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:qwk
http://www.textfiles.com/p rogramming/qwk.txt
https://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.)
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