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Indeholder "Steve Wozniak: Foreword", "A Note on Names and Tenses", "Chapter 1. Fine Arts", "Chapter 2. Birth Of a Playground", "Chapter 3. Cat and Canary", "Chapter 4. The Largest Machine in the World", "Chapter 5. Blue Box", "Chapter 6. "Some People Collect Stamps"", "Chapter 7. Headache",
Uden et stort telefonnet med sikkerhedsproblemer, ingen der kan hacke det. Uden hackere, ingen analog bluebox. Uden analoge blueboxe, ingen Wozniak, der bygger en overlegen digital bluebox. Uden Wozniak, ingen Jobs. Uden Steve Wozniak og Steve Jobs, ingen Apple og Mac-computere. Det er i alt fald Wozniaks egen konklusion i forordet.
1. handler om en annonce, der fanger en Harvard studerendes interesse og starter lidt undersøgelser i telefon-hacking.
2. handler om opfindelsen af først telegrafen og så telefonen. AT&T, Bell, Bell labs etc. Markedet er kæmpestort. Centralerne bliver automatiserede efter først at være bemandet med teenagere og derefter unge kvinder.
3. handler om den første rigtige telefonhacker. kaldet Davy Crockett, fordi han finder ud af at en Davy Crockett Cat and Canary Bird Call Flute laver en lyd som kan bruges til at snyde telefonsystemet med. I 1950 opdager han at det lokale bilbliotek abonnerer på Bell Laboratory Record og at Oak Ridge er det perfekte sted at ringe fra. Mest for sjov.
4. handler om at AT&T nemt kan regne ud at de er nødt til at automatisere langdistanceomstillingen hvis de ikke vil ansætte alle unge kvinder som omstillingsdamer. Strowger switches og maskiner som #4A crossbar switch på størrelse med en boligblok er svaret.
5. Ralph Barclay falder over det nys udgivne november 1960 nummer af Bell System Technical Journal og læser i det. Han bliver slået af muligheden for at ringe gratis, hvis man kan lave de rigtige tonesignaler og bygger en boks til det. Boksen er blå, så begrebet blueboxing er hermed født. Han bliver snuppet og får en advarsel, men selve muligheden er jo bygget ind i hardwaren og kan ikke lige fikses.
6. Charlie Pyne har lige fået adgang til en selvvalgstelefon og begynder at ringe til omstillingsnumrene 220-1212, 221-1212, osv. Der er 640 af dem og nogle af dem ringer ud af området. Fx 331-1212, der går til Boston. Mange 331-numre er interessante, så han prøver også de fleste af dem. Det er fint til at holde gratis forbindelse til kæresten, mens han er på Guvernor Dummers Academy Highschool. Senere på Harvard blandt andre nørder, der er lidt udenfor, er hans viden om telefonsystemet guld værd. De morer sig indtil FBI ringer på fordi nogen synes de ligner spioner. Det løber selvfølgelig helt ud i sandet.
7. AT&T har et problem, for det er sikkert ikke ulovligt. Og hvis det er, så er det forskelligt fra delstat til delstat. Og anklagere og lovgivere vil slet ikke røre sagerne. I stedet iværksætter AT&T et måske ulovligt overvågningsprogram GreenStar til at undersøge omfanget af bluebox'ing og blackbox'ing. Det giver hovedpine at tænke på at hele fundamentet for telefonselskabets indtjening måske er ved at blive mølædt.
8. På et tidspunkt i 1963 får FBI fat i nogle bookmakere, der bruger blueboxing til at ringe gratis. Det lykkes at få dom for at man ikke har privatlivsbeskyttelse, hvis man telefonerer ulovligt.
9. Joset Carl Engressia Jr. kaldet Jojo er født i 1940 og født blind. Han opdager at han kan fløjte 2600 Hz og begynder at eksperimentere med telefonsystemet. Da han kommer på high-school vædder han med de andre om hvorvidt han kan fløjte et gratis langdistance-opkald. Telefonfolkene opdager ham og General Telephone melder ham til rektor, der suspenderer ham for et år. Familien støtter ham "We're going to stick right by him. Anyone who can outsmart a computer - I'm with them." Han får en lille bøde, men snart er han i gang igen. Men også denne gang slipper han med en betinget straf og faktisk får han et job på grund af omtalen.
10. Bill Acker er også født blind. Han morer sig også med at sende lyde ind i telefonen og høre hvad der sker. Man kan høre forskel på de forskellige centraler og nogle af dem er mere modtagelige for narrestreger end andre. Skolen har et Hammond orgel og han har en båndoptager. Fx kan han ringe til oplysningen og afbryde linien med en tone og så ringe et andet nummer. Desværre dukker det op i loggen hos telefonselskabet, for det andet nummer sender svartone og det gør oplysningen ikke (for det er den måde, de har lavet det til et gratisnummer på). En af Ackers venner bliver opdaget og giver undersøgeren navnet på Acker. Øv. Men han er nu ikke afskrækket ret længe.
11. En irriterende person, John Thomas Draper, kalder sig Captain Crunch og kan mange tricks. De udnytter testloops i systemet og 2111-konferencelinier, hvor man kan tale flere på en gang.
12. En journalist Ron Rosenbaum får fat i historien om teenagere og unge, der hacker telefonsystemet og hans stavemåde phone phreaks danner skole. Han citerer også Captain Crunch for nogle usandheder, fx at de kan lægge systemet ned blandt andet vha Tandem stacking, dvs ved at ringe frem og tilbage mellem centraler og derved optage en forbindelseslinie pr gang. I praksis dur det ikke med mere end seks eller syv forbindelser pr gang. Men artiklen i oktober 1971 nummeret af Esquire bliver en klassiker. Det hele er trigget af at telefonselskabet har haft fingre i en Gilbertson, der sælger Blue Box'e. Artiklen fortæller også at nogle af phreaksene har en evne til at bullshitte telefonansatte til at gøre ting, de ikke burde gøre. Nutildags hedder det social engineering.
Artiklen betyder også at telefonselskabet gør noget seriøst ved problemet, så Draper sætter sine bluebox kasser ned i haveskuret "They don't live with me anymore." og forventer besøg. Ganske morsomt afsløres det også at telefonselskabets tekniske undersøgelsesafdeling afviser tandem stacking som pral: Det kan man slet ikke.
13. AT&T sætter tit priserne op og vil gerne have ekstra for alt muligt, fx $1 pr telefonapparat i 1970. Folk er trætte af dem. Telefonsystemet bryder ned i 1969 og i 1970 i nogle af de større byer. De har ord for at være stive og arrogante "We don't care. We don't have to. We're the phone company.". Oven i det har regeringen lagt en 10% skat på langdistance opkald og bruger pengene til delvis finansiering af Vietnam krigen, så for de unge er det win-win at kunne snyde telefonselskabet for penge og måske samtidig gøre det sværere at sende dem til Vietnam for at dø. Bladet YIP forklarer fx hvordan man laver fup-telefonkreditkortnumre. Mother Bell tager fløjlshandskerne af.
14. AT&T har nu fået lovgivningen på plads og politiet med på at holde øjnene åbne, så Captain Crunch bliver fanget. Et tidsskrift Rampart trykker et nummer med anvisninger på phreaking, men det bliver stoppet ret brutalt af AT&T's advokater. Draper får en bøde og en betinget straf.
15. Wozniak og Jobs får nys om at man kan lave skøre ting med en blue box og det nærliggende bibliotek har et nummer af et Bell Labs blad, der giver detaljerne om tonegenerering. Wozniak kan ikke få det til at virke ordentligt, men tænker at det er fordi tonegeneratoren er lavet analogt, dvs komponentunøjagtig og følsomhed gør at man rammer forkert på de 2600 Hz. Han bygger prompte en digital udgave, der virker i første forsøg. De laver et tocifret antal bokse og Wozniak lægger en lille seddel i hver "He's got the whole world in his hands". Det er ment som en slags garantibevis og er en typisk Wozniak joke. FBI sporer den aldrig tilbage til ham, men i de næste par år bliver mange af køberne knaldet af politiet. Wozniak selv bruger en blue box til at ringe paven op. Draper bruger den til at finde et nummer til Det hvide Hus og ringer Nixon op midt om natten og fortæller ham at der er en krise i New York. Der mangler toiletpapir.
16. AT&T begynder på et projekt med at lave computerstyrede omstillinger, hvilket er modigt her i computernes barndom og først i 1960 har de en prototype kaldet Morris. I 1965 har de den første produktionsmodel klar kaldet No. 1. ESS. Nogle af phreak-tricksene går bag af dansen efterhånden som computerne tager over og AT&T tager hårdede fat rent juridisk. I 1974 går de som regel efter domfældelse.
17. Draper gør noget dumt i juni 1975. Han har fundet ud af at man kan aflytte linier. Og beslutter sig for at aflytte et FBI nummer i San Francisco. Og så praler han med det over en af hans venner, en kendt kriminel, Chic Eder, hvilket er dumt for han er meddeler for FBI. Eder køber en blue box af Draper og får en demonstration af at man kan aflytte FBI i San Francisco selv om man sidder i New York. Faktisk optager han det på en skjult båndoptager, så telefonselskabet har lidt svært ved at forklare FBI at det skulle være umuligt. Sjovt nok sker der ingenting, for man vil ikke risikere at Eder bliver afsløret. Telefonselskabet lukker hullet og FBI agenterne får besked på at få Draper ud af spillet på en anden måde.
18. Wayne Perrin er sikkerhedsmand i Pacific Telephone. I 1975 er der folk, der misbruger 611 telefonnummeret og der er også nogle der stjæler uniformer og testsæt. Hvad foregår der? Det lykkes dem at låse linien, mens en spasmager ringer til dem. Det giver forbindelse til en Paul Sheridan, der bliver informant eller stikker for Pacific Bell. Han kan fortælle at man fx kan blueboxe sig ind i et militært telefonnet AUTOVON, som Perrin ikke selv har hørt om. Telefonerne til det net har fire ekstra taster. FO, F, I og P. Forkortelser for Flash Override, Flash, Immediate og Priority. Fidusen til at komme ind hedder guard banding. Man blander 3200 Hz og 2600 Hz og skruer op og ned for styrken for de 3200 Hz ind imellem.
19. Captain Crunch er selv ved at blive crunched. Sheridan har fortalt om ham og ca 60 andre. FBI holder øje med Draper og får ham i fedtefadet. Han får tre måneder i et føderalt fængsel og der er første gang for en phone freak, så det booster hans ego endnu mere.
20. AT&T begynder i 1976 at putte CCIS = common channel interoffice signaling i operation. Det er et separat system, hvor omstillingsinformation går af en anden kanal end tale (smart!). Samtidig er de under angreb fra Carterfones og MCI der leverer mikrobølgekommunikation mellem storbyer billigere end AT&T. Endnu værre er FX'er, dvs Foreign eXchange. Execunet og Sprint følger snart efter. Antitrust lovgivning begynder at bide AT&T i benet. I 1956 lykkedes en tilsvarende proces ikke, men de føderale myndigheder kan godt huske den slags, så der er lagt i kakkelovnen til at splitte AT&T op i mindre selskaber og fremstillingsvirksomheden Western Electric skal også splittes fra. I kølvandet på Watergate ruller en telefon-skandale, Southern Bell har købt sig til indflydelse, så deres priser ikke blev undersøgt, men bare sat op, når de bad om det. Og deres lille GreenStar aflytning kommer også frem. Men de klarer sig faktisk. Imens har Intel sat gang i en Intel 8008, en ottebitsprocessor til $120 stykket. I 1974 kommer 8080 og så kan man begynde at bruge den til noget. I januar 1975 kommer Popular Electronics med en Altair 8800. $397 men så har den også 256 bytes memory og kan kun programmeres via switches på frontpanelet. Altair 8800 sælges af et firma kaldet MITS og et par Harvard studerende finder på at lave en Basic fortolker til den. De hedder Paul Allen og Bill Gates. De dropper ud af Harvard og laver deres eget firma, som de kalder Micro-Soft. Et hav af lignende firmaer popper op, med masser af lignende produkter, fx en Apple-I til $666. I 1977 kan man gå ned i Radio Shack og købe en TRS-80 minicomputer som hyldevare. Helt uhørt bare året før.
21. I 1976 er det farligt at lave phreaking, hvis man ikke vil arresteres. Det afholder dog ikke Draper fra at få job ved Wozniak og lave et Charley Board, der er tilbehør til en Apple II og velegnet til at lave tricks med telefonsystemet fra en computer. Egressia bliver ansat af telefonselskabet. Draper får en mild dom, hvor han kan lave noget nyttigt undervejs, så han koder EasyWriter, det første tekstbehandlingsprogram til Apple II computeren. Acker forsøger også at få et job, hvilket lykkes. Samtidigt kører der en monopol-retssag mod AT&T og de ender med at indgå et forlig og splitte op i Ma Bell og de små Baby Bells. Det giver renere snit mellem de enkelte selskab og mulighederne for at lave phreaking dør stille ud.
Epilogue fortæller om de forskellige nævntes skæbner sidenhen. Det går faktisk de fleste af dem rigtig godt.
Sjov beskrivelse af telefonsystemet som et sted, man kan udforske. Omstillingspersonalet er også ret godtroende, så man kommer hurtigt til at tænke på computervirus. Om man er teenager og udgiver sig for at være telefonmand eller computervirus og udgiver sig for at være ILOVEYOU.jpg er lidt det samme. Nu til dags kan man sikkert få tilsvarende oplevelser ved at se om man kan hacke styresystemet til en Tesla.
Kapitel 6 om Harvard og MIT, der har forbundne lokale omstillingsborde, minder mig om 1980, hvor matematik, kemi og fysik havde tilsvarende koblinger og hvor man kunne ringe fra den ene til den anden og tilbage igen, så man endte med at bruge alle linierne.
Bogen er grundigt researchet og der er ca 80 sider noter og tak til sidst foruden et nyttigt opslagsregister.
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"Chapter 8. Blue Box Bookies", "Chapter 9. Little JoJo Learns to Whistle", "Chapter 10. Bill Acker Learns to Play the Flute", "Chapter 11. The Phone Freaks Of America", "Chapter 12. The Law Of Unintended Consequences", "Chapter 13. Counterculture", "Chapter 14. Busted", "Chapter 15. Pranks", "Chapter 16. The Story Of a War", "Chapter 17. A Little Bit Stupid", "Chapter 18. Snitch", "Chapter 19. Crunched", "Chapter 20. Twilight", "Chapter 21. Nightfall", "Epilogue", "Sources and Notes", "Acknowledgements", "Index".Uden et stort telefonnet med sikkerhedsproblemer, ingen der kan hacke det. Uden hackere, ingen analog bluebox. Uden analoge blueboxe, ingen Wozniak, der bygger en overlegen digital bluebox. Uden Wozniak, ingen Jobs. Uden Steve Wozniak og Steve Jobs, ingen Apple og Mac-computere. Det er i alt fald Wozniaks egen konklusion i forordet.
1. handler om en annonce, der fanger en Harvard studerendes interesse og starter lidt undersøgelser i telefon-hacking.
2. handler om opfindelsen af først telegrafen og så telefonen. AT&T, Bell, Bell labs etc. Markedet er kæmpestort. Centralerne bliver automatiserede efter først at være bemandet med teenagere og derefter unge kvinder.
3. handler om den første rigtige telefonhacker. kaldet Davy Crockett, fordi han finder ud af at en Davy Crockett Cat and Canary Bird Call Flute laver en lyd som kan bruges til at snyde telefonsystemet med. I 1950 opdager han at det lokale bilbliotek abonnerer på Bell Laboratory Record og at Oak Ridge er det perfekte sted at ringe fra. Mest for sjov.
4. handler om at AT&T nemt kan regne ud at de er nødt til at automatisere langdistanceomstillingen hvis de ikke vil ansætte alle unge kvinder som omstillingsdamer. Strowger switches og maskiner som #4A crossbar switch på størrelse med en boligblok er svaret.
5. Ralph Barclay falder over det nys udgivne november 1960 nummer af Bell System Technical Journal og læser i det. Han bliver slået af muligheden for at ringe gratis, hvis man kan lave de rigtige tonesignaler og bygger en boks til det. Boksen er blå, så begrebet blueboxing er hermed født. Han bliver snuppet og får en advarsel, men selve muligheden er jo bygget ind i hardwaren og kan ikke lige fikses.
6. Charlie Pyne har lige fået adgang til en selvvalgstelefon og begynder at ringe til omstillingsnumrene 220-1212, 221-1212, osv. Der er 640 af dem og nogle af dem ringer ud af området. Fx 331-1212, der går til Boston. Mange 331-numre er interessante, så han prøver også de fleste af dem. Det er fint til at holde gratis forbindelse til kæresten, mens han er på Guvernor Dummers Academy Highschool. Senere på Harvard blandt andre nørder, der er lidt udenfor, er hans viden om telefonsystemet guld værd. De morer sig indtil FBI ringer på fordi nogen synes de ligner spioner. Det løber selvfølgelig helt ud i sandet.
7. AT&T har et problem, for det er sikkert ikke ulovligt. Og hvis det er, så er det forskelligt fra delstat til delstat. Og anklagere og lovgivere vil slet ikke røre sagerne. I stedet iværksætter AT&T et måske ulovligt overvågningsprogram GreenStar til at undersøge omfanget af bluebox'ing og blackbox'ing. Det giver hovedpine at tænke på at hele fundamentet for telefonselskabets indtjening måske er ved at blive mølædt.
8. På et tidspunkt i 1963 får FBI fat i nogle bookmakere, der bruger blueboxing til at ringe gratis. Det lykkes at få dom for at man ikke har privatlivsbeskyttelse, hvis man telefonerer ulovligt.
9. Joset Carl Engressia Jr. kaldet Jojo er født i 1940 og født blind. Han opdager at han kan fløjte 2600 Hz og begynder at eksperimentere med telefonsystemet. Da han kommer på high-school vædder han med de andre om hvorvidt han kan fløjte et gratis langdistance-opkald. Telefonfolkene opdager ham og General Telephone melder ham til rektor, der suspenderer ham for et år. Familien støtter ham "We're going to stick right by him. Anyone who can outsmart a computer - I'm with them." Han får en lille bøde, men snart er han i gang igen. Men også denne gang slipper han med en betinget straf og faktisk får han et job på grund af omtalen.
10. Bill Acker er også født blind. Han morer sig også med at sende lyde ind i telefonen og høre hvad der sker. Man kan høre forskel på de forskellige centraler og nogle af dem er mere modtagelige for narrestreger end andre. Skolen har et Hammond orgel og han har en båndoptager. Fx kan han ringe til oplysningen og afbryde linien med en tone og så ringe et andet nummer. Desværre dukker det op i loggen hos telefonselskabet, for det andet nummer sender svartone og det gør oplysningen ikke (for det er den måde, de har lavet det til et gratisnummer på). En af Ackers venner bliver opdaget og giver undersøgeren navnet på Acker. Øv. Men han er nu ikke afskrækket ret længe.
11. En irriterende person, John Thomas Draper, kalder sig Captain Crunch og kan mange tricks. De udnytter testloops i systemet og 2111-konferencelinier, hvor man kan tale flere på en gang.
12. En journalist Ron Rosenbaum får fat i historien om teenagere og unge, der hacker telefonsystemet og hans stavemåde phone phreaks danner skole. Han citerer også Captain Crunch for nogle usandheder, fx at de kan lægge systemet ned blandt andet vha Tandem stacking, dvs ved at ringe frem og tilbage mellem centraler og derved optage en forbindelseslinie pr gang. I praksis dur det ikke med mere end seks eller syv forbindelser pr gang. Men artiklen i oktober 1971 nummeret af Esquire bliver en klassiker. Det hele er trigget af at telefonselskabet har haft fingre i en Gilbertson, der sælger Blue Box'e. Artiklen fortæller også at nogle af phreaksene har en evne til at bullshitte telefonansatte til at gøre ting, de ikke burde gøre. Nutildags hedder det social engineering.
Artiklen betyder også at telefonselskabet gør noget seriøst ved problemet, så Draper sætter sine bluebox kasser ned i haveskuret "They don't live with me anymore." og forventer besøg. Ganske morsomt afsløres det også at telefonselskabets tekniske undersøgelsesafdeling afviser tandem stacking som pral: Det kan man slet ikke.
13. AT&T sætter tit priserne op og vil gerne have ekstra for alt muligt, fx $1 pr telefonapparat i 1970. Folk er trætte af dem. Telefonsystemet bryder ned i 1969 og i 1970 i nogle af de større byer. De har ord for at være stive og arrogante "We don't care. We don't have to. We're the phone company.". Oven i det har regeringen lagt en 10% skat på langdistance opkald og bruger pengene til delvis finansiering af Vietnam krigen, så for de unge er det win-win at kunne snyde telefonselskabet for penge og måske samtidig gøre det sværere at sende dem til Vietnam for at dø. Bladet YIP forklarer fx hvordan man laver fup-telefonkreditkortnumre. Mother Bell tager fløjlshandskerne af.
14. AT&T har nu fået lovgivningen på plads og politiet med på at holde øjnene åbne, så Captain Crunch bliver fanget. Et tidsskrift Rampart trykker et nummer med anvisninger på phreaking, men det bliver stoppet ret brutalt af AT&T's advokater. Draper får en bøde og en betinget straf.
15. Wozniak og Jobs får nys om at man kan lave skøre ting med en blue box og det nærliggende bibliotek har et nummer af et Bell Labs blad, der giver detaljerne om tonegenerering. Wozniak kan ikke få det til at virke ordentligt, men tænker at det er fordi tonegeneratoren er lavet analogt, dvs komponentunøjagtig og følsomhed gør at man rammer forkert på de 2600 Hz. Han bygger prompte en digital udgave, der virker i første forsøg. De laver et tocifret antal bokse og Wozniak lægger en lille seddel i hver "He's got the whole world in his hands". Det er ment som en slags garantibevis og er en typisk Wozniak joke. FBI sporer den aldrig tilbage til ham, men i de næste par år bliver mange af køberne knaldet af politiet. Wozniak selv bruger en blue box til at ringe paven op. Draper bruger den til at finde et nummer til Det hvide Hus og ringer Nixon op midt om natten og fortæller ham at der er en krise i New York. Der mangler toiletpapir.
16. AT&T begynder på et projekt med at lave computerstyrede omstillinger, hvilket er modigt her i computernes barndom og først i 1960 har de en prototype kaldet Morris. I 1965 har de den første produktionsmodel klar kaldet No. 1. ESS. Nogle af phreak-tricksene går bag af dansen efterhånden som computerne tager over og AT&T tager hårdede fat rent juridisk. I 1974 går de som regel efter domfældelse.
17. Draper gør noget dumt i juni 1975. Han har fundet ud af at man kan aflytte linier. Og beslutter sig for at aflytte et FBI nummer i San Francisco. Og så praler han med det over en af hans venner, en kendt kriminel, Chic Eder, hvilket er dumt for han er meddeler for FBI. Eder køber en blue box af Draper og får en demonstration af at man kan aflytte FBI i San Francisco selv om man sidder i New York. Faktisk optager han det på en skjult båndoptager, så telefonselskabet har lidt svært ved at forklare FBI at det skulle være umuligt. Sjovt nok sker der ingenting, for man vil ikke risikere at Eder bliver afsløret. Telefonselskabet lukker hullet og FBI agenterne får besked på at få Draper ud af spillet på en anden måde.
18. Wayne Perrin er sikkerhedsmand i Pacific Telephone. I 1975 er der folk, der misbruger 611 telefonnummeret og der er også nogle der stjæler uniformer og testsæt. Hvad foregår der? Det lykkes dem at låse linien, mens en spasmager ringer til dem. Det giver forbindelse til en Paul Sheridan, der bliver informant eller stikker for Pacific Bell. Han kan fortælle at man fx kan blueboxe sig ind i et militært telefonnet AUTOVON, som Perrin ikke selv har hørt om. Telefonerne til det net har fire ekstra taster. FO, F, I og P. Forkortelser for Flash Override, Flash, Immediate og Priority. Fidusen til at komme ind hedder guard banding. Man blander 3200 Hz og 2600 Hz og skruer op og ned for styrken for de 3200 Hz ind imellem.
19. Captain Crunch er selv ved at blive crunched. Sheridan har fortalt om ham og ca 60 andre. FBI holder øje med Draper og får ham i fedtefadet. Han får tre måneder i et føderalt fængsel og der er første gang for en phone freak, så det booster hans ego endnu mere.
20. AT&T begynder i 1976 at putte CCIS = common channel interoffice signaling i operation. Det er et separat system, hvor omstillingsinformation går af en anden kanal end tale (smart!). Samtidig er de under angreb fra Carterfones og MCI der leverer mikrobølgekommunikation mellem storbyer billigere end AT&T. Endnu værre er FX'er, dvs Foreign eXchange. Execunet og Sprint følger snart efter. Antitrust lovgivning begynder at bide AT&T i benet. I 1956 lykkedes en tilsvarende proces ikke, men de føderale myndigheder kan godt huske den slags, så der er lagt i kakkelovnen til at splitte AT&T op i mindre selskaber og fremstillingsvirksomheden Western Electric skal også splittes fra. I kølvandet på Watergate ruller en telefon-skandale, Southern Bell har købt sig til indflydelse, så deres priser ikke blev undersøgt, men bare sat op, når de bad om det. Og deres lille GreenStar aflytning kommer også frem. Men de klarer sig faktisk. Imens har Intel sat gang i en Intel 8008, en ottebitsprocessor til $120 stykket. I 1974 kommer 8080 og så kan man begynde at bruge den til noget. I januar 1975 kommer Popular Electronics med en Altair 8800. $397 men så har den også 256 bytes memory og kan kun programmeres via switches på frontpanelet. Altair 8800 sælges af et firma kaldet MITS og et par Harvard studerende finder på at lave en Basic fortolker til den. De hedder Paul Allen og Bill Gates. De dropper ud af Harvard og laver deres eget firma, som de kalder Micro-Soft. Et hav af lignende firmaer popper op, med masser af lignende produkter, fx en Apple-I til $666. I 1977 kan man gå ned i Radio Shack og købe en TRS-80 minicomputer som hyldevare. Helt uhørt bare året før.
21. I 1976 er det farligt at lave phreaking, hvis man ikke vil arresteres. Det afholder dog ikke Draper fra at få job ved Wozniak og lave et Charley Board, der er tilbehør til en Apple II og velegnet til at lave tricks med telefonsystemet fra en computer. Egressia bliver ansat af telefonselskabet. Draper får en mild dom, hvor han kan lave noget nyttigt undervejs, så han koder EasyWriter, det første tekstbehandlingsprogram til Apple II computeren. Acker forsøger også at få et job, hvilket lykkes. Samtidigt kører der en monopol-retssag mod AT&T og de ender med at indgå et forlig og splitte op i Ma Bell og de små Baby Bells. Det giver renere snit mellem de enkelte selskab og mulighederne for at lave phreaking dør stille ud.
Epilogue fortæller om de forskellige nævntes skæbner sidenhen. Det går faktisk de fleste af dem rigtig godt.
Sjov beskrivelse af telefonsystemet som et sted, man kan udforske. Omstillingspersonalet er også ret godtroende, så man kommer hurtigt til at tænke på computervirus. Om man er teenager og udgiver sig for at være telefonmand eller computervirus og udgiver sig for at være ILOVEYOU.jpg er lidt det samme. Nu til dags kan man sikkert få tilsvarende oplevelser ved at se om man kan hacke styresystemet til en Tesla.
Kapitel 6 om Harvard og MIT, der har forbundne lokale omstillingsborde, minder mig om 1980, hvor matematik, kemi og fysik havde tilsvarende koblinger og hvor man kunne ringe fra den ene til den anden og tilbage igen, så man endte med at bruge alle linierne.
Bogen er grundigt researchet og der er ca 80 sider noter og tak til sidst foruden et nyttigt opslagsregister.
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Genres
Publication
New York Grove Press 2013
Description
Before smartphones, before the Internet and before the personal computer, a misfit group of technophiles, blind teenagers, hippies, and outlaws figured out how to hack the world's largest machine: the telephone system. Starting with Alexander Graham Bell's revolutionary "harmonic telegraph," by the middle of the twentieth century the phone system had grown into something extraordinary, a web of cutting-edge switching machines and human operators that linked together millions of people like never before. Unfortunately for the telephone company, the network has a billion-dollar flaw. And once people discovered it, things would never the be the same. Phil Lapsley's Exploding the Phone tells this story in full for the first time. It traces the birth of long distance communication and the telephone, the rise of AT&T's monopoly, the creation of the sophisticated machines that made it all work, and the discovery of Ma Bell's Achilles' heel. Lapsley expertly weaves together the clandestine underground of "phone phreaks" who turned the network into the electronic playground, the mobsters who exploited its flaws to avoid the feds, and the counterculture movement that argued you should rip off the phone company to fight against the war in Vietnam...AT&T responded with "Greenstar"...The FBI fought back, too...Phone phreaking exploded into the popular culture, with famous actors, musicians, and investors caught with "blue boxes," many of them built by two young phone phreaks named Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak...The product of extensive original research, including exclusive interviews and declassified government documents, Exploding the Phone is a captivating, ground-breaking work about an important part of our cultural and technological history -- Publisher's description.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member WaltNoise
Exploding the Phone is a comprehensive, highly readable history of the phone phreaking movement. Lapsley has done his homework, pouring over Government and Phone Company documents. He’s done whatever was necessary to gain the trust of the surviving phreaks, to the point of giving Captain Crunch a
Younger readers probably do not realize that The Phone Company was once more powerful than the Federal government, mainly because there was only The Phone Company, no others. A knock on the door from Bell Security was more to be feared more than a visit from the FBI.
Lapsley does an excellent job of making that understandable. He also explains long gone technical arcana such as party lines, switchboards, and telephone exchanges. He recreates an era when long-distance calls were expensive and conference calls were illegal. It was illegal to own your phone; all equipment had to be leased from Ma Bell. Phreaking doesn’t make sense without this background, and Lapsley makes it into an exciting story. It would have been easy to get bogged down in technical detail, but the details that will fascinate electrical engineers are confined to the notes.
Steve Wozniak has written the foreword. That’s because he and Steve Jobs were phone phreaks. The first ‘Apple’ products were illegal blue boxes. Thank the phreaks for your iPad and iPhone; if Ma Bell still ruled the world, there would be no music downloads, and much else we all take for granted.
All sources are extensively detailed in the notes, and Lapsley’s website has an archive of many of the documents.
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piggyback ride. (Still crazy after all these years!) Younger readers probably do not realize that The Phone Company was once more powerful than the Federal government, mainly because there was only The Phone Company, no others. A knock on the door from Bell Security was more to be feared more than a visit from the FBI.
Lapsley does an excellent job of making that understandable. He also explains long gone technical arcana such as party lines, switchboards, and telephone exchanges. He recreates an era when long-distance calls were expensive and conference calls were illegal. It was illegal to own your phone; all equipment had to be leased from Ma Bell. Phreaking doesn’t make sense without this background, and Lapsley makes it into an exciting story. It would have been easy to get bogged down in technical detail, but the details that will fascinate electrical engineers are confined to the notes.
Steve Wozniak has written the foreword. That’s because he and Steve Jobs were phone phreaks. The first ‘Apple’ products were illegal blue boxes. Thank the phreaks for your iPad and iPhone; if Ma Bell still ruled the world, there would be no music downloads, and much else we all take for granted.
All sources are extensively detailed in the notes, and Lapsley’s website has an archive of many of the documents.
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LibraryThing member pussreboots
I'm a little too young to have grown up in the phone phreak heyday, but as a toddler, I had neighbor who caught the tail end of it. Whenever there was a block party, he would round up us kids, take us to his room and show us a trick with the phone.
I can remember his tricks seeming like magic. To my
What I didn't understand back then, was that between the two simple devices was a complex (and somewhat bodged together) system. The flaws and short cuts in the system were what made my neighbor's tricks possible.
Exploding the Phone by Philip Lapsley, then, is the history of the phone system in the early days, through the Ma Bell days, and the breakup of the company — and how users have explored and hacked the system in these different eras.
I really can't imagine a more perfect book for my personal library. I wish I also had a copy of The Phone Book by Ammon Shea as a companion piece. This book worked for me on so many levels: the early history, the lengthy but engaging description of the technology (both of the phone exchanges and that the phreaks used), and it's legacy effects on the infrastructure of the internet.
Although I originally read an egalley from NetGalley, I have since purchased a copy for my home library. I have lost track of how many people I have recommended the book to in the last couple of months.
I can remember his tricks seeming like magic. To my
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toddler understanding of the world, the phone was a simple device — a box with either numbers for pushing (for fancy phones), or circle with finger holes that had the numbers 0 to 9 and letters above some of the holes for old fashioned numbers. It also had a hidden bell that would ring if a call came through. Making calls took picking up the phone, asking the operator or if you knew the number, dialing it.What I didn't understand back then, was that between the two simple devices was a complex (and somewhat bodged together) system. The flaws and short cuts in the system were what made my neighbor's tricks possible.
Exploding the Phone by Philip Lapsley, then, is the history of the phone system in the early days, through the Ma Bell days, and the breakup of the company — and how users have explored and hacked the system in these different eras.
I really can't imagine a more perfect book for my personal library. I wish I also had a copy of The Phone Book by Ammon Shea as a companion piece. This book worked for me on so many levels: the early history, the lengthy but engaging description of the technology (both of the phone exchanges and that the phreaks used), and it's legacy effects on the infrastructure of the internet.
Although I originally read an egalley from NetGalley, I have since purchased a copy for my home library. I have lost track of how many people I have recommended the book to in the last couple of months.
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LibraryThing member delphica
I stayed up much, much too late reading this book. I loved it, but I also recognize that it's the kind of book where you probably have to go into it with a foundational interest in the subject matter - in this case, the phone phreaking of the 50s, 60s, and 70s, in which teenagers and young adults
It also helps if you like phone history overall, which I do. The other big aspect of this book is a look at the evolution of the phone system, in terms of policy and equipment, which is so in-depth that one of two things will happen: you will be even more impressed by the ingenuity of the phone phreaks, OR you will think I'm a lunatic for being this excited by this book. It also explains a lot about the user experience through the decades, which is awesome in giving some context to the various outdated phone things depicted in books and movies -- like what is happening behind the scenes when operators placed voice calls, and you'll recognize (well, if "you" are a phone obsessed person) all the different variations on operator actions, codes and responses.
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made a hobby out of finding and messing around with exploits in the AT&T phone system.It also helps if you like phone history overall, which I do. The other big aspect of this book is a look at the evolution of the phone system, in terms of policy and equipment, which is so in-depth that one of two things will happen: you will be even more impressed by the ingenuity of the phone phreaks, OR you will think I'm a lunatic for being this excited by this book. It also explains a lot about the user experience through the decades, which is awesome in giving some context to the various outdated phone things depicted in books and movies -- like what is happening behind the scenes when operators placed voice calls, and you'll recognize (well, if "you" are a phone obsessed person) all the different variations on operator actions, codes and responses.
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LibraryThing member timtom
This book is a quite detailed history of the rise of phone phreaking from the early 50s until the dawn of the 80s, with an entertaining mix of anecdotal, historical and technical details. Phone exploits are explained with just the amount of precision to make satisfy the technically minded yet
While I enjoyed learning more about early telephone technology and the almost mythical phone phreaks that were the ancestors of computer hackers, I still found this book a bit tedious to read, especially after the first two thirds or thereabouts. There seems to be too much emphasis on the FBI investigations agains the phreaks and their sometimes pathetic response, compared on the first chapters on technological history and the discovery of various telephone exploits.
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without delving into tediousness. It also provides a nice background into the history of the telephone, and the evolution of its network in the USA.While I enjoyed learning more about early telephone technology and the almost mythical phone phreaks that were the ancestors of computer hackers, I still found this book a bit tedious to read, especially after the first two thirds or thereabouts. There seems to be too much emphasis on the FBI investigations agains the phreaks and their sometimes pathetic response, compared on the first chapters on technological history and the discovery of various telephone exploits.
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LibraryThing member rivercityreading
Following some of the first hackers, known as "phone phreaks", Exploding the Phone is a great mashup of the history of the telephone and the mostly innocent efforts to crack its system. Even beyond the tricks the hackers used, I was fascinated by the methods the telephone companies used to keep
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customers and earn money. This is a great, broad-reaching book that will interest almost any reader. Show Less
LibraryThing member karieh
“Exploding the Phone” provides a look back into the past – into another generation of hackers…one that seems more innocent than the hackers of today. This is a story of teenagers (many of them blind, which was an interesting fact) and of people who were born tinkers, interested in knowing
As portrayed in Esquire magazine in the early 1970’s – these “phone phreaks”, as they were christened, lived in a kind of “an electronic mecca: a legendary conference call setup called “2111” that only phone phreaks could reach, one where dozens of teenagers would talk for hours, exchanging information on the telephone system and swapping tales of their adventures. Their hobby may have been illegal but Rosenbaum portrayed most of the phreaks as possessing the innocence of monks, electronic seminary students studying the Bell System’s long-distance network as if it were scripture.”
College students, high school students…and a young Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak explored the nation’s telephone system - curious to see what was possible. Their exploration was not legal (most of the time) but it wasn’t one bent on destruction, which was refreshing.
As Jobs put it, “It was the magic of the fact that two teenagers could build this box for $100 worth of parts and control hundreds of billions of dollars of infrastructure in the entire telephone network of the whole world from Las Altos and Cupertino, California. That was magical!” He concluded, “If we hadn’t made blue boxes, there would have been no Apple.”
To be honest, the connection with Apple was the most interesting element of the book for me. At times it got too technical…which is probably what many people with an interest in the subject want…but I got a bit lost. As a lay reader – I was fascinated by the mentions of the two Steves…and also the names of famous (and wealthy) people who were using their phone technology.
And especially, at the end, to think about this “what if?” “Say Wozniak and Jobs hadn’t been so lucky when they wound up in the back of the police car that evening back in 1972, when they convinced the cops that their blue box was actually a music synthesizer. Say they had been arrested, possibly gone to jail. We might never have had Apple computer or any of the other things that Apple went on to make. Would we be the better for it?”
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everything they could about the biggest technological behemoth of their day: the telephone system.As portrayed in Esquire magazine in the early 1970’s – these “phone phreaks”, as they were christened, lived in a kind of “an electronic mecca: a legendary conference call setup called “2111” that only phone phreaks could reach, one where dozens of teenagers would talk for hours, exchanging information on the telephone system and swapping tales of their adventures. Their hobby may have been illegal but Rosenbaum portrayed most of the phreaks as possessing the innocence of monks, electronic seminary students studying the Bell System’s long-distance network as if it were scripture.”
College students, high school students…and a young Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak explored the nation’s telephone system - curious to see what was possible. Their exploration was not legal (most of the time) but it wasn’t one bent on destruction, which was refreshing.
As Jobs put it, “It was the magic of the fact that two teenagers could build this box for $100 worth of parts and control hundreds of billions of dollars of infrastructure in the entire telephone network of the whole world from Las Altos and Cupertino, California. That was magical!” He concluded, “If we hadn’t made blue boxes, there would have been no Apple.”
To be honest, the connection with Apple was the most interesting element of the book for me. At times it got too technical…which is probably what many people with an interest in the subject want…but I got a bit lost. As a lay reader – I was fascinated by the mentions of the two Steves…and also the names of famous (and wealthy) people who were using their phone technology.
And especially, at the end, to think about this “what if?” “Say Wozniak and Jobs hadn’t been so lucky when they wound up in the back of the police car that evening back in 1972, when they convinced the cops that their blue box was actually a music synthesizer. Say they had been arrested, possibly gone to jail. We might never have had Apple computer or any of the other things that Apple went on to make. Would we be the better for it?”
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LibraryThing member Stbalbach
I grew up in the computer hacker community of the 1980s and was surrounded by the legacy of phone phreaking, the terminology and culture was everywhere. However it was foreign country since by then technology made phone phreaking largely obsolete and computers were better anyway. So this book was a
Basically during late 1950s and 60s, phreaking was practiced by a small number of very geeky people with strange phone obsessions; then in 1971 it crossed over into mainstream culture when Abby Hoffman co-opted it as part of a larger movement to fight the man. Then by the early 80s it was mostly gone. So it had about a 20 year run with the 70s as heyday. The connection between counter-culture and technology are very apparent.
This book is dense with random incident and character, I listened to the audio version and found 12hrs a bit draining though not impossible to follow. There is no great central narrative or mystery as it moves forward in time, each chapter almost a standalone essay on a certain period. I think it's better read then listened to, or listened to with no distraction. There are some challenging technical aspects and many dates and names that mean slowing down and re-reading is important at times. There is narrative on smaller scales that makes it pretty easy to follow. This is probably the definitive history of phone phreaking, Phil Lapsley has done a great service to interview the people before they disappear.
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great reveal on what that era was all about, the origin, the technology and some of the important phreakers (infamously "Captain Crunch" the first hacker to go to jail). The parallels between phone and computer hacking are so close they are nearly the same thing, one following the other. It all started here.Basically during late 1950s and 60s, phreaking was practiced by a small number of very geeky people with strange phone obsessions; then in 1971 it crossed over into mainstream culture when Abby Hoffman co-opted it as part of a larger movement to fight the man. Then by the early 80s it was mostly gone. So it had about a 20 year run with the 70s as heyday. The connection between counter-culture and technology are very apparent.
This book is dense with random incident and character, I listened to the audio version and found 12hrs a bit draining though not impossible to follow. There is no great central narrative or mystery as it moves forward in time, each chapter almost a standalone essay on a certain period. I think it's better read then listened to, or listened to with no distraction. There are some challenging technical aspects and many dates and names that mean slowing down and re-reading is important at times. There is narrative on smaller scales that makes it pretty easy to follow. This is probably the definitive history of phone phreaking, Phil Lapsley has done a great service to interview the people before they disappear.
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LibraryThing member steve02476
Immensely enjoyable book about phone hacking (phreaking) in the 60s and 70s - and incidentally a great history of the development of the phone system over the whole 20th century. Lots of interesting personalities. So much fun to read, for a computer nerd anyway.
Subjects
Awards
Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year (Nonfiction — 2013)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2013
Physical description
xvi, 431, 16 p.; 23.6 cm
ISBN
9780802120618
Local notes
Omslag: Charles Rue Woods
Omslaget viser en gammeldags drejeskive fra en telefon
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Side 17: Nothing, save the hangman's noose, concentrates the mind like piles of cash.
Side 61: When I was a kid, we used to freeze water into the shape of nickels to put into pay phones to make long-distance calls. This is nothing more than a new and ingenious way to do the same thing. I can't see making a big case out of this. You pleaded guilty. I'm just going to give you a suspended sentence.
Side 119: The principle of science, the definition, almost, is the following: the test of all knowledge is experiment.
Side 146: That's the problem with 'scared straight' it doesn't hold. It lasted for maybe a few months.
Side 159: Eight years, a protracted FCC hearing, and a lawsuit to get the right to use a rubber cup on a telephone mouthpiece.
Side 167: You set out to do some thing, some simple, straightforward thing. Let's say you even succeed at it. But because of some niggling detail you didn't think of, some connection you didn't quite anticipate, a freak chance that you didn't factor in, in the bigger picture things go totally off the rails. It's called the Law of Unintended Consequenches and it has sharp, pointy teeth.
Side 187: In a country indissolubly wed to free enterprise, AT&T stands as a corporate enigma, being a regulated monopoly and the only major phone company in the world not owned and run by a national government. It is like some culture in a Petri dish about which scientists cannot agree whether it is harmful or beneficial.
Side 190: We prefer to have our men use their own initiative, but we leave as little as possible to the imagination.
Side 279: It is said that demo gods can smell fear. An important demo? An audience of VIPs? That's when the demo gods suddenly appear and things mysteriously stop working.
Side 284: It fucked up way back when and it's been fucked up ever since.
Omslaget viser en gammeldags drejeskive fra en telefon
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Side 17: Nothing, save the hangman's noose, concentrates the mind like piles of cash.
Side 61: When I was a kid, we used to freeze water into the shape of nickels to put into pay phones to make long-distance calls. This is nothing more than a new and ingenious way to do the same thing. I can't see making a big case out of this. You pleaded guilty. I'm just going to give you a suspended sentence.
Side 119: The principle of science, the definition, almost, is the following: the test of all knowledge is experiment.
Side 146: That's the problem with 'scared straight' it doesn't hold. It lasted for maybe a few months.
Side 159: Eight years, a protracted FCC hearing, and a lawsuit to get the right to use a rubber cup on a telephone mouthpiece.
Side 167: You set out to do some thing, some simple, straightforward thing. Let's say you even succeed at it. But because of some niggling detail you didn't think of, some connection you didn't quite anticipate, a freak chance that you didn't factor in, in the bigger picture things go totally off the rails. It's called the Law of Unintended Consequenches and it has sharp, pointy teeth.
Side 187: In a country indissolubly wed to free enterprise, AT&T stands as a corporate enigma, being a regulated monopoly and the only major phone company in the world not owned and run by a national government. It is like some culture in a Petri dish about which scientists cannot agree whether it is harmful or beneficial.
Side 190: We prefer to have our men use their own initiative, but we leave as little as possible to the imagination.
Side 279: It is said that demo gods can smell fear. An important demo? An audience of VIPs? That's when the demo gods suddenly appear and things mysteriously stop working.
Side 284: It fucked up way back when and it's been fucked up ever since.
Similar in this library
Pages
xvi; 431; 16
DDC/MDS
| 384.0657 |