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Exploding The Phone

@explodingthephone.bsky.social

The untold story of phone phreaks: the teenagers and outlaws who hacked Ma Bell.

73 Posts211 Follower180 Folgt
Ian Austen@ianausten.bsky.social · last wk.

A battery of phones sits at the ready down a hallway in Toronto's Metro Hall. It was not obvious why a key lock box is attached to the phone on the left. (Rolleiflex Wide, Zeiss 55mm f4 Distagon, Kodak Tri-X)

Four pay phones are mounted into separate niches under intense focused light. The carpeting is very patterned and a door is that the right.
Lucky225@lucky225.2600.blue · 2w ago

In honor of the Joybubbles documentary finally being screened, we ( @swhite-photos.com) have restored his old 206-FEELING (2063335464) number that he recorded Stories and Stuff on. When called you will get a random recording from the archive. Enjoy. 🎉 Cc @explodingthephone.bsky.social

Exploding The Phone@explodingthephone.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Rachael Morrison's wonderful Joybubbles documentary, a heartfelt story about a blind whistling phone phreak, will be showing in San Francisco, San Rafael, Boston, Ann Arbor, and having an international premiere in Warsaw, Poland in the next few weeks. Details in thread!

Joybubbles screenings: Ann Arbor, MI May 17; Warsaw, Poland TBD; NYC, May 2; San Rafael, CA May 1; Mississippi Film Society April 28; IFF Boston April 27; San Francisco April 25; Ashland, OR April 24-26.
Tao Neuendorffer@taonf.bsky.social · 3w ago

The phone to me was the closest thing to God on earth —Joe Engressia Jr, aka Joybubbles If you’re noticing a similarity between Engressia and the character Whistler in Sneakers, that’s not a coincidence #Joybubbles was curiosity given human form decipher.sc/2026/02/02/p...

Joybubbles is a documentary directed by Los Angeles filmmaker Rachael Morrison that tells the story of Joe “Joybubbles” Engressia Jr., a legendary and whimsical blind hacker who helped pioneer the art of “phone phreaking.” Gifted with perfect pitch, he realized that if he whistled the exact tone of 2600Hz into the telephone receiver, he could make free phone calls and explore the inner workings of the telephone network. His incredible skill for hacking the network eventually awarded him the nickname “The Whistler,” and he became famous among a group of underground telephone hackers who called themselves phone phreaks.
—>realhackhistory.org@bsky.realhackhistory.org · 3w ago

I finally got a chance to see the Joybubbles documentary. I was honestly surprised by how emotional it made me, if you’ve been involved in phreaking or hacking I think you’ll see a little of yourself in Joe. It centers his story and his struggles and his successes, it isn’t a true crime exposé.

Tao Neuendorffer@taonf.bsky.social · last mo.

How did artists working for newspapers in the 1970s view computer crime? How did they depict it? This blog goes year by year with a selection of images from newspaper archives

This illustration was attached to an article that detailed more concerns about potential for fraud when computers are used in voting. I don’t fully understand what it is portraying though, maybe a computer in a voting booth that has been prised open? Newsday (Nassau Edition), Monday, Nov 6th, 1972And this illustration which I think relates to stories about phone phreaks prank calling people around the world. "Do you really want to listen to Chairman Mao's heavy breathing on the line?” Western Daily Press, Sat, September 9th, 1972This is an excellent cartoon of an FBI agent made out of phones, with the handsets as pistols. There were two types of phone phreak stories in the 1970s, one tended to be whimsical stories about the adventures phreaks got up to and the other was about technical or legal moves against phone phreaking. 'Phone phreak' pays a heavy toll for bugging Ma Bell, FBI Chicago Tribune, Tuesday, May 10th, 1977My favorite illustration of this entire blog, it accompanied an article that came about because of more statements by Donn B. Parker, in this case that universities and colleges were becoming hotbeds of computer crime. The cartoon has real Mad Magazine energy combined with something you might see in a college textbook on computer security. I think it is meant to show a university computer department as a fraternity house complete with hijinx and mayhem. I’m assuming the old man tied up at the bottom of the image is the crusty Dean or the ageing professor who was meant to have been preventing the chaos taking place. Computer U. The Columbus Ledger, Sunday, November 19th, 1978
—>realhackhistory.org@bsky.realhackhistory.org · last mo.

I put hours & hours into this #blog, combing through newspaper archives for cool fun images of what newspaper illustrators thought of computer crime in the 1970s. If you’ve ever wondered about the origin of #hacker illustration tropes here it is. #hacking #history realhackhistory.org/2026/06/28/7...

Ian Austen@ianausten.bsky.social · 3mo ago

This one was shot some time ago but someone missed going through the scanner until now. The Byward Market Parking Garage, Ottawa. (Leica M2, 35mm f2 Summicron, Kodak Tri-X)

A payphone kiosk mounted on a brick wall. To its left is a Canada Post mailbox and to the left of that is a light colored utility box. To the right of the phone is a curved, mulitpaned window which is very dirty and has some sort of sealing problem. A cartoonish tulip is painted on it. Part of a one way sign is visible.
Exploding The Phone@explodingthephone.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Rachael Morrison's wonderful Joybubbles documentary, a heartfelt story about a blind whistling phone phreak, will be showing in San Francisco, San Rafael, Boston, Ann Arbor, and having an international premiere in Warsaw, Poland in the next few weeks. Details in thread!

Joybubbles screenings: Ann Arbor, MI May 17; Warsaw, Poland TBD; NYC, May 2; San Rafael, CA May 1; Mississippi Film Society April 28; IFF Boston April 27; San Francisco April 25; Ashland, OR April 24-26.
Ian Austen@ianausten.bsky.social · 4mo ago

OK, back to phones. This one across from Hyde Park in London was painted black perhaps to indicate its claim that it offers WiFi. That may be true. I didn't test it. (Leica M Monochrom, 28mm f2.8 Elmarit M)

A British "call box" without a door and painted black but with a phone. Where it would traditionally say TELEPHONE, the sign reads: WiFi here and has a WiFi logo. In the background are ride share bikes a bus stop and a hotel with many fancy SUVs and cars. The words Park Lane are visible on the hotel.
Charming Stranger Films@charmingstranger.com · 4mo ago

Bay Area friends! JOYBUBBLES is coming for SFFILM's San Francisco International Film Festival! Screening on April 25 at 3:30 PM. Director Rachael J Morrison, producers Sarah Winshall, Will Butler, and Annie Marr will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A. ☎️ Get tickets NOW — loom.ly/pz47E20

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aka_pugs @akapugs.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Before transistors, relays were widely used in telephony switches. They were much slower, but much more reliable than vacuum tubes. This 1951 booklet, "NO. 5 CROSSBAR" from Bell Labs describes the bad-ass mainframe of relays. Lots of photos and diagrams. drive.google.com/dri...

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70s Sci-Fi Art@70sscifiart.bsky.social · 6mo ago

RIP Robert Tinney (November 22, 1947 – February 1, 2026), the artist famous for his playful covers for Byte magazine, a hobbist magazine that ushered in the microcomputing age from the mid-70s through the 90s. I'm honored to have included his work in my own art collection.

Byte magazine cover featuring a desktop with a screen showing a green landscape, next to a window showing the real-life version, which is ugly, industrialized, and smoky.The original Star Trek crew are at a holographic museum of "ancient technology," watching a guy scratch his head while reading a retro computer manual.A painting, a window, and a desktop computer are all lined up to complete the same view, a scene of a blue mountain range.A white-bearded Robert Tinney stands near an easel with a famous Tinney illustration of a smartwatch that runs on a micro-floppy disk.
Ian Austen@ianausten.bsky.social · 7mo ago

I had little hope of finding payphones in Switzerland this week. It put its last phone booth in a museum in 2019. This sign in Zurich's Rheinfelder Bierhaus got my hopes up. But the phone has been replaced by a mop, a bucket and some cleaning supplies. (Leica M Monochrom, 28mm f2.8 Elmarit M, v3)

A plain wooden door with a narrow, vertical window at the top of the window is a sign reading Telefon. To the left is some sort of electrical box above a stairway.
Ian Austen@ianausten.bsky.social · 7mo ago

A dépanneur in Rigaud, Quebec. One of the few phone booths I've encountered that is the primary lighting source of its surrounding area. (Mamiya 7ii, 43mm f4.5, Kodak Tri X)

A night view of a Bell phone booth in front of a convenience store. Its sign is turned off. To the left of the booth is a Canada Post mail box.
Ian Austen@ianausten.bsky.social · 7mo ago

I'm very indebted to @panamstyle.bsky.social for alerting me to this sad couple in Rochester, N.Y. While I'm not about to add color to the phone project, these kiosks are blood red and the first line on the pavement behind them is more or less matching. (Mamiya 7ii, 43mm f4.5, Kodak Tri X)

Two battered up payphone kiosks separated by a brcik column. A plate is broken open under one of them. Their signs only read: PHONE. There is a sticker inside one for "$10 Cab". Behind is a mall parking lot at night.
Ian Austen@ianausten.bsky.social · 8mo ago

The grocery store on the main street of Mitchell, Ontario, a town that I don't think I've previously passed through. The phone appeared to be in good order. (Mamiya 7ii, 43mm f4.5, Kodak Tri X)

A textured concrete brick wall with a Bell phone kiosk mounted on it. To its left is a bench. Two posters of Second World War vets are mounted in a window to the left. Another window to the right opens into an entrance way.
Ian Austen@ianausten.bsky.social · 8mo ago

The Pronto Market in Russell, Ontario. The phone has not survived what appears to be several pointless attempts to light it on fire. There's neither a dial tone nor a scroll on the LED display. (Chamonix 45N2, Schneider 135mm f5.6 Symmar S, Kodak TriX 320)

A Bell payphone kiosk in harsh sun. It's in front of a shop in between the entrance, which has a long list of hours in block printing, and a cage with BBQ propane tanks that's fronted with a sign for Levac, the company that filled them. A sign in a window gives estimated lottery jackpots, another sign declares the shop to be open and partly obstructs a Coca-Cola logo. The building's awnings can partly be seen.
Lori Emerson@loriemerson.net · 9mo ago

very happy and relieved to confirm: the second printing of #othernetworks will be available on the Anthology Editions website November 21st and also available to order from your favorite independent bookstore shortly after shop.mexicansummer.com/merch/495898...

Lori Emerson - Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook. Mexican Summer & Anthology.

Buy Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook by Lori Emerson on Mexican Summer & Anthology.

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Lori Emerson@loriemerson.net · 11mo ago

in 1954 telephone employees at Mountain Bell came to Boulder, Colorado for "Dial Day" to teach residents how to dial a telephone. reportedly, employees explained "how busy signals were different than siren-like tones that indicated that a caller had mis-dialed." #othernetworks

photograph of a full page newspaper story. the top half of the page features a black and white photograph of a woman smiling with a telephone handset up to her mouth. she is standing on the left of a large replica of a telephone dial possibly with a switchboard. a man in a suit stands on the right. text for the article is below. In 1954, Mountain Bell employees taught Boulder residents how to dial a telephone. 1954 Dial Day' in Boulder In the early months the finger stop, the dial pany employee, was unique to Area codes, at the time, were of 1954, Mountain Bell must be allowed to re- party-line subscribers. Most only used by operators who Telephone employ- turn freely to its start- party lines were spread across ees visited clubs and ing position." were contacted by dialing four households. Residents the number "0") for long-dis- schools in Boulder to Boulder, in 1954, had could (and often did) listen in tance calls, even from Boulder teach members of the a population of approxi- to conversations of the other to Denver. The operators also mately 25,000 residents. subscribers -- often, annoyed gave directory information and a telephone. Before "Dial Day," residents wanting to make a call only had to pick up their receivers and wait for an operator to ask, "Number please?" Finally, on March 6, 1954, phone users could make local calls themselves, but they had a lot to learn. "Midnight tonight will be a historic moment for Boulder,". stated a writer in the Camera's 24-page special "Dial Day" sup-plement. Subscribers had to be told to wait for the dial tone ("a steady hum") before placing their calls. Then, they were taught how to physically dial their new rotary phones. "Don't force the dial to try to speed it up," stated a Mountain Bell employee. "After each number is pulled around to According to the Cam- when the shared phone was in assisted in emergency calls. era, there were 40 tele- use. In return, they got reduced Individuals took a while phones for every 100 ra…