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Back in the 80s Phreaking was the thing, because computers didn't really exist. OSUNY was one of the phreaking BBSs at the time. There was a big article in esqu

• sonicanatidae 3y ago
  Ironic considering that the sole reason I ever BlueBoxed was due to computers. I wanted to connect to BBSes at 300bps that were long distance from my home. I started blue boxing entirely to access those BBSes. After I got started, I got really into it. A friend and I did some dumpster dives at the local CO, we learned how to connect to inward operators directly, and using the right jargon were able to essentially control parts of the phone system. We explored and exploited diverters, voice conferencing systems, voice mail systems and more. That friend and I even created our own box, we named the PSI-box (Phone speaker interface). Hold your phone up to your speaker NO MORE! It led to many things, but what started it was a computer. ;)
  • georgemcbay 3y ago
    > Ironic considering that the sole reason I ever BlueBoxed was due to computers. Same. The reason I was interested in phone technology back in the mid 1980s is because I wanted to connect to long distance BBSes using my Commodore 64 and long distance phone calls were prohibitively expensive for a teenager (or almost anyone really) back then. This eventually lead to X.25 networks and ARPANet and early Internet usage and my career as a software developer.
    • sonicanatidae 3y ago
      I started a bit earlier than you, but essentially the same. I'm a 35 year SysAdmin and manage Ops & support teams now. ;)