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From: jr@bbncc5.UUCP (John Robinson)
Newsgroups: net.rumor
Subject: Re: Computer Horror Stories
Message-ID: <2201@bbncc5.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 10-Mar-86 21:54:55 EST
Article-I.D.: bbncc5.2201
Posted: Mon Mar 10 21:54:55 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 12-Mar-86 21:49:40 EST
References: <1322@decwrl.DEC.COM>
Reply-To: jr@bbncc5.UUCP (John Robinson)
Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 21

In article <1322@decwrl.DEC.COM> moroney@jon.DEC (Mike Moroney) writes:
>
>>I also remember sending a print file that contained about 1000 logical
>>end-of-records (and nothing else) to a remote line printer.  It took about 5 
>>minutes for it to transmit and print nothing.

When MCIMail first went on the air, they charged for hardcopy mail
delivery by the character (actually, 5000-character unit).  You could
mail yourself or a friend a few reams of paper for $1 by sending a
file of formfeeds.  They fixed their charging when we pointed this
out.

Also, their password-generator occasionally spits out somewhat racy
words (they have the form consonant-vowel-consonant-...-vowel, 8
characters in all).  The generator checks for most of the obvious bad
ones, but it seems a few must slip by the censors.  We suggested that
they ought to charge extra for the racy ones, on the grounds that they
would be so much easier to remember.  This idea was rejected, though
its originator got such a password for the thought.

/jr