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Lifestyle

Digit dilemma

Rating: NNNNN


sit in a busy office, and everyfew minutes you’ll hear someone shout out, “Fuck!” before slamming the phone down.They’ve just heard the most hated woman in Toronto right now reminding them that “the call you’re making is a local 10-digit call.”

Luddites are howling, but this is the price you pay for convenience. You can be as mobile as you want, but it will cost you three extra digits.

Even worse, there’s apparently nothing we can do to about it. The technology is available to make phones where the ring is a Backstreet Boys song, and you can place a call from three-quarters of the way up Everest.

Creating a shortcut so that we don’t have to dial 416 to call across the street, however, is apparently inconceivable.

I have no idea what the * and # buttons at the bottom of my phone do. Couldn’t they be programmed to cover the local area codes?

Maybe, but would hitting one extra button really be all that much better than having to punch in all three? More importantly, do I really need to have three different phone numbers where people can get in touch with me? Not really.

It’s a bit late for that, though. As for the extra work, my brain should be easier to rewire than my phone. I’ll probably be happier when the annoying recording stops on March 7.

In the meantime, here’s how dialling in other big cities around the globe stacks up. We’re not so bad off after all.

toronto: 10 digits

london: 11 digits

belfast: 12 digits

moscow: 11 digits

beijing: 10 digits

addis ababa: 10 digits

havana: 9 digits

new delhi: 7 digits

Tip of the week

Go to www.google.com. Enter dumb motherfucker and hit the I’m Feeling Lucky button. Start laughing. mattg@nowtoronto.comstereo-link 1200

$400


www.stereo-link.com

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A blatant ad, but a brilliant one. HP sent 100 digital cameras to people around the world, told them to shoot what they saw and then posted the results here.

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MGwww.hp.com/100cameras

The great thing about Internet radio is the range of choice that’s

available. The bad thing about Internet radio is that you have to listen to it through your computer. Stereo-link’s nifty gadget acts as a tie between your hard drive, your modem and your stereo, with 50 feet of cables

allowing you to keep your machine in your office and still enjoy the

eclectic programming you can only get online.

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