iCE iCE iCE iCE iCE iCE █░██   █▒██ ▄▀▄     ▓█░█   ██▄ NFO NFO NFO NFO NFO NFO

A  U  G  U  S  T     1   9   9   7

I  C  E  P  A  C  K      F  I  F  T  H      A  N  N  I  V  E  R  S  A  R  Y  !

1.  Greetings  and welcome  to the  results of the  month-long  iCE spectacular
celebration of the iCEPACK's fifth anniversary.  August's pack brought everyone
out in  droves to design eye-candy  fitting of a world-class  art organization.
Everyone  thought  last month  was an  overachieving month,  but this pack  has
broken all the records!  Keep reading for more information.

2.  As you probably have noticed by now, this pack is an EXTRA SPECIAL iCEPACK!
This pack,  August 1997,  marks the  60th edition of the iCEPACK.   The iCEPACK
has been released consistantly  every month around  the first of the  month for
60 months straight,  dating all the way  back to five years ago with the August
1992 pack.   iCE has existed  for longer  than five  years,  of course,  but we
did not  start releasing  packs until 08/92,  following the lead of  the  first
group to release packs, MiRAGE, with the MiRAGE compendium (MiRAGE later merged
into iCE, in December 1992).

2a. This pack is  a record breaking pack in a  couple of respects.   First off,
and most  importantly,  iCE is the  first group  to celebrate the  release of a
60th pack.   While MiRAGE,  and then  ACiD,  released  packs before us,  MiRAGE
merged into  iCE in 12/92 and  ACiD has missed  several packs  over  the years.
Secondly, there never has been a pack of this sheer volume.   We have well over
six  megabytes of artwork, with an almost unheard of range of styles (ANSI/VGA,
plus animations too!).

3.  This pack features  a couple  of special sections that  are part of our 5th
Anniversary Pack celebration.   First,  the group has rallied to bridge old and
new by taking a  few selected ANSIs from the August  1992 iCEPACK and re-mixing
them.   Re-mixing  creates a joint-release  that spans  time itself.   Look for
some of your favorite iCE ANSIs from the past re-mixed by some of your favorite
iCE artists of today!

3b. Secondly, we have invited  several of our inactive iCE members to take part
in the celebrations by dusting off their  copies of TheDraw or VGA programs and
create a brand new release for this pack!  The "oldskool" section includes work
this month from Liquid Image,  P-Chan,  Tempus Thales,  Sober,  and Iodine (aka
Posyden).  But we plan to feature more "oldskool" artwork in the remaining 1997
packs as we continue to  celebrate the 1992-7 5th Anniversary.  Expect works in
the future from the  above artists  and others like..  well..  it'll just  have
to be a surprise!  Enjoy the works.

4.  The propoganda department conned several wayward artists into thinking that
iCE is a free-love nudist colony and signed them up this month.   The ANSI team
welcomes back  The Green Hornet to the group,  and the VGA department opens its
doors to Night Daemon.  The Members department yanked in Roland before he could
escape, as well.  Welcome to all!

5.  Promotion!  VGA artist  and turd connoisseur  extraordinaire  Vesalius  has
been promoted to the vacant VGA Coordinator position!  He's already getting his
feet wet by rallying the troops with his self portrait this month,ve-turds.jpg!
Congrats, Ves!

6.  Nobody  played pocket  pool in  study hall,  vanished  into  thin air,  got
'plungered',  went  postal,  spontaneously  combusted,  conversed  with  a tuna
sandwich, checked out,  skipped town, hit ESC, traded naked pictures of Barbara
Bush, seceded from Canada,  started a militia group,  noticed a chancre, kicked
the bucket, bought land on Mars, ate tainted beef or left the group this month.

7.  Not really caring at all  what Lickbert has to say,  the group collectively
reports that  the information  systems department  is going quite well,  with a
major hardware  upgrade that will improve the ice.org main server speed by well
over 200% planned for September 1997.   Also, IRC.ICE.ORG  is back online again
and has  joined up  with X-Net,  a new IRC  network  with the support  of  many
release and trading groups.  iCE is the first art group to support the network.
We invite everyone in  the art scene or interested in the art scene to make the
switch to the new, fast network.   Frozen Delivery is  still available  on  the
web page,  a successful new pack distribution method unveiled last month.   And
finally, work on the NEW version of  iCE's webpages has shifted into high gear.
Whew!  That was a mouthful, eh Lickbert?  "Mmmnff."

8.  The iCE Master Memberlist  has been revised and updated  and is included in
ANSI format in this pack.   This list an approximately  80% accurate listing of
all of  iCE's members past and present.   Unfortunately,  before the  pack era,
consistent  records were not kept.   Many thanks to BoA,  iCE Advisory  Council
member,  for putting the time  and effort  into creating and  maintaining  this
list,  and for doing research to include members from before the pack era.   It
is 100% accurate from 8/92 and on.  Take a peek!  If you're a former iCE artist
who was not included in this listing, please contact us at icestaff@ice.org.

9.  Sanctuary(tm),  the venerable iCE World Headquarters  in the BBS world,  is
now even more accessible!   That's right,  Snatch is now  available 24/7  via a
high speed  T1 connection  to the  internet.   Another ice.org feature,  simply
telnet to  sanctuary.ice.org with an 8bit/ANSI-capable telnet program.   A more
general scene  artpacks archive may be placed on this system in the near future
as well.   If you're a senior member  of another art  group and  would  like to
have your group represented on an iCE Scene Artpack archive on Sanctuary,  just
drop us an e-mail at icestaff@ice.org.

10. Former  iCE Senior  Staffer and current  iCE scumlord  Midnight Sorrow  has
resurrected the world's most famous elite underground network, CyberCrime.   He
is excited about the opportunities this presents for the remaining BBSes in the
scene.   But even cooler,  you don't even have  to run a board  to be a part of
the network!  Contact him at midsorrow@ice.org for more information about being
a part of the CyberCrime International world domination network.. again!   Even
cooler,  CyberCrime will soon be  available in several  different  distribution
mediums,  some of which will  be hosted by the  ice.org network.   Get in touch
and catch the wave.

11.  Because it simply would not be possible  to release an NFO  file in a pack
with something completely off the wall ;),  iCE's Media Department has released
this special, breaking news:   SpaceDev went off to college late this month and
found  himself  immersed  in  a world of  wonder and opportunity.   He  quickly
ascertained  that his calling was  to find "Juggs",  as he called  them in  his
broken english,  but alas,  none were to be found.   Therefore he  enlisted iCE
plastic  surgeons  Syntax  Error and  Vesalius to  kidnap  someone  (preferably
someone he knew) and  give them the "Juggs"  he was in such desparate  need of.
Syntie and Vesalius scoured the campus of the University of Florida,  patiently
waiting for someone Dev knew to happen by.   Finally the moment came,  and they
swiftly captured the unsuspecting individual, knocked  them out,  and gave them
"Juggs" Jewel would envy.  Unfortunately, this story had an unhappy ending when
SpaceDev, when presented with his prize exclaimed "DAD?!" Hey, to err is human!

11a. Hi Parasite!   I'd like  to thank  YOU to rip Slum's font! (Oldskool ref.)

12.  A SPECTACULAR month.  The celebrations don't completely end here, but this
was the  pack we've all  been waiting for.   And it was _WELL_ worth  the wait!
Another top-quality pack from  the group that you've come to know as synonymous
with quality: Insane Creators Enterprise.

Cold and Ugly           Force Ten           Mass Delusion