The end of an era.

gismo

gismo

Touchdown! Greaser!
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iGismo
The "granddaddy of all phone phreaks", the predecessors of the computer hackers died of a heart attack a couple weeks ago. I used to be a fairly close friend of his but we had drifted apart many years ago, in fact I was surprised to learn he was back in Minneapolis. Once, just a voice on the phone (when I was big into the phone phreaking thing in college), I first met "Highrise Joe" (the moniker he used before changing his name to Joybubbles) when I took him out to lunch during a business trip to Denver, his home town at the time. He moved to Minneapolis in the 80's and realized his dream of living in a high rise apartment connected to the Skyway system.

He was quite the character and admittedly never really grew up nor did he want to, he had too much fun playing with the telephone system and thinking up ways to make other kids happy (his other "hobby"). His first apartment in Minneapolis was on the 15th floor (had a nice view of the Mississippi too but that didn't do much for Joe) and he often talked about jumping off the "Lanai" so he could hear himself scream all the way down.

Now that he's gone, I'm wishing I'd kept in touch.

http://www.lospadres.info/thorg/joy1.html

http://www.telecom-gear.com/Death-of-Joybubbles-(Joe-Engressia)-article3581--2.htm
 
I was waiting to start hearing these stories... The folks such as Joybubbles are pioneers, and their passing is sad, but they all shared the curiosity and an eagerness to learn more about the world around them. I only wish there were more people like them in today's society.
 
I first met "Highrise Joe" (the moniker he used before changing his name to Joybubbles) when I took him out to lunch during a business trip to Denver, his home town at the time.
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According to the TV, he was born blind and that accounted for his remarkable hearing. You met him. Was he blind?
 
AuntPeggy said:
According to the TV, he was born blind and that accounted for his remarkable hearing. You met him. Was he blind?
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Joe was indeed totally blind, couldn't even tell if lights were on in the room. He could sense sunshine outdoors by the IR on his face but AFaIK he had no visual recognition of the sun. That's why he liked living in an apartment attached to the skyway system (a network of halls and enclosed bridges that connect many of the major buildings in downtown Minneapolis). He once told me that going outdoors was quite terrifying to a totally blind person. Getting lost was one of his major fears.

His hearing was no doubt enhanced by the lack of visual sensory input, but I think he was musically and intellectually gifted as well.
 
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Re: New York Times on Joybubbles:

mikea said:
Wasn't that "Captian Crunch?" I thought this was about him.

I've heard that he is soo strange that people have tried to get him work and they can't get him to understand things like showing up to talk about it.
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Cap'n Crunch, aka John Draper was another of the early phone phreaks out of California IIRC. He wasn't blind, but was introduced to the concepts by a blind friend. Several blind kids got an early start on this hobby when they met Joe at a camp for blind kids.
 
Re: New York Times on Joybubbles:

lancefisher said:
Cap'n Crunch, aka John Draper was another of the early phone phreaks out of California IIRC. He wasn't blind, but was introduced to the concepts by a blind friend. Several blind kids got an early start on this hobby when they met Joe at a camp for blind kids.
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My parents went to school with Draper.
 
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