Joybubbles, 58, Peter Pan of phone hackers, dies

[rms () computerbytesman com]

http://news.com.com/Joybubbles%2C+58%2C+Peter+Pan+of+phone+hackers%2C+dies/2100-1037_3-6203450.html

Joybubbles, 58, Peter Pan of phone hackers, dies
By Douglas Martin
Story last modified Mon Aug 20 11:30:34 PDT 2007

Joybubbles (the legal name of the former Joe Engressia since 1991), a blind
genius with perfect pitch who accidentally found he could make free phone
calls by whistling tones and went on to play a pivotal role in the 1970s
subculture of "phone phreaks," died on Aug. 8 in Minneapolis.

He was 58, though he had chosen in 1988 to remain 5 forever, and had the
toys and teddy bears to prove it. The cause of death has not been
determined, said Steven Gibb, a friend and the executor of the Joybubbles
estate.

Joybubbles, who was blind at birth, was a famous part of what began as a
scattered, socially awkward group of precocious teens and post-teens
fascinated with exploring the phone system. It could then be seen as the
world's biggest, most complex, most interesting computer, and foiling the
phone system passed for high-tech high jinks in the 1970s.

"It was the only game in town if you wanted to play with a computer," said
Phil Lapsley, who is writing a book on the phone phreaks. Later, other blind
whistlers appeared, but in 1957, Joybubbles may have been the first person
to whistle his way into the heart of Ma Bell.

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