Einstein's Dreams

[Toto <toto@sk.sympatico.ca>]

As the city melts through fog and the night,
   one sees a strange sight. Here an old bridge is
   half-finished. There, a house has been removed
   from its foundations.  Here, a street veers east
   for no obvious reason.
   ...This is a world of changed plans, of sudden
   opportunities, of unexpected visions. For in 
   this world, time flows not evenly but fitfully
   and, as consequence, people receive fitful
   glimpses of the future.
       -excerpt from "Einstein's Dreams"
            by Alan Lightman

   In 1989, Bill Gates was just another player in the wonderful 
world of computers. Phil Zimmerman was a wanna-be cryptographer.
And CypherPunks were merely a fitful glimpse of the future.

  In 1989 a document began quietly circulating in certain computer
circles--a document which whispered of fitful glimpses of the
future. The future of Bill Gates; the future of Phil Zimmerman;
the future of the CypherPunks.

  The document has, over the years, submerged for a time, and then
surfaced in different places. Whenever and wherever it surfaces,
strange things happen. Strange things for which there is always
a perfectly 'normal' explaination. Strange things which one sees
as normal unless, by chance, they should happen to notice that
somehow, in some subtle way, the flow of time has changed.

  A few weeks ago, a single copy of this document surfaced in the
possession of one of the Cypherpunks and, shortly thereafter, 
Dr. DV K was officially unSCUMscribed from this list.
  Less than two weeks ago, a copy of this document was acquired
by a second member of the CypherPunks and, shortly thereafter,
it was announced that the list will now be 'moderated'.
  Coincidence? It is a 'coincidence' that I have seen, time and 
again, in connection with this manuscript.

  You may think that this missive is a lark, or some kind of scam,
or for the feeble-minded.  I don't ask that you take what I say
seriously, only that you remember that the Tao doesn't shout,
it whispers.
  I have included, below, a warning that has circulated in regard
to the document which has preceded it in its undergroud passage
since the date of its inception, in 1989.
  Anyone who, after reading the warning, wishes to receive the
document can notify me via private email, and I will see to it
that you receive a copy.

Toto


WARNING! "The Xenix Chainsaw Massacre" Is A Very Dangerous Document
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  It is reputed among many of the top minds in the Computer Industry 
to be a very real, and revealing, documentary of some of the horrors 
of the Industry which are sometimes rumored, but seldom exposed.  
But be warned-they say it in private, not in public.
  Though management at the major Corporations in the Industry brush 
aside the document as the mad ramblings of an unstable, failed 
business executive, the fact remains that there are more and more 
people coming forward who claim to have suffered demotions or loss 
of employment after deliberately or inadvertently revealing their 
support of the document's claims and it's authenticity.

  If you choose to read this manuscript, do not speak of it in casual
conversation at your place of employment, or around strangers in 
any business or social environment.  Though it is almost impossible 
to document cases of reprisal of this nature, the increasing numbers 
of ex-employees of major Corporations in the Computer Industry 
making these claims, and the devastating consequences they allege 
to their professional and private lives, make it wise to be discreet 
in expressing any opinion, or even knowledge, of this document.
  If you choose to share this document with others, it would be wise 
to do so discreetly, even anonymously, should you be unsure of the 
reliability and discretion of whomever you choose to share this 
knowledge with.

  Though I personally lean toward viewing the manuscript as authentic, 
my exhaustive research into it's origin has always come to a dead-end, 
even among the principals involved.
  C.J. Parker, former President of Pearl Harbor Computers, Inc., denied
emphatically, in a face-to-face encounter, having anything whatsoever to 
do with the document.  When I pressed him with questions regarding 
the hasty demise of his business and the unraveling of his personal 
life after the public circulation of "The Xenix Chainsaw Massacre" 
began, he became very agitated and distraught, bordering on violence, 
and the interview was abruptly terminated.
  Dr. William M. Denney, one of the few principals in the manuscript 
referred to directly, was reluctant to be interviewed, but eventually 
made a few comments which I found to be very revealing.  Dr. Denney, 
Vice-President of Basis, Inc. in Emmeryville, Ca., consistently rated 
as one of the top ten Unix Open Systems vendors in the world, said, 
"I deny any knowledge of or participation, in any way whatsoever, 
with anything connected to 'The Xenix Chainsaw Massacre', and it 
would be wise for others to do the same."
  I find this statement to be very cryptic and, at the same time, 
very revealing; very much in line with what would expect from one 
associated with the alleged underground computer society described 
in the manuscript.
  As for Mr. Torry Basford, a former employee of Bell Labs who was 
Mr. Parker's first mentor in the world of Unix and is rumored to be 
laboring in obscurity in a small community college somewhere in the 
southwestern U.S., Mr. Parker would only say, "The man has suffered 
enough, please leave him alone."

 Regardless of the origins or authenticity of the document, it is 
considered by many to be extremely unsettling, perhaps even 
dangerous, and one might be better served to avoid reading the 
manuscript, if for no other reason than simple peace of mind.