Date: Thu, 8 Apr 93 11:49:24 PDT Reply-To: Return-Path: Message-ID: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain From: surfpunk@osc.versant.com (pbzchgre fcrpvnyvfgf va fcnpr) To: surfpunk@osc.versant.com (SURFPUNK Technical Journal) Subject: [surfpunk-0077] 1APR: Sun just got HAD by their russian counterparts A SURFPUNK correspondent writes: > This is absolutely fantastic. Sun just got HAD by their russian > counterparts. It's amazing how far up the chain of command this prank > got before it was discovered. > > Some background info: Sun has a great tradition of April Fool's > jokes. The company has recently hired a fairly large and respected > group of scientists in Russia. This group is is headed by Boris > Babaian, who is sometimes called "the Russian Seymour Cray." Boris is > a very big deal and a very respected scientist in his country. Boris > also seems to have perfected the art of the prank. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ >From: dave@cisc (Dave Ditzel) To: sunlabs@smli Subject: Russian April 1 Perhaps the best April 1 joke I saw this year was provided by our team in Russia. Best because the joke was taken very seriously by several people for quite a while. For those of you who weren't in on it, here is the replay of Russia's offer to put a person from Sun Microsystems on thier next space flight. - dave ditzel >From: Boris A. Babaian To: bill.walster@Eng, bruce.crawford@Eng, dave.ditzel@Eng Cc: dc@Eng, malcolm.wing@Eng Subject: contest Dave, Bill and Bruce! Several minutes ago we had a very important phone talk with the NPO "Energia" (research & development enterprise "Energy") Deputy designers-in-chief V.N. Branets and V.G. Kravets informed us that the new Space expedition is preparing now. It was decided that the computer specialist should take part in this team. The expedition managers have decided to suggest the Sun Microsystems representative to participate in this flight. Now very urgently they ask you to organize some kind of contest to choose the best candidate. We are looking forward your agreement. More information after your positive answer. Boris, Sasha. 04.01.93 (the following after being told the first time that this was a joke) >From walster Thu Apr 1 12:30:25 1993 To: walster@gww, jek@tools Subject: Re: contest Cc: schmidt@tools No, its real. I talked to Boris on the phone. He is going to alert the Yeltsin team. I have sent the information through Dave Birnstein to the Clinton team, so it is possible we may hear something about this at the summit. Later ... I just got off the phone with Lew Franklin, a colleague of Dave Birnstein. He is going to contact Dan Golden the director of NASA, who is a personal friend. Dan and Scott know each other. Lew suggested that we should give Scott a heads up so he knows what is in the works when he gets a call from Dan. Lew thinks Dan might call and say something like: "Hey Scott, what do you think about .... ?" Lew also said that we should try to keep this confidential because we do not want this in the press prior to the summit meeting, in case something breaks there. He gave me a list of questions to ask Boris tonight when I call him, so that he can give Dan Golden more detailed information about the parameters of the flight. Dave Ditzel and Bruce Crawford want to meet today at 1:00. I'll fill them in on everything I know. -- Bill Walster >From: walster@gww Date: Fri, 2 Apr 93 08:34:23 PST To: bob@ipmce.su Subject: Re: contest Well Boris, You got me. I bought the whole idea. In fact, after I got your email, I immediately called you to get more details and to find out if there was a possibility that this might come up at the summit this weekend. You were totally convincing. (During the day when people raised the possibility that it might be an April Fool's joke, I said, "But I talked to Boris on the phone!") After I talked to you, I called David Birnstein at the Center for International Security and Arms Control at Stanford and convinced him. He then referred me to a colleague, Lew Franklin, who is involved in the space program and who knows the director of NASA, Don Golden. He put in a call to Don and suggested that we make sure that Scott be informed, because Don might give Scott a call - they know each other. In addition, he thought it might be important to let the Clinton administration know about this possibility, in case it came up at the summit this weekend. I had already called you about this possibility. Bruce Crawford alerted his management and I alerted Jon and Eric and Pattie Walters in our PR department. Jon and Eric were skeptical. Bruce, Dave Ditzel and I then had a meeting at which Dave raised the real possibility that this was a joke. Once I found the date at the bottom of your original email, I began to believe it might be as well. I called Dave Birnstein and Lew Franklin to alert them and then, when I called you last night, I found out. Lew had asked me to call him at home to give him the news, in case he got a return call from Don Golden. No harm was done. Sun has a tradition of April Fool's pranks. You may have seen some of them in the 10 year anniversary book. Yours is right up there with the best. Next year I think I will stay home on April 1. -- Bill Walster ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ The SURFPUNK Technical Journal is a dangerous multinational hacker zine originating near BARRNET in the fashionable western arm of the northern California matrix. Quantum Californians appear in one of two states, spin surf or spin punk. Undetected, we are both, or might be neither. ________________________________________________________________________ Send postings to , subscription requests to . MIME encouraged. Xanalogical archive access soon. SURFPUNK -- the final frontier. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ COMMAND ? ph100pt3^M ^M NO. RANGE ANGLE^M 1 99 30^M (2)^M ^M RESERVE =300 LOCKED ON - 0^M PHASERS =400 TORPS =20^M SHIELDS =191 ANGLE =144^M WARP = 3 X= 8863 Y= 2215^M ^M COMMAND ? an30^M UNKNOWN COMMAND - AN^M PLAYER 1 HIT YOU WITH 400 STROMS.^M ^M NO. RANGE ANGLE^M 1 978 211^M (2)^M ^M RESERVE =172 LOCKED ON - 0^M PHASERS =400 TORPS =20^M SHIELDS = 0 ANGLE =144^M WARP = 3 X= 8831 Y= 2238^M ^M COMMAND ? sc^M *--------SCAN--------*^M ^M ^M ^M ^M ^M ^M ^M 2^M 1^M ^M *--------------------*^M ^M PLAYER 1 HIT YOU WITH 105 STROMS.^M PLAYER 1 HIT YOU WITH 357 STROMS.^M YOU HAVE BEEN DESTROYED.^M YOUR RATING IS NOW 938^M $EXIT.CALLER*THANKS FOR PLAYING TEGAMES*^M