European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 2, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Home front shareware helps spread Hacker Humo Scott Eyman a a has this Ever happened to you you turn on your reliable macintosh computer. Instead of the usual cheery beep followed by the usual Happy face Symbol you Are greeted by a loud howl and a digitized representation of Edvard munches a the or perhaps you re greeted by the voice of Hal the murderous computer in �?o2001,�?� which says a a in a sorry Dave i can to do or you re greeted by an animated bullwinkle Moose who periodically appears in the upper left Corner of the screen and u tiers catch phrases like a i could learn to love you or a watch me pull a Rabbit out of my in the last five years or so joke computer programs like these have been spread by an informal network of hackers programmers or anybody who uses a computer and possesses a warped sense of humor. These Are under the counter programs from dozens of sources that go by the nickname its software for which you might pay a minimal fee with distribution being haphazardly personal. Shareware was originally intended As a Way to get simplified versions of specialized data processing programs for less Money than the originals. A Complex accounting program can Cost up to $300, while a Slimmer less complicated less powerful program might run $ 10 to $ 15 on shareware. A some programs in shareware Are the equivalent of professional stuff a says computer author Charles Gulick of Florida. A and some of the games that Are on shareware Are very Good. In be got a cribbage game that plays a Beautiful game of cribbage and there a a chess game that i cannot beat. I play a fair game but i can to beat it. A and then there a a lot of trash stuff that a very poorly it should be noted however that one persons trash is another persons computer equivalent of a whoopee Cushion. A my personal favorite is a gag program that when you press any key a message flashes saying you have water in your disc drive a says Lincoln Spector an assistant editor at pc world Magazine. A you then hear the sounds of water going Down a Drain. Then you get a message telling you you re in spin dry and you get the sound of a spin dry Cycle. Then it returns to there a a shareware program called a meltdown a which slowly dissolves everything you re looking at into a puddle of ooze at the Bottom of the screen. Another program has a Little crab that starts creeping across the screen. Eventually there a nothing but crabs scuttling around eventually attacking the cursor. There is a limit to How Many times these programs would be thigh slapping funny so Many of them Are used As practical jokes. Unfortunately computer viruses have made the hand to hand passing of these programs less popular in recent years. Also working against the proliferation of shareware is the profit principle. A a lot of it came out of newness of the computer Industry a says Spector a but the Industry has gone from a Blue jeans Industry to a suit and tie also says Jerry Borrell editor of Mac world Magazine a there Arentt that Many complicated shareware games out there because they take too much time to devise. A modern game takes significant research and devel a amps Sharon Kilday Ozment Effort. Most of the hackers now say a Well this is neat lets make some id be reluctant to do that much work if someone Wasny to going to pay me for it. You re talking about hundreds of the Best of the programs is a virtual Valerie a an incredible game devised by a renegade Genius named Mike Saenz. A virtual Valerie offers original digitized music and rooms through which you can move assuming you have sufficient navigational dexterity. A you can even play a cd player within the program that has games on it a says Borrell. A a it a games within the at the Centrepiece of a virtual Valerie Are some extremely graphic graphics that Center on conventional male sexual fantasies. In other words Saenz designed and implemented the worlds first hard Core porn computer program. What a the Point Gulick wants to know. Why bother with digitized porn if you can get the real thing at the Comer a you can get it at the Comer a says Borrell a but not if you re leaning Over your computer 12 hours a Day. This is definitely for Cox news service feedback when was the last time you went to a fest or activity on the Economy master sgt. Ralph Grant army air defense come Darmstadt West Germany last festival i attended was the Heiner fest in Darmstadt earlier this summer. Mildred Mcneill family member living in Mannheim West Germany went Down to a cafe with some friends the other Day. I work on the Economy at a pizza hut so in a there All week. Staff sgt. John Pointon Central army group nato combined military police Heidelberg West Germany there was one in Heidelberg earlier this summer near the Castle. It was a Small one with Good food Good drink Nice atmosphere. Carmen Eyzaguirre Usa eur Library and resource Center Heidelberg West Germany the fish fest in Walldorf sometime in june. I enjoyed the company the music there were a lot of people there. Staff sgt. Brett Kangas joint support group Heidelberg West Germany went to the Leiden fish fest recently. We go pretty often to All these fests i mean that a part of being Here. Compiled by stars and stripes staff september 2,1990 sunday c Page 5
