21 Oct
2002
21 Oct
'02
9:22 a.m.
Then why go at length to describe the W.O.P.R. lettering and the BASF disks. There is
also mention to directly contact the authorities something a scammer would want to avoid
at all costs. Even the handover of such a system if it's dontated to a boy would be
caught out once there is no boy to receive it.
Thieves are usually dumb, in South Africa we had thieves in the 80's that stole
computers and tried to sell them as vcr's/type writers/all kinds of other creative
names. They also might have thought the heavier the more worth..
While I'm writting I'd like to know this:
Is there ANY chance that the ink from pens/markers can damage a CD over a long period of
time? I'm marking my cds with a black marker that has Xylene in it. Aint these inks
acidic? I dont want to recover all my paper tapes to CD only to find after 20 years that
the ink markings ate away the surface..
-----Original Message-----
From: Sellam Ismail [mailto:foo@siconic.com]
Sent: 21 October 2002 04:02
To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: Troll on imsai.net?
This is posted on the front page of imsai.net:
"Mr. Fischer,
Recently my home was burglarized. Surprisingly the thieves took my son's
IMSAI computer. My son is 5 years old and is autistic. He refuses to use
a regular computer. He is in love with his IMSAI though, switches and
lights always fascinated him. This computer was his favorite possession
and he asks about it all day long, even gets up at night and wakes me up
asking for it. This computer means the world to him. On the side of the
machine are the letters W.O.P.R. They look silk screened. Also taken
with this unit was a very large disk drive and some extreme large computer
disks. I think they were 12 inches across [8" floppy disk], and are marked
BASF 8" Single Sided Double Density. Also stolen was a computer modem
that you would set a phone on to [acoustic coupler]. Thank you in advance
for any information you may have."
It sounds plausible, but then I'm a cynic. I can imagine someone would
make this up to try to get the sympathy of Todd Fischer thinking he might
just send them an IMSAI.
I mean, why would a cat burglar walk out of a house with 100 pounds of
computer, unless they really knew what it was and could get $x000 for it
on eBay? Wouldn't it have shown up on eBay?
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
* Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *
21 Oct
21 Oct
10:26 a.m.
On Monday, October 21, 2002, JD Gouws wrote:
Then why go at length to describe the W.O.P.R.
lettering and the BASF
disks.
That's how trolls work. They have that kind of stuff to make them seem more
realistic and to get the reader emotionally involved. The kid is autistic
for just that reason, because we think of autistic kids both as retards and
as genii -- a perfect condition to inspire the philanthropic giveaway of a
computer that takes serious programming knowledge to use.
There are obvious problems with this troll. One is that WOPR (from the movie
Wargames) was *not* the IMSAI 8080. WOPR was a big-ass computer in the NORAD
facility. The IMSAI was the David's home computer. David ran a terminal
emuator and dialed into WOPR from his home. The troll just wants his free
IMSAI to have some silk-screened lettering, probably to boost an eBay sale.
Oops #0.
Second, I think that the 8" disk would be marked "SSDD", not "Single
Sided
Double Density", but I really haven't seen enough 8" disks to firmly decide
that. Oops #1.
Third, the troll says "Thank you in advance for any information you may
have". What information is *Fischer* going to have about the allegedly
stolen computer? What, is he going to say "Oh, yes, Jim stole that. Let me
give you his address and phone number"? Oops #2.
Sorry, IMSAI. YHBT. HAND.
--
Jeffrey Sharp
2:49 p.m.
On Mon, 21 Oct 2002, Jeffrey Sharp wrote:
On Monday, October 21, 2002, JD Gouws wrote:
Rather depends on who made them and when. For instance, I have some
Dysan 8" disks that say '3740/1D' and others that say 'Single Sided
Single Density'.
- don
Then why go at length to describe the W.O.P.R.
lettering and the BASF
disks.
That's how trolls work. They have that kind of stuff to make them seem more
realistic and to get the reader emotionally involved. The kid is autistic
for just that reason, because we think of autistic kids both as retards and
as genii -- a perfect condition to inspire the philanthropic giveaway of a
computer that takes serious programming knowledge to use.
There are obvious problems with this troll. One is that WOPR (from the movie
Wargames) was *not* the IMSAI 8080. WOPR was a big-ass computer in the NORAD
facility. The IMSAI was the David's home computer. David ran a terminal
emuator and dialed into WOPR from his home. The troll just wants his free
IMSAI to have some silk-screened lettering, probably to boost an eBay sale.
Oops #0.
Second, I think that the 8" disk would be marked "SSDD", not "Single
Sided
Double Density", but I really haven't seen enough 8" disks to firmly
decide
that. Oops #1. Third, the troll says "Thank you in advance for
any information you may
have". What information is *Fischer* going to have about the allegedly
stolen computer? What, is he going to say "Oh, yes, Jim stole that. Let me
give you his address and phone number"? Oops #2.
Sorry, IMSAI. YHBT. HAND.
--
Jeffrey Sharp
10:46 a.m.
On Mon, 21 Oct 2002, JD Gouws wrote:
Then why go at length to describe the W.O.P.R.
lettering and the BASF
disks.
To make the plea seem authentic.
There is also mention to directly contact the
authorities something a
scammer would want to avoid at all costs. Even the handover of such a
system if it's dontated to a boy would be caught out once there is no
boy to receive it.
I'm not impugning Todd; he's just passing the message along. I've heard
of people trying stupider things.
Thieves are usually dumb, in South Africa we had
thieves in the 80's
that stole computers and tried to sell them as vcr's/type writers/all
kinds of other creative names. They also might have thought the heavier
the more worth..
It depends on what kind of burglary this was. Most are usually smash and
grab. Thieves don't usually try to heft a 100 pound computer out a
window.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
* Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *
1:56 p.m.
It's hard to debunk some hoaxes. There is always a CHANCE that it might
be real! And those who believe it will think that you are a heartless
asshole just for questioning it.
On Mon, 21 Oct 2002, JD Gouws wrote:
Then why go at length to describe the W.O.P.R.
lettering and the BASF
disks?
To add credibility. The idea is that some otherwise non-gullible people
will fall for it by taking the reasoning of:
Then why go at length to describe the W.O.P.R.
lettering and the BASF
disks?
Why say that the 8" diskettes are 12"?
handover of such a system if it's dontated to a
boy would be caught
out once there is no boy to receive it.
If you were to respond to it, they'll want you to ship it; for some
reason, the boy isn't available this week, ...
There's a guy in Nigeria who wants to transfer a whole lotta embezzled
money into my bank account, . . . I wonder if he'd pay for a replacement
machine?
Is there ANY chance that the ink from pens/markers can
damage a CD
over a long period of time? I'm marking my cds with a black marker
that has Xylene in it. Aint these inks acidic? I dont want to recover
all my paper tapes to CD only to find after 20 years that the ink
markings ate away the surface..
1) I heard that such marks, particularly around the circumference CAN
interfere with the proper functioning of one of the copy protection
schemes!
8116
days inactive
8116
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4 comments
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participants (5)
-
cisin＠xenosoft.com -
donm＠cts.com -
foo＠siconic.com -
jd＠sourcecode.co.za -
jss＠subatomix.com