introduction Written by Logic Box

How To Rewire A Payphone's TNI Box For Free Calls Written by Phractal

Hey, Greets and all to UPL. Here in this ever so fine article I will explain another weakness of the stupid Telephone company. We all know about the stupid gray boxes on the side of our houses, right? Of course we do! That is the place we beigebox off of to set up our leet confs! Yup, that is the same box I'm talking about. It is called the Telephone Network Interface box. If you do not know what a beigebox is, read the very very first issue of UPL, and then read issue 15 of PLA for a good laugh.

Now, the thing about the TNI box:

Some payphones are actually hooked up to a TNI box, so if you have seen one, you may have already done what is suggested in this article. I have seen them around businesses mostly, and they are always outside, like all TNI's. The TNI box is not always so obvious, so you need to look for the wire or pipe that is run along the wall of where the payphone is. I've found a TNI box that was hooked up to a payphone that was about 100 feet away from it, and others are just around the corner.

    
Once you have found the TNI, open it using the proper tools. Most I have encountered are open already. Now, you should see several phone jacks, or terminal screws to attatch your alligator clips from a beigebox. Use the local ANAC number or an ANI number to read back the numbers for all the lines. Once you have found the payphone's number, simply switch it with a line that you encounter to be a normal residential phone line. The TNI box probably belongs to a business with several lines and a payphone or two. When you switch the payphone line with a normal line, the payohone is like any schmoe's phone. Pick up the phone and dial a number, and it should connect you free of charge! This is becuase it is on a normal line, and not a stupid payphone line. If it doesn't work try pressing 9 to get an outside dial tone. This does you the favor of not actually beige boxing and you won't have to be paranoid about getting busted. You  look like you are using a public telephone. Who knew it was screwed up? You didn't right (wink, wink)? Now, you have absolute freedom no fear of being caught. I spent a good three hours pranking, harassing operators, and calling the sluts at 900 numbers, asking them if they have ever gotten ass fucked by a cactus.... mentioning that the call was made  for free, and so they won't be able to get my $2.99 per minute this time!

Don't do this to the same payphone repeatedly. If you can't find many phones with TNIs then space out your raids, so Bell doesn't get angry and start investigating. The problem is usually fixed when someone tries to dial out on the line you switched the payphone with and gets a "please deposit 35 cents" recording. They realize something fishy is going on.

PS - This only works with telco operated telephones. Since a COCOT is already run off a normal line, it probably wouldn't make a difference. I wonder what would happen if a COCOT was hooked up to a payphone line...

Hax0ring Your Windows Start Menu Icon Written by Rufus T. Firefly

Are you sick of the stupid Windows icon on your Win9x start button? Do you believe that just because you're stuck with Bill Gates' crappy OS doesn't mean your screen needs to permanently bear the horrid mark of his evil empire like some butt-ugly bar-fight scar?  Wow, me too.  Here's how to change it.

Before you start, I'm gonna disclaim at ya.  I'm NOT responsible if you do something dumb and screw up your system all to hell.  If you follow the directions everything should work just fine, but if it doesn't, it ain't my fault.  And anyway, if you're a novice, you just shouldn't be screwing with your core Windows programming.  Sorry, Tennessee.

1. If you don't already have it, get Microangelo, the best icon/cursor editor out there.  It's uncrippled shareware, free for a month and a half.  There are also cracks for it out there somewhere if you're evil. Grab it at www.impactsoft.com.
2. Copy your windows\system\user.exe file to a temporary directory, say windows\temp\.  You have to work with a copy because the primary versionis constantly being used by Windows.  You may also want to back it up onto a floppy or something, just in case you do something really stoopid.
3. Rename the temporary file, changing the ".exe" to ".dll". Otherwise, Microangelo won't let you screw with the "locked" file.
4. Open the new user.dll file in Microangelo's Librarian.  Double-click the icon that looks like the windows logo.  Duh.
5. The icon will open in Microangelo Studio.  Choose the 16x16 resolution from the toolbar, and repaint it to your heart's content.  Or, you could cut-and-paste from another icon file.  Do the same with the 22x22 resolution.  The active icon is usually one of these, depending on the font and size of the word "Start."  Or you could go all out and just repaint all of 'em.  You're probably only concerned with the 16-color icons, since the 2-color icons only matter if you're one of those poor unfortunate souls still on monochrome.
6. Satisfied with your work?  Good.  Now choose "File," then "Update Librarian and Exit."
7. You'll go back to the Librarian window.  Choose "File," then "Save."  After it's saved, close the Librarian.
8. Rename the file back to "User.exe".
9. You can't move it back to windows\system in Windows, you have to do it from DOS mode.  Restart in DOS, then move the user.exe you just changed back to windows\system\, overwriting the old one.  For the icon-idjits who are completely helpless without a graphical interface, you want to type the following, substituting your hard drive letter for c:.
   
   
   cd c:\windows\temp
   move user.exe c:\windows\system\user.exe
   
10. Now type WIN and behold.  Your start button now proudly displays your shiny new icon.  And the crowd goes wild.  Yay.
    

Starting Teleconferences Written by linear

    Let me start this off by saying, I already know that System Failure (www.sysfail.org) wrote an article on this, and I already know that most of this article is identicle to that article. I am writing this only because  people are still asking everyone in #phonelosers all the time how to set up teleconferences, or they say that they won't set one up because "they don't know how". I know I could easily refer them to the SysFail article about  this, but for some reason that never seems to work. People just keep bugging me about it. So, in this article I will go over two ways of starting a teleconference: the way described in SysFail, and one way that is more commonly used that we usually explain to people in #phonelosers.

METHOD ONE: Your Friendly Neighborhood COCOT
First, find a COCOT Payphone. If you have no idea what a COCOT is, I suggest you read UPL002 (warning: UPL issues before 14 suck terribly) and find out what one is. Now, go find one. Good, now that you've found one, dial 1-800-232-1234. An operator will pick up and you should have a conversation similar to this (note: individual conversations may vary):


At this point you will both hang up and you will snicker about the whole episode. But you're not done yet.... wait about 5 minutes....

Ring Ring Ring..... Ring Ring Ring, etc....


You both hang up, and you go tell all your IRC friends about the conf. Good thing you wrote that 888 number and those pin numbers down! Oh... you didn't? Erm.... you better go back to that COCOT and repeat all of this. Just remember to write everything down this time. By the way, the reason you say you are from UPL, Inc. is because COCOTs are on a business line, and the operator thinks you are calling from a business.

METHOD TWO: Beige Boxing Your Way To Fame
First, get a notepad and a pen. Now get your beige box. Now get an ANI number. Getting an ANI number is very important. If you can't find one, see if any of the ones in the UPL/PLA Telephone Directory still work. Test the ANI number before you go. Now, find a house to beige box. Call the ANI number and write down the number of the house. Now, call 1-800-232-1234 and have the same conversation you would have if you were using method one, EXCEPT, don't pretend to be a business. When the operator asks for the number you are calling from, give them the number of the house (that is what the ANI thing was about. See? It _was_ important!). Just be a normal person like you are calling from your own house. Now, when AT&T calls you back, write down the info and go home.

Remember (for BOTH methods):
Set up the teleconference to run PAST 12:30 AM! This way, even if you say you want the conference to end at 1:30 AM, it will automatically go on until 7:00 AM. IMPORTANT: Do _NOT_ use the Host pin from your house! They might back charge you for the teleconference... but they can't back charge anyone on the guest pin.

Scamming BJ's Wholesale Club Written by Thomas Rhettmatic Gavin

Hello. My name is Tom Gavin, (At least i'll let you think that). I claim absolutely NO responsibility for any of you knuckle heads out there who actually use this info. Bj's Wholesale is a warehouse type store. Exactly like a Sam's Club or a Costco. Bj's i believe is located mainly on the east coast. There is much fun to be had at Bj's.

A good time for theft
Bj's, like most other stores are very very busy around Christmas. They always are busy as fuck and almost always never check the cameras. A good thing to do also is go to Bj's and case the whole place, noting where certain sales people always hang around. Electronics usually has someone helping out with idiots who dont know what a speaker is. But these people are so fucking easily distracted. Just try dropping something made of glass on "accident", or asking him several questions about stupid shit while a buddy does the deed. When it comes to Bj's, stealing more expensive items actually are easier to do. Remeber this. I'll get into the specifics of stealing little shit later.

DVD Players and VCR's
Ahh, the good shit. Expsensive and easy as FUCK to steal. All you need really is a baby stroller, (bringing a live baby is HIGHLY reconmended but a doll will do, just cover it with blankets). There is usually a bin underneath the stroller, if not, make one. Put alot of pampers and baby blankets and other assorted baby shit down there too. When you find an item that catches your eye, simply wait until the coast is clear and stash it under all that baby shit. I have had many chats with the theft prevention guys that work at Bj's (usually a wimpy skinny guy that looks to girly to enforce anything) they have told me that they're not allowed to check the baby strollers. It's a good thing. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES LEAVE THE ITEM UNCOVERED, ALWAYS COVER IT UP.

Repacking Fun
Repacking, the toughest trick I've ever heard about. This is the act of taking whats inside a box and replacing it for a more expensive item. This item may then be payed for or stollen via the stroller method. I've heard about a pro taking a t.v. out of the box and replacing it with 1000 BIG bottles of tylenol. The cashiers will sometimes check whats inside the box so some packing tape might not be a bad thing to carry, (this is if you decide to pay).  If you happen to get caught all they do is put it in the system that you MAY be a potential thief.

Small Items
The smaller items around the store are easy to take as well. The stroller method may also be used for this since guys will have troubles with this method. Bj's staff are NEVER allowed to search a ladies purse. A book bag may also be substituted for a womans purse and this will also not be searched under any circumstance. Guys are totally leagal to search though, especially if they have purses/bags/breif cases. Guys i recommend using the stroller method for this. Women though may just stick it inside there purse/bag. DONT LOOK TOO OBVIOUS.

Tires
This is for that .01% of you out there looking to scam Bj's out of tires. The way Bj's rings you up is by the barcode on the sticker on the tire. Simply Switch Stickers with a cheaper tire. The tire(s) you have to pay for though, i have no fucking clue how to sneak tires out of Bj's.

Free Drinks
Yeah you can do this at MOST fast food places but Bj's is no exception. Go to the food stand counter and ask for a cup of water. Go to the soda fountain, dump the water and select your drink of choice. By the the cashier might have forgotten to tell you but your allowed all the free refills as you want. You might as well bring in your own cup and drink out of that.

Credit Cards and Membership Numbers
OK, I'll start with Credit card numbers because there tough to get. When a cashier takes his/her brake they close their register down and leave. This is a perfect time for havoc. There are little slots where the cashier puts the checks and credit reciepts, half the time on busy days the slots get full and pieces of the credit slip and check pieces stick out of the slot. Walk by casually and grab whatever you can. Even if you grab a check instead of a credit card number, you just got that cashier fired. (ethics are not very fun things to have when you want money) Membership numbers are easy as FUCK to get. When you want to buy something you have to have a membership card or else you get a 10% over-price on everything you buy. If you want to use some poor schmucks number then you need to search the parking lot. Nobody ever keeps their reciept. They usually leave it in their cart. Look there first. The number should be on there. Write it down on something. Go inside and tell the person at the member service desk your forgot your card but you remember the number. Make sure to tell her the card is your PARENTS, not your mom, not your dad, YOUR PARENTS. So that covers both male and female names. That should about do it.

Cigarettes
You're gonna have to be a fucking genius to finesse your way into getting free cigarettes. All I know is that they barely ever card. The people selling them are usually underage. (smoking kills :( )

Reduced Pricing
This method requires a buddy. (All you losers skip to the next section) You will however need enough to buy a computer full price. You and a buddy buy 2 computers (one each) and then return them for store credit. Make up some bullshit story about how the software does not run. They wont fix it but sell it at a cheaper price. Now buy the computer your buddy returned. Now you and your buddy have really cheap, Good-As-New computers. This works for just about all expensive items.

THEORYS
These are strictly theorys that MIGHT work. Don't do it if your unsure (in fact don't do it at all)

1. Computers- Try moving the shit you want close to a fire exit, then have a friend pull up to the exit and you open the door and drive fast as shit once it's in your car/van/truck. This was posted in a bulletin board in an employee lounge as something to watch out for.
2. Returning Items- If you have an innocent face and a Bj's membership, go grab an item off the floor and bring it up to the Member Service Desk and lay the sweet talkin' on THICK. Tell them that you found out that the item either is not what you wanted or is "broken", and that you threw your reciept away before you found this out. They SHOULD give you store credit for this. Only do it like once a month maximum though.
3. Free Calling Cards- Go up to the calling card machine and break into it with some tools, then grab and run fast as hell.

      
Well thats about all i can think of right now. If you have any questions or comments email me at tommygavin [at] hotmail [dot] com (Please dont email me to tell me I eat shit, i already know)

UPL Meeting at Local Mall: 3 Dead, Hundreds Injured Written by el caco

Well a couple months ago a few of the people from UPL got together at Ontario Mills a mall in Ontario, CA and generally made asses of our selves and got kicked out. It all started innocently enough, me (el caco), twizted juggalo, and dr. octagon drove from Lake Elsinore to Ontario to meet linear, Jc and Jc's girl. Well after looking around waiting for them to show, I found them. We met introductions were made around and we decided to go to Gameworks. Which is a big place with lots of video games. Well us being phonelosers we decided that we would buy a 1 hour unlimited card and share it (which is very much against the rules). Well after about 5 minutes we got booted out for being white. Because you see Gameworks is very racist. They hate white people and of course we were all white. If we had been black they would have said, "Hey you can't all share an unlimited card, here have 5 more." But since we were white they kicked us out for an hour. Then we tried to get back in and linear and twizted juggalo got into an argument with the security guard who kicked us out. They called him a racist and we are now banned for life from gameworks.

Well that ended our fun at gameworks. Then we started going to all the big stores and trying to get on the intercom. We couldn't get on one. We went to the Sports Authority and built a wall out of boxes of shoes (it fell over), then we went to Kay-B toys and built a wall out of barbie crap (it really fell over and we ran away). We walked around the mall and then we went outside and saw firemen collecting money for multiple sclerosis so we decided to collect money in a boot (my boot incidentally) for the United Political League (UPL, hehe). Well we didn't get any money. And somebody told the cops we were soliciting without a license and the cop was pissed. We also tried (not very hard) to open the door to a little room they sell movie tickets out of. The cop saw that. He was real mad and told us to leave right now and not to come back for at least 24 hours unless we want to be charged with tresspassing. Well we left and went to Weinerschnitzel and then we all went home.

I had a lot of fun and so did twizted juggalo and dr. octagon. Overall it was quite a successful meeting. We got banned from gameworks for life and kickedout of the mall for 24 hours.

th3 c0mpl34t gu1d3 t0 0wn1ng 4 f0n3 Written by nawleed

onE: Introduction
The ability to own a telephone is essential to phreaking, and is a skill that is very difficult to master, and may sometimes take many weeks of hard work to perfect. The purpose of this article is to teach you how to own your very first phone. If some of the concepts presented seem confusing, read them over again until you understand them. It's all about persistance; if you can't devote yourself to learning this, then you'll never be a kool k-leet phreax0r like me, and I'll laugh at you and poke at you with sticks.

t0o: Choosing A Brand
Now that you've decided you wish to embark upon the exceedingly complex task of owning a telephone, the first decision you have to make is what brand you want to buy. This section presents a few things to keep in mind when making this decision, as well as some helpful hints.

First of all, contrary to what you think or have heard, Radio Shack phones suck. I know what you're thinking: "But n0llid, Radio Shack is the greatest store in the whole wide world! How could they possibly create something bad?" Well my friend, Radio is all well and good for resistors and capacitors and all that noise, but they can't make phones worth a monkey's  scalp. I know from personal experience. Stay away from Radio Shack.

An important question is, should you get a cordless phone or a "regular" phone? Well, there are several schools of thought on the topic. One obvious drawback of cordless is that pretty much anyone who wants to can listen in on your conversations with a police scanner. This means that if you're talking to your elite hacker friends about your elite hacker exploits and someone hears you, they'll in all likelihood call the police and have your elite hacker ass arrested. Then everyone will laugh at you. A strength of non-cordless phones is that they often have a lot more fun little buttons to play with. They might not, however, look as neat as cordless phones, which brings me to my next point. Don't go with a certain brand just because they make phones that look pretty. Don't compromise style for substance, whatever that means.

Yeah yeah yeah, I know, I've said all this crap about cordless phones, pretty-looking phones, buttons, and all that nonsense, but I haven't actually told you which brands to go with and which ones to avoid (well, except Radio Shack). I happen to hate cordless phones, so I would advise you to avoid any companies that make cordless phones. Oh yeah, and I also hate Japanese people, so don't buy brands that have Japanese names. My personal phone is a Panasonic, and it serves me quite well, but you win extra leetness points for buying a phone that has the name of a telco on it (even if you write it yourself). Anyway I'm not going to drop any names, so just follow my advice and you'll be fine. I promise.

tr3: Choosing a Store
Well, somehow or another, you now know what brand of phone you wish to own (hey, that rhymes!), but you don't know where the hell to buy it! What in the name of Charlton Heston's rifle collection is going on here?! Is everyone just crazy? Does anyone own phones anymore? What's the deal here? Well I'll tell you, dumbass.

There's hope for your kind. Luckily, there are plenty of places that sell telephones that are a prime target for owning! Yep, you heard me right. See, some stores just don't know that if they sell telephones to normal, law-abiding citizens, evil hackers like yourself would be able to waltz into their store and own their phones! Boneheaded mistake, you say? Well it happens each and every day, and even in stores you've been to before! It's happening right under your nose, so why not be part of it? Anyway, I've babbled on long enough, here's a rundown of some possible targets.

Most small electronics stores like Circuit City are good targets. Most of these places are staffed by nerdy teenagers who couldn't care less about your elite hacking exploits. Often times they don't even keep a close eye on the merchandise, making your chances of owning one of their phones much better. Radio Shack also falls into this category, but don't go to Radio Shack (see the previous section if you forgot why).

You should probably avoid big superstores like Fry's. These places are staffed by guys who know their business. If they see that you haven't washed your hair in two weeks and are wearing a stained t-shirt, they'll automatically suspect your illdoings and bust your sorry ass. As I've explained before, this is not a good thing.

Stores like K-Mart and Wal-Mart are by far the best places to go for the aspiring phone owner. They tend to have large selections, and the employees are usually country bumkin types who have no idea what a treacherous deed you're about to do. You might get the occasional suspicious employee who saw a TV special about evil hackers going around and buying phones like madmen. Luckily for you these people are generally pretty easy to convince of pretty much anything.

f0': Making The Purchase
Now that you know what brand of phone you're going to own as well as what store you're going to get it from, you're ready for the big time. That's right, after reading this section you will be ready to go out and buy a phone of your very own (I'm a poet and I didn't know it). The purchase is a relatively involved step and it might not work on the first try. As I've said before, the key is persistance. If at first you don't succeed, try again. Repeat when neccesary. Okay, enough of that. When making the purchase, follow these steps. EXACTLY. I am not responsible for your ignorance.

1. Walk, drive, take the bus, or fly to the store you're going to purchase from. Make sureyou don't look conspicuous on the way there, or you're going to jail for sure.
2. Once you're at the store, head to the section where the phones are. Again, don't look conspicuous. Keep your head down. Don't make eye contact with anyone. You're just a normal person buying a phone. No more, no less.
3. Locate the phone you want to buy. This is pretty straightforward, unless you're a complete and total moron. If you are, ask a salesperson to help you. They're there for a reason, y'know...
4. Pick up the phone you selected, take it to the cash register, and pay for it. If you suddenly discover that in all the hoopla you forgot to bring any money, go home and get some, then go back to step 1. If you don't have any money, you could attempt to steal it; see UPL011 for more information.
5. After you've paid for it, run home with your new phone to avoid police detection. If at any point during this process you get caught, or someone asks you what the hell you're doing, don't hesitate; run like hell until you're home. Then try it again.

Congradulations! You have now gone through the complicated and difficult process of owning a telephone! You elite hacker! For helpful hints about your new phone, see the next section.

f1': Closing Notes
Now that you have owned your first phone, why not go for two? Hell, why not go for three? Or four? After your first, the possibilities are literally endless. Here are some helpful hints about fun things to do with your phone, as well as how to keep it from randomly bursting into flames.

• While talking on the phone, don't drink soda, ESPECIALLY if you have a tendency to spill. I think you know where I'm going with this...
• The police don't like it when you call in false alarms.
• Name your phone! That's right, name it. Would you rather say to people, "call me tonight," or, "call Timmy tonight?" I don't know about you, but I'd choose the second one. This works especially well if you have multiple phones plugged into multiple phone lines, as a means of either avoiding or promoting confusion, depending on your perspective.
• Operators will call you back if you harass them from home. Keep this in mind when you're on a teleconference at 3AM and you decide it'll be a good idea to prank the operator, who then calls you back and wakes up your parents.
• If you don't live with your parents, or you don't care if you wake them up at 3AM, then operators can be a great source of amusement, or just someone to call when you're feeling lonely.

 There are plenty more of fun things you can do with your phone, but I'll leave you to discover those on your own. The main thing to remember is that you just owned a phone, and you did it all by yourself. This is the first step in becoming the elitest phreaker on the block. Maybe some day you'll even be as cool as me.

Fortress 101 Security Hole for Windows 95/98 Written by Jc

Well here is the deal with Fortress101; it is a program used to restrict many normal windows based operations on a computer. In other words it keeps you from messing with the computer, but like everything else it has its problems. I found a hole screwing around in a computer class at school.  Okay many of you familiar with the Microsoft Office 97 know the web toolbar, if not turn it on by either right clicking on the existing toolbars and selecting "Web" or going up to View|Toolbars|Web and toggle it on. This allows you to call up web pages with Word or run executable files. So in the address bar you can put any program you would like to run for example C:\WINDOWS\SOL.EXE executes solitaire. Type in what you want to load then press enter, you will get a message box that ask if you want to run this file or not, just click  "OK". If you would like to browse the hard drives click on Go|Open|browse. Don't forget to put in the files name you want, for example *.exe, etc. Some exe's are protected by Fortress like Regedit.exe, Explorer.exe, but if you want to open an applications similar to the Windows Explore, Run "C:\WINDOWS\WINFILE.EXE" that opens the File Manager, yes the one from Windows 3.1x. Well I hope you can use this information to your advantage.

Disclaimer

Your actions are your responsibility. We do not condone or encourage anything described within this text file. Anything that happens because of what you do, is because YOU did it. In short, none of it is our fault if you get locked in prison for four years without trial.

United Phone Losers