Greenie's definitions
A form of hacking, as applied to telephone networks. Phone phreaks exploit weaknesses in the phone system to make long-distance calls for free, tap into other's calls, take control of lines, get free phone services, and the like.
Phreaks (or phreakers) are usually motivated more by technical curiosity and the hacker ethos than any criminal intent (although phreaking is most certainly illegal). To bounce a call through a dozen different switching systems around the world, to your friend next door - all for free - is regarded by phreaks as an accomplishment. The fact that they are committing fraud and felonies in the process is regarded as incidental - or perhaps part of the fun.
The tools of phreaking often take the form of "boxes", such as the blue box, red box, or beige box. These devices - whose names refer to their function, not their actual color - generate various useful audio frequencies or electrical signals. The "red box", which allows you to make free calls from pay phones, is the easiest to build and can be assembled using two parts from Radio Shack that cost less than ten dollars.
The archetypal phone phreak is John Draper, aka Captain Crunch, who began phreaking on the West Coast in the 1960s.
The practice of phreaking has declined in recent years, as phone networks have been upgraded from old analog systems to newer, less vulnerable digital systems.
Phreaks (or phreakers) are usually motivated more by technical curiosity and the hacker ethos than any criminal intent (although phreaking is most certainly illegal). To bounce a call through a dozen different switching systems around the world, to your friend next door - all for free - is regarded by phreaks as an accomplishment. The fact that they are committing fraud and felonies in the process is regarded as incidental - or perhaps part of the fun.
The tools of phreaking often take the form of "boxes", such as the blue box, red box, or beige box. These devices - whose names refer to their function, not their actual color - generate various useful audio frequencies or electrical signals. The "red box", which allows you to make free calls from pay phones, is the easiest to build and can be assembled using two parts from Radio Shack that cost less than ten dollars.
The archetypal phone phreak is John Draper, aka Captain Crunch, who began phreaking on the West Coast in the 1960s.
The practice of phreaking has declined in recent years, as phone networks have been upgraded from old analog systems to newer, less vulnerable digital systems.
by Greenie December 12, 2003
Get the phreaking mug.To rip off another person's style, especially with respect to music or fashion. From early hip-hop culture.
Why don't you come up with your own sound instead of biting every track that hits it big in the clubs?
by Greenie April 12, 2004
Get the bite mug.Song, tune; originally from reggae/dancehall culture, it has also been adopted by the drum & bass scene (which has been heavily influenced by Jamaican music).
by Greenie December 11, 2003
Get the choon mug.Meaning, to dig through the trash. Comes from "Jasper," the name of someone notorious for messing with trash cans.
by greenie November 14, 2004
Get the jasp mug.Marked by sameness and a lack of originality; mass-produced. Often used to describe suburban housing developments where all of the houses are based on the same blueprints and are differentiated only by their color.
by Greenie March 24, 2004
Get the cookie-cutter mug.Derogatory term for a style of hard rock that was prevalent in the 70s, practiced in its purest form by the band Foreigner. Few bands played cock rock exclusively, but some artists with cock rock tendencies include Bad Company, Peter Frampton, Grand Funk Railroad, the Rolling Stones, Ted Nugent, John Fogerty, Aerosmith, AC/DC, and Bob Seger.
Musically, cock rock overlaps with blues rock, southern rock, hard rock, and arena rock, but what ties it all together as cock rock is an egocentric, tough-guy swagger and lots of ridiculous macho posturing. The lyrics often equate hard-rocking with virility and dangerousness.
The genre's primary audience was (and still is) guys with mullets and Camaros.
Though cock rock still gets plenty of airplay on classic rock radio, there are (mercifully) very few new practitioners of the style.
Musically, cock rock overlaps with blues rock, southern rock, hard rock, and arena rock, but what ties it all together as cock rock is an egocentric, tough-guy swagger and lots of ridiculous macho posturing. The lyrics often equate hard-rocking with virility and dangerousness.
The genre's primary audience was (and still is) guys with mullets and Camaros.
Though cock rock still gets plenty of airplay on classic rock radio, there are (mercifully) very few new practitioners of the style.
by Greenie April 12, 2004
Get the cock rock mug.Bruce and Julian met in the broom closet during their lunch break for a bit of surreptitious bone smuggling.
by Greenie August 21, 2003
Get the bone smuggling mug.