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public has of us.
Tuxedo Mask
More importantly, you should be proud that you
stood up fo r your convictions. /t may fe el like shit but
what you did took courage and you 'll feel better in the
end. HopefUlly you 'll inspire others to do the same and
then we may actually get through to some of these thick­
heads.
Dear 2600:
I have yet to become a subscriber to 2600 (I buy issues
with saved change') but I do buy every issue and
it's all right. Just recently I was calling a friend and accidentally
dialed the wrong number, so I hung up before
letting it ring, and dialed the right number. I talked to
him for about 30 minutes and had a nice chat. Immediately
after I hung up, the phone rang and I picked it up.
The call was from some paranoid person who has "69
service for the sheer purpose of harassing people like
me (or so I am convinced). She proceeded to be very
rude with me until I told her that I was sorry and
promptly hung up on her. Sure, I might not have fo llowed
proper phone etiquette (because I hung up before
I thought the call had been connected), but I don't think
it was any place of her to try to call me back for 30 minutes
straight until she got through, just to harass me.
My friends and I, who are very moral and law abiding
citizens, have been harassed several times by people
who abuse *69. It seems like these people pay the extra
just to get '69 so that every time the phone rings they
can call back and harass whoever might have called. I
have received several nasty calls from these paranoid
people, and I'm frankly sick of it. I have a question, if I
call someone, accidentally, and then they call me back
and harass me about it, how is that different than if they
just called me and harassed me? In my opinion, it is still
harassment and it is pretty much the same as a prank
call to me. I'm sick of paranoid people who abuse their
'69 to harass me every time my modem accidentally dials
the wrong number because I was in a hurry, etc.
Can't people be a little nicer and maybe before they call
me back accept the idea that maybe I wasn 't trying to do
something "evil?"
Zero_Null
This is exactly the kind of altitude that is fo stered by
promoting these confrontational services. Th ere is no
longer such a thing as an honest mistake - everyone is
out to get you and you have to he prepared with Caller
ID, Call Return, and Call Trace. It 's really pretty sad.
You can always hiock your outgoing calls with "67 if
you can 't get the line itsell blocked. (Incidentally, you
used the word harass (or a la rm ol it) eight times in a
single paragraph. For your records.)
Facts
Dear 2600:
Re your current issue, the editorial mentions a magazine
called Signal. I wondered where I saw that name
before" It was a magazine issued by the German gov-
emment during the Nazi period, featuring pictures of
victorious Gennan soldiers.
bbiggins
Dear 2600:
I recently found this out while looking up the number
for Microcenter to pick up the new issue of 2600. I
looked at the front of the pbone book where they show
pictures of things. They had a Caller ID box on there.
The number on the Caller ID box was 513-555-2600.
What you think? Hackers in the phone company? Or
just a guess at numbers?
Lord Mistieal
Our agents are everywhere .... By the way, we 're
shocked and appalled that you didn 't send us a copy.
Dear 2600:
Is it just me or are the eyes of Janet Reno (15:2) just
like the ones of the orangutan (14:2). Could you be saying
that Reno is nothing but a monkey when it comes to
computers? (The quote on the inside doesn't prove otherwise.)
Louis Blue
Some things are just too frightening to talk about.
Dear 2600:
I recently bought a new "pen and paper Role-Playing
Game" from a company called Eden Studios Inc.
The name of the game is Conspiracy X I must say, it is
an excellent game. But that's not the point. The point is
this: as I was reading the book, I saw a disturbing picture
on page 43. The picture is that of a hacker, sitting at
his computer, with a can of Jolt cola and his mouse pad
has "2600" written clearly on it. The disturbing part is
the fact that the hacker has a bullet hole in his head, and
the bullet went straight through his head and shattered
the computer screen! Is this picture supposed to be antihacker
in meaning? And if it is, why do these pro-government
types write an RPG about conspiracies? If it's
not anti-hacker, then what the hell is it? Did you guys
know about it? It does bear your logo ....
Vex Hardline
And again, we 're shocked and appalled that you
didn 't send us a copy.
Metrocard Fun
Dear 2600:
I know that there has been a lot of curiosity as to
how the MetroCards on the New Yo rk subway system
work. Well, I have what you might call a social hack, although
I haven't had the opportunity to try it yet. Since
the new "unlimited" MetroCards have come out (you
can ride 30 days for $63), the MTA has encouraged people
to share them with family members and friends. But
in order to prevent me from passing back my card to
someone else right after I enter a station, there is a
blackout period, which prevents the card holder from
Fa ll 1998 2600 Magazine Page 51