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Portable Phone Numbers = Market for Cool Numbers
goombah99 writes "The New phone number rules that allow you to keep your phone number when you switch carriers has given rise to phone nascent number property rights. On E-bay you can bid on 867-5309 (made famous by Tommy Tutone's Jenny I got your number). As I write this the bid is over $8000 dollars with seven days to go. What other numbers are famous or valuable? Will we see a land rush like the internet names?"
Great, now I can prank call the winnning bidder...
...
...
Pick up the phone
I'm always home
Call me any time
Just ring
3624368
I lead a life of crime
All the worlds indeed a
I think the general "gee-whiz" factor of owning 867-5309 would wear off really quickly. I know I called this number in the past, how many other people did too? I think the guy that is selling this is making a nice penny on his past headaches.
Mike
My cell phone number is (XXX) U-OWE-HIM.
I won't give out the area code of course. But it is the area code for a major city.
Should I sell it? Seems like a quick way to get the extra cash.
Whatcha think slashdotians?
If it actually works, this is a brilliant idea, and it's certainly harder to squat on phone numbers than domain names.
No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow. - Cmdr. Susan Ivanova
Who wants to buy 3-14-159-265?
Unpretentious Sydney reviews by unqualified Sydney reviewers
Who's trying to sell my phone number...again?
The Yasashii Syndicate ||
Well this would be a pretty silly number to try to get for yourself...but I remember growing up seeing their commercials on TV, where you've got the moustached older gentleman and then the women singing at the end "five eight eight, two three hundred, Empire!"
Which spells BUT-FUCK. Please, don't ask me why I know this.
Of course, all that superstition I don't go for. Can anyone sell me 420-4242? ;)
666-6666. My guess, however, is that Microsoft just won't give it up!
Too bad phone's number displays don't use the calculator font, as you could create some cool words by turning the phone-numbers upside down just like with calculators. Ah well, 31337-speak is here to save the day.
Sweet! Now I can finally get 976-GIRL!
(This would probably be funnier if you knew me personally. Ever since the 9x days, in the network naming box on my computers, I have always put "For a good time, dial 976-GIRL." It was even more ammusing with the advent of XP Home, and it's method of listing computers on the network by their description instead of their name.)
If Murphy's Law can go wrong, it will.
Or in vocals, "just ring, three six two four, three six oh, I lead a life of crime."
"BSD: Free as in speech. Linux: Free as in beer. Windows 10: Free as in herpes." --Man On Pink Corner in #52607549.
You'll have to be a *real* nerd to actually buy a "famous" phone number!
/. there for a while ;)
ohh... wait... forgot I was on
No, i don't like sigs...
In China this has been around for years. Chinese numerology gives great value to number 8. See for instance "A special phone number, 88888888, was auctioned Monday in this capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, for 2.33 million yuan (about 280,723 US dollars)." In Hong Kong there's a premium on lucky phone numbers and you can buy and sell them, the mobile phone companies usually have a board outside with lists of auspicious numbers available.
How much is 36-24-36 going to cost?
Here's the Clicky
It is odd how people have become acclimated to the belief that they own their phone number. Back in the day (in the 80s) I had lost a phone number when a local business wanted it. The phone company explained clearly in their legal text (which was in the phone book) that you don't own the number, and can lose it at any time.
Do phone numbers really matter all that much? I used to know all my friends' phone numbers by memory. Now, speed dial makes it worthless.
If someone changes their number, they e-mail me, I save it to my contacts list, and when I sync my phone the new phone number is there. I don't think I call more than 1 person a day from my phone without using the contact list. I use over 3000 minutes a month from my cell phone, so that's around 9-10 people a day I call without knowing their number.
For a business, having a cool number that spells something or references the business in a memorable way makes sense only when you need to get people to call you after seeing an advertisement. Once you regularly call someone, you probably won't recall that number, even if its something great like 4-DADA-21.
I know I don't own my phone number. I also know I'll be paying more on my cell phone bill so that others can keep their numbers. I've switched cell phone numbers probably 4 times in 8 years, and never really lost contact with anyone.
If people matter to me, they know more than my phone number. They have my e-mail address, they have my home address, they can contact me through other friends. If I lost my number today, I'd be hampered for maybe 2 days and then it would be business as usual.
I'd rather not pay for this feature so others can "protect their private property."
1) buy 555- exchange numbers
2) sell 555- exchange numbers
3) PROFIT !!!
555-FAKE (3253)
30% Troll, 50% Underrated, 10% Interesting
Score:5, Troll
I always liked to see if my phone number actually spells anything out, that would be worth more to me than "867 5309".
You know my father seems to think we will all have permenant phone numbers that will be used for data, voice and maybe even purchases.
Sort of a SSN with credit card mixed in.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Why use eBay? Just call the guy.
TK
362-3333,
362-3333,
362-3333,
for Pizza Hut delivery!
So around here, if you were to suddenly become the owner of 362-3333, you could probably open up a phonesex line. Or a Papa John's...
Thus the fate of all high-profile ebay auctions. Ruined by losers.
Here in Norway we got number portability a couple of years back. For a couple of weeks the newspapers were filled with stories of numbers going for outragous prizes. There were even specialized web sites where one could auction cell phone numbers. A couple of months later, everyone sobered and the market dried up. The whole thing was even sillier than the domain name market in the dot com era.
If this catches on as much as RealNames did, you'll all of a sudden need to be a millionaire to get a cellphone.
And then your cellphone will die.
We've had this for a long time in Norway, and yes, give it a year or two and this will all die. Hopefully, at least it did over here.
Not Buzzword 2.0 compliant. Please speak english.
I called the number and there was no Jenny there. - Just some guy calling me an asshole for calling him at 3am...
From excellent karma to terible karma with a single +5 funny post...
I want my slashdot account id as my phone number, of course! :)
Sig Nature
xxx-9333 (weed)
Because if not then every area code supports this number. 867-5309 for everybody! Using Vonage where you can change your area code to anything (for home usage) you could get 867-5309 with a Wyoming area code.
Sadly I still cannot have BR-549.
Get out your tin foil hats!
The government is going to make your phone number the publically acceptable, accessable replacement for your SSN. You will be assigned a number at birth, it will always be yours, you can get others, but this one is for life. There won't be any legal restrictions on using it as a ID like your SSN, the only protection you get is the do not call list.
Far fetched conspiracy theorys aside, anyone care to speculate on the possible pros and cons of such a scheme?
-- The morphemes of your disquisition are ascertainable, but they have eschewed an ambit of transpicuous exposition.
515-382-5968.
For those too lazy to find a phoneagram script, their number equates to 515-FUC-KYOU.
I searched Google but couldn't come up with any other real examples of 382-5968. I would imagine most telcos know about it and don't assign the number, I'm surprised someone managed to actually get it in Iowa.
I remember when 867-5309 first came out (or whatever the actual name of the song is). People who had that number were constantly harassed by young pranksters like myself calling and asking to speak to Jenny. According to the news, people who had that number were forced to change it due to the never-ending phone calls. Instant celebrity is not all its cracked up to be.
Here in RI in area code 401, a plumbing service owns
the number, and advertises it on the radio, and even
sings a bit of the jenny song.
I wonder if they had to dish out the $$ for it or
if they simply requested it from thier phone company.
Here are the lyrics,...
Jenny, Jenny who can I turn to
You give me something I can hold on to
I know you'll think I'm like the others before
Who saw your name and number on the wall
Jenny I've got your number
I need to make you mine
Jenny don't change your number
8 6 7-5 3 0 9 (8 6 7-5 3 0 9)
8 6 7-5 3 0 9 (8 6 7-5 3 0 9)
Jenny, Jenny you're the girl for me
You don't know me but you make me so happy
I tried to call you before
But I lost my nerve
I tried my imagination
But I was disturbed
Jenny I've got your number
I need to make you mine
Jenny don't change your number
8 6 7-5 3 0 9 (8 6 7-5 3 0 9)
8 6 7-5 3 0 9 (8 6 7-5 3 0 9)
I got it (I got it), I got it
I got your number on the wall
I got it (I got it), I got it
For a good time call
Jenny don't change your number
I need to make you mine
Jenny I've got your number
8 6 7-5 3 0 9 (8 6 7-5 3 0 9)
8 6 7-5 3 0 9 (8 6 7-5 3 0 9)
Solo
Jenny don't change your number
I need to make you mine
Jenny I call your number
8 6 7-5 3 0 9 (8 6 7-5 3 0 9)
8 6 7-5 3 0 9 (8 6 7-5 3 0 9)
Next two lines sung over
background refrain of "867-5309"
Jenny, Jenny who can I turn to
For the price of a dime
I can always turn to you
8 6 7-5 3 0 9 (8 6 7-5 3 0 9)
8 6 7-5 3 0 9 (8 6 7-5 3 0 9)
Fade out repeating "5309"
Lead Singer Tommy Heath actually grew up in Texas, Montana and spent some time in Japan.
He is though, a software engineer
Can a phone number be slashdotted? :) I think we're about to find out!
My company owns a block of 1000 phone numbers, and I've always wanted to get a number that spelled something either related to our department or an acronym which would be easy for clients to remember. But I can't find anything on the internet which helps you make words out of phone numbers. I would need to find a search engine or program that would accept an input like 345-555-6??? and spit out all the possible combinations that make words our of 4 digits, 7 digits, or 10 digits.
Has anyone run across a program or a website that could help?
From Mitch's standup:
If I got to pick my phone number, it would be 222-2222. That way when people ask me for my number, I could just say 'press two for a while'. I wouldn't answer the phone, 'hello,' I'd answer it 'stop!'
Lets say someone has the phone number 8005551212 and they're a Voicestream/T-Mobile customer. To email them a text message you'd email 8005551212@voicestream.net.
Since I presume phone numbers are allocated about the same way IP addresses are (in blocks), to make a phone number that was assigned to T-Mobile ring for Sprint, T-Mobile must forward the call somehow. Does this mean T-Mobile also forwards text messages?
That is, would 8005551212@messaging.sprintpcs.com work? Or would you still have to send to 8005551212@voicestream.net because it's T-Mobile's job to forward it?
Stewie: Hello operator? Hello? Oh god, that's right you have to punch in the numbers nowadays. Aah, I should know this ... oh yes, 867-5309, that's it. No wait that's not it, damn you Tommy Tutone! Only one thing to do! 111-1111. Lois? Damn. 111-1112. Lois? Damn. 111-1113. Damn!
zWhat would an EWOULDBLOCK block, if an EWOULDBLOCK could block would? -- me
I get lots of mail, and a lot of it wastes time- mine and yours.
So maybe call him instead ... How about
... and then go ahead and mod this post down anyways, but at least give it the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure CMD-TACO, or CMR-TACO might pay top dollar if you reserve it first.
267-8226
-or maybe-
237-8226
Alphabetize the digits before modding this post down
That would be a great story for Slashdot ... Slashot reader holds CmdrTaco's phone number hostage.
Let me guess:
1. Reserve Phone Number
2. Password to Slashdot Login stops working.
3. ???
4. Profit!
Would have to be 247-9999
one better than mcleodeight
555 numbers are already assignable. Check out the 555 master list for the numbers currently in use.
Specialty phone numbers have always been bought sold and traded. Back when the only toll-free area code was '800', and the available numbers in this area code were running out there were many sales of such numbers. The practice was considered somewhat illicit, which is what prompted the faster introduction of the '888', '877', and '866' area codes. The introduction of number portability simply increases the visibility and lowers the barriers to entry of this market. All in all, this is - economically speaking - a positive thing.
--Got Lists? | Top 95 Star Wars Line
Hmm. I would think that numbers that are all the same digit would be pretty nice. Depending on the active exchanges in a local, anything from all 2's to all 9's might be available. All 8's might not be legal, since '888' is one of the toll-free area codes.
I know in Austin that Pizza Hut has/had all 4's for a central delivery order number. And I think that in either Austin or San Antonio a taxi company has all 2's. For a business, this would be one of the easiest phone numbers for customers to remember.
If you ever got assigned a cool number on a land line, you would know these suck. Numerous cranks are bad enough, but you may have a history of multiple businesses who have used that line. You will quickly tire of constant phone calls AT ALL HOURS with people with bids for a chemical company or glass window replacement. You want that least coolest number you can find.
Don't ring 976-BAAA, that kinda love's a crime!
How will the actual transfer take place?
The transfer regs were put in place to allow one person to change their provider and keep their original number. AFAIK, they say nothing about selling your number to another person and then keeping the same provider (presumably with a new number).
What if the phone company has a waiting list for a particular number (or has their own bidding process)? The winner of the eBay auction could find themselves in line behind 17 other people, even after paying thousands of dollars for Jenny's number.
Chip H.
I'm in the market for a cell phone right now. I had planned on getting a specific number that meant something to me. Untill recently (of course) this number has been left unused in AT&T Wirless' pool. Now just as I go to get a phone someone was assigned this number. If I could reach a [montetary] agreement with the current user of the number is it possible to get it transfered? How does one go about this? If it matters I was even planning on getting service through AT&T Wireless. I've asked people that work in various AT&T Wireless retail stores but all I ever get back is blank stares.
CPL 5938 (from Remake-Remodel by Roxy Music)
RS
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
On slow news days, /. has become a reposting ground for stuff seen two-three days ago on good blogs like boingboing.net.
Predictions for Slashdot headlines for Tuesday, Feb 17:
(Fark via boingboing.net)
(NYT via boingboing.net)
(via boingboing.net)
The sad thing is MagiKist got rid of their red lips (carpet cleaners), much k00l4r than the Stones.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if many (most?) of those bids aren't serious at all. Especially those from the users with little feedback.
However, thanks to Tommy Tutone, unlike the world's largest cheeto, this number does actually have some value to a business and it obviously isn't going to expire after a few days. So he may very well get $8k for it. But now that it's on /., people will probably drive the bidding way higher, but not intend to pay.
I also predict a large slew of other xxx-867-5309 numbers showing up on Ebay in a short period of time.
If you need some good loving Call on me
And if you need some good hugging Call on me baby
I'll be right here at home
All you gotta do is pick up the telephone and dial now
Six three four five seven eight nine
That's my number
Six three four five seven eight nine
There was a Cingular commercial recently that had a girl dancing around to that song being so happy that she could keep her 867-5309 number.
Switch to T-Mobile. When other companies started charging fees (Breakdown by company), T-Mobile refrained. Not only did they not raise my rate, they actually gave a good number of their longer-term clients bonus minutes to help encourage them to stay with the company. Yeah T-Mobile.
--
RumorsDaily
Here in the Netherlands, you can always call the local police station by dailing 0900-8844, which spells 0900-TUIG.
Tuig means scum in dutch.
Beechwood-45789 (234-5789).
Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
For those of us who are too lazy to figure it out, here's a site that tells you what a phone number spells.
I remember reading in Wired that Steve Wozniak got the number 888-888-8888 when the 800 numbers switched over to 888.
He found the number unusable because he got tons of wrong numbers from small children -- who seemed to have a habit of pressing the 8 key repeatedly...
911 !
Now he's getting a tattoo He's gettin' ink done He asked for a '13', but they drew a '31' Friends say he's trying too hard And he's not quite hip But in his own mind He's he's the dopest trip Give it to me baby uh hu, uh hu Give it to me baby uh hu, uh hu uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco, cinco, seis
Additional plugins are required to display all the media on this page.
the "xxx" was 420, then it would be the perfect endo-phone number.
pi = 3.141592653589793helpimtrappedinauniversefactory7
Mod the parent up!
634-5789 was recorded by Wilson Pickett, Bon Jovi, Trace Adkins, and is on the original Blues Brothers soundtrack. I am old enough that I have no clue as to what Jenny's number is, but I always remember 634-5789. It was written by Steve Cropper, guitarist for Booker T. and the MGs, and Eddie Floyd, another Stax/Volt artist ("Knock on Wood").
In the toll fres space, there has been intense competition for memorable/easily spelled numbers. 1-800-flowers is one example. The misspelled domain squater issue is also present as competitors to 1-800-flowers bought numbers with one digit different to ride on the free advertising of the base number.
When I was young, I had to rub sticks together to compute.
According to Snopes, it's really annoying to have that number. I feel for the guy "lucky" enough to win the bid for that one.
It's realy not that hard to do. Step A get a cell on the same carrier and account, swap numbers change billing info your done. I have done this with Nextel to keep my number when moving off a corp account to a personal one. The Corp did end up with a new number but it wasent on contract (that stayed with the phone) so they were free to cancel it. It's generaly realy easy to swap numbers on phone on the same account as well as move a single phone to another account with it's number. Course this may just be Nextel they are used to deeling with business more than personal it seems at least to me.
No sir I dont like it.
It would be even better in one of those countries where phone numbers are eight digits ... 462873-29
Hint: this number is probably wide open!
What other numbers are famous or valuable?
911
It is pretty famous.
However, you clearly don't understand the primary motivation for number portability. People don't want number portability so they can hang onto cool numbers. They want it so they can keep their numbers.
Many professionals, myself included, use their cell phones for business purposes. My cell is the number printed on my business cards. Those cards may linger in a client's Rolodex for months, or even years, before he needs my services. When he pulls it out, I'd like the information to remain current.
Business cards aren't much help if they don't have some permanence. I rarely expect a call or email within 24 hours of handing someone my card, but I often get a response within a few weeks. If I can't rely on my phone number or email address to remain constant, those cards (a vital tool) become less useful.
My number isn't cool, and it isn't memorable. But it's mine. And with this new law, I can dump AT&T's deteriorating service for Verizon without rendering hundreds of business cards obsolete (to say nothing of the thousand remaining cards on my shelf). In two years, if Verizon has become disappointing and AT&T is back on track, I can switch back. And I can do all this without bothering my clients with inane emails. ("Here's my new number. Please update.")
crib
Please don't read my journal
It had to be said...
yes, Area Code hidden, my cell phone is:
xxx-MICROCARS
This also seems to weed out people who I don't want calling me. I will occassionally hear back:
"I couldn't figure out how to dial it, there were too many letters, its more than Seven Letters...whine complain.....
However- I have found recently that people trying to dial this from some cellular services can't make it work as the cell service doesn't drop off the last 2 digits.
*sigh*
I like microcars
Words for numbers would be great if everybody would use the same type of keypad. This however is not the case (http://www.dialabc.com/motion/keypads.html)
Net sa best, mar it koe minder
Nobody has mentioned the Star Wars phone number!
326-3827 (or even 849-1138, which is less accurate and obsure)
Geez.
Without you I'm one step closer to happiness without violence.
That's my number...
What Would the Fab Five Do?
555-shoe (al bundy)
Remember your early readers? A is for Apple?
what if someone DID pay $8000 for this number and then promptly forwarded ALL incoming calls to some off-shore $49 per minute phone service?
1: obtain 867-5309 # at all costs
2: forward to very expensive 900 service line
3: $$ Profit! $$
I like microcars
Portable Phone Numbers = Market for Cool Numbers
Shouldn't that be a "=="?
--
Adobe's anti-counterfeiting softw
1-900-867-5307.
Sure, I'll answer it all freakin' day long. For a modest charge of $24.95 per call.
spells WIPE-J-LO. No kidding. It's actually pretty creepy.
well my number is (***)528-1337 =).....but im not selling it heh
Up to almost $16,000 now.
-You may license this sig for only $6.99.
I know somebody with 328-7448.
The obvious left as an exercise for the reader.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I know a girl whose phone number actually spells (area code removed for privacy)-FUN-SLUT. I bet that would be pretty popular.
Caveat Emptor is not a business model.
I worked with a guy from a similar part of the world - he told me that 8 is a lucky number amongst Chinese people: it is good to have it in your phone number or car registration plate number.
Whereas the number 4 is considered unlucky as it has a similar sound to the word for 'death' -- hence Chinese people will never have the number four in their car license plate or phone number (if they have any choice in the matter).
(Apparently Chinese people also prefer cars that look like they have a happy face on the front - bumper/fender and headlights - but now I'm getting off topic)
I guess in China, no one wants 44444444 as their phone number?
. . . About six months ago I managed to get a 212 area code number through Vonage, the VoIP provider that Slashdot has covered several times. How did I do it? Persistence; I checked the Web site several tiimes a day until 212 appeared as an area code choice for changing your number to.
Non-New Yorkers likely will have a hard time understanding the importance of having a 212 number (though there's a Seinfeld episode that features the idea) over 646. I'm not even living in Nu Yawk right now, but it's nice to know the 212 number will be available for when I head back home.
Way cooler...
Wow, that's actually really interesting, I've never heard that radio ad (don't listen to much radio). Brown University used to own that number, I read an article 4 years ago in the student paper about some freshmen girls who were being harrassed at all hours by prank calls. Moreover, ALL Brown student numbers are of the form 401-867-xxxx (faculty numbers are 401-863-xxxx), as far as I know we own the prefix. I can only assume what must have happened is that Brown took the number out of service because of the harrassing calls, and either gave it back to the phone company or sold it to the plumbers.
"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than that of whether a submarine can swim" -EWD
736-5000 = PEnnsylvania 6-5000 = Glenn Miller 1940's song about calling the Pennsylvaina hotel near Penn Station in NYC. The hotel number is still the same!
Mac Refugee, Paper MCSE, Linux Wanna-be
Gawd, I'm such a geek :)
Brak: What's THAT?
Thundercleese: A light switch.. of TOTAL DEVASTATION!
Owning the number would be more useful for a small-medium business. There is a service company in my area that has xxx-867-5309 and they can put it in their commercials knowing that people will remember it. For a business this is a very valuable thing.
Ya know, this number's gonna be phone-bombed like mad, and for $14,000 (current bid as of this posting)? I can only think of ONE BUSINESS that would want this many calls...
Phone-sex hotline.
"That's right, for a good time, you can FINALLY call Jenny at 867-5309!"
SLI0NUX!
I am going to call the number a few days after the auction is over and ask whomever answers WHY???? At this rate the person will be paying the equivalent of a year's salary for an entry level support person. I suggest that everyone call once and say hi. It isn't a prank if you actually intend to have a semi-intelligent converstation...
"What we do in life echoes in eternity." Maximus Decimus Meridius
...Like (256) 512-1024?
Give phonespell your number and it will give you all the word combinations in your number.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
"It's interesting, the sociology of these numbers," said NeuStar's Bill Stern. "To many people, the numbers say something about you - they carry a certain status."
Kind of like the millions of numbers people got tattooed on their forearms 60 years ago. Those said something about you and carried a certain status, too.
Really, this whole "cool phone number" thing is about as inane as American Idol.
Assholes.
s'wut i sed.
555-SHOE (as made famous by Al Bundy)
Woefdram, l'apprenti sorcier
I worked in cellular for 8+ years (even gave out an 867-5309, att wireless) and probably one of the more sought after is anything like xxx-HOME for real estate. They LIVE on there phones.
http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/8675309.htm
clickey
.sig
Claim: The Tommy Tutone song "Jenny (867-5309)" drove the phone companies (and their customers) nuts.
Status: True.
Origins: The
1980s produced a number of one-hit wonders, including the infamous Tommy Tutone and its 1982 hit song "Jenny (867-5309)." This San Francisco band led by Tommy Heath and Jim Keller doesn't appear to have made much of a mark on the music world, and it likely wouldn't now be remembered were it not for the furor raised by its use of a phone number in its one memorable song.
In "Jenny," a young man laments not having the courage to dial a number found scribbled on a wall but finds some comfort in the notion that he can someday call this girl and sweep her off her feet. Though not explicitly stated in the lyrics, it's strongly implied the name and number were harvested from a bathroom wall, which also implies "Jenny" is a gal of easy virtue and is to be had for the price of a phone call.
"Jenny (867-5309)" caused nothing but grief for telephone customers unlucky enough to have that combination of numbers as their own. Its relentless chorus, "Jenny don't change your number - eight six seven five three oh nah-eeh-ah-ine," pounded the phone number into the minds of teenagers everywhere, resulting in waves of kids dialing it and asking for Jenny. The joke quickly became old for those who had the number and weren't interested in talking to horny teens.
Even as recently as 1999, phone customers unlucky enough to have been assigned an 867-5309 number were still getting plenty of crank calls. An article from Brown University's newspaper explained what happened when the school added an 867 exchange in the fall of 1999:
The biggest complaints about the new phone exchange come from Nina Clemente '03 and Jahanaz Mirza '03, the two students with the telephone number 867-5309.
"It's so annoying," Nina said. "It's the worst number to have in the world."
The girls receive an average of five "stupid" messages every day on their machine, in addition to a slew of hang-ups.
"It's as if they are really expecting Jenny to pick up the phone," Clemente said.
Unfortunately, the problem is not getting better, and people just keep calling. Some ask for Jenny, some play the Tommy Tutone song on the girls' answering machine, and some males even leave their phone numbers in hopes of finding a date.
Whether there was a real Jenny with that very phone number is debatable. Those who attempt to dial 867-5309 on a touch-tone phone will quickly discover that this seemingly random combination of seven digits forms a consistent pattern as tapped out on the pad. The upward diagonal of "8-6" is followed by "7-5-3," the upward diagonal to the left of it, which in turn is followed by "0-9," yet another upward diagonal, this one to the right of the original starting sequence.
The song gave rise to its own lore, which asserted that the "Jenny" in the song was the lead singer's real-life girlfriend (or ex-girlfriend):
[Collected on the Internet, 2000]
I heard a more elaborate story that the number actually belonged to one of the band member's ex-girlfriends (named Jenny, of course) and that he wrote the song to get back at her for dumping him. She supposedly got a restraining order taken out against him and won a court order to have the song pulled from the airwaves for a while, etc. etc.
Other explanations leave off her suing the songwriter but have her becoming angry with him and changing her number (which, ironically, is the one thing the song begged her not to do). In another flavor of the tale, the band is sued by a sheriff who had both a daughter named Jenny and the notorious 867-5309 as his home number.
"Jenny" has had a breath of new life breathed into it by the Goo Goo Dolls, a popular band who debuted in 1987 but only began to hit their stride in 1998. Though they've yet to record a cover of "Jenny," the Goo Goo Dolls have often included a rendition of it in club ap
Just wondering...
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
6060-842
(and I'm waitin' for you!)
Phone number for sale! Great recognition. 911. No reserve. Free call from payphones
Sir Mix-A-Lot's song Beepers has Skytel SkyPager's number in it: 1-800-759-7243. They bleep it out in the video, radio, and some later versions but it is there. And yes, I also know this isn't a portable cell phone number but it is famous. ;-)
Dream as if you'll live forever.
Live as if you'll die tomorrow.
~Anonymous~
especially considering little rock looks like hell, and has a park called "toad suck"
little rock was kinda scary, actually.
My personal cell number is 343 3200, assigned fairly randomly to me simply by having the saleswoman looking at available numbers when I signed up for service. I find it's one of the easiest numbers to remember, but the problem is when some ritzy doctor accidentally started giving it to patients. For a while, I had to deal with about 5 calls a day from geriatrics who insist that
Next person who calls me up looking for Dr. Jaime Rivera (or whatever his name is) is going to get a "No, he died in a tragic blimp accident." or "Oh, yes, Mr Johnson... You're calling about your test results? Yes, they came back positive, and you have one month to live."
867-5309 is I'm sure worse to deal with. I think I have a fairly good middle ground however.
"[T]he single essential element on which all discoveries will be dependent is human freedom." -- Barry Goldwater
A friend of mine from Qatar (on the Arabic peninsula) told me that it's a sign of social status to have a cell phone number with a lot of repeting digits. Those who have some of the most power get the phone numbers that consist of just one number (such as a personal guard to the king whose number consists only of '1's).
I think it's kind of silly; though, fads rarely make sense.
if(!toilet_paper) roll.replace(new roll);
Er, I should know this... oh yes. 8675 309, that's it. No, wait, that's not it. Damn you, Tommy Tutone!
Only one thing to do.. 111 1111... Lois? Damn! 111 1112... Lois? Damn! 111 1113...
Manipulate the moderator system! Mod someone as "overrated" today.
-Miko
I've found that my posts don't format quite right w/o a sig.
1. Write song with my cell phone number in it. 2. ????? 3. Profit!
I'll get THX-1138 and sell it to George Lucas...
When I lived in San Francisco, my cellphone had 415-987-PERL. I was king of the world. Fame, money, babes... they were all mine just because of that one phone number. Life was good.
However, I had a 2-year contract on the service and moved away from the bay area about 1 year short. So I tried to sell the rest of the contract on craigslist, basically "this phone number is yours if you ride out my contract". I got many responses, but all were idiots ("wait, you never said ther was a contract!" "what part of 'you can have this phone and number if you take over the remainder of my contract' don't you understand?")
So I reduced my service plan to the $12.95/mo plan (that includes a whole 2 minutes of airtime!), paid off the rest of the contract over the next year, and kept the phone in my desk.
My phone number at the time was an anagram of 867-5309. It was 537-0869. I only got prank calls from dyslexic people.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
6 days, 17 hours, and it's already up to 22.3k
Mom says my
Yeah, apparently he's been getting a few calls today... His mailbox is full and the message is a gruff "DUUU NUT CALL HERE!" in a woke-up/captured Saddam voice.
HAHAHA
I suppose not. Really, it's been many years since Karen Carpenter died. A whole new generation has grown up without her, so I suppose y'all can be forgiven for not knowing "BEachwood 4-5789"
:( I couldn't care less what I was doing the day that Elvis died, but I vividly recall how devastated I was at her death.
Some of us old fogeys still miss Karen's mellow voice.
Lemon curry?
I forgot another famous one, PEnnsylvania 6-5000, and that lead me to a web site with a whole bunch of referrences, here.
I hadn't thought about it, but yeah, "Telstar" should count, in some strange way. I recall this song, and the film, way back in grade school. Wheee!
Lemon curry?
1-800-SCO-UNIX
--<Mike>--
http://atlanta.about.com/cs/artsentertainment/a/go dsnumber.htm
Anybody seen the movie Bruce Almighty? In it, Jim Carrey gets repeatedly paged by God (with the number, not a 555 number for once, appearing on the screen). In the weeks following the release of the movie, people all over the nation got calls from Americans wanting to talk to God - including in Georgia, where callers got a church.
And if it could, what about Mother's Day?
FWIW, Mother's Day (which is common to North America and a significant portion of Europe) blows New Year's Eve/Day out of the water when it comes to phone calls, both local and long-distance.
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersO therItems&include=0&userid=tjneff72&sort=3&rows=25 &since=-1&rd=1
1888 Franklin St.
Will we see a land rush like the internet names?
Every sunday in the Times there are reg (license) plates going for ridiculous sums of money. I've seen some as high as 12000. It's crazy! I don't know how long they've been transferrable, but it gives you an idea of what people will do for a similar item.
- The grade school cafeteria. Too much fun to be had with that.
- An ex-girlfriend. Her family had fun and set up a cool answering machine greeting.
- A girlfriend of my ex-girlfriend. They just got pissed off.
- Last I heard, some elderly couple, who are undoubtedly quite puzzled by now if they still have the number.
I play guitar, and someday I would really like to cover this song in my band as an inside joke. It would be especially cool if the ex-girlfriend just happened to be in the audience.Somebody call 405-867-5309 and see who has the number now.
Washington, DC: It's like Hollywood for ugly people.
As of 10:48 PM PST 2.15.2004, the current bid is now $41,100. By the way the Reserve has been met.
When I got my phone number, Pi was already taken.
So I asked for it backwards
Antiquis temporibus, nati tibi similes in rupibus ventosissimis exponebantur ad necem.
I was checking numbers and I found out that my dad's work number spells 5-to-a-toy, which is kinda weird considering that he's an engineer...
warning: This post is likely to contain gobs of dripping sarcasm. Consume at your own risk.
C'mon, now, PEnnsylvania 6-5000 kicks them all in the butt! (A huge Glenn Miller hit from the 1940's for those that haven't had the enjoyment of listening to the great "retro" songs of the 20th century. Of all the "Big Bands", Miller's was the "biggest".)
Of course, if you happen to live on one of the few places where you can still dial with a subset of the digits, I suppose BR-549 might hold some appeal to some. (No explanation here, I think I'll let people Google that one. That sort of thing could seriously mind warp the rapper/anime crowd...)
"The future's good and the present is nothing to sneeze at." - Roblimo's last
ah come on. mod him up. he made me smile.
Free as in mason.
Can number portability really result in numbers being exchanged? I get a lot of wrong numbers for a particular person on my cell phone who has the same numbers as my cell, except hers is a land line and has the first two digits of the prefix reversed (450 vs. 540). I've thought about calling her and asking her if she had a cell phone and would she be interested in taking over my cell number so that such wrong numbers would still reach her.
The strangest thing though: I got a call from her home number on my cell once already. Either she had been tipped on the mistake by one of her friends or relatives or a calling card was being used on another line that would report her home number on Caller-ID.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
Certainly, no one expects business contacts to last forever. But I wonder: What kind of business do you run, where you expect to change cities every few years? Whatever it is, I daresay you're in the minority. Most business owners like to stake their ground and build a reputation, along with their customer base. In my experience, the best shops and services are those that have been around for 20+ years. That's certainly my aspiration for my own business.
Again, I think you're just a bit narrow-minded, and missing the point. No one said anything about having "only a cell phone" (local codes often require that a business maintain a landline), but I can think of a great many instances -- myself and my colleagues included -- where using a cell phone as your primary contact makes perfect business sense. Likewise, for many of us, hiring an answering service would be a foolish business decision. You obviously can't see that, which doesn't mean you're a bad person. It just illustrates the point that these decisions (number portability) are well left to those better-educated to make them.
crib
Please don't read my journal
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item =3078820058&category=1503
558-boob
As of this writing the bidding for this phone number is now $200,100.00! This is an absurd amount of money to pay what can obstensibly considered a vanity number, based on a song from a one-hit wonder band from the 80's. I doubt the seriousness of the bidding at this point, even though the seller is verifying that the bidders are for real.
your number's been disconnected
...
Not only has the auction been pulled by ebay, do yourself a favour and search for "867-5309" on ebay. See the astounding amount of losers (a) trying to cash in the same way and (b) trying to get you to look at their unrelated auctions.
One of the central parts of John Brunner's fabulous The Shockwave Rider was a help line that was 999-999-9999, or as it's known in the book, "the ten nines".
One hell of a prescient story - quite worth re-reading almost 30 years after it was originally published, having presaged all sorts of computing events.