HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: kolstad@cae.wisc.edu (Joel Kolstad)
Subject: Re: Jackpotting ATM's for $$$$
Organization: U of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering
Date: 8 Nov 92 13:01:43 CST

In article <1992Nov8.103101.166@gems.vcu.edu> hleaves@gems.vcu.edu writes:
>I was reading an article in an "anarchist" magazine (I can't remember which
>one) that was talking about ATM (teller machine) "jackpotting". "Jackpotting"
>an ATM machine involves cutting the data lines to the machine and splicing in
>your personal computer. When you put an ATM card in the machine your computer
>intercepts the ATM's account inquiry messages. It then returns, of course, an
>infinite balance on the account, along with other appropriate information
>allowing you to withdraw as much money as you can from the machine. 

Probably not infnite balance, but just "lots and lots".

>The article
>said someone had succesfully done this for a take of several thousand dollars.
>The article did not give any technical details about the procedure. My question
>is: Is this really possible or is this article just a figment of someones
>overactive imagination? 

It sounds vaguely plausiable.  There's a guy on the net here who works for
Citibank with their ATM machines, so hopefully he'll respond.  (I forget
his name... his .sig says something like "Head Robot Wrangler for Citicorp"
-- Roy Avery Elfcoat, maybe?)

>Has anyone else heard of this being done? Would anyone
>care to speculate on how they pulled it off?

This is the first I've heard of it.  I'd be willing to speculate that whoever
did it works for a store that has an ATM in it -- otherwise gaining access
to the serial line to the modem would be _very_ difficult.  Given that
you're an employee and can play with the ATM after hours, it wouldn't be
that hard to simply have your PC watch and record data transmissions when
you try the different operations.  A friend would help -- one to play with
the ATM itself, and one to watch the PC.  Doing this slowly would help too --
the bank's software probably makes a note somewhere if you make 23 requests
for too much cash in one night or other such silliness.

What they really want to do is simply identity the packet that says, "This
user's account balance is $XYZ" and then either change XYZ or _always_
send back that response, regardless of what XYZ really is.  I would hope
that in reality, the ATM says something like, "What's the account balance
of user #ABC?  Oh, and what do you get when you take 'FOOBAR' and run it
through that one way algorithm we both know?"  FOOBAR would change for
every transaction, and therefore a hacker would have to know the one
way encryption scheme too.  (This is similar to ZModem's "download
challenge" -- so that people can't force auto-download terminal programs
to download things.)

Well, anyway... this sort of scam is interesting, if nothing else.  And
at least it's a little better thought out than the scene in Terminator
II, which wouldn't ever work.   It's too bad people who are talented enough
to pull something like this off would risk felonies for a couple grand.

						---Joel Kolstad
Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago
Date: Wednesday, 4 Nov 1992 22:59:22 CST
From: <U54418@uicvm.uic.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Wanted: Altair 8000 or Imsai 8080 and Modem
 <1992Nov1.235520.4608@news.acns.nwu.edu> <1992Nov2.171232.13336@netcom.com>
 <Bx5J8y.DD4@acsu.buffalo.edu>

Did you also notice that on top of his terminal there was an Imsai 212A direct
connect modem?

--
---------------------------------------:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
David Nelson                           :Permanent Satan Records :Write :
University of Ill @ Chicago            :P.o. Box 68401          :for   :
P.o.b. 95901                           :Schaumburg, Il 60195    :Info. :
Hoffman Estates, Il 60195              :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
u54418@uicvm.uic.edu                   :I say violence is necessary. It:
u54418@uicvm.bitnet                    :is as American as cherry pie.  :
----------------------------------------H. Rap Brown::::::::::::::::::::
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: ftit@waldorf.engin.umich.edu (Sergej Roytman)
Subject: Re: proliferation of alt.adjective.noun.verb.verb.verb groups
Date: Sun, 08 Nov 92 02:35:26 EST
Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor
Distribution: usa
Originator: ftit@waldorf.engin.umich.edu


In article <1992Nov7.194822.4951@thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu>, panisset@lightning.mcrcim.mcgill.edu (Jean-Francois Panisset) writes:
|In article <BxC2MA.5zC@rahul.net> alange@rahul.net (Andrew Lange) writes:
|>Just recently, I tried a "grep '\(\.[a-z][a-z]*\)\1\1' .newsrc", just for
|>fun, and this is what I got:
|
|[list of newsgroups deleted]
|>
|>Does anyone know of the history of this prediliction for naming groups
|>alt.opt-adjective.noun.verb.verb.verb ?
|>
|>Which is the first one you saw? Have you ever created one?
|
|I believve the first such group was alt.sweedish.chef.bork.bork.bork,
|which might have be an outgrowth of alt.tv.muppets. Quite active for
|a little while, but I guess the name caught people's imaginations.
|

Now we only have to determine whether "bork" is a verb, and if so
precisely what it means.

|-- 
|Jean-Francois Panisset                    

Sergej Roytman
From: minow@apple.com (Martin Minow)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: QUESTION: What was the 1st computer game?
Date: 9 Nov 92 22:19:56 GMT
Followup-To: alt.folklore.computers
Organization: Macintosh Developer Services

In article <BxF44y.9Kr@acsu.buffalo.edu>, dudek@acsu.buffalo.edu (The
Cybard=) wrote:
> 
> What was the very first computer game?  

Illiac-1 (built 1951) had a version of tic-tac-toe in which the computer
cheated if you knew the correct sequence. I don't recall seeing any other
games on it, however.

A friend who worked on SAGE (early warning system) once described a "game"
played on its displays in which a dancing lady removed articles of clothing
under control of a light-pen. This would have been in the 1959-1960
time-frame.

Fortunately, such nonsense stopped once MIT undergraduates started
programming
computers.

Martin Minow
minow@apple.com
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: lar@ucs.usl.edu (Robert, Lane A.)
Subject: Re: QUESTION: What was the 1st computer game?
Reply-To: lar@ucs.usl.edu (Robert, Lane A.)
Organization: Univ. of SW Louisiana, Lafayette
	<1992Nov10.091841.23601@news.columbia.edu>
	<1992Nov11.042012.16213@athena.cs.uga.edu>
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 18:56:40 GMT

mcovingt@aisun3.ai.uga.edu (Michael Covington) writes:
   I'd *really* like to see somebody implement that, as a gadget to be used
   with an oscilloscope.  Good oscilloscopes are now quite abundant, even
   if the screens are a bit small.  Let's see... maybe you could run the
   game on a PC using the printer port for output, and alternating between
   two DACs for X and Y axes; or maybe some custom interfacing is needed,
   or even implement it in a microcontroller such as the Motorola 68HC11
   series.  Any takers?

It's been done.  Steve Ciarcia (sp?) had just such a project in his
column in Byte about 10 years ago.  If anyone is interested in
details, I should still have the issue at home.

Lane
lar@ucs.usl.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,alt.folklore.urban
From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: leave alt.folklore.computers alone, rmgroup comp.society.folklore
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 08:17:34 GMT

magnus@thep.lu.se (Magnus Olsson) writes:
: In article <1992Nov7.021144.18842@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> jfurr@nyx.cs.du.edu (Joel Furr) writes:
: >Head for the hills, Bengt.  You've just committed the cardinal sin...
: >suggesting the appropriation of alt.folklore.urban for illegal porpoises. 
: 
: Illegal porpoises??? What's next - delinquent dolphins? :-)

Nothing comes next. However - it is preceeded by transporting underage
gulls over staid lions.

Bill
From: ercm20@festival.ed.ac.uk (Sam Wilson)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: QUESTION: What was the 1st computer game?
Date: 13 Nov 92 12:18:14 GMT

wingo@apple.com (Tony Wingo) writes:
% In article <1992Nov10.091841.23601@news.columbia.edu>,
% lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) wrote:
% 
% > You *can't* play *real* spacewar on a video-based interface:
% >
% >[Details of implementing spacewar on a Oscilloscope omitted]
% >
% > So, how does a video version of any of this do justice to the original
% > features?
% > 
% 
% We did something similar on an IBM 1130 back when I was at Amherst College
% in the early 70's.  It had a vector type CRT disply based on a Tektronix
% storage tube.  If you turned down the holding voltage, the image wouldn't
% store and you could animate by constantly redrawing the image, as Charles
% describes. 

The Tektronix 405x series desktop micros (6800 based?) had a nice
spacewar type game (I've never seen the real spacewar so the similarity
is based on my interpretation of other people's description - several
levels of indirection there).  You didn't need to turn off the
persistence to make a usable game since the initial drawing was so much
brighter than the stored image.  The ships were just redrawn
continuously, making a bright image, and the stored afterimages left a
trail behind each ship.  The screen got a little cluttered after while,
but it wasn't distracting or anything. 

Sam
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: kodak@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Jason Balicki (KodaK))
Subject: Where did 'ethernet' come from anyway  was: Re: Correct pronunciation of 'ethernet'
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 05:02:49 GMT

In article <1992Nov3.161535.3120@panix.com> fnord@panix.com (Cliff Heller) writes:
> - ^          - ^
>(e-ther) and (i-ther)
>-- 
>    / \      Reverend fnord                 | "King Kong died for your sins!"
>   /   \     fnord@panix.com                | 
>  / <0> \                                   | "Don't just eat a hamburger, 
> /_______\   Church of Obfuscatology, Inc.  |  eat the HELL out of it!"


Ok, we've established the correct way to say ethernet: memumbleernet.

My question is:  Where did the name come from in the first place?

If this is in the FAQ then I grant one and only one of you permission to 
come kick me in the teeth until my toes bleed.

--Jason Balicki
kodak@mentor.cc.purdue.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: slb22@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Seth L. Blumberg)
Subject: Re: Wanted: Altair 8000 or Imsai 8080 and Modem
Organization: Generic American College Kids (G.A.C.K.)
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 02:53:52 GMT
Reply-To: slb22@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Seth L. Blumberg)
X-Posted-From: cunixb.cc.columbia.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

In article <u86NTB7w165w@mertwig.UUCP> xyzzy@mertwig.UUCP (Daniel Drucker) writes:
>I also am looking for acoustic modems. So I can dial out from a pay 
>phone. Are there any better than 300 baud? Reliable?

Well, I made a pretty reliable V.fast acoustic modem out of a piece of
modeling clay and some Parmesan cheese....

Whoops.  Wrong thread.  So sorry.

>Daniel Max P. Drucker

	Seth "the Lesser"

Seth L. Blumberg          \ Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is crap.
slb22@columbia.edu (play)   \  Blumberg's Corollary: And the rest ain't so
sethb@ctr.columbia.edu (work) \        hot, either.
   > No one I know shares my opinions, least of all Columbia University. <
From: wingo@apple.com (Tony Wingo)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: QUESTION: What was the 1st computer game?
Date: 10 Nov 92 18:35:34 GMT
Followup-To: alt.folklore.computers
Organization: Apple Computer

In article <1992Nov10.091841.23601@news.columbia.edu>,
lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) wrote:

> You *can't* play *real* spacewar on a video-based interface:
>
>[Details of implementing spacewar on a Oscilloscope omitted]
>
> So, how does a video version of any of this do justice to the original
> features?
> 

We did something similar on an IBM 1130 back when I was at Amherst College
in the early 70's.  It had a vector type CRT disply based on a Tektronix
storage tube.  If you turned down the holding voltage, the image wouldn't
store and you could animate by constantly redrawing the image, as Charles
describes. Since the 1130 was not a particularly fast machine (even by the
standards of the day), we did all sorts of interesting optimizations:  all
arithmetic was integer, with trig functions done by table lookup.  Since
the 1130 lacked a real time clock, we got our timing reference by sending
null charcters to the console and using the console interrupt. As I recall
the original implementation was done by my roommate, Steve Goff.  I did a
bunch of the arithmetic algorithms and the timing stuff.  After it was
working, a fellow named Doug Weber spent several years improving and
polishing it.  By the time he was done it was really an sophisticated
implementation, complete with a sun in the middle, and gravity (that obeyed
1/r^2).

The only problem with this implementation was that any time someone wanted
to use the tube for real work (god forbid!), the image would disappear as
soon as it was drawn, because the previous spacewar players had left the
holding voltage off.

One other note.  Several years after I graduated, I encountered an arcade
version of Spacewar that was identical to Doug's 1130 implementation.  I
always hoped it was something he did rather than someone ripping him off.

-tony
From: keith@celia.UUCP (Keith Goldfarb)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Strange AT&T answering machine behavior
Summary: A ghost in the answering machine?
Date: 7 Nov 92 02:01:00 GMT
Reply-To: celia!keith@usc.edu (Keith Goldfarb)
Organization: Rhythm & Hues, Inc., Hollywood

Please excuse me if this is the improper newsgroup, as I
am inquiring about an answering machine which only partly
counts as a computer.  But this group is about as close
as I could find.

Anyway, the story is this:  I have one of the new AT&T
all-digital answering machines.  These things are nice,
compact units, with enough RAM for about 7 minutes of
digitized phone speech.  It's a no-frills answering machine,
except that it does have a digitized voice which tells you
the day and time of each recorded call.

The other day I was sitting in my living room with a couple
of other people and suddenly this machine starts making
noise.  It all happened so quickly and was so strange that
we couldn't be sure of what we heard, but a vote lead us to
conclude that this thing had spoken the words "Like a pig".

Well, I noted the time and turned back the clock a few minutes
to see if the speech would happen again, but it did not.

Has anybody heard any stories along these lines?  It seems
quite plausible that some programmer at AT&T could put in
some funny messages to be played at random times.

As you might expect, there was no mention of this in the
"Troubleshooting" section of the manual.

K.
-- 
Keith Goldfarb              Rhythm & Hues               Claudia is Everywhere.
celia!keith@usc.edu         ...mlogic!celia!keith  
I got nothing.  Too bad.                                Some pink toes
But I'm happy 'cause that's all I have.                 Some black toes
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.computers:15987 comp.misc:4265
From: russ@bbxrbk (Russ Kepler)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.misc
Subject: Re: How is the Net financed and what does it cost?
Date: 9 Nov 92 02:49:23 GMT
Organization: /etc/organization

In article <BxEu1r.3Ft@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> kodak@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Jason Balicki (KodaK)) writes:
>In article <1992Nov8.121017.28581@uk03.bull.co.uk> ewoods@hemel.bull.co.uk (Eoin Woods) writes:
>>Ahh - Robin, we call it "Pot Noodle"(TM)!!!
>>(The greatest invention ... ???)
>
>Oh, ok, it's not THE greatest invention (that's the Salad Shooter[tm]) but
>Top Ramen (or "Pot Nodle") runs at least in the top 5.  :)

I think that you've forgotten the infamous "Ronco In-The-Egg-Scrambler",
a clear #1 on most folks "greatest invention" lists.  How soon people
forget.

-- 
Russ Kepler, posting from home   bbxrbk!russ@bbx.basis.com
Will hack unix for food
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Subject: Re: Computer Museum (Was: Re: 8L)
Reply-To: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 11:16:31 GMT

In article <1db9bfINNrm4@terminator.rs.itd.umich.edu> sarr@sinshan.citi.umich.edu (Sarr J. Blumson) writes:
>In article <1992Nov4.231804.21903@beaver.cs.washington.edu> graham@cs.washington.edu (Stephen Graham) writes:
>>In article <1992Nov4.185210.13302@news.columbia.edu> lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:
>>>In article <1992Nov4.174419.9683@beaver.cs.washington.edu> graham@cs.washington.edu (Stephen Graham) writes:
>
>[Much complaining about the Computer Museum selling surplus items and
>defense that all museums do this...]
>
>Since cjl is usually more rational than he seems here, I suspect that
>we are having a "ships passing in the night" conversation.  I, at
>least, would understand the argument better if we could make the
>discussion a little more concrete (I am an engineer, after all).  For
>example (and apologies if I missed a post which answers these):
>
>What exactly is the museum selling?  I might react differently to
>selling punch cards than to pieces of ENIAC.

Old DEC modules, some of which are in *current* use in 1992; this activity
occured several years ago, when presumably more of them were in use, thus
they were selling stuff some people would consider vital spare parts.

>
>To who are they selling?  Again, it might make a difference if it's to
>other museums or to junk dealers.

Neither.  They are selling the modules as petty souveneirs to attendees of
the establishment as curiosity pieces.

>
>How much are they selling?

Hopefully none, but realistically they intend to sell as many as they can.

>
>thanks,
>
>
>(Sarr Blumson)

cjl


Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: ski8032@tamsun.tamu.edu (The Man Behind The Curtain)
Subject: Game show questions needed!!
Summary: game show questions folklore 
Keywords: questions game show
Organization: Texas A&M University, College Station
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 15:22:48 GMT

Texas A&M University is hosting the 17th South Central Regional
Programming Contest on November 14, 1992.  Besides the actual
competition itself, we would like to conduct some sort of
quiz bowl event for the amusement and edification of the
participants.

So here's where you come in.  We were considering putting on
two types of shows: one like Jeopardy and one like Family Feud.
Typical categories/questions for Jeopardy might be:

ACRONYMS:

TANSTAAFL  (What is "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch?")
RTFM       (Read the flaming manual)

LITERATURE:

10 * 0.1 hardly ever equals 1.0  (What is _The_Elements_of_Programming_Style_)

DIJKSTRA:
(Edsger Dijkstra, the renowned computer scientist responsible for the
structured programming revolution, will be attending the ACM Banquet.
Thus I would like to have a column devoted to his legacy.)

____ Considered Harmful.  (Goto the contest to find out.)

HISTORY:

She invented Cobol.  (Who was Admiral Grace Hopper?)

etc.  More categories/questions wanted!  Try to keep (most of them)
within reason, though the occassional stumpers and those with
a humorous twist are also welcomed.

And typical questions for Family Feud might be like:

100 faculty members were asked this questions and their top 10 responses 
are on the board...

Name a computer named after a fruit.
Macintosh, Apricot, Apple

Name a computer with a human name.
Mark I, Lisa, HAL.

What is your favorite computer language?
<Insert epic flame here>

What is your favorite editor?
<Insert religious war here>

etc.  I'd really like some responses before Friday, and before Thursday
if possible.  Please do NOT post responses directly to the net, since
contestants might read this group.  Instead, email all responses to
me and I will collate the results and post them back to the net.

Thanks in advance!

-- 
Till next time,                \o/   \o/
                                V \o/ V     email:pinky@tamu.edu
<>  Sam  Inala  <>                 V

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.misc
From: rf@cl.cam.ac.uk (Robin Fairbairns)
Subject: Re: How is the Net financed and what does it cost?
Organization: U of Cambridge Computer Lab, UK
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 11:16:48 GMT

In article <1992Nov4.181923.26835@wixer.cactus.org>, rhodesia@wixer.cactus.org (Felix S. Gallo) writes:
|> [in reply to Barry Margolin]
|> 
|> so, assuming that my figures are close to correct, your posting a 1k article
|> would cost the net approximately eight packets of Top Ramen (6/$1.00) plus
|> enough change for some cheap gum.

This is all very well, but what on earth are Top Ramen?  And how much
is cheap gum?

|> If someone finds ridiculously stupid errors in my article, feel free to
|> point them out gently on the net and flame me in e-mail. :)

My real complaint is that you insist that _I_ do some arithmetic.
Dammit, man, I'm a mathematician.
--
Robin (come back John Drummond) Fairbairns       rf@cl.cam.ac.uk
U of Cambridge Computer Lab, Pembroke St, Cambridge  CB2 3QG, UK
"They had twelve years to lay in wait for us" - Bush supporter on "Today"
From: Charlie_Gibbs@mindlink.bc.ca (Charlie Gibbs)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Line p?p?Printer Pictures
Date: 7 Nov 92 02:14:33 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada

In article <Bx7FFE.M6D@mach1.wlu.ca> veen2976@mach1.wlu.ca
(veenstra christopher) writes:

>Greetings,
>
>  probably a faq but can't find that.  Anybody know where I can ftp some
>line printer pictures?  Have heard there are mona lisa, enterprise, and some
>others that I can't remember.

     (I'm probably gonna regret this...)

     I have about 7 megabytes of this stuff, ranging from simple
calendar girls through multiply-overprinted digitized photos of
Einstein, the moon, etc. that you paste up into newspaper-quality
pictures several feet square.

     Unfortunately I don't have FTP access.  I could make disk
copies of the files via snail mail, though...

Charlie_Gibbs@mindlink.bc.ca
"I'm cursed with hair from HELL!"  -- Night Court
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: scott@ryptyde.cts.com (Scott McClure)
Subject: Re: CM5 pic - terribly sorry gentlemen, it's a dud
Organization: Ryptyde TimeSharing, San Diego, CA
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 02:18:30 GMT

pgut1@cs.aukuni.ac.nz (Peter Gutmann) writes:

>I've just had a reply from Thinking Machines - unfortunately it looks like I
>can't distribute it:

>>The CM5 poster was a limited edition, and as such is not available for
>>copying or further publication by anyone, in any form.  Accordingly,
>>Thinking Machines would not be willing to grant the requested permission.

>Sorry about that folks.... pity, it was a nice pic, and a nice machine.

>Peter.

Geez... Even Cray Research isn't that snobby about their posters.
Don't they even have promo shots that could be scanned?

Scott

-- 
INTERNET:  scott@ryptyde.cts.com                     | "Nuke the homeless gay
ARPANET:   ryptyde!scott@nosc.mil                    |  baby whales for Jesus!"
UUCP:      {crash, nosc}!ryptyde!scott               |    - bumper sticker
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers