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|Vol. 1 No. 5 Telephone Free Planet Issue 5|
|TFP.nothing.org WARNING: TFP may cause herpes I like IKE!|
|Happy new year! January 1, 1998 Does a body good!|
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=---------"Where do I want to go today? Outside. Fuck the computer."---------=
=-------A delightful medley of tastes and textures-------=
| Introducing the beebox.......................KungFuFox |
| Memoirs of a redboxer.........................IO Wrath |
| The discbox.................................Napalmoliv |
| The UltraBeige box.........................AgentOrange |
=---------TFP's leftovers from Christmas dinner----------=
| Storytime with TFP..........Whoever bothered to submit |
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"I know we all wish we had a supermodel, but often times this isn't
possible. That's why God invented the skank." -Tim Meadows
"Earlier this week hackers broke into Yahoo, the most popular internet
search engine. The hackers threatened to unleash a devistating virus
if a fellow hacker was not released from prison. Security experts
believe that tracking down the hackers will be difficult, because it
will require the help of both nerds AND geeks." -Norm MacDonald
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| Telephone Free Planet - Contact information |
| TFP Email: tfp@tfp.nothing.org - TFP Site: http://tfp.nothing.org |
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Alpha dog : KungFuFox, mazer@cycat.com <-meany, the 8th dwarf
Beta dog : Keystroke, keystroke@thepentagon.com <-not the mama
TFP 98 STyL3! : digipimp, AlienPhreak, weatherman, REality, Scud-O,
shoelace, Dublisk, ec|ipse, overdub, Allah7, Discore, Seizure, and shamr0ck
Due to an overwhelming amount of interest, we're extending last months offer!
If you send us articles, quotes, emails, logs, phonecalls, news articles, and
any other crap you come across, WE will give you absolutely nothing!
Hey, this stuff we talk about in here isn't right. It's evil! Pure evil! Go
to church and confess! Then go ahead and read it. But don't do anything you
read about in here. We wouldn't, why should you? Leave good enough alone.
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If you didn't notice this issue is almost entirely about boxing. We got a lot
of boxing material and I figured why the hell shouldn't we throw it all in
one issue and call it the boxing issue. Well this is it. Sure you won't learn
nothin, but it's still kinda worth reading. Oh, and happy new year everyone.
KungFuFox
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| Introducing the beebox - yet another KungFuFox article |
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Do you live in the south like me? Are you tired of opening cans (no, not
cans of SPAM(c), telco cans stupid) and TNIs only to find that they've been
infested with hornets, wasps, and various other creatures? Ever thought to
yourself "if only there were an electronic toll fraud (ETF) device ('box' for
you real dumbs) that could kill these creatures AND get me free phonecalls,
I'd be happy, give to charity, and go line dancing with grandma more often"?
Well your wish might be coming true, or I might just be making up a bunch of
crap to fill the space of what could be a legitimate article.
Ok first off, you're gonna have to find yourself a can of bug spray. So you
don't have it, who gives a damn... just go hack into your neighbor's garage
and get some. Now if you don't already have a beigebox, make one. If you
don't even know how to make one, you didn't read my spiffy article called
"Zero to phreak in 5 minutes" in TFP02. I sure do write a lot don't I?
Anyway, read that article if you didn't already, then come back here.
Welcome back... now to the complicated stuff, you'll probably want to use
packing tape for this. Take the can of Bug Assassin(r) that you hacked into
that neighbor's garage for, and tape it to the back of the handset of your
beigebox. It looks and operates better if the spraying end is facing outward
from the speaker end of the handset, but do whatever you like, just don't
blame me if you get sprayed in the face with this thing and end up puking
your guts out while you get stung to death by a bunch of hornets standing
outside that old folk's home at 2AM.
Simple enough right? As crazy as it may seem you're already done with the
construction part, unless you screwed up and the can isn't attached to the
handset yet, in which case you'll need to read the last paragraph again, and
I hope that Insect Serial Killer(r) tastes good. Here's a schematic if you
still can't figure it out:
./--\ ___
spray nozel-----> => c | / \
| a ||phone|
| n || __/
/-> ##########
tape----|--> ##########
\-> ##########-\
|____|| |
@\___/
@
To use this handy device, just waltz up to that forbidden creaturebox you
never touched again after the 'incident' and kick the cover off. Needless to
say those bugs aren't gonna want you bothering them no matter how bored they
are, so start spraying with your new 'beebox' or whatever you wanna call it,
yeah beebox is good, or maybe pukebox or poisonbox, get creative, there are
too damn many colored box names already.
See how good it works? Even though the terminals are now covered in poison,
they'll still work as good, just don't start sucking on your fingers after
you clamp on those gatorclips or after you plug in to the socket, whatever it
is you do. I should've mentioned this earlier, but if you don't have a button
on your phone labelled "beigebox" you'll need to sand off the label on one of
the buttons and write beigebox on it before you can use it. Have fun!
One last neato burrito thing this beebox is good for is people. If you're
deep in thought and suddenly find a person standing behind you asking what
the hell you're doing, just turn this baby towards their face and let'r rip.
Sure, the spray won't kill anyone but the smallest of midgets, but it's an
excellent temporary deterrant, and will prove invaluable in aiding your
escape. That brings to mind an interesting idea, beiging at midgets' houses
for safety. If you're packing a beebox you're practically invincible beiging
at a midget's house.
This box may be easily converted to the 'macebox' for use on bell security
personnel. These people are evil in that they'd rather work for a giant,
heartless corporation and get paid to make your life difficult than work at
a respectable company doing something far more phreak friendly, so it's
perfectly alright for you to teach them a lesson on manners. Construction of
the macebox is remarkably similar to that of the beebox, and should prove
even more effective on humans than bug spray. I think that's quite enough for
this article, so byebye for now, and good luck not poisoning yourself!
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| Memoirs of a redboxer - by IO Wrath |
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The way I got my tones was by building a special phone tap/line hold device
and had krewl call me up from a payphone and insert two quarters after
calling and connecting with me. I then made a tape from the master containing
$3.50 (good enough for most tasks) by editing/dubbing/etc using a standard
dual tape deck. I've used a RadioShack tone dialer type redbox once or
twice, but I prefer to use a recording (it's never been opposed by a
suspecting operator in my experience, for one thing).
A few things I learned when I first began to redbox in earnest:
Making a local call with a redbox is really a bad idea. For one thing, if
you're calling friends, the suspicious operator (who, BTW, is listening for
some time after connecting you. Afterall, who's to say that your coin tones
registered anyhow? She may have connected you for the sole purpose of
identifying you!) is slowly charting out your activities and forming a list
of suspects. Here are a few ways to place a local call, just if you're
curious or perhaps in serious need:
1. Call the operator. BS her into thinking you are unable to dial from the
number pad due to factors out of your control. (Noc Sage suggested saying the
number pad is vandalized in some way, such as grafiti or even gum. It works
suprisingly well (I've made calls to time & temperature several times this
way). I've also succeded in convincing her I was sight-impared (which I am to
a very small extent, but still feeling guilty from that one). She will then
ask you for the number to be connected to. After this she will ask you to
deposit coins. Play your tones CAREFULLY.
2. Dial 10288 + area code + number (Noc Sage's suggestion).. The only
disadvantage here is having to insert money now and then for a local call.
Do not hold the recorder too close to the microphone. Have the speaker
pointing directly at the earpiece (not at an angle). Also, do not play it too
loud. It is a good idea not to play it too quietly either. Needless to say,
your redbox will require some tuning. One way you will know that you've
screwed up (either it's too loud or you have just plain crappy tones) is that
an operator will come online immediately after you play the tones.
If the recording keeps asking for money, it's too quiet. RadioShack dialers
are much better than recorders in only one respect; It's VERY VERY VERY VERY
VERY easy to use. Just place it's coupler directly on the mouthpiece and fire
away. BTW, even though I've seen Krewl obtain moderate success with a
micro-cassette, I prefer the much improved sound quality of a bigger model
such as a radio shack CTR-101. The only disadvantage to mine is size, hence
visibility.
If an operator says the coins are not registering and says she has/will
return(ed) them, BE CAREFUL. Sometimes she will try to trick you by saying
she's done so, when in reality she has not. Just listen for a loud click or
interruption of sound in the earpiece. If you screw up and fall for this
simple yet obscure ploy, she will lock up the phone and become very rude (not
nessesarily in that order. The rudeness is a constant. You can always expect
that).
Just for the record, I have never fallen for that ploy. In fact, the first
time I discovered that ploy was when an operator tried it on me. I knew that
if indeed she did return coins, the earpiece would have muted. It didn't, so
I insisted that no money was returned. In fact, one time I started shouting
"What the fuck do you mean real money?!?! You think I put in slugs or
something? Damnit! I put over $3 in and I want it back now!! Damn it, forget
it!! <SLAM>". My friend NocSage was there, too.
The reason we figured out that the operator would become very short and rude
if you were fooled by their ploy was because one time NocSage mistakenly
thought he heard the earpiece mute (there was VERY noisy traffic outside). He
said the change was returned and he'd put it back in for her. Ooooooops! She
suddenly went into her bitch mode. Oh well. The phone was temporarily locked,
and later we saw a couple police cars staking it out from a motel parking
lot.
BTW, I still am unsure of how to respond when an operator suggests I try the
coin return. I don't think the machine will return coins when in use, but I
could be wrong. I just keep insisting nothing comes out. I can't help but
laugh at the confusion that the operators display when I'm not falling for
their lame tricks. They actually seem to have doubts about whether I'm a
boxer or not. The second you get an operator online on a long-distance call
is the second you've become suspicious. Just feed quarter tones to the
automated coin thingy. They're much more polite than an operator.
It would have been much easier for me to redbox had I certain segments of the
above information (mainly dealing with actually using and timing the
recording properly), but I had a lot of fun figuring it out myself. I hope I
have not spoiled things for everyone else.
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| The Discbox, yet another type of redbox - by Napalmoliv |
=---------------------------------------------------------=
(This suggestion was also posted to the PLA message board, so you may
have already heard this from me...)
This is only an idea, but it should, in theory, work. If someone could
get the proper equipment and get this together...go right ahead.
Much of the paranoia involved in using the so-called red box is not just
exaggeration; as of late it seems that every few months or so, someone is
caught (or nearly caught) defrauding Ma Bell's public telephones. And when
Mr. Officer comes strolling up to you, what are you gonna do about it, eh?
Run? Ditch your box? Explain that you're conducting a science experiment? I
think not. So he turns you around, pats you down, and discovers your little
pride n' joy, the Rat Shack 43-146. Well, provided your local establishment
doesn't know shit, and provided that you're a smooth talker, you might just
make a clean getaway. But what if there was a reliable, digital,
INCONSPICUOUS way of red boxing? Well, it just might be possible.
This would be by FAR the most expensive (see, getting better already) red box
yet. It requires the following:
1. A decent computer.
2. A Recordable CD drive (CD-R).
3. Software to produce audio files, and software to convert and write them to
the cd.
4. A blank recordable compact disc. (About $6-10 each.)
5. Electronically produced coin tones. (Preferably NOT from a Radio Shack
tone dialer...)
6. Portable CD player (i.e. discman) and headphones. But if you already have
most of the above, it will be one of the cheapest.
"What the hell?!" Well, if you haven't figured it out, the idea is to create
a CD with DIGITAL redbox tones for you to carry around. Just pop it in, head
down to your local pay telephone, dial, hold one of your headphone speakers
up to the mouthpiece, and hit PLAY. The advantages? Well, when the cops pull
up, they'll never suspect your Discman, will they? (Don't write
"SuPeR-31337-HAx0R-pHReAk-mA5cH1N3" all over it, and you shouldn't have any
problems...) "Well, what's the advantage over a mini-cassette recorder?" It's
DIGITAL, so you will have less distortion and loss and therefore get less
ops. Provided you used the genuine tones, (produced digitally by programs
such as Blue Beep and the like, or the QUARTER.VOC file) you will also get
less ops than when using the Radio Shack dialers. And, of course, if you
already have access to the aforementioned devices, what's your cost? About $7
for the blank CD-R disc, as opposed to about $10 for a Hallmark card or $30
for a modified Rat Shack dialer.
First, of course, you would convert the tones (widely available on the
internet) into CD tracks, using a program such as Deck II for Macintosh.
(Just look around on Hotline warez sites to find this or other shit for
Windows.) Some layout suggestions:
1. Leave a few seconds of silence after each series of tones, to allow the
user to stop the CD player before the next tones.
2. Record a variety of amounts, including one, five, and maybe even ten
dollar tracks.
3. Some of the longer series of tones could be recorded in two different
methods, such as rapid-fire "speed-dollars" for use on automated ops, and
then the same series of tones, but with longer, random intervals, for safer
use with live ops.
4. You would have to use the REAL tones, not the ones produced by Rat Shack's
tone dialers, which are actually longer in duration than the true bell tones.
Now that you've gotten all the tracks sorted out, you'd want to use a
program such as Toast to write them all onto the disc. (Check out what
software your CD-R drive came with...)
Play around with the volume settings to get it to work.
Well, that's about it. I haven't been able to try this, mainly due to the
fact that I don't have access to a CD-R at the time being, but I still wanted
everyone who does to be able to do this for themselves (in case you haven't
thought of it already). This just seems like a whole lot safer way to do your
boxing than the traditional methods. Good luck.
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| The UltraBeige Box - by AgentOrange |
=-------------------------------------=
Are you a cheapskate, or just a phreak who likes to talk with his fifth
cousin in the wilds of Australia? Who better to charge all your LD calls to
than an annoying neighbor! Having your "borrowed" Bell lineman's handset is a
good idea, but really could use some nifty features. Now personally I have
never gotten my grubby hands on one of these little toys, but from what I
hear their uses are limited. So I was thinking one day, "What features would
I want included in my beige box?" well here it is...
On your trip to radio shack, you will be picking up (sorry this isn't
specific I don't have recent parts catalog)...