10 ms·

9/11 tragedy pager intercepts

135 points by tchalla 14y ago

Bud 14y ago
Each successive anniversary of 9/11 is a reminder to us that we need to get over it, we should have gotten over it long ago, those who planned the act triumph more greatly with each year that passes with us not getting over it, and if we don't get over it soon, it will be too late to ever gain back the liberties and freedoms so cheaply given away on that day. Just imagine if we were in the late 1950s, and still obsessed with defeating the Nazis, and remaking our entire society to protect against the threat from Hitler. That's where we are today in America. That's how pathetic we are.
- jofo25 14y ago
  I really agree. The irony is that this 'attack on freedom' was responded to with freedom being curtailed. I also find the contrast with Norway's response to the 2011 massacre quite interesting (http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/07/comparing-how-norway-and-us-respond-terror/40467/ http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/07/comparing-how-...).
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - acqq 14y ago
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four "FREEDOM IS SLAVERY"
  - gadders 14y ago
    Except the Norway massacre is completely dissimilar to 9/11. Brevik was a lone weirdo. He didn't have a base and support in other countries. He didn't have an army of thousands backing him up.
    - flyinRyan 14y ago
      >He didn't have a base and support in other countries. He didn't have an army of thousands backing him up. The Norway massacre is dissimilar, but these points here are the same. There is no, and never was a "global terrorist network". That's all fantasy to sell more useless war to american citizens.
      - objclxt 14y ago
        Well, yes and no. There is certainly no "global terrorist network" as put forward by some with, as you suggest, a hidden agenda, a vast network of those "out to get" the USA. But there was and is global co-operation between terrorist groups, which is why sometimes IRA members turn up in Colombia[1], and there is a definite link between global organised crime and terrorism (whether it be ETA buying guns from the mafia or FARC being funded by cocaine exports). The fantasy really is the belief by many in the US that terrorism equates to a hatred of America, which in reality is not the case. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombia_Three http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombia_Three
      - gadders 14y ago
        Well, it's not like a recognised army, more like a franchise operation. But there were disparate terrorist organisations that co-operated and co-ordinated. Both with each other and with rogue states. AFAIK, Brevik co-ordinated only with himself.
- julianz 14y ago
  Well said.
- rytis 14y ago
  Nazis were defeated as such, so there was no way to have them as some sort of 'imaginary enemy'. So failing that govt invented another one - USSR. And that worked both ways, US was such an enemy from the USSR's point of view. USSR collapsed (an event, just like defeating Nazis) - time to look for another 'imaginary enemy'. Since it was hard to use a country this time, let's pick something less tangible - terrorist organisations. This can't be easily defeated, and also allows to 'attack' countries that supposedly are home for such 'terrorists'. Just my POV into all this. And I'm not picking on US, it's just that it's most prominent there...
  - pajop 14y ago
    hmm you probably couldn't be faulted about thinking that all this was imaginary until you get a grenade thrown at you - I was part of an NGO team in Kabul, Afghanistan that was targeted by a grenade thrown from a motorcycle (tandem) that providentially didn't explode.
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
    - 7952 14y ago
      But the presence of violence in Afghanistan is not evidence of a broader existential threat or a globally organised campaign. Its evidence of a country that has had decades of war and death. This [1] survey suggests that many Afghans don't even know about 9/11. What threat are these people to the USA? [1] http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/19/think-tank-afghans-dont-know-911/ http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/19/think-tank-afghans-don...
    - GFischer 14y ago
      And how is that an example of terrorism? By your own admission you were in Kabul, Afghanistan, a country that neither called for nor welcomes the U.S., it was an invasion. I would expect hostile action in an invaded territory (unless you were a muslim NGO, in which case I'd retract). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasions_of_Afghanistan#Invasion_by_the_United_States_and_allies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasions_of_Afghanistan#Invasi... "Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism
- hermannj314 14y ago
  Ironic that we bitch out the government taking our liberties while we pour over the personal correspondence of the victims of a tragedy. Democracy is a mirror. If you don't like what you see, start by changing yourself. If privacy is important to you, then don't read the personal pager messages (illegally obtained?) just because they are posted on the internet and everyone else is doing it.
  - sneak 14y ago
    It's not personal if you broadcast it unencrypted more than a few meters, sorry.
    - hermannj314 14y ago
      Yes, it is. If someone leaves their journal lying in a coffee shope, I won't read it. If my neighbor leaves their Wi-Fi open, I won't hack it. If someone is talking a few meters away, I won't use eavesdropping device to listen to them, and if someone sends an unencrypted communication, I won't read it just because I have the technical ability to do so. May I am slightly mixing my definition of personal with private, but where is the respect for other people? "It's not personal if you broadcast it unencrypted" is the same line of thought as "she was asking to get raped". Just my opinion.
      - sitkack 14y ago
        With those ethics you would have a problem working for a 3 letter agency.
      - Karunamon 14y ago
        >If someone leaves their journal lying in a coffee shop Not even remotely near the same thing. Can we agree to stop making crappy physical analogies, please? > If my neighbor leaves their Wi-Fi open, I won't hack it. It's not "hacking" (or even a little bit unethical) to associate to an open AP - it amounts to an advertisement of a free service available. Really you're not crossing any creeper lines there unless you start rifling through the other computers connected to that AP.
- gadders 14y ago
  I don't think you can directly compare Hitler and the Nazis with an amorphous terrorist organisation. It was pretty easy to tell when Nazi Germany was defeated - formal surrender, Hitler shoots himself etc. How do you tell if AQ and its various offshoots have been defeated? It is my hope that sometime in the future, when we finally go 5 or more years without an attack, some of these restrictions will be rolled back.
  - flyinRyan 14y ago
    >How do you tell if AQ and its various offshoots have been defeated? Well, how do you tell they exist at all? Because some government that's taking your rights claim they do. Yes, some actual terrorists did 911. And since then? Nothing. The only "evidence" we have of any activity at all are some clear entrapment cases by the FBI. If there really are active terrorists groups trying to attack the US why are the only cases we actually hear about clearly entrapment?
    - regularfry 14y ago
      > And since then? Nothing. I think there are some Londoners who might contest that.
      - flyinRyan 14y ago
        Nothing against the US by these supposed "haters of our freedom".
        gadders 14y ago
        Fort Hood Massacre?
        flyinRyan 14y ago
        A lone crazy person. This is the exact kind of "omg they're EVERYWHERE!" thinking that's turning the US into a police state.
- asmithmd1 14y ago
  December 7th - "A day that will live in infamy" February 15th - "Remember the Maine" We will get over when the next surprise attack happens
- watty 14y ago
  I'm not sure I follow, what's pathetic about remembering the past? I still see stories about Columbine, VT shootings, and 9/11. Today is 9/11, what'd you expect? My children will undoubtedly learn about 9/11 and probably be reminded on 9/11s of the future. There's nothing wrong with this, it's called history.
- LinXitoW 14y ago
  I disagree that "the terrorists won". If you actually look at what Osama claimed as the reason in his videos, "all" they wanted is for the USA/foreign forces to get off their land (oh, and for Israel to not exist anymore). It was never an "attack on our freedom". In the end, everybody lost(except for the military industrial complex): Americans lost freedoms, and quite a few more foreign forces entered the Arabic countries.
  - flyinRyan 14y ago
    True, but they won a small victory: now we get a little taste of what we've made life to be for them. It's small compared to what they go through but it's much more than it was in the past.
  - coolestuk 14y ago
    "It was never an attack on our freedom." You only believe that because you are not listening to what they are saying to you. Here is the full text of Osama Bin Laden's letter to America:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver And here is a choice extract that totally contradicts your erroneous belief. "(Q2) [...] what do we want from you? (1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam. (a) The religion of the Unification of God [...] of the discarding of all the opinions, orders, theories and religions which contradict with the religion He sent down to [...] Muhammad... ...It is the religion of Jihad in the way of Allah so that Allah's Word and religion reign Supreme." Him and his kind want to impose a theocracy on the entire world. Under the rules of jihad (outlined in the Koran), once they call you to islam and you refuse to take up islam, they have the right to kill you. http://islamqa.info/en/ref/43087 http://islamqa.info/en/ref/43087 They are not just opposed to America, but also to buddhism, hinduism and African pagan religions (hence they ran a trade in Black African slaves for 1300 years). http://www.amazon.co.uk/Islams-Black-Slaves-History-Diaspora/dp/1903809800 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Islams-Black-Slaves-History-Diaspora... The 1951 UN report on slavery documented that 5% of the population of Saudi Arabia and Yemen were slaves. That is almost 100 years after the US fought the Civil War. Non-muslim black Africans are still being taken as slaves in Mauritania and Sudan (which is why the non-muslim south of Sudan seceded from the muslim north last year). Baroness Cox of Britain is still going to Sudan to buy slaves in order to free them. http://groupspaces.com/humanitariancentre/item/205497 http://groupspaces.com/humanitariancentre/item/205497 Books on sharia law say that slavery is legal under islam. Over 5,000 buddhists in southern Thailand have been slaughtered by muslim extremists in the past 8 years. That dwarfs the deaths in the WTC, but you probably haven't heard of it. Bin Laden's letter to America offers up Palestine as a pretext. But his kind have said they plan to take back Spain for islam (it was occupied by jihadis for 700 years, don't you know). It also explains the civil war in Sudan, and the massacres in Thailand. The jihad is also going on in Nigeria, Mali, and Kenya. It is eurocentric arrogance to ignore what the muslim extremists are telling you they want. By all means get on with your life, but don't deceive yourself about what they want.
- jules 14y ago
  Just to put the events into perspective: Number of people who died due to Hitler: ~50,000,000 Number of people who died due to terrorist attacks in the US: ~3000 Number of people who die in a car accident in the US EVERY YEAR: ~40,000 Number of children who can be saved EVERY YEAR by bringing US infant mortality rate down to Slovenia's or Czech Republic's (!!) level: ~11,000 How many lives could be saved by directing anti-terrorist organization's funding towards preventing car accidents or other preventable causes of death?
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - antidoh 14y ago
    "How many lives could be saved by directing anti-terrorist organization's funding towards preventing car accidents or other preventable causes of death?" Yeah, but it's harder for the government to spy and control you using infant mortality or traffic safety as an excuse. And using tax dollars for improving infant mortality is socialism, while using tax dollars to grab your balls is patriotism.
  - adamman 14y ago
    Unfortunately, it's not about how many lives can be saved. It's about how many dollars can be gained.
  - enjolras 14y ago
    Number of people who died due to military attacks in Afghanistan : nobody knows. At least 40 000, officially, but "we don't count". Seems legit.
- dr_ 14y ago
  But we have gotten over it. Getting over it does not mean you forget the people who lost their lives in the tragedy. It means you rebuild and continue to focus on other things that are important to the time or era you live in. I'm reminded of this every morning, when i look out my window and see the new tower standing tall. And if you've heard the debates our presidential candidates are having lately, terrorism is barely mentioned, the focus is on the economy, deficits, etc.
  - flyinRyan 14y ago
    We have? So I can fly back to the US now without having to worry about TSA grabbing my ballsack or blasting me with untested X-ray machines? The patriot act is gone? NDAA? The US hasn't remotely gotten over it. Long after the orchestrators of 911 have forgotten all about it (or died), politicians in the US will be dreaming up some new way that a terrorist could potentially, theoretically, possibly, attack us and passing laws to stop it.
    - dr_ 14y ago
      Getting over it also doesn't mean forgoing security measures. I travel fairly frequently. Instead of speaking theoretically, ask yourself how many times has the TSA really pulled you aside, and how has the patriot act actually changed your day to day living? For the vast majority of people, it's probably not much. I will admit that security lines can be long, so you have to get to the airport a little earlier, but that's a minor inconvenience. I find the x-ray machines to be better than the prior machines that were used, but I cannot comment on whether or not they have been "tested".
      - flyinRyan 14y ago
        Actually, flying since 911 is a nightmare. We used to travel back to the US every year to visit my family. Since 911 I've flown back twice and decided against doing it anymore. I actually get pulled aside every time because i have a "common name". No hint at how I can avoid this happening every time, just sit in a room watching people be humiliated for two hours until they call my name and say "you have a common name". The new x-ray machines are not even as good as the machines they had previously. Who are you listening to to think that? If you listen to actual security experts (none of which are working for TSA) they'll tell you that this is security "theater". The security is not even slightly better than it was pre-911. It's just now massively inconvenient. And you find getting to the airport earlier is a "minor" inconvenience? Having to get to an hour flight more than an hour earlier? I.e. the waiting time being longer than the flight itself and the entire travel time being close to what it would take to drive is an "minor" inconvenience? What would constitute a major inconvenience? No, TSA costs a lot of money, creates a huge amount of inconvenience and provides no extra security. A complete and utter failure and only done so we can feel like we're "doing something". We didn't need to do anything. There have only been two attempts since then and both attackers (a) got through the heightened security anyway and (b) failed due to their own incompetence.
- brown9-2 14y ago
  Maybe this depends on where you live in the country, but in my area, it's much more about remembering the victims than it is about remembering how we need to bring Al Qaeda to justice. I don't see what the problem is with remembrance of the dead.
  - waqf 14y ago
    Then why is there a national remembrance of these 3000 dead people and not of the two million other people who died in the US in 2001?
- veidr 14y ago
  You're not wrong, but gaining back the liberties that, on that day and over the years since, were so cheaply traded away by a cowed and ignorant populace for the idiotic bluster and security theater offered by the worst US president in living memory and his minders and masters... well, that is going to take more than "getting over it". It would take a massive and concerted exertion of power, by an informed and engaged citizenry, and would probably be every bit as hard as (if not harder than) winning those freedoms was in the first place. In other words, there's not much evidence to suggest that it will ever happen. Will America ever again see the levels of individual liberty and respect for the rule of law as the America I was born into a few decades ago? (Personally, I still hope, and still vote(!), but I also left the USA in 2004...)
  - waqf 14y ago
    Where did you go? Is it better (i) for civil liberties overall (ii) overall overall?
- rbanffy 14y ago
  I don't think we (and I use "we" because I believe it was not at attack only against the US, but one against some values our Western civilization is based upon) should ever forget it. But I agree we should learn from it, pay attention to our own reactions and realize this is not a war on terror, but a war on intolerance. Soft power is key here. It's sad I don't see it being employed enough. Plus, it's a lot cheaper than invading a country.
- 13rules 14y ago
  Totally agree ... great post along those same lines here: http://joethepeacock.blogspot.com/2012/09/9112012.html http://joethepeacock.blogspot.com/2012/09/9112012.html "I think that many (too many) people feel that, if you don't stop and make a public display of paying tribute, you don't care. And God forbid you don't care about a tragedy, lest you be thought of as a heartless bastard. It's like all these personal moments are made public simply so we don't look bad in public about our personal feelings. At this point, we are past the grieving stage. We are not grieving as a nation. We are now posturing; making a presentation for the sole purpose of avoiding the appearance of not caring."
buster 14y ago
2001-09-11 15:12:50 Metrocall [002287221] B ALPHA Frm: Mailer@i3mobile.com Sub: News Txt: .>Pentagon also hit by plane. - Brought to you by Wireless Week and i3 Mobile. I guess it was not Osama after all.
bas1l 14y ago
Interesting. A simple analysis shows that first and second most common words are "call" and "please". "evacuated" is mentioned 4758 times (22nd place) "terrorist" is mentioned 3505 times (48th place) "fire" is mentioned 2176 times (96th place) "love" is mentioned 1671 times (128th place) "john" is mentioned 1393 times (175th place) "alive" is mentioned 187 times "shit" is mentioned 41 times See top 500 here: http://pastebin.com/Fs6nMyJm http://pastebin.com/Fs6nMyJm
Achshar 14y ago
I was wading through them and this seems to be the first reference of attacks by a person. http://911.wikileaks.org/files/messages_2001_09_11-08_50_2001_09_11-08_54.html#message_78 http://911.wikileaks.org/files/messages_2001_09_11-08_50_200... The earlier one would probably be the an automated pager by some bot (?) about Cantor API being offline.
itsbits 14y ago
boring..
siculars 14y ago
"The following are national US pager intercepts..." Can someone explain what that means? This is pager data and not sms txt data, correct?
- bdonlan 14y ago
  Pager data is generally unencrypted and simply broadcast over the entire coverage area, so anyone with the proper equipment (read: a hacked up pager) can receive any pages broadcast nearby.
bwooce 14y ago
Misleading title - these are pager intercepts (people still use pagers? Who knew?) Text messages would commonly be referring to SMS for mobile phones.
- gadders 14y ago
  On 9/11 I was working for Citigroup in the UK. One of the other services that was working was Blackberry emails. I remember my team getting an email from a NY employee (who was based at 7WTC) to our group email address asking us to call his wife and tell him he was safe.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- bdonlan 14y ago
  You'd be surprised how many companies still use pagers for oncall alerts. After all, they're cheap, the batteries last a long time, the coverage can often be better than a cell phone, and most importantly you won't accidentally silence your pager when you silence your cell.
  - potatolicious 14y ago
    The biggest reason to use pagers over SMS: pagers have a guarantee for arrival by the service provider - if the device is on at the other end it will get through. SMSes have no such guarantees.
- onetimeuse001 14y ago
  We're talking about 11 years ago. on another note, here's a random message from the files: |whats up listen tomorrow let me go alone to overnite ok its not cause i dont want you to go is that i need to think about somethings that i need to clear my mind dont get mad or trip i need to do this fo Is it me or this is wrong? It cheapens whatever mission Wikileaks had. I do not want my private messages broadcast all over the world, especially when I'm a private citizen.
  - 14y ago
ars 14y ago
BTW this is from 3 years ago. I know it's 9/11 but does this really need to be posted again?
- ekianjo 14y ago
  I did not come on HN 3 years ago, so yes, relevant for a number of users (and the majority, probably) since HN has grown significantly over the past few years.
  - saraid216 14y ago
    Maybe we should go through the entire backlog and repost all of HN on an annual basis!
    - Dove 14y ago
      The good stuff does get reposted every couple years. I can't say I really mind.
  - ars 14y ago
    Did you read the news 3 years ago? This was all over the news back then. There are other news sources besides HN......
    - ekianjo 14y ago
      NOpe, I do not remember seeing this 3 years ago. I must have missed it somehow. I do not really understand the issue with having a story in top 30 that does not interest you, however. Do you have to click on all of them to feel happy and content, or having one you have already seen before ruins your day ? :) Besides, the same news viewed 3 years, 5 years, 10 years down the road is not the same news per se, because it gains a different perspective over time. I believe it is valuable.
      - andrewflnr 14y ago
        It's pretty easy for a story to be on the front page for a while, get thoroughly discussed, then drop off before you see it, especially if you're, you know, hacking.
gaving 14y ago
% grep -ic "love you" messages_all.txt 964 % grep -ic "hate you" messages_all.txt 2
- jerrya 14y ago
  m-x list-matching-lines "reboot nt" 7303 matches for `reboot nt`
- kintamanimatt 14y ago
  In case anyone was wondering what the "hate you" messages are: 2001-09-11 22:00:36 Arch [1050490] C ALPHA ||we love you...the event mkt team..not sp..we hate you...|58 2001-09-11 15:42:56 Skytel [005351897] C ALPHA I HATE you!!!! 005351897's conversation seemed to be the only one that seemed like a genuine expression of hate, but reading through the whole conversation it seems to be meant in jest, and a monologue about a horoscope: 2001-09-11 09:00:55 Skytel [005351897] C ALPHA GEMINI: It's now time to decide where you want to take your affairs of the heart. The sky is the limit, if you so desire. Hmmmm....sounds promising! 2001-09-11 09:02:40 Skytel [005351897] C ALPHA GEMINI: It seems that others are to 2001-09-11 09:02:42 Skytel [005351897] C ALPHA o self-absorbed to fully appreciate what you have to offer...how appropriate. 2001-09-11 14:12:41 Skytel [005351897] C ALPHA GEMINI: Selfish thoughts intrude Tuesday through Thursday as y 2001-09-11 14:12:42 Skytel [005351897] C ALPHA ou focus almost exclusively on what you want and are quite vocal in your displeasure when you don't get it. 2001-09-11 15:42:56 Skytel [005351897] C ALPHA I HATE you!!!! -- Huh, I kept reading through other conversations. One person was angrily breaking up with someone via pager, but had their anger turn to remorse and desperation when they heard the news, only for the anger and frustration to return when they knew their ex was okay.
purplelobster 14y ago
2001-09-11 08:46:46 Arch [1612975] D ALPHA PAGE FROM lifeline: alert 8933585 ETS appl nbetpsd27.fi.gs.com ETS RTCE: - Market data inconsistent...Cantor API problem Trading system offline on nbetpsd27.fi.gs.com, run by etsuser on nbetpsd27, pid = 24277 "The hijackers flew the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m." "Cantor Fitzgerald was formerly based in the World Trade Center and was the company hardest hit by the September 11, 2001 attacks, which killed all 658 of its employees who were in the office at the time (out of 960 who were based there)." First signs of trouble was a financial trading API.
- mtkd 14y ago
  These were kicking around some time after it happened. I remember reading the first Cantor network failure messages then - they brought the tragedy home to me more than the TV images and statistics had. They made it human - I could imagine an event, at one of the buildings I'd worked at, wiping out an entire floor - everyone in it and everything connected to it - left me cold and reading it again now I feel just the same.
  - Monotoko 14y ago
    It's odd that a bot saying "Network Failure" really brings it home more than live images etc. Maybe it's because we are very technically oriented individuals, or is it a wider thing?
    - yock 14y ago
      Pictures of faces and buildings with which we aren't acquainted likely remain abstract to most people; however, a remote system that was directly related to a person's daily work is something concrete. It doesn't take much of an imagination to go from that server disappearing to realizing that the people who maintain it's various elements are gone as well.
- confluence 14y ago
  Not surprising really - out of all the systems humans run - the ones most ready for disaster generally are finance, power and telecommunications. This is just because all these systems need ~100% up time with no QOS degradation while needing to deal with massive variability in use (extremely elastic and subject to thundering herds).
Teapot 14y ago
World War 3 was mentioned because it was unclear what was going on. I remember myself thinking that if anyone overreacts, things can go from bad to worse. And if that triggers an overreaction response - things could escalate on its own.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
sixQuarks 14y ago
There's so much junk in there. Frustrating to look through.
minikomi 14y ago
http://911.wikileaks.org/files/messages_2001_09_11-09_05_2001_09_11-09_09.txt http://911.wikileaks.org/files/messages_2001_09_11-09_05_200... Seems to be the most action-packed one..
- jerrya 14y ago
  2001-09-11 03:38:34 Skytel [005105954] A ALPHA CALL MY CELL PHONE INSTEAD OF MY HOUSE PHONE CAUSE I DON'T WANT IT TO RING, AND CRYSTALS BEEN GOING AROUND SAYING STUFF ABOUT YOU AND ME. I LOVE YOU.
  - minikomi 14y ago
    grep "help me" ... 2001-09-12 02:47:34 Arch [0282461] D ALPHA |help me moans! |Monie, AFC is bombed.. i am covered with debris ..underground..only my one hand is free to type... aaah... jordan hall also bombed...aaaah Also, grep usss.treas.gov is really interesting.. Secret Services messages? Edit 2: Here's a pastebin of all the SS messages apparently: http://pastebin.com/ZhNEtT2Q http://pastebin.com/ZhNEtT2Q
    - tlrobinson 14y ago
      It's surprising the Secret Service would use unencrypted pagers...
      - dsl 14y ago
        They have pagers for emergency communications and for broadcast (one to many) communications.
farnsworth 14y ago
As someone who has never used a pager, how did you send the text message? Special system with a keyboard? Type it out on phone keys?
- NeutronBoy 14y ago
  It was usually one way. You'd call the number given to you by the person you wanted to contact, and it'd go to a call center staffer who would type out your message. Usually just a name and phone number.
kurtvarner 14y ago
I think the easiest way to sift through the text is by searching for specific words or phrases. "scared" 2001-09-11 09:46:48 Skytel [002384252] D ALPHA on. The White House has been evacuated. I'm scared do you know what's going on? Robin 2001-09-11 09:49:14 Skytel [007558008] C ALPHA Michelle.Becker@moody.edu|Call me babe if you can I'm so scared!| Michelle Solar Becker Department Manager, Donor Communications Moody Bible Institute 820 N. 2001-09-11 10:13:10 Arch [0910241] A ALPHA ||i'm home there is lots of smoke outside of my window i can't see anything or use my phone i'm really scared please get help HHeller,IBSG-Cisco|144 2001-09-11 10:38:59 Arch [0949322] C ALPHA jebritt|I AM VERY SCARED ANNE ... PLEASE COME HOME NOW CALL ME "love you" 2001-09-11 09:23:40 Arch [1008791] B ALPHA 08-GETTING REALLY NERVOUS. PLS CALL TO LET ME KNOW YOU'RE SAFE. I LOVE YOU. 2001-09-11 09:28:48 Arch [0939758] D ALPHA 58-THANK GOD YOU ARE SAFE. PLEASE CALL ME. I LOVE YOU, TERRY. 2001-09-11 09:32:37 Skytel [005062181] B ALPHA PLEASE CALL ME AND LET ME KNOW YOUR OK, I AM AT HOME. I LOVE YOU. SUNSHINE 908 806 6384
marcamillion 14y ago
Not to hijack this thread...but as a non-believer in conspiracies, I was recently discussing with someone about whether or not the towers fell at 9.8m/s. The claim is that it was 'measured', and determined that both towers fell at close to that rate. The implication being that a 'non-intentional' demolition of the towers could not have caused them to fall at close to the standard rate of bodies in free fall. I would love to hear some thoughts on this theory.
- sliverstorm 14y ago
  a 'non-intentional' demolition of the towers could not have caused them to fall at close to the standard rate of bodies in free fall. Before you even bother with the claim you are curious about, I suggest you substantiate this particular piece.
  - marcamillion 14y ago
    Well...the theory goes that if an intentional demolotion can only cause a building to fall close-ish to the 9.8m/s, then a 'non-intentional' collapse surely must be slower.
    - sliverstorm 14y ago
      That doesn't even make sense. What does gravity care for intent?
      - marcamillion 14y ago
        Because there are obstacles along the way. Support beams, uncollapsed floors, etc. that will slow down the descent. As I said, I haven't bought into this theory yet. Just want to get other opinions on whether or not it makes sense in this particular case.
        regularfry 14y ago
        The time taken for an uncollapsed floor to become a collapsed floor in the face of even a fraction of a tower falling onto it is unimaginably brief. In short, the reason that the towers' collapses looked like controlled demolitions is because controlled demolitions don't rely on the explosives to destroy the building, they rely on destabilising it enough that it falls in on itself. The "controlled" part is just making sure it collapses inwards.
jjjgtbggm 14y ago
Aw, I miss pre-Manning wikileaks.
lockes5hadow 14y ago
Seriously? Does anyone else feel like this is a massive invasion of privacy? How does this help anyone wikileaks?
nhoj 14y ago
There seems to be some really personal stuff in there. Isn't this a huge violation of privacy or am I missing something? Any difference between wikileaks making something like this public and the British tabloids hacking peoples phones?
- CrankyPants 14y ago
  It's not a violation of privacy if it's leaked by a leftist, it's an inspiring revolution!
- andyzweb 14y ago
  I'm pretty sure pagers have the same expectation of privacy as HAM radio. Which is to say very little.
wildmXranat 14y ago
This is a first message on this list, post-incident that was sent by a non-automated system: 2001-09-11 08:50:25 Arch [0901509] B ALPHA A plane crashed thru the twin towers. Real bad..BR And another one right after: 2001-09-11 08:51:37 Arch [1274589] D ALPHA 94-THE WORLD TRADE CENTER HAS JUST BLOWN UP, WE SEEN THE EXPLOSION OUTSIDE OUR WINDOWS. TERESA...

135 points by tchalla 14y ago

Bud 14y ago

Each successive anniversary of 9/11 is a reminder to us that we need to get over it, we should have gotten over it long ago, those who planned the act triumph more greatly with each year that passes with us not getting over it, and if we don't get over it soon, it will be too late to ever gain back the liberties and freedoms so cheaply given away on that day. Just imagine if we were in the late 1950s, and still obsessed with defeating the Nazis, and remaking our entire society to protect against the threat from Hitler. That's where we are today in America. That's how pathetic we are.

jofo25 14y ago
I really agree. The irony is that this 'attack on freedom' was responded to with freedom being curtailed. I also find the contrast with Norway's response to the 2011 massacre quite interesting (http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/07/comparing-how-norway-and-us-respond-terror/40467/ http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/07/comparing-how-...).
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- acqq 14y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four "FREEDOM IS SLAVERY"
- gadders 14y ago
  Except the Norway massacre is completely dissimilar to 9/11. Brevik was a lone weirdo. He didn't have a base and support in other countries. He didn't have an army of thousands backing him up.
  - flyinRyan 14y ago
    >He didn't have a base and support in other countries. He didn't have an army of thousands backing him up. The Norway massacre is dissimilar, but these points here are the same. There is no, and never was a "global terrorist network". That's all fantasy to sell more useless war to american citizens.
    - objclxt 14y ago
      Well, yes and no. There is certainly no "global terrorist network" as put forward by some with, as you suggest, a hidden agenda, a vast network of those "out to get" the USA. But there was and is global co-operation between terrorist groups, which is why sometimes IRA members turn up in Colombia[1], and there is a definite link between global organised crime and terrorism (whether it be ETA buying guns from the mafia or FARC being funded by cocaine exports). The fantasy really is the belief by many in the US that terrorism equates to a hatred of America, which in reality is not the case. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombia_Three http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombia_Three
    - gadders 14y ago
      Well, it's not like a recognised army, more like a franchise operation. But there were disparate terrorist organisations that co-operated and co-ordinated. Both with each other and with rogue states. AFAIK, Brevik co-ordinated only with himself.
julianz 14y ago
Well said.
rytis 14y ago
Nazis were defeated as such, so there was no way to have them as some sort of 'imaginary enemy'. So failing that govt invented another one - USSR. And that worked both ways, US was such an enemy from the USSR's point of view. USSR collapsed (an event, just like defeating Nazis) - time to look for another 'imaginary enemy'. Since it was hard to use a country this time, let's pick something less tangible - terrorist organisations. This can't be easily defeated, and also allows to 'attack' countries that supposedly are home for such 'terrorists'. Just my POV into all this. And I'm not picking on US, it's just that it's most prominent there...
- pajop 14y ago
  hmm you probably couldn't be faulted about thinking that all this was imaginary until you get a grenade thrown at you - I was part of an NGO team in Kabul, Afghanistan that was targeted by a grenade thrown from a motorcycle (tandem) that providentially didn't explode.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - 7952 14y ago
    But the presence of violence in Afghanistan is not evidence of a broader existential threat or a globally organised campaign. Its evidence of a country that has had decades of war and death. This [1] survey suggests that many Afghans don't even know about 9/11. What threat are these people to the USA? [1] http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/19/think-tank-afghans-dont-know-911/ http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/19/think-tank-afghans-don...
  - GFischer 14y ago
    And how is that an example of terrorism? By your own admission you were in Kabul, Afghanistan, a country that neither called for nor welcomes the U.S., it was an invasion. I would expect hostile action in an invaded territory (unless you were a muslim NGO, in which case I'd retract). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasions_of_Afghanistan#Invasion_by_the_United_States_and_allies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasions_of_Afghanistan#Invasi... "Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism
hermannj314 14y ago
Ironic that we bitch out the government taking our liberties while we pour over the personal correspondence of the victims of a tragedy. Democracy is a mirror. If you don't like what you see, start by changing yourself. If privacy is important to you, then don't read the personal pager messages (illegally obtained?) just because they are posted on the internet and everyone else is doing it.
- sneak 14y ago
  It's not personal if you broadcast it unencrypted more than a few meters, sorry.
  - hermannj314 14y ago
    Yes, it is. If someone leaves their journal lying in a coffee shope, I won't read it. If my neighbor leaves their Wi-Fi open, I won't hack it. If someone is talking a few meters away, I won't use eavesdropping device to listen to them, and if someone sends an unencrypted communication, I won't read it just because I have the technical ability to do so. May I am slightly mixing my definition of personal with private, but where is the respect for other people? "It's not personal if you broadcast it unencrypted" is the same line of thought as "she was asking to get raped". Just my opinion.
    - sitkack 14y ago
      With those ethics you would have a problem working for a 3 letter agency.
    - Karunamon 14y ago
      >If someone leaves their journal lying in a coffee shop Not even remotely near the same thing. Can we agree to stop making crappy physical analogies, please? > If my neighbor leaves their Wi-Fi open, I won't hack it. It's not "hacking" (or even a little bit unethical) to associate to an open AP - it amounts to an advertisement of a free service available. Really you're not crossing any creeper lines there unless you start rifling through the other computers connected to that AP.
gadders 14y ago
I don't think you can directly compare Hitler and the Nazis with an amorphous terrorist organisation. It was pretty easy to tell when Nazi Germany was defeated - formal surrender, Hitler shoots himself etc. How do you tell if AQ and its various offshoots have been defeated? It is my hope that sometime in the future, when we finally go 5 or more years without an attack, some of these restrictions will be rolled back.
- flyinRyan 14y ago
  >How do you tell if AQ and its various offshoots have been defeated? Well, how do you tell they exist at all? Because some government that's taking your rights claim they do. Yes, some actual terrorists did 911. And since then? Nothing. The only "evidence" we have of any activity at all are some clear entrapment cases by the FBI. If there really are active terrorists groups trying to attack the US why are the only cases we actually hear about clearly entrapment?
  - regularfry 14y ago
    > And since then? Nothing. I think there are some Londoners who might contest that.
    - flyinRyan 14y ago
      Nothing against the US by these supposed "haters of our freedom".
      - gadders 14y ago
        Fort Hood Massacre?
        flyinRyan 14y ago
        A lone crazy person. This is the exact kind of "omg they're EVERYWHERE!" thinking that's turning the US into a police state.
asmithmd1 14y ago
December 7th - "A day that will live in infamy" February 15th - "Remember the Maine" We will get over when the next surprise attack happens
watty 14y ago
I'm not sure I follow, what's pathetic about remembering the past? I still see stories about Columbine, VT shootings, and 9/11. Today is 9/11, what'd you expect? My children will undoubtedly learn about 9/11 and probably be reminded on 9/11s of the future. There's nothing wrong with this, it's called history.
LinXitoW 14y ago
I disagree that "the terrorists won". If you actually look at what Osama claimed as the reason in his videos, "all" they wanted is for the USA/foreign forces to get off their land (oh, and for Israel to not exist anymore). It was never an "attack on our freedom". In the end, everybody lost(except for the military industrial complex): Americans lost freedoms, and quite a few more foreign forces entered the Arabic countries.
- flyinRyan 14y ago
  True, but they won a small victory: now we get a little taste of what we've made life to be for them. It's small compared to what they go through but it's much more than it was in the past.
- coolestuk 14y ago
  "It was never an attack on our freedom." You only believe that because you are not listening to what they are saying to you. Here is the full text of Osama Bin Laden's letter to America:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver And here is a choice extract that totally contradicts your erroneous belief. "(Q2) [...] what do we want from you? (1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam. (a) The religion of the Unification of God [...] of the discarding of all the opinions, orders, theories and religions which contradict with the religion He sent down to [...] Muhammad... ...It is the religion of Jihad in the way of Allah so that Allah's Word and religion reign Supreme." Him and his kind want to impose a theocracy on the entire world. Under the rules of jihad (outlined in the Koran), once they call you to islam and you refuse to take up islam, they have the right to kill you. http://islamqa.info/en/ref/43087 http://islamqa.info/en/ref/43087 They are not just opposed to America, but also to buddhism, hinduism and African pagan religions (hence they ran a trade in Black African slaves for 1300 years). http://www.amazon.co.uk/Islams-Black-Slaves-History-Diaspora/dp/1903809800 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Islams-Black-Slaves-History-Diaspora... The 1951 UN report on slavery documented that 5% of the population of Saudi Arabia and Yemen were slaves. That is almost 100 years after the US fought the Civil War. Non-muslim black Africans are still being taken as slaves in Mauritania and Sudan (which is why the non-muslim south of Sudan seceded from the muslim north last year). Baroness Cox of Britain is still going to Sudan to buy slaves in order to free them. http://groupspaces.com/humanitariancentre/item/205497 http://groupspaces.com/humanitariancentre/item/205497 Books on sharia law say that slavery is legal under islam. Over 5,000 buddhists in southern Thailand have been slaughtered by muslim extremists in the past 8 years. That dwarfs the deaths in the WTC, but you probably haven't heard of it. Bin Laden's letter to America offers up Palestine as a pretext. But his kind have said they plan to take back Spain for islam (it was occupied by jihadis for 700 years, don't you know). It also explains the civil war in Sudan, and the massacres in Thailand. The jihad is also going on in Nigeria, Mali, and Kenya. It is eurocentric arrogance to ignore what the muslim extremists are telling you they want. By all means get on with your life, but don't deceive yourself about what they want.
jules 14y ago
Just to put the events into perspective: Number of people who died due to Hitler: ~50,000,000 Number of people who died due to terrorist attacks in the US: ~3000 Number of people who die in a car accident in the US EVERY YEAR: ~40,000 Number of children who can be saved EVERY YEAR by bringing US infant mortality rate down to Slovenia's or Czech Republic's (!!) level: ~11,000 How many lives could be saved by directing anti-terrorist organization's funding towards preventing car accidents or other preventable causes of death?
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- antidoh 14y ago
  "How many lives could be saved by directing anti-terrorist organization's funding towards preventing car accidents or other preventable causes of death?" Yeah, but it's harder for the government to spy and control you using infant mortality or traffic safety as an excuse. And using tax dollars for improving infant mortality is socialism, while using tax dollars to grab your balls is patriotism.
- adamman 14y ago
  Unfortunately, it's not about how many lives can be saved. It's about how many dollars can be gained.
- enjolras 14y ago
  Number of people who died due to military attacks in Afghanistan : nobody knows. At least 40 000, officially, but "we don't count". Seems legit.
dr_ 14y ago
But we have gotten over it. Getting over it does not mean you forget the people who lost their lives in the tragedy. It means you rebuild and continue to focus on other things that are important to the time or era you live in. I'm reminded of this every morning, when i look out my window and see the new tower standing tall. And if you've heard the debates our presidential candidates are having lately, terrorism is barely mentioned, the focus is on the economy, deficits, etc.
- flyinRyan 14y ago
  We have? So I can fly back to the US now without having to worry about TSA grabbing my ballsack or blasting me with untested X-ray machines? The patriot act is gone? NDAA? The US hasn't remotely gotten over it. Long after the orchestrators of 911 have forgotten all about it (or died), politicians in the US will be dreaming up some new way that a terrorist could potentially, theoretically, possibly, attack us and passing laws to stop it.
  - dr_ 14y ago
    Getting over it also doesn't mean forgoing security measures. I travel fairly frequently. Instead of speaking theoretically, ask yourself how many times has the TSA really pulled you aside, and how has the patriot act actually changed your day to day living? For the vast majority of people, it's probably not much. I will admit that security lines can be long, so you have to get to the airport a little earlier, but that's a minor inconvenience. I find the x-ray machines to be better than the prior machines that were used, but I cannot comment on whether or not they have been "tested".
    - flyinRyan 14y ago
      Actually, flying since 911 is a nightmare. We used to travel back to the US every year to visit my family. Since 911 I've flown back twice and decided against doing it anymore. I actually get pulled aside every time because i have a "common name". No hint at how I can avoid this happening every time, just sit in a room watching people be humiliated for two hours until they call my name and say "you have a common name". The new x-ray machines are not even as good as the machines they had previously. Who are you listening to to think that? If you listen to actual security experts (none of which are working for TSA) they'll tell you that this is security "theater". The security is not even slightly better than it was pre-911. It's just now massively inconvenient. And you find getting to the airport earlier is a "minor" inconvenience? Having to get to an hour flight more than an hour earlier? I.e. the waiting time being longer than the flight itself and the entire travel time being close to what it would take to drive is an "minor" inconvenience? What would constitute a major inconvenience? No, TSA costs a lot of money, creates a huge amount of inconvenience and provides no extra security. A complete and utter failure and only done so we can feel like we're "doing something". We didn't need to do anything. There have only been two attempts since then and both attackers (a) got through the heightened security anyway and (b) failed due to their own incompetence.
brown9-2 14y ago
Maybe this depends on where you live in the country, but in my area, it's much more about remembering the victims than it is about remembering how we need to bring Al Qaeda to justice. I don't see what the problem is with remembrance of the dead.
- waqf 14y ago
  Then why is there a national remembrance of these 3000 dead people and not of the two million other people who died in the US in 2001?
veidr 14y ago
You're not wrong, but gaining back the liberties that, on that day and over the years since, were so cheaply traded away by a cowed and ignorant populace for the idiotic bluster and security theater offered by the worst US president in living memory and his minders and masters... well, that is going to take more than "getting over it". It would take a massive and concerted exertion of power, by an informed and engaged citizenry, and would probably be every bit as hard as (if not harder than) winning those freedoms was in the first place. In other words, there's not much evidence to suggest that it will ever happen. Will America ever again see the levels of individual liberty and respect for the rule of law as the America I was born into a few decades ago? (Personally, I still hope, and still vote(!), but I also left the USA in 2004...)
- waqf 14y ago
  Where did you go? Is it better (i) for civil liberties overall (ii) overall overall?
rbanffy 14y ago
I don't think we (and I use "we" because I believe it was not at attack only against the US, but one against some values our Western civilization is based upon) should ever forget it. But I agree we should learn from it, pay attention to our own reactions and realize this is not a war on terror, but a war on intolerance. Soft power is key here. It's sad I don't see it being employed enough. Plus, it's a lot cheaper than invading a country.
13rules 14y ago
Totally agree ... great post along those same lines here: http://joethepeacock.blogspot.com/2012/09/9112012.html http://joethepeacock.blogspot.com/2012/09/9112012.html "I think that many (too many) people feel that, if you don't stop and make a public display of paying tribute, you don't care. And God forbid you don't care about a tragedy, lest you be thought of as a heartless bastard. It's like all these personal moments are made public simply so we don't look bad in public about our personal feelings. At this point, we are past the grieving stage. We are not grieving as a nation. We are now posturing; making a presentation for the sole purpose of avoiding the appearance of not caring."

buster 14y ago

2001-09-11 15:12:50 Metrocall [002287221] B ALPHA Frm: Mailer@i3mobile.com Sub: News Txt: .>Pentagon also hit by plane. - Brought to you by Wireless Week and i3 Mobile. I guess it was not Osama after all.

bas1l 14y ago

Interesting. A simple analysis shows that first and second most common words are "call" and "please". "evacuated" is mentioned 4758 times (22nd place) "terrorist" is mentioned 3505 times (48th place) "fire" is mentioned 2176 times (96th place) "love" is mentioned 1671 times (128th place) "john" is mentioned 1393 times (175th place) "alive" is mentioned 187 times "shit" is mentioned 41 times See top 500 here: http://pastebin.com/Fs6nMyJm http://pastebin.com/Fs6nMyJm

Achshar 14y ago

I was wading through them and this seems to be the first reference of attacks by a person. http://911.wikileaks.org/files/messages_2001_09_11-08_50_2001_09_11-08_54.html#message_78 http://911.wikileaks.org/files/messages_2001_09_11-08_50_200... The earlier one would probably be the an automated pager by some bot (?) about Cantor API being offline.

itsbits 14y ago

boring..

siculars 14y ago

"The following are national US pager intercepts..." Can someone explain what that means? This is pager data and not sms txt data, correct?

bdonlan 14y ago
Pager data is generally unencrypted and simply broadcast over the entire coverage area, so anyone with the proper equipment (read: a hacked up pager) can receive any pages broadcast nearby.

bwooce 14y ago

Misleading title - these are pager intercepts (people still use pagers? Who knew?) Text messages would commonly be referring to SMS for mobile phones.

gadders 14y ago
On 9/11 I was working for Citigroup in the UK. One of the other services that was working was Blackberry emails. I remember my team getting an email from a NY employee (who was based at 7WTC) to our group email address asking us to call his wife and tell him he was safe.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
bdonlan 14y ago
You'd be surprised how many companies still use pagers for oncall alerts. After all, they're cheap, the batteries last a long time, the coverage can often be better than a cell phone, and most importantly you won't accidentally silence your pager when you silence your cell.
- potatolicious 14y ago
  The biggest reason to use pagers over SMS: pagers have a guarantee for arrival by the service provider - if the device is on at the other end it will get through. SMSes have no such guarantees.
onetimeuse001 14y ago
We're talking about 11 years ago. on another note, here's a random message from the files: |whats up listen tomorrow let me go alone to overnite ok its not cause i dont want you to go is that i need to think about somethings that i need to clear my mind dont get mad or trip i need to do this fo Is it me or this is wrong? It cheapens whatever mission Wikileaks had. I do not want my private messages broadcast all over the world, especially when I'm a private citizen.
- 14y ago

ars 14y ago

BTW this is from 3 years ago. I know it's 9/11 but does this really need to be posted again?

ekianjo 14y ago
I did not come on HN 3 years ago, so yes, relevant for a number of users (and the majority, probably) since HN has grown significantly over the past few years.
- saraid216 14y ago
  Maybe we should go through the entire backlog and repost all of HN on an annual basis!
  - Dove 14y ago
    The good stuff does get reposted every couple years. I can't say I really mind.
- ars 14y ago
  Did you read the news 3 years ago? This was all over the news back then. There are other news sources besides HN......
  - ekianjo 14y ago
    NOpe, I do not remember seeing this 3 years ago. I must have missed it somehow. I do not really understand the issue with having a story in top 30 that does not interest you, however. Do you have to click on all of them to feel happy and content, or having one you have already seen before ruins your day ? :) Besides, the same news viewed 3 years, 5 years, 10 years down the road is not the same news per se, because it gains a different perspective over time. I believe it is valuable.
    - andrewflnr 14y ago
      It's pretty easy for a story to be on the front page for a while, get thoroughly discussed, then drop off before you see it, especially if you're, you know, hacking.

gaving 14y ago

% grep -ic "love you" messages_all.txt 964 % grep -ic "hate you" messages_all.txt 2

jerrya 14y ago
m-x list-matching-lines "reboot nt" 7303 matches for `reboot nt`
kintamanimatt 14y ago
In case anyone was wondering what the "hate you" messages are: 2001-09-11 22:00:36 Arch [1050490] C ALPHA ||we love you...the event mkt team..not sp..we hate you...|58 2001-09-11 15:42:56 Skytel [005351897] C ALPHA I HATE you!!!! 005351897's conversation seemed to be the only one that seemed like a genuine expression of hate, but reading through the whole conversation it seems to be meant in jest, and a monologue about a horoscope: 2001-09-11 09:00:55 Skytel [005351897] C ALPHA GEMINI: It's now time to decide where you want to take your affairs of the heart. The sky is the limit, if you so desire. Hmmmm....sounds promising! 2001-09-11 09:02:40 Skytel [005351897] C ALPHA GEMINI: It seems that others are to 2001-09-11 09:02:42 Skytel [005351897] C ALPHA o self-absorbed to fully appreciate what you have to offer...how appropriate. 2001-09-11 14:12:41 Skytel [005351897] C ALPHA GEMINI: Selfish thoughts intrude Tuesday through Thursday as y 2001-09-11 14:12:42 Skytel [005351897] C ALPHA ou focus almost exclusively on what you want and are quite vocal in your displeasure when you don't get it. 2001-09-11 15:42:56 Skytel [005351897] C ALPHA I HATE you!!!! -- Huh, I kept reading through other conversations. One person was angrily breaking up with someone via pager, but had their anger turn to remorse and desperation when they heard the news, only for the anger and frustration to return when they knew their ex was okay.

purplelobster 14y ago

2001-09-11 08:46:46 Arch [1612975] D ALPHA PAGE FROM lifeline: alert 8933585 ETS appl nbetpsd27.fi.gs.com ETS RTCE: - Market data inconsistent...Cantor API problem Trading system offline on nbetpsd27.fi.gs.com, run by etsuser on nbetpsd27, pid = 24277 "The hijackers flew the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m." "Cantor Fitzgerald was formerly based in the World Trade Center and was the company hardest hit by the September 11, 2001 attacks, which killed all 658 of its employees who were in the office at the time (out of 960 who were based there)." First signs of trouble was a financial trading API.

mtkd 14y ago
These were kicking around some time after it happened. I remember reading the first Cantor network failure messages then - they brought the tragedy home to me more than the TV images and statistics had. They made it human - I could imagine an event, at one of the buildings I'd worked at, wiping out an entire floor - everyone in it and everything connected to it - left me cold and reading it again now I feel just the same.
- Monotoko 14y ago
  It's odd that a bot saying "Network Failure" really brings it home more than live images etc. Maybe it's because we are very technically oriented individuals, or is it a wider thing?
  - yock 14y ago
    Pictures of faces and buildings with which we aren't acquainted likely remain abstract to most people; however, a remote system that was directly related to a person's daily work is something concrete. It doesn't take much of an imagination to go from that server disappearing to realizing that the people who maintain it's various elements are gone as well.
confluence 14y ago
Not surprising really - out of all the systems humans run - the ones most ready for disaster generally are finance, power and telecommunications. This is just because all these systems need ~100% up time with no QOS degradation while needing to deal with massive variability in use (extremely elastic and subject to thundering herds).

Teapot 14y ago

World War 3 was mentioned because it was unclear what was going on. I remember myself thinking that if anyone overreacts, things can go from bad to worse. And if that triggers an overreaction response - things could escalate on its own.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

sixQuarks 14y ago

There's so much junk in there. Frustrating to look through.

minikomi 14y ago

http://911.wikileaks.org/files/messages_2001_09_11-09_05_2001_09_11-09_09.txt http://911.wikileaks.org/files/messages_2001_09_11-09_05_200... Seems to be the most action-packed one..

jerrya 14y ago
2001-09-11 03:38:34 Skytel [005105954] A ALPHA CALL MY CELL PHONE INSTEAD OF MY HOUSE PHONE CAUSE I DON'T WANT IT TO RING, AND CRYSTALS BEEN GOING AROUND SAYING STUFF ABOUT YOU AND ME. I LOVE YOU.
- minikomi 14y ago
  grep "help me" ... 2001-09-12 02:47:34 Arch [0282461] D ALPHA |help me moans! |Monie, AFC is bombed.. i am covered with debris ..underground..only my one hand is free to type... aaah... jordan hall also bombed...aaaah Also, grep usss.treas.gov is really interesting.. Secret Services messages? Edit 2: Here's a pastebin of all the SS messages apparently: http://pastebin.com/ZhNEtT2Q http://pastebin.com/ZhNEtT2Q
  - tlrobinson 14y ago
    It's surprising the Secret Service would use unencrypted pagers...
    - dsl 14y ago
      They have pagers for emergency communications and for broadcast (one to many) communications.

farnsworth 14y ago

As someone who has never used a pager, how did you send the text message? Special system with a keyboard? Type it out on phone keys?

NeutronBoy 14y ago
It was usually one way. You'd call the number given to you by the person you wanted to contact, and it'd go to a call center staffer who would type out your message. Usually just a name and phone number.

kurtvarner 14y ago

I think the easiest way to sift through the text is by searching for specific words or phrases. "scared" 2001-09-11 09:46:48 Skytel [002384252] D ALPHA on. The White House has been evacuated. I'm scared do you know what's going on? Robin 2001-09-11 09:49:14 Skytel [007558008] C ALPHA Michelle.Becker@moody.edu|Call me babe if you can I'm so scared!| Michelle Solar Becker Department Manager, Donor Communications Moody Bible Institute 820 N. 2001-09-11 10:13:10 Arch [0910241] A ALPHA ||i'm home there is lots of smoke outside of my window i can't see anything or use my phone i'm really scared please get help HHeller,IBSG-Cisco|144 2001-09-11 10:38:59 Arch [0949322] C ALPHA jebritt|I AM VERY SCARED ANNE ... PLEASE COME HOME NOW CALL ME "love you" 2001-09-11 09:23:40 Arch [1008791] B ALPHA 08-GETTING REALLY NERVOUS. PLS CALL TO LET ME KNOW YOU'RE SAFE. I LOVE YOU. 2001-09-11 09:28:48 Arch [0939758] D ALPHA 58-THANK GOD YOU ARE SAFE. PLEASE CALL ME. I LOVE YOU, TERRY. 2001-09-11 09:32:37 Skytel [005062181] B ALPHA PLEASE CALL ME AND LET ME KNOW YOUR OK, I AM AT HOME. I LOVE YOU. SUNSHINE 908 806 6384

marcamillion 14y ago

Not to hijack this thread...but as a non-believer in conspiracies, I was recently discussing with someone about whether or not the towers fell at 9.8m/s. The claim is that it was 'measured', and determined that both towers fell at close to that rate. The implication being that a 'non-intentional' demolition of the towers could not have caused them to fall at close to the standard rate of bodies in free fall. I would love to hear some thoughts on this theory.

sliverstorm 14y ago
a 'non-intentional' demolition of the towers could not have caused them to fall at close to the standard rate of bodies in free fall. Before you even bother with the claim you are curious about, I suggest you substantiate this particular piece.
- marcamillion 14y ago
  Well...the theory goes that if an intentional demolotion can only cause a building to fall close-ish to the 9.8m/s, then a 'non-intentional' collapse surely must be slower.
  - sliverstorm 14y ago
    That doesn't even make sense. What does gravity care for intent?
    - marcamillion 14y ago
      Because there are obstacles along the way. Support beams, uncollapsed floors, etc. that will slow down the descent. As I said, I haven't bought into this theory yet. Just want to get other opinions on whether or not it makes sense in this particular case.
      - regularfry 14y ago
        The time taken for an uncollapsed floor to become a collapsed floor in the face of even a fraction of a tower falling onto it is unimaginably brief. In short, the reason that the towers' collapses looked like controlled demolitions is because controlled demolitions don't rely on the explosives to destroy the building, they rely on destabilising it enough that it falls in on itself. The "controlled" part is just making sure it collapses inwards.

jjjgtbggm 14y ago

Aw, I miss pre-Manning wikileaks.

lockes5hadow 14y ago

Seriously? Does anyone else feel like this is a massive invasion of privacy? How does this help anyone wikileaks?

nhoj 14y ago

There seems to be some really personal stuff in there. Isn't this a huge violation of privacy or am I missing something? Any difference between wikileaks making something like this public and the British tabloids hacking peoples phones?

CrankyPants 14y ago
It's not a violation of privacy if it's leaked by a leftist, it's an inspiring revolution!
andyzweb 14y ago
I'm pretty sure pagers have the same expectation of privacy as HAM radio. Which is to say very little.

wildmXranat 14y ago

This is a first message on this list, post-incident that was sent by a non-automated system: 2001-09-11 08:50:25 Arch [0901509] B ALPHA A plane crashed thru the twin towers. Real bad..BR And another one right after: 2001-09-11 08:51:37 Arch [1274589] D ALPHA 94-THE WORLD TRADE CENTER HAS JUST BLOWN UP, WE SEEN THE EXPLOSION OUTSIDE OUR WINDOWS. TERESA...