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Article View: alt.folklore.computers
Article #294

Re: My true cookie story

#294
From: sha... Sharon Fisher
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 1989 08:24
24 lines
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In article <89347.200350RLE100@PSUVM.BITNET> RLE100@PSUVM.BITNET writes:
>In early 1986, when I was but a wee lad just starting in computers, someone
>got an exec file circulating around PSUVM.  Finding it in my readerfile one
>day, and not knowing any better, I ran it.  From then on, after every couple
>commands, a message would come up demanding a cookie.  After consulting an
>operator, I learned that I had no choice but to respond by typing "cookie".
>If you didn't feed it, it eventually locked up your terminal and you would
>have to get an operator to bump you off the system.  The demands for cookies,
>would get more and more insistent, and after 14 or 15 times it would say:
>"Just one more, please...".  After giving it that last cookie, it would say:
>"Thanks, I'm full now.  Bye!" and be gone.  I agree that this was a fun little
>virus, or whatever you want to call it.  Too bad they aren't all like that...

It's lots older than that.  I heard about it circa 1977 at RPI.

The other interesting story I heard about computing at RPI was
'wabbits.' As I recall, it involved running a program that generated
two copies of itself.  Eventually, the load crashed the system.

When I was there, we had IBM mainframes running the Michigan Terminal
System.  With it, we could write cute little animated scripts for the
25th line on our IBM 3270 terminals, like little rockets across the
bottom of the screen (with --> strings) and intercourse (with --> and
) strings, as I recall, with OOO!  OOO! next to them).
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Message-ID: <9154@asylum.SF.CA.US>
Path: mbox-mo1.pugleaf.net!gmdzi!unido!mcsun!uunet!hoptoad!asylum!sharon
References: <89347.200350RLE100@PSUVM.BITNET>

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Path: mbox-mo1.pugleaf.net!gmdzi!unido!mcsun!uunet!hoptoad!asylum!sharon
From: sha...@asylum.SF.CA.US (Sharon Fisher)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: My true cookie story
Message-ID: <9154@asylum.SF.CA.US>
Date: 20 Dec 89 08:24:30 GMT
References: <89347.200350RLE100@PSUVM.BITNET>
Reply-To: sharon@asylum.UUCP (Sharon Fisher)
Organization: The Asylum; Belmont, CA
Lines: 24
Posted: Wed Dec 20 09:24:30 1989
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