except some regulators might think that eg) on domestic
flights, or the not-yet-offshore parts of international flights, you
shouldn't be charged that much. The airlines would prefer you to be
charged extra as soon as the wheels leave the tarmac.

[1] I don't know where an Emirates call looks like it originated, on the
bill, something to investigate I think.
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 08:39:17 on Fri, 6 Apr
2012, Graeme Wall remarked:

a lot of people used their phones while we were taxiing.

Quite a few airlines now allow use of mobile phones when you are taxiing
*in*. And if you are flying Business Class they aren't quite as shouty
about you turning them off immediately the plane pushes back, on the way
out.
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 22:36:04 on Thu, 5 Apr
2012, " remarked:
What kind of mobile phone system is used in Niue, BTW? I remember
reading that it is quite different from your standard provider.

It seems they have three GSM base stations, which for some reason they
want to run using "Open software". Not sure why they don't come fully
fitted with software from the factory.

Domestic calls only. No international roaming (and presumably no
international calling out), in the absence of an undersea cable - being
fitted now.
--
Roland Perry