December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

John Gilmore on the Radio!
by P. J. Ponder 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Today at lunchtime in the Eastern Time Zone, the radio show Real Computing with John C. Dvorak had John Gilmore as a guest, and Dvorak asked several questions about the US federal case against Phil Zimmerman. Surprising how little Dvorak knew about the issues, especially considering he's a pretty bright guy and up-to-speed with the technology. He asked JG [paraphrasing] - now that the government case against PRZ is dropped, what else is the Electronic Frontier Foundation (of which Gilmore is a board member) taking up as its next 'cause'? The implication was that the 'crypto thing' is settled and we can move on to other issues. This may have been a rebroadcast of an earlier show, I don't know. Gilmore was referred to by Dvorak as the head of the cypherpunks a few times.

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Fw: The Ostrich Security Principle
by Charley Sparks 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com Date: Fri Aug 09 17:42:15 1996 OK Tim, I looked up Ontology.. how did you get your license ? - -----Begin Included Message ----- - ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway." - ---- End of forwarded message ---- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCXAwUBMguwuOJ+JZd/Y4yVAQE+/wQMDMNJ7XIrI+VkTaNKQDdLkzUT9v8aEQzG x9/8aFFbw5/jVJQjd3TwWjuRut3L+mc+/2GOqJwQHf1z9vakVDSdnMzIKKB68FfP NtzU92MoqHip5D/R37cVACcAnXkoaSKvwy+m+V6Rxk2ffOlLoKLEUd9xK91hNFvs 2WymcjvaLC+MLQ== =owbR -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Pronto Mailer
by Charley Sparks 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- To: provos(a)wserver.physnet.uni-hamburg.de, cypherpunks(a)toad.com Date: Fri Aug 09 17:42:06 1996 I use Pronto Mail also. I just started using it yesterday. I can honestly say that it makes things simpler... no cutting, pasting, decrypting, encrypting...and on and on. It is the sweetest mailer since Ishmail ( UNIX / Linux ). Not even Ishmail did key management and fetching, sending, etc.... I will be able to use Pronto in my effort to proselytize the cause. The only thing I see that will prevent a lot of folks from getting it ( and paying for it ) is the price. $300 US seems a bit steep to some. I am going to pay for it because of the time it saves me. I would like to see a few things added, though. Multiple address books, keyed and non-keyed ( this might speed up the address book or add a search ( I have several hundred members of my firm listed in my Eudora mailer ). I'd also like to see some sort of IMAP address book support ( like Simeon or Z Mail ), These would also be accessable seperately in the interest of spped, since the pubring would be on each users machine. With the C2 option in the NT Resource kit, I'd like an explanation on using Pronto with NT 4. I tried all sorts of things and had no luck after installing.. Pronto kept telling me the pifs were no good, couldn't find keys, etc... None the less, I love it so far.. Just have to get the MC down a bit to pay for it (<GRIN> That;s why it's a 60 day demo ) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCXAwUBMguwsOJ+JZd/Y4yVAQGeJgQJAU+SB/cl48Jhmu1khb/7p0xG24ruL4cI av4myCELKV2GgOFfX+u48BLwCkTwRNaMIMdzBkNrQYQdofeSO0WrKJoDQVzMLeas IK6OUCI3uELqMjtJs1TK2qrDcSKue9COpbPe4D9MzyieuObZ0CDLXhWgWGmA72Up zFUPMrvd7swEIQ== =c/6c -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Fun with M$
by Jeremey Barrett 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Some guy has written an ActiveX control which crashes windoze95... I don't use windoze so can't try it, but if someone else is brave, I'd love to know if it works... Information page with a link to a page which loads the control: http://www.halcyon.com/mclain/ActiveX/ Quote from the page: Exploder is an Active X control which demonstrates security problems with Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Exploder performs a clean shutdown of Win95 and will turn off the power on machines that have a power conservation BIOS (green machines). - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Jeremey Barrett Senior Software Engineer jeremey(a)forequest.com The ForeQuest Company http://www.forequest.com/ "less is more." -- Mies van de Rohe. Ken Thompson has an automobile which he helped design. Unlike most automobiles, it has neither speedometer, nor gas gage, nor any of the numerous idiot lights which plague the modern driver. Rather, if the driver makes any mistake, a giant "?" lights up in the center of the dashboard. "The experienced driver", he says, "will usually know what's wrong." -- 'fortune` output -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMgujTi/fy+vkqMxNAQFikwP+LbLwibqKcp4FcLncenF44ptcp01j02M8 QwVbx0R+ept5jFea+R5Jhbypy+C2wvLh1hs4fjC0d2lrAQkfqiJxDAu8dblXYejy hS1hmuzflIEcat2p0qbomKDf+Iba2fz2kXtcu5CSsmwvqWwZf9XSFiC0Gx9JJ0Nh c/zVv9GcMIs= =1j1L -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Fw: SafE Mail Corporation
by unknown＠example.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com Date: Fri Aug 09 15:09:02 1996 Finally -- a 22 character public key that's "invulnerable to attack." - -----Begin Included Message ----- Date: Fri, 9 Aug 1996 14:42:56 -0400 From: safemail(a)ntrnet.net (M.Wagoner (1)) To: law-office(a)felix.org Cc: FINALLY, SOFTWARE THAT COMPLETELY ENSURES THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF PRIVILEGED ATTORNEY/CLIENT INFORMATION OVER THE INTERNET! If you are at all concerned about the security of documents that your firm regularly sends via e-mail, or about the confidentiality, integrity and size of documents currently affecting your transmission speeds, please read the following.......... SafE Mail=AE is a new, proprietary software product that provides information security through encryption, compression, error correction, INTERNET compatibility and, it is compatible with ANY electronic mailing system. Comparisons of SafE Mail's encryption against leading competitors revealed that SafE Mail's encryption key was longer and compression greater than any similar product available today and that SafE Mail offers error correction (also not available with similar products) of up to 30% which can typically occur during transmissions. SafE Mail's proprietary technology is based on the concepts of private, public key and signature authentication and, it is supplied on a single diskette. SafE Mail utilizes a short 22 character public key (invulnerable to attack) which makes exchanging data secure and simple to do. This information security software is the most secure and easiest to use on the market today. I have included some information that describes the features of SafE Mail I think will be of most interest to you. If you would like more information, a copy of our "Frequently Asked Questions", or are interested in obtaining a nominal cost "demo" to evaluate the software yourself, please call us today. Thank you, Randy Estridge SafE Mail Corporation 1-800-252-9938 http://www.sfmc.com SafE Mail FEATURES =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D SafE Mail proprietary encryption and decryption of data, includes virtually any kind of computer generated information: text, video, audio, executable files, databases, spreadsheets, pictures, or any other kind of ASCII or binary files * Superior proprietary compression algorithm for fastest and most cost effective data transmission * Powerful proprietary algorithmic control for error correction during transmission over noisy networks * Public Key distribution algorithm for exchanging presigned encrypted data over open networks * Electronic Signature protocol for exchanging presigned mail * User defined variable level of distortion protection that can be applied when using low quality transmission facilities * Long cryptographic key with a nearly infinite number of output codes * Multiple encryptions for extra security * Universal Secure Envelope format * Internet compatible output format * Easy procedure for use under Windows=AE P.S. Special, introductory pricing is only available this month! Randy Estridge SafE Mail Corporation http://www.sfmc.com 1-800-252-9938 - ---- End of forwarded message ---- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMgu3Ai1djiVVpb+9AQGeewP/Q4jm/RA5HBm7IK4n6DnaQhiv6uA3OYuc VulJtyBsV00TfcBT1FkNT/8fpr5LjIVb5PWh8WYrsoB912YnwDLi2H052jNpP1lv DJQxq2oAQAB3VHqUFqXLVJb21iAKcaBNthObsQm1Fe6NJdH4xnNF2xX0aIBwlqNi X6xGS24cJAk= =IzPn -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: Suit filed to enjoin crypto provisions of the ITAR
by Peter.C.M.M.Terporten＠Inter.NL.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I am just such a simpe foreigner trying to understand this. I thought that the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) had in the meantime been replaced with the Defense Trade Regulations (TDR). If not, is this still in the planning? And is the latest ITAR text somewhere on the net? TIA, Peter Advokatenkantoor Terporten Computer law Peter C.M.M. Terporten Media- and information law Paulus Potterlaan 28 e-mail: terporte(a)inter.nl.net NL-3723 EZ Bilthoven tel 31-30-2251892 The Netherlands fax 31-30-2251889 *** Waar Recht En Techniek Samenkomen ***

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Re: Drive the SF Central Freeway, have your license plate photo'ed.
by Frank E. Terhaar-Yonkers 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

It's been doable and afforadable for years. 7 years ago when I lived in Knoxville TN there was(still is?) a firm there called Perceptics. One of their products was an imaging system to OCR license plates. I understood the system was/is in use or being tested at US border crossings. >Date: Fri, 09 Aug 1996 11:56:34 -0700 Bill Stewart wrote: >At 10:45 PM 8/8/96 -0700, Lucky wrote: >>At 21:55 8/8/96, i am not a number! wrote: >>>CBS radio news this morning: 80,000 commuters traveling the central >>>f'way in SF will have information mailed to them regarding the quake retrofit >>>How? Their license plates have been photographed. > >>You *are* making this up, right? Please say you did. > >It's possible today, and probably affordable. If not, it will be in 1-2 years, >as Moore's law cranks down processing costs and video technology improves. >For this application, they don't have to photograph every car, or read every >plate successfully, or do it in real time. The objective is to get lots of >drivers to take other routes or mass transit so they don't have to dump all >the traffic onto surface streets right around the construction. > >Besides, this is nice friendly San Francisco. Imagine New York City doing it: > Yo! Mr. E. Koch, 1234 E. 89th St. - > We saw you takin' the West Side Highway last week. > You better stop that as of next Friday. > We know where you live. > You got a problem wit' that? > Rudy. > ># Thanks; Bill ># Bill Stewart, +1-415-442-2215 stewarts(a)ix.netcom.com ># <A HREF="http://idiom.com/~wcs"> Defuse Authority! > \\\\////\\\\////\\\\\////\\\\\////\\\\////\\\\////\\\\////\\\\////\\\\////\\\\ Frank Terhaar-Yonkers, Manager High Performance Computing and Communications Research MCNC PO Box 12889 3021 Cornwallis Road Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709-2889 fty(a)mcnc.org voice (919)248-1417 FAX (919)248-1455 http://www.mcnc.org/hpcc.html

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Electronic Cash System Based On The Representation
by Joseph M. Reagle Jr. 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Interesting paper I had not heard of, but was recently referred to... http://www.cwi.nl/~brands/cash.html Electronic Cash System Based On The Representation Problem Stefan Brands CWI P.O. Box 4079, 1009 AB Amsterdam The Netherlands e-mail: brands(a)cwi.nl Abstract: We present a new on-line electronic cash system based on a problem, called the representation problem, of which little use has been made in literature thus far. Our system is the first to be based entirely on discrete logarithms. Using the representation problem as a basic concept, some techniques are introduced that enable us to construct protocols for withdrawal and payment that do not use the cut and choose methodology of earlier systems. As a consequence, our cash system is much more efficient in both computation and communication complexity than previously proposed systems. Another important aspect of our system concerns its provability . Contrary to previously proposed systems, its correctness can be mathematically proven to a very great extent. Specifically , if we make one plausible assumption concerning a single hash-function, the ability to break the system seems to imply that one can break the Diffie-Hellman problem. Our system offers a number of extensions that are hard to achieve in previously known systems. In our opinion the most interesting of these is that the entire cash system (including all the extensions) can be incorporated straight forwardly in a setting based on wallets with observers, which has the important advantage that double- spending can be prevented in the \014rst place, rather than detecting the identity of a double-spender after the fact. In particular, it can be incorporated even under the most stringent requirements conceivable about the privacy of the user, which seems to b e impossible to do with previously proposed systems. Another benefit of our system is that framing attempts by a bank have negligible probability of success (independent of computing power) by a simple mechanism from within the system, which is something that p previous solutions lack entirely . Furthermore, the basic cash system can be extended to checks, multi-show cash and divisibility , while retaining its computational efficiency. Although in this paper we only make use of the representation problem in groups of prime order, similar intractable problems hold in RSA-groups (with computational equivalence to facto ring and computing RSA- roots). We discuss how one can use these problems to construct an efficient cash system with security related to factoring or computation of RSA-roots, in an analogous way to the discrete log based system. Finally , we discuss a decision problem (the decision variant of the Diffie-Hellman problem) that is strongly related to undeniable signatures, which to our knowledge has never been stated in literature and of which we do not know whether it is in BPP. A p roof of its status would be of interest to discrete log based cryptography in general. Using the representation problem, we show in the appendix how to batch the confirmation protocol of undeniable signatures such that polynomially many undeniable signatures can be verified in four moves. AMS Subject Classification (1991) : 94A60 CR Subject Classification (1991) : D.4.6 Keywords and Phrases : Cryptography , Electronic Cash, Representation Problem _______________________ Regards, It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. -Seneca Joseph Reagle http://rpcp.mit.edu/~reagle/home.html reagle(a)mit.edu E0 D5 B2 05 B6 12 DA 65 BE 4D E3 C1 6A 66 25 4E

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Re: Oregon License Plate Site in the News Tonight!
by Alan Olsen 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 09:24 AM 8/9/96 -0700, Rich Graves wrote: >It might be fun to make the database open for a couple weeks, without a >caveat about logging, and then publish the logs. Allow reverse lookups, >i.e., who looked up my record. A nice little dragnet of people who are >interested in invading your privacy. This is impractical for one reason. In most cases it will show the address of the service provider, but will report nothing beyond that. You will just see which IP address you were assigned when you logged on. The logs would be true is some sense, flase in some sense and meaningless in most sense. >For the near-medium term, I am resigned to the fact that government is going >to collect personal information, and that it is going to leak out. I'm just >interested in full disclosure of the leaks, and who is benefiting from them. This brings up an interesting point. Is it poosible to obtain the list of all the individuals/corporations that have purchaced the list of DMV information and post *THAT* information to the net. I think that people would be surprised just who uses that information and for what... --- Alan Olsen -- alano(a)teleport.com -- Contract Web Design & Instruction `finger -l alano(a)teleport.com` for PGP 2.6.2 key http://www.teleport.com/~alano/ "We had to destroy the Internet in order to save it." - Sen. Exon "Microsoft -- Nothing but NT promises."

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Re: photographed license plates
by Alan Olsen 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 08:23 AM 8/9/96 -0700, i am not a number! wrote: >O, and I think they're talking more about putting up cameras at some >troubling intersections to take pictures of cars running red-lights. > >And cameras on transit vehicles (buses primarily). They already have cameras on Tri-Met busses in Portland Oregon. (Not all of them, yet... But many of them have two cameras. One at the front and one at the middle.) It occured during one of the media inspired panics about people with guns on busses. >Gee, I am starting to feel so warm and safe! Remember: A Paranoid constabulary is an effiecient constabulary. (Just because you got caught in the crossfire of a cop shooting at a suspected jay walker does not make it any less effiecient.) Support your local police for a more efficient police state! --- Alan Olsen -- alano(a)teleport.com -- Contract Web Design & Instruction `finger -l alano(a)teleport.com` for PGP 2.6.2 key http://www.teleport.com/~alano/ "We had to destroy the Internet in order to save it." - Sen. Exon "Microsoft -- Nothing but NT promises."

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Re: Massively parallel carbon-unit-based voice pattern matching
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 9:54 PM 8/9/96, Ernest Hua wrote: >Also, the FBI, no doubt, has voice analysis systems much more >capable of detecting subtleties. 100,000 enthusiastic people But the FBI presumably has no data base of voices to compare the voice on the 911 tape to! They can have the most sophisticated voice analysis system in the world and it useless, except in comparing the voice to previously-recorded samples. (This is presumably how the NSA's capabilities are used, as they have the voice patterns of Boris Yeltsin, Yassir Arafat, Saddam Hussein, Bob Dole and other previously-recorded voices. Plus, they can use COMINT at will outside the U.S. (and maybe in the U.S....) and can acquire new voice patterns for their libraries.) --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Re: Massively parallel carbon-unit-based voice pattern matching
by jim bell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 02:54 PM 8/9/96 -0700, Ernest Hua wrote: >Now what if the FBI had voice detection systems just like the ones >used in "Clear and Present Danger"? Now THERE'S a good reason for >tapping 1% of every phone switch ... > >I wonder if the public would mind having a MACHINE do drift net >matching on voices on all public phone switches in the U.S. just to >find the Olympic bomber ... What if the specifications of that >machine were made public and the machine placed under Congressional >oversight? (At least members of Congress would never get tapped.) Voiceprints used to be doable only with sophisticated, specialized equipment. Presumably, they would be doable today with "only" a PC and soundcard, along with some software. This raises an interesting question: Would it be possible to modify speech to remove the identifiable characteristics which came from the speaker, and replace them with those of some other person. In other words, could somebody fake a bomb threat using a recording which has been processed to sound "exactly" like some famous person whose voice you can analyze? Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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Re: John Gilmore on the Radio!
by jim bell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 04:38 PM 8/9/96 -0400, P. J. Ponder wrote: >Today at lunchtime in the Eastern Time Zone, the radio show Real >Computing with John C. Dvorak had John Gilmore as a guest, >Gilmore was referred to by Dvorak as the head of the cypherpunks a few >times. What was that old saying, "Like herding cats"? Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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Re: Massively parallel ca
by harka＠nycmetro.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

* Carbons sent to: In: tcmay(a)got.net -=> Quoting In:tcmay@got.net to Harka <=- In> But the FBI presumably has no data base of voices to compare the voice In> on the 911 tape to! They can have the most sophisticated voice analysis In> system in the world and it useless, except in comparing the voice to In> previously-recorded samples. In> (This is presumably how the NSA's capabilities are used, as they have In> the voice patterns of Boris Yeltsin, Yassir Arafat, Saddam Hussein, Bob In> Dole and other previously-recorded voices. Plus, they can use COMINT at In> will outside the U.S. (and maybe in the U.S....) and can acquire new In> voice patterns for their libraries.) Here the technical progresses made in eaves-dropping technology come in really handy. Eaves-dropping on, let's say, apartments is these days rather trivial and a great way of collecting voice samples of 'suspects'. That the FBI doesn't have a voice database or at least access to one, I seriously doubt. Most of the technologically advanced countries use voice-recognition already to monitor phone traffic. The US does, Germany does, the UK.... The system functions 'vacuum-cleaner-like' and reacts to voice patterns (individual voices) and trigger words. If a trigger word is said, the entire conversation will be recorded and the telephone number on either end determined for later review. There are a few books out there, that deal with that kind of thing. Unfortunately, I only remember a german one: "The RAF Phantom", written by three journalists. But an Altavista might bring something up too... Harka ___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30 [NR]

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New web page for pgp.com
by Philip Zimmermann 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I just wanted to let folks know that my new company has a new web page up at www.pgp.com. Also, we are hiring a lot of people. If you would like to work for PGP Inc, contact us. We need engineers, cryptographers, marketing people, and people with many other skills. If you are interested, send email to our CEO, Tom Steding, at tsteding(a)pgp.com. Or call us at 415 631-1747. --Philip Zimmermann prz(a)pgp.com

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Re: cybergangs?
by Eric Wilson 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 06:47 PM 8/9/96 +0100, you wrote: > > > > Okay, so this is a bit Gibsonish but after reading that piece on cybergangs > and some of the ecash issues what I wanna know is this: > > There are no laws in cyberspace right? No one to enforce them as such > shall we say? What happens if a group of hackers/crackers/cypherpunks > set up shop and started offering their services to the highest bidder? > > Let's say that the US Government bans strong crypto and attempts to > enforce is using the many, conventional, means at its disposal... > what happens if the cypherpunks group raises the money to pay a group > or individual to hack/destroy/grind to a halt milnet? Or some such > government network? Or all of them? > > How come this hasn't happened yet? Okay maybe not at such a grand scale, > but ya know? > > Hey it's just an idea, > > Zaid > > >"The wave is already gathering; one day it will wash us away." - Hermann Hesse > A kind of Cybermilitia! Can we still wear green uniforms and camouflage face paint? Eric

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Another thing the Net is being blamed for...
by Deana Holmes 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Yet another thing that we're being blamed for. FYI, the temple ceremony has been reproduced many times since it was first exposed in the 1840s. The most recent revision (1990) was kept secret for only a short time before notorious former members got ahold of a tape and transcript of the ceremony. (I have a good idea of how they got it.) As far as I can tell, it didn't actually make it on to the Net until about 1994. This particular Mormon churchman (Russell Ballard) gave a speech a year or so ago warning Mormons in vague terms about the evils of the Internet. I suppose this is part of it. ===== >From this morning's Rolley&Wells column in the Salt Lake Tribune (without permission): "During a press tour this week of the LDS [Mormon] Church's new Mount Timpanogos Temple in American Fork, a member of the news media asked why a writtem copy of the temple ceremony was not given to members with temple recommends so they could study it in the privacy of their homes. Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles informed the reporter that there was no need. A church member had 'broken the covenant' -- taped the ceremony, transcribed it, and put it on the Internet for all to read." <end> Deana M. Holmes April 1996 poster child for clueless $cientology litigiousness alt.religion.scientology archivist since 2/95 mirele(a)xmission.com

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Re: e$: Watching the MacRubble Bounce
by Chris Adams 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On 9 Aug 96 01:54:52 -0800, deviant(a)pooh-corner.com wrote: >> If you accept that, then doesn't that make writing crypto software for >> any Unix platform *even more* of a waste of time? Because last time I >> checked, there were way more Macs on mom-and-pop's desks than Unix >> machines, counting *all* vendors. >Pardon my French, but you mus be fucking stupid or somehing. How many >universities use UNIX platforms? How many companies use UNIX platforms? >Sun, DEC, and SGI don't stay in buisiness by building cheap Windows boxes >ya know. There are 13948 _registered_ LINUX machines, not to mention the >unregistered ones. Don't tell me that Cray's were designed to run MacOS >or Windows 95. UNIX isn' NEARLY as dead as Apple is. I think the numbers have escaped you: there are far more Macs than Unix machines. It doesn't matter that Unix has a larger market with universities or Internet weenies, merely that overall more people use Macs than Unix. Also, FWIW some of those Unix machines are Macs running A/UX (Apple's Unix). One last thought: Sun, Dec, SGI, etc all make RISC Unix machines. Apple is the largest RISC vendor on the planet... Given that the Amiga is still around (and may be revived) despite the fact that the Mac:Amiga ratio is probably the same as the PC:Mac ratio, I'd say that it's quite likely Apple will stay around. Inspite of the hype about loses, Apple posted tens-of-millions-of-dollars profits last quarter - rare for a dead company... <g> They still cannot meet the demand for the PowerBooks - probably the best notebook available at any cost. # Chris Adams <adamsc(a)io-online.com> - Webpages for sale! Se habla JavaScript! # Automatically receive my resume or PGPKEY by sending email with a subject # of 'send PGPKEY' or 'send resume'. Capitalization counts so be careful! # Web site: http://www.io-online.com/adamsc/adamsc.htp

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Re: Massively parallel carbon-unit-based voice pattern matching
by jim bell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 06:09 PM 8/9/96 -0700, Sandy Sandfort wrote: >On Fri, 9 Aug 1996, jim bell wrote: > >> Would it be possible to modify speech to remove the identifiable >> characteristics which came from the speaker, and replace them >> with those of some other person. > >Equipment exists that can remove the microtremors associated with >stress, thus defeating voice stress analysis technology. I wonder if such equipment is used on CSPAN and CSPAN-2? (And that's a serious question!) There is a relatively famous neurologist named Oliver Sacks who has written a series of books concerning odd brain disorders among his and other patients. In one book (maybe it was, "The Man who mistook his wife for a hat") he describes a scene where a group of patients with the same ailment (maybe it was called "aphasia", but it's been a few years...) were watching a speech by Ronald Reagan. As I recall, people with this ailment can't understand what's being said to them, but they CAN tell whether the person speaking is telling the truth. (or, at least, BELIEVES he's telling the truth...) All the patients laughed at Reagan's speech. Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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open diplomatic pouch
by morgan＠keilin.helsinki.fi 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

According to the Economist (20 July p. 28) the Danish ombudsman has ruled that correspondence between the foreign ministry and embassies must be available to the public. -- ===================================================================== Joel.Morgan(a)Helsinki.FI http://blues.helsinki.fi/~morgan "Over the mountains there are mountains." -- Chang-rae Lee =====================================================================

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Re: Why should we trust the system?
by jim bell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 07:10 AM 8/9/96 +0000, jonathon wrote: >On Thu, 8 Aug 1996, jim bell wrote: > >> Okay, I'll admit that I _never_ believed that judges actually follow the >> standards they claim to. But many other people of those who are more > > I know of a very good way to ensure that judges do follow > the standards that they claim to follow. > > It works even better at making politicians keep all the > election promises the make. > > Has one drawback --- it reduces the number of people willing > to carry out those two functions to virtually zero. OTOH, that > probably would be a very good thing. > That's odd...I know of one also! B^) Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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Data Bases of Voiceprints?
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 3:26 AM 8/10/96, harka(a)nycmetro.com wrote: > * Carbons sent to: In: tcmay(a)got.net (BTW, I read the list, so no need to send carbons to me, or carbon-based units. or carbon-based citizen-units.) >Here the technical progresses made in eaves-dropping technology come in >really handy. Eaves-dropping on, let's say, apartments is these days >rather trivial and a great way of collecting voice samples of 'suspects'. >That the FBI doesn't have a voice database or at least access to one, I >seriously doubt. Most of the technologically advanced countries use >voice-recognition already to monitor phone traffic. The US does, Germany >does, the UK.... I'm skeptical. To paraphrase Dr. Strangelove, what use is such a data base if cops and agents don't know it exists? (Granted, useful in a few exceptional cases, even if field offices and agents are unaware that it exists, but not useful for many cases.) If such a voiceprint database, obtained surreptitiously through National Technical Means (tm), were to exist and be known to exist by investigators, word of its existence would leak out quickly enough. This is just my opinion, of course. But, as the Martian watchers say, extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. Do you _know_, that such a data base exists? (A data base of, say, more than 5% of all the adults in the U.S., in a data base that is searchable by voice print match to samples submitted by FBI or other law enforcement agents.) >The system functions 'vacuum-cleaner-like' and reacts to voice patterns >(individual voices) and trigger words. If a trigger word is said, the >entire conversation will be recorded and the telephone number on either >end determined for later review. >There are a few books out there, that deal with that kind of thing. >Unfortunately, I only remember a german one: "The RAF Phantom", written by >three journalists. But an Altavista might bring something up too... Sure, we all know--or should know--what the _capabilities_ are, technically. But capability !=! actuality. I doubt such a data base of voice prints exists. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Re: Oregon License Plate Site in the News Tonight!
by David E. Smith 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com Date: Fri Aug 09 23:30:57 1996 > I believe that in California, you may have a PO Box on your > driver's license, but the state has to have your "real" address > in its records. As noted, some people forget to update this > information when they move, and others list their lawyer's > address with the state. Presumably, that should satisfy the > legal justifications for requiring an address. In Missouri, that's all they wanted (a PO Box). That's perfectly copacetic by them. If you want to register for voting - since we have Motor Voter - they of course need a real address. And the post office's requirements for getting a PO Box are nearly nonexistent. > > More important is ensuring that all the addresses that the > > state has on you are the same. The preference seems to be > > to have the same address as is on one's checks. > > That may be the preference, but I just use my e-mail address on > my checks. If more is required to cut a deal, I can choose to > add more information by hand if I am willing to do so to do the > transaction. I like that - email on cheques. Wish I'd thought of that before I ordered my last batch. > S a n d y > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ dave - ---- David E. Smith POB 324 Cape Girardeau MO USA 63702 dsmith(a)prairienet.org http://www.prairienet.org/~dsmith send mail of 'send pgp-key' subject for my PGP public key "Heard a lot of talk about this Jesus, a man of love, a man of strength; but what a man was two thousand years ago means nothing at all to me today ... " -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Automagically signed with Pronto Secure for Windows. iQEVAwUBMgwQmDVTwUKWHSsJAQGN1Af+LqxaOOIo/ZfMOLbUxRa09PLO5vArlZyW sKbngGrr3ZPVVxIkrrhaBTPPQ2VFkzcrx+ixUZa36+tdf0F+Q8oZBbrRy+NBFqMr D8x/5cHbXQ/1u7dZuHfDx9s0AFeijb2oNZ7XdmuoSb6evS2xuwknx15zLdHqt1LO AiJgw86Bdwa1eYBYrCLt0JtvVXA8zB5CTZs/ZawpOszlcUwbPptOFH0S6fhGwolC 4zA2qE6nyOiD3efl6Q3TPnlUcusFj3ICa8bvzz3DgRIGJMN/pWHU+A4NmtL/NOoj MGZfHGDiI27YOF6p+9p+pZ93HJuVJQOd+1US3hXBriM1lrVfNqMUlw== =oBZP -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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DMV/Public record data on CDROM
by <pstira＠escape.com> 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

There are several state's DMV data (or other public record data such as Voter Registration) available on CD-ROM, with DOS search engines. I have the demos for some of these programs on http://www.escape.com/~pstira/pi Oregon is not the only place you can obtain this type of information.

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Re: Drive the SF Central
by pjn＠nworks.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>>CBS radio news this morning: 80,000 commuters traveling the central >>f'way in SF will have information mailed to them regarding the quake retrofit >>How? Their license plates have been photographed. >You *are* making this up, right? Please say you did. In> It's possible today, and probably affordable. If not, it will be in In> 1-2 years, as Moore's law cranks down processing costs and video In> technology improves. For this application, they don't have to In> photograph every car, or read every plate successfully, or do it in In> real time. The objective is to get lots of drivers to take other In> routes or mass transit so they don't have to dump all the traffic onto In> surface streets right around the construction. Wasn't there something about these cameras in the latest 2600? (BTW, there was also alot of information on encryption in the issue, too.) P.J. pjn(a)nworks.com ... TagX Pro of Borg - "Your tagline will be assimilated." ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 [NR]

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