|ZMAGAZINE| |OCTOBER| |ISSUE-2.1| ----------------------------------- OCTOBER 11, 1986 ATARI NEWS PLUS ----------------------------------- RON KOVACS EDITOR-PUBLISHER LARRY MIHALIK ASSISTANT EDITOR KEN KIRCHNER ASSISTANT PUBLISHER ----------------------------------- Xx THIS WEEK IN ZMAG A) This week In Zmag B) Editor's Column C) Larry's Corner D) Online News E) Balloon Works BBS F) Atari Sellers G) CHAOS News ----------------------------------- Xx EDITORS COLUMN Welcome to another edition of Zmag! This week I welcome back Larry Mihalik, who has been hard at work getting his BBS system going. I am going to complain this week about our Atari Magazine's on the HOT SPOT this week is ANTIC!!! Last weekend, I went to my local computer store to check out whats new and saw the October issue sitting on the rack. The price tag was 12.95 with a double sided disk. Well I thought about it and decided to go for it. (By the way, next week I will expand on the computer store). Anyway, to continue this story.... When I got home and peeled the plastic off the mag, I booted the disk and boy was I surprised!! Side one contained the drab file list the comes every month, not such a bad thing I suppose, but when I turned the disk over to find ST files, I was a little annoyed. Complete with instructions on HOW TO PORT OVER files to an ST. I wonder why??? Since the populus getting the disk are 8 bitters, WHY include 70% ST stuff on the disk?? If ST users want the stuff, Why cant Antic supply them with their own disk??? Why should the 8 bit user even have to be exposed to software that cant run??? Why should an STer have to go through the process of PORT OVER when the can be supplied with a disk that is ready to run. Excuse me if I sound annoyed, But I am and really dont understand the logic behind it?? If you are reading this and can provide me with a different light, Please do??? Now for the Second Attack!! On the last page of the mag they listed New Products or whatever they call it this week. I saw a tiny little thing about CARINA!! Sheesh guys give me a break!!! You are pushing BBCS II like it was the best thing on earth!! I ran it and had nothing but problems, so already you not on my good side!! But why even bother putting in a shabby little thing when more information could have been gathered!! I think putting it in the back of the issue and the lack of info supplied is poor judgement. My third attack goes to both Mags ANALOG AND ANTIC!! I understand that you guys prepare most of your issues weeks ahead, but looking through the last few issues of both mags, I find information which had already been covered in this measly mag called ZMAG!! Sheesh again!! Some of the articles are out dated!! I suppose I could go on and on and I am sure there is fault with what I am doing every week. There are some people who might even feel I have over stepped here, But I think about it this way! I subscribe to Analog monthly, I pay for each issue. Zmag collects no funds yet we cover more topics and news each week. I feel I am not getting what I pay for. If the issues were dated properly, instead of getting DECEMBER 1986 issue in late October, the information in each magazine might be more interesting. I wouldn't mind getting October's issue in October?? Any views are welcome and will be published. What is your thoughts?? ___________________________________ Xx|LARRY'S-CORNER| ----------PHREAKING!-------------- Well, I am finally back, and I see that Zmag continues to survive without me! Anyway, on to the subject at hand=> Phreaking! For any of those that don't know what it is, it's a leeches way of placing phone calls for -free-. They are parasites that prey on our convenience services provided by long distance phone companies. The phone companies have promised to wage war on these -code-users-, but I decided to write this column on not what it is, or how they do it, or even the financial losses to the phone companies. Instead on what it is doing to the users. Recently, I recieved a message from a potential -new-user- to my BBS. Oh, I have been around and seen a lot, but this one struck me in such a way as to get me to finally speak out. This -new-user-, I will call him MISGUIDED, logged on and left me a message. Here it is, but I have corrected the spelling and deleted the obvious portions of the message, but you will get the idea. -FROM- MISGUIDED --TO-- SYSOP -SUBJECT- VALIDATE ___________________________________ HI THIS IS A COOL BBS HOW CAN I GET ACCESS HERE. MY REAL NAME IS FROM I AM 11, BUT DON'T HOLD THAT AGAINST ME YOU WILL FIND ME A GOOD USER WELL PLEASE VALIDATE ME AND HERE ARE SOME NEW xxx-xxxx CODES FOR YA. xxx,xxx xxx,xxx LATER MISGUIDED __________________________________ Well, I don't want to analyize the message, but I am sure you can see why I was sort of set back by this youngster. Obviously, MISGUIDED is an 11 yr. old BOY, who has been a victim of an enviroment that has lead him to believe that it is a -free- ticket to entertainment. This is far from the reality of the situation, but I promised myself not to preach why it is wrong, we should all know that by now. I very much doubt that this individual will ever take the time to read this article, or Zmag, so how do we get the message to him that what he is doing is wrong? Well, I hate to tell you this, but it falls on YOU! [EVERY last one]. We have to take a stand and open our mouth's to these -code-user's-. Not for thier sake, but your's. If the phone co., the FBI and every other agency can't put a stop to this parasite, what laws will be enacted to restrict tele-communications. It has happened before, those that make up a small group of people can cause enough of a problem that tele-communications maybe regulated in the future. So SPEAK UP!. If you see a message from anyone who refers to use of codes, or promotes the use, then hit that [R] button and reply. Let them know how you feel. Tell them that this is not -a standard practice- as most believe. You will be surprized at the final outcome, you will find that quite a number of other board users will back you up and reply in similar fashion. But, now that you read this, you are obligated to start the ice breaking. Stretch that finger and hit [R] and dig in. Don't rely on: -someone else will do it-...They won't! Until next time. Larry Mihalik The Lion's Den BBS The Syndicate BBS ___________________________________ Xx|ONLINE-NEWS| <*> COMPUTER CRIME BILL <*> FREE LAW BBS <*> COMPUTER GAMES GOOD FOR KIDS <*> NEW BBS MAGAZINE <*> CRACKER INVADES UNIX SYSTEMS ___________________________________ |COMPUTER CRIME BILL HEADS TO| | REAGAN'S DESK | When it comes to high-tech issues, the 99th Congress has taken a firm stance on electronic privacy and computer crime. With a bill to protect electronic privacy sent to the president just last week, the Senate and House of Representatives have now agreed on a computer crime measure and sent it off to the White House. Titled the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (S 2281 and HR 4562), the legislation passed by voice vote in the Senate and was then accepted by the House with the Senate amendments. The House originally passed the bill in early June. Introduced in the Senate by Sen. Paul Trible (R-Va.) and in the House by Rep. William Hughes (D-N.J.), the measure expands the protections against computer crime currently governed by the nation's only computer crime statute (18 USC1030). -This bill will clarify the 1984 statute to make clear that acts of simple trespass by unauthorized users of government computers are punishable,- said Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) in support of the measure. Thurmond is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which guided the measure through hearings and onto the floor for a vote. -It will also proscribe acts of fraud via computer or intentional destruction of computer data. Both fraud and destruction of property will be covered by S 2281 when they are committed against computers belonging to the federal government or to federally insured financial institutions. The same offenses will be covered when the crime itself is interstate in nature. Finally, S. 2281 will permit prosecution of those who traffic in computer passwords belonging to others.- Noting that federal crime laws lagged behind the technology, Trible told his Senate colleagues during debate on the measure that state and federal prosecutors have had difficulty adapting older criminal law statutes to computer crimes. -In the government's race to protect computer data against crime, the hour is late. Quite simply, the criminals have the technological edge,- he said. -It is time to dispel the notion that computer crime is a game or a challenge to be overcome. The fact is, the computer criminal is a lawbreaker just like any other and deserves to be treated as such,- Trible concluded. The president is expected to sign the bill. |FREE LAW BBS OPENS IN CALIF.| If you're an attorney in the LA area, take note: A new free computer bulletin board system has opened in Beverly Hills. Called Legacy/The Law Network, it's operated around the clock at baud rates up to 2400. According to a statement from the operator, attorney Robert H. Kohn, online lawyers may participate in discussions on computer law, entertainment law and telecommunications law, or may enter the -Lawyers Lounge- for a free-for-all discussion on any topic. Kohn is associate general counsel of Candle Corp., one of the major mainframe software publishers and former corporate counsel for software publisher Ashton-Tate. The board is accessible with a modem call to 213/553-1473. |VIDEO GAMES GOOD FOR KIDS| Parents, the word from one expert is not only to let your children play video games, but also make sure they do. According to Daniel Gopher, a professor at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, video games impart the kinds of skills needed in a modern, technological society. -They can fill an important void in training pilots, computer scientists or anyone else called upon to operate complex, technological systems,- he explained. Because video games are fast-moving with players forced to pay attention to five or six simultaneous actions, they require concentration, visual acuity, hand-eye coordination and decision making. These are the same skills need for flying modern aircraft or operating the control room in a nuclear power plant. -The present working environment in high-tech industries is not much different from that of a complex video game. It is not too far-fetched to think that skills learned and acquired in a game environment can be translated into real-life situations,- Gopher said. He encourages parents to -stand over their children and make sure they practice on the computer, just as our parents stood over us to practice the violin or the piano.- |BBS 'NEWS SERVICE' OFFERED| A Topeka, Kan., organization called the BBS Press Service is offering sysops of local bulletin boards a weekly computer news electronic magazine called Info- Mat, containing reports on computers, software and consumer electronics and more. Info-Mat is distributed free to BBSes that pay a $10 registration fee. For the fee, the sysops are authorized to download the weekly files from the Kansas board and post them in their areas. BPS also sells advertising which is displayed in each issue of the publication. So far some 45 boards in the US and Canada are carrying Info-Mat. A sample copy of the magazine is available on the host system at 913/478-9239 which operates at baud rates up to 2400. The operators, Alan Bechtold and Bill Barton, suggest sysops get this old issue and post it on their boards to get reactions from callers. |CRACKER INVADES UNIX SYSTEMS AT| | UNIVERSITIES, BUSINESSES | A computer cracker who calls himself -Pink Floyd- has eluded authorities for six weeks and invaded computer systems at dozens of universities and businesses across the country. At least one computer specialist believes the intruder may be trying to -prove something about Unix security,- noting that most of the break-ins have occurred in systems running under that multi-user operating system. The raider has been brazen about his success so far -- he makes taunting phone calls to systems people while cracking their security. According to The San Francisco Examiner, the cracker began his intrusions Aug. 25 and has since broken into computers at Stanford University, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, the University of Illinois, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mitre Corp. in Reston, Va., and at least three unidentified Silicon Valley companies. Authorities say there has been no detected damage to the online data, but the raider has made subtle alterations to some systems to make detection more difficult. Stanford University apparently sounded the alarm, calling police and phone company officials for help. The Examiner quotes university spokesmen as saying the cracker may have tapped into as many as 60 campus computers, some of which include systems that contain non- classified, Pentagon-sponsored research data and programs. One computer scientist said the cracker fits the profile of a computer-science graduate student, because of his skill at maneuvering the systems. One theory is that he gained control over equipment monitoring Stanford's local area network, and thus was able to capture legitimate user passwords as they were sent over the network. The Associated Press quotes a computer researcher at a Silicon Valley think tank from a message on the US UNIX computer network: -At one point, an intruder spent two hours talking on the telephone with a Stanford system manager, bragging about how he had done it, but there was no way that the call could be traced to him. A few days later, I sat there and watched the intruder log onto one Stanford computer, and I watched every keystroke that he typed on his keyboard, and I watched him break into new directories, but there was nothing that I could do to catch him.- Lester Earnest of Stanford's computer science department, told the Examiner, -It is hard to say what the motive was. It would not surprise me at all if it was someone who was trying to prove something about UNIX security.- ___________________________________ Xx BALLOON WORKS BBS NEW ZMAG ADDITION | O ' | ' * ' ' | | |# ' : | | x ' O | O ' | ' | | ' | | ' O | * ' ' | | |O | ' | | | o O' WORKS INC | | 'O'' | | | | ' | ' ' | mp DRAWN BY MATT PRITCHARD BALLOON WORKS EXPRESS! ...Filling Balloons A S C E N T !!! To RON KOVACS From SYSOP Dated Thu 9-Oct-86 9:04:59 pm RON: THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO VISIT OUR SYSTEM AND SEND THE LATEST ISSUE ZMAG. ANYWAY GLAD TO HAVE YOU VISIT, AND HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU AGAIN SOON. -MIKE Current Time___ 6:18:12 pm Connected______9 of 60 Mins AAtari/ASCII Mode OOther BBS #'s BBrowse Files QQuickscan CCall For Sysop RRead E-Mail DDownload A File SSend E-Mail FFeedback To SysopTTitle Page GGoodbye (Log Off)UUpload A File ISystem Info. YYour Stats LLibraries ZNews/Reviews MMember Listing /Mini Menu NSystem News ?This Menu *Sub-Board List =Goto A SubBoard Msg #4 CLUB MEETING Author MIKE BROWN To All Posted Fri 10-Oct-86 7:12:52 am THE NEXT MEETING OF THE MID-OHIO ATARI USER GROUP IS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1986 AT THE GORMAN-RUPP COMPANY CAFETERIA ON BOWMAN STREET IN MANSFIELD. THE MEETING BEGINS AT 7PM. IF YOU NEED MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE LEAVE A MEESAGE HERE. -MIKE [A]gain [R]eply [Q]uit [C]ont: | BBS Express! Ver 2.0 | | | | Copyright (C) 1986 | |by Orion Micro Systems | ______ Xx Atari Sellers The following is a list of Stores that sell any of the following: Atari Computers, Disk Drives, Software, ST hardware/software, disk drive accessories and the like. Alpha Systems 216-374-7469 Astra Systems 714-549-2141 Abacus 616-241-5510 American TV 800-551-9995 B&C Computervision 408-749-1003 Computer Games Plus 714-639-8139 ComputAbility 800-558-0003 Computer Creations 800-824-7506 CompuCat 408-353-1836 Computer Palace 800-452-8013 Computer Mail Order 800-233-8950 Computer Accessory 516-385-1858 Computer Direct 312-382-5050 Computer Repeats 303-939-8144 Consumer Electronic 714-635-8621 Duplicating Tech 516-333-5805 Diverse Data 305-940-0458 Electronic One 614-864-9994 Future Systems 818-407-1647 Gemini Electronics 201-267-0988 Harmony Computer 800-441-1144 Happy Computer 408-779-3830 Lyco Computer 800-233-8760 MicroTyme 800-255-5835 SNW Electronics 800-874-1235 Southern Software 205-956-0986 S&S Wholesalers 800-233-6345 White House 800-351-3442 ___________________________________ XxCAPITOL HILL ATARI OWNER'S SOCIETY C.H.A.O.S. is your most important ATARI peripheral. It is a club formed BY ATARI computer owners - FOR ATARI computer owners- full support for the ATARI 400, 800, 600XL, 800XL, 1200XL, 130XE and the entire ST line. C.H.A.O.S. is not affiliated with the ATARI Corporation, but does maintain communication with ATARI through ANTIC's World-wide User's Network and ATARI's User Group Support Department. What does C.H.A.O.S offer to you as an ATARI owner? 1. MID-MICHIGAN ATARI MAGAZINE, a professional quality newsletter published monthly in conjunction with other area ATARI computer clubs, with news and articles about ATARI computers, hardware, and software. 2. The C.H.A.O.S. BBS, completely supported by the Club, and offering extra access levels for Club members as well as a ready forum for discussion, news, and Club announcements. 3. Monthly meetings designed to expand your knowledge of the ATARI. Topics may include languages such as BASIC, LOGO or ASSEMBLER, presentations and demostrations on business uses of the ATARI, graphics, printing, utilities, telecommunications, new software, new hardware and of course, GAMES. 4. A PROGRAM LIBRARY with over 1,000 public domain programs available to all membeU?} These programs run the full spectrum from games and demos to full-blown business and telecommunication packages. The are written and contributed by members of user groups around the world. 5. The opportunity to join Special Interest Groups. SIG's may include Novice computing, BASIC or ASSEMBLER programming,or any other subject as interest is shown. 6. A NEWSLETTER LIBRARY with information and newsletters from over 100 other clubs, ATARI related books, and magazines, all available for lending. 7. Through C.H.A.O.S. there are often discount offers and group purchases of software and hardware. 8. Support that begins where most dealers have to leave off. A great place to ask those simple and complex questions. The help of other computer users who share your interest in the ATARI computer. Our ST-special interest group meets at 10:00 A.M. the SECOND saturday of each month... the General Club Meets at 10:00 A.M. on the THIRD Saturday of each month. Both meetings are held in room 118 of the PYSICS - ASTRONOMY building on the campus of MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY. Meetings run about 2-3 hours and include great demos, Q+A, and information. Watch the BBS for announcements, and feel free to call Club Officers to confirm the time and location of the meetings. If you would like additional information, call the Club President, Leo Sell, at 517-393-7792, or simply post a message here on the C.H.A.O.S. BBS If you can't make it to the meeting, but want to join C.H.A.O.S. and receive the newsletter, access to our library and other resources, send $12.00 for one year's membership along with your name, address and phone number to: C.H.A.O.S. ATTN: MEMBERSHIP P.O. Box 16132 Lansing, MI 48901 You will receive a year's subscription to MID-MICHIGAN ATARI MAGAZINE, a coupon entitling you to one free LIBRARY DISK of your choice (a $5.00 value!), and an access time increase on the C.H.A.O.S. BBS. We'll welcome you to the Club and look forward to seeing you at the next meeting. Cordially, Leo Sell, CHAOS President. ___________________________________ Xx Zmag Systems MOUSE 219-674-9288 Syndicate South 201-370-8021 The Lions Den 201-396-0867 Carina BBS 305-793-2975 New York City BBS 718-604-3323 Backstage BBS 201-944-1196 The Help BBS 316-683-7514 Temple of Doom 201-656-6439 CHAOS 517-371-1106 Balloon Works Inc 419-289-8392 Atari Computer Club 305-734-6026 Runequest 312-430-4234 Bottom Line 201-991-5546 EBBBS 201-254-6449 Jam Station 201-467-1596 The Syndicate BBS 201-968-8148 Mega Vision 216-441-3816 ___________________________________ Xx Closing Comments I have been extremly busy the last two weeks. I have tried calling the above systems, some I have gotten through to and others are busy!! I will make an effort this weekend to get on all these systems. If you have any information you would like to share with others, please drop me a line on any of these BBS's. For the systems interested in adding your local news to this edition, just go to DOS and copy your file to ZMAG1011/A. Ex.. Copy from,to: YOURFILE,ZMAG1011/A ___________________________________ Thanks for reading! Zmagazine October 11, 1986 Issue 2.1 New Jersey Edition ___________________________________