As the city melts through fog and the night, one sees a strange sight. Here an old bridge is half-finished. There, a house has been removed from its foundations. Here, a street veers east for no obvious reason. ...This is a world of changed plans, of sudden opportunities, of unexpected visions. For in this world, time flows not evenly but fitfully and, as consequence, people receive fitful glimpses of the future. -excerpt from "Einstein's Dreams" by Alan Lightman In 1989, Bill Gates was just another player in the wonderful world of computers. Phil Zimmerman was a wanna-be cryptographer. And CypherPunks were merely a fitful glimpse of the future. In 1989 a document began quietly circulating in certain computer circles--a document which whispered of fitful glimpses of the future. The future of Bill Gates; the future of Phil Zimmerman; the future of the CypherPunks. The document has, over the years, submerged for a time, and then surfaced in different places. Whenever and wherever it surfaces, strange things happen. Strange things for which there is always a perfectly 'normal' explaination. Strange things which one sees as normal unless, by chance, they should happen to notice that somehow, in some subtle way, the flow of time has changed. A few weeks ago, a single copy of this document surfaced in the possession of one of the Cypherpunks and, shortly thereafter, Dr. DV K was officially unSCUMscribed from this list. Less than two weeks ago, a copy of this document was acquired by a second member of the CypherPunks and, shortly thereafter, it was announced that the list will now be 'moderated'. Coincidence? It is a 'coincidence' that I have seen, time and again, in connection with this manuscript. You may think that this missive is a lark, or some kind of scam, or for the feeble-minded. I don't ask that you take what I say seriously, only that you remember that the Tao doesn't shout, it whispers. I have included, below, a warning that has circulated in regard to the document which has preceded it in its undergroud passage since the date of its inception, in 1989. Anyone who, after reading the warning, wishes to receive the document can notify me via private email, and I will see to it that you receive a copy. Toto WARNING! "The Xenix Chainsaw Massacre" Is A Very Dangerous Document ------------------------------------------------------------------- It is reputed among many of the top minds in the Computer Industry to be a very real, and revealing, documentary of some of the horrors of the Industry which are sometimes rumored, but seldom exposed. But be warned-they say it in private, not in public. Though management at the major Corporations in the Industry brush aside the document as the mad ramblings of an unstable, failed business executive, the fact remains that there are more and more people coming forward who claim to have suffered demotions or loss of employment after deliberately or inadvertently revealing their support of the document's claims and it's authenticity. If you choose to read this manuscript, do not speak of it in casual conversation at your place of employment, or around strangers in any business or social environment. Though it is almost impossible to document cases of reprisal of this nature, the increasing numbers of ex-employees of major Corporations in the Computer Industry making these claims, and the devastating consequences they allege to their professional and private lives, make it wise to be discreet in expressing any opinion, or even knowledge, of this document. If you choose to share this document with others, it would be wise to do so discreetly, even anonymously, should you be unsure of the reliability and discretion of whomever you choose to share this knowledge with. Though I personally lean toward viewing the manuscript as authentic, my exhaustive research into it's origin has always come to a dead-end, even among the principals involved. C.J. Parker, former President of Pearl Harbor Computers, Inc., denied emphatically, in a face-to-face encounter, having anything whatsoever to do with the document. When I pressed him with questions regarding the hasty demise of his business and the unraveling of his personal life after the public circulation of "The Xenix Chainsaw Massacre" began, he became very agitated and distraught, bordering on violence, and the interview was abruptly terminated. Dr. William M. Denney, one of the few principals in the manuscript referred to directly, was reluctant to be interviewed, but eventually made a few comments which I found to be very revealing. Dr. Denney, Vice-President of Basis, Inc. in Emmeryville, Ca., consistently rated as one of the top ten Unix Open Systems vendors in the world, said, "I deny any knowledge of or participation, in any way whatsoever, with anything connected to 'The Xenix Chainsaw Massacre', and it would be wise for others to do the same." I find this statement to be very cryptic and, at the same time, very revealing; very much in line with what would expect from one associated with the alleged underground computer society described in the manuscript. As for Mr. Torry Basford, a former employee of Bell Labs who was Mr. Parker's first mentor in the world of Unix and is rumored to be laboring in obscurity in a small community college somewhere in the southwestern U.S., Mr. Parker would only say, "The man has suffered enough, please leave him alone." Regardless of the origins or authenticity of the document, it is considered by many to be extremely unsettling, perhaps even dangerous, and one might be better served to avoid reading the manuscript, if for no other reason than simple peace of mind.