TAP No. 57 - Tom Edison Battles Plot!

Tom Edi battles plot! Good, now that I've got your attention, let me make a request. First, for you new TAP subscribers, please read the following tale to get a better understanding of the history of TAP and how we operate. Second, for you old time TAP- pers who usually skip over any articlé that doesn't have a new schematic for a Box in the first.paragraph of a story, Please read this tale of woe if for no other reason than to appreciate the fact that you're holding a copy of TAP in . your hands when, in all rights and because of what I'm about to tell you, TAP should have folded a long time ago. The title "Tom Edison Battles Plot!" could never be truer. Our story begins on a hot July 4th weekend in 1975 when Twas asked to join the TAP staff by publisher Al Bell. We opened an office on Broadway in New York City the following month and together with Mr. Phelps, we co-edited TAP with Al Bell. In March of 1977 Mr. Phelps left for greener lands and in August of that same year Al Bell resigned as editor. And now the plot thickens! I'm a technician and don't know my ass from a hole in the ground about running the business end of TAP, I asked Al to help me and his business advice was simple : Screw everybody! He kept no records, nobooks, only a file folder with a hell of a lot of missing receipts. I was naive enough to think that the business would run itself, and I was to pay dearly later on for that mistake! Even though Al Bell had resigned, he asked me if I would let him do our mailing labels. Since I had no access to a computer and since Al offered to do them for free, I accepted his offer. And for a few months all went well, Then in the month of November Al Bell started to show his true colors. Thad busted my hump the previous months getting issues 48 & 49 ready for publication only to be told by Al that he didn't have the mailing labels ready. He told me to be patient and I was, right up until March of 19781 Then I blew up, called up the bastard and put the screws on him to get those mailing labels done. Within a few days I had the labels and on March 23rd I finally mailed out issues 48 & 49. I told Al that the next issue of TAP would be our 7th anniversary edition and I'd need the mailing labels no later then the end of June. He ‘said he'd have them by then. When the end of June rolled around.and I still didn't have the labels, I called Al. He said he was working on it and to be patient. Where did I hear that before? I should have realized what was going on but I didn't. And now the plot thickens some more! You gotta say one thing about Al Bell, he sure practiced what he preached! Over the years TAP has reported how individuals were screw- ing the I. R.S, out of taxes and apparently Al thought TAP should do the same. I discovered this condition during the summer of 1978 when Big Brother started sending TAP some nasty notes to pay up or else!!! To add insult to injury, Al had also ordered @ number of books without paying for them. Had be ripped off the book company using his own name, that would have been OK, but by using TAP's name the collection agencies were after TAP and me! The staggering tax bill was finally paid but the late charges really put a dent into TAP's cash reserve. TAP makes money only when we publish issues. We can't publish issues if we don't have mailing labels and that's just what we had from March to November of 1978 - no labels! I continued to print issues 51, 52, 53, 54,55 & 56 with the expectation that Al wouldn't let me down. Boy, was I wrong! In November 1978 I get a call from him informing me that he can no longer do our mailing labels for us. Had that rotten bastard told me this way back in March, I could have had our labels printed by a commercial firm and all of you readers would have had your issues of TAP on schedule. Now, due to this nine month absense of issues, TAP was not only broke but we still didn't have any mailing labels either! The bills kept coming in, the issues were sitting on the office floor collecting dust, and the letters from our readers asking where the hell were their issues kept piling up on the desk! I had to make a decision and soon! I decided that I'd spent too much time, effort and sweat trying to build up TAP to let that no MAY-JUNE 1979 NO. S7 good son of a bitch destroy it! I would put my own personal financial backing behind TAP, That would keep us going for awhile. But I had to have mailing labels for those 7 issues pronto and to get them I needed Al Bell's help one last time. I needed the computer master tape that contained the names and addresses of all our subscribers. I called Al (yes, even the great Al Bell has a phone!) , crossed my fingers and asked for a copy of that tape. The tape I requested was for issue 48. ‘The tape he sent was actually issue 46, I didn't know this until I started to check the labels against the computer print out and found a lot of omissions. What this meant was that all persons who subscribed between issues 46 and 48 were not Hsted on the master tape. Al Bell had struck again!1}1!1 Well, at least I now had a master tape valid up to issue 46, Now, how to update this tape? Al had used an old Fortran system using IBM key-punch cards and reel-to-reel magnetic tape. We had to upgrade this system. I called upon two old ‘TAP friends, Cheshire and the Wizard. I key punched the * new subscribers onto IBM cards,, gave them to the Wizard who transfered them onto reel-to-reel magnetic tape who then gave them to Cheshire who transfered that onto a floppy disk to drive a printer! With so many steps involved, it's a wonder we got labels at ali! And while I'm on the subject, let me publically thank the Wizard and especially Cheshire for all their hard work not only in getting labels printed but in deciphering Al Bell's coded master tape. Of course there were mistakes and omissions. I personally had to hand letter hundreds of issues. Some people got several copies of each issue. Some subscribers didn't get any issues at all! I do have a hand written master list and I was forced to go through it several times to make corrections and make sure that all subscribers got their issues, I could not print our usual 3,2,1, and 0 issue renewal warning on the labels and since most of our subscriptions expired with issue 56, I Stamped all labels PLEASE RENEW. I realized that there would be some concern by readers whose subscriptions expired on a later issue than 56 and were still getting a renewal notice but I had no idea you would be so vocal about itl Let me assure all our readers that the master list is correct and you'll get all the issues you're entitled to, no matter how many renewal notices you get. I hope that this clears up any questions about your recently screwed up sub- scription. And now, what about the future of TAP? Well, to begin with there won't be any Al Bell to fuck things up. TAP now has a SOL 20 computer and a Micropolis 1053 Mod II quad density dual floppy disk drive. There were a number of readers concerned about the security of our mailing list. Rest assured it is secure. No one has access to it but me! ‘The old TAP office at 1201 Broadway is closed. For in- creased security we have moved underground. You may still use our mail drop address : TAP, Room 418, 152 W. 42 St., New York, N.Y. 10036. If you would like to talk to some of the TAP staff, it is rumored that they get hungry between 5:30 and 7:30 PM at Al-Ann's Luncheonette, 280 Bleeker St. , Greenwich Village, N.Y. Take the #1 subway to Sheridan Sq. and then go two blocks south to Bleeker. Bon appetite! 1979 Credit Card Code Make Credit Card calls only from pay phones, and at random times and locations -- the less pattern the less liklihood of getting caught. When a call is made from a pay phone, there is no record of the originating phone. When you give the Credit Card number to the operator, s/he may ask for its Area Code, so have it handy. Further identification is very unlikely. However, the operator may listen to the beginning of your conversation. . . If a fraudulent Credit Card call is reported to Phone company Security, and it was made from a pay phone. the only thing they have to go on is the phone number of the recipient. If the call was made to some institutional switchboard, they're stuck. If the call was to an individuat, they may call, and try lies, sympathy, intimidation, or whatever they think might get them information or money, or they might just sneak the call onto the recipient's bill, months later. So only call individuals who will be dumb on the phone and sharp reading their bills. And not too often. A telephone Credit Card number is ten digits and. a letter. The first seven digits are the number being charged to. That is followed by the Regional Accounting Office number. The main RAO's are listed here. The letter is-a verification code which changes every year. In 1979 it has to match the last digit of the telephone number. 1979 letters 1 234567890 ARLOMQVYVZHW It is herder to hunt someone who never uses the same Credit Card number twice. Long Distance Information’ is free, and with a little imagin- ation, there are endless possibilities. Since the call ends up on some real phone bill, don't make up numbers at random. Also remember, please, that information is syntropic; when it's spread, it grows. RAO Credit Card Codes ‘Ares__BAG Codes 201 93,094,101 408 293 618 204,547 202 032 412 030,042 701 133 203 020 413 009 702 176 204 456 424 088,089 703 033 205 054 415 158,159,167 704 319 206 163 416 476,478 705 477 207 003 417 157 707 223 208 039,120 418 505 712 311 209 254,289 419 057,248 713 105,152 212 017,921,023, 501147 714° 164,182 072,074 502 048 715 202,330 213 966,183,184 503 131 716 (026 244 «149 504 046 717 027.028 215 041,043 505 102 801 155 216 050,082 506 451 802 002 Zi? 081,314 507 310 803 189 i13 236 509 128 804 257 219 320 512 146,152 805 252,255 301 O11 513° 977,185 806 103 302 010 514 470,472 807 481 303 153 515 134 808 461 304 034 516 127 809 490 (P.R.) 305 044,189 517 095 812 321 306 457 518 024 813 531 307 137 519 486 814 208,307 308 237 601 059 815 087 309 203,260,277 602 064 B16 144 312 086,097,098, 603 004 817 150 195,234 604 493 B19 474 313 083,09h 605 138 901 187 314 143,177,251 606 317 902 452 315 303 607 025 904 056 316 140 608 201,329 906 295 317 080 609 101 907 492 318 051 612 126 912 316 319 312 613 473 913 145 401 019 614 073 914 069 402 139 615 047 915 221 403 454 616 084 916 160 404 035,063 617 001,006,007, 918 141 405 148,215 406 154 919 036 RAKDOK NGTES By Oz ¥. Mandias Greetings, Earthlings. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm TAF's new self-appointed “Director of Miscellaneous Anarchy," communicating to you disgusting troglodytes from beautiful downtown »Kanada. As any progressive technophreak will realize,TAF must evolve and diversify to continue to maintain its high standards; there is more to counter-technolcgy than blue boxes. fo this end,I have taken it upon myself to enlighten you as to the infinite possibilicies of other useful areas of people's tech. This dept. welcomes all forms of communications, including telepathy, with interested TaPer's. I am willing to do my best on all queries, but my specialties include drugs, demolitions, unaerground chem. ,weaponry,etc.("My name is Czymandias, King of Kings,Look on my works, ye mighty and despair$"--Shelley). Questions, com- ments,corrections,info,quality pharmaceuticals and Swiss francs should be sent to TAP, c/o Oz Y, Mandias, along with 3.A.S.. if a personal reply is desired. Electronics: -Just got back my F.0.1.A.(Freedom of Info.Act, dum-dum)fron the U.S.Dept. of Com— merce(,Nat.Telecom.& Info.Admin.,Wash.D.C.). The feds nicely coughed up a copy of “Selected Examples of Fossible Approaches to Electronic Communication Interception Crerations"for free. This formerly secret handbook of the latest wire-tapping technicues(including on-line Com- puter and microwave interceptionjis very expli- cit and is being sold to lazy suckers for $10 by Loompanics & Faladin Press,quite a rip-off when one can get it free. This report is abstr- acted from 2 technical volumes, accession nos. PB 264 447 & PB 264 448,available for $13.74 from the Nat.Tech.Iinfo.service,Dept. of Commerce (5265 Fort Royal Road, springfield ,Va.,22151). ="Check out U.S.Fatent #4,601,513, it's fora blue-box detector designed a couplé of years ago. ~ A friend of mine who worked for Bell tells me that “jiwi's"(terminal boxes)contain a "ta}k- pair"on the ;rotector. Cne can attach one’s handset to the ring and tip terms. of the prote- ctor(leaving the ground.alone)and dial away, without getting interrupted,say,if you were on @ subscriber's pair,and possitly no heat for ‘the pepple you call lon, distance. Books: -"The Whole Drug Manufacturer's Catalog" This $10 rip-off for would-be underground chem- ists is garbage and not recommended. It is most- ly just a collection of the sheets put out by price-gouger, Irv Fenkethman with precious lit- @ else. The formulas for naking LsD,MDA,THC, STr,DMT etc. are all freely available in any university science library. The book is written for amateurs who think they can be kitchen Owsley's,except that amateurs don't have the skill, and can't get any of the required chem- icals anyway. About the only undergrnd. chem. manual I'd praise is "Psychedelic Chemistry" from Rip Off Press; this is the bible of u.chem. cand well worth its $6 cost for those serious about u.chem. If you're still interested in WDMCat., it's available from Loompanics, Krupp Mail Order, or Frophet Fress. ~My _Book-Selection-of-the-tionth is "Mind Control" by Peter Schrag from Fantheon Fress or your local library. It's a straight book, but incredible nonetheless. It's about lobotomies, electro- shock and dangerous drugs and other methods shrinks use today not to cure people but to fuck their minds. A very disturbing book.Get it! Misc,: Interested in programming your mini- computer for indecipherable communications; see the Aug.'77 issue of "Scientific American. Info Wanted: -A while back the British govt. de-classified and then re-classified a patent of the formula of VX nerve gas. If you have it, I'd like to see a copy... ~A-Bomb plans? Tom had 7 set, but destroyed them before I got to them! They've been distributed at anti-nuke rallies and been designed by a no. of underground physicists. If you have any, Please send ‘em in to me. Screw The IRS! That's right, help TAP screw the IRS out of taxes! Send CASH with all your orders. That way there's no microfilm record of your check or money order by the nosy banks. And most important of all, there's no record of the money for IRS tax purposes! As a further incentive, effective immediately : All TAP subscriptions and renewals paid by cash will be extended one free issue. All orders for TAP merchandise sent with cash payment will be given a 10 & discount. Remember, the more money we have to pay Big Brother, the less we have to help pay our enormous opera- ting costs. We realize that you always take a chance sending cash through the Postal Moncpoly and of course there are always a few smart-asses who will send no money with their order and then raise holy hell with us demanding their order be sent. You send cash through the mail at your own risk! Any bitch about where the hell your order is MUST be sent with a copy of your canceled check or money order. If you feel you need this "protection", then continue to send checks and money orders, but if you feel as we at TAP do, that Big Brother is getting too much of our hard earned dollars, this is one small way you have to get even! Remember, send cash and get an 1lissue sub or renewal for the price of a 10 issue one. Send cash and get a 10 & discount on all TAP merchan- ie. TAP MEAT During the early years of TAP (Then known as YIPL) we offered a service to our readers called MEAT. The purpose of MEAT was to exchange names and addresses of TAP readers who lived close to each other so that they could get together and discuss interesting research & devlopment ideas and projects in person. Readers are still requesting to be placed on our MEAT list and I have tried to take care of all MEAT requests as best as I can but due to the fact that our list was NOT in any kind of order, it was and is very diffi- cult to match up readers. All of this has now been solved by the use of our new computer so this is to formally announce that TAP MEAT is now back in operation! To qualify for a position on our list simply send me your name (an alias will dol) and address and a self addressed stamped envelope. Upon receipt of your letter I'll scan through our list for the .) closest one to you and send that name and address back to you. A WORD OF CAUTION : I have no way to personally check out the person whose name I've given you so if he or she turns out to be a Bell security agent, don't blame me! I can say in all honesty however that in all the years we ran our MEAT service, I never got a complaint from anybody that we paired together. Please remember to include a self addressed stamped (and Elmered!) envelope with your MEAT requests. Postal Monopoly rates are outrageous enough with- out us having to foot the bill for your MEAT request. TAP DA. Our D,A. (Distructory Assistance) service is temporarily suspended until further notice. Our photo-copier is piss- poor and considering the fact that Lincoln used our copier for his Gettysburg Address, I think it's reasonable to say that it's had it! Also, since we are still getting our new office organized, the D, A, files are all boxed up and not readily available. A lot of our D.A. info will be put into our computer for security reasons. A complete index to all items in our D, A. file will be printed in a future issue of TAP. I will also inform you when our D, A. system is totally opera- tional again. Readers who have sent in D, A, info recently will: receive their requested info as soon as our files are in order, If your info is “hot" and you're worried about keeping it safe, send it to us, Our security is probatly.a hell of a lot better than yours anyway. The conditions for exchanging D, A. info are the same and are fully explained in our free D. A. info sheet. Write to us for your free copy. olka AN ELS£F'S INSTFUCTION FOR: LEISER by Agent DA I find that it saves me some time in putting my friends hip to the Elmer's Glue trick by having a form letter. Possibly some of the readers would like to use the following form letter for their convenience -- it can be retyped or Xeroxed dir- ectly from the pages of TAP: FREE POSTAGE The increasing cost of postage to mail letters and packages is bringing, down our standard of living. To remedy this deplorable situation, some counter control measures can be applied. For example; if the stamps on a letter are coated with Elmer's Glue -by the sender, the cancellation mark will not. destroy the stamp: the Slmer's dries to form an almost invisible coating that protects the stamps from the cancellation ink. jater, the receiver of the letter can remove the cancellation mark with water and reuse the stamps. furthermore, ecolopical savings will also result from recycling; the stamps. Help save a tree. “he Elmer's Glue is most efficiently applied with a brush with stiff, short bristlds. A brush that is from 3/€ to 1/2 inch wide works well. Just dip the brush directly into the flue and spread it on evenly, covering the entire surface of the stamp. 3 will dry in about 15 minutes. For mailing, packages, just follow the same proce- dure as outlined above; however, the package should be weighed and checked to make sure that it has the correct amount of postage on it before it is brought to the Post Office. Removing, the cancellation and Elmer's from the stamps can be easily accomplished by soaking the stamps in warm.water until they float free from the paper. ‘he stamps can then be put onto a paper towel to dry. Processing stamps in large batches saves time too. Also, it may be helpful to write the word “ilmer" at the top of the letter (not on the envelope) to cue the receiving party in that the stamps have been protected with Elmer's. Patch It Up! \y ‘a > TAP "Ma Bell" patches as shown at left are ‘R now available for $1.50. The official looking 3 inch patch is white with blue cracked bell and gold lettering & trim. Please order one and some of the TAP junk listed below to help us pay the rising costs of publishing TAP. I will try to hold all TAP prices at their current level for as long as Ican. Your support is urgently needed! ‘Back Issues are 50¢ each. Issue #50 is- $1.00. Subscriptions - 10 issues - US Bulk rate $5. US First Class in plain sealed envelope $7. - Canada & Mexico First Class $7. Foreign $8. IMPORTANT! Include mailing label or Xerox copy when writing to TAP about your subscription. Electronics Courses - 50¢ each, A - DC Basics, B- A@ Basics, C - Phone Basics, D - Amplifiers. TAP Mugs - $4, 50, TAP T-shirts - $4.50. Specify size and color : Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, Black or red T-shirt with white TAP logo. ZAP "Ma Bell Is A Cheap Mother" T-shirts - $4. 50, Specify sizé and color: Medium, Large, Extra Large. Blue, tan, or yellow, TAP "Cracked Bell" Button - 50¢ each. TAP Cassette Tape - $3.50. Hear Capt Crunch, Al Bell, Joe Engressia, and Bell Security Chief John Doherty. Send cash, check, or money order to: TAP, 418, 1 4 , MY. TAB, Hoon dip, 1A Wost sand Street New York NY. 20098 OTe The Telephone #1 A unique print, "THE TELEPHONE, #1", by artist KENNETH HARI of Paris, France, is being sold solely through TAP. This print can be used to conceal intercoms, wire systems, or switches. Instructions on how to mount it on a wall for concealment purposes and a biography of the artist will be included along with the print. ‘HE TELE- PHONE, #1" is sure to be a collector's item, and will make ‘a great gift for anyone who has something to hide! The size of the print is 11 inches in width and 14 inches in height. ‘The phone is black-brown on white background. If you are interested in this unique offer, please send $3. 50 ($3.00 for the print, plus $. 50 for postage and handling) in cash, or (if you must, and have no objection to microfilm invasion of your privacy) make checks or money orders totalling $3, 50 payable to TAP, Room 418, 152 W. 42 St., New York, N.Y. 10036, “We bave modified our eavroament so radical tat we must now modif ‘ourselves in order 10 exist 1s this new enviroament.” — Norbert Wiener. | Lae abd above a enilenen, avd cig gy” 1, ROOM 418,152 W.42 ST, NY 10036 FLY NOW, PAY NEVER This is a method of obtaining plane tickets using one's own personal checking account to purchase the ticket without suf- fering legal consequences when the check bounces, Can also be done with an alias account, Open a checking account in your own name or use an account that you already have, Make sure that you have a balance of at least $20.00 in the account, but not enough to pay for the cost of the plane ticket(s). You want the check to bounce, Writing checks on a closed account Ts a felony in some states, so make sure that you are using an open account, Go to your local airport to purchase the ticket. Some air- lines demand that you have a driver's license and a credit card before they will take a personal check. If you don't . have any luck at one airline - try another, If.none of the atflines will take your check, try some of the travel agencies. They usually aren't as demanding. Personal checks should have an address and a phone number printed on them, otherwise you may have a hard time getting th iccepted anywhere, Make sure your appearance is neat when you pass a check. Getting a check accepted is largely a matter of impression in many cases. * Always purchase the ticket round-trip, Travel agencies and airtines are hesitant to take checks for one-way tickets. If you are traveling only one-way, you can sell the return ticket at a discount at the airport, or save it for a future date, As of this writing, plane tickets remain valid even if they were purchased with a rubber check, They can't stop you: from making a return trip even when they know the check isn’t any good. The airline or travel agency will notify by mail that your check bounced, Write them a letter Stating that you're not presently employed and have no assets liquid or otherwise and cannot ‘send them the total sum requested, Tell them a third party was supposed to make a deposit to your account and failed to do so. Tell them you will send then $10.00 a week and send them a money order for the first payment ($10.00), After they have accepted your $10.00 you need send no more money. They have accepted your offer to make payments in lieu of taking you to court for fraudulent issue. Ignore their demands for payment. Send them another letter saying you are indigent and tell them to write-you off as a loss against next year's taxes, This works well, a we received this about two years ago and are finally Printing it. “If we had more help, it would have appeared immediately. We don't know if it still works, but it would appear that you have nothing to lose trying it, Re IO: a friend told me anything with your pnoto in color on it and laminated in plastic impresses the hell out of people. Some H. P. Lovecraft fans designed student and faculty 10 cards for the fictional Miskatonic University. They looked great! If you manage to “liberate” someone else's photo ID card, you can stick your photo on top of the other one and run it thru a la- minator. Works beautifully! At least it did on Hawaii 5-0, Who says TV isn't educational? He also suggested changing your checking account annually. oP Published for informational purposes only by Youth Hot Line Reports, Inc. Address all mail and checks to :