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I Want One, If Only To Boggle Onlookers
03-23-2010, 09:14 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-17-2018, 03:50 PM by Bob Schroeck.)
A cellphone that looks like an old-fashioned black rotary phone. And acts and sounds like one, too. Except for the, you know, not-wired-to-a-wall thing. (Actually, and even better, it's a real rotary phone that's been hacked into a cellphone.)
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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that would be wonderful..
http://www.thinkgeek.com/...tronics/cell-phone/8928/
also.
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies
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Brainworm
03-24-2010, 02:52 AM
Great, Bob. Now I can't stop thinking about just how I'd go about hacking this together....
Hm. Anyone know a good site that describes how rotary phones worked? I know they used simple relay-tick pulses, but there's timing issues involved. And I've always wondered just how they made sure that the dials on all the phones spun (during the return-to-start) at the same speed (or, rather, sloe enough -- the out POTS network doubtless had rather forgiving error handling).
Simplest quick-hack would seem to be an app (probably Android) that could listen to the clicks and dial. Error-prone, though. Getting a bit fancier, hacking a small micro that would look/feel like a bluetooh accessory to the smartphone, but had a direct electrical connection to the analog phone, would probably work better. Just have to get 'hold of the correct standards for making both interfaces.
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I'd cheat, personally.
There are quite a few 'faux-rotary' phones that have pushbuttons in a stylized rotary dial. Use those pushbuttons to subvert the keypad signals of a cellphone, and there ya go.
tons of room in the enclosure for stuff, too.
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
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http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies
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Heh. this is really cool. I think I'll mention it to my dad. He might get a chuckle out of it. 
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Y'know what I would do with one of these?
- Connect a cord to it, with a quick-release fastener
- Arrange to have somebody call me when annoying visitors who I can't turn away come by
- Complain to those visitors about how surreal my life has become lately (Optionally, if they'd get the reference, complain about how it sometimes seems like I'm stuck in The Village)
- When the phone rings, complain about being interrupted all the time, and pull the cord out of the phone
- Note the visitors' expressions as the phone keeps on ringing
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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Rob, you scare me sometimes, because I ought to think of twisted wonders like that first.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
robkelk Wrote:Y'know what I would do with one of these?
- Connect a cord to it, with a quick-release fastener
- Arrange to have somebody call me when annoying visitors who I can't turn away come by
- Complain to those visitors about how surreal my life has become lately (Optionally, if they'd get the reference, complain about how it sometimes seems like I'm stuck in The Village)
- When the phone rings, complain about being interrupted all the time, and pull the cord out of the phone
- Note the visitors' expressions as the phone keeps on ringing
Bonus points if the cord comes off by itself 
Also it would be sooo tempting to spring it upon people who are either visiting for the first time or haven't been initiated to it yet
_________________________________
Take Your Candle, Go Light Your World.
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Bob Schroeck Wrote:Rob, you scare me sometimes, because I ought to think of twisted wonders like that first. My work here is done.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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You know what's kinda scary? I had the seeds of that idea in my head earlier today... I was just thinking of having it sit out with absolutely no cord in sight (maybe even hanging a hat on that fact by setting out out and saying it was garbage)... then having someone give it a call who sounds like Laurence Fishburn. *Evil Grin*
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I swear I've seen this before, but now I think on it I do believe it was the rough prototype a prankster EE had built, then let loose the plans on the 'net.
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Maybe you saw these people before? I'm pretty sure I've seen the link to the "how they made it" page going around before, and it does say it was posted in January 2005. Think when I ran into it before they were at least considering selling premade units, but hadn't gotten set up to actually *do* it yet.
-Morgan.
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Well I've found where I can get one of these locally from a Sparkfun reseller. The Bluetooth model is an interesting stand in for a headset.
--Rod.H
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Go for it!
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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