THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 1, 1994 TAG: 9407300074
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: The Gateway: Exploring the Computer World
SOURCE: By MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
OK, YOU'VE probably heard about all the kinky stuff on local bulletin boards and the Internet: the digital photos, the naughty talk and the cheap electronic come-ons.
But there is another dimension of weirdness that the largely unregulated world of computer communications has spawned.
Maybe it has something to do with human nature, like Mom's not watching so I can be gross, or stupid, or menacing, or even downright dangerous.
If you have time to waste, you can check out the USENET discussion group devoted solely to revenge. Someone recently posted a list of hundreds of ways to get back at your enemies through the clever use of cyanoacrylate - better known as Krazy Glue.
``Krazy Glue your enemy's radio on a station he HATES;'' said the missive. ``If you like, do the same thing to his volume control, at full volume.''
Or how about rearranging the plug connectors on the back of your enemy's stereo and making it permanent with Krazy Glue?
For something a little more upbeat, you can check out the USENET group dedicated to discussions about the ``joys'' of feeding someone or having someone feed you.
The steady stream of oddities enters the Internet from different sources. The most frequent contributions come from local bulletin boards, which can be set up by anyone with a computer and modem.
From a bulletin board came a recent prank virus that surfaced around the time everyone was worried about a program that was predicted to crash millions of computers. It didn't.
Run this prank program by mistake and your screen goes blank. Your hard drive light blinks at an unbelievable rate. So does your heart.
Up pops a message warning you in blood-red letters not to touch your keyboard or all your files will be erased. Below that, the computer says it is installing a new program.
Hit keys and nothing happens. But hit the correct key - escape - and a bouncing ad for a local bulletin board comes on the screen.
Surprise! Nothing's wrong. Just a computer joke. Funny, huh?
Annoying, but harmless.
Then there's the hard-core stuff. In Chesterfield County, a 12-year-old boy suffered first- and second-degree burns last month after trying to cook up a bomb on his mom's stove. His brew was based on a gasoline-laden recipe from a list on a computer bulletin board.
There have been other cases of kids getting access to bomb plans and questionable advice and suggestions, after they wandered into this computer nether world.
Chesterfield police said some kids had instructions on how to break into ATM machines. Others had notes on how to disrupt school.
In one case, a child sold instructions on how to make pipe bombs and fire bombs to students from four different schools. The child got the instructions off a computer bulletin board.
Right now, there's not much anyone can do to stop the dangerously weird stuff.
But there is a temporary solution. Turn the machine off. by CNB