And keep listening to your community radio station, WBAI 99.5 FM.
Everyone needs a few laughs.
That's why WBAI gets us together once a month at the Gotham Comedy Club, 34 West 22nd Street.
Hey, stop what you've done.
Our next gathering is Sunday, February 8th at 6 p.m.
And some of the comedic rabble rousers will include Julie Halston, Randy Credico, and Steve Kimbrough.
It's all to benefit WBAI and your funny bone.
For reservations, call us at 575-0263.
It's $20 a person and it supports listener-sponsored WBAI.
After you've read the Sunday papers, you'll need a laugh.
Then phone us at area code 212-575-0263.
If you shake it that way, my amp's about to blow a fuse.
And it's just about 8 o'clock.
We're listening to radio station WUSB.
No, not WUSB.
What station is this?
I said the wrong station.
I can't believe I did this.
WBAI.
You know why I said the wrong station?
It's because it's been so long since I've been here.
Might as well be on who knows what station.
But this is WBAI in New York.
Okay, what's the name of the program now?
Oh, let's just play this music and hopefully it'll come back to me.
Oh, the machine's not working.
Okay, now I know where I am.
Now I know I'm in BAI when the machines don't work.
Hang on, I've got to move things around.
Ah, yes.
It's off the hook.
The telephone keeps ringing
So I ripped it off the wall
I cut myself while shaving
Now I can't make a call
It couldn't be yet much worse
But if they could, they would
Bumbin' LeBomb
But I best expect the worst
I hope that's understood
Bumbin' LeBomb
Bumbin' LeBomb
Okay, thanks
T
Damned
You
Don't
Bye
You
Don't
Thank you.
It's funny. It really is funny.
I mean, they're not even talking about pirated software.
You know what this has gotten to now?
Used software.
You can buy a computer and you can sell your computer,
but you cannot sell the software on it
because they have to go out and buy that all over again.
You know, it's like, imagine if you couldn't sell your computer.
They want us to treat software the same way that we treat hardware,
but they want to make more money off software
because they want to not be able to sell that twice.
It's pure greed, and this proves it more than anything.
Illegal used software.
Oh, boy.
You know, that's why I never buy software anymore
because, you know, you go into CompUSA
and they have these signs up saying that, you know,
you cannot buy software and return it
unless you want the same software.
What's the point of returning it then?
Have you ever used something that doesn't quite work right,
that's not for you,
that just isn't exactly what you thought it was?
Well, if you ever make that mistake with software,
you're out of luck.
Anything else,
anything else that had that kind of guarantee on it
would not sell very much.
So it's kind of a crazy, ridiculous way of doing things.
All right.
So let's continue with various other news items.
MCI.
Here's a reader, a bit of mail.
I received an interesting call today around 4.30 p.m.
Someone called and claimed to be from MCI.
Went on to say that my phone account's long distance
was being billed by two companies.
After some questions I asked,
he said my account was under the name of a business
I had run from this phone number.
I was surprised because the real account
is not listed under a business name.
It's under a personal name.
I explained to him that I was not responsible for the line.
My parents are the ones who are billed.
And he read off our main line's number
and said that that phone account also had the same problem.
Afterwards, I star-6-9'd him without luck.
Then I called AT&T, my real long distance carrier.
U.S. West is the local carrier.
They all had the correct billing info.
Never heard of the business name
that the earlier so-called MCI rep had told me
and said that there was no way
to have two long distance companies at one time.
My only guesses are that MCI is trying to get me to switch
or someone was trying to social engineer me.
What do you think?
Have you heard of this before?
Well, no.
We've never heard of this one before,
but it's possible somebody was social engineering you.
What's more likely is that MCI just had a little trouble
with their database
and forgot to delete certain people
and maybe crossed some names, crossed some numbers,
and they basically screwed up
and were trying to get you to help them fix their system
by just signing up with them
so they could just claim all these customers
and be done with it.
So you did the right thing.
Too bad you couldn't star-6-9
and find out who they really were.
But there's nothing to really worry about all that much.
Okay, we got other letters from people.
This person wants to make a $100 pledge to BAI.
Well, you know, I'm sorry.
They're in Minneapolis,
but we weren't on during the pledge drive,
so you can't make a pledge now anyway.
You can only make a pledge during the pledge drive.
And since we weren't on during the pledge drive,
you can't make a pledge during our show.
It's a hard concept to grasp, I know,
but unfortunately that's just the way it is.
So we had people from Denmark.
Danish hacker wanted to make a pledge.
And this person in Colorado swarms others.
Maybe next time.
Just so much mail here.
Okay, here's a good one.
This person actually got kicked out of his school
for writing an article on hacking.
It's pretty amazing.
And if the page hadn't separated,
I think I would be able to read more about this.
Okay, it is here somewhere, and we will find it.
While we're looking for that,
how about some other...
Okay, to clear up something which happened
just as we were leaving last time,
there was a rumor going around
that the FCC was going to impose
some additional fees on Internet service providers
and charge per minute access to the Internet.
And again, we said last time
that that was not the case.
And of course, all the rumors started
after we went off the air
saying that it was the case
and there was no way to disprove it
while we weren't here.
In fact, this time there was even an email address
to mail to the FCC.
However, if you went to the FCC webpage,
you would see that they themselves
wanted people to stop doing this.
And they put up a little notice
saying that it was, in fact, a fake thing,
a fake notice.
So there is no such threat at this point in time.
There may be some time in the future,
but there is not now.
So just forget about that.
Okay, we found the article here.
The end of senior year for most high school students
is a time for college decisions,
vacation planning,
and beer-tinged teenage revelry,
reading this from the Netly News.
Not so for Justin Bausher,
or Boucher, however you pronounce it.
He's from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
And he will be expelled from Greenfield High School
because of an article he wrote
entitled,
So You Want to Be a Hacker.
Published under a pseudonym
in an unofficial student newspaper.
Unofficial student newspaper.
There you go.
That's the real problem.
It wasn't an official...
I mean, it's like the Soviet Union here,
where some of these schools are being run.
Um, he wrote this thing
in an unofficial high school newspaper
described in colorful
and sometimes profane language.
Whoa-ho!
How enterprising snoops
could break into, uh,
the high school's computer network.
The advice ranged
from, uh, the glaringly obvious,
some commonly used passwords
at very stupid schools,
r...
to the hacker code of ethics,
never harm, alter,
or damage any computers.
The finer points of hacker morality
and teenage tomfruilery, however,
were lost on irate school officials
who expelled Boucher,
Boucher, whatever,
for one year.
And if you want to see the article...
Actually, I'd like someone
to do this right now
because we don't have net access
right here in the studio.
Uh, go to
http colon slash slash
cgi.pathfinder.com
slash netly
slash editorial
slash 019821.html.
I'm not going to repeat that
because it just sounds silly.
And, uh,
if you're really into it
and you got it the first time
and you're checking in
and you'll call us
and tell us
if the article
is really worth
getting expelled over.
Then there was the case
of Timothy R. McVeigh.
Yes, the one that
did not bomb buildings,
the one that was in the Navy
and was alleged to be gay.
Interesting, huh?
The America Online
supposedly gave out
this information
to an undercover
Navy investigator
who apparently never heard of
Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
He wanted them to tell
and he was asking
and they told him.
They told him everything
that there was to know
about this person
that, uh,
he was in fact connected
to a webpage
that had the word gay in it.
So they kicked him
out of the Navy.
But,
according to a judge
in a 13-page order,
McVeigh can now
stay in the Navy.
Judge Stanley Sporkin
said the government
had no business
kicking him out
because of his profile
on America Online
which listed his marital status
as gay.
When the Navy
affirmatively took steps
to confirm the identity
of the email respondent,
it violated the very essence
of Don't Ask, Don't Pursue
by launching a
search and destroy mission,
he wrote.
Sporkin's preliminary injunction
bars the Navy
from discharging McVeigh
at least until
the trial concludes.
However,
this lawsuit
is only against the Navy,
not against AOL.
I'm sure, uh,
he has quite a case
against AOL
if he decides
to, uh,
to take one.
words on ADSL.
ADSL is, uh,
coming to the area,
although it may not
be coming as soon
as we want it to.
Bell Atlantic has said
it's joining the nation's
other baby bells
and several computer
industry giants
to make low-cost,
super-high-speed
internet connections
available over home
phone lines
by year's end.
A, uh,
widespread introduction
of digital subscriber lines
or DSL,
that's what they like
to call it,
DSL,
would pose a major
challenge to cable
companies planning
to offer internet
access via powerful
cable modems
at about the same cost,
$40 to $60 per month,
and DSL offers
the promise
of full-time
internet connections
with simultaneous
voice telephone service
over the same phone line,
which is impossible
with standard
computer modems.
However,
it is possible
with ISDN,
if you want to
consider that standard.
Customers like it
very well.
Does that sound right?
According to
Bell Atlantic spokesman
Lawrence Plum,
I don't think
that sounds right.
Customers like it
very well.
Very much.
Lawrence Plum,
I don't know,
I think you could use
some language instruction
there.
Customers like it
very well.
Hopefully the service
provides a little better
than the language skills.
He said the company
has been testing the
service in 300 homes
in northern Virginia
since September 1996.
And until quite recently,
like the end of January,
Bell Atlantic had been
riding the fence
on the decision
to join four other
regional phone companies
and GTE
in a consortium
with Compaq Computer Corp,
Intel,
and Microsoft
that plans to announce
standards for DSL
during the ComNet trade show,
which I believe
already took place.
Bell Atlantic issued
a statement saying
it agreed with the
consortium objectives
and was finalizing plans
to join before the announcement.
Using new digital
and data compression
technologies,
DSL could deliver services
such as spam,
the World Wide Web,
I added that,
email, teleconferencing,
music and videos
30 to 50 times faster
than existing telephone modems,
comparable to the speeds
of cable modems
and the commercial
internet connections
called T1 lines
that cost hundreds
of dollars per month.
While the modems
should hit store shelves
with price tags
of around 200 bucks
by the end of the year,
analysts said
it could take
considerably longer
for the phone companies
to equip their central offices
with the technology
needed to make
the speedy connections.
Representatives
of Compaq,
Intel,
and Microsoft
declined to give details
of their planned announcement,
but analysts
and other industry sources
said the companies
will introduce
a set of DSL standards
meant to allow
computer manufacturers
to install
the new high-speed
DSL modems
in desktop
and notebook computers
as they do
today's slower modems.
So,
it's coming,
whether it'll be here
by the end of the year
or by summer
is, uh,
something we just
don't know yet.
It's definitely coming,
though,
definitely going to happen.
Uh,
this reader writes in
about cable modems.
I was listening to
a December 30th show
on Real Audio
and heard about
the person in Maine
with a cable modem
from Time Warner.
I also have cable modem
service from Time Warner
in Tampa, Florida,
and I have a few comments
about his message.
Specifically,
the speed of the service
is 500k a second,
half a meg per second,
inside the system,
but when connecting
to outside sites,
I've gotten, uh,
throughput approximately
50k a second
up to 200k a second.
That, for $40,
is amazing.
The software
is very clunky.
If you want to take
a look at it,
uh,
this person will be happy
to send it to us,
although I'm sure
the Japanese software people
would be angry about that.
Uh,
but you do not have
to use the software
to connect.
I noticed this
when I was logged in
and my computer crashed.
I rebooted the machine
and some of the software
I load on Startup Connected
before I had a chance
to run the login software.
I have then,
since,
shut down many times
in crashes
and, no,
I've never had to run
that software again.
Cable modems
are really coming around.
Time Warner
is trying to expand
their service
across as much
of the country
as possible
as they upgrade
their systems
with more fiber optics
and less coaxial cable.
The bandwidth
is supposed to be
pushed up to
27 megabits per second.
It's now limited to 10
because of the
modem PC connection.
Anyway, yes,
things are getting
faster, speedier,
more complex.
Well, none of this
is happening in my area,
that's for sure.
My cable company
will not give me
a cable modem
anytime soon.
They made that very clear.
Although, for the first time ever,
my Omnipoint phone
rang in my house.
And, for most people,
I guess that might not seem
all that amazing,
but I kind of like
live in Guam, you know,
and it's hard to get
reception of certain things.
Well, it rang yesterday.
It scared me.
Scared me speechless.
But I was able to talk.
I was able to pick up
the phone and say,
yes, who is this?
It's the wrong number.
My first call,
it was the wrong number,
and I had to pay for that.
So, yeah, I'm real happy.
And, finally,
and I guess we'll take
some phone calls now.
212-279-3400
if people around the world
want to call in.
Country code one,
for those of you
outside the United States.
There are now
five-cent-a-minute
phone calls,
day and night.
Talk is cheap
in New York and Chicago,
according to
the New York Times,
because those are
the two cities
where consumers can make
long-distance telephone calls
to anywhere in the United States
for five cents a minute
using calling cards
released yesterday
by IDT.
That's right.
The MCI Communications Corporation
and the Sprint Corporation
offer a five-cent rate
at some times,
like five minutes a day
or something.
IDT's rate, though,
is one-third
out of the AT&T Corporation's
common flat rate plan,
and it's valid
at all times.
IDT is a small company
based in Hackensack,
New Jersey.
They're able to undercut
the long-distance giants
by sending conversations
over the Internet
rather than
over traditional networks.
The catch is
that conversations
over IDT's system,
while quite intelligible,
do not match
the sound quality
of calls
over standard networks.
So if that doesn't matter
that much to you,
you can get connections
for five cents a minute.
And I'd like to know,
they say they're going
to be offering
this five-cent service
in Boston, Los Angeles,
San Francisco,
and Washington
by the middle of next month
and in 19 more markets
by the end of the year.
Right now,
it's just in New York
and Chicago.
So if somebody
in one of those two places
can figure out a way
to call us over IDT,
they don't give instructions
on how to do it there.
I'd sort of like to know
what it sounds like
and what that's all about.
But finally,
a listener wrote in
with real mail.
We still get some real mail here.
We'll give out the addresses
for both real mail
and cyber mail
in just a couple of seconds.
This person sent us a,
I guess you'd call this
a questionnaire
as far as a certain question
that's asked
and people answer.
And this is for a college distribution.
It's kind of a,
I guess it's kind of
a joke magazine
is the way it's described
or a newspaper.
And this came out in November.
It's called The Onion.
And the question was,
had to do with
the threat of cyber terrorism.
With the business world
becoming increasingly dependent
on the internet,
there is concern
that not enough
is being done to guard
against potentially devastating
sabotage by cyber terrorists.
What do you think?
Well, Frank Moreland,
a piano teacher,
said,
you mean some hacker
could disrupt
the computerized billing
and record keeping
of my local phone company
costing them
millions of dollars?
That's awesome.
Donald Davis,
systems analyst.
You don't think
one of those cyber terrorists
could somehow infiltrate
a chat room
and pretend to be
a sexy girl,
do you?
Yeah, sure.
Liz Durham,
retiree.
Looks like she's
about 20, though.
Oh, I see.
She works in a nursing home.
That's a retiree?
I thought retirees
were people that retired.
Well, okay, whatever.
As a nursing home resident,
I live in constant...
She says she's a resident.
She looks like she's 20.
Can you live
in a nursing home?
Look, she looks like
she's 20, doesn't she?
She doesn't look like
she's in her
whatever age
you need to be
to be in a nursing home.
All right.
Maybe she's got
one of those faces
at work on anything.
As a nursing home resident,
I live in constant fear
of the fiber terrorists
who forced me
to take my Metamucil.
You see, it's a joke.
And a senior citizen
would not make a joke
quite like that,
I don't think.
I think they just needed
someone to make that joke
and they used her face.
What if these...
This is according to
Carol Sandberg,
flight attendant.
What if these terrorists
got into the Snickers website?
They could potentially
alter the peanuts
to nougat ratio.
That's just silly.
Philip Sutcliffe,
an actuary.
Actually, I don't know
what an actuary does,
but I don't really care either.
No cyber terrorist
shall gain access
to my data
and I'm protected
by the coolest password ever.
Shadowfax.
Not no more, you aren't.
Ernest Say, speechwriter.
Well, cyber terrorists
may be difficult
to capture in the act,
but from what I know
about people
who are highly skilled
with computers,
they should be easy
to beat up.
Well,
kiss your credit rating goodbye.
All right,
that's it for the mail.
If you want to send us mail,
you can do so.
All you have to do
is write,
if you're capable
of physically writing to us,
then all you have to do
is send something
to WBAI,
off the hook,
care of WBAI,
505 8th Avenue,
New York, New York,
10018.
Or,
if you're on the internet
and you want to send us something,
the address is
OTH at 2600.com.
And since we get
about a thousand pieces of mail
at that address a week
and about three
to the mailbox,
I think I know
what people are more prone to do.
Okay,
212-279-3400.
Say goodbye to that.
Let's take our first phone call.
Good evening,
you're on the air.
Yeah,
hi,
it's me,
Ray from Queens.
Hi,
Ray from Queens,
how are you?
Yeah,
I'm all right.
I heard you say something
about that DVD,
soft DVD,
software a few months ago.
I couldn't find it
on the web,
though.
Uh-huh.
So,
how can I find it?
Uh,
well,
that's something that
actually Fiber was interested in.
Fiber's not around,
so.
Yeah,
I'm interested in it,
too,
because I know I could go to
Blockbuster and have a field day.
Uh-huh.
What I would do is,
I would do an AltaVista search for it.
Maybe you'll find it that way,
but I don't have the exact
web.
Yeah,
I went on a major
Yahoo,
AltaVista.
Uh-huh.
Didn't find anything?
CNET,
um,
search.com and all these places.
Yeah?
You know,
they have these different
subdirectories you have to go
into computing,
and even when I went into there,
Uh-huh.
Um,
they just give me these major
listings of these
different,
um,
news,
news magazines or whatever.
Okay,
well,
the thing is,
uh,
maybe,
maybe a caller,
maybe another listener
who has this information
can call in,
and maybe somebody in the studio
will be able to look it up.
Yeah,
but you have any idea,
does it compress it
on a regular CD?
Uh,
is that how it works?
I don't believe so,
but then again,
I'm,
I'm not the right person
to ask about this.
This is definitely
a fiber question,
and unfortunately,
he's not around.
I see.
All right,
you could use this,
you know,
next week or whatever.
Okay.
All right,
thanks.
Thanks for calling.
Good evening,
you're on the air.
Hello.
Yeah,
speak up.
Hello,
I wanted to know,
I have,
um,
internet,
and I wanted to know
if there's a way
to get phone calls.
A way to get phone calls?
Well,
yeah,
there's all kinds
of,
uh,
of,
of programs out there,
uh,
that,
that allow you to get
phone calls on your computer,
and,
uh,
is that what you're
interested in doing?
Well,
not,
well,
if that's the only way,
I wanted to still get
my phone calls
while I'm,
like,
playing with the internet.
Uh-huh.
Oh,
you want to get phone calls
the same time
you're on the net?
Yeah.
Okay,
what kind of connection
do you have right now?
I have the,
uh,
I have a 28-8 modem.
Okay.
Uh,
well,
the way,
the way 28-8s work,
you cannot use the line
at the same time.
You're using a regular
phone line.
Yeah.
If you're using,
if you're using ISDN,
for instance,
you would be able to,
to get a phone call
on that same line
while you were using it
for data.
Uh,
but for a regular
analog line,
you cannot do that.
Uh,
what I would suggest
you do is get,
um,
is getting a second
phone line out of
the question?
Well,
I was trying to avoid it.
I don't know
if you know any other way.
The,
the,
the way I would set it up
would be have two lines
and have what's known
as hunting put on them,
where if,
if,
if the first line is busy,
it jumps over
to the second one?
Yeah.
What,
what state are you in?
What state?
What state?
Oh,
I'm in New York.
New York.
Okay,
New York,
that's free.
There's,
there's no charge for that.
Uh,
obviously there's a charge
for the line,
but for the hunting service,
there's no charge.
It's called hunting?
Yeah,
called hunting.
You simply want,
when,
when your first line is busy,
you want it to jump
to the second line.
And you just get that service,
and that way,
you know,
the first line will ring
if you're not using it,
and if you are using it,
the second line will ring.
You know,
that's,
uh,
that's the most effective way
of using,
you know,
voice and data
at the same time
if you're not going to be
using something more advanced
like ISDN.
Okay,
so I would just have to get
two phone lines
from the phone company.
That's,
that's the best way
I can think of.
And that's for hunting.
Yeah.
Because the ISDN
is more expensive
every month?
Uh,
well,
it doesn't have to be.
You have to get a provider,
uh,
in your area
that,
that provides ISDN.
You have to make sure
you use data over voice,
otherwise they'll,
they'll hit you up
for the penny a minute
surcharge,
uh,
which,
uh,
everybody hates,
and hopefully they'll do
away with at some point.
And,
um,
you know,
other than that,
it's just the cost
of getting the line installed,
which is about a hundred bucks
or so,
and getting an ISDN modem,
which is another couple hundred.
If you want to do all that,
though,
it's,
it's probably worth it.
Oh,
and what is,
that'll give me,
what,
better quality or something?
Gives you faster speed,
for instance,
instead of being connected
at 28.8,
you could then connect
at 1.12,
so it's quite a bit faster,
and at the same time,
you could,
uh,
use the phone line for,
uh,
you know,
to make a voice call,
if you want to do that as well.
Okay,
do you know anything
about shortwave radio?
Ah,
I know you can't do internet stuff
over the shortwave radio,
I hope you're not planning
to do that.
No.
What about shortwave?
Like,
if I was going to,
uh,
move away from New York,
and I wanted to still listen
to WBAI.
Well,
as far as I know,
someone might be doing this
on their own,
but I don't think we're broadcast
over shortwave.
Uh,
we are on the,
on the net,
though,
so all you need to do,
have you ever used real audio?
Yeah.
Okay,
all you'd have to do
is go to our webpage
and click on something,
and it should launch
a real audio window,
and you should be able
to hear us,
take care.
Bye-bye.
212-279-3400,
and,
uh,
we're there people
out there right now
that are listening to us
on real audio
all over the world.
It's kind of scary
when you think of it,
but they're out there somewhere.
Good evening,
you're on the air.
Uh,
yeah,
how's it going tonight?
Pretty good.
Where are you calling from?
Uh,
New Jersey.
New Jersey.
So far,
all of our callers
have been local.
That's good.
Yeah,
I guess.
Is it Emmanuel?
Uh,
yes,
it is.
Emmanuel,
not Emmanuel,
Emmanuel.
Oh,
how's it going?
Okay.
Yeah,
I just want to call
and talk about
how I had a job.
Uh-huh.
And they,
like,
I quit,
and they got all pissed
and R.M. me.
Okay,
that sounds like a,
that sounds like a topical
thing to discuss.
What,
uh,
what did you do
to get them all pissed
at you?
Uh,
I don't know.
I just left.
You just left?
Yeah.
And then they got pissed,
or they pissed,
they got pissed at you,
and then you left?
Which happened first?
Uh,
no,
I left,
and they R.M. me
for security reasons.
They R.M.'d you?
Yeah.
They,
they physically removed you,
or they,
they removed your computer
equipment?
No,
they removed me
from,
like,
the network.
Uh-huh.
Because you just,
what,
walked out the door?
No,
because I just left,
that's why.
You mean you quit?
Yes,
I quit.
And then they removed you.
Why shouldn't they remove you
if you quit?
Well,
why should,
why,
what's the point of removing me?
I didn't do anything wrong.
But you're not an employee anymore.
No.
Maybe we're not talking
about the same thing here.
I mean,
look,
you don't get a key
to the men's washroom
when you leave a place,
right?
They,
they take that away from you.
An account on their computer system
is,
I would think,
something they would take away
from you,
too,
if you leave.
But it was an ISP.
It shouldn't matter.
Oh,
it's an ISP.
Okay.
Internet service provider,
so you wanted your,
your account.
Now,
are they refusing to give you
an account even if you
offered to pay for it?
Um,
no.
They just told me not to be
on their network anymore.
So they say even if you pay
for an account,
they won't let you on?
Or,
Right.
they just want to take away
your free account,
which is it?
No,
they just won't let me
on the network,
period.
They won't let you
on the network,
period?
No.
You have something
to say about this?
You didn't do anything
at all before you left.
Uh,
no,
and who am I talking
to now?
Net Weasel.
Oh,
hey,
Net Weasel.
How you doing?
You didn't do anything
at all?
I mean,
I,
I'm highly doubting
that you didn't do
anything.
Are you,
were you friends
with these people
when you worked there?
Oh,
yeah,
good friends.
You're good friends
with the people.
Are you still friends
with them now at all?
Uh,
no.
So you had,
you had to have
done something
because,
well,
maybe he did
something in their mind.
Well,
not only that,
but this is,
I,
I sort of know
something that's
going on like this
right now,
and especially when,
since you've worked
there and you know
the ins and outs
of their systems,
and if you just leave,
there's got to be
something else,
other reason,
the why they're
removing you
from the network,
because I can
understand them
not giving you
the free account
anymore maybe,
but.
I could care less
about the free account.
But if they're not,
if they're not
letting you on at all,
tell the truth here,
you must have done
something.
No,
I didn't do anything,
they're just
complete morons.
What did,
what did,
they're complete morons,
I think maybe you
don't want to use them
anyway,
because they probably
don't secure
their systems.
Well,
that's the way I feel
now,
because they're being
real jerks about
everything that
happened,
I mean.
Where do they
provide service to
in Jersey?
Uh.
I don't think he
wants to give their
names,
because he's.
Yeah,
that's kind of
confidential there.
Okay,
he's worried about
possible ramifications.
I'm from Jersey too.
Is it northern or
southern?
Northern.
Maybe you guys
can have a
conversation about
this later,
but right now we
just want to give
this guy some
advice as far as
what he should do.
This sounds more
of something,
you know,
more like a
therapy,
but you might
just want to,
if they're your
friends,
just go talk to
them.
I mean,
otherwise it's
their network,
you really can't
do anything.
I mean,
you have,
I mean,
you can't legally
let them put you
on.
Are there files of
yours you need to
get?
Did they take
things that you
need?
Oh,
no,
they killed my
email account,
I wanted to get
some email off that
and whatnot.
Then,
you know,
as Anne Lange would
say,
I'd say just move
on and count your
blessings,
you know,
and consider it a
bad relationship
that,
you know,
went sour.
Mm-hmm.
But,
you know,
things may seem
hopeless now,
but you'll wake up
one day and
you'll feel better.
Yeah,
maybe I will.
All right.
I think everyone
should buy OpenVSD
CDs too.
Okay.
Go visit them
on the web at
www.openvsd.org.
You know,
I bet they could
have figured that
out even without
you saying it,
but thanks for
calling and telling
us.
Good evening.
You're on the air.
Ooh,
that was a nasty
spill there,
whatever that was.
Good evening.
You're on the air.
Good evening.
How you doing?
Where are you
calling from?
The Bronx,
and I could hear you
loud and clear on
my small portable
radio.
Okay.
Well,
that's good because
you're right in
our signal path.
Yes.
I would like your
comment about how
of all the
millions of dollars
that the MTA
has spent to
make the
metal gold
temple proof,
they were able
to use it to
bypass the
city
how many times
they want
without paying
for it.
This is for
what again?
How they were
able to use the
metro card to
go on the
subway train
without paying
for it.
Well,
okay,
you're talking
about the
thing,
this is another
thing that
happened while
we were away,
but somebody
apparently figured
out a way to
crack the
metro card,
but it wasn't,
I don't know
exactly what it
was because
the details
were never
released.
The details
were never
released.
Apparently people
were folding it
in a certain
location and
that was confusing
the system.
It's pretty funny
because all these
newspapers started
calling me and I
kept telling them,
look, I don't
know what this
was, I don't
know how this
happened, and I
got quoted in all
these papers as an
expert saying I
knew exactly what
was going on,
when I didn't,
I didn't know
anything about this.
All I can
theorize is that
somebody was able
to fold the
card and a
certain bit of
data did not
get passed over.
The computer
said, okay,
this data's not
here, it probably
should be, so
we're just going
to trust the
person and
assume that
they're allowed
to go through.
And they
apparently fixed
it.
That's what they
say.
No details were
ever released.
If anyone out
there knows
exactly what
happened, please
let us know so
we can let other
people know.
The thing is,
Chicago Transit
uses the exact
same system, and
if there's a
flaw in this
system, then
there's probably
a flaw in that
system.
Netweasel, do
you know
something about
this?
From what I
gathered is the
people from the
different news
reports, either
they scratched the
card or they
folded it and
then they only
swiped one part
through, but
their fix from
what they said
is they just
put more people,
they just put
representatives from
the MTA at the
machines themselves.
That's what I
said, it would
take longer.
If you looked on
the news reports,
there were
representatives
sitting there.
That's a good
idea.
You know, what
they might
consider doing, I
hear that a
certain round
coin type of
object can be
used also to
transport the
same amount of
data as the
MetroCard.
What you do is
you take the
coin, you drop
it into the
machine, and it
opens up the
turnstile.
They're looking
into that as a
possible replacement
for the MetroCard,
I hear.
Yeah, it's just
right now their
fix is just having
more staff look at
the cards.
It's in research.
Yeah.
Good evening,
you're on the
air.
Oh, I'm
sorry, I
didn't turn it
up, but it
doesn't matter
because there's
nobody there
anyway.
Good evening,
you're on the
air.
Okay, you
got to speak
faster than
that, people.
Good evening,
you're on the
air.
Hello?
Yes, where
are you calling
from?
Yes, sir,
public phone,
be real quick.
Nice to hear
you back.
A couple of
comments, and
then one
question.
A couple of
comments to
the young woman
who was interested
in hunting.
She may have
also, at no
additional charge,
circular hunting
if she likes.
Then, if, let's
say, as you
said, she's
talking on line
one.
Next incoming
call, she only
gives people line
one number, in
fact, maybe, okay?
Next call comes
in, jumps over
to the other
line.
Now, if she
has one-way
hunting, and
somebody does
happen to call
in on that
second line,
even on the
wrong number,
whatever, they're
going to get
it busy.
But if she
asks what they
call circular
hunting, where
it will flip
back and forth
in either
direction, then
she, it
doesn't matter
which one, it
will always jump
over to the
other one.
Really?
Is that the
same?
Is that free
as well?
Yeah, sure.
Oh, yeah.
However, one
caveat, you
may not have
circular hunting
with call
waiting.
With call
waiting, it
has to go in
one direction
only, and the
call waiting is
put only on the
second or last
of them.
Well, you know, I
think hunting is
better than call
waiting, because at
least you get
another phone line
ringing, a machine
can pick up and
you can find
out who it
is.
Okay, right.
Well, you have
call waiting ID
now, but anyway,
the point of
listening, oh,
another thing, what
they've always told
me at Beltline
Residential is, once
you set up hunting,
they will tweak it
in the future any
way you like, without
any one-time service
charge at all, not
10 bucks, not 16,
not 42.05, and
so forth, so it can
be very nice and
convenient.
Other thing, one
question for
Mr. Goldstein,
which was that
company that gave
you like a grilling
about every fight
you had in the
sixth grade, and so
forth, before they
would let you have
the mobile service?
That would be
Sprint PCS.
Sprint PCS, thanks
a lot.
Yeah, no problem.
Bye-bye.
All right, I don't
know if I just got
them a customer or
lost them a customer,
but yeah, that's
who it was.
If you're going to
get service from
them, they're going
to ask you a lot of
questions, and some
of them you may not
want to talk about.
Good evening, you're
on the air.
Hi, I had a, I
last, about a couple
of months ago, my
area code split, and
my...
What area code would
that be?
It was 201, and now
it changed to 973.
It's northern New
Jersey.
Okay.
My sister's cellular
phone was on one
side of the split, and
our house line was on
another side.
Ooh, that can be
rough.
Our town, actually.
And when I dialed my
sister's number, now
it's even in a different
area code.
That AT&T only charges
20 cents for that
call.
Uh-huh, but what is
Bell Atlantic charge?
Bell Atlantic would
charge 35 cents, because
it used to be a local
call, and it still
charges a local call.
Wait, is this from a
pay phone, or from a
regular phone?
A pay phone.
From a pay phone.
So now, how do you
route the call over
AT&T on the pay phone?
102-88?
Uh, no, I just, I
would just dial 1201,
because it's on the
other side of the
split.
Uh-huh.
Is there a way to
dial, to get past the
35 cents, and just use
20 cents now, by dialing
using AT&T, routing
the call through them?
That weasel lives in
New Jersey, and he has
an answer for you.
There's a couple things
on the phones themselves.
You can just call the
operator, tell them the
buttons are broken, and
they'll dial, and a lot
of times, they'll just
charge you the 25 or the
20 cents, because for
some reasons, it's not
linked to the phones yet.
Just, that's right now,
your best bet, is to
first try it through the
operator, tell them the
buttons are broken, you
can't dial, and a lot
of times, they'll charge
you only the 20 or 25
cents.
So, um, that's the
easiest thing to do if
you're calling from a
pay phone.
Um, the other ways is,
uh, didn't he say the
call was 20 cents, though?
AT&T?
Yeah, 20 cents.
It depends if you go
around.
Depending on, if you're
dialing from a pay phone,
uh, as you know, they
all change to 35 cents
here, too.
A lot of times, if you
just dial right to the
operator now, they're
still charging you the
old rate, or, uh, the
20 or 20, I'm not even
sure how it works, it's
the 20 or 20, it used to
be 20 cents and sometimes
25, but, uh, if it's
35 cents, most of the
time you can get it still
for the 25 cents, I know
that.
Okay, and another thing I
had to say, I was
thumbing through my dad's,
uh, PC Novice
magazine, and they started
talking about Kevin
Mitnick, and they were,
they were talking about
how, uh, those people
back, and how they wanted
him freed, and they,
they were just saying
about how it was, uh,
federal fraud charges
involving a multi-million
dollar crime wave, and
they're really describing
him badly.
Oh, yeah, that, that's
the standard Associated
Press version of, uh, of,
of, you know, Kevin
Mitnick there, but the
thing is, what is it that
he is being charged with
doing?
There's nothing even
approaching millions of
dollars, let alone
thousands, even hundreds
of dollars.
You know, what we're
talking about is some, uh,
some, some free phone
calls on a cellular phone,
and, and some, uh, you
know, monitoring on a
system, perhaps, of
people that were trying
to track him down
anyway.
I mean, you know, tell
me, if you were a
fugitive, you would not
be doing the exact same
thing, you know, trying to
make sure that, uh, you
stayed a fugitive and
weren't caught, because,
uh, you know, bad things
could happen, like be put
in prison for three years
without a trial.
And by the way, it will
be three years as of
February 15th, and that's
coming up pretty soon.
Yeah.
We hope to do
something to mark that
occasion.
Not something like, you
know, take over a
website and make demands,
I think that's kind of
dumb, and that won't
really accomplish much.
Yeah.
Hopefully something
constructive, and I, I
urge you to visit the, uh,
2600 website, because we
have updates there, and,
uh, we're taking all
kinds of suggestions as
far as, uh, what, what we
can do.
Okay.
And one more question
about the ADSL.
Yes.
Is that going to be
routed through, um, Bell's
switches?
Because if they do that,
like they did the ISDN,
when it's routed through
their switches, they're
going to charge you for
the monthly charge.
Instead, if you can get a
direct line run to an
ISP, then you can, you'll
only have to pay for
service, really, in a
small charge from Bell,
but if they routed
through their switches
somehow, and make you
dial, I don't know if they
can do that somehow,
they're going to charge
for the, by the minute.
Do you know if they're
going to do something
like that?
I don't think they're
charging by the minute,
because I know cable
modems do not charge by
the minute.
I looked into this over
the weekend, and, uh, the,
the way cable modems are
being offered, at least by
Cablevision on Long
Island, uh, is, uh, a
one-time charge, you know,
a one-time-a-month
charge, and you can stay
on for as long or as
short as you want.
Uh, but what I do
know is, Bell Atlantic
is, is looking for
people, organizations, uh,
to, to join in.
All right.
Let me see if I can
actually find this.
Uh, right now, it's only
available in Virginia, in,
in, in, in two sections
in Virginia, but they are
looking for, uh, for
companies, uh, become a
service provider, it
says.
Uh, the internet is
growing, not only in
users and people
connecting, but data file
sizes, downloadable
information.
Yesterday it was text,
today it was graphics,
tomorrow, who knows?
The sky is the limit,
not the bandwidth.
Customers are demanding
faster access and new
applications, and, uh,
where do you fit in?
Well, Bell Atlantic is
providing the transport,
the, the basic high-speed
connection to the
residents, that is what
we do best.
Here is where you fit in,
content, internet access,
and services, that is
what you do best.
Customers need a place
to go on the internet,
to get their email, set
up homepages, chat with
a friend, check local
area information, just
surf around, and with
the speed of ADSL, the
potential is tremendous,
blah, blah, blah.
Bell Atlantic's in the
process of looking for
partners for the internet
protocol connectivity.
Bell Atlantic has the
access and transport, we
need you to provide the
services and content, you
have grown the internet,
isn't that nice?
Your network and content
are key parts of the
puzzle, we need your
piece to make the picture
complete.
Help us make the
customer's internet
experience a rewarding,
educational, and
entertaining one by
partnering with Bell
Atlantic Consumer Data
Services in the offering
of ADSL, you as a
service provider, content
developer, or media
company can offer more
services and add greater
value to your customers.
So, I'm not sure if
that's what you're
interested in doing.
Well, if you want more
information, you've got to
speak to this guy,
Christopher Callender, not
like the thing on the
wall, it's spelled C-A-L-L-E-N-D-E-R,
and he's with Internet
Services of Bell Atlantic,
number is 703-974-7956.
So, that's a good
opportunity for people to
get involved in this, but
it does sound like they
are, you know, transporting
the call, they are
providing that, and they
want someone else to deal
with the Internet part,
which I think is fine,
you know, I don't want
them dealing with the
Internet part.
Yeah.
Well, just one more
thing, I want to say
hello to Acid Base,
yeah, it's really me on
here, all right, that's
it, thanks, bye-bye.
Okay, well, glad you
managed to slip that in.
Good evening, you're on
the air.
This person is far
away, this person is
very far away, I can
tell by the delay.
I don't know if he's
realized that he's on
the air yet, do you
realize you're on the
air?
Yeah.
You're far away, aren't
you?
Calling from St. Louis.
St. Louis, I could
tell, I could tell.
So, what's on your
mind?
Well, actually, what's
on my mind right now is
I called in because he
requested someone call in
about the person who
wrote the article and
was expelled from...
That he would be me.
Oh, okay.
You're on the air right
now, and you're speaking
to that he.
Okay, sorry.
As long as everybody
else listening.
No, no problem.
PCS phone.
Yes.
What about PCS phones?
Oh, well, I'm on a PCS
phone right now.
Oh, you are?
What service do you
use?
Pardon?
What service do you
use?
Oh, I use Sprint.
So, you're using Sprint
PCS right now?
Sure.
Okay.
And I was calling him
because you asked about
the person who was
expelled from school.
I think aside from the
coarse language in the
article, there was no
reason he should have
been expelled from
school in the first
place.
Absolutely not.
Did you look at the
article?
Yes, I did get to take
a look at the article a
couple weeks ago.
Okay, so what's in the
article?
What basically does it
tell you to do or not
do or what kind of tone
does it take?
Not that that really
matters, I don't think.
Well, it doesn't really
take too much of a, you
know, nothing I haven't
seen before, of course,
but, you know, it just
basically says, you know,
if you want to get into
our school's networks, you
can do this and this and
this, and you can use
these kind of passwords,
words, and it tells, it
gives some pretty graphic
detail on how to get into
that particular school's
network.
I don't think it offers,
since it was a couple
weeks ago, I don't think
it offers too much in the
way of hacking overall,
just basically how to get
into the school's networks,
and it does outline, you
know, how to piss off the
people over there at the
school in particular.
So, you're saying it
doesn't target that one
particular place?
It does target the
particular school, but it
doesn't target hacking
overall.
It doesn't target
systems of traffic.
Okay, how does it target
that one particular place?
Well, I don't really
recall as much about the
article for that
particular school.
Does it give out
passwords?
No, I don't believe that
it gave out any
passwords.
I believe it just said,
you know, you can get in,
it talked about the
mailing system that the
school used, and how to
bypass the menus, and
then get into the, like,
the home drives, and the
resource drives, and all
that kind of thing.
This is what I don't
understand.
When I went to school,
and it wasn't that long
ago, but when I went to
school, you could blow
something up and cause
great amounts of damage,
even casualties, and you'd
get in trouble.
Yes, you would get in
trouble.
But to be expelled, I
mean, you'd have to be
expelled because, you know,
you committed murder or
something like that, and
you had to be expelled
because you had to go
serve your time someplace.
That really was the only
reason that you would ever
be expelled.
This is, a kid writes
something on the net, you
know, or writes something
rather in a newspaper
about the net.
I mean, I think they're
just reacting in a totally
crazy way, and there
should be all kinds of
attention drawn to this.
I mean, you talk about
kicking somebody out of
school.
What's he supposed to do?
You know?
Right.
I think he was basically,
you know, he was
expressing to the people,
you know, he was telling
them how to get in, and
that, you know, that in
itself was just
information, you know.
It's information that the
individuals could have
used had they wanted to,
and that was on their
shoulders.
But they offered the
information, you know, in
order for people to know,
you know.
And I don't see a point
why he should have been
expelled for it.
Um, and I guess that's
about all I wanted to
say.
I think Ned Weasel has a
question for you.
Go ahead.
Well, there's one other
case about being expelled
from school.
It's right around here in
Mawa, New Jersey.
There was a student who
put up, I guess you can
call it, uh, almost a hate
page against one of his
teachers, and he was going
to be expelled or kicked
out of his high school.
But the school board
actually voted in favor of
free speech and said
since it was done outside
of school, um, they can't
touch him at all.
And if the teacher himself
wants to hold, uh, wants to
take him to court or
whatever, that's fine.
But the school cannot do
anything.
I mean, that seems a lot
more, more logical.
In fact, we get letters like
this all the time.
That was just on the news
today.
Uh-huh.
People, uh, get, you know,
in trouble for doing things
that don't even involve
school property.
You know, putting up a
webpage that criticizes
somebody, or even that does
something illegal, it's still
not using school equipment,
so therefore is it really a
school matter?
You know, it's true they
even take an interest in
something that happens off
school grounds.
You know?
Now, this, in this case, it
was, it was a newspaper.
It was an unofficial
newspaper, meaning probably
an underground newspaper,
a second paper that wasn't
funded by the school.
So, in that case, it's not,
it's not really school
property.
It's something independent
that gets distributed at the
school.
Lots of people, uh, get
upset for these, uh, for
these things.
Whether it has to do with
the school or outside, or
hey, it really comes down
to free speech and the
students' rights.
Right.
A real quick funny
story, um, most of the
people on the net, this is
a little bit funny.
You remember that big
thing a couple years back
called, uh, Ate My
Balls.
People took all these
pictures, uh, people's
pictures, and made these
Ate My Balls.
For some unknown reason, I
said, okay, there's nothing
out there about Millard
Fillmore, so I made this
Millard Fillmore Ate My
Balls page.
His, people in his family
that were direct
descendants of Millard
Fillmore got in contact
with me and said they
were going to, like,
press charges and stuff
like that.
It was really, really
hilariously fun.
They were going to, like,
say that I was, uh,
defaming his name.
Millard Fillmore, and it
was the funniest thing
ever.
Just the fact that they
actually got in contact
with me was, uh...
What made you pick him
anyway?
I figured there's nothing
about Millard Fillmore on
the net, and, you know,
so I said, why not?
Oh, there certainly is now.
Okay, if you do a Yahoo
search for, you know, I'm
sure you'll find all kinds
of interesting references
now.
Any other questions,
caller?
Um, well, another thing
is, I did get some
additional information
on the MetroCard, and it
came across on my
unofficial Beyond Hope
list.
You're in St. Louis?
Yes.
You're going to tell us
about the MetroCard, huh?
Okay.
Yeah, we've got lots of
people on the unofficial
Beyond Hope list, the one
that kind of continued
after the original died
off, and we got a couple
people on there that are
from New York, and...
Do you want to tell
people how to join that,
who may have lost touch,
or...
Sure, um, you can, you
can write to mdamon, M-D-A-E-M-O-N
at wearehope.com, that's
W-E-A-R-E-H-O-P-E dot com,
and just put in the body of
your list, subscribe, space,
hopeless, H-O-P-E-L-I-S-T,
and we're all just on there,
and we, we, um, talk about
the conference once in a
while.
So, basically, it's just to
keep us all together and
keep us in touch until the
next conference comes around
or whatever, and we have a
good time on there a lot and
share funny stories and things
like that, and it's keeping
us all together, so it's...
Okay, now, now, quickly
about the MetroCard.
Oh, okay, um, apparently,
uh, from what, what I heard
on the list, the, the way the
person defeated it or whatever
was to simply just pull the
card directly in half, and the
piece of data that was
missing from the mag strip by
bending it a couple times was
what, uh, defeated the, the
MetroCard, but, um...
Well, what I would do, since
you're in St. Louis, is run up
to Chicago and fold one of
their cards in half and see if
it works there, because they
use the same system.
You know, if they fixed it
here, maybe they didn't fix
it here.
Maybe they'll, you know, I'm
sure there's a bunch of people
right now running out of their
houses with folded MetroCards to
see if this will work.
I was told, though, that it only
worked on cards with no value,
which, uh, I don't know if
that's entirely true.
You see, when you depend, you
depend on the media to give you
the facts, you know that they're
going to get some very basic
facts wrong, and unfortunately,
we didn't have any other source
telling us what, uh, what this
was.
We got all our information from
the media, so...
Yeah, ours, mine was over the
net.
Someone gave us a brief, uh,
brief technical of what they had
found out about it, and, um,
that was basically it.
They said simply fold the
card in half, and that was all
that it was that took to defeat
it, and apparently they were
going to have it fixed within
two days, is what I heard on
the list, so...
Okay.
Listen, sir, we're out of time,
or almost out of time.
We want to take one more
phone call.
Okay, thanks a lot.
Thanks for calling.
Good luck out there in St.
Louis.
Uh, see if anybody else from
around the country or around
the world is calling.
Good evening.
You're on the air.
Yes, hi, Manuel.
It's good to hear your guys'
voice, finally.
Thank you.
Uh, I do have a question,
however.
Some time ago, about a couple
of months ago, a month or
two, there was a big, big
truck cars going into
residential areas in Queens
and pretending they're doing
something to the phone
cables, and when we asked
them, a lot of them, they
were hostile, they didn't
want to tell us, but one guy
told us that, look, you
guys, if you don't have a
computer, you don't have to
worry about it.
We told us they're bugging
something, because there was
nothing wrong with the
phones, and I don't know
what they were doing.
It took them like a month.
I mean, they were into this
residential, middle-class
areas, and...
My theory, and I have to give
a very quick theory, is that
these were just crabby
technicians.
They were installing fiber
optic lines, which is, you
know, definitely beneficial
for people using computers
and things like that, and
they just don't want to
answer people's questions
because they don't ever
deal with human beings.
But you think it has
something to do with
bugging?
I don't think so, no.
I mean, I don't think that
Bell Atlantic goes out
systematically planting
bugging devices on their
equipment.
That tends to be done, you
know, with stealth by
people that, you know,
don't label their trucks.
Okay, thanks a lot.
Sure.
And that's going to do it
for us tonight.
We'll be back again next
week with another exciting
edition of Off the Hook.
Until then, it's Emmanuel
Goldstein on WBAI saying
good night.
The telephone keeps ringing
So I ripped it off the wall
I cut myself while shaving
Now I can't make a cough
It couldn't get much worse
But if they could, they would
I'll do it on for the best
Expect the words
I hope that's understood
But I'm digging it
No!
If you want to make a cough
That's why I'm looking
You need to know
So I'm going to go
And I'll do it
I'll do it on for you
And you're listening
Through each other
Phillole
Medgevers College Student Government and the People of the Sun Collective
present the 6th Annual Tribute to the Ancestors of the Middle Passage Fundraiser
on Saturday, February 28th from 6 until 11pm
at the Medgevers College Auditorium located at 1650 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn
featuring among others Wasin Roots Reggae Band, Brother Mike and Keo,
Drums and Poets and the African Marketplace.
For more information, please call Tony Akeem at 718-270-5165.
That is 718-270-5165.