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TidBITS#330/27-May-96
=====================

Thinking about buying a $500 Internet appliance this year? Apple,
   IBM, Netscape, and others are looking for your business! Also
   this week, information on a new update to RAM Doubler and a
   virus-infected CD-ROM from MacUser UK, plus an overview of
   StuffIt Deluxe 4.0. We round out the issue with a look at Apple's
   new impossible Web marketing, and Tonya re-examines something
   you'd think would be simple: ReadMe files.

This issue of TidBITS sponsored in part by:
* APS Technologies -- 800/443-4199 -- <[e-mail]>
   Makers of hard drives, tape drives, and neat SCSI accessories.
   For APS price lists, email: <[e-mail]>
* Northwest Nexus -- 206/455-3505 -- <http://www.halcyon.com/>
   Providing access to the global Internet. <[e-mail]>
* Power Computing -- 800/375-7693 -- <[e-mail]>
   Now shipping... The Award-Winning First MacOS Compatible!
   Press comments! <http://www.powercc.com/News/quotes.html>
* America Online -- 800/827-6364 -- <http://www.aol.com/>
   The world's largest provider of online services.
   Give Back to the Net -- <http://www.aol.com/give/>
* EarthLink Network -- 800/395-8425 -- <[e-mail]>
   Providers of direct Internet access for Macintosh users.
   For eWorld refugees: no setup fee! <http://www.earthlink.net/>
* DealBITS: Your deal, should you choose to accept it...
   <http://www.tidbits.com/dealbits/> -- <[e-mail]>

Copyright 1990-1996 Adam & Tonya Engst. Details at end of issue.
   Information: <[e-mail]> Comments: <[e-mail]>
   ---------------------------------------------------------------

Topics:
    MailBITS/27-May-96
    Get Stuffed, Yet Again
    Visions of a Network Computer
    To Read or not to Read
    This Site Will Self Destruct in Five Seconds

<ftp://ftp.tidbits.com/pub/tidbits/issues/1996/TidBITS#330_27-May-96.etx>


MailBITS/27-May-96
------------------

**RAM Doubler 1.6.2 Updater** -- Connectix has released RAM
  Doubler 1.62, which fixes problems that occur under System 7.5.3
  with 68K-based PowerBooks, some 68040 systems, and PCI Power Macs
  running SoftWindows. RAM Doubler 1.6.2 also addresses problems
  with Iomega Jaz/Zip driver 4.3, Photoshop 3.0.5, and Retrospect
  3.0. You can find the updater and more detailed information on
  Connectix's Web site. Note that the RAM Doubler 1.6.2A updater is
  a maintenance release of the updater application, not RAM Doubler
  itself, which remains at verson 1.6.2. [GD]

<http://www.connectix.com/connect/files/RD162AU.sea.hqx>
<http://www.connectix.com/connect/rdm16u.html>


**MBDF Redux** -- The 24-May-96 issue of MacUser UK (distributed
  in the United Kingdom) was published with a CD-ROM containing a
  QuickTime VR demo infected with the MBDF A virus. According to
  OxCERT (Oxford University's Computer Emergency Response Team), the
  virus is in a Director movie called "Blah Blah Blah, It's QTVR" in
  a folder called "AMXDigital QTVR Folder." Anti-virus experts
  recommend that MacUser UK readers should refrain from opening or
  executing the movie. Copying the file to your hard disk may allow
  you to remove the virus with Disinfectant or another utility. If
  you've already accessed this movie or if you're not sure whether
  you've accessed it, run Disinfectant or your favorite anti-virus
  tool. Editions of MacUser in the United States and other parts of
  the world are apparently unaffected. [MHA]

<http://www.atlas.co.uk/macuser/virusalert.html>


**Death of MIND a NonSequitur** -- In TidBITS-328_ I noted that
  development of the Mac-based DNS server MIND appeared to have been
  abandoned. That might be true, but the project has been
  reincarnated in the form of NonSequitur 0.8, a free Mac-based DNS
  server that runs on a 68020 or better and supports Open Transport.
  NonSequitur offers improvements over MIND, but doesn't yet offer
  recursive or secondary name service. Still, it's good to see the
  project continuing. [GD]

<http://www.gross.net/sw/nonsequitur/>


Get Stuffed, Yet Again
----------------------
  by Adam C. Engst <[e-mail]>

  Last month, Aladdin Systems released version 4.0 of the venerable
  StuffIt Deluxe, increasing both functionality and ease-of-use.
  Most important for many of us, Aladdin has added features that
  help Internet users work with the compressed and encoded files
  that are so prevalent.


**New Features** -- Most of StuffIt's new features come from the
  True Finder Integration (TFI) control panel, which helps you
  manage the TFI extensions that do the work. TFI ships with three
  extensions: Magic Menu, Archive via Rename, and StuffIt Browser.
  Magic Menu works much like the Magic Menu control panel did in
  previous versions of StuffIt Deluxe, installing a menu in the
  Finder's menubar that provides access to compression and expansion
  capabilities. New to Magic Menu in StuffIt Deluxe 4.0 is
  integration with Eudora so you can select a file in the Finder and
  choose Mail or Stuff and Mail from Magic Menu to create a new
  message in Eudora and attach the file to it.

  Archive via Rename has been present in previous versions of
  StuffIt, but now works through TFI. Archive via Rename enables you
  to create a StuffIt archive or a self-extracting archive of a file
  by adding .sit or .sea to the end of the file's name. Similarly,
  you can expand a file by removing the .sit or .sea extension from
  its name. I use this feature on StuffIt archives people send me in
  email, since Eudora debinhexes by default but doesn't
  automatically expand compressed files. Deleting the filename
  extension is a good way of expanding the file and deleting the
  original archive. I'd like to see Archive via Rename work with
  BinHex files as well.

  The final TFI extension is the most interesting. Called StuffIt
  Browser, it enables you to work with StuffIt archives directly in
  the Finder rather than waiting for the StuffIt Deluxe application
  to open. If you double-click a StuffIt archive while StuffIt
  Browser is loaded, the archive opens in a Finder-like window
  marked with a little StuffIt icon in the upper left corner.
  Dragging one or more files into the window stuffs them, and
  dragging files out of the window expands them. Make sure to read
  the Network Users Read Me file that talks about problems with
  multiple people working on the same archive at the same time.

  The drawback to the True Finder Integration features of StuffIt
  Deluxe 4.0 is that they are extensions, so it's more likely that
  run into a conflict with other extensions or control panels. If
  you're bothered by extensions modifying your system, stick to
  DropStuff and StuffIt Expander, which are applications and less
  likely to conflict with anything.

  The final new part of StuffIt Deluxe is a droplet application
  called DropSegment that works much like DropStuff and StuffIt
  Expander. Dropping a StuffIt archive on DropSegment enables you to
  make a multi-segment, self-joining, self-extracting archive, which
  is useful for copying huge archives to floppy disks. In the past,
  you had to work through the StuffIt Deluxe application to segment
  archives, which was more of a pain.


**Enhanced Features** -- StuffIt SpaceSaver, which provides
  transparent compression by compressing files during idle time and
  then expanding them when you open them, now has a "tag icon"
  feature that places a small tag on icons of compressed files. This
  feature makes it easier to tell which files have been compressed.
  Transparent compression utilities, which were extremely popular
  when they first came out three years ago or so, have waned in
  popularity as the cost of large hard disks dropped. If you can
  afford the larger hard disk, it's still a better solution than
  using a transparent compression utility.

  The StuffIt Deluxe application hasn't changed much outwardly, but
  Aladdin claims speed increases of up to 20 percent in stuffing
  files and up to 50 percent when expanding many compression
  formats. In addition, Aladdin has improved the scripting
  significantly and added a Scripts menu with a built-in recorder
  for OSA scripts.

  Also included with the StuffIt Deluxe package is Aladdin's StuffIt
  Expander for Windows, which is great for people who have to use
  PCs but work primarily with Macs and Macintosh files. StuffIt
  Expander for Windows can expand files in the following formats:
  StuffIt (.sit), ZIP (.zip), uuencoded (.uue), BinHex (.hqx),
  MacBinary (.bin), ARC (.arc), Arj (.arj), and gzip (.gz). It can
  also expand self-extracting archives created by StuffIt, ZIP, and
  Arj.


**StuffIt Details** -- StuffIt Deluxe 4.0 retails for $129.95, and
  registered users can upgrade directly through Aladdin for $29.95
  through 01-Jul-96. The shareware DropStuff 4.0 and the freeware
  StuffIt Expander 4.0.1 are also available at the Aladdin sites
  below and at Info-Mac mirrors.

<http://www.aladdinsys.com/>
<ftp://ftp.scruznet.com/users/aladdin/public/dropstuff_w_ee_4_installer.hqx>
<ftp://ftp.scruznet.com/users/aladdin/public/stuffit_exp_40_installer.hqx>


**InstallerMaker 3.0** -- At WWDC, Aladdin also released version
  3.0 of InstallerMaker, which makes it easy to create customized
  installers and relies on StuffIt compression technology.
  InstallerMaker 3.0 adds scripting support, better compression, an
  uninstall capability, resource compression, resource installation,
  unlimited custom destinations for files, support for moving,
  copying, or renaming any file, and finally support for up to 128
  packages rather than the previous limit of 16. A demo is available
  at the URL below.

<ftp://ftp.scruznet.com/users/aladdin/public/InstallerMaker3Installer.hqx>


Visions of a Network Computer
-----------------------------
  by Geoff Duncan <[e-mail]>

  For years now, we've listened to pundits promising low-cost,
  intuitive "information appliances" designed and sold as consumer
  electronics devices. Dubbed "network computers" (NCs) rather than
  personal computers (PCs), these units would connect to the
  Internet, surf the Web, manage your email, and tie you to
  interactive television, shopping, and entertainment, with the
  price starting at less than $500. The machines would be scalable,
  from portable palmtop devices to high-end home Internet studios;
  underneath, the machine could run Mac OS, Windows, or something
  else entirely.

  The important part would be that each machine would offer a
  certain standard of functionality, and models would be
  distinguished by cost or by extra features. Instead of the
  intimidating technical concerns of choosing a personal computer
  today, a user's purchasing decision would be more like choosing a
  VCR, where every unit does more or less the same thing. The
  comparison to the VCR is also appropriate because vendors _want_
  these machines to be ubiquitous; they require massive sales volume
  in order to build businesses around this sort of product.

  Last week, Apple, IBM, Netscape, Oracle, and Sun announced their
  first stab at defining a network computer, and their proposal is
  endorsed by a startlingly wide range of companies from Motorola
  and Hitachi to Canon and Toshiba. But is this proposal something
  to keep an eye on, or just another example of public relations
  brinksmanship?

<http://www.nc.ihost.com/>


**The Basic Spec** -- The Network Computer Reference Profile 1
  contains nothing that surprised me: the NC is built around
  Internet connectivity and Java. At a low level, NCs must support
  TCP, HTTP, HTML, the Java application environment, and a few
  low-level IP protocols such as UDP and SNMP. In addition, NCs
  would be required to support Internet email (including both POP
  and IMAP) and a few common sound and image formats (GIF, JPEG,
  Windows WAV, and Sun's AU). The NC would have a pointing device,
  the ability to enter text (not necessarily via a keyboard - text
  entry could be done through handwriting or speech recognition), a
  minimum screen size of 640 by 480, and audio output. An NC might
  also support optional protocols, including FTP, Telnet, NFS
  (Network File System), and security implementations (Netscape's
  SSL for secure connections, ISO 7816 (SmartCards), or the
  MasterCard/Visa specification for transactions). Optionally, an NC
  could handle printing.

  This basic specification strikes me as common sense. What
  intrigues me is what's _not_ included in these requirements: a
  hard disk. These machines could be designed to boot off the
  network and store all their data on remote hosts. This is a
  potentially attractive option for vendors, since they can upgrade
  the device's operating system and applications on the fly without
  the user's involvement; it also opens up new business models for
  application licensing, data storage, and services.

  The first draft of the NC specification should be available in
  July and finalized by August of this year. Companies are already
  jockeying for position, with Acorn Computer saying it will ship
  network computers by September of this year, and SunRiver has
  announced it will ship NC machines by July for less than $1,000.
  Apple CEO Gil Amelio has said Apple's first NC's, based on the
  Pippin, will ship this year.

<http://www.acorn.co.uk/>
<http://www.sunriver.com/>


**In Absentia** -- Two things are missing from the first profile
  of the network computer, and both reflect the politics of the
  computer industry. The first is strong multimedia and video. Apple
  is pushing for QuickTime (and the newly announced QuickTime Media
  Layer) to be incorporated into the NC specification; meanwhile,
  Adobe is promoting its Bravo imaging system, and Macromedia is
  busily pushing Shockwave.

<http://www.adobe.com/events/netexpect/tr.typebravvert.html>
<http://www.macromedia.com/Tools/Shockwave/index.html>

  That none of these proposals (or any other) are included in the
  first NC profile is indicative of the maneuvering behind any
  industry standard: everyone wants _their_ technology to be the
  standard. History tells us final decisions will not be made on
  technical merits, but rather by strategic and business
  considerations. By putting off a concrete definition of multimedia
  technology in the NC proposal, the companies behind the proposal
  gain a strong general show of support; however, they may pay for
  it later in back room deals and appeasements.

  Also missing from the NC proposal is support from two key industry
  players, Microsoft and Intel. Microsoft apparently wasn't
  interested in participating in the NC announcement, since it's
  busily defining a network information appliance of its own (termed
  SIPC) and is apparently dislikes that the NC roposal fails to
  include Microsoft technologies like ActiveX. Oracle CEO Larry
  Ellison predicted Microsoft and Intel will eventually have no
  choice but to support the NC reference standards, but only time
  will tell if vendors and manufacturers agree.

  In the meantime, the best $500 network computer is still a used
  Mac.


To Read or not to Read
----------------------
  by Tonya Engst <[e-mail]>

  Almost exactly a year ago in TidBITS-279_, I wrote an article
  about ReadMe files, those hopefully informative documents that
  come with most software. In that article, I pleaded with ReadMe
  file writers to consider their readers, and not to neglect certain
  information that users (and reviewers) might be seeking. Having
  recently completed several tasks that involved not much sleep and
  quite a bit of looking at ReadMe files, I'd like to revisit the
  topic, with some updated suggestions for ReadMe files authors.
  Some of these suggestions apply specifically to non-commercial
  programs, but many of them also apply to the new breed of public
  beta software.


**Provide Administrative Details** -- If I go to the trouble of
  opening a ReadMe file, I hope to be rewarded by learning the Who,
  What, Where, When, and Why of a program, and it would be most
  helpful if that information appeared right at the beginning of the
  file.

  Who? There's nothing wrong with having a few benign mysterious
  strangers in one's life, but I don't extend that concept to
  software. For any non-commercial product, I prefer to know a first
  name, last name, and email address. If I send an author email, I
  want to address her properly; if I send an author a check, I want
  to fill it out fully; and if (with my reporter hat on) I write
  about software for publication, I must include this information or
  face my editor's ire.

  What? Be sure to explain what your program does. Consider
  including a bulleted list that points out five or ten major
  features. If your program is a one-trick pony, write about the
  trick. Don't miss mentioning what types of Macintosh systems the
  program should work with.

  Where? It's usually to everyone's advantage to have people use the
  latest version (and a clean version) of a program, so let your
  users know where they can download a fresh copy. If your program
  has a Web page, point users to it. Don't make users poke around in
  a search engine in order to find your Web page.

  When? Be sure to mention the date that you released the program
  version. Of course, this information is approximately available in
  the Get Info dialog, but if your ReadMe file is a few years old,
  that may tip users off they should check for a more recent
  version.

  Why? Chances are, there are ten other programs available that kind
  of do what your program does. Chances are also good that you wrote
  your program to meet a need those other programs don't quite fill.
  So, please, let your users know what's special about your program.

  After covering those basic administrative details, be sure to
  spell out whether your program is free or not, and if it's not, be
  it emailware, smileware, chocolateware, beerware, or shareware,
  let people know not only how much to pay you, but how to go about
  paying you, especially if they don't normally use your currency. I
  suspect many deserving shareware authors miss out on payments
  simply because users found it too complicated to pay. (This is, of
  course, not a good excuse for not paying, but why miss payments
  because people can't find the time to convert their money and
  bundle it up into an appropriately addressed envelope?) I believe
  users find it too complicated to pay in part because I know a few
  shareware authors using the Kagi Software system for streamlining
  payments, and these authors have been happy with the results.

<http://www.kagi.com/>

  If you submit your program to the Info-Mac and UMich archives (and
  I recommend that you do; send it, along with a brief write-up to:
  <[e-mail]>), make your brief write-up, which will be
  published as an abstract, also include the Who, What, Where, When,
  and Why, as well as the all-important payment details. (Users can
  search the Info-Mac archives by pointing their Web browsers at the
  incredibly helpful Info-Mac HyperArchive.)

<http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/HyperArchive.html>


**The Importance of the How** -- Once you finish covering all the
  administrative details, do cover the How, and don't just point
  people to balloon help or Apple Guide unless you are totally
  confident you've written awesome online help. Most people haven't.
  Also, be sure to point out extra cool features of your application
  that might not be immediately obvious, like pressing the Shift key
  to reveal some amazing new function or setting up your application
  as a drag & drop icon. The sin of How-omission is particularly
  present in public betas, and perhaps even more frustrating because
  public betas are often released by large companies who could
  surely spare one employee for the few hours..


**Consider HTML and Other Suggestions** -- A number of authors
  have begun releasing ReadMe files as HTML documents, or offer an
  easy way to read the files over the Web. I find these quite handy,
  because I have personalized my browser to show fonts in styles
  that I like. By following a link to a Web page either about the
  author or about the product in question, I can entertain myself by
  checking out the author's personality, or I can educate myself by
  noting the latest information about a product. (Obviously,
  programmers cannot easily update all the versions of a ReadMe file
  that have been released out to the world, but they can keep a Web
  page up-to-date.)

  That pretty much sums up my ReadMe file recommendations, but in
  digging through my email from a year ago, I found some additional,
  previously unpublished suggestions from TidBITS readers:

  David Schwartz <[e-mail]>, wrote in to say:
  "One more bone to pick about ReadMe files. Name them something
  more descriptive than simply 'ReadMe'! How about 'ReadMe -
  TidBITS', or 'ReadMe - MYOB', or 'ReadMeFirst - CCatcher'? Why
  must a newbie's drive have a dozen files with the same name?"

  Although I'd couple this suggestion from Frank Sydnor
  <[e-mail]> with a dose of tolerance for authors writing
  ReadMe files in languages they don't speak natively, Frank's
  advice is still right on target: "When I see a poorly written
  ReadMe I (rightly or wrongly) assume the software is plagued with
  errors. When I see a well written ReadMe I assume this writer has
  an equivalently professionally written software program."

  On a related note to making helpful ReadMe files, Kevin Lepard
  <[e-mail]> passed on this suggestion: "Put your name,
  address, email, amount of shareware payment, and where it should
  be sent in the About box in the program itself. I can't tell you
  how many times I've tossed ReadMe files and then wondered where I
  was supposed to send payment, because the only place it was
  located was the ReadMe file."

  And so, in final summary, the success of your ReadMe file can lead
  people to send you chocolates, thank you notes, money, and other
  goodies. It can also be all the difference for making it so time-
  pressed journalists and authors can write something intelligent
  about your software, be it for an obscure newsletter or for the
  front page of a major publication. And, of course, the more
  attention your product gets in the media, the more likely you are
  to receive more chocolate, money or whatever.


This Site Will Self Destruct in Five Seconds
--------------------------------------------
  by Geoff Duncan <[e-mail]>

  At an earlier stage in my life, I thought it would be great to be
  a film critic. I'd attend press screenings of new movies, then
  publish my opinion about them. I gave up on the idea: I don't
  actually know very much about movies, and as I got older I came to
  appreciate the difference between informed and uninformed opinion.

  Then, a little over two weeks ago, I received mail about Apple's
  Web site tie-in with the latest Tom Cruise vehicle, Mission:
  Impossible. I didn't pay attention until I saw Apple television
  commercials promoting the site, liberally sprinkled with bits of
  movie trailer, Apple hardware, and URLs. "After you see the movie,
  you'll want to buy the book." A PowerBook, get it? I looked at
  that mail again. Then I looked at the Web site.

<http://www.mission.apple.com/>

  Normally, I resist the temptation to use TidBITS as a soapbox ,
  but in this case I'm going to make an exception. I might not be
  able to give an informed opinion about movies, but I think I can
  say a word or two about Web sites.


**Cruisin' For A Bruisin'** -- One of the most egregious sins a
  movie reviewer can commit is revealing too much of the plot. For
  many readers, this spoils the film. I'm going to take that chance
  here and tell you exactly what happens.

  When you connect to Apple's Mission: Impossible Web site, you're
  greeted by typical promotional graphics. At this point, the Web
  site seems to turn into a choose-your-own-adventure arcade game. I
  followed the following plot threads.

* I load the site in Netscape 2.02. The graphics load, then the
  RealAudio plug-in crashes my machine. Strike one.

* I load the site using Internet Explorer 2.01. The site tells me
  it works best in Netscape, but I _must_ obtain a MIDI plug-in from
  LiveUpdate called Crescendo PLUS, along with Macromedia's
  Shockwave. I download and install Shockwave (20 minutes), but
  can't access to Crescendo. I try again two hours later and still
  can't get through. Strike two.

* I uninstall the RealAudio plug in, then try again with Netscape
  2.02. There's no audio, but Netscape doesn't crash. I get a
  special message: "You've proven yourself to be an advanced agent
  by equipping yourself with Netscape Navigator. Your mission will
  be substantially enhanced compared to other agents." Neat - I
  always knew I was special! But now I need _four_ plug-ins: the new
  ones are RealAudio and QuickTime VR. But QuickTime VR isn't a
  plug-in, it's a helper application. And I had RealAudio, but it
  crashed. I don't feel substantially enhanced, but click the "Start
  Mission" button. Netscape crashes; game over.


**Crying U.N.C.L.E.** -- At this point I think I'm beginning to
  understand where the name "Mission: Impossible" came from. But I'm
  still inspired by memories of the long-running television series.
  When I was a kid, Mission: Impossible was one of two television
  shows I wasn't allowed to watch. (The other was Space: 1999;
  ironically, both starred Martin Landau). I'd sneak over to a
  friend's house to watch syndicated episodes of Mission:
  Impossible. Although I'm sure most of the Cold War plots were
  beyond my comprehension, I soaked up the gadgets and the gallant
  teamwork of the show's secret agents. Now, even though I don't
  have the most modern Mac available (a Quadra 650), it's system is
  current and clean and my plug-ins are up-to-date. There's no
  reason this shouldn't work, so I figured I'd give Apple another
  try.

  So the next day I downloaded Netscape's Atlas 3.0b4 release,
  installed all the plug-ins (even Crescendo PLUS, which I was able
  to download this time), gave Netscape 16 MB of RAM and tried
  again.

* I connect to the site and get a RealAudio error saying that the
  site is not responding, but Netscape doesn't crash. I connect to
  another RealAudio site to verify the RealAudio plug-in is working
  (it is), then I re-connect to Apple's site. I get the same error,
  but I press on.

* I'm allowed to sign into the site. Apple is collecting contact
  information to sign users up for a contest; apparently the top
  prize is a PowerBook 5300 actually used by Tom Cruise in the
  movie. The site will not let me proceed unless I provide contact
  information. I use an alias; if Clark Kent wins a PowerBook 5300,
  I will be upset.

* Netscape begins downloading a 387K file, presumably a Shockwave
  presentation. I wait three minutes while the file downloads, and
  I'm presented with a blinking graphic: "Proceed with Mission
  Briefing." I click it, and the 387K file begins downloading again.
  I wait three more minutes. A dialog appears: "Error loading
  Director movie (10000)." I click the OK button, (since there's no
  other choice) and Netscape crashes, taking my Macintosh out with
  it.


**Disavowing Any Knowledge** -- I'm sure Apple spent a lot of
  money setting up and promoting this site - the television
  commercials alone attest to that. It doesn't appear to be
  something Apple (or a contractor) whipped up overnight and forgot
  to test. I have to assume the site is being presented as intended.

  If this site represents Apple, then someone at Apple is clearly
  missing the point of the Internet, and the Web in particular.
  Building and promoting a site based on unstable tools is more than
  chancy: it's irresponsible. Online publishing is about providing
  scalable content, and the point is to get that content to users in
  whatever form is most appropriate. By setting a threshold higher
  than many Apple customers (and potential customers) can reach,
  Apple not only limits its message but looks incompetent in a very
  public way.

  It's ironic that the most representative portion of Apple's
  Mission: Impossible Web site is in its section on prizes and
  rules, which says, in part, "Apple Computer, Inc. does not assume
  the responsibility for phone, technical, network, electronic,
  computer, hardware or software failures of any kind." Fans of
  Mission: Impossible will note that language sounds remarkably like
  a mission briefing, wherein "the Secretary" will deny all
  knowledge of an agent's actions in the event the agent is killed
  or captured.

  Apple tells us to expect the impossible; clearly, someone at Apple
  did.


$$

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 To search back issues with WAIS, use this URL via a Web browser:
 http://wais.sensei.com.au/macarc/tidbits/searchtidbits.html
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