From: snarflrd@leland.Stanford.EDU (NM156)
Subject: What REALLY happened on NewDay (spying)
Keywords: spy newday wizards
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 92 09:03:34 GMT


Sheesh... i go to LA for the weekend, come back, and the world's gone
to hell in a handbasket...

this isn't just a test to see if ANYONE has decided not to put "NewDay" and
"spy" into their kill files... this is actually a new perspective and new
'evidence' about WHAT REALLY HAPPENED  (*giggle*)

In article <1992Oct10.173249.4634@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> jkale@nyx.cs.du.edu (John Kale) writes:
>Well, I don't know about any of you, but I hate a tinyspy.  I have been
>using newday, and there is so much spying going on that it isn't even
>funny.
>
>jkale@nyx.cs.du.edu

I found out about this post from a conversation with a character named Ogion
(someone i considered friendly, if not even a 'friend'):
---------vvvvv
Ogion whispers, "there's been spying going on....and there are even posts on
r.g.m.t about it going on on here"
traumahound growls and says, "by whom?"
Ogion says, "who posted?"
Ogion says, "some guy named jkale@nyx.cs.du.edu"
---------^^^^^

as a good computer-geek, i fingered this account out of curiosity, then did a
WHO command with the following results...
---------vvvvv
/sh finger jkale@nyx.cs.du.edu
% Executing: "finger jkale@nyx.cs.du.edu"
[nyx.cs.du.edu]
Login name: jkale                       In real life: John Kale
Directory: /u/j/k/jkale                 Shell: /nyx/bin/menulogin
Last login Sun Oct 11 21:32 on ttyr0 from meadmc.async.vt.
No unread mail
No Plan.
% Resuming tinytalk
You say, "that's amusing."
WHO
Player                  Con    Loc     On For Idle Site
Ogion(#3326PBMN)          7    393      00:07  41s meadmc.async.vt.edu
   [...the rest deleted in the interest of character privacy...]
----------^^^^^

notice that Ogion was logged on from his own computer, which was the last
computer to log in as the poster of this article.
i confronted him, and at first he tried to blame Howard of the A5 fame,
then admitted to posting it because:
----------vvvvvv
You say, "why?"
Ogion says, "cause there are 2 wizards on here that I trust and am amiable
with."
Ogion says, "the others have ignored me for reasons they could not have known
without spying.....I thought it was pretty tasteless"
Ogion says, "I've been told something I only told Ryman, and I know he didn't
say a thing cause he's 3 doors down and I asked him about it"
Ogion says, "I shouldn't say 'the others' cause that would imply all of
them....a couple of them..."
Ogion says, "I felt justified...."
You say, "you might want to talk about it with us first... but it's too late."
Ogion says, "yeah....well, none of them would say shit to me"
You say, "i thought i was pretty receptive, but it's your call."
traumahound shrugs
Ogion says, "you were....you and claire are the wizzes I like"
Ogion says, "I'm just gonna quit using MUCKs algether...."
Ogion says, "well...see ya....don't know if I'll be on any other
mucks....really sick of it.....take care....good luck with the coding!"
----------^^^^^^

as i said, i like Ogion, but he admits here that he accused us of spying
on the sole basis of some gossip that leaked out ... he assumed that this could
only have happened through wizards spying on him.


Ogion was right about one thing ... there is/was a spying potential on NewDay.
He and his 'async' friends showed us this loophole in the fabric of the MUCK
(set an exit Hear on a Dark object... link the exit to a very short program...)
and we've been working on solutions to close it for nearly a week and a half.

The important distinction is between the potential for Dark spies (which he
himself used) and the use of the Dark flag.  Granted, wizards on any MU*
have the potential to abuse their power to spy on people, that's nothing new.
I've even written programs that could theoretically make it easier...
BUT TO ACCUSE WITHOUT EVIDENCE, OUT OF PERSONAL FEELINGS OF BEING IGNORED IS
BOTH IMMATURE AND ILLOGICAL.

woof woof.
deep down traumahound.
-- 
Ingredients: chopped pork shoulder with ham, salt, water, sugar, sodium
             nitrate, snarflrd@leland.stanford.edu