December 2000 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Questions of size...
by Somebody 12 Dec '00

12 Dec '00

Bob, The distinction between geometry, topology, and, presumably, homology, begs the question. You, following Huber, have used the word geodesic to refer to connections of minimal cost. In the economic manifold (surface) this is presumably the only important metric (local distance function). The analogy is mathematically precise in all respects, and therefore correct. I'd have flogged you into submission long before this if it were not so. Geodesics, or more properly, geodesic paths, are locally defined. There is not necessarily a geodesic between two specific points. In a differentiable manifold with a sufficiently smooth metric, there are geodesic paths in every direction through every point, however. Whether there is one of those paths going to some other given point is a question of connectivity and other topological issues. Two separate spheres are a single differential manifold. No great circle path -- the geodesics of each surface -- connects any point on one sphere with any point of the other. Unfortunately, geodesics may also be the longest paths between two points. Just go the wrong way on the great circle determined by two ends of the Mass Ave bridge. It's a path of stationary length: slight variations in the path make hardly any difference in its length. Unfortunately its length is maximum rather than minimum. By the way, have I mentioned that I HATE it when I agree with Tim? <Somebody's .sig> ------------------------ From: "R. A. Hettinga" <rah(a)shipwright.com> Subject: Re: Questions of size... Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2000 19:16:57 -0500 To: Some People, Privately --- begin forwarded text

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Re: FC: Yet Another Survey: Americans have become privacy pragmatists
by Duncan Frissell 12 Dec '00

12 Dec '00

>Business President Alan Westin says that more Americans now fall into the >category of "privacy pragmatist" rather than "privacy fundamentalist." Ron >Plesser of Piper Marbury Rudnick & Wolf says that the Internet industry >must determine how to properly use Social Security numbers. "Regulating >the purchase and sale of Social Security numbers over the Internet won't >come overnight," Plesser says. Damn few "privacy fundamentalists" out there. Most "privacy advocates" support massive government privacy invasions including the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the Census Bureau, and the various state DMVs. Unless a "privacy advocate" is prepared to call for the elimination of the above privacy invading institutions or at least their conversion to anonymous credential technology, then I submit that they are *not* privacy advocates at all. As for the eternal SS# question, Amex and Discover will currently give you "one time use" cc numbers to use over the nets. A consumer-friendly government could do the same. Particularly since they already have the institutional setup in place. Anyone who forms an entity of any kind that has US tax implications (sole proprietorship, partnership, trust, estate, corporation, etc.) can/must apply for a taxpayer ID number (TIN). The Feds could issue them to the rest of us for one-time use. DCF I knew America was in trouble when I found that the application to join the Sons of the American Revolution asks for your Social Security Number.

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None
by Anonymous 12 Dec '00

12 Dec '00

update HONG KONG--Siemens has a solution for people who constantly forget computer passwords: a mouse that recognizes fingerprints. Called the ID Mouse, the device uses biometrics to take advantage of the unique features of people's fingerprints. German electronics maker Siemens, which showed off the ID Mouse this week at the ITU Asia Telecom 2000 fair, said the device works by allowing pre-authorized people to retrieve information from their PCs or laptops. By lightly tapping the fingertip sensor located at the top of the mouse, the device verifies the fingerprint against reference templates already input into the PC's system. Once a fingerprint is authenticated, the person can then access the PC's main operating system. Siemens is one of numerous companies headed in the direction of using unique features for identification. The mouse is powered by 65,000 sensing elements on the 0.25 square-inch fingertip chip that enables the device to scan and capture the fine details of a fingerprint. The system is so sensitive that it will recognize an authorized person even if there is a cut on the fingertip. For added security, if the mouse user takes a break, the screensaver is activated until the person touches the ID Mouse again. Other than that, the ID Mouse operates just like any Microsoft mouse. It has a wheel scroll for navigation and requires at least Microsoft Windows 98 and a USB connection. This week's conference is the International Telecommunications Union's 23rd telecom show since its 1971 debut in Geneva. The six-day fair, which ends Saturday, took place in Hong Kong this year and was expected to attract at least 50,000 visitors from more than 50 countries. Singapore.CNET.com's Priscilla Wong reported from Hong Kong.

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RE: Questions of size...
by Carskadden, Rush 12 Dec '00

12 Dec '00

Comments below: > -----Original Message----- > From: Tim May [mailto:tcmay@got.net] > Sent: Monday, December 11, 2000 5:51 PM > To: cypherpunks(a)cyberpass.net > Subject: Re: Questions of size... > <snip> > By the way, one topological aspect of a geodesic dome, to go back to > that, is that each node is surrounded by some number of neighbors. > Applied to a "geodesic economy," this image/metaphor would strongly > suggest that economic agents are trading with their neighbors, who > then trade with other neighbors, and so on. > > Tribes deep in the Amazon, who deal only with their neighbors, are > then the canonical "geodesic economy." I would disagree with the supporting logic here. You could theoretically conclude that such systems were geodesic in nature if you really wanted to, but it would be due to the fact that there is a minimum economic distance (cost, perhaps) in dealings between participants. I don't think it is safe to say that these transactions are canonically geodesic, unless you are also willing to propose that the "surface" of the economic structure is bound inseperably to the geography of the planet. I believe that when we are talking about a distance metric associated with the structure of economic transactions (we are talking about transactions, right?), the most natural metric to be used in geodesic economics would be cost. That's not to say that I have, at this point, read any material that makes a great logical case for the geodesic nature of the economic transactions that Mr. Hettinga describes. I am currently operating on a little blind faith and a big hunch when assuming for the sake of conversation that Mr. Hettinga's proposed transactions would be reduced-cost. It just seems to make sense. I agree with you, Mr. May, that a seemingly geodesic economomic system can be achieved through localization of the market and direct trade. I do not believe that localization is a defining element of a geodesic economy. It seems that a broad move toward localization being in-efficient in our own economy (one would have to prove this, and why), the concepts that Mr. Hettinga proposes may provide a working substitute for localization, by proposing a means of direct interaction between parties that breaks geographical limitations, and thereby reducing E.D. (economic distance). Again, one would have to prove that cost is a good metric for E.D., and then one would have to prove that Mr. Hettinga's proposals result in reduced cost in transactions. It's a tough case, but my hunch sides with Mr. Hettinga. > This is precisely the _opposite_ of the mulitiply-connected trading > situation which modern systems make possible. > > So, aside from the cuteness of suggesting a connection with geodesic > domes, with buckybits as the currency perhaps?, this all creates > confusion rather than clarity. > > > --Tim May > -- > (This .sig file has not been significantly changed since 1992. As the > election debacle unfolds, it is time to prepare a new one. > Stay tuned.) >

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[Press Release List] Zero-Knowledge Systems Unveils Free, Easy-To-Use Freedom 2.0 Inte rnet Privacy Suite: The Most Comprehensive Internet Privacy And Security Tool Available
by R. A. Hettinga 12 Dec '00

12 Dec '00

--- begin forwarded text

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Geodesic Fractal Whatitz
by mmotyka＠lsil.com 12 Dec '00

12 Dec '00

Bob, We *do* all trade with our neighbors so your term is only trouble when looking at the wrong part of the geometry. With trade the measure should not be based on physical space or network geometry, those are transient and permutable, rather the measure should be based on the proximity of the parties in terms of goods consumed, goods produced and pricing. The networks are not electrical or geographical they're economic. So while it does affect cost all this communication and transportation technology is only the physical layer. Mike

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"Anarchism vs. Right-Wing 'Anti-Statism'
by R. A. Hettinga 12 Dec '00

12 Dec '00

http://www.ainfos.ca/en/ainfos05508.html Looks like the Wobblies live... Cheers, RAH -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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Find more of what's inside NYTimes.com
by NYTimes.com 12 Dec '00

12 Dec '00

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Geodesic Definition from a Mathematician (PhD, MIT, 197BLA) Re: Questions of size...
by R. A. Hettinga 12 Dec '00

12 Dec '00

...who like most of us, agrees with Tim *lots* more often than he likes to admit. :-). Cheers, RAH Who won't wax (too) rhapsodic about how Tim, in his Amazonian example below, described a "geodesic recursive auction" (digital silk road, Hughes "piracy" market, whatever) <ducking>... --- begin forwarded text

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Biometric serial murder...
by R. A. Hettinga 12 Dec '00

12 Dec '00

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=003976162830991&rtmo=LxLdbLhd&atmo=rrrrrrr… ISSUE 2027 Tuesday 12 December 2000 Outback killers tortured 10 victims By Barbie Dutter in Adelaide Magistrate gags bodies- in barrels case - [12 Dec '00] - News.com.au Snowtown murders [9 Jun '00] - The Age Snowtown: a bank vaults deadly math - The Crime Library THE grisly details of Australia's worst serial killing began to unfold yesterday as a court was told how eight mutilated bodies were discovered dumped in barrels inside the vault of a disused bank in a tiny Outback township. <snip> John Bunting, Mark Haydon and Robert Wagner are accused of murdering 10 people between December 1995 and May 1999. James Vlassakis is accused of five murders. All four refused to enter a plea. The killings were allegedly carried out as part of a macabre social security fraud. Most of the eight men and two women killed had close associations - including, in some cases, family ties - with those accused of their murder. Elizabeth Haydon, was a mother of eight married to one of the accused. Wendy Abraham QC, opening the prosecution case, said the four had collected the welfare benefits and disability allowances of their dead victims. They even impersonated some of those they had killed to conduct banking transactions or to deal with the social security office. Before being murdered, some of the victims were made to repeat scripted phrases, which were taped and left on the answering machines of their relatives and friends to divert suspicion from their disappearance, she said. <snippage> ) Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2000. Terms & Conditions of reading. Commercial information. Privacy Policy. Information about www.telegraph.co.uk. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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