500 MB Nyheder Direkte fra Internet 2/500 MB nyheder direkte fra internet CD 2.iso/start/data/text/link9505.txt

Text File | 1995-04-30 | 16KB | 290 lines

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 May               ███               █████   ███   ███  ███           Volume 02
 1995              ███         ███   ██████  ███   ███ ███            Number 04
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    "The electronic magazine filled with Interesting & Informative Articles"

       Editor  Mark Bylok                              Data [phone]
       EMail   [e-mail]                         Fax  [phone]
                                                       FidoNet  1:250/808


               Copyright 1995 by Mark Bylok, All Rights Reserved
      Views expressed do not necessarilly express the views of the Editor



                      The Last Regular Issue of LiNK

                               by Mark Bylok


     LiNK, originally started under EMag, has been around since December
     of 1993.  On a personal level, I believe the electronic magazine to
     be successful, but on a global level I'm not sure how many people
     I've actually reached.  There have been many that have supported
     the magazine and that has offered me their comments, but on the
     grand scale I was never sure what kind of effect I was having on
     the readers of this magazine.

     It has been great, and I have had a good deal of fun publishing the
     magazine, but people and priorities change.  Nothing drastic has
     occurred in my life to turn my attention elsewhere, but I found
     myself not having as much fun doing this as I once did.  I guess my
     main goal for this publication was to write my opinions down, and
     hopefully attract the opinions of others, and maybe that need has
     lessoned with time.

     I won't say this is the last publication ever, I'll just say it's
     the last regular one.  Any issues after this will be available from
     my BBS, ftp.etext.org, gopher.etext.org, and through e-mail
     subscriptions.

     The biggest regret I have about this is losing the loyal readers of
     LiNK.  Those of you that have written in and thanked me for the
     publication, I thank you especially.  Although magazines like LiNK
     usually only communicate one way (writer to reader), it was good to
     receive something back making everything that much more worth
     while.

     I guess I'll be signing off, but hopefully not forever.  Thanks for
     reading!

     Mark Bylok,
     [e-mail],
     FidoNet 1:250/808.


                           ACHIEVING SECURITY
                                   by
                            John D. McCarthy

    Recently in my neighborhood, a burglary occurred. It happened in
the midst of a weekday, during the daylight hours of 9-5, while the
owners were conveniently away at work. The thief or thieves, who must
have known when the occupants would not be home, gained access to the
house by way of a rear, basement window, which they first had to smash,
before crawling through. Once inside, they wandered about, for who knows
how long a period of time until, after collecting enough to suit their
needs, left. Now, what really bothers me about all of this, is not that
it occurred throughout the course of an afternoon, or that no one
witnessed even a portion of its goings-on. What really bothers me about
it, is the fact that it took place, directly across the street from
where I live. There but for the grace of God, go I. And once a crime,
any crime this close in proximity to you occurs, you begin to wonder,
(as I did), about how well protected your home actually is. Did they hit
the house across the street because they were unsure of mine? Did it
seem too risky for them to chance, or was it just in the luck of the
draw and could mine be possibly next? With paranoia from these thoughts
racing swiftly throughout my mind, causing a heavy feeling to swirl up
in my stomach, similar to having swallowed a large bag full of marbles,
I began searching my home for possible areas of criminal penetration.
Now, in order to do this effectively, you must go through your home, be
it an apartment or house, thinking as a burglar would. In other words,
if you were going to break into your own home, how would you go about
it? Would you go in during the day, or wait for night? Would you use a
window, or one of the doors? Would you make your attempt from the front,
side, or back; and so on.

    After completing a very thorough search of my place and
discovering, (much to my dismay), just how little of a stronghold my
home really has against the elements of crime, I decided the time had
finally come to add some much needed security. Now, depending on how
much you're willing to spend, is how far you can actually go with this
thing. You can invest a few bucks, and reinforce some of the weaker
points of your home, placing stickers on the front windows and/or doors,
depicting the existence of an alarm system within, or by adding more
illumination to the darker, less secure areas; and though this won't
guaranty the complete prevention of a robbery, it will hinder most
would-be thieves into reconsidering their proposed intentions. Or, you
can spend a few hundred dollars, and get some of the very best in
electronic surveillance equipment, monitored by a 24 hour service.
Silent sentries, continuously safeguarding your home, throughout the
night and day. Or, if money is no object, you can always go for the
ultimate, a virtual fortress of security. With bulletproof glass
replacing every window, including the ones upstairs, and steel metal
bars surrounding those that might be more susceptible to a burglar's
choosing. Infrared sensors projecting sightless beams of light
throughout every inch of your home, able to detect even the slightest
sound or movement, with direct hook-up to the police for immediate
response. Two-inch thick, metal panels that instantaneously drop from
their hiding place above the doorways and windows, concealed within the
walls that surround them, producing an impenetrable seal around the room
in which the alarm's been triggered, and thus trapping the burglar
within. And, as an extra added bonus, a hidden room, safely concealed
behind a false wall in your bedroom, that's both fireproof and
bulletproof, supplied with its own source of oxygen and cellular phone.
A secret trapdoor may also be added, just in case you might want or need
to evacuate it, (via a different route), at any given time. The ultimate
in security, all for the asking, but at what the cost?

    I wonder, is it really worth it to lock yourself so securely within
your own home, that you seclude yourself from all others? Because face
it, no matter how good a security system is, there will always be a way
around it that the burglar will eventually find. Remember, burglars are
consumers to. Plus, installing such elaborate alarm systems might only
add to the problem instead of solving it. I mean, with bars on the
windows and alarmed sensors all about, the potential burglar staking out
the place, might become curious as to what lies within, that would
warrant such security. No, I think the only proper solution to securing
one's home, and for that matter our lives, will have to come from again
looking out for each other. Each one of us doing his or her part to
provide help for one another. I remember when I was young, knowing the
names of everybody that lived on our street. Being greeted with a
personal response as you passed someone by, was a common occurrence.
Nowadays, it no longer seems to be. Most people today, can't even tell
you the names of their three closest neighbors, let alone the rest of
the people that reside nearby. And to signify any type of a greeting,
produces only confused, sometimes irritated expressions on the faces of
the receiver. We, as a society, have gone through an era of drastic
change that has, at its outcome, left us totally opposite to what we
were when we originally went in. Now, instead of being considerate of
others, we fend for ourselves, always looking out for number one.
Instead of loving and caring for our neighbors, we have become
apprehensive of them, always wondering in the back of our minds, about
who they are, and what they're doing when they draw their blinds at
night. Could they be the next closet serial killer, or child molester to
be apprehended and exposed before the media's eye? We have, (without
really realizing it), built invisible walls to surround us and protect
us from the ever present evil that is plaguing our world, making us
hermits within ourselves. And now, as the evil continues to grow and
flourish, we have extended our walls to reach out past ourselves, and
into the confines of our home. We have ventured out of a decade full of
prosperity, hope and unlimited opportunity, to one of adversity, doubt,
and fear. And if we are to survive it, truly survive it, then we must,
(as a society), band together to help one another. Because, if left
unchecked, it will eventually consume us.

    That night, as expected, a white van with the sign, Simon's Security
adhered to its side, pulled into the driveway of the house across the
street. Will we ever learn?


Copyright (C) -- 1994 by John D. McCarthy



                      E-Mail Virus, Completely Bogus

                               by Mark Bylok


     I'm not sure who starts all these nasty rumours, but let me just
     say that you can't get a virus through reading a message!  No
     person can infect you with a virus by e-mail, so you can rest easy.

     There is a simple explanation why.  For a virus to work it's code
     must be executed in some way.  When reading a message, it is simply
     displayed, and in no way executed.  It would be like writing the
     BASIC command PRINT "DELETE *.*".  Unless the line was executed
     directly to DOS, the code is harmless.

     When executing a program, your are always in risk, so be certain to
     have the latest in virus checkers!



                         A Look Into the Mystical

                               by Mark Bylok


     Being a very realistic person, I have very little belief in the
     'unexplained'.  I'm not one of those people that will say certain
     things don't exist because I simply don't know.  I can say,
     however, that certain things are highly improbable.

     It amazes me that in our society today everything that can exist,
     does exist.  People can be found believing in everything from ESP,
     to UFOs, to elevation, to reincarnation, to ghosts, to bigfoot and
     large sea creatures.  Everything our creative minds can come up
     with, someone will believe.  Some of these ideas make for good
     movies, while others have their own hour specials.

     One thing I had learned over time is our minds are very fragile.
     Sometimes we give ourselves more credit then is deserved, as
     generally the human species isn't as intelligent as we believe it
     to be.  Our minds constantly try to process things through billions
     of electrical charges that make up the most complex and mysterious
     thing we can examine.  The brain is powerful, but not perfect.

     When the human brain comes across something it doesn't understand,
     it tries to match it with something it does know.  Our minds make
     assumptions, and those can sometimes be wrong.

     Let me give you an example from my life.  When I was much younger,
     I had a strange experience.  At around the age of twelve I woke up
     in a very delirious state of mind.  Without a doubt in my mind I
     was fighting a war in the trenches.  Trying to stay alive, I let
     out a few rounds from my M-16, but it was a losing battle.
     Eventually I retreated, and watched many men around me die from gun
     fire and explosions.

     This was occurring in my head, and soon I realized that I was
     actually laying on my bed in a cold sweat.  I needed water, and so
     I tried making my way to the kitchen.  I past out as soon as I got
     up, so I was forced to crawl most of the way to the kitchen in
     order to allow enough blood to flow to my head.  The sounds of war
     were still around me, but with determined force I got something to
     drink, took a few aspirins, and went back to bed.  It was difficult
     to fall asleep, but eventually the noises died down.  The next
     morning I woke up feeling fine.

     It occurred to me not to long ago that the events of that night
     could have been perceived in a very different way then what I had
     seen them as.  I figured I had a strong fever that caused some
     delusions, and the fact that I had been watching a regular Vietnam
     show on television probably explained the subject of the delusion.

     Even to this day, whenever I have the smallest fever my mind will
     do strange things.  Granted that I haven't experienced any powerful
     images like I did that day, but my mind still plays funny tricks
     when I try to fall asleep with a high fever.  I'm convinced this is
     what happened, and have never thought differently.

     On the other hand, if I was a person that studied past lives more
     carefully, or was more open minded toward the unexplained, chances
     are the delusions would have been seen in a much different content.
     It only occurred to me a little while ago that someone would
     interpret that as images from a past life.

     Another example.  Not too long ago I had a strange experience when
     waking up.  For a brief moment, probably less then a second, I was
     completely paralyzed to the point where I couldn't open my eyes.
     I felt myself falling, and then my eyes opened and everything was
     all right.  This seemed to be strange as well, and since my
     girlfriend is a believer in some mystics, for a few moments I
     thought this was a strange experience.

     I find out that it's all very common.  There is a stage during our
     sleep where the body becomes paralyzed and the sensation of falling
     occurs.  It happens to me sometimes when I begin to fall asleep,
     but it just never occurred to me when waking up.

     I guess by now my point is very clear.  People interpret things
     very differently, and sometimes these interpretations can be wrong.
     Our brain attempts to constantly put things together from what it
     knows.  There are even theories that suggest dreaming is nothing
     more then random pulsations from the brain stem which the brain
     tries to interpret (the brain stem is responsible for sensory
     input, and is always active even when a person sleeps and is not
     moving).

     I'm not an expert on any of this, but there are certain things that
     I can say with a degree of certainty.  I'll let you draw your own
     conclusions, although I think my point has been made clearly, but
     just remember two things:  Isn't it weird that there are so many
     unexplained mysteries that are completely unrelated, and isn't it
     strange that most of these can be explained scientifically.