Technological Assistance Program (TAP)
Gilles Poitras
reprints are often advertised in _2600_ which you can probably find in
stores that sell unusual 'zines.
TAP was out of NY and they stopped publishing after their files were stolen
& their offices torched. cf Bruce Sterling's _Hacker Crackdown_ for more
info.
RLG...@tntech.edu
'Technological Assistance Program'? It was published between 1973 and 1983 and
featured information on phone phreaking, vending machine manipulation, and
lockpicking, among other things. It was a long time ago and it had a small
distribution, so it may be forever lost to time, but if anyone knows where
reprints can be found I would be grateful. The only other thing I know about
it is that it was published somewhere on the east coast - maybe Boston or
New York. Thanks in advance for any info.
Mark Loop
>I believe that someone put out a few electronic issues of a like-oriented
>journal for a few issues. I think the ftp site was ftp.eff.org, you can
>check, but I may be wrong there. Even had a contributor named the
>Stainless Steel Rat (as did the original), but I don't think that they
>are the same publication.
Sorry about following my own posting, but the only electronic issue of
tap I could find was on ftp.halcyon.com under the cud archives.
Mark Loop
I have a few old issues, somewhere. They were pretty neat by the standards
of the day. Mostly started as a journal for Phone Phreaks (Computers
really wern't around much then), it also included such items as how to
break into houses, building police radio jammers, etc. As I recall,
subscription rates were $9/year or free if you were in prison. The
address was in New York City.
I believe that someone put out a few electronic issues of a like-oriented
journal for a few issues. I think the ftp site was ftp.eff.org, you can
check, but I may be wrong there. Even had a contributor named the
Stainless Steel Rat (as did the original), but I don't think that they
are the same publication.
Anyway the original had a logo of a cracked AT&T bell symbol with the
slogan "Ma Bell is a cheap mother".
With the advent of ESS, etc. colored boxes are near worthless so I guess
that TAP moved on to bigger and better things like cypherpunks. :-[
Sam Cramer
The TAP newsletter is covered pretty well in "The Hacker Crackdown". It
started off life as the "Youth International Party Line", a phone-phreaking
offshoot of the Yippies. When "Al Bell," one of the original founders, lost
interest, control passed to "Tom Edison" and "Mr. Phelps" and before long
the newsletter was renamed TAP. Topics discussed were primarily
phone-phreaking related, though other forms of mischief such as "free"
electricity and cable TV were covered too. Toward the end, computer
hacking was also discussed; I think that "Cheshire Catalyst" was the prime
mover on this front.
Classified ads in 2600 magazine periodically offer xeroxed copies of TAP.
Sam
Jeff Hunsinger
badly xeroxed issues. They are only good for a historical perspective. It appears
that they were always broke and complaining about how pathetic their readers were.
TAP was better than the magazine 2600 in many ways, since they covered more than
just phone phreaking and computer hacking. They even started to cover the basement
chemist scene towards the end (bombs, explosives, and do-it-yourself drugs). They
were into weapons a bit as well. 2600 seems to have started doing a little branching
of their own lately, BTW. Anyway, TAP's offices eventually got broken into and torched.
It was supposedly the work of a random robber, but everyone just figured it was really
"the man." Tired of keeping the magazine going, editor Tom Edison gave it up.
I believe Cheshire Catalyst picked it up for a few issues, then dropped it. His issues
were pretty poor in content, but better quality printing. I was one of the poor saps
who sent in for a subscription towards the end. My check got cashed and I never saw
an issue. Lots of people bitched out C.C. for doing that, but I think he claimed he
had to pay off bills. I'm still pretty pissed about the matter.
TAP also seemed to be a haven for lots of petty crooks with lame rationalizations for
their crimes (just like 2600). It's a fun read, though, if you're into this stuff.
Just don't expect any of the scams to work anymore.
________________________________________________________________________
Jeff Hunsinger | The U.S. Dept. of Education is spying
Motorola CSIC Systems Design | on us all...
je...@apache.sps.mot.com |
Mark Loop
>I believe Cheshire Catalyst picked it up for a few issues, then dropped it. His issues
>were pretty poor in content, but better quality printing. I was one of the poor saps
>who sent in for a subscription towards the end. My check got cashed and I never saw
>an issue. Lots of people bitched out C.C. for doing that, but I think he claimed he
>had to pay off bills. I'm still pretty pissed about the matter.
Yeah, thanks for reminding me, I'd almost forgotten. I too was one of those
saps who lost my last year's subscription.
Jonathan Levine
Yes. I have a complete set of the original publication. Went to the
conference in New York in '79, too. I'm under the impression that someone
began publishing under the TAP name again just a few years ago. I don't
know whether they were in any way related to the original publishers.
BTW, TAP started out as YIPL, the Youth International Party Line, which
was a splinter from Abbie Hoffman's YIPPIES.
Jonathan
--
Jonathan Levine | jona...@virtual.cuc.ab.ca
voice: 403-261-5652 | Virtual Universe Corporation (Calgary AB)
fax : 237-0005 | Survival Research Laboratories (SF CA)
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