chernenko@kremvax.UUCP (K. Chernenko) (04/01/84)
<.....> Well, today, 840401, this is at last the Socialist Union of Soviet Republics joining the Usenet network and saying hallo to everybody. One reason for us to join this network has been to have a means of having an open discussion forum with the American and European people and making clear to them our strong efforts towards attaining peaceful coexistence between the people of the Soviet Union and those of the United States and Europe. We have been informed that on this network many people have given strong anti-Russian opinions, but we believe they have been misguided by their leaders, especially the American administration, who is seeking for war and domination of the world. By well informing those people from our side we hope to have a possibility to make clear to them our intentions and ideas. Some of those in the Western world, who believe in the truth of what we say have made possible our entry on this network; to them we are very grateful. We hereby invite you to freely give your comments and opinions. Here are the data for our backbone site: Name: moskvax Organization: Moscow Institute for International Affairs Contact: K. Chernenko Phone: +7 095 840401 Postal-Address: Moscow, Soviet Union Electronic-Address: mcvax!moskvax!kremvax!chernenko News: mcvax kremvax kgbvax Mail: mcvax kremvax kgbvax And now, let's open a flask of Vodka and have a drink on our entry on this network. So: NA ZDAROVJE! -- K. Chernenko, Moscow, USSR ...{decvax,philabs}!mcvax!moskvax!kremvax!chernenko
inc@fluke.UUCP (Gary Benson) (04/06/84)
I want to voice my support of those who feel that the "April Fool's" joke about the USSR on the USENET was bad form. Particularly when it appeared in what many of us had come to rely on as the authoritative source for nuews about the network. Perhaps the perpetrator should be asked to pay all those long-distance phone bills that resulted when many people (apparently) responded to this article seriously and with a sense of the beginning of the start of a great adventure in international communication. Perhaps that individual should also be informed that April Fool's Day is not the widespread celebration (?) that we in the US, in our culturo-centric way, may sometimes think it is. It looks as if there is at least one fool on this network. -- From the ever smiling, .). ever happy fingers of: V Gary Benson + + John Fluke Mfg. Co. ILLEGITIMI NON CARBORUNDUM !fluke!inc + +
bobr@zeus.UUCP (Robert Reed) (04/08/84)
-------- I can't believe the upset that the April fool's Usenet announcement has caused. I think I can count myself among the majority at our site who viewed the obvious fraud with admiration. Did you seriously believe that a K. Chernenko at moskvax!kremvax really exists? kremvax? moskvax? Come on! I would like to thank whoever sent it as a good jest, well executed and not harmful in any way. -- Robert Reed, Tektronix Logic Design Systems, tektronix!teklds!bobr
ajaym@ihu1h.UUCP (Jay Mitchell) (04/08/84)
I cant believe people actually are getting upset over a simple joke. When I first read the article, I was borderline on believing until I got to the KGBvax signature. I thought it was very humurous and not at all in bad taste. It certainly didnt take any more phone costs to post that and generate reponses than any of the other lame-brain articles one sometimes reads on the net. It seems that more comments are being generated from a discussion of the article than the article itself did. And personally, I believe that anybody (or any culture) who cant find humor in a joke, whether or not it is April Fools Day, is seriously lacking in personality.
notes@iuvax.UUCP (04/09/84)
#R:zeus:-26400:iuvax:9100004:000:1714 iuvax!apratt Apr 8 18:04:00 1984 I agree (that the joke was a good one). It was imaginitive, well-executed, but could hardly fool anyone. That's the mark of a good joke. It had me going for the first little bit (not, "This is serious," but, "Is this a joke?"), because it seemed so sincere. But the reference to the beginning of April was a dead giveaway, and it was meant to be. Telling someone that the President's been killed may be a good joke, but letting him believe it and tell others is not. So you say, "April Fool!" and everybody laughs. That's wat the "perpetrator" did in this case: by making reference to the silliness that comes over people around the beginning of April, the author said, "April Fool!" to all of us. You would have to want to believe such a gesture as a Usenet site in Moscow so much that you are blinded by it, to miss the giveaway. As for the appropriateness of the posting to net.general, I would say that it is perhaps questionable, but I for one answer "yes" to that question. We're not a bunch of stuffed shirts on Usenet, and I think we can take a joke. Doesn't the New York Times print an occasional joke in their April 1 issue? Mightn't the Wall Street Journal publish an article like "Bell Refuses Breakup; May Take Up Arms Against FTC"? And mightn't we laugh at such a joke? I know I would, and I think many others would besides. I am sorry to insult the intelligence of people who wrote to moskvax!kremvax, and I really don't mean to. Like any other joke, some people were slow in getting this one. They should be good-natured about it, and say, "Ah, yes.. April Fool. I should have been more on my guard, and you can bet I will be next year!" -- Allan Pratt ...ihnp4!inuxc!iuvax!apratt
burton@fortune.UUCP (04/10/84)
#R:tpvax:-23800:fortune:14500023:000:578 fortune!burton Apr 9 12:09:00 1984 Come on now. Does anyone seriously doubt that Chernenko, who has no expertise in foreign policy, and probably can't speak, let alone write, in another language, would post something to the net? That joke was in good taste. Anyone who feels taken in by that joke should ask him/herself why the net is so central to his/her life. I know that's the case with some people. That's why the term nerd applies to computer people and not to those who spend all weekend watching TV sports. The real issue is how well rounded people's lives are. Flamers to /dev/shrink, please.
faunt@hplabsc.UUCP (Doug Faunt) (04/10/84)
Well, now we know where moscvax, kremvax, and kgbvax came from. The 9 April dated AW&ST has an article that says that it is believed that a complete 782 and the guts of a 780 got into the USSR before the smugglers got caught. I suspect that kremvax and kgbvax are the dual processors of the 782.
steve@zinfandel.UUCP (04/11/84)
#R:tpvax:-23800:zinfandel:5900019:000:803 zinfandel!steve Apr 9 17:18:00 1984 o tpvax!inc: >> I want to voice my support of those who feel that the "April Fool's" joke >> about the USSR on the USENET was bad form. Particularly when it appeared in >> what many of us had come to rely on as the authoritative source for nuews >> about the network. Sucker. Don't believe everything you read, especially on a (mostly) free-for-all anarchy such as this network. tpvax!inc: >> ... many people (apparently) responded to this article >> seriously and with a sense of the beginning of the start of a great >> adventure in international communication. And if next year I post newsite submissions from heaven!god and hell!satan to net.general, there would probably be those who would bite on them, too. ("See, I TOLD you there was a God and now there's proof!") zinfandel!steve nelson
greg@hwcs.UUCP (Greg Michaelson) (04/11/84)
I found this article in extremely poor taste. Usenet is, I thought, for computing and international conviviality. The presence of Soviet sites on the net would be an excellent way of promoting these. The person who fudged this up clearly has access rights to their site's news facilities. If I worked there I'd be somewhat worried about security. Is it really beyond the wit of the perpetrator to find an April Fool which is more than foolish? Greg Michaelson, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland.