\author{Malcolm Clark}
\title{Malcolm's Gleanings}
\begin{Article}
\section{Hints and allegations}

Have you booked your trip to Dubna yet?
Despite my own personal reservations I'm
sure this will turn out to be one of the
great TUG conferences, honest. Trust me.
The sorts of efforts which are being made to
ensure that all the delegates are welcomed
when they arrive in Moscow and conveyed
to Dubna seem to indicate that this is
going to be a very effective and friendly affair.
Go for it. It will be something to tell your
grandchildren about.

A colleague (David Wright) recently spent a few weeks in Moscow. I asked
him for his comments, since they may be applicable to
those who manage to attend the conference.
He writes:
 
``I had a great time -- but I was lucky in having the option
   of staying with friends who have a good flat in one of the
   more privileged areas. I stayed for 2 nights in a student 
   house -- pretty scummy and with a bathroom replete with
   cockroaches and a rat\slash mouse which lived behind the toilet.
   I was there as a student however and they do look after 
   non-student guests better -- but you should be
   prepared for pretty basic accommodation and then 
   anything better will be a pleasant surprise. This is a good
   rule of thumb for all areas of life in the former SU.
 
   Something you may notice is that Russians
   have a casual approach to safety -- the only way to be if
   you are permanently living in an environment where
   things are fairly out of control. For visitors it is worth
   being fairly cautious  -- particularly with respect to traffic
   which is anarchic.
   From observation and what I have heard, emergency
   services are rudimentary or non-existent and many
   Russian hospitals are pretty run down -- so even  with
   good medical insurance, you might find that initial
   treatment is tough.
   Having said that, life becomes pretty normal after a
   while and you can't spend your time wondering 
   whether the Metro or buses are getting the requisite
   preventive maintenance -- they clearly aren't. You
   could  pack a geiger counter if you  are
   staying on the site of former or current reactors\dots
 
   Transport is very good actually -- you can travel as
   far as you like on the Metro for 1500 roubles
   (about 5,000 roubles to the dollar, so about  20p)
   - to do so you buy `jeton' 
   which you feed into the barrier. On buses, trams, etc
   you can buy 10 tickets from the driver (a `knitchka'
   \textsl{lit.} small book) for 19,000 roubles -- valid on all 
   versions (tram, trolleybus or bus) and for any length
   of journey. To validate one for a trip you stamp it
   in one of the coded punches in the vehicle.
   
   An absolute must to visit is the refurbished Tretyakof
   Gallery which is the centrepiece of Russian art -- but
   it is worth reading a bit or getting a guide unless you
   are the rare Westerner who knows anything about Russian
   art. The Pushkin also currently has two exhibitions
   (Moscow-Berlin 1900--1950 -- excellent, covering art,
   architecture, drama, film, etc.\ \emph{and} of course the new
   Trojan Gold (which opened the day I left).
   An annexe to the Pushkin which holds several private
   collections is also well worth a visit and for the really
   art mad there is also the House of Artists near Gorki
   Park (also a nice place to stroll in warm weather) which
   houses an extension to the Tretyakof and numerous
   other transient exhibitions.
 
   The Kremlin is fairly essential (both for the churches and
   the treasures -- which I didn't see, as I left some things for 
   another trip), but if one wants a weird experience and is
   interested the Museum of the Revolution is it -- two of
   us went -- paid about 30p to get in and were the only people
   there (apart from the old ladies guarding every room). It
   is likely to disappear at least in this form so it will soon
   itself be history.

  Other places which are worth a go are the Bolshoi Theatre
  -- not the greatest in terms of performances but relatively
  cheap -- best tickets about 75,000 roubles. Don't fall for the
  ticket touts (anywhere) -- attendances by Russians have fallen
  off greatly because most have to prioritise expenditure fairly
  ruthlessly and the new rich have not yet matured into great
  patrons of the arts.
  The Conservatoire is interesting for its place in music
  history, but by modern standards the hall is not acoustically
  great (a bit like a school hall with pretensions). The music is 
  good and varied, though with quite a lot of more modern
  Russian music.

  For the really authentic Russian art experience, however,
  try the theatre -- lots of them -- a very good one is the Mali
  near the Bolshoi which has been refurbished recently. You
  have to be prepared not to understand much so a Russian
  version of a play you know is probably best. The \textsl{Cheek by Jowl}
theatre company
  were in Moscow when I was there, so if you want a Russian\slash
  Western experience there are sometimes such options.

  If you hate busy city life, try Suskova -- a preserved palace
  in the Moscow suburbs (South East), which has an interesting
  palace (wooden!), a lake a park,  many folly\slash pavilions a
  couple of which house glass and porcelain collections.
  It is, though, also well worth walking round the back streets
  of Moscow, especially near the North West quarter of the
  inner garden ring (road). In spite of years of destruction
  there is still quite a lot left of what must have been a
  rather  beautiful city. 
 
   Food is a problem in Moscow -- not many good places.
   To get Russian fast food (pies basically, but don't try
   the synthetic borsch) try the Russian Bistros. 
    For
   a good Russian meal (100,000 roubles and upwards each)
   there is a restaurant in the basement of one of the
   old university building in the centre of Moscow (a bit
   hard to find though).
 
   Changing
   money: you should take all your money ideally in
   dollars (in a money belt!) and change about \$100--150
   a time. There are many places to do this (all
   marked `obmen valouti'). Some are pretty heavy places
   because they are protected against frequent raids, but
   they are ok. You should  get a receipt of the transaction
   in case you are asked to show them at the airport when
   leaving (I wasn't). If they ask a question when you
   hand over you money, passport and visa -- you should
   carry both of the latter at all times -- just say `da' --
   they are sure to be asking whether you want a receipt.
   \emph{Very important} -- take new notes (insist at the
   bank that they give you these) -- many exchange places
   refuse even slightly worn/soiled notes and there is only
   one central official exchange place where one can be
   certain that any note will be changed. This is not a
   fantasy: some people in our group had real problems
   because they couldn't change some of their money.
 
   At Sheremetevo airport expect the worst -- this is surely
   amongst the least welcoming of all airports in the 
   world. We had a long wait at immigration (over an
   hour) and baggage appears to come randomly off the
   carousels. After a while it is just dumped anywhere on
   the floor of the baggage hall. When you leave, you
   go through customs before checking in your bags -- 
   and you need to find the (unmarked) area where you get
   and fill in a customs declaration before you join a
   queue. In general most bureaucracy in Russia is just
   obstructive, however, rather than really threatening\dots

  Good luck.''
\section{Urgent Newsflash: Origins of \LaTeX}
Another correspondent (RAR) sent me this towards the
end of March, beginning of April. It has the uncomfortable
ring of truth to it:

``U.S.\ Government Department of Defense papers released yesterday reveal
the true source of the \LaTeX\ document preparation tool.  Under the
twenty-five year rule, hitherto secret Military Intelligence papers have
been released into the public domain, detailing the Government
involvement in the development of a prototype software tool.

Major General Charles Schultz publicly apologised at a press meeting
held to defuse what was described as a `tense situation' as the
unsavoury origins of the `alleged software' were finally unearthed.
Developed at the height of the Cold War, the prototype system was aimed
at crippling the so-called `information net' within the Soviet high
command. Maj.\ Gen.\ Schultz said, `We realised what would happen if an
enemy organisation actually tried to create documents with this thing.
Of course, it seems cold-blooded now, but you have to remember that this
was at a time of war.' He added, `We never expected it to get out into
general circulation'.

Apparently, the software was released into a controlled environment
under the cover of a beta-test at several academic sites in Europe and
America. `We put in place all safety measures. However, we didn't fully
appreciate the tenacity of academic staff in using and then illegally
copying it into the wider environment. With hindsight, we should have
taken a warning from the fact that they still thought Fortran was a good
idea.'

DoD boffins are rumoured to have panicked and released a beta-version of
Emacs, the strangely popular editor-cum-operating-system in order to
stem the spread of \LaTeX. However, Maj.\ Gen.\ Schultz declined to
comment.''

Had Schultz gone further and revealed that Unix was a similar
escaped virus, I would have been inclined to believe this.
Still, a close friend maintains that the CIA was the major
sponsor of Pollock and Rothko (among other major non-figurative artists)
in order to confuse and alarm those pesky Russkies. It all depends
on whether you believe in the conspiracy or cock-up theory of politics.


\section{Fonts}
Gleanings from the Web: Adobe and Microsoft
have made an agreement to create a new font format called OpenType which will
combine TrueType and Type~1 into a single new font format. This new format will
use Adobe's new font compression to create compact fonts. Details
can be found at the following URL: 
\url{www.microsoft.com/truetype/fontpack/opentype.htm}

On the other hand, there is a history of alliances like this
being made in order to ensure that the technology is still-born.
Don't hold your breath.


\end{Article}
