[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
[humorix] Re: Microsoft Conspiracy Theories

To: humorix@e-groups.com
Subject: [humorix] Re: Microsoft Conspiracy Theories
From: noahp@altavista.net
Date: Fri, 28 May 1999 16:24:21 -0700
Delivered-To: listsaver-egroups-humorix@e-groups.com
In-Reply-To: <000801bea812$ce1ae7a0$ca5f47cc@kn6ll.vvm.com>
Mailing-List: contact humorix-owner@egroups.com
At 02:30 AM 5/27/99 -0500, you wrote:
>
>X-Priority: 3
>X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
>X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3155.0
>X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3155.0
>
	nice Microsoft mail headers ....
>
>Subject: [humorix] Re: Microsoft Conspiracy Theories
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>X-UIDL: 54627f636f3b736e9d3ceb13df428b7a
>
>unsubscribe
>-----Original Message-----
>From: James Baughn <jbaughn@ldd.net>
>To: humorix@egroups.com <humorix@egroups.com>
>Date: Wednesday, May 26, 1999 12:31 PM
>Subject: [humorix] Microsoft Conspiracy Theories
>
>
>>Microsoft Conspiracy Theories
>>May 26, 1999
>>
>>Recently Humorix reported[1] on the Microsoft Conspiracy
>>Theory contest sponsored by Linux Fortnight News.  During
>>the past two weeks the Humorix staff has composed several
>>conspiracy theories that we will submit to the contest.  We
>>found that it's much easier to write Microsoft conspiracy
>>theories than it is to write ordinary fake news.
>>
>>
>>* SETI@home: Searching for Intelligent Life in Windows
>>
>>It seems suspicious that the source code to the SETI@home
>>client is closed.  The stated purpose of the SETI@home
>>Project is to utilize distributed computing to search for
>>alien signals. That is what They want you to believe.  The
>>client may spit out messages about "Fourier transforms" and
>>"signals from the Arecibo Observatory", but that's all a
>>cover to trick the unsuspecting public.
>>
>>In reality, the CPU cycles burned running SETI@home are
>>actually compiling portions of the Windows 2000 source
>>code.  Sections of the Windows Y2K source code are
>>distributed (in encrypted form) as "work units" to
>>SETI@home clients.  The client program compiles that
>>section of code and returns the work unit to the SETI
>>website, which is actually a front for tide7.microsoft.com.
>>
>>Such a distributed computing system is necessary to fully
>>compile the Windows 2000 source code in a reasonable amount
>>of time.  Using only internal Microsoft hardware, it would
>>take 23 days to make one WinY2K build.  With SETI@home (or
>>should we say, MS@home), it only takes 2.3 days.
>>
>>
>>* WinBoxes: The Latest Volley In The War Against Linux
>>
>>Nicholas Petreley wrote an April Fool's article[2] about
>>"Winboards", cheap Windows-only motherboards that function
>>like WinModems.  While most of Petreley's readers laughed
>>at the absurd concept and moved on, an engineer from
>>Microsoft's R&D labs didn't.  Microsoft will embrace and
>>extend this concept to create entire Windows-only computers
>>called "WinBoxes".  What started out as an innocent April
>>Fool's gag has turned into Microsoft's latest anti-Linux
>>conspiracy.
>>
>>Microsoft has inked a secret deal with Compaq to produce a
>>line of WinBoxes.  These computers will consist exclusively
>>of specially designed Windows-only "hardware" built into
>>the motherboard. The CPU will handle all of the processing
>>that is usually reserved for external devices in real
>>computers.  The motherboard will contain a built-in
>>WinSoundCard(tm), WinHardDriveController(tm),
>>WinEthernetCard(tm), WinVideoCard(tm), and, of course, a
>>WinModem(tm). (These boxes will not support traditional
>>floppy drives, but they will support proprietary
>>MSFloppies(tm) capable of holding 10MB apiece).
>>
>>During the next few months Compaq will begin to
>>mass-produce WinBoxes.  These machines will NOT be
>>advertised as Windows-only brain-dead boxes, instead they
>>will be marketed as inexpensive entry-level machines for
>>unsuspecting novice computer users. Such users probably
>>don't realize that Windows alternatives exist, and even if
>>they knew about alternatives, they would be content to use
>>Windows. Indeed, these users will never have the
>>opportunity to realize that the "Windows-enhanced" logo
>>etched into the case is really a "Windows-only" warning
>>label.
>>
>>Within a few years, these WinBoxes could quietly spread
>>through the low-end desktop market and, ultimately, go
>>mainstream.  Your average computer user won't care that his
>>el cheapo US$199 computer can only run the latest version
>>of Windows Two-Thousand-And-Whatever.   Your average Linux
>>hacker will care, but alas, he'll be stuck using an ancient
>>AMD K7 system.
>>
>>
>>* The BASIC Conspiracy
>>
>>Back in the Dark Ages of MS-DOS, most x86 computers came
>>with a BASIC interpreter.  While these early interpreters
>>were terrible (BASIC originally stood for BASIC Allows
>>SpaghettI Code, after all), MS-DOS 5.0 introduced QBASIC,
>>an interpreter that made it possible to write non-trivial
>>BASIC programs without using any GOTOs at all.
>>
>>Many preteen nerds and geeks learned how to program using
>>QBASIC.  Many of these geeks are now writing Open Source
>>software.  Ironically, it is a Microsoft program that
>>inspired many Linux hackers.
>>
>>Not anymore, though.  QBASIC and it's older brother,
>>QuickBASIC, are now obsolete, relegated to some obscure
>>directory (if you're lucky) on the Windows or TechNet
>>CD-ROM.  Microsoft's current incarnation of BASIC, Visual
>>Basic, costs hundreds of dollars.  Microsoft doesn't bundle
>>a stripped down version of VB with Windows like it did
>>QBASIC with DOS (although just about everything else is
>>bundled in Windows, except maybe a kitchen sink (slated for
>>release with Windows 2002)).
>>
>>What's a preteen proto-hacker to do?  If they use Windows,
>>not much.  They might be able to use the BASIC macro
>>language that comes with Office (why bother?), but, unless
>>they're willing to spend money on a compiler, programming
>>options are limited. Future possible Open Source hackers
>>are being squandered by Redmond's refusal to bundle a free
>>version of BASIC (or any language, for that matter) with
>>their mega-OS.  Preteens are content to play Quake and
>>Alpha Centauri instead of hacking code like us oldtimers
>>did.  It's a shame, really.
>>
>>The conspiracy doesn't end there.  Most high schools no
>>longer teach programming courses; instead they have
>>"computer science" (sic) classes on using Windows or
>>Office.  Indeed, it would appear that many schools receive
>>discounts on Microsoft programs if they agree not to teach
>>any programming classes or classes on using non-Microsoft
>>programs. Programming is becoming a lost art.  An
>>increasing number of computer users trust Microsoft
>>exclusively to produce their software.  The Do-It-Yourself
>>attitude that makes Open Source so strong is dwindling in
>>future generations.
>>
>>Linux could be doomed by a lack of future talent.  It's a
>>shame, really.
>>
>>
>>* The Other BASIC Conspiracy
>>
>>[This conspiracy theory was drafted by a different member
>>of the Humorix staff than the previous one. -- The Editor]
>>
>>You've probably seen old "programs" (I use the term
>>loosely) written in GW-BASIC or BASICA.  They are crap.
>>Indeed, contrary to popular belief, BASIC actually stands
>>for Beginner's All-purpose System for Innovating Crap
>>(Symbolic Instruction Code my ass!).  The GW-BASIC
>>interpreter encouraged crappy poorly-written uncommented
>>spaghetti code compressed into as few lines as possible.
>>
>>The abomination known as BASIC has ruined countless
>>potential Open Source programmers.  Teenagers who learned
>>"programming" via BASIC are stunted for life; many are
>>unable to advance beyond being an MSCE.  These BASIC-heads
>>have to unlearn everything they know in order to write
>>structured programs (much less anything Object Oriented!),
>>a feat many cannot master.
>>
>>Item: BASIC has screwed over countless future programmers
>>with its unstructured "syntax".
>>
>>Item: Microsoft has shipped brain-dead BASIC interpreters
>>with MS-DOS, and most recently, with Office in the form of
>>a macro language.
>>
>>Obvious Conclusion: Microsoft has been conspiring to rid
>>the computer industry of programming talent, most likely in
>>a fiendish plot to ruin its future competition (read: Open
>>Source software).
>>
>>More advanced versions of BASIC that shipped with MS-DOS 5+
>>(QBASIC) and with Office (Visual Basic for Applications)
>>are still brain-dead. These "modern" interpreters are
>>merely a ruse to obfuscate Microsoft's sinister plans for
>>programming domination.  The fact that Windows itself comes
>>with no BASIC interpreter is another fiendish plan devised
>>to confuse anybody attempting to unravel this conspiracy.
>>
>>This conspiracy also applies to Microsoft's other modern
>>programming tools.  Visual C++, with its Microsoft
>>Foundation Classes, is a prime example of the raw evilness
>>pouring from Redmond. MFC-compiled programs are so bloated
>>that the entire Linux kernel could fit into their binaries
>>several times over!  And then there's J++, which is
>>sinister in its own right.
>>
>>In conclusion, by bundling inferior programming tools with
>>its products during the 1980s (and today), Microsoft has
>>stifled programming talent, and thus, its competition.  The
>>fact that Open Source software has flourished against this
>>impediment is amazing.  But we must ask ourselves, what
>>would the computer industry be like if Microsoft had
>>bundled a decent BASIC interpreter with MS-DOS in the 80s?
>>
>>
>>* Australian Net Censorship: Welcome to MS-Australia!
>>
>>The pending Internet censorship bill[3] in Australia (or,
>>by the time you read this, law) is obviously part of a
>>grand Microsoft conspiracy. While the stated goal of this
>>bill is to "protect the children"[4], in reality the
>>mission is to "protect the Microsoft stockholders."
>>
>>This bill would place a burden on Australia ISPs to block
>>"offensive" material from overseas servers.  Such a burden
>>would weigh heavily on smaller ISPs, no doubt causing some
>>to go out of business (or merge with others).  This is
>>exactly what Microsoft -- in its fiendish scheme to turn
>>the Internet into the Microsoft Network -- wants.  With Net
>>access in Australia limited to a smaller set of ISPs,
>>Microsoft will be able to dominate the industry through a
>>couple of strategic ISP and telecom acquisitions.
>>
>>First Australia, and then the World.  The Microsoft
>>conspiracy to dominate Internet access through the guise of
>>"protecting the children" is underway.
>>
>>And that's not all.  Humorix recently reported[5] that the
>>Linux operating system could be effectively banned from
>>Australia because it contains potentially offensive
>>material in its source code (the f--- word).  This
>>possibility still holds.  For all we know, the Humorix
>>website could be banned in the future because some
>>Australian politician found this article "offensive" to
>>him.
>>
>>If the above items don't reek of an obvious Microsoft
>>conspiracy, I don't know what does.
>>
>>
>>
>>References
>>
>>[1] http://i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/may99.shtml#Linux-Contests
>>[2] http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayNew.pl?/petrel/990405np.htm
>>[3] http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=99/05/26/1223245&mode=thread
>>[4]
>>http://www.dcita.gov.au/nsapi-text/?MIval=dca_dispdoc&ID=3891&template=News
>room
>>[5] http://i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/may99.shtml#Linux-Censorship
>>
>>
>>---
>>
>>James S. Baughn
>>http://i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/
>>
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>Explore the Web for sites in Science & Technology from Looksmart!
>>http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/302
>>
>>
>>eGroups.com home: http://www.egroups.com/group/humorix
>>http://www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Explore the Web for sites in Arts & Entertainment from Looksmart!
>http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/290
>
>
>eGroups.com home: http://www.egroups.com/group/humorix
>http://www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications
>
>
>
>
>


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Big Yellow!  Your yellow pages on the web.
To find out more about Computers and Internet click here!
http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/229



eGroups.com home: http://www.egroups.com/group/humorix
http://www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications
References:
- [humorix] Re: Microsoft Conspiracy Theories
  - From: "John M Sherwood" <kn6ll@vvm.com>
Prev by Date: humor: may 27 -- More About The Boss
Next by Date: Fw: travel funnies
Prev by thread: [humorix] Re: Microsoft Conspiracy Theories
Next by thread: [humorix] Re: Microsoft Conspiracy Theories
Index(es):
- Date
- Thread