[Tfug] CAT5 Cables, The Sequel

[Bexley Hall]

Hi, George,

--- George Cohn <gwcohn at simplybits.net> wrote:

> Bexley Hall wrote:
> 
> > Ha!  We had a phone located in a "steam tunnel"
> > (underground passage through which steam is
> > conveyed from the "plant" to the campus) that
> > was an unrestricted line.  It was a fairly common
> > practice to gather up a bunch of guys and make
> > your long distance calls "on the school's dime" 
> :> 
> 
> The phones in the dorms back in the '60's didn't
> have dials but because 
> the switches were mechanical steppers, if you were
> good, you could go 
> off hook and tap the hook switch the proper number
> of times to dial a number.

Yeah, one of the phones in the EE lab had a filter
on it that allowed the DTMF to be intercepted (to
keepfolks from making calls without an access code).
But, you could rapid key the hook switch (as you
mention) for the same result.

I was also told by a friend that some pay phones
abroad (France?) can be hacked by clicking a
pzieoelectric lighter rapidly while talking.
I guess it crashes the processor in the station?

Similar hacks have been applied to slot machines
over the years.  "Can't Happen" *does*!  :>

> The standard was 10 pps so if you "had
> rhythm," you could actually dial a 7 digit number.

Yeah, but if you've tried this, it *really* tires
your hand out.

> >>> All that free porn!  :>
> >> Not me but a couple of IT guys got escorted to
> the
> >> door for getting caught doing it.
> > 
> > (sigh)  It is apparently quite common.  (I can't
> > imagine folks being foolish enough to expose their
> > actions to that sort of scrutiny)
> 
> Yep, several techs were caught with downloaded porn
> on their pc's.  I can't imagine being that stupid,
> especially when your employer is a 
> Catholic health care organization.

<sheesh>  I guess only the *priests* are allowed
to have porn...  ;-)

> > My home town had *6* digit phone numbers -- the
> > second digit was just discarded (digit absorber
> > in a step-by-step switch?)
> 
> I grew up in Morenci AZ and the prefixes were 865
> for Morenci and 864 
> for Clifton.  You only had to dial 5 digits for
> anyone in the local 
> dialing area.  One time Mountain Bell tried to sell
> Phelps Dodge a new 
> switch with the argument that you only had to dial 4
> digits.  The deal fell through.

Hah!

> > True nostalgia:  do you remember when TV shows
> > were *advertised* as "in color"?  :>
> 
> Yep, have some DVD's of old TV shows and they start
> with "In color" as it was so rare.
> 
> > Hmmm... didn't realize that.  I had always hoped
> > there was some *scheme* to the numbering plan.
> 
> Go to http://www.nanpa.com for information on every
> area code and 
> central office prefix in America.  It's the

Cool!  I'll bookmark that.  I figured there are
places that *must* track area code assignments,
ZIP codes, etc.  (I know there are folks who will
*sell* you that stuff)

> administrator since the 
> phone company supposedly got broken up by the DOJ. 
> In reality, most of 
> the 7 original Regional Bell Operating Companies
> have been bought up and 
> I think there is really only three now.  Almost the
> same monopoly as for 
> the first hundred years.
> 
> Another bit of trivia, Nortel Networks was
> originally Northern Electric, 
> the manufacturing and supply arm for Bell Canada. 
> Since Alexander 
> Graham Bell was from Canada, he gave his family the
> rights to build Bell 
> Canada.  The American division was Western Electric,
> run by one Elias 
> Gray, the person Bell beat to the patent office by
> four hours for the 
> telephone patent.  Later, Elias Gray partnered with
> a guy named Barton 
> to form a company called GrayBar.  Ever heard of
> them?  Until 1979, 
> Northern Electric was 25% owned by ATT/Bell.  Most
> of the pay phones in 
> the US were actually made by Northern Electric and
> just branded ATT.
> 
> I used to take a lot of crap from old Bell guys
> because I was a Nortel 
> expert until I explained to them that Nortel was
> once part of ATT.  In 
> 1979, ATT sold Nortel to Bell Canada.  Nortel had
> developed the first 
> digital PBX and they asked ATT if they wanted to
> keep the rights.  The 
> folks at ATT said, "Everyone knows phones are
> analog, keep your digital 

Sort of like DEC claiming there was only a market for
O(10) computers, worldwide.  :>

> crap."  It took ATT another 10 years to develop
> their Dimension digital 
> PBX.  By that time, Nortel had a lions share of the
> private PBX market.  ;-)

--don


      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Never miss a thing.  Make Yahoo your home page. 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs