Things That Happen
From the Bulletin of the Ministry of the Information of the Republic of Kosova, 22 August 1994: "The presence of cordless telephones in numerous private Albanian homes has been of great concern to Serbian police authorities with the revelation that in some cases, police wave bands can be overheard. Consequently Serbian police have embarked upon a mass search of Albanian homes throughout communes of Kosova in order to seize telephones which police believe are being used to eavesdrop on police communication frequencies. In many cases, families found in possession of such phones have been subjected to physical maltreatment. Incidents of this type have been reported in the communes of Deçan and Kamenica with over 54 telephones seized, each seizure accompanied by maltreatment of Albanian residents. Albanians affected by this police action have pointed out that they had purchased the phones legally and with the full knowledge of Serbian telecommunication authorities and had paid up to 2,500 DM in order to be connected."
Northern Telecom has a new switch - the DMS-500. According to TeleManagement, this new network switch combines features of the DMS-100 and the DMS-250. This allows it to be used by start-up carriers who want to offer both local and long distance services.
Cellular One has blocked out-of-town visitors from using their cellular phones in New York City. It's because of the fact that there are sometimes more fraudulent calls in progress than legitimate ones - even the mayor and police commissioner have had their codes used. Customers will have the option of making operator-assisted calls at three times the price for as long as this crisis lasts.
Bell Canada has introduced a service throughout Ontario and Quebec called Seven-Digit Single Number Access. Using the 310 prefix, subscribers can dial one number throughout either province to reach a particular person or business. The numbers behave exactly like 800 numbers, except for the 800 part.
An interesting update to the Oregon driver's manual: "Possession of an illegal traffic signal operating device, such as any device that causes a traffic control light to change from red to green as a person approaches the light, is classified as contraband and is punishable by a maximum of 30 days in prison, a $500 fine, or both."
British Telecom has introduced Call Return - customers dial 1471 and, unlike in the States, will hear the phone number of the person who called them last. The service is free. Caller ID has also become available under the name Caller Display at a fraction of U.S. costs - less than $2 a month. Customers can block Caller Display by dialing 141 before each call. BT will block entire lines but they have to approve it themselves. BT claims that over 70 percent of customers "see no occasion where they might need" to use the 141 feature.
In New York, NYNEX has actually listened to consumers and instituted blocking of Call Return. Callers who block Caller ID will now also block Call Return, a capability we always knew was possible but which NYNEX never admitted to. And they are also getting rid of the absurd *67 toggle feature which always left customers uncertain as to whether they just blocked or unblocked their number. From now on it'll be simple: dial *67 to block, *82 to unblock.
At long last it's going to happen - 2600.com will soon be in operation on the Internet. We're in the process of picking out hardware, software, and an Internet provider for what we hope will be a useful and historic site. We're open to suggestion at this point and we're also looking for help of any kind, particularly with regards to good deals on hardware.
More New Area Codes:
- Bermuda: 441
- Connecticut: 860
The Post made a front-page story out of information that had already been printed in 2600 nearly six months earlier - the location of New York's hidden traffic cameras.
Of course, being six months ahead of the Post is still below average.