on 7-30-05 8:33 PM, Harry Freeman at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >> Here's my name list: >> Beige PowerMac G3: "Beige Box" (after a hacker term for a telephone >> lineman's test telephone set)
> Mmmm having been in the telephone industry for 25 years, I think that's > "Blue Box" used to make illegal telephone calls on circuits that used > SF (single frequency) as the idle circuit signal. The OP is right, there is such a thing as a "beige box." However, "beige box" is not really a hacker term; it's a phreaker term. Hackers are more commonly associated with being Internet/computer "security experts." Phreakers are all about exploring the phone system. > When the SF tone was sent on the circuit the connection would collapse and a > new receiver would be applied in preparation for the next call. It could then > produce "KP" and "ST," "STP" along with other multi-freq tones, and the > good ones would also do "dtmf (dual-tone)" which was needed to > originate the call to an 800 number. Too bad you can't do that any more, or at least not commonly. With the conversion to CCIS (Common Channel Interoffice Signaling), you don't hear about blue boxes the way you once did. This is because CCIS puts the control tones out-of-band (out of the normal band of telephone transmission). The control tones are what you refer to above. Nowadays, they can huff and puff for all they're worth on their Captain Crunch whistle and nothing happens. Or so I've been told. Best, James Fraser -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com
