Path: sparky!uunet!usc!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu! malgudi.oar.net!news.ans.net!cmcl2!acfcluster.nyu.edu!axd7104 From: axd7...@acfcluster.nyu.edu (Aaron Dickey) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,alt.folklore.urban Subject: Microsoft advocates killing of Jews Message-ID: <1992Apr29.182420.1@acfcluster.nyu.edu> Date: 29 Apr 92 23:24:20 GMT Sender: no...@cmcl2.nyu.edu (Notes Person) Organization: New York University Lines: 75 Nntp-Posting-Host: acf1.nyu.edu Hey everyone!! Did you know that Microsoft is advocating the killing of Jews in New York City? I sure didn't! But it's true! I read it in the paper! Get ready for a whopper. Once again the news media proves that it doesn't know the first thing about computers. The entire story, retransmitted without permission, is below, as it appeared in today's New York Post. For those who don't know, the Post is a tabloid paper, where the entire front page is one huge headline. So, screaming out at millions of New Yorkers this morning was the headline, "PROGRAM OF HATE". Above the headline is a photo of one of those old PC green-screen displays, with "NYC" = <skull> <Star of David> <thumbs-up sign> superimposed on the screen. Above that is a subheadline, "Millions of computers carry secret message that urges death to Jews in New York City..." So, without further ado, here's the story: ANTI-JEWISH CODE LURKS IN POPULAR SOFTWARE, by Don Broderick One of the world's best-selling computer programs contains a secret anti- Semitic message apparently urging death to Jews in New York City. A computer consultant discovered the diabolic message while installing Microsoft's new Windows 3.1 software for a client yesterday. The consultant was testing a mailing-address use of the program when he noticed the letters "NYC" had been replaced by a hateful message - a skull and crossbones, the Star of David and an approving thumbs-up symbol. Microsoft strongly denies any hidden message. Others disagree. "There's no way it could be a random coincidence," said Brian Young, a friend of the consultant, who does not wish to be named. "It's pretty scary. I was pretty shocked by the whole thing." Computer owners who use Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word or any other Microsoft program containing a print font named "Wingdings" can duplicate the anti-Semitic message by typing the letters "NYC" on their screen. Microsoft said "Wingdings" was designed by Bigelow and Holmes, an outside vendor, and denied that Microsoft intentionally designed the secret message. Prof. Charles Bigelow confirmed that his company provided the symbols, but insisted that Microsoft made the final "mapping" decisions assigning his symbols to specific keys on the keyboard. But a senior Microsoft spokesman said the charge that the fonts contain a hidden message is "outrageous." "It's like saying that if you randomly type out characters on a keyboard to spell 'Satan', you can do that, but it's incredible to say that there's anti- Semitism in Microsoft or one of its vendors," said Charles Hemingway. But Young, who discussed the matter with other computer consultants, isn't so sure it's just a coincidence. The "Wingdings" font contains no letters - just 255 symbols. Young calculated the odds of three letters of the alphabet being combined with 255 symbols, and said he found that the odds of obtaining the message were less than one in a trillion. "It's mind-blowing," said Young. "Somebody's responsible for this. This is very offensive." "I found it hard to believe some of the stories about the resurgence of Nazi sympathizers - but this puts things back into perspective." Microsoft, based in Seattle, is the world's biggest software publisher, with 100 million customers around the world and sales of more than $2.3 billion in 1991. When Windows 3.0 was introduced in 1990, customers were snapping it up at the rate of 30,000 a week. -- end of article Above the story is a line of some of the various symbols in the "Wingdings" font, with the caption: "LOADED: When a specific font is used in Microsoft's Windows, these symbols, which correspond to the alphabet, appear. Type the letters NYC, you get the death sign, the Star of David and the thumbs-up." So what do you all think? Should me load up the buses and make a pilgrimage to Redmond to firebomb Bill Gates's mansion, or what? -- Aaron Dickey Bitnet: axd7104@nyuacf New York University Internet: axd7...@ACFcluster.nyu.edu Al Roker Is God.