unforum

[inpheaux]

well, just returned from 14:17 - miracles in tampa FL.

result: failure.
reason: undetermined.
possibilities:
1) we had the wrong phone. the point is in the edge of the street. to the east [the side of the street it's on], there are two payphones to the right of the entrance of the albertsons. to the west there is a payphone to the left of the big lots entrance. since i'm only one person, i opted for the albertsons phones, as they were at least on the same side of the street.

there may be more phones, these are just ones outside. i didn't have a ton of time to properly scour the area, as i work for a living

2) we couldn't hear the phone ring. the phones near albertsons, as i mentioned earlier in the thread, are incredibly quiet. since this is late summer, we were having our daily bout of torrential rain here in tampa, and i had a hard time hearing myself think let alone a phone ringing.

3) Something Else. i could have missed the time altogether. people from the albertsons were taking their break around the phones. they could have been muffling it, or just preventing me from getting close enough to hear it. it might have also been the fact that it was raining like hell, and lightning strikes resulted in brown-outs at the albertsons TWICE in the short amount of time i was there.

suggestions for people who want to try this location tomorrow:
1) hope it doesn't rain. not only will it be easier to hear the phones ring, but because we've heard from other people that melissa gets annoyed if she can't understand you due to background noise. thunder and torrential rain would count as Substantial background noise.

2) check for more phones. likely possibilities - the big lots in bearss plaza, the bank in the albertsons parking lot, the burker king at the corner of bearss and florida, the mcdonalds on bearss, all three gas stations around the bearss & florida intersection, and finally - because it's Different - the freestanding phonebooth on the north-west corner of bearss & florida, just a bit west past the gas-station. i mention this one because it's one of the only freestanding enclosed phonebooths i can think of in this part of town.

3) get in close. for some of these phones, you have to be RIGHT up next to them to hear them at all. you might need to ask people to move. do it. they can wait till 17:17 passes.

oh, and shout-outs to the irc lurker i met outside albertsons whose name i forgot to ask. he gets Extra Points for getting to the phones on-time from downtown in this horrible rain/traffic/etc.

[mrzarquon]

Trying to find a post for this. We were talking about in the IRC chat about marking each successful pay phone. With a sticker or something, and then also chalking the street outside with a B and an arrow pointing to it, so fellow ARGers can find the phone. I suggest the chalk since it washes off in about two weeks or so, so we can't get busted for vandalism but it makes it easy to find the payphones again, since it looks like melissa will be using the successful phones over and over again. (maybe start a new thread?)

[reigh]

[aliendial]

When you have definitive location information for the axons, make a note: exact address/location, phone number too. Whatever it takes fo help someone find it. Perhaps we can persuade Aveena to add a chart for just the hot axons with a column for this information. Include the source of the information so if there is any confusion we know who to ask to clarify.

[Atrophied]

[Prisoner2401]

The Albuquerque "exclusive_license" axon clumpage is pretty rad, eh?

Hey all -- are you from New Mexico? Does anyone know if there are any beekeepers in New Mexico?

Does anyone know of anyone who lives in New Mexico???

This the PMs bein' all tricksie. At least it's not all nine in Alaska or something, but it's clearly intended as a challenge. Can we convince our retired great-Aunt Bertha in New Mexico to go visit a bunch of payphones?

Or how about this: can we find the Albuquerque Halo Players Association? Not literally, but...maybe there are cyber cafes in Albuquerque that we could contact..?

[edit] I have found a likely prospect!!! A gang of d00dz known as the "Albuquerque Killers"! I am a bit too busy to track them down via the web -- it's a bit tricky, but they have a home page here ( http://www.freewebs.com/novusopiate/INFO.HTML ) with a link to their gamertags, and a message board here ( http://www.xsorbit2.com/users/akhalo/index.cgi#Halo_X-Box ) that has email contact info.

I need to be a busy bee at work... can someone pursue this???

[madopal]

Creepy: Chicago, 17:47 PST, 41.883449, -87.625002

[Ceantari]

[Moe The Sleaze]

Who's hitting the LA axons?

I'm gonna try to be in Griffin Park at 4:59.

[aliendial]

Moe there's already a Los Angeles thread. Please go coordinate with those guys too.

[vlamidala]

[Moe The Sleaze]

Thanks, aliendial.

So far, I've found 10 axons in my general area (Northern LA). There were 11, but someone already hit the first one (good work, guys).

And it's Griffith Park, not Griffin Park (Sorry).

[Kazic]

I've got one more question (sorry, trying to make sure that I get the axon tomorrow): I heard that if you miss the questions the Operator asks you, you can say repeat immediately afterwards and the message will replay. Is that true and how exactly do you do this?

[Dorkmaster]

Kasic this is incorrect. ONLY after you have correctly answered the question and completed listening to the full audio clip do you have the option of "repeat".

You need to get it right the first time.

Bring a cheat sheet.

Real Name = Melissa
Nickname = Operator
Your name = say your .wav file title

after reviewing under the gentle tutelage of aliendial, I have determined that this stricken statement is completely and utterly false. All apologies

[aliendial]

We think there is a lag for voice recognition SW or even a human to confirm the response was correct. We spec that if you speak too quickly or too early your entire "Melissa" might not be heard. So if the silence lasts too long, say Melissa again, but don't start saying other stuff.

YOU CANNOT SAY 'REPEAT' AT THIS POINT.

"REPEAT" ONLY COMES UP AFTER YOU HAVE HEARD THE FULL SOUND CLIP AND ARE OFFERED THE OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR IT AGAIN BY SAYING REPEAT.