NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/comp/sys/mac/system/14303

Text File | 1992-11-21 | 6.6 KB | 135 lines

Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
Path: sparky!uunet!mcsun!news.funet.fi!ousrvr.oulu.fi!phoenix!jma
From: [e-mail] (Jacob Matthan)
Subject: Appearing Files?? Summary
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail]
Organization: University of Oulu, Finland
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1992 02:52:55 GMT
Lines: 123


Dear Netters,

A file with a curious name mysteriously appeared in one of my folders
in my PBk 170. Disappearing files have been fixed with TuneUp 1.1.1
and System 7.1. My query was to the possibility of files with specific
names appearing in Macs, in my case "a bizarre" name, a phrase
coined by Matthew T. Russotto <[e-mail]>.

The interest was large. The bulk of respondents (e.g.. Faisal Nameer
Jawdat <[e-mail]>) were curious to know the
"shocking" name. Speculations as "Hail Eris" or "All Hail Discordia"
topped the list. Before revealing the name I summarise the position.
Thanks to those who gave their time to attempt to solve the problem.

I was accused (e.g. Jay Elmore [e-mail]) of withholding
vital information, thereby defeating the process of using the net. If I
had not done so, Jay, I think that the scientific curiosity in this
problem would have been lost. We would have had only a speculative
analysis. I sent the file name immediately on receiving a response to
evoke further comment. It did not contribute to the facts.

The replies centred around the three possibilities suggested by
Bradford B. Behr <[e-mail]>.
1) My PowerBook was visited by aliens.
2) There is a new virus afoot which creates empty files with
'shocking' names
3) My dealer, for unknown reasons (maybe just as a test), created
this file during installation of my new hard disk, and forgot to delete
it, or maybe did hide or delete it and then freak media errors
reinstated the file.

That files can appear was pointed out by most respondents. The
example is the Word Temp files that appear with Word 4 and System
6. The second aspect (Jay and John T. Chapman <[e-mail]>)
is that the MACA signature belongs to the older version of MacWrite,
not MacWrite II. Many applications choose to give exported text files
this Creator Code. AddressBook is capable of exporting address lists
to text files with a default creator as MacWrite. Although I do not
have any version of MacWrite, a document with the MacWrite Creator
code appearing is feasible.

With regard to location, John felt that the Macintosh was smart
enough to remember the current folder when certain files are saved
or programs launched. This could result in an occasional side effect
of odd files cropping up in those locations because less well-behaved
programs decide to save to the current folder rather than trying to
find the right place. The example is of the "dump postscript file"
feature of the LaserWriter driver where the files can turn up
anywhere (although he thought that this had been fixed in System 7.

A couple of other important observations were made by Matthew. He
pointed out that there were several "easter eggs" existing in the Mac
which could open unexpectedly. He was not aware of any which had
names of the type indicated by me. He also noted that the original
creation date of a file would be copied onto my hard disk even if the
file was made elsewhere.

Many respondents believed as Elliotte <[e-mail]> that
my dealer had put the file there or more importantly a previously
invisible file became visible when the dealer ran some disk utility
across my disk to check it out.

Given these comments I tried to work out the problem. The file had
been created somewhere, not necessarily on my hard disk, at 23.56
on Tuesday the 10th of November. Between then and the time I
discovered it on Sunday 15th of November this file had been
transferred to my disk, the 120 MB one. As this file also exists also
on the 40 MB hard disk, which was put out of commission on
Thursday 12th November the file was transferred before 1 pm when
that hard disk was removed from my machine. During that period
the only time that this disk was out of my hands was between 12 and
1 pm on Thursday when it was in the hands of the dealer.

From what the dealer tells me they were unable to start the
PowerBook even after trying all the tricks of juggling and jiggling
the PowerBook (read posting PowerBook Unadulerated Junk/Repost
Apology). They exchanged the 2 MB RAM, managed to start up and
changed the hard disk. They transferred the data from the 40 MB to
the 120 MB. Do not forget that this is Finland where few people
work in English. The dealers work in Finnish. Hence there is no
possibility of them having created a file with an English title and
then storing it on my 40 MB Hard disk to transfer onto the 120 MB
hard disk. The representative assures me that he did nothing to the
disks other than swap them, ensured that the new one worked and
transferred the data. My long association with them makes me trust
their words. After transferring the data they put back my own 2 Mb
memory. I picked up the machine at 4 pm.

As the file also exists on the 40 Mb Hard Disk, which is now in cold
storage, the file created on Tuesday night must have been
transferred into my machine at some time between Tuesday night
and midday Thursday. There are only two possibilities. The first is
that it came onto my disk if I had logged in to the net and
downloaded some files from sumex, nic.funet.fi and ftp.apple.com,
the three I normally use. This I did not do. I had been extremely busy
working on a problem, partly on the PowerBook and partly on a Mac
at the University. I was working with a MS-DOS formatted diskette.
That diskette is unchanged even till today since Wednesday 11th and
quite clean with no sign of any extra file. The second possibility is
that the file was generated by an application, init, extension, control
panel, etc. If so, by which one. Has anyone else got a file with this
same "bizarre" name. The easter eggs indicated by Matthew are not
believed to contain evangelical names. He did recommend me to try
and find a list in sumex where it may have been archived in
comp.sys.mac.misc. This I have not been able to do.

Given this scenario I come now to the name of the file which was

Jesus is Lord

With these facts, can somebody now come forward with a more
positive comment. I am sure several others have downloaded from
these ftp sites and worked with very common applications. I do not
have any exotic applications, inits, control panels, etc. Others too
should have got a file with the same name as I did.

Or was it a visit from ALIENS?

Regards

J. Matthan
Oulu, Finland.