[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Creative flaming


Something about the current spate of flaming has been nagging at me.
I have discovered what it is, and at the risk of being labeled a
Bible-thumping Nazi, or a parrot-headed Vogon, I think I should share.

I am sure everyone remembers Mr. Mentzer's initial reply to Mr. Mates'
post 'Steve Mentzer: Pirate. You are no longer welcome.'  Carefully
read the following segments of that reply.

On <11/8/96> smentzer@pacbell.net (Steve Mentzer) wrote:
:
:THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN!
:
[quote of Mr. Mates sniped]
:
:Actually, the account wouldn't have existed in about a week anyway.
:I had no intention of paying for the service.... I started the 
:service for a reason...
:
[bait & hook, hacking root stuff snipped]
:
:The only evidence you found of anything nathan is what was planted
:for you and the rest of your idiots to find. Im getting to the good
:parts now.
:
[more snipped]
:
:  As far as commercially available apple // software, yes, there was
:a pretty complete image of Asimov there.. 
:
:***ANYWAY***
:
:
:Nathan, lets look at the facts....
:
:
:  1 - My account with earthlink was less than a month old. It was put 
there to 
:      screw you the way that I did. I dont care if I lose that account. 
I had 
:      no intention of keeping it. Earthlink is the *worst* internet 
provider 
:      on earth. But they allow nearly instant access and web page creation.
:
[more snipped]
:
:***??WHY DID I DO THIS??***
:
:I went through all of this mess to prove a point. 
:
:Nathan, you and your cronies have attempted to paint Charles Turley,
:Myself and many others as evil men who are seeking to destroy the
:apple // community. :
:
[rest of message snipped]


Let me summarize the salient points:

1.  Earthlink ftp site was temporary.  (The fact that he was openly stating
that he was not paying for service bothered me, but that is another topic.)
2.  It was all just bait to catch Mr. Mates.  (This bothered me)
3.  It was a pretty complete image of Asimov.  (where have I seen this?)
4.  It was all done to screw Mr. Mates.  (something doesn't seen right)
5.  It was to prove a point.  That Mr. Turley and others are not evil
men.  (Ding! Ding!  Now I remember!)

Well it all clicked today.  Mr. Mentzer has only been posting here for
a short time.  His very first post to comp.sys.apple2 was on Oct 12, 96.
It is a very interesting post.  I captured it from DejaNews.  Here is 
part of that message:
---Begin included message---

Subject:      Charles Turley - Please Read
From:         smentzer@pacbell.net (Steve Mentzer)
Date:         1996/10/12

Dear Mr.Turley:

[snip]

Please deter from attempting to close down the last remaining shreds of apple
II freedom that still exist. Your attempts are meaningless and futile and you
are only proving to make a martyr of yourself.

[snip]

Just to let you know. If you shut down asimov, I can and will replace it.
I am a subscriber on one of the largest ISP providers around. I also have
a piece of software that allows me to generate HTML pages with current 
dynamic IP addressing info. This will effectively allow me to use "anonymous"
IP addressing and allow ANYONE to hit my HTML page and branch off to my
FTP site. 

And the best thing about this is that I have already downloaded the *entire*
asimov apple II archive. Over 2700 files and 125 megs. Count it. I got it.
I will replace asimov.. and be almost untraceable...

Neat, eh?  I thought so.  You wont kill the remaining spirit of the Apple II.



smentzer@pacbell.net

---End Included Message---

Let's go over those points again:

1.  Earthlink ftp site was temporary.
     This turned out to be true, but in the above post, Mr. Mentzer
     discusses setting up a replacement for asimov.  That doesn't
     sound temporary.
2.  It was all just bait to catch Mr. Mates.
     Not so.  This was set into motion on or before Oct 12th, 96.
     It was set up to replace asimov and be almost untraceable.
3.  It was a pretty complete image of Asimov.
     That fits.  It also contained other pirated wares.  And no matter
     what Mr. Mentzer says, if Mr. Mates and Mr. Kohn were able to
     access these pirated wares via public access, then the wares were
     available to the general public.
4.  It was all done to screw Mr. Mates.
     It was started at a time when Mr. Mentzer didn't know the
     difference between Mr. Turley and Mr. Mates.  Quite an amusing
     blunder.  It was indeed done to create a 'almost untraceable'
     image the asimov ftp site.
5.  It was to prove a point.  That Mr. Turley, Mr. Mentzer, and others
are not evil men.
     But, Mr. Mentzer sent the above flame to Mr. Turley.  He must
     have been trying to bait Mr. Turley  ;)  More likely he was
     just trying to bait 'someone/anyone'.
     Mr. Mentzer was creating the site before he and Mr. Mates ever
     exchanged flames.  Perhaps he was just trolling and some of us
     did take the bait.  I seriously doubt it was all done with Mr.
     Mates in mind.
     There is no point.

     Mr. Mentzer got caught and tried to wriggle out.

IMHO: It appears that Mr. Mentzer is just here to flame.
I fully expect to be flamed for this post.
Just remember that I have been on csa2 for three years now, and that
I have never taken sides in the flames.  I some times point out humorous
things, or create a non-partisan parody, but that is it.
I answer questions when I can.  I ask questions when I need to know.
I work on the A2 Xpansion card project as time permits.



--
Kind Regards,
Deven D. Atkinson
technoid@prairienet.org     <*>