Campus Bytes! PAGE 8A THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1997
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TECHNOLOGY • INTERNET • SOFTWARE • ONLINE ISSUES
Guest Column
Suckers believe Internet-born lies every 60 seconds
Cyberspace helps perpetuate falsehoods of urban legends
There's a sucker born every minute.
You may have heard that line attributed to P.T. Barnum. Two incidents last summer brought that saving back to me.
In late July an e-mail message was widely distributed on the Internet. It included text of a commencement speech given by renowned author Kurt Vonnegut at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In that speech, Vonnegut was quoted as saying, "Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it."
Jerry Niebaum
niebaum@ukans.edu
The problem is this — Vonnegut did not write the speech or deliver it. The text of the speech was written by "Chicago Tribune" writer Mary Schmich and published in the June 1, 1997, issue of the
"Tribune." Schmich didn't attribute the quote to Vonnegut either. In her column, she muses on the role of the graduation speaker and the advice she might offer to new graduates.
Someone, somewhere in the depths of Cyber-space had an "Aha!" experience and decided the speech must have been the work of Vonnegut. Or perhaps it was a more devious plot to create another urban legend. In any case, it was presented on the Internet as fact. Many people accepted it as fact although it was a fabrication.
www.snopes.com/spoons/noose/vonnegut.htm
For more of the details check out:
This second site has a fun link to Urban Legends, a site that exposes or confirms well-known stories you may have heard and others that you may wish to tell friends.
Additional details can be found at:
www.duke.edu/~chr4/onnegu/mit.html
Additional details can be found at:
The second incident also offered deception as fact on the Internet but was a great deal more serious. An e-mail chain letter was sent to several mailing lists around the world. The bottom line of the long, wordy message was, "If you send my your money, then someone else will send you yours." The deception, paraphrased, was that the operation was perfectly legal. If you didn't believe that, you could call an 800 number and the people there would tell you the same thing.
Not only are such chain letters illegal, it is a federal offense to send them in the United States. Check out the Web site of the United States Postal Inspection Service at:
www.usps.gov/websites/depart/insect/chainlet.htm Such letters are illegal when they request something of value to be exchanged. Whether the letter is sent via the postal service or the Internet, if it requests money it is illegal.
Now back to P.T. Barnum. It turns out that he never said, "There's a sucker born every minute." A banker named David Hannuilt said it in conjunction with another famous deception, the Cardiff Giant. Check out the real story (or is it?) at:
www.history.buff.com/library/refbarnum.html
For those readers who want to point and click the Web references in this article, you can enter:
www.history buff.com/library/refbarn.html
falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~niebaum/udk.html
At this site you will find the text of this article with links to the references given.
In "Poon's Grand Adventure," Rabbit sings,
"Never trust your ears, your nose or your eyes/
Putting faith in them is most unwise / Here's a
phrase you all must memorize / In the printed
word is where truth lies."
Niebum is the executive director of information and technology services for the University.
Definitely words to live by.
Glitch disconnects University
Global Internet router source of online woes
By Daniel E. Thompson dthompson@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
The University of Kansas was disconnected from the Internet at 2:41 p.m. Monday.
For Dave Nordlund, network administrator for the Kansas Educational and Research Network, it was just another glitch.
When University technicians called him with the news, he abandoned the e-mail he was typing in his office in the computer center and accessed the network, or KANREN, on his computer. Running a test, he discovered data was looping at the Topeka-Washburn router, never making it out to St Louis
Dave Nordlund, network administrator for Kansas Educational and Resource Network, shares some desk space in the Computer Center with a small Cisco Systems Inc. router. Larger routers connect the University's network to the rest of the Internet. Photo by Pam Dishman/KANSAN
He called Global Internet, the network provider for KANREN. The jargon started flying, and Nordlund's inflection started rising.
"You can't get out using that one as a source," he said. "Don't fool around in the middle of the day."
After a pause, his hand went over the mouth piece.
"Part of the problem is the first person I talk to is in training," he said. "I have to be careful I don't get impatient; it's not their fault."
After receiving some answers from the other end, Nordlund leaned back in his chair started again.
"The Global Internet router at the central installation in Topeka is confused," he said. "Apparently, the only thing it's affecting is the Lawrence connection."
But just to make sure, Nordlund went to Manhattan by typing in Kansas State University's Internet Protocol address.
Manhattan was up.
"There appears to be some instability between Topeka and St. Louis," he said into the telephone. Turning away from the phone he said, "This is taking longer than anyone wants, especially us."
There was a pause in the conversation as he poked at his keyboard.
"We're up," he said. It was 2:52 p.m.
Nordlund then explained the problem: A router transmits a signal to other routers periodically to check if they are still operational. If a message does not get through, then the router stops sending data to the lost router.
"It's an absolute requirement that all these boxes around the world tell their neighbors who they can talk to," Nordlund said.
Unfortunately, he said, the transmissions between routers, known as keep-alives, can sometimes be stuck behind a bunch of bits.
"It's like waiting in line to get on a bus. There are a lot of buses, but when it's full, the bus leaves," Nordlund said. "If the keep alive misses the bus a few times, then you lose the connection."
Problems such as Monday's at the University are due to two factors. Nordlund said.
The first factor is that the University's network is being stretched by an increasing number of
Graph of network activity on the KANREN network
users. The second is that Global Internet is working to change its network.
To help eliminate these problems, this morning, Global Internet rerouted the University's network through Lincoln, Neb.
Golfer tees off on computer game
'Golf' challenges offers interactive play
By Bryan Volk
By Bryan Volk
bvolk@kansen.com
design editor
Software Review
In its most basic form, the game of golf is not complex. Like many other sports, if you know the fundamental rules, you can participate without having too many issues. To become more than just a "good" player, however, one must trudge through the details.
Computer golf games follow this equation fairly closely with one exception - the ability to cheat.
I've been known to hack the grass from time to time at courses in and around Lawrence, and I'd have to say my score is pretty high compared to what I can hit using my mouse. It must have a larger sweet spot, right? Not really. It's called "a forgiving swing" and "unlimited multigans."
Sierra's "Front Page Sports: Golf" narrows the cleft that runs between the two formats considerably, but I can still shoot 10-under par on a semi-regular basis. That's compared to the 30 or so over par that I shoot regularly at Alvamar's Orchids course.
Sticking only to comparisons among computer games, "Golf" is heads
The biggest reason is something Sierra calls "Interactive Swing." Instead of clicking two or three times on a meter to indicate power and accuracy, you move your mouse to mimic an actual swing. "This naturally makes the experience more enjoy-
above any I've played.
able," according to the manual.
Neat idea, but I was skeptical.
Instead of a mouse, I wield a trackball,
and I'm not known for having a powerful thumb.
I first played "Golf" on my roommate's computer to test it using a mouse the game was designed for. It worked as promised: I felt the wind blowing around me, heard the birds singing in the trees and saw my ball hooking wildly into the woods.
Feeling brave, I installed the game onto my machine. Calibrating the swing, I began to think it might work for me. I was able to crank up the power so I wouldn't have to sprain my thumb trying to create a powerful downswing.
Once I started playing a course (it was The Prince at Princeville Resort in Kauai, Hawaii) I found that my thumb did work equivalent to using my entire arm. I still was not any good.
Of course, it is easier to correct a virtual swing than it is a real one, and soon enough I had birdied almost every hole. Thank you, mulligans! However, I felt more control with the swing itself than I do with other golf programs. True to its walk-around counterpart, I was able to swing in such an obnoxious manner as to knock "myself" on "my" buttocks. A good time.
The graphics are well done, and much attention has been paid to the
Front Page Sports: Golf
fufacturer: Sierra
Manufacturer: Sierra
graphics ★★★★★
playability ★★★★
features ★★★★
overall ★★★★
ratings from one to five stars
System requirements
System Requirements
Windows 95
Pentium 60 MHz or better
16 MB of RAM
20 MB of hard drive space
SVGA graphics card and monitor
details. Sierra claims that not one blade of grass has been left out. Not having had the opportunity to play the actual course, I'll have to take their word on it. Other features include the opportunity to play against friends locally via a LAN or modem or with strangers on the Internet. There are many more options, too many to list, and many that I don't understand. Like it said, it's in the details.
If you like the game of golf, whether it be lacing up a pair of spikes or strapping on a mouse, this is a game I strongly recommend. The biggest gripe I have is that it still cannot play at a level comparable to real life; in the game, I have yet to knock the heads off worms as my ball skims the fairway.
That would be too real.
Consumer-league site combats Internet scams
Online help for Web fraud available
WASHINGTON — The National Consumers League, saying its Internet fraud reports tripled in the last year, unveiled new Web pages to arm consumers against cybercrooks and warned them of the 10 most-used scams.
The Associated Press
Susan Grant, the league's Internet Fraud Watch director, said Wednesday that nearly 100 scam complaints a month have been received so far this year, compared to 389 for all of 1996. They range in size from $10 to $10,000.
"Cybercrooks are in your pocket-
books with a click of the mouse," league president Linda Goldolny told reporters during a conference call
announcing the new anti-fraud resources.
"It's like a giant yard sale in cyberspace," Grant said. "Consumers purchase a variety of items that are advertised online, but they don't always get what they bargained for."
The fraud reports are turned over to more than 150 law enforcement agencies in the United States and Canada, including the Federal Trade Commission, the FBI, state attorneys general and police departments.
The league officials said the most common signs of fraud are extravagant promises of profits, guarantees of credit regardless of bad credit history, suspiciously low prices or prizes that require up-front payments.
"It's one more tool in our kit to enforce the law," said Hugh Stevenson, assistant director of the FTC Division of Marketing Practices.
The league said Internet use is projected to grow 60 percent this year,
with revenues reaching $12 billion.
On the Internet
The Internet Fraud Watch Web site can be reached at:
www.fraud.org/ifw.htm
The IFW also can be reached by telephone at:
800-876-7060
The 10 most frequent fraud reports involve; undelivered Internet and online services; damaged, defective, misrepresented or undelivered merchandise; auction sales; pyramids and multilevel marketing; misrepresented-cyberspace business opportunities and franchises; work-at-home schemes; prizes and sweepstakes; credit-card offers; books and other self-help guides and magazine subscriptions.
Compuserve deal awaits federal OK
The Associated Press
UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio — The chief executives from America Online and WorldCom visited with managers and employees of Computere to talk about the future of the company.
WorldCom, the nation's fourth-largest long-distance telephone company, announced Monday that it will buy CompuServe in a $1.2 billion stock deal, then sell CompuServe's online business to America Online, the nation's largest provider of online services.
The Justice Department said Tuesday it was reviewing AOL's plan to acquire CompuServe's customers to make sure it will not stifle competition or lead to higher consumer or business prices. Executives of the companies and securities analysts say they expect the deal to be approved.
Steve Case, AOL chairman and chief executive, said Monday that he expects to keep CompuServe's online services division in Columbus and operate it separately from AOL under the CompuServe name. John Sidgmore, WorldCom vice chairman and chief operations officer, said Monday that employees of the Network Services division were part of what attracted WorldCom to the deal.
Kansas City, Mo.-based H&R Block owns 80 percent of CompuServe, the nation's No.2 online provider, after spinning off 20 percent in a public offering in April 1996.
CompuServe employs 3,000 people, including 2,000 in central Ohio.
Plans include — for now — keeping all 3,000 CompuServe workers, including 2,000 in the Columbus area, "The Columbus Dispatch" reported Tuesday.