-=(new and unusual places to go trashing)=-
                -=(a phile by Shadow Virus)=-
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               You can find all of my philes on
              Digital Decay BBS  (714) 871-2057
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                    OVERVIEW OF THIS PHILE
In this phile I'm going to tell you new and unusual places to
 go trashing. For most of us, getting over to the local GTE,
AT&T, or phone company headquarters to go trashing isn't easy
 or even possible. Besides, what if you're looking for isn't
 codes but.. say... credit card numbers? Banking slips? etc..
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                       WHAT IS TRASHING
  Trashing is going through trash or dumpsters to get things
 like credit slips or phone bills that people throw away, so
                we can use and/or abuse them.
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                AND HERE'S THE PHILE, FINALLY
    Sometimes people leave things in the oddest places...

   1) Go to a local self-copy store like Kinko's. Ask to paw
 through their "Lost Originals" box - say you left something
 in one of their copiers. Then go through the box. You'd be
 amazed how many people copy checks, credit slips, etc (for
 record-keeping purposes) and then leave the originals
 behind, not thinking about it. Also, check their trash -
 lots of people throw their excess copies or copies that got
 messed up, like say the copier jammed and the paper got
 crinkled, into the trash at Kinkos, which is in turn emptied
 into the dumpsters without being shredded.
   2) The trash bins outside a local liquor store.  Most of
 the receipts will be for cash purposes, but some will be
 people just passing through and using their credit card.
   3) Gas station trash. Lots and lots of people use their
 credit cards for gas. Often the receipts will be a few
 months old (they usually keep the past 2 month's worth of
 slips) but still perfectly usable.
   4) Mall or big department store's dumpsters. Lots of
 people buy clothes and make big purchases with credit cards
 - and once they're a few months old, they're thrown out
 without being shredded, because the department stores don't
 realize the danger.
   5) The dumpsters outside party stores. Usually
 preparations for a big party cost $50 or more and most
 people don't pay cash for that sort of thing.
   6) Your neighbors or other people's homes. Phone bills get
 tossed.
   7) Record stores. Often the credit purchases are a few
 months old but still usable.
   8) Computer stores. Wow! Especially places like Fry's.
 Most people go into computer stores to make big purchases -
 computers, hard drives, scanners. And who's going to plunk
 down $300 in cash?  Even teenagers usually give their cash
 to their parents and then use their parent's cards for
 it. So these are fantastic places to look for credit slips.
 And usually they're only a month old (for big stores like
 CompUSA, the bookkeeping beyond a month is too much
 trouble). Very few stores shred their papers.
   9) Florists. Just like department stores, they throw out 
 credit slips. And most flower arrangements are for big
 occasions, and c'mon, who's gonna buy one rose or one $1.25
 carnation for a big occasion? Nah, people go for the $50
 dozen roses or the huge $70 arrangement, and they almost
 always pay with credit cards! Only catch is, most florists
 usually keep the slips for longer - three or four months.
 On the other hand, wading through flowers is always a good
 experience. :)
   10) Jewelry stores. Need I say more? Almost all jewelry
 is expensive. Like department stores, the slips are thrown
 out after a few months, and I have *never* found a jewelry
 store that shreds their trash. Although it can be risky,
 as I remember a time a few friends were almost caught by
 the cops who had been called because the security guard
 heard noises and thought there were burglars outside...
   11) Lingerie stores. (I'm serious!) Who's going to walk
 in and pay $70 cash for that vinyl & stud ensemble? A lot
 of people use credit cards for purchasing lingerie (which
 can tend to be expensive). So as goofy and as foolish as
 you may feel, you can really collect when trashing at
 lingerie stores. 
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                     PLACES NOT TO TRASH!
   1) Schools. Usually they keep all their bills and phone
 stuff for record-keeping purposes. Also, a lot of food gets
 thrown out and it can get messy. And if you're thinking
 about payroll stubs, forget it. The school keeps that sort
 of thing for usually two years - the current year and the
 previous year. Besides, who wants payroll stubs?? 
   2) Churches. Churches seem to pay for everything with
 cash. What's more, you never know when churches are doing
 things and sometimes you'll get surprised by people in the
 middle of the night. A friend dared me to go trashing at
 a local church. I said the pickings wouldn't be good but
 if he'd come with me I'd do it. So we went down there and
 were picking through empty envelopes when we got surprised
 by a Bible Study class which had been having an extra-long
 lesson. :)
   3) Phone company headquarters. Besides the fact that now
 instead of trashing the game seems to be "How Many Seconds
 Before Telco Security Attacks", they're often shredding
 their papers.
   4) Banks. All the ones we visited shredded their papers.
 Of course, if you need something to line your bird's cage,
 by all means go, but watch out for the malicious security
 guards.
   5) Movie theater trash. Almost everything is paid for
 at movie theaters with cash, so all you'd come up with
 is a lot of old popcorn and receipts for cash purchases,
 which we can't use anyway.
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                       ok that's all...
      Thanks to all the cool Digital Decay BBS people:
   Vandal, Arclight, Phax, Pat. Pending, Coolhand, Unreal,     
             Noid, and anyone who I forgot
      My friends from IRC: Crass, #ska people, SkaSoCa     
    Also thanks to BeaMer from #hack for kicking me out,
    now I know I'm actually learning something useful. :)
          
          If you want to get in touch with me on IRC
    I'm ShadowV or ImA2Tone, usually in #ska but I visit a
            lot of channels so just /msg me :)
            Or email at: bmulford@deltanet.com
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