September 2000 - cypherpunks-legacy

CDR: Re: GA-CAT-CA
by Bill Stewart 19 Sep '00

19 Sep '00

>Steven Furlong wrote: >> US. We have the 2nd Amendment, which keeps some of the police >> state behavior at bay. I can't think, offhand, of any provision in the >> US Constitution which would prevent City Hall from mandating a hair >> sample from every pet. As Tim pointed out, they're not trying to force every cat herder to provide a sample of cat hairs. They're trying to get a reasonably broad spectrum of cat fur samples (about 1600), so they can find the genetic differences between them, which will make it easier to use cat hair as evidence, or at least easier to tell whether it's usable. It may be that they'll find that it's easy to tell that there's a 90% or 99% or 99.99% chance that the cat hair found on the suspect was from the victim's cat Snowball as opposed to the suspect's cat Mehitabel, or it may be they'll find that one white cat hair looks about like another. Most cats have multiple colors of hair, so color alone isn't always indicative, though I can usually tell which cat the cat hairs on my computer keyboard are from. As far as mandating hair samples goes, not that they're doing that, if they can require you to get a license to possess a dog, they could include hair samples as part of the process; they could also require licenses for cats. Actual genetic testing of millions of cat hair samples would be prohibitively expensive, but storing samples for analyzing if there's a specific need for it wouldn't be as difficult. But it's still a big expense and hassle, and it'd be much simpler to get a warrant and collect samples from the victims' and suspects' houses or cats when needed. Thanks! Bill Bill Stewart, bill.stewart(a)pobox.com PGP Fingerprint D454 E202 CBC8 40BF 3C85 B884 0ABE 4639

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CDR: EDGAR Online - Here is the Information You Requested
by support＠edgar-online.com 19 Sep '00

19 Sep '00

Your EDGAR Online (http://www.edgar-online.com) username and password are case-sensitive and must be entered exactly as they are shown here. Username: Cyperpunks Password: cypherpunks You can upgrade your current EDGAR Online Visitor Registration using these identifiers at http://www.edgar-online.com/user_upgrade.asp. If you have any questions email support(a)edgar-online.com or phone 1-800-416-6651 (203-852-5666) Monday - Friday, 9:00AM - 7:30PM EST. EDGAR Online

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CDR: EDGAR Online - Here is the Information You Requested
by support＠edgar-online.com 18 Sep '00

18 Sep '00

Your EDGAR Online (http://www.edgar-online.com) username and password are case-sensitive and must be entered exactly as they are shown here. Username: Cyperpunks Password: cypherpunks You can upgrade your current EDGAR Online Visitor Registration using these identifiers at http://www.edgar-online.com/user_upgrade.asp. If you have any questions email support(a)edgar-online.com or phone 1-800-416-6651 (203-852-5666) Monday - Friday, 9:00AM - 7:30PM EST. EDGAR Online

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CDR: Re: Amex supports CARNIVORE enabled Anonymity System
by George＠Orwellian.Org 18 Sep '00

18 Sep '00

A Yahoo wrote: % What a load of shit. If you check that URL the next % thing you see the following release: % % http://www.privada.net/news/releases/20000717.html % # % # Privada's Technology Protects Users' Privacy, Only % # Monitors Those Who Abuse It % # [snip] % % Obviously AMEX & Privada don't have a clue as to the % history of privacy and privacy tools... % % What about civil john doe complaints? % What about Church of $cientology and Penet.fi? % What about the entire key escrow debate? % What about the entire clipper debate? % % If anyone really things that 'identity escrow' enabled % privacy products are what the market is looking for, % they are seriously clueless. % % This is obviously snake oil. No, the emphasis is on what consumers in general want. And it delivers. Those wishing to push the edge of free speech aren't going to be satisfied, but the new services meet the needs of regular consumers/people accessing the Internet. That market dwarfs what ZKS/Anonymizer will ever get. Even the Anonymizer shut down its free version due to abuse. And Yahoo has cooperated with civil subpeonas regarding stock touting / company disparagement. Yet you use it. It's free and does what you need. AmEx is offering their services for free for cardholders. ZKS isn't exactly mixmaster WWW surfing, at some point there will be traceability, given the necessary court order. Albeit ZKS seems to be the best at what it does. Too bad the cardholders aren't setting up for you to choose your privacy provider, like cable is being pressured to allow choice of ISP.

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CDR: Re: censorship rears its head
by David Marshall 18 Sep '00

18 Sep '00

Sampo A Syreeni <ssyreeni(a)cc.helsinki.fi> writes: > On Thu, 14 Sep 2000, David Marshall wrote: > [My comments concerning blood flows not corresponding directly with increased neural activity, followed by Mr. Syreeni's response to the contrary.] > Actually bloodflow has been found more accurate a predictor of neural > activity in some studies than the use of radioactive markers - for some > reason, the metabolic activity of human cells does not always get reflected > in their oxygen/glucose consumption in any straight forward way. Point taken. I stand corrected. > > D) Why would you use an MRI in this case _at all_? > > I think the fastest MRI equipment can go upto tens (or even > hundreds? anybody?) of images per second. Tracking bloodflow at such a high > temporal resolution actually gives a lot more information about the local > activity of the brain than those relatively static PET shots. (Remember, PET > requires considerable repetition, consentration and conditioning before > sharp images of brain activity are acquired.) You're right. Tens at the very least. > > A) The researchers were purposefully trying to obscure data. > > Not likely. Few people with MRI access are stupid enough to do this. Of > course, we might find that the researchers have a concurring viewpoint on > the subject matter... I figured I'd present it anyway. Nobody who is in a position to have access to the equipment, to get grant money, etc., is stupid enough to obscure data. Other researchers would make their name mud in very short order. If nothing else, it's a professional-self-preservation thing. > > * The public school system in the area: The shooter most likely > > had a history of behavoral problems, yet they put him in the > > general population. > > General population? Phew... Hey, it's a prison camp with a government re-education emphasis. No sense mincing words. :) > >7) Why can't we place the blame where it belongs: On the shooter? > > 'Cause that would mean children aren't innocent? And because it would mean that the government doofuses can't sue the people with the deepest pockets, and can't use it to bolster policy positions, and it's political suicide to start attacking the primary sources of problems. It's easier to call everyone a victim and lose no votes and appear compassionate, than it is to place blame where it belongs, lose some votes, and get attacked as "mean-spirited" by the opposition. Censorship and gun control sound like risky schemes to me.

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Preliminary Outline of a Proposed Micromint Specification
by Zulfikar Ramzan 18 Sep '00

18 Sep '00

Hi, Based on conversations and ideas due to Ron Rivest and Adi Shamir, I've prepared a manuscript proposing some of the parameter and algorithm choices for an actual implementation of their Micromint scheme. The manuscript is still more of a preliminary design spec as many issues associated with a Micromint implementation are not addressed (though a good number of the issues are). The manuscript was prepared with the sponsorship of the Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation (http://www.ibuc.com) It is available at: http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~zulfikar/papers/mm-spec-outline.pdf and a pointer to it can be found from: http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~zulfikar/MyResearch/homepage.html Comments and criticisms are welcome. Thanks, -- --Zully ------- Zulfikar Ramzan (AKA Zully) Laboratory for Computer Science, MIT NE43-311, (617) 253-2345 http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~zulfikar/homepage.html --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- 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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Preliminary Outline of a Proposed Micromint Specification
by Zulfikar Ramzan 18 Sep '00

18 Sep '00

Hi, Based on conversations and ideas due to Ron Rivest and Adi Shamir, I've prepared a manuscript proposing some of the parameter and algorithm choices for an actual implementation of their Micromint scheme. The manuscript is still more of a preliminary design spec as many issues associated with a Micromint implementation are not addressed (though a good number of the issues are). The manuscript was prepared with the sponsorship of the Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation (http://www.ibuc.com) It is available at: http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~zulfikar/papers/mm-spec-outline.pdf and a pointer to it can be found from: http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~zulfikar/MyResearch/homepage.html Comments and criticisms are welcome. Thanks, -- --Zully ------- Zulfikar Ramzan (AKA Zully) Laboratory for Computer Science, MIT NE43-311, (617) 253-2345 http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~zulfikar/homepage.html --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- 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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CDR: Exciting News from Dialpad!
by Your Friends at Dialpad 18 Sep '00

18 Sep '00

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CDR: Re: would it be so much to ask..
by Nomen Nescio 18 Sep '00

18 Sep '00

On Monday, 18 Sep 2000, all(a)biosys.net wrote: > That the list be changed so that unregistered email addresses cannot > send messages to it? This spam is getting ridiculous. Would it be so much to ask you to post in complete sentences? Would it be so much to ask you to post to a node other than toad.com? Would it be so much to ask you to read the archives before offering suggestions on list "improvement?" Apparently, "yes," is the only answer. Go away.

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CDR: SW License
by Michael Motyka 18 Sep '00

18 Sep '00

> > Here's another link on licensing of software engineers, this time from the > ACM: > > http://www.acm.org/serving/se_policy/report.html > > it seems that cryptographic/security software, if we ever get the > liability structure whose lack is often pointed out by Schneier ("we don't > have good security because we don't have to"), may be a prime target for > such licensing. > > -david > How would such legislation affect those who call themselves SW : designers practitioners developers creators quality assessors implementors builders artists authors artisans ... Because they are not licensed SWEs they would not be able to get their obj modules signed to allow execution on legal HW? Illegal HW would be detected and prosecutable? An ineffective but burdensome SW Eng licensing bureaucracy will probably be set up that will limit or control the access of some developers to certain contracts or projects especially anything purchased using public funds or "affecting the safety of the public".

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