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c/technology@beehaw.org · debanqued@beehaw.org · 28 Aug 2026

Colorado: to test the 911 service, you must first place a normal call to the 911 center. WTF, they don’t think you might be unable to make normal calls (the very reason you need to test 911)?

puc.colorado.gov

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From the linked FAQ:

How can I make a test 9-1-1 call? To make a test 9-1-1 call, you need to first contact the 9-1-1 center that serves your area. The non-emergency numbers for Colorado’s 9-1-1 centers are available here(opens in new window). If you’re unsure which 9-1-1 center serves your area, call the 911 Program at 303-894-2871, and we’ll help you identify the 9-1-1 center for the location you want to test from.

When you call the 9-1-1 center, ask them if it would be okay to make a test 9-1-1 call. If they are particularly busy or are handling a major incident, they may ask you to call back at a later time.

When your phone cannot make normal calls for whatever reason¹, you obviously want to know if 911 calls will at least work. And the idiots design a test procedure that requires normal phone calls to work.

① Typical reasons why you may be unable to make normal calls:

• You have a GSM phone with no GSM chip, or unsubscribed chip.
• You are on a prepaid plan and have no credit.

So indeed the telecom industry has a glaring competency problem.

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19 comments

comments

• It is nobody’s duty to expose anything for the sake of exposing it.

  Bullshit. Exposure is the 1st step.

  It is our duty to expose things for the sake of solving them.

  Of course. But not necessarily directly. There are many ways to solve a problem. Spotlighting an embarrassment is a precursor. You can also travel to a call center and apply to work for them to improve their system. You do you.

  If you have a better solution, we’re ready to hear it.

  It’s not my problem to solve. Do you also demand that testers fix the bugs they report?

  You’re perversely out of step with how volunteer effort is managed. Volunteers choose for themselves how much effort they contribute. You are not their manager. It’s not for you to drive-by task people and bark out orders. When a bug is reported, it’s public for anyone to solve, if they want. It’s a community. Not a corporation.

  I don’t see anything being covered up.

  You don’t know how threadcrap works. It’s designed to suppress the thesis by creating a distraction.

  on Colorado: to test the 911 service, you must first place a normal call to the 911 center. WTF, they don’t think you might be unable to make normal calls (the very reason you need to test 911)? in c/technology@beehaw.org · 28 Aug 2026

• I’m confused what you think a better alternative would be? If there was a test number, what if that worked, but you couldn’t call the real 911?

  A test number would suffice in some situations. When an incompetent VOIP provider takes an action to block calls “for security purposes”, they cannot legally block /all/ calls. 911 calls must be permitted. And 911 test calls would obviously require the same status. I do not trust their competency. But if their call blocking allows a 911 test number through, it proves that their blockade is not a simple crude block on /everything/.

  A test number would not be the only solution. With some services you can set the CID to whatever you want. So in principle a CID of 555-1212 could have special meaning to 911 receiptionists. So a tester would set the CID info to that number before calling 911.

  911 is not always instantly answered by humans. When answered by a machine, there could be a cancel code. E.g. dial “119” after connecting to cancel it.

  There’s no way around it: to be absolutely sure your phone can contact 911, you have to… dial 911.

  Sure, if you need that extra level of certainty. In the typical cases that I mentioned (no GSM subscription), a test number would be sufficient. It would show that the dialed number reaches a switch that treats it.

  on Colorado: to test the 911 service, you must first place a normal call to the 911 center. WTF, they don’t think you might be unable to make normal calls (the very reason you need to test 911)? in c/technology@beehaw.org · 28 Aug 2026

• and it will be fine.

  Citation needed that there will be no fine to pay. Why not do a bit of research before making such claims? Quick search for false 911 call should flood your search results with fines, like $316 in Los Angeles.

  South Carolina: misdemeanor. The penalties can include up to six months in jail, a fine of up to $200, or both.

  It’s only an illegit 911 call if you call them for fun or if you test so often it can no longer be considered necessary.

  Citation needed.

  When attackers notice their victim making a distress call, they obviously convince them to back off and say the call was an accident. Emergency dispatchers will send help anyway to ensure coersion is not the case.

  on Colorado: to test the 911 service, you must first place a normal call to the 911 center. WTF, they don’t think you might be unable to make normal calls (the very reason you need to test 911)? in c/technology@beehaw.org · 28 Aug 2026

• That’s a dicey hack. Maybe you could get away with it but you should know that there are typically fines for placing illegit 911 calls because they get enough false calls to have in place a system that automatically charges whatever the fine is. Was $50 for the 1st offense decades ago IIRC… likely higher now.

  on Colorado: to test the 911 service, you must first place a normal call to the 911 center. WTF, they don’t think you might be unable to make normal calls (the very reason you need to test 911)? in c/technology@beehaw.org · 28 Aug 2026

• Gotta reference? Or can you elaborate? At the moment, I have a VOIP phone I need to test (as normal calls are blocked).

  To be clear, it’s more about testing the phone network and services, not the hardware or software you use to dial numbers. I know my device on my side of the transaction functions fine.

  on Colorado: to test the 911 service, you must first place a normal call to the 911 center. WTF, they don’t think you might be unable to make normal calls (the very reason you need to test 911)? in c/technology@beehaw.org · 28 Aug 2026

• First, it’s wrong to assume everyone has multiple phones. Those with multiple phones are also those who least need to test 911.

  But if we can get past that, are you also assuming that the test phone has a phone number? Suppose you call the test center with a friend’s phone (always amusing when a policy imposes having friends, but anyway). The conversation would likely go like this:

  me: I will make a test call from a different phone than the one I am calling from.
  911 center: Okay, what is the phone number of the phone you are testing (so we know which inbound call to disregard)?
  me: The test phone is not subscribed. There is no number.
  911 center: Then we cannot do the test.

  Or do you imagine the 911 center would say: just call us now and we will ignore whatever call we get?

  Of course if a GSM phone has no chip, it also has no number assignment. If the test phone is a VOIP phone, the subscriber may not have a DID. There could be a phony internal number assignment in that case, but the customer does not necessarily know it.

  The next problem is /which/ call center do you call when you are on a voip phone served in a different state than where the call is made from?

  on Colorado: to test the 911 service, you must first place a normal call to the 911 center. WTF, they don’t think you might be unable to make normal calls (the very reason you need to test 911)? in c/technology@beehaw.org · 28 Aug 2026

• Website enshitified. Had to use lynx to see the text for more than 1 second:

  $ torsocks lynx https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/08/password-manager-login-difficulty/688396/?gift=A_VYuI0Bs4X1cJsYonaJVE29HRH1L8Ei13mJ3d1owSA

  on Logging In Was Never Supposed to Be This Complicated in c/technology@beehaw.org · 28 Aug 2026

• Timing is important with clapping. No mention of what happened just before Lux clapped.

  on Charges Dropped Against Person Who Clapped at a City Data Center Meeting / Lux Claridge was dragged from a city meeting about data centers and charged with interfering with the police after they clap… in c/technology@beehaw.org · 28 Aug 2026

• Enshitified website says: “Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker”

  The NY Times used to have an onion that was not so restricted:

  nytimesn7cgmftshazwhfgzm37qxb44r64ytbb2dj3x62d2ll…

  But it’s down.

  Would someone plz post the text of this article? Or an alternate source?

  on U.S. Citizen Who Deleted Phone’s Data Says His Prosecution Puts Privacy at Risk in c/technology@beehaw.org · 28 Aug 2026