Installing a payphone in my house (bert.org)

Article summary

The author recounts their experience of using a payphone to sign up for internet access as a teenager by generating a fake credit card number. They later installed a payphone in their house as a nostalgic novelty. The author had to figure out how to mount and connect the payphone to their landline. The payphone is now used by the author and their daughter to make calls to each other.

Main themes

• payphones
• credit card fraud
• 90s internet culture
• Matrix sequels
• technological nostalgia
• generational differences in attitudes towards technology and fraud

What commenters say

• Some commenters find it strange that the author is casual about committing credit card fraud as a teenager.
• Others think that the attitude towards fraud was different in the 90s and people were more naive about consequences.
• The probability of generating a valid credit card number by chance is considered to be low.
• The discussion touches on the topic of how credit card numbers are structured and how they can be validated.
• The ease of setting up an ISP in the 90s is mentioned as a factor that contributed to the casual attitude towards fraud.
• Some commenters disagree about the quality of the Matrix sequels and the motivations behind their creation.
• The idea that the Wachowskis intentionally made a bad Matrix sequel as a commentary on the franchise is proposed.
• The topic of kids doing mildly illegal things with technology is brought up as a recurring phenomenon across generations.