ma179aav@sdcc3.ucsd.EDU (Stephen Hartford) (04/13/88)
I feel as though it is time to reveal what has become known as "the greatest mystery of the year." As many of you have guessed by now, the Amiga 3000 showed at the San Diego Amiga Users Group April meeting was part of perhaps the largest April Fools joke ever enacted (at least using the Motorola family of microprocessors). First of all, the disclaimers. Nobody in the SDAUG knew about the prank except the president (me). Our friends at CSA also had nothing to do with the prank, or the release of any proprietary information. Actually, those involved are proud to have been a part of it, and have been known to sporatically erupt into fits of laughter ever since that night. Now, onto the receipe. First, take my Amiga 2000. (Actually, any 2000 will do) Remove everything from the case. Now, get a Macintosh developer friend to donate his Mac II. Remove the motherboard, power supply, drives, and NuBus cards. Now CAREFULLY, because your Macintosh friend is quite nervous at this point, insulate the Mac II motherboard from the Amiga 2000 case. Create a non-conductive plate to place the Apple power supply on (above the motherboard). Take one Mac floppy drive, and mount it across the back of the 2000 (across the slots). Put everything together, and print "Amiga 3000" labels to stick everywhere. FCC emission warning labels are also a nice touch. You may connect the 2000 keyboard somewhere inside the case (it won't be used). Make sure to place a label on the Mac mouse. As for programming Workbench 2.0, this is where your Macintosh friend comes in handy. Use his conversion program to take 24 bit files from Digi-View and Sculpt 3D, and transfer the data onto the Mac. (What? He doesn't have a conversion program? Well, I guess his name's not Mark Granger then...) Next, spend many hours in Pixel Paint drawing a 640x480 futuristic-looking Workbench screen. Put the whole thing together in a nice slideshow (mouse controllable), and you're all set. For the meeting, get some salesperson-type friends of yours. Brief them before the meeting on the Amiga marketplace, and the Amiga 3000. Invite Gerry (Rad Moose) Humpherey to the meeting to take lots of pictures and say he's from "Amiga View" magazine. Remember not to act astounded when several members of your group say they've heard of the magazine. Do some consulting with Los Angeles Users Group wizard Mark Randall. During the meeting, let everyone know some folks from Commodore are stopping by on the way to the airport. When they arrive, introduce yourself and speak in a hushed voice for awhile. Let them do the demo, and make sure Gerry takes lots of pictures. For the inevitable questions that your group will ask, have prepared answers like "we really can't say at this time", "unfortunately, I'm in marketing and don't have that kind of technical information", and "we'll certainly take that into consideration." Make the demonstration fairly short (10 min), so that nobody screws up too bad. Quickly go on with the rest of the meeting, although at this point muffled conversations will obstinate for the rest of the evening. This is good. You've now created your first Amiga 3000. Watch local BBS's, Usenet, BIX, and PLink closely. When a few soreheads start messing up everyone's fun, call John Foust. He'll tell you (after laughing uncontrollably for awhile) to tell everybody who got upset to go to hell. Ask him if you can quote him on this statement. Dale Luck should be calling about now. Explain the joke, and send him pictures. Send a letter and pictures to Dave Haynie (or whoever else you know) in West Chester. Finally, post this message, and don't forget to tell your users group they've been had at the next meeting. Remember at Devcon to buy everybody a beer. ;-) P.S. Yes, I'm willing to accept flames from people with no sense of humor, but please do not clog the newsgroup. Send your replies to shartford@ucsd.edu. Please note that only calm, intelligent mail will be responded to, while flames will be sent to /dev/null. -- Stephen Hartford San Diego Amiga Users Group shartford@ucsd.edu P.O. Box 80186, San Diego, CA 92138-0186
rchampe@hubcap.UUCP (Richard Champeaux) (04/13/88)
In article <4164@sdcc3.ucsd.EDU>, ma179aav@sdcc3.ucsd.EDU (Stephen Hartford) writes: > > > I feel as though it is time to reveal what has become known as "the > greatest mystery of the year." As many of you have guessed by now, > the Amiga 3000 showed at the San Diego Amiga Users Group April > meeting was part of perhaps the largest April Fools joke ever > enacted (at least using the Motorola family of microprocessors). > Stephen Hartford San Diego Amiga Users Group > shartford@ucsd.edu P.O. Box 80186, San Diego, CA 92138-0186 I'd be willing to bet that this message is a post April Fools joke. Notice the P.O. box # (80186). I thought at first that it was kind of cute that an amiga users group has a P.O. box number that is the same as the part number of an Intel processor. Then I thought, 'Wait a minute, that number is kinda large to be a P.O. box number!' Then I looked closer and noticed that the last 5 digits of the zip code is - you guessed it - 80186. Sounds too convienient to me. To whoever sent this message: Ha, Ha! I found you out the day it was posted, and within 2 minutes as well. Rich Champeaux Clemson University
mike@ames.arpa (Mike Smithwick) (04/13/88)
In article <4164@sdcc3.ucsd.EDU> fools@siberia.edu writes: [deleted great stuff on the best prank of the year] >This is good. You've now created your first >Amiga 3000. Gee, that gives me an idea. I think I'll borrow our Cray-2, put an "Amiga-120000" sticker on the side and haul it in to FAUG!. I hope the hotel people have a sense of humor, just in case the coolent leaks out onto their nice carpeting. "Hey guys! Guess what I'm beta testing! And it will run unix too. . ." -- *** mike (Cyberpunk in training) smithwick *** "After all, isn't our only real purpose in life merely to make the person next to us slightly more insane than we are?" - Me [disclaimer : nope, I don't work for NASA, I take full blame for my ideas]
ma179aav@sdcc3.ucsd.EDU (Stephen Hartford) (04/14/88)
In article <1386@hubcap.UUCP> rchampe@hubcap.UUCP (Richard Champeaux) writes: >In article <4164@sdcc3.ucsd.EDU>, shartford@ucsd.EDU (Stephen Hartford) writes: >> I feel as though it is time to reveal what has become known as "the >> greatest mystery of the year." >> Stephen Hartford San Diego Amiga Users Group >> shartford@ucsd.edu P.O. Box 80186, San Diego, CA 92138-0186 > I'd be willing to bet that this message is a post April Fools joke. >Notice the P.O. box # (80186). >Rich Champeaux >Clemson University Sorry to ruin your day, Rich, but the P.O.Box and Zip code are factual. Drop us a postcard if you don't believe me. By the way, thanks for all of your supportive mail. I'm glad most people still have a sense of humor! -- Stephen Hartford San Diego Amiga Users Group shartford@ucsd.edu P.O. Box 80186, San Diego, CA 92138-0186
ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab) (04/14/88)
[ To the President of the San Diego Amiga User's Group: ]
You
Have
Incurred
My
Wrath!
Prepare
For
Doom!
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Leo L. Schwab -- The Incomprehensibly Gullible Rube From Mars
\_ -_ Recumbent Bikes: ihnp4!pacbell -> !{well,unicom}!ewhac
O----^o The Only Way To Fly. hplabs / (pronounced "AE-wack")
"Work FOR? I don't work FOR anybody! I'm just having fun." -- The Doctorrchampe@hubcap.UUCP (Richard Champeaux) (04/14/88)
In article <4166@sdcc3.ucsd.EDU>, ma179aav@sdcc3.ucsd.EDU (Stephen Hartford) writes: > In article <1386@hubcap.UUCP> rchampe@hubcap.UUCP (Richard Champeaux) writes: > >In article <4164@sdcc3.ucsd.EDU>, shartford@ucsd.EDU (Stephen Hartford) writes: > >> I feel as though it is time to reveal what has become known as "the > >> greatest mystery of the year." > >> Stephen Hartford San Diego Amiga Users Group > >> shartford@ucsd.edu P.O. Box 80186, San Diego, CA 92138-0186 > > > I'd be willing to bet that this message is a post April Fools joke. > >Notice the P.O. box # (80186). > >Rich Champeaux > >Clemson University > > Sorry to ruin your day, Rich, but the P.O.Box and Zip code are > factual. Drop us a postcard if you don't believe me. > -- > Stephen Hartford San Diego Amiga Users Group > shartford@ucsd.edu P.O. Box 80186, San Diego, CA 92138-0186 I could believe that someone would pull off such a prank, but I guess I just couldn't believe that the president of a users group would so proudly boast about how he publiclly humiliated his users group. My view of people has just been lowered a notch. Rich Champeaux Clemson University
ma179aav@sdcc3.ucsd.EDU (Stephen Hartford) (04/15/88)
In article <5690@well.UUCP> ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab) writes: >[ To the President of the San Diego Amiga User's Group: ] > [uuencoded forth source code deleted] >_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ >Leo L. Schwab -- The Incomprehensibly Gullible Rube From Mars Relax, Leo. *I* certainly didn't ask you to post your evaluation of what the machine really was. No apologies to be found here! Actually, Leo, I kinda like your stuff. Let's not cross any legal or moral lines though, K? And, of course, I'll probably type until Leo updates his wardrobe into this century, but please everyone, send me MAIL if you feel you must respond to this discussion. By the way, the "vote" is 31 to 3 in favor of the joke. Looks like the world is still (for the most part) a fun place to be. -- Stephen Hartford "The A3000 guy" San Diego Amiga Users Group shartford@ucsd.edu ;-) P.O. Box 80186, San Diego, CA 92138-0186
hamilton@uxc.cso.uiuc.edu (04/15/88)
rchampe@hubcap says: > ... > Notice the P.O. box # (80186). ... > Then I looked closer > and noticed that the last 5 digits of the zip code is - you guessed it - > 80186. Sounds too convienient to me. everybody with a POBox here in urbana gets their very own 9-digit zip code. i've been meaning to try it out by sending myself a post card addressed simply: 61801-0476 i've seen the box-number/zip-suffix correspondence in lots of other post offices. what i wonder is, what zip did they give to box 186 in san diego? do boxes 186 and *0186 share the same zip-suffix? wayne hamilton U of Il and US Army Corps of Engineers CERL UUCP: {ihnp4,seismo,pur-ee,convex}!uiucuxc!hamilton ARPA: hamilton@uxc.cso.uiuc.edu USMail: Box 476, Urbana, IL 61801-0476 CSNET: hamilton%uxc@uiuc.csnet Phone: (217)333-8703
lishka@uwslh.UUCP (Christopher Lishka) (04/16/88)
Mr. Schwab wrote in a previous posting [lines deleted to save space]... > [ To the President of the San Diego Amiga User's Group: ] > > You > Have > Incurred > My > Wrath! > Prepare > For > Doom! > > _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ > Leo L. Schwab -- The Incomprehensibly Gullible Rube From Mars > \_ -_ Recumbent Bikes: ihnp4!pacbell -> !{well,unicom}!ewhac > O----^o The Only Way To Fly. hplabs / (pronounced "AE-wack") > "Work FOR? I don't work FOR anybody! I'm just having fun." -- The Doctor I didn't see any smiley faces on this, so I assume is it at least half (if not all seriousness). All I can think of is "lighten up!" In the end, what harm has this prank really done? Personally, except for the fact that the President of the User's Group probably should have revealed the joke at the end of the meeting (which I believe someone else has already mentioned), it seems pretty funny. Hell, the three postings had me fooled, and I was smiling when I read the User Group President's posting. Well, I just hope this doesn't start another religious war. This will be my only posting on this subject to keep from perpetuating one; I will try to respond by e-mail otherwise (or not at all if the $^%$&^ mailer keeps rejecting my e-mail addresses). "Hang Loose" -Chris-- Chris Lishka /lishka@uwslh.uucp Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene <-lishka%uwslh.uucp@rsch.wisc.edu "My cockatiels control my mind!"\{seismo, harvard,topaz,...}!uwvax!uwslh!lishka
richard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton) (04/16/88)
In article <7333@ames.arpa> mike@ames.arc.nasa.gov.UUCP (Mike Smithwick) writes: >In article <4164@sdcc3.ucsd.EDU> fools@siberia.edu writes: >[deleted great stuff on the best prank of the year] >>This is good. You've now created your first >>Amiga 3000. > >Gee, that gives me an idea. I think I'll borrow our Cray-2, put an >"Amiga-120000" sticker on the side and haul it in to FAUG!. I hope the >hotel people have a sense of humor, just in case the coolent leaks out onto Make sure you tell Leo in advance. He's sooooo gullible about these things... -- 4 out of 5 net.goddesses recommend richard for the prevention of tooth decay. richard@gryphon.CTS.COM rutgers!marque!gryphon!richard
richard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton) (04/18/88)
Alright you clowns. It's doesnt really matter who thinks who is an
idiot, and it matters even less to people in Korea or Finland.
If you cant have the common sense to ignore it, you may want
to investigate a radical new concept called:
Distribution: local
Or, failing that, you can flail each other in email.
Failing that, there is this little group called alt.flame.
Now, some people thought it was funny, some people were really
annoyed. It doesnt matter who, and nobody'd opinion is going
to be changed by any discussion of the matter...
Any questions ?
- Mr. Nettiquette
P.S. I thought it was hysterical, and that it got leos goat was just icing
on cake. But who cares what I think. It's not germain.
--
"Punt"
richard@gryphon.CTS.COM rutgers!marque!gryphon!richardandy@cbmvax.UUCP (Andy Finkel) (04/19/88)
In article <319@uwslh.UUCP> lishka@uwslh.UUCP (Christopher Lishka) writes: > >Mr. Schwab wrote in a previous posting >[lines deleted to save space]... >> [ To the President of the San Diego Amiga User's Group: ] > I didn't see any smiley faces on this, so I assume is it at >least half (if not all seriousness). All I can think of is "lighten >up!" In the end, what harm has this prank really done? What ? You haven't worked out what the revenge that Leo is hinting at is ? Gee, I thought it was obvious. Just think back to the last time someone crossed Leo... (Of course, I could be wrong...I am only guessing) andy . -- andy finkel {ihnp4|seismo|allegra}!cbmvax!andy Commodore-Amiga, Inc. "C combines the power of assembly language with the flexibility of assembly language." Any expressed opinions are mine; but feel free to share. I disclaim all responsibilities, all shapes, all sizes, all colors.
daveb@cbmvax.UUCP (Dave Berezowski) (04/19/88)
In article <3650@cbmvax.UUCP> andy@cbmvax.UUCP (Andy Finkel) writes: >In article <319@uwslh.UUCP> lishka@uwslh.UUCP (Christopher Lishka) writes: >> >>Mr. Schwab wrote in a previous posting >>[lines deleted to save space]... >>> [ To the President of the San Diego Amiga User's Group: ] >> I didn't see any smiley faces on this, so I assume is it at >>least half (if not all seriousness). All I can think of is "lighten >>up!" In the end, what harm has this prank really done? > >What ? You haven't worked out what the revenge that Leo >is hinting at is ? Gee, I thought it was obvious. Just >think back to the last time someone crossed Leo... > >(Of course, I could be wrong...I am only guessing) > > andy >. I, for one, hope that you're not wrong Andy and that Leo has it ready for DevCon!
richard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton) (04/30/88)
In article <1398@hubcap.UUCP> rchampe@hubcap.UUCP (Richard Champeaux) writes: > I could believe that someone would pull off such a prank, but I guess >I just couldn't believe that the president of a users group would so proudly >boast about how he publiclly humiliated his users group. You're upset because he has a sense of humor and you don't ? >My view of people has just been lowered a notch. So what. You really had to post that didnt you, dipshit ? If you thought it was funny, that's just peachy, drop them a line and say how funny you thought it was. If you didnt think it was funny, that's entirely your opinion, drop him a line and tell him what a humorless git you are. Why are we still getting these ? It's been almost a month since those evil wicked nasty bad pack of thugs in sandy eggo perpetrated this vile scheme, and sorry, but the idea of people posting: "duhh, i didnt think dat wuz funny" to countless thousands of systems is of marginal utility. Do expect mass quantities of contrition to come pouring out of San Diego now thay *we all know* YOU didn't think it was funny ? Hey hey, take real revenge! DONT move to San Diego and DONT join their users group. That'll learn 'em. Twit. -- Just a flaming nincompetent poop kinda guy richard@gryphon.CTS.COM rutgers!marque!gryphon!richard