Before long I had picked up just about everything he was willing to share with me about "phone phreaking" and was spending most of my free time exploring the telecommunications networks and learning on my own, figuring out things Steven didn’t even know about. And "phreakers" had a social network. I started getting to know others who shared similar interests and going to their get-togethers, even though some of the "phreaks" were, well, freaky—socially inept and uncool.