2018 BACK ISSUES NOW AVAILABLE IN PDF FORMAT

We have begun the process of converting our back issue catalog to searchable PDF format. We have just added all of the issues from 2018 to our PDF collection. In addition to having each issue available, we're also offering a collection of all four issues from that year at a discounted price.

Unlike The Hacker Digest, which is an annual compendium which has all of the articles, columns, and letters for each year rearranged into book form, the PDFs of the back issues contain each page as it was originally printed, including the 2600 Marketplace, the meetings page, and Hacker Happenings.

One other page included in the back issue PDFs is the table of contents. And on each table of contents page, there has been a secret message for as long as many of us can remember. In fact, it's been so secret that we've never acknowledged it until this moment. And now that the word is out, let's have some fun with it.

If you're the first to identify the secret message in any table of contents, you will win a 2600 t-shirt of your choice. Just email message@2600.com with the secret message as well as what it means or why it's significant. The first answer that's correct on both points will win. Please also include how you'd like to be credited, as we will add your answer to our online description at the 2600 Store.

A few rules:

1) We're only doing this for issues that have been released on PDF, so that means everything from 2018 through 2022. While there may be messages on previous issues, we choose not to acknowledge them at this time. (It's also much easier to zoom in on PDFs and it's even possible some of these messages are nearly invisible in print.)

2) Only 2600 Store customers are eligible. That means you have to have bought something from our online store at some point in time.

3) Employees of 2600, their relatives, and anyone admitting to being their friends are not eligible as well as residents of the state of New Mexico.

4) You can only win once in a year. If you're really good at figuring these things out, maybe you can farm out your services to other people; that's not our business. But they have to fulfill the Rule #2 requirement above.

5) We were just kidding about the state of New Mexico. We were just hoping to annoy a particular person there, if only for a few seconds.

So that's it. A new batch of PDF issues and a fun contest for us all to enjoy. It's a nice way to start the week. And, if there's a decent reaction to this release, we'll devote more time to preparing the next batch.