ToneLoc
Encyclopedia
ToneLoc was a popular war dialing
computer program for MS-DOS
written in the early to mid-1990s by two programmers known by the pseudonym
s Minor Threat (Chris Lamprecht
) and Mucho Maas. The name ToneLoc was short for "Tone Locator" and was a word play
on the name of the rap
artist known as Tone Lōc
. The utility was created for the purpose of scanning for dial tone
s or modem
carriers in order to find PBXes, long distance carriers, or other modems.
On April 17, 2005, the source code
for ToneLoc was released.
War dialing
War dialing or wardialing is a technique of using a modem to automatically scan a list of telephone numbers, usually dialing every number in a local area code to search for computers, Bulletin board systems and fax machines...
computer program for MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
written in the early to mid-1990s by two programmers known by the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
s Minor Threat (Chris Lamprecht
Chris Lamprecht
Chris Lamprecht, aka MinorThreat, is regarded as the first person to be banned from the Internet. After being sentenced to 70 months in prison for money laundering, Lamprecht was also given a punishment of no access to the Internet until 2003....
) and Mucho Maas. The name ToneLoc was short for "Tone Locator" and was a word play
Word play
Word play or wordplay is a literary technique in which the words that are used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement...
on the name of the rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
artist known as Tone Lōc
Tone Lōc
Anthony Terrell Smith , better known by his stage name Tone Lōc, is an American rapper and actor.-Early life and career:...
. The utility was created for the purpose of scanning for dial tone
Dial tone
A dial tone is a telephony signal used to indicate that the telephone exchange is working, has recognized an off-hook, and is ready to accept a call. The tone stops when the first numeral is dialed...
s or modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
carriers in order to find PBXes, long distance carriers, or other modems.
On April 17, 2005, the source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
for ToneLoc was released.
External links
- Download ToneLoc v1.10 source code
- ToneLoc v0.98 User Manual
- Interview with Minor Threat, ToneLoc's author, part of BBS: The DocumentaryBBS: The DocumentaryBBS: The Documentary is a 3-disc, 8-episode documentary about the subculture born from the creation of the bulletin board system filmed by computer historian Jason Scott Sadofsky of textfiles.com....