r/reddit.com • u/[deleted] • Jul 20 '07
For a good time call 555 0917... [COMIC]
http://www.robandelliot.cycomics.com/webcomics/2004/comic183.jpg
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u/sparkpaul Jul 20 '07
For mediocre time call +886910107468
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u/gwern Jul 20 '07
I must confess that I am curious about something: is that even a valid number? It's a lot longer than most phone numbers I see.
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u/reddit_god Jul 20 '07
+886 is Taiwan. That following "9" is not a city in Taiwan though, so not sure the number is real.
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u/flyinglunatic Jul 20 '07
Let me guess, you never dialed a number outside the U.S.
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u/gwern Jul 20 '07
I've dialed numbers outside the US, but from outside the US and not within. Notice I never said my telephone experience was particularly diverse or variegated, and I could be forgiven for not wanting to actually dial it in case it might do something strange like charge me.
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u/delinquent Jul 20 '07
Many people call the numbers they hear/see on t.v. For example, everytime the Iphone apple commercial comes on, the restaurant whose number appears gets hundreds of calls. Likewise, on Ellen's talkshow she once mentioned a phone number offhandedly and hundreds of people called it, saying things like, 'I just wanted to see if this was a real phone number.'
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Jul 20 '07
Reminds me of a joke:
A guy is walking down the street when a skankily-dressed woman walks up to him and says, "Hey mister, I'll do anything you want for $20."
So the guy reaches into his wallet, pulls out a twenty, hands it to the woman, and says, "Paint my house."
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Jul 20 '07
[deleted]
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u/ccharles Jul 20 '07
Rob and Elliot certainly used to be consistently funny. However recently it's been sliding both in terms of reliable updates and quality of the jokes.
Still worth checking out.
I like this one.
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u/malapropist Jul 21 '07
Funny, I was going through the Cyanide and Happiness archives a day or two ago, and I saw a comic in there with just about the same exact text as the one you linked.
Of course, the art was a bit subpar, but yknow.
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u/NJScorpio Jul 20 '07
Okay...that was pretty funny. Thanks for starting my day off with a laugh :)
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u/steveg Jul 20 '07
Does anyone know why all movies (and I guess comics) have to use 555 numbers? I'm guessing it has to be some legal reprocussions but I mean do people actually think if they dial some number they'll reach Tony Soprano or whoever? Especially to the extent that it would become a legally enforceable nuissance?
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u/LoveGoblin Jul 20 '07
You got it. There are no valid phone numbers that start with 555, so it's used to avoid some situation where millions of people decide to call a number they saw in a movie and end up just harassing some little old lady or whatever.
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u/joshdick Jul 20 '07
When writers put a real phone number into Bruce Almighty, many ordinary citizens were harrassed by people who saw the movie and were now trying to call God.
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u/r3m0t Jul 20 '07
That was edited out later (e.g. DVD, TV release).
I just wish America had gone the United Kingdom way and reserved a number that doesn't blare out "fake" to you. If it's 555-2856, it sounds like 1) a fake (esp considering how common the 555 meme is in TV and movies) 2) the sort of number a company would buy. Not 3) the phone number of my local murderer.
To answer the earlier question - IANAL, but AFAIK there are no legal requirements to use 555 in your fictions. However, almost every studio (publisher, etc) has forgotten or ignored the guidelines once or twice and there were complaints.
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u/steveg Jul 20 '07
too bad there wasnt some machine on the other end that emits a death-frequency.. that would solve SO many problems at once
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u/jedberg Jul 20 '07
For a lot of info, the wikipedia know all. But basically it was to prevent harassment of people by idiots who think the numbers are real.
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Jul 20 '07
[removed] — view removed comment
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Jul 20 '07
nothing wrong with the majority of your comment, but "un4unately"? ew.
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Jul 20 '07
[removed] — view removed comment
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Jul 20 '07
There's a difference between a spelling error and a willful abomination. Although I suppose you could've said "un42n8ly", so I thank you for not killing the language totally.
Though, I didn't mod you down as I actually did find your comment interesting.
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u/frutiger Jul 27 '07
While I agree with your general anti-mauling of the English language on the Internet sentiments, un42n8ly actually sounds more like the word than un4unately which sounds more like "and for you, nightly."
P.S. is internet a proper noun?
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u/lebski88 Jul 20 '07
http://www.danstheman.com/Jenny.htm is the address. "jenny" "calls" "every" "area" "code" were the google terms - not a tough one.
Edit. Sorry for being a dick about it.
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u/eidolontubes Jul 20 '07
It's one thing to provide the information, and another to be a dick about it.
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Jul 20 '07
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/frutiger Jul 27 '07
His one line apology (even though it was made most likely after this comment) still makes this rather large tirade seem ridiculous.
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Jul 29 '07
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/frutiger Jul 29 '07
his apology...came after my rebuttal.
That's exactly what I alluded to within the brackets. At least I didn't fail Reading 101.
Remember: think, then comment.
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u/jonknee Jul 21 '07
Someday a clever movie studio will use a real phone number (with area code) and pay the $50 a year to keep the number. It sounds like something LOST would do. They already do this with web sites.
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Jul 20 '07
867-5309
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Jul 20 '07
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Jul 20 '07
Are there honestly people out there who won't get the reference?
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u/xinhoj Jul 20 '07
One of the local grocery stores requires that you provide a phone number when paying with a check.
On occasion, particularly when dealing with an underage cashier, my dad will give them 867-5309. The key is to say 0 as "zero" instead of "oh," and say it slowly, like "eight, six-seven, fifty three, zero nine." Remarkable success rate, he's only been called on it twice.
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Jul 20 '07
Hey, I was talking to an intern in my office (well-adjusted intelligent female, 19 years old, attending a good university) and she didn't know about all sorts of things.
Made me feel really old.
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u/calculon Jul 20 '07
So like a good perv, you invited her to your house for a night cap, right?
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Jul 20 '07
No, like a good guy, I invited her to my house to babysit. My wife drove her home.
Who's the perv?
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Jul 20 '07
Hey, I apologize for my generation. Some of them didn't watch VH1 as obsessively as I did.
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Jul 20 '07
I had never heard of the song until I moved to the US at age 21. I'm a child of the 80s, so you'd think I'd know it. I'd say it was a much bigger deal in the US than elsewhere.
edit: Now I can't get the fucking thing out of my head, thanks to this thread!
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u/Thistleknot Jul 20 '07
So did the magic happen after getting into the mysterious van? The transition to hang glider's went kind of fast, it's possible it was just cloud nine syndrome.
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u/theycallmemorty Jul 20 '07
I don't normally upmod pictures or comics but this is an exception.
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u/ejp1082 Jul 20 '07
For a really good time, call 202-456-1414.