Comments on: 9-1-1, that spells “Moon”

By: Philip B.

Philip B. — Sun, 18 May 2008 12:11:58 +0000

Wouldn’t it be easier just to get contact information from people like this, then mail them a nice $200 fine for wasting the operators time, and being a dumbass?

By: Tod

Tod — Sun, 18 May 2008 07:01:48 +0000

I spent my 40+ year career in the telephone biz – starting out working the local central office, then telephone installer….

I dated an information operator for a few months ages ago and she kept me in stitches with the stories she told…guys calling for the Giants score, ladies asking about which store had a sale going, you name it, people thought that calling “information” (411) actually meant that these operators were sitting alongside encyclopedias and newspapers!

I can’t recall when but eventually Ma Bell redesignated (but not repurposed) 411 as “directory assistance” rather than “information.”

By: Yoshi_3up

Yoshi_3up — Fri, 16 May 2008 22:47:33 +0000

Only in florida.

By: themadlolscientist

themadlolscientist — Fri, 16 May 2008 21:43:40 +0000

I thought it was 999. No, waitaminnit, that’s on the other side of the pond………..

By: Al

Al — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:43:59 +0000

As any Stonecutter knows, the real number is 912…

By: Ken B.

Ken B. — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:13:44 +0000

OsakaGuy:

Those crazy 911 calls always increase when there’s a full moon, as those crazy callers know.

See http://cectic.com/145.html

By: James

James — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:07:18 +0000

to Ronn Blankenship: now you end up with triple-post
Regarding false 911 calls, my kids were calling 911 and hang up. At least once each kid, probably to verify their knowledges. Every time police officers were coming promptly to verify the call. I think such kids calls is a big pain for the emergency, but what they or I can do. Yes, I explained that’s not good to interrupt police with such false calls and my kids didn’t call it again. Not sure if it because of my explanation or they were already satisfied with the police reaction on the first call

By: 74westy

74westy — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:15:32 +0000

Mark, I think the expression “Just thought I’d get in before the trolls do” is self refuting. Perhaps “not earlier than”

But of course if the phase of the moon is not astronomy, I don’t know what is. If the perp had asked a bad astronomer, “is that a half moon?” instead of a cop, he could have got a really cool answer like “Actually that’s a quarter moon although many people call it a half moon because half of the moon’s apparent disk is visible but if you picture the moon three dimensionally blah blah blah.”

Too bad the article doesn’t say when the incident occurred so we can’t verify his assertion he was seeing a “half [sic] moon” but when he appears in court on June 3, 2008, the moon will be not quite new.

By: Ronn Blankenship

Ronn Blankenship — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:07:19 +0000

Hmm . . .

Sorry about the double-post: when I pressed “Submit Comment” the first time I got some sort of error message about the message containing an illegal mix of Sweedish and UTF-8 (iirc: I can’t get the message to show up again to check), so I tried again . . .

By: Ronn Blankenship

Ronn Blankenship — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:02:56 +0000

Gordon wrote:

“What’s the number for 911 again?

’411′”

Apparently Gordon is a fan of the comic “The Dinette Set” and reads all of the little messages on the bulletin board, too . . .

By: Ronn Blankenship

Ronn Blankenship — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:01:59 +0000

Gordon wrote:

“What’s the number for 911 again?

‘411?

Apparently Gordon is a fan of the comic “The Dinette Set” and reads all of the little messages on the bulletin board, too . . .

By: Rodger

Rodger — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:59:09 +0000

I had a guy call on 911 once to report a moon halo. Neither he nor any family members with him had ever seen one before, and they were convinced it was the end of the world. I gave him a generic explanation of what was happening and then asked him even if it was the end of the world, what could the police to do about it?

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:20:03 +0000

That’s nothing. Sometimes here people call 911 to get another number, to report a guy watering his lawn or because a dog barks. Oh… And some of them call for an ambulance only because they’re too lazy to take a taxi to go to someplace close to the hospital.

By: John -- moonposter.ie

John -- moonposter.ie — Fri, 16 May 2008 08:49:28 +0000

Agree with Mark…the astronomy gets lost somewhere here. Phil sometimes loses the phlot!

John…www.moonposter.ie

By: Gordon

Gordon — Fri, 16 May 2008 05:39:33 +0000

“What’s the number for 911 again?

’411′

By: Levi

Levi — Fri, 16 May 2008 04:17:23 +0000

I hope it was at least too cloudy for them to see the moon…

By: Mark Hansen

Mark Hansen — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:36:27 +0000

I thought this was supposed to be an astronomy blog, not phone advice. Kindly stick to astronomy or I shall never visit again.

Just thought I’d get in before the trolls do!

By: ZacBentz

ZacBentz — Fri, 16 May 2008 00:03:04 +0000

The BA quotes King? That’s it. You cannot possibly be any more awesome. Please stop!

By: Kevin F.

Kevin F. — Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:36 +0000

go to teh intertoobs, type “google.com” in your address bar, and then “moon phase” into the little windowy thingy they give you.

Folks like this don’t HAVE internet.

By: Pat Cahalan

Pat Cahalan — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:58:20 +0000

> 9-1-1, that spells “Moon”

Laws, yes!

By: Geordi

Geordi — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:55:06 +0000

Off topic: Worf endorses Obama!
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/05/i-lieutenant-worf-endorse-bara.php

By: Hoonser

Hoonser — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:49:42 +0000

I suppose if you had a heart attack and dialed 911 and it turned out to be busy that would at least give you the resolve to live on to hunt down the idiots who tie up the lines with their moronic calls that don’t have any thing to do with real emergencies.

By: John

John — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:31:20 +0000

See, there’s the problem — you’re using large words and incomprehensible terms that are just going to confuse the people who need instruction the most.

Which terms? Well, “address bar”, “window”, and the concept of typing just “google.com” will confuse the bejeezus out of many people, especially those who need this instruction the most.

Let them dial 911. It’s more entertaining for the rest of us.

By: Chris B.

Chris B. — Thu, 15 May 2008 22:57:24 +0000

Wow, Greg E. Thanks for the unsolicited review on Stephen King’s collected works.

Yes, you’re much smarter and more sophisticated than most people.

By: justcorbly

justcorbly — Thu, 15 May 2008 22:35:35 +0000

>>He called “to say he knew where narcotics were being sold…”

No kidding.

Bogus 911 calls are a problem across the country. Good on those Flordia cops for charging this guy.