• [ANSI] Sparky, QWK MSGing

    From paulie420@VERT/BEERS20 to All on Tuesday, December 07, 2021 16:43:00
    Mark "Sparky" Herring is a name in BBSing history that should be k
    nown by all ofus. In fact, many of us use technology that Sparky inv
    ented in 1987 - the QWK file format.http:// wiki.synchro.net/history:museum:qwkhttp://www.textfiles.com/p rogramming/qwk.txthttps://web.archive.org/web/20080925223302 /http://www.bsdg.org/SWAG/MAIL/0025. PAS.html
    In a 1992 Boardwatch Magazine article 'Boardwatch 100 Reader's Choice
    Contest' some 27% of all users voting nominated a BBS in a different area co dethan they resided in. While this might not mean a lot to u
    s in 2o21, when ourphone bills reflected the minutes we spen
    t on long distance BBS calls, it didthen. The Syncronet Hist
    ory Musuem has that article archived:http://wiki.syn chro.net/history:museum:qwkMany of of use the QWK fo
    rmat thru this day to send and recieve messages using the Q
    WK file format. Popular, current, BBS message networks like Dove-Net,
    WeedNet and several others still use Sparky's format as an
    easy and popular way to network messages, and several
    users still use QWK for offline mailreading; while it might
    not be the long distance today, the format proves to
    be useful for reading messages offline - regardless.Point be
    ing, Sparky is a BBS legend. Jason Scott interviewed Sparky for his
    BBS Documentary and discussed the creation of QWK; its
    still one of myfavorite interviews on the subject - Sparky,
    who first connected to BBSes in1979, sayes "And I will neve
    r forget that; when I actually connected to it...s,it was
    so magical. I thought that... here it was, that my computer - in my
    bedroom - was actually communicating with another computer - somewhere else"
    . Wow. Same, Sparky.. same. You might hav
    e been to the party sooner than I, but the sentiment was si
    milar when I sent my first ATDT.https://archive.org/ details/20021102-bbs-herringSparky didn't only love
    bulletin board systems, but went on to be a technology fan
    for the rest of his life. At one point, he was an early adopter on
    mInstagram and managed to secure the username @Tenn
    essee. On all platforms, from Twitter to Instagram
    to Facebook and beyond, usernames that are short or general
    are highly sought after. John, Paul, Tennessee or reven
    simply JW - these can end up being worth money if the social media
    platform becomes hyper-popular. They are traded on websites likehttp s://socialtradia.com/, where they can command thousands of dollars.
    My favorite podcast, Darknet Diaries, recently did a story that incl
    uded sdetails about the @Tennessee instagram account.
    .. and is the reason that I'mremembering Sparky today. I hig
    hly suggest you take a listen:nght tps://darknetdiaries.com/https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/1
    06/Since he has this sought after Instagram account,
    Sparky began to get harrassed by people wanting
    to purchase the account - or steal it. From pizzaorders to
    himself and family members, to harassment to other family members
    and significant others, leading up to a 911 call where a teenage troll state dthe following to the operator:OPERA
    TOR1: This is Elena. How can I help you?IMPOSTER:Ma'a
    m, I just shot someone.OPERATOR1: You just shot somebody?
    What's your address?IMPOSTER:Yes, ma'am.OPERAT
    OR1: What's your address?IMPOSTER:I'm at 53 [CENSORED]
    Road.OPERATOR1: Can you spell that for me?IMPOST
    ER:I'm gonna fucking kill myself, ma'am.OPERATOR1: Hol
    d on, hold on. I need to know; who is it that you shot?IMPO
    STER:Some girl I met on an app.OPERATOR1: Okay. Is sh
    e still breathing?IMPOSTER:No, ma'am, she's dead.
    OPERATOR1: Okay, are you sure she's dead?IMPOSTER:[Inaudib
    le] twenty minutes ago. Dead.OPERATOR1: You saw her twen
    ty minutes ago?IMPOSTER:Yes.OPERATOR1: Do you
    know why you shot her?IMPOSTER:I don't know, ma'am.
    OPERATOR1: Okay, and what is your name?IMPOSTER:My name's Mar
    k.OPERATOR1: I'm sorry, what?IMPOSTER:Mark.
    OPERATOR1: Mark, what's your last name?IMPOSTER:Herring. I j
    ust want to kill myself, ma'am.OPERATOR1: I need you to s
    tay on the phone with me, okay?IMPOSTER:I can't take thi
    s anymore.OPERATOR1: I need you to stay on the phone with
    me.IMPOSTER:I don't want to go to jail.OPERATOR
    1: Mark, what's your phone number that you're calling from?
    IMPOSTER:I don't know at this moment, ma'am.OPERATOR1: Wha
    t's the girls name?IMPOSTER:I don't know. I met her on a
    n app.OPERATOR1: You met her on an ad?IMPOSTER:
    [Inaudible] and then we hooked up and I killed her.OPERAT
    OR1: Okay. Do you know where she came from?IMPOSTER:N
    o, ma'am.OPERATOR1: Okay.IMPOSTER:I can't rem
    ember. It is a few kilometers away.OPERATOR1: Okay. How
    long - it's a few kilometers away?IMPOSTER:Yes. That's
    what it said on the app.OPERATOR1: Okay, where are you ca
    lling from?IMPOSTER:I'm calling from the house, ma'am.
    OPERATOR1: You're calling from where?IMPOSTER:The house.
    OPERATOR1: Okay, and what's your house? What's your house address? IMPOSTER:I already said, ma'am. It's 53 [CENSORED] Road.OPERA
    TOR1: You said that she came from a few kilometers away?IM
    POSTER:That's what it said on the app. I don't know if it's right
    or not, but thats what it said.OPERATOR1: Okay.
    IMPOSTER:I can't...OPERATOR1: Where's the weapon right now?
    IMPOSTER:It is by my side, ma'am.OPERATOR1: Is there anybody
    else in the house with you?IMPOSTER:No, no. I'm gonna fl
    ow this place all up, ma'am. I can't do this.OPERAT
    OR1: Are there any other weapons with you?IMPOSTER:No.
    Just a pipe bomb that's from [inaudible] gun.OPERATOR1:
    Where is the pipe bomb?IMPOSTER:I put it at both doors;
    in the back and at the front. Ma'am, I'm gonna go kill myse
    lf. I can't do this anymore. I just don'twant to go to
    jail.OPERATOR1: Okay, okay. Well, I want you to stay on t
    he phone with me.IMPOSTER:[inaudible]OPERATOR1:
    What was your last name again?IMPOSTER:Herring.
    OPERATOR1: How do you spell your last name?IMPOSTER:H-E-R-R-I
    -N-GAnd with that, law enforcement and SWAT was on i
    ts way - they had no idea that Sparky was the BBS legend th
    at did so much for our community... they had no aidea th
    at he was a technology enthusiast caught up in a trolls terrible
    ploy... a father, grandfather or loved family man. When Spa
    rky heard commotion outside, he grabbed his gun and went towards the
    noise. Seeing that it was some 30 law enforcement officers,
    he dropped the gun -and they didn't shoot... but as they were attem
    pting to get Sparky to walk towards them, he has a massive
    heart attack.Mark "Sparky" Herring was pronounced de
    ad just an hour later, after being drushed to the hosp
    ital by a responding ambulance.https://justrandomnew s.com/mark-herring-dies-after-2-minors-used-fake-911-call - to-intimidate-him/https://people.com/crime/tennessee-man-dead -swatted-people-targeting-twitter-h andle/Lat
    er, it came out that 15 year old Shane Sonderman, of neighboring Laud
    erdale County, Tennessee - and an accomplice from the UK, w
    ere the trolls responsible for the attempted takeover of @T
    ennessee. On 07/21/2021, Sonderman was sentanced to
    60 months in prison. It doesn't begin to be enough
    for the loss of Sparky's family, the BBS community orSparky
    himself. This was a tragedy that spans technology over 40 years. https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2021/07/21/swatting-deat
    h-over-ten nessee-twitter-nickname-brings-60-months-prison/ 8048489002/https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/22/qw
    k_swatting_death/While this topic, death of a BBS le
    gend and/or the act of trolling in order to overtake online
    accounts might have been discussed here before, I thought that
    this story was worthy of being documented on these message networks. They wi
    ll be passed around, using Sparky's QWK method... 30 years
    after he designed it. If If the majority of folks we
    re still using BBSes as opposed to new fangledsocial media
    'services', I don't think this would have ever happened.@Ten
    nessee is certainly available at 2o fOr beeRS. I fee
    l horrible for the Herring family, and this BBS legend went far too
    quickly. Do any of you know Sparky? Does anyone still use QWK messaging - to
    this day? Does anyone have more to add? G
    odspeed, Sparky... (There is a file area on 20ForBee
    rs.com:1337, in the local conference - named Sparky, with p
    ictures, video, PDFs of Sonderman's indictment and more. A
    collection to remember Sparky - and his additions to our BBS hobby.)


    |07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
    |08.........
  • From Luka Novak@VERT/RDBBS to paulie420 on Wednesday, December 08, 2021 06:40:15
    Re: [ANSI] Sparky, QWK MSGing
    By: paulie420 to All on Tue Dec 07 2021 04:43 pm

    I read about Sparky's early demise a few days ago[0] as I was curious about how QWK worked, and it genuinely made me angry. It did remind me of why I keep away from mainstream social media, admittedly, but no one should have had to die over something as petty as a username, no matter where it is.

    I'm glad the troll didn't get what he wanted. According to where I read about it, the troll's been doing this for a good while. It's depressing that it took him taking the life of someone who achieved something great for him to be caught, honestly. I think swatters are truly awful people, and five years really is not enough for someone who is considered a "serial swatter" over things like Twitter handles and Instagram usernames. Such a person shouldn't be allowed on any social media ever again.

    [0]: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/07/serial-swatter-who-caused-death-gets-five- years-in-prison/
    I am on:
    envs.net
    tilde.town
    rawtext.club

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ RetroDigital BBS - rdnetbbs.com
  • From Digital Man@VERT to Luka Novak on Wednesday, December 08, 2021 09:46:08
    Re: [ANSI] Sparky, QWK MSGing
    By: Luka Novak to paulie420 on Wed Dec 08 2021 06:40 am

    I'm glad the troll didn't get what he wanted.

    The kid was an intimidating creepy punk, yeah, but I don't know about "troll". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll
    --
    digital man (rob)

    Breaking Bad quote #27:
    Other than Gomey here pees sitting down, here's what we know. - Hank
    Norco, CA WX: 57.1øF, 92.0% humidity, 1 mph SSW wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs

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  • From The Lizard Master@VERT/NITEEYES to paulie420 on Wednesday, December 08, 2021 09:07:08
    Re: [ANSI] Sparky, QWK MSGing
    By: paulie420 to All on Tue Dec 07 2021 04:43 pm

    pting to get Sparky to walk towards them, he has a massive
    heart attack.Mark "Sparky" Herring was pronounced de

    Wow sad to hear, thanks for sharing.

    ---TLM

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Nite Eyes BBS - To make people happy about my tagline everywhere...
  • From MRO@VERT/BBSESINF to Digital Man on Wednesday, December 08, 2021 13:32:50
    Re: [ANSI] Sparky, QWK MSGing
    By: Digital Man to Luka Novak on Wed Dec 08 2021 09:46 am

    Re: [ANSI] Sparky, QWK MSGing
    By: Luka Novak to paulie420 on Wed Dec 08 2021 06:40 am

    I'm glad the troll didn't get what he wanted.

    The kid was an intimidating creepy punk, yeah, but I don't know about "troll". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMEe7JqBgvg&ab_channel=CollegeHumor
    ---
    þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::
  • From Denn@VERT/OUTWEST to Luka Novak on Wednesday, December 08, 2021 22:59:56
    Re: [ANSI] Sparky, QWK MSGing
    By: Luka Novak to paulie420 on Wed Dec 08 2021 06:40 am

    I read about Sparky's early demise a few days ago[0] as I was curious about how QWK worked, and it genuinely made me angry. It did remind me of

    Thanks for sharing that link, it's pretty disturbing what those morons did for a stupid twitter handle.
    I used the QWK reader to reduce my time tying up my phone line, it was a great program.

    ... YouTube, Twitter, & FaceBook will combine to form YouTwitFace.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ outwestbbs.com - the Outwest BBS
  • From MRO@VERT/BBSESINF to Denn on Thursday, December 09, 2021 05:05:47
    Re: [ANSI] Sparky, QWK MSGing
    By: Denn to Luka Novak on Wed Dec 08 2021 10:59 pm

    Re: [ANSI] Sparky, QWK MSGing
    By: Luka Novak to paulie420 on Wed Dec 08 2021 06:40 am

    I read about Sparky's early demise a few days ago[0] as I was curious about how QWK worked, and it genuinely made me angry. It did remind me of

    Thanks for sharing that link, it's pretty disturbing what those morons did for a stupid twitter handle.
    I used the QWK reader to reduce my time tying up my phone line, it was a great program.

    ... YouTube, Twitter, & FaceBook will combine to form YouTwitFace.

    part of this issue is people are placing value in the twitter and instagram names. herring did this. you cant give a website this power over you.

    another thing is people need to do their part and speak up. if someone is mentally unstable and dangerous, dont do nothing . each time something happens there are actionable warning signs.
    ---
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  • From Denn@VERT/OUTWEST to MRO on Thursday, December 09, 2021 08:33:03
    Re: [ANSI] Sparky, QWK MSGing
    By: MRO to Denn on Thu Dec 09 2021 05:05 am

    Re: [ANSI] Sparky, QWK MSGing
    I read about Sparky's early demise a few days ago[0] as I was
    curious about how QWK worked, and it genuinely made me angry. It
    did remind me of

    Thanks for sharing that link, it's pretty disturbing what those morons
    did for a stupid twitter handle.

    another thing is people need to do their part and speak up. if someone is mentally unstable and dangerous, dont do nothing . each time something hap

    True, like the most recent school shooter, the signs were there but nobody except his teacher tried to do anything.


    ... Limit Congress to 2 terms. 1 in Congress and 1 in Jail.

    ---
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