🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <stuhlmanDAxzAH.LEM@netcom.com>,
   stuhlman@netcom.com (S. Stuhlman) wrote:
>Chris Farris (chris@ravenloft.stucen.gatech.edu) wrote:
>:                           Announcing the Atlanta
>: 				2600 group.
> Ummmm... excuse my ignorance, but what is a "2600" anyway?
>Just curious...

Technically, it refers to 2600Hz.  A while ago, you could play
a tone of that frequency, and the phone would give you a free
call.  It's been a while, but I think that a young girl also had
the vocal ability to scream in that range - ie.  Get you kid sister 
to scream high pitched into the phone, and you could get a free 
phone call.  I think nowadays, it sets off a few bells and whistles
and the phone co. calls you back and gets pretty pissed off.

2600 also refers to a magazine (and a newsgroup - alt.2600) that deals
with all sorts of technological things...such as how data is encoded
on the back of a credit card, how telephones, switches, and PBX's work 
(and how they sometimes fail in "interesting" ways.)  Basically, it is
an example of free speech.  Most of the stuff that I've seen in there is
stuff that some people don't think that everyone should know (how to
pick locks on soda machines, how to get free phone calls, how to do IP
spoofing) because it has potential "bad uses".

It bills itself as "The Hacker's Quarterly".  In a way it is - it's full
of people that just wanna know how things work.  Though I'm sure more than
a good bit also wanna know how to make things work to thier advantage.

Most of the articles are well written, and have a good bit of info.  And
the letters page is full of 13 year olds telling how they changed thier
grade in the school computer because the secretary would leave the password
in the drawer.  And then there are the "k001 peoplez who can't SpElL, and like
to uze all sortZ of wEiRd spellingZ and cApS to showz how little of a life
they have."

Overall, it's pretty interesting stuff, most of which anyone can figure out
doing the proper research, this just does it for you.

Worthy to note: A similar 2600 meeting in the Washington DC area (in a mall) 
was raided by mall police (because of loitering) and by the Secret Service,
even though no one was doing anything wrong.  I don't remember the outcome
of the case, but I don't think it went well for the SS, much like when they
raided Steve Jackson Games.


--
Dan Newcombe                    newcombe@aa.csc.peachnet.edu
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"And the man in the mirror has sad eyes."       -Marillion