Bernard Mckeever <bmk@mvuxi.att.com> (12/28/89)
A tip of the hat to the person that mentioned "HI-RISE" Joe. Joe is a very real person who attained urban legend status. I worked with Joe for several years and can assure everyone that the stories told about him are true. Yes he did call the Kremlin and he also worked for the phone company for a few years. Ma Bell wanted to put him in jail but one of the local companies hired him anyway. Joe performed a valuable service by using his uncanny ability to hear his way through the network and "find" trouble spots and routing errors. Let me share a few quick first hand stories about Joe. Joe would call the 904 Data Test Center late at night and ask to hear the tones used to test modems. In no time at all he could ID any modem and could tell if it was within working limits. Joe paid for and hosted his own radio talk show. One night I challenged Joe to a test. I would sent 1, 2, or 3 frequencies over the line and he was to tell me what they were. Without error he could correctly ID any and all combinations within a few Hz every time. Joe collected door bell sounds. When you talked to him on the phone he would ask you to ring your door bell. From that time on he could tell who was calling by the sound of the door bell without the calling party saying a word. Sadly Joe left the company after a few years. As I remember it was one of the most unselfish motives for leaving I have ever heard of. He left so that a friend of his with greater needs could take his job. I have not included Joe's last name or the company he worked for in the hopes that his legend is spread from town to town and that his true love for his fellow man and the network spreads with it. I've left much unsaid so that others can share "HIGH-RISE" stories with us if they want to. Seasons greatings to all and best wishes for the new year! Bernie McKeever 508-960-6289 [Moderator's Note: Stories like yours are legion. Maybe some other readers will share a few. To close out 1989 (and the decade, if you think of it that way!) a special edition of the Digest will be issued over the weekend made up of downloads from two readers who got through to the BBS in Estonia. One from Moscow, the other from Colorado City, CO, USA have sent along their sessions. Watch for it probably Saturday or Sunday. PT]
sfmtmoscow@cdp.uucp (12/30/89)
I think I know this sound/recognizer. Probably he was in Moscow, May, 1988. Maybe it's my mistake, but I know one from the States who was at jail, because he open any system using special sound generator. Bye, andrei
John Higdon <john@zygot.ati.com> (12/31/89)
In article <2489@accuvax.nwu.edu> sfmtmoscow@cdp.uucp writes: >X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 9, Issue 601, message 6 of 7 >I think I know this sound/recognizer. Probably he was in Moscow, May, >1988. Maybe it's my mistake, but I know one from the States who was at >jail, because he open any system using special sound generator. Are we talking about the infamous Capt. Crunch here? I believe he currently resides here in Alameda but last year there was a whole lot of stuff on comp.misc about his trip to Moscow for a "hackers" convention or some such. "special sound generator" == "blue box"? John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
tad@ssc.UUCP (Tad Cook) (01/03/90)
Regarding John Higdon's remarks about Cap'n Crunch, I ran across him on USENET last year! His name is John Draper, and I actually exchanged mail with him for awhile. Unfortunately, I don't have his network address any longer. Tad Cook tad@ssc.UUCP