December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: How Many Games of Chess?
by lefty＠apple.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>This is tangentially related to crypto. I've been reading A.K. Dewdney's >I was glancing through the chapters on complexity, >computabilty, and minimax trees, and I got to wondering something: how >many possible games of chess are there? I know that it has to be a finite >number, but I'm not sure how to go about finding this number. Any >pointers would be appreciated. It doesn't seem to me that this _can_ be readily calculated in any reasonable amount of time. It's not a simple (realtively) combinatorial problem: the configuration of the board at any given point limits the legal moves in an extremely nontrivial way. I believe I can get you as far as the second move, though: I make it to be twenty-one possible openings and twenty-one responses. -- Lefty (lefty(a)apple.com) C:.M:.C:., D:.O:.D:.

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Re: Cryptography banned in the Netherlands....
by dmandl＠panix.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>C'punks, > >Hey, remember, we're all on the same side. > >On Fri, 1 Apr 1994, David Mandl wrote after quoting John Kreznar's rant >about "liberals": > >> Right, as opposed to conservatives, who are happy to have people "threaten >> the effectiveness of government and other large institutions." [and so >on in this vein for several more paragraphs.] > >Whoe, lighten up fellows. You both agree! *Neither* liberals nor >conservatives are automatically our friends. People who are PRO CRYPTO >are our friends regardless of what political camp they put themselves >in. Please, lets not bring extraneous political, posturing onto this >list. Liberals or conservatives who want to ban or regulate crypto are >our enemies. Liberals or conservatives who support strong crypto are our >friends. It's as simple as that. Yup, that was exactly my point. Knee-jerk generalizations like "all liberals are evil and want to take our freedom away" are simplistic and silly and betray a gross misunderstanding of the way things are. Personally, I prefer to stay away from "good cops" AND "bad cops." --Dave. -- Dave Mandl dmandl(a)panix.com

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Khufu
by John K Clark 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- In the April Dr. Dobb's ( page 20 ) it say's that Khufu is insecure because the key is only 64 bits long ; I was always under the impression that Khufu was 512 bits long ( 64 BYTES ). Have I been misinformed? John K Clark johnkc(a)well.sf.ca.us -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.3a iQCVAgUBLZxbgnwRpTAWSvwVAQEPsgQAyWHDGPJux9eJz4w0jOX7IHWZ1ogvMPKH y4nUOzJDTHtAmmgjmxt+5J4cVKOMtpRMkHMNys+bqn5Cv0cEPf/dH/XSJUBmryNA OHNjfAMSPPXxvUiejH3rXqMqeeIt2XL75BWDoUp2Gx7PJBBcvsGUGSSgo3UHROko R8UpUK278qA= =G7WF -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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FW: Our Tax dollars at work! (NOT a sick joke)
by Ophir Ronen 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

---------- From: Setheni Davidson (CompuCom) Trust Congress? Not With This Unbelieveable Lair of Slop PC Computing, April 1994, page 88. By John C. Dvorak When Vice President Gore began talking about the Information Highway, we all knew the bureaucrats would get involved more than we might like. In fact, it may already be too late to stop a horrible Senate bill from becoming law. The moniker -- Information Highway -- itself seems to be responsible for SB #040194. Introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy, it's designed to prohibit anyone from using a public computer network (Information Highway) while the computer user is intoxicated. I know how silly this sounds, but Congress apparently thinks that being drunk on a highway is bad no matter what kind of highway it is. The bill is expected to pass this month. There already are rampant arguments as to how this proposed law can possibly be enforced. The FBI hopes to use it as an excuse to do routine wiretaps on any computer if there is any evidence that the owner "uses or abuses alcohol and has access to a modem." Note how it slips in the word 'uses'. This means if you've been seen drinking one lone beer, you can have your line tapped. Because this law would be so difficult to enforce, police officials are drooling over the prospect of easily obtaining permits to do wiretaps. Ask enforcement officials in Washington and they'll tell you the proposed law is idiotic, but none will oppose it. Check the classified ads in the "Washington Post" and you'll find the FBI, National Security Agency, and something called the Online Enforcement Agency (when did they set that up?) all soliciting experts in phone technology, specifically wiretapping. It gets worse. The Congressional Record of February 19, 1994, has a report that outlines the use of computerized BBSes, Internet, Inter-Relay Chat, and CompuServe CB as "propagating illicit sexual encounters and meetings between couples -- any of whom are underage... Even people purporting to routinely have sex with animals are present on these systems to foster their odd beliefs on the public-at-large." A rider on SB #040194 makes it a felony to discuss sexual matters on any public-access network, including the Internet, America Online, and CompuServe. I wondered how private companies such as America Online can be considered public-access networks, so I called Senator Barbara Boxer's office and talked to an aide, a woman named Felicia. She said the use of promotional cards that give away a free hour or two of service constitues public access. You know, like the ones found in the back of books or in modem boxes. She also told me most BBS systems fall under this proposed statute. When asked how they propose to enforce this law, she said it's not Congress's problem. "Enforcement works itself out over time," she said. The group fighting this moronic law is led by Jerome Bernstein of the Washington law firm of Bernstein, Bernstein and Knowles (the firm that first took Ollie North as a client). I couldn't get in touch with any of the co-sponsors of the bill (including Senator Ted Kennedy, if you can believe it!), but Bernstein was glad to talk. "These people have no clue about the Information Highway or what it does. The whole thing got started last Christmas during an antidrinking campaign in the Washington D.C., metro area," Bernstein said, "I'm convinced someone jokingly told Leahy's office about drunk driving on the Information High and the idea snowballed. These senators actually think there is a physical highway. Seriously, Senator Pat Moynihan asked me if you needed a driving permit to 'drive' a modem on the Information Highway! He has no clue what a modem is, and neither does the rest of Congress." According to Bernstein, the antisexual wording in the bill was attributed to Kennedy's office. "Kennedy thought that technology was leaving him behind, and he wanted to be perceived as more up-to-date technologically. He also though this would make amends for his alleged philandering." Unfortunately, the public is not much better informed than the Senate. The Gallup Organization, at the behest of Congress, is polling the public regarding intoxication while using a computer and online "hot chatting." The results are chilling. More than half of the public thinks that using a computer while intoxicated should be illegal! The results of the sexuality poll are not available. But one question, "Should a teenage boy be encouraged to pretend he is a girl while chatting with another person online?" has civil rights activists alarmed. According to Kevin Avril of the ACLU, "This activity doesn't even qualify as virtual cross-dressing. Who cares about this stuff? What are we going to do? Legislate an anti-boys-will-be-boys law? It sets a bad precedent." I could go on and on with quotes and complaints from people regarding this bill. But most of the complaints are getting nowhere. Pressure groups, such as one led by Baptist ministers from De Kalb County, Georgia, are supporting the law with such vehemence that they've managed to derail an effort by modem manufacturers (the biggest being Georgia-based Hayes) to lobby against the law. "Who wants to come out and support drunkenness and computer sex?" asked a congressman who requested anonymity. So, except for Bernstein, Bernstein, and Knowles, and a few members of the ACLU, there is nothing to stop this bill from becoming law. You can register your protests with your congressperson or Ms. Lirpa Sloof in the Senate Legislative Analysts Office. Her name spelled backward says it all.

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InVisible Basic 1.0
by Blanc Weber 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

<Sender composed mail containing characters not in the US-ASCII set.> <These characters have been transformed into a printable form.> FYI. I am not making this up. I can only imagine how this will = impact society. ~ Blanc ------------------------------------------------- Microsoft Announces InVisible Basic 1.0 Using the slogan "Not Seeing Is Believing," Microsoft Corporation today = is announcing InVisible Basic 1.0, a completely new use of "stealth" = technology in an object-oriented development environment. "We're taking code transparency to new heights," enthused Product = Manager C. R. as she began an impressive product demo. After just five = minutes of moving a mouse around what appeared to be a blank screen, = selecting unseen menu items, placing indiscernible controls on = inevident forms, and typing in unapparent code, the alleged application = was able to access an undisclosed database, perform a series of = unspecified queries and display whatever data it supposedly encountered = in a completely undetectable format. The only evidence that the application existed at all was the use of = disk space and CPU cycles. "And we're working on that for version 2.0," = C. R. said. "The applications are obvious," said "Jim," a developer with "General = Enterprises," a defense-industry supplier that lists its address as a = P.O. Box somewhere near Bakersfield, Calif. "I mean, if you were = developing a sensitive application--not that we are currently engaged = in any such contracts--and you wanted to ensure complete security--not = that we currently have any clients who have any need for such = security--this would enable you to make an application that was = completely protected--not that I am implying that any of the clients = that I cannot confirm or deny we might have would need this level of = data security--from outside intrusion. It also really saves on screen = real estate." Developed under the code name "Provo," the product was due to ship = concurrently with Visual Basic 3.0, but was lost when the development = team moved to its new offices in the D Level of Building 25. "That = ended up being a thrilling beta test," said C.R. . "I mean, if the = development team can't find the product, then it's pretty darn = invisible, right?" InVisible Basic 1.0 is currently available at an undisclosed location = for an unspecified amount. For technical support, leave an ad in the = personals section of the Miami Herald reading, "Marjoe: all is = forgiven. Bunny." You will receive in the mail a postcard of the = Ballard Fish Locks. At midnight, exactly two days after receiving this = card, be waiting at the "G" concourse of Mile High Stadium in Denver. A = PSS representative will contact you there. The password is "blibbett." -------------------------------- | | | | | | -------------------------------- Clear as a bell, the InVisible Basic product development team shows off = its enthusiasm at a recent ship party. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- = ---------- Copied from MicroNews, Copyright =A9 1994 Microsoft Corporation "Never say a humorous thing to a man who does not possess humour. He = will always use it in evidence against you. -- Sir Herbert Beerhohm-Tree (1853-1917) English actor-manager

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PHILIP ZIMMERMAN ARRESTED [NOT!]
by gnu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

This is an April Fools' Day prank. I spoke personally to Phil and he is sitting comfortably in his own house (with the phone ringing off the hook). John ------- Forwarded Message From: Tommy the Tourist <nobody(a)soda.berkeley.edu> Newsgroups: alt.security.pgp Subject: PLEASE READ: PHILIP ZIMMERMAN ARRESTED Date: 1 Apr 1994 14:25:30 GMT Organization: Cypherpunks Message-ID: <2nhasq$ltb(a)agate.berkeley.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: soda.berkeley.edu Originator: hh(a)soda.berkeley.edu Philip Zimmerman, writer of the popular encryption program PGP, has been arrested! He is being held on $1,000,000 bail. The charges against him are as follows: 1) Violating PKP's patent on RSA. 2) Allowing PGP to be distributed outside of the US. I have just heard about this, since I work for the FBI (which is why I am posting this anonymously), and will post more information when I can get it. You may wish to set up a fund to help pay Zimmerman's bail. ecodefence nitroglycerin uzi detonate - -------- For more information about this anonymous posting service, please send mail to hh(a)soda.berkeley.edu with Subject: remailer-info. Eric Hollander takes no responsibility for the contents of this post. Please, don't throw knives. ------- End of Forwarded Message

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RE: Our Tax dollars at work! (NOT a sick joke)
by gtoal＠an-teallach.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

:Get real! Lirpa Sloof spelled backwards is April Fools. You're right, :it's not a sick joke, it's an April Fools joke. :> Trust Congress? Not With This Unbelieveable Lair of Slop |||||||||||| :> The moniker -- Information Highway -- itself seems to be responsible for SB :> #040194. Introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy, it's designed to prohibit ||||||| :> to Kevin Avril of the ACLU, "This activity doesn't even qualify as ||||| :> register your protests with your congressperson or Ms. Lirpa Sloof in ||||||||||| Gosh, we're slow today kids... G

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Re: How Many Games of Chess?
by lefty＠apple.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>p.s. i wonder if there is a "irrational" game....one that goes on to >infinity but never repeats itself.....I would imagine not as there are >only a finite number of possibilities for peices to exist on the board >it was an interesting thought whie it lasted.... I can easily think of a trivial one. Get to a point where the only pieces left on the board are the two kings. Roll an eight-sided die to determine the next move for each king. If the move would place the king in check, roll again. -- Lefty (lefty(a)apple.com) C:.M:.C:., D:.O:.D:.

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Number of Legal Chess Games
by tcmay＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On the question someone asked about the number of chess games... My recollection is that a fairly careful calculation of the number of legal games between good players (see Note below) is about 10^140. The number of legal Go games is vastly larger, around 10^700. (Each board position has far more branch positions, the Go board being 19 x 19.) I have a bunch of Go books, and some computer chess books (Levy), but I can't find the calculation referenced. It's not a "plug in" calculation, either, as a lot of empirical cruft (good moves, winning configurations, etc.) gets taken into account. But I think the basic estimate of around 10^140 is well-accepted. It might be as "low" as 10^120 or as "high" as 10^160, for example, but that's the right ballpark, from what I've seen. As a reminder, it is estimated that there are about 10^72 particles in the entire universe. Thus, about 10^60 games of chess for each and every particle in the universe. The situation with Go is even more extreme. Welcome to the strange and exciting world of combinatorial explosion. (Note: If two infinitely powerful agents played, the number would presumably drop, as each would see the implications--chess not being a game of chance--of who made the first move and one side would resign. Lesser agents would have more games, presumably. Even lesser agents, novices, might eventually have _fewer_ games, as the games stumbled into wins earlier on. A novice against a grandmaster should also have far fewer games. as the grandmaster wins quickly. At what point of expertise the "maiximum" number of games exists is an interesting question.) For further info, I'd recommend the many good books on computer chess....I'm sure that some of them sketch out how these calculations are done. I've recently seen several new books on computer Go and computer chess, which technical bookstores and libraries should have. Also, asking on rec.games.chess and rec.games.go might produce better results than here on Cypherpunks. The question might well even be in a FAQ for rec.games.chess...now I'm curious about this and will go check. --Tim May -- .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay(a)netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Encryption banned in the Netherlands.
by Gary Jeffers 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

conservative liberal fascist left-wing right-wing statist minarchist anarchist SOME DEFINITIONS In the U.S. it is almost impossible to talk sensibly about politics since no one knows the definitions of political orientations. For instance: what is a conservative? Someone who resists change; someone who wants the old order. Conservative is a relative term & does not make sense without reference to time & place. In the U.S. a conservative would be vaguely a right wing statist. In Russia a conservative would be a Stalinist. Also take liberal: In the old days in the U.S., liberal meant libertarian. In Europe now, liberal means roughly libertarian. In modern U.S., liberal means left wing statist. So what is left & right? The dictionary is useless for this question. But, I think I have figured it out. Left & right is based on EQUALITY OF OUTCOME AMONG PEOPLE BY RULES. A left winger insists on rules that will insure equality of outcome & resists rules that might yield inequality. A right winger opposes rules that coerce equality of outcome & may favor rules that coerce inequality of outcome. In the modern U.S., the political majority is made up of right wing statists (fascists/conservatives/republicans) & left wing statists (socialists/liberals/democrates). There does not seem to be any name for left wing minarchists /or anarchists or right wing minarchists /or anarchists. This list seems to have a lot of left & right wing minarchists & anarchists. I am a right wing anarchist. Strange that right wing & left wing are not bluntly defined. A taboo maybe or doesn't the ruling class want the political discussions to make any sense? Maybe if it were made explicit, then the left & right would think they could be left & right & yet, not support the state. PUSH EM BACK! PUSH EM BACK! WWAAAYYYY BBAAACCCKKKK! BEAT STATE!!!! yours truly, Gary Jeffers

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