Comments on: 5 Familiar Numbers and the Logic Behind Them

By: Calli Arcale

Calli Arcale — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:17:55 +0000

It’s only relatively recently that SSNs have started to be assigned at birth. Not too long ago, you had to apply for one. Thus, many people (myself included) have SSNs that do not reflect their place of birth but rather the place where they applied for an SSN.

127.0.0.1 — gotta love localhost. ;-) Great for when you need to put an arbitrary IP addy into some documentation, since it’s definitely bogus but legal. (Much like 555-1212, which shows up often in movies and books, but is actually directory assistance for a particular area code. Real, but harmless.)

By: AmyD

AmyD — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:20:59 +0000

Class A IP addresses are from 1-126, not 127. 127 is not used because the IP address 127.0.0.1 always is the computer you are using. Hence the welcome mats, shirts and other merchandise that say “There’s no place like 127.0.0.1″

By: Patricia

Patricia — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:45:12 +0000

We applied for all four of our children’s SS cards when they their grandparents wanted to give them Savings Bonds. The oldest child and the two youngest received the same first five digits. The middle son received an entirely different set. I’m sure the child is mine and was never in the Witness Protection program.

By: zoran kralev

zoran kralev — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:42:15 +0000

halo halo halo halo………..

By: Michelle

Michelle — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:15:51 +0000

OK – I think there is a mis-communication on the international dialing codes (to dial to other countries). To dial to the US or Canada from another countriy, you dial 001 (this would be for a direct call without going through a service). To dial to say Germany from the US, you would have to dial 01149 then the number with the leading zeros taken off (as German numbers all begin with 0). 1 is the code for the US and Canada, 49 is the code for Germany. 011 gets you to the international lines to dial out in the US, then you use the country code. I am not sure why you have to dial 011 from the US, but if you were dialing to the US from Germany, you can just dial 001….not sure why it is different. (I lived in Germany 14 years)

And I was born in Turkey to American military parents and my SSN is from Pennsylvania, where my father is from.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 08:36:49 +0000

My daughter was born in Germany to American parents and when we applied for the SSN we ended up getting one for the Alabama area. Kind of weird I think. I would have thought Washington DC or something like that. Im in the military…

By: Lauren

Lauren — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 08:32:27 +0000

My amex doesnt start with 38 either Mor. Think maybe just the first digit remains the same for the card types.

By: Wally

Wally — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:25:51 +0000

For telephone numbers, you say 1 is the international dialing code for the US. That is not entirely correct. It should say the international dialing code for CANADA AND THE US.

By: Jenipher

Jenipher — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:41:12 +0000

@ Kristen – your and your sister’s SSNs were probably applied for at the same time – I was born in 1970 and my brother in 1972 and we didn’t get SSNs until the early 80’s when we wanted to start playing the stock market with money we’d saved. Our numbers are within a few digits of each other.

I have twins who got consecutive SSNs…5621 and 5622…made it so easy to memorize them!

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:51:47 +0000

I used the work at Amex and the 7th figit tells you what your pay period is. every 3 days of the month is assigned to a partivular digit 1-9. ie if your billing cycle stops between the 1st and the 3rd of the month you get a “1″ 4th-6th, you get a “2″. etc. I used to know all of them, but there are really only 4 numbers that are the sequential “account” number.