// HACKER NEWS — CYBERSECURITY
Playa Phone
For the rest of the week of Burning Man, a phone booth is standing on the
dusty street corner of 3:30 and Chomolungma, in front of the
Temple of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in Black Rock City, Nevada for anyone
to use.
If someone knows the number of a friend or loved one, they can call almost
anywhere in the world for 5 minutes for free. Or you can call it and
someone walking past might pick it up.
Dial +1 (775) 557-4848 to try to talk to a random
Burner. Or add Playa Phone as a contact to make it easier
to call later.
If the phone is already in use, you’ll get a busy signal. If it rings six
times and hangs up, nobody answered. Don’t be surprised if you have to call
repeatedly.
You were called from a friend, loved one, or maybe a random stranger at
Burning Man who was walking past our phone booth and decided to dial your
number.
If your phone silenced the call because it was an unknown number,
add Playa Phone as a contact to make your phone more
likely to ring if they call back.
This is an ordinary phone booth that I’ve replaced the internals of to not
accept payment and changed to make phone calls over the Internet.
Read SFGATE’s story about the phone
for more information.
There’s also a Reddit announcement where
others have shared their experiences and I answer some common questions.