Conference 7.286::digital

    LSSN = Logistics Services Support Centre
    USLS - United States Logistics Services
    
    re:  .1 - sounds about right to me.
    
    Marina - whose umbrella organization is USLS
    
    Any other questions?

	I thought this whole notesfile was Rumour Central?

							mike

    I've heard the same.... When USLS migrates to MCS and falls under that
    organization, It's my personal expectation, that the work will
    DE-centralize (again) and go back out to the field leaving "order
    processing" pretty much the only thing going on in the centers.  If so,
    why do we need 7, and BTW, I also see it going down to one pretty soon,
    that one being DecDirect....
    
    Just mine.......JP
    

    LCS, USLS, MCS, DCS, and other TLAs.
    
    When my tenure with Digital is up, I'm attending a deprogramming class
    at the Betty Ford Acronym center to regain my English.
    
    						Tex

>    LSSN = Logistics Services Support Centre
	^			       ^
Looks like someone's acronymically challenged.

    It...it all started so innocently.  I remember ten years ago, my
    manager sent me a note with "FYI" at the top.  I didn't know what it
    was or...or the damage it would cause later (sniff, tear), so I asked
    and he said "For Your Information, Tex...get with it, OK?".  So you
    see, it was peer pressure and...and I gave in.  I started replying with
    "FWIW" at the bottom sometimes.  Seemed harmless...at the time.
    
    From there it just snowballed.  I quit using EDT as my mail editor,
    switched to LSE, began keeping my source code in CMS and doing MMS
    builds for my ACMS system.  People wanted things ASAP, and I worked for
    DCS back then (DLO office, before I took the IT to SCA).  Lotta
    pressure and...I was weak.
    
    LCDs were coming into play.  I bought a PC from ATT (dialed in on MCI,
    though), so I could RJE my status reports to the PM at my PSC.  IMHO,
    that was my downfall.  My...my family saw the change, sent me to our
    HMO here in DFW, he suggested a little R&R.  I..., well, I didn't
    listen.
    
    Now I'm in EDI, using C and RDB on VMS, back under DC again, scared of
    a TFSO and...and I can't talk to anyone out there about it
    (sniff)...except you folks.  I want to go to AA (Acronyms Anonymous)
    but keep getting some airline.  I'm scared of monograms anymore, even
    pulled the labels out of my BVDs.  Oh, God, I should've stayed with
    Wang!
    
    							Tex (sob)

    
    Brent you're crazy, it's great!!!
    
    All I ever use is RTFM, it seems to cover them all.
    
    Adele
    

    LSSN = Logistics Services Support Network.  A Part of the Network is
    the LSSC - Logistics Services Support Center.....
    
    Toodles.....JP

    .8
    
    Aw, quit picking on me, so, I de-acronymed an LSSC, rather than LSSN,
    which is Network, as opposed to Centre.
    
    Just sign me:
    
    Another long-suffering inmate of this looney bin

    re: .9
    >
    >                                                        Tex (sob)
     
    Is that a parenthetical crying sound or a self descriptive TLA?

    .9
    
    /nasser would be proud - thanks for keeping the smiles in DIGITAL!
    
    8^)		8^)		8^)		8^)
    
    /dlw

    I've heard some people say Digital Equipment Corp is a 
    government experiment that went awry.

>    I've heard some people say Digital Equipment Corp is a 
>    government experiment that went awry.
    
    Great!  Now we're going to have to erase his memory!  Do the usual and
    tell everyone it was a TFSO, as always.
    
    						authorized by:
    
    						Stephanapoulos

    note 3159.9
    
    For shame!  Acronym.....poleaze...we refer to them as ACR's in the
    business....
    
    
    Regards
    Rod

    Actually, my therapist calls them TLAs for "Three Letter Acronyms". 
    She's got her PhD from MIT, lived in NYC before coming to DFW.  She's
    AOK w/ me, but FWIW I'll ask her about ACRs.
    
    							Tex

    			L.S.M.F.T
    
    	IMO, BTW.
    
    :>

    L.S.M.F.T. means? Let's sell more furniture today???

    <-- indeed. See, acronyms work. People can remember. The problem
        in Digital, is, that they change them every few weeks. And if 
        that weren't bad enough, they also change an old TLA to a new
        meaning, just in case you *do* remember what it meant.
    
    /Bob

    Less Smoke, More Fine Tobacco
    ^    ^      ^    ^    ^
    Lucky Stikes
    
    Ex Smoker...

    re: -.1  Close, but no cigar.
    
    LSMFT = Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco.
    
    (As a youngster, we also had another phrase for LSMFT, but it's not for
    posting here.)
    
    CW

    re:  .14
    
    Are you saying that /nasser is gone???  Say it ain't so!
    

    <-- no longer a rumor, I'm sad to say... :-(

    re .24
    
    yes, /nasser's farewell is posted in soapbox, 1506.318 - hey, maybe
    he'll be back soon as a consultant!?

    please post it here for those of us who don't do soaps!

Context is everything.  If you cross-post \nasser's farewell here, he may
use his si'kick powers against you.

               <<< PEAR::DKB100:[NOTES$LIBRARY]SOAPBOX.NOTE;1 >>>
                          -< SOAPBOX.  Just SOAPBOX. >-
================================================================================
Note 1506.318        the official live si'kick reading note           318 of 343
ZEKE::N_ABBASI "i have been downsized"               26 lines  31-MAY-1994 11:19
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    .316
    
    you silly doodlehead, have you tired that exersise first befor
    telling me iam an idiot ?
    
    any way, for more important things.
    
    i have just had my exit interview and iam out of me, i have been
    downsized. 
    
    its been rellay fun talking to SOME of you !  this is my last note
    here and just wanted to say bye.
    
    iam being downsized just about 3 weeks shy of my 5 years, so i
    am not going to be 100% vested in the pension plan :(
    
    i met some nice people in here and have improved my debating
    style allot too since i came aboard.
    
    soory i did not get to do si'kick readign to every one waiting.
    
    
    bye everyone
    
    \nasser
    

    
>>    iam being downsized just about 3 weeks shy of my 5 years, so i
    am not going to be 100% vested in the pension plan :(
    
 

    Someone might want to have him check this out further.  I do 
    believe he might have a shot at it with the four weeks that 
    he is still "employed" and any vacation time accrued.  It's 
    enough to push the envelope, IMHO.

    

    	By the way, I've just been informed that these rumors, whether
    based in truth or not, are having a detrimental effect on employee
    morale and productivity. For that reason, the company would like these
    rumors and this rumor-spreading to stop and for everyone to get back to
    work and be productive again. The more employees focus on the work
    they're supposed to be doing and the less they know about what's really
    going on in the upper levels of the company, the better off we'll all
    be! Well, I actually believe the latter part of that sentence.
    	This has been a public service announcement from rumor control
    central.

    .31  :^)  :^) :^)
    
    Funny, was just having that same conversation with another noter just
    yesterday, that the muckety mucks would rather we unwashed masses know
    as little as possible, whilst they make sure their personal financial
    houses are in order prior to completing the task of running our once
    great company into the ground.
    
    Oops, pardon me, and my cynicism, no, where's that happy pill I was
    supposed to take with my large, economy sized styrofoam cup of high
    test?

    As the author of the base note, I'd like to know the following two
    things:
    
    1.  How did the title of this note get changed without my being
    notified.  Who decided to make this 'executive decision'?
    
    2.  Who deleted my basenote?
    
    Little common courtesy...oh I forgot...oh nevermind!

    Still no conclusive answer to my questions as to why the basenote was
    deleted and why my topic name was changed.  Bob is investigating.

What was the topic name originally?

		Steve

    Rumor Central

    I, in Piscataway have heard nothing yet, but its still early in the week
    for us. I won`t know until the 27th if I get the package. I think the
    long term intent of the centers was to get down to one or two any way.
    This will just speed up the process.    

    Well???  Do we know WHO deleted the basenote without notifying the
    author, and changed the string title?
    
    I'm getting just a mite angry and paranoid...

The author of 3159.0 has created a new copy of his topic note, which has been
inserted as 3159.0.

Bob - Co-moderator DIGITAL

    
>    Well???  Do we know WHO deleted the basenote without notifying the
>    author, and changed the string title?
    
    Obviously a mod, don't you think?  And I only know of one loose cannon
    who has published that "he will blast notes not in accordance with P&P
    without notice and without return to the original author".
    
>    I'm getting just a mite angry and paranoid...
    
    No, you're only paranoid if someone's NOT really out to get you.  And
    even paranoids have real enemies. :^]
    
    							Tex

    Tex:
    
    Problem is no one informed me, the basenote author.
    
    Ron

Re: .40

You are mistaken.  None of the DIGITAL mods deleted the note, nor changed
the title.  We are as baffled about this as anyone.

				Steve

    That IS the problem.  Were I you, I would SEND to all moderators,
    explain the situation, and ask for a response.  I'm afraid you'll only
    get moral support from the rest of us (and you have mine).
    
    Let us know, will you?
    
    								Tex

   Tex, read 3159.42.  Steve is a moderator.
   

Re: .43

The basenote author DID ask the moderators.  Each of us denied deleting the
note or renaming it (and it is our policy to record all such actions in
a private notesfile; I think it highly unlikely that one of us did it.)
Bob Ainsley kindly offered to restore the note.

Really, Tex, these conspiracy theories of yours are getting to be a bit of
a drag.

				Steve

    
    
    Steve,
    
    
    Get off that grassy knoll with your laptop.
    
    
    
    Mike

Actually, Steve, I find the conspiracy theory entertaining and a break from
the day to day routine.

Al 

    
    I think Clinton did it.
    
    Glenn

    re -.1 "There really is no evidence of that"
                          Bill and Hillary
    

    I think OJ did it to take the heat off Clinton...
    

    re: .48 ("Clinton did it")
    
     That's why Palmer refused to jog with Bill. They didn't want to be
    seen together...
    
     

    
    I thought the butler did it???
    
    

    ....and I`m not sure that that Dick didn`t do it either!!!

    If a mod didn't do it and I didn't do it {I don't know how to go back
    in and change the topic of a basenote} could someone else go in and do
    it?
    
    Bob:  Thanks for restoring both my note and original title.
    
    Ron

>could someone else go in and do it?

Only someone with RMS access to the notesfile.  That would mean anyone with 
privileges on HUMANE.

	dave

    
    re: .55
    
    only the moderators have privileges on HUMANE.
    
    -Joe
    

    
    
    I think that others, hacker types could do it.  It would be interesting
    to find out why it was done.
    
    
    
    Mike

    To be honest, I don't see how anyone "unauthorized" could have done 
    it.  Deleting the note might have been done accidentally, or it
    could be subtle file corruption, but the title change is more
    troubling.  It's not like any of the mods to do something like this.
    
    					Steve

    If I could have, I would have
    But I don't so I won't
    
    (Just to break the day), Ronald

    One of the Mods left his desk still logged in.
    
    Harmless (?) prankster walks by .... Ahah ! she says what if I delete a
    note just to brighten up the day.

    
    
    Steve,
    
    
    In another file I saw a note which was set nowrite by the author of the
    basenote taken off of nowwrite (by a non mod).  I don't know if this is
    a similar situation.
    
    Mike

    What happened to .58?

Anyone with privs on the same node as the author
could have done it as well.

    or someone impersonating bthe node while it happened to be down...

    .61
    Why to you think it a female?

��     <<< Note 3159.59 by QUARK::LIONEL "Free advice is worth every cent" >>>

��    To be honest, I don't see how anyone "unauthorized" could have done 
��    it.  Deleting the note might have been done accidentally, or it

    Gee, I do.

    1) Any privileged user with an account on either the
       basenote, or any system of one of the moderators could
       do a submit/user= 

    2) Change the node address of a random system to be that of
       either the basenoter's system or a moderator's system.
       Add appropriate username.  This is probably limited to
       the same decnet area.

    3) Hack the notes protocol to masquerade as a moderator, or
       the basenoter.  Maybe use poor-man's routing to get the
       desired node name.

    4) Try to gain access to the file directly.

    Since one of the moderators is right here in area 2, I could
    easily do #2.  Of course, it probably violates some personnel
    policies and procedures, but those are just guidelines,
    subject to broad employee interpretation.

    
    Now that I'm thinking about it; Elvis has a privileged account on
    HUMANE too. Hmmmm....
    
    -Joe
    
    

    I might have privileges but I'm still dead.
    
    Elvis

    Bates (or is it Anderson?) -- you're a sick puppy!
    
    					andrew

Is Elvis an employee or a contractor?

    
       WHAT A RATHOLE ******

    re .66 which was re. 61
    
    Perhaps I thought it was "She" because:
    
    1. I am a misogynist
    
    2. There is no comfortable english non-gender-specific pronoun (except
       "it")
    
    3. Maybe I saw a mysterious woman sneaking away from a moderators desk
       with .58 clasped under her arm !
    
    4. Even perhaps it was me !

    non-gender specific pronoun could be a "person"?
    

    HELP ! HELP ! HELP !
    
    I'M GETTING SUCKED DOWN A RATHOLE !

    Good bye.......

What do you mean "Good Bye"?
We're all going along for the ride...

    I didn`t mean for it to be taken serious and yes I forgot the smily at
    the end of the sentence... If you were getting sucked down a rat hole
    as .76 implied I just wanted to say "good bye". :'):'):')

    Thank Goodness...;^)

    
    
                     <<< Note 3159.69 by HUMANE::PRESLEY >>>

    >I might have privileges but I'm still dead.
    
    >Elvis
    
    Does your keyboard have a "decomposed character" key?
    

    Did anyone thinks that someone else with the author's password could
    have logged in as him and done it?
    
    

    
UG493-28 THE BEST DIGITAL RUMOURS 
         
DEC headquarters in Maynard, once fondly known as "The Mill" has 
rapidly deteriorated into "The Rumour Mill" over the last few 
weeks thanks to the overwhelming sound of silence emanating from 
on high. As a service to the industry and a courtesy to 
posterity, our friends at Illuminata have tried to gather the 
printable ones in one place for public comment. Our own personal 
favourite, other than the one that had CEO Bob Palmer and his 
number two Enrico Pesatori tussling like schoolboys over some 
dispute or other, alleged that DEC was prepared to send Palmer 
back to semiconductors and perhaps spin the business out together 
with a Japanese firm (Mitsubishi, its Alpha second source, 
maybe?) and another company. We were drawn to this one because 
earlier in the week we heard tales of how DEC and Siemens 
Nixdorf, which has reportedly been told it has two years to get 
its IT business back into profit, were revisiting talks they had 
some two or three years ago when they were using the "M" word. 
Other than that here's a summary of, and commentary on, the best 
DEC rumours Illuminata's Terry Shannon and Jonathan Eunice have 
heard in the past week or two. Some...uh...strain credulity. 
Other seem highly likely, if not certain. Pick your favourites, 
invent some new ones, and pass them around - everyone else does.


10. Various rumours too outlandish, too implausible, or just 
plain too specious to warrant serious discussion. [Numerous 
sources]

When it comes to DEC-specific fish stories, sources within the 
computer industry can hardly be described as pikers. We've heard 
all the big ones, but doubt very seriously that Ken Olsen will 
return to rescue Digital from its desperate plight. Or that 
Palmer is in fact a space alien from Altair-IV. Or that Boy 
Billionaire Bill wants to move to Maynard.

                              - o -

9. Digital will sell business units. [Numerous sources]

Almost certainly true. Which will go, however, depends on which 
are seen as least strategic, and on which bring the highest 
prices. We've heard that DEC is looking for at least $5bn cash 
from unit sales. Buyers are hoping, of course, for just the 
opposite-good stuff at low prices.

StorageWorks (read Avastor) - Sounds like a done deal. Company 
executives have spoken publicly on the possibility. While 
StorageWorks has become a profitable business, it's not ready to 
flood the company with cash. Indeed, its development will require 
significant ongoing R&D and manufacturing investments to stay 
abreast of a very competitive market.   DEC can't afford the 
luxury of funding such "discretionary" activities.

Networks and Communications - Although Network World has rumoured 
negotiations with Bell Atlantic or a similar firm, we remain 
somewhat sceptical given that the included technology is 
considered one of the firm's core competencies. On the other 
hand, those in dire straits must resort to drastic measures. It's 
called triage.

Customer Services - While Palmer recently indicated that 
downsizing in the service organisation has been modest at best, a 
wholesale divestiture would not be implausible. By acquiring 
Digital's service business, a General Electric, EDS, or other 
suitor could provide sorely-needed cash and continued employment 
to erstwhile Digital employees.

                              - o -

8. DEC will split into five business units, each with its own 
president and sales force, under the aegis of a holding company. 
[PC Week, June 13]

Just like Akers wanted to do with IBM, and McNealy's done with 
Sun, eh? As Mr. Palmer told us last month, "trying to 
disaggregate Digital from a big mushball is extraordinarily 
difficult." The company clearly needs its managers, from the 
bottom to the top, to take responsibility for their own success 
or failure. While not fans of rigid hierarchies, we're for any 
reorganisation that enables and encourages such responsibility. 
If autonomous units do that, so much the better.

We are unimpressed with change for change's sake, however. Before 
lurching ahead, DEC should examine how helpful or lasting IBM's 
and Sun's autonomous units have been. (Hint: mixed results at 
best, followed by even more reshuffling.) Separate sales forces, 
in particular, strike us as a problem waiting to happen.

Whatever form the upcoming reorganisation takes, it represents 
Palmer's last chance to be known as the Great Disaggregator.

                              - o -

7. Digital will dramatically reduce its software portfolio. 
Negotiations are under way for the sale of Rdb, and DEC is 
looking for foster homes for the lion's share of its applications 
software.. [Various sources]

Likely. If you happen to own that grey coffee mug emblazoned 
"Digital is a Software Company," you now have a collector's item. 
Digital's ambitions to become a holistic software purveyor began 
melting away with the dissolution of David Stone's The New 
Software Group and the recent departure of groupware VP Dennis 
Roberson. Those ambitions will vanish completely as DEC finds 
other willing buyers. 

As for Rdb, it could go even though DEC raked in an estimated 
$120M in Rdb sales last year, and even though it expects to do 
even better this year. Neither DEC's new-found affection for 
Oracle. nor its reliance on Oracle technology for its forthcoming 
Unix database cluster bode well for Rdb's continued tenure. Might 
CA be interested? Just a thought.

                              - o -

6. MCI will take a 15% equity position. The buying of DEC's 
Greater Boston network represents a screen for a larger 
operation. [Anonymous]

DEC recently agreed to sell its Greater Boston fibre network to 
MCI.  Can a Friends and Family programme for AXP systems be far 
behind?

Though Digital had ~$1.25bn cash in the bank as of April 15, it 
will need over $1B to downsize. A strategic investment by a 
friendly partner would be quite handy. For its part, MCI (among 
many other firms) could use a technology partner for the coming 
multimedia superhighway.

On the other hand, Mr. Palmer has been described to us as a 
control freak who would only consider surrendering a significant 
portion of Digital if put on a rack and tortured. Regardless of 
how true this assessment, the sale of operations and assets seems 
to be the primary cash-generation strategy at this point.

                              - o -

5. Digital's sales force will be drastically cut. As many as 
1,200 salespeople will be cashiered by the end of the fiscal 
year. Ultimately, Digital will service only its top 550 accounts 
via the direct sales model. Each Digital business unit will be 
assigned a New Business Development Manager whose task is find 
new customers. [Various sources]

The details may differ, but these general outlines are likely. 
Digital must turn to indirect sales channels as margins tighten. 
It has been sending clear messages regarding its intentions to 
rely heavily on channel partners, but it remains far behind its 
peers in implementing such a strategy.

                              - o -

4. Digital will replace OpenVMS with Windows NT. [Competitors]

No way, Jose! First and foremost, Digital does not harbour a 
death wish.  Dropping OpenVMS would simply kill the company. The 
continued allegiance of the OpenVMS installed base is an absolute 
prerequisite to the firm's continued status as a first-tier 
vendor. Second, it will be several years before the Windows NT 
applications portfolio reaches critical mass, especially as ISVs 
port to AXP after Intel, and soon, after PowerPC. Finally, it 
will likely be some years before most commercial customers will 
fully bet their businesses on NT as they do on OpenVMS.

                              - o -

3. Digital's headcount will be slashed, perhaps to as few as 
52,000 employees. [Anonymous]

Yes to slashing; unknown to 52K. Palmer has suggested cutbacks of 
~ 20,000 employees (beyond the ~7,000 or more already expected to 
go this financial quarter), which would leave ~65,000 warm 
bodies.

How fast this can occur is anyone's guess. Palmer has stressed 
the need for deliberate action (read: slower than anyone on the 
outside wants to hear), but the pace may be hastened by the 
threat of one job cut in particular, not to mention the 
disastrous morale caused by installment-plan downsizing. Painful 
as it will be to lose roughly a quarter of the firm, it has 
become a necessity if the rest of the company is to have a 
future. If it's to be done, best it be done quickly.

                              - o -

2. Digital will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
[Competition]

Puleeze!!!...DEC has its share of troubles, and then some-but 
let's keep them in perspective, OK? With over a billion dollars 
in the bank (at least until the firm discloses its fourth quarter 
restructuring charges), and given the wholesale disgrace the 
company would experience as a result, Digital seems pretty darn 
unlikely to pull a "Gimme Shelter" ploy.

                              - o -

1. And the No1 rumour is...Bob is toast.  [Gee, who isn't saying 
this?]

Wrong tense.  "Bob will be toast" is the proper conjugation, 
conditional of course on the acceptance and viability of his 
forthcoming reorganisation. Mr. Palmer has indicated that the 
Board expects and demands profitability by financial year-end, 
which presumably gives him a few more quarters to improve results 
or die trying. Results, however, will not improve unless and 
until customers and partners trust the company's business 
prospects and directions. For all intents and purposes, the July 
reorganisation becomes Palmer's Last Stand. Bob is not toast yet, 
but his office is getting hotter, and he does seem to have a 
pretty nice tan.