Joybubbles

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Joybubbles (born May 25, 1949 in Richmond , Virginia ; birth name Josef Carl Engressia, Jr .; † August 8, 2007 in Minneapolis ) is perhaps the first phreaker and is known in this context by the nicknames The Whistler and High Rise Joe . He changed his real name to Joybubbles in 1991 .

Life

From birth, blind , Joybubbles had the perfect pitch . He'd had a soft spot for telephones since he was four and liked dialing vacant phone numbers just to hear the error message. Once he began to whistle a tone while hearing the message; the connection was interrupted. It was repeated. When he called AT&T , an engineer told him that 2600 Hz tones  were used to instruct the telephone exchanges . So Joe learned to manipulate the telephone network, and with this knowledge founded the form of hacking that is now known as phreaking (manipulation of telephone traffic, telephone charge fraud). It is said that phreakers from all over the world called Joe to get their blue boxes on the right pitch.

His nickname was "The Whistler" because he managed to make free calls by simply whistling, which earned him widespread admiration.

Engressia graduated from the University of South Florida (USF) in the late 1960s , but was expelled from university after he was caught making phone calls he managed to sneak toll-free to friends for a dollar a call. Shortly thereafter, however, he was rehabilitated and completed his studies with a degree in philosophy . He himself claimed that he had an IQ of 172. Joe Engressia later became a lineman at the Mountain Bell Networking Center in Denver , but never had a career in his life and ended up living on a disability pension.

In May 1988, when Engressia was 39 years old, he made the decision to be a child and has since insisted on being five years old. In 1991 he also changed his name from Joe Engressia to Joybubbles (Minneapolis civil court file 91-11464). Joybubbles said in various interviews that he was sexually abused by a teacher at a school for the blind in New Jersey (USA), a nun, contributed to both decisions ; By changing his name, he wanted to leave his past, in particular that abuse, behind:

“[…] I kind of missed childhood. I had sexual abuse and stuff. I need healing, so I'm having my childhood now. I'm 5 years old forever. "

“I kind of missed childhood. I've been sexually abused and all. I need healing so I'm taking my childhood now. I am 5 years old forever. "

At weekly intervals, Joybubbles offered a story on the US telephone number 206-FEELING and called this telephone offer “ Stories and Stuff ”.

Steve Wozniak , co-founder of the computer company Apple, mentions in his book iWoz , Joybubbles have it at the beginning of his years on the college inspired .

Joybubbles had lived in Minneapolis since 1982 and died of heart failure in his apartment there on August 8, 2007 at the age of 58 .

Quote

"When you're playing and you're just you, powerful things happen."

"When you play and you are completely yourself, huge things happen."

- Joybubbles

See also

literature

  • Katie Hafner, John Markoff: Cyberpunk. The world of hackers . 1st edition. Econ-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Düsseldorf / Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-612-26035-9 , p. 23 (American English: Cyberpunk . Translated by Gabriele Herbst).
  • Philip D. Lapsley: Exploding the Phone. The Untold Story of the Teenagers and Outlaws Who Hacked Ma Bell . 1st edition. Grove Press, New York 2013, ISBN 978-0-8021-2061-8 (English, With a foreword by Steve Wozniak .).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Genius phone hacker dead at 58. In: "United Press International". August 21, 2007, archived from the original on January 10, 2008 ; accessed on August 23, 2007 .
  2. ↑ Douglas Martin: Joybubbles, 58, Peter Pan of Phone Hackers, Dies . New York Times, Aug. 20, 2007; Retrieved May 7, 2011: "He was disconnected from college after being caught making calls for friends at $ 1 a call".
  3. ↑ Blind Whistling Phreaks and the FBI's Historical Reliance on Phone Tap Criminality. June 30, 2008. Retrieved July 18, 2012 .
  4. ^ A Conversation with Joybubbles. With Joybubbles, John Fail, and Chris Strunk. In: "University of Pittsburgh". May 9, 1998, archived from the original on November 29, 2006 ; Retrieved July 12, 2012 .
  5. ^ Gene Collier: There's Martin Luther King, and there's Gandhi ... and there's Fred Rogers. In: "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". Retrieved March 9, 2003, 2010 : “[…] ' I kind of missed childhood. I had sexual abuse and stuff. I need healing, so I'm having my childhood now. I'm 5 years old forever. 'Joybubbles said he'd only recently remembered being sexually abused as a small child at a school for the blind in New Jersey. His mother, who lives in Florida, denies any knowledge of his sexual abuse, but in 1991, Joybubbles changed his name specifically for that reason. ' I went to court and rendered the name I was abused under null and void forever, ' he said. ' I never have to say it again. '“
  6. ↑ Steve Wozniak; Gina Smith: iWoz. How I invented the personal computer and co-founded Apple . Hanser: Munich 2007. ISBN 3-446-40406-6 .
  7. ^ On a joyful, curious spirit, waste vs. waists, and more… In: “St. Paul Pioneer Press / TwinCities.com ". August 17, 2007, accessed on November 14, 2013 : “His legal name was Joybubbles, and he saw himself sending packets of joy to his many friends. He lived on the telephone lines, and he died Aug. 8 in Minneapolis. "
  8. ^ Frank Ziemann: Phreak: Telephone hacker Joybubbles died. In: "PC World". August 23, 2007, accessed November 14, 2013 .
  9. ↑ Douglas Martin: Joybubbles, 58, Peter Pan of Phone Hackers, Dies. In: " The New York Times ". August 20, 2007, accessed November 14, 2013 .
personal data
SURNAME Joybubbles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Engressia, Joseph Carl (maiden name); Engressia, Joe; The Whistler (nickname); High Rise Joe (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American phreaking pioneer
DATE OF BIRTH May 25, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH Richmond , Virginia, USA
DATE OF DEATH August 8, 2007
Place of death Minneapolis , Minnesota, USA