1 If you are in need of help, you need but ask... 2 ************************* INSTALLED: 11 OCT 85 ********************** 3 Welcome to BWMS (BackWater Message System) Mike Day System operator 4 ************************************************************ 5 GENERAL DISCLAIMER: BWMS IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INFORMATION 6 PLACED ON THIS SYSTEM. 7 BWMS was created as an electronic bill board. BWMS is a privately owned 8 and operated system which is currently open for use by the general public. 9 No restrictions are placed on the use of the system. As the system is 10 privately owned, I retain the right to remove any and all messages which 11 I may find offensive. Because of the limited size of the system, it will be 12 periodically purged of messages. (only 629 lines of data can be saved) 13 To leave a message, type 'ENTER' and use ctrl/C or break to get out of the 14 ENTER mode. The message is automatically stored. If after entering the 15 message you find you made a mistake, use the replace command to replace 16 the line. To exit from the system, type 'OFF' then hang up. 17 Type 'HELP' to see other commands that are available on the system. 18 ************************************************************ 19 20 ALL: Various items for sale: FHR 1200 baud Hayes compatable modem; NEW $225 21 In addition, I have five Shugart SA-400 disk drives. Rebuilt and tested 22 for 24 hours on BW (I can't think of a better test). $25.00 each. 5 available. 23 2 pertec 8" disk drives as is $10 each. 24 Three spare parts SA-400 disk drives. (One won't read - missing IC, 25 two won't write - something on the logic board, a board 26 swap makes em work) $5.00 each. Buy all 5 good shugarts, and I'll throw in 27 the spare parts drives for free. If you're interested, give me a call at 28 654-xxxx (U.S. Digital) Mike Day. 29 ******************************** CISTOP MIKEY ******************************* 30 31 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 32 33 "And now, let's check in with our correspondant Bill Boling at the 34 fifteenth annual Dom Fester games.......Bill?" 35 "Thanks Bob. Hi everybody! Weel, we're here at the fifteenth annuaDom Fester games, watching the Ion-Boat 36 race! And what a race! We've already had one exciting moment, when boat numberfifty-four dipped it's jets too close 37 to the water, and when the propulsion and H20 met,.....bleweeeee!.....right 38 out of the water! Now, let's go down to the Pogo event with our reporter, 39 Gil......" 40 "Thanks Jim, we're here talking with the winner of the all-time 41 favorite Jet-Pogo event, Urbane Sheperd. Mr. Sheperd, can I call you Urb? 42 Good, Urb, what was it like during the last ten miles?" 43 "Well Gil, it was pretty rough starting through turn number eight, 44 but I made it okay, my stick performed real well in the qualifying rounds 45 early this morning, you know, so it was just what we expected, winning I 46 mean." 47 "And what was all that towards the end? Could you explain that 48 to our audiance?" 49 "Sure. Well, I was right along side this 'fella on a red and 50 grey stick, we were really goin' at it 'cause it was near the finish, 51 and this guy, number eighty-six I think it was, was just ahead of us. 52 Anyway, this guy on the red and grey was pulling ahead of me to try to take 53 the lead, but could'nt do it because of this guy in front, so here I am 54 lookin' at him, and all of the sudden, he whips out this blaster and kills 55 this guy in front of us!" 56 "And then what happened?" 57 "Well, then the cops come flyin' in and throw their nets over 58 the guy on the red and grey, and haul him away sayin' "Murder's a 59 misdemeanor, ya' know!", so I won the race easy." 60 "Congratulations, Urb, good to see you win it." 61 "Thanks Gil." 62 "And that's the story here, Bill, Urbane Sheperd takes the win by 63 five miles." 64 "Thanks Gil. Now ladies and gentlemen, we'll pause for a station 65 break, and bring and bring you back for the Electric Curling, stay tuned!" 66 67 *Click........* 68 69 PEN NAME 70 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 71 [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[ 72 73 The Wanderer stands up slowly, nods in response to the shape-shifter and 74 company, and raises his hand. There is a shimmer in the room, like heat waves 75 rising up from the desert floor. It would be unsettling to say that time stop- 76 ped, and that a new reallity was over layed the old... and unsettled is the 77 last feeling that anyone has: All is as it was before, all except... one might 78 notice if they looked carefully the Wanderer had three more grey hairs, and 79 there is NO thin man in the back... 80 81 "JoJoe, if I might trouble you for two skins of wine, and may be a loaf of 82 sour bread with sharp cheese, for the passin'. A story needs good food and 83 drink, for the tellin' to be what it may." From a pocket he pulled a coin, gold 84 form its look, thought JoJoe as he got up to get the requested items. 85 "You could buy all the food I gots wit' this... ya want I should maybe put 86 the change on a tab?" 87 "That would be fine, my good man. Thank you, for suren." 88 JoJoe wiped his nose on the back of his sleave as was his habbit, winced up 89 one eye, and thought, "... I don't 'member him a having an accent like that 90 before," but, the thought passed... leaving JoJoe feeling very much at peace. 91 92 NEXT TIME: On with the story. 93 94 ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]***RHD inc.***]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] 95 96 [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[**PS**[[[[[[[[[[[[ 97 THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT 98 ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] 99 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\THE DESTROYER\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 100 "THIS is a TARDIS?" she asked incredulously. 101 James held up a hand, "Now I didn't say that. This isn't a TARDIS. But it's close. It doesn't travel through time 102 (thank God) but it does nearly everything else a TARDIS can. What you're looking at here is the front door. It works 103 like an airlock which means I can't get into the ship itself until this door is closed. so if you'll please step 104 inside..." 105 Reluctantly she did so. James followed her in and the cylinder slowly closed. 106 Except for the twelve glowing buttons it was totally dark in there and for a moment she had a brief attack of 107 claustrophobia. Shadows covered some of the buttons as James tapped out a security code on them. Then the buttons went 108 out and the side of the cylinder they were on began to open. Instead of splitting and rotating aside like the other 109 half, this half slowly slid down into the floor. 110 She stepped out into a large room. It was dim, lit only by the lights of the electronics that covered the walls. 111 James touched a switch and spotlights mounted into the ceiling came to life. A contoured chair sat in the center, 112 facing a large blank screen and surrounded by banks of equipment. A half dozen other seats were placed behind it. Big 113 as the room was, it was still crowded with equipment. There were so many details that she quickly lost track of them 114 all. It was very utilitarian. And rather depressing. 115 James hung his hat and jacket on an old fashioned coatrack by the door. A multicolored scarf of unbelievable length 116 was loosely draped around the lower hooks ("A small in-joke" he commented.). He went over to the console by the chair 117 and began punching buttons. Hidden machinery hummed to life. The screen lit up with a computer image of the 118 surrounding area. 119 Tariya was quite awed. Looking around, the asked, "Where did you get this thing? The Circle's secret reports never 120 mentioned this." 121 Secret reports? He filed that one away for future reference. It occured to him how little he knew about his 122 travelling companion. "Well, there's this shop, located at the base of the third temporal axis, where you can buy 123 literally anything. And I do mean anything. This was sitting in a rack in its card form. I got it for a song. Traded 124 my Walkman and a bunch of cassettes for it. They trade stuff 'cause there's no universal money system down there. 125 Still, I think I got the better of the deal." 126 "That depends on what a walkman is." She said, walking around and looking at all the gadgetry. Mindful of what 127 happened to her own ship, she was very careful not to touch anything. 128 "Take my word for it, I got a good deal." James hit a switch and Tariya jerked back as a door opened in front of 129 her. It hadn't looked like a door. "Back there's the rest of the ship. Living quarters, storage, maintanance 130 hatchways, all sorts of stuff. The first sixty doors on either side are living spaces. Pick one and take it. After 131 that is the storerooms. You can find just about anything you'd need there. There's an inventory somewhere but I'll be 132 damned if I know where it is." 133 "You don't sound like you know your own ship too well." 134 "I have more important things on my mind. In fact, I'm still learning to fly this sucker. Speaking of which," he 135 looked back at her, "where's our destination?" 136 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\THE DESTROYER\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 137 138 |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|l|u|r|k|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_| 139 /=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=/me too./=/=/ Piner. /=/ 140 (((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*)))(((*(((*)))(((*)))me three )))((( Ripple ))) 141 #$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#busy night#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$ 142 ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp 143 My goodness! Two disks in record time -- things are looking up around here 144 and the new works look good. And now, back to an old story... 145 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz 146 Have you ever had the sensation of saying JUST the wrong thing? Asking 147 JUST the wrong question? Making JUST the wrong move? 148 The wounded woman lay back on the cushions that supported her, relaxing 149 with an almost inaudible sigh as the lady ministering to her needs 150 reacted to the question. An almost forced cheerfulness... a sense of 151 wounds that lay near the surface, a counter question. 152 "Do I fear death?" she pondered the question. "No, should I fear that 153 which is in the past?" The pain of the wound was amplified by the pain 154 of loneliness. "Perhaps it is only a dream that I will return home." 155 The ache of a near-mortal wound is deeper than the physical. The piper's 156 sharp knife had left scars on the psyche of the woman known to the others 157 only as zeb. Filled with self-loathing for the unguessable length of time 158 she had sustained her own life at the expense of others, she answered the 159 questions put to her in a nearly automatic state. Her past? She supressed 160 a small smile, and made a small answer about the inadequacies of language. 161 Why did she feel this distance? Why could she not feel the gratitude due 162 this kind person, so like herself in face and form, whose touch was gentle 163 and healing? The images swirled around in her minde, a mixed melange of 164 recent and less recent past ... the strong arms of the piper, a warm and 165 welcome companion after a near infinity alone... farther back, a cool rainy 166 day on a windswept hill... 167 The grey clouds were scudding through the rain-streaked sky, driven by 168 their nature, emitting playful gusts of wind. Water gathered in small 169 puddles, then broke into drops and lept into the waiting clouds. The small 170 group on the brow of the hill gathered with bowed heads then stood for 171 long moments as their flapping clothes generated a small breeze around 172 them. A tall man embraced her for a moment, then stepped to the side 173 of a disturbed spot of earth, and unsaid the fateful words. With reverent 174 strokes, the diggers unearthed the pitifully small coffin and lifted it 175 from the musty ground. 176 Back at home, they took the small body, a beautiful girl-child who 177 could remain for no more than five or six years, and placed her in the 178 sickbed. It was a long, and agonizing illness, but at last the little 179 girl rested in her arms, and said the fateful words, 180 "Mommy, I don't feel good."... 181 Experinces jolted her. A sense of complete understanding suffused here, 182 giving her the feeling that all the answers lay right at hand. 183 A touch, more subtle than that of a hand ruffled the surface of her 184 thoughts, and she turned to see the look of understanding coming into the 185 lady Tayree's compassionate eyes. A few words, then the comforting touch 186 of a gentle hand on the brow... 187 Suddenly the physical contact between the women broke a mental barrier 188 between them. The mind of the Lady Tayree came flooding through the 189 mind of the woman called zeb, and her mind begain to flow into that of 190 the lady. Outraged by this violation of self, two mouths opened as 191 one and the blended scream of the two women filled the chamber. 192 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz 193 Scarlet l -- this particular entry happened without concious volition on 194 my part. It does tie things together a bit, but I don't really know where 195 it's going. Perhaps we need a different board to talk about possibilities 196 for the story? I'm open to suggestions. 197 pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp 198 ++++++++++++++++lurk+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Milchar++++++++++++++ 199 HYPERBOLE. HYPERBOLE. HYPERBOLE 200 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 201 HEY! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY STORY! 202 ------------KEVIN B.------------------ 203 204 TRY DRIVE B, KEVIN. TYPE DB AT THE 205 > PROMPT. 206 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 207 [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[ 208 209 HELLO: RHD inc. here! 210 Congratulations are in order... as my wolf, Natassia just gave birth to 211 twelve pups, of which, ten have survived. I'm a grandpa. Mrs RHD inc. and 212 I are extreemly happy, as does appear Natassia. I realize that this is some 213 what of a waste of space, but I am so proud, you'ld think I was the one who 214 had them! Bye! 215 216 ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]***RHD inc.***]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] 217 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++Lurk, lurk, lurk++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 218 Ahh, what to type... Tis a pity, I am at a loss for words. Maybe someday 219 I shall again be my former self. I shall have to wait and see what develops. 220 221 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Darbon++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 222 [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[ 223 False info before, 15 pups, 11 made it. More news as it happens. 224 ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]***RHD inc.***]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] 225 (((*))) 226 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 227 Mud, mud, everywhere, and not a dry haven in sight. Night had fallen some 228 hours before; the rain had started half an hour later. I stopped walking and 229 tried for the dozenth time to activate my passkey by pressing the contact. 230 Crackle. Spark. Nothing happens. I swore. 231 I might be here years, I reflected, or maybe longer. Depends upon the tech 232 level of the planet I'm stranded on. Looking at the apparently abandoned huts 233 that I passed regularly, I decided 'longer' was my fate. Not a place blessed 234 with extradimensional commerce, this. 235 I decided that walking farther would accomplish nothing but a cold. Quickly 236 I stepped from the pounding rain outside to the less painful rain on the 237 inside. I gave the passkey one more try before I sat down. 238 It emitted a low buzz. A weak, wavering circle of light shimmered into being. 239 It seemed my freak luck would help me home! I jumped into the circle 240 recklessly. 241 I regretted it. Pain shot through me. During an instant when the pain was 242 less intense I reasoned that the wavering field was producing uncomfortable 243 spacial changes. Nothing to do for it- 'beggars can't be choosers' applied 244 to the situation. I stuck it out. 245 Just before I thought I would collapse from the strain (and pain), I was 246 through. The Door dumped me on a dirt pathway in a forest, farther away from 247 the mud-planet than any distance measurement could handle. It still wasn't far 248 enough for me. 249 I lay on the ground for awhile, saving my strengh. I got up slowly some 250 minutes later, the soreness having ebbed slightly by then. The forest didn't 251 have that 'techy' look to it either, but at least it was dry. 252 Rain began to fall. I cursed Murphy. 253 I walked down the path, hoping it led to civilization, as it existed here 254 (again, wherever here was). A few minutes later, I found it. 255 A building stood near the path, off to my right. An odd-looking tree (I'd 256 never seen it's like before) stood before it, as if guarding the place from 257 harm. Any port in a storm, I thought, and made my way to the door. A small 258 sign near the door made things plain: 259 The Inn (All Welcome) 260 I couldn't have stumbled upon a nicer arrangement, I thought as I pulled open 261 the large oaken door. 262 %%%%%%%% rebalsa %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 10/12/85 263 .,-=-,.,-=-,.,-=-,.,-=-,.,-=-,.,-=-,. 264 Ever notice how when the weather 265 changes in the real world it often 266 does the same thing in this world... 267 .,-=-,.,-=-,. Star Buck .,-=-,.,-=-,. 268 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 269 pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp 270 Perhaps that's because your "real world" is merel 271 oops- merely a reflection of true reality -- as are the manifold worlds we 272 explore here... 273 pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp 274 OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI 275 276 It seemed like the adventurers had been running forever. The hallways 277 of the Pell-mell arched and twisted like a rat's maze. As confusing as the 278 passageways were, Trainor could find his way through them with his eyes 279 closed. Following his lead, Piper, Bard, Emu, and Cragmore soon found them- 280 selves standing, panting, in front of a smooth green door. It's construction 281 so fluent that the only indication a door was present was the difference 282 in color of the surrounding bulkhead. 283 Trainor touched a spot on the door, then drew his hand quickly away 284 as if the green door was made of hot metal. 285 "What's wrong Trainor? Is something wrong with the door?" Bard inquired. 286 "I don't know Bard. When I touched the open-door panel, I felt a 287 strange emanation from the room within. It was hot, cold, acid, and base all 288 at once. It said to me, 'Stay Away!'" 289 "Let me see" said the psi specialist Cragmore. "I felt nothing as we 290 approached." Cragmore neared the door, not touching it, but moving very 291 close. He shut his eyes, and his face showed deep concentration. Suddenly, 292 with a yell he jumped back, nearly tripping except for the efforts of Piper 293 and Emu. Helping Cragmore regain his balance, Emu voiced the question that 294 was on everyone's mind. 295 "What is going on? This is not usual Pell-mell operation is it?" 296 Cragmore looked a bit shaken, but quickly regained his composure. "I... 297 It is Lady Tayree and Zeb. They are inside the room. They don't seem to be 298 aware of our presence, but it appears... they have put up some kind of psi 299 shield around the room. Together we could break the shield, but at what cost? 300 They have protected themselves for some reason. They don't want to be 301 disturbed." 302 "This is crazy!" Trainor spoke in an angry tone. "Locked out of a room 303 in my own ship. What's next?" 304 "I don't know Trainor, but we can do nothing here. We are not wanted, 305 nor do we dare risk finding out what is going on." Cragmore tried to calm his 306 fellow questors, to varying degrees of success. 307 Emu and Bard returned to the control room. There was still the problem 308 of getting the ship out of the convolution. Piper made his way to the common 309 room, hoping to get a chance to tune his pipes. Cragmore and Trainor walked 310 slowly to the control room, joining Bard and Emu in an attempt to get the 311 Pell-mell out of the element they were in and into known time and space. 312 "Cragmore, this is very distressing. This Zeb is an unknown quantity. 313 And Lady Tayree, you said yourself this was a difficult time for her. Does 314 she know what she is doing with her powers." 315 Cragmore's face twitched, but Trainor didn't see it. "Trainor, I don't 316 know what to say. I think all we can do is wait. We are out of the picture 317 now. Let's try to get the ship into more stable space." 318 Cragmore didn't like to lie. In fact the whole idea of lying repulsed 319 him. In this case though, the truth looked far more dangerous than any lie 320 he could concoct. He knew what was going on in the room. His psi talent 321 was more complete than he had led on to the others. But this was a lie, a 322 secret, he must carry alone. 323 324 OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI OMNI 325 326 ch /her powers./her powers?/ 327 328 &*%_#@*%_#@&%_)&%)_&%)_!&*%!)&%!)_&%!)_+%!)%&!^%!_)&%*!)_%&!_&%)_@#&%@_)%&@#_%& 329 psu-cs!nelsons: An 8086 assembler? Ha! That is what I had to do during the 1st 330 term of systems (CS485-486) a year and a half ago. The program ended up being 331 somewhere around 4000 lines with debugging and comments, but I did implement 332 floating point numbers in the operand field, which makes the state machine for 333 numbers much more complex but much more useful. I have an 8086 book but I use 334 it constantly because even though I have written the assembler and several 335 assem programs I still do not have the entire instruction set committed to 336 memory (RAM or ROM) and I only have one book. I would advise you to get some 337 primer or similar work. If you need to borrow my book short time, I see no 338 problem with that, but the whole term may be a bit sticky. Call or write if 339 you need more help. 340 Mikey: All the archives have been converted and massaged (haha Leonard) and I 341 can bring the 'extra' disks back next time I get out to USD. How is the 342 adventure business going? 343 *)_%$*#)_%*@_)%*@#_)%*_@)#*%@)#_*^@)#_ L'homme sans Parity *%)_#*%_@#)*%@)_*%*% 344 TJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJ 345 I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public 346 debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared. To preserve our 347 independance, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. If 348 we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our 349 necessities and in our amusements. If we can prevent the government from 350 wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, 351 they will be happy. 352 Thomas Jefferson 353 TJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJ 354 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 355 The following is reprinted from the Yankee Group newsletter "Yankee Ingenuity. 356 357 The War Between the UNIXes 358 Today we count some 30 active versions of UNIX being mismarketed. Bill Gates 359 was at our seminar last week. We kissed his ring. He talked about how XENIX, 360 The Right Stuff Incarnate, would now be compatible with System V, with 361 Version 7, and with the Trans-Siberian Railroad. 362 363 Some debates are clear. The UNIX debate is one that only Technoids and 364 Jeanyates could love. This isn't a debate over standards; it's a Holy War 365 over who has The Right Stuff. Just as Bell Labs is 9000 Ph.D.s connected by a 366 parking lot, UNIX is almost 70 variations on a theme connected by a PR firm. 367 UNIX is a great idea left up to a committee. ("Every great idea ultimately 368 degenerates into hardware...and software.") We call UNIX the "Revolt of the 369 Nerds." The reason there are so many versions of UNIX is the UNIX people not 370 only can't stand each other, they aren't too fond of themselves. every time 371 two UNIX nerds get together (a needless redundancy) they create three new 372 versions of UNIX. Frankly, UNIX is really the "Revenge of the Programmers," 373 since programs written in one UNIX Version will probably require lots of 374 rewriting for another. 375 376 Six months ago, IBM got Yankee's Laura Stuart (the Young Goddess of UNIX) 377 to come and hear some proprietary infomation on Blue's UNIX plans. 378 379 YG (Young Goddess): Why, Blue, have you come up with this revisionist 380 UNIX when you have been bad-mouthing the True Believers for years? 381 Blue: Then is then, now is now. 382 YG: Why did you develop this in Germany? 383 Blue: Strong dollar! Labor's cheap! Taiwan was full! The Germans haven't 384 done anything exciting since Warner von Braun! Take your pick. 385 386 AT&T's Plans for Dominating UNIX 387 This is hilarious. It's not IBM vs. AT&T; it's AT&T trying to capture 388 dominance of something it invented. 389 390 1. Throw dollars. 391 In this scenario, AT&T advertising spends $40 million - or $400 for every 392 UNIX System sold - to push System V. Goal: to sell corporate America! 393 No way. To convince no more than '20 key people' to write in System V. 394 Alternate solution: Bribe them! Go direct! Instead of paying Malcolm Forbes 395 $32,000 and change for each ad page, pay a few million to each of those 396 20 people. Obviously too easy. Another plan is needed. 397 398 2. Make Friends. 399 Here AT&T goes to Intel and Motorola and National Semi and Zilog and Mother 400 Goose and asks for their help on UNIX chips. AT&T makes at least two sincere 401 compliments a day. And (the clincher) it promises to put the same AT&Ters 402 in charge of its 256K chips that were in charge of NET 1000. Gordon Moore 403 sleeps better. 404 405 3. Write Books. 406 AT&T is publishing 'System V Interface Definition,' which is about as 407 catchy a title as AT&T can come up with. They will print 1,000,000 copies 408 and be left with only 999,998. (We'll buy the rest, rename the book 'UNIX 409 Lust!,' charge $2,000 a copy, and go into a 14th printing.) Soon to be a 410 mini-series on ABC, starring Paul Newman as AT&T's Mike DeFazio. Jean Yates 411 will play herself. Eat your heart out, Robert Redford. 412 413 4. Co-op the UNIX User Group. 414 /usr/group is comprised of 2300 members, none of whom was invited to join 415 his/her college fraternity. AT&T promises that if /usr/group calls for 416 standard commands, each will become a member of Alpha Tau & Tau. Hell week 417 is going to five consecutive /usr/group meetings. 418 419 5. Get the Sympathy Vote 420 Get the supermicro guys and the fault tolerant guys to demand their fair 421 share. Have Convergent and Pyramid and Sequoia and Masscomp push for a bill 422 in Congress requiring every company to buy at least 5% UNIX-based, or have 423 to pay Tip O'Neil's bar bill. 424 425 6. Arm /usr/group. 426 /usr/ has no authority to enforce standards? Arm them with Stealth missiles 427 (the Pentagon's version of Vaporware). 428 429 7. Buy the Software Companies. 430 Recalcitrant software companies playing wait and see? Buy the suckers 431 (relatively cheap for the stakes) and offer $2 million in venture capital 432 for 'any' new software company if it writes for System V UNIX 'first'. 433 ...And if they don't? Turn off their phones! 434 435 8. Pollute the Landscape! 436 Not enough UNIX machines? Give 'em to everyone who made an AT&T Long distance 437 call last month. Or MCI. Who cares! Just get the iron out there. Leave 'em 438 on doorsteps like the Yellow Pages. Not home? Leave two, three, whatever. 439 440 9. MS-DOS Causes Cancer in Laboratory Animals. 441 Convince America that MS-DOS is hazardous to its health (and UNIX is like 442 inhaling Herbalife). 443 -----------------------------EUNIX-------------------------------------------- 444 445 L'homme: I guess you don't want me to run off hardcopy for you on the 446 HP Laserjet that I share my desk with... pity. 447 (you mess up my disks and see what happens) 448 Speaking of disks, when are you going to drop by? 449 ______________________________Leonard______________________________________ 450 .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.More Soon.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.Emu 451 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 452 I closed the door as quietly as I could behind me (which wasn't very; the 453 entire place resounded with the boom) and scanned the place. Oddly enough, it 454 was busy. Most of the tables were occupied by twos and threes talking to one 455 another. A larger group was huddled about the large fireplace, whose fire 456 redly illuminated their faces. On the whole, a cheery scene. 457 Another odd point struck me. Although my entrance had certainly been noticed, 458 no one paid much attention to me. Finally a third point bobbed to the top of 459 my dimwitted brain- the clothing worn by the patrons of this place wasn't 460 of a consistant type! 461 There were robes, and jeans, and leather armor; boots, sneakers, and sandals; 462 suits, shirts, and things I normally would term bathing suits. Yet no one 463 seemed to care. 464 I moved away from the doorway, just in time. It opened again, and two more 465 walked in. Dry. The rain must have stopped as soon as I had entered. Else 466 I had a private rain cloud that followed me wherever I went. 467 I decided to find the innkeep and to ask some questions. Perhaps I could find 468 some spare parts for the passkey here after all. 469 I found him. "Er, uh, hello. Do you know of anywhere that I might obtain a 470 stabilizer circuit for a Special Issue Passkey?" 471 He looked up, studied me for a bit. "New here? You might try asking that 472 gentleman with the rainbow scarf who just walked in. The Doctor." 473 I thanked him, and made my way to the table the two men had taken. "I'm 474 looking for the Doctor. Are you he?" 475 He gazed up at me, and sipped his drink. "I am. And this is Milchar, my 476 travelling companion. Who are you?" 477 "My name is Rebalsa. Elbert Rebalsa. Usually I'm called Bert. I'm trying to 478 find a stabilizer circuit for a Special Issue Passkey." 479 He frowned a moment. "Never heard of a 'passkey', other than the usual sort. 480 A stabilizer circuit, did you say? Yes, I have a spare. In the TARDIS, mind. 481 What did you have in mind to pay for it?" 482 I shuffled slightly. "I can't pay for it until after I get it." 483 "Well, I don't see what I can do for you, then. Unless..." The gentleman 484 next to him, Milchar, tapped him on the shoulder and whispered something into 485 his ear. "...hum. Can you get a..." he whispered the name of an object in 486 my ear. 487 "Why, er, certainly. As soon as I can. I'll have it point-transmitted to 488 your TARDIS, whatever that is." 489 "It's a deal then." 490 We went to his TARDIS, and he went inside to fetch the part. I never could 491 understand why it took twenty minutes to find something in a phone-booth sized 492 box. 493 The Doctor spoke to Milchar. "He may find that he's off course by more than 494 a few million parsecs, Milch. Spell him back, will you? I'd like that 495 shipment he's promised me." 496 Milchar nodded, and suddenly I was engulfed in a downpour of silver fire. It 497 was over as fast as it started, and I stood in my office on Sirius. 498 I thumbed the contact on my desk. "Supply? Transmit a 100 kilo box of JuJu 499 bears to the energy source at" I calculated a moment, "Alpha fifty-six Rho 500 eleven. Yes, that's right, JuJu bears. Never mind why." 501 I cut contact, and sat down at my desk. Of all the strange requests... 502 %%%%% rebalsa %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 10/13/85 503 :-]M[-: 504 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 505 *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*Themnax of Lananara*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* 506 Sat listning to Elxtia's quiet snoring. She insisted on staying in the 507 contour seat next to him when he came on watch. On one of the many small 508 keypads devorating the narrow floor console seperating the two seats in his 509 single-ship's instrument crampt command compartment he tapped in a combination. 510 Returning to the book he was reading to stay awaike he glimpsed out of the 511 corner of his eye that she was now awaike. 512 "Guess I'll go back and turn in after all" she said giving him a sleepy hug 513 that was just a tad more than affectionate. "Why not let the automatics take 514 over for a few minihexes?" she asked. 515 "Might just do that" he replied. The floor console pinged softly and a 516 small door opened in its top. Elxtia had already retreated to the living 517 quarters compartment which also doubled as life support. From the recess 518 Themnax withdrew a steaming cup of lubintau elixer and settled back to finish 519 the book. He had only a few pages to go. 520 He almost droped the cup when the hooter started up. Luckily he resqued 521 all but a few scalding drops while droping the book, thus loosing his place 522 while reaching for the alarm systems reset with his other hand. 523 Two of the five main monitors lit up with magnified views of an unfamiliar 524 object while the systems screen displayed the words: "colision eminant". 525 As the figgures below it showed the ship, for ship it was as could now 526 clearly be seen, was no ware near thair plotted cource yet the distortions 527 around it, seeming to fold and tear at the very fabrick of space itself, were 528 pulling him inexorably inward tword it. 529 Typing rapidly on one of three full keyboards in front of him, the giant 530 flashing letter 'E's on the two remaining monitors were replaced with even more 531 detailed views of the unfamiliar ship's exterior. One of these showed a name: 532 "pell-mell". 533 Fingers flying now over several other banks of controls Themnax did two 534 things. The first was to cut in the special auxiliary interdemensional 535 stabelizer he had cluged up using the gem he had received from commander 536 murdoc which had finaly enabled him to lift off safely from tanis under cloak 537 of etherial flip so many months, it seamed like years, before. 538 The second was to initialize a sequence which would attempt to establish 539 communications with vessel ahead. 540 No longer closing on the emense object, his own fly spec of a mechine now 541 locked in stable spatial relationship to it as if they shared a common invis- 542 able base. It occured to the HUB's erstwhile ambassadore at large that the 543 other ship might well be immobelized by the spacial convolutions raging about 544 them. Upon further reflection these seemed to his mind at least, to bear an 545 uncany resemblance to a phenomina described to him by a couple of good friends 546 and occasional traveling companions. One an elf named Dreamtoucher and the 547 other an old galactic known only as person. Thair name for the phenomina had 548 been 'reality storm'. 549 Another ping and the lighting of an indicator told him that a common 550 carrier chanel had been established. He could only hope that they would 551 respond. 552 "pell-mell, pell-mell, this is single-ship H U B alpha two. Do you read?" 553 *=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=* 554 ppppppppppppppppppp shorta time, passin' thru pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp 555 :-]M[-: 556 boringboringboringboringboring 557 boringboringboringboringboring 558 boringboringboringboringboring 559 oringboringboringboringborin 560 ringboringboringboringbori 561 ingboringboringboringbor 562 ngboringboringboringbo 563 gboringboringboringb 564 boringboringboring 565 oringboringborin 566 ringboringbori 567 ingboringbor 568 ngboringbo 569 gboringb 570 boring 571 orin 572 ri 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 hi there I 580 new here b 581 ut what th 582 heck is go 583 ing on? Th 584 is the str 585 angest pla 586 ce I've ev 587 er seen! A 588 re you all 589 crazy????? 590 off 591 ctrl-c 592 delete 593 594 scram 595 help 596 deleto 597 598 oops 599 sorry 600 ctrl-s 601 s 602 c 603 poop 604 605 606 uh, bye 607 bye 608 good-bye 609 bye-bye 610 sayonara 611 gootchy 612 goo 613 614 \\\\\\\\\\kinda makes you feel sorry for the mentally underpriveleged\\\\\\\ 615 :::::=====::::: 616 I wait, silent, for a certain black cat to move... 617 :::::=====::::: 618 MMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!! 619 *%_)@#*%_)#@*%_)#&_%)*#@+)%*#$^&#$)_^&#$)_%*^#)_+$*^_)#*^#&^)#$+_*^+)#$&^)_&^)_#&^_)*&#)_&^)_!$#%&)_$%*&_&)_*&$%_@)*& 620 Leonard: UNIX and YOU! Did you do it again? For shame for shame, 101 for shames. Me thinks thou hast not learned the 621 lesson from before. A learning you seem so intent to ignore. We have tried and tried, we have even implored. But you 622 spite us, evade us, ignore us some more. HP LASTERjet? On your desk? You certainly have come up in the world. Tell me 623 more about this sudden wealth of equipment you so fondly speak of. Where did it all come from? Who died and made you 624 king? Certainly that would be the case? Could that silicon man in the North be such a fool to let a TRS-80 Telehacker 625 attack his precious IBM equipment, LAN and all? A LASERjet, how I would love to own a LASERjet. Only $2000 through 626 University computer specials, but it might as well be ten times that given my budget. But perhaps, no, sirrah would 627 never agree to a deal with such entreaties. I must lust from a distance. Oh, how far have we fallen when our minds in 628 Autumn turn to feelings of electric bombasity. All we can do is survive the cruel winter and behold the golden spring 629 when it doth approaches. To you abode I will appoint myself. Sanctity is a virtue of unhearlded value. I am done *LsP* TOTAL NUMBER OF LINES = 629