December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Guns: H&K, G3, 7.62 v 5.56 [Guns]
by Ryan Lackey 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Tim May <tcmay@got net> continues the sniping discussion: >I haven't seen Jim's reaction to my point about bolt-action rifles still >being far and away the favored weapon for sniping. Neither an AR-15 variant >nor an HK variant are advised for long-range shots (though either will of >course be capable of such shots...it's just that one wants the absolute >best precsion, and cycling rate is largely immaterial). In a rich target environment where you're firing from concealment, I think it is better to have a semiauto 7.62mmN rifle such as an accurized HK91 or a national match M1A, assuming the enemy has snipers or long-range antisniper weaponry. Why? 1) It is likely to be a target rich environment. USMC sniper doctrine is mainly single target single kill attacks from outside 600 yards. Former Soviet and US Army snipers mainly engaged multiple targets inside that range for tactical support. Defending against a raid is primarily tactical support sniping, killing the vice president of a country other than the US is primarily USMC style scout/sniping. Thus, in defending against a raid, Soviet-style weapons are probably better. 7.62x54R Dra----v rifles are probably a good model -- iirc (I've never fired one), they're semi auto bullpups. [eeek, www.guns.ru is selling them with bayonets! tactical close range sniping, aye!]. Or the SEAL sniper weapon -- an accurized M14, which is basically an M1A. With a good scope and better trigger, an M14/M1A can be 1 MOA, and it's a real battle rifle, with the ability to engage multiple targets quickly due to the semi-auto action. Also, when you're operating without a spotter/security man, it's nice to have the ability to quickly kill anyone in close. With an M1A, you just move from your concealment, kill, and return, wasting a minimum of time. I guess in a home you could just keep an AR-15 next to you for such close-in dealings, though. 2) In my (somewhat limited) experience, many field-improvised concealment locations are great during firing, but when you move to cycle the action on a bolt action rifle, you make the concealment shake or otherwise reveal yourself. Against a force with sniper/antisniper weaponry, that will likely bring down a hail of fire, which is suboptimal at best. USMC snipers generally solve this by firing once and leaving, since it's confusing and hard to localize on a single gunshot, but in a target rich environment, you might not be able to move. And they may have you surrounded, so it's hard to move without being seen. 3) A semi-auto is generally more useful for non-sniping tasks. I can barely carry an M1A, spare ammo, supplies, etc. for a couple days without being annoyed at the weight -- I sure wouldn't want to add a SMG or assault carbine to that. I would not have a problem with using a battle rifle/sniper rifle against a force armed with assault carbines and SMGs, though. True, this may be less of an issue inside a house, since you could just leave all your supplies cached throughout. I still thing you need to remain concealed and hopefully in cover, and if they bring heavy weapons to bear, you are going to have to move around the house, at least. A PSG-1 ends up being cheaper than 10 match-grade Remington 700s -- besides, the scope is much more expensive than the gun anyway (perhaps I just like overly expensive scopes) All that being said, for field use and home defense, if I'm alone, I'd take a barrett .50 browning for long-range USMC-style scout-sniping, or antimateriel sniping, and either a PSG-1 if money is no object (it's not *that* expensive, if you actually use it), or the German Army sniping system (or my^H^Ha national match M1A or M14) if money is only somewhat an object, or a Dragunov if money is a limiting factor, for anti-sniping or support sniping. And I strongly feel anti-raid sniping is of the latter category. (True, your gun is the best 7.62 USMC-style rifle other than the PSG-1..) Even better than that would be the addition of a spotter/security person with an M16 :) And some nice *cover* for where you fire from, in the form of earth, concrete, sandbags, or Spectra. And if the sky is the limit, something to engage light armor, like a 20mm rifle or tactical air support :) *ObCrypto!*: The choice of cryptographic tools is somewhat like the choice of sniper weaponry. A OTP is remarkably like a bolt-action rifle of infinite accuracy. Say, a USAF prototype 20mm laser guided sniper rifle. Use it twice in the same place, and get slagged in automatic cannon fire. However, it is ideal for "one shot one kill" perfect secrecy. A steganographically-protected data stream is much like a silenced subsonic carbine. A remailer network is much like a remote electrically-fired weapon (someone at a pistol match tried this with a free pistol, won, and the technique was banned the next year :) PGP is the PSS -- pretty [good] sniping system, pretty good precision. Useful for a lot of things, and since it's one of the better tools, it gets used for a lot of things where another solution might be better. :) Of course, I'd be kind of biased to call a working Eternity implementation and/or working and distributed digital cash system the PSG-1. -- Ryan Lackey rdl(a)mit.edu http://mit.edu/rdl/

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Jim Bell... lives... on... in... Hollywood!
by Julian Assange 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Anyone noticed this before? ------- Start of forwarded message ------- Date: 1 Jan 1998 09:54:51 -0000 Message-ID: <19980101095451.25998.qmail(a)suburbia.net> From: proff(a)suburbia.net To: proff(a)suburbia.net Subject:home.html Scoop the Grim Reaper! Who will live? Who will die? And who will win the grand prize in Dewey's Death Pool -- an all-expense paid, two-day Hollywood Death Tour for two. Or one of four quarterly prizes -- a fabulous celebrity death library. It's fun, it's easy -- and all you have to do to win is correctly forecast more celebrity deaths for the calendar year 1998 than any other entrant. Here's how it works: Between now and December 31, 1997, fill out an entry form, listing your picks in descending likelihood of death. For instance, if you believe Celebrity X is a cinch to die within the year, list him or her in the No. 1 slot, followed by your second most likely choice in the No. 2 slot, etc. For tie-breaking reasons, a correct pick in the top slot is worth 10 points, a correct pick in the second is worth 9 points, and so forth. (Please list an alternative name in the event that one of your choices dies before the game begins. The alternative will be substituted in the empty slot and you will not receive credit for the original name.) At the end of the year, the contestant with the most correct picks wins. If there's a tie, the winner will be the person with the highest point total. In the event of a point-tie, the contestant with the youngest decedent will win. Judges' decisions are final. In addition, quarterly prizes (an assortment of guide books, maps, videos and other celebrity death memoribilia) will be awarded for the most correct picks within the four three-month intervals ending 11:59 EST on March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31, 1998. In the event of ties, tie-breaker rules described above apply. Standings will be updated on the site regularly. To qualify as a correct "hit," a death must be noted in one or more of the following publications: New York Times, Los Angeles Times, U.S.A. Today, Time, Newsweek or People. Paid obituaries do not count; the death notice MUST appear in the context of a news story, roundup item or editorial obituary. If someone's death is not mentioned in one of the above publications, you will not receive credit. You will not receive credit for a death if you somehow contribute to that person's demise. If there's any dispute over the exact date of a celebrity's demise, information listed on the death certificate will prevail. Dewey's Death Pool is open to residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 years or older. For complete rules, see the Official Rules. [INLINE] home | entry | rules _________________________________________________________________ Back to Webb Page Confidential ------- End of forwarded message -------

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Re: Mobile phones used as trackers
by Steve Schear 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> Mobile phones used as trackers > BY MICHAEL EVANS AND NIGEL HAWKES > > MOBILE PHONES can be used as tracking devices to > pinpoint users within a few hundred yards, according to a > report yesterday. > > Sonntags Zeitung, published in Zurich, said Swiss police > had been secretly tracking mobile phone users through a > telephone company computer. > > "Swisscom [the state-owned telephone company] has > stored data on the movements of more than a million > mobile phone users and can call up the location of all its > mobile subscribers down to a few hundred metres and > going back at least half a year," the paper reports, adding: > "When it has to, it can exactly reconstruct, down to the > minute, who met whom, where and for how long for a > confidential tte--tte." Anyone who desires not to be constantly tracked should carry a one-way pager and keep your cell phone turned off. This way you can return calls when it suits you and from a location of your choosing. In some U.S. localities I understand, it it possible to rent cellphone w/o offering any form of ID, only a deposit to cover the instrument and a prepayment for the airtime This may be illegal in some EU countries. To keep someone from correlating your pager info and cellular you'd want your callers to send 'coded' info, rather than phone numbers. --Steve PGP mail preferred, see http://www.pgp.com and http://web.mit.edu/network/pgp.html RSA fingerprint: FE90 1A95 9DEA 8D61 812E CCA9 A44A FBA9 RSA key: http://keys.pgp.com:11371/pks/lookup?op=index&search=0x55C78B0D --------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Schear | tel: (702) 658-2654 CEO | fax: (702) 658-2673 Lammar Laboratories | 7075 West Gowan Road | Suite 2148 | Las Vegas, NV 89129 | Internet: schear(a)lvdi.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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by wogague2＠toyoma-u.ac.jp 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

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a good example of bad crypto hype
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>at http://www.meganet.com/explain.htm >you can test your critical thinking skills... Bawahahahaha. That's the biggest bunch of complete bullshit I've read in years. Thanks, Meganet, you made my night. They must be smoking crack and a lot of it.

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Re: [Censored] Quote of the Day (fwd)
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

John Young wrote: >DPS sumbitch ran me down near DFW, me and my crap filled van, >my mangy hide and shaggy hair, my NY plates, my wildly dumped >substances, and sat behind for a few drags of AC in 100 degree heat, >miked in the number, adjusted his mirrors, tilted the vidcam skyward, >and climbed out, a big, very big widowmaker high on his fat ass, >hustled his privates, spat juice, and farted hard enough to quiver the >VW and me. I think John has been skipping his meds again. Come on, John, the pill is your friend!

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a good example of bad crypto hype
by Secret Squirrel 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>at http://www.meganet.com/explain.htm >you can test your critical thinking skills... Bawahahahaha. That's the biggest bunch of complete bullshit I've read in years. Thanks, Meganet, you made my night. They must be smoking crack and a lot of it.

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Re: rant on the morality of confidentiality (fwd)
by Blanc 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Jim Choate wrote, regarding Newton: >He certainly went to great pains to publish it, even anonymously in some >cases and out of his own pocket. ............................................................... Okay, just this one reply on this subject, Jim. Taken from "The World of Mathematics", and article entitled "Newton, the Man", by John Maynard Keynes: " His deepest instincts were occult, esoteric, semantic - with profound shrinking from the world, a paralyzing fear of exposing his thoughts, his beliefs, his discoveries in all nakedness to the inspection and criticism of the world. 'Of the most fearful, cautious and suspicious temper that I ever knew', said Whiston, his successor in the Lucasian Chair. The too well-known conflicts and ignoble quarrels with Hooke, Flamsteed, Leibnitz are only too clear an evidence of this. Like all his type he was wholly aloof from women. He parted with and published nothing except under the extreme pressure of friends. Until the second phase of his life, he was a wrapt, consecrated solitary, pursuing his studies by intenese introspection with a mental endurance perhaps never equalled. [...] There is the story of how he informed Halley of one of his most fundamental discoveries of planetary motion. 'Yes', replied Halley, 'but how do you know that? Have you proved it?' Newton was taken aback - 'Why, I've known it for years', he replied. 'If you'll give me a few days, I'll certainly find you a proof of it' - as in due course he did." .. Blanc

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oracle on feds (fwd)
by Vipul Ved Prakash 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Selected-By: David Bremner <bremner(a)cs.mcgill.ca> The Internet Oracle has pondered your question deeply. Your question was: > DearOralemostwisepleasetellme... > > Look, I'm sorry to rush this, but the IRS, BATF, IRS, CIA, INS, IMF and > CFR agents (not to mention the black helicopters) are at my front door. > What should I do? And in response, thus spake the Oracle: ENTERTAINING FEDERAL AGENTS with MARTHA STEWART Hello, I'm Martha Stewart, welcome to my answer. Our good friend The Internet Oracle is not able to answer your question right now, and so he has asked me to try to help. Let's take a look at your situation, shall we? Entertaining large groups of Federal agents is always a bit of a challenge, especially when we're pressed for time. Of course, it's always best to be prepared for visitors. You should have a neatly trimmed and freshly painted entryway, with a large Welcome mat and perhaps some cut flowers. A wooden rocking chair on the porch adds a homey touch of camouflage. When Federal agents are expected, I like to take a little time beforehand and knit a large Plywood Cozy for each window to catch some of the broken glass. Don't forget to save the shards! They can be dyed later and arranged into a stunning stained glass mosaic. For autumn, have plenty of hot mulled cider ready. Not only is it healthy and aromatic, it's better than water for extinguishing fires! If your electricity is sabotaged, use your supply of flares in tasteful candle holders. Finally, don't be afraid to think creatively. Although many people think of large-caliber bullets as merely a nuisance, they can be recovered and used as decorative accessories and paper weights, or hammered into distinctive buttons. With a little brown paint, a smoke grenade can also be fashioned into a quaint pineapple arrangement! As always, remember to be courteous and kind, and just relax and be yourself. It takes only a small extra effort to be remembered for your own unique style of entertaining. Enjoy! You owe the Oracle a throw rug woven from yellow "Police Line" tape. -- "So Beck was the hacker and Oda was the backer. The oldest and most troublesome relationship in the technological world." -- "Diamond Age", Neal Stephenson. ================================================================== Vipul Ved Prakash | - Electronic Security & Crypto mail(a)vipul.net | - Web Objects 91 11 2233328 | - PERL Development 198 Madhuban IP Extension | - Linux & Open Systems Delhi, INDIA 110 092 | - Networked Virtual Spaces

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Re: Jim Bell... lives... on... in... Hollywood!
by Ryan Lackey 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

<daemon(a)ATHENA.MIT.EDU> (David Honig) writes: > At 10:48 PM 1/7/98 -0800, Sergey Goldgaber wrote: > > > >1 - Anonymity is technically feasable. > > > >2 - This requirement is a legal necessity. Otherwise, the organization > > may be seen as advocating murder. > > > >Obviously, if the "Death Pool" was fully anonymous, there would be > >no way to tell if the winner had contributed in any way to the death. > > > >Thus, I think we may be well on our way to Assasination Politics. > > > > - Sergey Goldgaber > > I agree, but "contribute to death" needs to be operationalized. Here's a > proposal: > If a homicide suspect is arrested within N months, they will be isolated > from the net > and the owner of the winning ID will have to perform a challenge-response. > Since > the suspect couldn't have replied, they are different; if a pair > collaborated, well, > when a hit man is caught, his payoff matrix will usually make him turn in > the client. Given strong cryptography and something like my current Eternity DDS almost prototype (a reliable distributed way of selling storage-compute-bandwidth being the relevant part), why couldn't the incarcerated person have left an agent out on the net to handle the challenge for him, and hold the money in anonymous trust for him until he gets out? I can't think of any anonymity-preserving system which contains an "is-a-person" predicate -- even if you asked an AI-hard question, you could blind the question and post it to usenet or CNN or something and quote one of those responses (which would be wise to do anyway for styleometry prevention). The other option is having a non-anonymous system, or one that is anonymous until someone tries to collect the prize, but in that case, it's not all that interesting a problem. Ryan the Nightshifted -- Ryan Lackey rdl(a)mit.edu http://mit.edu/rdl/

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