78 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
78 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
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',',' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ',','
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' ' Toll-Free Hotlines Aren't Always What They Seem ' '
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, , , ,
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' ' Information compiled by The Cruiser ' '
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, , 12/30/86 , ,
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,',', , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,',', ,
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' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
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Here's an interesting newspaper article found in the Cleveland Plain Dealer,
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on December 27,1986:
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AT&T pulls plug on profane tape masquerading as puzzle solution
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DAYTON (AP) - A teen-ager who called a toll-free hot line to get helpful clues
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for solving the Rubik's Magic Puzzle was instead greeted with an obscene message
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and told to go to the store and buy a book to help her solve it.
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"She just stood there in shock," Kathy Price of Dayton said of her 14-year-
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old niece, who tried the number Christmas Day. "She handed me the phone. She
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said, `This man is cussing.'"
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Price dialed the number and got the same message.
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American Telephone & Telegraph Co., which sold the toll-free service for
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the game, disconnected the number yesterday after AT&T officials dialed it and
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got the same message that Price reported.
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According to the game's directions, the toll-free hot line offered helpful
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clues for solving the Rubik's Magic Puzzle. Instead, it said:
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"Hello, thanks for calling Rubik's Magic Hot Line. I'm sorry, but I don't
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feel like giving out any clues at the present time. Besides, any one of the
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people that call these lines is just a stupid [expletive] without the brains to
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solve it themselves. If you really want a big hint, go to the store and buy
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one of the books on solving the puzzle. Hell, I get a commission on each one I
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push. Well, thanks for calling Rubik's Magic Hot Line. Have a nice day."
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Yesterday, Price called the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and Ohio
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Bell Telephone Co. Both told her there was nothing they could do, [Good 'ol
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quality Bell service! --Ed.] Price said.
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Then she called the Dayton Daily News and Journal Herald, which called
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AT&T, which moved swiftly to disconnect it. The number was registered to
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Matchbox Toys.
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"We're assuming that Matchbox Toys would not want that message given out,"
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said an AT&T spokesman in Columbus. "Until we can let them know that it is
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there, we'll just make sure nobody else can get through on the line."
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Matchbox Toys was unaware of the problem, a spokesman said. He suggested
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a mischievous computer operator somewhere might have gained access to the
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message and altered it.
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"Probably some hacker by luck or by chance punched the right code," said
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Bob Bernhard, senior director of marketing for Matchbox. He said his firm
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simply followed AT&T's directions for setting up the toll-free line.
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The puzzle was devised as an offshoot of the best-selling Rubik's Cube,
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first sold during the early 1980s. The new game involves twisting a puzzle
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into the proper configuration so it reveals three ovals.
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________________________________________________________________________________
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Well, that's it. Hoped you liked it. Oh, and I wonder who that hacker
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was?
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/-----------\
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--The Cruiser |This was an|
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12/30/86 |Octothorpe |
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|Production.|
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\-----------/
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