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- 05 / 07 / 2025 -
Today is the deadline for Real ID, defining what a Real ID actually is, what brought this about, the need for undocumented immigrants to be able to drive legally, how a passport from any country will serve as Real ID, how getting a passport is easier and less intrusive than going through the procedure to get a Real ID, the incredible threat to privacy that Real ID poses, quoting from a piece by NYCLU in 2007, a massive federal database is being created out of this, comparing bar codes on Real IDs and licenses, the massive overreach that Real ID introduces, correcting info on how much Real ID costs in New York, what an Enhanced ID is, the idea of trusting federal authorities with this much data in light of the many abuses that have taken place in the past few weeks, the danger of security breaches into private data such as Real ID, listener mail, another look at the Nest developments, potential alternatives to deal with the Nest mess, Netflix is planning on deleting an interactive episode of "Black Mirror" called "Bandersnatch," how piracy may be the only way to save this, the increasing number of examples where piracy is the only answer, the need to preserve history and art, the final days of Skype, a special piece dedicated to the memory of Skype.
Overtime: The hum has been dealt with, trouble with the WBAI stream, Emmanuel's battle with Alexa, examples of personal assistants injecting themselves into conversations, discovering that the hum is still there, problems with various phone companies, asking Rebel to talk louder, discussion on Enhanced ID and Real ID, memories of "Computer Chronicles," figuring out who can and can't hear the hum, Kyle gives Emmanuel instructions on what he can touch on the board, a question about 950 numbers, memories of carrier access codes, continuing to troubleshoot on the air, the 9901 feature that used to be common in the New York metropolitan area, what MCI and Sprint originally stood for, more talk of Enhanced ID, questioning whether people have a constitutional right to travel, clarification on where U.S. licenses can be used for driving, caller advice on what could be causing the hum, a call from a Western Electric 2500, diagnosing a caller's touch tones, where to get old technology for cheap, Emmanuel finds out about the .rocks top level domain, Alex shares some .rocks domains that were registered yesterday, some updated info on the HOPE conference, the difficulty involved in promoting HOPE, the need for more tickets to be sold, the need for people to do things that make HOPE work, the subject of ports won't die, a call from Zap in London, the U.K. doesn't have identity cards, Kyle remembers an ID check in Germany, Emmanuel's ticket inspector incident on a German subway, Emmanuel's talk at King's College in London years ago, memories of Emmanuel abseiling out a pub window in order to make a flight, thoughts on the new location for the HOPE conference, what's advantageous about having the conference in mid-August, Emmanuel's feelings about Google's over-advertising on YouTube, Kyle explains the challenges of the board, a Skype ring.
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May 7
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Off The Hook Overtime
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Off The Hook Overtime is also available on the Channel2600 YouTube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vwe98DqW_c
- 05 / 14 / 2025 -
This was supposed to be the week for phone calls but it has been postponed one more week, Chromebooks are being set on fire by kids as part of a TikTok challenge, how all of this is being blamed on a single kid, the trend of dangerous activities being promoted through social media, Alex's view on this as a parent, Gila explains what Ding Dong Ditch is, how the initial optimism for social media has been replaced with wariness, the charter airline Global X experiences a "cybersecurity incident," how this airline is used by ICE for deportations, why getting info on these operations is a good thing, debating whether or not releasing this info would be a positive thing, the need for more than civil disobedience at this point, a letter from an old friend of the show, thoughts on self-driving cars, a warning about Tesla, the issue of control when driving, cars that make it almost impossible for a driver to tune the radio without becoming completely distracted, next week will be the WBAI call-in.
Overtime: Alex is late and arrives with a beer, tracking down a loop back, Rob tracks down the culprit, Kyle has managed to fix the hum, questions about the OMNY card, what Emmanuel doesn't like about the OMNY card, where the HOPE conference stands, why this year is a test, how Kyle and Emmanuel are using the OMNY card, why people shouldn't use their phones or credit cards to directly pay for fares, theorizing on when the Metrocard will be phased out, why Gila stopped using the OMNY card, an update on the 2600 Voice BBS project, a question about carrier access codes, Gila has an issue with Rebel, how to turn off geolocation, why that may soon not be enough to keep your location private, there won't be an "Overtime" next week due to the call-in show on WBAI, thoughts on digital TV, how to find people who are still using analog TV, other hacker conferences, the end of Shmoocon, Kyle slams the phone receiver down, how every hacker conference is unique, a promotion for a dance parade and an invitation for WBAI to participate, other ways to support the station, people can still submit talk ideas for the HOPE conference.
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May 14
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Off The Hook Overtime
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128k mp3
Off The Hook Overtime is also available on the Channel2600 YouTube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60uo4EKMzRs
- 05 / 21 / 2025 -
Kyle is behind the scenes and worked a miracle to get the show on the air, Alex is in Barcelona, getting Alex to explain what the phrase "habeas corpus" means, the secretary of Homeland Security doesn't appear to agree with the definition, this show will be taking phone calls on the radio, a slight hum, Rebel is first once again, problems with the phone, how people can support WBAI, the passing of John Young from Cryptome, tracking the location of toll-free numbers, Rebel is caught playing a trick on the show, more on habeas corpus, some facts about musical notes, a call from Norway, listener mail, an extended discussion on TikTok, a call from a Neo-Luddite, the Norwegian connection, how to confuse the system by giving out bad data, getting a new landline these days, the quality of today's phone calls compared to those of the past, the next call-in show will be in a month.
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May 21
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- 05 / 28 / 2025 -
An incident in Manhattan involving someone being held captive over a Bitcoin password, the "Bitcoin King of Kentucky," Emmanuel's unfamiliarity with the section of Manhattan known as Nolita, a debate over the significance of cryptocurrency in today's world, whether there's a difference between actual currency and cryptocurrency, the extra technological knowledge needed to protect cryptocurrency, how it's possible to see transactions on other people's wallets, Trump's insane cryptocurrency gala, whether such things are good for the industry or for anyone, how people who use Signal often become unreachable if they decide to use another messaging app, theorizing on ways to fix this, visas to the United States are canceled due to social media comments, wondering why people feel compelled to give out their social media accounts to the authorities, Alex describes how people without any social media presence can raise suspicion, how everyone seems to assume you're on Facebook, Kyle's advice on how best to use social media, Marjorie Taylor Greene gets into a spat with Grok.
Overtime: Rebel reports on the phone line hum, whether double call forwarding is possible, what LATAs were, Emmanuel remembers his first encounter with computers in high school, an inaudible touch tone test, testing people's abilities in decoding touch tones, how to flash the switch hook to dial numbers, remembering rotary dial phone locks, the story of an engineer in Vermont who started his own payphone company, Kyle is pushing for a phone booth emoji, how to get new emojis approved, what the Unicode Consortium is, Rob explains what "toning the conference" was, memories of playing TV theme songs using touch tones, Emmanuel calls in and tries to play music with touch tones, Rebel uses next week's phone call, what the CNA bureau was all about, memories of the Coles directories, all of the clocks at train stations in Russia are on Moscow time, another caller's views on Rebel, a caller's recommendation of the "Radiolab" program, the impact of early cassette tapes, a recommendation for the "On The Media" radio show, memories of the shortwave station that "Off The Hook" used to be simulcast on, the current state of shortwave, an SDR project out of the Netherlands that allows a radio to be tuned remotely, how their website works perfectly, memories of really old radios, a listener's experience listening to Jean Shepherd as a child, "The Golden Age of Radio" on WBAI, tracking down airchecks of Jean Shepherd as well as Bob and Ray, problems with the stream at WBAI, the link to the online SDR shortwave project, demonstrating what it sounds like, a possible woodpecker, tuning in to longwave, how to find interesting frequencies, the deadline for talk proposals at HOPE is Monday, the virtual attendance option, Alex plays audio from a physical scanner.
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May 28
16k mp3
128k mp3 (or download via bittorrent)
Off The Hook Overtime
16k mp3
128k mp3
Off The Hook Overtime is also available on the Channel2600 YouTube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09dRV6sf8Oo