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The Alliance Productions Vol 01 Issue 01 Premier
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
| O | | O |
| O | ==> The Alliance Productions [ZAN] <== | O |
| O | ==> Monthly Publication <== | O |
| O | of | O |
| O | /vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv\ | O |
| O | |The Guide to a Better Society| | O |
| O | \^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^/ | O |
| O | | O |
| O | Vol. #1 | O |
| O | Issue #1 | O |
| O | August 1991 | O |
| O | | O |
| O | Compliments of The Villa Straylight | O |
| O | The Alliance Publications [ZAN] Origin | O |
| O | | O |
| O | -407- 297.1180 | O |
| O | 3oo, 12oo, 24oo | O |
| O | | O |
| O | Editor in Chief: Wintermute | O |
| O | CoEditors: The Alliance Productions/ZAN Members | O |
| O | | O |
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Welcome to the Premier Issue of "Guide To A Better Society" I am Wintermute,
head of The Alliance Productions and [ZAN] member. The purpose of "Guide To A
Better Society" is to spread information on "How To Improve Your Lifestyle Via
Breaking The `Law'". Some of us over here are members of The Illuminati, so
the more radical ideas will be taken by them. But we at Zhit Axis Nation hope
you enjoy this and future editions of our newsletter.
Editor-in-Chief
Wintermute
(c) The Alliance Productions 1991
(c) Zhit Axis Nation 1991
===============================================================================
Table of Contents
I.> Introduction to Editor.
II.> Lock Picking Tips
III.> Radio Hacking/Satelite Hacking
IV.> Hacking Quiz. How do you rank?
V.> Introduction to PBX's
VI.> Storytime: CyberPUNK Literature
VII.> Appendix
===============================================================================
I.> Introduction to Editor
Hello to all of you out there! I am Wintermute of The Villa Straylight.
As me being the editor, it's my job to make sure this newsletter get put
together correctly. So if there are any problems, or you have comments,
please address them to me. I can be reached via WWIVnet, at 1@4703. So
E-mail user 1@4703 and you'll get me.
Well, let me tell you little about myself. I am an avid Hacker and Phreak.
Cracking is kinda new to me, so i stick to the old ways of doing things. I
have been hacking my way in systems for a little under 2 years now. I've seen
some changes in the way things get set up, but I've managed to stay on top.
Here's some stats on me if you're interested:
Real Name: Mike something or other...
Age: 16 (don't laugh!)
Occupation: Hazard to my school! Looking for a job as a programmer.
Residence: Beautiful Orlando, FL (not! Too many tourists)
Marital Status: 3-4 times a day. he he.
Other: 5'9". Brown hair, brown eyes, bleah....
OK that just about does it. I'm humiliating myself enough.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
II.> Lock Picking Tips
Picking Combination Locks
The writer of this text file takes <all> responsibility for what
this text file is used for. Hopefully it will only be used for
illegal purposes cuz i can't think of a reason it can be used for
legally. Well, on with the text file.
Ok, so ya say ya wanna learn how to pick combination locks...This text
file should help you. As a matter of fact, if ya do it right, it will help
you. First of all, let me tell you about the set-up of a lock. When the lock
is locked, there is a curved piece of metal wedged inside the little notch
on the horseshoe shaped bar that is pushed in to the lock when you lock it.
To free this wedge, you must(must is a word used to much) you usually(that
sounds much better) have to turn the lock to the desired combination and the
pressure on the wedge is released therefore letting the lock open. I will now
tell you how to make a pick so you can open a lock without having to waste
all that time turning the combination (this also helps when ya don't know the
combination to begin with). First of all, ya need to find a hairpin. What's a
hairpin? Well, just ask your mom. She will have one. If she asks what its
for, say ya gotta hold something together... If she says use a rubberband or
use a paperclip, tell her to fuck off and die and then go to the store and rip
off a box of 50 or so. Ok, enough stalling (yea, i was stalling). Once you
have your hair pin (make sure its metal), take the ridged side and break it off
right before it starts to make a U-turn onto the straight side. The curved part
can now be used as a handle. Now, using a file, file down the other end
until it is fairly thin. You should do this to many hairpins and file them
so they are of different thicknesses so you can pick various locks. Some locks
are so cheap that ya don't even have ta file! But most are not. Ok, now you
have a lock pick. Now if ya haven't figured it out, here's how ya use it.
You look at a lock to see which side the lock opens from. If you can't tell,
you will just have to try both sides. When ya find out what side it opens from,
take the lock pick and stick the filed end into the inside of the horseshoe-
shaped bar on whichever side the lock opens from. Now, put pressure on the
handle of the lock pick (pushing down, into the crack) and pull the lock up and
down. The lock will then open because the pick separated the wedge and the
notch allowing us thieves to open it. Don't say bullshit until you've tried it.
because i have gotten lots of beer money from doin' this to fellow students'
gym lockers. Also, this technique works best on American locks. I have never
picked a Master lock before because of the shape a pressure of the wedge but
if anyone does it, let me know how long it took. Also, the Master lock casing
is very tight so ya can't get the pick in. So, if you're locking something
valuable up, use a Master, cuz at least ya know I won't be picking it and I'm
sure there aren't that many that could. And when i say pick, i don't mean
lighting a stick of dynamite next to the lock, picking is opening a lock without
using force, making a substitute key, etc...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Operation: VENDING MACHINE KEYS
By: Wintermute
Source: TAP Magazine
Here's how to do it:
On almost all vending machines they have those damn round almost unpickable
locks on them so:
When no one is looking quickly press a piece of AIR-HARDENING clay into the
lock. (Press hard enough to get a good impression.)
Remove the clay carefully and let it dry for however long the clay has to dry
as specified on the package.
You now have a key to fit that lock, (this Type of 'key' can be easily crushed
if you're seen. But if you're smart you won't though)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+--------------------------+
! Locker Docs !
! !
! Complete documentaion to !
! your school locker !
! !
+--------------------------+
Before we start, if you are friends with counselors that let you borrow
their keys, steal the master for all the lockers in your school. You may
now ignore the rest of this file.
:=> What You Need
3/8" Hex Driver
Adjustable Wrench(es)
Needlenose Pliers
Moby Pliers (Vise-Grips work REAL
well!)
6" Steel Rod or Small Crow Bar
Small Standard Screwdriver
Large Standard Screwdriver
Phillipshead Screwdriver
Moderate Size Claw Hammer
:=> Taking Over
At the beginning of each school year, there are a good deal of unused
lockers around the school. If one of these is near your next class, slap a
padlock on it; we'll get into putting a school lock on it later...
Every school has at least one designated "Garbage Locker". Find it
(them), they can be used to your advantage!
If a locker you want already has an owner, no problem! Read the next
section for more information...
If you have a large suppy of padlocks (which every locker
destroyer has!), be sure to put them on the ones that you want so you'll
have it later when we go to put a school-issued lock on it later.
:=> Getting In
Now the real challenge begins! The hardest part of all of this is
getting in the thing in the first place! But it's easy if you know the
tricks of the trade:
> Padlocks (Combination or Key)
Here's where we get to use the crow bar! Slip it between the lock and the
latch on the locker, while going between the two rods of the shank.
Apply serious downward force. This takes 'em off so disgustingly easily.
it's not fair! As a matter of fact, we can rip Master key locks off with
a crummy hex driver!
> Destroying the Thing
If you are so pissed as to rip the lock off and take over by force, be
sure this is your last resort! You leave little marks on the paint, but
a cheap can of canary yellow or what ever color you loker may be will take
care of that. Get the crowbar again. One end should fit between the dial
and the door. If not, pry it open a little with one of the screwdrivers.
Rip the dial off without mercy. The lock itself will fall inside the locker
after the bolts snap and will be free for opening! If you can get a
new dial for the lock you ripped off, try to get it on so you have another
usable lock.
> Going Through The Combination
Getting in this way is rare, but welcomed. Spend an afternoon
wandering the halls looking at the walls, ledges, doors, around a
lockers wherever a combination can be written without being easily seen. If
you find one, try it out-CAREFULLY! Once you get one that works, steal
it!
> Pennied Lockers
Now we're talking REALLY rare! But these are real easy to spot. Walk
around looking at the latch. If it is sticking up a mile higher than the
others, give it a tug. Some of them stick that high naturally or if the
locker is over-filled, so watch for those.
:=> Once You're In
All right, you FINALLY got the locker open and the lock is intact.
Look around. Steal anything of value. Now, let's get the lock, ok? See
those two nuts above and below the lock on the inside of the door? Get
the 3/8" hex driver and remove them. Now grab the dial and the lock and
pull free from the door. Try not to move the dial-it's a real pain in the
ass getting it back right! Refasten the nuts and take it to new location,
and re-install it on the new locker repeating the steps. If the dial does
not go in at first, frob with it awhile until it seats into the lock.
Congrats! You now have just taken over your first locker!
> Ripping Out The Walls!
If you are on the right side of a wall, you can remove it with little
difficulty and get into the locker next to yours. Use the same hex driver
and unfasten the nuts holding it in. Watch out for the shelf, though!
:=> Garbage Lockers
As mentioned above, garbage lockers can be very useful. These usually
evidant the first 2-3 months of school. They reach maturity in about 1-6
months depending on use. The custodians come and clean and
disinfect it thoroughly, killing wahtever new forms of life you may
have developed. They then will usually put a school-owned padlock on it.
Now, scince it's clean, and you know how to get padlocks off, we say it's
ripe for picking!
You previously have been opening lockers seeing if they are worth
conquering, and how come across a trash locker. Maybe you contributed
an unwanted apple, someone's homework, etc to it. You suddenly
notice one day that the janitors have taken it over. Immediately, you
snap the lock off and you have a nice clean locker.
:=> When To Do Your Vandalism
1. At lunch
2. Skip a period
3. After school
(1) Possibly hard to do. Either no one is allowed around school or
everyone is eating at their lockers.
(2) May cause difficulties. That is, unless you are already failing that
class.
(3) This is great. Join some stupid club and then leave early everyday.
Now you have enough time to swipe a few! You could also get a job
at school with the janitors or as a techie. Now you have lots of time
when the school is empty and you have access to MORE TOOLS!
:=> Rating Of Padlocks By Brand
> Combination
Guard- This is the cheapest piece of shit that we've ever run across!
The case is undoubtedly in two peices, and most often, there are cracks
around the edges. Now turn it over and look on the back. See those two rivets?
We took TWO of these off with a SNEAKER!
American- Okay. Getting a little harder to get off now. The shank is
'left-handed', and the dial is firmly secured.
Master- Supposedly 'top-of-the-line', but still can be removed with a little
pressure. LEAN ON THAT MOTHER!
> Key
Master- Several million of these, no reason to break one off as of yet.
Sears- One peice case, gave us a little trouble to take off with
our hex driver.
:=> Glossary Of Most-Used Terms
Padlock- any self-comtained removable lock characterized by a steel shank.
Usually requires key or combination to open.
Dial- Circular unit found on the outside of a school locker used to
dial the combination.
Lock- The unit mounted inside the locker that prevents the latch from
moving when the combination has not been dialed.
Shank- Steel semicircle on a padlock that will lock when pushed into the
case of a padlock.
Latch- Waht you push, pull or twist to get a locker open.
Door- Hinged wall on a locker. Most of the time, the only way into a
locker.
Locker- Aluminum cubicle used for dumping books, freshman, or gym
clothes in.
Master- Company know for making cheap locks that can be easily opened with
a dinky-ass screw driver or the key that opens a given set of locks.
Plate[1]- Metal sheet with a number stamped on it used for identifying
lockers.
Plate[2]- A peice of metal that covers the hole in the door where the dial
goes if one is not present.
Wall- Removable surface inside locker.
Shelf- A sheet of wood cut to the shape and dimensions so that it fits snug
inside a locker.
We would like to dedicate this article to those of us who got busted while
this was being compiled. For those of you to follow in our footsteps, BE
CAREFUL!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[+][+][+][+][+][+][+][+][+][+][+][+][+]
[+] [+]
[+] L O C K P I C K I N G [+]
[+] [+]
[+][+][+][+][+][+][+][+][+][+][+][+][+]
This tutorial will demonstrate how to "pick" a pin tumbler lock. Use of this
material is for locksmiths only, any use of this information for illegal
purposes is forbidden and against the law. (as long as we are at it, do you
want to buy some land in Florida?)
In order to pick a pin tumbler lock, you will require four items: a lock,
you, a pick, and a tension wrench. you can ussually get these at a locksmith
store, if you can not find one near you there will be an address at the end of
the article that you can order them from. Here is an illustration of a pick
and a tension wrench:
________/ !________
pick tension wrench
Most people know of the need for the pick, but have no idea what the wrench
is for. It is very important and without it it would be impossible to pick
a lock.
In order to pick a lock, we must count upon the imperfection of the lock.
Before we look at how to actually pick the lock, we will look at the parts of
it and how the imperfection part fits in. Here is a dissassembled lock:
/ / / /
\ \ \ \
springs -> / / / /
\ \ \ \
_ _ _ _
! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
drivers ->! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
!_! !_! !_! !_!
_ _
! ! _ ! !
bottom pins ->! ! ! ! _ ! !
! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/
_____________________
! : : : : : : : : !
housing ->! : : : : : : : : !
! : : : : : : : : !
!___: :_: :_: :_: :___!
! : : : : : : : : !
plug ->! : : : : : : : : !
!______________________!
! !
! !
! !
!_____________________!
___
/ \
! !__ _ _
! \__ / \_/ \__
! \/ \
\__/------------------- <- key
When you insert a key into a lock, the bottem pins are pushed up, and if it
is the proper key, the tops of the bottom pins will match with the spot
where the plug and housing meet, thus allowing you to turn the plug, and open
the door, etc.. When you inser the key, the bottom pins go into the valleys of
the key, thus meaning that the key must have the right height valleys to make
the lock open. Pretty elementry, right? Well now we can move on to how to pick
a lock.
In order to pick a lock we (as i said before) depend on the inaccuracy of the
manufacturing process. The first thing to do is to insert the tension wrench
into the lock and apply a slight pressure to the left (or right if you
wish) so that if you could look inside the lock at where the plug and the
housing would meet, it would look like this:
! !*! !
housing ! !*! !
! !*! !
__________! !*! !___________
__________ !*! ____________
! !*!!
plug ! !_!!
! _ !
! !*!!
! \_/!
Now a slight presure is on the pins. Because the pins can not be produced
exactly the same, there is one pin which is the widest and there fore has
more tension on it, and one which is the thinnest and has almost no pressure
on it. We now use the pick to >gently< push each pin up (and try to feel it
when you let it down) until we find which is the tightest on and which is
loosest. Getting the feel for this is the hardest part of lock picking. Now
that you have found the loosest one, gently press it upward until you feel
a slight reduction in tension on the tension wrench. This will happen when
the top of the bottom pin becomes even with the junction of the plug and
the housing. DO NOT RELEASE ANY TENSION FROM THE WRENCH NOW! The driver will
now be trapped in the housing as illustrated here: (don't I draw pretty)
! !*! !
housing ! !*! !
! !*! !
___________! !_! !___________
_______________ ___________
! !*! !
plug ! !*! !
! \_/ !
! !
Now you continue this process with each of the pins until you work your way up
to the one that is widest. With some practice you can get fairly fast at
this. I suggest practicing on a four pin tumbler lock that is bought from a
hardware store, the cheaper the better.
I would like to discuss a paticular configuration of the pins now that may
present a particularly hard job to pick. This is graphicly shown here by
the two middle pins:
!*! !*! !*! !*!
!*! !*! !_! !*!
!*! !*! _ !*!
!_! !*! !*! !_!
_ !*! !*! _
!*! !*! !*! !*!
!*! !_! !*! !*!
!*! _ !*! !*!
!*! !*! !*! !*!
\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/
\_______________
When you try to push the 2nd pin from
the left up, you will unavoidably be
pushing the one in front of it up be-
cause of it's long bottom pin. the only
solution for this is to get a special
pick that looks like this:
\
\ _______________
\_/
The major problem with this is that it is hard to initially detect. The reason
that it makes it harder if it is not immedietly apperant is that you un-
avoidably push the 3rd pin from the left up into the housing, getting it
jammed:
! !*! !
housing ! !_! !
! _ !
! !*! !
__________! !*! !________
___________ !*! ________
!!*!!
plug !!*!!
!\_/!
I would also like to address a technique called raking. it uses a
tool like this:
\/\/\/\___________
Basicly you "rake" it back and forth across the pins, hoping that combined
with the tension it will give you the right combination. This way has been
known to work fast sometimes, but is not very reliable, and I would suggest
learning to actually "pick" the lock.
Earlier I promised an address to order locksmithing materials from, so here it
is:
GARRISON PROTECTIVE ELECTRONICS
BOX 128
KEW GARDENS, NEW YORK, 11415
sources: personal practice and many excellent books from mentor press, if
you would like their catalog, send a SASE to:
THE INTELLIGENCE LIBRARY
MENTOR PULICATIONS
135-53 NORTHERN BLVD.
FLUSHING, NY 11354
and ask for any information available on THE INTELLIGENCE LIBRARY.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
]]]]]]]]]]#[[[[[[[[[[
]] LOCK PICKING [[
]] BY [[
]] ^^^NIGHTWING^^^ [[
]]]]]]]]]]#[[[[[[[[[[
SO YOU WANT TO BE A CRIMINAL. WELL, IF YOU ARE WANTING TO BE LIKE JAMES BOND
AND OPEN A LOCK IN FIFTEEN SECONDS, GO TO HOLLYWOOD BECAUSE THAT'S THE ONLY
PLACE YOUR GONNA DO IT. EVEN EXPERIENCED LOCKSMITHS CAN SPEND 5 TO 10 MINUTES
ON A LOCK IF THEY'RE UNLUCKY. IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR EXTREMELY QUICK ACCESS,
LOOK ELSEWHERE.
THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS WILL PERTAIN MOSTLY TO THE "LOCK-IN-KNOB" TYPE
LOCK, SINCE IT IS THE EASIEST TO PICK. IF THERE IS SUFFICIENT DEMAND, I WILL
LATER WRITE A FILE DISCUSSING THE OTHER FORMS OF ENTRANCE, INCLUDING DEAD-BOLT
FIRST OF ALL, YOU NEED A PICK SET. IF YOU KNOW A LOCKSMITH, GET HIM TO MAKE YOU
A SET. THIS WILL BE THE BEST POSSIBLE SET FOR YOU TO USE. IF YOU FIND A
LOCKSMITH WILLING TO SUPPLY A SET, DON'T GIVE UP HOPE. IT IS POSSIBLE TO MAKE
YOUR OWN, IF YOU HAVE ACCESS TO A GRINDER (YOU CAN USE A FILE, BUT IT TAKES
FOREVER.)
THE THING YOU NEED IS AN ALLEN WRENCH SET (VERY SMALL). THESE SHOULD BE SMALL
ENOUGH TO FIT INTO THE KEYHOLE SLOT. NOW, BEND THE LONG END OF THE ALLEN
WRENCH AT A SLIGHT ANGLE..(NOT 90 DEG.) IT SHOULD LOOK SOMETHING LIKE THIS:
#1
\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\s\\\\\\\ (THIS IS THE HANDLE
\\\ THAT WAS ALREADY
\\\ (HERE.)
\\\
\\\
\\\
NOW, TAKE YOUR PICK TO A GRINDER OR A FILE AND SMOOTH THE END (#1) UNTIL IT'S
ROUNDED SO IT WON'T HANG INSIDE THE LOCK. TEST YOUR TOOL OUT ON DOORKNOBS AT
YOUR HOUSE TO SEE IF IT WILL SLIDE IN AND OUT SMOOTHLY.
NOW, THIS IS WHERE THE SCREWDRIVER COMES IN. IS IT SMALL ENOUGH FOR IT AND
YOUR PICK TO BE USED IN THE SAME LOCK AT THE SAME TIME, ONE ABOVE THE OTHER ?
LETS HOPE SO, BECAUSE THAT'S THE ONLY WAY YOUR GONNA OPEN IT.
IN THE COMING INSTRUCTIONS, PLEASE REFER TO THIS CHART OF THE INTERIOR OF A
LOCK:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX| K
# # # # # # | E
# # # # | Y
* * | sH
* * * * * * | O
| L
| E
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX|
#= UPPER TUMLER PIN
*= LOWER TUMLER PIN
X= CYLINDER WALL
(THIS IS A GREATLY SIMPLIFIED DRAWING)
THE OBJECT IS TO PRESS THE PIN UP SO THAT THE SPAsCE BETWEEN THE UPPER PIN AND
THE LOWER PIN IS LEVEL WITH THE CYLINDER WALL. NOW, IF YOU PUSH A PIN UP, ITS
TENDANCY IS TO FALL BACK DOWN, RIGHT ? THAT IS WHERE THE SCREWDRIVER COMES IN.
INSERT THE SCREWDRIVER INTO THE SLOT AND TURN. THIS TENSION WILL KEEP THE
"SOLVED" PINS FROM FALLING BACK DOWN. NOW, WORK FROM THE BACK OF THE LOCK TO
THE FRONT, AND WHEN YOU'RE THROUGH.....
THERE WILL BE A CLICK, THE SCREWDRIVER WILL TURN FREELY, AND THE DOOR WILL
OPEN. DON'T GET DISCOURAGE ON YOUR FIRST TRY! IT WILL PROBABLY TAKE YOU ABOUT
20-30 MINUTES YOUR FIRST TIME. AFTER THAT YOU WILL QUICKLY IMPROVE WITH
PRACTICE.
THIS IS BY NO MEANS THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY OF ENTERING A HOUSE. IF YOU WOULD
LIKE ANOTHER ITEM OR TWO DEVOTED TO THESE OTHER WAYS, LET THE SYSOP KNOW.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
How to Pick Master Locks
Have you ever tried to impress your friends by picking one of those Master
combination locks and failed? Well then read on. The Master lock company has
made this kind of lock with a protection scheme. If you pull the handle of it
hard, the knob won't turn. That was their biggest mistake...... Ok, now on to
it.
1st number. Get out any of the Master locks so you know what's going on. 1:
The handle part (the part that springs open when you get the combination), pull
on it, but not enough so that the knob won't move. 2: While pulling on it turn
the knob to the left until it won't move any more. Then add 5 to this number.
Congradulations, you now have the 1st number.
2nd number. (a lot tougher) Ok, spin the dial around a couple of times, then
go to the 1st number you got, then turn it to the right, bypassing the 1st
number once. WHEN you have bypassed. Start pulling the handle and turning it.
It will eventually fall into the groove and lock. While in the groove pull on
it and turn the knob. If it is loose go to the next groove; if it's stiff you
got the second number.
3rd number: After getting the 2nd, spin the dial, then enter the 2 numbers,
then after the 2nd, go to the right and at all the numbers pull on it. The lock
will eventually open if you did it right. If can't do it the first time, be
patient, it takes time.
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/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------\
| Mister Shim(TM) - Your Briefcase-Opening Pal |
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------/
Here'sa toy that will have limited use for most people now, but which might
encourage a bit more sneakiness in the future. It's a simple device that
allowsyou to quickly and silently open, with no injury to yourself or the
target,virtually any briefcase that uses a combination lock as its sole
security measure.
___________________| |_ This is the kind of lock to which I refer.
| ___ _ _ _ | | | It's used primarily on your cheaper-style
|| | |-| |-| |-| | | | attache cases, popular among yuppies and
||___| |-| |-| |-| |____| | other wimpy neo-rich types -- maybe including
|__________________________| that nerdy kid in your homeroom with the
^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^ hornrim glasses and the pencil case in his
Slide Combo Dials Hasp shirt pocket. You never know what he might
have hidden in there . . . like a nice HP
calculator (which he never uses -- he extracts cube roots in his head) or his
lunchmoney. Now you can find out without him knowing. Just snatch the case
fromhis locker, where he keeps it during Gym period, and be sure to put it
backbefore he returns. (And if you don't know how to get into his locker,
checkout the Master Lock file in PHRACK issue #1.)
------------------------
Building Mister Shim(TM)
------------------------
You'llneed a thin piece of metal about 2cm by 3cm. (We're using metric here,
guys. So sue me.) In the one I made I used a piece cut from an aluminum Coke
canand it worked fine. Out of the 2cm end, cut it to look like the diagram
below(which I wish could be less confusing . . . just look at it carefully).
/ - - - - 12mm - - - - \
|_______ _______| _ _
_ | aluminum | | 2mm
1mm| _ |____/\____ ____/\____| _ _ _ _ _ _|_
. .. \/_ _ .._ _ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _| 1mm
2mm wide:____::____::____::____:
about 1.3mm wide ^^ ^^ ^^
(To SCALE? Are you KIDDING?)
Itlookstough, but really isn't . . . use a very sharp exacto knife to cut out
thetwo corners first, then a fine trangular metal file to smooth it and file
outthe small indentations. It'll take about ten to fifteen minutes if you do
itcarefully, and it does NOT have to be EXACT . . . just get it as close as
youcan. It helps to have one of those locks nearby to fine-tune the shim.
Simplyset the lock to its correct combiation and insert Mister Shim(TM) as
described below. If it works as described, your shim is properly designed.
---------------------
UsingMister Shim(TM)
---------------------
Theguywho designed this particular type of lock knew that he'd have to
installsome sort of "back door" in it, for all those airheads who would change
thenumbers on their locks and then forget them, or in case Random Briefcase
Vandalsassaulted the luggage store, raping, pillaging, and changing
combinations as they went. This is that back door.
Useissimple. Slide the modified end of Mister Shim(TM) into the gap right
t to the dial on the lock. (Try both sides, it varies from lock to lock.)
IfMister Shim(TM) goes in ALL THE WAY with a little jiggling, the number shown
onthe dial is correct. If not, turn to the next number and try again. On a
three-dial lock, it will take an average of only fifteen checks to find the
propercombination; on a two-lock case with a practiced operator, this adds up
toLESS THAN A MINUTE to open the case.
Youcannow access anything inside the case you like, or change the combination
ifyou wish. (To change the combination, push the slide towards the hasp [see
firstdiagram] and hold it, then turn the dials to the desired new combo. Your
victimwill have to go to someone with their own Mister Shim(TM) -- or destroy
thelock -- if they ever want to get into their briefcase again.)
UseMisterShim(TM) in good health.
_______________________________________________________________________________
DISCLAIMER: Certain applications of Mister Shim(TM) may be illegal in some
areas. Consult your attorney. Mister Shim(TM) is not intended for internal or
topicaluse. Keep away from cuts or open sores. And remember, this is just an
hibition, not a competition. Please . . . no wagering.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
III.> Radio Hacking/Satelite Hacking
------FREQUING------
********************
* THE BASIS BEHIND *
* RADIO HACKING *
********************
This article deals with Satellite hacking, CB info, and car phone
systems.
Satellite Control
-----------------
Companies try to build satellites to last for as long a time as
possible. Unfortunately, for the companies, things in space can
happen unexpectantly and suddently. Take that satellite released by
the space shuttle. It's orbit carried it way off t he correct
altitude. The company's only hope was to fire a rocket on it in order
to bring it to the correct place.
Now think...how does one on the ground fire a rocket in space?
Radio! Gee, if the company could change the orbit, maybe we can too.
Sound interesting? Of course we were not the first to think of this.
The satellite companies have worried about this for a long time.
There are stories about top secret codes, frequencies, and protocols
required to 'nudge' one of those babies.
The only problem is that-there is little information about this out
there. If you have any info, make a text file, and let others know of
your knowledge. But let me tell you all I know about a simple
satellite whose telemetry is known well.
OSCAR 6 was a satellite sent up in order to take in amateur signals
between 145.9 and 146.0 MHz, and re-transmit them between 29.45 and
29.55 MHz using a transponder. Early in 1976, OSCAR 6 began to have
battery problems. The telemetry allowed the ground command stations
to shut the satellite off at regular intervals to prolong the useful
life of the satellite.
Now we know the satellite sent out telemetry reports at a certain
frequency (OSCAR 7 was 29.502 and 145.972 MHz). And it sent them out
in the form of Morse code at about 20 wpm. Information rate of spin,
power use, and temperature were sent out at 20 wpm. This seems to
suggest that the control might have also used morse code. Strangely
enough, there was never any information in the American Radio Relay
League magazine about just how they control the OSCAR satellites.
(Hams know what's safe and what's crazy also)
Suggestions: Don't overlook RTTY when trying to Satelhack
(Satellite hacking). Also, chances are the owners will figure out
what you did, so 'downing', the ultimate for a satelhack, is pretty
difficult.
Citizen's Band
--------------
CB is a very popular communications method. Again, you need a
license from the FCC to operate legally. But it's so hard to track
down a CB signal unless you have a massive amplifier or talk for hours
straight, there is little use in getting one. Here is a list of
channel frequencies:
Channel Frequency
(MHz)
1 26.965
2 26.975
3 26.985
4 27.005
5 27.015
6 27.025
7 27.035
8 27.055
9-emergency 27.065
10 27.075
11-contact channel 27.085
12 27.105
13 27.115
14 27.125
15 27.135
16 27.155
17 27.165
18 27.175
19-trucker's channel 27.185
20 27.205
21 27.215
22 27.225
22A (optional) 27.235
22B (optional) 27.245
23 27.255
A Cheap Ghost-Interferance
--------------------------
How can you start a real cheap ghost or interferance station? Well,
the Radio Shack wireless FM microphone (the clip on one) is pretty
good for $19.95 (price may change). It's range is said to be 100
yards, but actual tests show its range is about 100 ft. outside, 40
ft. inside. However, in the instructions it says that increasing the
battery power will make it stronger, but this would not be in
compliance with the FCC (oh darn!). One problem with this is that
with a stronger battery comes the risk of frying something inside.
Instead of trying to upgrade the silly thing, just make a new one.
Open it up and take a look at how it is made. Now, get a cheap
microphone then feed it into an amplifier like that on your stereo.
Then take the outputs of the amplifier and feed it into the same kind
of circuit as the wireless microphone contains (use heavy-duty parts
so they won't fry. The only parts are a varactor diode and three
silicon transistors). You new transmitter can now block out stations
in a relatively sized neighborhood (great in cities).
Mobile Phones
-------------
Radio phones have been around for a while. The first mobile
telephone call was made September 11, 1946 between a Houston Post and
a St. Louis Globe reporter. An old mobile phone service in New York
city had 700 subscribers, but could only handle 12 conversations at a
time (because it had 12 channels). There are some 160,000 mobile
telephones nationwide.
The old service was doomed to fail. Each major city had one or two
powerful transmitters to communicate with all car phones in a 30- to
50-mile radius. To make a call from a car, you must find a vacant
channel, then call the operator and supply the number you want to
call. The operator dials the number and connects you when the party
answers. Only a few companies have dial-it-yourself service. If
someone wants to call you, they must first find the mobile phone
operator in your area. The operator finds a vacant channel and
transmits a series of tones that correspond to your phone and make it
ring-sort of as if it were a pager. Once you answer, the operator
connects you and the caller.
Clearly, the system was slow. Worse, it could only serve a few
users at a time. During rush hour, there was little hope of making a
call. Few channels could be added because of the dearth of
frequencies for that kind of operation. So now you can't get a mobile
phone of this type unless someone else gives one up.
Enter the cellular mobile radio. Instead of only 1 or 2
transmitters, an area is divided up into many small sections, called
'cells'. Each has it's own low-powered transmitter just strong enough
to serve it's cell. An average cell covers from one to eight square
miles and varies in shape from a circle to a squashed football. Each
cell touches another, some overlap slightly.
Adjacent cells use different channels-there are more than 600 in
each city to choose from-and a channel may be re-used several times in
the city if the cells are located far enough apart. All of the cell's
transmitters hook into one network switching office, much like a
central office handles calls form land-based telephones.
Each transmitter constantly sends out a special signal, and as you
drive from cell to cell, your telephone automaticly tunes in the
strongest cell. When a call comes in for you, the network switching
office uses the channel to send a digital pulse signal that
corresponds to your ten-digit phone number (NPA+7 digits).
When the phone hears it's number, it in effect says 'Here I am, in
this certain cell'. That information is sent back to the network
switching office, which scans vacant frequencies, and relays the
information to your cell. Finally, your unit tunes to that voice
channel, and the cell site rings you, and you talk.
It sounds complicated-and it is. But it works in seconds. And it
can be expanded. As more and more phones are added, cells can be
split into smaller cells with less power. Cellular radio already
exists in Japan, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. In Denmark, service
began in 1981 and grew to 100,000 customers almost overnight. Within
a few years all of Scandinavia will have compatable cellular systems.
Australia, Canada, and Mexico also plan systems.
Why has the U.S. lagged behind? Yep, it's our old freinds, the
FCC. They studied the system for 12 years before okaying the service
in 1982. The U.S. may be full celled by 1988. Now is the time to
rent your backyard as a cellular station!
The Bell companies will operate cellular service as the Cellular
Service Company. Others such as GTE and MCI plan similar service.
Even the Washington Post is trying to get into it. There are already
two systems, one in Washington/Baltimore, and one in Chicago. Chicago
users pay about $50 rent and $25 monthly use fee for 120 minutes, and
25 cents/minute hereafter. Average bills are $150/month.
The main unit mounts in the trunk, and just the handset sits up
front. The antennas are very small-about nine inches-and are hidden
inside the car.
Now freaking old car phone systems shoudln't be that hard if you
really try. The following are the freq's to remember:
158.07-158.49 MHz (mobile)
152.81-153.03 MHz (base stations)
You CAN listen in on these freq's. What I'm not sure about is
whether you can place a call-I would think so. So Freq out!
COMMING SOON: Repair trucks, installers, and linesmen, Marine
Radio, and Airplane phones
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
IV.> Hacking Quiz. How do you rank?
This test was conceived and written by Felix Lee, John Hayes and Angela
Thomas at the end of the spring semester, 1989. It has gone through
many revisions prior to this initial release, and will undoubtedly go
through many more.
(Herewith a compendium of fact and folklore about computer hackerdom,
cunningly disguised as a test.)
Scoring - Count 1 for each item that you have done, or each
question that you can answer correctly.
If you score is between: You are
0x000 and 0x010 -> Computer Illiterate
0x011 and 0x040 -> a User
0x041 and 0x080 -> an Operator
0x081 and 0x0C0 -> a Nerd
0x0C1 and 0x100 -> a Hacker
0x101 and 0x180 -> a Guru
0x181 and 0x200 -> a Wizard
Note: If you don't understand the scoring, stop here.
And now for the questions...
0001 Have you ever used a computer?
0002 ... for more than 4 hours continuously?
0003 ... more than 8 hours?
0004 ... more than 16 hours?
0005 ... more than 32 hours?
0006 Have you ever patched paper tape?
0007 Have you ever missed a class while programming?
0008 ... Missed an examination?
0009 ... Missed a wedding?
0010 ... Missed your own wedding?
0011 Have you ever programmed while intoxicated?
0012 ... Did it make sense the next day?
0013 Have you ever written a flight simulator?
0014 Have you ever voided the warranty on your equipment?
0015 Ever change the value of 4?
0016 ... Unintentionally?
0017 ... In a language other than Fortran?
0018 Do you use DWIM to make life interesting?
0019 Have you named a computer?
0020 Do you complain when a "feature" you use gets fixed?
0021 Do you eat slime-molds?
0022 Do you know how many days old you are?
0023 Have you ever wanted to download pizza?
0024 Have you ever invented a computer joke?
0025 ... Did someone not 'get' it?
0026 Can you recite Jabberwocky?
0027 ... Backwards?
0028 Have you seen "Donald Duck in Mathemagic Land"?
0029 Have you seen "Tron"?
0030 Have you seen "Wargames"?
0031 Do you know what ASCII stands for?
0032 ... EBCDIC?
0033 Can you read and write ASCII in hex or octal?
0034 Do you know the names of all the ASCII control codes?
0035 Can you read and write EBCDIC in hex?
0036 Can you convert from EBCDIC to ASCII and vice versa?
0037 Do you know what characters are the same in both ASCII and EBCDIC?
0038 Do you know maxint on your system?
0039 Ever define your own numerical type to get better precision?
0040 Can you name powers of two up to 2**16 in arbitrary order?
0041 ... up to 2**32?
0042 ... up to 2**64?
0043 Can you read a punched card, looking at the holes?
0044 ... feeling the holes?
0045 Have you ever patched binary code?
0046 ... While the program was running?
0047 Have you ever used program overlays?
0048 Have you met any IBM vice-president?
0049 Do you know Dennis, Bill, or Ken?
0050 Have you ever taken a picture of a CRT?
0051 Have you ever played a videotape on your CRT?
0052 Have you ever digitized a picture?
0053 Did you ever forget to mount a scratch monkey?
0054 Have you ever optimized an idle loop?
0055 Did you ever optimize a bubble sort?
0056 Does your terminal/computer talk to you?
0057 Have you ever talked into an acoustic modem?
0058 ... Did it answer?
0059 Can you whistle 300 baud?
0060 ... 1200 baud?
0061 Can you whistle a telephone number?
0062 Have you witnessed a disk crash?
0063 Have you made a disk drive "walk"?
0064 Can you build a puffer train?
0065 ... Do you know what it is?
0066 Can you play music on your line printer?
0067 ... Your disk drive?
0068 ... Your tape drive?
0069 Do you have a Snoopy calendar?
0070 ... Is it out-of-date?
0071 Do you have a line printer picture of...
0072 ... the Mona Lisa?
0073 ... the Enterprise?
0074 ... Einstein?
0075 ... Oliver?
0076 Have you ever made a line printer picture?
0077 Do you know what the following stand for?
0078 ... DASD
0079 ... Emacs
0080 ... ITS
0081 ... RSTS/E
0082 ... SNA
0083 ... Spool
0084 ... TCP/IP
Have you ever used
0085 ... TPU?
0086 ... TECO?
0087 ... Emacs?
0088 ... ed?
0089 ... vi?
0090 ... Xedit (in VM/CMS)?
0091 ... SOS?
0092 ... EDT?
0093 ... Wordstar?
0094 Have you ever written a CLIST?
Have you ever programmed in
0095 ... the X windowing system?
0096 ... CICS?
0097 Have you ever received a Fax or a photocopy of a floppy?
0098 Have you ever shown a novice the "any" key?
0099 ... Was it the power switch?
Have you ever attended
0100 ... Usenix?
0101 ... DECUS?
0102 ... SHARE?
0103 ... SIGGRAPH?
0104 ... NetCon?
0105 Have you ever participated in a standards group?
0106 Have you ever debugged machine code over the telephone?
0107 Have you ever seen voice mail?
0108 ... Can you read it?
0109 Do you solve word puzzles with an on-line dictionary?
0110 Have you ever taken a Turing test?
0111 ... Did you fail?
0112 Ever drop a card deck?
0113 ... Did you successfully put it back together?
0114 ... Without looking?
0115 Have you ever used IPCS?
0116 Have you ever received a case of beer with your computer?
0117 Does your computer come in 'designer' colors?
0118 Ever interrupted a UPS?
0119 Ever mask an NMI?
0120 Have you ever set off a Halon system?
0121 ... Intentionally?
0122 ... Do you still work there?
0123 Have you ever hit the emergency power switch?
0124 ... Intentionally?
0125 Do you have any defunct documentation?
0126 ... Do you still read it?
0127 Ever reverse-engineer or decompile a program?
0128 ... Did you find bugs in it?
0129 Ever help the person behind the counter with their terminal/computer?
0130 Ever tried rack mounting your telephone?
0131 Ever thrown a computer from more than two stories high?
0132 Ever patched a bug the vendor does not acknowledge?
0133 Ever fix a hardware problem in software?
0134 ... Vice versa?
0135 Ever belong to a user/support group?
0136 Ever been mentioned in Computer Recreations?
0137 Ever had your activities mentioned in the newspaper?
0138 ... Did you get away with it?
0139 Ever engage a drum brake while the drum was spinning?
0140 Ever write comments in a non-native language?
0141 Ever physically destroy equipment from software?
0142 Ever tried to improve your score on the Hacker Test?
0143 Do you take listings with you to lunch?
0144 ... To bed?
0145 Ever patch a microcode bug?
0146 ... around a microcode bug?
0147 Can you program a Turing machine?
0148 Can you convert postfix to prefix in your head?
0149 Can you convert hex to octal in your head?
0150 Do you know how to use a Kleene star?
0151 Have you ever starved while dining with philosophers?
0152 Have you solved the halting problem?
0153 ... Correctly?
0154 Ever deadlock trying eating spaghetti?
0155 Ever written a self-reproducing program?
0156 Ever swapped out the swapper?
0157 Can you read a state diagram?
0158 ... Do you need one?
0159 Ever create an unkillable program?
0160 ... Intentionally?
0161 Ever been asked for a cookie?
0162 Ever speed up a system by removing a jumper?
* Do you know...
0163 Do you know who wrote Rogue?
0164 ... Rogomatic?
0165 Do you know Gray code?
0166 Do you know what HCF means?
0167 ... Ever use it?
0168 ... Intentionally?
0169 Do you know what a lace card is?
0170 ... Ever make one?
0171 Do you know the end of the epoch?
0172 ... Have you celebrated the end of an epoch?
0173 ... Did you have to rewrite code?
0174 Do you know the difference between DTE and DCE?
0175 Do you know the RS-232C pinout?
0176 ... Can you wire a connector without looking?
* Do you have...
0177 Do you have a copy of Dec Wars?
0178 Do you have the Canonical Collection of Lightbulb Jokes?
0179 Do you have a copy of the Hacker's dictionary?
0180 ... Did you contribute to it?
0181 Do you have a flowchart template?
0182 ... Is it unused?
0183 Do you have your own fortune-cookie file?
0184 Do you have the Anarchist's Cookbook?
0185 ... Ever make anything from it?
0186 Do you own a modem?
0187 ... a terminal?
0188 ... a toy computer?
0189 ... a personal computer?
0190 ... a minicomputer?
0191 ... a mainframe?
0192 ... a supercomputer?
0193 ... a hypercube?
0194 ... a printer?
0195 ... a laser printer?
0196 ... a tape drive?
0197 ... an outmoded peripheral device?
0198 Do you have a programmable calculator?
0199 ... Is it RPN?
0200 Have you ever owned more than 1 computer?
0201 ... 4 computers?
0202 ... 16 computers?
0203 Do you have a SLIP line?
0204 ... a T1 line?
0205 Do you have a separate phone line for your terminal/computer?
0206 ... Is it legal?
0207 Do you have core memory?
0208 ... drum storage?
0209 ... bubble memory?
0210 Do you use more than 16 megabytes of disk space?
0211 ... 256 megabytes?
0212 ... 1 gigabyte?
0213 ... 16 gigabytes?
0214 ... 256 gigabytes?
0215 ... 1 terabyte?
0216 Do you have an optical disk/disk drive?
0217 Do you have a personal magnetic tape library?
0218 ... Is it unlabelled?
0219 Do you own more than 16 floppy disks?
0220 ... 64 floppy disks?
0221 ... 256 floppy disks?
0222 ... 1024 floppy disks?
0223 Do you have any 8-inch disks?
0224 Do you have an internal stack?
0225 Do you have a clock interrupt?
0226 Do you own volumes 1 to 3 of _The Art of Computer Programming_?
0227 ... Have you done all the exercises?
0228 ... Do you have a MIX simulator?
0229 ... Can you name the unwritten volumes?
0230 Can you quote from _The Mythical Man-month_?
0231 ... Did you participate in the OS/360 project?
0232 Do you have a TTL handbook?
0233 Do you have printouts more than three years old?
* Career
0234 Do you have a job?
0235 ... Have you ever had a job?
0236 ... Was it computer-related?
0237 Do you work irregular hours?
0238 Have you ever been a system administrator?
0239 Do you have more megabytes than megabucks?
0240 Have you ever downgraded your job to upgrade your processing power?
0241 Is your job secure?
0242 ... Do you have code to prove it?
0243 Have you ever had a security clearance?
* Games
0244 Have you ever played Pong?
Have you ever played
0246 ... Spacewar?
0247 ... Star Trek?
0248 ... Wumpus?
0249 ... Lunar Lander?
0250 ... Empire?
Have you ever beaten
0251 ... Moria 4.8?
0252 ... Rogue 3.6?
0253 ... Rogue 5.3?
0254 ... Larn?
0255 ... Hack 1.0.3?
0256 ... Nethack 2.4?
0257 Can you get a better score on Rogue than Rogomatic?
0258 Have you ever solved Adventure?
0259 ... Zork?
0260 Have you ever written any redcode?
0261 Have you ever written an adventure program?
0262 ... a real-time game?
0263 ... a multi-player game?
0264 ... a networked game?
0265 Can you out-doctor Eliza?
* Hardware
0266 Have you ever used a light pen?
0267 ... did you build it?
Have you ever used
0268 ... a teletype?
0269 ... a paper tape?
0270 ... a decwriter?
0271 ... a card reader/punch?
0272 ... a SOL?
Have you ever built
0273 ... an Altair?
0274 ... a Heath/Zenith computer?
Do you know how to use
0275 ... an oscilliscope?
0276 ... a voltmeter?
0277 ... a frequency counter?
0278 ... a logic probe?
0279 ... a wirewrap tool?
0280 ... a soldering iron?
0281 ... a logic analyzer?
0282 Have you ever designed an LSI chip?
0283 ... has it been fabricated?
0284 Have you ever etched a printed circuit board?
* Historical
0285 Have you ever toggled in boot code on the front panel?
0286 ... from memory?
0287 Can you program an Eniac?
0288 Ever seen a 90 column card?
* IBM
0289 Do you recite IBM part numbers in your sleep?
0290 Do you know what IBM part number 7320154 is?
0291 Do you understand 3270 data streams?
0292 Do you know what the VM privilege classes are?
0293 Have you IPLed an IBM off the tape drive?
0294 ... off a card reader?
0295 Can you sing something from the IBM Songbook?
* Languages
0296 Do you know more than 4 programming languages?
0297 ... 8 languages?
0298 ... 16 languages?
0299 ... 32 languages?
0300 Have you ever designed a programming language?
0301 Do you know what Basic stands for?
0302 ... Pascal?
0303 Can you program in Basic?
0304 ... Do you admit it?
0305 Can you program in Cobol?
0306 ... Do you deny it?
0307 Do you know Pascal?
0308 ... Modula-2?
0309 ... Oberon?
0310 ... More than two Wirth languages?
0311 ... Can you recite a Nicklaus Wirth joke?
0312 Do you know Algol-60?
0313 ... Algol-W?
0314 ... Algol-68?
0315 ... Do you understand the Algol-68 report?
0316 ... Do you like two-level grammars?
0317 Can you program in assembler on 2 different machines?
0318 ... on 4 different machines?
0319 ... on 8 different machines?
Do you know
0320 ... APL?
0321 ... Ada?
0322 ... BCPL?
0323 ... C++?
0324 ... C?
0325 ... Comal?
0326 ... Eiffel?
0327 ... Forth?
0328 ... Fortran?
0329 ... Hypertalk?
0330 ... Icon?
0331 ... Lisp?
0332 ... Logo?
0333 ... MIIS?
0334 ... MUMPS?
0335 ... PL/I?
0336 ... Pilot?
0337 ... Plato?
0338 ... Prolog?
0339 ... RPG?
0340 ... Rexx (or ARexx)?
0341 ... SETL?
0342 ... Smalltalk?
0343 ... Snobol?
0344 ... VHDL?
0345 ... any assembly language?
0346 Can you talk VT-100?
0347 ... Postscript?
0348 ... SMTP?
0349 ... UUCP?
0350 ... English?
* Micros
0351 Ever copy a copy-protected disk?
0352 Ever create a copy-protection scheme?
0353 Have you ever made a "flippy" disk?
0354 Have you ever recovered data from a damaged disk?
0355 Ever boot a naked floppy?
* Networking
0356 Have you ever been logged in to two different timezones at once?
0357 Have you memorized the UUCP map for your country?
0358 ... For any country?
0359 Have you ever found a sendmail bug?
0360 ... Was it a security hole?
0361 Have you memorized the HOSTS.TXT table?
0362 ... Are you up to date?
0363 Can you name all the top-level nameservers and their addresses?
0364 Do you know RFC-822 by heart?
0365 ... Can you recite all the errors in it?
0366 Have you written a Sendmail configuration file?
0367 ... Does it work?
0368 ... Do you mumble "defocus" in your sleep?
0369 Do you know the max packet lifetime?
* Operating systems
Can you use
0370 ... BSD Unix?
0371 ... non-BSD Unix?
0372 ... AIX
0373 ... VM/CMS?
0374 ... VMS?
0375 ... MVS?
0376 ... VSE?
0377 ... RSTS/E?
0378 ... CP/M?
0379 ... COS?
0380 ... NOS?
0381 ... CP-67?
0382 ... RT-11?
0383 ... MS-DOS?
0384 ... Finder?
0385 ... PRODOS?
0386 ... more than one OS for the TRS-80?
0387 ... Tops-10?
0388 ... Tops-20?
0389 ... OS-9?
0390 ... OS/2?
0391 ... AOS/VS?
0392 ... Multics?
0393 ... ITS?
0394 ... Vulcan?
0395 Have you ever paged or swapped off a tape drive?
0396 ... Off a card reader/punch?
0397 ... Off a teletype?
0398 ... Off a networked (non-local) disk?
0399 Have you ever found an operating system bug?
0400 ... Did you exploit it?
0401 ... Did you report it?
0402 ... Was your report ignored?
0403 Have you ever crashed a machine?
0404 ... Intentionally?
* People
0405 Do you know any people?
0406 ... more than one?
0407 ... more than two?
* Personal
0408 Are your shoelaces untied?
0409 Do you interface well with strangers?
0410 Are you able to recite phone numbers for half-a-dozen computer systems
but unable to recite your own?
0411 Do you log in before breakfast?
0412 Do you consume more than LD-50 caffeine a day?
0413 Do you answer either-or questions with "yes"?
0414 Do you own an up-to-date copy of any operating system manual?
0415 ... *every* operating system manual?
0416 Do other people have difficulty using your customized environment?
0417 Do you dream in any programming languages?
0418 Do you have difficulty focusing on three-dimensional objects?
0419 Do you ignore mice?
0420 Do you despise the CAPS LOCK key?
0421 Do you believe menus belong in restaurants?
0422 Do you have a Mandelbrot hanging on your wall?
0423 Have you ever decorated with magnetic tape or punched cards?
0424 Do you have a disk platter or a naked floppy hanging in your home?
0425 Have you ever seen the dawn?
0426 ... Twice in a row?
0427 Do you use "foobar" in daily conversation?
0428 ... "bletch"?
0429 Do you use the "P convention"?
0430 Do you automatically respond to any user question with RTFM?
0431 ... Do you know what it means?
0432 Do you think garbage collection means memory management?
0433 Do you have problems allocating horizontal space in your room/office?
0434 Do you read Scientific American in bars to pick up women?
0435 Is your license plate computer-related?
0436 Have you ever taken the Purity test?
0437 Ever have an out-of-CPU experience?
0438 Have you ever set up a blind date over the computer?
0439 Do you talk to the person next to you via computer?
* Programming
0440 Can you write a Fortran compiler?
0441 ... In TECO?
0442 Can you read a machine dump?
0443 Can you disassemble code in your head?
Have you ever written
0444 ... a compiler?
0445 ... an operating system?
0446 ... a device driver?
0447 ... a text processor?
0448 ... a display hack?
0449 ... a database system?
0450 ... an expert system?
0451 ... an edge detector?
0452 ... a real-time control system?
0453 ... an accounting package?
0454 ... a virus?
0455 ... a prophylactic?
0456 Have you ever written a biorhythm program?
0457 ... Did you sell the output?
0458 ... Was the output arbitrarily invented?
0459 Have you ever computed pi to more than a thousand decimal places?
0460 ... the number e?
0461 Ever find a prime number of more than a hundred digits?
0462 Have you ever written self-modifying code?
0463 ... Are you proud of it?
0464 Did you ever write a program that ran correctly the first time?
0465 ... Was it longer than 20 lines?
0466 ... 100 lines?
0467 ... Was it in assembly language?
0468 ... Did it work the second time?
0469 Can you solve the Towers of Hanoi recursively?
0470 ... Non-recursively?
0471 ... Using the Troff text formatter?
0472 Ever submit an entry to the Obfuscated C code contest?
0473 ... Did it win?
0474 ... Did your entry inspire a new rule?
0475 Do you know Duff's device?
0476 Do you know Jensen's device?
0477 Ever spend ten minutes trying to find a single-character error?
0478 ... More than an hour?
0479 ... More than a day?
0480 ... More than a week?
0481 ... Did the first person you show it to find it immediately?
* Unix
0482 Can you use Berkeley Unix?
0483 .. Non-Berkeley Unix?
0484 Can you distinguish between sections 4 and 5 of the Unix manual?
0485 Can you find TERMIO in the System V release 2 documentation?
0486 Have you ever mounted a tape as a Unix file system?
0487 Have you ever built Minix?
0488 Can you answer "quiz function ed-command" correctly?
0489 ... How about "quiz ed-command function"?
* Usenet
0490 Do you read news?
0491 ... More than 32 newsgroups?
0492 ... More than 256 newsgroups?
0493 ... All the newsgroups?
0494 Have you ever posted an article?
0495 ... Do you post regularly?
0496 Have you ever posted a flame?
0497 ... Ever flame a cross-posting?
0498 ... Ever flame a flame?
0499 ... Do you flame regularly?
0500 Ever have your program posted to a source newsgroup?
0501 Ever forge a posting?
0502 Ever form a new newsgroup?
0503 ... Does it still exist?
0504 Do you remember
0505 ... mod.ber?
0506 ... the Stupid People's Court?
0507 ... Bandy-grams?
* Phreaking
0508 Have you ever built a black box?
0509 Can you name all of the 'colors' of boxes?
0510 ... and their associated functions?
0511 Does your touch tone phone have 16 DTMF buttons on it?
0512 Did the breakup of MaBell create more opportunities for you?
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
V.> Introducion to PBX's
pppp bbbbb x x
p p b b x x
p p b b xx
pppp bbbbb xx
p b b x x
p bbbbb x x
PBX - Public Branch eXchange
For all you new phreakers that are vocabularized real well that's the
formal definations......and for those that know what their doing it's
your best phriend.....
A PBX is no more than a phone line leading into a little box with about
10 lines coming out of it.....Most PBX's are located inside big businesses
such as doctor's office, banks, and other type of important places that
have large masses of people calling in....
You w
ill realize when you dial a PBX 'cause you will get a ring or a beep
then drop directly into a dial tone....DO NOT MISTAKE THIS FOR IT HANGING UP.
Most PBX'S are usually easy to scan for and use....The normal PBX's just
requires a 9 before you can outdial....But then you hit a wierd one that
requires you to enter anywhere from 4-6 code before allowing you access....
First of all the easiest way to scan for PBX's would be to set up a
scanner that will dial something like this 'atdt yyy-yyyy,,,9,xxx-xxxx' where
'yyy-yyyy' is the number you're scanning and 'xxx-xxxx' is a local nuber
that you ALWAYS recieve a carrier.....this way when you wake up just see
what you connected to and dial and check them out.....there is no other
way of scanning for PBX's unless you just sit there and listen to each number
that you dial out....
I hope this gives you new phreakers something to do next time you're
wondering where you're going to leech wareZ from.....Ok this covers what
you should need to know about PBX's......HAVE PHUN....
Typed by
tHe gH0st
^^^^^^^^^
at 1:00 in the damn morning!
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
VI.> Storytime: CyberPUNK
Load & Run High-tech Paganism-Digital Polytheism
By Timothy Leary and Eric Gullichsen
We place no reliance
On virgin or pigeon;
Our Method is Science,
Our Aim is Religion.
-- Aleister Crowley,
mot from the journal "Equinox"
People jacked in so they could hustle. Put the trodes on and
they were out there, all the data in the world stacked up like one
big neon city, so you could cruise around and have a grip on it,
visually anyway, because if you didn't, it was too complicated,
trying to find your way to a particular piece of data you needed.
Iconics, Gentry called that.
--William Gibson,
Mona Lisa Overdrive
Information is more basic
than matter and energy.
Atoms, electrons, quarks
consist of bits --
Binary units of
information
Like those processed in
computer software
And in the brain.
The behavior of these bits,
and thus of the universe,
Is governed by a single
programming rule.
--Edward Fredkin
A UNIVERSE OF BITS AND BYTES
Major historical accomplishments of the 20th century included
the personalization and popularization of Quantum Physics, an
acceptance of self-reference and circular causality in systems of
mathematics and psychology, and the resulting development of
cybernetic society.
This philosophic achievement, which has dominated the culture
of the 20th century, was based on a discovery by nuclear and
quantum physicists around 1900, that visible-tangible realities
are written in a digital assembly language we could accurately
call "basic."
It turns out that we inhabit a universe made up of a small
number of elements-particles-bits which cluster together in
geometrically-logical, temporary configurations.
The solid Newtonian Universe rested upon such immutable
General-Motors concepts as mass, force, momentum, and inertia,
cast into a Manichaean drama involving equal reactions of good vs.
evil, gravity vs. levity, entropy vs. evolution and coerced by
such pious Bank-of-England notions as conservation of energy. This
dependable, static, predictable, universe suddenly, in the minds
of Planck/Heisenberg became digitized, transformed into shimmering
quantum screens of electronic probabilities.
Up here in 1988, we are learning to experience what Nils
Bohr and Werner Heisenberg could only dream of. The universe,
according to their cyberdelic equations, is best described as a
digital information process with sub-programs and temporary ROM
states, megas called galaxies, maxis called stars, minis called
planets, micros called organisms, and nanos known as molecules,
atoms, particles. All of these programs are perpetually in states
of evolution, i.e., continually "running."
It seems to follow that the great intellectual challenge of
the 20th century was to make this universe "user friendly," to
prepare individual human beings to decode, digitize, store,
process & reflect the sub-programs which make up his/her own
personal realities.
NOBODY KNEW WHAT THESE GUYS WERE TALKING ABOUT
The chain of events that elevated us to this new genetic
status, HOMO SAPIENS CYBERNETICUS, began around the turn of the
century.
Physicists, we recall, are traditionally assigned the task of
sorting out the nature of reality. So it was the quantum
philosophers who figured out that units of energy/matter were sub-
atomic bits of programmed information that zoom around in clouds
of ever-changing, if/then, start/stop, off/on, 0/1, yin/yang
probabilities in clusters of pixels, up-and-down recurring
stairways of paradox.
When they started out, no one understood what these guys were
talking about. They expressed their unsettling theories in complex
equations written on blackboards with chalk. Believe it or not,
these great physicists thought and communicated with a neolithic
took -- chalk-marks on the wall of the cave. The irony was this:
Einstein and his brilliant colleagues could not experience or
operate of communicate at a quantum-electronic level.
Imagine if Max Planck pottering around in his mathematical
chalk-board had access to a video-arcade game! He'd see right away
that the blips on Centipede and the zaps of Space Invaders could
represent the movement of the very particles that he tried to
describe in the dusty symbols of his blackboard.
A WILD AND SCARY HALLUCINOGENIQUE
Now let us reflect on the head-bursting adjustment required
here. The relativistic universe described by Einstein and the
nuclear physicists IS alien and terrifying. Quantum physics is
quite literally a wild, confusing psyberdelic trip. It postulates
an Alice-in-Wonderland, Sartrean universe in which everything is
changing. As Heisenberg implied: nothing is certain except
uncertainty. Matter is energy. Energy and matter are temporary
states of info-bits, frozen at various forms of acceleration.
This digital universe is not user-friendly when approached
with a Newtonian mind. We are just now beginning to write a manual
of operations for the brain and the universe, both of which, it
turns out, are digital galaxies with amazing similarities.
People living in the solid, mechanical world of 1901 simply
could not understand or experience a quantum universe. Dear sweet
old Einstein, who couldn't accept his own unsettling equations,
was denounced as evil and immoral by Catholic bishops and sober
theologians who sensed how unsettling and revolutionary these new
ideas could be. Ethical relativity is still the mortal sin of
religious fundamentalists.
THE CYBERPUNK AS MODERN ALCHEMIST
The baby boom generation has grown up in an electronic world
of TV and personal computing screens. The cyberpunks offer
metaphors, rituals, life styles for dealing with the universe of
information. More and more of us are becoming electro-shamans,
modern alchemists.
Alchemists of the Middle Ages described the construction of
magical appliances for viewing future events, or speaking to
friends distant or dead. Writings of Paracelsus describe a mirror
of ELECTRUM MAGICUM with telegenic properties, and crystal scrying
was in its heyday.
Today, digital alchemists have at their command tools of a
precision and power unimagined by their predecessors. Computer
screens ARE magical mirrors, presenting alternate realities at
varying degrees of abstraction on command (invocation). Aleister
Crowley defined magick as "the art and science of causing change
to occur in conformity with our will," and to this end the
computer is the universal level of Archimedes.
The parallels between the culture of the alchemists and that
of cyberpunk computer adepts are inescapable. Both employ
knowledge of an occult arcanum unknown to the population at large,
with secret symbols and words of power. The "secret symbols"
comprise the languages of computers and mathematics, and the
"words of power" instruct computer operating systems to complete
Herculean tasks. Knowing the precise code name of a digital
program permits it to be conjured into existence, transcending the
labor of muscular or mechanical search or manufacture.
Rites of initiation or apprenticeship are common to both.
"Psychic feats" of telepathy and action-at-a-distance are achieved
by selection of the menu option.
CLASSICAL MAGICKAL CORRESPONDENCES
Alchemists of the Middle Ages believed quite correctly that
their cosmos was composed of four elements: earth, air, fire and
water. Although today our periodic table sports more than 100
chemical elements, the four universal elements still can be
identified as the constituents of some processes in the external
reality, and within the inner psychological world of humankind.
Each of the four elements is an archetype and a metaphor, a
convenient and appropriate name for a universally identified
quality. The four are echoed in the organization of both the four
suits and the four "court cards" of each suit of the Tarot,
inherited from the Egyptians and its symbolism preserved in
ordinary Western playing cards. The four also correspond to the
four principal tools of the classical practitioner of ceremonial
magick.
The wand of the magician represents the phallic male creative
force, fire. The cup stands for the female receptive force, and,
obviously enough, is associated with water. the sword is the
incisive intellect, moving and severing the air, the abstraction
in which it moves. Finally, the pantacle (disk) is the grounding
in earth (magnetic material), the stored algorithms. (We use
Crowley's spelling of pentacle, which communicates the sense of
"all and everything," advisedly.)
These classical instruments of magick exist in modern cyber
technology: The mouse or pen of the digitizing tablet is the wand,
controlling the fire of the CRT display and harnessing the
creative force of the programmer. It is used in all invocations
and ritual as a tool of command. Spinning disk drives are the
pantacles, inscribed with complex symbols, earthen tablets to
receive the input of "air," the crackling dynamic ethereal
intellectual electricity of the processor chip circuitry
programming results. The RAM chips are, literally, the buffers
("buffer pools"), the water, the passive element capable of only
receiving impressions and re-transmitting, reflecting.
Iconic visual programming languages are a Tarot, the
pictorial summation of all possibilities, activated for the
purpose of divination by juxtaposition and mutual influence. A
periodic table of possibilities, the Western form of the Eastern
I Ching. Traditional word-oriented programming languages, FORTRAN,
COBOL, and the rest, are a degenerate form of these universal
systems, grimoires of profit-oriented corporations.
Detailed database logs of the activity of operating systems
from the Akashic records on a microscale. At a macroscopic level,
this is the "world net" knowledge base, the "knoesphere," the
world-wide online hypertext network of information soon to be
realized by the storage capacity of CD ROM and the data
transmission capability of optical fiber. William Gibson's
cyberspace matrix.
Banishing rituals debug programs, and friendly djinn are
invoked for compiling, searching, and other mundane tasks. When
the magic circle is broken (segmentation violation), the system
collapses. Personal transmutation (the ecstasy of the "ultimate
hack") is a veiled goal of both systems. The satori of harmonious
human-computer communication resulting from the infinite regress
into meta-levels of reflection of self is the reward for
immaculate conceptualization and execution of ideas.
The universality of 0 and 1 throughout magic and religion:
yin and yang, yoni and lingam, cup and wand, are manifested today
in digital signals, the two bits underlying the implementation of
all digital programs in the world, in our brains and in our
operating systems. Stretching it a bit, even the monad, symbol of
change and the Tao, visually resembles a superimposed 0 and 1 when
its curving central line is stretched through the action of
centrifugal force from the ever-increasing speed of the monad's
rotation.
CYBER RELIGION OF THE BABY BOOMERS
By the year 2000, Aleister Crowley, William Gibson, and
Edward Fredkin could well replace Benjamin Spock as a Baby Boom
navigator. Why? Because, by then the concerns of the baby boom
generation will be digital. (Or, to use the old paradigms,
philosophic-spiritual.)
During their childhood they were Mouseketeers. In their teens
the Cybers went on an adolescent spiritual binge unequalled since
the Children's Crusade. In their revolt against the factory
culture they re-invented and updated their tribal-pagan roots and
experimented with Hinduism, Haight-Ashbury Buddhism, American
Indianism, Magic, Witchcraft, Ann Arbor Voo Doo, Esalen Yoga,
Computerized I Ching Taoism, 3-D Reincarnation, Fluid Druidism.
St. Stephen Jobs to the Ashram!
Born-again Paganism! Pan-Dionysius on audio-visual cassettes.
Mick Jagger had them sympathizing with the devil. The Beatles had
them floating upstream on the Ganges. Jimi Hendrix taught them how
to be a voodoo child. Is there one pre-Christian or third world
metaphor for divinity that some rock group has not yet celebrated
on an album cover?
ONTOLOGY RECAPITULATES THEOLOGY
The Boomers in the evolving life-cycle seem to have
recapitulated the theological history of our species. Just as
monotheism emerged to unify pagan tribes into nations, so did the
Boomers re-discover fundamentalist Judaism and Christianity in
their young adulthood.
Even far-away Islam attracted gourmet Blacks and ex-hippies
such as Cat Stevens. Bob Dylan nicely exemplifies the consumer
approach to religion. For 25 years Bob (ne Zimmerman) has
continued to browse through the spiritual boutiques dabbing on a
dash of Baptist "born-again," nibbling at Hassidism before
returning to his ole-time faith of sardonic reformed humanism.
We can laugh at this trendy shopping around for the custom-
tailored designer god, but behind the faddism we find a powerful
clue.
Notice how Dylan, for example, preserves his options and
tries to avoid shoddy of off-the-rack soul-ware. No "plastic
christs that glow in the dark" for Bob! The religion here is
Evolutionism, based on the classic humanist, transcendental
assumptions:
1. God is not a tribal father nor a feudal lord nor an engineer-
manager of the universe. There is no god (in the singular)
except you at the moment. There are as many gods (in the
plural) as can be imagined. Call them whatever you like.
They are free agents like you and me.
2. You can change and mutate and keep improving. The idea is to
keep "trading up" to a "better" philosophy-theology.
3. The aim of your life, following Buddha, Krishna, Gurdjieff,
Werner Erhart, Shirley, is this:
Take care of your self so you can take care of others. If
any.
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM YOUR FRIENDS
This generation, we recall, had been disillusioned by the
religions, politics, & economics of their parents. Growing up with
the threat of nuclear war, the assassination of beloved leaders,
immune deficiencies, a collapsing industrial system, an impossible
national debt, religious fundamentalisms (Christian-Jewish-
Islamic) that fanatically scream hatred and intolerance, and
uncomprehending neglect of the ecology, they have developed a
healthy skepticism about collective solutions.
They can't retreat back home because Mom and Dad are
divorced.
No wonder they have created a psychology of individual
navigation. Singularity. The basic idea is self-responsibility.
You just can't depend on anyone else to solve your problems. You
gotta do it all by yourself -- With a little help from your
friends.
A DO-IT-YOURSELF RELIGION
Since God #1 appears to be held hostage back there by the
blood-thirsty Persian Ayatollah, by the telegenic Polish Pope and
the Moral Majority, there's only one logical alternative. You
"steer" your own course. You start your own religion. The Temple
is your body. Your mind writes the theology. And the Holy Spirit
emanates from that infinitely mysterious intersection between your
brain and your DNA.
The attainment of even the suburbs of Paradise involves good
navigation and planning on your part. Hell is a series of
redeemable errors. A detour caused by failure to check the trip-
maps. A losing streak. Many people are carefully conditioned from
birth to live in hell. As children, they are largely ignored until
something happens to cause them pain or injury. Then, mommy and
daddy quickly lavish aid, attention, succor, positive
reinforcement. When "all grown up," and in the world alone to make
choices, what kind of choices are going to result from those many
years of conditioning? It's no wonder so many people seem to live
in hell, to live pained lives of mishaps and broken dreams. Of
course, by realizing this we can begin to decondition ourselves
towards healthy hedonism. Reward yourself for making choices that
lead to pleasure, and build a cybernetic cycle of positive
feedback. Only from the state of free selfhood can any truly
compassionate signals be sent to others.
THE ADMINISTRATION OF A PERSONAL STATE
The management and piloting of a Singularity leads to a very
busy career. Since the Crowley-Gibson-Fredkin Individual has
established herself as a religion, a country, a corporation, an
information network, and a neurological universe, it is necessary
to maintain personal equivalents for all the departments and
operations of the bureaucracies that perform these duties.
This apparently means forming private alliances, formulating
personal political platforms, conducting your own domestic and
foreign relations, establishing trade policies, defense and
security programs, educational and recreational events. On the
upside, one is free from dependence upon bureaucracies, an
inestimable boon. (Free agents can, of course, make temporary
deals with organizations and officials thereof.)
And if countries have histories and myths, why shouldn't you?
THE PERSONAL MYTHOLOGY
So you search and research your very own genetic memory
banks, the Old Testaments of your DNA-RNA, including, if you like,
past incarnations and Jungian archetypes. And funky pre-
incarnations in any future you can imagine!
You write your very own Newest Testament, recalling that
voluntary martyrdom is tacky and crucifixions, like nuclear war,
can ruin your day.
You can do anything the great religions, empires and racial
groups have done in the name of their God #1. and you're certain
to do it better because... well, look at their track records.
There's no way your Personal State could produce the persecutions,
massacres and bigotries of the Big Guys.
Why? Because there's only one of you, and even with the help
of your friends the amount of damage an individual can do is
insignificant compared with the evil-potential of a collective.
Besides, you're a child of the 60s. You're imprinted to want
a peaceful, tolerant, funny world. You can choose your gods to be
smart, funny, compassionate, cute and goofy.
IRREVERENCE IS A PASSWORD FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
It has been suggested that the philosophic assignment of the
Roaring 20th Century was to prepare the human species for the
shifting realities of Quantum Physics and Singular Steering.
Relativity means that everyone "sees" or reacts to things
differently, depending upon location, velocity and attitude (angle
of approach).
The relativistic insight is in essence irreverent or
humorous, i.e., laughable, comical, delightful. With the law of
gravity repealed, levity is the order of the day. We rise through
our levity, instead of being held down by our gravity.
The word "humor" comes from the Latin word for liquid or
fluid, referring to such qualities as flowing, pliable, smooth,
effortless, easily changed, non-frictional, transparent, shining,
musical, graceful in motion and readily converted into cash.
THE LAST GENERATION IN FLESH?
Through science and technology we will meet the aliens, and
they will be us.
-- Norman Spinrad, "The Neuromantics"
Information-beings of the future may well be fluid. Human
society has now reached a turning point in the operation of the
digital programs of evolution, a point at which the next
evolutionary steps of the species become apparent to us, to surf
as we will. Or, more correctly, as the evolutionary programs run
and run, the next stages pop up in parallel, resulting in
continuing explosions of unexpected diversity. Our concepts of
what is known as "human" continually change. For example, we are
no longer as dependent on physical fitness for survival. Our
quantum appliances and improved mechanical devices can generally
provide the requisite means or defenses. In the near future, the
methods of information technology, molecular engineering,
biotechnology, nanotechnology (atom stacking) and quantum-digital
programming could make the human form a matter totally determined
by individual whim, style and seasonal choice.
Humans already come in some variety of races and sizes. In
comparison to what "human" might mean within the next century, we
humans are at present as indistinguishable from one another as are
hydrogen molecules. Along with the irrational taboo about death,
the sanctity of our body image seems to be one of the most
persistent anachronisms of Industrial Age thought.
We see evolutions of the human form in the future; one more
biological-like: a bio/computer hybrid of any desired form -- and
one not biological at all: an "electronic entity" in the digital
info-universe.
Human-AS-programs, and human-IN-programs.
Of these two post-humanist views, human-as-programs is more
easily conceived. Today, we have crude prosthetic implants,
artificial limbs, valves, and entire organs. The continuing
improvements in the old-style mechanical technology slowly
increase the thoroughness of brain/external-world integration. A
profound change can come with the developments of biotechnology,
genetic engineering, and the slightly more remote success of
nanotechnology.
The electronic form of human-in-programs is more alien to our
current conceptions of humanity. Through storage of one's belief
systems as data structures online, driven by desired programs
one's neuronal apparatus should operate in silicon basically as it
dead on the meatware of the brain, though faster, more accurately,
more self-mutably, and, if desired, immortally.
Clever cyberpunks will of course not only store themselves
electronically, but do so in the form of a "computer virus,"
capable of traversing computer networks and of self-replicating as
a guard against accidental or malicious erasure by others, or
other programs. (Imagine the somewhat droll scenario: "What's on
this CD?" "Ah, that's just that boring adolescent Leary. Let's go
ahead and reformat it.")
One speculation is that such viral human forms might ALREADY
inhabit our computer systems. Cleverly designed, they would be
very difficult, if not theoretically impossible to detect.
Current programs do not permit matching the real-time
operation speed and parallel complexity of conventional brains.
But time scale of operation is subjective and irrelevant, except
for the purposes of interface.
Of course, there is no reason one needs to restrict one's
manifestation to a particular form. One will basically (within
ever-loosening physical constraints, though perhaps inescapable
economic constraints) be able to assume any desired form.
Authors of current science fiction of the cyberpunk or
"neuromantic" school have approached this idea from many angles.
Bruce Sterling's novel SCHISMATRIX recognizes the fact that human
evolution moves in clades, radiating omnidirectionally, not moving
in a line along a single path. His "Mechs" and "Shapers"
correspond closely with our notions of electronic and biogenetic
paths to evolutionary diversity.
Given the ease of copying computer-stored information, it
should be possible to exist simultaneously in many forms. Where
the "I's" are in this situation is a matter for digital
philosophers. Our belief is that consciousness would persist in
each form, running independently, cloned at each branch point.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
VII.> Appendix
Boards in The Alliance Productions:
The Villa Straylight The Lair of the Wolverine Back in Time BBS
(407) 297 1180 (407) XXX-XXXX (407) XXX-XXXX
Home of Alliance Dist Site #1 Dist Site #2
WWIVnet @4703 WWIVnet @4701 PC Relay
Along with anonymous [ZAN] boards....leave message to us for application
for a [ZAN] board.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
(c) CopyMYright The Alliance Production Publications
(c) CopyTHEIRright Zhit Axis Nation
Thank you for your time!
Have Phun!
(how old is that?)
