Web Fed News Yearbooks - August 2001

THE MONTH IN BRIEF

One of the Fed Chronicle's longest-running newsdroids, Bizcarp, finally hung up her keyboard. We still miss you, Biz!

Continuing the project to release IB source code into open source, FedTerm Loaded, the Windows 3.1 front-end for Fed which incorporates the Genesis offline planet designer, was published at http://www.ibgames.net/stuff/opensource/index.html.

Alan wrote an article about why we should not blame System Administrators (the janitors of the computer world) when things go wrong. Read it at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/society/sysadmins.html.

August saw the tenth birthday of the world wide web. August 6, 1991 was the date that Tim Berners'Lee first published software for building and viewing websites.

Sunday Augst 12 was also a significant birthday - the twentieth anniversary of the PC. Back in 1981, IBM's first PC was powered by a 4.77Mz chip. At the time, nobody predicted that the personal computer would become vital to business and a common household accessory as much used as the TV or video. It would be interesting to speculate which of the new technologies being introduced today will take off in the same way, and transform daily life in the manner of the PC and the web. But there's no way to know which ones will be successful, and which will die. Anyone who invests in the right technology now, and becomes rich as a result, will surely do so by luck and not by judgement!

FROM THE POSTBAG: THE BUDDY SCHEME

In amongst the junk mail and circulars urging us to apply for yet another titanium credit card, or subscribe to the Galaxy's most popular magazine on intergalactic business and finance, we at the Fed Chronicle occasionally receive letters from puzzled Fedders who have burning questions to which they are desperate to find the answer. We do our best to oblige, being the public spirited organization that we are.

Here's one we received recently:

What happened to the buddy scheme? Does it still work?

The buddy scheme was set up back in the days when we charged by the hour for Fed. Under the scheme, players who introduced new people to Fed who turned into paying customers were rewarded - when the new players bought their first time credits, their buddies were given time credits too.

However, when we switched to the flat-rate monthly payment plan, the buddy scheme was dropped. It was something specifically designed for hourly-rate Fed and it isn't necessary any more.

WHEN DID YOU LAST CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD?

These days, we all have too many things to remember. Passwords, pin numbers, security phrases, they all blur together. How are we supposed to remember them all? Unless we have photographic memories, we all have to compromise: we either use the same password for everything, or we write all the passwords down somewhere. Both solutions leave a lot to be desired, introducing security risks... but what can we do?

Added to the problem of remembering the password we picked when we signed up for something is the fact that to be really secure, passwords need to be changed regularly to make sure that if they have been compromised somehow, access by anyone else is cut off.

In the case of your Fed account, there are some important reasons why you should change the password regularly. Here's some of them:

In the past, you went on holiday and gave the password to your Fed husband or wife, so that he or she could keep an eye on your exchange for you. Then you got a Fed divorce, and it got a bit unpleasant, leaving you feeling bitter about each other... but he or she still has your password.
You used to be a member of a duchy where all the members had each others passwords, and used to swap accounts regularly, because it was fun to pretend to be someone else for a change. Then you switched to a different duchy, but everyone in the old duchy still has your password.
You once let your kid brother play your Fed character, but now he's got older and has turned into a bit of a hooligan, and you wouldn't trust him with anything.... but he's still got your password.

Ok, you get the picture - if you've ever allowed anyone else to log on with your account, then they may still have your password, which means they could log on at any time. They might do something crazy with your exchange and lose you groats; they might yell obscenities on the comms and get your character locked out; they might even DD the character.

Don't take that risk. Go and change your password. Go to https://www.ibgames.net/account to log on, then click on the link at the bottom of the page to "Change your password or other account details". Type in your current password, then your new password (twice) and click the "Change my info" button.

PICKING A PASSWORD

A few weeks ago I urged you all to rush out and change your passwords, to make sure nobody else could log on as you and damage your Fed character. I am sure you all did that, didn't you? Of course you did; you wouldn't disobey your demi-goddess, I am sure.

So, how did you choose your new password? I hope you didn't pick anything too obvious. Apparently, the most common passwords are password, secret, and god. Hackers know this, so if they are going to try and guess someone's password, they'll start with those.

A new survey suggests that when choosing a password, people regard it as a kind of personality test, and reveal a lot about the words they use. A poll by the Internet domain registry CentralNic suggests there are four distinct categories of passwords chosen:

47 per cent of users fall into the "Family" group, choosing their own name or nickname, or the names of their partners, children or pets.
32 per cent are "Fans" who choose the names of sports stars, cartoon characters, film stars or pop stars. Most popular passwords include variations of Homer Simpson, Darth Vader and Madonna.
11 per cent are "Fantasists", self-obsessed people who choose words like sexy, stud and goddess.
The smallest group, just 9 per cent, are the security conscious "Cryptics" who actually make the effort to come up with a password that can't be guessed or cracked. They mix up letters, numbers and punctuation, and lower and upper-case letters. Of course, the result is probably something very hard to remember...

So which type are you?

Read the survey results at http://www.centralnic.com/page.php?cid=77.

A PLEA FROM THE "SAVE FED FROM DANNY" FUND
(Mars: Galactic Administration)

A message has been received at Galactic Administration headquarters demanding an unprecedented ransom of 100 giga-groats and the cessation of the Richard for Emperor campaign or Danny will be returned to Fed DataSpace.

Denizens of Chez Diesel on Mars have recently noted the absence of the notorious Squire of Raptorian, Campaign Manager of the Richard for Emperor scheme and self-styled bon vivant of the comms. His absence from the channel 9 comms has been a matter of some comment in the past few days. But questions of his whereabouts have gone unanswered at Campaign headquarters. The only comment from the erstwhile Emperor candidate Richard, the goldfish, was to push his lips in and out in a typical goldfish sort of way.

Rumours of Danny's last whereabouts centering on a secret meeting with the sinister forces of the Venusian Liberation Army have started surfacing. The Venusian Liberation Army was last known to be operating in Fed DataSpace during the Ming Dynasty when they kidnapped Hazed and Freya and held them for ransom. In a daring manoeuvre, Freya and Hazed escaped but Freya's 5 inch high heels could not be rescued. In a typical display of vicious fascist revenge, the innocent 5 inch high heels were executed. The only remains of them ever found were 2 slender 5" heels embedded in tiny blocks of cement when the river in the ruins was dredged. With a record of such inconceivable savagery, the VLA can't be dismissed as the cause of Danny's absence from Fed.

As peace and freedom from Danny's commentary ensued this past week, the free citizens of Fed marveled at life without his incessant needling. The collective blood pressure levels of channel 9 fell an average of 13 points as planet owners found themselves free to comment on the comms without Danny's inevitable sharp responses. After several days of this freedom, however, a few questions started to arise. Typically planet owners leave in a massive flourish of melodramatic denunciations but here there was only silence.

Details of the contents of the ransom note are scarce at this time. However, it is known that the two main demands involve the end of the Richard for Emperor Campaign and the receipt in small notes of 100 giga-groats. Due to undisclosed irregularities of the Galactic Administration's tax collectors, such a sum is not within the ability of the GA to provide. Only the citizens of Fed working together can produce such an unheard of sum and prevent the return of Danny.

Nameless and faceless bureaucrats at Galactic Administration are studying the ransom note for further clues. In the meantime, a Fund to Save Fed From the Return Of Danny has been established and donations may be sent to Nightdroid.

UPDATE ON THE VLA CAMPAIGN OF TERROR
(Mars - Galactic Administration HQ)

As the Galactic Administration admitted last week, Squire Danny of Raptorian has been kidnapped by the Venusian Liberation Army. In a twist on the usual circumstances of kidnappings, with their fiendish discernment of the true situation in Fed, the VLA has demanded a massive ransom of 100 giga-groats be paid them to KEEP Danny. If their demands are not met, they have sworn to return him safe and sound!

In a rapid response to this threat, the Galactic Administration organized the Save Fed From Danny Campaign. After a week of begging and pleading on the comms, we can report that over 20 giga-groats have been collected. The campaign will continue; plans are currently underway to chose an official song and badge icon. Suggestions for the Official Campaign Song may be sent to feedback@ibgames.com.

An unusual phenomena was noted in last week's news article, namely that the comms were calm and quiet with Danny being absent. Little did we realize we'd spoken too quickly! Nature abhors a vacuum and so we in Fed soon found the position of Fed Gadfly normally held by Danny was being filled by a flood of increasingly shrill and obnoxious candidates.

The situation grew so serious that even the GA's fascist bullyboy death squads couldn't keep up with the influx. They were forced to appeal to the demi-goddess Hazed to come up with a solution for the sake of life and sanity (or equivalent) in Fed. A cunning plan was devised to control the nightmare of the Wannabe-Gadflies-From-Hell. Hazed reopened the dungeons below the waiting room of Limbo. Old timers in Fed may remember the strange waiting room in the place called Limbo long ago. Most, however, were lucky enough never to be marched down the dank stairs and along the musty corridors to the dungeons that lay far below. There, obnoxious disruptive Wannabe Gadflies like (name withheld) are held incommunicado, day and night, unable to leave Fed, trapped and helpless! The average Fed citizen can't see or hear these blights on the peaceful life of DataSpace but the victims of the Galactic Adminstration's wrath experience the other side of the notorious secret cloaking device.

The Majordomo of the Mars HQ of the Galactic Administration declined to comment on conditions in the Dungeons or the identities of the inmates. "They all say the same thing," Brigadier General Piemur chuckled, "The food is bad and they're all innocent."

This reporter spoke with Hazed in a brief but graciously granted interview today.

Chronicle: Do you really believe the VLA is behind this disappearance of Danny?
Hazed: Who else would have the daring, evil cunning to capture Danny?
Chronicle: Is it true that the recent flood of loud mouth, insulting wannabe Coms clods have been sent to dungeons under the Waiting Room in Limbo?
Hazed: I prefer to think of it as on a holiday in an isolated resort.
Chronicle: Can you confirm or deny the rumours that those confined to the dungeons can't ever leave Fed, that they can see but not be seen, held captive without mercy and controlled by the Galactic Administration's Secret Cloaking Device command?
Hazed: No comment.
Chronicle: So these obnoxious Danny-Wannabe's are being singled out for special treatment?
Hazed: DataSpace citizens are always complaining that some people get special treatment.
Chronicle: Is it true that ibgames has promised to match all individual donations to the Save Fed From Danny Fund over 1 giga-groat?
Hazed: We are taking that scheme under advisement since the sudden appearance of legions of snerts far worse than Danny ever aspired to be.