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+\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}