when they dial, they use the middle finger
At one point during my visit with the Badirs, I pull out my cell phone and make a call. Before it even connects, Shadde, who is sitting across the room, recites all 12 digits perfectly. Ramy smiles at the parlor trick. "It used to be disgusting to be blind," he says. "Today, you scare people. You possess skills that those with sight cannot possibly understand."
Three Blind Phreaks, via /.
originally posted by xowie
Comments
It's a cute anecdote, spoiled by the fact that it is clearly not true. Cell phones don't make DTMF tones when you dial them, and being blind won't help you decode sounds that don't exist.
Posted by: Jerry Kindall | February 1, 2004 3:33 AM
Most cellphones have a mode for DTMF dialing. I keep mine set that way, in fact. Other phones will play the tones if you hold down the key for more than an instant, as one might when dialing from the middle east. Still others make the tones if the keypad is used to dial a second call while the first is in progress.
Posted by: xowie | February 1, 2004 10:34 AM
I love this heart-warming story and sent it to my father who's partially sighted. Stories of the visually impaired getting up to no good always raise a smile.
Posted by: gwen | February 1, 2004 2:31 PM