Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: SKASS@beta Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Noms de Guerre Message-ID: <3443@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 31 Jan 90 21:15:00 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 43 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 69, message 9 of 10 julian macassey writes: > If you really think that you are so wonderful that the great > unwashed should not be able to call you, there is a cheap and useful > solution: List your phone under a nom de guerre. Yes, just tell the > telco that you want the name in the phone book to be Ivan Boesky or > Jim Bakker. For free they will also not put in a street address. Not > only is this free, but now you can tell those really important people > how to reach you. You say: "I am listed as Ivan Boesky". So if they > are out for the evening and have left their Filofax in the Mercedes, > they can call Information and ask for Ivan Boesky. Seriously, will the telco do this for you? About 10 years ago, my roommate and I tried to get a listing as "A" with no address. We wanted to be able to give our number as "the first number in the phone book." We were refused because we were unable to produce a piece of identification with that name on it. The last time I visited Madison, WI, I noticed that there were dozens of listings for "A" with no address. What's the law say about this? Does anyone in Madison want to call "A" and investigate? Steve Kass [skass@drew.bitnet, 2014083614, 2015141187] Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Drew University Madison, NJ 07940 "An amount in this box means the fishing boat operator considers you self-employed." Reproduced without permission from my Form 1099. [Moderator's Note: Business subscribers have more flexibility in their choice of listings than residence subscribers. The listings you are referring to are invariably business subscribers. And the only guarentee of A with no street address being first is if the telephone number printed is (when taken as a whole number) of lesser value than some other subscriber who wants to be listed the same way. In other words, A (no address) ...221-0001 would be listed ahead of A (no address) with 997-9000 as the phone number. The final entry for many years in Chicago has been "Zzyzx, Isidore R. genl merchandise, 1706 S. Halsted, 942-1695" PT]