[net.general] USSR on Usenet

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.