December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

[off-topic] Black powder source/ I love Explosives stickers
by shamrock＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

By popular request, here is the address for the place that sells the "I (picture of a heart) Explosives" bumper stickers as well as black powder in 20 pound economy packs. Black powder will be shipped via UPS. Coonie's is a federally licensed explosives dealer, offering a wide variety of commercial high explosives. However, such explosives will only be sold to appropriately licensed individuals. They are very nice people, please don't ask them stupid questions. Coonie's Explosives & Black Powder 512 E. Lea Hobbs, N.M. 88240 Voice: (505) 393-0166 Fax: (505) 393-6060 -- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred. Defeat the Demopublican Unity Party. Vote no on Clinton/Dole in November. Vote Harry Browne for President.

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Re: FCC_ups
by shamrock＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 14:08 8/11/96, John Young wrote: > 8-10-96. WaPo: > > "Phone Service Via the Internet May Slash Rates." > > Labs of Advanced Technology has developed a way for > people to make long-distance calls over the Internet > using only their telephones, at about half the price of > ordinary toll calls. Customers would merely call a > central number, then dial their long-distance numbers. > The call is carried on the Internet, then put back onto > the local phone system at its destination. The company > plans to charge 5 to 8 cents per minute for all domestic > U.S. calls, which represents a 50 to 75 percent discount > off most domestic long-distance rates. I am glad to see some movement in this area. I designed a similar system for a previous employer of mine. But the real choke point is the local loop. As of this day, the local telos still have a de facto monopoly in the local markets. The new competitors (the same old Phone Company) that we will see in the near future seem to show no desire to deliver the really interesting services that are now possible. They long distance carriers about to enter the local markets plan to offer the same old stuff at a (perhaps) somewhat lower price. The company I used to work for has technology capable of delivering a 10 Mb/s Ethernet plus 100 ISDN B channels to your home, using the very same wires already in your wall. Keep this in mind next time you hear what great new services the local telcos are about to offer. Then demand better. -- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred. Defeat the Demopublican Unity Party. Vote no on Clinton/Dole in November. Vote Harry Browne for President.

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India, Productivity, and Tropical Climes
by tcmay＠got.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

It's human nature, and the nature of information theory (at least our version), to focus on points of disagreement. "I agree" messages are frowned upon (but so, it seems to me, would "I disgree" messages....but most who disagree choose to comment on specific points, while most who agree seem to agree on the overall theme. In any case, I agree with Arun's points, and I am pleased--in a transnationalist sense--that an Indian makes these points. At 4:17 AM 8/11/96, Arun Mehta wrote: >At 02:05 10/08/96 -0700, Timothy C. May wrote: >>Where do I begin? First, what does "taking jobs away from us" mean? That we >>own these jobs? And who is "us"? > >Well said. While I didn't see the CBS program , I bet the >scaremongerers did not point out that programmers don't just >produce software, they are major consumers as well. The growth of >the software industry in other countries therefore means business >for US industry, which produces most of the compilers and other >utilities that programmers everywhere use. This clearly helps >programmers in the US. As others have noted, _all_ productive output helps _all_. That is, productivity around the world is a "common good." As Milton Friedman points out, what should our response be if the Koreans want to sell us supertankers at $1 each? Buy as many as we can. (Though this sounds absurd, my old company's ability to crank out multimillion transistor chips running at 200 MHz must seem similar to many countries. What should Germany's or India's response to 200 MHz Pentia selling for $200 be? Buy all they can and integrate them into systems.) >In earlier generations of computing, monopolistic organizations >such as IBM and DEC charged huge sums for information. One of the >reasons that IBM was thrown out of India in the mid seventies was >their practice of shipping only outdated computers from the US to >India. Indian programmers were at a disadvantage, and clearly This I tend to disagree with. I recall that India had some laws in the 1970s which required companies to dislose trade secrets to them. As a result, IBM chose not to stay in India. I recall that Coca-Cola also refused to turn over the formula for Coke, but this may've been urban legend. The IBM case is pretty well-documented. IBM would've sold the latest and greatest technology to India if: a) it was profitable to them, b) if India could've paid for a 370/90 or whatever in 1975, c) if COCOM regulations would have allowed such a sale (doubtful, given the Ghandi dynasty's cozying up to the Sovs in the 70s. I don't think shipment of "old technology" to India was at all on IBM's list of concerns, certainly not back then. >Further, as economists such as Paul Krugman point out, developing >countries lack the means for sustained growth ("Which Asian >Model?", Newsweek, November 20, 1995). Those economies that have >shown dramatic growth, such as the East Asian, have relied >essentially on low-cost inputs, rather than on their efficient >utilization. Professor Alwyn Young of Boston has in fact come to >the surprising conclusion that Singapore's total factor >productivity (which measures such efficiency) is so poor as to be >comparable to that of the Soviet Union. He points out that "at >just the time that everybody was ranting about how magnificent >Japan was, it ceased to catch up." A good friend of mine was stationed in Japan for Intel for 9 years. He confirms that the Japanese are really struggling. (I have a lot of independent evidence for this, but will not go into it here.) The Japanese bought a theory that industrial policy was best-determined by MITI, their central-planning organization. They gambled on RAMs and on a vague dream of "Fifth Generation" systems, but they missed workstations, PCs, and the Web. (And a bunch of other things that American companies have dominated in.) (responding to comments from someone else) >I'd argue the opposite: I see no reason why companies such as >Netscape have to put up with such draconian US laws as ITAR: why >don't they simply develop their software overseas? If they made a >highly publicised move, that might do wonders to change the >opinions of US Congresspersons voting on ITAR-related legislation. This is not so much of a mystery. The vagueness of the ITARs and the powers of the American State are such that Netscape, for example, would probably be in violation of the ITARs if it subcontracted-out the security features of Navigator to a non-U.S. company. Think "hooks." Think "exporting knowledge." I agree that Netscape would galvanize the debate by announcing, say, that furhter development of Navigator would take place in Ireland or Slovenia or India. But I doubt it would accomplish much....the U.S would be on the horn immediately to their lap dogs in Ireland, Slovenia, and Ireland, warning them of the consequences, and would likely find multiple ways to pressure Jim Clarke and Netscape. (Any of the three Weinstein brothers are welcome to explain why Netscape would not yield to such pressures. But if any of them comment, ask them why Netscape has not elected to solve this problem--which according to reports is costing them sales--by doing precisely this. Are they stupic, or what?) >My prediction is that with the blessings of the Internet, the >next generation of multiracial programmers, even those that were >born in the USA, will be more likely to be found on the beaches >of tropical islands than in the fog of San Francisco. When you >can work in the shade of a palm tree, even if you should earn >less, it's worth it :-) As attractive as this sounds, historically this has not happened. And as many will tell you, the climate of the Bay Area in particular and California in general is extremely benign and delightful. The average winter temperature is only about 10C cooler than summer temperatures. Evenings are not balmy, but neither are they oppressively hot. Interestingly, and not really related to CP themes, the fact is that is that most technological developments have come out of cooler climes. Not a lot of stuff from tropical and island climes. Maybe they realize life is too good eating roast pig at the beach luau, maybe they are too lethargic from the heat, maybe tropical diseases and mosquitos have taken their toll, maybe.... I know an awful lot of folks who could easily affort to move to almost anywhere in the world, and yet they stay in California. (I also know folks moving to even cooler climes, in the U.S., especially less-crowded areas.) --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: US Power Outages
by shamrock＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 18:15 8/11/96, Dave Farber wrote: >The avalanche behavior of power systems is still not >well understood and techniques to prevent such failures are not obvious. >Same can be said of telephone and computer networks at different levels. Does somebody here have a pointer to literature on this topic? A system in which small localized disturbances can amplify, propagate through the system, leading to catastrophic failure is the worst of all possible designs. I fail to understand why a system as important as the power grid would display this type of behavior. Why is the grid negatively dampened? TIA, -- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred. Defeat the Demopublican Unity Party. Vote no on Clinton/Dole in November. Vote Harry Browne for President.

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Re: Chemistry question please ..
by jim bell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 08:53 AM 8/10/96 -0700, anonymous-remailer(a)shell.portal.com wrote: >Is there such a chemical compound as putracine ( maybe not correctly spelled ) which emulates the extreme odor of rotting corpses ? Yes. The proper spelling is putrescine. There's also another one called "cadaverine." And yet another called "skatole." ("scatology") >If so where can I find out how to make it ? Not on cypherpunks. If you want to know more, communicate with me directly. Use a penet-like remailer if you want... Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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Re: US Power Outages
by Bill Stewart 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 06:15 PM 8/11/96 -0400, Dave Farber wrote: >attempt to explain that blackout and how to prevent such. We have not >progressed very far. The avalanche behavior of power systems is still not >well understood and techniques to prevent such failures are not obvious. It surprises me how little these systems appear to be monitored. It took some hours for them to decide that the brush fire on the California border didn't cause the system to shut down; you'd think they'd know quickly that the subsystem shut itself down or disconnected from the grid or whatever because of reason #17... One of my concerns about the situation is that it's only a week or two after Clinton's speech about how The Government needs to protect the National Information Infrastructure for us. I'm not paranoid enough to think that they did it, but I'm sure that within a week we'll see Al Gore or somebody making an NII Protection Agency speech and Louis Freeh explaining that we need enhanced wiretap underwriting to make sure that encryption-wielding hackers don't do it again. >As someone who was married in NYC during the 65 blackout *happened at 1716 A former boss of mine was on his honeymoon cruise in the Caribbean and pulled into scenic Havana harbor the day of the Revolution.... # Thanks; Bill # Bill Stewart, +1-415-442-2215 stewarts(a)ix.netcom.com # <A HREF="http://idiom.com/~wcs"> Defuse Authority!

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Re: National Socio-Economic Security Need for Encryption Technology
by James A. Donald 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 08:02 PM 8/11/96 -0400, Perry E. Metzger wrote: > Clearly, wages are defined by supply and demand -- not by "capital > investment". However more capital, relative to labor, influences demand, and more labor, relative to capital, influences supply. But in practice, the mobility of capital and the importance of labor is such that this has little effect. How much capital do you need to provide a job for a software engineer? The major determinant of someones value on the international market is who has coercive power over him, not the national supply of capital. Capital does not come from nations, but from individuals. --------------------------------------------------------------------- | We have the right to defend ourselves | http://www.jim.com/jamesd/ and our property, because of the kind | of animals that we are. True law | James A. Donald derives from this right, not from the | arbitrary power of the state. | jamesd(a)echeque.com

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Re: problem software
by dlv＠bwalk.dm.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

ARCHFIEND <sven(a)loop.com> writes: > >we have problem software looming on the horizen here. > >does anyonw have the expertise to write any > >anti-lightening.bolt software that can disable > >or disengage these e-mail address collectors? > > We come face to face with our old problems organization and consistency. If > we want to "stop" lightning bolt and other programs like this (6 hours of > coding for anyone halfway to reality), we have to stop its profitability by > 1) boycotting advertisers and 2) assiduously, consistently, mailbombing the > fuck out of their addresses until their ISPs drop them. Hey - we just got back from a trip, it's good to see all your guys back online. I think one way to fightt junk e-mail is to do what I proposed: have a "don't-e-mail" list available for FTP, and make it trivial to add one's address to it. I can talk more about how I envision this if anyone is willing to consider putting such a thing up. I honestly don't think lightening&co want to e-mail people who don't want to be e-mailed. --- Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps

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Re: Read; NOW
by Charley Sparks 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- To: proff(a)suburbia.net, cypherpunks(a)toad.com Date: Mon Aug 12 05:34:05 1996 Perhaps this UNIX_CODE wants to create a mailing list with out names on it.. if we reply to him...... -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCXAwUBMg76juJ+JZd/Y4yVAQFT0AQMDvQgn8c1bNhpZ16Niqbdho71jCeyTV0I z5o5NPnSspEUhhxI3CIMp0OVwThaAOpRPakL8Pm6pjc08tgr0Hjbg0d0zFvVVDcM Wkh6mSCYXFIEz043ZDiSuYQuY8Zs8ChiBTTElJQM5Ns2j6O1jYyiogGwSgVTszvV TCj9PWFovL5VHQ== =DVBI -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: US Power Outages
by mccoy＠communities.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Lucky (crypto-leprechaun) wrote: > At 18:15 8/11/96, Dave Farber wrote: > >The avalanche behavior of power systems is still not > >well understood and techniques to prevent such failures are not obvious. > >Same can be said of telephone and computer networks at different levels. > > Does somebody here have a pointer to literature on this topic? A system in > which small localized disturbances can amplify, propagate through the > system, leading to catastrophic failure is the worst of all possible > designs. I fail to understand why a system as important as the power grid > would display this type of behavior. Why is the grid negatively dampened? Because the system designed to fail non-destructively rather than risk a power surge. Part of the problem is that the power being controlled moves as fast as any information about the state of the network: all decisions must be made locally at the switch level. When a major line fails the power generation stations can not just "turn off the juice" at the speed required, the power must either be redistributed or else the switch overloads and shuts down to prevent a massive power spike. The power companies would rather face the ire of consumers without power for an evening than the outcry that would happen if every toaster, microwave, and computer on the west coast was fried by the spike caused by 3 gigawatts being dumped into grids that could not handle the load (not to mention the long-term blackouts caused by local switching equipment getting fried.) In this case the system must fail to prevent damage. The great east coast blackout was caused by a $50 switch which wore out. The switch happened to control a chunk of load which was re-routed on to another line, causing a cascade failure as the excess load caused other switches to fail when it was dumped on to those lines (and the excess load caused by these other switches tripping accellerated the failure.) Power distribution is not like telecom, if a phone switch dies the calls end; the failure does not endanger the upstream switch with overload from bits not going anywhere. Imagine that cars on highways had no brakes until they reached an offramp but the DOT could apply a kill-switch to segments between offramps (tying this thread into another non-crypto thread on the list :),if a failure in the roadway caused traffic to stop then all of the upstream traffic would have to be dumped off the road via offramps that were only one or two lanes. This would cause further bottlenecks and the kill-switch would need to be applied to more and more segments upstream to prevent the traffic stopped or being slowly bled off from causing more problems. No imagine that offramp-to-offramp messages were transmitted via messengers travelling upstream in the carpool lane :) Even the power company's secret experiments in the cores of nuclear reactors have not found a way to get around the 186,000 km/s speed limit on everything. jim

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