2873 lines
121 KiB
Plaintext
2873 lines
121 KiB
Plaintext
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The Carrier Wave (ISSN 1086-0118) Volume I, Number I, October 1995
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------------------------
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info
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------------------------
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Publisher: Tobin Fricke
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Email: fricke@roboben.engr.ucdavis.edu
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Subscriptions: $16 annually
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Cover Price: $4.00 (us)
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ISSN: 1086-0118
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Issue: Volume I, Number I
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Date: October 1995
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Address: PO Box 835, Lake Forest, CA 92630
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Copyright: 1995 by Tobin Fricke, rights to individual articles
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remain with their respective authors
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------------------------
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preface to ascii version
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------------------------
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Welcome to The Carrier Wave <TCW>. Attached is Issue One in ASCII format.
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TCW is primarily distributed in a printed hard-copy format. This is a
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mere beautified-ASCII rendition of it, so all frames, formats, effects,
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tables, illustrations etc have been eliminated.
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The Carrier Wave is published approximately quarterly.
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Subscriptions are on a per-issue basis at $4.00 per issue. TCW is
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$4.00 per issue through subscription, newstand, or if you get it
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directly from me.
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For a subscription, mail $16.00 for four issues to our address. For every
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printed issue that you are sent, you will receive the electronic
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version <this> emailed to you if you wish.
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See the end of this document for further subscription information.
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Keep in mind that the printed version looks much much much nicer than
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this ASCII version. It is printed on 11"x17" paper folded in half like
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a book, so it's 8.5"x11" -- standard letter paper size.
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+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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| The Carrier Wave |
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| Volume I, Issue I October 1995 |
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+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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Copyright (c) 1995 by Tobin Fricke, All Rights Reserved
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Individual authors maintain copyright and responsibility
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for their submissions.
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Unauthorized duplication or use prohibited.
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May not be sold.
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+-------------------------------------------------------------+
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| |
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| INSIDE! |
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+---------------------------------------------------+---------+
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| From The Editor: Light Ray Speaks | |
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| Read This! | 1 |
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+---------------------------------------------------+---------+
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| San Remo TV Hack | |
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| Members of STUPH hacked the cable television | |
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| system at the Hotel San Remo while at DefCon. | 2 |
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| Here's how they did it! | |
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+---------------------------------------------------+---------+
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| Variation On A DefCon | 3 |
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| Bucket Man's Def Con Experience | |
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+---------------------------------------------------+---------+
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| Haqs | |
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| Electronic Shoplifting Countermeasures and | 5 |
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| more! The Hacks of the Month! | |
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+---------------------------------------------------+---------+
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| The Red Box | |
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| Free phone calls from payphones. Here's how. | 8 |
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+---------------------------------------------------+---------+
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| EMail: The Real Killer App - Future and Impact | |
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| Electronic Mail is the real killer app. Here | |
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| is why. | |
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+---------------------------------------------------+---------+
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| X-Files Fans Congregate in Pasadena | 9 |
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| Spooky reports on the X-Files convention. | |
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+---------------------------------------------------+---------+
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| An Introduction To Number Bases | |
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| This is essential knowledge for any programmer | 11 |
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| or hacker. | |
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+---------------------------------------------------+---------+
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| Linux! | 12 |
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| Light Ray explores Linux, a 32-bit free UNIX | |
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| for 80x86 and other platforms. | |
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+---------------------------------------------------+---------+
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| The UNIX Column | 14 |
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| This month is an introduction to UNIX use. | |
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+---------------------------------------------------+---------+
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| Comdex: A Cultural Experience | |
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| Comdex is the world's largest computer trade | 15 |
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| show. Light Ray takes you there. | |
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+---------------------------------------------------+---------+
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| Spinning A Web Page | 16 |
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| Have your own page on the World Wide Web! | |
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+---------------------------------------------------+---------+
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| A Beginner's Guide to the Computer Underground | 18 |
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| by Pazuzu | |
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+---------------------------------------------------+---------+
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| Net.News | 20 |
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+---------------------------------------------------+---------|
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| The Story Of DnA Systems DnA Systems II, Inc. | 21 |
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+---------------------------------------------------+---------+
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| Net.Humor | 23 |
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+---------------------------------------------------+---------+
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+--------------------------------------------+ +------------------------+
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| Send Us Mail! | |US$4.00 per issue, may |
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| Carrier Wave Magazine | |currently only be mailed|
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| P.O. Box 835 | |to destinations within |
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| Lake Forest, California 92630-0835 | |the United States. Make |
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| | |checks out to Tobin |
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| Or send email to | |Fricke and include the |
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| | |number of the last issue|
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| dr261@cleveland.freenet.edu | |that you have and your |
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| | |email address. |
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+--------------------------------------------+ +------------------------+
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+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
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| Amendment I. |
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| |
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| "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of |
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| religion, or prohibiting the free excersize thereof; or abridging |
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| the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people |
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| peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress |
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| of grievances." |
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+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
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| From the Editor
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| (Light Ray Speaks)
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Greetings everyone, and welcome to our zine. This magazine has
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existed for a long, long time, in the back of my brain where I
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keep track of things I'd like to do someday. Bucket Man and I
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both wanted a zine. Not a zine but a Magazine. Well, Bucket
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Man disappeared from the online world and now I have finally
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gotten around to getting something started.
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The ball actually started rolling at Boy Scout Camp as I sat on
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a cot in a canvas tent and told stories of the exotic world of
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artificial life and clipper chips, tales from the Digital
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Frontier. The audience was captivated! Well, at least
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interested enough to stay and listen. Ages ranged from 12 years
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old to 17, but they were interested, and that's what counts.
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They wanted to know more. So I revived the magazine idea. I
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wanted to create a "Beginner's Guide to Everything." Now, I'm
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not sure what I have created. I have here collected a mix of
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material of interest to the newbie, to the hacker, to the
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general computer user, and to the non-computer person. I hope
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you enjoy what you see here. In any case, send your
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complements, flames, and whatnot to me at
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dr261@cleveland.freenet.edu. (Note: Freenet does mean that it's
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free, but please note that I'm not in Cleveland.) I'm really
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not sure what The Carrier Wave is or what it will become, for
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that largely depends on the feedback that I receive. It has
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been my experience that diversity often means being mediocre in
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all areas while specialization is to excel in one area.
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However, for now, our credo remains the same: "Anything that's
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neat."
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Light Ray's Opinions on the State Of The Underground
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The "underground" is in a sort of identity crisis it seems.
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There is a flood of new, self-proclaimed "hackers" created when
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the generic Jr. High kid gets a modem, an America Online
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subscription, and a sees The Net or Hackers or a similar movie.
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These new "hackers" clash with the old breed of true hackers,
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they pollute the digital atmosphere and give Hackers a bad name.
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Hopefully this is a fad that will pass, although for now it is
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a reality and is rather annoying. The day after Hackers came
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out, someone called me asking for "Passwords." Hmph. Perhaps
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"God" and "Secret" didn't work for him. Several days ago, an
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acquaintance (not to be confused with friend) of mine stopped me
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as I crusaded through the campus wielding a video camera for
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Television & Video Productions. Secretively, he drew a small
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Radio Shack minicassette recorder from his pocket, presenting it
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as if I should be struck with awe and wonder. Slyly, he pressed
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play, and five pulses of 1100hz+1700hz enshrouded in static
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burst from the puny speaker, and I was supposed to be impressed.
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Hmph. Just about everyone has a red box these days, and 90% of
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them do not know how it works nor built it themselves. Ever
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wonder why America Online is doing so well?
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Don't be a Lamer
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If you don't know what a newbie is, then you are one. A newbie
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is someone who is new to something, specifically, in this case,
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computers, digital networks, hacking, etc. For you, read
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onward. Read Pazuzu's beginner's introduction to the computer
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underground, the Def Con stories, the STUPH Hotel San Remo hack
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story, the Red Box story, and everything else. Although it's
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slightly dry and boring, you MUST read my introduction to number
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bases if you don't know what 0x01AB34F means. Start out on the
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right foot. If you have any questions, do some research on the
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topic. If you still don't have the answer, ask! The address
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for TCW is on the cover! Just remember, hacking is not
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destructive or malicious. Hacking is exploration and pursuit of
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knowledge, going where no one has gone before. Hacking is
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"pushing the edge of the envelope."
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+--------------------------------------------------------------+
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| Call Digital Decay +1 (714) 871-2057 |
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+--------------------------------------------------------------+
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D E F C O N I I I
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Las Vegas, NV - August 4 to 6, 1995 - Tropicana Hilton
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We partied, we hacked, we talked, we listened. We explored the
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hidden reaches of the hotel, displayed a "Hackers Rule" banner
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on 1000 TV's, operated a pirate radio station (KDNA 104.7), had
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a scavenger hunt, made wacky slime, played Hacker Jeopardy; we
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were at Def Con III, a hacker's conference put on by The Dark
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Tangent.
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The 1995 DefCon 3 Hotel San Remo Entertainment system Hack
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Presented by StUpH!
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"First, they cracked into the hotel television system,
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reprogramming it to scroll message reading 'Hacker's Rule'
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across screens in 1,000 rooms." -- The Associated Press
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I (Serum), Nocturne, and Heckler of STUPH (Small Town
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Underground Phreakers and Hackers) had been wardialing all of
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the 739 #'s while staying at the Tropicana. We had found
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numerous UNIX systems, but had been unable to penetrate any of
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them. Then, one of the dial-ins gave this prompt:
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Lodgenet!login:
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Of course, I tried 'lodgenet' as the login, and lo and behold it
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worked... Great security, huh? :)
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We found out that we were in the Hotel San Remo, which is a
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couple hotels down from the Tropicana, really close by. We were
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then confronted with a main menu of sorts, there were four
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different places one could go:
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Front-Office Menu
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Administration Menu
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Systems Maintenance
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Installation Menu
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Unfortunately, each one of these menus were also password
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protected... but at the bottom of the screen a 1-800 number was
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left for tech support I proceeded to call the number and was
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greeted by a friendly female operator...
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"Lodgenet Support, this is Nancy. (I don't remember the name,
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but Nancy sounds good)"
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"Hello Nancy, this is Bruce Jenkins of the Hotel San Remo, and
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I'm having trouble with the lodgenet system here. For some
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reason the password isn't working, I got by the lodgenet part of
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course, but for some reason it isn't letting me into the Front
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Office Menu, is there something I'm doing wrong?"
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"Hmmm... did you try FOF? Or are you using BOF instead?" <Not
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only does she give me the front office password, but the one to
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the other sections as well... :) >
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"I thought I typed in FOF, I dunno..."
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"Well, let me give it a shot..." <I hear some keystrokes and a
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modem in the background, dialing the number> "It looks like it's
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working to me..."
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"I musta just made a typo, sorry to bother you..."
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"No problem, if you need any more assistance, just give us a
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call..."
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BINGO We proceeded to call it back up and got into the front
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office menu and the administration menu, the other two were of
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no real interest to us, especially after we started playing with
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the movies... :)
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All you had to do was know a room number. I think we used 150,
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and found out that some guy had censored his TV so that it only
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showed G rated things, we just couldn't pass that up so we
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ordered a nice movie to his room and took away all of his
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restrictions... 'BreastMan 5' suddenly appeared on his screen
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for the easily payable price of $7.95... :)
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We then found an option to edit the scroll message, and we put
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up an advertisement for our hacking group... We wanted badly to
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see what had popped up on their screens so we went over to the
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Hotel San Remo and checked it out for ourselves... Walking
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through the casinos at night and being the only three minors in
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that area we felt kinda sheepish... :) But, we found a TV screen
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by the Sports area (I'm not sure how to describe this area) and
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we waited for the scrolly to appear, but to our dismay it never
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did. So, we went back to the Tropicana disappointed, but not
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disheartened... We then found an option to 'Edit Information
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Channel', and that sounded good to us... But, it was also
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password protected... So, Nocturne called the 1-800 service this
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time and just asked for the password to the Information Channel
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cuz we didn't want to waste time trying to brute force it when
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the helpful people at lodgenet just give away their passwords...
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Simply enough, the password was: 'edit' :) So, we got into the
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information channel and found we had complete control over what
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was aired on that channel... So we made a big advertisement for
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StUpH and for DefCon 3 at the Tropicana... Satisfied, Heckler
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and I went back to the Hotel San Remo one last time, and I
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looked like a fool changing the TV to the info channel,
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especially when a security guard walked right in front of us...
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We waited and, BINGO! up popped a glorious message:
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Meet Uber haqerz!
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See Serum, Heckler and
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Nocturne of STUPH!
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DefCon 3 at Tropicana!
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Ph3aR StUpH!
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Heckler snapped two photos, waited some, then when it popped up
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again we got two more... There you have it... the 1995 DefCon 3
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Hotel San Remo Entertainment system hack presented by StUpH!
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Heckler (heckler@iastate.edu) is 18 and is a Freshman in college
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this year. He is currently unemployed in hopes of keep his
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grades up. He specializes in coding small programs for the PC
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and coming up with lame ideas that always get shot down by
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Serum. (Thanks grease!) He has been hacking since the age of 11
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when his parents bought him his neat-o C64 with a 300 baud
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modem. He is known for being very facetious and having no
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morals. He also likes to listen to heavy metal music and other
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funky stuff like KMFDM, Hole, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Nine Inch
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Nails and White Zombie. Right now he is working with Serum and
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Nocturne on a program called MARCUS for IBM Compatibles. This
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program uses a special scripting language to simulate any
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text-based remote dialup and is capable of intercepting the
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logins and passwords of the people who use that dialup. Serum
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(bmeader@nyx10.cs.du.edu) is an 18 year old stud/Freshman in
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college this year. Currently, Serum is in transition from his
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job at a local theatre to perhaps a job at a local Software Etc.
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depending on the flexibility of the schedule. He specializes in
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the so called 'Field Activities' of hacking and phreaking and
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has an uncanny knack of guessing passwords. The motivator of
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StUpH, he is always pushing Heckler and Nocturne to get them to
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do very crazy and suicidal jobs. His specialties include:
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Social Engineering, organizing ideas for things for the group to
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do, beige'topping', and helping develop MARCUS by creating
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'BoxTrakker' a phone box tracking program. He began to look for
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people to hack and phreak with about three years ago, and was
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fortunate enough to come across Heckler, who had already been on
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the warez scene for a while, and Nocturne, an impressionable
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classmate who learned quickly about the ways of Serum and
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Heckler and has been an important member ever since. He has
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been hacking for about 3 years, but has been using computers
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since the 2nd grade when he received his first Vic-20! His
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musical interests range from R.E.M to Nirvana, while his other
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true love is the sport of basketball, where he will be competing
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this year at the position of point guard. Nocturne, aka Cal
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Ripkin, (nocturne@iastate.edu) is an 18 year old freshman in
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college. He began his road to complete corruption when he met
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Serum in high school and was introduced to the world of warez
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BBS's. His interest in hacking bloomed almost immediately,
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quickly consuming any thread of any social life he may have once
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had. Soon, he abandoned his human life for a life on the
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Internet. Now in college, he is trying to come out of the black
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hole and become a respectable human being, but the outlook is
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bleak.
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Variation on a DefCon
|
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By Bucket Man
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My own personal DefCon story began two years ago. I had been
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invited to DefCon I by a girl I met at the Continuation High
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School I had ended up at through circumstances we won't go into.
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A few days after the convention, she mentioned that we wouldn't
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be going after all. When DefCon II came around I made
|
||
|
reservations at the Sahara and introduced some friends of mine
|
||
|
to hack/phreak in a big hurry so that I would have someone to
|
||
|
share the bill with. On our way out the door, our designated
|
||
|
driver's mother decided to commandeer the car, and as none of us
|
||
|
were 25, we were unable to rent one. Fortunately we only had to
|
||
|
pay for one of the two nights reserved. Then, along comes DefCon
|
||
|
III. I never thought I would get there, but owing many thanks to
|
||
|
my fellow party members, Light Ray and Squibb, as well as a wack
|
||
|
on the side of the head to the low life who canceled on us the
|
||
|
day before... I not only made it to Vegas, I even lived through
|
||
|
the experience.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Day One was mostly spent exploring the hotel and sharing
|
||
|
drive-up horror stories. We did manage to attach "Fred," our
|
||
|
laptop, to an outside line in the convention room. (An amusing
|
||
|
fact, since apparently Dark Tangent had requested that the hotel
|
||
|
disconnect the phones for that very reason.) We tore off a wall
|
||
|
plate and explored through the roofing above the hallway leading
|
||
|
to the convention room. Jarik talked the hotel staff into
|
||
|
bringing us water. It was shortly after this that we swore that
|
||
|
we would go the whole weekend without once paying for food,
|
||
|
alcohol, or women. We were partially successful: We paid for
|
||
|
food twice, I supplied free drinks, and didn't get any women.
|
||
|
After the first meal, however, I did discover the fastest way to
|
||
|
clear a path through a crowd. Wear a black trenchcoat in 100+
|
||
|
degree weather, and have someone behind you yell, "Look out!
|
||
|
He's got a gun!"
|
||
|
|
||
|
The midnight speech fell short of my expectations. Speaker: The
|
||
|
author of the Little Black Book of Computer Viruses. Topic:
|
||
|
Publishing. Summary: "Uh...hi. Write books. Yes. You must write
|
||
|
books. No, really! Write books! It is morally imperative that
|
||
|
you all write books. I wrote one and no one would publish it,
|
||
|
and, not considering the possibility that it might have been
|
||
|
because it wasn't any good assumed it was a vast anti-hacker
|
||
|
conspiracy and published it on my own and sold nearly 300
|
||
|
copies. So, you must write books. Write books and I will publish
|
||
|
them for you. I'll give you 1/10th of once percent of the
|
||
|
profit, so write books..." Sorry, but I had a hard time
|
||
|
believing that this guy's real motivation was to preserve our
|
||
|
moral integrity and establish cultural connections to the past
|
||
|
for future generations. Light Ray walked out in the middle, came
|
||
|
back an hour later and the guy was still droning on. Oh well, I
|
||
|
suppose I'll recover from the emotional scarring, but after that
|
||
|
didn't bother with any of the other speeches, and probably
|
||
|
missed some good things. Rumor has it that my raffle number was
|
||
|
the first number called for the 4x CD drive, on Sunday.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Around two AM, I figured that the best way to get free drinks
|
||
|
would be to walk behind the bar and grab bottles. It worked. An
|
||
|
hour later I talked an extremely attractive girl into letting
|
||
|
myself and two of my companions into joining her (and her
|
||
|
boyfriend) back in her hotel room. Now...according to Jarik I
|
||
|
massaged her feet for three hours, but I don't believe him. All
|
||
|
I know is that it was dark when I started, and it wasn't when I
|
||
|
stopped. Then I passed out under a table and the three of them
|
||
|
played strip poker. (Damn you, Jarik! You could have kicked me
|
||
|
harder!)
|
||
|
|
||
|
It was Saturday night that I was awakened from a daze by a call
|
||
|
from Arclight asking if it would be ok to use our room as
|
||
|
broadcast station for a pirate radio station. "Sure," I said, I
|
||
|
mean, it wasn't like I had anything better to do. So, shortly
|
||
|
thereafter, the KDNA crew shows up and starts setting up
|
||
|
equipment. Meanwhile, I put on an old Halloween costume of Ali
|
||
|
Abbabwa from Disney's Aladdin and started wandering around the
|
||
|
hotel. I wanted to go to the Aladdin hotel and pretend to be
|
||
|
staff, but couldn't find anyone with a camera. Hey, it worked at
|
||
|
Disneyland. Light Ray and I ended up running around the hotel
|
||
|
with, "Crazy GTE man," a guy who had stolen a GTE flag and was
|
||
|
using it as a cape telling everybody to tune in to Pirate Radio
|
||
|
104.7 KDNA. Light Ray changed into a ninja uniform and I donned
|
||
|
my infamous Chun Li outfit. (Yes...Chun Li from Street Fighter
|
||
|
II) I was surprised by how little I got harassed about it. Most
|
||
|
people just chuckled and waited to see what else we would do.
|
||
|
Security freaked out about the ninja uniform though, none of the
|
||
|
elevators would work for us and we had to use the stairs for a
|
||
|
good portion of the night. (Evidently a good thing, because
|
||
|
security was looking for the broadcast point and figured we were
|
||
|
a good place to start looking. If nothing else, I figure not
|
||
|
many people can claim they've wandered through a Vegas casino
|
||
|
dressed up as a fictional oriental girl. Hehehe...wonder what
|
||
|
I'll do next year...
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Def Con Information
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Dark Tangent dtangent@defcon.org
|
||
|
Def Con Mailing List majordomo@fc.net
|
||
|
Jackal jackal@kaiwan.com
|
||
|
Def Con Homepage http://www.defcon.org/
|
||
|
http://www.fc.net/defcon
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Dark Tangent organizes Def Con. Instead of sending mail to
|
||
|
DT, you might want to subscribe to dc-announce. Jackal
|
||
|
organizes the Southern California caravan. If you're in Souther
|
||
|
California and are interested in going, send Jackal mail. Tell
|
||
|
him if you need a ride or can provide rides. To subscribe to a
|
||
|
mailing list, send mail to majordomo@fc.net with the text
|
||
|
"subscribe " followed by the name of the mailing list you wish
|
||
|
to subscribe to. Mailing lists include:
|
||
|
|
||
|
dc-announce official announcments
|
||
|
dc-stuff general chat
|
||
|
dc-speak Def Con IV Speakers
|
||
|
dc-plan Def Con IV Planning
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
HAQS
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Hacking Postal Barcodes - Ever wondered what information was
|
||
|
hidden away in the mysterious bar-codes you find on the bottom
|
||
|
of envelopes? The bar-code is your full eleven-digit ZIP-code
|
||
|
(Did you know you even had an eleven digit ZIP code?). It is
|
||
|
composed of vertical bars which are either full-height (about
|
||
|
0.5 cm tall) or half-height. The system is somewhat of a binary
|
||
|
derivative, as each bar has two possible states, tall or short,
|
||
|
or one and zero. The first bar is always tall (1) and is known
|
||
|
as the "frame bar" because it lets the scanner determine the
|
||
|
beginning of the bar code. After that, each five bars
|
||
|
corresponds to one digit of your ZIP code. To decode it, start
|
||
|
at zero. If the first bar is tall, then add seven. If the
|
||
|
second is tall, add 4. The third, 2, the fourth add 1, and the
|
||
|
fifth bar is zero. (I'm not sure exactly why the fifth bar is
|
||
|
necessary.) Basically, it's binary, but the place values are 7,
|
||
|
4, 2, 1, 0 instead of 16, 8, 4, 2, 1. Thank you to Rat from
|
||
|
DnA (ratphun@aol.com) for the information.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Electronic Shoplifting Counter- measures - You probably
|
||
|
encounter these devices daily. They are the panels you walk
|
||
|
between when exiting a retail store or library, etc. If you
|
||
|
walk through carrying an item not paid for, an alarm goes off.
|
||
|
Apparently, in the stickers placed on the items is a tiny r-c
|
||
|
circuit (resister/capacitor) tuned to resonate at a specific
|
||
|
frequency. The "panels" emit radio signals at that frequency.
|
||
|
When the r-c circuit is exposed to signals of the specified
|
||
|
frequency, it reradiates a signal at the same frequency that is
|
||
|
not in phase with the signal emitted by the panels. If an
|
||
|
out-of-phase signal is detected, an alarm goes off. How do they
|
||
|
desensitize the system once you pay for an item? When placed in
|
||
|
a somewhat strong magnetic field, a small current is induced
|
||
|
into the r-c circuit. Since the circuit is so small, it is
|
||
|
burnt by that current, rendering it unable to reradiate signals
|
||
|
at the same frequency.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Wacky Weird Slime Stuph- We made this at DefCon 1995.. I think
|
||
|
it was Q-Master's idea. It's very difficult to describe, you'll
|
||
|
just have to make it yourself. Rumor has it that it is
|
||
|
officially called "Ooblix" or something like that. Anyways, get
|
||
|
a large vat and dump equal amounts (by volume) of lukewarm water
|
||
|
and powdered cornstarch into it. Stir. It should turn into a
|
||
|
soupy gray glop. Okay, put your hands in and pull them out
|
||
|
slowly. See, it's just a liquid. Okay, put your hands in and
|
||
|
pull them out quickly. The liquid glob will coagulate into a
|
||
|
solid and you will lift the container up. Then, it will return
|
||
|
to its original state of liquidness. It's wierd.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
MUDs As a Possible Security Risk Part I
|
||
|
|
||
|
By Pazuzu
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
August, 1995 (C) Copyright 1995 Sixth Column with explicit
|
||
|
reservation of all rights (UCC 1-207). Written by Pazuzu for
|
||
|
The Carrier Wave, used with permission.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Preface
|
||
|
|
||
|
This article will not directly tell you step-by-step how to hack
|
||
|
an Internet machine through the MUD server. It will, however,
|
||
|
give you a good base of knowledge on how MUDs work and what
|
||
|
security holes have been discovered and exploited in the past.
|
||
|
You are then left to your own skill and devices to do what you
|
||
|
will. Newer versions of the mudlibs will probably patch up some
|
||
|
or all of these security holes, but I'm sure new ones will be
|
||
|
created and/or discovered. Hacking should always be a learning,
|
||
|
exploring, and discovering experience... If you find anything,
|
||
|
email me.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Part I: The Basics
|
||
|
|
||
|
One of the most popular things to do on the Internet these days
|
||
|
is to play MUDs. For those of you unfamiliar with them, MUDs are
|
||
|
"Multi-User Dungeons". Most of them are, of course, role-playing
|
||
|
games. A bunch of people (sometimes up to 50 or more) can be on
|
||
|
at once interacting with each other, the virtual environment,
|
||
|
and non-player characters or monsters created by the MUD's
|
||
|
creators. You connect to a MUD either with the standard telnet
|
||
|
utility or via a special program called a "MUD Client". MUD
|
||
|
clients will usually give you cool features like split screens
|
||
|
and colors, whereas telnet is very crude and simple.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Some players on every MUD (and in a lot of cases, most of the
|
||
|
players) will have access to code objects, which can be rooms,
|
||
|
areas, monsters, weapons, armor, anything in the game. This type
|
||
|
of access is referred to as "creator" access. Objects, on most
|
||
|
MUDs, are coded in a programming language called LPC, which is
|
||
|
very much like C, but with extensions designed to make it easy
|
||
|
to code MUD objects.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Now all these things sound well and good and fun, but under the
|
||
|
hood, MUDs can be a security risk waiting to be exploited.
|
||
|
Despite having great fun and wreaking havoc with the MUD itself,
|
||
|
a clever hacker could fairly easily gain access to an operating
|
||
|
system prompt running with the UID of the MUD daemon which, in a
|
||
|
lot of cases, would be ROOT! You see, MUDs are run by a "driver"
|
||
|
program which is simply a program written in C (usually) that
|
||
|
runs as a daemon task on a UNIX machine. The driver then
|
||
|
interprets the LPC code written by the MUDs creators. This
|
||
|
daemon is usually started with a UID of ROOT (since they're
|
||
|
usually run from /etc/rc.d/rc.local).
|
||
|
|
||
|
On most MUDs, there is also another layer between the driver and
|
||
|
the creator-written LPC code. This layer is the "mudlib".
|
||
|
Mudlibs (there are many of them) are simply libraries of LPC
|
||
|
code, usually written by a large team of LPC programmers, which
|
||
|
define the basic functionality of the MUD, such as user logins,
|
||
|
how to display information, how the player's and monster's
|
||
|
bodies work, etc. The creators then write code which calls the
|
||
|
mudlib and inherits (LPC is a totally object-oriented language,
|
||
|
with full inheritance, etc.) certain properties, and defines
|
||
|
objects such as rooms, monsters, etc.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Now, before we move on, let's make sure you've got the basic
|
||
|
terminology down. There are many things involved with a MUD (who
|
||
|
knew games could be such a pain in the ass?) and in order to
|
||
|
seize control of one, you must understand everything. So, here's
|
||
|
a quick MUD dictionary.
|
||
|
|
||
|
creator: anyone on a MUD who has access to code objects
|
||
|
|
||
|
driver: the executable file, run as a system daemon, that reads
|
||
|
and interprets the game definition (LPC code)
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
LPC stands for Lars Pensj C ... The programming language you
|
||
|
write in to create MUD objects
|
||
|
|
||
|
mudlib the library of LPC code whichs defines the basic MUD
|
||
|
functionality
|
||
|
|
||
|
object anything in the game -- players, monsters, rooms, the
|
||
|
weather daemon, weapons, etc
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
If you get creator access on a MUD (usually this can be done by
|
||
|
gaining a certain level of experience, or completing some quest
|
||
|
in the game), there is a lot you can do to fuck with the MUD
|
||
|
itself. While this isn't real useful from a hacking standpoint
|
||
|
(you won't get into the O/S this way...), it *can* be a lot of
|
||
|
fun, and can serve as a way to learn LPC coding as well as the
|
||
|
internals of whatever mudlib the MUD is using.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The mudlib I'm familiar with is the TMI-2 mudlib, one of the
|
||
|
most popular ones around. So the stuff I'm going to mention may
|
||
|
not apply to the mud you're on, since they might not by using
|
||
|
TMI-2. The mudlib is usually mentioned somewhere in the login
|
||
|
text.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Everything in the MUD is an object that's defined in LPC code in
|
||
|
a file somewhere in the MUD's filesystem. MUDs have a filesystem
|
||
|
all their own, and it's made to look exactly like a normal UNIX
|
||
|
tree structure. It all starts from a root directory, which is
|
||
|
referred to as '/', just like in UNIX. This *is not* the host
|
||
|
system's real root directory, it's merely the *MUD's* root
|
||
|
directory. On most UNIXes, the actual physical directory will be
|
||
|
/usr/local/mud/lib/TMI2-1.2/ or something similar. Underneath
|
||
|
this root are all the MUD's directories which store various
|
||
|
configuration files and LPC code files, some of which are part
|
||
|
of the mudlib, and others which are creator-defined. Some
|
||
|
important directories are:
|
||
|
|
||
|
/adm - admin-only stuff like code for system daemons, etc...
|
||
|
/adm/daemon - system daemons /std - standard definitions (mostly
|
||
|
these will get inherited somewhere else) /cmd - LPC code for all
|
||
|
the user commands (some are in sub-dirs under this) /obj - where
|
||
|
most MUDs keep their LPC code for monsters, weapons, armor,
|
||
|
magic items, etc. /u/<1st-letter>/<name> - creator-access user's
|
||
|
home directories... home directory for Pazuzu would be
|
||
|
/u/p/pazuzu, vandal would be /u/v/vandal
|
||
|
|
||
|
In the MUD itself, you can use standard UNIX directory
|
||
|
management commands to manage files and directories (again, if
|
||
|
you have creator access). Here's a quick review:
|
||
|
|
||
|
cd change directory, just like in DOS or UNIX
|
||
|
|
||
|
mkdir make directory
|
||
|
|
||
|
rmdir remove directory
|
||
|
|
||
|
pwd show what directory you are in
|
||
|
|
||
|
rm remove file
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Interestingly, they mimicked UNiX's filesystem so completely,
|
||
|
you can refer to user's home directories on the MUD exactly how
|
||
|
you would under UNIX: ~<name>/ (pazuzu's home dir would be
|
||
|
~pazuzu/).
|
||
|
|
||
|
MUDs have mail and finger just like UNIX also. The finger
|
||
|
support is so complete, it allows for the standard .plan and/or
|
||
|
.projects files in your MUD home dir, just like under UNIX.
|
||
|
|
||
|
A lot of MUDs also have newsgroup support also.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The reason I mention all this is that they have tried to put the
|
||
|
full functionality of having a UNIX shell account under the MUD.
|
||
|
However, since you're really *NOT* using UNIX, just a UNIX
|
||
|
program (which is running as a daemon with UID = ROOT!),
|
||
|
security is dubious at best. For example, if they don't do path
|
||
|
checking (and sometimes they don't...), you could request (if
|
||
|
you were in the MUD's root dir) to edit, let's say,
|
||
|
../../../../../etc/passwd, and assuming the physical directory
|
||
|
/usr/local/mud/lib/TMI2-1.2/, get the system's password file.
|
||
|
Now keep in mind that this is all experimental... I'm just going
|
||
|
into what I have done in the past and letting you go from there
|
||
|
with (hopefully) a good base knowledge on how these buggers work.
|
||
|
|
||
|
One thing that can be a lot of fun is making sure that when you
|
||
|
kill someone, they stay dead for a while. Normally, on a MUD,
|
||
|
when you get "killed", what happens internally is that your
|
||
|
"player" body gets switched to a "ghost" body and gets moved
|
||
|
into the cemetery. There, you can usually type a "pray" or
|
||
|
similar command and get brought back from the dead. However, if
|
||
|
you kill someone and then IMMEDIATELY type trace -dv /std/ghost,
|
||
|
the ghost object will get destroyed, and the player's connection
|
||
|
will get dropped. "trace" is a standard creator access command
|
||
|
that lets you trace instances of objects, -dv means (d)estroy
|
||
|
and (v)iew, and /std/ghost is name name of the LPC file which
|
||
|
defines the standard ghost object. It would be an LPC file
|
||
|
called ghost.c in the /std directory. You can destroy any
|
||
|
object(s) with the trace -dv command. For example, to get rid of
|
||
|
everyone in the game's sword, type trace -dv /obj/sword. More
|
||
|
malicious things to do include killing the MUD's login daemon
|
||
|
(if you have the access: trace -dv /adm/daemon/login-- won't
|
||
|
work in most cases, unless you have high access or the MUD's
|
||
|
admin is a moron), killing the MUD's FTP server, if it has one
|
||
|
(trace -dv /adm/daemon/ftpd), or killing various other system
|
||
|
daemons. These include /adm/daemon/httpd, /adm/daemon/weatherd,
|
||
|
etc.
|
||
|
|
||
|
If you don't have the access you need, there are ways to get it
|
||
|
-- sometimes. In order to understand how this next trick works,
|
||
|
you need to understand how LPC MUD drivers look at objects.
|
||
|
Everything in the game is an object: weapons, armor, players,
|
||
|
ghosts, rooms, EVERYTHING. There is no difference between
|
||
|
objects -- only their properties vary. In order to carry a
|
||
|
weapon, the weapon object's location property is set to the
|
||
|
object ID of the player. The weapon is now "in" the player. It's
|
||
|
the same with rooms: the player object's location property is
|
||
|
set to the room's object ID. The player is now "in" the room. A
|
||
|
special case of this is when one body object is moved into
|
||
|
another body object. When this happens, the "moved" body
|
||
|
"becomes" the "moved to" body. The object that was moved takes
|
||
|
on all the properties (access level is a property, hint hint) of
|
||
|
the object it moved into. Now, keep in mind that most MUD
|
||
|
admins' characters are left in the game at all times, sitting
|
||
|
idle. What would happen if a player moved into one of the
|
||
|
admins' bodies? Hmmm... That player would now BE the admin,
|
||
|
effectively. He could then do practically anything he wanted to,
|
||
|
including destroy the entire MUD. How is this done? Well, try
|
||
|
typing (on a TMI-2 MUD) call me;move;/d/TMI/cemetery. You're now
|
||
|
in the cemetery. Keeping in mind that objects are objects, try
|
||
|
call me;move;/std/player#nnnn, where nnnn depends on the output
|
||
|
of a trace /std/player... Next to everyone's player object,
|
||
|
there'll be an instance number. So if one of the admins was
|
||
|
instance #1493, call me;move;/std/player#1493 would *probably*
|
||
|
move you into his body, allowing you free reign of destruction
|
||
|
over the MUD. Keep in mind that all this stuff will work or not
|
||
|
work based on how tight the MUD's security is. It will work in a
|
||
|
lot of cases, though.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Another way to wreak absolute havoc on some MUDs is to destroy
|
||
|
the VOID object. Objects in LPC *must* have a location, so when
|
||
|
something is really nowhere, it's in the VOID object. The best
|
||
|
way to see what will happen is to find a room that a whole bunch
|
||
|
of players are in. Then go to a different room and run a trace
|
||
|
/std/player to see what the filename of that room is. Then run a
|
||
|
trace -dv <file>, replacing <file> with the path/file name of
|
||
|
the room. All those players will now be in the VOID. So,
|
||
|
immediately type tracedv /std/void (or /d/TMI/void - run a trace
|
||
|
/std/player real quick to see which one your MUD is using), and
|
||
|
all the players will no longed be ANYWHERE, which will likely
|
||
|
cause the MUD to panic and possibly lock up. Note that this is
|
||
|
really a bug in the TMI-2 (and most other) mudlib, and it may
|
||
|
get fixed someday.
|
||
|
|
||
|
As a side note, there are some commands you should immediately
|
||
|
run once you get on a MUD. The first is call me;set;immortal;1 -
|
||
|
this will make you immortal (no one can kill you through normal
|
||
|
means). You should also run a call me;set;max_hp;666 (or some
|
||
|
other high number), since even though you're immortal, you can
|
||
|
still have your HP go to 0, which *does* fuck up the combat
|
||
|
routines, so you should make your HP very high.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Now all of this may seem very lame and silly, but it's all a
|
||
|
preliminary to the real fun... In order to do what you need or
|
||
|
want to do, you must understand how LPC and MUDs in general work.
|
||
|
|
||
|
I am including a copy of George Reese's (Borg's) basic &
|
||
|
intermediate LPC tutorials so that you may learn a little more
|
||
|
about LPC. Please read those before continuing this article,
|
||
|
else you'll get lost.
|
||
|
|
||
|
On some of the more advanced MUDs (and this is becoming the
|
||
|
norm), there are FTP and HTTP servers running "in the mud". What
|
||
|
that means is that they're being run by the MUD, but of course,
|
||
|
they're listening on a different TCP/IP port. When you telnet to
|
||
|
a MUD, you specify the address (like rodent.mud.com), and also
|
||
|
the PORT that the MUD is running on... For example: telnet
|
||
|
rodent.mud.com 1000 ... Usually, if there's an FTP or HTTP
|
||
|
server running on the MUD, it'll be one port away from the MUD's
|
||
|
telnet port. So, if the MUD's telnet port is 1000, the FTP
|
||
|
server could be on 999 or 1001, or something totally different.
|
||
|
Same for the HTTP server. There will usually be a message about
|
||
|
the FTP/HTTP servers somewhere on the MUD itself, since they
|
||
|
want you to think they're really |<-|<(/)(/)1!@
|
||
|
|
||
|
These servers are actually written in LPC! Mind you, the
|
||
|
advanced LPC techniques used to create them are way beyond the
|
||
|
scope of this article (or any other that I've seen). I've read
|
||
|
through the source for both servers (at least under the TMI-2
|
||
|
mudlib anyhow), and believe me, the code is rather convoluted
|
||
|
and full of possible security holes.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In my next article, we'll discuss the TMI-2 FTP & HTTP servers.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
THE RED BOX
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Red Box is a tool used by phreaks (Phone Hackers) to make
|
||
|
fraudulent free phone calls from payphones. It looks like the
|
||
|
days of the Red Box are limited, and soon it may take it's place
|
||
|
with the Blue Box. Using a red box is not true phreaking at
|
||
|
all, however, it's a good place to start.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Theory
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
When you put a quarter (or any other accepted coin) into a
|
||
|
payphone (see sidebar), it drops into a holding area (the
|
||
|
"hopper") in the center of the phone and the phone tells the
|
||
|
phone company that money was inserted and how much. It does
|
||
|
this by sending a series of tones, one pulse of 1100+1700 Hertz
|
||
|
for every five cents. If you make a call successfully, your
|
||
|
money drops down to the change holding box. If you don't, it
|
||
|
drops down to the coin return. This is why payphones cannot
|
||
|
give change. The red box generates the 1100+1700 Hertz signal,
|
||
|
which is played into the mouthpiece of the phone. The phone
|
||
|
company thinks that you put money in the phone, so you can make
|
||
|
calls. Note the t you cannot get any money out of the phone
|
||
|
using a red box for two reasons. The first is that the payphone
|
||
|
doesn't listen for the red box tones, the phone company does.
|
||
|
The second is that payphones can only return the exact change
|
||
|
that you put in. (i.e., the same quarter) The phone company
|
||
|
can tell the payphone to release the coins in the holding
|
||
|
chamber to either the coin box or the coin return using green
|
||
|
box tones. However, the green box tones must be sent from the
|
||
|
phone company to the phone, so it is fairly useless to the
|
||
|
phreaker.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Construction
|
||
|
|
||
|
There are two dominant methods of constructing a red box. The
|
||
|
first is to build something that will generate the tones, and
|
||
|
the second is to record the tones onto a recording device.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Software is readily available for DOS and other platforms to
|
||
|
create the necessary tones through your sound card. These
|
||
|
include BlueBeep and BOX.EXE which was distributed with Phrack.
|
||
|
You may record these tones on a quality tape recorder, but that
|
||
|
is fairly clunky. A better method is to get an $8.00 Hallmark
|
||
|
recordable greeting card at a Hallmark card. Take the card
|
||
|
apart (be very careful, the tiny wires break easily) and
|
||
|
repackage the electronics. Be creative! Red boxes have been
|
||
|
created in dolls, pager cases, gum packages, etc. Replace the
|
||
|
cheesy plastic button with a normally open push-button switch
|
||
|
(from Radio Shack or wherever) and record the tones on the card.
|
||
|
You may get better results if you directly couple your sound
|
||
|
source to the microphone wires (after removing the microphone.)
|
||
|
It may also be necessary to install a small resister in series
|
||
|
with the speaker to achieve proper volume.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Another way to create a red box is by modifying a Radio Shack
|
||
|
memory tone dialer. This method usually works the best, but it
|
||
|
is probably the most expensive. Take a Radio Shack Memory Tone
|
||
|
Dialer and open it up. Find the crystal and replace it with a
|
||
|
6.5536 megahertz crystal. The existing crystal is the biggest
|
||
|
thing you'll see, and it should look similar to the 6.5536
|
||
|
replacement crystal, which you can mail order from any
|
||
|
electronics component vendor. Program one of the memory keys to
|
||
|
be five asterisks (*'s). That memory key will then be one
|
||
|
quarter. You may want to install a switch so that you can still
|
||
|
use the tone dialer as a tone dialer in addition to a red box.
|
||
|
Mercury switches are neat: right side up it's a tone dialer,
|
||
|
upside down, it's a red box.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Use
|
||
|
|
||
|
Since this article is for educational purposes only, don't
|
||
|
actually make or use a red box. However, here's how phreakers
|
||
|
use the red box.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Basically, just play the tones instead of inserting money. It's
|
||
|
good practice (to avoid being caught) to insert some real money
|
||
|
before (i.e., a nickel, payphones don't accept pennies) playing
|
||
|
any tones. Put a random delay between virtual coins. Remember,
|
||
|
one pulse if five cents.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Note that you cannot make local calls directly using a red box.
|
||
|
To make a local call, dial the operator and ask him/her to dial
|
||
|
a number for you. Give them the number, tell them you want to
|
||
|
pay by coin, play the tones when it asks for money.
|
||
|
|
||
|
That's just about all there is to red boxing. I hope this
|
||
|
article has been interesting and educational. If you're
|
||
|
interested in more fun things you can do with payphones,
|
||
|
download ABCPP.ZIP from the Digital Forest. It's quite
|
||
|
interesting. Remember, making, using, and owning telephone
|
||
|
fraud devices and such equipment is very illegal, so don't do
|
||
|
anything described in this article. We're not responsible if
|
||
|
you do.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
| Electronic Mail:
|
||
|
| The Real Killer App,
|
||
|
| Its Future And Impact
|
||
|
| By Light Ray
|
||
|
|
||
|
While Netscape Communications proclaims that Netscape/Mozilla is
|
||
|
the "Killer App" and others cite other www browsers as being the
|
||
|
"Killer App," many of them are losing touch with what is
|
||
|
actually useful. Sure, the world wide web is fun, but it's
|
||
|
fairly useless right now. More people use E-Mail than use any
|
||
|
other Internet function. Today, our AFS exchange student used
|
||
|
E-Mail to send mail to his family back in the Slovak Republic,
|
||
|
instead of making an expensive $1.50 a minute telephone call.
|
||
|
On the radio, the DJ solicited Internet email for a contest to
|
||
|
win something. With the world wide web, about all one can do at
|
||
|
this point is obtain information on a particular topic. With
|
||
|
electronic mail, one can interactively converse with someone.
|
||
|
It's as fast as a phone call and much cheaper, and it doesn't
|
||
|
matter if the intended recipient is at home.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Unfortunately, there isn't really a 411 for electronic mail, so
|
||
|
it's difficult to find someone's address. The easiest way to
|
||
|
get someone's e-mail address is to call them on the telephone
|
||
|
and ask.
|
||
|
|
||
|
An emerging technology is voice technology over the Internet.
|
||
|
This allows you to talk to someone over the Internet, no matter
|
||
|
where they are physically located. (No long distance phone
|
||
|
bills!) Unfortunately, this technology is still being
|
||
|
developed. It's available now, but there are few standards.
|
||
|
Unlike electronic mail, you must be using the same software as
|
||
|
the person that you are talking to, on the same type of
|
||
|
computer, and often the conversation must be prearranged.
|
||
|
However, as standards emerge, voice over the Internet may become
|
||
|
as standard as electronic mail.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The next logical step in the evolution of digital communication
|
||
|
is video conferencing. Again, this is here today to some
|
||
|
extent. You can purchase a real video-phone that works over
|
||
|
normal phone lines at your local AT&T store. However, almost no
|
||
|
one has these phones for three reasons: (1) they see no reason
|
||
|
to get one (2) they are very expensive and (3) no one else has
|
||
|
one. A telephone's usefulness is dependent on how many people
|
||
|
have telephones. If only one person has a telephone, it's
|
||
|
completely useless. Video over the Internet requires several
|
||
|
things that aren't yet common. While most computers now include
|
||
|
sound recording and playback hardware, few personal computers
|
||
|
include video recording and playback equipment. In addition, a
|
||
|
video camera is much more expensive than a microphone. Even if
|
||
|
you have all of the necessary hardware, you still need a high
|
||
|
speed Internet connection, which are fairly expensive right now.
|
||
|
With ISDN becoming more popular, this may change. An ISDN is
|
||
|
basically a digital phone line, which is very well suited to
|
||
|
high speed digital communications. ISDN is available now in
|
||
|
many areas; you can get an ISDN line for $30 a month from
|
||
|
Pacific Bell. Also needed to make video-over-the-net work are
|
||
|
software, standards, and data compression technology. With
|
||
|
companies such as US Robotics manufacturing ISDN equipment for
|
||
|
low prices, ISDN is bound to become much more popular in the
|
||
|
near future, bringing an era of mail, speech, and video over the
|
||
|
Internet.
|
||
|
|
||
|
What implications does this have? Many, believe it or not.
|
||
|
First, Internet email is cheap (usually free or as much as $10
|
||
|
per month). This should scare the phone company and the United
|
||
|
States Postal Service. Email is the telegraph and the USPS is
|
||
|
the pony express. Of course, you can't send an object through
|
||
|
email (yet), but the majority of correspondence is information
|
||
|
readily sent electronically. An organization must diversify and
|
||
|
evolve or perish. Unlike most government
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
X-Files Fans Turn Out For The Convention in Pasadena
|
||
|
|
||
|
By Spooky
|
||
|
|
||
|
On a terribly hot Saturday afternoon, many thousands of people
|
||
|
gathered, crammed in what no longer seems the suitable space of
|
||
|
the Pasadena Convention Center, in Southern California. But
|
||
|
throughout the day, not a word of complaint is heard. The
|
||
|
majority of the fans who gathered here traveled some distance to
|
||
|
bare witness to the "Second Official X-Files Convention",
|
||
|
playfully nicknamed "The Big-One" by Creation. Whom organize all
|
||
|
The X-Files Conventions. And whom organized the first event in
|
||
|
San Diego, which i attended about a month and a half before. I
|
||
|
walk in and scan the large crowds of people, spending hundreds
|
||
|
of dollars buying all of the merchandise they can get their
|
||
|
hands on. By the end of the day all of it is all sold out.
|
||
|
Everything from X-Files T-shirts, to TV guides, costing anywhere
|
||
|
from $60-$5. And some other areas, where you can check out
|
||
|
The-Files home page on the world wide web, to one where you can
|
||
|
walk through a small museum of show props, from clothes worn by
|
||
|
David Duchovney (Agent Mulder) (who had roles in Twin Peaks, as
|
||
|
a Transvestite Government Agent, Beethoven, as a greedy
|
||
|
businessmen, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitters Dead, as an asshole
|
||
|
boyfriend, played a leading role in Kalifornia, and has a head
|
||
|
role in Showtimes Red Shoe Diaries and has been in a few
|
||
|
commercials for AT&T) or Gillian Anderson (Agent Scully), to
|
||
|
the sign used in one of the first seasons episodes with the
|
||
|
words "Welcome Space Brothers" written on them in a
|
||
|
psyhicadellic 60's fashion. I walked through isles of seats
|
||
|
trying to find a suitable place to watch the guests on stage,
|
||
|
presenting slides of X-Files episodes, Looking at the people
|
||
|
anxiously awaiting the monterage of highly adored actors, (Mitch
|
||
|
Pileggi -Assistant Director Skinner, Steven Williams -Mr. X,
|
||
|
Dough Hutchinson -Tooms, Erica & Sabrina Kreivens -Eve 9 & Eve
|
||
|
10) whom, mostly were unknowns before being casted into the
|
||
|
growing fledgling, science fiction, "cult", drama cozily placed
|
||
|
in a wonderful 9:00Pm, Friday slot on the Fox television
|
||
|
network. Providing an adequate, environment, and structure to
|
||
|
allow you to really get into the show. Going into its
|
||
|
third season, The X-Files has passed the test, which most TV
|
||
|
series never make it through. The creator of the X-Files, Chris
|
||
|
Carter, former surfer magazine journalist, who spoke at the
|
||
|
convention, has planned its three-part season premiere, which
|
||
|
will continue on September 22, -its usual time, and day. A
|
||
|
little later, i noticed the now straggly, long haired, unshaven,
|
||
|
Doug Hutchinson (Tooms) wandering through the crowds, wearing
|
||
|
the black leather jacket, he wore at the X-Files convention in
|
||
|
San Diego. He jokingly calls this his "rocker" phase. I
|
||
|
approached him, and smiling, ask for his autograph. I
|
||
|
immediately knew that it was really him, as soon as he, in his
|
||
|
friendly manner, said, "Sure...how did you recognize me?" with
|
||
|
a grin. I stood with him shortly as politely took his time and
|
||
|
had a small conversation as doodled "LIVERS!" and "Tooms" on
|
||
|
my program. I thanked him, saying "Bring Back Tooms!" -a phrase
|
||
|
that was adopted by some X-Files fans at the first convention.
|
||
|
I listened to some of the actors, speak, and answer questions
|
||
|
from the audience, about the show, and their characters. Mitch
|
||
|
Pileggi- who plays Skinner, was asked by some women in the
|
||
|
audience, if they could kiss his forehead, he respectfully
|
||
|
agreed, and walked down off stage. He remarkably, unlike his
|
||
|
character Walter Skinner -a very angry, unlikable, asshole of a
|
||
|
man, is polite, and easy to like. Soon the time arrives,
|
||
|
after the charity auction, which things such as Signed scripts
|
||
|
were sold for as much as $760. Chris Carter comes out wearing
|
||
|
casual dress, flashes from cameras and the talk of reporters
|
||
|
start to thrive in the auditorium. Everyone rushes up to the
|
||
|
podium to ask him questions. By the time he's finished with them
|
||
|
all, the lines have already started to form at the table where
|
||
|
he's scheduled to sign autographs. Near the end of the close, he
|
||
|
begins, to re-describe the season finale, in which the lead
|
||
|
actor, Mulder, is caught in a situation where he's trapped in a
|
||
|
train car, sunk 20 feet in the ground filled with strange bodies
|
||
|
stacked to the roof at one corner. An explosive goes off inside
|
||
|
the car, the credits begin to go across the screen. Carter
|
||
|
laughing, speaks into the microphone, "I have no idea how the
|
||
|
bring Mulder back". The audience laughs as he walks off stage.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
An Introduction To
|
||
|
NUMBER BASES
|
||
|
By Light Ray
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
[This artical makes use of formulas, diagrams,
|
||
|
superscrips, and subscripts that may or may not
|
||
|
be present in the ASCII version.]
|
||
|
|
||
|
Notes
|
||
|
|
||
|
This is taken from the "lab notes" from Explorer Post 340, the
|
||
|
oldest Boy Scout Explorer Post in the world, as far as I know.
|
||
|
Explorer Post 340 is wonderful. We meet at the Western Digital
|
||
|
Building in the El Toro "Y", between the I-5 and 405 ("San
|
||
|
Diego") freeways every Wednesday night from about 7:15pm to
|
||
|
around 9:30pm. This is the first file in a series of
|
||
|
articles/files. I know that most people know this already, but
|
||
|
for those that don't, here it is.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Introduction
|
||
|
|
||
|
When we write a number, we have ten symbols to work with. They
|
||
|
are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Since we have ten symbols,
|
||
|
we say that this is Base 10. However, there are times when it is
|
||
|
awkward or impossible to use base ten. For these situations, we
|
||
|
use alternate number bases. For instance, binary has two
|
||
|
symbols, 0 and 1.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
A knowledge of alternate number bases (namely binary,
|
||
|
hexadecimal, and sometimes octal) is necessary for advanced
|
||
|
programming, digital logic design, impressing your friends,
|
||
|
winning the lottery, and having a successful and fulfilling
|
||
|
life.. Well, almost all of those.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
In base X, there are X symbols. People currently use base ten
|
||
|
just about everywhere, allegedly, this is because people have
|
||
|
ten fingers. That is, most people, except for those of us who
|
||
|
take interest in machining or pyrotechnics...
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Bases other than the ever-present base-10 have more or fewer
|
||
|
symbols making them more applicable for non-human applications,
|
||
|
those that do not have ten fingers.
|
||
|
|
||
|
A Summary Of Base Ten
|
||
|
|
||
|
Base 10 (decimal) uses 10 symbols. These are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
|
||
|
6, 7, 8, and 9. This is why it is called base 10.
|
||
|
|
||
|
When writing a number in a specific base, the base is written in
|
||
|
subscript after the number. For instance, 1310 represents 13 in
|
||
|
Base 10.
|
||
|
|
||
|
To count in base 10, we start at 0 and add one until we get to
|
||
|
9. At this point, it is necessary to create an additional
|
||
|
column to the left, containing a one. Every time the first
|
||
|
column reaches 9, it is set to zero and the column to the left
|
||
|
is incremented. When 99 is reached a third column containing a
|
||
|
one is created and the two nines are set to zero, etc.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In base 10, every column is 10 times greater than the column to
|
||
|
the right:
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Thousands Hundreds Tens Ones
|
||
|
|
||
|
103 102 101 100
|
||
|
1,000 100 10 1
|
||
|
|
||
|
The value of the number 1234 in base 10 is computed by
|
||
|
multiplying each digit by the value of its place and taking the
|
||
|
sum of the individual
|
||
|
products.
|
||
|
|
||
|
123410=(1*103)+(2*102)+(3*101)+(4* 100)
|
||
|
123410=(1*1000)+(2*100)+(3*10)+(4*1)
|
||
|
123410=1000 + 200 + 30 + 4
|
||
|
123410=123410
|
||
|
|
||
|
The range of positive values that can be represented by n digits
|
||
|
in base x is 0 to (xn - 1). For example, the range of positive
|
||
|
values that may be expressed by a ten digit number in base four
|
||
|
is 0 to 9999. x = 10 n = 4
|
||
|
|
||
|
range = 0 to (xn - 1)
|
||
|
range = 0 to (10^4 - 1)
|
||
|
range = 0 to (10000 - 1)
|
||
|
range = 0 to 9999
|
||
|
|
||
|
A Summary Of Base Two
|
||
|
|
||
|
Base Two, otherwise known as Binary, uses TWO symbols. These two
|
||
|
symbols are ZERO (0) and ONE (1). In binary, the symbols 2,3,4
|
||
|
etc. simply do not exist.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Binary is often used in digital electronics and logic because a
|
||
|
digital signal has two states, on (1) and off (0). On is
|
||
|
usually five volts and off is usually ground or zero volts.
|
||
|
|
||
|
To count in base two, use the same system as base ten. However,
|
||
|
you only have two symbols.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Start at Zero.
|
||
|
|
||
|
To find the next number, increment the first (right-most) digit.
|
||
|
If this digit is already a ONE, then change it to a ZERO and
|
||
|
increment the value to the left.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Binary (Base 2) Decimal (Base 10)
|
||
|
|
||
|
0000 0
|
||
|
0001 1
|
||
|
0010 2
|
||
|
0011 3
|
||
|
0100 4
|
||
|
0101 5
|
||
|
0110 6
|
||
|
0111 7
|
||
|
1000 8
|
||
|
1001 9
|
||
|
1010 10
|
||
|
1011 11
|
||
|
1100 12
|
||
|
1101 13
|
||
|
1110 14
|
||
|
1111 15
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
In base two, every column has two times greater value than the
|
||
|
column immediately to the right.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Eights Fours Twos Ones
|
||
|
|
||
|
23 22 21 20
|
||
|
|
||
|
The value of the number 1101 in base 2 is computed by
|
||
|
multiplying each digit by the value of its column and summing
|
||
|
the individual products, just as in decimal. 11012 = 1310
|
||
|
|
||
|
The range of positive values that can be expressed by n digits
|
||
|
in base two is zero through (2^n - 1). For example, the
|
||
|
numbers 0 through (2^4 - 1) or 15 may be expressed in four
|
||
|
digits of binary.
|
||
|
|
||
|
A BIT is a single Binary digIT. A bit is either zero or one. A
|
||
|
NIBBLE is four bits. A BYTE is two nibbles or eight bits. A byte
|
||
|
has a value of zero to (28 - 1) or 255. A WORD is normally two
|
||
|
bytes. A word can express 0 to 65535. A LONG WORD is normally
|
||
|
two words.
|
||
|
|
||
|
An 80386 processor transfers digital data a word at a time. A
|
||
|
486 processor transfers data a long word at a time.
|
||
|
|
||
|
A Summary Of Base 16
|
||
|
|
||
|
Base 16 is known as hexadecimal. Hexadecimal uses sixteen
|
||
|
symbols, which are: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D,
|
||
|
E, and F.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Keep in mind that:
|
||
|
|
||
|
A16 = 1010
|
||
|
B16 = 1110
|
||
|
etc.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The place values in hexadecimal are:
|
||
|
|
||
|
4096's 256's 16's Ones
|
||
|
163 162 161 160
|
||
|
|
||
|
Sample Conversion:
|
||
|
|
||
|
1A3F16 = (1 * 163) + (A * 162) + (3 * 161) + (F * 160)
|
||
|
1A3F16 = (1 * 4906) + (10 * 256) + (3 * 16) + (15 * 1)
|
||
|
1A3F16 = 4906 + 2560 + 48 + 15
|
||
|
1A3F16 = 671910
|
||
|
|
||
|
Converting from Decimal to Binary
|
||
|
|
||
|
The best way to illustrate how to convert a decimal number to
|
||
|
binary (or any other base for that matter) is to show an
|
||
|
example.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Say that we want to convert 19710 to binary.
|
||
|
|
||
|
First, write out the place values for the target base. Start
|
||
|
with a place value that is greater than the number you wish to
|
||
|
convert.
|
||
|
|
||
|
256 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
|
||
|
28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20
|
||
|
|
||
|
The object is to come up with 197 by taking the sum of
|
||
|
selected place values. Those place values that are selected
|
||
|
will be "1" and those that aren't will be set to "0".
|
||
|
|
||
|
For example, 197 is the sum of 128, 64, 4, and 1. We write 1's
|
||
|
under the 128, 64, 4, and 1 columns, and 0's under the other
|
||
|
columns:
|
||
|
|
||
|
256 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
|
||
|
0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1
|
||
|
|
||
|
The answer is 110001012.
|
||
|
|
||
|
There is an easier way, but I don't remember it right now. (=
|
||
|
You could, of course, use your scientific calculator.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Converting from Hexadecimal to Binary and back
|
||
|
|
||
|
We could, of course, convert the Hexadecimal number to Decimal,
|
||
|
and then convert it to Binary. However, there is an amazing
|
||
|
short cut! (This is actually why we use hexadecimal)
|
||
|
|
||
|
The range that may be expressed by one binary nibble is 0 to 15.
|
||
|
Incidentally, one Hexadecimal digit has the same range, 0 to 15.
|
||
|
Thus, each four digits in binary is equivalent to one digit in
|
||
|
hexadecimal, and vice-versa.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Binary Decimal Hexidecimal
|
||
|
|
||
|
0000 0 0
|
||
|
0001 1 1
|
||
|
0010 2 2
|
||
|
0011 3 3
|
||
|
0101 5 5
|
||
|
0110 6 6
|
||
|
0111 7 7
|
||
|
1000 8 8
|
||
|
1001 9 9
|
||
|
1010 10 A
|
||
|
1011 11 B
|
||
|
1100 12 C
|
||
|
1101 13 D
|
||
|
1110 14 E
|
||
|
1111 15 F
|
||
|
|
||
|
To convert 01001001011101102 to hexadecimal, first split it up
|
||
|
into nibbles:
|
||
|
|
||
|
0100 1001 0111 0110
|
||
|
|
||
|
Then, convert each nibble to hex. Use the chart if necessary.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Binary 0100 1001 0111 0110
|
||
|
Hex 4 9 7 6
|
||
|
|
||
|
Thus, 01001001011101102 = 497616
|
||
|
|
||
|
Since the base 16 version is so much shorter, we work with hex
|
||
|
very often when programming and using digital logic. Note that
|
||
|
in programming, hexadecimal numbers are often prefixed with
|
||
|
"0x0" to denote hex. This is the C language method of doing it.
|
||
|
Other times, you'll see hex numbers prefixed with a dollar sign
|
||
|
or appended with a lower case "h."
|
||
|
|
||
|
12AB16 = 0x012AB = $012AB = 12ABh
|
||
|
|
||
|
Now, lacking a better ending for this lesson, I will leave it at
|
||
|
that.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
LINUX
|
||
|
|
||
|
Imagine: Your puny '386 turned into a powerful UNIX workstation,
|
||
|
for free. It can be done with Linux...
|
||
|
|
||
|
What Is Linux?
|
||
|
|
||
|
Linux is a freely-distributable implementation of UNIX for
|
||
|
machines with 80386 or higher processors. Features include
|
||
|
X-Windows, TCP/IP, and everything else you would expect to find
|
||
|
in a 32-bit multi-user, multi-tasking, multi-threaded operating
|
||
|
system. Best of all, Linux is FREE. You can get Linux through a
|
||
|
variety of methods. The easiest way is to buy a CD with Linux on
|
||
|
it. You can also download Linux from many BBS's or FTP it over
|
||
|
the Internet. You may FTP Linux from 11.mit.edu or
|
||
|
sunsite.unc.edu.
|
||
|
|
||
|
My First Attempt
|
||
|
|
||
|
One night, while browsing files on a local BBS, I discovered
|
||
|
that "SoftLanding Systems" distribution of Linux was available
|
||
|
for download. Thus, I began a 16mb batch download and went to
|
||
|
bed.
|
||
|
|
||
|
I woke up the next day to play with my new acquisition.
|
||
|
Instructions? Hm. The installation instructions were sketchy at
|
||
|
best. I figured out how to create a bootdisk and a root disk,
|
||
|
then I needed to repartition my hard disk and create a Minix
|
||
|
filesystem on it. This took several hours and I never did get
|
||
|
Linux installed correctly. I gave up, my hard disk in shambles,
|
||
|
and I had better things to do at the time.
|
||
|
|
||
|
A New Look
|
||
|
|
||
|
Last week, at the computer swap meet, something caught my eye.
|
||
|
"4-CD Set LINUX Developers Resource," it proclaimed, "QuickStart
|
||
|
Guide Inside" noted underneath. I decided to give Linux another
|
||
|
shot, so I painfully parted with a hard earned twenty dollar
|
||
|
bill and it was mine.
|
||
|
|
||
|
When I got home, I put in Disc One and began reading the cute
|
||
|
little "QUICKSTART version 2.0" booklet.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The first step in the Linux installation is to create a Boot
|
||
|
Floppy and a Root Floppy. To do this, you select a disk image
|
||
|
and write it to a 1.2mb or 1.44mb floppy disk. There are a
|
||
|
variety to chose from, depending on your setup. A handy file
|
||
|
helps you chose. Since I was installing from an Enhanced IDE
|
||
|
CD-ROM drive, I needed to use "idecd" for my boot image. Since
|
||
|
my boot drive is a 3.5", 1.44mb drive, I used the "idecd" file
|
||
|
in the "boot144" directory as my boot image. I chose the
|
||
|
"umsdos" file as my root image since I was installing to a FAT
|
||
|
partition. Creation of the root and boot disks was easy and went
|
||
|
smoothly, using a neat little utility called "rawrite" which was
|
||
|
provided. There is also a point-and-click windows-based
|
||
|
boot/root disk creator for those that (for some reason) wish to
|
||
|
have a more painless experience.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Incidentally, I was pleased to learn that Linux no longer needs
|
||
|
it's own partition. It works best with it's own ext2fs format
|
||
|
partition, but it will coexist on a FAT partition without
|
||
|
damaging anything. This means that I didn't have to repartition
|
||
|
my hard disk, which I was quite thankful for.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Ok, step two. I put the Boot Disk in drive A: and rebooted. Up
|
||
|
popped a "Welcome to the Slackware Linux 2.2.0 bootkernel disk!"
|
||
|
message and I was asked if I had any special parameters. I hit
|
||
|
enter and booting continued. It loaded the boot disk onto a RAM
|
||
|
Disk and then I inserted the Root Disk. The Boot Disk contains
|
||
|
the Linux operating system and the Root Disk holds the
|
||
|
filesystem. It's too big to fit on a single floppy.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Finally booted up, I log in as "root," the master superuser
|
||
|
account of UNIX. Then I get to a Linux prompt, where I type
|
||
|
"SETUP." From then on, installation is a flawless breeze,
|
||
|
courtesy the user-friendly colorful menued setup program. Linux
|
||
|
installation requires from 10mb to 150mb, depending on what you
|
||
|
install.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Success!
|
||
|
|
||
|
Linux was installed. It was incredible. I began to browse my
|
||
|
newfound directory structure. I played Doom for Linux,
|
||
|
Asteroids, and read info files. It was Neat.
|
||
|
|
||
|
X
|
||
|
|
||
|
It was great. But I wanted more. The next step was to setup
|
||
|
X/Windows. X/Windows is the Graphical User Interface for UNIX.
|
||
|
It's available for just about any flavor of UNIX and there are
|
||
|
many varieties available from different vendors, ranging from
|
||
|
free (Xfree or X11) to very expensive.
|
||
|
|
||
|
X-Windows for Linux is notoriously difficult to coax into
|
||
|
working. However, it was pretty straight forward in my case. The
|
||
|
main stumbling block is getting it to like your monitor and
|
||
|
video card, but I was fortunate in that my Genoa WindowsVGA card
|
||
|
was supported. Most cards are, in fact, supported, with Diamond
|
||
|
cards being the major exception.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The newer distributions of Linux come with a neat configuration
|
||
|
program for X11 which made installation quite painless. Having
|
||
|
configured it, I typed "xinit" and up came X-Windows. It was
|
||
|
pretty cool, my PC transformed into a sleek X-terminal...
|
||
|
|
||
|
Look for an article on more neat things you can do with Linux in
|
||
|
the next issue. Also, read the UNIX column.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Notes
|
||
|
|
||
|
Another free UNIX operating system exists for the 80x86
|
||
|
platform, FreeBSD. Look for a review in a future issue. Linux
|
||
|
and FreeBSD distributions are available from Chestnut,
|
||
|
InfoMagic, Walnut Creek CD-ROM, and other companies.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Linux CD-ROM Sources
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
InfoMagic
|
||
|
P.O. Box 30370
|
||
|
Flagstaff, AZ 86003-0370
|
||
|
Phone: (520) 526-9565
|
||
|
Fax: (520) 526-9573
|
||
|
E-Mail: info@@infomagic.com
|
||
|
Web: http://www.InfoMagic.com/
|
||
|
|
||
|
Walnut Creek CD-ROM
|
||
|
1547 Palos Verdes Mall, Suite 260
|
||
|
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
|
||
|
Phone: (800) 786-9907
|
||
|
Phone: (510) 674-0783
|
||
|
Fax: (510) 674-0821
|
||
|
E-Mail: info@@cdrom.com
|
||
|
Web: http://www.cdrom.com/
|
||
|
FTP: ftp.cdrom.com
|
||
|
|
||
|
(If you know of others, please send us
|
||
|
information)
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
~
|
||
|
|
||
|
UNIX
|
||
|
|
||
|
Welcome to the UNIX column of our Zine. In this column I will
|
||
|
conduct an ongoing UNIX tutorial over the next few issues of
|
||
|
this magazine. Knowledge of UNIX is very usefull for many
|
||
|
reasons. UNIX is the dominent operating system for powerful
|
||
|
computers and computers on the internet. If you ever plan on
|
||
|
installing Linux, being a successful Hacker, or getting a job in
|
||
|
the hi-tech computer industry, you will need to be familier with
|
||
|
UNIX.
|
||
|
|
||
|
UNIX is an incredibly powerful operating system however, with
|
||
|
it's mightly power, UNIX is a very complex and unfriendly
|
||
|
operating system. This brief article is to bestow upon the
|
||
|
average DOS-ite the basic navigation skills necessary to use
|
||
|
UNIX. Future articles will delve into more advanced UNIX topics.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Like ice cream, UNIX comes in "flavors." A UNIX flavor refers
|
||
|
to a brand of UNIX. UNIX Flavors include Linux, BSD, Ultrix,
|
||
|
Irix, etc.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
UNIX is, in many ways, similar to DOS. It also has its
|
||
|
differences. Like DOS, UNIX is text mode command-line based,
|
||
|
although it you may install a graphical user interface (GUI)
|
||
|
such as X-Windows. Unlike DOS, UNIX was designed from ground
|
||
|
zero to be a multi-user, multi-tasking, multi-threading
|
||
|
networking and development platform. Let's examine each of
|
||
|
these.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The multi-user capabilities allow one computer to be used by
|
||
|
multiple people. The most obvious signature of the multi-user
|
||
|
system is that the first one must do when using a computer
|
||
|
runnning UNIX is to log in with a name and password. Files and
|
||
|
directories may be owned by one person or a group of people.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Since UNIX is multi-tasking and multi-threading, multiple people
|
||
|
may be using the computer simultaneously and each person is able
|
||
|
to run more than one application simultaneously.
|
||
|
Multi-threading refers to the ability for a program to have
|
||
|
multiple parts which execute simultaneously.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
UNIX is a development platform. It is designed so that software
|
||
|
written for UNIX (including UNIX itself) is highly portable
|
||
|
between platforms (different computer types) and operating
|
||
|
systems. It is also a networking operating system, that is,
|
||
|
UNIX is designed to help connect computers to other computers
|
||
|
and communicate between them. Virtually the entire Internet is
|
||
|
run by computers using UNIX, although that is beginning to
|
||
|
change.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The UNIX File System
|
||
|
|
||
|
The UNIX directory structure is similar to DOS. That is, a
|
||
|
directory may have subdirectories, which may in turn have
|
||
|
subdirectories, etc. There are several anomalies, however, which
|
||
|
you must take into account.
|
||
|
|
||
|
First of all, UNIX uses the forward slant bar ("/") where DOS
|
||
|
uses the back slant bar ("\"). This is a general headache for
|
||
|
those that use DOS and UNIX. For example, cd /usr/X386 is
|
||
|
correct. cd\usr\X386 will not work. In UNIX, the back slant
|
||
|
bar is used to denote case in situations where only upper-case
|
||
|
characters are available. This is not as common as it once was,
|
||
|
but you will still run into times when you may only use upper
|
||
|
case characters. Simply precede any character you wish to
|
||
|
remain in upper case with a back slant bar. The remaining
|
||
|
characters will be converted to lower case. This brings us to
|
||
|
an important point. UNIX is case sensitive. Filenames may
|
||
|
have upper case and lower case letters in them, and you must use
|
||
|
the propper case when referencing them.
|
||
|
|
||
|
One feature of UNIX not found in DOS is the concept of a
|
||
|
"symbolic link." (The new MacOS has something similar known as
|
||
|
"aliases.") A Symbolic Link looks like an item in the directory
|
||
|
(a subdirectory, a file, etc) however, it points to an item in
|
||
|
another directory. This is usefull because you may want to have
|
||
|
one file in two different places; a symbolic link would let you
|
||
|
have one file appear in two different places, but physically
|
||
|
reside in only one directory, saving space.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In UNIX, many non-file items are mapped to the file system.
|
||
|
These include devices, found in the /dev directory, as well as
|
||
|
running tasks, found in the /proc direcory, to name a few. This
|
||
|
may be confusing, but it's actually quite handy. For example, on
|
||
|
my Linux system, /dev/modem is a symbolic link to /dev/ttyS01,
|
||
|
the second serial port.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Shell
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Shell is the command interpreter for UNIX, the interface
|
||
|
between the operating system and the user. The shell is the
|
||
|
program that accepts your input and executes commands, etc.
|
||
|
There are several common shells, including the Bourne shell
|
||
|
(sh), the C shell (csh), the Korn shell (ksh), the restricted
|
||
|
Bourne shell (rsh), and the Bourne again shell (bash), as well
|
||
|
as ash. (command.com, 4dos.com, and ndos.com are shells for DOS.
|
||
|
The finder is the shell in MacOS).
|
||
|
|
||
|
You should now have a basic understanding of UNIX. The best
|
||
|
thing to do now is to gain access to a UNIX system and play with
|
||
|
it. The best way to do this is to either install Linux (an
|
||
|
excellent way to learn UNIX) or get a "shell account" somewhere.
|
||
|
You can usually get a shell account if you attend college, or
|
||
|
sometimes high school. Alternatively, you can get a shell
|
||
|
account for about $15 per month from an internet service
|
||
|
provider. Shell accounts are available for the cost of a phone
|
||
|
call from free.org, which has an ad later in this magazine.
|
||
|
Ports (versions) of various UNIX shells are available for DOS,
|
||
|
OS/2, and Windows. [Note: The Korn shell ported to OS/2 is
|
||
|
available as ksh.zip on The Digital Forest - Light Ray]
|
||
|
|
||
|
Below is a UNIX Command Reference to get you started. (It
|
||
|
continues on the next page.) Enjoy!
|
||
|
|
||
|
~
|
||
|
|
||
|
UNIX Command Reference
|
||
|
|
||
|
Command Function
|
||
|
|
||
|
ls List files - similar to DIR in DOS. Use the -a option to
|
||
|
list all files, including hidden files, -o option toggles color,
|
||
|
-l option toggles long (detailed) display.
|
||
|
|
||
|
cd <directory> Change Directory - the same as in DOS except
|
||
|
forward slashes are used and their must be a space after cd.
|
||
|
Example: cd /blort
|
||
|
|
||
|
pwd Path Name - displays the name of the directory that you are
|
||
|
in
|
||
|
|
||
|
cat <filename> Catalog - displays contents of <filename>
|
||
|
|
||
|
rm <filename> Remove - same as DOS delete/del/erase command.
|
||
|
Erases <filename> from disk.
|
||
|
|
||
|
cp <src> <dst> Copy - copies <src> to <dst>, just like the DOS
|
||
|
copy command.
|
||
|
|
||
|
whoami Shows what account you are logged in as, in case you
|
||
|
forgot.
|
||
|
|
||
|
who Shows what uses are logged in, with login date and time
|
||
|
|
||
|
ps List System Processes - includes the Process ID (PID),
|
||
|
Terminal (TTY), time started, and the name of the command (CMD).
|
||
|
ps -u<user> will display only the processes owned by <user>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
kill Kill Process - Use ps to get the process ID. Use either
|
||
|
the format kill -<strength> <pid> or kill <pid>. The process
|
||
|
with Process ID <pid> will be terminated. A Strength of 9 will
|
||
|
kill almost anything. You must be "superuser" to kill other
|
||
|
users's processes.
|
||
|
|
||
|
write <user> Send a message to a user who is currently logged
|
||
|
in. After typing the command, type your message, line by line.
|
||
|
Each line will be sent as you hit return. Hit Control-D when you
|
||
|
are done.
|
||
|
|
||
|
mkdir <dir> Create subdirectory called <dir>
|
||
|
|
||
|
rmdir <dir> Remove subdirectory <dir>
|
||
|
|
||
|
mv <old> <new> Moves or Renames <old> to <new>
|
||
|
|
||
|
echo text Displays text
|
||
|
|
||
|
uname -m uname -n uname -r uname -s uname -u uname -a uname
|
||
|
_help Display Machine Type (ie "i486") Display Machine Name (ie
|
||
|
"Bob") Display OS Release (ie "1.2.1") Display OS Name (ie
|
||
|
"Linux") Display OS Version, For Example: #3 Sun Mar 19 06:43:08
|
||
|
CST 1995 Display all of the above Display help for uname
|
||
|
|
||
|
more <filename> Displays the contents of <filename> with a
|
||
|
pause at each screenfull.
|
||
|
|
||
|
less <filename> Displays <filename> and allows scrolling up and
|
||
|
down.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
COMDEX:
|
||
|
|
||
|
A Cultural Experience
|
||
|
|
||
|
"This is comdex!" Yelled the Microsoft person, "We don't want
|
||
|
anything unless it's free!" he continued, then proceeding to
|
||
|
throw pins, pens and other paraphernalia into the mass throng of
|
||
|
important business people. This couldn't be anything but Comdex,
|
||
|
the largest annual information technology trade show and
|
||
|
convention in the world, where industry leaders bring the newest
|
||
|
technology to show it to the world, and get people to buy it.
|
||
|
Comdex is truly amazing, and is certainly a cultural experience
|
||
|
of another kind.
|
||
|
|
||
|
At about 11:30 PM on Wednesday, November 16, we arrived at our
|
||
|
hotel, on the outskirts of Las Vegas. Room rates jump up to 20
|
||
|
times the normal rates during the week of Comdex, that is if you
|
||
|
can even find a room. This is due to the hundreds of thousands
|
||
|
of comdex goers that flock in their annual mass migrations to
|
||
|
this gambling city.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In the morning of Thursday, we woke up and made the short trip
|
||
|
over to the Sands to eat breakfast. A strange thing about Las
|
||
|
Vegas is that people actually obey the speed limit. We were
|
||
|
driving through a 15 mph zone, and everyone was actually going
|
||
|
at exactly 15 mph. How strange, law abiding citizens? After
|
||
|
wading through vast traffic, both human and automobile, we
|
||
|
arrived at the Sands. Upon entering the Sands and passing an
|
||
|
uncountable array of places to lose our money, we located a
|
||
|
place to eat. After our breakfast, we proceeded to Registration.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It was a large white tent, primarily deserted, but kept alive by
|
||
|
the trickle of people coming to "The Show" on the second to last
|
||
|
day. A trickle, that is, being a mere few hundred people per
|
||
|
hour. After waiting in the line, I came to one of about twenty
|
||
|
badge typists designated to that line. The badge typists looked
|
||
|
thoroughly fatigued and ready to go home, for what a monotonous
|
||
|
task they had. I handed my registration forms to the badge
|
||
|
typist that I had come to, which he entered into his terminal.
|
||
|
According to the forms, I was Tobin Fricke, CEO of TobinTech
|
||
|
Engineering. After he was done typing up the information, I
|
||
|
acquired my Comdex directory. The Comdex directory is a mere
|
||
|
index to the various booths at Comdex, yet it is 628 pages.
|
||
|
Naturally, it was alternatively available on CD-ROM. We walked
|
||
|
to the large Badge Printer, which was busy embossing the comdex
|
||
|
badges. We waited for our badges to be printed and borrowed
|
||
|
several unembossed cards from the machine in the process. When
|
||
|
mine finally came out of the machine, it read, "Tobin Frike, Big
|
||
|
Boss, TobinTech Engineering." Well, the badge typist thought it
|
||
|
was funny...
|
||
|
|
||
|
At last, we were able to enter Comdex. We stood before the
|
||
|
convention hall, feeling a sort of awe. The building looked as
|
||
|
if it could be three stories tall. There was a large banner
|
||
|
across the entrance that said, "WELCOME TO COMDEX!" The rest of
|
||
|
the building was plastered with ads, predominantly Intel's,
|
||
|
saying, "Come visit us at booth LN109!" We entered Comdex, and
|
||
|
left reality, through the line of glass doors. We were greeted
|
||
|
with a "No persons under 16 years of age permitted on the trade
|
||
|
show floor" sign and several security people. We just walked on
|
||
|
past, and then went up the escalators, pretending that we were a
|
||
|
few years older.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The inside of the convention hall was very much like an aircraft
|
||
|
hanger. It was huge. Vibrantly colorful signs and bold logos,
|
||
|
both those familiar and those alien, dangled from and filled the
|
||
|
skies of the comdexian universe. It was overwhelming. After the
|
||
|
initial euphoric shock was received, one notices the audio. From
|
||
|
one booth, you hear, "Come see our show and get a free
|
||
|
tee-shirt!!!" and from another you hear, "...has been the leader
|
||
|
in the industry for..." Voices from the hundreds of thousands of
|
||
|
people, voices from the exhibitors, all culminating in a
|
||
|
background comdexian roar that fills your ears. You are in the
|
||
|
Comdex.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Comdex is like most of the computer world, an equalizing
|
||
|
experience. In the real world, you are judged by what you look
|
||
|
like, how you talk, what you think. In contrast, cyberculture is
|
||
|
quite different. Everyone is judged by what they know and want
|
||
|
to know. For the most part, and innocent pion with sufficient
|
||
|
knowledge, such as myself, can strike up an interesting
|
||
|
conversation on an equal basis with the designers of the newest
|
||
|
technology in the computer world. You listen to them. They
|
||
|
listen to you. You understand. They understand.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The day passed quickly, and soon we were back at our car, with
|
||
|
several new tee-shirts, a couple CD's each, hundreds of
|
||
|
hand-outs, disks, pins, buttons, stickers, keychains, et hoc
|
||
|
genus omne. From this point, we explored the hotels and casinos,
|
||
|
ate a $4.95 Prime Rib dinner, and retired to our hotel.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Comdex is a unique experience. Comdex is a gathering of 195,000
|
||
|
people who share the same interests, a gathering of the newest
|
||
|
technology. The people that go to Comdex are not ordinary
|
||
|
people, for they have developed a culture of their own.
|
||
|
|
||
|
~Comdex occurs twice yearly, once in the Fall in Las Vegas,
|
||
|
Nevada, and once in Atlanta, Georgia. The Fall 1995 Comdex will
|
||
|
take place in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Hilton, and Sands
|
||
|
Expo and Convention Center, during the week of November 13 to
|
||
|
17, 1995. You may register online at http://www.comdex.com:8000.
|
||
|
An exposition pass may be obtained for free.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Spinning A Web Page
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
All of us have by now surfed the World Wide Web, or at least we
|
||
|
know someone who has or we have heard or read about it. After
|
||
|
about fifteen minutes of happy clicking, we dream of creating
|
||
|
our own cool spot on the web. We think about all the nifty
|
||
|
things we'd add to our homepage and how fellow surfers would
|
||
|
flock to it in awe.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Creating one's own homepage on the World Wide Web is not too
|
||
|
difficult, depending upon the aproach that you take. Two things
|
||
|
are needed to create a homepage. You need the page itself and a
|
||
|
place to put the page.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Constructing the Page
|
||
|
|
||
|
The first step is to design your page. Get out a few sheets of
|
||
|
paper and draw out what you want it to look like, or, for those
|
||
|
with photographic memories, do this in your head. Remember that
|
||
|
a homepage may consist of more than one pages. For example, you
|
||
|
can have something to click on that says "My Summer Vacation,"
|
||
|
which could go to another page about your summer vacation. Once
|
||
|
you figure out what your page is going to look like, you can
|
||
|
begin writing it.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
A page consists of a file or a series of files in a format known
|
||
|
as "HTML," in addittion to files for all the graphical images
|
||
|
and sounds that you have on your page. HTML stands for
|
||
|
"HyperText Markup Language." You can create an HTML format
|
||
|
document in any word processor that can output to straight text
|
||
|
or ASCII. The MicroSoft Windows Notepad, DOS Edit, and the OS/2
|
||
|
System Editor will all work. Also, most commercial word
|
||
|
processors can output ASCII files, such as Ami Pro. In
|
||
|
addittion, there are several specialized HTML editors which you
|
||
|
may use.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
In HTML documents, markup "tags" define the start and end of
|
||
|
headings and titles, paragraphs, lists, character attributes
|
||
|
(such as bold, italic, etc) and links to other pages. Most
|
||
|
markups are identified in a document with a start tag, which
|
||
|
gives the element name and attributes, followed by text or other
|
||
|
information, then ended by the end tag. Start tags are delimited
|
||
|
by < and >, and end tags are delimited by </ and >. For example
|
||
|
"This is <b>bold</b>!" would appear as "This is bold!"
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
The first step in writing the HTML portion of your page is to
|
||
|
write the actual literal text in a text editor. Then, go back
|
||
|
and add HTML markup tags. It is completely possible to write it
|
||
|
all at once with HTML tags in the first place, but this is
|
||
|
rather confusing.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Once you have the text written, it is time to insert the HTML
|
||
|
markup tags. All HTML documents have the following basic
|
||
|
structure:
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
<HTML>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<HEAD>
|
||
|
|
||
|
header elements
|
||
|
|
||
|
<BODY>
|
||
|
|
||
|
body text
|
||
|
|
||
|
</HTML>
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Since you have already written your body text, add "<HTML><HEAD>
|
||
|
<BODY>" to the top of your document and add "</HTML>" to the
|
||
|
end. Note that it does not matter what if there are line breaks
|
||
|
in HTML. The above is exactly the same as:
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
<HTML><HEAD>header elements<BODY>body text</HTML>
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Now, go through the body text and add <p> to the beginning of
|
||
|
every paragraph and </p> to the end of every paragraph. Since
|
||
|
line breaks are ignored, this is necessay to have your document
|
||
|
formatted correctly. If you don't do this, your page will be
|
||
|
really messed up. You can assign a name to a paragraph by using
|
||
|
<p ID="blort"> instead of <p>, where "blort" is the title of the
|
||
|
paragraph. This name is invisible to anyone looking at your
|
||
|
page, and it's use will be explained later.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
The next step is to add a header to your document. The header
|
||
|
consists of global information concerning the entire page, such
|
||
|
as the title. To title your document, add the following between
|
||
|
the <HEAD> and <BODY> tags:
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
<TITLE>Insert the title of your page here</TITLE>
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Links
|
||
|
|
||
|
A link is something that, when clicked on, takes you to another
|
||
|
page or another location in the current document. A link is
|
||
|
inserted in the following manner:
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="location">text</A>
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Location" is replaced with either a URL, a filename, or a pound
|
||
|
sign followed by the name of a named paragraph. "text" is the
|
||
|
text that will be displayed. When you click on that text, you
|
||
|
will be taken to the location specified by "location." If you
|
||
|
have a named paragraph defined with <P ID="blort"> then you can
|
||
|
insert a link to it in the same document with <A
|
||
|
HREF="#blort">Go to Blort</A>. If you have another page that is
|
||
|
part of your homepage called splorg.html, then you can add a
|
||
|
link to it with "location" being "splorg.html". If you want to
|
||
|
add a link to IBM's homepage, then the following would work:
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://www.ibm.com/">Go to IBM's home page</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Text Formatting
|
||
|
|
||
|
HTML allows for many types of text formatting, such as bold and
|
||
|
italic. They all follow a basic format of start tags and stop
|
||
|
tags. To turn bold on, use <b>. To turn it off, use </b>. You
|
||
|
can use any other tags in between.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
<b>test <i>test </b>test </i>test<p>
|
||
|
|
||
|
test test test test
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Have fun with your HTML!
|
||
|
|
||
|
In the next issue, we will explore Images, Backgrounds, Color,
|
||
|
and other ways to spice up your home page!
|
||
|
|
||
|
~
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
WANTED: YOU The Carrier Wave is currently a volunteer operation.
|
||
|
Most of the articles in this issue were written by one person
|
||
|
(me!). WE WANT YOU TO WRITE FOR US! We can't pay you right now,
|
||
|
but we may be able to in the future. However, we will give you
|
||
|
a pile of copies of the issue that your work appears in to give
|
||
|
to your friends or sell for a profit. You know what kind of
|
||
|
artiles we want! If it is related to anything neat, then we want
|
||
|
it! A list of topics to give you an idea of what we like
|
||
|
includes: Computers, networks, conspiracies, aliens, radio,
|
||
|
cryptography, neural networks, mathematics, fractals, TCP/IP,
|
||
|
Perl, X.25, serial communications, algorithms, graphics,
|
||
|
book/movie/software/hardware reviews, reviews of cons, pictures
|
||
|
from inside a cable vault, etc. Contact Light Ray at
|
||
|
dr261@cleveland.freenet.edu or at the post office box mentioned
|
||
|
on the cover for more information!!!!
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Upcoming Events
|
||
|
|
||
|
PumpCon
|
||
|
|
||
|
Comdex Fall 95 November 13 to 17, 1995. Register Online via the
|
||
|
Internet at http://www.comdex.com:8000. For a description read
|
||
|
the article in this issue.
|
||
|
|
||
|
HoHoCon Hacker Conference in New Orleans, December 30, 1995 to
|
||
|
January 1, 1996.
|
||
|
|
||
|
DefCon IV Hacker Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, expected in
|
||
|
August. Exact date and location as yet undetermined, for
|
||
|
contact information, see article in this issue.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
A Beginner's Guide To The Computer Underground - Part I
|
||
|
|
||
|
Written By Pazuzu 24-Mar-1993 at 13:30 in Long Beach, CA
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
PREFACE
|
||
|
|
||
|
Pazuzu wrote this infamous BEGELITE.TXT file on the 24th of
|
||
|
March, 1993, when he lived in Long Beach, California. Since
|
||
|
then, much has changed, however, this still remains the
|
||
|
definitive beginner's reference. Comments enclosed inside
|
||
|
[square brackets] are my own (Light Ray.)
|
||
|
|
||
|
FOREWORD
|
||
|
|
||
|
I, nor any SysOp or User of ANY BBS on which this file appears
|
||
|
are in any way liable for any damages caused by use of
|
||
|
information or ideas contained in this file. This file serves
|
||
|
only to describe and introduce the Computer Underground as I
|
||
|
myself view it, not to encourage illegal activity of any kind.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
INTRODUCTION
|
||
|
|
||
|
The intended audience of this file is someone who has been
|
||
|
modeming for a while, and who has through some means discovered
|
||
|
that there exists a Computer Underground, and who wishes to
|
||
|
learn more about said Underground, and perhaps become a member
|
||
|
of same. If this does not fit you, please destroy all
|
||
|
on-disk (or tape) and hardcopies of this file and go about
|
||
|
your happy life as if you never heard of it. But, if this does
|
||
|
fit you, read on!
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
UNDERGROUND DIVISIONS
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Computer Underground is basically (although quite loosely)
|
||
|
divided into five main branches and one minor branch. I say
|
||
|
loosely because there is much crossover between the branches.
|
||
|
The branches are (in no particular order):
|
||
|
|
||
|
Phreaks - May also be referred to as "phreakers", etc. These
|
||
|
people deal with the telephone grid. They want to learn all they
|
||
|
can about how it works, and how they can control it, which often
|
||
|
leads to making telephone calls for free (which is of course
|
||
|
illegal). Often groups of Phreakers will band together and form
|
||
|
an organized group, and publish articles on the subject.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Hackers - These are the people who love computer systems (and
|
||
|
networks) and who love to find out how they work, how to get
|
||
|
into them, etc. A TRUE Hacker is not the malicious scum that the
|
||
|
Media and Hollywood would have you believe, he is just someone
|
||
|
who loves computers and computer networks. There's nothing wrong
|
||
|
with logging into someone's computer, so long as you don't go
|
||
|
deleting files or stealing trade secrets. NOTE: Hackers and
|
||
|
Phreakers are very often combined into one group, referred to as
|
||
|
h/p or p/h (for "phreak/hack").
|
||
|
|
||
|
Carders - These people are admittedly criminals. They use credit
|
||
|
card numbers, checks, checking account numbers, whatever,
|
||
|
fraudulently to obtain whatever they want for free. However,
|
||
|
this isn't as bad as the media wants you to think: You are NOT
|
||
|
LIABLE for charges made on your CC [credit card] account that
|
||
|
you didn't authorize, so the bank has to eat it, and that's why
|
||
|
they have insurance...
|
||
|
|
||
|
Anarchists - In the sense it's used in the Computer Underground,
|
||
|
an Anarchist is someone who loves to play with fire, explosives,
|
||
|
etc. This is not all bad either... Who cares if someone makes an
|
||
|
explosion out in the desert just to see what will happen?
|
||
|
[There are two forms of anarchists. There are those that really
|
||
|
are anarchists - that is, they beleive that there should be no
|
||
|
government - and there are those that call themselves anarchists
|
||
|
and like to blow things up.]
|
||
|
|
||
|
Warez - Although I have never been a real supporter of warez
|
||
|
people (in fact, I have fought bitter wars over BBSs with them
|
||
|
for years) they DO serve a needed function in the underground:
|
||
|
They distribute software. They are pirates. Most warez are
|
||
|
distributed by warez groups which exist for the sole purpose of
|
||
|
getting the software out to BBSs before the other group gets
|
||
|
that same program out.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Virus/Trojan Dudes (for lack of a better term): These people are
|
||
|
usually programmers (although not always) who are interested in
|
||
|
how viruses and trojan horses work and how to make them more
|
||
|
efficient. For those who don't know, a virus replicates itself
|
||
|
and waits around before doing anything harmful. The program
|
||
|
which simply formats your hard drive upon execution IS NOT A
|
||
|
VIRUS, it is a trojan horse. This is the "minor" branch I spoke
|
||
|
of earlier.
|
||
|
|
||
|
With that out of the way, I must restate that these divisions
|
||
|
may not always be very clear or noticeable. It is very common to
|
||
|
see a BBS with stuff from all of them on it (mine is one such
|
||
|
system). I just wanted to detail all the various activities
|
||
|
which comprise the Underground.
|
||
|
|
||
|
I mentioned in several of the above descriptions that groups of
|
||
|
like minded modemers often get together and form an organized
|
||
|
Group and publish Magazines (electronically, as files on BBSs),
|
||
|
or distribute warez. Some of the most famous Groups (some are
|
||
|
LOOOONNNGGG gone) are: LOD (Legion of Doom), CHiNA (Communist
|
||
|
Hackers in North America), CuD (Computer Underground Digest),
|
||
|
Phrack, P/HUN (Phreakers/Hackers Underground Network) - p/h
|
||
|
groups; THG (The Humble Guys), INC (International Network of
|
||
|
Crackers), the FiRM (First in Releasing Most) - warez groups. Of
|
||
|
course, there are/were MANY more, these are just the most
|
||
|
common ones you'll see being referred to.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
TERMINOLOGY
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Many new Undergrounders have trouble figuring out all the
|
||
|
terminology used and are of course afraid to make a post asking
|
||
|
for help for fear of looking lame, so I'll help with a simple
|
||
|
list... [Of course, the opposite is also true. You don't want
|
||
|
to use terminology excessively when you don't know what it
|
||
|
means.]
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
[A] General Underground Terminology
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Data: This is the handle of someone who used to be a modemer. He
|
||
|
is now a worm feast (corpse). He basically pissed off too many
|
||
|
people by being a lame [beep] [beep], and got KILLED. His real
|
||
|
name was Stuart Tay, I'm sure you've heard of him. This term is
|
||
|
really great, and has SO, SO many uses... "He's a Data" ... "He
|
||
|
pulled a Data" ... etc etc etc [However, this is fairly
|
||
|
escoteric and very infrequently used. It's important to also
|
||
|
note that "Data" is a term refering to any collection of
|
||
|
information.]
|
||
|
|
||
|
Lamer: This is someone who claims to be knowledgeable/active in
|
||
|
some area of the underground, but in fact knows/does nothing. An
|
||
|
example would be a 2400bps user claiming to be a great warez
|
||
|
courier.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Leech: This is someone who calls BBSs and just downloads
|
||
|
everything in sight without contributing anything (or uploads
|
||
|
garbage just to get credits).
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
[B] Phreaking/Hacking Terminology
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Extender: This is an important phreaking term. It refers to the
|
||
|
number you call when accessing a Long Distance Carrier's
|
||
|
service. An example is 950-1493, which is ThriftyTel's Extender.
|
||
|
|
||
|
ANI: Stands for Automatic Number Identification. If you call a
|
||
|
telephone number that has ANI, your number (and sometimes
|
||
|
address) shows up on a console at their location (or is logged
|
||
|
to a printer, disk file, etc). This is bad, since most private
|
||
|
long distance carriers use it to see who is calling their
|
||
|
extenders. [This is usually known as Caller Identification,
|
||
|
CallerID, or CID. More often ANI refers to a system where you
|
||
|
dial a number and the phone number that you are dialing from is
|
||
|
read off using a synthesized voice. This is usefull in
|
||
|
troubleshooting and beige boxing. Try calling 1-800-MY-ANI-IS
|
||
|
for an example. Also, almost all 1-800, 1-900, and x11
|
||
|
(411,611,911,etc) numbers have CallerID. CallerID will
|
||
|
theoretically be available nationwide for residence by 1996.]
|
||
|
|
||
|
ESS: Stands for Electronic Switching System. It is the system
|
||
|
most Bell Organizations use to switch calls. It is what makes
|
||
|
horrors like ANI possible. [Also, such wonders as the Blue Box
|
||
|
and Black Box don't work on ESS]
|
||
|
|
||
|
Gestapo: This is used to refer to any security/law enforcement
|
||
|
agency. Its meaning should be obvious...
|
||
|
|
||
|
SS: Stands for Secret Service. Any similarities between "SS"
|
||
|
being used to refer to the Secret Service and the "SS" of Nazi
|
||
|
Germany during World War II is by no means coincidental, believe
|
||
|
me. [The Secret Service protects the president and other
|
||
|
important people and busts hackers. Wierd combination.]
|
||
|
|
||
|
CNA: This acronym stands for Customer Name/Address (also could
|
||
|
be CNL - Customer Name/Location). Basically, if you have the CNA
|
||
|
dialup for an area code, and someone's fone number in that area
|
||
|
code, you can call the CNA dialup and give their fone number,
|
||
|
and get their name and address. This is not as easy as it sounds
|
||
|
since some CNA dialups require talking to an operator, which may
|
||
|
be suspicious of you, plus you need the code. Some CNAs are
|
||
|
automated where you call and enter the number on a fone keypad,
|
||
|
then the code. Some you call with your modem. [Rumor has it
|
||
|
that CNA has been abolished and replaced with something new.
|
||
|
Not sure about this]
|
||
|
|
||
|
COSMOS: The fone company's operating system.
|
||
|
|
||
|
NPA: Stands for Numeral Prefix Allocation. An area code in
|
||
|
layman's terms.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Code Hacker: A program which repeatedly dials an extender,
|
||
|
trying different codes, and logging which ones are valid. This
|
||
|
is the main method which most phreaks use to get their fone
|
||
|
calls.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Telenet: This is a large network of computers. You call a
|
||
|
Telenet dialup, then if you know a machine's NUA (its address),
|
||
|
you type it in, and connect. This is good because there are
|
||
|
Telenet dialups local to everywhere, and then you can connect to
|
||
|
computers on the network no matter where they are. Other
|
||
|
networks like Telenet include Tymnet and the Internet (the
|
||
|
largest network on earth, a network of networks, really).
|
||
|
[Telenet and Tymnet operate on the X.25 protocol while the
|
||
|
Internet operates primarily using TCP/IP. This is not to say
|
||
|
that they are not interconnected, however.]
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
[C] Carding/Scamming/Etc Terminology
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
CBI: This is a multi-use acronym which stands for Credit Bureau
|
||
|
Information. It is used to refer to: [1] the information given
|
||
|
by a credit reporting agency [2] the concept itself [3] a code
|
||
|
used to access such a service [4] it is also used by one such
|
||
|
reporting agency (namely Equifax) to refer to itself.
|
||
|
Basically, if you have a CBI access code (normally just called
|
||
|
"a CBI"), you can call a CBI dialup, enter the code, someone's
|
||
|
name and address (or their Social Security Number), and you will
|
||
|
get all credit info on them, including account numbers. This is
|
||
|
quite useful as I'm sure you can see.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Drop Site: This is where the carder would have the carded
|
||
|
merchandise sent to, since only a Data would send the
|
||
|
shit to his own house.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
[D] Warez Terminology
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Cracker: This is the person who actually breaks the copy
|
||
|
protection on a piece of software. This often involves using hex
|
||
|
editors, etc., and is usually quite difficult.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Courier: This is a person whose sole job is to upload the
|
||
|
cracked warez to as many BBSs as possible so as to distribute
|
||
|
the software as widely as possible.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
[Warez: Pirated Software. Formerly pronounced "wares" but I've
|
||
|
heard a lot of people pronouncing it "wear-ez."]
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
This is most of the terminology you will see popping up in
|
||
|
message bases and text files. I haven't (by any means) covered
|
||
|
all of the terms out there, but these are some of the most
|
||
|
common, and should help.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
[In part II, we will cover techniques!]
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Australian Military Bans Windows 95
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Australian Navy has banned the use of MicroSoft Windows 95
|
||
|
on its computers based on reports that Windows 95 sends
|
||
|
information from a user's computer back to MicroSoft. The
|
||
|
"Registration Wizard" software which is integrated into Windows
|
||
|
95 has been previously described as a "viral routine" by
|
||
|
MicroSoft. Now MicroSoft is saying that it examines "the first
|
||
|
six applications found" and reports the findings back to
|
||
|
MicroSoft. (It's probably for market research, but it's scary
|
||
|
giving ol' Bill a window into your computer and private data.)
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Russian Hackers Hack Citibank, Move Money, Get Caught.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Russian hackers transfered a total of over ten million dollars
|
||
|
through the Citibank electronic funds transfer system from June
|
||
|
to October 1994. The group of hackers was led by Vladimir
|
||
|
Levin, a 24 year old Russian employed by AOSaturn, a software
|
||
|
company, who had broken the Citibank security system. He and
|
||
|
six other people are now under arrest in London.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Catholic Net!
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Catholic Church has become one of the first major world
|
||
|
religions to have an official web presence. See for yourself at
|
||
|
http://www.catholic.net. Yes, soon you will be able to confess
|
||
|
your sins via email!
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Double Big Mac for $60
|
||
|
|
||
|
Connectix recently released their new Speed Doubler for
|
||
|
PowerMacs. This software, available for a street price of
|
||
|
$60-$70 replaces the inefficient 68000 emulator from Apple.
|
||
|
Since most Macintosh software consists mainly of 68000 code
|
||
|
instead of native PowerPC code, this software effectively
|
||
|
doubles, triples, or quadruples the speed of a PowerMac.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Hackers Hack Hackers
|
||
|
|
||
|
Hackers from the Internet Liberation Front (ILF) hacked the
|
||
|
computer at DigiPlanet which held the home page for the movie,
|
||
|
Hackers. They edited the text and graphics to tell the world
|
||
|
what they thought of the movie. Strangely, instead of just
|
||
|
putting the old page back, DigiPlanet put the old page back and
|
||
|
added a link to the hacked page. There's more than a little
|
||
|
speculation that DigiPlanet intentionaly ran an insecure system
|
||
|
to facilitate a hack for media attention to the movie, Hackers,
|
||
|
which at the time, was not yet released. The bug exploited in
|
||
|
the hack was a world exported network file system (NFS) mount.
|
||
|
The hacked page is at
|
||
|
http://www.digiplanet.com/hackers/hacked/index.html.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Burning Apples
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Apple Macintosh PowerBook 5300 series has been recalled due
|
||
|
to several cases of them "bursting into flames" while in use.
|
||
|
Apple will continue manufacturing these computers with an older
|
||
|
type of battery that does not self ignite.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
London Underground Hacked
|
||
|
|
||
|
A newly-recruited employee of the London Underground (that is,
|
||
|
the subway company) managed to hack into the system controlling
|
||
|
the dot matrix displays throughout the "tubes" on August 16th,
|
||
|
displaying joking messages such as "All signalmen are weeners."
|
||
|
Needless to say, he's no longer an employee.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Euro-Clipper!
|
||
|
|
||
|
The European Council approved a measure on September 8 to take
|
||
|
steps to make strong encryption illegal unless the key(s) are
|
||
|
supplied to the government(s).
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Fake Check Successfully Deposited
|
||
|
|
||
|
Patrick Combs successfully deposited a fake check that he
|
||
|
received in the mail for $95,093.35, although the check had the
|
||
|
words "not negotiable for cash" on it. For the details of this
|
||
|
interesting story, see
|
||
|
http://www.dnai.com/g-think/$$tablecontents.html.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
AOL Bust
|
||
|
|
||
|
A two year FBI investigation of AOL (America Online) and its
|
||
|
members has culminated in the search of 125 homes and 12 arrests
|
||
|
for illegal pornography distribution.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Story Of DnA Systems
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
DnA Systems, Inc. II is a computer bulletin board system
|
||
|
operated by the husband and wife team of Pazuzu & Zevaluz
|
||
|
located in Klinton Township, Michigan. It is a BBS like no
|
||
|
other, for it houses the most diverse collection of message
|
||
|
bases and files assembled anywhere. And all of this information
|
||
|
is accessible by anyone, free of charges other than normal phone
|
||
|
rates.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The system began its long and illustrious life back in the Fall
|
||
|
of 1989 as a closed access phreak/hack system in Anaheim,
|
||
|
California called Motel 666. The system was first put up
|
||
|
running WWIV 4.11, but soon after switched to Revolution when
|
||
|
Pazuzu joined the Revolution programming team. By the time
|
||
|
Summer 1990 rolled around, Motel 666 was the second biggest p/h
|
||
|
system in Southern California, and the number of illegal calls
|
||
|
logged to 714-229-8513 was, to quote U.S. Sprint, "obscene".
|
||
|
Sometime around December 1990 January 1991, financial troubles
|
||
|
forced the sale of the computer which ran the system and Motel
|
||
|
666 went down.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In late 1991, Pazuzu again put the system back up, again as a
|
||
|
closed access underground system under various names (couldn't
|
||
|
decide on the perfect name). Now located in Costa Mesa,
|
||
|
California at 714-646-9180, the system was ran under various
|
||
|
BBS packages, finally ending up with LSD. But soon after, more
|
||
|
financial problems arose and again the sale of the computer
|
||
|
which ran the board was forced.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In the Spring of 1993, the system was again put on-line at
|
||
|
the same phone number, this time running Renegade 04-16 and
|
||
|
named Minas Morgul. Soon after, Pazuzu co-founded the
|
||
|
electronic magazine known as DnA, and the system's name was
|
||
|
changed to DnA Systems, Inc. Around August, a user named
|
||
|
Zevaluz first logged onto DnA. By the time November rolled
|
||
|
around, Pazuzu and Zevaluz were very much in love, and Zevaluz
|
||
|
proposed (!!!!!) to Pazuzu, and not being a fool, he accepted.
|
||
|
Soon afterwards, the question of who moves where was posed.
|
||
|
You see, Pazuzu still lived in California, while Zevaluz
|
||
|
lived (lives) in Michigan. Given the high crime rate and
|
||
|
obscenely high cost of living if California, the choice was easy
|
||
|
and Pazuzu made plans to move to Michigan. Now, moving out of
|
||
|
state is far from cheap, and the board would have to go down
|
||
|
anyway, so Pazuzu sold the computer which ran DnA. DnA went
|
||
|
down around January 5, 1994.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It's now late August 1995, and we're happily married (as of
|
||
|
September 30, 1994). We've been through a lot in the 18 months
|
||
|
we've been together, including having a totally unexpected baby
|
||
|
(born March 2, 1995). We've finally, as of May 1995, got our
|
||
|
BBS back up under the name DnA Systems, Inc. II to denote the
|
||
|
second incarnation of DnA Systems, Inc.
|
||
|
|
||
|
There are several things which make this incarnation of my
|
||
|
system different than all the rest. The first and foremost is
|
||
|
that I am much older and wiser now than I was in 1989. I was
|
||
|
18 then, I'm 24 now. I'm in a much different life situation
|
||
|
now -- I'm married, happily, and have a very secure and
|
||
|
wonderful job as a programmer for a software company. The
|
||
|
second is that the computer which runs DnA doesn't even belong
|
||
|
to me -- it's a fringe benefit on loan from my company -- this
|
||
|
means I can't sell it. The system is finally "here to stay".
|
||
|
|
||
|
On the technical side, the system is composed of a carefully
|
||
|
selected, high performance mix of hardware and software.
|
||
|
|
||
|
On the hardware side, the system is composed of: an SiS chipset
|
||
|
Pentium motherboard using the PCI bus standard with a built-in
|
||
|
high performance NCR 53c810 SCSI controller, an Intel 90 MHZ
|
||
|
Pentium CPU, 16MB of 72-pin memory, an ATI mach32
|
||
|
accelerated graphics card, a Creative Labs Sound Blaster
|
||
|
AWE/32, a Micropolis 2110 (1GB) SCSI hard disk, a Micropolis
|
||
|
2217 (1.7GB) SCSI hard disk, an NEC 4Xi Quad Speed SCSI CD-ROM
|
||
|
drive, a WangTek 1300 SCSI DAT drive, a USRobotics Sportster
|
||
|
v.34 modem, a Teac 1.44MB 3.5" disk drive and a Samtron 15"
|
||
|
monitor. All of this (except the monitor & modem, of
|
||
|
course) is housed in a black mid-tower case.
|
||
|
|
||
|
On the software side, the system runs on the best products
|
||
|
available. Our operating system of choice is IBM's OS/2
|
||
|
Version 3 ("Warp"). This is set up following the hints given in
|
||
|
Tobin Fricke's OS/2 Sysop's FAQ -- those hints give a 4-5X
|
||
|
speed increase over stock OS/2. We are using Ray Gwinn's SIO
|
||
|
version 1.45A to handle our serial ports -- the only way to do
|
||
|
things under OS/2. To handle our FTN network traffic, we use
|
||
|
Chris Irwin's D'Bridge, version 1.58. This also packs &
|
||
|
unpacks our echomail. For file echo (TIC) processing, we use
|
||
|
Allfix, version 4.31E, the standard TIC processor for 1995.
|
||
|
Our BBS software is Windowed Modem Environment (WME), version
|
||
|
1.10-A7, written by Jason Fesler, and now being developed by
|
||
|
Tom Ordelman. This software is extremely configurable, very
|
||
|
unique, and has a very wide variety of message base standards
|
||
|
supported (JAM, Squish, Husdon, *.MSG).
|
||
|
|
||
|
We offer our users the most diverse collection of message
|
||
|
bases and files ever assembled. We are, to quote Reverend
|
||
|
Ivan Stang, "plenty blasphemous enough to qualify for temple
|
||
|
[of the Church of the SubGenius] status".
|
||
|
|
||
|
We are a member of no less than 10 FTN's (Fido Technology
|
||
|
Networks). They are (in no particular order):
|
||
|
|
||
|
DnANet (we're the Eastern u.S. HQ - 66:810/0): This is a net I
|
||
|
started back in 1993 when DnA Magazine became popular. It's
|
||
|
still going today. Topics discussed include phreaking, hacking,
|
||
|
viruses, bombs, taxation, personal Sovereignty, and Law.
|
||
|
|
||
|
CyberCrime International (66:2810/110): This network started
|
||
|
quite a while ago (1992 I think), and I was one of the first
|
||
|
nodes, back when I was still in California. It's the best
|
||
|
underground network ever. Topics include: wares (pirated
|
||
|
software), ANSi & ASCII art, phreaking, hacking, explosives,
|
||
|
data encryption, and the Internet.
|
||
|
|
||
|
GODNet (143:1810/2000 - 810 hub): This network exists mostly
|
||
|
as a file network, but has several message areas as well.
|
||
|
Topics include music, the occult, and sex.
|
||
|
|
||
|
PatriotNet (976:1776/1493): This is a network catering to true
|
||
|
Patriots (which both operators are). Topics include militias,
|
||
|
government massacres, Sovereignty, and firearms.
|
||
|
|
||
|
MasqueNet (235:2109/103): This network is headquartered in
|
||
|
Australia and is geared towards those interested in the Gothic
|
||
|
culture. Topics include: body modification such as tattooing
|
||
|
and piercing, murder, vampires, and Gothic music.
|
||
|
|
||
|
NuitNet (666:666/1493): This network is geared towards the
|
||
|
serious occultist (again, which we both are). Topics include:
|
||
|
tarot, rituals, voodoo, tantra, Thelemic orders, and thee Temple
|
||
|
ov Set.
|
||
|
|
||
|
50h-Net (101:220/200 - Eastern Michigan Hub): This is a
|
||
|
programmer's network (I program professionally). There are
|
||
|
areas for C, Pascal, BASIC, assembly, communications
|
||
|
programming, etc.
|
||
|
|
||
|
NuKENet (111:810/0 - Michigan Hub): This is the network run by
|
||
|
the infamous virus research and authoring group NuKE. Topics
|
||
|
are all virus-related.
|
||
|
|
||
|
FidoNet (1:120/472): The largest FTN (obviously) in the world.
|
||
|
While we don't actually receive any echomail from Fido, we
|
||
|
maintain an address so we can receive and send mail to any Fido
|
||
|
node in the world.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We also have a huge collection of files available for download.
|
||
|
We are actually one of the few systems in the world that
|
||
|
constantly
|
||
|
|
||
|
generates new Occult and Political text files.
|
||
|
|
||
|
While our file collection is much to voluminous to list out
|
||
|
here, our files include: music lyrics; BBS software; network
|
||
|
utilities; Chaos magick; voodoo; astrology; Temple ov Set
|
||
|
files; hacking utilities; phreaking utilities; viruses; virus
|
||
|
creation kits; DnA Magazine; Phrack; P/HUN; Cult ov thee Dead
|
||
|
Cow; ATI; UxU; carding text files; info on: waco, weaver,
|
||
|
taxation, sovereignty, Law; complete text of the entire United
|
||
|
States code; Satanism; Linux; Holy Temple of Mass Consumption;
|
||
|
The Stark Fist of Removal Online; Church of Euthanasia; info on:
|
||
|
Marijuana, MDMA, LSD, Crack, Heroin, 'Shrooms... and the list
|
||
|
goes on.
|
||
|
|
||
|
And all of this Data is accessible by anyone with a modem
|
||
|
capable of speeds at or above 300 bits per second. There are
|
||
|
no post-to-call ratios, upload-to-download ratios, fees, tests,
|
||
|
or anything to stop you from downloading every file on the
|
||
|
system if you so choose. Posting is not required. We would
|
||
|
rather have no messages than a bunch of bullshit "jack up the
|
||
|
ratio" messages. However, we've found that this arrangement
|
||
|
actually encourages posting. The first time you call, you'll
|
||
|
go through a standard new user logon procedure. Feel free to
|
||
|
lie about your address, real name, phone number, gender, age, or
|
||
|
whatever. You will then be logged off. However, within 8
|
||
|
hours, you WILL be granted access by the operators and may call
|
||
|
back and do whatever you wish.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We realize that no everyone will agree with everything on our
|
||
|
system and 90% of people will likely find something on the
|
||
|
system which offends them. If you find that something on the
|
||
|
system offends you, please behave as an adult and simply remove
|
||
|
the offending file area or message base from your newscan and
|
||
|
forget it exists.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Well, the only remaining piece of information about the system
|
||
|
you need is the phone number. It's (810)792-0032.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Hope to see you online soon!
|
||
|
|
||
|
--
|
||
|
|
||
|
This joke looks to be pretty public domain. I also like it. So
|
||
|
this is my selection for joke of the month. - Carolyn, net.humor
|
||
|
supplier for The Carrier Wave.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
New York, __ -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Software
|
||
|
(PETS) announced today that seven more software companies have
|
||
|
been added to the group's "watch list" of companies that
|
||
|
regularly practice software testing.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"There is no need for software to be mistreated in this way so
|
||
|
that companies like these can market new products," said Ken
|
||
|
Granola, spokesperson for PETS. "Alternative methods of
|
||
|
testing these products are available."
|
||
|
|
||
|
According to PETS, these companies force software to undergo
|
||
|
lengthy and arduous tests, often without rest, for hours or
|
||
|
days at a time. Employees are assigned to "break" the software
|
||
|
by any means necessary, and inside sources report that they
|
||
|
often joke about "torturing' the software.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"It's no joke," said Granola. "Innocent programs, from the
|
||
|
day they are compiled, are cooped up in tiny rooms and
|
||
|
'crashed' for hours on end. They spend their whole lives on
|
||
|
dirty, ill-maintained computers, and are unceremoniously
|
||
|
deleted when they're not needed anymore."
|
||
|
|
||
|
Granola said the software is kept in unsanitary conditions and
|
||
|
is infested with bugs.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We know alternatives to this horror exist," He said, citing
|
||
|
industry giant Microsoft Corporation as a company that has
|
||
|
become extremely successful without resorting to software
|
||
|
testing.
|
||
|
|
||
|
-From Somewhere on the Internet
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
The following is an actual alert to IBM Field Engineers that
|
||
|
went out to all IBM Branch Offices. The person who wrote it was
|
||
|
serious.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Abstract: Mouse Balls Available as FRU (Field Replacement Unit)
|
||
|
Mouse balls are now available as FRU. Therefore, if a mouse
|
||
|
fails to operate or should it perform erratically, it may
|
||
|
need a ball replacement. Because of the delicate nature of
|
||
|
this procedure, replacement of mouse balls should only be
|
||
|
attempted by properly trained personnel.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Before proceeding, determine the type of mouse balls by
|
||
|
examining the underside of the mouse. Domestic balls will be
|
||
|
larger and harder than foreign balls. Ball removal
|
||
|
procedures differ depending upon manufacturer of the mouse.
|
||
|
Foreign balls can be replaced using the pop-off method.
|
||
|
Domestic balls are replaced using the twist-off method.
|
||
|
Mouse balls are not usually static sensitive. However,
|
||
|
excessive handling can result in sudden discharge. Upon
|
||
|
completion of ball replacement, the mouse may be used
|
||
|
immediately.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It is recommended that each replacer have a pair of spare
|
||
|
balls for maintaining optimum customer satisfaction, and
|
||
|
that any customer missing his balls should suspect local
|
||
|
personnel of removing these necessary items.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
To re-order, specify one of the following:
|
||
|
|
||
|
P/N 33F8462 - Domestic Mouse Balls
|
||
|
|
||
|
P/N 33F8461 - Foreign Mouse Balls
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
VIRUSES - OCTOBER UPDATE
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
BOBBET VIRUS: Removes a vital part of your hard disk then
|
||
|
re-attachs it. (But that part will never work again.)
|
||
|
|
||
|
OPRAH WINFREY VIRUS: Your 200MB hard drive suddenly shrinks to
|
||
|
80MB, and then slowly expands back to 200MB.
|
||
|
|
||
|
AT&T VIRUS: Every three minutes it tells you what great service
|
||
|
you are getting.
|
||
|
|
||
|
MCI VIRUS: Every three minutes it reminds you that you're paying
|
||
|
too much for the AT&T virus.
|
||
|
|
||
|
PAUL REVERE VIRUS: This revolutionary virus does not horse
|
||
|
around. It warns you of impending hard disk attack---once if by
|
||
|
LAN, twice if by C:>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
POLITICALLY CORRECT VIRUS: Never calls itself a "virus", but
|
||
|
instead refers to itself as an "electronic microorganism."
|
||
|
|
||
|
Carolyn Meinel (cmeinel@unm.edu) is a technology broker, which
|
||
|
is a wool-business-suit way of saying she is a freelance
|
||
|
wheeler-dealer in the world of cool inventions. She is
|
||
|
embarrassed to admit that her favorite programming language is
|
||
|
Fortran 77. She has written 6 really boring and expensive books
|
||
|
with titles such as "World Intermodal Systems Markets," PRS
|
||
|
International, Newtown, CT, 1995. Those curious to learn about
|
||
|
her seriously entertaining stunts are encouraged to run, not
|
||
|
walk, to the nearest bookstore and buy "Great Mambo Chicken &
|
||
|
the Transhuman Condition: Science Slightly over the Edge," by Ed
|
||
|
Regis, Addison Wesly, 1990, paperback. Hint: I start out in the
|
||
|
book under my ex-married name, Carolyn Henson. Or, if you can
|
||
|
dig up a real collector's item, you can check out what a
|
||
|
megababe I was almost 20 years ago in the Genetic Hall of Fame
|
||
|
in the book "The Intelligence Agents" by Dr. Timothy Leary,
|
||
|
Peace Press, Culver City CA, 1979.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Conscience of a Hacker
|
||
|
Written By The Mentor on January 8, 1986
|
||
|
|
||
|
Another one got caught today, it's all over the papers.
|
||
|
"Teenager Arrested in Computer Crime Scandal", "Hacker Arrested
|
||
|
after Bank Tampering..."
|
||
|
|
||
|
Damn kids. They're all alike.
|
||
|
|
||
|
But did you, in your three-piece psychology and 1950's
|
||
|
technobrain, ever take a look behind the eyes of the hacker?
|
||
|
Did you ever wonder what made him tick, what forces shaped him,
|
||
|
what may have molded him? I am a hacker, enter my world...
|
||
|
|
||
|
Mine is a world that begins with school... I'm smarter than most
|
||
|
of the other kids, this crap they teach us bores me...
|
||
|
|
||
|
Damn underachiever. They're all alike.
|
||
|
|
||
|
I'm in junior high or high school. I've listened to teachers
|
||
|
explain for the fifteenth time how to reduce a fraction. I
|
||
|
understand it. "No Ms. Smith, I didn't show my work. I did it
|
||
|
in my head..."
|
||
|
|
||
|
Damn kid. Probably copied it. They're all alike.
|
||
|
|
||
|
I made a discovery today. I found a computer. Wait a second,
|
||
|
this is cool. It does what I want it to. If it makes a
|
||
|
mistake, it's because I screwed up. ...Not because it doesn't
|
||
|
like me... ...Or feels threatened by me... ...Or thinks I'm a
|
||
|
smart ass... ...Or doesn't like teaching and shouldn't be here...
|
||
|
|
||
|
Damn kid. All he does is play games. They're all alike.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
And then it happened... a door opened to a world... rushing
|
||
|
through the phone lines like heroin through an addict's veins,
|
||
|
an electric pulse is sent out, a refuge from the day-to-day
|
||
|
incometencies is sought... a board is found.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"This is it... this is where I belong..."
|
||
|
|
||
|
I know everyone here... even if I've never met them, never
|
||
|
talked to them, may never hear from them again... I know you
|
||
|
all...
|
||
|
|
||
|
Damn kid. Tying up the phone line again. They're all alike...
|
||
|
|
||
|
This is our world now... the world of the electron and the
|
||
|
switch, the beauty of the baud. We make use of a service
|
||
|
already existing without paying for what could be dirt-cheap if
|
||
|
it wasn't run by profiteering gluttons, and you call us
|
||
|
criminals. We explore... and you call us criminals. We seek
|
||
|
after knowledge... and you call us criminals. We exist without
|
||
|
skin color, without nationality, without religious bias... and
|
||
|
you call us criminals.
|
||
|
|
||
|
You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat and lie
|
||
|
to us and try to make us believe it's for our own good, yet
|
||
|
we're the criminals. Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of
|
||
|
curiosity. My crime is that of judging people by what they say
|
||
|
and think, not what they look like. My crime is that of
|
||
|
outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me for.
|
||
|
|
||
|
I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto. You may stop this
|
||
|
individual, but you can't stop us all... after all, we're all
|
||
|
alike.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
May The Mentor's Words Be Long Remembered
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
[The following are the contents of various
|
||
|
floating frames and such that could not
|
||
|
be reproduced in the ASCII version of TCW.]
|
||
|
|
||
|
--------------------------------------------
|
||
|
|
||
|
Amendment I.
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
|
||
|
religion, or prohibiting the free excersize thereof; or
|
||
|
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right
|
||
|
of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
|
||
|
Government for a redress of grievances."
|
||
|
|
||
|
------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
Private Line
|
||
|
|
||
|
Private Line is published six times yearly by Tom Farley. It is
|
||
|
described as "a journal of inquiry into the telephone system."
|
||
|
The last issue had 119 pages, containing detailed information on
|
||
|
the "Outside Plant" of the Phone Company, Pay- phones, Debit
|
||
|
Cards, Telephone repair and more. Tom takes you up telephone
|
||
|
poles and down into cable vaults in part one of his detailed,
|
||
|
fully illustrated exploration of the "Outside Plant."
|
||
|
|
||
|
For a sample issue, send $4.50 to 5150 Fair Oaks Blvd.,
|
||
|
#101-348, Carmichael, CA 95608 USA. Text of back issues is
|
||
|
available via ftp or gopher from etext.archive.umich.edu in the
|
||
|
/pup/Zines/PrivateLine directory. You may email Mr. Farley at
|
||
|
privateline@delphi.com.
|
||
|
|
||
|
------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
|
||
|
FREE.ORG is offering free shell accounts, SLIP, PPP, and UUCP.
|
||
|
Just dial them up with your modem at (715) 743-1600
|
||
|
|
||
|
------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Carrier Wave
|
||
|
PO Box 835
|
||
|
Lake Forest, CA 92630-0835
|
||
|
|
||
|
Send $4.00 for a sample issue. Please include your name, address,
|
||
|
electronic mail address, home page URL <if any>, favoriate quote
|
||
|
<optional>, and the number of the last issue that you have if you
|
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have one already <so we don't send you a duplicate>.
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------------------------------------------------------------------
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END OF TCW.1.1.TXT
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==========================================================================
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THE CARRIER WAVE SUBSCRIPTION REQUEST FORM
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==REQUIRED================================================================
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Name (Or Psuedonym): _____________________________________________
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Postal Address Line 1: ___________________________________________
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Postal Address Line 2: ___________________________________________
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Postal Address Line 3: ___________________________________________
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Last Issue that you have: Volume I, Issue ________ [ ] None
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Number of Issues you want: ______________________
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Funds enclosed: US$_______ . _________
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[ ] Check [ ] Money Order [ ] Cash
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|
==OPTIONAL================================================================
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Electronic Mail Address: _________________________________________
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|
Home Page URL: _________________________________________
|
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|
Favorite Quote: _________________________________________
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|
_________________________________________
|
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|
==NEXT....================================================================
|
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Include $4.00 United States currency in Cash, Check, Or Money Order.
|
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|
All funds must be drawn on a U.S. Bank. Make check/MO out to
|
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|
Tobin Fricke. We aren't responsible due to lost orders or damaged
|
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|
copies of TCW.
|
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Mail to:
|
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|
Carrier Wave Publications
|
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|
PO Box 835
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|
Lake Forest, CA 92630-0835
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United States Of America
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==========================================================================
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