Installing a payphone in my house • Hacker News Board

Re: Installing a payphone in my house

#231

Post by kshacker » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 5:05 PM UTC

crmd wrote: post #198

JackFr wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the grand scheme of things, what he did is hardly the end of the world. And yet, it still doesn't sit quite right with me. I suppose its because there doesn't seem to be the slightest hint in the writing that credit card fraud is wrong, or that it's even something you shouldn't do. I looked for it. And to add to that, what he did wasn't 'a hack', it wasn't particularly clever. It was just theft of services and a l…

In the hacker ethos, gaining access to systems is in no way unethical or deserving of remorse. The hack in this case was (1) exploiting the ISP’s delayed batch processing of credit card orders, and (2) circumventing their deny list of callback phone numbers. For the same reason you’ll rarely see urbex photographers expressing remorse for trespassing. Getting onto skyscraper roofs and into steam tunnels is just what y…

> I’m told this hacker culture no longer exists at my Uni. If you get caught escalating privileges on a computer you’d be facing expulsion and referral to the police.

it has a reason. We did not have our life story at our fingertips in those days. Even if the university computers may not have sensitive information but they could be hijacked to be part of bot net or just mint bitcoins. They stakes are much higher. I am not at a uni so don't know the reality but I can understand if they are doing it.

Re: Installing a payphone in my house

#232

Post by stevenjgarner » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 5:07 PM UTC

unityByFreedom wrote: post #94

bmitc wrote: post #52

That's a really awesome story with a great opening, middle, and especially the end, if one ignores the adolescent fraud. I think it really highlights the simple joy that technology that literally just works can bring. I'm around the same age as the author, a little younger in fact, but there's just something about today's Internet and a lot of the overwhelming amount of technology that just isn't fun or memorable. Fr…

> That's a really awesome story with a great opening, middle, and especially the end, if one ignores the adolescent fraud. That admission was the best part! Everyone here was not goody two shoes in their teens. Accepting this reality can release people from expectations of perfection. Perhaps ironically, kids' behavior can improve when they feel their imperfections are airable.

Going through the grueling immigration process, Homeland Security eventually sits across the table from you, looks you in the eye, and asks "have you ever committed a crime for which you have not been convicted?"

Re: Installing a payphone in my house

#233

Post by Fatnino » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 5:17 PM UTC

Why is there a reverse the digits step in the cc# algorithm?

Seems like it will work just fine without doing that.

Re: Installing a payphone in my house

#234

Post by cortesoft » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 5:23 PM UTC

languageserver wrote: post #161

unityByFreedom wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's a really awesome story with a great opening, middle, and especially the end, if one ignores the adolescent fraud. That admission was the best part! Everyone here was not goody two shoes in their teens. Accepting this reality can release people from expectations of perfection. Perhaps ironically, kids' behavior can improve when they feel their imperfections are airable.

I am not sure credit card fraud is innocent pranks or misbehavior... I can tell you with certainty that most teenagers have never committed that sort of crimes tbh.

All credit card fraud is not created equal. He didn't steal any physical goods, nor did he steal anyone's credit card. He stole some hours of internet connection, which probably didn't cost the ISP that much. Not saying it is totally fine, but it really isn't that bad.

Re: Installing a payphone in my house

#235

Post by zamadatix » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 5:40 PM UTC

Fatnino wrote: post #233

Why is there a reverse the digits step in the cc# algorithm? Seems like it will work just fine without doing that.

My understanding is when doing it by hand some like to reverse it so when writing the products the digits get written continuously left to right. I.e. matter of preference.

Re: Installing a payphone in my house

#236

Post by baobrien » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 5:41 PM UTC

Slartie wrote: post #91

nahmean wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At one point it was. You could even record the sound on a handheld recorder and play it back. But it hasn’t worked in a long while. Pay phones mitigated this in a low tech way - by software muting the handset. Edit: oh yeah, and after that, you’d just call the operator and tell them the keys were sticky and to dial the number for you, then you’d “insert the coins” by playing the tones. Well, or you just third party b…

> Pay phones mitigated this in a low tech way - by software muting the handset. So does this mean that there was a dedicated second microphone hidden somewhere within the payphone body, that would continue to record the sound the coins made?

In early 3-slot North American payphones, there literally was a bell that the coins struck and a transducer inside the payphone body.

Re: Installing a payphone in my house

#237

Post by yew » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 5:48 PM UTC

hnbad wrote: post #119

dQw4w9WgXcQ wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You must be Gen-Z or younger. Small-time "fraud" antics like this were part of the hacker ethos throughout the 80s and 90s, some highlights being the Anarchist Cookbook, Matthew Broderick changing school records in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Kevin Mitnick as one of the notable poster children of the new era of cyber enforcement crackdowns. Even the word "hacker" meant something a lot different than today where kid…

Outside of movies these antics were confined to a specific (wealthy, male, usually white) demographic, though. Likewise a lot of 80s movies happily depict "funny" antics that would even at the time have been considered sexual assault or rape if the perps weren't wealthy white college "boys". Sure, culture has become more sensitive to these things overall and criminal prosecution of credit card fraud and computer crim…

Fandom types and 80s hackers have that in common - mostly white neckbeards roleplaying diversity and thinking it's for real. (Most of the people who called themselves "anarchists" back then too. Feels like political spaces have seen a bit more improvement though.)

Re: Installing a payphone in my house

#238

Post by Johnny555 » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 5:51 PM UTC

guerrilla wrote: post #115

Best article I've seen here in a while. I really miss payphones for some reason. Loved that he's teaching his daughter. > My daughter is 5 - I don’t want her dialing 911. Five year old girls calling 911 has saved a lot of lives. I just listened to a whole podcast series about that.

If I had a landline in my house and went through all the trouble to install an obvious phone like a payphone (well, obvious to older people), I'd definitely want it to be able to call out to 911. When calling from a landline, you're 100% sure that EMS has your correct address (well, assuming that you set up your address correctly when you ordered your ISP service).

Re: Installing a payphone in my house

#239

Post by jamal-kumar » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 6:16 PM UTC

patio11 wrote: post #74

jamal-kumar wrote: post #10

Back when I was a kid I had alot of fun using methods to get free phone calls on these things. Like, beyond just red-boxing or whatever (Past that time). In Japan, they would just accept DTMF tones from anything that would generate them. There was all these people using hacked cards that they installed countermeasures against which were hilarious because people using these hacked yakuza cards would keep one foot in t…

NOPE happens to him, he had to squeeze himself out of that phone booth and run after a red light started flashing and the door slammed shut on his shoe.. This did not happen. Almost no Japanese public telephones even in 2022 have a) doors which lock or b) motors/servos to operate the door. The exception on motors is a specialty item "automatic door (electric type)" which is sold primarily as an accessibility aid for…

Were you an employee of NTT?

Why didn't you install DTMF filters on the phones lol I was calling like new zealand and shit.

And I'm talking like, 20 years ago plus here... It could be bullshit for sure, I'm relating someone else's story.

Re: Installing a payphone in my house

#240

Post by _notathrowaway » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 6:32 PM UTC

unityByFreedom wrote: post #94

bmitc wrote: post #52

That's a really awesome story with a great opening, middle, and especially the end, if one ignores the adolescent fraud. I think it really highlights the simple joy that technology that literally just works can bring. I'm around the same age as the author, a little younger in fact, but there's just something about today's Internet and a lot of the overwhelming amount of technology that just isn't fun or memorable. Fr…

> That's a really awesome story with a great opening, middle, and especially the end, if one ignores the adolescent fraud. That admission was the best part! Everyone here was not goody two shoes in their teens. Accepting this reality can release people from expectations of perfection. Perhaps ironically, kids' behavior can improve when they feel their imperfections are airable.

>Everyone here was not goody two shoes in their teens.

That's called projection.