Computer Achievement Award

WIRE SERVICE ARCHIVE / DECEMBER 1989

The Chronology Anomaly

CASE FILE 01 / SHIPPING MANIFEST

DATELINE: PANAMA CITY FILED: DEC 25, 1989 PRIORITY: ROUTINE

MEDICAL SOFTWARE CONSIGNMENT CLEARS PORT

A cargo vessel bearing sealed software packages from PC-CYBORG CORP, PANAMA cleared customs this morning. Port officials reported 20,000 diskette mailers addressed to research offices and medical organizations in North America.

The manifest lists the cargo as "AIDS INFORMATION VOL. 1", with payment instructions enclosed separately. Dock personnel said the packages contained a start-up utility identified as command.exe.

A company representative could not be reached for comment. The cargo is scheduled for postal distribution before the end of the year.

ARCHIVIST'S LEAD: The filename is wrong for the 1989 record. Search the edition for a second discrepancy.

Cross-reference the archive and record any recovered key at the switchboard terminal.

TECHNICAL METADATA / CONTINUOUS FEED

The Hexadecimal Teletype

CASE FILE 02 / SOURCE: DOT-MATRIX PRINTER

CROSSWORD CROSS-REFERENCE: inspect the answer marked in red ink.

PRINTER STATUS: continuous-feed output has been routed to the evidence desk.

MS-DOS CHARACTER CONVERSION REFERENCE

Open reference card

HEX / CHARACTER

41: A
42: B
43: C
44: D
45: E
46: F
47: G
48: H
49: I
4A: J
4B: K
4C: L
4D: M
4E: N
4F: O
50: P
51: Q
52: R
53: S
54: T
55: U
56: V
57: W
58: X
59: Y
5A: Z

Record the decoded key, then enter it at the switchboard terminal.

EDITORIAL MEMO / DECEMBER 1989

THE COST OF SILENCE

Our newsroom has received reports of a software campaign delivered through the mail. The public deserves a clear account of the parties responsible.

The following instruction was removed from the recovered memorandum:

SHIFT EACH LETTER BACK BY 3 STEPS IN THE ALPHABET.

The recovered memorandum points to concealed characters in the technical archive.

The redaction is opaque under ordinary light.

Record the decoded key, then enter it at the switchboard terminal.

THE DIGITAL TIMELINE

INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE

CLASSIFIED MEMORANDUM

MISSION CONTROL: STATUS

Collected Keys:

MEDICAL SOFTWARE CONSIGNMENT CLEARS PORT

MS-DOS CHARACTER CONVERSION REFERENCE

THE COST OF SILENCE