[00:10.600 --> 00:13.640]  I love the New York City Police Department.
[00:13.900 --> 00:15.080]  Yes, there's corruption.
[00:15.390 --> 00:16.620]  Yes, there's brutality.
[00:17.050 --> 00:19.080]  Good cops are against it.
[00:19.280 --> 00:20.480]  We want to fight it.
[00:20.600 --> 00:22.010]  We want to end it.
[00:22.240 --> 00:22.860]  Bullshit!
[00:23.800 --> 00:37.970]  The Coalition to Remove Rudolph Giuliani, the Brooklyn Coalition for Justice and Parents Against Police Brutality, are asking that you join them in a demand that the Justice Department place the New York City Police Department into receivership.
[00:37.980 --> 00:44.610]  That they institute a federal task force to investigate and prosecute cases of police brutality.
[00:44.960 --> 00:50.200]  That they stop the use of hollow-point bullets and disband the street crimes unit.
[00:50.380 --> 00:54.220]  Join them on Wednesday, March 24th, from 5 to 7 p.m.
[00:54.460 --> 00:57.500]  at the Department of Justice at 26 Federal Plaza.
[00:57.680 --> 01:02.520]  For more information, call area code 718-859-0857.
[01:02.760 --> 01:05.860]  That's 718-859-0857.
[01:05.860 --> 01:12.580]  This has been a public service announcement for the citywide coalition to remove Rudolph Giuliani.
[01:17.200 --> 01:18.480]  And you're
[01:21.820 --> 01:26.260]  listening to radio station WBAI in New York.
[01:26.460 --> 01:28.000]  Time now for Off the Hook.
[01:34.100 --> 01:36.040]  The telephone keeps ringing.
[01:36.360 --> 01:38.560]  So I ripped it off the wall.
[01:39.500 --> 01:41.500]  I cut myself while shaving.
[01:42.040 --> 01:44.100]  Now I can't make a cough.
[01:44.920 --> 01:46.820]  It couldn't get much worse.
[01:47.460 --> 01:49.380]  But if they could, they would.
[01:49.640 --> 01:52.280]  But they live on for the best, expect the worst.
[01:52.840 --> 01:54.760]  I hope that's understood.
[01:54.940 --> 01:55.780]  But they live on!
[03:20.530 --> 03:21.370]  Well, how are you, Dan?
[03:21.410 --> 03:22.010]  I'm just down in the mood.
[03:22.130 --> 03:22.890]  Oh, good evening.
[03:23.150 --> 03:27.270]  You're listening to Off the Hook.
[03:27.470 --> 03:38.530]  And this is another Tuesday night where we're talking about the latest goings-on in the world of cyberspace and computer hackers and the phones and all kinds of other fun things like that.
[03:40.350 --> 03:41.390]  And politics.
[03:41.590 --> 03:44.650]  Of course, politics are always being injected into the discussion.
[03:45.290 --> 03:47.130]  We'll have a bit of that to talk about.
[03:47.270 --> 03:48.550]  Local and national.
[03:49.330 --> 03:51.390]  Let's start with the national, won't we?
[03:51.510 --> 03:51.790]  Yes.
[03:53.990 --> 03:59.430]  We show no favoritism here for left or right, center or up in space someplace.
[04:01.410 --> 04:03.570]  Not that there is much of a left, I'll say that.
[04:03.710 --> 04:07.130]  I mean, they call Gore and Clinton left.
[04:07.490 --> 04:08.890]  You know, it's like, come on already.
[04:09.830 --> 04:12.750]  I don't know, the czar was more left than these guys.
[04:12.890 --> 04:13.410]  Remember the czar?
[04:14.690 --> 04:15.090]  Yeah.
[04:15.830 --> 04:17.990]  Well, Al Gore, you hear about this one, Isaac?
[04:18.430 --> 04:19.410]  No, actually, oh.
[04:19.850 --> 04:21.030]  I think you heard about this one.
[04:21.110 --> 04:22.230]  Yeah, he invented the internet.
[04:22.510 --> 04:24.730]  Well, what's the exact...
[04:25.350 --> 04:27.490]  This Wolf Blitzer guy, he's a real genius.
[04:27.490 --> 04:30.850]  He gets a quote like that from Al Gore during an interview.
[04:31.170 --> 04:32.570]  And he lets it go.
[04:32.730 --> 04:34.030]  He totally lets it go.
[04:34.570 --> 04:38.030]  Doesn't say just, what in tarnation are you talking about?
[04:38.790 --> 04:39.050]  No.
[04:39.590 --> 04:39.770]  No.
[04:41.370 --> 04:43.770]  Okay, let me see if I can find it.
[04:44.770 --> 04:50.150]  Someone gave me the entire interview, which is nice, but it's really not very helpful.
[04:52.970 --> 04:59.190]  Basically, Al Gore, the vice president of the United States, took credit for the internet.
[04:59.950 --> 05:02.790]  Which, I don't know, is a very smart thing to do.
[05:03.390 --> 05:08.450]  You know, considering all the trouble that the internet has caused in the last couple of years.
[05:10.590 --> 05:11.710]  Give me some filler here.
[05:11.830 --> 05:12.690]  Oh, I'm sorry.
[05:12.870 --> 05:13.050]  Filler.
[05:13.590 --> 05:13.790]  Yeah.
[05:14.030 --> 05:15.370]  Well, would you like me to look for it?
[05:15.430 --> 05:17.070]  Because I have read the full interview.
[05:17.370 --> 05:18.310]  Yeah, do you know exactly where it is?
[05:18.330 --> 05:19.130]  Is it at the beginning, the end?
[05:19.170 --> 05:20.250]  Well, it's towards the end-ish.
[05:20.390 --> 05:21.150]  It is towards the end.
[05:21.530 --> 05:23.950]  But before he starts talking about Elizabeth Dole...
[05:23.950 --> 05:24.630]  I don't...
[05:24.630 --> 05:26.350]  Well, that's a nasty thing to say about her.
[05:26.890 --> 05:29.090]  I didn't know if the vice president could use that kind of language.
[05:29.830 --> 05:30.730]  That's not nice.
[05:31.230 --> 05:32.110]  That's not nice.
[05:32.430 --> 05:33.530]  And it's a medical condition.
[05:33.550 --> 05:34.850]  It's really not something you should make fun of.
[05:35.510 --> 05:36.510]  Yeah, why don't you look for it?
[05:36.510 --> 05:38.050]  Because I'm not having very much success here.
[05:38.210 --> 05:41.310]  Let me tell you about this fascinating new offer that I'm getting from...
[05:41.310 --> 05:42.950]  I'm getting lots of different offers.
[05:43.310 --> 05:45.990]  Every day I get mail from the phone companies.
[05:46.610 --> 05:49.970]  Now, you may recall a couple of months ago...
[05:49.970 --> 05:50.350]  Here it is.
[05:50.590 --> 05:51.270]  You found it.
[05:51.310 --> 05:51.490]  Okay.
[05:51.790 --> 05:53.590]  I'll just talk about my special offers later.
[05:53.830 --> 05:55.270]  Well, you might want to go ahead.
[05:55.410 --> 05:55.830]  Here it is.
[05:58.130 --> 05:58.530]  Question...
[05:58.530 --> 06:00.950]  Or rather, reply to Wolf from Gore.
[06:01.190 --> 06:01.970]  What's the question?
[06:02.130 --> 06:03.190]  The question is...
[06:03.190 --> 06:06.490]  I want to get some of those substantive domestic and international...
[06:06.510 --> 06:07.310]  international issues in a minute.
[06:07.510 --> 06:10.850]  But let's just wrap up a little bit about the politics right now.
[06:10.990 --> 06:12.350]  Could you say something really stupid?
[06:12.610 --> 06:12.790]  Yeah.
[06:13.110 --> 06:14.550]  Is that what the question was?
[06:14.550 --> 06:23.090]  Why should Democrats, looking at the Democratic nomination, the process, support you instead of Bill Bradley, a friend of yours, a former colleague in the Senate?
[06:23.270 --> 06:27.070]  What do you have to bring to us that he doesn't necessarily bring to the process?
[06:28.330 --> 06:30.310]  Mistruths and preposterous statements.
[06:30.310 --> 06:33.930]  And Gore's reply, the duh here is omitted.
[06:34.410 --> 06:36.070]  Well, I will be...
[06:36.070 --> 06:41.130]  I'll be offering my vision when my campaign begins, and it'll be a comprehensive and sweeping.
[06:41.430 --> 06:44.910]  And I hope that it'll be compelling enough to draw people toward it.
[06:45.010 --> 06:46.050]  I feel that it will be.
[06:46.630 --> 06:49.630]  But I will emerge from my dialogue with the American people.
[06:50.010 --> 06:53.030]  I've traveled to every part of this country during the last six years.
[06:53.190 --> 06:58.190]  During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet.
[06:58.670 --> 07:08.990]  I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth, environmental protection, improvements to our education system.
[07:09.310 --> 07:09.770]  Okay.
[07:09.910 --> 07:11.270]  Well, let's just stop right there.
[07:11.390 --> 07:13.610]  Now, he took the initiative in inventing the Internet.
[07:13.850 --> 07:14.030]  Yes.
[07:14.130 --> 07:14.950]  Or what was it again?
[07:15.390 --> 07:19.870]  And took the initiative in the Internet and used the word invent?
[07:20.210 --> 07:20.430]  No.
[07:21.350 --> 07:21.810]  Establishing?
[07:21.990 --> 07:23.730]  I took the initiative in creating the Internet.
[07:24.030 --> 07:25.230]  So I guess that's inventing, creating.
[07:25.590 --> 07:27.730]  My favorite was some of the replies to that.
[07:27.730 --> 07:29.610]  Well, yeah, Trent Lott, in fact.
[07:29.950 --> 07:30.150]  Yes.
[07:30.250 --> 07:30.870]  Someone who...
[07:30.870 --> 07:31.230]  You have that?
[07:31.410 --> 07:32.210]  I have it right here, yeah.
[07:33.070 --> 07:35.630]  He took credit for inventing the...
[07:35.630 --> 07:36.530]  What the world are you doing?
[07:37.150 --> 07:37.910]  Oh, okay.
[07:38.110 --> 07:39.870]  Set that to go off after we leave the studio.
[07:40.050 --> 07:40.210]  I'm sorry.
[07:40.390 --> 07:40.570]  All right.
[07:41.850 --> 07:46.450]  Trent Lott issued a tongue-in-cheek news release saying he created the paperclip.
[07:46.670 --> 07:46.830]  Yes.
[07:46.990 --> 07:50.790]  During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the paperclips at Lott.
[07:51.510 --> 07:53.610]  Paperclips bind us together as a nation.
[07:56.250 --> 07:57.870]  And, yeah, okay.
[07:58.210 --> 07:59.450]  Well, you know, the whole thing.
[07:59.530 --> 08:00.510]  I mean, I don't understand.
[08:00.850 --> 08:04.430]  This is probably going to cause him serious votes in the election.
[08:04.950 --> 08:07.890]  What is going through someone's mind when they say something like that?
[08:07.910 --> 08:08.550]  Evidently nothing.
[08:08.990 --> 08:11.130]  Well, I mean, there's got to be something there.
[08:11.290 --> 08:14.610]  There has to be some notion of a thought somewhere behind that statement.
[08:15.150 --> 08:28.450]  He's probably trying to point to the fact that while he was in Congress, I can't verify this, but I would imagine that he was pushing towards more funding for a national science foundation, network research, or whatever else.
[08:28.670 --> 08:30.410]  Then that's not creating the internet.
[08:30.610 --> 08:32.890]  That's helping the internet to prosper, perhaps.
[08:32.930 --> 08:34.310]  Have you read the rest of that interview?
[08:34.690 --> 08:35.090]  No.
[08:35.150 --> 08:36.250]  I try to stay away from things like that.
[08:36.250 --> 08:40.070]  He used the word initiative four times within two sentences.
[08:41.210 --> 08:45.910]  You know, just his grasp of the English language is somewhat lacking.
[08:46.110 --> 08:47.670]  Well, that's never been a requirement for a president.
[08:48.130 --> 08:49.010]  He's not a...
[08:49.010 --> 08:52.710]  Well, he's a possible president, which is incredibly frightening.
[08:52.930 --> 09:00.050]  But this is basically going to be his catchphrase that will hang around his neck until the election.
[09:00.050 --> 09:04.130]  I think, you know, pair him off against Quayle, and you're going to have some amazing debates there.
[09:04.130 --> 09:09.950]  You know, where words, words that have never even been thought of yet will be, will be created and, and spewn about.
[09:10.130 --> 09:11.230]  Saturday morning dialogue.
[09:11.530 --> 09:12.670]  It will be, it'll be something.
[09:12.830 --> 09:13.350]  It'll be something.
[09:13.490 --> 09:14.970]  Or better yet, how about running team?
[09:15.190 --> 09:16.230]  You know, Dole and Quayle.
[09:16.490 --> 09:17.590]  The best of both worlds.
[09:18.630 --> 09:19.190]  Oh boy.
[09:19.650 --> 09:22.930]  And single syllables, so you don't have to worry about those long names.
[09:23.770 --> 09:24.450]  Like Reagan.
[09:25.390 --> 09:25.790]  Okay.
[09:26.550 --> 09:28.050]  Here's my offer from AT&T.
[09:28.250 --> 09:39.670]  Now, as you recall, a few months ago, we switched one of our phone lines over to, I believe it was, um, IDT, which, uh, routed your calls over the internet if you used a special calling card, uh, feature.
[09:40.310 --> 09:42.990]  And, uh, apparently that didn't sit well with AT&T.
[09:43.390 --> 09:53.370]  They, uh, got their thugs together and sent me a letter, uh, saying that as a special customer, I can now enjoy, um, these, these offers right, right now.
[09:53.590 --> 09:55.270]  Five cents a minute all day Sunday.
[09:55.610 --> 09:55.670]  Ooh.
[09:56.110 --> 09:57.610]  Ten cents a minute all the times.
[09:57.930 --> 09:59.670]  And, a hundred dollars cash.
[10:00.650 --> 10:01.530]  Look at that, look at that.
[10:02.270 --> 10:03.850]  There's actually a hundred dollars cash in the envelope?
[10:03.850 --> 10:04.110]  Well, that's a check.
[10:04.370 --> 10:05.030]  Well, it's a check.
[10:05.190 --> 10:06.250]  Oh, it's a hundred dollar check.
[10:06.350 --> 10:06.850]  It's a check.
[10:07.090 --> 10:15.830]  Um, and, um, yes, that's, um, if I, if I catch, and keep in mind, this is a phone line that I make approximately three dollars worth of phone calls on per month.
[10:15.830 --> 10:20.950]  Uh, they sent me a check for a hundred dollars to switch that right back over to AT&T from IDT.
[10:21.450 --> 10:23.790]  You know, this could keep going on for a long, long time.
[10:24.090 --> 10:25.310]  Uh, I, I'd hold out.
[10:25.650 --> 10:25.850]  Uh-huh.
[10:26.010 --> 10:32.890]  Well, basically what I have to do is I have to call this phone number and, uh, and enter a certain extension to get a code for my check.
[10:32.990 --> 10:33.930]  I have to fill in the code.
[10:34.050 --> 10:34.890]  It's a four-digit PIN.
[10:35.030 --> 10:35.470]  This is great.
[10:35.550 --> 10:36.590]  I'm, like, hacking a check here.
[10:36.950 --> 10:39.230]  And I have to fill that in in order to cash the check.
[10:39.430 --> 10:41.590]  Now, the attached one hundred dollar check is real.
[10:41.870 --> 10:45.090]  Just call the number above for your check code and write it in the boxes on the check.
[10:45.090 --> 10:48.350]  Then, cash the check right away and spend it on anything you like.
[10:48.930 --> 10:49.290]  Okay.
[10:49.290 --> 10:52.230]  You can spend it on any, you don't have to spend it on things they tell you to spend it on.
[10:52.290 --> 10:53.390]  You can spend it on anything you like.
[10:53.510 --> 10:53.890]  Oh, that's very nice of it.
[10:53.890 --> 10:54.350]  Isn't that nice?
[10:54.390 --> 10:55.890]  That's what living in the free world is all about.
[10:56.070 --> 10:56.130]  Wow.
[10:56.230 --> 11:00.970]  When you do, you'll be switched back to AT&T for quality service and the most powerful network in the world.
[11:01.030 --> 11:02.310]  I'm looking for the catch.
[11:02.870 --> 11:03.450]  Uh, question.
[11:03.450 --> 11:05.310]  You look like, like you know the catch.
[11:05.410 --> 11:05.830]  What is the catch?
[11:05.910 --> 11:13.470]  Well, um, uh, I, how does a bank differentiate the check with the four digits in it with, as from one without?
[11:13.470 --> 11:14.410]  That's a very good question.
[11:14.530 --> 11:14.810]  I don't know.
[11:14.870 --> 11:17.790]  And also, on the back of the check is all this little tiny writing.
[11:17.970 --> 11:19.410]  Yeah, I was wondering what that was.
[11:19.750 --> 11:20.410]  Okay, let me read this.
[11:20.470 --> 11:20.790]  Yes.
[11:21.070 --> 11:23.350]  Switch me to AT&T Residential Long Distance Service.
[11:23.490 --> 11:23.630]  Okay.
[11:23.750 --> 11:23.870]  Okay.
[11:26.670 --> 11:27.650]  And... Oh, dear.
[11:28.350 --> 11:28.750]  Oh?
[11:29.470 --> 11:30.070]  Oh, dear.
[11:30.670 --> 11:36.870]  And, if available in my area, please switch me to AT&T Local Toll Service.
[11:37.490 --> 11:38.650]  Oh, that's interesting.
[11:38.990 --> 11:39.910]  You know what that is.
[11:40.630 --> 11:43.310]  That's your local calls will then be routed over AT&T.
[11:43.310 --> 11:45.090]  You'll pay a much higher rate than Bell Atlantic.
[11:45.310 --> 11:45.830]  I would imagine.
[11:46.170 --> 11:46.310]  Yeah.
[11:46.510 --> 11:50.970]  And they also be known as in-state long distance, local long distance, regional or shorter distance calls.
[11:51.490 --> 11:53.270]  Or calls, perhaps, that were free before.
[11:53.450 --> 11:56.910]  And now you have to pay 10 cents a minute just to call the next phone over.
[11:57.150 --> 11:57.330]  Hmm.
[11:57.730 --> 11:58.890]  Very clever, AT&T.
[11:58.890 --> 11:59.390]  Very clever.
[11:59.470 --> 12:02.550]  But I'm not so stupid I'm going to fall for this that quickly.
[12:02.690 --> 12:05.730]  Although, I might still choose to fall for this because $100 is $100.
[12:05.970 --> 12:06.310]  That's true.
[12:06.790 --> 12:09.650]  And if I don't make any calls from that phone line, you know, I'm still coming out ahead.
[12:09.650 --> 12:13.730]  And also, I could, next week, switch right back to another company and get more money out of this.
[12:14.050 --> 12:16.010]  Well, is it a contract?
[12:16.030 --> 12:17.030]  Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on.
[12:17.090 --> 12:25.150]  By signing, cashing, and or depositing this check, I agree to switch my residential long distance and, if available in my area, local toll services to AT&T.
[12:25.150 --> 12:28.450]  And to take the affirmative steps required to make this switch.
[12:28.570 --> 12:29.170]  What does that mean?
[12:29.390 --> 12:30.030]  The affirmative.
[12:30.030 --> 12:31.190]  Take the affirmative steps.
[12:32.490 --> 12:34.670]  I guess I have to say yes somewhere along the lines.
[12:34.770 --> 12:36.770]  But I think I'm saying yes by signing the damn thing.
[12:36.970 --> 12:42.030]  I authorize AT&T to switch these services and to notify my local telephone company of my decision.
[12:42.310 --> 12:48.730]  I understand that for each of these services, I may designate only one carrier per service for the telephone number listed on this check.
[12:49.010 --> 12:52.710]  My local telephone company may charge me a fee to switch these services.
[12:53.050 --> 12:54.770]  Check void if altered.
[12:55.290 --> 12:55.650]  Ooh.
[12:55.830 --> 12:56.070]  Okay.
[12:56.190 --> 12:58.390]  So you can't put a black line through the local service thing.
[12:58.390 --> 12:59.130]  I guess not, no.
[13:00.430 --> 13:01.310]  That's not so bad.
[13:01.470 --> 13:06.230]  I mean, I still think that there's no fine print here saying I have to keep them for a certain amount of time.
[13:06.730 --> 13:07.570]  I'd imagine there.
[13:07.790 --> 13:09.330]  If you look hard enough, it'll probably...
[13:09.330 --> 13:10.210]  I'm looking very hard.
[13:10.350 --> 13:11.230]  I'm looking very hard.
[13:14.030 --> 13:14.670]  Over, please.
[13:14.850 --> 13:16.510]  Okay, I'm reading the back page now.
[13:16.710 --> 13:18.430]  Now, your phone number is actually on that check?
[13:18.730 --> 13:19.630]  That's a good question, too.
[13:19.710 --> 13:20.670]  Is my phone number on the check?
[13:20.870 --> 13:21.810]  They said it was.
[13:22.150 --> 13:22.650]  Yeah, there it is.
[13:22.850 --> 13:23.590]  Yeah, it's on the check.
[13:23.830 --> 13:24.030]  All right.
[13:25.770 --> 13:26.130]  Okay.
[13:27.450 --> 13:32.770]  Subject to billing availability, you must be an AT&T residential long-distance subscriber to have AT&T One Rate Plus with five cents.
[13:32.930 --> 13:34.470]  Sunday's in-state rates vary.
[13:34.690 --> 13:35.690]  Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
[13:36.150 --> 13:39.530]  In-state rates vary, so you won't get five cents a minute, you know, if you thought that was a good deal.
[13:39.530 --> 13:44.230]  No, you're not going to get in-state, you're going to pay 10 cents or 20 cents to call the phone across the street.
[13:44.970 --> 13:45.330]  That's how they get you.
[13:45.330 --> 13:46.270]  Well, that's probably local.
[13:47.070 --> 13:48.350]  No, well, okay.
[13:48.570 --> 13:49.590]  Across the street is.
[13:49.610 --> 13:50.250]  All right, all right.
[13:50.310 --> 13:51.090]  Yeah, you're right about that.
[13:51.450 --> 13:51.810]  But...
[13:51.810 --> 13:52.570]  Across town.
[13:52.570 --> 13:56.150]  Across town or across the county, that's going to be regional.
[13:56.370 --> 14:00.510]  And that's, yeah, that's where you could wind up paying significantly more than what you pay now.
[14:01.250 --> 14:05.750]  Enrollment for five cents Sundays expires May, August 15th, 1999.
[14:06.270 --> 14:09.090]  Rate excludes carrier line charge and universal connectivity charge.
[14:09.210 --> 14:10.710]  That's basically those charges for nothing on your phone.
[14:12.370 --> 14:12.730]  Okay.
[14:13.570 --> 14:15.030]  And I don't see anything else.
[14:16.590 --> 14:17.450]  I don't see anything else.
[14:17.530 --> 14:18.630]  So, okay, I might try that.
[14:18.730 --> 14:19.950]  I might try that, but I'm open to suggest...
[14:19.950 --> 14:20.530]  Oh, you know, 100 bucks.
[14:20.850 --> 14:22.330]  Now, that's not the only offer I got.
[14:22.370 --> 14:23.330]  I got this other offer here.
[14:23.890 --> 14:24.990]  This comes from...
[14:24.990 --> 14:27.530]  It actually came from American Express, of all people.
[14:27.610 --> 14:27.730]  Really?
[14:27.730 --> 14:28.430]  American Express.
[14:29.310 --> 14:30.310]  They sent me this letter.
[14:30.510 --> 14:30.830]  Look at this.
[14:31.090 --> 14:33.770]  Unlimited weekend calling and unlimited internet access.
[14:34.070 --> 14:34.430]  Wow.
[14:34.430 --> 14:34.490]  Wow.
[14:34.810 --> 14:37.510]  Screaming at it to you in bold-faced red print.
[14:40.150 --> 14:41.390]  Your time is valuable.
[14:41.590 --> 14:43.650]  We want you to help you get the most from it.
[14:44.110 --> 14:44.730]  Your time.
[14:44.910 --> 14:46.270]  They mean that because that's in bold.
[14:46.610 --> 14:46.830]  Mm-hmm.
[14:47.130 --> 14:49.810]  As an American Express card member, we are pleased...
[14:52.370 --> 14:53.830]  I'm the American Express card...
[14:53.830 --> 14:57.690]  I mean, as an American Express card member, it should be me, not them.
[14:58.070 --> 14:59.150]  Maybe I'm just being picky here.
[14:59.170 --> 15:01.630]  As an American Express card member, we are pleased...
[15:01.630 --> 15:01.830]  Oh, okay.
[15:01.890 --> 15:03.090]  We are pleased to offer you...
[15:03.090 --> 15:03.270]  Yes.
[15:03.430 --> 15:03.970]  Kind of clumsy.
[15:04.430 --> 15:09.530]  A great savings opportunity on your long-distance calls and internet dial-up access.
[15:09.690 --> 15:14.970]  When you sign up now for Sprint, you will get unlimited, unlimited domestic long-distance calls all weekend long.
[15:16.030 --> 15:17.090]  Now, think about this.
[15:17.190 --> 15:17.550]  Unlimited.
[15:17.650 --> 15:18.730]  You pay a certain price.
[15:18.730 --> 15:22.850]  This is like the regional unlimited calling plan that we've had here for a few years.
[15:23.530 --> 15:31.430]  For a total cost of $17.95 per month, you can call any place in the domestic United States.
[15:31.850 --> 15:32.950]  I guess that's...
[15:32.950 --> 15:34.210]  There's a foreign United States?
[15:34.210 --> 15:35.710]  No, what I meant to say is the...
[15:35.710 --> 15:36.470]  Continental United States.
[15:36.470 --> 15:36.750]  That's it.
[15:36.830 --> 15:37.750]  The continental United States.
[15:37.890 --> 15:38.350]  Welcome to Combs.
[15:38.350 --> 15:40.070]  I think that's what they meant.
[15:41.150 --> 15:41.630]  Yeah.
[15:42.190 --> 15:44.010]  For $17.95, that's not bad, is it?
[15:44.370 --> 15:46.070]  Well, unless I have friends in Alaska.
[15:47.330 --> 15:49.290]  I'm not sure if Alaska is excluded, to be honest.
[15:50.570 --> 15:52.970]  With Sprint Unlimited, you can talk all weekend...
[15:52.970 --> 15:53.770]  Oh, you know what?
[15:53.770 --> 15:54.390]  I got that wrong.
[15:54.990 --> 15:55.570]  I'm sorry.
[15:56.710 --> 15:57.850]  No, this is kind of confused.
[15:57.950 --> 15:58.890]  It's $25 a month.
[15:59.290 --> 15:59.470]  Ooh.
[15:59.810 --> 16:06.130]  With Sprint Unlimited, you can talk all weekend long for a flat rate of $25 per month and pay just 10 cents a minute weekdays on calls within the U.S.
[16:06.170 --> 16:08.150]  This 10 cent a minute thing seems to be the standard now.
[16:10.090 --> 16:12.710]  There's a little asterisk there, so let me try to follow that.
[16:14.010 --> 16:15.910]  I hate it when the asterisks don't resolve.
[16:16.650 --> 16:17.390]  You know, there's...
[16:18.970 --> 16:19.710]  There's no...
[16:19.710 --> 16:20.970]  It's just an asterisk.
[16:21.090 --> 16:23.090]  And then there's one with two asterisks later.
[16:23.330 --> 16:23.970]  No match.
[16:25.370 --> 16:27.310]  I don't see it anyplace, actually.
[16:27.710 --> 16:28.630]  No, I don't see it.
[16:29.970 --> 16:30.410]  Hmm.
[16:30.870 --> 16:31.610]  Well, okay.
[16:31.910 --> 16:33.270]  The wild card does not expand.
[16:33.870 --> 16:36.850]  Yeah, so basically, here's the thing.
[16:37.010 --> 16:38.070]  I'm not sure about this.
[16:39.690 --> 16:40.510]  Actually, you know what?
[16:40.930 --> 16:42.430]  Let's go to the experts.
[16:43.290 --> 16:44.470]  Let's get this phone over here.
[16:45.650 --> 16:46.890]  And can we get a dial tone, please?
[16:49.750 --> 16:50.350]  There we are.
[16:50.450 --> 16:50.930]  Thank you very much.
[16:51.370 --> 16:52.750]  Now, what we're going to do is we're going to call.
[16:53.050 --> 16:54.310]  It's an 877 number.
[16:54.550 --> 16:55.690]  Never called one of those before.
[16:56.530 --> 16:57.590]  It's the first time for everything.
[16:57.890 --> 16:58.090]  Yeah.
[16:58.410 --> 16:59.910]  And this is probably the last time, too.
[17:02.430 --> 17:05.550]  Hopefully, they can answer our question right off the bat, so we don't have to waste too much time.
[17:07.090 --> 17:08.070]  You know better than that.
[17:08.870 --> 17:13.530]  To ensure Sprint's quality service, your call may be monitored or recorded.
[17:13.550 --> 17:14.210]  Yeah, we know that.
[17:14.230 --> 17:16.110]  One moment while we connect your call.
[17:16.270 --> 17:17.250]  We have the same philosophy.
[17:34.600 --> 17:36.080]  Thank you for calling Sprint.
[17:36.460 --> 17:38.100]  Presently, all representatives are busy.
[17:38.340 --> 17:38.460]  Oh, gee.
[17:38.620 --> 17:41.500]  Please hold, and the next available representative will be with you.
[17:41.540 --> 17:42.200]  This is a disappointment.
[17:42.360 --> 17:44.000]  I expected immediate service here.
[17:45.020 --> 17:46.980]  I'm having flashbacks to PCS.
[17:47.280 --> 17:47.460]  Yeah.
[17:48.140 --> 17:49.440]  They are the same people, after all.
[17:49.720 --> 17:49.920]  Yes.
[17:50.440 --> 17:54.380]  Okay, well, we'll just keep that music on in the background while we go through the rest of the mail.
[17:56.100 --> 17:57.280]  As long as it doesn't get too loud.
[17:57.820 --> 17:58.080]  All right.
[17:59.060 --> 18:04.620]  Did you see this backpack thing that's been spreading around the Internet?
[18:04.760 --> 18:05.180]  Oh, yes.
[18:05.420 --> 18:06.060]  Hacker News.
[18:06.380 --> 18:07.020]  That was...
[18:07.020 --> 18:08.940]  I found a link to it, though.
[18:09.180 --> 18:11.440]  Yeah, well, the company, I think, is called Kipling?
[18:11.680 --> 18:11.800]  Yes.
[18:11.800 --> 18:12.580]  Hacker Kipling.
[18:12.580 --> 18:12.960]  Yes.
[18:13.140 --> 18:14.220]  Basically, they make backpacks.
[18:14.340 --> 18:14.880]  You know, I saw this...
[18:14.880 --> 18:15.920]  Your call is important to us.
[18:16.360 --> 18:19.360]  Please hold, and the next available representative will be with you.
[18:19.640 --> 18:20.100]  That's nice.
[18:20.340 --> 18:23.180]  I saw this last year in Las Vegas at a store.
[18:23.460 --> 18:23.620]  Mm-hmm.
[18:23.940 --> 18:26.480]  They had these bags.
[18:26.600 --> 18:27.840]  They were hacker-based.
[18:28.040 --> 18:28.480]  They had hacker on them.
[18:28.540 --> 18:28.640]  Yes.
[18:29.120 --> 18:33.840]  And they had little RS-232 connectors, you know, to snap them on and things like that.
[18:33.960 --> 18:34.380]  Isn't that cute?
[18:34.380 --> 18:34.540]  Yeah.
[18:34.680 --> 18:35.180]  What a waste.
[18:35.340 --> 18:36.160]  It was kind of interesting.
[18:36.480 --> 18:37.080]  You know, I don't mind.
[18:37.240 --> 18:38.120]  I think it's kind of cute.
[18:38.260 --> 18:38.840]  It's kind of funny.
[18:39.300 --> 18:40.060]  Well, did you see that?
[18:40.200 --> 18:40.420]  Yeah.
[18:40.420 --> 18:42.920]  There is a but here, and a pretty big but, if you ask me.
[18:44.660 --> 18:49.120]  They define hacker on the web page.
[18:49.940 --> 18:50.720]  You ready for this?
[18:50.980 --> 18:51.900]  No, I've read it.
[18:53.080 --> 18:53.820]  We don't care.
[18:54.200 --> 18:55.800]  Well, you asked if I was ready for it.
[18:55.860 --> 18:56.580]  Yes, I am ready for it.
[18:56.580 --> 18:57.900]  Did I mention I was in a bad mood before?
[18:58.180 --> 18:58.580]  Yes, you did.
[18:58.680 --> 18:58.940]  I'm sorry.
[18:58.940 --> 18:59.280]  And what are you doing?
[19:00.760 --> 19:01.400]  I'm furthering your...
[19:01.400 --> 19:02.220]  You're messing with me.
[19:02.300 --> 19:02.580]  I'm sorry.
[19:02.740 --> 19:03.440]  Please don't do that.
[19:03.500 --> 19:04.440]  It wasn't my intent.
[19:04.580 --> 19:04.840]  All right.
[19:06.680 --> 19:09.400]  So, did you see what they had to say about hackers here?
[19:10.200 --> 19:10.920]  No, I didn't.
[19:11.000 --> 19:11.820]  Why don't you enlighten me?
[19:12.460 --> 19:13.540]  Don't be sarcastic with me.
[19:16.040 --> 19:16.680]  All right, listen.
[19:16.880 --> 19:17.520]  It is interesting.
[19:17.620 --> 19:19.300]  All right, it is interesting if we ever get to it.
[19:19.300 --> 19:29.800]  A hacker is a malicious counter-expert who breaks the security of computer systems, not to seal or destroy sensitive information, but mostly just for the kick.
[19:32.160 --> 19:34.300]  A malicious computer expert.
[19:34.400 --> 19:35.440]  Your call is important to us.
[19:35.720 --> 19:38.860]  Please hold, and the next available representative will be with you.
[19:39.140 --> 19:42.600]  That doesn't strike me as a very accurate definition of what a hacker is.
[19:42.720 --> 19:43.960]  I would tend to agree with you.
[19:43.980 --> 19:46.080]  You know, I don't have a problem with most of that definition.
[19:46.080 --> 19:52.720]  Let's just say a hacker is a computer expert who breaks the security of computer systems, not to steal or destroy sensitive information, but mostly just for the kick.
[19:52.880 --> 19:54.200]  You know, that is a part of hacking.
[19:54.280 --> 19:55.060]  And the consequent ban.
[19:55.220 --> 20:01.160]  So, now, it's like somebody just inserted the word malicious in there for no particular reason, because it goes counter to the rest of the sentence.
[20:01.880 --> 20:05.340]  Well, it is a mark... I mean, the marketing people came up with this.
[20:05.580 --> 20:06.660]  Hackers weren't involved.
[20:06.880 --> 20:12.200]  Well, that's true, but, I mean, anybody writing this sentence can see that it's going in two different directions at once.
[20:12.360 --> 20:12.580]  Yes.
[20:12.780 --> 20:14.080]  You're talking about someone who doesn't...
[20:14.080 --> 20:15.100]  Your call is important to us.
[20:15.800 --> 20:21.940]  You're talking about someone who doesn't want to steal, doesn't want to destroy, just for the kick, but for some reason they're also malicious.
[20:22.100 --> 20:23.220]  So, where's the maliciousness?
[20:24.440 --> 20:24.920]  Uh-oh.
[20:26.480 --> 20:26.840]  Okay.
[20:26.980 --> 20:31.380]  It boggles my mind, so I don't know what these people are thinking.
[20:31.600 --> 20:32.680]  No, I agree with you.
[20:34.080 --> 20:36.100]  I found their catalog more interesting.
[20:36.100 --> 20:45.360]  There's another page attached to that where they actually tell you the names of the different products they have, like the newbie, the port scanner, the, uh...
[20:45.360 --> 20:45.880]  What was there?
[20:46.020 --> 20:46.800]  There was a bunch of them.
[20:47.120 --> 20:48.760]  Yeah, there was something called the newbie.
[20:48.900 --> 20:50.480]  It's like this little butt pack kind of thing.
[20:50.860 --> 20:51.060]  Uh-huh.
[20:52.120 --> 20:53.360]  Jeez, it's really silly.
[20:53.580 --> 20:54.980]  I encourage people to check it out.
[20:55.440 --> 20:59.940]  You know, I'm not very happy with this service right away without even signing up for it.
[20:59.940 --> 21:15.740]  I gotta tell you right now, my question, if they ever pick up the phone, is, um, is this internet service, this unlimited internet access that they're touting for $17.95, which is what I thought I was signing up for, Earthlink Sprint Internet Access, unlimited,
[21:16.100 --> 21:16.560]  $17.95.
[21:16.720 --> 21:21.400]  Do you have to get that to get the $25 for unlimited weekend calling?
[21:21.560 --> 21:22.220]  That's a good question.
[21:22.420 --> 21:25.480]  It's a damn good question, but, you know, I don't think I'm ever going to be given the opportunity to ask it.
[21:25.640 --> 21:27.340]  Well, you know, we got another 40 minutes in the show.
[21:27.580 --> 21:29.280]  Yeah, but I'm not going to keep these people on that long.
[21:29.700 --> 21:30.300]  Well, they're not.
[21:30.300 --> 21:30.980]  I'm not going to do it.
[21:31.100 --> 21:31.800]  I'm not going to do it.
[21:33.140 --> 21:34.540]  Your call is important, Bill.
[21:34.760 --> 21:35.680]  I really thought that was it.
[21:35.900 --> 21:36.660]  I thought that was the one.
[21:39.000 --> 21:42.940]  I tell you, I called the power company this week because we lost power because of the storm.
[21:43.360 --> 21:43.560]  Oh.
[21:43.880 --> 21:45.240]  Yeah, we lost power because of the storm.
[21:45.420 --> 21:45.640]  LIPA?
[21:46.180 --> 21:46.840]  Yeah, LIPA.
[21:47.560 --> 21:52.500]  And let me tell you, uh, I was on hold for an hour without anybody saying a word.
[21:52.980 --> 21:53.180]  Hmm.
[21:53.640 --> 21:54.560]  You didn't have his music.
[21:54.680 --> 21:59.040]  You didn't have somebody coming in every 10 seconds telling you that your call is important to them and that's why you're on hold.
[21:59.860 --> 22:02.240]  You just got silence, and eventually I just gave up.
[22:03.280 --> 22:04.600]  Are you sure that you were connected?
[22:05.080 --> 22:08.260]  Oh, yeah, because if I was disconnected, then I would have gotten the dial tone or something.
[22:08.320 --> 22:08.960]  That's another thing.
[22:09.160 --> 22:10.480]  This is something I've always wondered.
[22:10.760 --> 22:12.280]  Whenever there's a storm, what happens?
[22:12.660 --> 22:13.360]  Electricity goes out.
[22:14.020 --> 22:15.260]  Electricity blinks, you know?
[22:16.140 --> 22:19.320]  Everything turns off, you have to reset all your clocks and turn your computers back on.
[22:19.600 --> 22:21.240]  How come the phones don't do that?
[22:21.520 --> 22:22.080]  How come the phones...
[22:22.080 --> 22:23.800]  They're on the same pole, for God's sake.
[22:23.880 --> 22:25.440]  They're up there in the sky with everything else.
[22:25.620 --> 22:27.900]  How come they always stay up, but the electricity always goes down?
[22:29.280 --> 22:32.000]  You know, it's not often that I'll say something good about Bell Atlantic.
[22:32.720 --> 22:35.940]  But when it comes to stringing wires between two points, they seem to have the knack.
[22:36.020 --> 22:38.940]  They seem to know how to keep them up there, you know?
[22:39.600 --> 22:45.180]  Maybe the electric companies should be using beams or something to transmit electricity, but the wires just aren't working.
[22:48.020 --> 22:49.940]  It gets a little more technical than that.
[22:50.080 --> 22:50.740]  I'm sure it does.
[22:51.520 --> 22:56.780]  Maybe one day they'll take the time to learn the technicalities of it, so they can keep it running.
[22:57.100 --> 22:58.780]  Well, it is life, but they're only starting.
[22:59.320 --> 23:00.060]  Except for the fact that...
[23:00.060 --> 23:00.660]  No, they're not starting.
[23:00.800 --> 23:01.180]  They're Lulco.
[23:01.760 --> 23:02.480]  They're like...
[23:02.480 --> 23:02.880]  No, no, no.
[23:03.000 --> 23:04.620]  They're like a spin-off of Lulco.
[23:05.380 --> 23:06.880]  They're like the Jeffersons, you know?
[23:07.660 --> 23:08.380]  They're basically...
[23:08.380 --> 23:12.340]  They're getting a head start, but they're running on a lot of air.
[23:13.260 --> 23:13.620]  Anyway.
[23:13.740 --> 23:16.620]  All right, so let's go on to this other story while we continue to wait.
[23:19.240 --> 23:20.100]  You've heard the rumors.
[23:20.280 --> 23:24.160]  Everyone's heard the rumors about long-distance charges being attached to the Internet.
[23:24.660 --> 23:30.140]  Now, the FCC chairman, the current FCC chairman, Bill Kennard, I believe is how you pronounce it, he actually seems to have a clue.
[23:30.280 --> 23:34.560]  This guy actually has a head on his shoulders, and he's talking about things like micro-broadcasting.
[23:34.720 --> 23:35.400]  Oh, this is the same guy.
[23:35.540 --> 23:36.080]  Same guy.
[23:36.800 --> 23:41.540]  And he basically has said for the record that this is garbage.
[23:41.780 --> 23:49.980]  The chairman of the FCC bombarded anew with emails from computer users fearing government regulation of the Internet tried again on Thursday to dispel the notion.
[23:50.320 --> 23:52.380]  I want to say this as clearly as I can.
[23:52.560 --> 23:58.040]  As long as I'm chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, this agency will not regulate the Internet.
[23:58.260 --> 24:00.680]  Well, you know what the result of that is going to be.
[24:00.800 --> 24:03.780]  He has a meaty dismissal as chairman.
[24:04.060 --> 24:04.440]  Precisely.
[24:04.440 --> 24:04.740]  Yeah.
[24:05.140 --> 24:10.720]  Well, that's why I think it's important to keep him as chairman, because this guy is obviously somebody who understands what's important.
[24:11.500 --> 24:24.040]  And a couple of the things that are important are re-regulating the way radio is run so that you don't have the same corporations running every radio station in town, and keeping the government out of the Internet.
[24:24.660 --> 24:26.240]  I'm glad somebody can understand that.
[24:26.400 --> 24:32.960]  Of course, here's the other thing, the flip side to this, which is even more cynical than your view.
[24:33.080 --> 24:33.540]  Oh, thank you.
[24:34.440 --> 24:38.540]  As long as I'm chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, this agency will not regulate the Internet.
[24:38.960 --> 24:39.560]  Oh, wow.
[24:39.560 --> 24:40.000]  Ah, I see.
[24:40.000 --> 24:41.080]  It's just the way you put the emphasis.
[24:41.300 --> 24:41.860]  Ah, I see.
[24:41.860 --> 24:44.040]  It could be another agency that pops up out of nowhere.
[24:46.500 --> 24:46.900]  Okay.
[24:47.300 --> 24:48.900]  Now, here's a letter from a listener.
[24:51.440 --> 24:54.220]  Dear Off the Hook, and of course, you can send us mail.
[24:54.440 --> 24:56.680]  And the next available representative will be with you.
[24:56.680 --> 24:59.900]  By emailing us, OTH at 2600.com.
[25:01.460 --> 25:02.840]  I have a question.
[25:03.220 --> 25:05.180]  I am flying to New York the first week of April.
[25:05.180 --> 25:10.480]  I intend to take my GSM phone through Aerial, Aerial Communications of Minnesota.
[25:11.020 --> 25:18.860]  I called Aerial to check on roaming rates, and the representative tried to tell me that Aerial would charge 49 cents a minute when my phone was on.
[25:20.280 --> 25:26.740]  Not necessarily while making a call or when I'm receiving SMS messages, but all the time the phone is on.
[25:27.120 --> 25:27.520]  Really?
[25:28.020 --> 25:29.240]  This doesn't sound right at all.
[25:29.320 --> 25:34.320]  I tried calling Omnipoint to see what they had to say, but I was put on hold before I could talk to a rep.
[25:34.440 --> 25:36.880]  I think they're related to Sprint.
[25:38.040 --> 25:39.200]  I was put on hold for way too long.
[25:39.260 --> 25:42.560]  The Aerial rep sounded quite sure of herself, even using a cute analogy.
[25:42.720 --> 25:43.200]  Get this.
[25:43.740 --> 25:46.060]  Saying that the phone is just like a wedding ring.
[25:46.160 --> 25:49.040]  You can carry it on you, but what if friends or family...
[25:50.060 --> 25:50.500]  Wait a minute.
[25:50.560 --> 25:50.980]  Hold on a second.
[25:51.060 --> 25:51.840]  I must have missed something here.
[25:51.880 --> 25:53.180]  The phone is just like a wedding ring.
[25:53.340 --> 25:54.440]  You can carry it on you.
[25:56.220 --> 25:57.780]  You know, I understood this when I read it before.
[25:58.380 --> 25:59.080]  It's like a wedding.
[25:59.140 --> 26:00.240]  I guess you're always married.
[26:01.500 --> 26:02.560]  You're married to your phone?
[26:02.780 --> 26:03.060]  Oh.
[26:04.140 --> 26:07.600]  You don't have to pay a per minute fee to be married, as far as I know, but...
[26:07.960 --> 26:08.460]  Okay, whatever.
[26:08.720 --> 26:11.060]  But what if family or friends need to get a hold of me in Minnesota?
[26:11.320 --> 26:12.200]  Your call is important.
[26:12.300 --> 26:13.280]  I'd like to keep my phone on.
[26:13.280 --> 26:16.040]  I'll be told, and the next available representative will be with you.
[26:16.060 --> 26:22.260]  So, my immediate response to this is that it's a load of garbage, just like this FCC thing is.
[26:23.280 --> 26:26.820]  At 49 cents a minute, sounds like the rate that you would pay for a long-distance phone call.
[26:27.980 --> 26:29.560]  Maybe including roaming, maybe not.
[26:29.760 --> 26:34.920]  But there is no phone company on this earth, ever, that has charged somebody just for having a phone on.
[26:35.400 --> 26:36.980]  You know, I'm sure they'd like to do that.
[26:37.920 --> 26:39.840]  I'm sure if there are enough people, you know, band together...
[26:39.840 --> 26:40.580]  You're a part of our network.
[26:40.580 --> 26:41.800]  Please put money in our pockets.
[26:41.820 --> 26:45.580]  If you believe this kind of thing, I'm sure they'll be happy to do that for you, but, uh...
[26:45.920 --> 26:46.980]  No, that's not how it works.
[26:47.080 --> 26:48.580]  I think the representative is wrong.
[26:48.900 --> 26:49.180]  Yeah.
[26:50.640 --> 26:51.140]  And you know what?
[26:51.140 --> 26:52.300]  Your call is important to us.
[26:52.360 --> 26:58.380]  I don't think our phone call is important to them at all, and I think it's time for us to be moving on to something a bit more important.
[27:06.250 --> 27:10.170]  And that is, of course, an abbreviated version this week of, um...
[27:10.170 --> 27:16.410]  of the, uh, Y2K feature, which I guess we'll be doing more and more of as, uh, Y2K gets a little closer.
[27:17.310 --> 27:20.150]  Because after Y2K is over, we won't be able to do that anymore.
[27:20.610 --> 27:21.590]  Well, we could always look back.
[27:22.930 --> 27:24.850]  Not from a burnt-out cinder of a planet, we can't.
[27:25.070 --> 27:25.810]  Oh, yeah, that's right.
[27:25.990 --> 27:26.010]  Yeah.
[27:26.230 --> 27:27.390]  Forgot about that little part of it.
[27:27.490 --> 27:29.130]  Oh, yeah, minor technicality.
[27:29.230 --> 27:29.730]  Yeah, that's, uh...
[27:29.730 --> 27:30.870]  So it's going to be problems there.
[27:31.990 --> 27:32.690]  And, um...
[27:32.690 --> 27:37.870]  We're already working on sending back copies of this program out into outer space.
[27:38.070 --> 27:40.330]  At least another civilization will benefit from the knowledge within.
[27:40.650 --> 27:46.490]  But I can't really say what good AT&T and Sprint offers will do them out there, but, uh, at least they can learn from our mistakes.
[27:47.890 --> 27:49.330]  Okay, what do we have here?
[27:49.530 --> 27:51.530]  How about a scam?
[27:51.810 --> 27:52.590]  A scam?
[27:52.710 --> 27:53.410]  Can you believe it?
[27:53.410 --> 27:54.270]  Related to Y2K?
[27:54.490 --> 27:55.970]  There are scams related to Y2K.
[27:56.050 --> 27:57.070]  I never would have thought this.
[27:57.150 --> 27:59.430]  I never would have thought this in a million years.
[28:01.610 --> 28:03.710]  I recently received a phone call.
[28:04.610 --> 28:13.730]  The caller had a very cultured, educated voice and started out by asking me if I knew what the Y2K problem was.
[28:14.870 --> 28:25.410]  When I said I did, he asked me if I had any concerns about the American banking industry when it's obvious that many American banks will fail because of the year 2000 problem.
[28:25.950 --> 28:27.210]  He went on to say,
[28:31.110 --> 28:32.570]  I don't think he said that.
[28:32.670 --> 28:33.450]  He didn't say that.
[28:34.130 --> 28:45.030]  He went on to say that, that the banks will fail, the collapse, the stock market will collapse, the Dow Jones will probably fall to around 500 by January 31st, 2000.
[28:45.030 --> 28:46.190]  Oh, it's so close to 1,000.
[28:46.590 --> 28:47.210]  10,000.
[28:47.350 --> 28:47.790]  10,000?
[28:48.170 --> 28:48.610]  Yeah.
[28:49.170 --> 28:50.890]  It's 10,000, not 1,000.
[28:51.170 --> 28:51.810]  Oh, I'm sorry.
[28:52.150 --> 28:53.130]  Boy, you really are.
[28:53.710 --> 28:54.890]  And here's the other thing, okay?
[28:55.070 --> 29:00.910]  People are all amazed that the Dow Jones average has gone up to 10,000.
[29:01.070 --> 29:04.890]  It didn't close at 10,000 today, but it bobbed up there for a little while and went right back down.
[29:05.070 --> 29:10.070]  How come nobody is concerned about the fact that there could be a problem there?
[29:10.210 --> 29:11.190]  Oh, it might roll over, yeah.
[29:11.250 --> 29:12.150]  Well, there's another digit.
[29:12.310 --> 29:19.890]  It's not just like 2,000 where you have the same number of digits, but 10,000, I'm sure there are displays all over the place that don't account for a 1.
[29:19.890 --> 29:25.710]  And it looks like, boy, we're in a lot of trouble now, you know, if you look at them, because you think the first number is zero.
[29:26.670 --> 29:28.510]  Well, we'll not analyze that too deep.
[29:28.590 --> 29:32.290]  Well, I just wonder, how come there's been no computer problems whatsoever involving that?
[29:32.690 --> 29:34.130]  You know, no discussion.
[29:34.350 --> 29:36.290]  That might be, you know, something to think about.
[29:37.330 --> 29:46.810]  Anyway, the caller then went on to tell me that he represented a securities company that was setting up a special Y2K bond fund to help consumers protect their money from bank failures.
[29:47.130 --> 29:57.490]  The money in our checking and savings accounts would be automatically transferred into this bond account, invested in safe government bonds, and returned by April 1st, 2000, just in time for April 15th.
[29:57.570 --> 29:57.950]  Chuckle.
[29:58.150 --> 29:58.750]  Oh, isn't that nice?
[29:58.810 --> 30:05.670]  He then started pressing me for details about my social security number, bank name, account numbers, etc., along with a verbal authorization to transfer the funds.
[30:06.210 --> 30:12.410]  When I asked that he send me a prospectus, he said that they were all out and would call back when more were printed and hung up.
[30:14.050 --> 30:20.290]  I wonder how many others, especially the elderly and poorly informed, have been and will be defrauded by these kinds of calls.
[30:21.890 --> 30:22.530]  Probably many.
[30:22.730 --> 30:22.870]  Yeah.
[30:23.130 --> 30:26.430]  And this is the kind of thing exactly that's going to be happening.
[30:26.970 --> 30:29.930]  You should never give out your social security number to anybody on the telephone.
[30:30.230 --> 30:31.730]  And that includes people you call.
[30:31.910 --> 30:35.670]  You know, if you call AT&T and they ask you a social security number, you tell them where to go.
[30:35.870 --> 30:37.190]  And you don't have to give it to them.
[30:37.190 --> 30:38.830]  The social security office?
[30:39.750 --> 30:40.510]  Yeah, fine.
[30:40.590 --> 30:43.370]  If they want to go there and get you your information, I doubt they'll get it from them either.
[30:45.230 --> 30:49.230]  It's sad that people resort to this kind of thing, but it's all too common.
[30:49.930 --> 30:51.950]  Some other bit of news from the Y2K front.
[30:52.550 --> 30:55.210]  Pennsylvania's Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station.
[30:55.210 --> 30:56.970]  Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station.
[30:57.090 --> 30:59.190]  What were they thinking when they dreamed up that name?
[31:00.010 --> 31:08.130]  Was subjected to detailed software analyses and simulations to check Y2K compliance and concluded that everything would be okay.
[31:11.980 --> 31:19.220]  However, when the clock was moved ahead, the primary and backup monitoring systems crashed.
[31:19.220 --> 31:22.680]  Every computer screen blanked out and forced manual procedures.
[31:23.200 --> 31:24.440]  Well, at least they did that.
[31:24.840 --> 31:25.400]  Oh, yeah.
[31:25.600 --> 31:27.540]  It's not like war games where there are no manual procedures.
[31:29.440 --> 31:32.960]  The cause was attributed to a technician improperly setting the test clock.
[31:33.860 --> 31:35.300]  Well, what did he set it to?
[31:35.420 --> 31:35.840]  Who knows?
[31:36.040 --> 31:38.020]  The systems remained down for seven hours.
[31:39.140 --> 31:40.880]  While the core is sitting there doing its thing.
[31:41.000 --> 31:44.680]  Well, you know, if this is what it takes to shut down a nuclear power plant, then, uh...
[31:44.680 --> 31:45.740]  Well, you know...
[31:45.740 --> 31:49.360]  Well, shutting down a nuclear power plant is somewhat tricky.
[31:49.560 --> 31:52.680]  You can scramble the core or you can, uh...
[31:52.680 --> 31:57.740]  I know, I run a system myself and when you shut it off improperly, you get all kinds of core dumps and you don't want that.
[31:57.820 --> 31:58.520]  Well, not that...
[32:00.900 --> 32:03.420]  I understand how it works as well as anybody.
[32:03.720 --> 32:04.120]  Anyway...
[32:04.120 --> 32:10.220]  Although the cause was human error, technology specialists say the glitch here illustrates an unanticipated peril of the year 2000 problem.
[32:10.640 --> 32:22.900]  As computer systems that have been repaired are now being tested in live conditions, inadvertent mistakes and undiscovered bugs can bring the machines and the organizations that rely on them to a grinding halt.
[32:24.040 --> 32:25.900]  But here's my, uh...
[32:25.900 --> 32:26.980]  My little addendum to that.
[32:27.440 --> 32:28.320]  Seven hours.
[32:28.460 --> 32:29.280]  It was back up.
[32:29.640 --> 32:40.580]  I mean, yeah, it sounds like a pain, but if that's all that's going to happen after the year 2000 is an occasional thing like this where you're down for seven hours and you fix it and it never happens again, I think we can survive that, can't we?
[32:41.340 --> 32:41.640]  Yeah.
[32:42.380 --> 32:43.400]  I hope so.
[32:43.980 --> 32:44.940]  Well, like...
[32:44.940 --> 32:48.260]  My general stance, despite the fact that, uh...
[32:48.260 --> 32:54.780]  I've been quoted as saying things far more disastrous is that you're going to have some minor tech...
[32:54.780 --> 33:01.520]  Well, not necessarily minor, but you're going to have some problems creeping up at the beginning of the year, but they're probably going to be dealt with within a week or so.
[33:02.220 --> 33:06.300]  And, uh, it's probably not going to be the end of civilization.
[33:06.600 --> 33:10.340]  Although, you know, I should tell you, without power a couple of days ago, it was pretty scary.
[33:10.760 --> 33:14.500]  It gets really dark at night and you can't do anything when everything's electric, you know?
[33:14.580 --> 33:15.740]  Well, that's another story.
[33:15.860 --> 33:16.020]  Yeah.
[33:16.040 --> 33:17.300]  But it would be a couple of days.
[33:17.300 --> 33:18.560]  You don't think about these things until they happen.
[33:18.840 --> 33:19.520]  That's awesome.
[33:19.920 --> 33:21.440]  But, uh, the...
[33:21.440 --> 33:26.060]  If a city blacks out, you have far more of a problem.
[33:26.860 --> 33:27.560]  That's true.
[33:27.780 --> 33:28.180]  That's true.
[33:28.380 --> 33:32.280]  In fact, Secretary of Defense Cohen was, uh, speaking about that.
[33:32.940 --> 33:38.540]  Uh, in regards to, strangely enough, uh, cyber attacks.
[33:38.860 --> 33:39.340]  Oh, great.
[33:39.640 --> 33:40.120]  If, uh, foreign nationals...
[33:40.120 --> 33:41.700]  Why are these people going to give it a rest, you know?
[33:41.700 --> 33:45.860]  If foreign nationals were able to, uh, knock out the power grid for a city, people would die.
[33:46.020 --> 33:51.220]  And if they were managed to knock out the power grid for several cities, several more people would die.
[33:52.680 --> 33:53.640]  It was...
[33:53.640 --> 33:54.920]  I forget the exact quote.
[33:55.320 --> 33:57.020]  But, yeah, power is something that we need.
[33:57.700 --> 34:03.880]  Uh, the biggest threat you're going to have from Y2K is from people panicking or taking advantage of the situations as they crop up.
[34:03.880 --> 34:04.540]  I even went out.
[34:04.580 --> 34:05.240]  I did the dumbest thing.
[34:05.320 --> 34:08.620]  I went out and I got frozen food so that I would survive in case something happened.
[34:08.820 --> 34:10.860]  The power goes out and, of course, what am I going to do with it?
[34:10.880 --> 34:13.140]  I couldn't nuke it and I couldn't cook it because I have an electric stove.
[34:13.280 --> 34:13.660]  It was ridiculous.
[34:13.960 --> 34:17.520]  Most I could do was wait for it to melt and then, you know, chip away at it.
[34:17.620 --> 34:19.500]  But, uh...
[34:19.500 --> 34:20.420]  I just didn't have that much time.
[34:20.500 --> 34:21.780]  Not frozen, freeze dry.
[34:22.120 --> 34:22.400]  Yeah.
[34:22.640 --> 34:23.480]  I forgot the second half.
[34:23.560 --> 34:23.840]  All right.
[34:26.460 --> 34:30.600]  Okay, officially the Y2K segment of the program is over but we're just going to let the theme sort of...
[34:30.600 --> 34:31.440]  Yeah, it is kind of nice.
[34:31.760 --> 34:32.460]  Yeah, soothing.
[34:32.660 --> 34:33.100]  Very soothing.
[34:33.540 --> 34:36.560]  I got this other thing in the, you know...
[34:38.320 --> 34:40.040]  Actually, I got this as a fax.
[34:40.300 --> 34:42.420]  As I can see when you're unrolling it.
[34:42.520 --> 34:43.520]  Very long fax here.
[34:45.660 --> 34:47.180]  And it kind of annoyed me.
[34:47.460 --> 34:48.820]  It kind of annoyed me a lot, actually.
[34:49.040 --> 34:49.900]  Oh, it is a long fax.
[34:50.940 --> 34:52.040]  Yeah, well, here's the thing.
[34:52.180 --> 35:06.060]  This person sent me a fax and it says right here the information contained in this facsimile message is information protected by attorney, client and or the attorney work product privileges is intended only for the use of the individual named above and the privileges are not waived by virtue of this having been sent by facsimile.
[35:06.200 --> 35:17.980]  If the person actually receiving the facsimile or any other reader of the facsimile is not the name recipient or the employee or agent responsible to deliver it to the named recipient any use, dissemination, distribution or copying of the communication is strictly prohibited.
[35:18.180 --> 35:24.880]  If you have received this communication in error please immediately notify us by telephone and return the original message to us at the above address via the U.S.
[35:25.040 --> 35:25.680]  Postal Service.
[35:26.180 --> 35:29.500]  You realize that we're on the air on, like, radio?
[35:29.760 --> 35:29.900]  Yeah.
[35:30.280 --> 35:31.960]  And they said you can't talk about this.
[35:31.980 --> 35:36.100]  Well, I'm talking about it, because, damn it, they sent this thing to me, and you don't send me something.
[35:36.440 --> 35:41.900]  Look, what I do is, here's my philosophy, I protect things that I am told in confidence by people, okay?
[35:42.080 --> 35:47.220]  But I will not protect somebody who sends me something and says, by the way, I'm forbidding you to discuss this with anybody.
[35:47.580 --> 35:50.980]  You know, somebody I don't even know sends me something forbidding me to talk about it.
[35:51.760 --> 35:55.080]  I would not have talked about this if this little warning was not here.
[35:55.320 --> 35:55.680]  Oh, okay.
[35:55.980 --> 36:01.060]  This comes from some kind of private investigator person out in California named Dale Hanseth.
[36:01.740 --> 36:02.060]  All right.
[36:02.340 --> 36:02.860]  Listen to this.
[36:02.940 --> 36:03.900]  My name is Dale Hanseth.
[36:03.980 --> 36:07.220]  I am a criminal investigator for the Conflict Council of San Bernardino.
[36:07.440 --> 36:07.760]  Hi, Dale.
[36:08.340 --> 36:09.040]  Conflict Council.
[36:09.180 --> 36:11.320]  A city with one of the highest crime rates in the country.
[36:11.460 --> 36:14.900]  I deal with some of the most dastardly, not to mention interesting criminals in this country.
[36:15.040 --> 36:17.360]  I'm currently working on a book featuring one of these criminals.
[36:17.700 --> 36:20.860]  Greg Evans is by far the most interesting person I have met to date.
[36:20.980 --> 36:25.100]  The individual has a past rivaling the most daring criminals since the 1920s.
[36:25.320 --> 36:29.860]  Instead of a gun, Greg Evans uses high-tech science to earn his ill-gotten gain.
[36:31.400 --> 36:41.180]  What do some of the largest Fortune 500 corporations, such as AT&T, Microsoft, two words, many major banks and universities have in common with Los Angeles street hangs?
[36:42.100 --> 36:42.660]  Hangs?
[36:42.660 --> 36:44.820]  I guess they're where the gangs hang out.
[36:44.960 --> 36:45.560]  Oh, yeah.
[36:45.560 --> 36:45.900]  Street hangs.
[36:46.080 --> 36:49.880]  Like the Crips, Jamaican drug dealers, and the Mexican mafia?
[36:50.120 --> 37:03.780]  All were customers and sometimes victims, victims is capitalized for some reason, of a young, bright, enterprising high-tech hustler who duped major corporations and criminals alike out of tens of millions of dollars before being brought down by the same system that brought him wealth and notoriety.
[37:03.780 --> 37:13.840]  Meet Greg Evans and discover how America's number one high-tech hustler was making deals with top executives by day and closing even more deals with society's undesirables by night.
[37:14.180 --> 37:18.580]  Legal or illegal, no scam was too large or too small as long as there was profit to be made.
[37:19.220 --> 37:20.000]  Is he selling yourself?
[37:20.060 --> 37:36.040]  Follow Greg Evans from the beginnings of his criminal life in the projects where he computerized the accounting for major drug dealers, then went on to access bank accounts, launder drug money, stole trade secrets, and defrauded thousands of phone customers through the Internet to where he is today,
[37:36.160 --> 37:37.840]  a federal jail cell in Los Angeles.
[37:38.060 --> 37:42.200]  Learn how Greg Evans facilitated these scams and crimes and ultimately was caught by the FBI.
[37:44.160 --> 37:46.460]  The book is entitled Memoirs of a High-Tech Hustler.
[37:46.600 --> 37:51.880]  You know, I'm wondering, did this person send me this so that he knew I'd get upset and read it on the air so I'd promote this stupid book?
[37:52.180 --> 37:53.600]  And look at what you're doing.
[37:54.520 --> 37:58.940]  Yeah, in fact, I was just saying, is he trying to sell you this book or...?
[37:58.940 --> 37:59.580]  I don't know.
[37:59.800 --> 38:03.640]  There's no real... the only thing in here is a threat saying don't talk about this to anybody.
[38:03.840 --> 38:05.100]  The rest of it is just marketing?
[38:05.100 --> 38:07.480]  Well, it's also a full table of contents with all the chapters.
[38:07.660 --> 38:07.880]  Ooh.
[38:08.080 --> 38:08.240]  Yeah.
[38:08.520 --> 38:13.220]  In the beginning, Greg Evans talks about how he got his first job doing computerized accounting for a drug dealer.
[38:13.320 --> 38:16.680]  It also talks about how he changed grades in junior high school for himself and his clients.
[38:16.940 --> 38:17.520]  Eh, well...
[38:17.520 --> 38:19.180]  Chapter 3, Y2K problem.
[38:19.360 --> 38:21.020]  Mr. Evans talks about his IBM...
[38:21.020 --> 38:25.280]  How... about his IBM was aware... maybe it's how...
[38:25.280 --> 38:28.200]  Talks about how IBM was aware of the Y2K problem back in 1986.
[38:28.800 --> 38:32.720]  Well, they were probably aware of it since 1950-something.
[38:33.200 --> 38:34.700]  Chapter 7, The Memory Game.
[38:34.920 --> 38:37.380]  Almost like Chapter 6, but more profitable and violent.
[38:39.500 --> 38:40.680]  But here's the thing.
[38:40.700 --> 38:42.740]  Here's the thing that perked up my attention.
[38:42.960 --> 38:46.520]  Chapter 21, Hustler Meets Hacker.
[38:46.820 --> 38:49.500]  Mr. Evans talks about the day he met Kevin Mitnick.
[38:49.660 --> 38:49.960]  Really?
[38:50.040 --> 38:53.200]  The world-famous computer hacker and their future business dealings.
[38:53.660 --> 38:54.500]  Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
[38:54.500 --> 38:57.140]  What in the world is this garbage?
[38:57.620 --> 39:00.160]  You know, they're promoting more lies?
[39:00.560 --> 39:05.360]  You know, another book coming out with fictitious garbage meant to incriminate somebody?
[39:05.360 --> 39:05.360]  Really?
[39:06.520 --> 39:06.880]  Unbelievable.
[39:07.460 --> 39:07.740]  Unbelievable.
[39:08.060 --> 39:11.300]  So, supposedly, this guy's in the same jail that Kevin's in.
[39:11.460 --> 39:13.260]  The Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles.
[39:13.480 --> 39:15.560]  So, we're going to do a little investigation of our own.
[39:15.660 --> 39:18.860]  Find out all about this guy and see what he really did do, if he even exists.
[39:19.080 --> 39:19.600]  That sounds good.
[39:19.820 --> 39:22.440]  And find out from Kevin if he ever talked to this person.
[39:23.100 --> 39:25.000]  But everyone's trying to hop on the bandwagon.
[39:26.020 --> 39:27.700]  It's pretty damn sad, if you ask me.
[39:28.260 --> 39:37.860]  And speaking of hopping on the bandwagon, there's a conference called the HTCIA International Training Conference.
[39:37.860 --> 39:41.680]  That stands for High Technology Crime Investigation Associations.
[39:41.840 --> 39:46.660]  Taking place in San Diego, September 20th through 22nd at the Town and Country Resort Hotel.
[39:47.460 --> 39:49.300]  It's a real bargain, only 400 bucks.
[39:49.620 --> 39:51.960]  Ooh, 475 if you're not a member or whatever it is they are.
[39:53.840 --> 39:58.860]  I know we're talking about computer security, cable TV fraud, identity theft.
[39:59.060 --> 40:02.100]  But one of their panels is case study, Kevin Mitnick.
[40:03.060 --> 40:03.720]  How much?
[40:05.260 --> 40:06.520]  A case study.
[40:06.740 --> 40:09.240]  Well, I'm considering going now, just to sit there.
[40:09.400 --> 40:09.980]  Just so you can heckle.
[40:10.320 --> 40:11.060]  Yeah, probably.
[40:11.320 --> 40:11.640]  Unbelievable.
[40:12.000 --> 40:16.380]  Oh, the Naval Surface Warfare thing from last week.
[40:16.400 --> 40:16.660]  Yes.
[40:16.820 --> 40:18.460]  It's actually in the end of October.
[40:19.220 --> 40:21.300]  Porkchop found the wrong piece of information.
[40:21.300 --> 40:21.720]  Oh, okay.
[40:21.720 --> 40:22.340]  They'll relate it.
[40:22.560 --> 40:25.100]  They didn't panic and reschedule it because we talked about it on the air.
[40:25.200 --> 40:27.180]  No, the link was unchanged.
[40:27.380 --> 40:27.620]  All right.
[40:27.800 --> 40:36.100]  Well, speaking about what we're talking about on the air, last week we talked about some of the issues involving local things that are going on, the unrest in the city, which is growing.
[40:36.260 --> 40:41.860]  I mean, I don't know if you've been following the news recently, but people are getting arrested every single day outside one police plaza.
[40:42.260 --> 40:45.200]  Yesterday, the former mayor of New York City got arrested.
[40:45.340 --> 40:45.840]  Which one?
[40:46.140 --> 40:46.920]  Mayor Dinkins.
[40:47.200 --> 40:47.420]  Really?
[40:47.560 --> 40:47.760]  Yeah.
[40:47.980 --> 40:49.080]  It's pretty amazing.
[40:49.080 --> 40:57.580]  I mean, I don't know what the last time a former mayor got arrested for anything, but when someone actually stands up to that degree, you have to start, you know, paying attention.
[40:58.260 --> 40:59.180]  Here's the thing, though.
[40:59.580 --> 41:03.560]  The same people are going back day after day getting arrested.
[41:03.560 --> 41:04.660]  Where are all the new people?
[41:04.720 --> 41:05.480]  That's what I want to know.
[41:05.760 --> 41:06.140]  You know?
[41:06.660 --> 41:11.160]  There was a magnificent piece on Pacific Evening News tonight that I really want people to listen to.
[41:11.200 --> 41:14.180]  It'll be re-aired tonight at around 11.40.
[41:14.180 --> 41:18.600]  And what I'm going to try to do, see how difficult this is to do, it's sitting here right next to me.
[41:18.840 --> 41:19.020]  Really?
[41:19.700 --> 41:20.400]  Yeah, here's a...
[41:20.400 --> 41:20.820]  Oh, there it is.
[41:20.940 --> 41:21.960]  It's a reel-to-reel tape.
[41:22.400 --> 41:23.980]  This is going on the air at 11 o'clock.
[41:24.120 --> 41:25.700]  It's a rebroadcast of the Pacific Evening News.
[41:25.920 --> 41:37.060]  What I want to do is transcribe that part of it to cassettes so I can put it onto our real audio server later so that people listening on the internet, since they won't get the station after we're off the air, and since people listening in the future,
[41:37.240 --> 41:40.240]  hi, future, they will be able to hear what I'm talking about as well.
[41:40.240 --> 41:41.640]  Because I think it's an incredible piece.
[41:41.820 --> 41:49.360]  It's from a financial analyst whose only crime is not being white, and basically what he had to go through.
[41:49.420 --> 42:03.140]  Now, we had a very interesting talk about this last week, where you were talking about what happened to you when you walked home, and this poor cop was being barraged by insults from people all over the place, and how it's really only a couple of bad apples that mess things up for everybody.
[42:03.900 --> 42:05.000]  This guy made me think.
[42:05.140 --> 42:05.880]  He really made me think.
[42:05.900 --> 42:07.500]  Because it's not just a few bad apples.
[42:07.500 --> 42:14.580]  It's a lot of people in the organization that turn a blind eye, that see something bad going on, they don't do anything about it.
[42:14.660 --> 42:20.120]  And in that same way, us as citizens are just as bad if we don't do something about it.
[42:20.300 --> 42:23.900]  Why are the same people getting arrested time and time again outside one police plaza?
[42:24.100 --> 42:30.280]  Where are all the white stockbrokers, the nice rich people, you know, the people that aren't being brutalized by the cops?
[42:31.040 --> 42:36.300]  Once they start standing out there and getting arrested too, I think maybe that might start changing some minds.
[42:36.540 --> 42:39.500]  Maybe Giuliani might actually start listening, paying attention.
[42:40.860 --> 42:41.380]  I don't know.
[42:41.500 --> 42:42.780]  That's the way I feel about that.
[42:42.820 --> 42:44.560]  I look forward to hearing the broadcast.
[42:44.700 --> 42:45.480]  11.40 is it?
[42:45.700 --> 42:48.260]  Well, it's about 40 minutes into the newscast.
[42:48.740 --> 42:49.700]  Well, just listen to the whole thing.
[42:49.760 --> 42:51.280]  Listen to the whole thing, because you'll learn a lot that way.
[42:51.380 --> 42:57.520]  But if you're around the radio in New York City, please make sure you're listening at that time.
[42:57.620 --> 43:01.020]  We're going to try to get it onto the internet as well, because I just, I was amazed.
[43:01.020 --> 43:04.940]  I was driving, I was driving, I just, I was, I was dumbstruck.
[43:05.520 --> 43:07.100]  More so than I usually am when I'm driving.
[43:08.560 --> 43:10.120]  All right, let's go to the phones.
[43:10.260 --> 43:14.000]  212-209-2900, where no doubt I'll be more dumbstruck than ever.
[43:15.760 --> 43:18.580]  And, um, let's see, where should I go first?
[43:19.460 --> 43:20.340]  There's always a peril.
[43:20.540 --> 43:21.600]  You know, we're still on hold.
[43:21.900 --> 43:22.360]  We are?
[43:22.840 --> 43:24.780]  I'll see if we, we got music or not.
[43:25.960 --> 43:26.460]  Oh, you know what?
[43:26.460 --> 43:27.120]  The music is gone.
[43:28.480 --> 43:31.080]  Which means they, is anybody here on the phone?
[43:31.220 --> 43:31.900]  They've been listening.
[43:32.180 --> 43:35.460]  Well, that means somebody picked up and was listening to our little tirade at some point.
[43:35.820 --> 43:38.620]  And either they have it on speakerphone throughout the Sprint Complex.
[43:38.680 --> 43:41.460]  You also have to recall that they record this for training purposes.
[43:41.700 --> 43:42.080]  Oh, great.
[43:42.460 --> 43:43.360]  That's just great.
[43:44.100 --> 43:47.680]  Well, I'm sure you learned a lot of lessons about racial harmony in New York City.
[43:47.740 --> 43:48.600]  Yes, we hope you enjoy it.
[43:56.960 --> 43:58.100]  I dropped line six.
[43:58.460 --> 44:00.880]  Instantly, five lines below line six lit up.
[44:01.000 --> 44:06.880]  Now, either we got all these calls at once, or line six somehow blocked them from lighting up until I released it.
[44:07.180 --> 44:07.760]  That's curious.
[44:07.920 --> 44:08.080]  Yeah.
[44:08.200 --> 44:09.660]  Well, let's take one of those calls from down there.
[44:09.820 --> 44:10.120]  Good evening.
[44:10.180 --> 44:10.600]  You're on the air.
[44:12.940 --> 44:13.260]  Okay.
[44:13.260 --> 44:14.680]  You're going to have to do more than just hum.
[44:14.800 --> 44:16.220]  You have to, you have to talk to us.
[44:16.300 --> 44:16.760]  Let's go over here.
[44:16.840 --> 44:17.080]  Good evening.
[44:17.200 --> 44:17.540]  You're on the air.
[44:18.120 --> 44:18.400]  Hi.
[44:18.580 --> 44:18.620]  Yeah.
[44:18.880 --> 44:19.960]  The other lines still lit up.
[44:20.060 --> 44:21.560]  I'm trying to follow this one, too.
[44:21.640 --> 44:22.760]  How long was the phone ringing for?
[44:23.620 --> 44:25.560]  I've been ringing about 16 rings.
[44:25.760 --> 44:26.360]  16 rings.
[44:26.360 --> 44:26.740]  All right.
[44:26.860 --> 44:29.220]  So, uh, you were ringing before I hit that button.
[44:29.480 --> 44:30.220]  So, that's interesting.
[44:30.380 --> 44:32.040]  Those lights don't light up until you release that one.
[44:32.140 --> 44:35.260]  You know, there's a, there's something, there's a problem with the hybrid.
[44:35.680 --> 44:39.180]  And I thought that it happens when, I thought it happens when it trips flying four.
[44:40.060 --> 44:43.520]  Uh, you know, I've been trying to get a pattern on this, and I, and it keeps changing.
[44:43.640 --> 44:44.140]  You're a listener.
[44:44.300 --> 44:46.180]  How does it know more about our phone system than we do?
[44:46.320 --> 44:46.840]  No, I don't.
[44:46.920 --> 44:47.500]  I definitely don't.
[44:47.580 --> 44:49.840]  But I just, you know, for the, I track...
[44:49.840 --> 44:52.640]  I should take a picture of this phone for people, because it's just unbelievable.
[44:52.940 --> 44:53.120]  Put it on the website.
[44:53.380 --> 44:53.900]  Yeah, I should.
[44:56.360 --> 44:56.860]  I have to deal with.
[44:57.000 --> 45:01.700]  I was wondering whether or not you were listening this morning when the, uh, broadcast for Democracy Now!
[45:01.720 --> 45:02.280]  was going over.
[45:02.380 --> 45:03.600]  Right away, I can tell you if it's morning.
[45:03.720 --> 45:04.460]  No, I was not listening.
[45:04.540 --> 45:10.460]  Oh, because, uh, it was, it was cut so quickly that, uh, it went off the air for quite a long time.
[45:10.600 --> 45:10.780]  Uh-huh.
[45:10.960 --> 45:16.960]  And I recorded, uh, the sound that it, the sound of it, uh, making it, they're trying to get back on the air.
[45:17.020 --> 45:19.740]  And it's a particular sound that they've been getting.
[45:26.360 --> 45:27.340]  What kind of sound is it?
[45:27.420 --> 45:29.620]  Well, it's a squeaking sound.
[45:29.820 --> 45:34.380]  It's an intermittent, but at exact intervals of 60, uh, 60, uh, per minute.
[45:35.140 --> 45:37.880]  Well, that sounds like, and they might be using an ISDN line.
[45:38.280 --> 45:41.800]  It sounds like some kind of a pulsing that might be happening when something isn't quite working out.
[45:42.060 --> 45:48.700]  Yeah, but it, uh, it's also, you know, there are particular broadcasts that this happens to, I'm beginning, well, I don't think it's coincidental.
[45:48.700 --> 45:49.260]  Uh-huh.
[45:49.360 --> 45:56.580]  And it happened very quickly, and I was going to even go as far as suggesting that, uh, Samori gets a list of the tenants at the Empire State Building, but, uh...
[45:56.580 --> 45:58.940]  Well, it could, it doesn't necessarily have to be there.
[45:59.080 --> 46:00.220]  It could be almost any place.
[46:00.420 --> 46:04.480]  But I'm not really sure how to, uh, how to interfere with an ISDN line in that manner.
[46:04.760 --> 46:07.140]  But I'm sure there's a way, if I put my mind to it.
[46:07.200 --> 46:14.400]  The question I have is, is the transmitter is, uh, well, the antenna is at the, um, Empire State Building.
[46:14.460 --> 46:16.440]  Well, I can't reveal that for national security reasons.
[46:16.600 --> 46:16.840]  Okay.
[46:17.240 --> 46:23.700]  Uh, the building, the, well, I guess my point is that this has been highly intensified since the move to Wall Street.
[46:23.900 --> 46:24.120]  Uh-huh.
[46:24.500 --> 46:27.220]  And, um, so I've been trying to just sort of keep a record of that.
[46:27.460 --> 46:30.100]  You mean the, you mean the, the one, one-a-second pulses have been intensified?
[46:30.380 --> 46:35.980]  No, the amount of, the, the, uh, immediacy of, of, uh, not, not broadcasting.
[46:36.420 --> 46:36.620]  Uh-huh.
[46:37.000 --> 46:39.500]  How it'll, they'll be broadcasting and then it cuts off.
[46:40.080 --> 46:42.260]  The amount of times that it goes to, uh, dead air.
[46:42.280 --> 46:45.020]  Well, it sounds like, yeah, if it's, okay, it could be a problem.
[46:45.020 --> 46:46.740]  Um, has this only happened during Democracy Now?
[46:46.780 --> 46:47.800]  Or has it happened during other programs?
[46:47.980 --> 46:50.700]  It happened, uh, through other programs.
[46:50.980 --> 46:51.160]  All right.
[46:51.220 --> 46:53.660]  So then, it's not, uh, it's not the link between here and D.C.
[46:54.140 --> 46:56.060]  Uh, it could be the link between here and Empire State.
[46:56.160 --> 46:57.500]  Whoops, I said where our transmitter was.
[46:57.680 --> 46:57.920]  Right.
[46:58.140 --> 46:58.500]  Well, okay.
[46:58.920 --> 47:00.240]  Uh, yeah, it could be that link.
[47:00.460 --> 47:02.760]  So, um, that's definitely a possibility.
[47:03.100 --> 47:07.180]  I know we don't use Bell Atlantic here, but I think we have to use Bell Atlantic to get there.
[47:07.880 --> 47:11.860]  So, uh, hopefully somebody will call a phone company someplace and, and, and get it fixed.
[47:11.900 --> 47:13.680]  But, uh, thanks for, for letting us know.
[47:13.880 --> 47:14.780]  We'll report the problem.
[47:15.480 --> 47:15.880]  All right.
[47:15.920 --> 47:16.840]  Let's move on to another phone call.
[47:16.920 --> 47:18.880]  I feel like a phone company operator now.
[47:19.540 --> 47:20.560]  You know, I understand.
[47:20.840 --> 47:22.000]  Your call is important to us.
[47:22.000 --> 47:22.180]  Yeah.
[47:22.400 --> 47:22.560]  Yeah.
[47:22.720 --> 47:23.720]  I understand how they feel now.
[47:24.080 --> 47:24.460]  All right.
[47:24.480 --> 47:25.080]  Let's go over here.
[47:25.180 --> 47:25.540]  Good evening.
[47:25.540 --> 47:26.320]  You're on the air.
[47:37.180 --> 47:44.960]  Not now, but when I'm in my car and I'm listening, I sometimes hear a small little pop, a tiny little pop every, like, couple of seconds.
[47:45.000 --> 47:46.500]  Yeah, but this is in place of the program.
[47:46.500 --> 47:47.520]  This isn't during the program.
[47:47.620 --> 47:50.220]  I think what you're hearing is multipath, which is caused by buildings.
[47:51.200 --> 47:53.060]  But anyway, I'd like to mention the fact...
[47:53.060 --> 47:54.160]  I don't know what that sound is.
[47:54.180 --> 47:58.120]  I'd like to mention the fact that I got AT&T and I switched over to another long-distance company.
[47:58.280 --> 48:00.200]  They sent me a check, but you know what the catch is?
[48:00.320 --> 48:00.480]  What?
[48:00.780 --> 48:06.040]  You have to pay that $3 a month, even if you don't use AT&T, on top of the FCC.
[48:06.180 --> 48:06.500]  Really?
[48:07.180 --> 48:07.440]  Right.
[48:07.600 --> 48:08.240]  That's not nice.
[48:08.320 --> 48:09.540]  I don't say anything about that in this letter.
[48:09.700 --> 48:10.560]  I look for little fees.
[48:10.940 --> 48:11.040]  Right.
[48:11.240 --> 48:17.700]  And you know, speaking of getting charged, you know, bank after bank is starting to charge you to use the ATM if you're not their customer.
[48:18.060 --> 48:19.100]  Citibank just started doing it.
[48:19.100 --> 48:19.120]  I know.
[48:19.120 --> 48:19.380]  I know.
[48:19.460 --> 48:20.660]  I think almost every bank does now.
[48:20.820 --> 48:21.140]  Yeah.
[48:21.280 --> 48:21.740]  It's getting a lawyer.
[48:22.000 --> 48:25.560]  I just don't use them that much anymore.
[48:25.760 --> 48:26.820]  I go to people.
[48:26.980 --> 48:28.260]  I walk up to tellers now.
[48:28.580 --> 48:31.000]  And you know, I spend a lot of time saying, hey, how are you doing?
[48:31.080 --> 48:31.780]  How are you feeling today?
[48:31.880 --> 48:32.240]  You're okay.
[48:32.240 --> 48:33.660]  You look a little haggard there.
[48:33.740 --> 48:34.620]  You sure you want to sit down?
[48:34.740 --> 48:36.300]  Maybe you have a cup of tea or something like that?
[48:36.300 --> 48:37.960]  But boy, this weather's interesting, isn't it?
[48:38.120 --> 48:39.540]  There's a cold front coming from the north.
[48:39.680 --> 48:41.100]  It's kind of unusual for this time of year, don't you think?
[48:41.340 --> 48:42.260]  How about those Mets?
[48:42.380 --> 48:44.520]  Boy, I think this is the year they're really going to make it come together.
[48:44.860 --> 48:48.500]  I can go on for a good 25 minutes sometimes, you know, depending how social I feel.
[48:49.160 --> 48:55.480]  And you know, that's really worth the 25 cents that I'm saving, or a dollar 25, whatever it is, from using their computer.
[48:55.700 --> 48:59.420]  I know, you know, it costs a lot to use a computer as opposed to using a human being.
[48:59.900 --> 49:00.820]  What if you're not at home?
[49:00.960 --> 49:07.720]  What if you're in, like I'm traveling, let's say, and I need cash for, let's say, my car breaks down or something, you know?
[49:07.820 --> 49:10.160]  And I go to a bank, hey, $2 to get money out.
[49:10.300 --> 49:11.800]  Well, you could use a credit card, I guess, couldn't you?
[49:11.940 --> 49:12.460]  Yeah, well...
[49:12.460 --> 49:14.780]  Well, there's always robbery and theft.
[49:14.840 --> 49:16.440]  It's $10, and they don't take credit cards.
[49:17.040 --> 49:17.300]  Hmm.
[49:17.300 --> 49:18.140]  Or something like that, you know.
[49:18.380 --> 49:22.720]  How about you take out a whole lot of money from the bank, and you keep it in your house?
[49:22.860 --> 49:23.560]  People do that.
[49:23.680 --> 49:25.600]  Yeah, I think a lot more people are doing that.
[49:25.720 --> 49:33.940]  Because of the fantastic interest rates of something like 2% that you get at a bank these days, and being charged for having too little money, I think a lot of people are losing interest in banks.
[49:33.940 --> 49:37.000]  Well, people also don't want to take the risk of losing that money.
[49:37.680 --> 49:42.660]  Well, I think, you know, a lot of people are losing the money just by having it sit there because they keep charging you for having it.
[49:43.020 --> 49:44.780]  You know, I should be finding out things from them.
[49:44.900 --> 49:48.220]  They shouldn't be, you know, asking me all these questions and charging me all this money.
[49:48.340 --> 49:51.560]  They should be paying me to have my money, and I should know everything there is to know about them.
[49:51.780 --> 49:54.500]  I do not know anybody in my bank's Social Security number.
[49:54.540 --> 49:54.940]  Do you know that?
[49:55.540 --> 49:56.180]  That's not right.
[49:56.740 --> 49:58.120]  I should know everything about them.
[49:58.920 --> 49:59.920]  Uh-oh, what does that beep mean?
[50:00.040 --> 50:01.120]  No, no, there's something else.
[50:01.200 --> 50:03.220]  Do you know the new AT&T code cards?
[50:03.940 --> 50:04.620]  Uh, no.
[50:04.880 --> 50:06.800]  In the city, they have these AT&T cold cuts.
[50:06.880 --> 50:10.860]  Oh, the big warrior-looking ones that you could bomb and they'll still be there.
[50:11.080 --> 50:11.260]  Right.
[50:11.420 --> 50:15.300]  And also, do you know that, remember, we mentioned about hotel phones that they charge?
[50:15.960 --> 50:18.160]  Why don't I mention about how quote service works?
[50:20.640 --> 50:22.280]  You have one more second to mention it.
[50:22.300 --> 50:22.540]  All right.
[50:22.840 --> 50:26.020]  When you're at a motel or hotel, you can use AT&T.
[50:26.120 --> 50:34.540]  Instead of dialing direct and then getting, like, a bill and getting paying when you check out for your phone calls, you could just have AT&T dial the number for you.
[50:34.680 --> 50:44.940]  In other words, have AT&T-operated dial the number for you, long distance or local, and when they ask you for your room number, they'll ask you for your room number, and you can just give them any room number you want, and it'll be billed to that room number.
[50:45.040 --> 50:55.580]  They won't know, you know, and then when they call the front desk at the end of your call, if the front desk doesn't recognize the room number that you give them, they'll charge the number that you've called.
[50:55.740 --> 50:56.260]  Well, that's illegal.
[50:56.380 --> 50:57.080]  They cannot do that.
[50:57.260 --> 50:57.980]  Well, it's happening.
[50:58.300 --> 51:02.340]  If they do that and if you can document it, it's kind of hard for you to document it If you're making a fraudulent call.
[51:02.760 --> 51:05.880]  And I have it on my home phone, and they say that it was a collect call.
[51:06.260 --> 51:07.640]  Well, obviously, it wasn't a collect call.
[51:07.960 --> 51:11.180]  It's not legal to charge something as a collect call when it's not a collect call.
[51:11.320 --> 51:14.560]  Right, and it didn't say collect call, but the representative said it was a collect call.
[51:14.820 --> 51:15.900]  It didn't say collect call?
[51:15.940 --> 51:16.460]  What did it say?
[51:16.540 --> 51:22.940]  No, it just said called from the hotel's phone number, called to my number, and then it said operator assisted.
[51:23.200 --> 51:24.440]  And this is AT&T doing this?
[51:24.500 --> 51:24.640]  Right.
[51:24.840 --> 51:29.020]  Well, what you need to do is complain to AT&T and say that they're defrauding their customers by doing this.
[51:29.020 --> 51:39.040]  And, you know, maybe what you should do, this is my suggestion, go out to a hotel someplace, live it up, call a bunch of your friends or associates, and call them like this.
[51:39.360 --> 51:41.620]  Speak for a long period of time, or however long they'll let you speak.
[51:42.340 --> 51:46.280]  And then when they get their bill, there'll be a lot more people complaining.
[51:46.980 --> 51:48.920]  And maybe they'll talk to you about it, too.
[51:49.000 --> 51:49.660]  Thanks very much for calling.
[51:51.040 --> 51:52.680]  212-209-2900.
[51:52.760 --> 51:53.040]  Good evening.
[51:53.140 --> 51:53.620]  You're on the air.
[51:54.420 --> 51:55.020]  Hey, what's up?
[51:55.080 --> 51:56.200]  I knew I was going to get on next.
[51:56.480 --> 51:57.780]  Yeah, well, you're calling number one, actually.
[51:58.620 --> 51:58.980]  No.
[51:59.540 --> 52:02.460]  Yeah, well, maybe you hopped in when somebody else gave up.
[52:02.460 --> 52:03.380]  Hey, check it out.
[52:03.440 --> 52:06.640]  I got spammed by Omnipoint, like, twice so far.
[52:06.720 --> 52:07.020]  Really?
[52:07.240 --> 52:08.200]  What'd they do to you this time?
[52:08.780 --> 52:10.720]  Well, they send out SMS messages.
[52:10.840 --> 52:15.200]  This one was, you know, use our long distance, pay 29 cents a minute.
[52:16.360 --> 52:17.820]  And the other one was the flower thing?
[52:18.340 --> 52:19.580]  Yeah, 1-800-FLOWER.
[52:19.620 --> 52:21.440]  Yeah, yeah, I got spammed by the same thing.
[52:21.800 --> 52:26.100]  You know, when they came up with this promotion, I was wondering, who is going to like this?
[52:26.100 --> 52:27.800]  Who is going to like getting ads on their telephone?
[52:28.120 --> 52:28.660]  It's ridiculous.
[52:29.540 --> 52:29.880]  Check it out.
[52:29.940 --> 52:36.400]  They also sent me an invitation to have hors d'oeuvres and drinks at the Museum of Science here in Boston.
[52:36.580 --> 52:37.300]  And they were going to...
[52:37.300 --> 52:38.340]  I didn't get that one.
[52:38.520 --> 52:41.200]  They're going to treat us to an Omnipoint movie, The Showing of Alaska.
[52:41.440 --> 52:42.160]  I didn't get that.
[52:42.180 --> 52:43.360]  I would have come up to Boston for that.
[52:43.600 --> 52:44.660]  Yeah, that was pretty good.
[52:44.880 --> 52:45.100]  Omnipoint.
[52:45.260 --> 52:46.340]  Well, you don't have Omnipoint.
[52:46.420 --> 52:50.120]  Well, I would get an Omnipoint phone to get that message and go to Boston to see this movie.
[52:50.680 --> 52:51.080]  Definitely.
[52:51.300 --> 52:51.760]  Good time.
[52:52.660 --> 52:53.300]  But, you know...
[52:53.300 --> 52:57.160]  Well, you know, if they can spam their lines, other people can spam them, too.
[52:57.340 --> 52:59.380]  I wonder if anyone's ever done that in this area.
[52:59.460 --> 53:01.440]  I know somebody did it in England, but has anybody done that here?
[53:01.460 --> 53:01.600]  It would be so easy.
[53:01.960 --> 53:03.540]  Yeah, because it's very simple.
[53:03.620 --> 53:04.040]  What is it?
[53:04.640 --> 53:07.180]  Certain exchange at Omnipoint.net, right?
[53:07.320 --> 53:10.800]  Yeah, it's actually one area code number at Omnipoint.net.
[53:10.800 --> 53:13.680]  And you set up a little shell script to rip through the exchanges.
[53:13.980 --> 53:14.240]  Uh-huh.
[53:14.600 --> 53:15.560]  And there you go.
[53:15.680 --> 53:18.160]  It's the cyber phone bomber.
[53:18.660 --> 53:21.080]  So, what's an Omnipoint exchange that we all know?
[53:21.400 --> 53:23.480]  Uh, well, we got 818 here in Boston.
[53:23.840 --> 53:25.080]  Okay, so it's what, 617?
[53:25.600 --> 53:25.820]  Yeah.
[53:25.980 --> 53:29.220]  So, it'd be 1-617-818-XXXX at Omnipoint.net.
[53:29.320 --> 53:29.800]  Do not do that.
[53:29.860 --> 53:31.120]  I'm not advocating people do that.
[53:31.200 --> 53:31.320]  No, no, no.
[53:31.320 --> 53:33.060]  We're just saying somebody could do that.
[53:33.300 --> 53:34.760]  And, you know, it could cause problems.
[53:34.840 --> 53:36.500]  Or maybe they have some sort of safeguard against it.
[53:36.580 --> 53:36.900]  Who knows?
[53:37.020 --> 53:37.800]  They probably do.
[53:38.180 --> 53:39.080]  Yeah, you could hop.
[53:39.220 --> 53:39.860]  You could randomize.
[53:39.960 --> 53:40.840]  You could do all kinds of things.
[53:41.240 --> 53:42.060]  But, again, don't do that.
[53:42.380 --> 53:42.960]  Well, yeah.
[53:43.100 --> 53:43.780]  People could do.
[53:43.840 --> 53:46.080]  And why this kind of system is inherently bad for that reason.
[53:46.620 --> 53:48.040]  Yeah, just have fun thinking about it.
[53:48.160 --> 53:48.320]  Yeah.
[53:48.480 --> 53:49.960]  I'm amazed nobody else has done it yet, though.
[53:50.080 --> 53:50.560]  I really am.
[53:51.060 --> 53:52.280]  Well, I'll keep you informed.
[53:52.440 --> 53:52.640]  Okay.
[53:52.780 --> 53:53.320]  Hey, thanks for calling.
[53:53.600 --> 53:53.880]  Take care.
[53:54.680 --> 53:55.540]  It's a call from Boston.
[53:56.040 --> 53:56.460]  All right.
[53:56.580 --> 53:57.120]  Let's take another call.
[53:57.380 --> 53:57.500]  Nice, people.
[53:57.660 --> 53:58.520]  Let's go down here.
[53:58.780 --> 53:59.720]  Line number 9.
[53:59.860 --> 54:00.120]  Good evening.
[54:00.180 --> 54:00.580]  You're on the air.
[54:00.840 --> 54:01.360]  Oh, howdy.
[54:01.560 --> 54:01.920]  How are you doing?
[54:02.300 --> 54:02.980]  Okay, great.
[54:03.120 --> 54:03.600]  Where are you calling from?
[54:03.900 --> 54:05.300]  Oh, I live in Manhattan in Harlem.
[54:05.620 --> 54:05.780]  All right.
[54:05.780 --> 54:06.580]  And I'm Daniel C.
[54:07.140 --> 54:07.360]  Uh-huh.
[54:07.460 --> 54:14.300]  And so, at the same time BAI went out this morning, my uninterruptible power supply kicked in.
[54:14.920 --> 54:16.780]  So, I just thought it was an interesting question.
[54:16.780 --> 54:17.020]  Really?
[54:17.020 --> 54:19.040]  So, maybe it was a power thing.
[54:19.220 --> 54:20.420]  Yeah, I have a feeling it was.
[54:20.640 --> 54:22.760]  But a power thing that affects us down here and you up there.
[54:22.900 --> 54:25.020]  You know, stranger things have happened.
[54:25.240 --> 54:25.740]  It's true.
[54:28.220 --> 54:28.580]  Wow.
[54:28.800 --> 54:29.000]  Okay.
[54:29.100 --> 54:31.100]  Well, apparently a lot of people were affected by this somehow.
[54:31.320 --> 54:31.920]  Oh, my God.
[54:32.200 --> 54:32.420]  Anyway.
[54:33.960 --> 54:34.580]  Have a good day.
[54:34.660 --> 54:34.840]  All right.
[54:34.880 --> 54:35.120]  Thanks.
[54:36.620 --> 54:37.880]  212-209-2900.
[54:38.240 --> 54:38.960]  How about over here?
[54:39.020 --> 54:39.280]  Good evening.
[54:39.360 --> 54:39.740]  You're on the air.
[54:40.240 --> 54:42.420]  Hey, this is Andrew Kaiser from New Jersey.
[54:42.600 --> 54:43.000]  How are you doing?
[54:43.520 --> 54:48.240]  I'm calling up because I'm setting up a server in Morristown, New Jersey.
[54:48.280 --> 54:55.660]  I'm hoping to get the 2600, an official IRC.2600.com IRC server up.
[54:55.740 --> 54:57.200]  And I kind of wanted to announce it to everybody.
[54:57.340 --> 54:58.360]  Hey, that would be great, actually.
[54:58.660 --> 55:01.280]  That way we could have a, you know, a pound 2600 channel.
[55:01.460 --> 55:05.740]  It isn't taken over by, you know, different radical factions of various groups around the world every week.
[55:05.740 --> 55:08.100]  And with that 15 million bots in it, too.
[55:08.360 --> 55:08.800]  Yeah, yeah.
[55:09.020 --> 55:09.800]  And also...
[55:09.800 --> 55:10.420]  Hey, I'm definitely...
[55:10.420 --> 55:11.000]  You got the bandwidth?
[55:12.500 --> 55:12.820]  Hopefully.
[55:13.140 --> 55:14.460]  You know what you're getting yourself into here?
[55:14.800 --> 55:15.460]  Yes, I am.
[55:15.680 --> 55:16.000]  Okay.
[55:16.040 --> 55:17.720]  I know exactly what I'm getting myself into.
[55:17.780 --> 55:18.920]  Okay, well, as long as you know that.
[55:19.020 --> 55:22.060]  How about you shoot me an email on that and we'll work it out.
[55:22.320 --> 55:26.700]  Yeah, maybe you guys can, like, get me off the air and I can give somebody my email address.
[55:26.820 --> 55:29.460]  You guys can, you know, give me a message or something.
[55:29.660 --> 55:33.220]  Okay, I'm not quite sure how we can do that right now.
[55:33.220 --> 55:35.760]  Because these phones, they don't transfer, you can't put people on hold.
[55:36.080 --> 55:42.360]  Well, and also, I was talking to Porkchop, and I am interested in getting another real audio server, guys, for you up.
[55:42.480 --> 55:47.340]  If you're on IRC now, message Porkchop, and he'll, you know, he can make arrangements.
[55:47.500 --> 55:48.660]  He can get in touch with you.
[55:48.740 --> 55:48.900]  Yeah.
[55:49.320 --> 55:50.060]  Okay, sounds good.
[55:50.280 --> 55:50.500]  All right.
[55:50.500 --> 55:57.360]  I just wanted to let you guys know that, and also, I used to be on Bell Atlantic Mobile beeping service.
[55:57.560 --> 55:57.940]  Uh-huh.
[55:58.360 --> 56:04.240]  And I was slammed by this little company in northern New Jersey called Page Mart.
[56:04.500 --> 56:04.840]  Really?
[56:05.180 --> 56:12.860]  And, damn, they charged me all these, like, like $100 for 400 pages per month.
[56:13.100 --> 56:13.540]  Wow.
[56:13.720 --> 56:14.300]  For what?
[56:14.540 --> 56:15.300]  What were you doing?
[56:15.320 --> 56:16.480]  And it was crappy service, still.
[56:16.620 --> 56:16.800]  Uh-huh.
[56:16.800 --> 56:20.080]  It was like, with the Bell Atlantic, I got a local call from my house.
[56:20.460 --> 56:26.320]  As soon as the guy slammed me, I got a letter in the mail saying, my beeper number changed to a 212 exchange.
[56:26.540 --> 56:26.740]  Hmm?
[56:26.960 --> 56:27.860]  I was like, what the heck?
[56:28.640 --> 56:29.820]  I don't know how that happened.
[56:29.960 --> 56:37.440]  You really got to be careful these days with, you know, with high tech and the various things that are going on, because the consumers are the ones who wind up paying in the end.
[56:37.600 --> 56:38.560]  And they want you to think.
[56:38.640 --> 56:43.020]  They want you to think that it's the mischievous, malicious-type people, hackers out there that are doing it.
[56:43.120 --> 56:43.600]  It's not.
[56:43.600 --> 56:45.260]  It's the big companies that are doing it.
[56:45.260 --> 56:48.820]  And that definition from the backpack thing, atrocious.
[56:48.980 --> 56:49.680]  It is atrocious.
[56:49.860 --> 56:50.500]  It absolutely is.
[56:50.520 --> 56:50.860]  Malicious?
[56:51.100 --> 56:51.500]  Yeah, right.
[56:51.920 --> 56:57.280]  I mean, people are around to spread information, to help each other out, and to answer questions.
[56:57.620 --> 56:59.060]  You know, that's what it's all about.
[56:59.460 --> 57:01.500]  You saw the kind of service we got at Sprint.
[57:01.640 --> 57:02.680]  We just put it on hold.
[57:02.840 --> 57:03.520]  They don't care about us.
[57:03.640 --> 57:06.060]  Actually, I'm calling from a Sprint number right now.
[57:06.140 --> 57:07.640]  I have Sprint as local services.
[57:07.880 --> 57:09.600]  It's a little cluster in northern Jersey.
[57:09.840 --> 57:11.620]  And how much does it cost to make a local phone call?
[57:11.620 --> 57:19.780]  To make a local phone call, first of all, the local calling area is like, search my 908, not going to say it, but XXX.
[57:20.380 --> 57:20.560]  Right.
[57:20.720 --> 57:23.080]  And that's basically all I have for local numbers.
[57:23.220 --> 57:23.820]  Your exchange.
[57:24.040 --> 57:24.660]  My exchange.
[57:24.940 --> 57:26.880]  So, let's say you want to call across town.
[57:27.060 --> 57:27.660]  What does it cost?
[57:28.160 --> 57:28.960]  Well, it's free.
[57:29.740 --> 57:30.640]  With Sprint, it's free.
[57:30.800 --> 57:31.240]  Right.
[57:31.360 --> 57:38.120]  As soon as I call out of, like, my town and the three towns surrounding me, it's a long-distance call.
[57:38.120 --> 57:39.100]  And how much does that cost?
[57:39.160 --> 57:39.640]  Regional long-distance.
[57:39.800 --> 57:41.980]  I'm calling this on AT&T right now.
[57:42.160 --> 57:42.340]  Okay.
[57:42.760 --> 57:44.200]  You have about five seconds to answer this.
[57:44.280 --> 57:47.300]  How much does it cost for you to make one of those regional calls using Sprint?
[57:47.880 --> 57:48.240]  Okay.
[57:48.320 --> 57:48.780]  It's crazy.
[57:49.300 --> 57:50.280]  15 cents a minute.
[57:50.640 --> 57:51.000]  Yikes.
[57:51.360 --> 57:52.560]  See, Sprint is ludicrous.
[57:52.900 --> 57:58.200]  It's amazing that Sprint advertises 10 cents a minute, and they charge you 15 cents a minute for what really is a local phone call.
[57:58.280 --> 57:59.360]  But that's part of the scam.
[57:59.360 --> 58:00.100]  That's how they get you.
[58:00.160 --> 58:02.760]  That's one of many ways they get you, and that's what you find out here on Off the Hook.
[58:03.040 --> 58:03.900]  Hey, we've got to go.
[58:04.360 --> 58:05.580]  Thanks, everybody, for calling in.
[58:05.580 --> 58:08.960]  And, again, a reminder, please listen to the evening news tonight.
[58:08.960 --> 58:10.520]  I just think it's a very fascinating account.
[58:11.180 --> 58:12.200]  They're about 1140.
[58:12.480 --> 58:17.860]  You real audio people, hopefully you'll be able to hear it, too, on the website when you're listening to this.
[58:17.960 --> 58:24.420]  Maybe somebody out there with a cassette recorder can record it tonight as a backup, just in case I'm not able to record it here in the studio.
[58:25.100 --> 58:26.680]  In any event, have a good night.
[58:26.700 --> 58:28.740]  We'll be back again next week with another edition of Off the Hook.
[58:29.220 --> 58:31.140]  Isaac, good night to you over there on the other side of the room.
[58:32.420 --> 58:33.700]  And now it's time for the theme.
[58:34.220 --> 58:34.980]  Where is the theme?
[58:35.580 --> 58:36.580]  No, that's not the theme.
[58:36.720 --> 58:36.880]  Whoops.
[58:37.100 --> 58:37.520]  There it is.
[58:38.360 --> 58:39.160]  Until next week.
[58:39.280 --> 58:39.420]  Good night.
[58:43.640 --> 58:45.360]  The telephone keeps ringing.
[58:45.840 --> 58:47.880]  So I ripped it off the wall.
[58:48.980 --> 58:50.860]  I caught myself while caving.
[58:51.420 --> 58:53.400]  Now I can't make a cough.
[58:54.140 --> 58:56.120]  It could be yet much worse.
[58:56.940 --> 58:58.700]  But if they could, they would.
[58:58.940 --> 58:59.640]  Bon, diddly, bon.
[58:59.780 --> 59:01.600]  For the best, it's paid for worst.
[59:02.320 --> 59:04.060]  I hope that's understood.
[59:04.250 --> 59:05.060]  Bon, diddly, bon.
[59:24.890 --> 59:27.470]  I love the New York City Police Department.
[59:27.710 --> 59:28.890]  Yes, there's corruption.
[59:29.170 --> 59:30.410]  Yes, there's brutality.
[59:30.830 --> 59:32.870]  Good cops are against it.
[59:33.030 --> 59:34.270]  We want to fight it.
[59:34.390 --> 59:35.790]  We want to end it.
[59:36.090 --> 59:36.650]  Bullshit!
[59:37.470 --> 59:58.410]  The Coalition to Remove Rudolph Giuliani, the Brooklyn Coalition for Justice and Parents Against Police Brutality, are asking that you join them in a demand that the Justice Department place the New York City Police Department into receivership, that they institute a federal task force to investigate and prosecute cases of police brutality,
[59:58.830 --> 01:00:03.970]  that they stop the use of hollow point bullets, and disband the street crimes unit.
[01:00:04.250 --> 01:00:07.990]  Join them on Wednesday, March 24th, from 5 to 7 p.m.
[01:00:08.190 --> 01:00:11.270]  at the Department of Justice at 26 Federal Plaza.
[01:00:11.270 --> 01:00:16.310]  For more information, call area code 718-859-0857.
[01:00:16.530 --> 01:00:19.670]  That's 718-859-0857.
[01:00:19.930 --> 01:00:26.350]  This has been a public service announcement for the citywide coalition to remove Rudolph Giuliani.
[01:00:29.970 --> 01:00:33.910]  This is WBAI 99.5 FM.
[01:00:34.150 --> 01:00:36.030]  Stay tuned for Tahrir.
[01:01:49.620 --> 01:01:51.360]  And it wasn't over yet.
[01:01:51.360 --> 01:02:04.020]  At Police Plaza today, another half-dozen people were arrested at New York City Police Headquarters today as protesters continued their daily acts of civil disobedience in response to last month's police killing of Amadou Diallo.
[01:02:04.420 --> 01:02:10.420]  Today's arrests follow yesterday's arrest of, among others, former Mayor David Dinkins and Congressmember Charles Rangel.
[01:02:10.880 --> 01:02:19.760]  Protesters say they will continue the daily acts of civil disobedience until the four undercover cops who fired 41 shots at Diallo are arrested.
[01:02:19.760 --> 01:02:29.240]  They have also called on the federal government to take over day-to-day operations of the NYPD and for the dismantling of the department's street crime unit.
[01:02:29.400 --> 01:02:33.140]  The four officers who shot the unarmed Diallo were members of that unit.
[01:02:33.300 --> 01:02:42.460]  Today's arrests come as a New York Times poll finds that a majority of New Yorkers believe that police treat minorities more harshly than they do whites.
[01:02:42.660 --> 01:02:47.540]  The report also says the mayor's popularity rating has dropped since the Diallo killing.
[01:02:47.540 --> 01:03:00.740]  Next Friday evening at 6.30 p.m., the Manhattan delegation of the New York City Council will conduct the next in a series of hearings aimed at allowing New Yorkers to describe their experiences with the New York City police.
[01:03:01.080 --> 01:03:10.620]  The Friday evening program will be held at the Lesbian and Gay Community Center on Little West 12th Street at 9th Avenue on the west side of Lower Manhattan.
[01:03:11.120 --> 01:03:23.040]  Similar speakouts have been held in other parts of the borough since the 10th of March as City Council members prepare for public hearings next week that will look into the workings of the NYPD's street crime unit.
[01:03:23.280 --> 01:03:32.480]  At a speakout last night held on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, a number of people told their stories, including a young professional man who works for the City Council.
[01:03:32.760 --> 01:03:39.800]  His comments mirrored that of others who say that the problem with the street crime unit isn't that it has a few bad cops.
[01:03:39.940 --> 01:03:43.920]  The problem, he said, is police policy which starts at the top.
[01:03:43.920 --> 01:03:46.360]  Here is a portion of his presentation.
[01:03:47.480 --> 01:03:58.620]  Hello, my name is Johan Semacubella, and it's actually interesting for me to be here in this capacity today because I actually work as a legislative financial analyst in the City Council's finance division.
[01:03:58.960 --> 01:04:01.380]  So, I'm normally on the other side of the table here.
[01:04:05.000 --> 01:04:13.980]  As I was... Councilmember Eldridge asked me to come here and share a couple of my experiences, and as I was sitting here, I was thinking of what I was going to say, and it kept changing.
[01:04:13.980 --> 01:04:15.340]  Let me just share one thing.
[01:04:15.480 --> 01:04:24.780]  When I was... I went to a boarding school for high school, and in my third year there, I had the most incredible English teacher you could ever imagine.
[01:04:24.940 --> 01:04:28.680]  This man had got... He was honored by the President.
[01:04:29.160 --> 01:04:33.600]  Everything that I, today, when I write a paper, any document, I think about him.
[01:04:33.780 --> 01:04:37.460]  He was an incredible teacher, incredible master of the English language.
[01:04:38.240 --> 01:04:43.140]  Two years ago, he was convicted of child molestation.
[01:04:44.080 --> 01:04:45.560]  He was a child abuser.
[01:04:46.280 --> 01:04:56.880]  And as wonderful of an English teacher as he was, and as wonderful of an English teacher as he was for me, didn't change the experience that other students had with him in his class.
[01:04:56.880 --> 01:05:06.340]  Just because you see police officers that might be in your neighborhoods smiling and doing their job arresting drug dealers.
[01:05:06.600 --> 01:05:08.140]  That's what they're paid to do.
[01:05:08.580 --> 01:05:14.880]  But when you do one major violation, that makes you a bad cop.
[01:05:16.120 --> 01:05:24.940]  Because for somebody who has the license to kill, there's never a time for them to go out and do one wrong thing.
[01:05:24.940 --> 01:05:34.480]  Now, so I have to strongly disagree with not only those people who say that here, but elected officials and numerous people throughout the city who say this.
[01:05:34.640 --> 01:05:36.100]  A few bad apples.
[01:05:36.340 --> 01:05:39.940]  Because I can personally testify that it's not a few bad apples.
[01:05:40.360 --> 01:05:45.400]  It's a systemic problem which runs through this entire police department.
[01:05:46.400 --> 01:05:56.020]  And just because somebody does their job right 90% of the time, those 10% that they mess up, they need to be held accountable for it.
[01:05:56.080 --> 01:05:57.200]  I live in Bed-Stuy.
[01:05:57.660 --> 01:06:14.060]  And on a day-to-day basis, I come home after work from the city council, and I see young people who look like me, who I know are honor students, who I know is the star athlete.
[01:06:14.380 --> 01:06:16.060]  But this person doesn't know that.
[01:06:16.060 --> 01:06:34.760]  The first month that I lived in New York City, I saw a young boy who lived right across the street from me, who was an honor student, hit by a police car as he was riding his bicycle, thrown against the fence, frisked, and then the four cops jumped back in the car and drove on their way.
[01:06:35.580 --> 01:06:41.380]  Since then, I see a similar event every single day in my community.
[01:06:41.380 --> 01:06:55.160]  Not by four police officers, not by a few bad apples, but every single undercover police car I see patrolling with the license plate hidden, rolling very slowly, then they jump the curve and all four of them jump out.
[01:06:55.380 --> 01:06:58.620]  Similar, I'm very sure, although I didn't see it, to the situation of Giallo.
[01:06:59.000 --> 01:07:02.260]  We need to understand that we're not talking about four bad apples.
[01:07:02.480 --> 01:07:07.280]  We're talking about four members of the street crimes unit who are technically doing their job.
[01:07:08.300 --> 01:07:11.240]  We're not talking about a situation even like Abner Lawima.
[01:07:11.380 --> 01:07:16.720]  who there was a physical confrontation or a verbal confrontation and they thought they had to get back at somebody.
[01:07:17.000 --> 01:07:17.460]  No.
[01:07:17.740 --> 01:07:20.880]  They were doing what they were trained to do.
[01:07:22.680 --> 01:07:33.760]  Two years ago, actually about three years ago now when I first came to New York City, I was a resident here peaceably enjoying a public event.
[01:07:35.580 --> 01:07:43.940]  As a legislative financial analyst of the New York City Council, as a college-educated person, as someone who had absolutely no criminal record.
[01:07:44.800 --> 01:07:50.740]  When I saw a police officer who wasn't doing their job, when I asked him for his name and badge number, what happened to me?
[01:07:51.300 --> 01:07:53.200]  I was brutally assaulted.
[01:07:54.560 --> 01:07:58.800]  I was thrown to the ground by a man who was at least a hundred pounds heavier than me.
[01:07:59.260 --> 01:08:10.920]  As I didn't resist, my head was repeatedly banged on a cement bar, of which I suffered a blood clot to where I can't look at a computer screen for longer than two hours without having massive headaches today.
[01:08:12.120 --> 01:08:17.200]  Upon my getting up to the ground without any resistance whatsoever, this one bad cop?
[01:08:17.340 --> 01:08:17.460]  No.
[01:08:17.640 --> 01:08:23.760]  Every other single cop, which included ten other police officers in his vicinity, proceeded to assault me.
[01:08:24.160 --> 01:08:30.600]  With nightclubs, with their walkie-talkies, they were actually jumping over each other to get in the lit.
[01:08:31.880 --> 01:08:33.140]  What happened thereafter?
[01:08:33.560 --> 01:08:34.600]  Was I taken to a hospital?
[01:08:34.740 --> 01:08:34.900]  No.
[01:08:35.300 --> 01:08:38.160]  I was taken to the bowels of a cell for three days.
[01:08:38.740 --> 01:08:39.640]  Three days.
[01:08:40.380 --> 01:08:43.480]  Now, we always talk about these few bad officers theory.
[01:08:43.700 --> 01:08:50.100]  When I was in jail, I must have had contact with over 75 different police officers.
[01:08:50.380 --> 01:09:01.140]  With the exception of two of 75, I was either physically assaulted by them or verbally or racially assaulted by each and every one of the 73 other police officers.
[01:09:01.820 --> 01:09:04.920]  And did those two who were nice do anything about it?
[01:09:05.080 --> 01:09:05.560]  No.
[01:09:05.900 --> 01:09:09.620]  When my case came up, did any of the police officers testify on my behalf?
[01:09:09.820 --> 01:09:10.100]  No.
[01:09:10.520 --> 01:09:10.900]  No.
[01:09:11.420 --> 01:09:13.380]  It's not just a few bad apples.
[01:09:13.660 --> 01:09:15.100]  It's a systemic problem.
[01:09:15.240 --> 01:09:18.560]  And as a result, a lot of people, you know, this puts a human face on it.
[01:09:18.780 --> 01:09:20.660]  A lot of people don't understand.
[01:09:20.660 --> 01:09:28.280]  We hear about the cases of the Abner Louimas and the giallos, but unfortunately, that's the only time we do things like this.
[01:09:28.940 --> 01:09:39.780]  But for three months thereafter, I had to go to court and face charges of four felony assault against police officers, charges against me.
[01:09:40.060 --> 01:09:41.460]  It took me three months to do that.
[01:09:41.620 --> 01:09:43.440]  That was with the support of the city council.
[01:09:43.800 --> 01:09:46.000]  That was with the support of Charles Rangel.
[01:09:46.200 --> 01:09:49.360]  That was with the support of a federal probe by Janet Reno.
[01:09:49.960 --> 01:09:54.920]  So imagine the unemployed person or the person who has a criminal record.
[01:09:55.320 --> 01:09:56.500]  What is their plight?
[01:09:56.960 --> 01:10:01.000]  They have to make a plea and they wind up serving time in Rikers Island.
[01:10:01.440 --> 01:10:02.520]  So please, don't be fooled.
[01:10:02.620 --> 01:10:04.640]  It's not just a few bad officers.
[01:10:04.960 --> 01:10:09.780]  And those who sit back and do nothing, how many police were arrested for Abner Louima?
[01:10:10.020 --> 01:10:10.300]  Four.
[01:10:10.620 --> 01:10:11.740]  Four police officers.
[01:10:12.080 --> 01:10:15.700]  How many police officers were present in that precinct and knew what was going on?
[01:10:15.860 --> 01:10:19.720]  What about the death sergeant who allowed this man to walk up with his pants on?
[01:10:19.760 --> 01:10:21.720]  What about the person who lent him the glove?
[01:10:21.720 --> 01:10:25.820]  What about the people who sat back and did nothing while this man was in the cell for an hour?
[01:10:26.020 --> 01:10:27.040]  It's not just a few.
[01:10:27.180 --> 01:10:30.360]  And if we're going to do something about it, we have to change the system from the top down.
[01:10:31.420 --> 01:10:32.100]  Thank you.
[01:10:34.780 --> 01:10:42.840]  Johan Samacabel, a financial analyst with the New York City Council, speaking last night about his experiences with the New York City Police Department.
[01:10:43.240 --> 01:10:52.440]  And again, the next public speak-out will be Friday at the Lesbian and Gay Community Center on Little West 12th Street near 9th Avenue in Lower Manhattan.
[01:10:52.760 --> 01:10:57.280]  That speak-out on Friday night gets underway at 6.30 p.m.
[01:10:57.780 --> 01:10:59.420]  And finally, tonight, as the...