FAQ for alt.2600, version 2.0 corrections, whining, etc... to this address. (jvarley@netcom.com) 1) What is alt.2600? Alt.2600 is a Usenet newsgroup for discussion of material relating to 2600 Magazine, the hacker quarterly. It is NOT for the Atari 2600 game machine. Len@netsys.com created the group on Emmanual Goldstein's recommendation. Emmanuel is the editor/publisher of 2600 Magazine. Following the barrage of postings about the Atari machine to alt.2600, an alt.atari.2600 was created to divert all of the atari traffic from alt.2600. Atari 2600 people are advised to hie over to rec.games.video.classic. 2) What is 2600 Magazine's Internet address? 2600@well.sf.ca.us 3) What does "2600" mean? 2600Hz was a tone that was used by early phone phreaks (or phreakers) in the 80's, and some currently. If the tone was sent down the line at the proper time, one could get away with all sorts of fun stuff. A note from Emmanuel Goldstein: "The Atari 2600 has NOTHING to do with blue boxes or telephones or the 2600 hertz tone. The 2600 hertz tone was simply the first step towards exploring the network. If you were successful at getting a toll call to drop, then billing would stop at that point but there would be billing for the number already dialed up until the point of seizure. 800 numbers and long distance information were both free in the past and records of who called what were either non-existent or very obscure with regards to these numbers. This, naturally, made them more popular than what were either non-existent or very obscure with regards to these numbers. This, naturally, made them more popular than numbers that showed up on a bill, even if it was only for a minute. Today, many 800 numbers go overseas, which provides a quick and free way into another country's phone system which may be more open for exploration." 4) Are there on-line versions of 2600 available? No. 5) What are the snail mail (U.S. Postal Service) addresses for 2600? ADDRESS ALL SUBSCRIPTION CORRESPONDENCE TO: 2600 Subscription Dept PO BOX 752 MIddle Island NY 11953-0752 ADDRESS ALL LETTERS AND ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS TO: 2600 Editorial Dept ADDRESS ALL LETTERS AND ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS TO: 2600 Editorial Dept PO BOX 99 Middle Island NY 11953-0099 6) How much does it cost for a subscription to 2600? Yearly subscription: $21 individual, $50 corporate. U.S. Funds Only. Overseas--$30 individual, $65 corporate. 7) I can't find 2600 at any bookstores. What can I do? Subscribe. Or, let 2600 know via the subscription address that you think 2600 should be in the bookstore. Be sure to include the bookstores name and address. 8) Why does 2600 cost more to subscribe to ($21 for four issues) than to buy at a newsstand ($4 per issue)? to buy at a newsstand ($4 per issue)? EG: We've been selling 2600 at the same newsstand price since 1988 and we hope to keep it at that price for as long as we can get away with it. At the same time, $21 is about the right price to cover subscriber costs, including postage and record keeping, etc. People who subscribe don't have to worry about finding an issue someplace, they tend to get issues several weeks before the newsstands get them, and they can take out free ads in the 2600 Marketplace. 9) What are some common tones? [dilger@toadflax.cs.ucdavis.edu (Michael B. Dilger)] Dial tone 350+440 continuous Ringback (Normal) 440+480 2.0s on, 4.0s off Ringback (PBX) 440+480 1.5s on, 4.5s off Busy signal 480+620 0.5s on, 0.5s off Congestion (toll) 480+620 0.2s on, 0.3s off Reorder (local) 480+620 0.3s on, 0.2s off Receiver off-hook 1400+2060 0.1s on, 0.1s off Reorder (local) 480+620 0.3s on, 0.2s off Receiver off-hook 1400+2060 0.1s on, 0.1s off +2450+2600 Nickel Signal 1700+2200 0.060s on Dime Signal 1700+2200 0.060s on, 0.060s off X2 Quarter Signal 1700+2200 33ms on, 33ms off, 5 times repeating DTMF matrix. The tone of the button is the sum of the column and row tones. 1209 1336 1477 1633 697 1 2 3 A 770 4 5 6 B 852 7 8 9 C 941 * 0 # D 9) What is PGP? What are those "BEGIN PGP KEY" things at the bottom of articles? You can get the latest PGP via anonymous FTP at soda.berkeley.edu. From: Kevin Martin Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1993 11:22:56 -0500 (EST) Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is a free program written by a gentleman named Phil Zimmerman. It's been the subject of more than a little controversy on a couple of counts. One, Phil used (his own implmentation of) an algorithm which is claimed under a patent in the USA only, called RSA (for Rivest Shamir Adelman, the three inventors). This is the best method widely known to implement "Public Key" cryptography. Y'see, the trick to using encryption is, "How do you exchange keys with other people?" If you have a secure channel to do so, why not just use that channel for ALL communications and skip the encryption step!? With public key methods, you have a public key and a private key; you can publish the public key and it still only works with messages -- 20:39 --alt.2600-- 1 MORE --help:?--82%-- With public key methods, you have a public key and a private key; you can publish the public key and it still only works with messages YOU encrypt with the private key. Or, anyone can use your public key to send you a message, and only you can read it. Perfect! The only catch is proving that your public key really came from you. The Internet is pushing something called PEM (Privacy Enhanced Mail), or RIPEM, where the public keys are held by a central authority in an official directory. PGP is based on the concept that YOU take responsibility for collecting public keys from the people you want to deal with. No Big Brother aspect that way.... and no back door, as in the Clipper chip proposal. That's the other problem that has Phil in some folks' doghouse; it seems that encryption technology is technically regarded as MUNITIONS -- there are US export controls on all software that implements good encryption. Phil did not export PGP, but he did publish the first generation of it on the Internet. (Oops.) The documentation for PGP explains all this perfectly.