Another. . . Mindless Mayhem Issue # /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ / ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ \ / Practical Ways to Make Phone Calls \ : By: : \ Great One / \ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ Disclaimer: It's pretty illegal to do this! I'm not too keen on the phone laws in this state or any others, but I DO know that the Bell and Baby Bell companies won't like this too much if you do it! So don't! It's for you READING PLEASURE ONLY! If you have the intense desire to copy this file off a whole bunch of times, go right ahead, just don't edit it any, OK? Part 1: The Phone System ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~ For some unknown reasoning, someone thought it would be real neat to make ANI (Automatic Number Identification [Is that it? It makes sense. Well tell me if I'm wrong]) , a real interesting device that allows whomever has it to be able to tell what number it is that has been calling them, and with the number, you can find out whatever you need (usually). This has posed a problem for some of the lesser, and some of the greater 'Phreaks' out there. No one likes to dial a number (say, the number HAH-FBI-BUST), call out on it, and then be visited by the Phone Police the following month, week, or day depending on the company and when you do it. Of course, there are lots of ways to go around this, but not everyone is willing to do that/them/those/lala. So, I have devised a near-foolproof method of making free calls. It does not involve Abusing the phone company in any way. Nor are there any 'codes' to hack, no messy autodialing programs, no worries of a call from some company in Iowa concerning the useage of their 950. No mainframes to call out of, no CB's to use (how they do that anyway?), no PBX, nothing of the sort. Why, you can even dial it directly from the jack you are using and not have to worry a bit! Part 2: How? What? Where? Why not? ~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ To do this, you either need a really really long phone extension cord, or a laptop (latter is a must!) All you have to do, is get a modem for your laptop, and you're all set. You are now ready to embark on your adventure on using a modem to its fullest! Start a learning adventure of untold magnitude! Power, riches fame! (Well, maybe not the last sentence. . .) To go over that again, You will be using your laptop and it's modem (or your home computer and that coil of phone cord) to make virtually free calls to anywhere in the whole world! Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Now, before you say 'Yes, I would love to join in on the fun we are about to begin', we still need to cover the WHERE part. Behind the houses in MY neighbourhood, and behind the strip malls as well, you will find a grey box attached to the house. The location varies, but it is USUALLY located to the middle right on the back of the house (right hand side, not all the way over.) This is easily popped open with anyone with strong fingers or with a screwdriver, possibly a small wrench. Once open, you will find two cords. They will be attached to the jacks that lead to the house. If you undo these, it is highly propable that you will make their line go dead. Do this. Hook your modem (did you bring a short cord?) or your reel of wire to the jack you unhooked. Try to dial. Get a dialtone? You should. You are well on your way to make free calls. Load your terminal program and call out. If its LATE at night, make the call as long as you want, where ever you want. If it's in the day, you didn't read this file, and I don't know who you are. The strip malls have a similar deal located behind them. Like the house, it will be a grey box, possibly a lighter shade. However, on the inside, there will be MUCH more jacks for you to choose from. Choose wisely, for it may well be your last choice in a while. Using the line of the Fraternal Order of Police won't look too swell on your record if you are caught (which you shouldn't, since it's against the law to do, and you SHOULD NOT be doing in the first place.). Again, hook your modem up to this and do as the above para- graph suggests. Hooking up a reel/spool/big long mess of tangled phone cord would NOT look pretty in this case, unless you happen to live behind that paticular mall. Why Not? Well that question can be taken two ways: I. Why Not do it? A. Easy, free calls 1. not on your line 2. no large hassles with practice 3. no call waiting to worry about at night B. Dark, easy to read (with a backlit laptop) 1. No screen glare 2. Easier to read that CONNECT message 3. Your parents won't be busting into your room yelling about the time C. Connect to the elite boards all around the world! 1. Get latest releases! 2. Cut down on those LD phone bills! 3. Type slow and chat with sysops without worry about the time! Why Not to do it? Here's a few good reasons NOT to do this stunt: II. Why Not to do it? A. Free accomodations at the nearest correctional facility 1. Lousy Chow 2. Bubba making you a wide reciever 3. Large fines and long time with Bubba B. Lots of negative publicity! 1. Look's really bad on your resum‚ 2. Parents become slightly upset 3. Discontinued useage of your computer C. Violence! 1. What would the store/house owner think? 2. What if they have a dog? 3. What if they have a good security system? Part 3: Also, . . . ~~~~~~~~~~~ Supposing you ARE going to do this, there are a few things to keep in mind. That warm inner glow of the screen is quite noticable at night. You had better find a place to stay while you do that. At a strip mall, you can crawl into a dumpster (Sound icky? Not if you rearrange its contents a little.) and then sit in there. Still, a cord dangling over to a dumpster won't look too attractive. It would be wisest to run the cord along the ground, behind pipes on the wall, along the ground, etc., rather than have a taught line going directly from the box, through the air (play limbo!) and into a dark smelly box where some person is sitting. If you can climb to the roof of the building, and its not freezing, go ahead and do it. It's normal for there to be wires and pipes and stuff leading to the roof, so that there's no need to worry about that. It may sound silly to go up on the roof to make a stupid call, but in fact it may be WISER to do that. Cars driving around the back wouldn't know the difference, and while on the roof you can lie down and listen to a walkman or something to that effect without much fear of being caught. HOUSES on the other hand, they fall into an entirely different ballpark indeed. You can't just climb onto their roof without them noticing or making some noise, and they are very doubtful to have a dumpster to climb into. This poses a problem. However, if they have a window well, a porch you can go under (for the sake of argument, an elevated porch), an unlocked gazebo, a tree, thick bushes [don't get any ideas], etc. You may have a lot to choose from here. Just don't pick any well lighted areas (or a well lit house, for that matter). Also a dark cloth to cover yourself and the laptop might help; acting as a sort of tent. It's true that there are a few (ok maybe the whole damn thing) things that are extreme but the idea IS there, and I am not saying its a perfect plan, but it WORKS, and can save you your money for something else (like getting that laptop) that you want/need. Next, on Mindless Mayhem: o Paid Advertising! We won't endorse or reccomend it! o The advantages of Xmodem over Modem7! o RBBS: The Wave of the Future? Yes, you too can have all this and more in our next fun-filled-action-packed issue of <\/>‹/\//>\_î<< >\/<ã\//-/œ/// ~~~~~~~~~~~~~// ~~~~~/~~~~~~~ (I hope you don't ~~ ~ Oh yeah, today is the think thats what Thirtieith of Septemberieith will be in the at 9:59 pm next issue!) Feel Free to call Destiny Knights BBS, located in Wonderful Schaumburg IL, in the same county the Blues Brothers were from. The Number, which is 708-307-3768, is 708-307-3768. If there is ever a new user password, odds are that it won't be NEW or your handle name, but rather FOURTH DIMENSION. IF you want to copy this file, go right ahead! Keep in mind that this is FREE public information, and that if any of the contents are changed other than spelling checking, etc, I shall become very CROSS and put thermite on the hood of your car! If you want to contact me, or become a member of this text file group of extrodinary magnitude, from which we forge our souls in the same way out ancestors did, then feel free to call the above listed board! Just make sure you bring a dictionary, an encyclopedia AND some computer/modem skills and knowledge! CURRENT members are (as of 9-30-91) Great One, The Beastmaster The Wizard of Black, Mr. Beeg, and quite possibly The Baron. Remember, it's a great big disco world.