larry@uunet.uu.net (Larry Lippman) (09/18/90)
In article <12159@accuvax.nwu.edu> 0004133373@mcimail.com (Donald E. Kimberlin) writes: > Well, it brings to mind three incidents that I guess can now be > told: [recollections of sheenanigans by Long Lines personnel deleted] > [Moderator's Note: I still don't think it is funny. I regard it as a > major violation of trust; and I'm sure you are aware that had the > employees involved in this little prank been caught and the > subscriber's involved elected to sue, telco would have had to pay > financially and the employees involved probably would have lost their > jobs. PAT] Humor is a very subjective concept. Almost every industry, profession and vocation has inside humor and humorous escapades which would be abhorrent to the general public if disclosed. I cannot justify or particularly defend the actions of such Long Lines craftspersons as related in the previous article. However, I can state from experience in the industry that such antics have indeed occurred in the past, are occurring at the present, and will continue to occur in the future. Such antics will always occur because of *human* nature. I have to admit that *I* found humor in the previous article. I must also admit that as a one time member of a secret fraternity known as The Telephone Company :-), I, too, have participated in similar antics. While I am not inclined to disclose details of my own sheenanigans in this forum, I suppose that I owe Telecom readers *some* kind of story from my past, so here goes: Once upon a time there was a young engineer supervising the installation of an expansion to an existing SxS CO which served a small city in the middle-of-nowhere. Said engineer and a solitary Western Electric installer were bored to tears after being in said small city for the better half of a month. Since it was common knowledge [there were two people in the city who didn't wear cowboy boots at all times :-)] that the CO was being upgraded to include such newfangled features as direct distance dialing without having to give the operator your calling number :-), we figured that we could have some fun by causing some temporary, but "creative" wiring "errors". Aided by couple of 106-type loudspeakers, we decided to monitor the results of some connector terminal assignment errors. Like crossing the numbers of a small meat packing-freezer plant with the major undertaking establishment in the city. Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp. "Have you hugged your cat today?" {boulder||decvax||rutgers||watmath}!acsu.buffalo.edu!kitty!larry VOICE: 716/688-1231 || FAX: 716/741-9635 {utzoo||uunet}!/ \aerion!larry [Moderator's Note: Isn't that marvelous! So there has been a death in someone's family; it is a time of grief; they call to make funeral arrangements and wind up getting the meat processing plant. You must have really split your pants open with laughter at that one. PAT]
ggw%wolves@cs.duke.edu (Gregory G. Woodbury) (09/18/90)
In <12247@accuvax.nwu.edu> kitty!larry@uunet.uu.net (Larry Lippman) writes: >Like crossing the numbers of a small meat packing-freezer plant >with the major undertaking establishment in the city. >[Moderator's Note: Isn't that marvelous! So there has been a death in >someone's family; it is a time of grief; they call to make funeral >arrangements and wind up getting the meat processing plant. You must >have really split your pants open with laughter at that one. PAT] Oh get off it Pat. Your holier than thou attitude in relation to the telco antics issue is getting old. Just because you didn't think of it or get a chance to do it is no reason to be a puritan and deny others their own enjoyment of a situation. I am willing to bet that you are not spotlessly clean in terms of abusive humor. Gregory G. Woodbury @ The Wolves Den UNIX, Durham NC UUCP: ...dukcds!wolves!ggw ...mcnc!wolves!ggw [use the maps!] Domain: ggw@cds.duke.edu ggw%wolves@mcnc.mcnc.org <standard disclaimers apply>
mao@postgres.berkeley.edu (Mike Olson) (09/18/90)
In <12247@accuvax.nwu.edu>, kitty!larry@uunet.uu.net (Larry Lippman) writes: > Humor is a very subjective concept. Almost every industry, > profession and vocation has inside humor and humorous escapades which > would be abhorrent to the general public if disclosed. Perhaps, but the law is far from subjective on this point. The activities you describe are illegal. If you listen in on a private communication for any other reason than verifying that line quality is acceptable, you are breaking the law. > ... Such antics will always occur because of *human* nature. So what's the point? Does that excuse the blatant disregard for privacy? > I have to admit that *I* found humor in the previous article. > I must also admit that as a one time member of a secret fraternity > known as The Telephone Company :-), I, too, have participated in > similar antics. About the nicest thing I can think of to say here is that you must have been pretty immature to find it amusing to play practical jokes on people bereaved by the death of a loved one. The fact that you're willing to boast about it now indicates that you haven't made a lot of progress since then. Mike Olson
grayt@uunet.uu.net (Tom Gray) (09/20/90)
I would ask the Moderator to use his perogative to end the thread on these "jokes". Perhaps you could refer those interested to the alt.moron or the alt.two_year_old. [Moderator's Note: I have to agree that the 'answering machine messages' and 'inside humor' threads are getting to be sort of tiring. There are too many other things to talk about. PAT]
jimb@silvlis.com (Jim Budler) (09/21/90)
In article <12322@accuvax.nwu.edu> ggw%wolves@cs.duke.edu (Gregory G. Woodbury) writes: >In <12247@accuvax.nwu.edu> kitty!larry@uunet.uu.net (Larry Lippman) >writes: >>Like crossing the numbers of a small meat packing-freezer plant >>with the major undertaking establishment in the city. >>[Moderator's Note: Isn't that marvelous! So there has been a death in >>someone's family; it is a time of grief; they call to make funeral >>arrangements and wind up getting the meat processing plant. You must >>have really split your pants open with laughter at that one. PAT] >Oh get off it Pat. Your holier than thou attitude in relation to the >telco antics issue is getting old. Just because you didn't think of >it or get a chance to do it is no reason to be a puritan and deny >others their own enjoyment of a situation. I am willing to bet that >you are not spotlessly clean in terms of abusive humor. Oh get off it Greg. Ethically Pat is absolutely correct. This *is* abuse of trust. And yes, my thesaurus shows "ethically" as synonymous with "carping". Shows our attitude towards ethical behaviour doesn't my thesaurus? "Everybody does it" is *not* an excuse for doing something wrong. If your children want to smoke pot because "All my friends do and I'll look like a (something) if I don't" would you accept that? I hope not. It's a major problem in our society. Everybody: lies on their tax return drives 45 in a 35 zone makes personal calls on their company phone It doesn't make it right. Practical jokes are fun. Yes. Everyone laughs. Yes. Therefore anyone who has ever laughed at a "Practical Joke" is guilty of enjoying abusive humor. That doesn't make it right. And the example given was in extreme poor taste, and an extreme case of abusive humor. And it *is* a good example of abuse of trust. Pat is correct to find it bad. My $0.02 worth. Goodnight, sweet dreams. Jim Budler jimb@silvlis.com +1.408.991.6115 Silvar-Lisco, Inc. 703 E. Evelyn Ave. Sunnyvale, Ca. 94086
yazz@ucbvax.berkeley.edu> (09/22/90)
I was pretty surprised that our Moderator posted the so-called joke about crossing the lines of the meat packing plant with the funeral home -- unless the purpose was to let people that these things actually DO occur and to get some comments. Well, here are my comments. Perhaps the perpetrators have not yet experienced much grief at the death of a loved one, or have not comforted a loved one going through such grief themselves. Well, I hope you do, and soon, and that someone does something awful to make it worse and that you think of this when it happens. Then laugh. Ha Ha Ha. These jerks have my utter condemnation -- and I haven't even addressed the privacy issue! Bob Yazz [Moderator's Note: You saw the messages because I try to avoid censoring on the basis of content, provided there is at least some telecom relationship in the message. Sometimes when there are *so many* replies all saying the same thing I have to cut out a few, but I avoid censoring merely because I don't like the content. PAT]
Mark Kerr <markke@pro-charlotte.cts.com> (09/22/90)
In-Reply-To: message from ggw%wolves@cs.duke.edu >Oh get off it Pat, Your holier than thou attitude in relation to the >telco antics issue is getting old. Just because you didn't think of >it or get a chance to do it is no reason to be a puritan and deny >others their own enjoyment of a situation. I am willing to bet that >you are not spotlessly clean in terms of abusive humor. That's probably true ... someone should ask Pat about the things he used to do with some BBS software that a branch of the Chicago Public Library used to run. Something about "back doors". I'm sure none of us are perfect. Heck, I still remember getting my wrists slapped in college over using the state tie line to call friends at other campuses. Hey, the tie line was programmed and available from my dorm phone! Mark Kerr UUCP: ....!crash!pro-charlotte!markke ARPA: crash!pro-charlotte!markke@nosc.mil INET: markke@pro-charlotte.cts.com [Moderator's Note: The Chicago Public Library used to run a BBS for book and movie reviews, plus social issues discussion. This was in the period 1981-83. It ran on an Apple II computer donated by Friends of the Chicago Public Library. It originally used the ABBS program. Three of us donated money to buy the People's Message System (PMS) software which had recently been written by Bill Blue. The same three of us installed it. I was the volunteer Sysop for several months in 1982-83, and maintained the board from home most of the time. The library staff was supposed to turn on the machine on at 9 PM each night when the library closed, and turned it off in the morning. Library patrons used the computer and a variety of software during the day. I never knew what I would find from one night to the next or if in fact they would remember to turn on the BBS before closing for the night. The only trap door I knew of in the PMS software was the one the author put there and documented in the manual: a certain command permitted the Sysop or super-user to exit to DOS for maintainence work on the board, followed by a PR#6 to bring it back up again, although frankly there were so many people getting involved there what you say about additional trap doors -- if there were any -- doesn't surprise me. I finally resigned in May, 1983 when my own BBS was about to go on line. There were various differences of opinion between the supervising librarian and myself about how the library BBS should and should not be operating. One such difference centered on the lack of security on the BBS. In the early eighties, only a few of us were demanding verifiable user information before issuing passwords. Most BBS', including the library, ran wide open in those days. The attitude of the supervising librarian was that 'it had to be open to all users since it (the library) was a public, tax-supported institution.' Needless to say, the message base was a mess much of the time and apparently the software got that way also. It made better sense to spend my energy on my own board instead, although I still do volunteer work for the Chicago Public Library, as I have since 1981. Now I produce programs for the visually handicapped in the library's Radio Information Service which are broadcast over closed-circuit SCA (Subscriber Carrier Access) radios throughout northern Illinois. If you are interested, our signal travels with WBEZ, the Chicago Board of Education radio station. PAT]
JAJZ801@calstate.bitnet (09/23/90)
I wonder how some of the apologists for the shenanigans being
passed off as inside humor would react if the Postal Service did the
following to their mail:
- randomly opened it and made copies to pass around the
office and to other parties
- intentionally routed it to the wrong party occasionally
I don't see any difference between these and the activities of the
insiders, other than the media and the employer, and that doesn't
change the ethics of the situation.
Jeff Sicherman
jajz801@calstate.bitnet
barrey@ka (Barrey Jewall) (09/25/90)
In article <12449@accuvax.nwu.edu> JAJZ801@calstate.bitnet writes: > I wonder how some of the apologists for the shenanigans being >passed off as inside humor would react if the Postal Service did the >following to their mail: > - randomly opened it and made copies to pass around the > office and to other parties > - intentionally routed it to the wrong party occasionally > I don't see any difference between these and the activities of the >insiders, other than the media and the employer, and that doesn't >change the ethics of the situation. What you apparently don't recognize, is that this DOES occur within the hallowed halls of the US Post Office (I refuse to call it a Postal Service!) Carriers have time and again been caught with BAGS of opened and unopened mail, usually when another carrier drops by to check on a carrier who hasn't called in sick, but didn't show up either... Carriers have also been known to destroy mail, rather than bother delivering it. Anyway, the telco folk who did this, as are the mail carriers, are merely a small subset of the hardworking main force. If they all went home tomorrow, what would happen??? + Barrey Jewall ++ "My opinions are my opinions" + + barrey@novell.com ++ (rather self-evident, eh?) + + Novell, Inc.- San Jose, Calif.++ +
JAJZ801@calstate.bitnet (09/28/90)
In a reply to my reply to ... (by barrey@novell.com) >> I wonder how some of the apologists for the shenanigans being >>passed off as inside humor would react if the Postal Service did the >>following to their mail: >> - randomly opened it and made copies to pass around the >> office and to other parties >> - intentionally routed it to the wrong party occasionally >> I don't see any difference between these and the activities of the >>insiders, other than the media and the employer, and that doesn't >>change the ethics of the situation. >What you apparently don't recognize, is that this DOES occur within >the hallowed halls of the US Post Office (I refuse to call it a Postal >Service!) What's your point ? That there are (almost) always bad apples in any organization? Of course. My response was directed at apologists for the behavior that said "lighten up", not a condemnation of the organizations. You're not suggesting we should accept or tolerate it because it happens else/every-where, are you ? Jeff Sicherman jajz801@calstate.bitnet
levin@bbn.com (Joel B. Levin) (09/28/90)
From: Bob Yasi <mtxinu!algol.la.locus.com!yazz@ucbvax.berkeley.edu> >Perhaps the perpetrators have not yet experienced much grief at the >death of a loved one, or have not comforted a loved one going through >such grief themselves. Well, I hope you do, and soon, and that >someone does something awful to make it worse and that you think of >this when it happens. This sounds like an incredibly cruel joke to play, if it happened that way, but I find it hard to believe. I think the perpetrators must have cross connected so that the butcher's customers were connected to the funeral home, not the other way around. The horror is now merely bad taste. I am amazed that everyone who has posted so far assumed that the bereaved must have been connected to a butcher's shop. JBL [Moderator's Note: I don't think it was a butcher shop; I think he said it was a beef (or other meat) processing plant. In any event, this thread has gone way past its normal life expectancy, as has the thread on ATM operations and the handling of PINS. Maybe we can close it out in the next couple issues, please. PAT]