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  • @TootSweet
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    7711 months ago

    “Thank you for calling the U.S. nuclear arsenal command system. To launch nuclear missiles, press one. Para Español, marque dos.”

    • @SPRUNT
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      1211 months ago

      I get what kind of chicks would double-up on a dude with a million dollars, but I’m suddenly VERY curious about the kind of chicks that would do that for a dude with a 1-800 number.

      • Deceptichum
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        311 months ago

        The only chicks into me would be the ones into charitycases. So a 1800 would be perfect for that.

      • @[email protected]OP
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        111 months ago

        Two chicks who call that number and independently report they’d be down for a completely anonymous FFM three-way - and follow through?

        It could happen, life’s a weird thing, but there’s unicorns and then there’s this. If everyone leaves without a disease and with all their kidneys they should probably go buy lottery tickets.

      • @[email protected]
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        111 months ago

        Entrepreneurial ones, I guess. They hear about a magic bottomless phone line and see an arbitrage opportunity.

    • @[email protected]
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      2611 months ago

      A 1-800 number is immune to long distance charges, free to call by anyone in the US— the owner of the 800 number pays any fees associated with the call. Traditionally, 800 numbers are owned by companies in order to sell stuff. (The 1- portion of a 1-800 number means that it’s a long distance call… which was a thing when I was growing up in the 80s/90s, but basically isn’t a thing anymore in the age of cellphones)

      The opposite of an 800 number is a 900 number. The person calling a 900 number has to pay, usually by minute, and most of that money goes to the owner of the 900 number. Famously used for phone sex lines.

      • @[email protected]
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        1711 months ago

        To add to this, the 800 part is effectively an international convention for toll free numbers at this point. Most countries use either “800”, “0800”, or “1800”. On top of that the +800 country code is used for international toll-free numbers, but AFAIK it only works in a few countries.

        • @neumast
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          411 months ago

          To add further more: often also 810 or 820 numbers exist, where a phone call might have a toll up to 10 or 20 cents per minute respectively. With 900 numbers you usually dont know, how expensive they are, when only looking at the number.

      • sylver_dragon
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        1211 months ago

        The 1- portion of a 1-800 number means that it’s a long distance call

        The 1 is the Country Code for the US. If you are dialing outside the US, you would start with the Country Code for the country you are calling. If you are outside the US dialing a US number, you start with a 1 to designate that the number is within the US.

        • arc
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          511 months ago

          But you get it for free, I assume the costs are covered

      • Are long-distance charges a thing anymore? I haven’t paid any fees for domestic long distance in over a decade - I thought they were extinct.

        800 is really just an easy-to-remember area code for businesses now, aren’t they? Like .com.

  • @buycurious
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    1311 months ago

    Well, is it a vanity number or just a bunch of random digits?

    • @[email protected]OP
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      1111 months ago

      Let’s say you have a 50/50 chance of getting your choice of a vanity number or a randomly assigned 800 number - what do you do in either outcome?

      • @CinnerB
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        1011 months ago
        1. Research the highest selling ever vanity number, consult with the largest vanity number holders, find out what the most expensive vanity number is.
        2. If I get it, sell it.
        3. If it’s random, ask a bunch of people on Lemmy what their ideas would be if that happened.
    • @[email protected]
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      111 months ago

      But who has a modem to dial it these days?

      I probably have an old laptop somewhere with a modem on it, but then my next impediment is I don’t have a landline any more.

      • @[email protected]OP
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        11 months ago

        Not a lot of people, but there are retrocomputing hobbists who’d probably be stoked to find something like this.

        Apparently you can tunnel through using a VoIP device, but it’s not great. Or get a cellular modem (do not know what kind of connection quality you’d have in 2024, or if it’s even a real option).

        The other option would be finding an old payphone that works with an acoustic coupler. See here (Wayback link as on my phone, direct one doesn’t seem to work on all browsers, fine in Firefox but host pretends the site doesn’t exist in my default one that opens in Jerboa*)

        https://web.archive.org/web/20220520161806/http://wrybread.com/WryRoad/gadgets/coupler.htm

        I am admittedly a giant dork, but a quest to try and find a payphone that still exists AND you could actually do this with sounds fun. Seeing someone sitting next to a payphone with a buncha wires and a computer would be some high weirdness I can get behind.

        *Sidenote: Anyone know how to change the default brower Jerboa on Android uses?

  • Dizzy Devil Ducky
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    511 months ago

    If I could, just use it for any and every single service that requires you to sign up using a phone number and don’t allow things like VoIP.

    Otherwise, I ain’t got no use for it.

  • @[email protected]
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    411 months ago

    “Put that fork down. You can do it. The urge will go away in 30 minutes. Be strong. Wait a while. Eat an egg. Wait a while longer. Be strong. You are doing it. Love yourself being strong.”

  • @[email protected]
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    311 months ago

    Well, I already have the power to announce stuff for free here by creating a community, so I guess I’d use it the same way I use Lemmy: telling people about free video games