\title{Malcolm's Gleanings}
\author{Malcolm Clark}
\begin{Article}
\section{Spivaking anyone?}

Cybernauts will be familiar with LambdaMOO, one of the information
superhighway's more recherche laybys. For those with both feet in
reality, a MOO is an object oriented MUD, and a MUD used to be a
multi-user dungeon, but has achieved respectibility by becoming a
dimension or discussion (depending on whose acronym cracker you
use). When it was a MUD it was just an on-line game for propellor
heads (usually male, usually adolescent), without the benefit of
graphics. Just a text based dungeon and dragons game. The sort of
thing your average \TeX\ head would enjoy. In its new incarnation it
has become a useful conferencing tool (as well as a virtual world for
role players). Xerox PARC (the guys who brought you the first usable
graphic user interface while the Steves, Jobs and Wozniak, were still
cadging chips from Mr Hewlett and Mr Packard) is the home of the
LambdaMOO, where you can register to have your own room which you
organise as you wish and to which you may invite whomever, or maybe
even whatever, you choose. A plausible version of what this might
become is contained in Neal Stephenson's cyberpunk novel `Snow Crash'.
What has this to do with the world of \TeX, apart from its similar
single-mindedness? Just that `to spivak' is a way of describing one
sort of role-playing. More research needs to be done to establish the
full implication of this. A prize for the first entertaining (if
inaccurate) definition: LambdaMOO may be found at the URL:
\texttt{telnet://lambda.parc.xerox.com:8888} (that's enough to separate
the kids from the lambs).

\section{Stability or statis}

The latest round of `corrections' to the \TeX\ suite has just been
released by Donald Knuth. It includes adjustments to \TeX, Metafont
and the Computer Modern fonts. The bumper cheques (top amount this
time, \$327.68) went to the legendary (if elusive) Chris Thompson and
Bogus\l aw Jackowski. This takes \TeX\ to version 3.14159, and
Metafont to 2.718. The announcement was accompanied by the statement
that the next and successive rounds would occur in February ``1998,
2002, 2007, etc!''. In line with all best laid plans, no sooner had
the toner on my laser printer fused than another bug was found and
corrected. The numbers remain the same though.

\section{\TUB}

\TUB\ has arrived. At least, volume 15, number 3, the conference
edition has made it to our shores (coincidentally at the same time as
it turned up in Santa Barbara). It's a reasonably thick compendium,
despite omitting a few of the papers which were presented. The
omissions are either because the articles were very similar to already
published material (like Rowley \& Mittelbach, and Bigelow), or
because it will appear in a future issue (like Hosek, Haralambous, and
Laugier \& Haralambous), or, rather oddly and without explanation,
withdrawl (Haralambous). It's better and more cohesive than I remember
at the conference. The major innovation is the inclusion of several
pages in colour, appropriate at a meeting where so much attention was
directed at the use of colour. In contrast to the edition of Cahiers
GUTenberg which used colour integrated with the text, all the colour
examples are included in an Appendix. Many of the new extensions to
\LaTeX\ reflect or anticipate the widespread adoption of colour. This
volume may be a timely summary of many of the issues and
consequences. But there is much else there.

\section{A few last words}
I continue to be surprised by the attention that this column
attracts. In my view it is a filler which helps the editor to pad out
a few columns and the only balance it achieves is purely in those
column terms. It is not to be taken seriously. 
%To do so would be sad
%evidence of naivety and an inability to separate wheat and chaff. But
%one of the consistent sadnesses of the \TeX\ world are those who take
%themselves all too seriously.
\end{Article}
\endinput
\section{More arcana}

It has never been made especially clear whether the AMS actually did
take the step of protecting the \TeX\ logo, although Addison Wesley
certainly do claim to have done so for Metafont. As far as the best
informed can say, the trademark office in the US rejected the
registration attempt, in part because of the confusion which might
have occured between \TeX\ and TEX, a now forgotton Honeywell text
editor. On the other hand, Richard Kinch has registered True\TeX. At
this late date, and with \TeX's place in the world assured it's
probably past worrying about, isn't it?

