The best number on Google Voice

I got a Google Voice invite today and had to choose which number I want. Of course all the repeated digits are gone (215-777-7772, …) are gone. Google provides a simple interface to find a good number, but this is the interface I like, grep:

So I did the following (Mac 10.5 / Safari):

1. Download all available Google Voice phone numbers for a given area code.

2. Normalize the data:

    grep -ho +1484....... *js | sort -u | cut -c 3- > numbers
   

3. Grep through to find the best numbers available (some example results shown):

    # repetition
    grep "\([0-9]\{4\}\).*\1" numbers
    >> 4843248432
   
    # pairs
    grep "\([0-9]\)\1.*\([0-9]\)\2.*\([0-9]\)\3" numbers
    >> 4842220022
    >> 4842220044
   
    # repetition
    grep '\([0-9]\)\1\{3\}' numbers
    >> 4849388886
   
    # only 3 digits (mostly)
    grep '^[483]\+.$' numbers
    >> 4843344881
   
    # palindromes
    grep "\([0-9]\)\([0-9]\)\([0-9]\)\([0-9]\).?\4\3\2\1" numbers
    >> 4846399364
    >> 4842020248
   
    # toggle
    grep "\([0-9]\)\([0-9]\)\1\2\1\2" numbers
    >> 4842020204
   
    grep "484\([0-9]\)\([0-9]\)\1\2" numbers
    >> xxx
   
    # only two digits (except area code)
    grep "484\([0-9]\)\1\*\([0-9]\)\(\1\|\2\)\{5\}" numbers
    >> 4842020002
    >> 4842020020
    >> 4842020022
    >> 4842020220
    >> 4842220002
    >> 4842220020
    >> 4842220022
    >> 4842220202
    >> 4842220220
   
    # more toggle
    grep "\([0-9]\)\([0-9]\)\1\2.*\([0-9]\)\([0-9]\)\3\4\3" numbers
    >> 4848580808
   
    # the best
    grep "\([0-9]\)\([0-9]\)\1\2\1.*\([0-9]\)\([0-9]\)\3\4\3" numbers
    ABABACDCDC
   

This is my new number. All the others are up for grabs.

Thanks for help from Chris Nolan who provided expeditious python scripting in support of this effort.

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Comments

More notes: https://privacylog.blogspot.com/2009/08/full-google-hack.html

William Entriken

Please discuss this topic anywhere and let me know any great comments or media coverage I should link here.