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Area code 710

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Re: Area code 710

#71

Post by the-dude »

yodon wrote: post #17

When I was in college in the '80s, My roommate and I got curious about unused area codes (and/or prefixes? I forget). We started dialing some. Within about 15 minutes we stumbled on some government service with a scary-official sounding operator on the other end (I've no idea if it was this service or a different one). The really scary part was after dialing the number and encountering the operator, we were unable to…

I had a friend in HS do this to me, I always attributed it to his father being pretty high up at a local newspaper ... ( The Netherlands )

Re: Area code 710

#72

Post by waiseristy »

jpeterman wrote: post #43

Every time I see posts like this on HN, I feel obligated to post http://www.evan-doorbell.com/production/ I originally discovered this guy from HN and the audio recordings on that site are mesmerizing to me.

The internet is amazing, hours upon hours of quality content about nothing else but telephone networks!

Re: Area code 710

#73

Post by axonic »

Some numbers forward via DSN to "red phones" and what not. Please don't prank them or waste their time. I had a spouse social engineer the number to an overseas camp. It bloody rang the literal red phone used for CASEVAC operations on my helipad. Then she wanted to get pissed when I told her to hang up and call a civilian phone... "Well, don't you have call waiting?"... We are divorced now, of course.

Re: Area code 710

#74

Post by huffmsa »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #28

I wonder what it's like being an operator on that line; is it mostly hours or boredom, punctuated by a few phone calls? Or is it actually busy throughout the day?

Same thing as being on the S/NES N64 support line. +1-800-255-3700

There's probably some little old Japanese lady with the full knowledge of the inner workings of 30 year old console hardware waiting for 3 calls a year.

Re: Area code 710

#75

Post by dismantlethesun »

sneak wrote: post #54
dismantlethesun wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would people call? It's not a mystery what happens---they'll ask you for the access code, and do nothing else if you don't provide it. It'd be a waste of time to call them.

I don't think you understand the breadth of legitimate responses to your "why" question. Lots of us called.

Oh, that's really interesting! What were you looking to find out, and what did they say?

Re: Area code 710

#76

Post by ajross »

coin wrote: post #48
yodon wrote: post #17

When I was in college in the '80s, My roommate and I got curious about unused area codes (and/or prefixes? I forget). We started dialing some. Within about 15 minutes we stumbled on some government service with a scary-official sounding operator on the other end (I've no idea if it was this service or a different one). The really scary part was after dialing the number and encountering the operator, we were unable to…

How is hanging up (creating an open circuit) different than pulling the relay (creating an open circuit)?

The phone circuit in the analog days was physical. It doesn't matter that it was open, the relays between one and and another were all connected and could be inspected.

It's analogous to finding the hardware corresponding to someone's network address by being able to inspect the routing tables of all the intervening routers. Even if they turn their computer off, you can still trace them back to the physical line.

Re: Area code 710

#77

Post by gumby »

> GETS is intended to be used in an emergency or crisis situation

Sounds like a major security problem, and during a crisis is especially when I would not like to have a buffer overrun.

Re: Area code 710

#78

Post by ams6110 »

yodon wrote: post #17

When I was in college in the '80s, My roommate and I got curious about unused area codes (and/or prefixes? I forget). We started dialing some. Within about 15 minutes we stumbled on some government service with a scary-official sounding operator on the other end (I've no idea if it was this service or a different one). The really scary part was after dialing the number and encountering the operator, we were unable to…

Maybe not so nefarious. Back in the 1980s the campus phone system at my university had a similar quirk: if you didn't hang up both ends of the call, the connection stayed open. A common DOS prank was to call someone and then just not hang up. Their phone was then unusable.

Re: Area code 710

#79

Post by ceejayoz »

dismantlethesun wrote: post #45
ceejayoz wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but now they're getting dozens of calls from curious HNers.

Why would people call? It's not a mystery what happens---they'll ask you for the access code, and do nothing else if you don't provide it. It'd be a waste of time to call them.

> It'd be a waste of time to call them.

So's commenting on HN, but look how many of us do it!

Re: Area code 710

#80

Post by aisofteng »

doctorshady wrote: post #22

Little known fact: sometimes the other exchanges in area code 710 will translate to places going to military bases and such, depending on the time of year. The best way to tell is by calling 710-867-5309. If you get a recording saying "You are using " followed by a not in service recording, well, it worked. If you'd care to look around random exchanges and thousand blocks, you might be in for a fun day. Or a knock at…

>867-5309

I can't tell whether this is a joke comment.

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