O= /) FLIPPERSMACK 017 `= culturemag for a penguin generation http://www.flippersmack.com x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x At ComiCon earlier this year, I had a chance to meet the crew from Vis-a-vis, the creators of "Cosmic Soda Pop." If Dr. Seuss were alive today, he would draw alien comics like "Cosmic Soda Pop" and dewdle stories like "Fish Fables." From a team that designed many of the "Star Wars: Episode One" characters, from Darth Maul to Jar Jar Binks, comes a new series to a media outlet near you. Enjoy the interview. Clone wrote a kickass article on Prison Phone systems. Superdetailed. This issue must be poetry issue.. we got tons of poems. I saved some for the next issue. The next issue also has a true story about Stone Dragon's efforts to get a Flippersmack interview with a professional prostitute. Got a cool story? Send it in! pinguino [pinguino@comicartist.com] tABLE oF cONTENTS Penguin Palace Update ................................. pinguino [poem] Electrify the Sheep ............................ pinguino [poem] Shades of Blue .................................... Pesto Cosmic Soda Pop Interview ............................. pinguino [poem] Removed ....................................... SlapAyoda [poem] Heart and Soul in Buried Hole .............. Stone Dragon Detailed Look Into Prison Phone Systems .............. The Clone .x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x Penguin Palace Update by Pinguino (pinguino@comicartist.com) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/penguinlist/ Join the Penguin Palace Meeplist, a Yahoo Group (messageboard and mailing list) dedicated to Penguin Palace and it's interests. It's the best way to interact with Penguin Palace: share ideas and thoughts, babble about random topics, and make new friends. It's addictive. Check it out. Thanks to SlapAyoda, the Flippersmack site now has issues in HTML. We will be adding photos to issues and linking the table of contents up. Penguinpalace.com has more artwork now, too. http://www.flippersmack.com/ http://www.penguinpalace.com/ Kathy Kilna will be designing jewelry for characters in the new Tori Do story! After the book releases, pieces will be available for purchase. Check out some of her current designs at http://kathy.zoovy.com/ -.x.x.x.- Electrify the Sheep by pinguino (pinguino@comicartist.com) Lightbulbs don't belong on the floor. They belong in cups. Cups full of tarnished pennies. A penny once killed my friend. Actually a hoard of them ganged up on him. We haven't heard from him since. Funny how people won't talk to you. They change for worse or better. You don't. Suddenly you're a different person. You smell the same. Your eyes contain stories. Their eyes have the look of a beast trapped in a cube. The cube is their home of choice. You kick yours into an octogon. -.x.x.x.- Shades of Blue by Pesto (pesto@diet.drpepper.org) I dream of you in shades of blue when I see your hips, the way you move. When frozen lips kiss your rain hot minds forget their burning pain. When I see you haloed by the sun I can't see anyone else. Ocean eyes can see right through my stormy skies in shades of blue. Coming through a foggy night, I stumble toward bluest light. I know you're nearby when fog breaks into clear blue sky. I've risen up, I'm high above in the airy colors of your love. When the clouds pull me close to you my bluest dreams all come true. -.x.x.x.- Cosmic Soda Pop Interview by pinguino (pinguino@comicartist.com) Cosmic Soda Pop http://www.cosmicsodapop.com/ Published by Vis-à-vis: Kerplink cartoon division Interview with Jon Bresman (J) and Terryl Whitlatch (T) Location: ComiCon International, July 20, 2001 FS: Describe the style of Cosmic Soda Pop. J: Right now it's in comic book form. The plan is to be a 30 minute show with the story in parts. T: We want fully developed characters with lots of depth. J: Personal histories and interactions in the past that you don't see until you're confronted with it again. T: Like the Oz books, where each book is like an episode. -- FS: How did you guys come up with the characters? T: Golly.. When I first stared working for the company, the president said to come up with a little story. I had characters I drew for fun and the president liked them. I came up with a silly little story. People liked it, so we came up with more. Jon came along and between us, we fleshed out the characters and one thing led to another. J: Flash Gordon, Dr. Seuss- we create something somewhere between. We use lots of sci-fi and lots of children's cartoons; nothing that overlaps. T: It's like Flintstones, where you grow into it. Adults get the jokes on a deeper level. J: Bugs Bunny and the Muppets were also like that. Cute for kids, with sophisticated humor behind it. -- FS: What cartoons were your favorites as a kid? J: Bugs bunny. T: Ditto. I have a particular fondness for Pepe le Pew. J: And Kermit the Frog. -- FS: How did you get your start in comics? J: We both used to work for LucasFilm; we worked on "Star Wars: Episode One." Terryl had been illustrating for a long time, since "The Dig" for LucasArts (videogame in 1993, started in 1989). She also worked on "Men in Black." She did the creature designs, and also did creature design for "Jumanji", "Indian in the Cupboard", and "Star Wars: Special Edition." I worked on "Episode One", "Young Indiana Jones" the television show, and interned for Marvel and Valiant comics in college. I worked for Mad magazine and interned for Dave Letterman. I also wrote "The Art of Star Wars" for LucasFilm. -- FS: Why did you decide to move from the corporate world to an independent project? J: Our corporate work pays our bills; we've done stuff for companies from Cisco to Hasbro Toys. It's more fun, and potentially more lucrative to be independent. We try to make the corporate work we do fun as well. -- FS: How long did this project take and what tools were used? How many artists are on your team? T: In December 1999, the characters were first doodled. J: It took a year and a half to get it rolling. Terryl is the lead art director; she creates the characters. We have 4 comic artists and 4 animators. In terms of tools, there's pen and ink and marker. T: Sophisticated markers. We email or FedEx it over to Vis-a-vis. Next, a team of artists get together and take it from there. At that level one person cant do it all. J: For colors and animation we use Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Macromedia Flash. We can recycle the assets because they're designed in Flash. -- FS: Are you running any of the animations on the web? J: Yeah, we have four episodes of "Nix and Nax", who were part of a mercenary army of little green men, until they got fired. They spend time torturing each other, or getting fired from other jobs. We also have a movie trailer for Cosmic Soda Pop and a few issues of the comics. We have some games coming soon, as well as WinAmp skins, and wallpapers. -- FS: Could you tell me more about Cosmic Soda Pop? T: A lot of the character names originate as puns. Sometimes we thought of a name that was funny, and drew the character to fit the name. That's one way to design a character. After that, the characters become real. J: You reach critical mass, where stories become easier because there are more elements to play with. T: Endless scenarios. In the beginning it's fun, but tough. Later the stories get easier to tell. T: You've only hit the tip of the iceberg for characters with the 4 issues and 35 characters. We have 60 that have been created for the series so far. -- FS: If you could have any of your characters as a roommate, who would it be? T: Sugar Anne. She would be the equivalent of an eleven and a half year old girl, where she still plays with dolls but thinks she should be interested in boys. I would definitely not want Tweezle, who is kinda a thief, slob, and completely girlcrazy- so he's looking for a wife. J: Elevis.. an elephant Elvis impersonator. He's bizarre. He got his start as a dermatologist, but he was a fraud as a dermatologist. He got caught, then he was a Liberace impersonator. He has one fan. FS: You? J: Two fans: me, and Brenda A-Gogo. She's a computer geek. Brainy groupie. -- FS: When will Cosmic Soda Pop move to print? J: We're talking to a few publishers to team up with them. -- FS: Are you planning on doing console or PC games? J: We'd love to; that's the goal: games, comics, and animation. A few game companies have come up to us at this convention. -- FS: Where are you guys from? T: Oregon, but I used to live in the Bay Area. I live with my husband and a cranky cockatail who loves my husband but nobody else. J: Berkeley. I'm in the Fremont office fairly often. -- FS: Any interesting facts about yourselves that you'd like to share? T: I was an extra in a Star Trek movie, "Generations." I was running around on the saucer section before it got destroyed. My favorite toys growing up were the EZ bake oven, and the other was my Creepy Crawler set (a hotplate with insect molds that you put a latex glue in to create little lizards and insects). FS: I'm surprised you didn't become sculptor. T: I did a little of that, but I get too impatient and I want it done. I admire people who have the patience to do sculpting. J: I once flooded a Laundromat in Des Moine. I lied to get a role of a Stormtrooper and because of that I got in trouble. I said that I had experience with the armor and I didn't. They didn't do the math to figure out I was like 2 when the movie came out. T: I once threatened George Lucas with a rifle. When I was an intern, I didn't realize that though I knew who he was, that he didn't know who I was. I was on a bike and had a prop gun mounted on the handlebar. I saw George walking by and kiddingly, I said, "We decided to make a few changes around here!" He just kinda stared and I realized that he probably didn't know that I even worked there. "Er.. well.. if its okay with you.. sorry," I stammered. He replied, "Whatever. Don't kill anyone on the way to the other building." I was so nervous that when I burst into the sound department to talk to the person I was supposed to give the prop to, everyone just stopped and stared. J: check out our website, we have a few other cartoons in the works: Fish Fables and Undercover Amigos. We're going to make a Kerplink website with links to the other cartoons. http://www.cosmicsodapop.com/ FS: Thanks for the interview! Good luck finding a publisher! -.x.x.x.- Removed by SlapAyoda (slapayoda@yahoo.com) the section of linoleum gridwork between the stove and the fridge covered and crawling with unmistakable filth white converted to a pale and putrid darkness over the days apply the bleach and let stand for five minutes the grime fades out of sight and out of mind next week we will clean the floor again -.x.x.x.- Heart and Soul in Buried Hole by Stone Dragon (r_lull@hotmail.com) Trapped by your choice behind a wall of heartless cash a cell of passionless wanting. isolation punctured by vicious violation sleep without rest means without content consented rape every hour on the hour every hour. Have you the will to leave? Can you brave your freedom? Will you learn to live? Or just live with yourself? Now the hour is up. lock away your soul where none shall ever find it. -.x.x.x.- A Detailed Look Into Prison Phone Systems' by The Clone (theclone@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca) Disclaimer: The content within this file is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Unauthorized access of the systems spoken about in this file may get you in trouble with local and/or national law enforcement. Introduction: In this document, I will be taking a look into a less known and less discussed area of the telecommunications industry; correctional facility phone systems. Any type of payphone service located in high crime areas require a great deal of protection in regards to physical, remote, and data/voice communication security. Lets delve into this interesting system and learn the fundamentals, shall we? Prison Switching System List: -= Excell =- Excell, which was acquired by AT&T, also develops programmable switches for telecommunications service providers. -= Gateway Technologies =- Gateway Technologies formerly located in Dallas Texas and now located in Colorado that makes switch systems specifically for institutions. They already have all the features and required options like recording of calls. -= Harris 20/20 =- Example of Features: 1. 2 Shelf - 384 Ports 2. Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Package: * Tandum Trunking * On-line Directory * Least Call Routing * First 1000 codes * DISA * System Speed Dial * Voice Mail interface * System traffic statistics * ACD 50 agents * ACD 1500 agent ID's * First 1,000 ANI codes * Message waiting * CDR (50,000 call records) * Meet-me-conferencing * Uniform call distribution * Music-on-hold interface 3. ACD Reports Package (30) 4. DNIS 5. DCA Admin/Maint. Port Pkg. 6. (2) Hex (16-port) Analog Line unit 7. (5) Hex (16-Port) Digital Line Units 8. 8 circuit DTMF Receiver unit 9. 8 port GS/LS Trunk unit 10. 8 port DID Trunk unit 11. (2) 24 circuit T-1 Digital Trunk Units 12. 4-wire E&M Trunk units 13. Digital Voice Announcement Recorders 14. Attendant workstation 15. (80)Alternate Voice data Optic 1 telesets 16. Power failure single line phone 17. Voice Processing Equipment - 12-port/15 hour Integrated VMS 18. Call, Accounting (CDR) Equipment (Harris 50,000 Call Detail Records - Moscow-Emerald CAS for Windows 19. (23) Telesets 20. (3) ACD Supervisor Telesets 21. (2) Supervisors terminals 22. (2) Hex (16 port) Digital Line units 23. System Admin. Terminal 24. 7' EIA 19" rack 25. DCA Card Cage (16 slot) 26. Power failure transfer unit -= Summa Four =- Summa Four, which was acquired by Cisco Systems for $116 million in 1998, develops programmable switches for telecommunications service providers. The switches are generally used for prison payphones, cell switching, services like voice mail and calling-card dialing, and most recently voice-over-IP infrastructure. The following models of Summa Four switches are the ones most used in Canadian and American prison facilities: * - Summa Four VC04K * - Summa Four SDS-1000 * - Summa Four SDS-500 -= National Applied Computer Technology (NACT) =- National Applied Computer Technology (NACT), for example, sells a switch called the LCX120C switching system. It's a tandem digital switch, often used by long distance carriers, prepaid calling card sellers, payphone route handlers and other service providers. The 120C is a medium to large trunk switch, capable of putting long distance traffic out to the toll network without going through the local central office first. It's a generic switch, therefore, with software making the difference. NACT is heavily involved in the correctional industry. Let's look a little more closely at this switch, since it is so often used in prisons and other high fraud locations. Although I do not have the name of the operator, a NACT LCX120C is currently operated by a company which manages or owns over 2,500 COCOTs in New York City. 1+, 0+ and 0- calls are processed through the switch and all traffic is scrutinized by NACT's proprietary 'Control and Validation Unit (CVU)'. Most software, by the way, is developed in "C". NACT claims fraud losses will drop from 20% on average to 0.5 percent and the return on investment for this operator was only six weeks. Perhaps. The cabinet housing the switch stands three feet tall and two feet wide. A clear plexiglass door covers the electronic bay housing the electronics. Two 125 cfm fans keep the air moving. The control and validation unit (CVU) stands at the top of the assembly. The CVU is the primary processor, equipped with dual 330/520 MB hardrives and a 250 MB cartridge tape drive. Using older but serviceable technology, the processor is an MC680x0, utilizing 8 megs of ram and drawing on a 400 watt power supply. The CVU does validation and controls the trunk control unit (TCU) below it. Up to four trunk control units can be supported, each TCU controlling 120 ports (60 talk paths). The TCUs contain "processor and trunk control cards to handle line signaling, send/receive digits, and interface with the CPU." Each TCU utilizes a "real-time industrial processor", 128 Kb of RAM, 80 KB of ROM and a 300 watt power supply. An uninterruptible power supply sits below the TCU and a remote diagnostics system, with a modem, of course, sits below that. Add an administration workstation and a printer and you're ready to roll. Prison Phone And Switch Security: The General Points about Prison Payphones - * - The use of a telephone in prison is a privilege and any abuse can result in prohibition of access. * - All prisoner telephone conversations are recorded and are subject to random or specific monitoring by security staff with the exception of calls made to legal advisers or to the Samaritans. As a general rule of thumb approximately 10% of calls are monitored. * - Relatives or friends or others who receive unwanted, abusive or threatening telephone calls are entitled to ask the prison service to terminate the prisoners access to payphones (except under supervision). * - The extent of access to payphones is variable depending on the nature of the establishment. * - Prison payphones cannot be accessed from outside telephones; this means that prisoners cannot receive incoming calls. This is true for Alberta since the payphones located here are generally fortresses that are run on Telus lines, and do not accept incoming phone calls. This can't be said for all prisons in Canada and the States. I've heard of prisons implementing COCOTS for staff and prisoners to use. These COCOT's by default allow them to be called, and will answer in a modem carrier sound (for remote administration) or will simply ring until the other end picks up the line. * - All freephone, premium rate and special rate numbers are inaccessible from prison payphones - as are emergency numbers. Prison Switches - Prison switches physically are without a doubt the most well protected switches in the world as round-the-clock guards are located in and around the premises. Not even your local CO can do one better on physical prison switch security. However, much can be argued about the remote security of prison switching systems. Just like the COCOTs mentioned above, prison switches can be remotely administered, and often are. An authorized prison employee may set up a phone line that, when dialed to with a computer, modem, and proper login/password information will give them remote access to the switch located in the prison facility allowing them to do what they please. Unfortunately, too many people feel that security through obscurity is the best method. That prison employee who allows himself complete control over the prison phone system from home doesn't think for a moment that anyone is going to find their secret dial up number. Mistake number one; hackers and phreakers have been exploiting phone systems remotely for over a decade by using a simple wardialer program that dials a series of phone numbers in search of a new system they can try and hack. All of the popular prison phone switches used today: Excell, Gateway Technologies, Harris 20/20, Summa Four, and NACT all have remote-dialup administration capabilities. A Legal Way To Beat High Cost Prison Phone Calls Over the past few years, as phone companies such as AT&T, MCI, and Sprint have struck "sweetheart" deals with State prisons, providing security phones for collect calling, a new scandal has developed. With any State or Federal Agency, work orders are customarily submitted for outside bids, with the low bidder normally winning the contract for the job. However, in the case of prison phones, the highest bidder is usually awarded the job with the stipulation that portions of the collect charges are kicked back to the prison system. These kickbacks are normally between 30% and 50% of the total bill. Over the past few years the cost of collect prison calls have risen significantly. Sadly, these outrageous charges are bilked from those with the least ability to pay. Prisoners' families are often impoverished, or may be heavily depleted of resources due to the high cost of assisting with trial expenses. Nevertheless, few complain, in that it seems that the DOC, along with so-called crime victims' advocacy groups, feel that the punishment for the sins of prisoners should also be visited on their families and friends. While inmates do not have any choice as to which service to use, we, the paying public do. There is a service the alternative companies were performing for inmate families that actually is something that any of us can duplicate with just a few phone calls, saving weeks of waiting, and sometimes hundreds of dollars per month in artificially inflated phone rates. There is a legal way around this. The secret is Remote Call Forwarding [RCF] and here is how it works: Remote Call Forwarding uses a virtual phone number that is local to the prison where your loved one is located. The phone number is not a physically installed telephone line... this number exists only at the exchange center for that town or city. This specially created phone line will be set up to automatically call forward to your home phone number [NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE]. Advantages: * You pay for a local collect call * You pay regular long distance charges from the virtual phone number to your home number * Make sure you read all the information below before deciding if this is a good and economic alternative for you STEP ONE: A. First, you need to get the area code and phone number of the prison where your loved one is incarcerated. B. Then, you need to call directory assistance and ask for the phone number of the local Phone Company that would service that local exchange. Calling the identified local Phone Company's residential service center does not have to be physically located in the prison's city/town. For example, if the local Phone Company for the prison's town/city is Telus, you can call their 1-800 number. Telus can handle your order for any location in their coverage area. C. Call the local Phone Company and ask to speak to a representative who can set up a remote call forwarding line. Once connected to this representative, get their name for future reference. 1. Obtain the cost for setting up this service and any other associated costs [i.e. monthly maintenance cost; cost of a private line]. If you have the option of more than one local phone company for this area, get comparative pricing to obtain the best financial deal. Often the phone company will waive the set-up costs. 2. Once you have obtained the costs, you may want to terminate the call to evaluate if you can afford and/or want to spend the money on this system. You may need to compare your current phone costs with the RCF costs; typically you will see substantial savings with RCF but it is best to figure this out before proceeding. D. If you decided to proceed with RCF: 1. Tell the representative you want to establish a local phone number for you in the same city or town where the prison is located and that you want this local line to include remote automatic call forwarding to your home phone number. 2. You'll want to make sure the number is semi-private or unlisted, since anyone who calls the newly set up phone number will be able to ring through to your home phone number at your expense. There may be a monthly charge for an unlisted phone. 3. You also want to be absolutely sure that the representative does not block collect-calls. STEP TWO: You then need to inform that company what long-distance service to include for your remote-forwarding line. This is where a little homework on your part will pay off. IMPORTANT: Before calling the local phone company, you need to select the long distance carrier you want to use for these calls. Investigate the various options before calling the local phone company to set up your service. STEP THREE: The representative will need a billing name and address [this is you]. They may ask if you want this line terminated at a phone number already established, say yes giving them your home phone number. To find out if you can save money by establish a remote line, it's best to get out your calculator and do some simple math. How many calls do you receive per month? Add up the charges. The local Phone Company will typically charge you anywhere between $5 and $18 per month for the line. Installation fees will vary, so it's important to check around. Collect calls fees will be charged to the local phone company, rather than to the long distance carrier, so rather than pay the $3 connect fee, plus 50¢ per minute, you'll probably pay between $1 and $2 for the call, plus sometimes 3¢ or 4¢ per minute. You'll also pay the long distance charge for the service you select for call forwarding. So, if the local company charges you $2 average for the call, and you talk for 15 minutes at 10¢ per minute, your charges will be $3.50 per call, as opposed to the $7 to $10 [or more] you're paying now. Add in the cost of the monthly fee for the local line, and you'll see the break-even point will be 3 to 4 calls per month. In addition, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that not one penny of your hard-earned money will go to the Department of Corruptions! A WORD OF CAUTION: Anyone calling your remote number will be able to ring through to your home. It is therefore unavoidable that you'll get a few wrong numbers or pesky sales calls, and there is no way to avoid the one-minute charges you'll pay. However, this should rarely amount to more than $1 per month. AND, FINALLY... If you only receive one or two calls per month, it will not be cost-effective for you to set up a remote-calling line, unless you wish to increase your calls at substantial savings. In so doing, you will benefit even those who receive calls too infrequently to participate. Online References: Private Line Magazine, Issue 12. http://www.nettwerked.net/TFA/p.l.No.12.html Research Papers: "The Prison Industrial Complex and the Global Economy" (lengthy) http://www.labournet.org/1999/Feb/prison.html Contact Information: E-mail: theclone@hackcanada.com URL: www.nettwerked.net -.x.x.x.- Flippersmack Archives: http://www.penguinpalace.com/ http://www.nettwerked.net/ http://www.ghu.ca/ +-----------------------------------------------------+ Flippersmack (c) 2001 Flippersmack All Rights Reserved. pinguino makes me feel warm and fuzzy -slap