This is radio station WBAI New York, it's 10.01, one minute late for Off the Hook.
And a very good evening to one and all. This is Emanuel Goldstein.
The program is Off the Hook, where we talk about high technology, new developments, and all the exciting things that affect us as individuals.
Whether it be our telephones, our credit ratings, computers that keep their eyes on us, and how we might keep eyes on other things out there.
It's also a call-in show. We accept your phone calls at 212-279-3400, but we'll be taking them a little bit later.
And if you call now, our number 5 ESS will simply time out and disconnect you.
It's one of the new features of technology. It's called accounting for every minute.
Well, we've had some rather interesting news developments in the past couple of days.
Probably the most interesting of them being AT&T announcing that they're going to buy NACA Cellular Communications,
the nation's largest cellular business, for a mere $12.6 billion.
It's more than the gross national product of some countries, but they're making this purchase.
And the concern here is that AT&T will now become part of local phone service again.
In other words, you pick up your cellular phone, and the dial tone you get will be AT&T, not New York Telephone, or New Jersey Bell.
That's the concern of New Jersey Bell and New York Telephone, among other companies and other people as well.
And it's prompting some speculation that the local companies, like New York Telephone, like New Jersey Bell, like C&P Telephone,
all the telephone companies that provide dial tones across the country,
maybe they'll get involved with long distance, you know, kind of a tit-for-tat type of a thing.
I mean, they're already involved in cellular phones, they're already involved in printing directories and things like that.
Well, now, who knows?
Who knows where this is going to head?
It's going to be an interesting next couple of months as this is debated in court throughout the country.
Basically, the divestiture back in 1984 forbid, or is it for bad, the local companies from becoming involved in long distance
and also forbid the long distance company, mainly AT&T, from getting involved in local phone service.
Now, there's kind of a way around this.
By getting involved with cellular, they're not really wiring up your local phone,
but since a lot of people are using cellular phones as local phones, well, who knows?
It's going to change the way things are.
So if you have a cellular phone, let us know how this may affect you, if you think it matters at all.
Should AT&T be involved in local calls?
Should local companies be involved in long distance?
Should they be involved in cable TV?
Should cable TV companies be involved in local phone service?
Should cable TV companies be involved in long distance?
Where does it stop?
And is there room for new companies, for new ideas, new things?
Speaking of new things, okay.
We called a new thing last week.
Yes, we called it up on this radio show, and we played around with it.
And I'll refresh people's memory, and in case you weren't around either, you can hear what this thing is.
Welcome to Stony Brook's telephone registration system.
Registrations, ads and drops, section changes...
All right, we called this last week.
It's basically a telephone registration system.
You use touchstones to register or deregister people, ad courses, drop courses.
All you need is a social security number and a date of birth.
It's the most incredibly insecure system I've seen, and also very typical.
Now, what we didn't do last week, what we're going to do this week, is play with the voice activation aspect of this.
In other words, if you don't have a touchstone phone, you can use your voice.
Let's try this out.
If you are calling from a rotary phone, you may use the voice recognition feature of this system.
The system will recognize the numerals zero through nine, and the words yes and no.
This silence means that we don't have a touchstone phone.
We are accepting registrations and changes for the fall semester.
The automatic speech recognition system is currently unavailable for use.
Please call back at a later time.
Well, isn't that just typical?
You know, this thing worked before.
Unavailable for use.
Okay, they must have known we were coming.
We will get these people at some point and demonstrate this system.
I don't know why it's not working now.
It was working before.
It's a lot of fun.
You get to say one, two, three, and it recognizes what you're saying and knows the words yes and no.
Okay, to make up for that, we have something even better.
This is one of those you will things, you know, that AT&T is coming up with.
You know, one day will make your life so incredible that you'll think you're dead and in heaven.
Yes, you will.
You will.
It's an AT&T promise.
They get to advertise things that don't exist and take credit for them on top of that.
All right, this is a demonstration line that AT&T has just opened up of.
Well, it's kind of a promise of the future.
How nice things will be.
Listen for yourself.
That static will be gone, too.
They promise.
Thanks for calling to hear a demonstration of AT&T True Voice, the innovative new sound breakthrough from AT&T.
As you're about to hear, True Voice will make virtually all your AT&T long-distance calls sound closer, clearer, more true-to-life, no matter where you call, coast-to-coast.
True Voice will give you the best-sounding long-distance, and it's free to AT&T customers because it's all part of the iPlan, our continuing commitment to bring you closer to the ones you care about.
The iPlan.
We think you'll agree.
Soon, people who have AT&T will be closer than people who don't.
To tell us where you're calling from, please enter your area code and home telephone number now.
This static is ridiculous.
Home from a rotary telephone, please hold.
Okay, we're going to enter a number.
Thank you.
You entered 9-0-7-5-5-5-1-2-1-2.
Directory assistance in that.
Correct.
Alaska.
That's one now.
If this is incorrect.
Sure, this is correct.
Now it is time to experience AT&T True Voice, a new network technology that enhances the sound quality of AT&T long-distance calls.
Oh, this needs enhancement really badly.
Here are a brief comparison between the sound quality you hear today and the superior sound quality of AT&T True Voice.
To listen to the sound quality of today's long-distance service, press 1.
At any time, to listen to AT&T True Voice, press 2.
You can alternate between pressing 1 and 2 as often as you like.
Oh, joy.
Okay, we're going to, uh, I don't know what the beep means, but we're going to hit 2.
Let's hit 1 first.
At AT&T, we've been bringing people closer for years.
But now, we've been...
This is the way it sounds now.
...the distance between you and your family and friends seem even smaller.
Now we're going to jump ahead into the future, light years into the future, and see what it will sound like by hitting 2.
A remarkable new network technology that provides AT&T customers the best long-distance sound quality.
When True Voice is activated in your area, virtually every AT&T...
We're going to go back now to the way it is now.
...will sound closer, clearer, more natural than ever before.
True Voice enhances the sound quality of your calls so that your loved one's voices will sound richer, fuller, more true to life.
And True Voice doesn't cost more. It's simply part of the AT&T long-distance network.
True Voice. Only from AT&T.
Bringing you closer than ever before.
Can you tell which one is on now?
Now that you've heard the demonstration, we would like to know what you think.
You will have one minute to record your message.
When you are finished, please press the pound sign and stay on the line for additional announcements.
Uh, yes, uh, it was nice. It was very nice.
Um, I think it's good that AT&T offers these services to its customers totally free of charge,
and hopefully they'll bring down their rates even further and offer long-distance calling all over the world for one low price.
That would be, that would be my dream to see that happen in the future.
And I know you will one day.
With AT&T True Voice, there's never been a better time to be an AT&T customer.
As part of the iPlan from AT&T...
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We're committed to providing the most innovative product.
Okay, enough of them.
Yeah, that's, uh, that's AT&T's new service there.
I don't get it, to be honest.
It doesn't sound that much different to me.
It sounded like they were talking a little louder, maybe.
And that's, uh, their idea of the enhancement.
The iPlan is to just simply crank it up a bit and say it sounds better.
I don't know.
Anybody else out there get, uh, enhancement out of that?
I was expecting, you know, FM sound quality or something, but, uh, I guess that was too much to expect.
Free to AT&T customers.
Yeah.
All right, how familiar does this sound?
You're on the phone with an important client or a new business prospect,
and just getting to the heart of what makes your product or service these best choice?
Boy, whoever wrote this press release, uh, well, they must have sent out for this.
Okay, just getting to the heart of what makes your product or service these best choice,
when, poof, your train of thought was totally destroyed by someone banging on your door
or walking in with their mouth in high gear, asking a question.
This assault on productive phone time is further heightened by the ever-increasing use of telephone headsets,
which causes one of two things.
One, people either walk up and immediately begin to speak,
or, two, stand there trying to figure out if you are indeed on the phone.
Um, this is the worst grammatic, I, well, never mind.
Uh, homicide is against most offices' policy, but can look very tempting at these moments.
Yes, addressing this problem is SignWorks.
SignWorks.
A company based in Quincy, Florida,
and founded on the premise of easing some of this discord with your fellow workers.
The company manufactures a sign that lights up when your telephone is in use.
With the bold red words on the phone,
the sign, the sign is reminiscent of the old on-the-air sign of radio and TV.
The signs mount on your desktop or outside your office door and gives fair warning.
No, give fair warning.
It's a plural word.
The signs give fair warning, not gives.
Oh, boy.
It gives fair warning to those would-be interrupters.
Conference in progress and do-not-disturb signs are also offered and operate by closing the office door.
This remarkable technological breakthrough is, uh, available on two models.
One is designed for conventional telephones and headsets,
which require the handset to be removed from the cradle of the telephone for conversation.
Model two is designed for headset users,
which require only a button or switch to be pushed to use the headset.
This is common in many larger offices with integrated phone systems.
Both models can be mounted up to 10 feet away from the telephone
and will work with any phone or phone system, regardless of brand,
except cordless phones.
Both models can be ordered by calling 1-800-I-AM-BUSY.
And price $19.95 and $29.95, plus $4 shipping, respectively.
SignWorks owner Michael Sammons commented,
Our product fills a need that is currently not being met with phone systems in use today.
The switchboard operator is almost always aware of who is or is not on the phone at a specific time,
but blown sales and interruptions come from the co-worker in the next office.
He continued,
I originally designed this for formal offices because of my background in telephone sales,
but these products also have a large application in the home,
especially for people who have home-based businesses.
I hope that these products will help maintain professionalism
and end aggravation wherever they are used.
I wonder if he said that on the phone.
Yeah, on the phone.
That's, uh, SignWorks.
Only $29.95 and you get a sign that lights up saying you're on the phone.
It's really something.
And speaking of really something,
folks from Software Publishers Association have a warning for you.
You may be breaking the law and not even know it.
That's not grammatically right again either, is it?
Well, anyway, companies without stringent anti-piracy programs in place
risk a costly raid by the software police.
But not only that,
not only that,
if you make a, uh, a copy,
you know, any kind of, uh, copy on, uh,
on your photocopy machine,
you might also be breaking the law.
You might be, uh,
violating copyright laws by
copying an article from a newspaper,
for instance.
But mostly they deal with, uh,
with software.
And they, they ask these questions
for companies that
want to avoid the cost,
embarrassment, and lost time that, uh,
happen whenever
there's a raid
to see if
illegal copies of software are being used.
Here are the questions.
Does your organization have a published policy statement
educating employees about software copyright infringement?
Does it prohibit them from making or accepting
unlicensed copies of PC software?
Is there a set of original user manuals
at each PC workstation
where a software product is installed?
Is there a set of original manuals
for each set of executable floppy disks?
Is the purchase, installation, and license registration
of all PC software controlled
at a central point in your company?
If you answered yes to all three questions,
your PC software installations
are probably legal.
If you answered no to even one,
you may be violating
federal copyright laws.
And, uh, they have a whole,
a whole list of things that, uh,
that you should do in a case like that.
As far as
registering software,
installing software,
delete invalid installations
from your PC's hard disks
and destroy illegitimate copies on floppies.
Make sure that employees are aware
of the deletions.
Some may have purchased
and rightfully installed software
in their PC's for their own use.
When installing the legal copies,
try to centralize the installation function
in order to keep it under control.
Register all software.
Send in the registrations
for every copy installed
so vendors can provide
better troubleshooting
and hotline support
and alert you to critical software problems
and upgrades
and also keep track of you
to make sure
that, uh,
you don't have too many copies.
and other things like that.
Yeah.
Copy software illegally
and you could get
this hardware absolutely free.
It's a
picture of handcuffs.
Software piracy
isn't just a crime.
It's a shame.
That's right.
It's a shame
because most people who do it
aren't even aware
that it's illegal.
Maybe because,
uh,
as we say,
a leap of logic.
Logically,
it makes sense
that, uh,
copying something
shouldn't be illegal.
If you copy software
as protected by copyright,
you could lose your job,
face a civil suit,
pay a $250,000 fine,
and possibly be imprisoned.
So get the facts now.
At least,
the facts according to,
uh,
SPA.
For more information
about the legal use of software,
contact the SPA
piracy hotline
at 1-800-388-7478
because in the court of law,
ignorance is one thing
you won't be able
to plead.
Boy,
these people are so pretentious.
Ah,
that's, uh,
that's where they're coming from.
If anybody ever has any,
uh,
dealings with these people,
I'd like to know about it.
Scary.
Scary business indeed.
All right.
We're going to take some phone calls now.
212-279-3400.
The program is off the hook
and we talk about
virtually anything under the sun,
whether it be,
uh,
telephones,
computers,
software piracy,
hackers,
you name it.
Because it's a big,
exciting world out there
and, uh,
we're all involved in it.
We're all learning more
every single day.
And, uh,
it's up to us
to take an interest.
Okay,
let's, uh,
go to our first phone call.
Remember,
say who you are.
That is your first name.
We don't really care
who you really are,
but your first name
and, uh,
the town or city
you're calling from
or country
if you're calling from
a foreign country
by any chance.
Good evening.
You're on the air.
Hi,
it's Richard from Queen.
Why are you always
the first caller?
I guess I just have luck.
I think you have
a power dialer
of some sort.
Yeah,
actually,
I have a demon dialer.
Yeah,
you sure do.
Anyway,
I had a different question
about that software thing.
How will anyone know
if,
let's say you,
bought software?
Oh,
don't say me.
Please don't say me.
Because I live
in perpetual fear
of these people
and I don't want them
coming on my door
because it was announced
over a radio station
that maybe I'm suspect.
I'm not.
And I'll turn anyone in
that says I am.
Let's say my father.
No,
not you.
Let's say he's
a friend of mine.
It's healthy
to turn in your parents.
It is healthy to do that
and I think you get
a discount on something.
All right.
Say someone bought
software legally,
loaded it onto
his hard disk on the PC,
right?
That's legal,
right?
Well,
theoretically,
yes.
I guess somebody
could have bought it
legally,
sure.
And then they
loaded it onto
their hard disk.
That's all right.
Yeah,
I guess it's all right
if they do it
righteously.
What if he,
what if I wanted
a copy of that
and he happened
to put it onto
my hard disk
by modem
or not even
by modem,
by transferring?
You got $250,000
lying around the house?
No.
Oh,
well,
then,
you know,
could have some
problems there.
Have to mortgage
off the old house
or I don't know.
There's all kinds
of things you might
have to do.
Right?
Sorry?
They don't know
that we're doing this.
Well,
they do now.
You just sort of
told everybody,
didn't you?
If you think about it,
that's almost as bad
as doing it.
We all know that.
But I'm saying,
if it's your own use
or your own home use,
that's okay,
right?
I mean,
it's pirating,
but it's for your own home use.
So long as you don't
like sell it and stuff,
right?
How do you want me
to answer,
as me or as them?
Do you want me
to answer as them,
nothing is okay.
Okay.
You should,
if you make copies
and give it to,
you know,
your brother or sister
or whatever,
they have to pay for it
all over again.
It's like,
you know,
giving a book to somebody
if you give a book
to somebody to read,
of course,
they have to send
the full price of the book
into the publisher.
I mean,
we've all grown up
with that logic.
If you,
if you make a copy
of a record
and give it to somebody
to listen to,
of course,
they have to send
the full price
of the record
into the record company.
I mean,
this is all natural,
logical,
it makes perfect sense.
Right.
So this is the same thing
as so far.
All right,
getting off that subject.
Yes,
please do
because it's so obvious.
Okay,
I had a question.
How come when I,
I played with
third number calls,
like,
if I called from
one part of Queens,
when I tried to call
a third number
and it was blocked,
it doesn't accept
their numbers,
I called from
either another part
of Queens
or Manhattan,
it accepts
the third number.
It's the same number.
Why is that sometimes?
Okay,
now,
is this a pay phone
by any chance?
a,
um,
yeah,
the same.
Okay,
you're calling
from a pay phone
and you're billing
to a third number.
Right,
and it goes through.
Okay,
from a pay phone.
No,
no,
no,
no,
I mean,
it goes through
without blocking,
but if I were to call
from another pay phone,
let's say in Queens,
it says
that the customer's
request calls
may not be charged
to this number.
Well,
if the customer's
requested that calls
not be charged
to that number,
it shouldn't go through
any time
on any phone.
it did in Manhattan,
I was wondering,
why is that?
I don't know,
that's poor programming
on somebody's part.
Was the phone
that it worked from,
was it a regular
New York Telephone phone?
They get a New York
Telephone pay phone.
Well,
that just tells you
the amount of
ineptitude that goes on
in the New York Telephone.
I mean,
I've experienced this too
where I've asked
for certain lines
to have collect only,
or actually to not
have collect calls accepted,
and they get it
totally wrong.
They put caller ID
on a line
that you don't want
to call her ID on.
Maybe they're just
getting so many requests
that they just get mixed up.
Yeah,
they can't handle
pushing all those buttons
and giving people
what they ask for
and what they're paying for.
I know,
it's a hard job,
but maybe they should
try something else.
We have to go
another call.
All right.
All right?
Thanks for calling.
Good evening.
You're on.
Yes,
good evening.
I was looking at an article
in today's Daily News
you might find interesting.
It says 9X won't block
AT&T deal.
They're in favor of it then?
Yeah,
it would appear so.
It says here,
9X Corporation
said yesterday
that it will not,
repeat,
will not oppose
the 12.6 billion mega merger
of AT&T
and McCose Cellular
Communications Incorporated.
What do you know about that?
It says there's only one catch.
Oh,
what's that?
Don't tell me.
9X has to be allowed
to get involved
in long distance,
right?
All right,
it says here,
the Federal Communications Commission
has to change the rules first.
Yeah.
Okay,
this guy,
Tom Talk,
I won't read you
the whole article
because it's a little long.
It says that
Tom Talk,
the Vice President
of Government Affairs,
all right,
let's keep going through here.
It says,
the Baby Bells don't,
the Baby Bells said
they don't care
that AT&T wants
to spend all that money
and they don't even mind
that AT&T would
become a competitor.
What they do...
Hello?
You there?
Yeah.
You got a call waiting
coming in, huh?
No,
I'm on a pay phone.
...has ended.
Please signal when through.
Ah,
your time has ended, huh?
Oh,
they love me,
I'll tell you.
Okay.
What did you get
from calling from Jersey?
Yeah.
Okay,
you want to finish?
Yeah,
just about here.
Okay,
it says here that
and all the FCC
now regulates
the Seven Baby Bells,
300 long distance companies,
1,000 cellular phone companies
and 1,000 so-called
local exchange carriers
such as Teleport
and Staten Island.
Uh-huh.
Now,
the question that I have
is,
if all these companies
are going to merge
and everything,
how come AT&T
charges $2.30
to call you
while New Jersey Bell
only charges you a buck?
Yeah,
it's something
that I've brought up
many times.
I don't,
you know,
I don't know how
to get away
with charging
such huge amounts
for,
you know,
for a pay phone.
And,
you know,
it's the same amount.
If you called Hawaii
from there,
it would cost the same.
Yeah.
It's just the way
the rates are regulated
and it's,
you know,
it hurts people
that can least afford it.
Yeah.
Because if you're at a pay phone
and you're forced
to use coins,
that means you either
don't have a home phone
or you don't have
a calling card
or something else,
which,
you know,
the privileged allele,
you always have.
Yeah,
if the rates keep going up,
you're going to have
to carry around
one of those
five-gallon water jugs
that,
uh,
yeah,
max.
Yeah,
something like that.
Oh,
here's an interesting thing
in that article.
It says here
that that guy talk,
he says that
if the rules were changed,
9X would immediately
get into the cable,
TV,
and long-distance business.
Yeah,
that's kind of frightening.
I mean,
we've broken up
the phone company
back in 1984
and we've created
eight of them
and they're all
just as big and powerful
as the original one
we broke up.
And it also says here
that 9X's
New York telephone
by comparison
is allowed
only to make
a 12% return.
It says here
because
long-distance carriers
charge an average
of 18.5 cents
a minute
for a service
that costs them
just 7.5 cents
a minute.
Uh-huh.
Well,
I mean,
all the phone companies
are making money
hand over fist.
Whether they're allowed
only a certain revenue,
it's just a question
of writing the numbers
imaginatively
because there is no way
the phone companies
can lose money
because we're all
a captive audience
and we're forced
to pay outrageous rates
for certain things
like a $16 connection charge
for something that involves
saying yes at a terminal.
Yeah.
That's $16 right there.
So, I mean,
you have to be doing
pretty good
if you can get $16
for a single keystroke.
That's true.
That's true.
Also, as a note,
at the last 2600 meeting
I had the opportunity
to talk to a gentleman
from ABC.
Uh-huh.
The show is called
Turning Point.
Yeah.
And I'd like to know
if I could call you
after you get off the air
and pass his number
on to you.
Is that something
like a soap opera?
I guess it's something
more than that, huh?
No, no, no.
It's a news type
of magazine
that's just out.
Turning Point, huh?
And basically
the issue
he's looking into
is the privacy issue.
Uh-huh.
Okay, I was
speaking with him
at great length,
me and a couple
of the other hackers
that were there.
Yeah.
And I'd like to know
if I could call you
after we get off the air
and pass along
his number to you.
Well, actually,
today's kind of a bad day
to do that
because I have to run
out of the studio
like immediately afterwards.
Would it be possible
to leave it on the machine
over at 2600?
Sounds good.
Okay, you have the number
there, right?
Yes, I do.
All right, well,
thanks for calling.
Oh, by the way,
Emanuel, it's Aura.
Aura?
Yeah.
All right.
I met you over at the,
I've met you a few times.
Okay.
Okay?
Well, thanks for calling.
Hey, no problem, old man.
Okay.
6, uh, I'm sorry,
279-3400
is our phone number,
area code 212.
It's about 1030.
The program is off the hook.
Good evening.
Hi, Emanuel,
how you doing?
Okay, how are you?
Okay, pretty good.
I had a phone number here
that you dial
from the house
and it tells you
to deposit 25 cents.
Really?
It's, uh,
you found one of those recordings
that, uh...
Yeah.
You want to share the number
with the rest of us?
It's 718-282-9913.
282-9913.
Right.
And also,
I've been communicating
with you through the internet
about that, um,
the busy signal thing.
Okay, you want to update us on that?
Yeah, did you get to try it?
I wrote you back a letter
that it worked with 222.
Why don't you tell the folks
what you're talking about?
Uh, well, basically,
uh, you can dial,
dial some, uh,
exchanges with,
with the last digits
being 9970 and...
Right.
Nine times out of ten,
it'll be busy,
but once in a while,
if you just hang on that busy
for a few minutes,
you'll hear a click
and you'll actually get somebody
and they'll think
that you're the person
that they was trying to call.
Uh-huh.
But, uh,
I just wanted to know
if you had tested it out
with 222.
No, I haven't tested that out,
but, uh,
is that 212 area code?
Yeah.
Okay, I suggest people try it
and see if they can
hook themselves up.
It'll be, uh,
sort of like a party line
except they won't charge you
$5 a minute.
Right.
Well, but, yeah,
right, basically.
And, uh,
and I guess that's about it,
Emmanuel.
Okay.
It's too bad you didn't have
the voice enhancements
for Richard's call.
Yeah, that would have been nice,
wouldn't it?
But I don't know
if it's possible.
All right.
Oh, yeah,
can I get the number
for that voice enhancement, uh?
Uh, yeah.
Hang on.
Down here on the floor
someplace.
Yeah, and I want to thank people
for sending these, uh,
these bits of information in,
and the address to do that
is, uh,
off the hook,
care of WBAI,
505 8th Avenue,
New York,
New York,
10018.
Okay,
and here is the number.
It's, uh,
1-800-932-2000.
And that's, uh,
the demonstration
of True Voice,
or,
as we like to say
here at BAI,
enhanced.
Yeah.
Are you gonna,
you guys maybe gonna publish
that article I sent?
Uh, which article is this?
Uh, over the internet.
I sent you an article
called Holes and Busies
for 2600 Magazine.
Okay, yeah,
that's probably
in the editorial department.
I can't swear
whether we're gonna use it or not,
but it is being looked at.
Okay.
All right?
Yep.
Thanks for sending it in.
Take it easy.
Take care.
All right, uh,
yeah,
everybody's welcome
to, uh,
send articles in
to, uh,
2600,
the Hacker Magazine,
either by using
our internet address,
which is
2600 at
well.sf.ca.us,
as in
San Francisco,
California,
United States,
or, uh,
by writing
to the editorial department
at, uh,
2600 P.O. Box 99,
Middle Island,
New York,
11953.
All right,
let's, uh,
let's see if we can
confuse an operator.
Wait,
I think I should
dial the number first.
The sound of static.
New York telephone.
I think she sounds
speeded up
for some reason.
From a push-button
telephone,
press 1-1
for collect calls.
I press 0.
Search this call
to another number.
Enter the complete
number now.
For person-to-person
and other calls,
press 0
for the operator.
Here we go.
From a dial telephone.
Please hold
for operator assistance.
James,
may I help you?
Uh, yes,
hi, operator.
I'm having trouble
reaching this number.
I'm getting a strange
recording.
One moment,
I'll try it.
Thank you.
Now you're called in.
The call you have made
requires a 25-step ticket.
Yes, that is strange.
Yeah, it is.
And you're not
on the coin phone,
are you?
Nope, nope,
definitely not.
One moment.
Yeah.
Is it only to that
number that you're
getting this?
Yes.
Or are you having
this trouble
with your phone?
Uh, no.
No, this is the only
number it asks
for money,
apparently.
Yes, I can't explain
that one, sir.
Hold on,
I'll connect it
to the service operator.
Okay, thank you.
You have reached
New York Telephone's
automated repair
service line.
All of our service
representatives are busy.
If you are calling
from a touch-tone phone,
we can take your trouble.
Please enter the area code
and telephone number
that needs to be repaired.
If you are not calling
from a touch-tone phone,
please call our regular
repair number again later.
Or stand by,
and your call will be
handled by the next
available representative.
Isn't this nice?
They can take our trouble.
What if they want our trouble?
Well, you know,
this is too much trouble,
actually,
because we know
what's going to happen.
We're going to wind up
talking to somebody
that's not going to
understand anything
about what we're
talking about,
and it's really not
the repair department's
problem anyway.
It's just a recording.
So, yeah,
718-282-9913
if you want to
confuse somebody
and make them think
they have to put a quarter
in their home phone.
Fun at parties,
you know.
Good evening,
you're on off the hook.
Yeah, hi,
I was wondering
if you have a street
address for Hacktick,
because I'm going
to be in Amsterdam
next week.
Well, let's see,
there's no street
address,
there's a P.O. box,
but, you know,
I can give you
their phone number,
and maybe you can
arrange to meet up
with them or something.
They don't have
an office or anything?
No, they don't
have a storefront,
it's run out of a
flat in an apartment.
I see.
Yeah, but if you
want their phone number,
I can give that
to you right now.
Okay.
All right, of course,
Country Code 31,
but you'll already be there,
and if you're in Amsterdam,
you won't need
the city code,
which is 20,
and the phone number
is 6001480.
Okay, and also,
how many phone lines
do you have?
How many phone lines
do I have personally?
BAI.
Here, we have,
we have 10 coming in here,
actually only 7 of them
ring now.
Okay, all right,
thanks a lot.
Okay.
And, yeah,
it's a good question,
actually.
If I was out there
listening, I'd want to
know how many phone lines
we had, too.
Good evening,
you're on BAI,
off the hook.
Hello,
you read the thing
from Ask,
the software organization,
and apparently,
you're turning in yourself
in when you ask questions
because they have
an 800 number.
Yeah.
And that 800 number
also makes you wonder,
why does the Dinkins
campaign use
an 800 number
when it would be
a local call?
Well, actually,
I'm guessing it's just
because they want
to collect people's
phone numbers.
Well, of course,
caller ID also works.
You know,
they could use that as well.
Oh, that's right.
Well, maybe,
however,
maybe the campaign
headquarters
does not have
caller ID capability.
Well, the thing is,
it's probably more
involved to have,
actually, no,
it's not involved
to have A&I capability
on the 800 number
because it will show up
on the phone bill.
That's right.
They don't even need
A&I because by the time
they get the bill,
they still have plenty
of time to call up people.
Yeah, and you can't
really block your number
when you call an 800 number
unless you go
through the operator.
So, yeah, you know,
you might have something there.
That might be a reason
why they like 800 numbers.
Sure, they have to pay
for the call,
but they get
everybody's number.
Because otherwise,
if someone really
wants to support them,
they should not mind
spending their own dime
to call up the campaign.
Uh-huh.
It doesn't make sense.
People from out of the city
wouldn't be calling them up.
Well, that's true.
It might not have worked
from out of the city, too.
I wasn't quite sure on that.
What's the hotline for?
Uh, it's if you want
to support Dinkins
for his re-election.
This is a campaign hotline.
I see.
I don't remember the number.
It might be like something
like 1-800-GO-DINKINS
or...
Go Dinkins.
Or go buy Dinkins.
Okay, that's interesting.
All right, we'll keep
an eye on that.
Thank you.
All right, thanks for calling.
Okay, let's see if we can
actually get something
else out here.
No, we can't even get...
This is what it's like
when the phone company
turns off touch-tone service.
You hit a tone,
but your dial tone
doesn't go away.
Sad, isn't it?
But they can do that, you know?
They have ultimate control
over their software.
Good evening.
You're on DAI.
Hi, hi.
I'd like to show
two quick questions.
My buddy just moved
into a small office space
that's got some phone jacks
installed there.
And we're trying to find out
what one of the numbers
is assigned to one
of those jacks.
Is there a number
we can dial
that'll get the number
spat back?
Yeah, where are you?
What area?
It's in Manhattan.
Okay, that's down...
Down Manhattan.
Dial 958.
958.
That should do it.
If that doesn't work,
try 511.
Okay.
And my second question,
I read a number
of articles
about emerging
communication technologies
and everybody's talking
about having to
increase the bandwidth.
What specifically
is the bandwidth
that we're moving at now
and what is it
that we need
to get things
like interactive video?
Well, the bandwidth
is a very general term.
On the internet,
the bandwidth
is the amount of data
that's going
from one point
to another
and when you have
more users
on one end
communicating with
more users
on another end,
that connection
uses more bandwidth.
There's more traffic.
It's really just
another word for traffic.
So in other words,
the bandwidth
doesn't necessarily
mean the bits
per second
or thousands
of bits per second
that have to be moved
in order to be able
to move live video
or things like that.
Yeah, it's measured
in that.
I don't know
what interactive video
or live video
would take.
It would take
significantly more.
More than the copper
wire that we're
communicating on
right now.
Well, it's...
I mean, we're talking
about fiber optics
and, you know,
dedicated lines
and all that kind
of thing
and it's not really...
Your plain old
telephone service
really isn't meant
for that kind
of thing.
I see.
Well, if you're
in an area
where they're not
using fiber optics
but they're using
standard, I guess,
wires, copper wires,
then when you speak
with someone,
that information
is moving
analogically,
isn't it?
No, that's...
I mean, it can still
transmit digitally
over, you know,
any kind of a wire.
It's a question
of capability, though.
It's a question
of how much
can you fit
on that particular
wire.
Fiber optic,
can you fit
much more
than just a,
you know,
a regular wire?
Okay, Emmanuel.
I really enjoy
your show.
Okay.
It's informative
and we need
more programming
of this nature.
Thank you.
Okay, thanks for
calling.
Thanks.
Bandwidth is a word
you better get used
to because it's
going to be used
a lot more in the
future, I can tell
you that.
Good evening,
you're on.
Emmanuel.
How you doing?
Hello,
Frongo.
Good evening.
Hi, how are you?
Good, what number
am I coming in on?
Oh, no, sorry.
Actually, you're
on the very last line.
You might want to
know that.
Oh, am I?
Yeah.
Okay.
You were talking
about your idea
for having a techno
ready for a month
for it.
Can you get a warehouse?
Well, you know,
we'd love to get a
warehouse.
This is for a
hacker event in
1994, the 10th
anniversary of 2600.
Basically modeled
after what just
happened in Amsterdam
except instead of
being on a campsite
in some huge
building someplace
where we'd have
enough room to
set up a network
to have speakers
and to have a
party afterwards
and all that kind
of thing and
people could
actually stay there.
But the question
remains, are there
places in Manhattan
that will allow for
that kind of thing
that are cheap
enough?
Yeah, that's
always a problem.
They were talking
about a week-long
event, you know,
something like that
in the summer of
1994.
Yeah, that's enough
ramp up and ramp
down, I think.
Yeah.
About True Voice,
it is louder, but
I tend to hear
more bass.
I don't know if
you hear it.
I heard a little
more bass, but I
wasn't sure if that
was my imagination
or not.
On a regular phone,
you see, we're
piping this through
a board here.
You call that on
a regular phone and
I don't know, it
just sounds louder.
You don't really
hear much more.
If your phone isn't
capable of producing
those sounds, you
know.
Yeah, if you've
got one of those.
Yeah, one of these
things here that we
have right now, in
fact.
Yeah.
And finally, I
wonder why nobody
ever mentions
Waffle when we're
talking about
Internet.
Well, you have, so
why don't you go
into it?
Oh, okay.
Well, Waffle is a
little MS-DOS
package that lets you
get your own net
news and Internet
style mail over a
UECP link, which
most people think
that you can't do
on an MS-DOS box.
And it is available
for FTP on the
Internet from most
Simtel 20 mirror
sites.
So it's freeware?
It's not at
shareware.
It's $30 and well
worth every penny.
Great.
For example, it's on
Oak Oakland EDU in
Pub MS-DOS Waffle.
It's just
oakland.edu?
It's oak, O-A-K
dot oakland dot
edu.
Okay.
The directory is
slash pub
slash MS-DOS
slash waffle
and the file people
want is
WAF
W-A-F
one six five
dot zip.
Okay, and that
can be accessed
using anonymous
FTP.
And what, do you
need any kind of
special setup to run
that?
Uh, no.
Nothing more than
you need to run
a plain old
bulletin board,
although you do
have to find the
site that will
shoot you.
Right.
Okay, basically
static is awful.
There we go.
I'm sorry?
It's a cool little
package.
Yeah.
Well, basically,
uh, basically it's
dialing out and it's
getting the feed every
now and then.
Right.
It's got a cron
built in so you can
build your own batch
files to do
maintenance.
Um, it'll accept
calls in from
whatever site is
feeding you.
It'll initiate
calls.
Uh, it's, it's
essentially the MS-DOS
analog of a Unix
box.
Uh-huh.
And it works
very well.
And what version
of DOS should you
have?
Um, I think 3.3 or
better.
Well, that's not,
that's not asking
too much.
No, it really
isn't.
Okay, well, that's
something I think a
lot of people will
check into.
And that's at
oak.oakland.edu,
FTP anonymously.
And, uh, people can
find it there.
Yes, and, uh,
actually it's at
any SimTel 20
site.
Okay.
Or, uh,
Mirror site.
All right, take
care, Emmanuel.
Okay, thanks for
calling.
Yep, bye-bye.
Might just check
that out myself
because, uh, it's
always fun to play
with these things
and see if you can
hook up to the net
yourself.
Good evening.
Hello.
How you doing?
Can you turn my
radio down?
Hello.
How you doing?
Okay.
I had a couple
comments earlier
about 9X and all
these people taking
over.
Yeah.
I really feel that
they should be
allowed to as far
as I'm concerned.
They should never
have broken up the
phone company.
They should allow
the other companies
to compete because
our service has
gone downhill since
the breakups.
Uh-huh.
Can you give me
some examples of
how it's gone
downhill?
Yeah, with all
the new telephones
that you're allowed
to connect to the
phone lines, when
you have a problem,
you don't know who
to talk to.
If you make a call
from here to
California, you
might be going
to two or three
different companies
to get to that
party.
So, who do you
call when you
have a problem?
Yeah, but do you
remember how it was
before when people
were afraid to put
extensions on their
line?
They thought the
phone company would
come and arrest
I've been around
this business for
a long time.
I remember when
you couldn't do
anything.
I think they
should have
modified the
rules so that
the phone company
was told, people
are going to put
things on their
phone line that
I can do this
as long as they
don't hurt the
network.
And they just
hope this is
about part 96,
part 68 is
attractive.
You know what?
But really, we've
gone downhill because
right now, when you
call an operator, they
don't even know what
you're talking about
when you ask for
help.
Well, yeah, I can
certainly attest to
that.
Another thing I
found out, interesting
thing, some of these
pay phones, they're
not New York
telephones, but
private telephones.
I don't know how
they're doing this.
So you call up your
MCI number, and then
you call up the
service, and you start
entering tones.
They disconnect you.
I don't know if they're
doing that because of
fraud or something
else.
Well, I think what
you're talking about is
they disconnect the
tones.
No, they don't
disconnect the tones.
They actually drop the
phone line.
They drop the phone
line?
That's unusual.
What some of those
pay phones do is they
disconnect the tones so
that you can't use
another phone company and
enter your authorization
code.
No, the way you go
through, say I wanted to
call my girlfriend and
check out, say, a stock
code on a touch phone
system.
You call up MCI and
enter your code.
Everything goes fine.
As soon as they answer,
they disconnect the
tones.
They disconnect the
tones or they
disconnect the line?
Sometimes they
disconnect the lines,
sometimes they
disconnect the tones.
Now, what I don't
understand is how do
they know that?
I don't think they're
using line reversal like
the phone company used to
do.
I don't know if MCI is
telling them that you've
been connected, if MCI is
providing a data flag.
It could be something
simple like just listening
for a ring, and then when
the ring stops, they assume
the call has been answered
at that point, or it could
also be a timing
mechanism.
A timing mechanism.
Because as soon as they
answer it, I try something
else very clever, I'll call
up MCI and give the
number to the operator
verbally, and the tone
is still working, because
I've hit a tone, but as
soon as the other party
answers, they disconnect
the tone.
So I don't know how the
phone knows that someone
has answered, even when
you're going to MCI.
Well, MCI has the same
capabilities of AT&T now,
as far as call supervision
and all that, but I, you
know...
No, they're passing that
on to the local phone.
Yeah.
It did line reverse where
the local phone ends.
Now, most of the phones
will only do this in the
bad neighborhoods.
Like, you know, hotels and
restaurants, they don't do
it.
I think they're trying to
prevent fraud.
Is that your opinion?
Well, how are they trying
to prevent fraud?
By preventing people from
talking to each other?
Yeah.
Oh, if you feel that people
will get people's cars,
count numbers, to do
things.
Uh-huh.
I've noticed that at the
train stations that this
happens, but I've noticed
that different places, that
they don't block it, such
as hotels and restaurants, but
I've noticed in other
areas, they do.
I don't know who's
determining which area
they're going to block it.
Well, I mean, isn't the
end result of this at the
customer's inconvenience?
Sure.
Well, do you want to get
a quote?
Yeah, I think you are
into these.
This really gets me pissed
off.
Yeah.
That I'm trying to get
through, and you can't
get through.
So I was wondering if you
knew anything about this.
It's not supposed to be
like that.
When you make a phone
call, you're not supposed
to be disconnected upon
connection.
That's rule number one.
As you're starting to
press the tones.
Right.
You press too many tones,
they disconnect you.
Right.
So I think they're
supervising the line
looking for the tones.
But getting back to the
other thing, I think that
breaking up the phone
company was one of the
biggest mistakes.
I think they should
allow competition, but
allow the phone company
to stay together.
Because as technology
has come about, I think
that you'll find that
phone companies will
want to get more and
more of the business.
Well, not a whole lot has
changed as far as the way
the customer is treated.
I'll give you that.
You know, it's basically
still people are being
mistreated by phone
companies.
The phone companies are
these huge entities that
answer to virtually nobody.
That's true, but I'll tell you
another thing.
They promised us lower rates
at the breakup, but we never
got that.
No, of course not.
But you get higher rates in
some ways.
You have the FCC surcharges.
You have higher rates for
local calls now.
Provided more jobs for
government employees.
Mm-hmm.
That's really what...
By the way, you having a
meeting this Friday?
Not this Friday.
The first Friday of
September.
Oh, you're going to have it
at Citicorp?
Yeah.
I'll try to be there.
I've been playing around
with this stuff for about
22 years, 23 years.
Oh, it's a long time
to be playing with this
stuff.
A lot has changed.
Oh, yes.
Remember back when you
used to be caught 401?
Well, there was up until
a few months ago.
Oh, actually, around
here.
I wonder if there are
any rack ones, you know,
panels.
I don't know.
But if you travel around
the country, you'll find
things like that still in
various places.
Yeah.
By the way, that thing
with the enhanced voice?
Yeah.
That's just a lot of
B.
They're probably just
putting it for
compression or something.
Yeah, I'm not quite
sure what they're doing.
I think we'll find out
when we do.
We'll certainly let
people know.
Oh, I would love to
use that system.
I need, really, to give
me a lot for my money.
It's absolutely free.
Part of the, again, the
iPlan, yeah.
Well, I would MCI.
Okay.
Just out of protest,
AT&T.
Yeah.
Well, then you won't be
getting this enhanced
service.
The rest of us will be
playing with it.
You'll have to deal with
the tin can effect, as
they like to call it.
Well, actually, most of
your new telephones
will be produced down to
the low frequencies.
The older phones want
newer, you know,
Sonys, the Radio
Shacks.
Right.
They do tend to
produce the lower
frequencies.
Okay, thanks, Manuel.
All right, thanks for
calling.
Bye.
Good evening, you're
on Off the Huff.
All right.
Well, New York
Tel made it hard to
call in.
This is like the
fourth time I had to
call in, but I've got
to give the boo of the
week to our wonderful
supplier, Radio Shack,
who was just mentioned
before.
I went to the local
Radio Shack, and I
said, is your new
1994 catalog out?
And the guy said,
yes, that'll be $2.95.
And I said, you've got
to be crazy.
I spend a couple
hundred dollars here
every year.
Now you're going to
charge for the catalog?
You know, how am I
going to know what
to buy if you don't
give it to me?
What the new catalog
numbers are so they
can punch it up in
that wonderful computer
that they have.
That's unbelievable.
Yeah.
So, I mean, this is
just utterly absurd
what they're doing.
So I just wanted to
give them the boo of
the day.
The boo of the week
goes to AT&T for its
going back into the
local loop with
buying out in the
car, and we'll see
whether the FCC goes
along with that.
But I agree, service
has gotten much
worse since the
breakup.
The prices for
residential calls
compared to business
calls and long
distance calls have
gone up in terms of
the percentage that
they pay.
The equipment is much
more inferior now.
You have all these
scam services, 900
lines, alternative
operator services, and
so on and so forth.
And I don't think
that the average
person has really
gained anything.
I think we're really
lost by it.
You're probably right.
Probably the average
person hasn't gained
much at all, if
anything.
Yeah, I mean,
obviously, before the
breakup, the world,
these ridiculous
things, everything was
hardwired in.
You know, as you said
about getting an extra
extension in was a big
deal.
But, you know, a lot
of people still have
those old bell system
phones.
You need a bomb
pretty much to blow
them up.
They last 20, 30
years.
These phones now, if
you get five or ten
years out of them, you
are really lucky,
including the AT&T
phones, which are
among the better of
the phones today.
Actually, they're
pretty lousy, those
AT&T phones of today.
Yeah, compared to
the old ones, but
compared to the other
ones that are out on
the market, they're
like, they seem to be
decent.
Yeah, it doesn't say
much, unfortunately.
But, yeah, the old
Western Electrics,
they're the ones.
Yeah, there are a lot
of them left, and
they had a real bell
in them, they'd really
ring.
I have a couple of
those still around
here.
So, that's just my
boo of the day to
Radio Shack, getting
back to them.
I don't know, they
can try and nickel
and dine the
customers and
everything, and it's
just utterly absurd.
I just want to, if
anyone is listening out
there from the Tandy
Corporation, you know,
you really are making
it difficult for...
Well, it's already
unpleasant enough going
into a Radio Shack,
because you always get
interrogated whenever
you buy something as
to your address and
phone number and all
this garbage, you know.
If you buy something
that's small, like a
few dollars, they don't
want to go through the
whole hassle.
They're also getting
rid of one of the
wonderful things they
had, the Battery of the
Month Club.
Do you remember that?
Yeah, I remember that.
They're getting rid of
that.
I think they're letting
the cards that you
have run out, but
they're getting rid of
it because they say
they don't want the
battery to be the
symbol of their
company.
But I said, you know,
you get a battery that
probably costs about
two cents because it's
the cheap batteries that
they give you.
Right.
And, you know, it gets
you into the store, look
around, maybe you'll
think, you remember you
had a cable you have to
pick up or, you know,
some little piece you
have to pick up and you
should spend a few bucks
and now there's less
incentive to go in there
as well.
That's true.
Well, maybe it's a good
thing.
Maybe something else will
spring up that's better.
Let's hope so.
I don't know.
We'll see.
All right.
Thanks for calling.
Okay.
Good night.
I mean, there should be
more than just one place
that sells electronic
parts around.
You know, it's a chain.
Maybe more things will
spring up.
Good evening.
Hi.
I'm amazed.
It took me about four
times getting hung up on
together.
Four seems to be the
average, yeah.
Very frustrating since I
am not in 212 and I don't
have a touchtone phone.
Wow.
So, very quickly, I spoke
to you before quite a while
ago and complained about
the barrage of calls I was
getting from Newsday and I
could not get them to stop
and my going around from
the district attorney and
the New York State Bar
Association and around and
around and everyone said,
oh, anyone can call you
whatever they want as long
as it's not obscene and
they're not trying to be a
collection agency.
That's untrue.
You can tell a sales agency
to stop calling you and they
have to stop.
Well, I'm told that they
said the Consumer Protection
Agency as of January 1st
has a new regulation.
Do you have any specifics
on that?
Because they did not.
I don't know of a new
regulation.
I know of an old
regulation that says if you
say, don't call me and
someone persists in calling
you, that constitutes
harassment, whether it's a
collection agency or a
sales...
That's not according to the
phone company.
I immediately called their
harassment line when this
happened to me and they
said, I'm sorry, that's not
harassment.
There's nothing we can do.
Well, I would suggest
calling a consumer agency
instead.
I did.
I mean, when I did this, I
called about half a dozen to a
dozen different agencies and
eventually came full circle.
In any case, a couple of other
things.
For caller ID, I'm on all call
restrict.
And of course, you can toggle
that back and forth and you
have no way of telling from
your phone whether it's on or
not.
And I spoke to the phone
company the other day and I
gathered that the only way they
have of doing that is Monday
through Friday during certain
hours when there is someone at
the phone and they have to
manually call this up.
Is there any other suggestion
you have for checking whether
or not your all call
restrict is on?
There's only one way to know
if the phone company has not
messed it up and that's to
have a caller ID box to call it
and see if your number shows
up.
I wish I could say there was
another way to find out, but
that is, I mean, I've been
through.
958 works whatever you do.
Oh, it works no matter what.
That's got nothing to do with
it.
Right.
But, you know, I wish I could
say it was, you know, you
could trust New York Telephone to
get it right, but you can't.
I've been through so many
hassles with them where they put
it on the wrong line, they put
blocking on this line and not
on that line, and they've
gotten it all botched.
Now, you had someone on a few
months ago, and I wrote it
down, but I don't have it with
me.
Someone who had a magazine and
an 800 number, and you call up
and you get a recording telling
you what phone number you're
calling from?
Yeah, that's been
disconnected, so that's a
little bit.
Yeah.
Apparently, so many people are
calling.
I thought I might be able to
use them.
If we get another number like
that, of course, we'll pass it
on.
Right.
And just a couple of days
ago, someone called me during
the lightning storm, and we got
someone else's phone conversation
came on.
Really?
And he hung up, and I stayed on
and listened for a while, trying
to figure out what was going on.
They could not hear me at all.
Uh-huh.
And then that phone conversation
got interrupted by someone else's
conversation, and I hung up the
phone, and I couldn't get my
dial tone back for about five
minutes.
Every time I picked up the
phone, I was hearing someone
else.
Those kind of things happen a lot.
It's not necessarily related to
thunder, but, you know, anything
could trigger it, I suppose.
Yeah.
Well, at the moment, I was trying
out a local cordless phone, and I
immediately ran and hung it up
and picked up the wall phone, and
that didn't seem to do anything
at all.
We got on the wall phone and the
cordless phone.
Yeah.
It didn't seem to matter.
I was just locked out for about
five minutes before I could get
my own line back.
And last question.
Any suggestions for voicemail-style
digital answering machines, which I
hear are coming into Vogue, so you
can have your own voicemail system, but
own it instead of renting it from
the phone company and not owning
your own messages?
Well, yeah.
If you have a voicemail system, you'd
need a computer, of course, as well as
a phone line.
Right.
Is that the way you're willing to
go?
Possibly.
Okay.
Well, someone had just told me that
people were chipping in on a wedding
present for someone and said that there
was an expensive digital answering
machine, that you could have multiple
tracks of people leaving messages for
different people.
Well, you could have it as complex as
you want.
We run the 2600 voice message system, and
we made a voice bulletin board out of
it because you can just keep making all
these different routines that do
various things.
And that's from a company called
Talking Technologies in California.
It's called the Big Mouth system.
But there are a lot of limitations on
that particular system, and we're
looking for something better.
So we're in kind of the same boat.
We don't really know.
We haven't found anything that's suited
for people.
As opposed to companies?
Yeah.
Most of it seems to be geared towards
companies, and they're too big, you
know?
And, of course, too expensive as well.
Right.
Well, all right.
As you get the results of your search,
announce it over the show.
Okay.
Hopefully people will send in any
information they find, too.
Thanks for calling.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.
Okay.
We're out of time once again.
This has been Off the Hook.
We'll be back again next week from
10 o'clock to 11 o'clock, talking
about the latest developments in
telephones and computers and
technological stupidity and all the
other wonderful things that the
1990s are comprised of.
Again, our address is Off the Hook,
care of WBAI, 505 8th Avenue, New
York, New York, 10018.
Thanks to everybody who called.
Thanks to everybody who listened.
This is Emmanuel Goldstein.
Have a good week.
See you again next Wednesday.
I cut myself all shaving.
Now I can't make a cut.
It couldn't get much worse.
But if they could, they would.
Bonne-de-l'e-bonne for the best,
expect the worst.
I hope that's understood.
Bonne-de-l'e-bonne!
The night of Friday, August the...
The night of Friday, August the...