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             P A 1 N   M A G A Z I N E   ;


    !$   I S S U E  # 4   
          +--------------------------- .$' --- !$ -------------------+
          |                           .$P'      !$                    |
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     +----'                                  ._d$$b_.                 '-----+
    i|                                                                       |i
    j|               "And no man shall shed blood, but by man                |l
    Y|                shall his blood be shed." -- Boondock Saints           !Y
    '+------+---------------------------------------------------------+------+'
          ![|                                                         |]!
            '---------------------------------------------------------'
            
           
       +-----------[ P A 1 N  .  M A G A Z I N E  .  S T A F F ]----------+
       |                                                                  |
       !                alienbinary - editor in cheif                     !
       i                    Turnspike - Co-Editor                         i
       :                 ---------------------------                      :
       '                       Nemisis - Editor                           '
       .                   angel ice - Co-Conspirator                     .
       |                       Cheezi - warlord                           |
       |               RumblingSky - the American Asshole                 |
       |                 the White Rabbit - follow the...                 |
       |                                                                  |
       +---+------------------+-----------------------+-------------------+
       '   |                  |                       |
           |            better living through blunt force trauma.
           '                  |                       '                 
                              !   
    d$$b.____________________ _________________________________________.d$$b
    '$'                      '                                          '$'
     |$                        Table of discontent.                       $|
     ||                                                                   ||
     !! PA1Nv4x01 Letter from the editor                      alienbinary !!
     ;: PA1Nv4x02 The Entertainment Industry's Downfall       alienbinary :;
     || PA1Nv4x03 Project Loki Archives: Part Two             alienbinary I|
     |! PA1Nv4x04 Cyberpunk Multi User Dungeons                   Nemisis ||
     || PA1Nv4x05 RANT: Working with Women               The White Rabbit ||
     || PA1Nv4x06 Times, they are a changing                  alienbinary ||
     || PA1Nv4x07 Manipulation Emancipation                     angel ice ||
     || PA1Nv4x08 Best of #rantradio, October 2003                various ||
     || PA1Nv4x09 No Thanks Given.                            alienbinary ||
     || PA1Nv4x10 Sanctions vs. Slaughter                the White Rabbit ||
     || PA1Nv4x11 Understanding and Decoding OSCAR                Nemisis ||
     || PA1Nv4x12 Purchased Credibility                       alienbinary ||
     || PA1Nv4x13 outro                                       alienbinary ||
     ||                                                                   !|
    .$.                                                                 .$.
   i$$i.______________________________________________________________j$$l
    ''''                                                                 ''''
                         
-----------?------------???????????????--??---[ I am jack's introduction. ]----
PA1Nv4x01----------------------------------------------------------------------
   -    -   - -- --->[      Letter from the Editor      ]<--- -- -   -    - 
                 --->[            alienbinary           ]<---
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv4x01
-?------------?---????????????-----------???????????---------??????????????????

    As I write this, it's Friday, October 10th, 2003. I've had a day that
defies comprehension. My life is not of any consequence to those of you reading
this, but the message that I bring to you, that is. My convictions have been
reconfirmed today, my heart has been beaten, my soul has been abused. There's
something still kicking though, and that's the fight. I watched the court
system fail today, again. I watched big money beat small people, I watched
someone get away with something I won't describe out of respect for ALL
involved. I was merely a spectator, because my role was not to be that of
anything else. 
    I watched as society rolled all over an innocent person, and let the guilty
go free. In America, in a case where the victim survives, it is the victim on
trial. There is no justice, there is no honor, and there certainly is no truth
to the system as it exists today.
    
    Such is why I created PA1N. There are many of you who, fortunately, will
never have to experience the excrutiating humiliation of being helpless as
another one of society's slippery ones gets off. Many of you will never be
detained, questioned, arraigned, face a hearing, some of you might never go to
jury duty. However, you are not the norm, at least not anymore. 
    The corruption that spills out of every facet of our legal, economic and
social system is poisoning the air we breathe and the food we eat. It makes
toxic everything we hear, and it breaks the human spirit with the force of a
hammer. So it's time we stand up. It's time to, as some people might say,
"clean your own backyard." We don't have time to waste, watching our loved
ones, our friends, our fellow human beings, for that matter-- we don't have
time to waste trying to jump start an already decaying system. 

    Many people who know me personally, in the world of meat, or online in a
community will know that I admire a great many of some of the most
controversial figures in modern American history. One of the people whom I
often talk about, a person who I have a poster of in the room where I write
this, is Malcolm X. Regardless of where you stand on this topic, I would like
to share with you something that has given me strength tonight. In Malcolm X's
last speech, he apologized for the way we was dressed. The reason being,
simply, that his house had been firebombed, and he only had a chance to grab 
what he had on. Instead of condemning these people, and talking about taking
vengeance or anything of the sort, he simply delivered these words [and I quote
to the best of my ability]:

    +-------- ------------------------------------   -------------------+
    |   "...It isn't something that made me lose confidence in what     |
    |   I'm doing, because my wife understands, and I have children     |
    |   from this size, on down -- and even in their young age          |
    I   they understand. I think they would rather have a father        |
    !   or a brother, or whatever the situation may be, who will        i
    |   take a stand in the face of any kind of reaction from narrow    |
    |   minded people, rather than compromise, and later to grow up     |
    |   in shame and in disgrace."                                      |
    |                                       -- Malcolm X, 1965          I
    |                                                                   |
    +------------------------------------------------------- ------ ----+

    What I'm trying to communicate in my transcription of his final, and
possibly most important speech, Malcolm spoke of getting on with his life, and
not losing sight of his goal. He went on to establish that he was for the
brotherhood of mankind. The rest, quite literally, is history.
    
    So I listened extroardinarily carefully to that last speech today, after
witnessing firsthand for the millionth time, the ineptitude of our justice
system to care for our downtrodden. What I gathered from his speech was one of
hope. If a man can not only survive physically, but emotionally as well, an
attempted firebombing assassination, I can learn from his strength, and know to
keep going on, fighting the good fight.

    I've been going on many tangeants in this piece, this much is clear to me.
I only ask that you please read on, and pass judgement later; if you must.
Although the world is no less fucked up than when Malcolm X delivered his final
full speech, many people have learned from the example of leaders such as him.
We all make mistakes, we all say things we regret. What's important, is that we
don't lose sight, or, as he put it, confidence, in what we are trying to
accomplish.
    I want to end the syndrome that has infected the world, where everyone
seems to feel like their mouths are sewn shut. I want to help people find their
voices, so that they too can shout from the rooftops, be counted, and
eventually be heard. And this is precisely what I intend to do. I ask one
thing, however. When you see something happen, and you know it isn't right,
don't let yourself stay silent. Yes, they can try and shut you up, as they
would seek to silence me. But they cannot, and will not be able to silence
every one of us; they cannot shut us up and drug us into complacency while our
world is destroyed.
    With that, I bring you the fourth issue of PA1N Magazine.
    
    - alienbinary
    October 10, 2003
 
-????????????????------------???????????????--??---[ I am jack's article. ]----
PA1Nv4x02----------------------------------------------------------------------
          --->[    The Entertainment Industry Is Going Down      ]<---
          --->[                    alienbinary                   ]<---
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv4x02
-?------------?---????????????-----------???????????---------??????????????????

the entertainment industry: When will they learn? 
alienbinary

    It came across my desk today, or rather, it slid across my co-worker's
desk, and I grabbed it out of the pile. It was yet another CD with a brand new
copy protection warning on it. Sometimes I wonder if they really mean any of
the junk they say, after all, it's just as effective in a radio station to just
tell everyone that the CD has black ice on it, as it is to actually put the
code in themselves. So I read on, not only because of my unending interest in
black ice, and how the music industry intends to get back on it's feet, but
because I think it's rather bizarre that an entire industry would seek to
salvage profits by destroying the private property of their most valued
customers.
    So, as I said, I read on. According to the sticker, the CD was protected in
such a way (a way they, the company felt ill required to mention) that only
authorized computer systems would be able to perform even basic playback
functions. Now this struck me as incredibly odd. Anyone who has ever
experimented with the filesystems of the various CD formats knows that a
computer can read anything that's digital. The question, however, is whether
it's been obfuscated. The initial copy protection on Audio CDs was to include
an extra layer, laid on the disc like an extra track. This data would be full
of junk data. The original CD-ROM drives, which hadn't originally been designed
for audio playback would grind to a stop, not knowing whether to process the
information as data or audio. This problem, however, can be remedied just as
easily as changing the wallpaper on your desktop, so what did they do next?

    Remember when the auto-runs started to appear on every single CD you
bought, and altough all you wanted was to listen to some music, you had to wait
while some poorly written flash animation junk executed itself on your screen,
often installing spyware without asking, directly to your hard drive? I
remember this really, really well. One of the reasons I remember this, is
because the second attempt at the copy protection I'm talking about was a
failure too, and ended up costing the recording industry millions of dollars.
The reason they had to cough up so much dough was really irritating, actually:
the code they had included to add "special features" was actually black ice,
which caused filesystem issues on the heads of some brand hard drives. When all
several million of the people who legitimately purchased the album (Celine
Deon, if I remember correctly...) complained to the industry, they were accused
of piracy, and told that it was what they got for trying to illegally pirate
copy-protected software. 
    Fortunately, in this case, the California Supreme court was so thoroughly
annoyed by this fact, that when an anti-trust lawsuit was brought against a
major label, insisting that they had jacked up their prices too high, the
judge, whose order was later carried out by the Department of Justice, ruled
that the record company owed anyone who could prove they legitimately purchased
a certain CD, and had paid some atrocious amount like $25 USD, could be
refunded for the entire cost of the CD. Now, seeing as I'm writing this from
memory, I can't give too many details. At the end of this article, I'll add
some links and footnotes, so anyone interested in these cases can follow up on
their own.

    Regardless, any other industry, with the obvious exception of... No, wait,
I can't think of a single industry that has come up since the industrial
revolution that isn't currently shooting itself in the foot. An excellent
example of this, aside from those fine crisply tailored morons at the RIAA, is
the Motion Picture Association of America. The MPAA, the sister or brother of
the RIAA, depending on which one you ask first, is one of the most rediculous
organizations in existence. Originally formulated to create the viewer rating
administration, the MPAA's first purpose was censorship. They sold their role
to every studio with the same pitch: we are the strong arm of entertainment
law. Join us, and you never have to worry about consumers again.

    But wait, since when did the consumers give the Motion Picture industry
something to worry about? Last time I checked, one of the highest grossing
industries, and certainly the only export we have that is accepted beyond
westernized countries would be the movie industry. So willing are we to pay
whatever rediculous price it is to see a movie when and where we want to, we
never complain when the prices go up. And what about the advertisements? Who
the hell thought it would be a good idea to give the audience the impression
that they had paid twelve dollars to watch television on a big screen in a room
full of people they don't know?
    It started out pretty simple. First it was the conglomerates who ran the
concession stands. "Don't litter" were the starring lines of animated candy
bars from real brand names, talking Marlboros would remind people not to smoke,
and one of the wierdest infusions of industry I can remember, was when during
after-school cartoons, R2D2 and C3P0 told me that I shouldn't smoke. You
remember that one, right? Every one of us phreaks, deckers, hackers and geardos
all wanted to know: which of those round buttons on R2's body was the cigarette
lighter? Well, I don't know if we ever learned the answer to that, but we did
find out that there's an ashtray in the base of his head.
    Regardless, people used to visit movie theaters to enjoy a presentation.
The screens were shrouded in velvet, there were curtains and stage lights, even
announcers. If one of those "movie facts" things I've seen too many times in my
life is indeed true, then they also used to serve fresh, hard boiled eggs at
theatres, instead of popcorn. People would plan far in advance, and they would
pay to see art. Now, if we get really really lucky, we can see ten minutes of
art going on in the background of the main scenes, while someone fucks with the
camera crew. The majority of movies coming out these days are just unbeleivably
lame. Until recently, I always considered it a rather fair sacrifice. You pay
about fifteen dollars, you get the good seats, the night on the town, the
action-packed movie, the great candy and the emergency piss afterwards, and all
for a flat fee.
    Recently, I've been approched by sales representatives of various cellular
phone companies who haven't learned yet that the mall is a mile down the
street, and no one comes to the movies to sign up with sprint free nights and
weekends.

    But I digress. Why do I always pick on the entertainment industry? What
have they really done to deserve such a tremendous amount of bludgeoning?
Actually, the answer to that can be found in their OTHER sister industry:
publishing. Here's an experiment, or rather, think of this as an excercise. Go
down to a health clinic, and sit in the waiting room. Don't bother filling out
any patient-care information, you won't be there very long. Sift through all of
the magazines that grace the offices of the establishment. About
ninety-something pages into the magazine, you should find what resembles a
black-and-white classifieds section, or a personals column. I guarantee you,
that about fifty percent down the page, some woman will be showing you an
already washboard flat stomache, asking you if you need to lose weight? This
is, generally speaking, really obnoxious, and also is often an advertisement
for Xenadrine. Xenadrine is one of those rare drugs that the FDA allows to be
called a "diet supplement" when they really meant 'works like cocaine.'
    The average Xenadrine user becomes a rabid speed freak, constantly taking
more pills, and eating less food. This being completely out of whack with the
way the body is supposed to function, it, well, kills the person. Now who the
hell thought that killing the audience was a good idea? If I ran a beauty
magazine, I'd block the phone numbers of every diet supply company from
advertising in my pages, out of fear that most of my readers, who I had been
dishing out articles like "how to lose 100 pounds in ten minutes!" and "eat
right, feel young again!" to, would order this supplement because it seemed to
correspond with the pro-anorexia-nervosa mentality of the corporate media. I
would fear, therefore, that I would end up with no one left as readers except
for a few individuals who simply had better narcotics to waste their time on,
and my enterprise would be ruined.

    So now, ladies and gentlemen, we come to the last and saddest of all dying
entertainment venues: clubs. I could be wrong, (actually, I take that back,
because this is my article and I don't have to explain anything I say,) but I
beleive that it's a poor idea to make the experience of visiting a rock concert
feel exactly like boarding an airplane. On the way into a hardcore show, I was
searched head to toe, my stuff was looked through, and my wallet was sifted
through. I simply watched and wondered how the hell this could ever have
spawned from the same institution that brought us "Black Flag" and "the Pist."
Honestly, these security guards would have been taken out back, or more likely
into the pit, and devoured, while the fans were free to roam the place, armed
like guerilla fighters on a day off, at their leisure. Leisure, mind you, that
they paid a good amount of money for.

    So who's to blame for this? What do we do, if we are ever to prevent the
entirety of entertainment from tanking, and falling into the ocean of failed
economic pursuits? Not a damn thing. That's exactly what we need to do. The
reason for this is actually rather zen, if you have a moment to think about it.
Remember entropy? I wrote about it last issue. Entropy is a law in science that
states that in nature, all systems are breaking down. This includes everything
from social structure to even the balance of oxygen to carbon dioxide. You see,
the industry is dying. It's come to a point where the idea of making a buck off
of a bastard form of art is so horrid, that people have given up entirely on
fighting to keep these new intrusions out. THis being the case, I say: fuck
them. It's time we recognize that as a species, we will either evolve or face
destruction. In my opinion, the first step in evolution is the downfall of the
corporatization of art. If I'm lucky, I'll see a day when the RIAA and the MPAA
are spoken about the same way we teach schoolchildren about the Soviet KGB:
power hungry, corrupt sociopaths who desire only money and fame. 

    So, my fellow miscreants, I say, fuck the modern media. They think you
can't think for yourselves. Don't give them the satisfaction of proving them
right. 


-----------?------------??????????????????????-----[ I am jack's mischeif. ]---
PA1Nv4x03----------------------------------------------------------------------
                 --->[ Project Loki Archives: Part Two ]<---
                 --->[             alienbinary         ]<---
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv4x03
-?------------?---????????????-----------???????????---------??????????????????

    For those who have not had the chance to get to PA1Nv2x04 (PA1N Magazine,
Volume Number Two, Article Four.), this is a part of the magazine dedicated to
observing chaos at work in this world. Often, it's only the troublemakers that
have the guts to stand up.
    Unlike last installment, this particular installment of the archives will 
be about an idea I've been playing with for a long, long time. For people who 
have their heads up their asses too far to tell, we, in whatever society we 
live in, are now subject to many of the most obnoxious violations of personal 
freedom; everywhere we go. I speak, of course, of surveillance. It's not 
entirely unfair to guess that the majority of Americans spend most of their 
waking hours being watched from above. Many people don't appreciate that, 
and I can sympathize. I went to a Wal-Mart once (may they burn in hell.) 
and I committed the high crime of dressing the way I always do before a 
hardcore show. I guess I was "asking for it the way I was dressed."
    Anyway, the second I entered the particular store I mentioned, a woman
wearing the WM uniform called loss prevention, who follow me like a junkie to a
dealer. Every time Hand0fphate and I would enter a new department, someone
would 'mysteriously' be paged to that exact location, no matter how much ground
we covered. Since neither of us were there to steal, but simply to waste time,
we became rather annoyed at being profiled for just looking different than the
average customer. So, in response, I took a photo with a disposable camera I
had in my bag-- of the security camera watching me, with the flash on,
potentially over-exposing the film. I came up with an idea after that, as to
how we, as a unified strike against the police state, could work to our own
advantage. 
    The premise is simple. If the corpolitical wants to watch everything we do,
then we watch them. This particular archive contains dozens of snapshots, many
taken up close, as if I was documenting THEIR every move. Just in case people
don't think that the right to privacy has been abolished, here is proof that
people simply are too stupid and paranoid to try trust, even ONCE.

                        [ Police State in the Subway: ]

Set189_01.jp - nice profile shot. 
                                             Taken on the red line (MBTA.)
Set191_01.jpg - This camera was so strangely   
                                             placed, I couldn't help myself.
                                             Someone had actually felt enough
                                             concern for the tunnels connecting
                                             inbound and outbound to monitor
                                             them with two security cameras.
Set193_01.jpg - Red line, watching the rats.
Set193_02.jpg - They even monitored the ceiling.
Set35_02.jpg  - artistic snapshot.
Set216_01.jpg - Symmetrical fascism. mmm.
Set217_01.jpg - Actually aimed at ONLY the RATS. 
Set218_01.jpg - It's a Big-Brother's eye view! 
											 now you can see the world the way 
they seem so hellbent on watching you! Although, to be quite frank, the view
from up there was rather unimpressive. 

                        [ Police State in the drugstore: ]
                        
Set206_02.jpg - These are a series of those 
Set208_01.jpg   stupid round cameras that look 
Set207_01.jpg   like the ceiling has pimples. 
Set206_01.jpg   They seem to multiply in 
Set200_01.jpg   drugstores.

                         [ Most obnoxious security setups: ]

Set210_01.jpg - This was taken in the middle of a
                                             pet store, I suppose it was a sort
of courtesy. One of the cameras was a direct feed to the monitor they attatched
both cams to. Perhaps they did this in case you wanted to make sure you had
dressed nicely for your exciting trip to the pet store.

Set215_01.jpg - The worst part about this setup,
                                             was that it was at a gas station.
A big camera to watch the pumps and grab the license plates, but about six or
seven fixed on the cashier alone. If you're going to pay people scant wages, I
suppose you SHOULD worry about theft. 


-----------?------------??????????????????????-------------????????????????????
PA1Nv4x04----------------------------------------------------------------------
                 --->[   Cyberpunk Multi User Dungeons   ]<---
                 --->[              Nemisis              ]<---
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv4x04
-?-----[ I am jack's addiction. ]?????---------???????????---??????????????????

    There are many aspects of cyberpunk culture.  Many aspects that you and I
are probably not familiar with.  So, in writing this, I'm hoping to bring
to you an aspect of CP that I am familiar with.  But before I start.. (Puts
on favorite CP musical selection.)

    Ok so you may or may not have heard of MUDs before.  MUD stands for Multi
User Dungeon (or Dimension, depending upon you your talking too).  MUDs have
been around for sometime; they were around in the BBS days.  MUDs are
mostly text based RPG's.  The ones that aren't, are not of our concern.  You
may be thinking, well, text based... no eye candy... seems a bit 1980's
don't you think?  Well, yes, and no.  They do not have fancy graphics.  But
that leaves more for you mind.  More for your imagination.  You can login to
a MUD using telnet, but the best way would be to get a MUD Client, because
they have extra features, and can parse ANSI, as well as some other server
side things, that a normal telnet client would not.  Basically you connect to
the MUD, most likely see some cool ASCII, and login.  Some MUDs require you
to create a character to login, some allow you to check them out with a
Guest login.

    The best way to describe a MUD, I think, would be to relate it to Dungeons
and Dragons.  I've never actually played D&D, but I hear this is a good
comparison.  Instead of creating your character on paper, you create them on
the screen.  Describe everything about them.  Some MUDs, allow you to
describe clothing, but others prefer you didn't because clothing is
something you GET.

[ ed. note: unlike other types of games, these make you think, and they make
you work for your character. That's why they were so villified in the 1980's,
it was interfering with the whole 'turn everyone into sheep and make them
follow the herd' master plan. - alienb ]

    I can't describe how awesome some MUDs are, you have to try them for
yourself.  One thing you should know, most MUDs are not Fight and Die, Fight
and die.  You know, like diablo.  Player Killing is something you just don't
do, without a good reason.  The whole point of MUDs is to role-play.  Create
a character.  Do things that you can't do in real life, because of the
consequences.  The best MUD that I have come across, doesn't really like to
be considered a MUD.  It's called Sindome.  It takes place, in the distant
future.  This is a Quote from the Sindome Website (www.Sindome.org)

    "Sindome is all about playing a role in the struggle of the haves versus
the
have-nots. The corporations have grown larger than the countries they were
once entities of, their wealth and power allowing them to build a refuge
away from the chaos that has befallen the globe. Once invested in their
failed salvation, a city was born out of their necessity to turn a profit.
The blood, sweat and very lives of the first citizens a testament to the
inequality that has existed since it's birth, the city teems with the
overflowing masses of corporate drones and ramshackle destitute. With the
law empowering it's patrolmen to be judge, jury and executioner, the haves
have a distinct advantage over the population that is forbidden from owning
firearms themselves."

    If you want some awesome RP, check out Sindome.  My writing skills don't do
justice to the addictiveness of MUDs.  They are incredibly fun.  I spend
hours on Sindome everyday.  It's hard to explain what draws me in, my only
advice is to check it out yourself.

-Nemisis


PA1Nv4x05----------------------------------------------??????????-------?---??-
                   --->[    RANT: Working with Women      ]<---
                   --->[         The White Rabbit         ]<---
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv4x05
---?-----------?-???????----?--???????---???[ I am jack's testosterone. ]------

                READ ME OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR GODDAMN PEACE:
                -------------------------------------------
                    
     I was sent this article by WR, and I laughed so hard, my insides hurt. 
     If you don't have a sense of humor, fuck off, really. Just fuck off. 
     However, if you're a member of the opposite gender (do the math,)
     then by all means compile a well thought retort, and e-mail it to 
     myself or Turnspike.   
                                             [ - alienb., editor in cheif ]
                                            
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Before the flames start flying, let me just say this.  Every woman, and
person, is different and should be judged on their own personal merits.
However, for the purpose of this rant, I'm going to be talking in huge,
sweeping generalities, which I personally believe are true.  If you don't
agree with them, tough shit.
    So, I work in an office filled with women.  Of a hundred or so employees, I
am one of about four guys.  I've learned a lot from this frustrating
experience, not to mention cashing in on all the older, single divorc�es.
What I've learned mostly just reinforces my conviction that if I ever start
my own business, I will discreetly hire only men.  Why is this?  I thought
you'd never ask.

    It's never a bad time to call in.  In my year with the company, I've
learned
that women cannot go more than a week without calling in sick.  Got a
headache?  Call in sick.  Got the sniffles?  Call in sick.  Farted and
didn't like the smell?  Call in sick!  Of course, they're not really sick
the majority of the time, but women seem to have this amazing way of
self-hypnotizing themselves into believing it.  And on the rare times when
they aren't able to muster up the acting chops to fake it, the kids being
sick is always a wonderful alternative.  I've been at my job a year and have
never once called in.  Yet, for some reason, the women can't understand why
our "cruel bosses" saw fit to grant me three weeks off for vacation when
they can't even request a full week.  It's a mystery, indeed.

    Productivity.  Call me crazy, but I can't do my job and talk at the same
time.  It's hard enough to trying to remember the insane requirements of
every county recorder's office in the nation, but trying to do that while
listening to how someone's ex-husband is a bum is next to impossible.  Yet,
somehow, the women seem to manage it.  Oh wait--no, they don't.  Maybe
that's why out of the herd of women in the office, only a handful ever make
their daily quotas, while the the few of us men consistently double and
sometimes triple it.  Maybe if they quit composing diatribes about how their
husbands don't appreciate them and turned off their goddamn cell phones,
they'd get a little more work done.  But what do I know, right?

    The temperature.  If listening to the constant clucking of a coop of hens
isn't bad enough, I must engage in a bloodthirsty war with the women over
the temperature of the office.  I sit in my plush chair for hours, itching,
sweat literally running down my back.  And I'm a thin guy, people, so it
takes a lot to make me sweat.  However, it seems the women of the office
aren't comfortable unless the temperature is just under that of the seventh
circle of Hell.  The thermometer at the water cooler smiles at me with
eighty degrees every time I walk by.  I wallow in my own damp filth as long
as I can endure, until I finally snap and demand they lower the temperature,
only waiting that long because I hate rocking the boat.  Of course, at this
point, I get to endure the constant bitching about how it's freezing and
their ever-so-dramatic acting as they walk around hugging their elbows as if
it's the goddamn antarctic.  If you're cold, you can always put on a sweater
or coat.  If you're hot, there's nothing you can do, outside of stripping
naked and going to jail.  What's complicated about that?

    Objectivity.  I don't bring my bullshit to work and would personally feel
embarassed if I did, but by-God women don't seem to have that hangup.  If we
go more than one day in the office without someone bawling their eyes out or
getting into a screaming match, then it's a good day to visit Hell because
it's snowing down there.  Women seem to have this inability to show others
respect if they're having a bad day, specifically co-workers and even
bosses, both of whom they are obligated to treat civilly.  It might be
insane that you can't communicate with the employees you need to do your
job, but your female supervisor will just shrug and tell you that so-and-so
is "having some problems" and not to bother them.

I just thank God I'm not the poor schmuck owner who's paying these people to
have "me time."

Help wanted.  Women need not apply.

In a perfect world...

-----------?------------??????????????????---[ I am jill's cautionary note ]---
PA1Nv4x06----------------------------------------------------------------------
                 --->[      Times they are a changing    ]<---
                 --->[             alienbinary           ]<---
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv4x06
-?------------?---????????????-----------???????????---------??????????????????

[Preface]: As I write this, the FIRE lights are on strobe mode in my entire
dormitory. Before you even think to ask, I have absolutely nothing to do with
it. As it turns out, some bright kid decided to pull the pins off the fire
extinguishers, and then empty them into the trash cans. Apparently, this kid
did not know that the Carbon Dioxide released from those canisters would set
off the fire alarms, and he probably has no idea of what the consequences are. 
    This article is not trying to convince everyone out there to be perfect law
abiding citizens, or to shun everyone who breaks the rules. I'm writing this
because I remember a time when the Cookbook wasn't considered "terrorist
information" by the Homeland Security Agency, which didn't actually exist when
I was young enough to find such text files intriguing. Regardless, after all
that's transpired in the past few decades, it's time for a legal refresher
course for all the new kids on the scene who think that what they find on the
internet is all just harmless fun. Admittedly, I think most of it is. I could
care less if some kid wants to read about how to make a pipe bomb, I don't care
if he builds one. I just don't want to know about it, much less be around when
he screws up and rips himself a new one. Regardless, here's how much things
have changed since I was lucky enough to be called a lame script kiddie about
ten years and some change ago on anarcho-chaos boards and hotline servers.

Section A: Remember the old 'cigarette in the trash can "prank"?'

    There are a number of really, well, not all that useful text files by the
Jolly Roger and his successor, Exodus, on the cigarette timer. I don't even
need to explain what the hell this is, it's common sense. Cigarettes when not
extinguished can light materials that are combustible. If you needed a text
file to tell you that, stay the fuck out of the hardware stores, and DON'T
SMOKE.  Well, although I've seen a lot of kids do that when I was in high
school (ages ago,) if you do it now, it's not a harmless joke to the people in
charge.
    Unfortunately, since the obscenely high rate of school shootings went up,
the fear of bombs, arson, guns, knives and even cuticle scissors has gone up
drastically to the point of hysteria. The last year I spent in public high
school, on the last day, several kids lit trash cans in the parking lots on
fire. Now, it's important to note that NO ONE GOT HURT, but nonetheless, it was
reckless, stupid, and a lot of fun to watch from down the hill where I sat
smoking cigarettes and watching the chaos.
    I also got to see several local police cruisers encroach upon the kids
responsible with guns drawn, and safeties off, one man on point with the gun
issuing orders, his partner flanking him, with open handcuffs. Everyone in the
situation was arrested and charged with arson. There was a time when setting a
trash can on fire was just setting a trash can on fire. Now, it's "attempted
murder and reckless endangerment by means of combustion." If you think I'm
making that up, go ahead, be an idiot, and find out for yourself.

Section B: Beating up the bully

    You remember how dad used to tell you, every time you came home all
bloodied from some dumb bastard with more testosterone than amino acids, to
stand up for yourself? Well, although that worked for me, it's not really
allowed anymore. Zero-tolerance laws are some of the most ridiculous laws out
there, because of situations like this. I have known several close friends to
be suspended if not expelled, because they through a punch back at some well
deserving moron. In fact, I have one friend who got suspended for letting them
kick his ass all over town.
    The rules, as they were related to me when I had barged unannounced into
the administration building to ask what the fuck was going on when self-defense
was outlawed, for that matter, why nonviolence had been given the boot too, I
was shown a newly drafted zero-tolerance bill that said in the state of
Massachusetts, all parties involved in a physical altercation are to be
penalized, regardless of who the aggressor was. This, needless to say, caused
me to ask for the real rule, since self-defense had always been legal.
    That was it. That was the new rule. So, I honestly don't know what to tell
you kids, if there are kids reading this, to do in a bully situation. I haven't
given it much thought, because I believed that regardless of the rules, people
fuck with my friends, they have the rest of us to answer to. I believe in
cleaning up your own damn neighborhood. And yes, I got in trouble for it too.
The important thing to take away from this is an acute understanding that your
entire life can be thrown away depending on how you react, even when you aren't
at fault. Ignorance of the law is unfortunately not amnesty from the law. 

Section C: Fire Safety Equipment

    I have no love for these idiots anyway, the ones who pull fire alarms and
break smoke detectors, but I'll clue everyone in on this one too. The rules
I'll mention have already been in place, but now the system likes to play the
"terrorism" card, and suggest that instead of being an asshole, you're actually
trying to somehow damage the critical infrastructure by pulling the fire alarm
to skip out on an exam.
    
    Here's a story for you, as relayed from a good friend of mine. 
    On her way  back from Spain, she overheard two gentlemen about 
    her age arguing in the back of the cabin. One of them was saying 
    in both Spanish and English "fuck. I need a goddamn cigarette," 
    or "I'm gonna fucking smoke any ways," or of course "they don't 
    REALLY mean that." Yes, they really did, and they really really 
    do. About five minutes later, the kid having the nicotine fit 
    gets up from his chair, and locks himself in the lavatory located 
    at the very end of the 747. Two minutes after he's been in there, 
    the entire cabin floods with cigarette smoke, but the smoke 
    detectors remain silent. During the two or so minutes he was 
    in the bathroom, he disabled the smoke detector, and smoked 
    a single cigarette. Upon exiting the lavatory, a cloud of smoke 
    billowed into the faces of several very pissed off flight attendants 
    who informed him that he was under orders from the captain to take 
    a seat until landing, where he would be escorted to the custody of 
    three very unhappy agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
    and the Transportation Safety Administration, along with U.S. 
    Customs and several other rather intimidating agencies. All of 
    this turned out to be true, my friend saw him walk away escorted 
    by an entourage of heavily armed Federal Agents, him in manacles 
    and handcuffs.

    So, now you're wondering what the punishment was. The charge was "tampering
with federally licensed fire safety equipment" and "reckless endangerment." His
estimated sentence, when I looked it up, was about 25 years in jail and a
quarter of a million dollars fine. Yes, that's $250,000 USD. The fine is
mandatory, the prison sentence is up to the judge.

    So this brings me back to tampering with fire equipment. It's now
considered anything from attempted murder, damaging critical emergency response
infrastructure, to domestic terrorism. I have no idea what else they call it, I
don't care to find out either. Regardless, it's not something kids get
suspended for, no one's that lucky now. As a matter of fact, the majority of
fire alarms have an ultraviolet spray that is irremovable for several days, and
covers the forearms and face of the person pulling the alarm. Police offices,
security guards and firemen all have backlights that will light the offender
up, and catch them irrefutably. After the person is caught, you can just run
through the scenario I mentioned before. Moral of the story: it's not a silly
prank anymore, it's a major federal crime. Whether I think this is necessary or
not, I honestly don't know and don't care. The important part is that people
don't throw away their lives in the name of stupid kid stuff. The world is
trying to make all "stupid kid stuff" into a form of terrorism, like it or not.


Section D: Saying anything at all, ever.

    This is the part where I explain the disclaimers and legalese at the front
and back of every issue of PA1N. What you have to realize, is that since the
Patriot Act, the Homeland Security Act and all the other really ridiculously
Orwellian laws have been passed, you can put yourself in danger of being
indicted on thought crime for just saying what you think.
    If you don't believe me, I'll send you over to a case in Oregon, regarding
a man calling himself Israel Humphreys, a christian activist (scary concept, no
offense.) who was charged with threatening to kill the president. The basis of
his being arrested by the secret service was a reference to the biblical
burning bush, during a discussion of the upcoming visit by President George W.
Bush to Sioux Falls. You can find the story, among other places, here:
http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=16929 .

    Now, at PA1N, we are unfortunately aware of the fact that there are huge
swatches of people who hate us for saying what we think, and exercising our
freedom of speech, as it is most certainly protected under the First Amendment
of the United States Constitution. Furthermore, as Editor in Chief, I simply
don't believe in censorship. If something doesn't get printed in this magazine,
that's because I didn't think it was appropriate for the context, but I always
encourage them to submit the article to other publications. Free speech is what
made our country great, it's too bad it's all but forgotten and dismembered
now.

[In closing]: Rather than recall everything I've said, I'll summarize. When I
was growing up, kids did "kid stuff." Boys (and the really cool girls) owned
firecrackers and put them on the backs of G.I. Joe action figures or Barbie
Dolls and made craters in their lawns. Kids set small fires because that's what
kids do. Children made idle threats because everyone understood that they were
idle. I'm sorry to be the harbinger of bad news, but the world is now populated
by people who either don't understand these basic concepts, or simply don't
care. As much as I would like it to be otherwise, I think the latter is the
case. Under the guise of "protecting America," every little stunt kids used to
pull has been dragged into the courtroom along with downloading music, stealing
traffic signs and simply wearing clothing that expresses any political views
whatsoever. 
    The good news is, I'm not too worried right now, and here's why:

    "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
    religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; of abridging 
    the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people 
    peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for the 
    redress of grievances." 

                        --The First Amendment to the 
                          Constitution of the United States of America

    For those of you that are unaware of the principles the USA was founded
upon, I encourage all of you to visit:

http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/charters_of_freedom/bill_of_rights/
amendments_1-10.html, and learn something. 

-----------?----------??????????????-?????------[ I am jack's painful truth. ]-
PA1Nv4x07----------------------------------------------------------------------
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                 --->[               angel ice                ]<---
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv4x07
-?------------?---???????---???---?????????????--------------????????----------
                                  
      +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
      | "'Why do you come hither? Have you no trust in your husband?"   |
      | cried he impetueously. "Would you throw the blight of that      |
      | fatal birth-mark over my labors? It is not well done. Go,       |
      | prying woman, go!'                                              |
      |                                                                 |
      | 'Nay, Aylmer.' said Georgiana, with the firsmness of which      | 
      | she possessed no stinted endowment, 'it is not you that have    | 
      | a right to compain. You mistrust your wife! You have conceiled  |
      | the anxiety with which you watch the developement of this       |
      | experiment. Think not so unworthily of me, my husband! Tell me  |
      | all the risk we run; and fear not that I shall shrunk, for my   |
      | share in it is far less than your own!'"                        |
      |                                                                 |
      |                       - excerpt from'The Birth-Mark'            |
      |                         Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1843               |
      +-----------------------------------------------------------------+

-?------------?---???????---???---?????????????--------------????????----------


    Trust... I used to put so much emphasis on this word. I don't trust many
people, and when I do it isn't easy. But it seems to me that everyone I've ever

put my trust in has let me down in some way or another. Who do you trust? 
You're probably thinking: my best friend, my significant other, my family, 
my teacher, or maybe you're thinking... no one but myself. Those of you who 
are thinking no one, you're one of the lucky ones. Trust is a tricky concept. 
Is it earned, is it given, can it be broken? What constitutes as breaking 
someone's trust? When you're significant other cheats on you? Well do you 
expect them to give you back every gift you've given them when that happens? 
Then why, if trust truly is given, would you expect them to give you your trust

back? Do you just take it back? Is that really fair? I'm sure you're thinking 
now, "well they cheated on me". Yeah and I'm sure you're a perfect saint. But 
that's not my point. My point is that trust is the most flimsy word in the 
English language, and people waste their whole lives worrying about it.

           I'm sure you've had a best friend, a boyfriend or girlfriend, or
dare I say... soul mate (for all of you who have a soul mate, God help you). If
you have, or do have, one of those people in your life, then I'm sure you are a
very "trusting" person. Putting a title like one of those on someone is giving
them an awful lot of power over you. Now they can use phrases such as: "but I'm
you're best friend" or "but I need you you're my soul mate". Good luck coming
up with something to say when they pull that. What are you supposed to do say
screw you? Yeah, now you're a great friend. Well let me fill you in on where
you are now; you now have screwed yourself into not being able to turn them
away. But now there's more. Have you ever told your best friend, boyfriend/
girlfriend, etc, that you trust them? You're killing yourself you know that
right? Ok just checking. Now not only can you not turn them away but if you
ever suspect, cheating, stealing, back stabbing, talking about you behind your
back, (the list goes on but I'll stop), now you can never call them on it.
Because if you do they can now use the phrase I know you have all heard at
least once, "don't you trust me?" I rest my case.

           What should you do about it you ask? Well let me tell you. Stop
trusting people. Yes you can do that, no I'm not crazy. Yes you can still have
friends if you do this, in fact you can still have a best friend, and a
boyfriend/ girlfriend, soul mate (if you have the balls). It isn't really the
titles that makes us vulnerable to let down, it's the trust. Have you ever
heard the phrase "if you don't expect anything then you can't be disappointed"?
Well it's the same concept. If you don't trust anyone, then your trust will
never be broken. I don't expect you to sit in the corner being paranoid, never
telling you secrets to someone. Go ahead tell your secrets to people, but don't
be so damn shocked when they tell other people. Not trusting people is like
accepting the fact that no one is perfect. Coming to terms with the fact that
people have hormones and make bad judgments, not everyone will cheat, but some
will. Not everyone will blab your life to the world, but some will. Can you
really say that you trust someone even though you know they will back stab you?
No, to trust someone, generally, you have to believe that they aren't going to
do anything to hurt you. So not only are you holding them to impossible
standards, but you're making in harder on yourself. Accept that they aren't
perfect, they may in fact screw up, and move on with your pathetic existence.
If you truly don't expect them to be perfect then you can't be quite as hurt
when they aren't.

           I know that this whole thing sounds like the incessant rambling of a
bitter and cynical girl trying to gain revenge on cheating boyfriends and
backstabbing best friends, but it's really not. I'm not trying to save you
either. I'm just trying to give you a little bit of perspective. Take my
advice, don't take my advice. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. But if
you don't take my advice, then you might. To quote Linkin Park, "trusting you
just takes so much out of me". It's so true isn't it? How many times have you
agonized about whether or not a person was trustworthy, or if you could really
trust your significant other? Sucks doesn't it; worrying if you put your trust
in the wrong person? Well if my advice didn't make sense before...

More than half the people in the world are a bunch of assholes that will screw
you over. More than half of those people will do it without you even knowing.
How do you know that the person you trust more than anyone isn't manipulating
you? You don't know people as well as you think. Drop everything that you
believed about people being inherently good, that's a myth. Now listen to me
for one second without judgment. What if that person has planned everything
even how you'll react to certain things? Yes it is possible. What if everything
they have done, even the bad things, was simply testing you? What if they're
planning something so horrible that it will haunt you for the rest of your
life? I promise you, you'll never see it coming. These people are amazing at
what they do, I mean why wouldn't they be, they've practiced their whole lives.
I don't want to make you paranoid; I just want to make you cautious. Pay more
attention to times when they seem to do things that just seem too perfect, or
too good to be true, they might just be. Pay attention to people who seem to be
testing your limits, they probably are. Just like a child who will see how much
they can do wrong before they get punished, manipulators will do the same. They
will push you a little further each time. And then, when you hit your limit and
you get mad they'll be just a little too quick to apologize. People like this
need to be stopped please pay attention. Also pay attention to when your
friends or family start to have concerns or worries about the person. You may
think that they are just being too quick to judge, or that they don't know the
person like you do, but maybe, perhaps, you just can't see what they're doing.

           So don't assume that you're safe, anything can happen to you. I'm
sure you don't live in a bubble so don't act like you do. Don't trust people
it's a waste of time and energy. Like them, hell even love them; just don't
expect them to be flawless. And if you are going to trust people, even though I
warned you, at least don't be too quick to trust. And remember, you're the only
person you can control. You can't control other people's actions so stop
worrying. If they let you down, then they let you down, deal with it when the
time comes. Worrying is only going to make you stressed, and you'll die sooner
because of it. So accept the fact that you can't do shit, and concentrate on
making yourself happy. Life is full of white lies, mistrust, illusions,
forgiveness, and 2nd chances. In this sick world we smile at the fact that
we're not the only one's who are getting screwed, and we go on with our lives.


PA1N Issue #4 CONTINUED


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----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv4x08
-?------------?---???????---???[ I am jack's utter disregard for decency ]-----


_________________________ I swear, we don't have a problem here at rantradio...

<apanthropy> well, it's become apparent to me that I have not putenough alcohol
inside of myself
?1;33mapanthropy/#rantradio goes off to rectify the low blood alcohol content
problem

___________________________________________________ Night, Dawn, Day of the...

<mephyt> why the fuck is EVERYTHING 'of the dead'
<Spyder> lol
<mephyt> thats so fucking retarded
<mephyt> look, it's a fuzzy pink bunny! (of the dead)
<mephyt> gah

___________________________________________________________ One hit wonders...

<zandad> my blood type's krylon technicolor type a

<sleptingmonkey> wifigurl, find me some porn... you seem to be good at finding
things.

<GoodVillain> im going to make a p2p app called "Fuck RIAA"

<apanthropy> GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHH FUCK FUCKETY FUCK FUCKER FUCK
FUCK FUCK SHIT FUCK PISS ASS NADS!

<MissConduct> i haven't been able to type all fucking day
<sleptingmonkey> You just typed all fucking day

<Violent_Solution> i think tonight was  " i got beat up by the kewl kids
entirely too much in highschool " night at taco bell

_______________________________________ "I am the all-American Anti-Christ"...

<Gryphin> so, black suit, black shirt, blood red tie, blood red hair, devil
tail, nice dark pair
          of shades
<Gryphin> simple, eloquent, and a damn good looking devil
<alienbinary> oh I thought you were going for a job interview

_______________________________________ Turnspike's gonna smack me for this...

<Gryphin> that's what you damn kids get for smoking that damn mariyouwanna
<alienbinary> who's picture is on spfd2600's home?
<alienbinary> the priceless thing
<shagz> hehe 
<shagz> Turnspikes
<alienbinary> hahaha
<alienbinary> I thought it looked.... dude you're WRECKED
<Turnspike> heh
<alienbinary> that's fuckin funny
<Turnspike> I have no idea what time at night that was taken
<alienbinary> that's some seriously funny shit
<shagz> anyone play with gentoo yet?
<Turnspike> prolly around 1 0r 2 am I would guess
<alienbinary> you all candy ravered up
<alienbinary> wow.
<alienbinary> this log's going into issue 4
<alienbinary> that's just the kind of thing I needed to cheer me up.
<Turnspike> I am still paying for a nights worth of raving
<shagz> hehe
<Turnspike> I totaly fucked my ankle up
<alienbinary> what'd you take?
<Turnspike> nothing
<Turnspike> beer
<alienbinary> you're DRIZZED
<alienbinary> fuckin hell, how much beer?
<mephyt> bbl
??1;31m? mephyt is now known as meph|bbl
<Turnspike> I am just on my third
<Turnspike> the beer isn't so much for the pain of the ankle, just for all the
other little pains
            of life
<alienbinary> no, man, I mean in the picture
<Turnspike> oh...believe it or not, nothing but sugar
<alienbinary> you're shitfaced. sloshed. smashed.
<alienbinary> you're KIDDING
<Apoc> LoL
<alienbinary> what are you, hypoglycemic?
<Turnspike> yeah...I did nothing that night
<alienbinary> jeeeez. I'm afraid of sugar now, it's official.
<Turnspike> I think it was just bad cam shot....it was pretty dark in there, so
I think the
            shutter was prolly open too long and blured things a bit
<Turnspike> yeah...that's my story

___________________________________ A very Philip K. Dick moment in the IRC...

<Kexler> yay my own computer
?1;33mKexler/#rantradio hugs his system
<CaponeX> No fraternization between humans and computers. 
<Kexler> shh one day i will be one with the machine though
<CaponeX> If you can...*cough*...fit into the USB port, go for it.
?1;33mCaponeX/#rantradio chuckles

__________________________________________________________ On writer's block...

<Turnspike> you ever have so much to write about you don't know what to put
down on paper (so to
            speak)?
<CaponeX> Hasta Lambada!
<Turnspike> aloha
<Kasei> everyday TS, thats why 
??1;31m? SignOff CaponeX: #rantradio (Quit: chumba chumba)
<Kasei> i cant get anythign done
<alienbinary> yes. I usually do, and I pass out after I finally write it. 
<Coyote23> TS....yes.....just start with "...and then I snorted coke off the
hooker's ass..." 
           That's where I usually start
<Kasei> that and I spell like a 3 year old russian kid

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-?------------?---???????---??????????????????????????????--------------???----

    This will make everyone mad. What I have to say is venomous and corrupt. It
will distort your views of America, and destroy your visions of a perfect
colonial history, should you be dumb enough to have one. Regardless, I write
this peice on Colombus Day, it's the real history of Colombus and Thanksgiving
and the colonization of the American Northeast.
    One thing many people don't know about Christopher Colombus' journey to the
 Americas was that he literally ran into a pile of rocks, and his sinking ship
was rescued by the aboriginees who saw it from the shore. These same aboriginal
tribes were rewarded later by slavery, massacre, rape, torture and genocide.
What people must understand is that for every advancement in American history,
there are several million other less savory truths to be held, which can cast a
darker shadow than the results may cast light.

                               
                               !
    .--------------------------+------------ - - --   -    -
    l                          '
    :   "I think it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and
    |   revolutionize. What makes this duty the more urgent is the 
    |   fact that the country so overrun is not our own, but ours 
    |   is the invading army." |
    !                          '
    i                       -- Henry David Thoreau (1848), 
    '                       "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience"
    '                          I
                               !

    The Conquistadors who followed the entourage of Colombus and his henchmen
were responsible for the slaughter of the Incas, the Aztecs, the Mayas and
thousands of lesser known tribes. This is common knowledge. A lot of people
don't know why this happened, or exactly how the natives all died off. Allow me
to enlighten you:

    When Colombus told Ferdinand and Isabella of the "New World," he promised
gold and spices and riches that he had no plausible reason to beleive existed
in the South American continent, having never set foot in an inland jungle.
Colombus knew then, as he did when he returned, that all the riches were going
to have to be extracted from the indiginous peoples of the American Isles.
Since Queen Isabella had given ships, men, and financed the expeditions in
gold, it was most important to retrieve large quantities of gold from the new
world. Unfortunately, he didn't know what the Incas did, which was that gold
didn't grow like moss, it was an element, one that surfaced occasionally to the
very patient. 
    When Colombus and his henchmen would observe a tribe, they would make note
of the precious elements worn by the leaders. He would then strong arm the
leader into giving up all their belongings, most likely executing them even if
they chose to comply. The Native Americans, according to history, generally
were compliant, but not in any way that was acceptable for Colombus or his
"mission." 
    To set an example to those who would seek to give less than adequate sums
of riches to the new conquering parties, Colombus ordered any male who would
not lead them to the tribal riches to be executed by asphyxiation; asphyxiation
caused by pouring molten gold down the throats of the victims. After this, it
was not uncommon, according to native recounts of the story that have been
passed on generation by generation, for him and his cronies to seek out the
most nubile and ripe of the boys, and rape them. So I have a question to raise,
if I might. Why do we have a national holiday celebrating the brutal rape and
murder of millions of people? Isn't that something we should teach our children
NOT to tolerate, let alone revel in? Apparently, no one has seen a reason to
stop.
    
    Perhaps I shall propose a few reasons why Colombus Day remains, before I
move on to butcher the most anglophiliac American holidy of all, Thanksgiving.
If it weren't for this facade put over the true character of Colombus, were
would car dealerships get their reasons for liquidation sales? What reason
would school children have to miss school, and what reason could the local
governments come up with to have school marching bands dress up and play
european brass music and march like soldiers through the streets while little
kids waved American flags? Tough one, isn't it. I guess tradition is hard to
kill.

    So let's move on to thanksgiving day. It's a little known fact among White
European Americans that Thanksgiving is to the Native Americans what the
holocaust is to the jewish people. A lot of people might suggest that this is
an overreaction. Sure, if you think that smallpox is equivical to a minor cold.

    When the early settlers of the Mass Bay colonies found that the Pequot
indians wouldn't surrender, or defect from the leadership of their tribes, a
solution was proposed by one General Jeffrey Amherst, after whom the Ivy League
college is named, the then Governer of Massachuessetts. His solution was one of
the first instances of biological terrorism used since catapaults launched
plague infected carcasses into townships during the Dark Ages. His idea was so
simple, yet strategically sound, that one might consider him a military genius.
I think he was an asshole and a coward, but that's my opinion. The plan that
was executed was to distribute blankets among the tribes who wouldn't
cooperate, offering them as gifts, and even claiming that they would innoculate
the tribespeople against the diseases that were rapidly killing the native
tribes. 
    Ever since that fucking Mayflower landed on that stupid rock, a western
strain of smallpox had been carried to the New World. Since our immune systems
are built based on what we are used to, the settlers had anti-bodies to take
care of such nuisances. The natives, however, died in hundreds. One of the
bloodiest massacres among the colonists and the tribes was not fought with guns
or swords, but simply through touch.
    Amherst ordered blankets to be distributed, as I said before. These
blankets had been taken from smallpox victims, well saturated in the plague,
and then given to the native americans to disseminate the strain. Amherst's
plan was so successful, I have trouble finding just one main tribe that was his
target according to google. It appears that the smallpox "innoculation" killed
so many people, in such a short period of time, that it was merely written off
as a sign from god. Yes, the same god we call to when we say "God Bless
America."

    Starting with colombus day and carrying through Thanksgiving is a funeral
procession. Perhaps you have never read the signs on the sandwich boards
carried by protestors in the streets during these holidays. Maybe you never
cared. But this is why they are out there every year, mourning the death of
scores, no, hundreds if not thousands of tribes of Native Americans because of
the greed and self-serving interests of the colonial powers. I hope this sits
well with you when you sit down at your steaming hot turkey. If it doesn't
bother you enough to keep you from toasting, then look around your table and
tell me that those who came to celebrate have any idea of the genocide they
support. After all, how the fuck could Christopher Colombus discover America if
millions of people were already HERE?

Happy ethnic cleansing month from alienbinary.

P.S. Fuck you Hallmark.


                  +-----------------------------------------------+
                  :                                               |
                  |     We reject your assumptions that we must   |
               +--+     follow the herd.                 - - -- --+--- -   -
               |  |                                               |
               :  | We reject your beleif that we are nothing     I
               '  ! but mere sheep.                               |
               .  |                                      +--------+--------+
                  | We reject your excuses and alibies.  |        '        |
                  |                                      |                 |
                  ! We're stronger than your abuse.      |  WE REJECT YOUR | 
                  |                                      i       WORLD.    |
                  +--------------------------------------|            .    |
                                                         +------------+----+
                                                                      |
                                                                      '
                                                                      
-----------?------------??????????????????????---------------------------------
PA1Nv4x10----------------------------------------------??????????-------?---??-
                 --->[   Sanctions Vs. Slaughter   ]<---
                 --->[       the White Rabbit      ]<---
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv4x10
-?------------?-??????????----?--???????---???[ I am jack's reality check. ]---
        
    President Bush declared end to "major combat" on May 1, 2003.  Technically,
the war is over, but it sure doesn't feel that way does it?  Democrats are
claiming that the war was an immoral mistake.  Republicans are claiming that
we made the moral decision.  Many people still sport little flags in support
of our troops.  Many others still protest what we did and rail against the
United States.  But you know what I think?

                    I think they're all full of shit.

    I would love it if the world were full of easy decisions.  I wish I could
be one of the people blindly following one of the stances on Iraq. 
Unfortunately, when the war was beginning, the two big choices of "war is
evil" or "nuke the 'ragheads'" just didn't cut it for me.  So, let's get into
why this bitch is so complicated.

    On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait.  Four days later, the United
Nations Security Council imposed comprehensive economic sanctions on Iraq. 
Under
these sanctions, all imports into Iraq, except medical supplies, and all
exports from Iraq were prohibited, unless the Security Council permitted an
exception.

So what, right?  What's the big deal with sanctions?

    The idea behind sanctions is to try and force a country's government to do,
or not do, a particular thing or to get the citizens angry enough to
overthrow their government.  In this case, it was to force Saddam Hussein to
disarm and other admirable goals.  Right off the bat you might be wondering,
what kind of sense does it make to do this to a government who cares more
about building palaces than feeding its own people?  Every government in the
world will put its own survival before the welfare of its people, and Iraq's
was no different.
    The problem with sanctions is that they target the sick, the poor, and the
elderly.  Basically, they hurt most the people who have the least power to
change anything.  It's been over a decade since the gulf war, and in that
time, we reduced their country's infrastructure to fucking rubble.  Food,
medicine, agricultural supplies, electronic equipment, and pretty much
everything you realistically need to run a country have been impossible for
them to get.  Most Iraqis were forced to live on a semi-starvation diet, and
some farm lands have been damaged beyond simple repair.  Hospitals and
clinics many times had to operate without anesthesia.  Infant mortality
skyrocketed and the rate of death of children under five doubled.
    The United States and Britain stated time and again that they would block
the lifting of the sanctions as long as Saddam Hussein was in power.  You
won't find an Iraqi who doesn't know what the sanctions are, but nobody
cared in our country.  Is it any wonder that the Iraqi people hated us?
Saddam Hussein wasn't the one starving them into the Stone Age, we were, and
the Iraqis were smart enough to know this.

    I believe invading Iraq was wrong, but I supported the invasion.  I
supported it because the Iraqis are as human as we are, and the only way
they were ever going to have a life worth living was by lifting the
sanctions.  And unfortunately, the only way the sanctions were going to be
lifted was by going to war and removing Saddam Hussein.  It's a terrible
thing that our country put the sanctions there in the first place, but the
fact is they would never have removed them with Hussein in power.
    I didn't support the war because it was the right option.  I supported the
war because it was the only option.  It might be years off, but with the
sanctions lifted, the Iraqis will finally have a chance at a life of dignity
and self-respect, which is something everyone deserves.  Instead of deciding
which hollow moral stance they're going to take, whether it be against war
or for it, maybe next time our government will try to do what's best for
other human beings.

    But hey, if you're one of those people who think it's as simple as "war is
evil," please keep protesting.  Personally, I don't want the blood of
thousands of malnourished babies on my hands, but that's just me.

-----------?------------??????????????????????---------------------------------
PA1Nv4x11----------------------------------------------??????????-------?---??-
                     --->[ Understand and Decoding OSCAR ]<---
                     --->[           Nemisis             ]<---
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv4x11
-?-----?-????----?--???????---?????????????[ I am jack's Instant Messenger ]---

NOD Part One: Understanding and Decyphering OSCAR Packets

                        [ Part 1: Introduction ]

    The purpose of this document is not to replace the existing OSCAR documents
so to speak, but to be a precursor to them, and fill in the gaps that they
leave. The problem I first noticed when I began my work with the OSCAR
protocol, is that all the documents use terminology, that many are unfarmiliar
with. The documents are more of a reference then an actual guide to
understanding the protocol. They were all written while in the mindset 
that someone who was already farmiliar with the protocol, or atleast protocols 
in general would be using them. It is my hope, that this document will correct 
those assumptions, and bring oscar to a more user friendly level, by giving a 
less familar user the ability to utilize it. The example packets in this 
document  have been recreated. Some of the information has been changed to 
protect privacy, and some to make things easier. I hope that after reading 
this document, and viewing the examples that you will be ready to start working
with OSCAR. I also hope that after reading this, you will be able to make good 
use of documents such as kingant.net and FAIM. Let me just say that this 
document is of course, incomplete. It is a compilation of my knowledge of 
OSCAR. As my knowledge grows, so will this document. Some of you that are 
reading this, will find that the first part of this document, which is a 
backround on the terminology, and the makeup of the protocol in general to 
be dull, and you may wish to skip ahead.

                            [ real basics ]

Protocol - In our case, a protocol is a means with which data is transfered 
from Point A to Point B. The protocol is a set of rules that are applied 
to construct the data before it is sent, so that upon arival it can be 
decoded, and used. The most common protocol is TCP and IP. Normally 
written as TCP/IP it should not be confused as one protocol, it is 
two independent ones.

How is the data sent? - Data sent using the oscar protocol is sent using 
TCP (transmission control protocol). The TCP packet has the oscar packet 
embedded within it. If your using Spynet Packet Sniffer, the TCP part of 
the packet apears in the first three lines of the packet, and the OSCAR 
packet (Starting with an asterix) Starts mid way through the third line.

0000:  00 E0 98 76 5C A7 00 08 20 D8 0B FC 08 00 45 00 ...v\... .....E.
0010:  00 9E B3 D7 40 00 28 06 1E AC 40 0C 1D 7B 41 60 ....@.(...@..{A`
0020:  E0 EF 14 46 08 FD 8C 0B 50 C6 5C A4 9A A5 50 18 ...F....P.\...P.
0030:  40 00 8A 99 00 00 2A 02 C1 89 00 5A 00 13 00 03 @.....*....Z....
0040:  00 00 00 00 00 02 00 04 00 2E 01 90 00 3D 00 C8 .............=..
0050:  00 C8 00 01 00 01 00 96 00 0C 00 0C 00 00 00 32 ...............2
0060:  00 32 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 .2..............
0070:  00 00 00 0A 00 01 00 0C 00 02 00 02 00 FE 00 03 ................
0080:  00 02 01 FC 00 05 00 02 00 64 00 06 00 02 00 61 .........d.....a

Notice the * that is the first part of the FLAP header.  We will look into
this in further detail later.

    The data is sent as ASCII (American Standard code for information
interchange, Pronounced ASK-Key). At a glace, it will look like a bunch of
gibberish. The graphical representation of the packet is misleading. In the
oscar protocol, Characters (like A B C D 1 2 and 3) can mean a variety of
things, as you will see. ASCII also has graphical character representations 
for things such as the ESC key, and the ENTER button (known as a cariage
return). Almost every key on your keyboard has an ASCII character 
representation. The representation however, will normally be a rectangular 
box, since there is no real graphical representation for the key.
    If you are reading this document, and you downloaded it from
www.NemisisCommunications.com or found that it came with AIM Pimped, You
should also have recived a 'Packet Sniffer' the name of the packet sniffer
is SpyNet. You can install it and use it for 30 days, after that you will 
have to register it, After installing Spynet you should run 'Capture Net' it 
should have installed to your start menu. Capture Net is the packet sniffer. 
Set the Hardware filter to Promiscous, and hit the Modify button. Select only 
TCP/IP. Then go to the port section, and enter 5190, and hit insert. This means
that you are filtering out all packets that are not TCP and all ports that 
are not 5190 (the normal AIM connection port). Hit start, and send an 
Instant Message. You should see the packet appear. Click on the packet, and 
it will show you the contents.
    Now you might be wondering, "what the hell am I seeing?" You're seeing 
two graphical represntations of the packet. The first is hexidecimal, the 
second (to the right) is ASCII. ASCII is how the actual packet is sent, 
but you will notice a lot of periods, "....." and such. 99% of the time, 
when you see a period, its Capture Net, giving a  graphical representation, 
to a Character that has none. (The enter Key, space bar, delete key etc.)

                    [Part 2: Numbering Systems ]

    Numbering systems are complex. There are many of them. We are concerned in
this document with only two. Hexidecimal and Decimal.

Decimal - The decimal system is a Base10 number system. It means that with 10
characters, you can make any number possible. The characters, as i'm sure
you know, are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.

Hexidecimal - Hexidecimal is a Base16 number system. This means that it uses 16
characters to represent all numbers. The Characters, as you may or may not
know, are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, and F. 
When you see a hexidecimal representation of data, you will notice that its 
not AA AB 0 A1 F E. Its AA AB 00 A1 0F 0E. The value is the same, but the 
additional 0 is nessasary.

                    [ Part 3: Decoding a packet ]

    If you got this from www.NemisisCommunications.com or with AIM Pimped, 
You should also have the 'Nemisis OSCAR Packet Tools' program. This is a 
program I made to make decoding an oscar packet easy. If you learn this 
program, and its functions, then decoding packets should be a breeze.

Strip Packets - Strip packets is a button in Oscar Packet tools. It will take 
a full packet, straight from Capture Net such as this....

0000:  00 E0 98 76 5C A7 00 08 20 D8 0B FC 08 00 45 00 ...v\... .....E.
0010:  00 9E B3 D7 40 00 28 06 1E AC 40 0C 1D 7B 41 60 ....@.(...@..{A`
0020:  E0 EF 14 46 08 FD 8C 0B 50 C6 5C A4 9A A5 50 18 ...F....P.\...P.
0030:  40 00 8A 99 00 00 2A 02 C1 89 00 5A 00 13 00 03 @.....*....Z....
0040:  00 00 00 00 00 02 00 04 00 2E 01 90 00 3D 00 C8 .............=..
0050:  00 C8 00 01 00 01 00 96 00 0C 00 0C 00 00 00 32 ...............2
0060:  00 32 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 .2..............
0070:  00 00 00 0A 00 01 00 0C 00 02 00 02 00 FE 00 03 ................
0080:  00 02 01 FC 00 05 00 02 00 64 00 06 00 02 00 61 .........d.....a

And get rid of the ascii etc, so that its just the hex, and then convert the
hex to decimal, to give you something like this....

64 0 241 23 0 0 42 2 193 141 0 195 0 3 0 11 0 0 137 29 31 186 13 67 114 111
115 115 102 105 114 101 67 117 114 116 0 0 0 5 0 1 0 2 0 16 0 13 0 128 9 70
19 72 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 75 76 127 17 209 130 34
68 69 83 84 0 0 116 143 36 32 98 135 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19
65 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 67 76 127 17 209 130 34 68
69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 69 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 70 76
127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 71 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83
84 0 0 0 15 0 4 0 0 104 176 0 29 0 9 0 0 0 5 2 1 210 4 114 0 3 0 4 62 116
167 60 42 2 193 142 0 195 0 3 0 11 0 0 137 29 31 187 13 103 111 100 101 115
115 111 108 111 118 101 49 56 0 0 0 5 0 1 0 2 0 16 0 13 0 128 9 70 19 72 76
127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 75 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83
84 0 0 116 143 36 32 98 135 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 65 76 127
17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 67 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0
0 9 70 19 69 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 70 76 127 17 209
130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 71 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 0 15
0 4 0 2 113 54 0 29 0 9 0 0 0 5 2 1 210 4 114 0 3 0 4 62 114 158 182 42 2
193 143 0 217 0 3 0 11 0 0 137 29 31 188 6 68 65 74 51 49 48 0 0 0 5 0 1 0 2
0 48 0 13 0 128 9 70 19 72 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 75
76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 116 143 36 32 98 135 17 209 130 34 68
69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 65 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 67 76
127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 69 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83
84 0 0 9 70 19 70 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 71 76 127 17
209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 0 15 0 4 0 0 78 244 0 29 0 38 0 0 0 5 2 1 210 4
114 0 1 1 16 82 72 72 219 160 224 214 34 243 46 177 207 39 103 211 221 0 129
0 5 2 2 87 13 210 0 3 0 4 62 116 192 248 42 2 193 144 0 118 0 3 0 11 0 0 137
29 31 189 9 71 114 107 71 105 114 108 49 55 0 0 0 5 0 1 0 2 0 36 0 13 0 32 9
70 19 70 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 116 143 36 32 98 135 17 209
130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 0 14 0 32 9 70 19 70 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84
0 0 116 143 36 32 98 135 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 0 15 0 4 0 0 210 204
0 3 0 4 62 116 61 32 42 2 193 145 1 44 0 1 0 5 128 0 0 1 0 4 0 6 0 1 0 2 0 3
0 13 0 2 0 24 0 5 0 12 54 52 46 49 50 46 50 54 46 50 52 51 0 6 1 0 249 53 10
114 118 135 175 171 128 104 170 116 94 235 167 114 253 72 113 99 225 46 116
78 192 229 114 82 5 76 29 70 214 175 216 147 255 175 172 188 69 215 98 126 8
120 153 118 0 165 255 0 243 34 144 233 239 62 237 109 23 180 224 3 23 85 125
82 25 10 240 89 36 55 91 58 6 42 136 226 255 15 250 205 198 169 132 219 191
204 143 128 176 113 82 173 248 1 118 111 54 225 105 112 101 252 17 17 47 127
119 183 26 23 77 101 22 82 156 148 25 71 251 99 43 201 126 237 207 154 28 66
160 232 176 27 162 98 203 216 181 191 153 107 77 138 118 166 24 87 141 213
70 177 164 67 12 149 3 207 135 11 141 107 232 110 135 109 23 229 82 255 218
118 3 29 25 157 129 189 54 221 177 89 135 250 150 166 77 9 53 248 122 102
158 214 131 211 218 168 72 73 219 80 234 235 194 248 252 164 208 248 154 175
91 144 124 199 11 122 29 148 245 24 168 247 98 234 8 157 93 109 34 77 240
200 20 226 130 6 165 52 23 190 86 27 48 133 115 81 179 95 8 218 98 156 42 2
193 146 0 204 0 3 0 11 0 0 137 29 31 190 16 83 84 105 76 76 32 105 78 32 84
72 79 85 71 72 84 0 0 0 6 0 1 0 2 0 48 0 4 0 2 0 16 0 13 0 128 9 70 19 72 76
127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 75 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83
84 0 0 116 143 36 32 98 135 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 65 76 127
17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 67 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0
0 9 70 19 69 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 70 76 127 17 209
130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 71 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 0 15
0 4 0 0 61 90 0 29 0 9 0 0 0 5 2 1 210 4 114 0 3 0 4 62 116 210 146 42 2 193
147 0 219 0 3 0 11 0 0 137 29 31 192 11 116 104 101 49 100 106 115 109 111
107 105 0 0 0 6 0 1 0 2 0 17 0 4 0 2 0 27 0 13 0 128 9 70 19 72 76 127 17
209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0 9 70 19 75 76 127 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0 0
116 143 36 32 98 135 17 209 130 34 68 69 83 84 0

    You may be asking yourself why were are converting the packet to decimal.
This is the easiest way to view the packet for what it is. Sometimes in
OSCAR, a characters numerical representation (The number is has on 
an ASCII chart) will mean nothing, and sometimes it will mean the 
length of something. So it is imperitive, at least in the begining, to 
change the packets to decimal so we can see where these are.

Get Word - Get Word will take two decimal numbers, and give you there actual
value. This is crucial because you can only represent up to 255 with the ascii
chart, so you need to use two characters to represent one number. So if 
you enter 0 1 you would get back 1. If you entered something like 22 
10 you would get back a number much higher. This usefulness of this 
will become apparent later in this document. A character, as I relate 
to it in this document is the same as a byte. 1 is a character, and it 
takes up a byte.

Get dWord - Get dWord is almost the same as Get Word accept it takes 4 numbers
an gives you there actual value. (ex. 0 0 0 1 would = 1)

TwoByteLen - This is the oposite of Get Word. It takes one number, and gives it
a Two Byte Word value. So 255 would return 0 255.

ASCII Len - This gives you the length of a string of characters, it is useful
in obtaining the length of a packet. (mostly only used for decoding a packet)

Byte - A byte can hold one character. Like A or like 9. That is how they appear
if your viewing the packet in ASCII. If your viewing them in decimal, then your
viewing there numerical representation as relates to the ASCII chart. If
your viewing them in Hex, it would seem like there was two bytes, because 
you see 00, but thats just a graphical representation of one byte, and it 
really just means 0, or Chr(0), or The graphical representation as is 
shown on an ASCII chart.

Capabilities (Caps) - Later in this document we talk about Caps, suffice to say
that for now, you can think of a capabilitiy as a feature. IMs are a cap, and 
File Transfer is a Cap.

FAIM - FAIM was as far as I know, the first OSCAR document. 

                        [ part 4: The FLAP Header ]

    Flap is the first part of the oscar packet. It is made up of 6 bytes. The
first byte is always Chr(42) (an asterix (*)) Whenever your looking for the
start of an oscar packet, you should look for the *. If you have the packet
in decimal form, look for a 42. Be warned though, that Character 42 can apear
when it is not the beggining of a packet, so be sure to look at the rest of
the FLAP header that follows it, and then look for the SNAC data, to make sure
its an actual packet start.
    All data before the first FLAP header can be discarded. Normaly the data
before the FLAP header, is just TCP data, and is not needed. WARNING: Flap
Headers can be misleading, the length is not always what it says it is.

The FLAP header - as was said before, is 6 bytes the first being an asterix.
The second being the channel. The channel tells you what type of data you
should expect next. A normal FLAP Header looks like this in HEX; 
2A 02 C1 89 00 5A

Flap Start Comand - This is ALWAYS an Asterix. In hex it looks like this: 2A 

Channel 1 - This Channel is used for New Connection management. When you
connect to the login server, data is sent on this channel. In Hex it looks 
like this; 01

Channel 2 - This is the main channel. Everything else aside from connection
manegment, and FLAP level errors are sent on this channel. (IMS, Chat, etc). 
In Hex it looks like this; 02

Channel 3 - This channel is used for flap level errors. In Hex it looks like 
this; 03

Channel 4 -  This channel is used when your going to disconnect. You will
rarely, if ever need to use this channel.  In Hex it looks like this: 04

Sequence Number (Word Value) - This part of the header keeps track of the 
number of packets that have been sent.  If you send a packet with an incorrect 
flap header; the server will disconnect you instantly.  The Sequnce number is 
a word value (remember, this means two bytes). If your sending the first 
packet it would of course  be 1, or as a word 0 1 (00 01 in hex).  Keep track 
of these in a variable or some such, and add the flap header as close to real-
time as possible. Meaning right before you send the packet.  In hex it can 
look like this: C1 89

Flap Data Field Length (Word Value) - This is the last part of the packet.  
Its a word value for the length of the data contained in the flap data field.  
Mostly the data in the flap data field will be SNACs, which we will cover 
next.  In hex it can look like this: 5A

                        [ part 5: SNACs ] 

SNACs are a main part of the OSCAR protocol. There what most of the data
sent between the Server and the Client is contructed as. Snacs are only sent
on Channel 2. The make up of a snac is as follows. The Family, Sub Type, 
Flags, Snac Request ID.

The Family - Think of the Family as a numerical representation of a group. For
instance, IM's (also known as ICBMs; Interclient Based Messages) are part of 
family 4. The family is represented by its numeral, and proceeded by a 0. So 
it would look like this 0 4 in decimal or 00 04 is hex.

The Sub Type - If the family is the numerical representation of a group, the
sub type represents a member of the group (or the child). If you want to send 
an IM, you send it with Family 4 and sub type 2. Represented in decimal like 
this, 0 4 0 2. Or in Hex as 00 04 00 02.

The Flags - The flags are a two byte string. Mostly they are not used, and
apear in deciamal as 0 0 and in hex as 00 00.

The Snac Request ID - The snac request ID is a four byte string. It is mostly
un-needed. It keeps track of how many snacs have come in, and how many have 
come out. For all intents and purposes you can just send (Decimal: 0 0 0 0 or 
Hex: 00 00 00 00).

                [ Part 6: Type Length Value's (TLVs) ] 

Type Length Values (Further known as TLVs) are just that. The Type is a two
byte string, the length is a two byte string, and then the value is an a
string that is as long as the Length says it is. In Decimal a normal TLV 
may look like this. 0 1 0 2 0 0

Decoding TLVs - The main reason we decode from hex to deciaml is because of 
TLVs. Its much easier to work with TLVs when you can imeditly see what there 
representing. Take this TLV for instance and lets decode it: 0 1 0 2 0 0

0 1 = the type; 0 2 = thats the length of data that were about to see.
0 0 = thats the two bytes of data the length was talking about.

TLVs can get very complicated, and a TLV can have a TLV inside it like this

0 10 0 2 0 3 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 10 <-- Type
0 2 <-- Len
0 3 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 <--- Value

But Inside the value we have another TLV
0 3 <--Type
0 11 <-- Len
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 <--- Value

This is why decoding is much easier in decimal then hex. Imagine if we had
that same TLV, but in hex form: 
00 0A 00 02 00 03 0B 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

    You would need to know that 0A = 10 and that 0B = 11. Thats not that hard,
but what if it was A3 instead of 0A. Then you would have to de-hex that
anyways, to figure out what it meant. So why not just change everything from
hex to decimal straight away, and save yourself some time.

Value Lengths - I've noticed something that apears in OSCAR packets, that 
has to do most of the time with screennames. I call it a Value Length. Its 
unoffical at most. I've just seen it apear enough to give it its own name. 
It works looks like this.

0 9 52 52 52 52 52 52 52 52 52
0 9 <-- The Length
52 52 52 52 52 52 52 52 52 <---Value

Mostly the 52's would be a screenname. The Value in this case is always an
ASCII string, meaning a screenname or some other text. Sometimes, when your
setting up a chat, its used. I just thought I would put it in, because its
not an actual TLV and it had me confused for awhile.

[ editor's note: this is a portion of NOD, Part One, which can be downloaded 
from www.NemisisCommunications.com. I've edited the shit out of it, to make it 
fit, so consider viewing the complete document for the rest. - alienb. ]

-----------?------------??????????????????????---------------------------------
PA1Nv4x12----------------------------------------------??????????-------?---??-
                     --->[   Purchased Credibility      ]<---
                     --->[          alienbinary         ]<---
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv4x12
-?-----------?-???????----?--???????---???[ I am jack's reputation. ]------

    This is coming straight from my heart, more accurately from the brain, but
the blood that makes my fingertips pound out this rant is rocketing out of my
aorta like an out of control plumbing leak. In my life I have seen what
everyone has seen, but I paid attention to it. I've seen a little more than
some people, and probably, in contrast, a whole lot less. Although I've never
had my home invaded by 'foreign infidels,' been called a terrorist, or had my
family held at gunpoint with me powerless to stop it, I have seen the things
that those people will be fortunate enough to not see.
    What upsets me most about the so-called 'war on terror,' is that I hear the
pleas for justice from a group of people I will never know; however, as Thoreau
made it unfortunately clear, I am indirectly financing their extermination. The
pleas are simple, some even forgiving: they just want to be left alone. And at
the end of every one of these pleas for solace, some big money backer gives the
Defense Department another blueprint for a new weapon to be tested. All the
humanity and courage used to put together these speeches that are in American
English-- often more eloquent than our President-- are completely and utterly
discarded because the other side has several billion dollars. But war isn't the
only thing that's going on in the world, it's just in the forefront too often.
    Something that hits closer to home is the idea that this man who I
mentioned before, who pleads in front of an apathetic American journalist for
peace, is discredited because he cannot afford the publicity to back what he
says. He has not the resources to footnote his arguments, nor the security to
know if he's even safe in his own home after speaking out. It's speaking out,
and the silence that drowns it, that has me questioning the morality of a
captalist system.
    
    I don't even try to argue the ideals of communism, or any other form of
economic rule, nor do I try and prove that socialism is superior to democracy
(both of which, I don't think work.) All I can say for sure, is that this is
not the "protestent-work-ethic", "work-and-you-shall-be-rewarded" society we
pretend to be. What I know for fact, and I know it's counter to the beleifs of
most of my fellow Americans, is that the purchasing power of one family's money
has become too strong, so as to offset the boundary between industry and
inheritance. 
    I work, and have worked, a lot of degrading jobs; jobs where people
beleived that I was worth nothing, and that my feelings meant nothing. I worked
at a company that many people consider to be the root of all evil, Starbucks. I
worked at a huge retail store that sold classy toys to rich forty year old men
at obscene prices. The one thing these jobs have in common, is the mutual
disdain for the person on the other side of the counter. That burning hatred of
everything that you imagine the person you are forced to interact with might
do, or the traits he or she hasn't demonstrated at all, it can tear a person in
peices. I can't hold myself back now, when I see someone trying to bust the
balls of the cashier at a restaurant, especially if the client is wearing a
tie.
    I didn't start that way, I never tried to make these judgements on the
customers unless they gave me solid reason to do so. All the same, I met far
too many people who mistreat clerks and cashiers far too much, for me to ever
forget them.
    An important scenario that I should mention would best illustrate what I
have been trying to suggest. Several days prior to the event I'll detail, I was
involved in a heated debate over the social or even economic implications of a
person who cannot survive without foodstamps or handouts. Somehow, in my mind,
when I had looked at my paycheck, I felt almost as if I had been robbed of my
income tax by the people who receive financial support. What was wrong about my
assumption, other than that the people who may have received the money probably
have a damn good reason for doing so, was that I assumed the problem was with
the people who couldn't seem to get a job, or support themselves. I was working
forty plus hours a week, almost never sleeping in between, and this woke me up
fast.
    The bars had closed down at around midnight, and a man came into the store
thoroughly innebriated, smelling like expensive whiskey, but a cheap chaser
drink. He asked me flat out what the coolest thing in the store was, price not
an issue, because he hadn't seen his son in a while, because, he said, he was
busy. This guy, this inept parent, he genuinely asked me to help him pick out
the perfect gift with which to purchase his son's affection. On the spot, rage
flooded my cerebellum, and I wanted to throttle the drunken dead beat until he
called out for help. I wanted to be the tour guide to a personal hell of his
own, so he could see the implications of his stupidity. Alas, such is not the
way it works if you intend to keep out of jail.
    It wasn't until a week later when I got my paycheck that I remembered both
situations, and realizing how pathetic and narrow sighted my point of view had
been. There was nothing ethical, nothing ambitious, and certainly nothing
admirable about a man who wanted to muy his son's attention and affection. In
retrospect, it probably takes longer for most people to get their EBT and
foodstamps, than it would for this man to write the check he did -- for five
thousand dollars, and some change. I thought for a long time about how sad it
was that this man could afford to throw money away on the peice of garbage he
purchased, yet probably hadn't even bothered to use a profilactic or curb
making his wife pregnant. I assume it was not originally intended simply
because in the fifteen years of life that he told me his son had under his
belt, he had payed substantial amounts of money to be the opposite of a good
father.

    So perhaps money isn't evil; and this suggests a far more sinister thesis:
if money is not the root of all evil, and the world is infested with evil and
crime and rape and murder, then humanity must be inherently evil too.
    The instinct to survive has been usurped by the instinct to make sure one's
reputation survives, and that all the right purchases have been made to insure
a non-wavering stance in society. Well, this being the case, I can only say
that money just makes me feel rather sad now.  A powerful family can buy the
absolution of their children, regardless of the crime. A family surviving just
barely off of welfare has already been condemned, and each of their children
are already considered guilty, because they couldn't pay the price to enter
high, or more accurately, protected society.
    The only solution that I can offer is not to do away with money, but to
strip it of all meaning. Success and money must be re-seperated. Happiness,
fondness, and social stance must also be seperated from the economic vista with
which a person views the world. If you don't know how to do this, perhaps you
should try striking up a conversation with a homeless veteran whose brain isn't
too damaged to think straight, and ask him if he wouldn't mind telling you his
story. Should you be so priviledged, you might understand why a man which a
nickel and half a pack of cigarettes can be wiser, and better than the biggest
public philanthropist out there. Besides, if donations are tax deductable, what
incentive do wealthy corporations have to NOT donate money to charity?

- October 6th, 2003
alienbinary

-----------?------------??????????????????????---------------------------------

-??????-??------------???????????????--??---[ I am jack's extro[duction]. ]----
PA1Nv4x13----------------------------------------------------------------------
           ---    --->[              Outro             ]<---    ---
                  --->[            alienbinary         ]<---
----------------------------------------------------------------------PA1Nv4x13
-?------------?---????????????-----------???????????---------??????????????????

	So this wraps up the Fourth Issue of PA1N Magazine, the official magazine
of rantradio, the somewhat official magazine of... you know, I have no idea how
big this thing has become anymore? 
	I want to thank everyone for their continued support in this project. This
issue is probably one of my favorites, which is what I said about last issue.
That being the case, things are looking better and better. We do have hope as a
community. We can make something that the corpolitical can't take away from us,
and that's a community of people who care and a voice that won't be silenced.

                                        $
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                    |             ;.    .$.     :           |
                    |             'o.   '�'   'o'           |
                    +-------------- 'O!o!o!o!O' ------------+
                                        |:
         +----------------------------- |! ----------------------------+
         | DON'T LET THEM TAKE AWAY THE FIGHT. THIS IS ONE WE CAN WIN. |
         |             don't go quietly into the night,                |
         |     stand up, put up your fist, and assert yourselves.      |
         |                                                             |
         |    Understand that what they fear is what we already know:  |
         |              there are more of us than them.                |
         +----------------------- ------..------------------ --- ------+
                                        i|
                                        '.

                             ...and their time is up.
                             
                                  - alienbinary
                                  
	Please support all the people that have supported us, if you enjoy this
magazine. Rantradio, Rantmedia, RumblingMedia, Spfd2600.org, e-lite
communications, the list goes on and on. Remember, I'm always looking for new
submissions, new writers, and anything of the sort. Contact me at
pain@e-lite.org or contact turnspike@spfd2600.org. Thanks for reading, PA1N
Volume 4, and yes, PA1N volume 5 is in the works...

We don't intend to stop.