Two fun pranks I heard of recently...

[hal]

Jobs and Woz calling the POPE, pretending to be Henry Kissenger. Got through one bishop, but since it was 5AM vatican time, they were told to call back. They did, but didn't get the pope afterall...

Maybe this is common knowledge - I had never heard it...

from the bio...
***
And earlier, heard this great George Harrison story from Eric Idle... Idle was talking about the Ruttles going to Abbey road for a photo shoot. Some beatle tourist saw them and thought they were the beatles (Idle says, 'yeah, like they'd really be just hanging out 30 years later').

The funny thing is that George was hanging out with them - was freakin' THERE and no one recognized him...

from the Scorsese movie

[cbelt3]

That was one of their famous blue box tales from the early 70's.

[decay]

http://books.google.com/books?id=hlA6Xv3-59YC&pg=PA45&lpg=PA45&dq=iwoz+pranks&source=bl&ots=Hq89jnYtHW&sig=PMvz7qAJ2eLWAJcxWxUFx71cmQI&hl=en&ei=UxqnTuzXE6nL0QH9oKiFDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IWoz

Wozniak goes onto describe how he met Steve Jobs when Jobs was still a high school student (Wozniak was four years his senior and had graduated years earlier). He describes how they both "hit it off" right away and developed a friendship that lasted until Jobs' death in October 2011, although in 2006 Wozniak stated that he and Jobs were no longer close friends. They enjoyed the same music, had the same interests and both had a working knowledge of electronics. It would turn out, they would both also have an affinity for pulling pranks.

Wozniak describes his development of his infamous blue box (a device that allowed the user to make free long distance phone calls), his involvement in the early phreaking community and some trouble it got him into. He also describes his development of the first "Dial-A-Joke" number in the San Francisco Bay Area and how, through it, he met his first wife, Alice.

[ztirffritz]

I heard a story from Woz talking about the Blue Box. He said they were driving some beat-up car and had 'Captain Crunch' (a famous phone phreaker) in the car with them. They were pulled over for something or the car broke down or something. Any way a cop shows up and asks what the Blue Box is. Knowing that possession of a blue box is a federal offense, Woz says it is an electronic synthesizer, a prototype electronic musical instrument. The cop presses the button and it makes the notorious tone used to open phone circuits. The cop doesn't recognize it and tells them to keep working on it because it only makes one sound and it sounds like a phone. They all breathe a sigh of relief as the cop leaves.

[mikebw]

Anyone who has watched Pirates of Silicon Valley would know this.

[decay]

i never saw Pirates, but i listend to iWoz on audiobook format.

very enjoyable.