Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7) id AA02654; Mon, 23 Jan 89 00:41:00 EST Message-Id: <8901230541.AA02654@bu-cs.BU.EDU> Date: Mon, 23 Jan 89 0:10:20 EST From: The Moderator Reply-To: TELECOM@bu-cs.BU.EDU Subject: TELECOM Digest V9 #25 To: TELECOM@bu-cs.bu.edu TELECOM Digest Mon, 23 Jan 89 0:10:20 EST Volume 9 : Issue 25 Today's Topics: New Movie: 976-EVIL Re: 1+ dialing and new AC for SF Bay Area? Correct dates for 708 split re: Victims of Wrong Numbers Re: 1+ dialing and new AC for SF Bay Area? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 22 Jan 89 01:57:31 -0500 (EST) From: "Kurt A. Geisel" To: telecom@xx.lcs.mit.edu Subject: New Movie: 976-EVIL I heard something about an ultra-cheap horror flick, directed by the same guy who plays Freddy Crouger (sp?) on the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, called 976-EVIL. In light of the recent discussions on phone rip-offs, I was wondering if anyone knows if there will be some gimmick to go along with this movie. If not, I don't think the phone company would appreciate this title (or a similar one.) You know what kind of people watch these movies. Even if there is no official ripoff, they will try and dial the number. If it's not a gimmick, it still made me realize there could be a lot more phone gimmicks associated with movies and TV shows in the future. Even beyond the typical "dial X for YES, dial Y for NO." Pretty soon, they may try to get us to pay to find out how the story ends. - Kurt Kurt Geisel SNAIL : Carnegie Mellon University 65 Lambeth Dr. ARPA : kg19+@andrew.cmu.edu Pittsburgh, PA 15241 UUCP : uunet!nfsun!kgeisel "You mean, I could have... THUNDERBOLT FISTS?" BIX : kgeisel - Infra Man [Moderator's Note: Actually, the use of the telephone jargon in the title of movies is nothing new; nor is the use of the telephone as the primary theme in the film. Of course some movies are made in better taste than others, and some presume their viewers will have IQ's => 90. Two examples of the latter from years ago were "Dial 'M' For Murder"; and "Bells Are Ringing" with the wonderful Judy Garland. Then there was that piece of trash a few years ago about the phreak (or do you say freak?) who could send killer amounts of electrical current down the line, and murder his victims simply by their answering the telephone. Does anyone remember the name of that one? 'Tandem Rush' comes to mind. P. Townson] ------------------------------ To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu Subject: Re: 1+ dialing and new AC for SF Bay Area? Date: 21 Jan 89 23:29:36 PST (Sat) From: bovine!john@apple.com (John Higdon) As in many other areas of the country, SF Bay Area will now be faced with those dreaded "informal" prefixes. You know, the ones that look like area codes. This is the reason for the "1" before dialing a ten-digit number. But the southern part of the Bay Area, in 408, still does not require a "1" before dialing an area code. A spokesperson for Pac*Bell says that due to lack of growth, there are no plans to implement "informal" prefixes and hence no "1" requirement in the forseeable future. How many other areas of the country are left where a "1" is not required for long distance? Is this one of the last? Interestingly enough, San Jose and Sunnyvale are in 408 and Mountain View/Los Altos are in 415. This is all one local calling area. To place the local call, it is necessary to dial the area code. When calling San Jose from Mountain View a "1" will be required; when calling Mt. View from San Jose it will not. Can you say confusing? -- John Higdon john@bovine ..sun!{apple|cohesive|pacbell}!zygot!bovine!john ------------------------------ From: covert%covert.DEC@decwrl.dec.com (John R. Covert) Date: 22 Jan 89 10:38 To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu Subject: Correct dates for 708 split The correct start date for the 312/708 split is 11 November 1989. Permissive dialling will continue until at least 9 February 1990. /john ------------------------------ To: TELECOM@bu-cs.bu.edu Subject: re: Victims of Wrong Numbers Date: Sun, 22 Jan 89 17:25:42 -0500 From: Wm Randolph Franklin If the Interior Decorator thought that United wasn't exercising appropriate care in publicizing its correct number, could they say something like this on their tape, "No matter who our employer is, for personal travel we much prefer American at xxx-xxxx"? It could be a true statement, not libellous to United, that would cost them a lot of business, and that would not tip off someone who thought he was talking to a United number. Wm. Randolph Franklin Internet: franklin@cs.rpi.edu Bitnet: Wrfrankl@Rpitsmts Telephone: (518) 276-6077; Telex: 6716050 RPI TROU; Fax: (518) 276-6003 Paper: ECSE Dept., 6026 JEC, Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst, Troy NY, 12180 ------------------------------ From: ames!claris!portal!cup.portal.com!David_W_Tamkin@harvard.harvard.edu To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu Subject: Re: 1+ dialing and new AC for SF Bay Area? Date: Sat, 21-Jan-89 23:44:10 PST Rich Wales's : | My parents (in San Mateo, CA -- a suburb of San Francisco -- "415" area | code) told me that, starting in February, they will have to start dial- | ing "1" before area codes. (Up till now, they've just dialed the area | code and the seven-digit number.) | | At about the same time, my MCI bill contained a short announcement of | this same thing (why they told me, in Los Angeles, I have no idea), and | it said this was part of a plan by Pacific Bell to introduce a new area | code in the San Francisco Bay area. The requirement to dial 1 before area codes doesn't necessarily mean that an area code split is imminent. It means that the NNX-style prefixes are running out and that NXX will be the rule for future prefixes (N is a digit from 2 through 9; X is any digit from 0 through 9). Since most of the new prefixes will consist of the same three digits as existing area code numbers, the 1 in front is needed to inform the telco that the next three digits are indeed an area code and there will be seven more digits following; without the 1, the first three digits are taken to indicate a prefix in the caller's area code and only four more digits are expected. As long as all local prefixes were NNX, the initial 1 wasn't needed for that purpose (it might be for others): if the second digit was 0 or 1, then the first three digits were an area code and seven more would follow; if the second digit was 2 through 9, then the first three were a prefix within that area code and only four more would be coming. But NNX allows only 640 prefixes; NXX allows 792 (assuming that those of the form N11 will not be used). This is not perforce a harbinger of splitting the area code. Here in 312 the requirement for 1+ before area codes was introduced October 1, 1982; we are indeed being split, but the partition into two area codes will take place more than seven years after the institution of 1+. Along with 1+ for area codes, we had to start dialing 0312+NXX-XXXX instead of 0+NNX-XXXX for operator-assisted calls within area code 312 as of the same date for the same reason. Curiously, 1312+NXX-XXXX is forbidden by both of the local providers here and results in a recording that the call cannot be placed as dialed. Since, with the upcoming split, it is quite likely (especially from a COCOT with no phone number of its own written on it) for callers near the dividing line to know the area code of the number they want to reach but to misjudge the area code they are calling FROM, and therefore to dial 1 + their own code. My personal opinion is that a call dialed within one's own area code in eleven-digit form should just be put through. David_W_Tamkin@cup.portal.com ... sun!portal!cup.portal.com!David_W_Tamkin ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest *********************