Freaks Macintosh Archive/Freaks Macintosh Archive.bin/Freaks Macintosh Archives/Textfiles/zines/Misc/kv5.txt

Text File | 1999-01-28 | 124KB | 4,621 lines

         ****************************************************************************

         ____  __.

        |    |/ _|____   ____   ____

        |      <_/ __ \_/ __ \ /    \

        |    |  \  ___/\  ___/|   |  \

        |____|__ \___  >\___  >___|  /

                \/   \/     \/     \/ A Legions Of the Underground Production

        ____   ____                         .__  __          www.legions.org

        \   \ /   /________________    ____ |__|/  |_ ___.__.

         \   Y   // __ \_  __ \__  \ _/ ___\|  \   __<   |  |

          \     /\  ___/|  | \// __ \\  \___|  ||  |  \___  | [Issue 5]

           \___/  \___  >__|  (____  /\___  >__||__|  / ____|

                      \/           \/     \/          \/

                                                                              014-NOV2

          ****************************************************************************



           Hacking isn't about exploiting the system it's about knowing the system...







       *---The Legions Staff---*



         optiklenz    - The man with the circuit board boxers

         icer         - is in search of Terabyte ethernet nirvana.

         aphex        -"I love rules, I think they're wicked"

         lasik        - " that's not an ATARI 2600 is it!?"

         cap n crunch - "knows how to whistle"

         sreality     - "the original code pimp - betta' act like you know, bitch ;)"

         HyperLogik/m0f0 Contact your local netherlands phone operator

         Zyklon       - taking over the world with a 8086 and a 300 baud modem

         tip          - brings his ALTAIR to nudy bars

         [havoc]      -

         kM           - kM- uses tape feeds to pimp his ho like a TX-0

         defiant      - "wheres my pay"

         Duncan Silver-

         DigiEbola    - Of course I'm drunk, I ain't no stunt driver.

         flemming     - "not with that burnt out peice of shit"

         Bronc Buster - the keyboard cowboy

         lothos       - "The Doctor is IN"

         mercs        -

         NetJammer    -

         dethl0k      -coded a loop in his tie

         NtWakO       -Bugs in NT?  Your shitting me....

         x-empt       -

         Mnemonic     -

      ----o=============================================================================o-----



              You know the world is fucked up when we start appointing professional

              wrestlers into politics...





              [x1]-->  From the Editor            [ optiklenz<--]

              [x2]     Mail Bag                   [   smtp   <=-]

              [x3]-->  Tcp Wrappers               [  lothos  <--]

              [x4]     Novell Security            [  NtWakO  <=-]

              [x5]-->  Cellular Guide -           [ downtime <--]

              [x6]     USB Theory of Utilization  [ DigiEbola<=-]

              [x7]-->  XSniffer                   [ Mnemonic <--]

              [x8]     Long Distance Carriers     [  Levine  <=-]

              [x9]-->  STD phone codes            [  foneman <--]

              [x10]->  Telephony                  [   N6ARE  <=-]

              [x11]    Trip to Comdex             [ optiklenz<--]

              [x12]->  In the News                [ sources  <=-]

              [x13]    Till next time             [ optiklenz<--]







  %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

  \ From the Editor       \-<optiklenz>

   %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%



Things are picking up as far as the whole Legions Interactive arrangement is concerned.

  We are lately working with the Meta Fantasies corporation on a large programming

  project This means due to all the work I'll be retiring my status as

  chief editor of Keen Veracity. So from now on feel free to email all your

  questions comments or article submissions to [e-mail]

  Keen Veracity will still be around but DigiEbola will be taking my place as the editor.

  Rest assured each issue will still be chock-full of articles regarding computer

  related data.    As I established in the first part of the zine.  "Hacking is not about

  exploiting the system its about knowing the system."  A lot

  of people out there login to their consoles, and get on irc and start

  talking about what they are going to "own" next.  Hacking isn't "owning"

  the "net" (no one entity "owns" the net) its about building the net.

  Why inflict distress on a system created by hackers?  Take advantage of

  what computers, and the network has to offer.  Instead of sitting there

  compiling exploits figure how the exploits works, and how it is connected with

  the system, and how you can go about fixing it.  But most of all figure out how the system

  works because once you do you've compiled the  greatest exploit known to man.  Use

  the system to your preference, and to the advantage of everyone else by circumventing the

  system and sharing what you've learned with everyone else because the truth remains that

  not everyone knows all there is to know.  And the more information you share with others

  the closer we become to being a even more knowledge brotherhood  That's all for now.



   The new site is up at http://www.legions.org



    |                     |

   |* shit to look out for*|

    |                     |



    [Look out for the official RootFest con press release in  KV6]

Submit an article to Keen Veracity:  [e-mail]



 ===================================EOP===========================================





  %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

  \ mailbag               \-<smtp>

   %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%





[mail]



  David Kurby



  You guys are great.  I've heard a lot about the things

  you do, and I think its really cool.  Just want you to

  know you have my respect, and support.  Looking forward

  to your next magazine release.



  <[e-mail]>



[responce]

  yeah, sure kurb.. whatever...



------------------------------------

[mail] <subliminal->  Can you teach me how to hack?



[responce]



  Sure, grab an axe and let me know when your ready.

------------------------------------







[mail]   <frolik> Whats up with the site?



[responce]

  We're currently switching name servers, and getting our new

  equipment configured.  Check out www.t00ned.org/optik, and I'll

  keep you posted.



------------------------------------

[mail] <plankton>

  Do you still hack?



[responce]



 Well it depends on your analogue of hacking. By the authentic

  formalization I "hack" everyday.  Whether I'm coding, or doing

  Network checks it's still hacking.  Hacking has little to do

  with the "illegal" entry of computer systems apart from the

  Technical, and systematic aspect of it.  Illegally accessing a system

  for no intended reason is not something I advocate or

  advise performing.  What I suggest achieving is going out, and

  learning, and questioning the system itself before trying to exploit it.

  And even once you feel you have a broad knowledge of the system make sure

  you use what you know to build things, and not fuck things up.

  System admins who are affected by crackers turn to hackers in

  order to secure their systems. They turn to the philosophies,

  documents, and programs written by "hackers"...  Let's not

  make them look the other way.  We are here, and we are skilled.

  What your brain dead system administrator can do in a week we can

  accomplish in a matter of minutes more practically.  That's the message

  that should  be put across.  One of positively not one that says "Were

  going to take you down."   Read my introduction in Keen Veracity

  3 I go into greater detail on the subject at hand.

  http://www.legions.org/zine/kv3.txt



-Steve Stakton <optiklenz>



  [the below was sent to be my a writer for the Associated Press]





  Hi Optik,



  [question]

 I was wondering if you could answer a question or two.  This lady

 came into the newsroom yesterday with a printout of a strang icon she

 found on her AOL instant messenger screen.  Apparently it was put there

 by some kind of virus or trojan horse attached to a FateX program that

 her son downloaded.  I understand from what little I could find on this that

 this is a "punter" program. What, exactly is a punter program?  She says this

 thing totally screwed up her computer, including her DVD drive and she had to trash

 it and get a new one. Also, when this happened someone masqueraded as one of the

 people on her "buddy list" and she chatted with them for hours before finding out

 it wasn't who she thought it was.



 [responce]



 FaxeX is an AOL Denial of service program based on AOHell, which was the

 pioneer for AOL programs of its kind.  This program embodies "attack"

 options such as "phishers", "punters", "scrollers", and other options

 that really only cause minor damage.  These programs are created by

 teens whose coding experience in most cases do  not go beyond visual

 basic.  The programs that these juveniles create are made in poor taste,

 and the interfaces are so poorly put together it is obvious the authors

 lack any significant programming knowledge.  For the most part

 The authors create these programs for publicity. (Don't know if that's

 much coming from the AOL community.) At any rate it isn't very hard to

 please the gimpy uses of the AOL citizenry  (most of them anyhow) that

 is the largest concern AOL or anyone using it should have.  These programs

 are downloaded by the thousands generally utilized by users who cant very

 well operate their computer system let alone be given access to a application

 of harassment (at which very little computer science is needed to operate).

  A worse case scenario would be someone using a "phisher" to obtain a user

 password.  Even then it would take someone extremely dense to fall for it.

 A phisher is basically an instant message sent out to multiple users giving

 them a bull shit line such as "Hi, I work with AOL our server is being updated

 please message back with your Login and password.  Failure to comply will result

 in having to re-register" A message like that if indeed from AOL will never

 be sent directly to the user using something as open as an IM (Instant Message),

 but most likely via email. Now as for punters these are tools that pose no real

 threat except for the fact that they are really annoying.  All they do is send

 you a massive amount of messages till you are forced to log off, and restart

 your AOL session (ergo the term punt).  I seriously doubt the program FateX

 itself was to blame for the system mishap.  Maybe it was in an indirect manner,

 but a virus downloaded by her son would be a more illusive reason.  Because

 AOL is a harbor for lamers, and the sort most of the programs sent out or

 downloaded in relation to AOL are most likely to be infected with some sort

 of virus.  MY suggestion would be to download a virus scanner, such as Nortan

 Anti Virus 4.0 by Symantec or McAfee anti virus software.



take care,



   Steve Stakton <optiklenz>

===================================EOF===========================================





 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

  \ Tcp Wrappers         \-<lothos>

   %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

An Introduction to TCP Wrappers

lothos    [e-mail]





        The TCP Wrappers program, from Wietse Venema, is an easy to use

utility for host and network based access control that does logging for

services started by inetd(8).  TCP Wrappers will allow you to finger

people who connect to you, display a banner for incoming telnet

connections, or run an ambiguous command, and will also prevent some

spoofing attacks by making sure the IP address and hostname match.



_Getting TCP Wrappers_



        TCP Wrappers is shipped with many flavors of unix, including

BSD/OS, OpenBSD, and possibly other *BSD flavors.  It comes standard with

Linux, but is rarely configured correctly.

        You can get tcp_wrappers from

ftp://ftp.win.tue.nl/pub/security/tcp_wrappers_7.6.tar.gz, or from

ftp://coast.cs.purdue.edu/pub/tools/tcp_wrappers.  Version 7.6 is

the latest as of this writing.



_Installing TCP Wrappers_



        The advanced way to install tcp_wrappers, as instructed in the

readme, is actually easier, so I will describe that way to install.



1. Copy the current /etc/inetd.conf to another location as a back up, such

as /etc/inetd.conf.dist.



2. Edit tcpwrapper's Makefile to show where the real daemon's are located.

Under OpenBSD I would uncomment REAL_DAEMON_DIR=/usr/libexec.



3. If you want the language extension enabled, uncomment the following

line:



   #STYLE  = -DPROCESS_OPTIONS     # Enable language extensions.



  I recommend uncommenting this line, which makes access control easier by

allowing you to specify access control in one file, instead of two, and

also allows you to use the extra features, including banners and commands.



4. Next, compile tcpwrappers.  If you simply type 'make' it will output an

error message.  You must specify the system type you have, as specified by

the error message.



_Configuring /etc/inetd.conf_



        You must edit your inetd.conf file in order to use tcpwrappers.

Change it to specify the location of tcpd.



telnet          stream  tcp     nowait  root    /usr/libexec/telnetd telnetd



should be changed to:



telnet          stream  tcp     nowait  root    /usr/libexec/tcpd telnetd



or the location of your tcpd daemon.  A 'kill -HUP inetd' will update

these changes.



_Access Control_



        Access is controlled by two files, /etc/hosts.allow and

/etc/hosts.deny.  If you followed my instructions above, you will only

need the /etc/hosts.allow file.



        The format of this file is:



    daemons : client_host_list : option : option





        A simple example to demonstrate this:



    fingerd : local.machine.com : ALLOW



NOTE:  You should use ip addresses for increased security.



        TCP Wrappers should log to MAIL.INFO by default, but this can be changed

in the Makefile.  I have also set up my /etc/syslog.conf file so that the logs

go to both a file and to /dev/ttyC7 so I can read them in real time.



_Advanced Options_



Banners



        Banners display a message to someone connecting to your machine.  You

need to set up a directory for them, I have mine set up in /etc/Banners.

Using banners, you can have separate banners for allowed hosts and denied

hosts by using two directories (/etc/Banners/allowed/, for example)



An example of a banner:



Trying 192.168.0.0...

Connected to 192.168.0.0.

Escape character is '^]'.



WARNING:



This computer system is for authorized users only.  Any unauthorized

access will be logged and prosecuted.



You have been logged as: [e-mail]



OpenBSD/i386 (phear) (ttyp5)



login:





        You can make your banners as simple or complex as you'd like.  %c will

return username@hostname info, assuming the other computer has identd

running.  Some expansions that can be used are:



Token   Mnemonic        Expands to:



%a      address         ip address of client.

%c      client info     username@hostname

%s      server info     daemon@host.



There are many more options, these are the ones I use the most frequently.



A denied host will display:



Trying 192.168.0.0...

Connected to 192.168.0.0.

Escape character is '^]'.

Connection closed by foreign host.



        You can also optionally specify a banner to display for deny as well by

specifying a banner to use, to provide more information to the user about

why the access is denied.



        If you want to allow fingerd from local hosts, and want external hosts

to be denied with a message, you would configure /etc/hosts.allow like so:



fingerd : LOCAL : allow

fingerd : all : twist /path/to/message



The twist option will run a specified shell command.



        You can also specify that tcpd finger anyone attempting to connect to

your machine.  We do not finger any finger connections, to prevent a

continuous loop where the remote machine also fingers connections.



all EXCEPT fingerd : bad.com : (/usr/local/bin/safe_finger -l @%h | \

        /bin/mailx -s %d-%h [e-mail]) &



        You can split a command over two or more lines by using the backslash

character.  safe_finger is used because it filters out any nasty control

characters.  This command will mail the results of finger @bad.com to the

user of your choice.



_Checking Access Control Settings_



        Besides coming with safe_finger, tcpwrappers also comes with two

utilities that check your access control.  From tcpdchk(8): tcpdchk examines

your tcp wrapper configuration and reports all potential and real problems

it can find.

        tcpdmatch will find a match in the access tables and tell you if

it's allowed or denied, as well as displaying any banners you may have.

This is a great way to see if your access files are thorough enough.



_Limitations of tcpwrappers_



        TCP Wrappers is vulnerable to IP spoofing because it uses IP addresses

for host authentication.  It will only provide authentication for daemons

started by inetd(8), and only provides limited support for UDP services.

There is a patch that allows tcpwrappers to be used with sendmail 8.8.8,

but IMHO the wrapper that comes with TIS Firewall Tool Kit is much better.

www.tis.com for more info.



_Sources and More Info_



        Read the man pages for more info:  tcpd(8), tcpdchk(8),

tcpdmatch(8), hosts_access(5), and hosts_options(5).  There is also

information about tcpwrappers in Practical Unix and Internet Security by

Simson Garfinkel and Gene Spafford.





Shoutouts:  Legions of the Underground, Tara, Stratus, MostHateD, [gH],

             noderatz.

===================================EOF===========================================







 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

  \ Novell Security      \-<Ntwak0>

   %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%



    Check out the Con webcast

    PhreakNic: http://209.251.14.140:7070/ramgen/pn2_how2.rm





Securing / Auditing Novell



First Simple Rule Upgrade to NetWare 4.x this will defeat many of the attacks

NetWare provides no audit trail

Your site's security policy should include a process for Administrator approval of user

ID creation. Security Administration procedures, which your site security policy should

govern and of which you keep a manual, record should include the following:



* Reactivating disabled Ids

* Reactivating forgotten passwords

* Removing access when a user is terminated or has changed job functions

* Monitoring changes to access privileges and entitlements the supervisor assigns

  to users to ensure that changes are appropriate for the user

* Periodic review of user access privileges and entitlements to ensure that access

  level are still appropriate



Starting to check your installation security



Many Hacker attacks exploit common-sense failings of the system, you should be sure that

you secure your NetWare network. NetWare security program provides information on how the

 supervisor installed security on the system. You can also use the security program to

perform a compliance review. Only the supervisor and users with Supervisor equivalent Ids

 can run the security program.



Physically secure the server

* You should at a minimum control access to the server room with key access, preferably

  by some type of electronic key card access with track.

* If the server has a door with a lock on the server itself lock the door and limit

  access to the key. Secure the keyboard within a cabinet or other locked area to prevent

  command entry directly into the operating system.

* If you only load NLMs from SYS:SYSTEM directory, use the SECURE CONSOLE command to

  prevent loading NLMs from the floppy or other location.

Secure important files off-line and protecting scripts

* You should always secure your most important files off-line and off-site.

  You most important files refer to startup.ncf, autoexec.ncf, the NetWare bindary or the NDS.

* You should copy all the system log-in scripts, container scripts, and all the user or other

  log-in scripts off-line. NetWare stores the log-in scripts in the SYS:_NETWARE  directory

  a hacker can edit these files using edit.nlm. File with extensions such .000. these files

  are probably log-in scripts.

* You should compile a list of network-loadable modules and their version numbers, and

 a list of files from the SYS:LOGIN, SYS:PUBLIC, and SYS:SYSTEM directories, you should

 periodically check your file list against the originals stored on the computers themselves

 to ensure that no one has altered any of the files

* You should create a written list of all users and groups on your network, use syscon or

another network tool to create a written list of users, groups, access levels, check the

list against a report from Novell security program., check for ODD accounts with Supervisor

 access such as GUEST or PRINTER

Monitor the Console/Administrator

* Just as you should physically secure the console, you should ensure that the network

 logs all activities users perform on the console. To log console entire use the conlog.nlm

 program the log will be recorded in SYS:ETC\console.log. When you check the console you

should also press the UP-ARROW key befor you begin to enter your commands at the console.

 Doing so will show what commands the last user entered at the console.

* Run the securefx.nlm module after the security breach and you get this message : Security

 breach against station <connection number> DETECTED. The securefx.nlm will writes its error message to an error log.

* You should avoid using the Supervisor account for any except the most critical of access

 activities. If you have not enabled packet signatures someone could use a program that

spoofs user packets and gain access to the server as Supervisor.



Use Packet signature



* The NetWare login protocol consists of three packet exchanges between the server

 and the client. First the client sends a request for a login key, the server generates

 a random eight byte value and sends it to the client. Then the client sends a request

 for for the user ID of the user loging in, the server looks up the user ID in the

 bindery and sends it to the client.

 Finally, the client computes X=hash(UID,password) and Y=hash(X,login key) andsends

 the result to the server. The server retrieves X'=hash(UID,password) stored in the

 bindery and computes Y'=hash(X',login key). If Y=Y', the client is granted access as

 the user. If both the client and server agree to use packet signatures, both parties

 then compute Z=hash(X,c) (where c is some constant value) which they will use as a

 shared secret for authentication.

The following chart gives a graphical representation of the protocol:

Client Server

Request Login Key ------------------------------------------------>

<------------------------------------------------ Login Key

Request User ID ------------------------------------------------>

<------------------------------------------------ UID of client

Compute X=hash(UID,password) Compute X'=hash(UID,password) Compute Y=hash(X,login key)

Compute Y'=hash(X,login key)

Request Authentication ------------------------------------------------> If

Y=Y', Access is Granted

Comput Z=hash(X,c) Compute Z=hash(X,c)

When a user Alice logs in, an attacker Bob can interrupt this protocol sequence and gain

 access as Alice without knowing her password. In order for the procedure to work, Bob must

 be on a network where he can observe the traffic between Alice and the server, and Bob must

 be able to respond to

Alice's requests faster than the server.

First Bob sends a request to the server to login, and the server sends Bob a login key R".

Then Alice requests a login key from the server, Bob sees the request and spoofs a reply as

 the server which sends Alice R" as her login key. The server receives Alice's request and

sends her R as her login key,

when Alice receives R she will discard it as a duplicate. Alice requests her UID from the

server, and the server responds with her UID. Alice computes X=hash(UID,password) and

 Y=hash(X,R") and sends the result to the server. The server computes Y'=hash(X,R), since

 Y' is not equal to Y, Alice is denied

access. Meanwhile, Bob saw Alice's Y submitted to the server, he retrieves this value from

the network and sends it to the server for authentication as Alice. The server computes

Y"=hash(X,R"), sice Y = Y" Bob is granted access as Alice. Bob requests not to sign packets,

 if the server does not require all clients to sign packets, then Bob is allowed to masqurade

 as Alice.

Alice Bob Server

Requests Login Key R" ---->

<---- Sends R" to Bob

Requests Login Key R ----------------------------------->

<---- Sends R" to Alice

<----------------------------------- Sends R to Alice

Receives R" first

Discards R as a duplicate

Requests UID for Alice ----------------------------------->

<----------------------------------- Sends UID of Alice

Computes X=hash(UID,password)

Computes Y=hash(X,R")

Sends Y to the server -----------------------------------> Computes

Y'=hash(X,R)

Sees Y and retrieves it. Y != Y',

access is denied

Sends Y for ---> Computes

authentication Y"=hash(X,R")

Y"=Y, access is

granted

Refuses to sign packets If all clients are

not REQUIRED to

sign packets,

access is granted.

There may be a second attacker, Joe, waiting for Alice to log in without using packet

signatures. As a result, Joe can highjack Bob's connection as Alice.

To defend against this attack, set the NCP PACKET SIGNATURE LEVEL option to 3 in the server's

AUTOEXEC.NCF file. Setting this option to 3 at the client will have no effect, the option MUST

 be set at the server.

The Netware default for packet signatures is 2 at the server and client. If the hacker wants

to use a hacking tool which forges packets, the hacker can try to set the worksation signature

 level to 0 (no packets required) within the computer client net.cfg. If the server is set to

 1 or 0 the hacker will log in right to the network and defeat the entier purpose of the packet

 signatures.



Rconsole

* The rconsole utility lets the Supervisor monitor the network at the server-level remotly.

To log into rconsole the Supervisor must enter an rconsole password, a hacker using a sniffer

 can sniffer the password and crack it.

* Do not try to use the switch /P=password switch to limit the rconsole password to just the

 Supervisor password, if you use "LOAD REMOTE /P="Supervisor password you will get into

rconsole but the rconsole password is now "/P".

* Worse of the hacker gains access to your autoexec.ncf file the rconsole pawword is visible

 in plain text.

* Check the name and location of rconsole, rconsole.exe is located in the SYS:SYSTEM directory

 by default in 3.11, in 3,12, 4.1 rconsole is in  SYS:SYSTEM and SYS:PUBLIC. You should limit

 access to the file only by the Administrator.

Move all Netware configuration files to secure location

* By default Netware places all Netware configuration files (ncf) within the SYS:SYSTEM

 directory. Because most hackers know this, their first goal to access the SYSTEM directory

and modify the ncf files. Your best defense against hackers attacking your configuration files

 is to move the files to a more secure location

* Put your autoexec.ncf in the same location as your sever.exe file. If a hacker

compromises the access to the SYS:SYSTEM directory, you will at least have protected

the autoexec.ncf file.

* A simple trick you can do is to keep a false autoexec.ncf file in the SYS:SYSTEM with a

false rconsole password.



Remove PUBLIC from ROOT in 4.1's NDS

* Unlike 3.1, 4.1 includes a single trustee which essentially grants everyone read

access to every directory on the system. To prevent all users from seeing the entire

directory tree remove the PUBLIC Trustee from the ROOT object's Trustee list.



Default system accounts

* When you install Netware the installation creates two or four default accounts

:Supervisor and the guest in netware 3.x and Supervisor guest admin and user_template

in netware 4.x. When the network creates the default accounts none of the default

account has password. For example many installation will use a printer account or

LASERPRINTER account with no passowrd on them.



Hacking and defending passwords

* In Netware 2.x 3.x the bindery file's attributes are hidden and system and both

 located on the SYS:SYSTEM subditectory, in 4.x they are located in SYS:_NETWARE

* 2.x   net$bind.sys, net#bval.sys this file conatin the paswords

* 3.x   net$boj.sys, net$prop.sys, net$val.sys this file conatin the paswords

* 4.x   value.nds       part of the NDS

block.nds       part of the NDS

entry.nds       part of the NDS

partitio.nds    type of NDS partition (replica master, etc)

mls.000                 License

vallincen.dat   Licence validation

If  the intrusion detection system IDS is disabled the hacker can use a brute force

to crack the password..

* Set the unencrypted option by entering the following line at the console or adding

it to autoexec.ncf SET ALLOW UNENCRYPTED PASSWORD=ON <Enter>

* The best protection against dictionary attacks is to force users to regularly change

their passwords.

* Periodically run security or another system analysis program for a somaple passwords check,

 and instruct the users to use eight-letter minimum passowrds which include numerals, symbols

 and letters.



===================================EOF===========================================



 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

  \ Cellular Guide       \-<downtime>

   %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%









Contents

~~~~~~~~



1) Some of the Cellular Phone Basics

2) The reason for the name Cellular.

3) Review of the Cellular System.

4) What goes on during Cellular Calling.

5) Cellular Cloning and Other Features.

6) Basic Test Mode Programming

7) What kind of Cellular is Best?

8) Where is the Cellular Technology Going?

9) Closing

_____________________________________________________________________________

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "



Introduction

~~~~~~~~~~~~



We have all seen them, heard about them, and most people use them. What am I

talking about? None other than the Cellular Phone. One of the most interesting

things ever that is associated with the Phreaking Community. This guide will

not tell you how to do illegal things with your cell but this will give you a

basic view of how the cellular phone works. Enjoy!

_____________________________________________________________________________

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "



1) Some of the Cellular Phone Basics



        The main thing to remember about a cellular phone is that it is a

radio. It is basically like a hand held walkie talkie except with a cellular

phone you have alot more capabilities and can talk and listen at the same

time. Remember though that when you are talking on a cellular phone what you

say may and possibly will be monitored very easily. There are two main types

of Cellular Phones Analog and Digital.



        1) Analog: On this the audio is modulated directly onto a carrier

        2) Digital: On Digital, these are converted to digitized samples.

                    These are transmitted as 1's and 0's. Then it is converted

                    back to voltage so you get the audio signal.



        Each Cellular Phone has to identify itself to its cell site before

service is allowed. They are identified by what is known as an ESN and a MIN.



        1) ESN: This stands for Electronic Serial Number. This is a 32-bit

                Binary Number if I am not mistaken.

        2) MIN: Mobile Identification Number. This is the phone number of the

                Cellular Phone. 10 digits including area code and all.

_____________________________________________________________________________

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "



2) The Reason for the name Cellular.



        The reason for this is that in each city the Cellular Phone System is

divided into smaller sections also referred to as cells. These usually have an

antenna on top of a high surface that gives out strong signals therefore giving

you clear service.

_____________________________________________________________________________

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "



3) Review of the Cellular System.



        The main system operating in the United States is the AMPS, Advanced

Mobile Phone System. The AMPS are composed of two different things:



        1) EAMPS: This system has 832 channels.

        2) NAMPS: This system has three times the amount with very clear

                  signals.



        All these have 42 channels that are used to setup calls the rest are

for talking over the Cellular Phone.

_____________________________________________________________________________

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "



4) What goes on during Cellular Calling.



        Just imagine if you are stranded somewhere or possibly just want to

use your cellular phone to call someone. Have you ever wondered how it worked?

Why it worked? If so then I will explain how and why in this section here.

Enjoy!



        1) Scan Channels: In this step the cellular phone scans for the

                          closest cell site near you so that you can get

                          the strongest signals possible due to your location

                          at the moment.



        2) Choose Strongest: As stated above the cellular phone finds the

                             closest site to give you the best performance.



        3) Send Message: The phone sends a short message to the cell site

                         verifying the MIN, ESN, and the number that you

                         have just entered to call.



        4) Assign Channel: After verifying the above information and they

                           know that you are a legal paying customer, the

                           base assigns a mesage to your phone, telling it

                           where the conversation is.



        5) Talk: Phone then gets on that channel and begins to ring. Then

                 you begin to talk like normal. The easiest step of them all.



_____________________________________________________________________________

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "



5) Cellular Cloning and Other Features.



        Cellular Cloning is one of the newest and more popular things going

on now a days. What you are basically doing is programming someone else's

MIN and ESN into your phone in the process of fooling your cellsite into

thinking that you are actually them. Is this legal? Well it depends on which

way you use it. If you use it to clone one of your own phones where you can

have two phones exactly the same then no, but if you are cloning someone

else's then yes it is very illegal. The philosophy of a cellular phone phreak

as stated in another text written by John Markoff is to push the machines as

far as they would go. The possibilites with a cellular phone are practically

endless. You can make one into a scanner as well as many other things.



        The first step of being able to do ANY of this is getting the cellular

phone into what people call test mode. This is where you can practically change

the whole phone's features. The main way to get into this is to crack the access

code. There is a good site that deals with that at the following URL:

http://www.radiophone.com They have great information. Another way to get a

cellular phone is by taking the battery pack off of the back and look in the

lower corner. Here you will see some little prongs, you can get a small piece

of tin foil and place it in the center of the prong like so: |*|

then put the battery pack back on the back of the phone. Then turn the phone

on and when you turn it on you should see an array of flashing numbers. If

so you are in luck because you are in test mode! :)~



_____________________________________________________________________________

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "



6) Basic Test Mode Programming



        This section will tell you what to do once you get into the test mode.

This part comes from 1993 Cellular Subscriber Technical Training Manual. I

give full credit to them for this information. I am not going to include all

of it because it would take forever. Here are some of the basics. Enjoy!



        32# = clear the phone

        38# = displays the ESN

        55# = test mode programming

        01# = restart

        13# = power off

        16# = setup

        18# = send NAM

        34# = turn DTMF off

        61# ESN transfer



        That is jsut some of the very basics. Of course there is alot more

and if I ever write another article with Cellular Phones I will include some

more. Don't want to get very much ahead of ourselves. :)

_____________________________________________________________________________

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "



7) What kind of Cellular is Best?



        There are different kinds of cellular phones for different kind of

people. Me personally I have experience so far with only Motorola. I plan to

get a Nokia soon. Nokia are very advanced and have many options. There is also

the OKI those have been stated to be good. The one that interests me at the

moment are these new ones that are Java based. If you would like to read more

about these go to the following URL:



http://www.nortel.com/cool/norteledge/edge298/N._IP_N.html



        But as stated above many people like many different things, there is

also a new Motorla that is the IDEN I10000. These have two-way radio and

alphanumeric pager in one. These weigh in at around 5 oz. as well.

They also include: One touch call back, a speakerphone, and a multilanguage

operation that displays prompts in one to four different languages. For more

information on this you can call: 1.800.453.0920

_____________________________________________________________________________

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "



8) Where is the Cellular Technology Going?



        This is a very interesting thing to think about including all the

things that they already have out and available at this point in time. There

is no way to actually predict what is going to come out next due to people

having new ideas with each and every passing day. It should be an interesting

thing to think forward about. Whatever it is, it will turn heads I am sure!

_____________________________________________________________________________

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "



9) Closing



        We have seemed to read the end of this guide. I hope this has been

an informative source and you enjoyed it. I will probably write another cellular

guide in the future but am not sure at the moment. Remember "Push the Machine

as Far as it will Go!" =)

_____________________________________________________________________________

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "













===================================EOF===========================================



 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

  \ USB- Where it's going\-<Digi Ebola>

   %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%





In the struggle for better peripheal technology, there can always be improvementThese days,

speed is a issue as well as easy usability. The USB or

Universal Serial Bus is a product of this struggle. With USB, you can connect

a virtual plethora of devices, such as cameras, scanners, and drives. You can

even go as far as running a network off USB. This new technology is the wave of

the future in more ways then one. In this article, I will outline advantages

of the Universal Serial Bus as well as uses that go beyond the standard fare.



==========

Advantages

==========



USB is fast. Much faster then the standard serial port. 12 megabit per second speed.

 Also, in addition to the speed, you can have 120+ devices on one USB port Most of the

 devices are hot-swapable, allowing them to initialize without a reboot of the system.

The USB has excellant versitility, with its digital connection, allowing you to

uses speakers, telephones, and attach to networks.



=======

Uses

=======



Now while the many kinds of devices are being developed for USB, the world seemsslow

on implementing it. Imagine a house, that is ran by computer. This is the

founding technology that will connect it. You could design a entire security

system based on USB and have it all controlled thru a terminal. With standard

parts availiable out of electronic catalogs, you can construct your security

system, using laser diodes, electronic locks, thumbprint id, and cameras. With

the speed USB offers, there is no way better to integrate everything. With a

maximum of 127 devices, it is suited to almost anysize house. If ran on a linux terminal,

you could even connect remotely to enable or disable any device in thesystem. Now, most

people do not bother with hi-tech security in the homes, but you could even extend the

system to home appliances, lights and windows. Think you left your oven on? Telnet in

and shut it off. With the internet, and

personal communication merging, you could even use a cgi interface to control

your home from the web, as well as down load images of the kids sleeping while

you are away, or checking to make sure the dog is still alive.



=================================

The Future of USB, and Hacking It

=================================

With the integration of USB is complete, do not be surprised if the things such

as standard telephones, tvs, and radios utilize it. Entire computer systems

can be built off the technology. With this in mind, for the average person on

the go, the laptop will serve not only as it does now, a portable office, but as a

 full fledged media tool and personal communicator. This will open so many

avenues for the people of the digital age. One scenario is, you go over to a

a friends, and wish to exchange files. You set your laptop on the table, and

whip out a cable, and plug it into the Intranet via wall socket. Instantly,

the system assimulates you like you were meant to be there. You now have access

to the entire system, including the phone, and media services.



This technology will bring many avenues to explore as well as secure. If phones

are implemented, it will take phreaking to a whole new level. Entire houses will be

comprimised, as well as the security systems mentioned above. The job of the

security consultant or the cracker will get more interesting. While all this

sounds corny, society wants convienence, and with that brings security holes

and even flaws. I urge anyone with the skills to start developing USB periphealsand

if your like me, a security system. Integrate your house, your car and even

your dog with USB.



===================================EOF===========================================



 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

  \ XSniffer             \-<Mnemonic>

   %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%





/*XSniffer listens to a port. It reads a line at a time from the

port and saves the data to log.txt, and then outputs the data to

Y0. Works with Redhat 4.2 and 4.0. To change everything back to

normal, mv Y0 X0. For XSniffer to work, rename X0 to Y0 and

rename XSniffer to Y0 in the /tmp/.X11-unix/ directory.*/



#include <stdio.h>

#include <stdlib.h>

#include <string.h>

#include <sys/types.h>

#includes <sys/socket.h>  //XSniffer copyright 1998 Mnemonic

#include <unistd.h>  //what's up Blood?????

#include <netinet/in.h>

#include <netdb.h>

#include <arpa/inet.h>

#include <dos.h>

#include <fcntl.h>



#define Y0 "/tmp/X11-unix/Y0"

#define log "log.txt"



void loop();



int sock_readln(sockfd, str, count)

int sockfd;

char *str;

size_t count;

{

int thisRead;

int total = 0;

char *curr;

char charln = 0;



curr = str;

while (charln != 10)

{

thisRead = read(sockfd, &charln, 1);



if (thisRead <= 0)

{

return(-1); //you overflowed the buffer, buddy

}

if ((charln != 10) && (charln != 13 ))

{

if (total < count)

{



curr[0] = charln;

curr++;

total++;

}

else

return(-1);

}

}

curr[0] = 0;

return(total);

}



int main(argc, argv)

int argc;

char **argv;

{



int sock;

int newsock;

int inr;

int connected;

unsigned short port;

long int lport;

struct sockaddr_in address;

char buffer[1024];

char newbuff[1024];

char *errpos;



if (argc != 2)

{

printf("just type in the freaking port next time");

exit(-1);

}



lport = strtol(argv[1], &errpos, 0);

port = htons(lport);



memset((char *) &address, 0, sizeof(address));

address.sin_family = AF_INET;

address.sin_port = port;

address.sin_addr.s_addr = htonl(INADDR_ANY);



sock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);

bind(sock, (struct sockaddr *) &address, sizeof(address));



listen(sock, 1);

newsock = accept(sock, NULL, NULL);

connected = 1;



while (connected)

{

if (sock_readln(newsock, buffer, 1024) <= -)

{

connected = 0;

}



int handle;

char c;



handle = open(log, O_WRONLY);

printf(str);

close(handle);



outport(sock_readln(newsock, buffer, 1024), X1);

else {

outport(sock_readln(newsock, buffer, 1024, Y0);

}



close(newsock);

close(sock);

loop();

return(0);

}



void loop()

{

main();

}



/*shoutouts to everyone in #legions on efnet*/



===================================EOF===========================================







 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

  \ Long Distance Carriers\-<Levine>

   %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%







Here's another table from the FCC's BBS listing all of the operating IXC's

in the country with the states where they operate.  There's a big matrix of

which states each carrier operates in, not reproduced here.



I was surprised to find that the only carriers that operate in all 50

states (actually 49 states and D.C., since Alaska is special, until

very recently a monopoly jointly operated by Alascom and AT&T) are

the big three, AT&T, MCI, and Sprint.  C&W, LDDS, and Wiltel operate

in 49 states, all but Alaska.  Allnet operates in 48, all but Alaska

and Arkansas.  (I have no idea what their problem is in Arkansas.)

There are two that operate in 45 states, and the rest are down in the

30s or below.



The state with the fewest carriers listed is Delaware, with 6.  I

expect that's a wart of geography -- all of Delaware is in the

Philadelphia LATA, so Delaware customers can be served from a POP in

Pennsylvania.



Regards,



Levine, [e-mail]

Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies"



                                                         STATES

                      CARRIER                   CIC ACNA SERVED



                           Totals by state:

    ACC LONG DISTANCE CORPORATION              0234 ACT       9

    ACCESS LONG DISTANCE                       0991 AMM       7

    ACCESS SERVICES dba PACIFIC NW TELECOM     0013 GMS       3

    ACCESS-PLUS, INC.                          0551 AEQ       1

    ACTION TELECOMMUNICATIONS CO.              0282 ATC       4

    ADDTEL COMMUNICATIONS                      0414 ADX       1

    ADVANCED COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS, INC.      0260 AVD       2

    ADVANTIS                                   0755 ALC       3

    AFFILIATED TELECOM SVCS., INC.             0790 AFF       1

    ALASCOM, INC.                              0866 AAM       1

    ALLCOMM LONG DISTANCE, INC.                0075 AOM       1

    ALLNET COMM. SVC., INC. [LDX, LEXITEL]     0444 ALN      48

    ALTERNATE COMM TECHNOLOGY, INC.            0405 ACX       3

    AMERICALL COMMUNICATIONS                   0682 AIY       5

    AMERICALL CORPORATION (CALIF.)             0099 ARZ       2

    AMERICAN COMMUNICATIONS INT'L, LTD.        0145 ANU       2

    AMERICAN COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK, INC.      0061 AZC       1

    AMERICAN COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY, INC.   0645 AXC       1

    AMERICAN DISCOUNT TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC. 0598 AOU       1

    AMERICAN LONG DISTANCE CORPORATION         0028 VOB       1

    AMERICAN LONG DISTANCE EXCHANGE, INC.      0540 AXL       6

    AMERICAN LONG DISTANCE SERVICES            0504 AMF       1

    AMERICAN LONG LINES                        0241 ALG       9

    AMERICAN NETWORK EXCHANGE, INC.            0370 ANK      26

    AMERICAN SHARECOM, INC.                    0322 ASI      14

    AMERICAN TELCO NETWORK SERVICES, INC.      0663 ANN       1

    AMERICAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENTERPRISES    0813 AEW      18

    AMERICAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS HOLDING, LTD.  0573 AMH       1

    AMERICAN TELEPHONE NETWORK                 0648 AZN      15

    AMERICAN TELNET, INC.                      0307 AQA       0

    AMERICOM COMMUNICATIONS                    0567 AMS       4

    AMERISYSTEMS, INC.                         0362 EOC       2

    AMERITEL LONG DISTANCE, INC.               0975 ALQ       1

    AMNET, INC.                                0128 AXT       1

    AMPTELCO CORPORATION                       0267 APC       1

    AMVOX                                      0617 AVX       1

    ANSWER-NET, INC.                           0143 AWE       1

    APPLE COMMUNICATIONS                       0095 AZL       2

    APPLIED SIGNAL CORPORATION                 0256 APD       1

    ARCH TELECOM                               0304 LUS       1

    ASCENDING TECHNOLOGIES                     0139 AWT       1

    ASSOCIATED TELENET, INC./ A CTI COMPANY    0279 ASN       1

    AT&T COMMUNICATIONS                        0288 ATX      50

    ATLANTIC TELEPHONE COMPANY, INC.           0125 AQT       1

    ATX TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES            0004 ATZ      12

    AUSTIN BESTLINE                            0302 ABN       1

    AUTOMATED COMMUNICATIONS, INC.             0244 AUD       8

    AUTOMATED TELEPHONE                        0235 EMT       2

    AUTUMN COMMUNICATIONS, INC.                0779 AUX       4

    B.R. COMMUNICATIONS                        0791 BRR       1

    BEE LINE LONG DISTANCE                     0276 BLE       1

    BITTEL TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION      0867 BTL       1

    BIXBY TELEPHONE LONG DISTANCE CO.          0580 BXT       1

    BIZ TEL LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE CO.        0606 BIZ       1

    BRANSON TELEPHONE                          0836 BRN       1

    BROWER NETWORK 1                           0037 NWO       4

    BUDGET CALL LONG DISTANCE                  0368 BUC      16

    BURLINGTON TELEPHONE COMPANY               0515 BUR       6

    BUSINESS CHOICE NETWORK                    0736 BCH       1

    BUSINESS TELECOM, INC.                     0833 BTM       9

    C & G ASSOCIATES                           0788 SIG       1

    CABLE & WIRELESS COMM, INC. (TDX)          0223 TDX      49

    CALL AMERICA                               0300 CMA       4

    CALL AMERICA BUSINESS COMM. CORP.          0344 CBU       1

    CALL AMERICA OF PALM DESERT                0410 CPD       1

    CALL AMERICA OF RIVERSIDE                  0351 CRV       2

    CALL FOR LESS LONG DISTANCE                0259 CFX       1

    CALL SAVERS, INC.                          0291 CSF       1

    CALL TECHNOLOGY CORP. OF PHILADELPHIA      0091 CTG       2

    CALL-USA, INC.                             0429 FNS       1

    CAM-NET, INC.                              0046 CNZ       1

    CAMBRIDGE COMMUNICATIONS                   0487 CBG       1

    CAMERON LONG DISTANCE                      0670 CAO       1

    CAPITAL NETWORK SYSTEMS, INC.              0425 CAQ      20

    CAPITAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.           0221 CPL      11

    CARIBBEAN TELEPHONE & TELEGRAPH, INC.      0383 CIB       1

    CELLULAR LONG DISTANCE CO.                 0530 CUL       1

    CELLULAR, INC.                             0748 CLW       0

    CENTURY AREA LONG LINES                    0550 CAL       1

    CENTURY TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.           0914 SMD       2

    CHADWICK TELEPHONE                         0909 CWV       4

    CHERRY COMMUNICATIONS                      0270 CHY      11

    CHILLICOTHE LONG DISTANCE                  0293 LSP       1

    CINCINNATI BELL LONG DISTANCE, INC.        0654 CBD       6

    CITYNET COMMUNICATIONS, INC.               0774 CYU       1

    CLEARTEL COMMUNICATIONS                    0548 CRZ      12

    CLIFTON PHONE SYSTEMS                      0309 CFP       1

    COACHELLA VALLEY COMM. dba INTEG. OP. SVCS 0629 CHL       2

    COAST INTERNATIONAL, INC.                  0063 CIZ       5

    COAST TO COAST TELECOMMUNICATIONS          0902 MWT       1

    COASTAL AUTOMATED COMMUNCATIONS CORP.      0966 AUC      11

    COLONIAL ENTERPRISE, INC.                  0329 CQL       2

    COLORADO RIVER COMMUNICATIONS              0306 CDR       1

    COLUMBIA TEL                               0918 CBA       1

    COMCENTRAL dba SOUTHNET SERVICES, INC.     0934 SUH       1

    COMCENTRAL, INC.                           0611 COX       1

    COMMONWEALTH LONG DISTANCE CO.             0336 CWZ       4

    COMMUNICATION SERVICES OF COLORADO         0675 NSL       1

    COMMUNICATIONS BROKERS, INC.               0640 NBK       1

    COMMUNICATIONS CABLE LAYING CO., INC.      0339 CAB       2

    COMMUNICATIONS GATEWAY NETWORK, INC.       0643 CGW       1

    COMMUNICATIONS OPTIONS, INC.               0073 CPW       1

    COMMUNICATIONS TELESYSTEMS, INTL. (CTI)    0502 CXM      15

    COMMUNICATIONS, INC., dba ECI              0667 THG       1

    COMMUNIQUE TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.        0810 CQE       7

    COMWEST COMMUNICATIONS                     0238 CWS       1

    CONNECT AMERICA COMMUNICATIONS, INC.       0660 CQA       9

    CONNECT AMERICA CORP.                      0374 CQB       6

    CONQUEST                                   0319 CQO      26

    CONSOLIDATED NETWORK, INC.                 0725 CDN      13

    CONTACT AMERICA, INC.                      0646 COA       1

    CONTINENTAL LONG DISTANCE                  0701 CWG       1

    CONTINENTAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS GROUP       0612 CGR       1

    CORPORATE TELEMANAGEMENT GROUP             0690 CGP       6

    CUSTOM TELECOM. NETWORK OF ARIZONA         0586 CZZ       2

    CYBERLINK                                  0618 CYB       1

    CYPRESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., (CYTEL)  0203 CTQ       4

    DATA & ELECTRONIC SERVICES, INC.           0147 DES       1

    DELTA COMMUNICATIONS, INC.                 0233 DLT       8

    DELTACOM, INC.                             0240 SIR       2

    DELUXE DATA SYSTEMS                        0693 DLX       3

    DIAL LONG DISTANCE CORP.                   0398 DSC       0

    DIAL-NET, INC.                             0969 DNI       7

    DIGITAL NETWORK SERVICES, INC.             0064 DSV       2

    DIGITAL NETWORK, INC.                      0853 TXL       2

    DIGITRAN CORP.                             0543 DTR       5

    EASTERN TELELOGIC CORPORATION              0303 ETL       2

    EASTERN TELEPHONE SYSTEMS, INC.            0054 ETS       5

    ECON-A-CALL, INC., OF HAYS                 0497 ECA       1

    ECONO-LINE WACO                            0373 ECW       1

    ECONO. CALL LONG DISTANCE SERVICES         0325 ECR       2

    ECONOMY TELEPHONE, INC.                    0060 ECY       1

    EDS                                        0650 UTA       2

    ELECTRIC LIGHTWAVE, INC.                   0802 ELG       2

    EMI COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION             0365 EMI       5

    ENVOY GLOBAL                               0868 EGI       1

    EQUICOM COMMUNICATIONS, INC.               0364 EQM       1

    ETSC                                       0048 ETM       1

    EXCEL TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.             0752 EXL       2

    EXECULINES OF SACRAMENTO                   0511 ESM       5

    EXECULINES OF THE NORTHWEST, INC.          0705 ENW       2

    FARMERS LONG DISTANCE, INC.                0531 FAR       1

    FEB CORPORATION                            0922 FEB       0

    FEDERAL TRANSTEL, INC.                     0285 FTT       0

    FEIST LONG DISTANCE                        0679 SWB       3

    FIBERLINK COMMUNICATIONS CORP.             0051 FBL       1

    FIBERTECH TELECOM, INC.                    0479 FTI       4

    FIRST FONE LONG DISTANCE                   0935 FSL       2

    FIRSTEL                                    0475 FTL       3

    FLEX COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM                 0096 FLX       3

    FONE AMERICA, INC.                         0503 FAC       4

    FOX COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION             0637 FOX       3

    FUTURE TELEPHONE COMMUNICATIONS            0121 FRE       1

    GENERAL COMMUNICATION, INC.                0077 GCN       2

    GLENS FALLS LONG DISTANCE SERVICES         0295 GFS       1

    GULF LONG DISTANCE, INC.                   0962 GLG       3

    HAWAIIAN TELEPHONE COMPANY                 0015 HWT       1

    HEARTLINE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.             0009 HER       4

    HEDGES & ASSOCIATES                        0049 HDG       1

    HEREFORD LONG DISTANCE SERVICES            0584 WRU       1

    HI-PLAINS NTS COMMUNICATIONS               0722 HPL       1

    HOGAN COMMUNICATIONS                       0965 HOG       2

    HOME OWNERS LONG DISTANCE, INC.            0882 HOL       1

    HOTEL NETWORKS                             0575 HNT       1

    HSS VENDING DISTRIBUTORS                   0392 HSV       0

    ICON COMMUNICATIONS CORP.                  0706 ICU       2

    IFC COMMUNICATIONS                         0141 IFF       0

    INFO-TEL, INC.                             0433 IFT       0

    INFOACCESS, INC.                           0172 IFA       0

    INFORMATICS, INC.                          0583 IFC       5

    INNOVATIVE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.            0510 INV       1

    INTEGRATED SYSTEMS CORPORATION             0696 IGA       1

    INTEGRETEL, INC.                           0402 IGT       0

    INTELCO                                    0465 TEC       2

    INTELLICALL OPERATOR SERVICES              0034 ICH       1

    INTERAMERICAN TELEPHONE CO. (ITC)          0936 IAT       1

    INTERLINK TELECOMMUNICATIONS               0904 ILK       2

    INTERNATIONAL AUDIOTEXT NETWORK, INC.      0509 IAN       9

    INTERNATIONAL CELLULAR, INC.               0943 CEO       1

    INTERNATIONAL PACIFIC                      0589 IPC       7

    INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP.     0519 IZT       0

    INTERSTATE TELECOM SVCS., INC.             0964 ILC       1

    INTL. 800 TELECOM dba TELECALL LONG DIST.  0685 NTI       1

    IOWA NETWORK SERVICES, INC.                0225 IAS       2

    ITC NETWORKS                               0468 IUT       4

    KENTUCKY TELEPHONE CORPORATION             0062 KTC       1

    KEYSTONE LONG DISTANCE                     0699 KYL       6

    KEYSTONE TELECOM, INC.                     0545 KST       1

    KEYSTONE TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.          0703 KSN       1

    KRB TELECOM                                0989 KRB       4

    L.D. NETWORK, INC.                         0931 LDQ       1

    L.D. SERVICES, INC.                        0280 LSE       4

    LA CONEXION FAMILIAR, INC.                 0926 LCF       4

    LAKE STATES COMMUNICATIONS, INC.           0552 LKS       1

    LANDMARK COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY, INC.      0193 LMK       1

    LCI                                        0562 LCZ       4

    LCI INTERNATIONAL/LITEL                    0432 LGT      45

    LCT LONG DISTANCE                          0561 LKC       1

    LDB INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION              0477 LDB       9

    LDDS                                       0450 LDD      49

    LDS OF ALEXANDRIA                          0036 LDA       1

    LDS OF MONROE                              0036 LMN       1

    LDS OF SHREVEPORT                          0036 LSH       1

    LECNET, INC.                               0299 TFP       1

    LINKUSA CORPORATION                        0563 LNK       1

    LINTEL SYSTEMS/LTLD                        0579 LNS       1

    LOCATE TELEPHONE COMPANY                   0512 LAT       1

    LONE STAR TELECOM                          0205 LST       1

    LONG DISTANCE AMERICA                      0035 CWK       2

    LONG DISTANCE COMMUNICATIONS               0607 LDC       1

    LONG DISTANCE DISCOUNT, INC.               0533 LGD       6

    LONG DISTANCE MANAGEMENT                   0536 LDM       4

    LONG DISTANCE MANAGEMENT, INC.             0382 LGM       1

    LONG DISTANCE NETWORK                      0395 LOS       4

    LONG DISTANCE NORTH OF NEW HAMPSHIRE       0516 LNH       5

    LONG DISTANCE OF MICHIGAN                  0631 LMI      14

    LONG DISTANCE OHIO, INC.                   0564 LOH       1

    LONG DISTANCE SAVERS                       0036 LSI       6

    LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE SAVERS, INC.       0213 LTS       3

    LONG DISTANCE TRANSFER, INC.               0069 LOG       3

    MANITOWOC LONG DISTANCE SERVICE            0357 MTZ       1

    MARATHON COMMUNICATIONS                    0014 MHZ       1

    MATRIX TELECOM                             0780 MXT       7

    MCI                                        0222 MCI      50

    METRO ONE DIRECT                           0565 MDI       1

    METRO TELECOM, INC.                        0692 MEO       0

    METRO TELECOMM. SVCS., INC. dba METROCOMM  0860 TWH       3

    METRO TELEPHONE, INC.                      0635 MHE       1

    METRONET LONG DISTANCE COMMUNICATIONS      0258 MLD       1

    MFS INTELENET, INC.                        0440 MFZ       3

    MID ATLANTIC TELECOM                       0086 MAD       9

    MID-COM COMMUNICATIONS, INC.               0495 MIZ       2

    MIDCO COMMUNICATIONS                       0338 MIT       1

    MIDCOM OF ARIZONA, INC.                    0558 MDL       1

    MIDTEL LONG DISTANCE MINOT                 0932 MMN       1

    MIDWEST TELECOM                            0980 MWS       1

    MIDWEST TELEPHONE SERVICE, INC.            0680 MDW       1

    MINNESOTA INDEPENDENT.INTEREXCH.CO./MIIC   0264 MEN       1

    MOUNTAINEER LONG DISTANCE, INC.            0923 MOI       4

    MRC TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.               0912 NLG       1

    MULTIMEDAI TELEPHONE SERVICE, INC.         0829 MUE       1

    MUSTANG TELE-COMMUNICATIONS, INC.          0688 MNG       1

    MVP COMMUNICATIONS, INC.                   0827 SZT       1

    NACT dba NETWORK TELEMANAGEMENT SERVICES   0806 NTG       1

    NAPA VALLEY TELECOM SERVICES               0794 NVT       2

    NATIONAL BRANDS, INC.                      0549 NBI       1

    NATIONAL DATA CORPORATION                  0632 NLD       2

    NATIONAL FIBERNET, INC.                    0326 NFB       1

    NATIONAL INDEPENDENT CARRIER EXCH., INC.   0059 GLD       2

    NATIONAL TECHNICAL ASSOCIATES dba NTA      0683 NTK       1

    NATIONAL TELE-SAV, INC.                    0341 NSV       1

    NATIONAL TELECOM. OF FLORIDA               0657 NFL       1

    NATIONAL TELEPHONE EXCNAGE (PA)            0746 NLE       2

    NATIONAL TELEPROCESSING, INC.              0697 NZT       1

    NATIONAL TELESERVICE                       0401 NNL       3

    NATIONWIDE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.            0716 NND       3

    NATIONWIDE LONG DISTANCE                   0403 NGD       1

    NCHE TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK, INC.      0017 NCE       1

    NET EXPRESS COMMUNICATIONS, INC.           0388 NXC       2

    NETWORK BILLING AND COLLECTIONS, INC.      0871 NBZ       1

    NETWORK LONG DISTANCE                      0765 DCT       1

    NETWORK ONE                                0135 NOE       2

    NETWORK OPERATOR SERVICES, INC.            0308 NOS       4

    NETWORK USA                                0881 CNK       1

    NEW ENGLAND TELEDISCOUNT SYSTEMS, INC.     0940 NED       1

    NEW TIMES, INC.                            0945 NWM       0

    NICKEL FONE                                0423 NFN       1

    NORTH AMERICAN COMMUNICATIONS, INC.        0933 NAC       2

    NORTH AMERICAN TELEPHONE                   0201 NHT       1

    NORTH COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION    0890 NHC       6

    NORTHERN ARIZONA COMMUNICATIONS CORP.      0491 NAR       1

    NORTHERN TELECOM INC.                      0376 NTQ       1

    NORTHERN WISCONSIN L.D.S.                  0713 NWD       1

    NORTHLAND TELEPHONE SYSTEMS, LTD.          0332 NRD       1

    NORTHWEST TELECOM, LTD.                    0638 NWT       1

    NORTHWEST TELECOMMUNICATIONS CO.           0212 NWS       3

    NTC, INC.                                  0908 NCQ       3

    NTS COMMUNICATIONS, INC.                   0469 GMW       6

    NTS NETOWRK TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES    0644 SVV       1

    NUESTRA TELEFONICA                         0407 NUE       1

    O.L.C. COMPANY                             0651 OLC       1

    OCOM CORPORATION                           0590 OCO       1

    ONCOR COMMUNICATIONS, INC.                 0805 ONR      33

    ONE CALL COMM. dba OPTICOM [ONE]           0880 SVL      33

    ONE-2-ONE COMMUNICATIONS                   0390 PRO      13

    OPERATOR SERVICE CO.                       0891 CIN       4

    PACE LONG DISTANCE SERVICE                 0757 PAC      13

    PARKWAY COMMUNICATIONS, INC.               0553 PRK       1

    PAY TEL COMMUNICATIONS, INC.               0917 PAY       1

    PAYLINE SYSTEMS, INC.                      0767 PLS       8

    PDQ COMMUNICATIONS SOURCE                  0178 PDQ       2

    PENINSULA LONG DISTANCE SERVICE, INC.      0743 PLD       1

    PEOPLE'S TELEPHONE COMPANY, INC.           0227 CYN       5

    PEOPLES COMMUNCATIONS, INC.                0728 PIO       1

    PHONE BASE SYSTEMS, INC.                   0380 PHB       1

    PHONE ONE                                  0393 EXF       1

    PHONETEL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.                0838 PHT       6

    PILGRIM TELEPHONE, INC.                    0930 PLG       2

    POLAR COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION           0967 PLR      15

    PREFERRED NETWORK                          0976 PFR       1

    PREMIER LONG DISTANCE SVCS., INC.          0342 PIE       1

    PRIME TIME COMMUNICATIONS                  0954 PRI       1

    PRO TAS TELECOMMUNICATIONS                 0673 PFE       1

    PROTEL, INC.                               0418 PTZ       0

    PSA, INC.                                  0045 PSA       1

    PSP MARKETING GROUP, INC.                  0249 PMG       1

    PUBLIC PHONE                               0255 PUP       2

    PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF NEW MEXICO       0830 PSV       1

    PUBLIC SWITCH CORP.                        0740 PSW       1

    QUEST TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.             0971 APV       1

    R D & J COMMUNICATIONS MGMT., INC.         0642 RDJ       7

    RANGER TELECOMMUNICATIONS                  0047 RGR       1

    RCI LONG DISTANCE                          0003 RTC      26

    READY CALL, INC.                           0605 ESY       1

    RESURGENS COMMUNICATION GROUP              0782 STE       4

    RESURGENS WEST, INC.                       0471 UEL       1

    SCHNEIDER COMMUNICATIONS                   0500 SCH       7

    SCIENCE DYNAMICS CORPORATION               0609 SDD       1

    SECURITEX dba TYLERNET LONG DISTANCE       0254 TYR       1

    SHARED COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES, INC.       0246 SHD       2

    SHARED USE NETWORK                         0018 SNK       2

    SHOW-ME LONG DISTANCE, INC.                0778 SHW       1

    SONIC COMMUNICATIONS, INC.                 0126 SNU       1

    SOUTH CAROLINA NETWORK, INC.               0807 SNZ       1

    SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND TELEPHONE (SNET)      0763 SNG       1

    SOUTHTEL CORPORATION                       0792 SZU       4

    SOUTHWEST UNITED COMMUNICATION, INC.       0993 SUC       1

    SOUTHWESTERN TELECOM, INC.                 0005 SOW       1

    SP TELECOM                                 0056 SPA       6

    SPRINT                                     0333 UTC      50

    ST. JOE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.               0744 SJE       1

    STANDARD COMMUNICATIONS, INC., dba SCI     0248 SCQ       1

    STANDARD TELCOM, INC.                      0352 STD       1

    STAR TEL                                   0313 STR       1

    STAR TEL OF ABILENE                        0787 STT       1

    STAR TEL OF VICTORIA                       0983 STV       1

    STAR TEL TRANSMISSION CO., INC.            0984 STA       1

    STARTEC, INC.                              0719 STZ       1

    STENOCALL                                  0929 STO       1

    STONE & COMPANY                            0184 SOZ       1

    SUNSHINE TELEPHONE, INC. dba SUNTEL        0784 SNH       1

    SUNTEL, INC.                               0247 SUL       3

    SWITCH 2000, INC.                          0727 SWH       3

    SYNERGY TELEMANAGEMENT                     0795 SGY       1

    T M SEPULVEDA, INC.                        0358 SEP       3

    T-TEL                                      0493 TRF       2

    TACONIC LONG DISTANCE SERVICE, CORP.       0245 TDT       4

    TALTON TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION      0849 TWL       1

    TCI COMMUNICATIONS, INC.                   0560 TUC       3

    TEASE COMMUNICATIONS                       0883 TZY       2

    TEL AMERICA                                0700 TMU       7

    TEL NET, INC.                              0919 TNT       1

    TEL OPTIC, INC., dba CALL AMERICA          0489 HGS       5

    TEL SERV                                   0378 ALP       1

    TEL-AMERICA NETWORK SERVICES, INC.         0274 TNW       3

    TEL-CENTRAL OF JEFFERSON CITY              0218 TCQ       1

    TEL-COM, INC.                              0815 TEZ       1

    TEL-SHARE                                  0330 TSH       1

    TEL-SPAN COMMUNICATIONS, INC.              0520 TSW       1

    TELALEASING ENT. INC. dba PHONE ZONE, INC. 0397 PZF       1

    TELAMARKETING COMM OF BIRMINGHAM           0007 TOB       1

    TELAMARKETING COMM OF MONTEREY             0007 TMY       1

    TELAMARKETING COMM OF PIEDMONT             0007 TPI       1

    TELAMARKETING COMM OF THE TRI-STATES       0007 TAE       1

    TELAMARKETING COMMUNICATIONS, INC.         0007 TAM      11

    TELAMERICA COMMUNICATIONS, INC.            0749 VCE       1

    TELCO COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, INC.           0457 TDG       1

    TELE TECH, INC.                            0915 TTH       0

    TELE-COMMUNICATIONS INT'L                  0958 TTW       1

    TELE-MATIC CORP.                           0655 TMW       5

    TELE-SYS, INC.                             0482 TEI       1

    TELECABLE CORPORATION                      0845 TBQ       4

    TELECOLUMBUS, USA dba WORLDCOM             0953 WDC       3

    TELECOM WEST                               0529 LWC       1

    TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANTS, INC.       0029 TQC       1

    TELECON COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION         0518 TOX       1

    TELECORP INTERNATIONAL                     0985 TQI       2

    TELEDATA INTERNATIONAL, INC.               0481 TDE       1

    TELEGROUP                                  0630 TGP       0

    TELEMANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS CORPORATION     0458 TGN       3

    TELENATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS                0621 TZX       7

    TELEPHONE ASSOC. LONG DISTANCE SERVICES    0837 TDS       2

    TELEPHONE ASSOC., dba FERGUS FALLS LD      0498 FRG       1

    TELEPHONE COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION       0977 THZ       1

    TELEPHONE ELECTRONICS NETWORK, LTD.        0745 TRW       0

    TELEPHONE EXPRESS                          0899 TEC       6

    TELESAVER OF NEW MEXICO                    0026 ABQ       1

    TELESCAN, INC.                             0731 TZC       2

    TELEVOX PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS, INC.        0409 TXV       1

    TELNEX, INC.                               0296 TXI       1

    TELSTAR COMMUNICATIONS,INC.                0873 TPD      10

    TELTRUST NETWORK SERVICES                  0485 TUT      11

    TELVUE COPORATION                          0707 SDY      22

    TEXUSTEL, INC.                             0331 TXT       1

    THE COMMUNIGROUP                           0268 CUT      11

    THE PAY TELEPHONE CO.                      0798 PYT       1

    THE REAL PUBLIC TELEPHONE COMPANY, INC.    0896 REL       1

    THE SWITCHBOARD                            0385 SBD       1

    TMC LONG DISTANCE                          0019 TSD       1

    TMC OF LEXINGTON                           0462 TLX       1

    TMC OF OMAHA                               0007 TOH       3

    TMC OF SOUTHERN KENTUCKY                   0942 TBG       1

    TOTAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.             0848 TIO       1

    TOTAL-TEL USA, INC.                        0081 TTU      14

    TOTALNET COMMUNICATIONS, INC.              0346 TQL       1

    TOUCH 1, INC.                              0797 TOA      20

    TOUCH AMERICA, INC.                        0335 THA       2

    TOUCH-1 LONG DISTANCE, INC.                0751 TUH       8

    TRANSACTION NETWORK SERVICES               0522 TAX       1

    TRANSPACIFIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.      0578 TPF       3

    TRI*TEL COMMUNICATIONS                     0874 TIQ       7

    TRI-STATE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.             0472 TIE       1

    TRT TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP.               0120 TRT       8

    TTE OF CHARLESTON                          0461 TTQ       1

    U S COMNET                                 0229 UZC       2

    U.S. ADVANTAGE LONG DISTANCE               0596 UAV       1

    U.S. COMMUNCATIONS INC.                    0879 USI       5

    U.S. CONNECT CORPORATION                   0574 USJ       5

    U.S. FIBERCOM                              0941 UFZ       1

    U.S. FIBERLINE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.        0576 UFL       1

    U.S. LINK                                  0355 USL       3

    U.S. LONG DISTANCE, INC.                   0556 ULD      12

    U.S. NET, INC.                             0298 USZ       1

    U.S. NETWORK                               0271 LNO       3

    U.S. TELE-COMM, INC.                       0396 USQ       1

    ULTIMATE COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION        0822 ULM       1

    UNI-TEL OF FARMINGTON                      0907 UNT       1

    UNION TELEPHONE COMPANY                    0855 UTT       3

    UNITED COMMUNICATIONS, INC.                0955 PCL       1

    UNITED L.D.S.                              0840 UDS       1

    UNITED TELEPHONE CO. dba TELAMERICA L.D.   0544 UTD       1

    UNITED TELEPHONE LONG DISTANCE             0204 ULG       8

    UNITED TELESYSTEMS, INC.                   0861 USY       1

    UNITEL                                     0863 UNE       1

    UNITEL COMMUNICATIONS, INC.                0869 UCN       1

    US COMM. INC., dba SOUTHWEST L.D.N., INC.  0568 JNT       3

    US WATS                                    0200 UWT       6

    VADACOM                                    0057 VDC       2

    VALLEY STAR-TEL                            0878 VST       1

    VALU-LINE OF AMARILLO                      0669 VOA       4

    VALU-LINE OF KANSAS                        0678 VLK       1

    VALU-LINE OF LONGVIEW, INC.                0859 VLW       1

    VALU-LINE OF ST. JOSEPH                    0889 VSJ       1

    VALUE-ADDED COMMUNICATIONS                 0817 VAC       6

    VARTEC dba METROTEL LONG DISTANCE          0818 MZL      23

    VIP CONNECTIONS, INC.                      0847 VPC       1

    VRS BILLING SYSTEMS, INC.                  0903 VSL       1

    VTA, INC.                                  0041 CIS       1

    WAUSAU LONG DISTANCE SERVICE               0753 WLD       1

    WCS OPERATORS                              0712 WCS       1

    WEST COAST TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.        0569 WCU      45

    WESTCOM LONG DISTANCE                      0459 THT       1

    WESTCOM, INC.                              0938 WCO       5

    WESTEL INC.                                0085 WES      12

    WESTERN OKLAHOMA INFORMATION SYSTEMS       0443 WOI       1

    WESTERN TELECOM, INC.                      0427 WTK       3

    WESTERN TELENET, INC.                      0431 WST       1

    WILTEL                                     0555 WTL      49

    YAVAPAI TELEPHONE EXCHANGE                 0766 YTE       1

    ZENEX LONG DISTANCE, INC.                  0761 CJL       1

    ZERO PLUS DIALING                          0756 XZP       1



===================================EOF===========================================







 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

  \ STD Phone Codes      \-<foneman>

   %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%





[foneman]



Someone emailed me about STD Codes in Londen.  So after doing some heavy scanning

here you go...  Have Fun,  I'll be back in kv6.







LONDEN STD CODES





0171 210 xxxx                         Westminster

 NOX 211 xxxx                         Westminster

0171 212 xxxx                         Westminster

0171 230 xxxx                         Westminster (New Scotland Yard)

0181 255 xxxx                         Telewest Communications

0171 256 xxxx                         City of London (Moorgate)

0171 257 xxxx                         Covent Garden

0171 258 xxxx                         Paddington

0171 259 xxxx                         Belgravia or Brixton (!)

0181 281 xxxx                         Cable & Wireless (cable) for Buckhurst Hill, Essex

0171 283 xxxx                         City of London (Monument)

0171 308 xxxx                         Cable and wireless for private London Transport extensions

0181 317 xxxx                         Woolwich and Plumstead

0181 318 xxxx                         Lewisham

0181 319 xxxx                         Woolwich, Eltham and Greenwich

0171 321 xxxx                         Westminster

0171 323 xxxx                         Bloomsbury

0171 374 xxxx                         City of London (Moorgate)

0171 382 xxxx                         City of London (Moorgate)

0171 383 xxxx                         Euston

0171 385 xxxx                         Fulham

0171 386 xxxx                         Fulham

0181 395 xxxx                         Telewest (cable) Croydon

0181 395 xxxx                         Telewest (cable) Merton (Morden, Mitcham, Wimbledon)

0181 395 xxxx                         Telewest (cable) Sutton

0181 395 xxxx                         Telewest (cable) Richmond

0181 472 xxxx                         East Ham

0171 474 xxxx                         Plaistow and Canning Town

0181 475 xxxx                         Upton Park

0171 476 xxxx                         Plaistow and Canning Town

0181 478 xxxx                         Ilford

0171 487 xxxx                         St Marylebone

0171 488 xxxx                         City of London and Wapping

0171 489 xxxx                         City of London (St.Pauls)

0181 491 xxxx                         Cable & Wireless (cable) for Woodford, Essex

0181 576 1xxx                         Direct dial-in to BBC's EBX

0181 576 7xxx                         Direct dial-in to BBC's EBX



===================================EOF===========================================







 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

  \ Telephony            \-<N6ARE>

   %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%



[e-mail] -



 Everybody has one, but what makes it work?



     Although telephones and telephone company practices may vary

dramatically  from one locality to another, the basic  principles

underlying the way they work remain unchanged.



     Every  telephone consists of three  separate  subassemblies,

each capable of independent operation.  These assemblies are  the

speech  network, the dialing mechanism, and the ringer  or  bell.

Together, these parts - as well as any additional devices such as

modems,  dialers,  and answering machines - are attached  to  the

phone line.





The phone line



     A  telephone is usually connected to the telephone  exchange

by  about three miles (4.83 km) of a twisted pair of No.22  (AWG)

or  0.5  mm  copper wires, known by your phone  company  as  "the

loop".   Although  copper  is  a good  conductor,  it  does  have

resistance.   The resistance of No.22 AWG wire is 16.46 Ohms  per

thousand  feet  at 77 degrees F (25 degrees C).   In  the  United

States,  wire resistance is measured in Ohms per  thousand  feet;

telephone  companies describe loop length in kilofeet  (thousands

of  feet).   In  other parts of the  world,  wire  resistance  is

usually expressed as Ohms per kilometer.



     Because  telephone apparatus is generally considered  to  be

current   driven,  all  phone  measurements  refer   to   current

consumption, not voltage.  The length of the wire connecting  the

subscriber to the telephone exchange affects the total amount  of

current   that  can  be  drawn  by  anything  attached   at   the

subscriber's end of the line.



     In  the  United States, the voltage applied to the  line  to

drive  the telephone is 48 VDC; some countries use 50 VDC.   Note

that telephones are peculiar in that the signal line is also  the

power  supply line.  The voltage is supplied by lead acid  cells,

thus  assuring a hum-free supply and complete  independence  from

the electric company, which may be especially useful during power

outages.



     At  the telephone exchange the DC voltage and  audio  signal

are  separated  by  directing  the  audio  signal  through  2  uF

capacitors and blocking the audio from the power supply with a 5-

Henry choke in each line.  Usually these two chokes are the  coil

windings  of  a  relay  that switches  your  phone  line  at  the

exchange;  in the United States, this relay is known as  the  "A"

relay (see fig.1).  The resistance of each of these chokes is 200

Ohms.



     We can find out how well a phone line is operating by  using

Ohm's  law  and  an  ammeter. The DC  resistance  of  any  device

attached  to the phone line is often quoted in telephone  company

specifications  as  200  Ohms; this will vary  in  practice  from

between  150 to 1,000 Ohms. You can measure the DC resistance  of

your  phone  with an Ohmmeter. Note this is  DC  resistance,  not

impedance.





     Using  these figures you can estimate the  distance  between

your telephone and the telephone exchange.  In the United States,

the telephone company guarantees you no lower current than 20  mA

-  or  what is known to your phone company as a  "long  loop."  A

"short loop" will draw 50 to 70 mA, and an average loop, about 35

mA.  Some countries will consider their maximum loop as low as 12

mA.  In practice, United States telephones are usually capable of

working  at  currents  as  low as 14  mA.   Some  exchanges  will

consider your phone in use and feed dial tone down the line  with

currents  as  low as 8 mA, even though the telephone may  not  be

able to operate.



     Although  the telephone company has supplied plenty of  nice

clean  DC  direct  to your home, don't assume  you  have  a  free

battery  for your own circuits.  The telephone company wants  the

DC resistance of your line to be about 10 megOhms when there's no

apparatus  in use ("on hook," in telephone company  jargon);  you

can  draw no more than 5 microamperes while the phone is in  that

state.   When  the phone is in use, or "off hook," you  can  draw

current, but you will need that current to power your phone,  any

current you might draw for other purposes would tend to lower the

signal level.



     The  phone  line has an impedance  composed  of  distributed

resistance, capacitance, and inductance.  The impedance will vary

according  to the length of the loop, the type of  insulation  of

the wire, and whether the wire is aerial cable, buried cable,  or

bare  parallel wires strung on telephone poles.  For  calculation

and specification purposes, the impedance is normally assumed  to

be 600 to 900 Ohms.  If the instrument attached to the phone line

should  be of the wrong impedance, you would get a  mismatch,  or

what  telephone  company  personnel refer to  as  "return  loss."

(Radio  Amateurs will recognize return loss as SWR.)  A  mismatch

on telephone lines results in echo and whistling, which the phone

company  calls "singing" and owners of very cheap telephones  may

have  come  to expect.  A mismatched device can, by the  way,  be

matched  to  the phone line by placing resistors in  parallel  or

series  with  the line to bring the impedance of  the  device  to

within the desired limits.  This will cause some signal loss,  of

course, but will make the device usable.



     A  phone  line  is balanced feed,  with  each  side  equally

balanced  to ground.  Any imbalance will introduce hum and  noise

to the phone line and increase susceptibility to RFI.



     The  balance  of the phone line is known to  your  telephone

company  as "longitudinal balance."  If both impedance match  and

balance  to ground are kept in mind, any device attached  to  the

phone  line  will perform well, just as the correct  matching  of

transmission  lines and devices will ensure good  performance  in

radio practice.



     If  you  live  in the United States,  the  two  phone  wires

connected  to your telephone should be red and green.  (In  other

parts  of the world they may be different colors.)  The red  wire

is  negative  and  the green wire is  positive.   Your  telephone

company  calls the green wire "Tip" and the red wire "Ring".  (In

other parts of the world, these wires may be called "A" and "B".)

Most installations have another pair of wires, yellow and  black.

These wires can be used for many different purposes, if they  are

used  at all.  Some party lines use the yellow wire as a  ground;

sometimes  there's  6.8 VAC on this pair to light  the  dials  of

Princess type phones.  If you have two separate phone lines  (not

extensions) in your home, you will find the yellow and black pair

carrying  a second telephone line.  In this case, black is  "Tip"

and yellow is "Ring."



     The  above description applies to a standard line with a  DC

connection  between  your  end  of the  line  and  the  telephone

exchange.  Most phone lines in the world are of this type,  known

as  a "metallic line."  In a metallic line, there may or may  not

be  inductance devices placed in the line to alter the  frequency

response  of  the line; the devices used to do  this  are  called

"loading  coils."  (Note: if they impair the  operation  of  your

modem,  your telephone company can remove them.)  Other types  of

lines  are party lines, which may be metallic lines  but  require

special   telephones   to   allow  the   telephone   company   to

differentiate  between  subscribers.  Very long  lines  may  have

amplifiers,  sometimes  called "loop extenders"  on  them.   Some

telephone  companies  use a system called  "subscriber  carrier,"

which is basically an RF system in which your telephone signal is

heterodyned  up  to around 100 Khz and then  sent  along  another

subscriber's "twisted pair."



     If  you have  questions about your telephone line,  you  can

call your telephone company; depending on the company and who you

can reach, you may be able to obtain a wealth of information.





The Speech Network



     The speech network - also known as the "hybrid" or the  "two

wire/four  wire network" - takes the incoming signal and feeds it

to the earpiece and takes the microphone output and feeds it down

the line.  The standard network used all over the world is an  LC

device  with a carbon microphone; some newer phones use  discrete

transistors or ICs.



     One  of  the advantages of an LC network is that it  has  no

semiconductors,   is  not  voltage  sensitive,  and   will   work

continuously  as  the voltage across the line is  reduced.   Many

transistorized phones stop working as the voltage approaches 3 to

4 Volts.



     When  a  telephone is taken off the hook, the  line  voltage

drops  from 48 Volts to between 9 and 3 Volts, depending  on  the

length  of the loop.  If another telephone in parallel  is  taken

off the hook, the current consumption of the line will remain the

same and the voltage across the terminals of both telephones will

drop.  Bell Telephone specifications state that three  telephones

should  work in parallel on a 20 mA loop;  transistorized  phones

tend  not to pass this test, although some manufacturers use  ICs

that will pass.  Although some European telephone companies claim

that phones working in parallel is "technically impossible,"  and

discourage  attempts  to make them work that way, some  of  their

telephones will work in parallel.



     While  low levels of audio may be difficult to hear,  overly

loud  audio  can  be  painful.   Consequently,  a  well  designed

telephone  will  automatically adjust its  transmit  and  receive

levels  to allow for the attenuation - or lack of it - caused  by

the  length  of  the  loop.   This  adjustment  is  called  "loop

compensation."   In  the United States,  telephone  manufacturers

achieve  this  compensation with silicon carbide  varistors  that

consume  any  excess  current from a short  loop  (see  fig.  2).

Although   some   telephones  using  ICs   have   built-in   loop

compensation,  many  do  not; the latter have  been  designed  to

provide  adequate  volume on the average loop, which  means  that

they provide low volume on long loops, and are too loud on  short

loops.   Various  countries  have  different  specifications  for

transmit  and receive levels; some European countries  require  a

higher transmit level than is standard in the United States so  a

domestically-manufactured telephone may suffer from low  transmit

level if used on European lines without modification.



     Because  a telephone is a duplex device,  both  transmitting

and receiving on the same pair of wires, the speech network  must

ensure  that not too much of the caller's voice is fed back  into

his  or  her  receiver.  This  function,  called  "sidetone,"  is

achieved  by phasing the signal so that some cancellation  occurs

in  the speech network before the signal is fed to the  receiver.

Callers  faced  with no sidetone at all will consider  the  phone

"dead."   Too little sidetone will convince callers that  they're

not  being heard and cause them to shout, "I can hear  you.   Can

you  hear ME?"  Too much sidetone causes callers to  lower  their

voices and not be heard well at the other end of the line.



     A  telephone on a short loop with no loop compensation  will

appear  to have too much sidetone, and callers will  lower  their

voices.   In this case, the percentage of sidetone is  the  same,

but  as the overall level is higher the sidetone level will  also

be higher.





The Dial



     There  are two types of dials in use around the world.   The

most common one is called pulse, loop disconnect, or rotary;  the

oldest form of dialing, it's been with us since the 1920's.   The

other  dialing  method,  more  modern and  much  loved  by  Radio

Amateurs  is called Touch-tone, Dual Tone Multi-Frequency  (DTMF)

or  Multi-Frequency (MF) in Europe. In the U.S. MF  means  single

tones used for system control.



     Pulse  dialing is traditionally accomplished with  a  rotary

dial,  which is a speed governed wheel with a cam that opens  and

closes a switch in series with your phone and the line.  It works

by  actually  disconnecting  or "hanging  up"  the  telephone  at

specific intervals.  The United States standard is one disconnect

per   digit,   so  if  you   dial  a  "1,"  your   telephone   is

"disconnected" once.   Dial a seven and you'll be  "disconnected"

seven times; dial a zero, and you'll "hang up " ten times.   Some

countries  invert the system so "1" causes ten "disconnects"  and

0,  one disconnect.  Some add a digit so that dialing a  5  would

cause six disconnects and 0, eleven disconnects.  There are  even

some  systems in which dialing 0 results in one  disconnect,  and

all  other digits are plus one, making a 5 cause six  disconnects

and 9, ten disconnects.



     Although  most exchanges are quite happy with rates of 6  to

15  Pulses Per Second (PPS), the phone company accepted  standard

is  8  to  10 PPS.  Some modern digital exchanges,  free  of  the

mechanical  inertia problems of older systems, will accept a  PPS

rate as high as 20.



     Besides  the PPS rate, the dialing pulses have a  make/break

ratio,  usually  described as a percentage, but  sometimes  as  a

straight  ratio.  The North American standard is  60/40  percent;

most of Europe accepts a standard of 63/37 percent.  This is  the

pulse measured at the telephone, not at the exchange, where  it's

somewhat  different, having traveled through the phone line  with

its  distributed  resistance, capacitance,  and  inductance.   In

practice,  the  make/break  ratio does not  seem  to  affect  the

performance of the dial when attached to a normal loop.  Bear  in

mind that each pulse is a switch connect and disconnect across  a

complex  impedance, so the switching transient often reaches  300

Volts.   Try  not  to  have your fingers  across  the  line  when

dialing.



     Most pulse dialing phones produced today use a CMOS IC and a

keyboard.  Instead of pushing your finger round in circles,  then

removing  your finger and waiting for the dial to  return  before

dialing the next digit, you punch the button as fast as you want.

The  IC stores the number and pulses it out at the  correct  rate

with the correct make/break ratio and the switching is done  with

a high-voltage switching transistor.  Because the IC has  already

stored the dialed number in order to pulse it out at the  correct

rate,  it's a simple matter for telephone designers to  keep  the

memory  "alive"  and allow the telephone to  store,  recall,  and

redial the Last Number Dialed (LND).  This feature enables you to

redial by picking up the handset and pushing just one button.



Because pulse dialing entails rapid connection and  disconnection

of  the phone line, you can "dial" a telephone that has lost  its

dial,  by  hitting  the hook-switch rapidly.   It  requires  some

practice to do this with consistent success, but it can be  done.

A  more sophisticated approach is to place a Morse key in  series

with  the  line, wire it as normally closed and send  strings  of

dots corresponding to the digits you wish to dial.



     Touch  tone,  the most modern form of dialing, is  fast  and

less  prone to error than pulse dialing.  Compared to pulse,  its

major  advantage is that its audio band signals can  travel  down

phone  lines further than pulse, which can travel only as far  as

your  local  exchange.   Touch-tone can  therefore  send  signals

around  the  world via the telephone lines, and can  be  used  to

control phone answering machines and computers.  Pulse dialing is

to  touch-tone as FSK or AFSK RTTY is to Switched  Carrier  RTTY,

where mark and space are sent by the presence or absence of DC or

unmodulated  RF carrier.  Most Radio Amateurs are  familiar  with

DTMF for controlling repeaters and for accessing remote and  auto

phone patches.



     Bell  Labs developed DTMF in order to have a dialing  system

that  could travel across microwave links and work  rapidly  with

computer  controlled exchanges.  Each transmitted digit  consists

of two separate audio tones that are mixed together (see  fig.3).

The  four  vertical columns on the keypad are known as  the  high

group and the four horizontal rows as the low group; the digit  8

is  composed  of 1336 Hz and 852 Hz.  The level of each  tone  is

within  3  dB  of the other, (the telephone  company  calls  this

"Twist").  A complete touch-tone pad has 16 digits, as opposed to

ten on a pulse dial.  Besides the numerals 0 to 9, a DTMF  "dial"

has *, #, A, B, C, and D.  Although the letters are not  normally

found  on consumer telephones, the IC in the phone is capable  of

generating them.



     The  * sign is usually called "star" or "asterisk."   The  #

sign,  often referred to as the "pound sign." is actually  called

an  octothorpe.  Although many phone users have never used  these

digits  -  they are not, after all, ordinarily  used  in  dialing

phone  numbers  -  they  are used  for  control  purposes,  phone

answering machines, bringing up remote bases, electronic banking,

and repeater control.  The one use of the octothorpe that may  be

familiar occurs in dialing international calls from phones in the

United  States.  After dialing the complete number,  dialing  the

octothorpe  lets the exchange know you've finished  dialing.   It

can now begin routing your call; without the octothorpe, it would

wait and "time out" before switching your call.



     When DTMF dials first came out they had complicated cams and

switches   for  selecting  the  digits  and  used  a   transistor

oscillator  with  an  LC tuning network to  generate  the  tones.

Modern  dials use a matrix switch and a CMOS IC that  synthesizes

the  tones  from  a  3.57MHz  (TV  color  burst)  crystal.   This

oscillator  runs  only  during dialing, so  it  doesn't  normally

produce QRM.



     Standard DTMF dials will produce a tone as long as a key  is

depressed.   No  matter  how long you press,  the  tone  will  be

decoded as the appropriate digit.  The shortest duration in which

a  digit can be sent and decoded is about 100 milliseconds  (ms).

It's  pretty  difficult  to dial by hand at  such  a  speed,  but

automatic dialers can do it.  A twelve-digit long distance number

can  be  dialed by an automatic dialer in a little  more  than  a

second - about as long as it takes a pulse dial to send a  single

0 digit.



     The output level of DTMF tones from your telephone should be

between  0 and -12 dBm.  In telephones, 0 dB is 1  miliwatt  over

600  Ohms.   So 0 dB is 0.775 Volts.  Because your  telephone  is

considered  a 600 Ohm load, placing a voltmeter across  the  line

will enable you to measure the level of your tones.





The Ringer



     Simply  speaking  this  is a device that alerts  you  to  an

incoming  call.  It may be a bell, light, or warbling tone.   The

telephone company sends a ringing signal which is an AC waveform.

Although the common frequency used in the United States is 20 HZ,

it can be any frequency between 15 and 68 Hz.  Most of the  world

uses  frequencies  between  20 and 40 Hz.   The  voltage  at  the

subscribers  end depends upon loop length and number  of  ringers

attached to the line; it could be between 40 and 150 Volts.  Note

that  ringing voltage can be hazardous; when you're working on  a

phone line, be sure at least one telephone on the line is off the

hook  (in  use); if any are not, take high  voltage  precautions.

The  telephone  company may or may not remove the 48  VDC  during

ringing;  as  far  as you're concerned, this  is  not  important.

Don't take chances.



     The  ringing  cadence  - the timing of ringing  to  pause  -

varies from company to company.  In the United States the cadence

is  normally  2  seconds of ringing to 4 seconds  of  pause.   An

unanswered phone in the United States will keep ringing until the

caller  hangs up.  But in some countries, the ringing will  "time

out" if the call is not answered.



     The  most  common  ringing  device is  the  gong  ringer,  a

solenoid  coil  with a clapper that strikes either  a  single  or

double bell.  A gong ringer is the loudest signaling device  that

is solely phone-line powered.



     Modern  telephones tend to use warbling ringers,  which  are

usually  ICs powered by the rectified ringing signal.  The  audio

transducer  is either a piezoceramic disk or a small  loudspeaker

via a transformer.



     Ringers  are  isolated from the DC of the phone  line  by  a

capacitor.   Gong  ringers  in the United States use  a  0.47  uF

capacitor.  Warbling ringers in the United States generally use a

1.0  uF  capacitor.  Telephone companies in other  parts  of  the

world  use  capacitors  between  0.2  and  2.0  uF.   The   paper

capacitors of the past have been replaced almost exclusively with

capacitors  made of Mylar film.  Their voltage rating  is  always

250 Volts.



     The  capacitor  and  ringer coil, or Zeners  in  a  warbling

ringer,  constitute a resonant circuit.  When your phone is  hung

up ("on hook") the ringer is across the line; if you have  turned

off  the  ringer  you have merely silenced  the  transducer,  not

removed the circuit from the line.



     When the telephone company uses the ringer to test the line,

it  sends  a  low-voltage, low frequency  signal  down  the  line

(usually  2 Volts at 10 Hz) to test for continuity.  The  company

keeps records of the expected signals on your line.  This is  how

it  can  tell  you have added equipment to your  line.   If  your

telephone has had its ringer disconnected, the telephone  company

cannot detect its presence on the line.



     Because there is only a certain amount of current  available

to  drive ringers, if you keep adding ringers to your phone  line

you will reach a point at which either all ringers will cease  to

ring, some will cease to ring, or some ringers will ring  weakly.

In  the  United States the phone company will guarantee  to  ring

five  normal ringers.  A normal ringer is defined as  a  standard

gong  ringer  as  supplied  in  a  phone  company  standard  desk

telephone.   Value  given to this ringer  is  Ringer  Equivalence

Number  (REN)  1.  If you look at the FCC registration  label  of

your  telephone, modem, or other device to be connected   to  the

phone line, you'll see the REN number.  It can be as high as 3.2,

which  means  that device consumes the equivalent  power  of  3.2

standard ringers, or 0.0, which means it consumes no current when

subjected  to  a  ringing  signal.  If  you  have  problems  with

ringing,  total  up your RENs; if the total is  greater  than  5,

disconnect ringers until your REN is at 5 or below.



     Other  countries  have various ways of expressing  REN,  and

some  systems  will handle no more than three of  their  standard

ringers.  But whatever the system, if you add extra equipment and

the  phones  stop ringing, or the phone answering  machine  won't

pick  up  calls,  the solution is disconnect  ringers  until  the

problem  is resolved. Warbling ringers tend to draw less  current

than  gong  ringers, so changing from gong  ringers  to  warbling

ringers may help you spread the sound better.



     Frequency response is the second criterion by which a ringer

is  described.   In  the  United States  most  gong  ringers  are

electromechanically  resonant.  They are usually resonant  at  20

and  30 Hz (+&- 3 Hz).   The FCC refers to this as A so a  normal

gong ringer is described as REN 1.0A.  The other common frequency

response  is  known as type B.  Type B ringers  will  respond  to

signals between 15.3 and 68.0 Hz.  Warbling ringers are all  type

B  and some United States gong ringers are type B.   Outside  the

United States, gong ringers appear to be non-frequency selective,

or type B.



     Because a ringer is supposed to respond to AC waveforms,  it

will tend to respond to transients (such as switching transients)

when the phone is hung up, or when the rotary dial is used on  an

extension phone.  This is called "bell tap" in the United States;

in  other  countries,  it's often called  "bell  tinkle."   While

European  and  Asian phones tend to bell tap, or  tinkle,  United

States ringers that bell tap are considered defective.  The  bell

tap  is  designed out of gong ringers and fine  tuned  with  bias

springs.   Warbling  ringers  for use in the  United  States  are

designed  not  to respond to short transients;  this  is  usually

accomplished  by  rectifying the AC and filtering  it  before  it

powers the IC,  then not switching on the output stage unless the

voltage lasts long enough to charge a second capacitor.





Conclusion



     This  brief  primer  describing  the  working  parts  of   a

telephone is intended to provide a better understanding of  phone

equipment.    Note  that  most  telephone  regulatory   agencies,

including the FCC, forbid modification of anything that has  been

previously approved or attached to phone lines.



                   End of text. Figures Follow





. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .



                      Fig 1. The Phone Line





                A RELAY

                200 Ohms   Telephone    . Subscriber

                -------    Exchange     .

                -------                 .  TIP +

          ------~~~~~~~--o----------------------o

          |       5 H    |              .

          |              |              .

         +|              |              .

         ---             |              .    No 22 AWG wire

         --- 48V DC      |              .    up to 10 Miles Long

          -              |              .

         ---    A RELAY  |              .

         -|     200 Ohms |              .

          |     -------  |              .

          |     -------  |              . RING -

          ------~~~~~~~--|---------o------------o

                  5 H    |         |    .

          Audio      2uF |     2uF |    .

          coupling 250V ---  250V ---

          Capacitors    ---       ---

                         |         |

          o----- \--------         |

                                   |

               A RELAY Contacts    |

                                   |

          o----- \------------------





. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .





                Fig 2. Telephone Speech Network.



                Simplified U.S. Standard "425B". Component Values

may  vary between manufacturers. Connections for  Dials,  Ringers

etc. not shown.



                         |-------------------|

                       ..|...................|

                       . |                  .|

     Sidetone balancing. |  0.047uF 250V    .|

     impedance & loop  . |    | |           .|

     compensation. >>> . o----| |-------o   .|

                       . |    | |       |   .|

                       . |              |   .|

                       . |    |<| VR2   |   .|

                       . o----| |-------o---.|

                       . |    |>|          |.|

                       . |                 |.|

                       . |   68 Ohms       |.|

                       . o---\/\/\/-----|  |.|

                       ..|..............|..|.|

                         |              |  | |

                         |        .     |  | |

                         -----)||(------|---------o (GN)

                             1)||(5     |  | |    |

               Loop           )||(      |  | |    |

     TIP       Compensation  2)||(6     |  | |    |

     o------ \------o---------)||(------o  | | RX O

            .       | (RR)   . ||       |  | |    |

            .       |          || 1.5uF |  | |    |

            .       \ 180      ||      --- | |    |

            .       / Ohms     ||      --- | |----o (R)

            .       \          || 250V  |  |      |

            .       |          ||       |  |      |

            .  VR1 ---       . || .     |  |      |

            .      ^ ^    ----)||(------o---   TX O

            .      ---    |  3)||(7               |

            .       |     |   )||(                |

      RING  .       | (C) |  4)||(8       22 Ohms |

     o----- \-------o---------)||(---o----/\/\/---o (B)

                          |          |

            ^             |          |

        Hookswitch        ------------







. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .



Fig. 3.   Standard DTMF pad and Frequencies







   (Low    ____      ____      ____      ____

    Group)|    |    |    |    |    |    |    |

   697Hz >|  1 |    |  2 |    |  3 |    |  A |

          |____|    |____|    |____|    |____|







           ____      ____      ____      ____

          |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |

   770Hz >|  4 |    |  5 |    |  6 |    |  B |

          |____|    |____|    |____|    |____|







           ____      ____      ____      ____

          |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |

   825Hz >|  7 |    |  8 |    |  9 |    |  C |

          |____|    |____|    |____|    |____|







           ____      ____      ____      ____

          |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |

   941Hz >|  * |    |  0 |    |  # |    |  D |

          |____|    |____|    |____|    |____|



            ^         ^         ^         ^

          1209Hz    1336Hz    1477Hz    1633Hz

                     (High Group)







===================================EOF===========================================



 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

  \ Trip to Comdex       \-<optiklenz>

   %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%





This is my RANT on Comdex.  If you have a problem with it "please direct it to

that brick wall over there..."



                          Comdex 98 fuckin SUCKED!



                          DAY 1

                          Since things didn't go as planned I'll just give you a

                          synopsis on what went on the first day.



                          We started off (at 4:00 AM) going to pick up aphex, and

                          lasik, but it turns out that they left on their own. So

                          Calico, XiT, nhilisis, and I hauled ass to Vegas

                          ourselves. We spend 5hrs in the worlds largest fucken

                          oven. When at last we arrived at Vegas we checked into

                          the Mirage hotel, and were bound for the Las Vegas

                          Convention center at which Comdex was held. Finding a

                          parking space was fucken hell. We ended up parking

                          about 1mile away from the registration tent. Once we

                          got in we exhaustedly spent a lot of the afternoon at the

                          test center. We tested various devices one of the

                          mechanisms being the new Bay Stack 450 switch, and

                          then spent some time setting up slackware 3.4 on all

                          the subordinate half assed windows systems. After

                          fucking around with the computers for awhile we met up

                          with psychosis, and a a rep from ZDNET for an interview.

                          Then a little later we checked out all the different booths

                          (taking all the free shit we could get.) Then we checked

                          out the redhat booth (XiT took a copy of redhat 5.2 which

                          was later eventually used to simulate an imatation of a

                          UFO ) soon afterward we headed to the UUNET

                          Technologies booth. After hanging with the folks at

                          UUNET we headed back to the redhat linux booth to

                          laugh at the venders(they were sporting homosexual

                          little redish sherlock holmes hats. Damn commie

                          bastards) after poking fun we went over to the FreeBsd

                          booth. someone recognized the "Legions Interactive"

                          (LoU) on the name tags and gave us some BSD

                          shirts(which were otherwise $16, and a total rip off). We

                          got tired of walking around all day so we took a break.

                          While we were kicking back Calico decides to go fucken

                          camera crazy and starts flashing snap shots like he was

                          fucken filming a model. At any rate the camera got

                          taken away by some fuck nut security guard who didn't

                          want to be filmed. We argued with the asshole for about

                          10minutes before we resolved that it was a no win

                          predicament so we took off. Most of the Comdex footage

                          we got was on the other role of film. Whatever we ended

                          up with is posted below. And so concludes this years

                          trip to Comdex. We'll be back next year. Hopefully next

                          year more members can tag along (and don't

                          "inadvertently" leave without letting anyone know).







===================================EOF===========================================



 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

  \ In the News          \-<sources>

   %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%





  **************|-*

  * Network       (mordern advances)

  **************|-*



-----------------------------------------------------

Lucent Supports Novell's Directory

-----------------------------------------------------



Novell Inc., looking to solidify its position in directory services before Microsoft Corp.

Enters the market, last week continued to push its network management technology and lined

Up with what might be the first of many big time network equipment suppliers to back its

Offerings.  Novell, at last week's networld+Interop conference, entered into a partnership

With Lucent Technologies Inc., under which the communications equipment manufacturer will

use Novell Directory Services (NDS) to increase policy based network controls in its high

capacity Cajun P550 Switch.





-----------------------------------------------------

Jon Postel: Internet Architect and Caretaker

-----------------------------------------------------

To have known him was a reverence.  To have known about

him  was to be proud. Our condolences go out to Jon's family.

-Legions Interactive -  LoU

-----------------------------------------------------



[Brief History]

Jonathan B. Postel was a tantrum computer scientist who played a central role in developing and maintaining many of the Internets core technologies.  Pastel who was 55 when he did in Oct was part of the team of engineers that in 1969, created the software for ARPAnet, the military research network that evolved into the Internet.  He was best known for his role as head of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, the technical body that has overseen the Internet's Domain Name System (DNS) and allocated Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, the fundamental technologies for navigating and routing on the Net.  Over the past two years, Postel and the IANA (www.iana.org) were in the midst of the stormy debate over the future of domain names.  In 1996 Postel led an effort to introduce new top-level domains to the Internet, a proposal that attracted so much attention and resulted in such discord that the U.S. government which ahs legally retained authority over the Domain Name System- Intervened last year as an arbiter.  Although he grew to notoriety through, IANA, Postel's more enduring contributions to the Internet are his technical achievements in helping to create and document the Internet's underlying technologies, including IP, and DNS.





Short Time Line--



1969- Jon Postel assists in the installation of the ARPAnet's first communications switch.

1984- A group of engineers agrees upon seven so-called top-level domains reflecting their

      respective use: .gov, .net, .com, .org, edu, and .int.

1985- the first domain registered is symbolics.com on March 15

1988- The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority is started in December. Postel is appointed

      Director.  The organization allocates blocks of Internet addresses to interested

      organizations.

1993- NSF requests proposals to run the .com, .net, .org, and .gov dns services known as

      InterNIC.  The contract is awarded to Network Solutions Inc.

1996- Postel proposes to the Internet society that new top-level domains be created.

      Each of 50 registries would administer three of the new domains.

1998- Postel "redirects" five of the 12 Internet directory servers to get data about

     where every domain name in the world is located from his machine at the University

     or Southern California, rather than from a server at NSI's Virginia headquarters.

     The test was initiated without warning NSI or the government.



That's it for this now...  Check ya in kv6

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  ______________________

 / Distro  Sites       /

/_____K______V________/



Official Distro Site: http://www.legions.org/kv.html





Packet Storm Security: http://www.genocide2600.com/~tattooman/keen/

Hackers Hideout:   http://hackersclub.com/km/magazines/lou/

Cyberdelia: http://www.rat.pp.se/hotel/cyberdelia/files/zines/kv/

Real Secure:  http://www.real-secure.org/zine/docs/kv/

Merely An Illusion: http://www.t00ned.org/optik/kv



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