TeleHamster

screen-free community for all ages

tried and true 19th century technology

a reasonably social medium

and a low-tech haven

NO SCREENS

NO ADS

NO A.I.

NO COOKIES

just fun and simple

How to sign up

The directory

Technical stuff

What is TeleHamster?

This is a private telephone network that functions like a landline.  You can only call other TeleHamster members with it, not regular phone numbers on the public phone network.  (See more below about how to get access to 911 at home for free.)  There are also a bunch of fun numbers you can call to hear a joke, a story, a poem, a song, learn about a plant or animal, etc.:

LIVE EDUCATIONAL HUMANS!

NIH1  6441  Luca&Ryu in Yokohama, Japan. Bilingual talk on Japanese language, songs, Japanese mythology and culture. Please call anytime between 2pm and 2am PDT.

KELL  5355  Call this number to practice reading out loud for 5-15 minutes with Bellingham public school teacher Kelly Brandon.  Thursdays 12:30pm - 1:30pm and Sundays 6:00pm - 7:00pm.  Read this page before calling!

FUN AND EDUCATIONAL RECORDINGS

PAST  7278  Stories from Bellingham's history by Marissa McGrath

HELP  4357 & ADVC 2382 The Advice Column with Nicholas Barth

LIFE  5433  Flora & fauna of the week

JOKE  5653  The Joke of the Every Few Days

READ  7323  Hear a story

TIME  8463  Date and time, just like when we were kids

SONG  7664  Hear a song by a local Bellingham artist!

NEWS  6397  TeleHamster News and Community Bulletin

POEM  7636  Hear a poem

TELE  8353  Leave a message for TeleHamster

See the directory for the full list

Why is TeleHamster?

When we were kids in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, nearly every household had a landline telephone available for the whole family.  When we wanted to talk to a friend or grandparent, we could just call them up, easy peasy.  Now few households have landlines (they are too expensive anyhow) and kids no longer have a direct way to connect with each other from afar.  Instead, they have to ask us to text their friends' parents, or otherwise arrange phone calls orchestrated by us, which result in us handing our screeny blingy Pandora's boxes over to our children.  And wouldn't we all like a break from our own cell phones as well?

So we have set up a private network for my daughter to communicate autonomously with her community via plain old analog telephones. 

How does TeleHamster work?  

After you sign up, we program you a small black box with a unique 4-digit phone number.  You get yourself a telephone (new or old, rotary or push-button) and a cord, plug the phone into the box, and plug the box into your internet router.  The phone then acts like a normal landline with a dial tone, busy signal, call waiting, etc.  Except it is on a private network that doesn't connect to the public phone network.  So you can only use it to call other households in the club.  

And there are special numbers anybody can call at any time to hear a joke, a story, a poem, a song, community news, et cetera.  Soon our members will be able to record their own jokes, contribute to a circle story, or dial their way through an interactive story.

Where does TeleHamster work?

Anywhere in the world that has an internet connection with a place to plug in an ethernet cable! 

Can I use TeleHamster to call 911?

No, we are not set up for that.  Other services may offer to sell you a paid plan that includes connection to 911.  But you do not need to pay anyone for 911.  Outgoing calls to 911 work for free from any cell phone, even if it doesn't have a plan or SIM card.  All you need to do is get a $5 old flip phone and leave it plugged in somewhere at home.