Remember 411?

[Koolau]

<SNIP>

I'm not much of a country and western fan. Considering every song seems to mention drinking, trains, and jail, you'd think operators would be prominent. I'm sure you all can fill in the blanks.

Heh, heh, David Allen Coe agrees with you. Here's his take on the "perfect" country song (beginning about 3:00)

Returning you now...

 

[brett]

....or those huge white pages phone books that used to be delivered each year. Along with the yellow pages


...or when in country long distance charges were high.

 

[TripleLindy]

...or when in country long distance charges were high.

I remember my dad calling my uncle using “person to person” calls to some random name. My uncle would respond to the operator that the person wasn’t there, so there were no charges incurred, but he and my dad would get a good 5 minutes in before the operator would disconnect the call.

 

[athena53]

I remember my dad calling my uncle using “person to person” calls to some random name. My uncle would respond to the operator that the person wasn’t there, so there were no charges incurred, but he and my dad would get a good 5 minutes in before the operator would disconnect the call.

Ah, my college roommate played a similar trick. When she wanted to talk to her parents she'd call person-to-person and ask for someone fictitious and of course would get the message that the person wasn't there. Parents would then call her back station-to-station at a far cheaper rate.

 

[CardsFan]

Ah, my college roommate played a similar trick. When she wanted to talk to her parents she'd call person-to-person and ask for someone fictitious and of course would get the message that the person wasn't there. Parents would then call her back station-to-station at a far cheaper rate.

Our son did the same thing in college. His name on the call was "mikecallmeback"

 

[38Chevy454]

Our son did the same thing in college. His name on the call was "mikecallmeback"

I did similar in college, when heading home called person to person. Asked for myself. "No he's not here". "OK, I will call back at [estimated time I would get home]".

Parents then knew approx when i would show up. Cell phones were just starting and way too expensive for this self supporting college student. Remember the antenna on the car window?

 

[Souschef]

This brings back memories of Fhone Preaks. There is a certain issue of the Bell Labs Journal you could not get. It had the exact frequencies of all the control tones to bypass the regular system.

There was a guy called Captain Crunch, as the whistle he got in a box of cereal exactly matched the frequency of the bypass tone. You could then make calls all over the world.

 

[sparky08]

I graduated college at the right time with a computer science degree. The gov't had just busted up the Bell System. One of the bones they threw AT&T was the ability to sell phone equipment oversees. So, I got a job at Bell Labs converting their software to work with other countries billing systems.

I worked with UNIX/Linux and phoine systems for most of my career.

 

[RobbieB]

We had a guy at the house (fraternity) that could hack a phone with no dial or numbers. All the house phones were receive only (blank phones, no dial, no pushbuttons)

He had his "hook finger" perfectly timed and could dial a number by hitting the cradle with just the right spacing. So he would call home (long distance) for free. I mean how can you charge a customer for outgoing calls from a receive only service?

 

[JoeWras]

There was a guy called Captain Crunch, as the whistle he got in a box of cereal exactly matched the frequency of the bypass tone. You could then make calls all over the world.

Two past-times in one shot. 1) Phone Phreaking, and 2) Actual toys in cereal that might choke you.

He had his "hook finger" perfectly timed and could dial a number by hitting the cradle with just the right spacing. So he would call home (long distance) for free. I mean how can you charge a customer for outgoing calls from a receive only service?

DW's super power as a child was winning radio contests. Her home (like most) didn't have touch tone. The radio station number mostly had low numbers. She could "dial" the number faster by clicking the cradle. She doesn't remember how she came to know this works.

 

[Koolau]

Two past-times in one shot. 1) Phone Phreaking, and 2) Actual toys in cereal that might choke you.



DW's super power as a child was winning radio contests. Her home (like most) didn't have touch tone. The radio station number mostly had low numbers. She could "dial" the number faster by clicking the cradle. She doesn't remember how she came to know this works.

I always had a problem with being the 7th caller. Not sure how you would phone phreak that!