Off The Hook - 1998-10-13

[00:00.950 --> 00:04.410]  [SPEAKER_01]: ...at 209-2828.
[00:04.770 --> 00:07.090]  [SPEAKER_01]: That's 209-2828.
[00:07.510 --> 00:15.470]  [SPEAKER_01]: In the meantime, be sure to stay tuned to WBAI 99.5 FM, your community radio station.
[00:20.330 --> 00:29.430]  [SPEAKER_10]: Laurent Kabila may describe this as treason, but more dangerously, he's consciously fanning the flames of ethnic chauvinism.
[00:29.430 --> 00:41.510]  [SPEAKER_11]: Incredibly, the New York Times and the Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquiry, the Los Angeles Times, defines our political position on the Congo.
[00:42.110 --> 00:43.330]  [SPEAKER_11]: Where's Jesse Jackson?
[00:44.150 --> 00:46.530]  [SPEAKER_11]: Where's the black leadership on this issue?
[00:46.750 --> 00:53.110]  [SPEAKER_14]: This Thursday on WBAI, the Congolese Challenge, and South Africa's geopolitical dilemma.
[00:53.390 --> 00:56.750]  [SPEAKER_14]: That's Thursday, October 15th, from 7 p.m.
[00:56.970 --> 00:57.430]  [SPEAKER_14]: to midnight.
[00:57.430 --> 01:10.290]  [SPEAKER_14]: Featuring Dr. James Garrett, Sully Booker, and Adam Hochschild, the author of King Leopold's Ghost, as well as Namibian President Sam Nyoma, and many others.
[01:10.550 --> 01:13.910]  [SPEAKER_14]: That's this Thursday, October 15th, from 7 p.m.
[01:14.030 --> 01:18.970]  [SPEAKER_14]: to midnight, on non-commercial WBAI 99.5 FM.
[01:20.850 --> 01:22.390]  [SPEAKER_13]: Do you have the vision?
[01:22.510 --> 01:23.550]  [SPEAKER_13]: Do you have the vision?
[01:23.670 --> 01:23.910]  [SPEAKER_13]: Do you have the vision?
[01:23.910 --> 01:24.810]  [SPEAKER_13]: Yes, I have the vision.
[01:24.930 --> 01:25.770]  [SPEAKER_13]: Yes, I have the vision.
[01:39.190 --> 01:45.070]  [SPEAKER_12]: Exploding stars, extraterrestrial alien life, robots redesigning the human race.
[01:45.470 --> 01:55.990]  [SPEAKER_12]: This is Dr. Michio Kaku, professor of theoretical physics, inviting you to a three-hour special, Science and the Fantastic, on Wednesday, October 14th, from 7 p.m.
[01:55.990 --> 01:56.710]  [SPEAKER_12]: to 10 p.m.
[01:56.750 --> 02:06.530]  [SPEAKER_12]: We have a galaxy of special guests, including Nobel laureates and Dr. Neil Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium and Princeton Astrophysicist.
[02:06.650 --> 02:10.130]  [SPEAKER_12]: So don't miss a three-hour discussion from 7 p.m.
[02:10.130 --> 02:10.930]  [SPEAKER_12]: to 10 p.m.
[02:10.950 --> 02:14.750]  [SPEAKER_12]: this Wednesday on the fantastic possibilities of science.
[02:23.330 --> 02:27.630]  [SPEAKER_15]: And it's time for the fantastic possibilities of computers, coming up on Off the Hook.
[02:33.930 --> 02:38.550]  [SPEAKER_20]: The telephone keeps ringing, so I ripped it off the wall.
[02:39.390 --> 02:44.070]  [SPEAKER_20]: I cut myself while shaving, now I can't make a call.
[02:44.790 --> 02:49.410]  [SPEAKER_19]: It couldn't get much worse, but if they could, they would.
[02:49.670 --> 02:52.330]  [SPEAKER_19]: Bon Dillibong for the best, expect the worst.
[02:52.870 --> 02:54.830]  [SPEAKER_19]: I hope that's understood.
[02:55.150 --> 02:55.890]  [SPEAKER_19]: Bon Dillibong!
[03:50.250 --> 03:51.570]  [SPEAKER_15]: And a good evening to everybody.
[03:51.570 --> 03:52.550]  [SPEAKER_15]: This is...
[03:52.550 --> 03:54.630]  [SPEAKER_19]: The funeral is about to begin by...
[03:54.630 --> 03:55.970]  [SPEAKER_15]: Emmanuel Goldstein.
[03:57.950 --> 04:00.430]  [SPEAKER_15]: Here with another exciting edition of Off the Hook.
[04:04.850 --> 04:06.830]  [SPEAKER_15]: And boy, I gotta tell you, this, uh...
[04:07.370 --> 04:12.910]  [SPEAKER_15]: This show almost didn't happen, because today I got so angry that I almost wasn't able to even speak or move or do anything.
[04:14.050 --> 04:17.770]  [SPEAKER_15]: I should know not to call the phone company on the day of the show, but, uh...
[04:18.490 --> 04:18.850]  [SPEAKER_15]: Sometimes...
[04:18.850 --> 04:21.910]  [SPEAKER_15]: Sometimes it just has to be that way, and...
[04:22.290 --> 04:23.050]  [SPEAKER_15]: This, uh...
[04:23.050 --> 04:23.970]  [SPEAKER_15]: There's no exception.
[04:24.110 --> 04:25.690]  [SPEAKER_15]: But boy, I'll tell you, it just...
[04:25.690 --> 04:35.030]  [SPEAKER_15]: It seems like everything for the last few years has been kind of leading up to a culmination, and I'm, like, at the point now where, you know, the gunfire's about to begin.
[04:38.510 --> 04:40.850]  [SPEAKER_15]: I'm sure many of you have felt the same way.
[04:42.870 --> 04:49.470]  [SPEAKER_15]: And tonight is a show for the purpose of sharing our frustrations.
[04:50.630 --> 04:52.570]  [SPEAKER_15]: Showing support to one another.
[04:54.430 --> 04:59.350]  [SPEAKER_15]: And otherwise reaching out and just trying to help people who don't quite realize how bad it is.
[05:01.070 --> 05:05.410]  [SPEAKER_15]: This is also our last show for the month of October, because we're preempted for the next two weeks.
[05:08.410 --> 05:11.850]  [SPEAKER_15]: So this may be the last chance you have to get a sympathetic ear.
[05:13.910 --> 05:15.070]  [SPEAKER_15]: For a little while, anyway.
[05:15.710 --> 05:16.450]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's also...
[05:16.450 --> 05:17.250]  [SPEAKER_15]: I blew it last week.
[05:17.350 --> 05:19.730]  [SPEAKER_15]: Last week was our 10th anniversary to the day.
[05:20.310 --> 05:21.170]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yeah, can you believe that?
[05:21.230 --> 05:21.810]  [SPEAKER_15]: And I forgot.
[05:22.830 --> 05:23.370]  [SPEAKER_15]: I'll tell you.
[05:24.050 --> 05:26.670]  [SPEAKER_15]: October 6, 1988 is when this whole thing started.
[05:28.130 --> 05:30.930]  [SPEAKER_02]: You never know when you're given your last performance.
[05:32.470 --> 05:34.430]  [SPEAKER_15]: Ten years, one week.
[05:37.370 --> 05:42.730]  [SPEAKER_15]: Anyway, let's get all in a huff about the phone company and their book of lies.
[05:45.890 --> 05:47.270]  [SPEAKER_15]: Because that's what it's all about.
[08:55.940 --> 08:56.980]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, let's see.
[08:57.040 --> 08:58.140]  [SPEAKER_15]: Who's the first offender?
[08:59.080 --> 09:01.900]  [SPEAKER_15]: Who's the first offender of the biggest liar out there?
[09:02.480 --> 09:04.880]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, I think the award this week should go to AT&T.
[09:06.160 --> 09:11.080]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yeah, you know, it's difficult that I make that decision because it was so close.
[09:11.200 --> 09:15.500]  [SPEAKER_15]: But AT&T really added that extra effort this time.
[09:16.920 --> 09:17.600]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, okay.
[09:17.700 --> 09:21.020]  [SPEAKER_15]: We're not going to get right into the charges for nothing, all right?
[09:21.100 --> 09:23.780]  [SPEAKER_15]: Because that's something that affects everybody, okay?
[09:24.100 --> 09:25.360]  [SPEAKER_15]: You get charged for nothing.
[09:25.500 --> 09:26.860]  [SPEAKER_15]: And if you don't know what I mean, stick around.
[09:26.860 --> 09:28.240]  [SPEAKER_15]: We'll get into that.
[09:28.240 --> 09:32.740]  [SPEAKER_15]: But here's a charge for something that just isn't right.
[09:33.080 --> 09:38.060]  [SPEAKER_15]: I talked about a bunch of weeks ago some of the calling plans they have on AT&T.
[09:38.300 --> 09:41.420]  [SPEAKER_15]: And one of them is called AT&T One Rate Plus.
[09:41.940 --> 09:44.020]  [SPEAKER_15]: I found out what the plus is all about.
[09:44.380 --> 09:45.320]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's a big plus.
[09:45.820 --> 09:52.760]  [SPEAKER_15]: For $4.95 a month, you get to spend a dime a minute anywhere, anytime.
[09:53.120 --> 09:54.920]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, anywhere in the country, any time of day.
[09:55.700 --> 09:57.160]  [SPEAKER_15]: But you've got to spend $4.95.
[09:57.400 --> 09:57.900]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's not a minimum.
[09:57.920 --> 09:58.760]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's a fee.
[09:59.120 --> 10:04.400]  [SPEAKER_15]: And if you add another buck to that, you get AT&T One Rate Calling Card Plan.
[10:05.240 --> 10:06.040]  [SPEAKER_15]: That's right.
[10:07.000 --> 10:08.680]  [SPEAKER_15]: But, here's the thing.
[10:09.040 --> 10:11.820]  [SPEAKER_15]: When you sign up for these plans, they tell you one thing.
[10:11.900 --> 10:17.460]  [SPEAKER_15]: They say, yeah, it's only going to be a quarter from any phone that you use your calling card on.
[10:17.580 --> 10:18.820]  [SPEAKER_15]: Just a quarter a minute.
[10:19.460 --> 10:20.220]  [SPEAKER_15]: Any phone.
[10:20.440 --> 10:21.380]  [SPEAKER_15]: I went through this.
[10:21.500 --> 10:25.000]  [SPEAKER_15]: You know, we went back and forth a few times when I signed up for this service.
[10:25.460 --> 10:27.160]  [SPEAKER_15]: I said, a quarter, anytime.
[10:27.640 --> 10:29.320]  [SPEAKER_15]: They said, a quarter, anytime.
[10:29.860 --> 10:30.680]  [SPEAKER_15]: Any phone.
[10:30.900 --> 10:31.620]  [SPEAKER_15]: Any phone.
[10:32.180 --> 10:33.780]  [SPEAKER_15]: Anytime, anywhere, any phone.
[10:33.780 --> 10:36.820]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yes, anytime, anywhere, any phone.
[10:37.360 --> 10:40.300]  [SPEAKER_15]: They thought I was really silly for saying all this over and over again.
[10:40.360 --> 10:41.460]  [SPEAKER_15]: But I just wanted to make sure.
[10:41.740 --> 10:43.620]  [SPEAKER_15]: Because, you know, I'm used to being hoodwinked.
[10:43.660 --> 10:46.060]  [SPEAKER_15]: I'm used to things being changed at the last minute.
[10:46.140 --> 10:49.400]  [SPEAKER_15]: Or people saying, oh, no, that's not the way this is at all.
[10:49.460 --> 10:53.080]  [SPEAKER_15]: This is not the price that we were supposed to quote you.
[10:53.100 --> 10:53.980]  [SPEAKER_15]: It was a big mistake.
[10:55.740 --> 11:01.960]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, when I got my first bill, of course, I discovered that it was not a quarter anytime, anyplace.
[11:02.360 --> 11:03.060]  [SPEAKER_15]: No, sir.
[11:04.040 --> 11:18.080]  [SPEAKER_15]: If you go to a payphone, they add a little surcharge because of that crazy FCC law that was passed earlier this year that, for some reason, which I still cannot figure out, charges you if you call an 800 number from a payphone.
[11:18.340 --> 11:21.080]  [SPEAKER_15]: Because something is being used someplace.
[11:21.640 --> 11:23.020]  [SPEAKER_15]: Makes no sense whatsoever.
[11:23.420 --> 11:26.200]  [SPEAKER_15]: The call is already paid for by the person who owns the 800 number.
[11:26.400 --> 11:29.040]  [SPEAKER_15]: There is no money being spent on anything else.
[11:29.160 --> 11:33.000]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's a complete theft of service of the American consumer.
[11:33.840 --> 11:35.760]  [SPEAKER_15]: And that's what I had in mind when I was asking them.
[11:35.820 --> 11:39.480]  [SPEAKER_15]: So there's no other charge, no other fee, no surcharges anyplace.
[11:39.960 --> 11:40.920]  [SPEAKER_15]: And they said, no, sir.
[11:41.080 --> 11:44.780]  [SPEAKER_15]: We've eliminated all the surcharges because there used to be a surcharge to use a calling card.
[11:44.860 --> 11:45.700]  [SPEAKER_15]: And that was the big deal.
[11:46.220 --> 11:48.600]  [SPEAKER_15]: You know, for a dollar a month, you get this calling card.
[11:48.660 --> 11:52.160]  [SPEAKER_15]: Actually, it's $5.95 a month because you have to subscribe to one rate plus as well.
[11:52.600 --> 11:54.560]  [SPEAKER_15]: But you get a calling card with no surcharge.
[11:54.680 --> 11:55.900]  [SPEAKER_15]: And that's the greatest thing in the world.
[11:56.940 --> 11:59.440]  [SPEAKER_15]: So as soon as I start using it, I realize it's useless.
[11:59.800 --> 12:00.340]  [SPEAKER_15]: Totally useless.
[12:00.500 --> 12:02.380]  [SPEAKER_15]: Because where are you going to use a calling card from?
[12:02.440 --> 12:04.300]  [SPEAKER_15]: You don't use calling cards from friends' houses.
[12:04.400 --> 12:04.840]  [SPEAKER_15]: Of course not.
[12:04.940 --> 12:06.500]  [SPEAKER_15]: You dial long distance from your friends' houses.
[12:07.220 --> 12:11.260]  [SPEAKER_15]: You only use a calling card from a payphone.
[12:11.520 --> 12:11.960]  [SPEAKER_15]: You know?
[12:12.480 --> 12:13.180]  [SPEAKER_15]: That's why.
[12:13.400 --> 12:14.760]  [SPEAKER_15]: You don't use it from a cellular phone.
[12:14.800 --> 12:15.280]  [SPEAKER_15]: That's stupid.
[12:15.380 --> 12:16.260]  [SPEAKER_15]: You wind up paying twice.
[12:22.160 --> 12:22.500]  [SPEAKER_15]: Pretty new.
[12:22.900 --> 12:25.480]  [SPEAKER_15]: I knew that a couple of months ago when I got my first bill.
[12:25.860 --> 12:28.000]  [SPEAKER_15]: But what I got recently was another bill.
[12:29.620 --> 12:30.320]  [SPEAKER_15]: Another bill.
[12:30.920 --> 12:34.940]  [SPEAKER_15]: Where the call is clearly not 25 cents a minute.
[12:35.080 --> 12:39.620]  [SPEAKER_15]: In addition, they added the surcharge because I made it from a payphone.
[12:39.720 --> 12:46.380]  [SPEAKER_15]: In fact, according to this phone call, the call was originated in Payphone, Nevada.
[12:46.680 --> 12:47.760]  [SPEAKER_15]: That's the name of the town.
[12:47.880 --> 12:48.520]  [SPEAKER_15]: Payphone, Nevada.
[12:49.200 --> 12:50.560]  [SPEAKER_15]: And it was a call to New York.
[12:50.560 --> 12:53.080]  [SPEAKER_15]: Now, the call lasts 5 minutes.
[12:53.840 --> 12:57.860]  [SPEAKER_15]: Now, you would think 5 minutes times 25 cents is $1.25.
[12:57.880 --> 13:03.120]  [SPEAKER_15]: And plus the 30 cents surcharge for using a payphone.
[13:04.500 --> 13:07.160]  [SPEAKER_15]: That would bring it up to $1.55, right?
[13:08.580 --> 13:11.300]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, for some reason, I was charged $2.10.
[13:12.740 --> 13:13.820]  [SPEAKER_15]: $2.10.
[13:15.380 --> 13:15.920]  [SPEAKER_15]: Why?
[13:16.280 --> 13:17.640]  [SPEAKER_15]: I called them and I asked them why.
[13:17.640 --> 13:20.360]  [SPEAKER_15]: And I had to be put on hold for 25 minutes.
[13:20.560 --> 13:24.720]  [SPEAKER_15]: Do you remember the days when you used to be able to call AT&T and you'd get somebody right away?
[13:25.400 --> 13:26.920]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, you don't get people right away.
[13:26.980 --> 13:28.280]  [SPEAKER_15]: You have to wait 25 minutes.
[13:29.580 --> 13:32.460]  [SPEAKER_15]: And I called them on Saturday to complain about something else.
[13:34.180 --> 13:35.060]  [SPEAKER_15]: And after...
[13:35.060 --> 13:35.900]  [SPEAKER_15]: This was about...
[13:35.900 --> 13:37.200]  [SPEAKER_15]: Only about 20 minutes.
[13:37.420 --> 13:39.100]  [SPEAKER_15]: After about 20 minutes, somebody picked up.
[13:40.680 --> 13:44.580]  [SPEAKER_15]: And I started asking them questions and they said, sir, I'm sorry, our computers just went down.
[13:44.840 --> 13:47.780]  [SPEAKER_15]: In fact, you're the first call that's affected by this.
[13:48.780 --> 13:50.440]  [SPEAKER_15]: And I said, oh boy, this is my lucky day.
[13:50.520 --> 13:51.800]  [SPEAKER_15]: I'm the winning call here.
[13:51.900 --> 13:53.720]  [SPEAKER_15]: So when do I get to talk about my bill?
[13:53.820 --> 13:55.320]  [SPEAKER_15]: And they said, well, you have to call back on Monday.
[13:56.820 --> 13:57.460]  [SPEAKER_15]: Two days.
[13:57.740 --> 14:00.240]  [SPEAKER_15]: Two days you have to wait just to talk about a simple billing problem.
[14:02.080 --> 14:03.000]  [SPEAKER_15]: So that was Saturday.
[14:03.160 --> 14:04.220]  [SPEAKER_15]: Today, 25 minutes.
[14:04.860 --> 14:09.360]  [SPEAKER_15]: And when I talked to the person, it took them quite a while to figure things out.
[14:09.940 --> 14:17.040]  [SPEAKER_15]: But when they finally found my bill and looked at it and said, yeah, this doesn't look right, they came up with a possible solution.
[14:17.080 --> 14:17.900]  [SPEAKER_15]: They're not entirely sure.
[14:18.040 --> 14:19.020]  [SPEAKER_15]: They used to be entirely sure.
[14:19.020 --> 14:20.340]  [SPEAKER_15]: But now they're just... they're theorizing.
[14:20.480 --> 14:20.960]  [SPEAKER_15]: They're speculating.
[14:21.060 --> 14:25.660]  [SPEAKER_15]: And they said, it's possible that you simply made an O-plus call.
[14:27.340 --> 14:31.000]  [SPEAKER_15]: And I said, well, since when don't you make an O-plus call to use a calling card?
[14:31.560 --> 14:33.260]  [SPEAKER_15]: And they said, oh, no, no, no, no, sir.
[14:33.340 --> 14:36.880]  [SPEAKER_15]: You're supposed to call 1-800-CALL-ATT to use this calling card.
[14:36.960 --> 14:40.020]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's not like the normal calling card that charges all kinds of crazy rates.
[14:40.900 --> 14:42.040]  [SPEAKER_15]: So I asked, well, wait a minute.
[14:42.140 --> 14:51.400]  [SPEAKER_15]: So if I make a calling card call the way I'm normally supposed to make a calling card call, and it goes through the way a normal calling card would, you're going to charge me extra because I didn't dial an 800 number?
[14:51.700 --> 14:54.100]  [SPEAKER_15]: How can you charge somebody for not dialing an 800 number?
[14:54.160 --> 14:54.720]  [SPEAKER_15]: It doesn't make sense.
[14:54.720 --> 14:56.920]  [SPEAKER_15]: You have to pay for the 800 call because I'm calling you.
[14:57.320 --> 15:01.280]  [SPEAKER_15]: If I do zero plus, we're going straight through the network.
[15:01.400 --> 15:02.680]  [SPEAKER_15]: There shouldn't be an extra charge.
[15:03.140 --> 15:05.140]  [SPEAKER_15]: Of course, they had no idea.
[15:05.280 --> 15:07.180]  [SPEAKER_15]: They just said, well, that must be the way it is.
[15:07.660 --> 15:22.360]  [SPEAKER_15]: So now, if you want to get the 25-cent-a-minute rate, you have to call a 10-digit number and then enter your 14-digit calling card before you even start dialing the phone number, let alone the fact that many Bell Atlantic payphones cut off touchstones after about 14 digits,
[15:22.360 --> 15:24.600]  [SPEAKER_15]: so you're right out of luck before you even begin.
[15:25.900 --> 15:29.840]  [SPEAKER_15]: I think I might be canceling this service because it's a real pain in the ass.
[15:29.940 --> 15:32.920]  [SPEAKER_15]: But, you know, that's only the beginning of my frustration.
[15:33.540 --> 15:37.820]  [SPEAKER_15]: If you look at your phone bill, you'll notice all these charges are showing up.
[15:37.820 --> 15:40.400]  [SPEAKER_15]: I mean, they're just coming out of nowhere.
[15:40.880 --> 15:43.420]  [SPEAKER_15]: There's the universal connectivity charge.
[15:43.580 --> 15:45.240]  [SPEAKER_15]: There's the carrier line charge.
[15:45.360 --> 15:46.300]  [SPEAKER_15]: The FCC access.
[15:46.500 --> 15:50.860]  [SPEAKER_15]: You know, I have a phone line where I didn't make any phone calls at all.
[15:50.980 --> 15:51.460]  [SPEAKER_15]: I was away.
[15:51.580 --> 15:52.840]  [SPEAKER_15]: I was away the entire month.
[15:53.040 --> 15:54.060]  [SPEAKER_15]: No phone calls.
[15:54.480 --> 15:58.240]  [SPEAKER_15]: And my bill was $41.46 for not doing anything.
[15:59.100 --> 16:00.120]  [SPEAKER_15]: Can you believe this?
[16:00.780 --> 16:03.020]  [SPEAKER_15]: I mean, yeah, I have a couple of services on the line.
[16:03.160 --> 16:07.440]  [SPEAKER_15]: I've got that crazy IntelliDial thing, which I've ranted about before.
[16:08.760 --> 16:17.480]  [SPEAKER_15]: Basically, sort of like a Centrix thing for residential services, but it really isn't because it doesn't do anything good except call transfer.
[16:17.680 --> 16:18.860]  [SPEAKER_15]: That's the only good thing it has.
[16:19.120 --> 16:21.560]  [SPEAKER_15]: For that, I pay $9.34 a month.
[16:21.700 --> 16:23.120]  [SPEAKER_15]: Okay, I'm not going to even complain about that.
[16:23.120 --> 16:26.120]  [SPEAKER_15]: That's my choice, and I got into that.
[16:26.240 --> 16:29.280]  [SPEAKER_15]: But then you've got the monthly charge for dial tone, $6.60.
[16:30.840 --> 16:33.660]  [SPEAKER_15]: Unlimited local calling option plan, $1.95.
[16:34.400 --> 16:39.420]  [SPEAKER_15]: Okay, and then $6.60 and $1.95.
[16:39.700 --> 16:41.920]  [SPEAKER_15]: Do you know what the taxes on that is or are?
[16:42.800 --> 16:44.560]  [SPEAKER_15]: The total is about, what, $8?
[16:44.840 --> 16:46.560]  [SPEAKER_15]: The taxes are $7.59.
[16:47.100 --> 16:48.640]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's 100% tax.
[16:50.100 --> 16:51.720]  [SPEAKER_15]: FCC line charge of $5.
[16:52.300 --> 16:53.560]  [SPEAKER_15]: Federal tax, $0.43.
[16:53.920 --> 16:55.860]  [SPEAKER_15]: New York State local sales tax, $1.17.
[16:56.040 --> 16:57.480]  [SPEAKER_15]: 9-1-1 surcharge, $0.35.
[16:57.860 --> 17:00.200]  [SPEAKER_15]: And surcharges, which don't have a name, $0.64.
[17:01.860 --> 17:08.140]  [SPEAKER_15]: And then I have my unlimited regional calling plan, which I somehow never seem to get to my advantage.
[17:08.500 --> 17:10.120]  [SPEAKER_15]: $11.83 for that.
[17:10.480 --> 17:13.360]  [SPEAKER_15]: Another $1.93 surcharges in taxes.
[17:13.820 --> 17:14.960]  [SPEAKER_15]: More federal tax.
[17:15.160 --> 17:16.680]  [SPEAKER_15]: More New York State local sales tax.
[17:16.800 --> 17:17.980]  [SPEAKER_15]: And another surcharge with no name.
[17:20.180 --> 17:20.980]  [SPEAKER_15]: Taxes everywhere.
[17:21.380 --> 17:22.400]  [SPEAKER_15]: Surcharges every place.
[17:22.580 --> 17:23.720]  [SPEAKER_15]: It doesn't end there.
[17:24.640 --> 17:26.960]  [SPEAKER_15]: Then you got the Bell Atlantic optional services.
[17:28.160 --> 17:29.080]  [SPEAKER_15]: This is a good one.
[17:31.260 --> 17:36.340]  [SPEAKER_15]: $0.00 and $0.00 for all these things that they never charge you for, like all-call blocking.
[17:36.360 --> 17:38.800]  [SPEAKER_15]: They put it on your bill for some reason and say $0.00 and $0.00.
[17:38.880 --> 17:40.380]  [SPEAKER_15]: 25-line connector jack.
[17:40.960 --> 17:42.380]  [SPEAKER_15]: I don't even know if I have one of those.
[17:42.380 --> 17:44.060]  [SPEAKER_15]: They charge me $0.00 for that.
[17:44.200 --> 17:49.260]  [SPEAKER_15]: But that doesn't stop them from charging a surcharge in tax on that subtotal of $0.00.
[17:49.400 --> 17:49.620]  [SPEAKER_15]: $1.30.
[17:49.820 --> 17:50.500]  [SPEAKER_15]: Another $1.30.
[17:50.780 --> 17:52.000]  [SPEAKER_15]: A penny in federal tax.
[17:52.240 --> 17:54.360]  [SPEAKER_15]: $0.81 New York State local sales tax.
[17:54.500 --> 17:56.120]  [SPEAKER_15]: And surcharges, $0.48.
[17:57.180 --> 17:59.500]  [SPEAKER_15]: I mean, what are these surcharges that have no names?
[17:59.740 --> 18:00.540]  [SPEAKER_15]: Makes no sense.
[18:02.060 --> 18:03.000]  [SPEAKER_15]: You think it's over?
[18:03.080 --> 18:03.980]  [SPEAKER_15]: Oh, no, it's not over.
[18:04.420 --> 18:06.580]  [SPEAKER_15]: Now you got the long-distance portion of your bill.
[18:07.430 --> 18:13.300]  [SPEAKER_15]: And I don't mean the fraudulent calling card charging you different amounts than they agreed to part of the bill.
[18:13.520 --> 18:18.340]  [SPEAKER_15]: I mean, charges just for the honor of having a long-distance company.
[18:18.780 --> 18:25.640]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yeah, the universal connectivity charge, $0.93 every line, no matter what.
[18:26.140 --> 18:31.260]  [SPEAKER_15]: Then the carrier line charge, $0.85 every line, no matter what.
[18:31.520 --> 18:32.680]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, I had this one line.
[18:33.400 --> 18:35.260]  [SPEAKER_15]: Actually, it was three lines.
[18:37.700 --> 18:40.040]  [SPEAKER_15]: And I never make long-distance calls on this line.
[18:40.180 --> 18:40.380]  [SPEAKER_15]: Never.
[18:41.440 --> 18:46.540]  [SPEAKER_15]: So here I am paying for three lines, the universal connectivity charge and the carrier line charge.
[18:46.620 --> 18:47.660]  [SPEAKER_15]: And this goes to AT&T.
[18:48.700 --> 18:49.680]  [SPEAKER_15]: Why AT&T?
[18:49.760 --> 18:55.280]  [SPEAKER_15]: I guess that's the line that shows up, the number that shows up, the company, rather, that shows up on that line.
[18:56.080 --> 19:16.100]  [SPEAKER_15]: I'm paying them $1.86 per month for universal connectivity charge for a service I never use, and $1.70 for a carrier line charge for a service I never use, total of $3.56, plus federal tax, plus New York gross receipts tax surcharge, $3.82, thrown out the window every month for nothing.
[19:16.760 --> 19:18.280]  [SPEAKER_15]: So I called Bell Atlantic today.
[19:19.800 --> 19:21.500]  [SPEAKER_15]: They're getting good, 15 minutes on hold.
[19:22.240 --> 19:28.520]  [SPEAKER_15]: It used to be that the local company kept you on hold a lot longer than the long-distance companies, but now that's starting to turn.
[19:28.520 --> 19:31.400]  [SPEAKER_15]: The long-distance companies are catching up and keeping you on hold longer.
[19:31.440 --> 19:31.960]  [SPEAKER_15]: And you know why?
[19:31.960 --> 19:33.960]  [SPEAKER_15]: Because they keep laying everybody off.
[19:34.200 --> 19:36.860]  [SPEAKER_15]: They keep firing everybody and turning them into computers.
[19:37.000 --> 19:38.760]  [SPEAKER_15]: And the computers don't know what to do with you.
[19:38.840 --> 19:43.680]  [SPEAKER_15]: They basically give you all these voicemail prompts that say, press this, press that, go over here.
[19:43.960 --> 19:48.040]  [SPEAKER_15]: And if you're calling about your local phone bill, hang up.
[19:48.260 --> 19:53.820]  [SPEAKER_15]: Why would you be calling a long-distance company and hitting all those buttons if you were calling about your local bill?
[19:54.000 --> 19:55.340]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's a big waste of time.
[19:55.340 --> 19:59.980]  [SPEAKER_15]: And then after you get through it all, and after you wait 25 minutes and finally talk to a human, guess what?
[20:00.040 --> 20:01.260]  [SPEAKER_15]: They ask you what your phone number is.
[20:01.380 --> 20:02.560]  [SPEAKER_15]: This is after you entered it.
[20:03.320 --> 20:04.700]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's just to keep you busy.
[20:05.000 --> 20:07.560]  [SPEAKER_15]: To keep you from tearing your head off out of frustration.
[20:09.040 --> 20:16.080]  [SPEAKER_15]: Anyway, so I called Bell Atlantic and I said, look guys, I've got three phone lines here.
[20:16.840 --> 20:18.620]  [SPEAKER_15]: I've never made a long-distance call on them.
[20:18.760 --> 20:23.760]  [SPEAKER_15]: I never will make a long-distance call on these lines as God is my witness.
[20:24.560 --> 20:26.320]  [SPEAKER_15]: Because I don't even know where the lines are.
[20:26.480 --> 20:30.220]  [SPEAKER_15]: They're hooked up to machines and they don't make long-distance phone calls.
[20:30.520 --> 20:31.920]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's for incoming calls only.
[20:32.120 --> 20:37.820]  [SPEAKER_15]: So I'd like to wipe away this long-distance company so I don't have to pay for a service I don't use.
[20:40.200 --> 20:43.060]  [SPEAKER_15]: And I expected to get some sort of bureaucratic nonsense.
[20:43.280 --> 20:44.200]  [SPEAKER_15]: But you know, they were very nice.
[20:44.340 --> 20:44.960]  [SPEAKER_15]: I said, certainly, sir.
[20:44.980 --> 20:45.800]  [SPEAKER_15]: That makes perfect sense.
[20:46.060 --> 20:47.060]  [SPEAKER_15]: It makes perfect sense.
[20:47.160 --> 20:50.620]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, we'll subscribe you to no long-distance.
[20:50.880 --> 20:52.360]  [SPEAKER_15]: No long-distance company at all.
[20:54.100 --> 20:55.620]  [SPEAKER_15]: I said, boy, that sounds great.
[20:56.880 --> 20:59.400]  [SPEAKER_15]: Sounds like America's becoming a nice place again.
[21:00.420 --> 21:10.720]  [SPEAKER_15]: I said, okay, so that means that if I dial one plus long-distance number, it won't go through unless I dial a carrier access code, which I have to be some sort of moron to do because they charge you extra now to use a carrier access code.
[21:11.260 --> 21:12.320]  [SPEAKER_15]: I don't know why.
[21:13.040 --> 21:14.180]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's there for your convenience.
[21:14.380 --> 21:17.040]  [SPEAKER_15]: But she said, certainly, that's the way it's going to work.
[21:17.040 --> 21:18.120]  [SPEAKER_15]: No long-distance company at all.
[21:20.140 --> 21:21.300]  [SPEAKER_15]: And I almost got out of there.
[21:21.880 --> 21:22.800]  [SPEAKER_15]: I almost made it.
[21:24.940 --> 21:27.680]  [SPEAKER_15]: And then as I was about to say, well, thank you very much.
[21:27.680 --> 21:30.260]  [SPEAKER_15]: You've been a very pleasant person, and I feel a lot better.
[21:30.680 --> 21:33.780]  [SPEAKER_15]: She said, you are aware...
[21:33.780 --> 21:38.180]  [SPEAKER_15]: The three words I hate more than anything as you're leaving, they always say that.
[21:38.180 --> 21:46.220]  [SPEAKER_15]: You are aware that there is a monthly charge for having no long-distance phone company.
[21:47.300 --> 21:51.260]  [SPEAKER_15]: A monthly charge for not having a long-distance company.
[21:56.600 --> 21:57.920]  [SPEAKER_15]: And I said, okay.
[21:59.160 --> 22:00.260]  [SPEAKER_15]: I see where this is going.
[22:00.300 --> 22:01.040]  [SPEAKER_15]: How much is the charge?
[22:01.360 --> 22:02.680]  [SPEAKER_15]: Just lay it on me right now.
[22:02.740 --> 22:03.760]  [SPEAKER_15]: She said 53 cents.
[22:04.780 --> 22:05.920]  [SPEAKER_15]: 53 cents for nothing?
[22:06.040 --> 22:06.820]  [SPEAKER_15]: Okay, it's not that bad.
[22:06.820 --> 22:09.100]  [SPEAKER_15]: You know, it's not as bad as $3.82 for nothing.
[22:09.200 --> 22:10.140]  [SPEAKER_15]: 53 cents for nothing.
[22:10.260 --> 22:11.500]  [SPEAKER_15]: I can probably live with that.
[22:12.360 --> 22:12.900]  [SPEAKER_15]: I said, okay.
[22:13.060 --> 22:15.040]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, if that's the way it's got to be...
[22:15.040 --> 22:21.880]  [SPEAKER_15]: She cut me off and said, well, and of course, for the other lines, the extra lines, because remember, these are three lines.
[22:23.280 --> 22:24.680]  [SPEAKER_15]: So I had sort of a sinking feeling.
[22:25.180 --> 22:26.540]  [SPEAKER_15]: 53 cents times three.
[22:27.340 --> 22:29.500]  [SPEAKER_15]: All right, it's not looking so good now, but it's still less.
[22:30.440 --> 22:31.480]  [SPEAKER_15]: But no, I was wrong.
[22:33.140 --> 22:34.580]  [SPEAKER_15]: 53 cents for the first line.
[22:34.580 --> 22:37.260]  [SPEAKER_15]: $1.50 for each additional line.
[22:37.740 --> 22:40.820]  [SPEAKER_15]: To have no long-distance service.
[22:41.320 --> 22:47.560]  [SPEAKER_15]: Plus taxes, plus surcharges, plus federal gross receipts, plus God knows what else.
[22:49.100 --> 22:50.020]  [SPEAKER_15]: You know what?
[22:50.080 --> 22:55.520]  [SPEAKER_15]: I'm paying more now not to have a long-distance company than I was paying not to use a long-distance company.
[22:55.700 --> 22:56.760]  [SPEAKER_15]: What do you think about that?
[23:00.370 --> 23:05.030]  [SPEAKER_15]: And people wonder why everyone uses Redboxes.
[23:05.310 --> 23:05.510]  [SPEAKER_15]: You know?
[23:06.030 --> 23:07.110]  [SPEAKER_15]: I mean, come on.
[23:07.190 --> 23:08.490]  [SPEAKER_15]: How do they get away with this?
[23:08.670 --> 23:11.390]  [SPEAKER_15]: How do they get away with this nonsense of charging you for nothing?
[23:12.170 --> 23:25.910]  [SPEAKER_15]: AT&T says, and I quote, from their bill, the Extended Universal Service Fund not only helps provide affordable phone service, but also gives schools and libraries access to the Internet.
[23:26.590 --> 23:28.170]  [SPEAKER_15]: Ah, isn't that nice?
[23:28.770 --> 23:34.110]  [SPEAKER_15]: We're helping Junior get hooked up on the net by paying this fee for nothing.
[23:34.530 --> 23:35.050]  [SPEAKER_15]: Great.
[23:36.090 --> 23:44.150]  [SPEAKER_15]: But what they don't tell you is that AT&T was asked to contribute to this fund because they made a whole lot of money.
[23:44.350 --> 23:48.810]  [SPEAKER_15]: And because they made a whole lot of money, they're supposed to donate a certain amount of it.
[23:50.670 --> 23:53.930]  [SPEAKER_15]: Instead, they donate the money, but then they charge us again for it.
[23:55.870 --> 23:58.210]  [SPEAKER_15]: So, AT&T doesn't pay a penny.
[23:58.930 --> 24:00.090]  [SPEAKER_15]: They don't pay a thing.
[24:01.510 --> 24:03.250]  [SPEAKER_15]: And this is the same of all phone companies.
[24:03.350 --> 24:07.370]  [SPEAKER_15]: If you look at your Sprint bill, they say it in a slightly different way.
[24:08.090 --> 24:09.430]  [SPEAKER_15]: Regulatory related charges.
[24:09.630 --> 24:10.170]  [SPEAKER_15]: That's all they say.
[24:10.230 --> 24:10.930]  [SPEAKER_15]: Eighty-five cents.
[24:11.570 --> 24:13.910]  [SPEAKER_15]: I don't know why it's less for some companies than others.
[24:14.010 --> 24:16.190]  [SPEAKER_15]: That tells you right there that something weird's going on.
[24:17.630 --> 24:19.070]  [SPEAKER_15]: But they all charge you.
[24:20.990 --> 24:23.890]  [SPEAKER_15]: Now, the weird thing is, I have no long distance on the other line.
[24:23.890 --> 24:27.210]  [SPEAKER_15]: I wonder who the phone company I'm going to be charged by will be.
[24:27.630 --> 24:29.430]  [SPEAKER_15]: Or whether it will be Bell Atlantic charging me.
[24:30.350 --> 24:31.030]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's nuts.
[24:31.410 --> 24:34.490]  [SPEAKER_15]: And then I got this other thing in the mail from the phone company.
[24:34.490 --> 24:38.650]  [SPEAKER_15]: Actually, it was attached to the phone bill.
[24:38.950 --> 24:42.370]  [SPEAKER_15]: Important notice for Bell Atlantic non-published service customers.
[24:42.990 --> 24:52.570]  [SPEAKER_15]: In the winter of 1998, Bell Atlantic Private Reach Service will be introduced for non-published service customers.
[24:52.750 --> 24:54.670]  [SPEAKER_15]: Bell Atlantic Private Reach Service.
[24:55.390 --> 25:00.750]  [SPEAKER_15]: The new service will allow callers to record their name and telephone number for delivery to the unlisted number.
[25:01.850 --> 25:04.810]  [SPEAKER_15]: The unlisted telephone number will not be given to the caller.
[25:05.050 --> 25:11.250]  [SPEAKER_15]: But Private Reach Service can be useful when someone with an unlisted number needs to be contacted, particularly in emergency situations.
[25:11.690 --> 25:17.910]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, that's great, except how are they going to be able to tell if it's an emergency situation or somebody stalking somebody else.
[25:19.310 --> 25:20.170]  [SPEAKER_15]: Think about it.
[25:20.550 --> 25:21.850]  [SPEAKER_15]: You're a favorite celebrity.
[25:22.110 --> 25:23.130]  [SPEAKER_15]: You know their name.
[25:23.310 --> 25:24.350]  [SPEAKER_15]: You know the town they live in.
[25:24.510 --> 25:25.850]  [SPEAKER_15]: Except they have an unlisted phone number.
[25:26.590 --> 25:29.310]  [SPEAKER_15]: That's always stopped you from calling them before, but no more.
[25:29.590 --> 25:33.670]  [SPEAKER_15]: Thanks to the phone companies, you can now call people who don't want to be called.
[25:34.590 --> 25:35.570]  [SPEAKER_15]: Here's how it works.
[25:35.710 --> 25:45.630]  [SPEAKER_15]: When a caller to Bell Atlantic Directory Assistance requests your telephone number and is told it is unlisted, the caller will have the option of recording a name and telephone number for delivery to you.
[25:46.870 --> 25:51.030]  [SPEAKER_15]: You receive the recording of this name and number the same way you receive any other incoming call.
[25:52.690 --> 25:55.830]  [SPEAKER_15]: Funny thing, though, you know, you're not exactly passing along a message.
[25:55.830 --> 25:58.270]  [SPEAKER_15]: You're not passing along a name and a number.
[25:58.370 --> 26:03.010]  [SPEAKER_15]: You're passing along whatever it is you say when they ask you to record that.
[26:04.330 --> 26:10.370]  [SPEAKER_15]: So instead of saying, hi, it's Bobby Smith, you can say, I'm going to kill you at sundown tomorrow.
[26:10.590 --> 26:14.970]  [SPEAKER_15]: And that's the name that gets passed along to the person who's trying to hide from you.
[26:16.210 --> 26:19.010]  [SPEAKER_15]: And that's a service that Bell Atlantic is offering.
[26:19.830 --> 26:21.030]  [SPEAKER_15]: Effective winter 1998.
[26:21.390 --> 26:25.790]  [SPEAKER_15]: But there's no charge to you, no charge to the person who is being harassed.
[26:25.790 --> 26:28.170]  [SPEAKER_15]: Only the stalker is charged.
[26:29.810 --> 26:31.470]  [SPEAKER_15]: You can refuse to listen to...
[26:31.470 --> 26:32.310]  [SPEAKER_15]: I don't know how they do this one.
[26:32.350 --> 26:33.710]  [SPEAKER_15]: You can refuse to listen to the recording.
[26:33.810 --> 26:34.910]  [SPEAKER_15]: How do you know not to listen to it?
[26:35.170 --> 26:35.630]  [SPEAKER_15]: You know?
[26:36.470 --> 26:42.370]  [SPEAKER_15]: You're going to be getting a call from something and you won't know until you hear the voice whether it's somebody you don't want to hear from.
[26:43.230 --> 26:45.930]  [SPEAKER_15]: But you can refuse to listen to the recording by simply hanging up.
[26:46.150 --> 26:46.690]  [SPEAKER_15]: Oh, great.
[26:46.770 --> 26:48.090]  [SPEAKER_15]: I'm not picking up your phone, too.
[26:48.410 --> 26:49.710]  [SPEAKER_15]: Just unplugging it from the wall.
[26:51.210 --> 26:54.610]  [SPEAKER_15]: Or you can press 9 on your Touch-Tone pad.
[26:55.910 --> 27:04.030]  [SPEAKER_15]: Or, if you want to stop all future recordings, which is what everybody apparently has to do now, call 1-800-830-0949.
[27:05.230 --> 27:07.530]  [SPEAKER_15]: Your telephone number will not be given to any caller.
[27:08.870 --> 27:15.830]  [SPEAKER_15]: I'd like to believe that, but the way things are tied in, how hard do you think it will really be to find out what number got called?
[27:19.640 --> 27:26.500]  [SPEAKER_15]: If you choose to receive recordings by Atlantic Private Reach service, automatically will be an option for callers to request your number from directory assistance.
[27:28.960 --> 27:31.700]  [SPEAKER_15]: no response is required to say yes.
[27:31.940 --> 27:36.160]  [SPEAKER_15]: So that means if you don't fill out this little form, you're going to get that service.
[27:37.380 --> 27:40.780]  [SPEAKER_15]: Isn't it amazing how they always give you the thing you don't want as the default?
[27:42.920 --> 27:49.740]  [SPEAKER_15]: So, all you people that think an unlisted number is enough to hide from people or not be bothered, no more.
[27:51.140 --> 27:52.200]  [SPEAKER_15]: Technology marches on.
[27:53.820 --> 27:56.140]  [SPEAKER_15]: Speaking of technology marching on
[27:59.220 --> 28:04.700]  [SPEAKER_15]: in kind of a scary way, here's a story from Reuters.
[28:05.600 --> 28:08.040]  [SPEAKER_15]: Without debate or notice, U.S.
[28:08.080 --> 28:18.600]  [SPEAKER_15]: lawmakers were poised on Thursday to approve a proposal long sought by the FBI that would dramatically expand wiretapping authority, an idea Congress openly rejected many years ago.
[28:19.180 --> 28:35.180]  [SPEAKER_15]: The provision allowing law enforcement agencies more easily to tap any telephone used by or near a target individual instead of getting authorization to tap specific phones was added to the intelligence authorization conference report during a closed-door meeting and filed with the House and Senate last Monday.
[28:35.600 --> 28:43.560]  [SPEAKER_15]: The conference report was easily adopted by the House on Wednesday despite an objection to the wiretapping provision from Georgia Republican Bob Barr.
[28:45.880 --> 28:52.720]  [SPEAKER_15]: So, basically, they did an end run around everybody and just passed it anyway.
[28:52.880 --> 28:58.580]  [SPEAKER_15]: You know, they can turn down these things but a couple of years later they just get passed quietly behind closed doors.
[28:59.480 --> 29:05.040]  [SPEAKER_15]: Civil liberties groups are outraged by the expanded wiretapping authority in the process of adding the provision in secret.
[29:06.300 --> 29:24.500]  [SPEAKER_15]: Roving wiretaps are a major expansion of current government surveillance power said Alan Davidson staff counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington to take a controversial provision that affects the fundamental constitutional liberties of the people and pass it behind closed doors shows a shocking disregard for our democratic process.
[29:25.520 --> 29:35.380]  [SPEAKER_15]: Under current rules, law enforcement agencies seeking roving wiretap authority from a judge must prove that an individual is switching telephones specifically for the purpose of evading a surveillance.
[29:36.840 --> 29:42.840]  [SPEAKER_15]: Without roving authority, police must get permission from a judge for each telephone line to be tapped.
[29:43.300 --> 29:54.340]  [SPEAKER_15]: Under the change approved last week, the police would need show only that an individual's actions could have the effect of thwarting interception from a specific facility.
[29:54.480 --> 29:56.660]  [SPEAKER_15]: In other words, a blank check.
[29:58.620 --> 30:00.020]  [SPEAKER_15]: Pretty sad.
[30:02.440 --> 30:11.060]  [SPEAKER_15]: On the Kevin Mitnick front, Kevin had filed a petition for the court to review, the U.S.
[30:11.260 --> 30:16.640]  [SPEAKER_15]: Supreme Court to review the unreal supervised release conditions we talked about in months past.
[30:19.500 --> 30:20.640]  [SPEAKER_15]: You might recall this.
[30:20.840 --> 30:31.040]  [SPEAKER_15]: They basically said that he couldn't touch a computer, he couldn't talk about computers, he couldn't be near computers, couldn't use certain types of phones, certain kinds of TV.
[30:32.520 --> 30:33.380]  [SPEAKER_15]: It was hell.
[30:33.640 --> 30:39.620]  [SPEAKER_15]: You know, you think prison is hell, yeah, that's real hell, but when you get out, you know, you try to live a normal life, no way, he can't do that.
[30:39.960 --> 30:42.900]  [SPEAKER_15]: He won't be able to work in a Taco Bell because they use computers there.
[30:44.800 --> 31:03.920]  [SPEAKER_15]: So, an appeal was filed that basically said that the Unreal Supervised Release Conditions would essentially ban Kevin from using any technology, make it virtually impossible for him to lead anything like a normal life, and that appeal was denied by the U.S.
[31:03.980 --> 31:04.420]  [SPEAKER_15]: Supreme Court.
[31:07.780 --> 31:09.680]  [SPEAKER_15]: I don't think there was any comment, once again.
[31:13.260 --> 31:15.600]  [SPEAKER_15]: So, that's where things stand there.
[31:19.320 --> 31:21.720]  [SPEAKER_15]: Again, trial is set for January.
[31:21.880 --> 31:28.240]  [SPEAKER_15]: In fact, someone wrote in to say this, that it's kind of a coincidence, I guess.
[31:28.800 --> 31:36.720]  [SPEAKER_15]: The date of the trial is the same date as Steve Jackson's trial against the Secret Service back in 1993, January 19th.
[31:37.200 --> 31:38.960]  [SPEAKER_15]: I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
[31:39.040 --> 31:43.600]  [SPEAKER_15]: After all, Steve Jackson did win his case, although nobody seems to know that he won.
[31:44.840 --> 31:50.820]  [SPEAKER_15]: So, maybe Kevin will win too, although he's the one with charges being filed against him, unfortunately.
[31:52.940 --> 31:55.940]  [SPEAKER_15]: Some other bits of news from around the globe.
[31:57.320 --> 32:00.100]  [SPEAKER_15]: Here's an example of real crime.
[32:00.580 --> 32:01.720]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yeah, we get that occasionally.
[32:01.920 --> 32:09.220]  [SPEAKER_15]: A pharmacy employee has admitted making hundreds of harassing telephone calls to customers in an attempt to get them to adopt children rather than conceive on their own.
[32:10.160 --> 32:16.800]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yeah, the calls were horrific and personal, striking women at their most vulnerable as they sought medical treatment to try to get pregnant.
[32:18.060 --> 32:21.260]  [SPEAKER_15]: You would have more luck fertilizing your lawn, the caller would say.
[32:22.220 --> 32:25.540]  [SPEAKER_15]: The angry young woman on the other end sometimes would urge the woman to adopt.
[32:25.980 --> 32:28.160]  [SPEAKER_15]: She knew personal details, medical information.
[32:28.300 --> 32:30.900]  [SPEAKER_15]: She even seemed to know when one victim had a miscarriage.
[32:31.580 --> 32:38.820]  [SPEAKER_15]: Police thought maybe the caller was a snitch in a doctor's office, a computer hacker, or a member of the religious right opposed to fertility treatment.
[32:41.520 --> 32:43.520]  [SPEAKER_15]: But, they're opposed to fertility treatment?
[32:45.040 --> 32:46.600]  [SPEAKER_15]: My God, what happened to right to life?
[32:46.660 --> 32:47.240]  [SPEAKER_15]: I don't get this.
[32:47.480 --> 32:49.200]  [SPEAKER_15]: You're conceiving, you're giving birth.
[32:49.220 --> 32:51.900]  [SPEAKER_15]: That's what I thought they wanted, but I guess not.
[32:52.000 --> 32:52.920]  [SPEAKER_15]: Not in those terms.
[32:53.060 --> 32:55.840]  [SPEAKER_15]: Anyway, computer hackers, yeah, we always get blamed for these things.
[32:56.880 --> 33:01.260]  [SPEAKER_15]: But after all that, a month-long investigation revealed one thing the victims had in common, their pharmacy.
[33:01.580 --> 33:03.160]  [SPEAKER_15]: It took them a month to figure that out.
[33:04.800 --> 33:14.220]  [SPEAKER_15]: On Tuesday, 22-year-old pharmacist assistant Veronica Smith admitted she made hundreds of harassing calls to at least 20 customers at the Eckerd Pharmacy.
[33:14.460 --> 33:17.420]  [SPEAKER_15]: All the victims were trying to get pregnant or were taking prenatal vitamins.
[33:18.520 --> 33:22.360]  [SPEAKER_15]: Ms. Smith told police she was abused as a child and lived in foster homes until she was adopted.
[33:22.840 --> 33:29.600]  [SPEAKER_15]: She raged at those who sought to have their own children instead of adopting one, said Palm Beach County Sheriff's Detective Donna Wright.
[33:29.840 --> 33:33.120]  [SPEAKER_15]: It was horrific explicit language to every one of the victims, Wright said.
[33:35.020 --> 33:37.900]  [SPEAKER_15]: Ms. Smith was released on her own recognizance.
[33:39.540 --> 33:50.920]  [SPEAKER_15]: Kevin Mitnick in prison no bail never did anything quite this bad but Ms. Smith was released on her own recognizance after being charged with 87 counts of harassing phone calls and 6 counts of stalking.
[33:51.980 --> 33:53.920]  [SPEAKER_15]: I bet she would have loved that Bell Atlantic service.
[33:54.220 --> 33:56.620]  [SPEAKER_15]: That would have made life a lot easier.
[33:57.500 --> 33:59.840]  [SPEAKER_15]: Some victims she called more than 40 times.
[34:01.800 --> 34:09.260]  [SPEAKER_15]: The charges all misdemeanors carry up to a year in jail on a fine but somehow I doubt she's going to get any of that
[34:12.830 --> 34:21.050]  [SPEAKER_15]: especially since the county sheriff is saying she's very fragile very upset very remorseful she does not really know why she has done this and she wants help.
[34:23.090 --> 34:35.910]  [SPEAKER_15]: Police are looking into whether she dispensed medicine to any of the women and if so whether she did it properly and guess what this is the real shock a spokesman for Eckerd Corporation said Ms. Smith has been suspended boy now that's justice right there
[34:39.440 --> 35:06.080]  [SPEAKER_15]: so you kill people you stalk people you harass people nothing happens but you piss off America's corporations even a little bit and you're in prison for four years without bail do not pass go and the trial hasn't even begun yet alright couple of couple of letters and we'll take some phone calls because this is our last show for this month so we want to get as many phone calls in as possible
[35:07.840 --> 35:21.440]  [SPEAKER_15]: something from England I have a bit of information for you guys involving telephones in the UK and I would like people over there to perhaps verify this cable and wireless has a very nice offer cable and wireless of course over there is known as Mercury On Saturdays,
[35:21.540 --> 35:27.700]  [SPEAKER_15]: any long-distance call for any amount of time, up to 24 hours, will only cost 50 pence.
[35:29.220 --> 35:30.340]  [SPEAKER_15]: I'm not kidding about this.
[35:30.440 --> 35:31.580]  [SPEAKER_15]: One minute would be 50 pence.
[35:31.680 --> 35:32.700]  [SPEAKER_15]: One hour would be 50 pence.
[35:32.760 --> 35:36.660]  [SPEAKER_15]: 24 hours would be 50 pence, which is roughly about 75 or 80 U.S.
[35:36.700 --> 35:36.860]  [SPEAKER_15]: cents.
[35:36.980 --> 35:39.080]  [SPEAKER_15]: Now, I have serious doubts about that.
[35:39.280 --> 35:42.700]  [SPEAKER_15]: There's got to be some kind of an exception.
[35:42.880 --> 35:47.600]  [SPEAKER_15]: I don't think you can call the United States for 24 hours on one day and pay 50 pence.
[35:48.320 --> 35:49.560]  [SPEAKER_15]: I don't think that's going to work.
[35:49.720 --> 35:51.460]  [SPEAKER_15]: It must be a regional type of a thing.
[35:52.480 --> 35:55.760]  [SPEAKER_15]: So, if anybody knows more about that particular calling plan, I'd like to know more about it.
[35:57.220 --> 36:00.000]  [SPEAKER_15]: Also, ISDM lines cost a fortune here, as do cable modems.
[36:00.700 --> 36:02.140]  [SPEAKER_15]: Even more than they do in the U.S.
[36:02.200 --> 36:02.920]  [SPEAKER_15]: Something to think about.
[36:04.940 --> 36:06.500]  [SPEAKER_15]: Here's a story that got me mad.
[36:07.020 --> 36:09.480]  [SPEAKER_15]: It appeared in a local newspaper.
[36:10.640 --> 36:12.580]  [SPEAKER_15]: But it was written by the Associated Press.
[36:13.440 --> 36:26.440]  [SPEAKER_15]: Internet users attempting to access the websites of the Cleveland plane dealer the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and at least seven other newspapers with web addresses similar to the paper's names instead found themselves linked to the website of a white supremacist group.
[36:26.840 --> 36:27.400]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yeah.
[36:28.460 --> 36:34.960]  [SPEAKER_15]: Someone registered Internet addresses that included part or all of the newspaper's names then linked those addresses to the Stormfront Internet sites.
[36:35.340 --> 36:42.060]  [SPEAKER_15]: That site features the words White Pride Worldwide and includes racist articles and links to other racist sites.
[36:44.020 --> 36:51.520]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, it's an interesting story, except the headline in this particular paper said, Hackers link papers' names to racist websites.
[36:51.800 --> 36:56.620]  [SPEAKER_15]: Anytime something goes wrong on the net, somebody does anything on the net, it's got to be hackers.
[36:58.060 --> 36:59.100]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's insane.
[37:01.060 --> 37:05.320]  [SPEAKER_15]: I don't think there's ever been a word that's been so misused in history.
[37:08.710 --> 37:11.950]  [SPEAKER_15]: Now, here's something else, and this I have not yet verified.
[37:12.890 --> 37:14.950]  [SPEAKER_15]: Maybe I can verify it live on the air.
[37:15.330 --> 37:20.190]  [SPEAKER_15]: A friend of mine received this piece of email in his AOL account.
[37:21.070 --> 37:22.970]  [SPEAKER_15]: And it just said this, Your order has been processed.
[37:23.110 --> 37:24.730]  [SPEAKER_15]: Your invoice number, for reference.
[37:24.930 --> 37:27.150]  [SPEAKER_15]: Total due, $895.23.
[37:27.730 --> 37:29.770]  [SPEAKER_15]: Billed to your credit card unless noted to do otherwise.
[37:30.350 --> 37:30.750]  [SPEAKER_15]: Questions?
[37:32.090 --> 37:34.830]  [SPEAKER_15]: Call 767-445-1775.
[37:34.990 --> 37:36.590]  [SPEAKER_15]: Please have reference number available.
[37:37.050 --> 37:39.730]  [SPEAKER_15]: Now, of course, what are you going to do when you get something like this in your mailbox?
[37:40.190 --> 37:41.270]  [SPEAKER_15]: You're going to call that number.
[37:42.230 --> 37:43.850]  [SPEAKER_15]: And it's not a 900 number.
[37:44.050 --> 37:45.330]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's not a 540 number.
[37:45.450 --> 37:49.650]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's not any of those numbers that we've learned over the years cost a phenomenal amount of money.
[37:49.770 --> 37:50.370]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's 767.
[37:50.750 --> 37:51.390]  [SPEAKER_15]: What's that?
[37:52.710 --> 37:58.770]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, he was suspicious of the phone number and called the operator to find out that the call would be to the island of Dominica.
[37:59.790 --> 38:04.610]  [SPEAKER_15]: The first minute of the call would be $9.16, and each minute after would be $2.28.
[38:06.850 --> 38:13.850]  [SPEAKER_15]: Now, that's really amazing because that's part of our particular country code, country code 1.
[38:14.970 --> 38:16.470]  [SPEAKER_15]: But it's one of those new area codes.
[38:16.570 --> 38:19.730]  [SPEAKER_15]: All the Caribbean islands have their own area codes now, own three-digit codes.
[38:19.870 --> 38:22.570]  [SPEAKER_15]: And 767 apparently is Dominica.
[38:23.470 --> 38:27.150]  [SPEAKER_15]: And what I'm going to try to do here is get an AT&T operator.
[38:29.090 --> 38:30.650]  [SPEAKER_15]: And I'll call the number they want me to call.
[38:33.130 --> 38:34.110]  [SPEAKER_15]: Call AT&T.
[38:35.230 --> 38:36.650]  [SPEAKER_15]: Maybe they can give us rate information.
[38:37.050 --> 38:38.930]  [SPEAKER_15]: But maybe they'll keep us waiting 25 minutes.
[38:39.110 --> 38:39.810]  [SPEAKER_15]: AT&T.
[38:40.130 --> 38:43.290]  [SPEAKER_15]: To place a card call, please dial the area code...
[38:43.290 --> 38:45.010]  [SPEAKER_15]: I just want an operator, so I'm going to hit zero.
[38:49.240 --> 38:50.100]  [SPEAKER_15]: Here we go.
[38:51.720 --> 38:53.340]  [SPEAKER_06]: AT&T, how may I help you?
[38:53.600 --> 38:56.660]  [SPEAKER_15]: Hello, I'd like rate information for a particular exchange.
[38:59.340 --> 38:59.820]  [SPEAKER_15]: Hello?
[39:00.620 --> 39:02.560]  [SPEAKER_06]: I'm sorry, what kind of question?
[39:02.800 --> 39:03.760]  [SPEAKER_15]: Rate information?
[39:04.040 --> 39:05.480]  [SPEAKER_15]: How much the call will cost?
[39:06.500 --> 39:08.280]  [SPEAKER_06]: For like a direct dial of call?
[39:08.480 --> 39:08.900]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yeah, direct dial.
[39:09.460 --> 39:10.240]  [SPEAKER_06]: What number?
[39:10.240 --> 39:12.540]  [SPEAKER_15]: Okay, it's to area code 767.
[39:13.200 --> 39:15.120]  [SPEAKER_15]: And the exchange is 445.
[39:28.310 --> 39:29.750]  [SPEAKER_06]: Okay, from 7 a.m.
[39:29.850 --> 39:32.450]  [SPEAKER_06]: till 10 p.m., it's $1.69 a minute.
[39:33.130 --> 39:34.130]  [SPEAKER_06]: From 10 p.m.
[39:34.170 --> 39:37.510]  [SPEAKER_06]: till 7 a.m., $1.33 a minute, plus tax.
[39:37.990 --> 39:40.610]  [SPEAKER_15]: Is it at all possible there's some sort of a surcharge on that?
[39:40.710 --> 39:42.930]  [SPEAKER_15]: Because somebody told me that that would be a lot more expensive.
[39:42.930 --> 39:44.610]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's like one of those 900 numbers.
[39:46.330 --> 39:47.530]  [SPEAKER_15]: You don't see anything...
[39:47.530 --> 39:49.730]  [SPEAKER_06]: The phone call wouldn't cost more than that.
[39:49.910 --> 39:50.110]  [SPEAKER_06]: Really?
[39:50.110 --> 39:51.650]  [SPEAKER_06]: What they charge, I wouldn't know.
[39:51.910 --> 39:52.110]  [SPEAKER_15]: Uh-huh.
[39:52.490 --> 39:54.890]  [SPEAKER_15]: Is there any way they could back bill me on that...
[39:54.890 --> 39:59.530]  [SPEAKER_15]: If I call a particular phone number in that exchange, where they could charge more than what your rates are?
[40:01.770 --> 40:03.890]  [SPEAKER_06]: Not if you're dialing on AT&T, sir.
[40:04.530 --> 40:04.830]  [SPEAKER_15]: Okay.
[40:05.010 --> 40:05.810]  [SPEAKER_15]: I'll keep that in mind.
[40:05.870 --> 40:06.110]  [SPEAKER_15]: Thank you.
[40:06.190 --> 40:06.430]  [SPEAKER_06]: Okay.
[40:07.410 --> 40:11.750]  [SPEAKER_15]: That's interesting because this has happened before where I've checked the rates, and they seem normal.
[40:11.890 --> 40:16.230]  [SPEAKER_15]: They seem like normal rates, but there must be something going on.
[40:16.310 --> 40:17.010]  [SPEAKER_15]: I don't want to call the number.
[40:17.110 --> 40:17.910]  [SPEAKER_15]: I don't want to see what happens.
[40:17.910 --> 40:21.070]  [SPEAKER_15]: But there's a scam there someplace.
[40:22.610 --> 40:25.490]  [SPEAKER_15]: Someone out there maybe can figure it out and tell us just exactly how it works.
[40:25.690 --> 40:29.470]  [SPEAKER_15]: Our phone number, and it won't charge you extra, is 212-209-2900.
[40:32.390 --> 40:34.650]  [SPEAKER_15]: And we're just about ready to take phone calls.
[40:34.750 --> 40:36.910]  [SPEAKER_15]: Just one more warning.
[40:37.230 --> 40:38.670]  [SPEAKER_15]: And this is about Web TV.
[40:40.130 --> 40:41.490]  [SPEAKER_15]: A lot of warnings tonight.
[40:41.890 --> 40:44.550]  [SPEAKER_15]: Sorry about this, but it's just kind of a depressing night.
[40:45.410 --> 40:56.430]  [SPEAKER_15]: Microsoft Corporation's Web TV Networks is quietly using a system polling feature that can extrapolate subscriber information from each of its 450,000 users to better serve advertisers.
[40:56.430 --> 40:59.930]  [SPEAKER_15]: That's according to the president of Web TV, Steve Perlman.
[41:01.010 --> 41:07.010]  [SPEAKER_15]: The polling, which takes place nightly, uploads television and website viewing habits back to the system.
[41:08.170 --> 41:08.950]  [SPEAKER_15]: That's right.
[41:09.270 --> 41:16.910]  [SPEAKER_15]: The data makes it possible for Web TV to scrutinize not only what subscribers are watching, but also what they are clicking on or surfing away from.
[41:17.370 --> 41:20.690]  [SPEAKER_15]: The polling results are offered to advertisers in an aggregate format.
[41:20.690 --> 41:28.330]  [SPEAKER_15]: However, because results are grouped by zip code and contain demographic data compiled from Web TV viewers' polls, it can help them target ads more effectively.
[41:29.310 --> 41:32.490]  [SPEAKER_15]: We have a whole department that does nothing but look at the information.
[41:32.630 --> 41:37.070]  [SPEAKER_15]: If someone is watching a car ad and clicks through, we can send them to the closest car dealership.
[41:38.670 --> 41:43.110]  [SPEAKER_15]: The balance is providing advertisers with useful information while still protecting the subscribers.
[41:44.970 --> 41:52.730]  [SPEAKER_15]: I don't think people understand the extent of this, says Tom Rhinelander, an analyst at Forest Research Incorporated, is recording everything they do.
[41:53.190 --> 41:56.270]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's like having a video camera on them 24 hours a day.
[41:57.270 --> 42:00.930]  [SPEAKER_15]: The polling will take a giant step into the realm of cable TV in 1999.
[42:00.990 --> 42:11.450]  [SPEAKER_15]: That's when TCI and other cable operators are expected to deploy more than 5 million set-top boxes that will ship with Windows CE and the solo chip, bringing Web TV to cable.
[42:14.170 --> 42:14.650]  [SPEAKER_15]: Unbelievable.
[42:15.390 --> 42:17.710]  [SPEAKER_15]: All right, with that, let's go to the phones.
[42:18.910 --> 42:20.810]  [SPEAKER_15]: Numbers 212-209-2900.
[42:20.890 --> 42:30.030]  [SPEAKER_15]: The program is off the hook where we talk about the future and the apparent pessimistic outlook that we have.
[42:30.310 --> 42:31.650]  [SPEAKER_15]: Let's go over here.
[42:31.830 --> 42:32.530]  [SPEAKER_15]: Good evening, you're on the air.
[42:33.230 --> 42:34.390]  [SPEAKER_09]: You have a really great show.
[42:34.570 --> 42:35.070]  [SPEAKER_15]: Thank you very much.
[42:35.190 --> 42:39.850]  [SPEAKER_09]: I assure you of your frustration about AT&T, and Grandpa Lewis has also railed about these rates.
[42:40.090 --> 42:48.110]  [SPEAKER_09]: I don't know if you're aware that the first national monopoly was Western Union, which became the national telephone company.
[42:48.490 --> 42:53.030]  [SPEAKER_09]: And part of what we're dealing with here is essentially taxation without representation.
[42:54.030 --> 43:05.170]  [SPEAKER_09]: We have the corporations imposing taxes through means of surcharges and other benefits, and they pass some of this on to the so-called state governments, which are really also just corporations.
[43:06.030 --> 43:15.550]  [SPEAKER_09]: The word corporation isn't found in our Constitution, so what we have here is the politicians imposing taxes on us without representation.
[43:15.550 --> 43:21.010]  [SPEAKER_09]: So I think the context of what you're saying is really menacing in that sense.
[43:21.490 --> 43:26.470]  [SPEAKER_09]: A lot of Americans died face down in the mud for the idea of taxation without representation.
[43:27.390 --> 43:28.130]  [SPEAKER_15]: Quite true.
[43:28.510 --> 43:29.070]  [SPEAKER_15]: Quite true.
[43:29.250 --> 43:33.930]  [SPEAKER_15]: And, you know, we have representation, but I'm not really happy with representation either.
[43:34.370 --> 43:36.990]  [SPEAKER_15]: Not exactly the kind I want to see.
[43:37.150 --> 43:40.450]  [SPEAKER_09]: Well, that's another story, but it's been diluted by 100%.
[43:40.450 --> 43:45.450]  [SPEAKER_09]: The idea was one representative for 60,000 people, and they did away with that in 1911.
[43:45.450 --> 43:50.610]  [SPEAKER_09]: Now it's one for 600,000 people, and the Senate is a complete scandal.
[43:50.730 --> 43:59.490]  [SPEAKER_09]: But the idea is that our country has a written Constitution, and those jokers in Washington were hired to support that Constitution.
[44:00.490 --> 44:18.410]  [SPEAKER_09]: The key point is that corporations and lawyers are part of a British system, which has no Constitution, and that kind of system has been imposed on America indirectly through this corporate government that started in 1866 with the creation of the Western Union National Monopoly.
[44:18.710 --> 44:28.890]  [SPEAKER_09]: In other countries, the Western Union Telegraph Service was part of the Postal Service, so that was a critical change in our political structure.
[44:28.890 --> 44:42.750]  [SPEAKER_09]: And then in 1886, the Supreme Court arbitrarily decided, I'm talking about some black-robed lawyers sitting in closed chambers, not even hearing arguments, they decided that corporations had the same rights as people.
[44:42.890 --> 44:46.050]  [SPEAKER_09]: That was in the Southern Railroad case.
[44:47.510 --> 44:54.950]  [SPEAKER_09]: And since that Supreme Court decision, they've been escalating this criminality for over 100 years.
[44:55.630 --> 45:04.450]  [SPEAKER_09]: So Grandpa Lewis was right on when he complained about the same kind of surcharge on the long-distance service that you mentioned.
[45:04.810 --> 45:06.990]  [SPEAKER_09]: It's part of a bigger problem.
[45:07.530 --> 45:08.530]  [SPEAKER_09]: Keep up the good work.
[45:08.630 --> 45:08.970]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, thanks.
[45:09.110 --> 45:09.810]  [SPEAKER_15]: Thanks very much for calling.
[45:10.730 --> 45:13.750]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's frustrating because how do you boycott nothing?
[45:13.750 --> 45:17.150]  [SPEAKER_15]: You know, you can cancel the service and still get charged for it.
[45:17.690 --> 45:18.470]  [SPEAKER_15]: I don't...
[45:18.470 --> 45:22.250]  [SPEAKER_15]: The only real solution is just unplug your phone altogether and not have a phone.
[45:23.570 --> 45:25.470]  [SPEAKER_15]: That's how frustrating it's getting.
[45:25.530 --> 45:27.030]  [SPEAKER_15]: Of course, there are options.
[45:27.230 --> 45:30.930]  [SPEAKER_15]: You can use the net to do your communication, but good luck using the net without a phone line.
[45:31.570 --> 45:32.970]  [SPEAKER_15]: You know, they got you.
[45:33.510 --> 45:34.310]  [SPEAKER_15]: They really do.
[45:34.530 --> 45:37.690]  [SPEAKER_15]: We need some alternatives, and I'm open to suggestion.
[45:38.930 --> 45:39.470]  [SPEAKER_15]: Good evening.
[45:39.550 --> 45:39.950]  [SPEAKER_15]: You're on the air.
[45:39.950 --> 45:41.270]  [SPEAKER_07]: Yes, two questions.
[45:41.910 --> 45:45.990]  [SPEAKER_07]: Recently, I got a letter from GTE congratulating me on picking their long-distance service.
[45:46.250 --> 45:47.530]  [SPEAKER_15]: I didn't know they had long-distance service.
[45:47.550 --> 45:50.130]  [SPEAKER_07]: Well, I never chose them.
[45:50.290 --> 45:51.410]  [SPEAKER_07]: I had AT&T.
[45:51.870 --> 45:53.230]  [SPEAKER_07]: I said, this has got to be a joke.
[45:53.370 --> 45:58.750]  [SPEAKER_07]: I went upstairs, dialed 00, and sure enough, GTE, long-distance, hold on for a representative.
[45:59.290 --> 46:02.750]  [SPEAKER_07]: I hung up the phone, and the neighbor told me, hold on, wait until you get the next bill and see what happens.
[46:03.850 --> 46:05.570]  [SPEAKER_07]: But no one contacted them.
[46:05.790 --> 46:07.010]  [SPEAKER_07]: I never signed up with them.
[46:07.930 --> 46:09.430]  [SPEAKER_07]: What would you do in such a situation?
[46:10.150 --> 46:14.350]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, basically, the best thing to do is...
[46:14.910 --> 46:16.490]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, do you make many long-distance phone calls?
[46:16.730 --> 46:17.630]  [SPEAKER_07]: To New Jersey.
[46:18.030 --> 46:18.630]  [SPEAKER_07]: That's it.
[46:18.970 --> 46:19.290]  [SPEAKER_07]: You know.
[46:20.150 --> 46:20.930]  [SPEAKER_07]: Well, wait.
[46:21.010 --> 46:24.210]  [SPEAKER_07]: I tried to call overseas one day, and I kept on getting busy, busy.
[46:24.430 --> 46:26.390]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, the thing is, you're signed up for a company you don't want.
[46:26.490 --> 46:26.890]  [SPEAKER_15]: You know that.
[46:27.070 --> 46:29.110]  [SPEAKER_07]: I never agreed for anything.
[46:29.130 --> 46:32.330]  [SPEAKER_15]: You need to contact Bell Atlantic and tell them you were slammed.
[46:32.510 --> 46:33.030]  [SPEAKER_15]: I was slammed.
[46:33.130 --> 46:33.750]  [SPEAKER_15]: You were slammed.
[46:33.990 --> 46:39.310]  [SPEAKER_15]: And what that means is that you have to have them switch you back at no charge to you.
[46:39.310 --> 46:41.470]  [SPEAKER_15]: Because, you know, they charge you when you switch.
[46:41.930 --> 46:43.430]  [SPEAKER_15]: They charge you when you switch back.
[46:43.650 --> 46:45.350]  [SPEAKER_07]: I'm waiting for the next bill to see what happens.
[46:45.630 --> 46:48.870]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, I mean, you don't have to wait for the bill because you already know what your company is.
[46:48.890 --> 46:50.350]  [SPEAKER_15]: You dial 00 and you get GTE.
[46:50.530 --> 46:50.650]  [SPEAKER_15]: Right, right.
[46:51.670 --> 46:53.230]  [SPEAKER_15]: And, you know, that shouldn't be.
[46:53.370 --> 46:54.530]  [SPEAKER_15]: I'm outraged about it.
[46:54.870 --> 46:56.390]  [SPEAKER_15]: Do you want AT&T, though?
[46:56.430 --> 46:57.130]  [SPEAKER_15]: Do you really want them?
[46:57.130 --> 46:58.990]  [SPEAKER_07]: No, but GTE, who the hell?
[46:59.230 --> 47:00.510]  [SPEAKER_07]: I don't want no GTE either.
[47:00.830 --> 47:01.010]  [SPEAKER_07]: Yeah.
[47:01.210 --> 47:02.790]  [SPEAKER_07]: I don't think the service is lousy on GTE.
[47:02.910 --> 47:05.590]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, if that's how they get their customers, you certainly don't.
[47:05.650 --> 47:07.390]  [SPEAKER_07]: I mean, I didn't speak to anybody.
[47:07.590 --> 47:08.270]  [SPEAKER_07]: I didn't sign no papers.
[47:08.370 --> 47:09.130]  [SPEAKER_07]: I didn't call anybody.
[47:09.470 --> 47:11.690]  [SPEAKER_07]: Just congratulations for joining GTE.
[47:12.010 --> 47:13.170]  [SPEAKER_07]: Who the hell did this?
[47:13.170 --> 47:14.610]  [SPEAKER_07]: I'm not furious about it.
[47:14.670 --> 47:15.590]  [SPEAKER_15]: There must be...
[47:15.590 --> 47:17.010]  [SPEAKER_15]: You should call GTE customer service, too.
[47:17.050 --> 47:17.570]  [SPEAKER_15]: Have you tried them?
[47:18.250 --> 47:19.970]  [SPEAKER_07]: Yeah, they put you on hold for 10 minutes.
[47:20.170 --> 47:20.930]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yeah, they're a phone company.
[47:21.150 --> 47:21.310]  [SPEAKER_15]: That's right.
[47:21.950 --> 47:25.430]  [SPEAKER_15]: But what you have to do is ask them, how did I get switched over?
[47:25.530 --> 47:29.690]  [SPEAKER_15]: They'll tell you if it was done through the mail, through the local company, through a telemarketer.
[47:29.890 --> 47:31.290]  [SPEAKER_15]: They're supposed to keep records like that.
[47:31.430 --> 47:32.690]  [SPEAKER_07]: I'm going to call them up tomorrow and ask them that.
[47:32.810 --> 47:35.030]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yeah, harass them until they switch it back.
[47:35.230 --> 47:47.170]  [SPEAKER_15]: And, you know, the upside to this is when you switch and your customer makes any long distance calls whatsoever, sometimes other companies will send you incitement checks of sorts.
[47:47.290 --> 47:49.450]  [SPEAKER_07]: I might say TNT or some other companies say, oh, $50.
[47:49.690 --> 47:51.350]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yeah, $50 to come back to us.
[47:51.750 --> 47:54.990]  [SPEAKER_15]: And you can just bounce around the long-distance companies that way and pay your way.
[47:55.470 --> 47:59.090]  [SPEAKER_07]: And that AOL number that you had before, why don't you call them collect and see what happens?
[48:01.150 --> 48:01.930]  [SPEAKER_15]: I'm afraid.
[48:02.490 --> 48:02.670]  [SPEAKER_07]: Why?
[48:02.830 --> 48:03.050]  [SPEAKER_07]: Collect?
[48:03.370 --> 48:05.850]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, you know, there are some companies that do this.
[48:05.850 --> 48:10.850]  [SPEAKER_15]: If a call turns out to be at all suspicious, they just back bill it to the person who made the call.
[48:11.270 --> 48:11.590]  [SPEAKER_07]: Collect call?
[48:11.810 --> 48:12.770]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yeah, they can do it to anything.
[48:12.950 --> 48:13.370]  [SPEAKER_15]: I've never heard that before.
[48:13.410 --> 48:14.870]  [SPEAKER_15]: 800 numbers getting bill everything.
[48:15.110 --> 48:18.410]  [SPEAKER_07]: Yeah, but a zero hello opera, I'd like to make a collect call to whatever number you have there.
[48:19.390 --> 48:21.030]  [SPEAKER_07]: And if they say they accept, fine.
[48:21.110 --> 48:21.610]  [SPEAKER_07]: If not, not.
[48:21.850 --> 48:22.110]  [SPEAKER_15]: Uh-huh.
[48:22.630 --> 48:22.950]  [SPEAKER_07]: Right?
[48:23.930 --> 48:25.050]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, okay, I'll give it a try.
[48:25.050 --> 48:25.510]  [SPEAKER_15]: Worth a try.
[48:25.570 --> 48:26.270]  [SPEAKER_15]: I'll give it a try.
[48:26.410 --> 48:26.870]  [SPEAKER_15]: I'll take it.
[48:26.990 --> 48:27.250]  [SPEAKER_15]: All right.
[48:27.370 --> 48:28.070]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's a good idea.
[48:28.250 --> 48:29.270]  [SPEAKER_15]: Maybe we should try this.
[48:29.510 --> 48:34.870]  [SPEAKER_15]: The thing is, I don't know if our phone system will allow collect calls to go out.
[48:36.650 --> 48:37.910]  [SPEAKER_15]: Okay, let me find the number.
[48:37.910 --> 48:39.590]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's at 767.
[48:43.440 --> 48:45.240]  [SPEAKER_15]: Boy, I can't believe, uh...
[48:45.240 --> 48:45.820]  [SPEAKER_15]: Okay, here we go.
[48:46.280 --> 48:46.920]  [SPEAKER_15]: Let's get a dial tone.
[48:48.460 --> 48:49.640]  [SPEAKER_15]: And we'll start with zero.
[48:51.240 --> 48:51.640]  [SPEAKER_15]: 767.
[48:54.060 --> 48:55.100]  [SPEAKER_15]: And the rest of the number.
[49:02.130 --> 49:03.470]  [SPEAKER_15]: I don't even know what company we use.
[49:06.820 --> 49:08.920]  [SPEAKER_04]: Please enter your destination number now.
[49:09.580 --> 49:11.080]  [SPEAKER_04]: What the hell is the destination number?
[49:11.860 --> 49:13.080]  [SPEAKER_04]: I'm making a collect call.
[49:13.700 --> 49:14.360]  [SPEAKER_04]: That is my...
[49:14.360 --> 49:14.800]  [SPEAKER_04]: Be told.
[49:15.160 --> 49:16.460]  [SPEAKER_04]: Your call is being transferred.
[49:16.800 --> 49:17.120]  [SPEAKER_04]: Thank you.
[49:18.580 --> 49:19.340]  [SPEAKER_17]: Quest LCI.
[49:19.580 --> 49:20.240]  [SPEAKER_17]: This is Felicia.
[49:20.460 --> 49:20.640]  [SPEAKER_17]: I'm sorry?
[49:20.640 --> 49:22.120]  [SPEAKER_17]: Can I have the area code and number you're calling, please?
[49:22.360 --> 49:23.320]  [SPEAKER_15]: What company is this?
[49:23.460 --> 49:24.220]  [SPEAKER_17]: Quest LCI.
[49:24.440 --> 49:25.260]  [SPEAKER_15]: Quest LCI.
[49:25.660 --> 49:26.520]  [SPEAKER_15]: Oh, you merged.
[49:26.960 --> 49:27.440]  [SPEAKER_17]: Yes, sir.
[49:27.600 --> 49:27.860]  [SPEAKER_15]: Oh.
[49:28.460 --> 49:30.140]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, I'm making a collect call, actually.
[49:31.260 --> 49:32.160]  [SPEAKER_15]: How do I do that?
[49:33.300 --> 49:35.620]  [SPEAKER_17]: Okay, I can try to assist you placing it.
[49:35.780 --> 49:36.000]  [SPEAKER_17]: Okay.
[49:36.420 --> 49:37.760]  [SPEAKER_17]: What area code and number were you calling?
[49:37.760 --> 49:43.800]  [SPEAKER_15]: Uh, it was area code 767, and the number is 445-1775.
[49:54.910 --> 49:58.330]  [SPEAKER_17]: Okay, sir, and I'm not able to place a call to that 767 area.
[49:58.650 --> 49:58.970]  [SPEAKER_15]: Really?
[49:59.230 --> 50:00.570]  [SPEAKER_17]: It's showing there's a blocked area.
[50:01.190 --> 50:02.270]  [SPEAKER_15]: The whole area is blocked?
[50:02.590 --> 50:03.570]  [SPEAKER_17]: I'm at 767.
[50:04.990 --> 50:05.310]  [SPEAKER_15]: Wow.
[50:05.490 --> 50:06.210]  [SPEAKER_15]: I wonder why that is.
[50:07.570 --> 50:09.830]  [SPEAKER_15]: Are you able to tell me what rates to that number would be?
[50:11.330 --> 50:14.450]  [SPEAKER_17]: I can connect you to a rate quit operator, and they can tell you what the rates would be.
[50:14.530 --> 50:15.050]  [SPEAKER_15]: That would be fine.
[50:15.150 --> 50:15.650]  [SPEAKER_15]: Thank you very much.
[50:15.730 --> 50:15.850]  [SPEAKER_17]: Sure.
[50:15.850 --> 50:16.450]  [SPEAKER_17]: One moment, please.
[50:18.050 --> 50:19.230]  [SPEAKER_15]: I need to quote operator.
[50:28.640 --> 50:30.640]  [SPEAKER_05]: Thank you for calling Quest LCI.
[50:31.060 --> 50:34.340]  [SPEAKER_05]: Your call may be taped or monitored for quality purposes.
[50:34.640 --> 50:35.480]  [SPEAKER_05]: May also be broadcast.
[50:35.880 --> 50:38.100]  [SPEAKER_05]: For questions on your consumer account, please press 1.
[50:38.380 --> 50:41.680]  [SPEAKER_05]: For questions on your business account, please press 2.
[50:42.620 --> 50:44.340]  [SPEAKER_15]: Can we raise the volume somehow?
[50:44.520 --> 50:45.440]  [SPEAKER_15]: Is there a way to do that?
[50:45.620 --> 50:46.440]  [SPEAKER_15]: Okay, let's try that.
[50:48.220 --> 50:50.760]  [SPEAKER_05]: Please hold while your call is being transferred.
[50:55.220 --> 50:56.000]  [SPEAKER_15]: Oh, music.
[51:01.960 --> 51:04.220]  [SPEAKER_15]: I love when they just transfer you directly into music.
[51:04.420 --> 51:07.400]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's like you're walking into a concert, joined in progress.
[51:08.740 --> 51:13.440]  [SPEAKER_15]: But you know, we have more important things to do than listen to these guys.
[51:15.780 --> 51:19.140]  [SPEAKER_15]: Okay, what I'll do is I'll keep them on the line, and I'll take calls.
[51:20.100 --> 51:20.920]  [SPEAKER_15]: All right, let's try that.
[51:23.000 --> 51:23.460]  [SPEAKER_15]: Good evening.
[51:23.580 --> 51:23.940]  [SPEAKER_15]: You're on the air.
[51:23.940 --> 51:25.080]  [SPEAKER_18]: Uh, yes.
[51:25.940 --> 51:30.940]  [SPEAKER_18]: In referring to, uh, uh, receiving articles for the magazine, how do you pick them?
[51:31.360 --> 51:33.220]  [SPEAKER_15]: How do we pick what articles go in the magazine?
[51:33.420 --> 51:33.640]  [SPEAKER_18]: Yeah.
[51:34.480 --> 51:37.940]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, basically, uh, it's, it's, it's a question of what articles...
[51:38.540 --> 51:39.640]  [SPEAKER_15]: You know, I gotta get rid of this music.
[51:39.860 --> 51:40.320]  [SPEAKER_15]: Uh, hang on.
[51:40.400 --> 51:40.880]  [SPEAKER_15]: Hang on one second.
[51:41.020 --> 51:41.600]  [SPEAKER_15]: I'll dump that.
[51:41.660 --> 51:42.620]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's really, really distracting.
[51:43.140 --> 51:44.180]  [SPEAKER_15]: Uh, okay.
[51:44.520 --> 51:45.080]  [SPEAKER_15]: Are you back?
[51:45.900 --> 51:46.300]  [SPEAKER_15]: Okay.
[51:46.460 --> 51:46.660]  [SPEAKER_15]: Okay.
[51:47.120 --> 51:53.720]  [SPEAKER_15]: Uh, basically the articles are picked, uh, as far as if there's something interesting, if there's something that, uh, has not really been touched upon before.
[51:54.400 --> 52:01.040]  [SPEAKER_15]: Um, you know, it, it, it's a pretty simple criteria as far as, as what we like and what we don't like.
[52:01.160 --> 52:08.460]  [SPEAKER_15]: We don't print articles that are just about destruction or that don't give anything, any new bit of information out or that's been printed before.
[52:09.140 --> 52:10.840]  [SPEAKER_15]: Was there something in particular you're interested in?
[52:11.440 --> 52:14.720]  [SPEAKER_18]: Uh, yeah, because I was going to write an article about, uh, the intercom system.
[52:15.020 --> 52:16.160]  [SPEAKER_15]: The intercom systems?
[52:16.340 --> 52:16.600]  [SPEAKER_18]: Yeah.
[52:16.760 --> 52:17.300]  [SPEAKER_15]: Which, which ones?
[52:17.900 --> 52:24.440]  [SPEAKER_18]: Uh, I think it was in the last issue, uh, uh, when somebody wrote an article about how intercom systems are run.
[52:24.720 --> 52:26.320]  [SPEAKER_15]: Do you mean, uh, getting into buildings?
[52:26.880 --> 52:28.280]  [SPEAKER_18]: Yeah, and, yeah, the intercom system.
[52:28.360 --> 52:30.320]  [SPEAKER_15]: Were you, it was a Touch-Tone pad in the lobby and all that?
[52:30.480 --> 52:30.680]  [SPEAKER_18]: Yeah.
[52:30.920 --> 52:33.260]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yeah, we'd certainly be interested in that because I know that's...
[52:33.260 --> 52:34.080]  [SPEAKER_18]: I think I sent one in.
[52:34.260 --> 52:34.620]  [SPEAKER_15]: Uh-huh.
[52:35.080 --> 52:37.000]  [SPEAKER_18]: Uh, like, two weeks ago, but I don't know.
[52:37.180 --> 52:38.900]  [SPEAKER_15]: Okay, it probably hasn't been looked at yet then.
[52:39.280 --> 52:39.380]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yeah.
[52:39.380 --> 52:50.080]  [SPEAKER_15]: But that's, that's definitely something because that's a major security hole just waiting to happen right there where you dial somebody's phone number from the lobby and, and they let you in with a Touch-Tone and anybody can really let them in.
[52:50.080 --> 52:52.060]  [SPEAKER_15]: if you forward the line someplace else.
[52:52.280 --> 52:56.060]  [SPEAKER_15]: But, yeah, it's, uh, it's one of many topics we'd be interested in, uh, focusing on.
[52:56.220 --> 52:56.860]  [SPEAKER_15]: Thanks for the call.
[52:57.280 --> 52:58.680]  [SPEAKER_15]: Let's see if, uh, if I answer it over here.
[52:59.580 --> 53:00.600]  [SPEAKER_15]: No, we've still got music.
[53:04.590 --> 53:08.010]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yeah, it's funny because you can probably turn down the dial and find that station.
[53:08.790 --> 53:11.230]  [SPEAKER_15]: But, uh, all right.
[53:11.350 --> 53:11.630]  [SPEAKER_15]: Good evening.
[53:11.710 --> 53:12.090]  [SPEAKER_15]: You're on the air.
[53:12.390 --> 53:13.750]  [SPEAKER_03]: Yes, good evening, Emmanuel.
[53:14.030 --> 53:14.310]  [SPEAKER_15]: How are you?
[53:14.330 --> 53:17.550]  [SPEAKER_03]: I'm a long-time listener of your and fan of your show.
[53:17.670 --> 53:18.030]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, thanks.
[53:18.030 --> 53:23.690]  [SPEAKER_03]: Listen, um, this new service that's being offered in New York, DSL.
[53:23.870 --> 53:24.090]  [SPEAKER_15]: Mm-hmm.
[53:24.210 --> 53:25.590]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, it's not being offered in New York yet.
[53:25.590 --> 53:26.410]  [SPEAKER_15]: It will be next year.
[53:26.550 --> 53:29.350]  [SPEAKER_03]: Well, I went to the Internet, um, uh, Expo.
[53:29.650 --> 53:30.030]  [SPEAKER_15]: Uh-huh.
[53:30.130 --> 53:34.270]  [SPEAKER_03]: And there's a company called, um, Eclipse.
[53:34.550 --> 53:34.870]  [SPEAKER_15]: Okay.
[53:35.150 --> 53:38.270]  [SPEAKER_03]: And Concentric that are offering it in New York.
[53:38.430 --> 53:39.630]  [SPEAKER_15]: Have they started offering it?
[53:39.650 --> 53:39.970]  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[53:40.370 --> 53:40.670]  [SPEAKER_15]: Really?
[53:40.670 --> 53:41.730]  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, through COVID.
[53:42.510 --> 53:43.670]  [SPEAKER_03]: And they call it Telespeed.
[53:44.390 --> 53:44.930]  [SPEAKER_15]: How about that?
[53:45.090 --> 53:46.150]  [SPEAKER_03]: My concern...
[53:46.150 --> 53:48.490]  [SPEAKER_15]: Oh, I've just been throwing a bunch of pamphlets about this, in fact.
[53:48.630 --> 53:49.930]  [SPEAKER_15]: Okay, I guess I'm out of the loop here.
[53:50.090 --> 53:50.430]  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[53:50.810 --> 53:51.210]  [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.
[53:51.470 --> 54:00.050]  [SPEAKER_03]: But my concern is the prices that I'm seeing, because I remember when it started out with, I believe, Bell Atlantic and Virginia when they were doing the pilot.
[54:00.250 --> 54:00.430]  [SPEAKER_02]: Right.
[54:00.610 --> 54:03.370]  [SPEAKER_03]: These prices are like $99 a month.
[54:03.490 --> 54:04.650]  [SPEAKER_03]: They were like $59.
[54:06.470 --> 54:07.650]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yeah, I'm looking at it right now.
[54:07.710 --> 54:13.050]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, I'm seeing personal InfoSpeed, InfoSpeed 640K, $59.95.
[54:14.090 --> 54:15.050]  [SPEAKER_03]: $59.95?
[54:15.170 --> 54:15.790]  [SPEAKER_15]: That's what I'm seeing here.
[54:15.790 --> 54:16.370]  [SPEAKER_03]: On the Eclipse?
[54:16.670 --> 54:19.790]  [SPEAKER_15]: Um, this is a Bell Atlantic InfoSpeed DSL, uh.
[54:20.250 --> 54:21.030]  [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, okay.
[54:21.390 --> 54:27.750]  [SPEAKER_03]: Because ex-DSL, there's like $99 for 256K speed.
[54:28.130 --> 54:31.150]  [SPEAKER_03]: Then when you get up to 640, forget it.
[54:31.170 --> 54:32.530]  [SPEAKER_03]: It's like $400 a month.
[54:32.670 --> 54:33.890]  [SPEAKER_03]: Almost $400 a month.
[54:33.890 --> 54:46.250]  [SPEAKER_03]: So, I mean, it's almost like they're saying, okay, we're going to give you DSL, um, to get rid of your T1 lines, but we're going to charge you eventually, essentially the same price.
[54:47.710 --> 54:52.850]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, you know, this is something that, uh, many different companies are going to be offering.
[54:52.990 --> 54:55.870]  [SPEAKER_15]: There's going to be competition here, and I imagine you'll see some price wars.
[54:56.590 --> 55:04.930]  [SPEAKER_15]: If you saw a price in Virginia, most likely you'll see a very similar price up here, if not from, uh, from, uh, from Bell Atlantic or concentric from somebody.
[55:05.330 --> 55:05.850]  [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, okay.
[55:06.850 --> 55:07.030]  [SPEAKER_03]: All right.
[55:07.030 --> 55:07.790]  [SPEAKER_15]: But this is interesting.
[55:07.970 --> 55:08.790]  [SPEAKER_15]: I'm going to look into this.
[55:08.970 --> 55:16.810]  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I've been watching this, and I'm, like, saying how, you know, I was waiting for it to get up here, because, you know, that's a direct connection line, almost like a T1.
[55:16.970 --> 55:18.030]  [SPEAKER_03]: It never disconnects.
[55:18.930 --> 55:20.670]  [SPEAKER_03]: Or at least that's what it's supposed to do.
[55:20.670 --> 55:21.710]  [SPEAKER_15]: Oh, that's what it's supposed to do, yeah.
[55:21.830 --> 55:23.230]  [SPEAKER_15]: It is run by Bell Atlantic, after all.
[55:23.370 --> 55:24.770]  [SPEAKER_15]: This one is, I'm looking at right now.
[55:25.410 --> 55:27.010]  [SPEAKER_15]: But, uh, well, we'll look into this.
[55:27.130 --> 55:28.990]  [SPEAKER_15]: Hopefully by the next show, we'll have more information on it.
[55:29.210 --> 55:29.930]  [SPEAKER_03]: All right, thanks.
[55:30.130 --> 55:30.650]  [SPEAKER_15]: All right, thanks for calling.
[55:30.690 --> 55:31.210]  [SPEAKER_03]: All right, bye-bye.
[55:31.390 --> 55:32.450]  [SPEAKER_15]: I wonder if this will work on the island.
[55:33.450 --> 55:34.190]  [SPEAKER_15]: Looks really cool.
[55:35.350 --> 55:36.990]  [SPEAKER_15]: Wow, it looks like they actually have it all together.
[55:37.110 --> 55:37.650]  [SPEAKER_15]: Does it work on the island?
[55:39.070 --> 55:40.830]  [SPEAKER_15]: You can convert an ISDN line over?
[55:41.130 --> 55:43.430]  [SPEAKER_15]: Now, wait, I just converted a line to ISDN.
[55:43.470 --> 55:44.790]  [SPEAKER_15]: Now I've got to convert it to something else.
[55:45.750 --> 55:48.350]  [SPEAKER_15]: That's, uh, that's pretty, pretty weird.
[55:48.990 --> 55:53.750]  [SPEAKER_15]: With InfoSpeed DSL, you'll spend less time waiting and more time doing what you want to do, experiencing the web.
[55:54.330 --> 55:58.110]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, speak for yourself there, but, uh, we all use the net for our own purposes.
[55:58.470 --> 55:59.330]  [SPEAKER_15]: All right, let's take another phone call.
[55:59.510 --> 55:59.930]  [SPEAKER_15]: Oh, wait.
[56:00.770 --> 56:01.590]  [SPEAKER_15]: They hung up?
[56:01.710 --> 56:03.230]  [SPEAKER_15]: That means they picked up and they hung up.
[56:03.450 --> 56:04.230]  [SPEAKER_15]: The music is gone.
[56:04.990 --> 56:05.530]  [SPEAKER_15]: Oh, well.
[56:06.010 --> 56:07.050]  [SPEAKER_15]: Good evening, you're on the air.
[56:07.630 --> 56:11.270]  [SPEAKER_16]: Hey, it's me again, uh, calling in, but Jack Ripper, but...
[56:11.270 --> 56:12.750]  [SPEAKER_15]: Wait, whoa, whoa, me again?
[56:13.070 --> 56:13.430]  [SPEAKER_16]: Yeah.
[56:13.810 --> 56:18.990]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, first of all, we know that you've been with the same person for however long it's been, but we don't know who you are.
[56:19.090 --> 56:19.370]  [SPEAKER_15]: Who are you?
[56:19.470 --> 56:20.010]  [SPEAKER_16]: Oh, I'm Jack Ripper.
[56:20.170 --> 56:21.050]  [SPEAKER_16]: I just called into a...
[56:21.050 --> 56:22.890]  [SPEAKER_15]: How are we supposed to know that it's me again?
[56:23.130 --> 56:24.190]  [SPEAKER_16]: Well, it just felt like saying that.
[56:24.190 --> 56:24.750]  [SPEAKER_15]: My God.
[56:24.850 --> 56:25.290]  [SPEAKER_15]: Okay, what's up?
[56:25.610 --> 56:28.690]  [SPEAKER_16]: Um, just wanted one question that I was told to ask right now.
[56:29.170 --> 56:30.730]  [SPEAKER_15]: You were told to ask a question?
[56:30.730 --> 56:32.230]  [SPEAKER_16]: Well, no, I wasn't told to, but I remember someone...
[56:32.230 --> 56:34.090]  [SPEAKER_15]: Are you calling from, like, a military camp or something?
[56:34.250 --> 56:34.810]  [SPEAKER_16]: Yeah, I know.
[56:35.430 --> 56:37.150]  [SPEAKER_15]: All right, well, what's...
[56:37.150 --> 56:38.530]  [SPEAKER_16]: I was wondering, when is the...
[56:38.530 --> 56:40.570]  [SPEAKER_16]: When do you think the documentary is going to come out, be available?
[56:41.450 --> 56:42.470]  [SPEAKER_15]: What, the one we're making?
[56:42.590 --> 56:42.770]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yeah.
[56:43.370 --> 56:45.330]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, okay, I'll tell you the stage is in right now.
[56:45.610 --> 56:50.290]  [SPEAKER_15]: We've done dubs to VHS so we can do logging without ruining the masters.
[56:50.570 --> 56:54.890]  [SPEAKER_15]: And we're going through about 100 hours of that right now, just logging everything.
[56:55.010 --> 56:56.210]  [SPEAKER_15]: But filming isn't quite over yet.
[56:56.210 --> 56:57.990]  [SPEAKER_15]: We're still going to be doing some filming in the next few weeks.
[56:58.510 --> 57:00.970]  [SPEAKER_15]: After all that, we have to figure out how to edit the thing.
[57:01.110 --> 57:05.630]  [SPEAKER_15]: We're looking into borrowing or finding an Avid or a Media 100 system.
[57:05.630 --> 57:16.170]  [SPEAKER_15]: So if anybody has information on that, please either email us, OTH at 2600.com, or give a call, 516-751-2600, extension 0, and leave a message there.
[57:17.190 --> 57:20.350]  [SPEAKER_15]: And hopefully we'll have something out within a year, maybe.
[57:21.290 --> 57:22.090]  [SPEAKER_16]: Okay, that's cool.
[57:22.230 --> 57:25.830]  [SPEAKER_15]: I mean, it's a much smaller operation than the takedown folks have, and it's taking them about a year, too.
[57:26.710 --> 57:35.330]  [SPEAKER_16]: Also, I just wanted to mention a little problem that you'll probably get when you get the three-way, 75 cents a use, you know, every time you use a thing.
[57:35.330 --> 57:37.330]  [SPEAKER_15]: The phone company's scam, yeah, we know about that.
[57:37.350 --> 57:46.410]  [SPEAKER_16]: Right, well, the thing is, is if you call an answering machine or voicemail and hang up, they think somehow that you've just switched lines, so it calls you back.
[57:46.750 --> 57:47.310]  [SPEAKER_15]: Oh, really?
[57:47.450 --> 57:50.930]  [SPEAKER_16]: It calls me back, and it's still, like, logged in, so I pick it up, and I'm like, hello?
[57:51.190 --> 57:54.270]  [SPEAKER_16]: So I'm leaving the message, hello, after 30 seconds of blank space on people.
[57:54.270 --> 57:55.690]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yeah, and I've heard people do that.
[57:55.690 --> 57:59.550]  [SPEAKER_15]: They sound really stupid, and people say, who is that moron that doesn't know his own phone is ringing?
[58:00.090 --> 58:01.730]  [SPEAKER_15]: Do they charge you 75 cents?
[58:02.270 --> 58:04.590]  [SPEAKER_16]: Yeah, they charge, that's what they charge around here.
[58:04.590 --> 58:06.850]  [SPEAKER_15]: When that happens, do they charge you 75 cents?
[58:07.170 --> 58:09.590]  [SPEAKER_16]: I hope not, I'm not sure yet, I have to check that out.
[58:10.310 --> 58:12.330]  [SPEAKER_16]: Yeah, I have Southwestern Bell here.
[58:12.650 --> 58:23.250]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's amazing how they all have the same scams, though, you know, they all, they charge you for nothing, and then they trick you into paying for services you don't want, and then they introduce services that are a menace to society.
[58:23.830 --> 58:25.570]  [SPEAKER_15]: You know, who's running these people, anyway?
[58:25.810 --> 58:28.590]  [SPEAKER_15]: Who's saying, this is bad, you should not be doing this?
[58:28.750 --> 58:29.110]  [SPEAKER_15]: Nobody.
[58:29.950 --> 58:30.670]  [SPEAKER_15]: Nobody's doing it.
[58:31.010 --> 58:31.790]  [SPEAKER_15]: Hey, thanks for the call.
[58:34.590 --> 58:35.670]  [SPEAKER_16]: Reminding me of that one question.
[58:35.810 --> 58:35.970]  [SPEAKER_16]: Okay.
[58:36.330 --> 58:36.950]  [SPEAKER_15]: All right, whatever.
[58:38.150 --> 58:39.430]  [SPEAKER_15]: 212-209-2900.
[58:39.570 --> 58:40.550]  [SPEAKER_15]: Good evening, you're on the air.
[58:40.870 --> 58:46.870]  [SPEAKER_08]: Hey, let me lower my radio, and you started this program by saying you were outraged and you were angry.
[58:47.090 --> 58:48.830]  [SPEAKER_15]: I still am outraged, I still am angry.
[58:48.890 --> 58:56.650]  [SPEAKER_08]: Well, I'm outraged and I'm angry too, but I'm angry at your website because I've sent two emails and I've never gotten a reply.
[58:56.910 --> 58:57.990]  [SPEAKER_15]: You sent email to our website?
[58:57.990 --> 58:59.550]  [SPEAKER_08]: Yeah, to 2,600.
[59:00.070 --> 59:00.350]  [SPEAKER_15]: Okay.
[59:00.730 --> 59:03.890]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, first of all, keep in mind we get about 1,000 pieces of email a day.
[59:04.070 --> 59:05.370]  [SPEAKER_08]: Oh, excuses, excuses.
[59:05.650 --> 59:08.690]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, what is it you had to say since now you're broadcasting to a million people?
[59:09.150 --> 59:10.210]  [SPEAKER_15]: What's your private message?
[59:10.410 --> 59:18.610]  [SPEAKER_08]: Well, the thing is, I was listening to the radio a few weeks ago and I heard a commercial by a company called IDT, which does websites.
[59:18.810 --> 59:19.050]  [SPEAKER_02]: Uh-huh.
[59:19.290 --> 59:24.490]  [SPEAKER_08]: And the thing is, now they're saying that they offer telephone service, so I have a two-part question.
[59:24.670 --> 59:26.630]  [SPEAKER_08]: The first is, are they really real?
[59:26.630 --> 59:28.210]  [SPEAKER_15]: Did you hear our show last week?
[59:28.430 --> 59:28.750]  [SPEAKER_08]: No.
[59:28.990 --> 59:30.850]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, our show last week was about IDT.
[59:31.090 --> 59:31.330]  [SPEAKER_08]: Oh.
[59:31.670 --> 59:32.510]  [SPEAKER_15]: Yeah, do you have real audio?
[59:33.030 --> 59:33.430]  [SPEAKER_08]: No.
[59:33.690 --> 59:33.870]  [SPEAKER_15]: Oh.
[59:34.070 --> 59:37.030]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, if you get real audio, obviously you have computer access.
[59:37.870 --> 59:41.770]  [SPEAKER_15]: So you simply download real audio from www.real.com.
[59:41.770 --> 59:45.490]  [SPEAKER_15]: Then you can listen to last week's show on the net and find out all you need to know about IDT.
[59:45.570 --> 59:51.750]  [SPEAKER_08]: Okay, first, the short question is, are they for real that it's 10 cents a minute and 20 cents a minute for international?
[59:52.490 --> 59:58.530]  [SPEAKER_15]: Uh, I think you're referring to the OnePlus calls, but it was 5 cents a minute when we were using it in the United States.
[59:58.690 --> 59:59.930]  [SPEAKER_15]: I don't know what the international rates are.
[01:00:00.470 --> 01:00:02.390]  [SPEAKER_15]: Well, they route the call over the Internet.
[01:00:02.590 --> 01:00:05.570]  [SPEAKER_15]: It's, uh, the quality isn't as great, but it's not that bad either.
[01:00:05.910 --> 01:00:07.550]  [SPEAKER_15]: Sorry to have to cut you off, but we are out of time.
[01:00:07.610 --> 01:00:09.390]  [SPEAKER_15]: In fact, we're out of time for the next three weeks.
[01:00:09.430 --> 01:00:13.090]  [SPEAKER_15]: Won't be back next week or the week after, but the week after that, we'll be back in strength.
[01:00:13.330 --> 01:00:16.850]  [SPEAKER_15]: So, who knows what will happen with the phone company between now and then.
[01:00:17.410 --> 01:00:19.370]  [SPEAKER_15]: But whatever it is, we'll be here to tell you about it.
[01:00:19.370 --> 01:00:21.070]  [SPEAKER_15]: Until then, have a nice time.
[01:00:21.270 --> 01:00:22.270]  [SPEAKER_15]: This is Emmanuel Goldstein for Off The Hook.
[01:00:22.370 --> 01:00:22.570]  [SPEAKER_15]: Good night.
[01:00:23.650 --> 01:00:27.870]  [SPEAKER_20]: The telephone keeps ringing, so I ripped it off the wall.
[01:00:28.870 --> 01:00:33.410]  [SPEAKER_20]: I cut myself while shaving, now I can't make a cough.
[01:00:34.090 --> 01:00:38.730]  [SPEAKER_19]: It couldn't get much worse, but if they could, they would.
[01:00:38.970 --> 01:00:41.630]  [SPEAKER_19]: Bum, dilly, bum, but the best, expect the worst.
[01:00:42.290 --> 01:00:44.130]  [SPEAKER_19]: I hope that's understood.
[01:00:44.490 --> 01:00:45.130]  [SPEAKER_19]: Bum, dilly, bum!
[01:01:23.350 --> 01:01:25.690]  [SPEAKER_20]: Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum.
[01:01:25.710 --> 01:01:26.930]  Bum,
[01:01:30.080 --> 01:01:35.120]  [SPEAKER_20]: bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum.
[01:01:35.560 --> 01:01:36.760]  [SPEAKER_00]: The Journeyman's Journey.
[01:01:37.160 --> 01:01:42.660]  [SPEAKER_00]: A NOMO Radio Special in the Tuesday early morning hours of 3.30 a.m.
[01:01:42.840 --> 01:01:43.820]  [SPEAKER_00]: to 6 a.m.
[01:01:44.380 --> 01:01:45.500]  [SPEAKER_00]: October 20th.
[01:01:46.180 --> 01:01:47.480]  [SPEAKER_00]: Prepare Yourself.
[01:01:47.480 --> 01:01:48.140]  [SPEAKER_00]: Hello, hello.