----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Bisschop" <bisschop@telus.net>
To: <sterlingda@greaterthings.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2000 2:10 AM
Subject: The Use of UPC Codes for the Mark of the Beast? Why?
Why believe in Satan? Human stupidity will explain all of the evil and
ignorance in the world.
I am not a Christian, I stumbled onto an Apocalypse Web Page while seeking
information for a role playing game.
I found the idea of the numbers 666 being encoded in every UPC code
interesting, but this just does not work. When I look around my house I find
UPC codes on everything from a box for my computer monitor to a bottle of
Wasabe turning into a funky greenish blue fuzz ball in my fridge. The lines
that form the UPC code follow the pattern you suggest, but those lines you say
contain the number 6 do not actually hold that information. A scanner in a
supermarket checkout has a laser mounted under a spinning drum that scatters
the light in a pattern - usually a star or circle. Wands work the same way,
but the laser is housed under the counter and linked to the scanner with a fiber
optic cable. These things have to read price codes consistently and reliably -
otherwise the clerk has to deal with a growing line of irate customers.
Packages do not have consistent shapes nor are they made of the same materials
so the device needs some help. Think of the huge variety of packaging that
have UPC labels. Frozen peas, cans of motor oil, diskettes, CDs and rice all
look different and have different materials. UPC standards called for three
calibration stripes to allow the machine to read the code properly. The stripes
you point to contain no information, and do not stand for numbers, they simply
have a standard distance between them that the machine keys to. When reading
the other parts of the code, it can use this as a means to judge to proper
distance between stripes. You also made a mistake in implicitly stating that
the UPC scanner uses the black stripes, the actual information is contained in
the white spaces between the stripes, the stripes serve to space it apart. The
laser reflects off the white and the black absorbs it. You can actually make
bar codes with a piece of software and scan them to check your software for
the business. You can print a barcode on your skin, or even draw it, but it
does not really work. The red laser light is also absorbed by your skin and
the device refuses to see the code. A friend of mine printed a bar code on her
forehead. She had a fondness for Pepsi and used a stencil made by a computer
to print a copy of the UPC code for Pepsi on herself. She also made a copy on
white paper. When she used the scanner at the supermarket (with the managers
permission) she did not scan, but her paper copy gave the right item. Research
she did revealed the reason. What I fail to understand is why the UPC code
would even contain such information. I am a computer technician and computer
people do enjoy a good joke. If this 666 did exist, then the joke is on you.
Many computer programs contain the number '666' embedded in them to 'trip up
the nuts' as we often say. Many of my friends work with technology and love
such jokes. This might just be an example of that sort of thing. A number of
computer people do this just to see what person figures it out and who makes a
fuss. This does no harm but your page passes through the internet connections
of many technical people. They might have done this just to find out who would
be foolish enough to buy into it. Most 'geeks' have played this sort of game
at some time or another.
UNIX and Linux Operating Systems have found their way into the computers of
government and Internet Service Providers such as Yahoo. When you make a back
up copy of your files to a CD burner or Zip Disk, you issue this command using
'666' as the permission level. This command is quite common and allows the
user to write to that device. The number has no significance as a command
beyond what it does.
I used 'Meggido' as the name for one of my computers because I liked the
sound of the name. It has no other significance.
Kevin,
Thanks for your comments on UPC Codes. I read essentially what you said in
an IEEE Spectrum magazine. The 6's at the beginning, middle and end of the
code are referred to as "reference digits."
I am forwarding your comments to my discussion lists because I find them to
be an astonishing validation of how prophecy can be fulfilled by atheist such
as you just "playing a joke" on the Christians. Little do you
realize that you both play into the hands of Satan as well as help identify
yourself for the sake of the believer. I cannot fathom that a believer would
jokingly integrate 666 into something just for kicks. Whereas a non-believer
would do it without as much as a bat of an eye, to make fun of the believers.
All the same, it is Christ versus anti-Christ.
Thanks for helping us know how it works.
Sterling
From: "Kevin Bisschop" <bisschop@telus.net>
To: "Sterling D. Allan" <sterlingda@greaterthings.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2000 1:47 PM
Subject: I'm Not An Atheist
I do not object to your discussion of UPC codes, but for your information,
I am not an atheist, I am a Wiccan. Wiccans are a branch of Pantheistic Pagans
who are often referred to as Witches. I'm best described as an animistic
polytheist since I hold that many Gods exist, and spirits inhabit places.
Our moral code consists of the basic rule known as The Rede': Do what you
will, but harm no one.
Playing 666 Jokes on Christians
