October 2001 - cypherpunks-legacy

Apologies to Ethel Merman & Irving Berlin.
by citizenq＠hushmail.com 05 Oct '01

05 Oct '01

"The costumes, the scenery, the makeup, the props The audience that lifts you when you're down The headaches, the heartaches, the backaches, the flops The sheriff who escorts you out of town The opening when your heart beats like a drum The closing when the passengers won't come There's no business like show business Like no business I know Everything about it is appealing Everything the traffic will allow No where could you have that happy feeling ... Let's go on with the show Let's go on with the show! The show! The show!" Anyone who thinks for a nanosec that this is anything but showbiz is a total idiot. >RESPONSE TO TERROR >L.A., S.F. Airports to Get National Guard >Safety: Soldiers armed with loaded M-16s will boost security, starting >today. The rifles will be >fired as a last resort, a spokesman says. > >By PETER Y. HONG, TIMES STAFF WRITER >National Guard troops with M-16 assault rifles are to report for guard >duty at Los Angeles International and San Francisco airports today, in >a move Gov. Gray Davis called "a symbol of the changes that have >occurred at airports to enhance passenger safety."

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Very nice article on Antennas and 802.11
by Steve Schear 05 Oct '01

05 Oct '01

http://www.byte.com/documents/s=1422/byt20010926s0002/1001_marshall.html Antennas Enhance WLAN Security By Trevor Marshall October 1, 2001 Antennas are most often used to increase the range of WLAN (wireless LAN) systems, but proper antenna selection can also enhance the security of your WLAN. A properly chosen and positioned antenna can reduce the signal leaking out of your workspace, and make interception extremely difficult. In this article, I analyze the signal of different antenna designs, and how the positioning of the user's antenna makes a difference in signal reception. <snip>

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Re: Anthrax...coincidence?
by auto301094＠hushmail.com 05 Oct '01

05 Oct '01

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Tim wrote: >I speed-read Tucker's "Scourge" several days ago, and yesterday I sat >down at my local Borders and speed-read the new Judith Miller, William >Broad, etc. book "Germs." (When I "speed-read" I read for the important >parts; I can usually absorb a book like this in an hour or so. I would >read the book at my leisure, but I hate paying $30 for a book I can skim >and get the gist of.) >Nothing we didn't already know, except some stuff that goes beyond Ken >Alibek's "Biohazard." Especially about the weapons plants in Uzbekistan, >Kazakhstan, and other places very close to Afghanistan! I'd thought from >Alibek's book that most of the Biopreparat facilities were in Sverdlovsk >and other places in Siberia. (Not that shipping a flask of India-1967 or >anthrax another 2000 miles is difficult.) There's a great anthology of more technical essays previously published in JAMA called "Biological Weapons: Limiting the Threat" (Joshua Ledford, BCSIA Studies In International Security, MIT Press, 2000). I remember a particularly interesting study someone did which compared potential death rates on an unprotected target city versus one in which the population knew rudimentary bio- civil defense procedures, (ie. masks and protective clothing at the ready, sealing all windows and doors with duct tape, etc.) Huge difference. Another great resource: Bioterrorism: Homeland Defense Symposium: The Next Steps -- An Executive Summary, ed. Maurice Eisenstein (RAND conference proceedings, 2000, PDF): Seeks to identify the elements of an integrated homeland defense against bioterrorism, identify critical gaps, and offer suggestions on how a relatively cost-effective homeland defense program might be achieved. http://www.rand.org/publications/CF/CF155/ And a word to everyone stocking up on antiboitics: don't forget to stockpile gatorade or some other rehydrating solution! "Have a nice day" indeed... ~F. *** "It may be that we shall by a process of sublime irony have reached a stage in this story where safety will be the sturdy child of terror, and survival the twin brother of annihilation." - --Winston Churchill, 1955 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: Hush 2.0 wl8EARECAB8FAju+LZMYHGF1dG8zMDEwOTRAaHVzaG1haWwuY29tAAoJEKadvsVlUK4P SgAAmwQBVwQx4hURn18P8qDn09Nq3AZaAJwPgFZK85fCW6gfFiJ00BOcSgcXOQ== =LRNa -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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WSJ Knocks Online Anonymity
by John Young 05 Oct '01

05 Oct '01

Walter Mossberg, WSJ technology columnist, wrote yesterday about the need for the Internet coming to be treated like other forms of communication, that now is the time for its special treatment to end. He said to get rid of pseudonyms and anonymity, that people need to own up to who they are. Implied that national security is at stake. Weird, for Mossberg is usually level-headed, and the WSJ has recently been fairly critical of the power grab of the Bush government in the name of national security. You might think Mossberg has had a personal problem with anonymous criticism. Or lost a loved one in the recent tragedy. Or just wanted to take a swing at nobodies to strut his courage, bygod, courage to demand the world be safe and secure like it used to be before the Internet. Or maybe he got outed for using WSJ's servers, or his wife's PC, to eat some lonely guy porn.

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Re: Dealing with Islamic terrorists, and with Afghanistan
by mmotyka＠lsil.com 05 Oct '01

05 Oct '01

Steve Furlong <sfurlong(a)acmenet.net> wrote : > >mmotyka(a)lsil.com wrote: >> >> Let's see, as far as the Taliban and probably other extremists are >> concerned, all of Islam is in a life and death battle against >> non-believers, non-Muslims, namely a bunch of atheist Americans. >> >> The U.S., OTOH, is taking great pains to emphasize that we are not at >> war with Islam but rather with a relatively small group of extremists. > >Here's tidbit regarding the handling of Muslim terrorists: in 1911, >General "Blackjack" Pershing was dealing with terrorists in the >Philippines. He caught a handful of them, made them dig their own >graves, tied them to stakes near the graves, and brought up a bunch of >pigs. He told them that the pigs would be slaughtered along with the >terrorists, and they'd be buried together, thus not only denying them >the benefits of heaven but sending them straight to hell forever. He let >one of the terrorists "escape" to spread the word. There was no problem >with terrorists the rest of the time Pershing was there. The question >is, why shouldn't we do something like that now? It's obvious a >significant part of the Moslem world will never love the US, so we >should make sure they fear us instead. (Wes Pruden mentioned this in his >Washington Times column recently. I haven't found it elsewhere on the >Web, but have seen it in print.) > I know the story. That was the Moro tribe, right? There was also a story of a prisoner having been wrapped in a fresh pigskin and hanged. Shortly after 911 I suggested that the US publicize video clips of its forces dipping bullets in pig's blood and painting pigblood deathheads on cruise missiles and preparing boxcar-sized piggery and slaughterhouse runoff aerosol bombs. Rumors of pork-only meals in US prison camps. The whole dying unclean thing... It may or may not work - I don't know how serious these guys are about their religion. Should the leaders be more worldly they might struggle with their texts to devise a palatable philosophical out for their field soldiers. All in all it's a funny idea though. Mike

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yo can i get a valid credit card number
by Jaydachickmagnet＠aol.com 05 Oct '01

05 Oct '01

read the subject

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None
by Waldek 05 Oct '01

05 Oct '01

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"HNC Developing New Air Security Software"
by Xeni Jardin 05 Oct '01

05 Oct '01

The Reuters story follows, and the HNC corporate press release announcing the project is here: <http://www.hnc.com/hnc/PressReleases/index.cfm?PressID=112&attributes.f useaction=ShowRelease> press release excerpt: <<By detecting and scoring anomalous patterns in millions of reservation records and other related data, the predictive software could identify suspicious transactions. Flagged information can be immediately investigated by experts to increase security and travel efficiency.... With the ability to instantly analyze all available structured data and unstructured data, airlines could proactively take critical action related to passenger safety. "By using high-end risk analytics and decisioning engines, we can help airlines, airports and law enforcement agencies identify patterns that warrant further investigation - without intrusive security measures," explained John Mutch, chief executive officer of HNC. "Much of HNC's technology research has been funded over the years by defense and intelligence organizations. We're delighted to put this technology to use to increase traveler safety." HNC's Critical Action software, which uses anonymous mathematical algorithms that cannot be reverse engineered, identifies patterns in data that would not be noticed using any other method. HNC's technology can scan structured and unstructured data, detect patterns, categorize, prioritize and automatically route information to relevant security agency personnel.>> --XJ October 4, 2001 HNC Developing New Air Security Software By REUTERS Filed at 5:35 p.m. ET http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/011004/n04269364_3.html LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - HNC Software Inc (news/quote) (HNCS.O), best known for products that help catch credit-card and insurance fraud, said on Thursday it was developing a program for airlines that would sweep through reservation records for suspicious patterns and help flag potential hijackers. San Diego-based HNC is developing the software with privately-held PROS Revenue Management Inc., which manages revenue systems for major airlines, including Southwest Airlines (news/quote) (LUV.N), Delta Air Lines Inc. (news/quote) (DAL.N) and Continental Airlines Inc. (news/quote)``We're already in dialogue with airline companies today,'' said John Mutch, chief executive of HNC, adding that he expected the new security software would be delivered within six months. The new technology will mesh HNC's science-based risk detection capabilities -- which use mathematical algorithms that identify patterns in data -- with PROS' data-driven forecasting expertise. By scoring patterns in millions of reservation records and other data, it will identify suspicious transactions, which can be flagged for investigation. ``We will be able to detect patterns -- for instance, if five people of the same origin are traveling together and may use a certain kind of payment, fall between the ages of 25 and 40, and had previously limited credit history,'' Mutch said. ``These are the types of things we could use to provide risk profiles. The relationships are subtle,'' he said. The program would deliver a real-time scorecard to airlines, with a range of one to 1,000, which would alert airline personnel of the potential need to increase security. ``If a flight scored 950, the likelihood of a security risk or problem would be very high, and the airline, for instance, could cancel or delay the flight,'' he said. SCORING RISKS Depending on the score, airlines could determine whether or not to cancel or delay a flight to re-check baggage, or question passengers, he reiterated. ``Security threats are frequently evident in patterns of traveler data, and our solutions can assist in analyzing these patterns,'' said Bert Winemiller, chief executive of Houston-based PROS. Previous suggestions to use data-mining software to sift through corporate records have drawn opposition from civil rights advocates. ``The system will have to draw data on individuals but the profiles are anonymous,'' said Mutch who conceded that ``there is a trade-off between security and privacy, there's no question.'' Some experts have endorsed the application of the technology, which found its first commercial application in programs that scan for potential credit card fraud. ``In the 1980s, when the first model that screened for hijackers and terrorists was designed, the sophisticated predictive technologies these companies are bringing to bear on this glaring problem did not exist,'' said Joseph Del Balzo, former acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. Mutch said HNC has earmarked about $10 million to develop new security technology, including $4 million in government defense and intelligence contracts. A month before the Sept. 11 attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, HNC reached a three-year contract with the Defense Department to develop a program that would identify outbreaks of biological attacks by detecting patterns within bacterial DNA. HNC's stock fell 49 cents on Thursday to $21.05, but has rallied back to the level that it had held before the attacks, in line with a gain in other security-related shares. The stock has lost almost 28 percent so far this year. HNC like many other technology companies has seen business slow and on Thursday it said it expects third quarter earnings and sales to fall below analysts' estimates, with revenues ranging between $58 million and $59 million and operating earnings per share from 13 cents to 15 cents. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call had estimated on average the company would report earnings of 18 cents a share and revenues of $60.5 million. ``I think everyone in the technology sector has been affected in the third quarter and we're not an exception. We saw a lot of standstill and we're going to adopt a very cautious guidance going forward,'' he said.

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firing a high-powered combat rifle in an airport could do more harm than good
by Optimizzin Al-gorithm 05 Oct '01

05 Oct '01

Notice how its not an evil "assault rifle" but a "combat rifle" now... http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000079569oct05.story?coll=la%2Dheadlin… RESPONSE TO TERROR L.A., S.F. Airports to Get National Guard Safety: Soldiers armed with loaded M-16s will boost security, starting today. The rifles will be fired as a last resort, a spokesman says. By PETER Y. HONG, TIMES STAFF WRITER National Guard troops with M-16 assault rifles are to report for guard duty at Los Angeles International and San Francisco airports today, in a move Gov. Gray Davis called "a symbol of the changes that have occurred at airports to enhance passenger safety." But experts warn--and Guard officials acknowledge--that the show of force against terrorism must be executed with great care to avoid harming those it is meant to protect. John Reppert, a retired Army general who is a research center director at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, said the presence of the National Guard may be most important as a symbol. "Frankly, in my opinion, the reason they are there is to restore confidence to the public," Reppert said. Carrying M-16s, for instance, is useful for intimidating wrong-doers and reassuring skittish travelers, he said. But actually firing a high-powered combat rifle in an airport terminal could do more harm than good. "I would not want soldiers to use an M-16 in a public place," Reppert said. "Opening fire in an airport terminal is dramatically different from doing so in a village." The harder bullet used by the assault rifle is more likely to ricochet than a round fired from a pistol, Reppert said, which could harm bystanders. It might even be wise to keep the M-16s unloaded, Reppert said. "As a commander, I would be very nervous about a soldier carrying a loaded gun. For one thing, he might drop it." It is also "unlikely people are going to come in and try to shoot their way to an airplane," he said. It is common for soldiers on guard duty to keep their guns unloaded, with ammunition ready in a pouch. The sentries guarding the USS Cole when it was bombed in October 2000 told the Washington Post they did not have ammunition in their guns, and did not think it made a difference in the surprise attack. But Maj. General Paul D. Monroe Jr., the top officer of the California National Guard, said the M-16s carried at LAX will be loaded. To fire the weapon, the soldier must charge it by pulling a handle and then release the safety mechanism, a process that takes about two seconds, Monroe said. Maj. Stanley Zezotarski, a California National Guard spokesman, noted, however, that Guard troops would fire their weapons only as a last resort, and would typically let armed airport police officers take the lead in situations where shots might be fired. Guard troops today use their weapons sparingly, he said, pointing out that 22 shots were fired by the National Guard during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, though more than 20,000 were fired by the Guard in the 1965 Watts riots. <snip>

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update.559 (fwd)
by Jim Choate 05 Oct '01

05 Oct '01

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 14:10:49 -0400 (EDT) From: AIP listserver <physnews(a)aip.org> To: physnews-mailing(a)aip.org Subject: update.559 PHYSICS NEWS UPDATE The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Physics News Number 559 October 3, 2001 by Phillip F. Schewe, Ben Stein, and James Riordon NEW MODEL OF INTERGALACTIC MAGNETIC FIELDS. [SSZ: text deleted] ULTRAVIOLET PROMPTS BACTERIAL TREK. Evidence of the [SSZ: text deleted] BEC ON A CHIP. First it was neutral atoms guided along a wire (Update 416). Then it was a beam of atoms steered over the surface of a microchip (Update 486). Now the latest feat of atom optics, performed by a group at the Max Planck Institute in Munich, is the creation of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of rubidium atoms in a microscopic magnetic trap built into a lithographically patterned chip. Not only was this the fastest-formed BEC (it took only 700 ms to form, faster even than the all-optical BEC method reporter earlier this year see Update 545) but the condensate can be maneuvered around the microchip a few microns above the surface (see Update 516); in fact the condensate was moved a distance of 1.6 mm. This capability opens up the possibility of numerous atomtronic applications in interferometry, quantum computing, navigation, lithography, holography, and entanglement experiments. (Hansel et al., Nature, 4 October 2001.)

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