1474 lines
62 KiB
Plaintext
1474 lines
62 KiB
Plaintext
|
||
______ __ __ __ ______
|
||
/ __ / / \ \ \ \ \ / _\/_ \
|
||
/ /_/ /andom / /\ \ccess \ \_\ \umor | |____| |
|
||
/ _ _/ / ____ \ \ __ \ \__ \____/
|
||
/ / \ \ / / \ \ \ \ \ \ |_\____|
|
||
/_/ \_\ /_/ \_\ \_\ \_\ |____|
|
||
--------------------------------------------------
|
||
The Electronic Humor Magazine
|
||
--------------------------------------------------
|
||
Version 1 Release 1 February 1994
|
||
|
||
Editor: Dave Bealer
|
||
|
||
Member of the Digital Publishing Association
|
||
|
||
Copyright 1994 Dave Bealer, All Rights Reserved
|
||
|
||
Printed on 100% recycled electrons
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor is an irregular production of:
|
||
|
||
VaporWare Communications
|
||
32768 Infinite Loop
|
||
Sillycon Valley, CA. 80486-DX2
|
||
USA, Earth, Sol System, Milky Way
|
||
|
||
|
||
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
|
||
The "look and feel" of Random Access Humor has been specifically
|
||
earmarked, spindled and polygraphed. Anyone who attempts to copy
|
||
this look and feel without express written consent of the publisher
|
||
will be fed to rabid radioactive hamsters by our Security Director,
|
||
Vinnie "The Knife" Calamari.
|
||
|
||
|
||
TABLE OF INCONTINENCE:
|
||
About Vaporware Communications.....................................01
|
||
Editorial - Repent! The Electrons Are Near!.......................01
|
||
Lettuce to the Editor..............................................02
|
||
The Szechuan Taxi..................................................05
|
||
A Model of Stupidity...............................................07
|
||
A History of The Computer Era on Earth.............................09
|
||
How To Be A Couch Potato In The Nineties...........................11
|
||
1994 Random Access Humor Reader Survey.............................13
|
||
The Twit Filter: The Professional Amateur..........................16
|
||
RAH Humor Review: "Grumpy Old Men".................................17
|
||
Announcements......................................................17
|
||
Taglines Seen Around the Nets......................................18
|
||
Masthead - Submission Information.................................A-1
|
||
RAH Distribution System...........................................A-2
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 1 February 1994
|
||
|
||
About Vaporware Communications
|
||
|
||
VaporWare Communications is an operating division of VaporWare
|
||
Corporation, a public corporation. Stock Ticker Symbol: SUKR
|
||
VaporWare Corporate Officers:
|
||
|
||
Luther Lecks
|
||
President, Chief Egomaniac Officer
|
||
|
||
Dorian Debacle, M.B.A. Gabriel Escargot
|
||
V.P., Operations V.P., Customer Service
|
||
|
||
Pav Bhaji, M.Tax.(Avoidance) Carlos Goebbels
|
||
V.P., Finance V.P., Political Correctness
|
||
|
||
Kung Pao Har Hoo, M.D., Ph.D., D.Sc. F.A.C.S, C.P.A., S.P.C.A.,
|
||
Y.M.C.A., L.E.D., Q.E.D., op. cit., et al.
|
||
V.P., Research & Development
|
||
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
Editorial - Repent! The Electrons Are Near!
|
||
by Dave Bealer
|
||
|
||
Hi, my name is Dave Rhodes and I'm here to waste your time and disk
|
||
space...
|
||
|
||
If you were reading any of hundreds of conferences around cyberspace
|
||
in the past few months a shudder just went down your spine. Yes, the
|
||
loonies and losers of the world are finally finding out about us. We
|
||
thought we were safe from them here in our silicon mini-towers. We
|
||
were wrong.
|
||
|
||
At least a few of these dimwits have scraped together the bucks for
|
||
a used 286 box (which were being given away with toasters, but people
|
||
started to complain) and a 1200 baud modem. Instead of having to buy
|
||
stamps to send their chain letters and pyramid schemes through the
|
||
mail, they can now send them out to millions of readers with a few
|
||
keypresses. And they call this progress.
|
||
|
||
Even better than the greedy loons are the ones who want to tell us
|
||
how to live our lives, or inform us that life for the human race is
|
||
almost over. Digital doomsayers, a real advancement. Gone are the
|
||
crudely drawn signboards, replaced with pixels flashing on a million
|
||
CRTs around the world. Hardly a new phenomenon, only now the CRTs
|
||
are not TV screens, but terminals and PC monitors. The end really is
|
||
near...for cyberspace as we've known it. The unwashed masses are on
|
||
their way.
|
||
- - -
|
||
This issue of RAH is a bit of a departure from previous ones. We're
|
||
trying to cut back on the plethora of "MickeySoft is evil" and "I'm a
|
||
crazy sysop" articles. Not that these aren't valid computer humor
|
||
genres, it's just that they get a little tedious month after month
|
||
after month. From now on, we're going to try and have a mix of
|
||
topics in each issue of RAH.
|
||
- - -
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 2 February 1994
|
||
|
||
I had planned to publish the first true "sequel" to a previous RAH
|
||
article this month. I've been working a little piece called "Welcome
|
||
to the FidoNet Winter Olympics" for a few months now. The problem
|
||
is, I can't seem to get it finished without the inspiration of
|
||
watching the real Winter Olympics on television. Look for the
|
||
completed parody in the March issue. {RAH}
|
||
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
Lettuce to the Editor
|
||
|
||
>> The Mystery Symbol <<
|
||
|
||
Area Private, Msg#67, Jan-07-94 02:11AM
|
||
From: Dave Bealer
|
||
To: Raymond Koziel
|
||
Subject: Comment from Raymond Koziel
|
||
|
||
RK> Hey! Like the new logo. Actually, most of the
|
||
RK> logos sent in looked pretty good. Just one question
|
||
RK> though, what is the object to the right of "RAH"
|
||
RK> supposed to be?
|
||
|
||
I think it's supposed to be an exclamation point. Greg
|
||
doesn't think so, and none of my other proofreaders see it.
|
||
I just hope it isn't a rude symbol in some other culture. :-)
|
||
|
||
//Dave\\
|
||
- - - - - -
|
||
______
|
||
The symbol in question appears to / _\/_ \
|
||
the right. It is the last symbol | |____| |
|
||
in the new RAH logo. I had thought \__ \____/
|
||
all along that it was an exclamation |_\____|
|
||
point (without the point at the |____|
|
||
bottom). This makes the new logo a
|
||
stylized "RAH!" with the magazine title imbedded within.
|
||
The following are some other opinions:
|
||
|
||
Kelly Price - Logo's designer:
|
||
"Straight answer: NOT an exclamation mark. It's the same
|
||
character used for piping in MS-DOS, made by pressing
|
||
[SHIFT] and [\] together. Better now that you don't
|
||
have to change it for the next issue of RAH?"
|
||
|
||
Ray Koziel - who officially kicked this off with his letter:
|
||
|
||
"You know, since I've been looking at it, it might actually be a
|
||
hand with its forefinger pointing outward, like in the old Uncle
|
||
Sam posters. Hmmmmm. "
|
||
|
||
Hmm, indeed. Someone else told me it looked like a computer screen.
|
||
Looks like the RAH logo has become the RAH ink blot test. Oh, well.
|
||
Unless it turns out to be offensive to someone (but what isn't these
|
||
days?), the logo will remain in its original form, whatever that is.
|
||
Dave
|
||
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 3 February 1994
|
||
|
||
Area: Internet Mail
|
||
Date: 01-19-94 08:42
|
||
From: GIULIANO_MACIOCCI_JR@MANGO.APC.ORG
|
||
To: LETTUCE@RAH.CLARK.NET
|
||
Subject: Twit Filter
|
||
|
||
Dear Honourable Saint Divinity and part time All Round Swell Guy
|
||
Mr. Bealer,
|
||
|
||
Hi!
|
||
|
||
Yours Truly,
|
||
Giuliano Maciocci Jr.
|
||
|
||
PS: I was puzzled by a phrase which featured in the the Twit-Filter
|
||
(RAH Jan 1994) when you refer to a KIDIA (n. 1.: Knowit/Done it All,
|
||
common e-mail annoying subject prone to self-gratification by
|
||
unjustified boasting, usually afflicted by a severe inferiority
|
||
complex; 2.: RAH reader; 3.: RAH Editor) as "She."
|
||
|
||
Could you please supply details as to explain the cause of your
|
||
unusual adversity towards the opposite sex? It is quite unusual for
|
||
a publication such as yours to discriminate between the sexes,
|
||
instead, you should should have referred to the KIDIA as "It" or "The
|
||
KIDIA." I should sue you for the black eye donated to me by my most
|
||
adorable and feminist girlfriend, but I will not since I like your
|
||
magazine.
|
||
- - - - - - -
|
||
Giuliano,
|
||
|
||
First, RAH is one of the last bastions of the fine art of political
|
||
incorrectness. The very word "empowerment" makes me spit up. I
|
||
needed to place a pronoun in the article at a couple of places, and
|
||
despise those clumsy he/she constructs. The trouble is that "it" is
|
||
not a proper way to refer to a human, even indirectly.
|
||
|
||
I made this mistake a few years back when referring to the newborn son
|
||
of a good friend as "it" and was severely dressed-down for my error.
|
||
The newborn son who was not an "it" was, at the time, only capable of
|
||
eating, crying, and excreting. The boy was therefore less socially
|
||
capable than a KIDIA (though only slightly). Nevertheless, he was
|
||
not an "it." It follows that a KIDIA cannot be an "it" either.
|
||
|
||
Getting back to the point of this discourse (if, indeed, there is
|
||
one), I needed to use either he or she in the article. In a fit of
|
||
conformity I decided to alternate between the two. Since even this
|
||
is not good enough, I'm going back to strictly "he" when referring to
|
||
a generic human animal. If anybody doesn't like it, tough beans.
|
||
|
||
Second, you should have your girlfriend arrested for assault before
|
||
she does something even worse. Does the name Bobbitt mean anything
|
||
to you?
|
||
Dave
|
||
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 4 February 1994
|
||
|
||
From: John "Wimp" Doe <jdoe@another.anonymous.internet.site>
|
||
To: dbealer@clark.net
|
||
|
||
Hey! Could you arrange for umich anonymous ftp to get all this
|
||
nifty RAH stuff? The address is 192.131.22.7.
|
||
|
||
jwd
|
||
- - - - - - -
|
||
Dear John,
|
||
|
||
I've been uploading the RAH issues to etext.archive.umich.edu
|
||
on the last day of the previous month since May 1993. For some
|
||
reason the 11/93, 12/93 and 01/94 issues were not posted for
|
||
download until mid January. If the new issue hasn't been posted by
|
||
the second week of the month, e-mail the archivist of that site.
|
||
|
||
Otherwise, you can obtain the issues from:
|
||
ftp.clark.net (198.17.243.2) dir: pub/rah
|
||
This is a public area on my Internet service provider's system. I
|
||
maintain the RAH directory myself, but I don't own the site. This
|
||
directory contains both editions of RAH in ZIP archives and the ASCII
|
||
edition in uncompressed format.
|
||
Dave
|
||
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|
||
Area: Fidonet Netmail
|
||
Date: 01-21-94 11:24
|
||
From: Reinis Grauds FidoNet> 3:712/218
|
||
To: Lettuce
|
||
Subject: RAH distribution
|
||
|
||
Dave Bealer,
|
||
I have only recently discovered your electronic
|
||
magazine and have been trying to find every issue since.
|
||
Here in the Land Down Under it is difficult to do so though
|
||
and I was wondering if you had any way of getting the
|
||
latest copy of RAH to Australia with any sort of regularity.
|
||
*** WARNING --- GRATUITOUS APPRECIATION PARAGRAPH WARNING --- ***
|
||
|
||
My congratulations to you on being able to start and
|
||
continue such a fine and long needed publication. Good
|
||
luck for the future.
|
||
|
||
Regards,
|
||
Ray
|
||
- - - - - - -
|
||
Ray,
|
||
|
||
The RAH issues are available on the Internet via FTP (see previous
|
||
response) or via listserver. Send Internet e-mail to:
|
||
rahinfo@rah.clark.net for more information.
|
||
|
||
As far as BBS availability Down Under, two boards carry RAH as
|
||
official distribution sites. They are:
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 5 February 1994
|
||
|
||
Images Unlimited Darwin, NT. 3:850/110 61-89-41-1630 V.32bis
|
||
The Flying Circus Highett, Vic. 3:635/555 61-3-532-5224 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
Certain articles from RAH back issues have been reprinted in Chips
|
||
'N' Bits, the Australasian Computer & BBS User's Magazine. Chris
|
||
Davidson, the publisher of Chips 'N' Bits, is the sysop of Images
|
||
Unlimited.
|
||
|
||
Dave
|
||
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
||
We want to hear from our readers! Get the same kind of respectful
|
||
answers to YOUR questions. Send your e-mail to:
|
||
Internet> lettuce@rah.clark.net
|
||
FidoNet> Lettuce at 1:261/1129
|
||
You can also ask your questions in one (or both) of our two new RAH
|
||
reader conferences. Internet users can subscribe to our RAHUSER
|
||
mailing list (send e-mail to: rahinfo@rah.clark.net for instructions)
|
||
and FidoNet users can ask their sysops to obtain the new RAHUSER echo
|
||
from the RAH Publication BBS (1:261/1129).
|
||
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
The Szechuan Taxi
|
||
by Dave Bealer
|
||
|
||
People who live in genuine rural areas should probably skip this
|
||
article because you won't understand it.
|
||
|
||
What's that? You don't know what constitutes a "genuine rural area?"
|
||
Alright, if you can pick up the telephone and have a pizza delivered
|
||
to your home, you DO NOT live in a genuine rural area.
|
||
|
||
What kind of definition of genuine rural area is that? An accurate
|
||
one. I grew up in a genuine rural area in northeastern Pennsylvania.
|
||
The closest pizza delivery place would not deliver to our house.
|
||
They would deliver to a parking lot a quarter mile away at the bottom
|
||
of the hill, but they would not set foot (tire, actually) in our
|
||
village.
|
||
|
||
Not that it was a dangerous village. It was just that the parking
|
||
lot at the bottom of the hill was the end of their range. The pizza
|
||
shop was six miles away from the parking lot, and six and a quarter
|
||
miles away from our house. Some marketing major at the pizza shop
|
||
had decided that it made sense to extend their delivery range two
|
||
miles through sparsely populated countryside to the entrance to our
|
||
village, but not another quarter mile INTO our village. So the 300
|
||
people of our village had to cool their heels in an empty parking lot
|
||
if they wanted pizza delivered NEAR their homes (the parking lot
|
||
belonged to a defunct business and was typically empty because all
|
||
300 people in the village rarely chose to order pizza at the same
|
||
time).
|
||
|
||
The result of all this was that we always went to pick up the pizza.
|
||
We figured that driving six and a quarter miles to pick up the pizza
|
||
was less aggravating than sitting around a cold, dark (but safe)
|
||
parking lot waiting for a pizza delivery person who was always
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 6 February 1994
|
||
|
||
running late. We knew for a fact that the person was always late
|
||
because we occasionally had pizza delivered while visiting friends
|
||
who lived within the magic six mile limit.
|
||
|
||
Now, are we clear on who lives in a genuine rural area? Good. Maybe
|
||
we can get on with the point of this story.
|
||
|
||
Home food delivery is a matter of extreme importance to people living
|
||
in urban and suburban areas. Even realtors have begun to recognize
|
||
this phenomenon. Remember how homes have long been listed in the
|
||
classified "for sale" ads with notations about the wonderful school
|
||
district which serves the area? These days you can find homes
|
||
expected to attract childless singles or couples listed with the
|
||
number and types of home food delivery establishments that serve the
|
||
community.
|
||
|
||
Now that I live in a major urban area, there are literally dozens of
|
||
pizza delivery places competing for my business. The coupons these
|
||
outfits pay students to stick on my car windshield and the front door
|
||
of my house each year could paper all the walls in my house several
|
||
times over.
|
||
|
||
One of the major factors in the decision to purchase my current home
|
||
was the Chinese restaurant a mile away that actually DELIVERS.
|
||
Imagine that! Not just pizza and subs, but food that actually
|
||
contains mono sodium glutamate, delivered to my door!
|
||
|
||
A couple of years ago I found out exactly how useful this kind of
|
||
thing can be. I placed a carry out order with the local Chinese
|
||
restaurant, then went to do some shopping. The plan was to pick up
|
||
the food on the way home. The trouble started when the car wouldn't.
|
||
The car wasn't going anywhere, and it was a cold winter night.
|
||
|
||
In a rare moment of inspiration, I carried my groceries one block to
|
||
the Chinese restaurant, walked in, and changed my carry out order to
|
||
delivery. If you think ordering without numbers in a Chinese
|
||
restaurant is an adventure, you should have seen this attempted
|
||
conversation. It's a good thing these people knew me as a regular
|
||
customer. Actually, they took it well. They didn't even call the
|
||
police. Eventually the game of charades ended when they realized I
|
||
didn't have a car. They stuffed me in the aged, rusting econo-box
|
||
they use for deliveries. Amazingly enough, the Szechuan Lo Mein,
|
||
wonton soup, my groceries and I were delivered in good shape. I
|
||
tipped the driver unusually well that night. {RAH}
|
||
--------------
|
||
Dave Bealer is a thirty-something mainframe systems programmer who
|
||
works with CICS, MVS and all manner of nasty acronyms at one of the
|
||
largest heavy metal shops on the East Coast. He shares a waterfront
|
||
townhome in Pasadena, MD. with two cats who annoy him endlessly as he
|
||
writes and electronically publishes Random Access Humor. He can be
|
||
reached at: FidoNet> 1:261/1129 Internet: dave.bealer@rah.clark.net
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 7 February 1994
|
||
|
||
A Model of Stupidity
|
||
by Greg Borek
|
||
|
||
Sir, sir! Don't run away! It's Ms. Stanley!
|
||
|
||
(Oh no!) I know. Ms. Stanley from Modelling & Statistics, how could
|
||
I forget you. Look, I'm just on my way...
|
||
|
||
Now, sir, this will only take a minute. I wanted to describe our
|
||
latest findings...
|
||
|
||
Can this wait? I have to..., um, get my nose polished. Call my
|
||
secretary and we'll meet later this week.
|
||
|
||
Sir, I've tried to set up a meeting with you but you always seem to
|
||
be busy.
|
||
|
||
(Sigh) Well,... you have my attention now. What is it?
|
||
|
||
We in Modelling are really interested in our latest study...
|
||
|
||
You in Modelling are always interested in your latest study. I can't
|
||
help notice the level of enthusiasm in your department. My problem
|
||
comes from the extremity and irrelevance of your results.
|
||
|
||
You're not going to bring up the frogs again, are you, sir? We feel
|
||
bad enough about that one already...
|
||
|
||
Yes, the frogs. "Given the current rate of frog promiscuity we'll
|
||
all be knee deep in frogs by 1992." Didn't quite happen that way,
|
||
now did it?
|
||
|
||
We use more sophisticated models now, sir. This sort of aberration
|
||
shouldn't...
|
||
|
||
Oh, OK, how about the meteors? "Meteors at least 1.8023 miles across
|
||
will be striking the Earth in the Northern Hemisphere every 2.705
|
||
months starting in June, 1988, causing the extinction of house cats
|
||
as we know them."
|
||
|
||
Yes, I admit we've been a little "off" in the past, but we now know
|
||
how we went wrong on that one too. We are really confident that this
|
||
latest study is really close to the mark.
|
||
|
||
Alright, alright. What is it? I hope you've settled on something
|
||
not quite as complicated. What is the topic?
|
||
|
||
Human intelligence.
|
||
|
||
Fine. (Pause) Write your conclusions to me in a memo and...
|
||
|
||
No, sir, just listen. We have found some direct correlations between
|
||
IQ and certain human behaviors.
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 8 February 1994
|
||
|
||
I would rather have my eyeballs sucked out by a goat and replaced
|
||
with burning coals than listen to...
|
||
|
||
Sir, I know some of these studies have been, well, a little dry...
|
||
|
||
Aaagh!
|
||
|
||
..but this one is not that bad. It's not complicated. And, besides,
|
||
this has a direct impact on your employee hiring and evaluation
|
||
process.
|
||
|
||
(Sigh) Alright then, go ahead.
|
||
|
||
Good. We've found that the following factors affect our model human
|
||
IQ rating points by the following amounts:
|
||
|
||
Hours of Gilligan's Island watched -.02 / hour watched
|
||
Hours of Monty Python watched +.02 / hour watched
|
||
Thinks that Windows is "neat" -5
|
||
Casual SysOp -1
|
||
Intense SysOp +5
|
||
Went to Penn State -2
|
||
Went to Penn State under the influence of alcohol +4
|
||
Went to Carnegie-Mellon +5
|
||
Went to Carnegie-Mellon without a scholarship -5
|
||
Number of programming languages known = 1 +1
|
||
(if that language is BASIC) -10
|
||
Number of programming languages known > 1 +3 / language
|
||
Voted for William Clinton -10
|
||
Thinks Perot won debate with Gore -5
|
||
Trivial Pursuit playing +.01 / card memorized
|
||
Chess Playing (Elo rating above 1600) +5
|
||
(Elo rating above 2000) +10
|
||
(Elo rating above 2600) -10
|
||
Can name any 5 of the Seven Dwarves +2
|
||
Can name all 7 of the Seven Dwarves -3
|
||
Can think of something other than elephants when
|
||
told not to think about elephants +25
|
||
Number of pairs of shoes over 5 pairs -2 / pair over 5
|
||
Can name the 7 Deadly Sins +1
|
||
Number of Sins attempted/successfully completed +1 / each sin
|
||
|
||
...<thunk!>
|
||
|
||
Sir? Sir! Are you all right? I wonder why he had that glazed look
|
||
in his eyes right before he hit the floor? {RAH}
|
||
--------------
|
||
Greg Borek is a C programmer with a "Highway Helper" (OK, "Beltway
|
||
Bandit" - but don't tell his boss we told you) in Falls Church, VA.
|
||
He has previously been mistaken for a vampire. Netmail to: Greg
|
||
Borek at 1:261/1129. Internet: greg.borek@rah.clark.net
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 9 February 1994
|
||
|
||
A History of The Computer Era on Earth
|
||
By Vincent B. Navarino, The Year 2795 A.D. (Alien Date)
|
||
|
||
Today, class, we are going to talk about the people that worked in
|
||
the early days of the computer era on a planet called Earth; which
|
||
had many similarities with our great planet. In fact, the Earth it
|
||
seems had a history almost identical to our own planet's, save for
|
||
some critical and tragic differences.
|
||
|
||
Many years ago, before the computer revolution took place on this
|
||
relatively young planet, there was an ancient concept called 'Manual
|
||
Labor.' A concept that reached its height after the first McDonald's
|
||
opened up. Many, many people were constantly being forced to talk
|
||
'McLanguage' which meant that the people's minds went the way of the
|
||
dodo bird.
|
||
|
||
- A flightless bird of old that was quite stupid
|
||
|
||
The common people that worked at such laborious tasks were usually
|
||
high school students or high school dropouts. Since these persons
|
||
were not deemed of any value by their society, no one cared. After
|
||
all, they still had to be home at a certain time, had to wash up
|
||
before eating, couldn't vote, and were constantly in a state called
|
||
"grounded." Therefore they were not paid any real attention until
|
||
they became adults (i.e. paid REAL rent or moved out).
|
||
|
||
In the scheme of things on Earth there were always people who
|
||
performed 'Manual Labor.' This was so that real people could enjoy
|
||
the benefits of not being bothered with such laborious and mundane
|
||
tasks. After all, it is hard to get a rocket scientist out of his
|
||
house to take the trash out to the curb; he could get lost.
|
||
|
||
With the concept of 'Manual Labor' established, and the "people" to
|
||
fill such a role it left a hole that needed to be filled by society.
|
||
Meaning, if you didn't have to exert yourself what were you to do?
|
||
What would you be called?
|
||
|
||
- And so the Computer Programmer was born
|
||
|
||
The Programmer realized that if there were people to fix his car,
|
||
flip his burgers and shine his shoes then he could enjoy the benefits
|
||
of using his mind, not his muscles. Soon he found that he could make
|
||
tons more money than the 'Manual Laborer.'
|
||
|
||
- After all, he WAS smarter
|
||
|
||
However, the Programmer soon found out he was not perfect. After
|
||
what seems like a millennium he had to grudgingly admit that he was
|
||
flawed. He lacked an adversary. Truth be told, he needed someone to
|
||
blame his mistakes on.
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 10 February 1994
|
||
|
||
- And thus the Hardware People filled the void
|
||
|
||
The Hardware People soon took all the blame for the Programmers'
|
||
errors. It was they who were fired because 'Mr. Big' didn't get his
|
||
report on time. They were the ones who were always persecuted
|
||
because the system crashed; not the innocent Programmer whose coding
|
||
skills were so weak it invaded all the regions in the mainframe and
|
||
made $5 million dollars worth of pure computing power act like a
|
||
power toaster. No, they weren't to blame. It wasn't they who did it
|
||
. . . it was those nasty downstairs Hardware People that were to
|
||
blame.
|
||
|
||
- After all, they always LOOKED guilty.
|
||
|
||
Soon the wars between the Hardware People and the Programmers took
|
||
their inevitable toll. Too many companies went bankrupt because they
|
||
fired all the Hardware People and the bad, nasty, evil and incredibly
|
||
smart Programmers didn't care when, if ever, 'Mr. Big' got his
|
||
report. So both the Hardware (let's call them 'Manual Laborers')
|
||
people and the Programmers (let's call them the Smart Ones) were all
|
||
out of a job. Both needed money, and quickly.
|
||
|
||
- Thus The Computer Consultant was born
|
||
|
||
The Consultant was and still is an enigma to us. He was neither a
|
||
Programmer nor a Hardware Person; he was a deadly mixture. Rarely
|
||
did he help. Money was his first, last and middle name. You could
|
||
never get this guy to answer a simple question without it costing you
|
||
$250. He was a danger to all life. It was his special brand of
|
||
ineptness that makes him of value in this tale. The Consultant is
|
||
like the lawyer.
|
||
|
||
- No ethics, morals or shreds of humanity
|
||
clouded his thinking
|
||
|
||
Money was his God. The more he made and the less he worked for it,
|
||
the better he felt. He preyed on the weak, the unknowing, the small
|
||
businesses. He was all that went wrong in their world and more. He
|
||
caused grief and chaos wherever he went. And worst of all. . . he
|
||
got paid to do it.
|
||
|
||
The Consultant was a hybrid; a fluke like the Platypus. A freak of
|
||
nature that ate cash and promises like they were going out of style.
|
||
Soon mankind, sickened beyond belief at this atrocity, decided to do
|
||
something about it. They wanted to put an end to this monster. They
|
||
wanted to erase all traces of the Computer Consultants.
|
||
|
||
- So they hired them and made them Managers
|
||
|
||
And life as they knew it took an even worse turn. That's when the
|
||
intelligent and ultra-advanced aliens from the Milky Way got so fed
|
||
up with the human's pitiful existence that they decided to sit back,
|
||
sip root beer and nuke the Earth from orbit to put those poor humans
|
||
out of their misery.
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 11 February 1994
|
||
|
||
To date the only sad part of this story is that the Universe missed
|
||
out on something special after the Earth was nuked. One shining
|
||
glimmer of hope and beauty that could have only been found on Earth.
|
||
|
||
- The Nickelodeon Channel
|
||
|
||
bbbbbbrrrrriiiinnnngggggg!ing!ing!
|
||
|
||
Alright class, that ends the lesson for today. Remember to read
|
||
Chapters 2-5 in your _Past Parallel Civilizations that Were Killed
|
||
Mercifully by the Ultra-Advanced Aliens from the Milky Way_
|
||
textbooks. And remember our field trip to Mars is next week. I need
|
||
all of your parental permission slips signed by Thursday or you'll
|
||
miss out on thumbing through the old Mars probe wreckage!
|
||
|
||
Have a good day, class. {RAH}
|
||
--------------
|
||
Vincent B. Navarino is a Sr. Mainframe Applications Programmer and
|
||
the SysOp of The Particle Board III BBS (FidoNet 1:272/60). After
|
||
being asked politely to leave his former employer, he has wandered
|
||
the lengths of the land to find the Colonel's secret recipe. Rumor
|
||
has it that Mr. Navarino is quite mad and has attempted to bungee
|
||
jump off of bridges sans bungee chord. Due to quick action by
|
||
several passing motorists, he is still alive and banging his head
|
||
randomly on his computer keyboard.
|
||
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
How To Be A Couch Potato In The Nineties
|
||
by Francis U. Kaltenbaugh
|
||
|
||
Do you want to be with the technically-correct in-crowd, who have
|
||
already prepared for television in the nineties? You better hurry to
|
||
obtain a few needed essentials. Your old television, operating in
|
||
the background, even with its stereo speakers, single remote
|
||
controlling your vcr, cable box, and TV, is passe. There is a new
|
||
age dawning in the art of television watching; it is -- Interactive
|
||
Viewing. You too can be a part of this new Couch Potato mentality by
|
||
following a few simple rules. Do not get left behind! Follow the
|
||
simple suggestions that follow:
|
||
|
||
o You must purchase a 35-inch screen television (bare minimum);
|
||
bigger is better here. Or your neighbors will tease you, "Nah-na!
|
||
Mine is bigger than yours." You need: quad stereo speakers, split-
|
||
screen(s), built-in voice activated VCR programing, self-timers, a
|
||
minimum of 300 cable ready channels and the largest screen your
|
||
wallet can handle. Then, with the addition of a CD-ROM, you are
|
||
ready to interact properly with your computer aided TV.
|
||
|
||
o Purchase a fully automated satellite dish that includes the
|
||
proverbial black-box, which unscrambles virtually all channels. This
|
||
will dissuade those channel hoppers, who always lay hands on the
|
||
remote before you do. Since they will have to browse about 300
|
||
channels, after their first time through, they will realize -- three
|
||
hours later -- they missed the show they intended to watch before the
|
||
commercials started.
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 12 February 1994
|
||
|
||
o Have someone install the above. You must realize your time is
|
||
too precious to waste on menial labor tasks, when instead, you could
|
||
be watching/interacting with your TV.
|
||
|
||
o Test your couch; is it large enough to serve as a bed, and
|
||
dining room table, while still allowing room for you, and selected
|
||
friends and family to lounge comfortably? If not, replace it
|
||
immediately. You must be comfortable to interact well.
|
||
|
||
o Stock your refrigerator, freezer, and pantries with easy to
|
||
prepare (microwave) and ready-to-eat foods and snacks. The closer
|
||
your snacks are to the TV/CD-ROM, the more quickly you will be able
|
||
to interact with your system.
|
||
|
||
o If you don't have someone to serve you, it may be a good idea
|
||
to make arrangements for this contingency. Or be adventurous, do it
|
||
yourself, but also get a monitor for the kitchen. It's always best to
|
||
carry your remote with you wherever you go. Don't settle for those
|
||
puny laser-light activated remotes (line-of-sight only), get one that
|
||
will penetrate walls. Always be in charge during your interactions.
|
||
Just because you are in the third floor bathroom, that's no
|
||
reason why you shouldn't be able to continue interacting with that
|
||
Soap Opera in the downstairs living room -- simply crank up the
|
||
volume to a comfortable sound level for yourself. Besides, while
|
||
you're gone you don't want someone channel surfing in your absence.
|
||
|
||
o After all the above steps are completed, get fired from your
|
||
job, draw unemployment and food stamps. Then grab snacks and drinks,
|
||
sit down and RELAX! Enjoy your remote controlled interactive
|
||
environment. You can really interact now, much like you used to
|
||
when working, only differently.
|
||
|
||
Spare no expense and be a part of the new breed of Couch Potato, or
|
||
"THEY" will pass you by. Or you could really get RADICAL and read
|
||
Electronic Books and Magazines -- I hear it's the rage among all the
|
||
Nerds.
|
||
----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
Francis U. Kaltenbaugh is a 40 something computer enthusiast, who
|
||
enjoys video stimulations. Two children keep things interesting, one
|
||
an 18 year-old Marine, and a ten year-old girl, whose only response
|
||
is, "Why?" Francis, who has two books in progress and articles out
|
||
everywhere, feels fiction is a mainstay of life -- for everyone.
|
||
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
|
||
====================
|
||
|
||
The State of Florida is offering prime areas of land at extremely
|
||
reasonable prices. Once used as tourist rest stops, these areas
|
||
are easily accessible from the interstate. Contact the Florida
|
||
Chamber of Commerce for more information.
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 13 February 1994
|
||
|
||
1994 Random Access Humor Reader Survey
|
||
|
||
Sponsored by:
|
||
|
||
Clark Internet Services, Inc. (ClarkNet)
|
||
10600 Route 108 voice (800) 735-2258 ext. (410) 730-9764
|
||
Ellicott City, MD 21042 TDD: (410) 730-9764 FAX: (410) 730-9765
|
||
You can e-mail to all-info@clark.net for automatic reply of ClarkNet
|
||
information or e-mail to info@clark.net for inquiry.
|
||
|
||
ClarkNet provides Internet access services to the Baltimore/
|
||
Washington metro area. Full Internet/USENET/FTP/Archie/Gopher access
|
||
is available through UNIX shell accounts. UUCP, PPP, and SLIP access
|
||
is also available. The RAH support site makes its UUCP connection
|
||
thru ClarkNet. ClarkNet is connected to Internet via Sprint's T1
|
||
leased line. The ClarkNet host computer is Sun SPARCclassic running
|
||
Solaris 2.2 (SunOS 5.2).
|
||
|
||
Modem phone numbers to access ClarkNet (300-14400 bps, 8N1):
|
||
|
||
1. Columbia area, covers half Balt. and half Metro DC. (410) 730-9786
|
||
2. Ellicott City area, covers full Balt. area. (410) 995-0271
|
||
3. Laurel area, covers Metro DC except VA. (301) 596-1626
|
||
4. Ashton area, covers full Montgomery County area. (301) 854-0446
|
||
5. Northern Virginia. (301) 621-5216
|
||
|
||
Login as "guest."
|
||
|
||
"The means of acquiring knowledge is ... the greatest benefit that
|
||
can be conferred upon mankind." (John Quincy Adams, 1836)
|
||
|
||
"The ability to acquire knowledge at will is real power."
|
||
(Jamie Clark, 1993)
|
||
|
||
ClarkNet has donated a prize package worth $100 to be awarded in a
|
||
random drawing from all fully completed 1994 RAH Reader Survey
|
||
responses received between 02/01/94 and 06/30/94. The prize
|
||
package contains: 6 month ClarkNet Basic Internet Service (Internet
|
||
e-mail and USENET newsgroups only) and a copy of _Connecting to the
|
||
Internet_ by Susan Estrada. All setup fees and shipping charges are
|
||
included.
|
||
|
||
Additional prizes may be added as the survey progresses. Any such
|
||
additional prizes will he announced in future RAH issues. If your
|
||
organization would like to become a sponsor, contact Dave Bealer
|
||
for details. (dave_bealer@rah.clark.net; Dave Bealer at 1:261/1129)
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 14 February 1994
|
||
|
||
-------------------%<------- cut here --------->%--------------------
|
||
|
||
1994 Random Access Humor Reader Survey
|
||
|
||
(Only fully completed survey forms will be eligible for the drawing.)
|
||
|
||
>> Questions about you, the reader:
|
||
|
||
Name:___________________________________________________ Age:_______
|
||
|
||
Address:_____________________________________________________________
|
||
|
||
City:________________________ State/Prov:___________ Country:________
|
||
|
||
Electronic Address:__________________________________________________
|
||
|
||
Computer Type/Brand:______________________ Are You GUI(Y/N/Huh)?_____
|
||
|
||
Modem Brand:________________ Modem Speed:_________ 16550 UART?______
|
||
|
||
Approximate date (mo/yr) you made your first BBS call:_______________
|
||
(enter "N/A" if you haven't done these things)
|
||
Approximate date (mo/yr) you first used the Internet:________________
|
||
|
||
|
||
>> Questions about your RAH reading habits:
|
||
|
||
I get RAH from: ____ Internet Mailing List ____ FTP Site (specify)
|
||
|
||
____ BBS/Online System (specify) ____ CD-ROM (specify) ____ Friend
|
||
|
||
____ File Echo (specify) ____ Other (specify):______________________
|
||
|
||
Name of source:______________________________________________________
|
||
|
||
Net address/phone number of source:__________________________________
|
||
|
||
Location of source:__________________________________________________
|
||
|
||
Number of RAH issues your source carries:____________________________
|
||
|
||
Number of RAH issues you have read:__________________________________
|
||
|
||
Have you ever used the Readroom Periodical Reading Door (Y/N)? ______
|
||
|
||
What Changes/Additional Features would you like to see in RAH?
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 15 February 1994
|
||
|
||
>> Questions about your favorite English-language humor/comedy:
|
||
(if you have no preference in a particular category,
|
||
enter "None")
|
||
|
||
Your favorite stand-up comedian:_____________________________________
|
||
|
||
Your favorite comic actor:___________________________________________
|
||
|
||
Your favorite comic actress:_________________________________________
|
||
|
||
Your favorite comedy movie:__________________________________________
|
||
|
||
Your favorite comedy television show:________________________________
|
||
|
||
Your favorite humorous novel:________________________________________
|
||
|
||
Your favorite comic book:____________________________________________
|
||
|
||
Your favorite humor columnist:_______________________________________
|
||
(newspaper or magazine)
|
||
|
||
Surveys may be returned at any time. Surveys that are completed and
|
||
received between 02/01/94 and 06/30/94 will be eligible for a drawing
|
||
for valuable prizes.
|
||
|
||
-------------------%<------- cut here --------->%--------------------
|
||
|
||
Return the survey to:
|
||
|
||
Internet: survey94@rah.clark.net
|
||
|
||
FidoNet: Survey94 at 1:261/1129
|
||
|
||
Snailmail: 1994 RAH Reader Survey
|
||
P.O. Box 595
|
||
Pasadena, MD. 21122
|
||
USA
|
||
|
||
The results from the humor/comedy preference portion of the survey
|
||
will be published in the September 1994 issue of RAH, as will the
|
||
list of winners from the drawing.
|
||
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
Sound Byte:
|
||
|
||
God is Dead. - Nietzsche
|
||
|
||
Nietzsche is Dead. - God
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 16 February 1994
|
||
|
||
The Twit Filter: The Professional Amateur
|
||
by Dave Bealer
|
||
|
||
FidoNet has been the largest amateur e-mail network in the world
|
||
practically since its inception. USENET has been the largest public
|
||
research/educational network for many years. Both of these networks
|
||
were founded with, and have operated for years with, strict non-
|
||
profit policies. In the early days compliance was not a problem.
|
||
|
||
Years ago only bit-headed PC communications experts could cobble
|
||
together a working FidoNet system from the dizzying array of
|
||
allegedly compatible utilities available. Those who had passed this
|
||
initiation were unlikely to simply pass the information on, intact,
|
||
to someone who didn't "belong." While friendlier Fido sysops would
|
||
lend assistance and advice to newcomers, the newbies were still
|
||
required to complete the FidoNet utility scavenger hunt before their
|
||
system was complete.
|
||
|
||
Early USENET systems ran on UNIX mainframes which could only be
|
||
afforded by Universities, government agencies, and large companies.
|
||
Most of the early USENET users were therefore students, scientists,
|
||
and military/intelligence workers. Not the kind of group that would
|
||
try to conduct big business in the newsgroups.
|
||
|
||
Today it seems everyone is trying to cash in on the Internet. An
|
||
"Internet Business Journal" recently started up to pander to the
|
||
suits who are invading jeans and t-shirt territory and trying to tame
|
||
the UNIX command line with their evil GUIs. The Clinton regime
|
||
hijacked the Internet and has offered it up as the core of their
|
||
fabulous solve-all-our-problems "Information Superhighway." In the
|
||
face of all the money being thrown at the Internet, the "professional
|
||
amateurs" howl piteously about how their precious "free" Internet is
|
||
being used for evil profit. Apparently these characters never
|
||
realized that *somebody* was paying for the UNIX mainframes they were
|
||
using all these years. As Heinlein would say, "TANSTAAFL."
|
||
|
||
The most avid professional amateurs inhabit FidoNet (sometimes it
|
||
seems as though the people most avid about *everything* inhabit
|
||
FidoNet). "Back in the 'good' old days, I used to pay $5,000/month
|
||
in phone bills to import the echoes for me and my three buddies. Now
|
||
these damned cost sharing plans and satellite feeds are taking the
|
||
glory out of it." Sure, paying $50/month for an entire message and
|
||
file feed may be efficient, but it's just not sexy enough. These
|
||
guys should go to Las Vegas. With that extra $4,950/month they could
|
||
buy all the ego, glory, and sex they could ever need or want. The
|
||
trouble is that what they really need is common sense, which is not
|
||
something you can buy.
|
||
|
||
The worst professional amateurs are disgruntled sysops who previously
|
||
tried to go commercial and failed miserably. Since these guys tried
|
||
to turn professional and couldn't hack it, they delight in leading
|
||
witch hunts to root out any evil commercialization of their "beloved"
|
||
FidoNet. They're as bad as ex-smokers. Eventually all the real pros
|
||
will venture forth into the Internet and beyond. FidoNet will be
|
||
left with the true hobbyists, who never had any commercial desires.
|
||
Also hanging around will be the pitiful professional amateurs, whom
|
||
the hobbyists will have in their twit filters. {RAH}
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 17 February 1994
|
||
|
||
RAH Humor Review: "Grumpy Old Men"
|
||
by Ray Koziel
|
||
|
||
In the movie "Grumpy Old Men", Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau are
|
||
back together again as two elderly gentlemen who have known each
|
||
other since childhood. Lemmon and Matthau, John Gustafson and Max
|
||
Goldman respectively, were good friends as children. Their
|
||
relationship changed when Max accused John of taking his girl. Now
|
||
as old men, they greet by calling each other "putz" and "moron" and
|
||
have fun by playing pranks on each other.
|
||
|
||
Enter Ariel, played by Ann-Margaret. Ariel is a beautiful, middle
|
||
aged woman who just happens to move across the street from John and
|
||
Max and immediately grabs their attention. Ariel is always looking
|
||
for new and exciting things. As she gets to know her new neighbors,
|
||
she helps John and Max rediscover their own inner youth. In the
|
||
process though, the old rivalry between Max and John is rekindled.
|
||
In the end, Ariel ends up with...woah! You didn't think I was going
|
||
to spoil the ending now?
|
||
|
||
A delightful character in the movie is John's father, played by
|
||
Burgess Meredith. He plays the dirty old man character perfectly,
|
||
encouraging his son to go after Ariel or he might do it himself.
|
||
Also, hang around through the closing credits. They show some of the
|
||
bloopers which took place while filming the movie, including some
|
||
good one-liners from Meredith.
|
||
|
||
All in all, "Grumpy Old Men" is an amusing movie that subscribes to
|
||
the philosophy that even though growing old is mandatory, growing up
|
||
can be optional. {RAH}
|
||
--------------
|
||
Ray Koziel is a systems programmer/analyst for a consulting firm in
|
||
Atlanta. Since Ray has started contributing to RAH, his wife has
|
||
become more at ease now that he has a new target for his weird sense
|
||
of humor.
|
||
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
Announcements and Observations
|
||
|
||
_Command Line Cowboys: The Best of Random Humor, Volume 0_ is almost
|
||
ready for shipping. This hypertext book contains over 80 of the best
|
||
articles from the first 16 issues of RAH. It also contains all 500+
|
||
taglines published in these issues. See the RAHORDER.FRM file
|
||
included in this archive. (The form will be appended to the
|
||
uncompressed text version of this issue.)
|
||
- - -
|
||
The Director of the California Highway Authority, Mr. W. E. Coyote,
|
||
recently announced the conversion of more California freeways to the
|
||
popular "double decker" format. Safety and cost reasons were cited.
|
||
- - -
|
||
The motto of the 1994 U.S. Olympic Women's Figure Skating Team is
|
||
"Skate softly and carry a big tire iron."
|
||
- - -
|
||
Deadline for submissions for the March RAH issue: February 24, 1994
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 18 February 1994
|
||
|
||
--- Taglines Seen Around the Nets
|
||
|
||
Pentiums melt in your PC, not in your hand.
|
||
|
||
Licensed remote control operator.
|
||
|
||
Does "anal retentive" have a hyphen?
|
||
|
||
Suicidal twin kills sister by mistake!
|
||
|
||
Does Tasha have a Data entry problem?
|
||
|
||
That was Zen, this is Tao.
|
||
|
||
Did anyone see my lost carrier?
|
||
|
||
Do dogs mistake you for a friend (or a fire hydrant)?
|
||
|
||
If evolution is outlawed, only outlaws will evolve.
|
||
|
||
Multi-tasking - screwing up several things at once.
|
||
|
||
Tomato paste - what you use to fix broken tomatoes.
|
||
|
||
Keep your quantum-pickin hands off.
|
||
|
||
Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot.
|
||
|
||
Never try to outstubborn a cat.
|
||
|
||
There are millions of stories in the Naked Echo.
|
||
|
||
I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!
|
||
|
||
Pardon me, but your Freudian slip is showing.
|
||
|
||
I tried snorting coke once. I almost drowned.
|
||
|
||
My ship came in. Naturally it was the Kobayashi Maru.
|
||
|
||
Bill Clinton: the EDLIN of presidents.
|
||
|
||
Armed, dangerous, and off my medication.
|
||
|
||
The beauty of a pun is in the "Oy!" of the beholder.
|
||
|
||
I've plummeted to my death and I can't get up!
|
||
|
||
Whoever decided to limit taglines to a single line can just kiss my
|
||
|
||
He who laughs last thinks slowest!
|
||
|
||
I just got my phone bill. Buy AT&T stock now!
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page 19 February 1994
|
||
|
||
When the chips are down, the buffalo is empty.
|
||
|
||
"Meow" ...splat... "Aarf" ...splat... (raining cats and dogs)
|
||
|
||
Always remember you're unique - just like everyone else.
|
||
|
||
Always forgive your enemies. They hate that!
|
||
|
||
Gone crazy, be back later, please leave message.
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page A-1 February 1994
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Masthead:
|
||
|
||
Editor & Publisher: Dave Bealer
|
||
|
||
Associate Editor: Greg Borek
|
||
|
||
Contributing Editors: Ray Koziel
|
||
|
||
Logo Design: Kelly Price
|
||
|
||
Contact: The Puffin's Nest BBS
|
||
FidoNet: 1:261/1129 (1200-14400/V.32bis)
|
||
BBS: (410) 437-3463 (1200-16800/HST)
|
||
Internet: dave.bealer@rah.clark.net
|
||
greg.borek@rah.clark.net
|
||
|
||
Regular Mail: (Only if you have no other way to reach us!)
|
||
Random Access Humor
|
||
c/o Dave Bealer
|
||
P.O. Box 595
|
||
Pasadena, MD. 21122 USA
|
||
|
||
>> Legal Junk <<
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor (RAH) is published ten times a year (September -
|
||
June) by Dave Bealer as a disservice to the online community.
|
||
Although the publisher's BBS may be a part of one or more networks at
|
||
any time, RAH is not affiliated with any BBS network or online
|
||
service. RAH is a compilation of individual articles contributed by
|
||
their authors. The contribution of articles to this compilation does
|
||
not diminish the rights of the authors. The opinions expressed in
|
||
RAH are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the
|
||
publisher.
|
||
|
||
This entire publication is a work of satire (except for these legal
|
||
bits here). If anyone takes offense to something published herein,
|
||
the fault (a lack of a sense of humor) lies with them and not with
|
||
the magazine. The editors and publisher will not be held responsible
|
||
for the use or misuse of any information contained in this magazine.
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor is Copyright 1994 Dave Bealer. All Rights
|
||
Reserved. Duplication and/or distribution is permitted for non-
|
||
commercial purposes only. RAH may not be distributed on diskette or
|
||
in hardcopy form for a fee without express written permission from the
|
||
publisher. For any other use, contact the publisher.
|
||
|
||
RAH may only be distributed in unaltered form. Online systems whose
|
||
users cannot access the original binary archive file may offer it for
|
||
viewing or download in text format, provided the original text is not
|
||
modified. Readers may produce hard copies of RAH or backup copies on
|
||
diskette for their own personal use only. RAH may not be distributed
|
||
in combination with any other publication or product.
|
||
|
||
Many of the brands and products mentioned in RAH are trademarks of
|
||
their respective owners.
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page A-2 February 1994
|
||
|
||
>> Where to Get RAH <<
|
||
|
||
Copies of the current issue of RAH may be obtained by manual download
|
||
or Wazoo/EMSI File Request from The Puffin's Nest BBS (FREQ: RAH), or
|
||
from various sites in several BBS networks. Back issues of RAH may
|
||
be obtained by download or file request from The Puffin's Nest BBS.
|
||
|
||
Internet users may obtain RAH back issues as UUENCODED files attached
|
||
to e-mail. Free subscriptions are also available via mailing lists.
|
||
For more info, send an e-mail message to: rahinfo@rah.clark.net
|
||
The subject line and body can contain anything or be blank.
|
||
|
||
RAH is also available on the Internet via FTP:
|
||
|
||
etext.archive.umich.edu (192.131.22.7) dir: /pub/Zines/RAH
|
||
(ASCII Text edition compressed with gzip)
|
||
|
||
ftp.clark.net (198.17.243.2) dir: /ftp/pub/rah
|
||
(ASCII Text edition uncompressed - RAHyymm.TXT)
|
||
(ASCII Text edition compressed with ZIP - RAHyymm.ZIP)
|
||
(READROOM.TOC edition compressed with ZIP - RAHyymmR.ZIP)
|
||
|
||
>> Writing For RAH <<
|
||
|
||
Article contributions to RAH are always welcome. All submissions
|
||
must be made electronically. File attach your article to a netmail
|
||
message to Dave Bealer at 1:261/1129. E-mail (with file attaches)
|
||
may also be sent via Internet to: dave.bealer@rah.clark.net
|
||
|
||
Tagline and filler submissions may be made via e-mail. Article
|
||
submissions should be made via file. Submitted files must be plain
|
||
ASCII text files in normal MS-DOS file format: artname.RAH; where
|
||
artname is a descriptive file name and RAH is the mandatory
|
||
extension. If your article does not conform to these simple specs,
|
||
it may get lost or trashed. Also note that such imaginative names as
|
||
RAH.RAH might get overlaid by the blatherings of similarly minded
|
||
contributors. If your hardware is incapable of producing file names
|
||
in the proper format, you may send your article as one or more e-mail
|
||
messages. As the volume of mail increases it may not be possible to
|
||
make personalized responses to all submissions or correspondence
|
||
received.
|
||
|
||
The editors reserve the right to publish or not to publish any
|
||
submission as/when they see fit. The editors also reserve the right
|
||
to "edit", or modify any submission prior to publication. This last
|
||
right will rarely be used, typically only to correct spelling or
|
||
grammar misteaks that are not funny. RAH is a PG rated publication,
|
||
so keep it (mostly) clean.
|
||
|
||
RAH can accept only the following types of material for publication:
|
||
1) Any material in the public domain.
|
||
2) Material for which you own the copyright, or represent the copy-
|
||
right holder. If you wrote it yourself, you are automatically the
|
||
copyright holder.
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page A-3 February 1994
|
||
|
||
In writing jargon, RAH is deemed to be given "One Time Rights" to
|
||
anything submitted for publication unless otherwise noted in the
|
||
message accompanying the contribution. You still own the material,
|
||
and RAH will make no use of the material other than publishing it
|
||
electronically in the usual manner. Your article may be selected for
|
||
publication in a planned "Best of RAH" electronic book. If you want
|
||
your copyright notice to appear in your article, place it as desired
|
||
in the text you submit. Previously published articles may be
|
||
submitted, but proper acknowledgement must be included: periodical
|
||
name, date of previous publication.
|
||
|
||
RAH Distribution System:
|
||
(Sites bearing the <contrib> designation will accept your
|
||
contributions and forward them to the editors.)
|
||
(All these systems would be good places to find sysops with a sense
|
||
of humor...seemingly a rarity these days.)
|
||
|
||
The Puffin's Nest Pasadena, MD. Sysop: Dave Bealer
|
||
FidoNet> 1:261/1129 (410) 437-3463 16800 (HST/Dual)
|
||
<contrib>
|
||
Current RAH Issue (text format): FReq: RAH
|
||
Current RAH Issue (Readroom format): FReq: RAHR
|
||
Back Issues of RAH: (text) FReq: RAHyymm.ZIP
|
||
(RAH9209.ZIP for premiere issue)
|
||
Back Issues of RAH: (Readroom) FReq: RAHyymmR.ZIP
|
||
(RAH9302R.ZIP and later only)
|
||
Complete Writers Guidelines: FReq: RAHWRITE
|
||
Complete Distributor Info: FReq: RAHDIST
|
||
|
||
RAH Gateway Systems:
|
||
|
||
Pooh's Corner Fells Point, MD. Sysop: Mark Truelove
|
||
FidoNet> 1:261/1131 (410) 327-9263 14400 (V.32bis)
|
||
RBBSnet> 8:936/206 FilNet> 33:410/0 CandyNet> 42:1031/1
|
||
<contrib>
|
||
|
||
H*A*L Muskogee, OK. Sysop: Lloyd Hatley
|
||
FidoNet> 1:3813/304 (918) 682-7337 14400 (V.32bis)
|
||
RFNet> 73:102/1 RANet> 72:918/21 LuvNet> 77:101/1
|
||
DoorNet> 75:7918/205 <contrib>
|
||
|
||
The Shop Mail Only Flushing, NY. Sysop: Steve Matzura
|
||
FidoNet> 1:2603/203 (718) 460-0201 14400 (V.32bis)
|
||
ADAnet> 94:7180/1 JayNet> 17:99/100 WorldNet 62:4400/200
|
||
MusicNet.FTN> 88:8001/12 <mail only - no BBS)
|
||
|
||
Cyberdrome Philadelphia, PA. Sysop: Mike Taylor
|
||
FidoNet> 1:273/937 (215) 923-8026 14400 (V.32bis)
|
||
PodsNet> 93:9600/2 <contrib>
|
||
|
||
Abiogenesis Kansas City, MO. Sysop: Scott Lent
|
||
FidoNet> 1:280/310 (816) 734-4732 14400 (V.32bis)
|
||
VirNet> 9:103/110 MailNet> 20:416/310 SuperNet> 43:1315/102
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page A-4 February 1994
|
||
|
||
Datanet BBS Voorschoten, Netherlands Sysop: Ed Bakker
|
||
FidoNet> 2:281/101 31-71-617784 14400 (V.32bis)
|
||
Digital-Net> 15:200/512 MomNet> 71:2000/2
|
||
|
||
SoftCom Online Istanbul, Turkey Sysop: Tolga Yurderi
|
||
FidoNet> 2:430/1 90-1-2572790 16800 (HST/Dual)
|
||
GlobalNet> 52:9000/1 IntlNet> 57:90/1 HiTNeT> 102:1001/5
|
||
|
||
The Vision BBS Keflavik, Iceland Sysop: Jon Karlsson
|
||
FidoNet> 2:391/20 354-2-14626 14400 (V.32bis)
|
||
IceInet> 354:2/10
|
||
|
||
Incredible BBS Burleson, TX. Sysop: Don Teague
|
||
FidoNet> 1:130/82 (817) 447-2598 14400 (HST/Dual)
|
||
USPolNet> 30:603/103
|
||
|
||
The Harddisk Cafe Nidderau, Germany Sysop: Bernd Hohmann
|
||
FidoNet> 2:244/1682 49-6187-21739 19200 (Z19)
|
||
FidoClassic> 2:248/317 Gamesnet> 144:4906/153 BasNet> 255:1000/0
|
||
|
||
The Next Level Scarborough, ON, Canada Sysop: James FitzGibbon
|
||
FidoNet> 1:250/301 (416) 299-1164 19200 (Z19)
|
||
ZyXELnet> 18:105/301 ibmNet> 40:6482/301 NAnet> 81:416/520
|
||
<contrib>
|
||
|
||
Didi's Place Dearborn Heights, MI. Sysop: Diane Pahl
|
||
FidoNet> 1:2410/120 (313) 563-8940 14400 (V.32bis)
|
||
W-Net_fts> 66:636/0 CrossNet> 73:4100/3 SEMSOGNt> 94:101/0
|
||
<contrib>
|
||
|
||
|
||
RAH Official Distribution Sites:
|
||
|
||
-= AUSTRALIA =-
|
||
Northern Territory
|
||
Images Unlimited Darwin 3:850/110 61-89-41-1630 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
Victoria
|
||
The Flying Circus Highett 3:635/555 61-3-532-5224 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
-= BELGIUM =-
|
||
Proteus/2 Brussels 2:291/711 32-2-3752539 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
-= CANADA =-
|
||
Ontario
|
||
Typecast BBS Kingston 1:249/107 (613) 545-9148 V.32bis
|
||
The Next Level Scarborough 1:250/301 (416) 299-1164 Z19
|
||
Echo Valley Vanier 1:243/26 (613) 749-1016 HST
|
||
|
||
-= GERMANY =-
|
||
The Harddisk Cafe Nidderau 2:244/1682 49-6187-21739 Z19
|
||
|
||
-= ICELAND =-
|
||
The Vision BBS Keflavik 2:391/20 354-2-14626 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page A-5 February 1994
|
||
|
||
-= ITALY =-
|
||
Temple of Knowledge Rome (NoFido) 39-6-546880 Z19
|
||
|
||
-= NETHERLANDS =-
|
||
BIB Aalten Aalten 2:283/401 31-54-3774203 V.32bis
|
||
BBS Sussudio Denhaag 2:281/517 31-70-3212177 HST/Dual
|
||
Midkemia BBS Denhaag (MomNet) 31-70-3361872 V.32bis
|
||
TouchDown Hoofddorp 2:280/401 31-2503-24677 HST/Dual
|
||
Bommel's BBS Schiedam 2:285/800 31-10-4700939 V.32bis
|
||
Pleasure BBS Utrecht 2:281/705 31-30-934123 V.32bis
|
||
Datanet BBS Voorschoten 2:281/101 31-71-617784 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
-= PORTUGAL =-
|
||
The Mail House II Loures 2:362/29 351-1-9890140 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
-= SAUDI ARABIA =-
|
||
MidEast Connection Riyadh (NoFido) 966-1-4410075 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
-= SLOVENIA =-
|
||
R.I.S.P. Ljubljana 2:380/103 38-61-199400 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
-= UNITED STATES =-
|
||
Alabama
|
||
J & J Online Chickasaw 1:3625/440 (205) 457-5901 V.32bis
|
||
Digital Publ. Assoc Birmingham (NoFido) (205) 854-1660 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
California
|
||
InfoMat BBS San Clemente (P&BNet) (714) 492-8727 HST/Dual
|
||
Automation Central San Jose 1:143/110 (408) 435-2886 V.32bis
|
||
The Software Station Saugus 1:102/1106 (805) 296-9056 V.32
|
||
Marin County Net Sausalito 1:125/55 (415) 331-6241 HST/Dual
|
||
|
||
Connecticut
|
||
ModemNews Express Stamford (P&BNet) (203) 359-2299 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
Florida
|
||
Ruby's Joint Coconut Grove 1:135/373 (305) 856-4857 V.32bis
|
||
The Software Cuisine Miami 1:135/57 (305) 642-0754 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
Hawaii
|
||
Casa de la Chinchilla Honolulu (NoFido) (808) 845-1303 HST/Dual
|
||
|
||
Idaho
|
||
Phantasia BBS Boise 1:347/25 (208) 939-2530 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
Illinois
|
||
The Crossroads BBS Chicago 1:115/743 (312) 587-8756 HST/Dual
|
||
The Loonatic Fringe Elk Grove 1:115/542 (708) 290-8877 V.32
|
||
|
||
Indiana
|
||
Digicom Evansville 1:2310/200 (812) 479-1310 HST/Dual
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page A-6 February 1994
|
||
|
||
Maryland
|
||
Wit-Tech Baltimore 1:261/1082 (410) 256-0170 V.32bis
|
||
Outside the Wall Baltimore 1:261/1093 (410) 665-1855 V.32
|
||
The File Exchange Cockeysville 1:2617/104 (410) 628-7243 HST/Dual
|
||
Pooh's Corner Fells Point 1:261/1131 (410) 327-9263 V.32bis
|
||
Cybersystems Frederick 1:109/713 (301) 662-8948 V.32bis
|
||
Robin's Nest Glen Burnie (P&BNet) (410) 766-9756 V.32
|
||
The Puffin's Nest Pasadena 1:261/1129 (410) 437-3463 HST/Dual
|
||
|
||
Michigan
|
||
Didi's Place Dearborn Heights 1:2410/120 (313) 563-8940 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
Mississippi
|
||
Ranch & Cattle South Columbus (NoFido) (601) 328-6486 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
Missouri
|
||
Abiogenesis Kansas City 1:280/310 (816) 734-4732 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
New Mexico
|
||
High Mesa Publishing Los Lunas 1:317/100 (505) 865-8385 V.32
|
||
Paula's House of Mail Los Lunas 1:317/317 (505) 865-4082 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
New York
|
||
The Shop Mail Only Flushing 1:2603/203 (mail only) V.32bis
|
||
The Wall-2 Middle Village 1:278/612 (718) 335-8784 HST/Dual
|
||
Particle Board 3 Monroe 1:272/60 (914) 783-2455 V.32
|
||
Computers & Dreams New York (NoFido) (212) 888-6565 V.32bis
|
||
ASB Ronkonkoma (NoFido) (516) 471-8625 V.32bis
|
||
Dome Ideas BBS Yonkers 1:272/104 (914) 968-2205 HST
|
||
|
||
Oklahoma
|
||
H*A*L Muskogee 1:3813/304 (918) 682-7337 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
Oregon
|
||
Bitter Butter Better Tigard 1:105/290 (503) 620-0307 V.32
|
||
|
||
Pennsylvania
|
||
Cyberdrome Philadelphia 1:273/937 (215) 923-8026 V.32bis
|
||
Milliways Pittsburgh 1:129/179 (412) 766-1086 HST/Dual
|
||
|
||
Texas
|
||
Sunlight Thru Shadows Addison (P&BNet) (214) 620-8793 V.32bis
|
||
Incredible BBS Burleson 1:130/82 (817) 447-2598 HST/Dual
|
||
|
||
Utah
|
||
Vital Signs Midvale 1:311/20 (801) 255-8909 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
Virginia
|
||
Pen & Brush Burke (P&BNet) (703) 644-5196 V.32bis
|
||
Data Empire Fredericksburg 1:274/31 (703) 785-0422 V.32bis
|
||
Flying Dutchman Newport News 1:271/237 (804) 595-9383 V.32bis
|
||
The Time Machine Newport News 1:271/236 (804) 599-6401 HST/Dual
|
||
|
||
Random Access Humor Page A-7 February 1994
|
||
|
||
Washington
|
||
Spokane Online Spokane 1:346/20 (509) 327-8540 V.32bis
|
||
Dragon's Cave Tacoma 1:138/198 (206) 752-4160 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
West Virginia
|
||
Blue Powder BBS St. Albans (NoFido) (304) 727-6733 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
Wisconsin
|
||
The First Step BBS Green Bay 1:139/540 (414) 499-0659 V.32bis
|
||
|
||
=====================================================================
|
||
|
||
Although not official RAH distributors, the following large
|
||
commercial systems carry RAH. (Uploaded by the editor himself.)
|
||
|
||
Channel 1 Cambridge, MA. (617) 354-8873 (Readroom)
|
||
|
||
EXEC-PC Elm Grove, WI. (414) 789-4210 (Readroom)
|
||
|
||
SPACE Menlo Park, CA. (415) 323-4193
|
||
|
||
Software Creations Clinton, MA. (508) 368-4137
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Order Form
|
||
|
||
|
||
(Available February 15, 1994.)
|
||
|
||
|
||
_Command Line Cowboys: The Best of Random Access Humor, Volume 0_
|
||
Edited by Dave Bealer Bitwise Virtual Press
|
||
$14.95 (Hyperwriter for MS-DOS)
|
||
|
||
The world's first hypertext funhouse. Eighty original articles
|
||
from the first sixteen issues of Random Access Humor, the award
|
||
winning electronic monthly. Seventy percent of the articles were
|
||
written by the editor. Several articles have been rewritten and
|
||
updated since their original publication in RAH. Every tagline
|
||
published in Volume 0 of RAH (9/92 - 12/93) has been included.
|
||
(This book requires an MS-DOS system with VGA graphics.)
|
||
|
||
Amount
|
||
|
||
____ Copies of "Command Line Cowboys"
|
||
(5.25" diskette) $14.95 ____________
|
||
|
||
____ Copies of "Command Line Cowboys"
|
||
(3.5" diskette) $14.95 ____________
|
||
|
||
Maryland residents, please add 5% sales tax
|
||
($0.75 per copy ordered) ____________
|
||
|
||
Shipping and Handling (no matter how many copies) ___$2.00____
|
||
|
||
|
||
Total Check or Money Order Enclosed (U.S. Funds Only) ____________
|
||
(Make check payable to "Bitwise Communications")
|
||
|
||
Ship Order to:
|
||
|
||
Name ___________________________________________________________
|
||
|
||
Address ________________________________________________________
|
||
|
||
City _______________________________ State/Prov ________________
|
||
|
||
Postal/Zipcode ____________________ Country ____________________
|
||
|
||
|
||
Mail your order to:
|
||
|
||
Bitwise Communications
|
||
4157 Mountain Road, #206
|
||
Pasadena, MD. 21122
|
||
USA
|
||
|
||
|
||
Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. |