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| Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, February 02 2013 @ 10:05 AM EST |
> Years ago when I was 14ish (1974?)
Errm, don't you know in what year you were born?[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, February 02 2013 @ 10:48 AM EST |
I learned the trick as a kid, when I realized the clicks I was hearing as the
dial spun sounded like the clicks made by a swift touch-and-release of the
cradle switch. When I was an adult and my wife and I got our first Princess (R)
Slimline (R) TouchTone (R) phone, the power failed and I couldn't use the
tone-dialing feature because it required the power that failed. So I clicked
the cradle switch ten times (dial "O" for operator) and got the operator -- yes,
they still had those at that time -- and asked to be connected to the power
company repair service. The repair guy wanted to know how I had reported the
problem with a broken phone; so I taught him the trick.
Since then I've
always kept at least one old rotary phone around for emergency use. But I
recently switched to phone service via my ISP. The trick still works with the
cable interface unit, but it requires household power, which is another single
point of failure problem.
joef, still on borrowed system
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| Authored by: albert on Saturday, February 02 2013 @ 11:33 AM EST |
How interesting that our boys started their careers as thieves, stealing
long-distance calls from Ma Bell. Then I think of Aaron Swartz....
The seeds of behavior are sown early indeed.[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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| Authored by: squib on Saturday, February 02 2013 @ 12:39 PM EST |
Having lived through this era I knew abut the whistles in Cap'n Crunch
“They informed him that a toy whistle that was, at the time, packaged in boxes
of Cap'n Crunch cereal could emit a tone at precisely 2600 hertz—the same
frequency that was used by AT&T long lines to indicate that a trunk line was
ready and available to route a new call.[2]”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Draper
But here in the UK we could only use the 'cradle switch' as we had a different
technology. So as Nick UK says, we had to 'tap' out the number. Trunk calls
where beyond my capability (we did not have nation wide STD back then
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subscriber_trunk_dialling] ) but calls to the
neighbouring exchange were possible. However, as this was beyond the 30 mile
limit of the originating exchange, the connection was often very noisy and
faint. Beyond that, it was just a was just a challenge to get the phone to
ring.
By tacking the phone apart and using Crocodile Clips and things, more was
possible but it upset one's parents to the existent that further scientific
research along this avenue was not a sensible road to travel down. So I turned
my attention to the less visible activity of filling lead pipes with weed killer
etc... Unlike phone phreaking, the end result was a also lot easier to hear as
well -was it EVER!
Also, in the UK we have to we have to wait ages for a land-line but for
American's like Meri Wilson in the US, she had the telephone man arrive in just
four days; so did she take advantage...:
She got one in the bedroom, and I got one in the hall
And she got in in the bathroom, and he hung it on the wall
She got one with a buzz, and she got one with a ring
And when he told her what her number was she got a ding-a-ling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTDzFUlrDYM
Thank goodness, that today we can now just pop down the road and get a Samsung
(off contract of course, as its cheaper). I can take her in the bedroom, and I
can take her in the hall, I can take her in the bathroom...
OK Now, Lets hear you all join in chorus:
A-singing hey lolly, lolly
Hey lolly, lolly
Hey lolly, lolly[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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| Authored by: squib on Saturday, February 02 2013 @ 02:16 PM EST |
Yes, I remember those dial locks. They where often sold mail order in places
like the Exchange and Mart. The were very cheaply made and if you got a key from
another-one it would often unlock several others. Failing that, place a piece of
Izal Medicated Toilet Paper (readily available in every home) and rub a lead
pencil over and the key, then a file any bit of steel shim to fit the pattern
and presto. These devices were the 1960's equivalent of Microsoft security.
The local toy and modelling shop where one bought balsa-wood and stuff was the
place to go. In those days the proprietors were the modern-day geeks. Want to
phone a girlfriend that you met on holiday but lives hundreds of miles away and
your parents have put a look on the dial – no problem. They lend you a hand
set and diagram to open the telephone’s walls terminal block, disconnect the
locked phone and connect the unlocked hand set. Dial away! Lost the key to your
money box... No problem. They would show you how to open it. On the subject of
telephones, it became impossible to walk past a public call box with-out
giving in to the temptation the give button B a few good shoves which the palm
of the hand. Vending machines on railway stations also revived our well
practised manoeuvres to encourage them to disgorge any rejected coins that
should have be returned.
People complain about modern-day automated technology but it was a lot less
reliable back then.
Also, kids today are no different from the kids of yesterday... dam it. They
even have the same attitude that they know their smarter because the can out
smart me – and they leave me amazed that at every turn they do. Touché. An' I
would not wish it any other way.
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| Authored by: JamesK on Saturday, February 02 2013 @ 03:51 PM EST |
{
in one scene, somebody dialed a number by tapping the phone cradle
}
Been there, done that, didn't get the T-shirt though. ;-)
We didn't have a lock on our phone, but I gave that a try to see if it worked.
It did. The rotary dials worked by interrupting the current in the phone line.
Pressing the hook switch does the same thing, so it was just a matter of tapping
in the appropriate manner.
I don't know where you grew up, but in our area, local calls were free. Back
then, however, long distance was fairly expensive and you didn't have to go far
before it kicked in. There was one girl in my class, who lived on the other
side of the town line. It was long distance for her to call across the street
to her friends. These days, we have a very large local calling area and I can
now call across the country (Canada) for less than that girl used to have to pay
to call across the street. In fact, with voice over IP services, much of Canada
is now a free call.
---
The following program contains immature subject matter.
Viewer discretion is advised.[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, February 02 2013 @ 09:37 PM EST |
Hee-hee, computer science department tried restricting the modem phones with a
dialler that read plastic cards with holes punched in them. Didn't take a bunch
of compsci students long to figure the code or make cardboard versions.
Tufty
Wanders off whistling innocently.
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| Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, February 02 2013 @ 09:53 PM EST |
Obligatory musical reference
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq4Rg9nCb4I
Tufty
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