At 5:29 PM -0500 3/15/01, Trei, Peter wrote:
I was researching something entirely non-cpunkish (yes, it was work-related :-) and came across this page:
http://www.multigame.com/spacewar.html
Jim apparenly had/has a really cool Spacewar console at home, which an appreciative gamer rescued shortly before the JBTs moved in.
Seattle, WA (AP) -- Persecutors in the Northwest are reportedly investigating reports that James Dalton Bell, notorious cyber-criminal, was also involved in a ring trading "Spacewar" secrets and, persecutors claim, even hardware. The revelation became public on Thursday when a report surfaced that Spacewar technology is now being offered for sale: "On a whim I decided to try to strike up a conversation with the fellow offering the parts locally in hopes of just picking them up instead of having them mailed to me. He (Jim Bell) came by where I work with the parts and we chatted a bit. "I arranged a visit to see this "sit down" Space War. Much to my suprise it actually was a sit-at Vectorbeam SpaceWar! The monitor was dead, but the rest of the machine was in excellent condition. It was purchased by Tektronix (apparently when it was new) and kept as amusement for the engineers for numerous years. Jim told me he was a graduate of MIT and remembered playing "Computer Space" on the PDP's there when he was a student, so when he happened across the SpaceWar at a Tektronix surplus sale he picked it up. It had then sat in his basement until I showed up." (The remainder of this report has been classified by the persecutors.) "We understand the Spacewar program is a classified Los Alamos project," said Assistant State Persecutor Fobb Paris, "so this report that Bell has been trading highly-classified Spacewar technology demands investigation." Paris added, "We have already issued a subpoena to the reporter who broke the story."