December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Soft Tempest
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Much praise is due Markus and Ross for their astonishing accomplishment in long-neglected Tempest research. Their paper is surely causing sleeplessness in dens of TEMPESTed security agencies accustomed to having singular self-privacy and others-invasiveness via this technology. Microsoft is to be praised for funding the right thing for the wrong reasons, or perhaps Mr. Gates foresaw what the outcome would be and merely needs intel deniability, nicely aided by Ross's zipperedness -- that, too, well done. The Wash Post spin of the story is itself complicitous, as was Mr. Baker's enticement. Thanks to both for aiding the incovert global revelation.

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No Subject
by Veral 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

CAn I join? Your Pal, V.

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Another Linus market observation...
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hi, Another Linux market observation that would indicate that the total impact of Linux is going to be less than what we as Linux supporters would want is the literature that has arisen about Linux. In particular the count of monthly magazines. Linux has a roughly 6M user market penetration yet there is only a single Linux specific magazine available. In the comparative markets of C64 and Amiga there were several (eg Amiga World, Info, Compute!) magazines. Even today there are at least 3 Amiga magazines on the market yet that machine hasn't been actively manufactured in over 2 years. Why is the Linux magazine market limited to The Linux Journal? And what does that mean for the long term strength of the market (and by extension the hurdles other OS's would face in the future)? ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The most powerful passion in life is not love or hate, | | but the desire to edit somebody elses words. | | | | Sign in Ed Barsis' office | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

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Re: the best justice money can buy --Lessig (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Subject: Re: the best justice money can buy --Lessig (fwd) > Date: Sun, 8 Feb 1998 11:59:01 -0600 (CST) > From: ichudov(a)algebra.com (Igor Chudov @ home) > Jim Choate wrote: > > succeed in making a serious bid for MS parity. It is still a rare thing for > > an employer to provide Linux as a the default os on a new-hires pc. How many > > companies do you know that when a person comes in and configures their pc it > > contains Linux by default? Not many. Further that percentage is *not*S > > This is true, but you have to keep it in the right perspective. The > much more interesting question is a broader one: how widespread is GNU > copyrighted freeware? Outside of Linux applications? Very small. I have never worked for a company nor dealt with a customer who as a matter of course used GNU software and was in fact the accepted cannon of that companies computer use policies. Students, individual hobbyist, and small companies (one of the reasons I focus on SOHO in my consulting) are the marked exceptions. The reason these folks can get away with it is their customers if they have any are concerned about the end product and not the process. This isn't true of larger companies who are as concerned with the process because of the impact of budgets, quality control, purchasing, etc. > One can configure a Sun workstation so that it looks, works and feels like > a Linux system, runs things like elm, fvwm2, vim, GNU utilities, > and so on. I have seen a lot of such configurations, and in fact I do > use one like that myself. As I do, I have a ELC and a Tadpole 3XP that I use Linux on as well as Solaris. I also have a IBM N40 RS/6000 laptop that I run AIX 3.x and PPC Linux on. I've been waiting 2 years for the Linux68k to be ported to the Sun 4/380 platform so I can get rid of BSD on that machine, and the /dev/fb for the Tadpole on Linux SPARC has been in the wings about that long as well. In the Austin area (1M pop.), I have yet to find a single other soul who as a matter of course uses Linux on those platforms. At best I know of about a dozen people who play with it and every case I am the one who got them the CD and prompted their activity. My experience would indicate the interest and by extension future is not there for these platforms except as a point of esoteric interest. Believe me, I *wish* I had more people to talk to and work with on these platforms. I can kill just about any discussion in a Linux user group meeting by asking about SPARC or PPC versions, nobody (figuratively) uses them and nobody is really interested in learning about them. I know of only a couple of articles in the Linux Journal that has even discussed SPARC Linux (and that would indicate a lot of folks don't use it) and have never seen a PPC article. > How many millions more of these do exist? Very few. The total number of SPARC or PPC (not Mac mkLinux) is measured in the 10's of thousands at best. Consider that out of all the Linux distributors only a couple carry SPARC or PPC versions. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The most powerful passion in life is not love or hate, | | but the desire to edit somebody elses words. | | | | Sign in Ed Barsis' office | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

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GNU market penetration...
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hi, I have a question, after going to the GNU homepage (www.gnu.org) I have not been able to find out the numbers of how many if any corporate subscribers and participants to the GNU Foundation. Is there anyone out there who might have a pointer to this information, or better yet is an actual participant in the GNU heirarchy and can discuss these and related issues? Thanks. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The most powerful passion in life is not love or hate, | | but the desire to edit somebody elses words. | | | | Sign in Ed Barsis' office | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

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RE: SOFT TEMPEST
by WebWarrior3＠InfoWar.Com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Several of the servers where I work have multiple monitors. While it is rare that I have several instances of the same application being displayed on these monitors, I do, at times, do just that. Easier for cutting and pasting large blocks from one to the other as well as other editing of code. So, when the software police pull up outside of my place of business see that there are six instances of a program being displayed with one license I can expect a warrant to be issued? That would suck. Unfortunatley, I do not have the time to read through the entire document at the URL provided, and can't save it either from the .pdf ... the defensive measures sound interesting. Also, does this only work with CRTs or can it detect LCD too? Furthermore, it was written: >So Markus and I sat down and tried to figure out what we could do for >the Evil Empire. We concluded that >(1) large companies generally pay for their software; >(2) if you try to coerce private individuals, the political backlash > would be too much; >so >(3) if the Evil Empire is to increase its revenue by cracking down on > piracy, the people to go after are medium sized companies. I have worked on contract with several 'large' companies who are running illegal copies of software, often without the knowledge of the sys admin...better check those 'findings.' Scott R. Brower http://www.infowar.com http://www.efflorida.org

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New x86 clones & Linus Torvalds (Linux fame)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > X-within-URL: http://techweb.cmp.com/eet/column1/wintel19.html > HOT X86 CHIPS FOR '98 AND BEYOND > > > [INLINE] Launching yet another x86 microprocessor into a field already > crowded with clones isn't a good way to bet your company's future. But > that's just what two startups and one CPU stalwart are doing, in a bid > to beat Intel at its own game. > > The new ventures--Centaur Technology Inc. (Austin, Texas) and > Transmeta Corp. (Santa Clara, Calif.)--and long-time player Advanced > Micro Devices Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) each has its own twist on what > it will take to survive in the cutthroat x86 world in 1998 and beyond. > Let's take them one at a time. > > Centaur, founded by renowned microprocessor architect Glenn Henry, is > focusing on the low end of the market, where sub-$1,000 desktop > machines and sub-$2,000 notebooks rule. Centaur's offering, launched > only a few months ago, is called the IDT WinChip C6 ("IDT" stands for > Integrated Device Technology Inc., which owns Centaur). It's a > Pentium-class processor that supports the MMX multimedia > instruction-set extensions, a Socket-7 interface, and comes in speed > grades of 180-MHz and 200-MHz. Centaur is positioning the C6 as a > direct alternative to Intel's Pentium with MMX, AMD's K6, and Cyrix's > 6x86MX microprocessors. > > From a design standpoint, what's interesting about the C6 is that > Henry chose not to follow the reigning trends in chip architecture. > Instead, he took a downsized approach, implementing just those > features he needed to deliver decent performance in a high-volume, > low-cost CPU. > > "The biggest thing we did is throw out conventional thinking," Henry > told me when we met recently. "We came to the conclusion that the > added benefit of a lot of computer-science things wasn't worth the > effort. We're not superscalar--we don't do out-of-order execution. > Everyone else is designing 4-way superscalar processors, so we did a > 6-way chip." > > In designing the C6, Henry said his team found that, as CPU clock > speeds approach 200-MHz, nearly half the time is spent waiting on the > bus. So, Henry outfitted the C6 with a huge translation-look-aside > buffer, as well as a second-level TLB, to reduce bus utilization and > cut that wait-time to the bone. > > Also notable is the fact that Centaur is a tiny outfit that began life > a scant two years ago. "Intel would like the world to believe it takes > tens of years and dozens of people to design a microprocessor," Henry > said. Looking at the results rolling out of Centaur, it's obvious what > a dedicated group of engineers can accomplish. > > Over at AMD, a somewhat larger engineering team is already burning the > midnight oil to design the K7 (code-named "Argon"), which will compete > with Intel's upcoming 64-bit Merced CPU. > > AMD has a project team hard at work on K7, but has leaked few details. > Publicly, AMD wants to talk more about its new MMX-enhanced K6 > processors. But K7 will be the key to AMD's long-term future, since a > 64-bit chip is a must-have for any company that wants to remain a > viable alternative to Intel. > > The few details we do know emerged in October in a keynote speech at > the Microprocessor Forum by AMD chairman Jerry Sanders. He said that > the K7 will run at clock speeds in excess of 500-MHz and will come in > a module that's mechanically--though not electrically--interchangeable > with Intel's Slot 1 connector. Most interesting was the news that K7 > will use the bus protocol developed by Digital Equipment Corp. for its > Alpha EV-6 processor. > > It's not clear how far along AMD is with the K7. Indeed, it will be a > daunting task. But AMD has two things going for it in its quest. > First, it is very strong in the simulation and verification > department--an important factor in avoiding design flaws like the > floating-point bug that struck Intel and its Pentium. > > More important, AMD knows what it's like to wrestle with design > delays, which struck its K5 project. Concerns on the K6 job were > reportedly behind AMD's decision to purchase NexGen in January, 1996. > Indeed, the NexGen team provided the Nx586 core, which became the > basis for the K6. > > The third, and potentially most interesting, effort involves > Transmeta, a startup formed less than three years ago by former Sun > Microsystems chip architect David Ditzel. Initial word had Transmeta > at work on a PowerPC clone. Then, the buzz was that the company was > designing a Java chip aimed at the nascent market for low-cost network > computers. Now, it seems that Transmeta's effort is focused more on an > x86 alternative that boasts either low-power, multimedia or > network-computer capabilities. Or perhaps all three. > > One interesting tidbit to emerge from Transmeta is the news that it > has hired Linus Torvalds, the designer of the Linux operating system. > Apart from Torvalds' considerable software skills, he's plugged into > an influential community of Unix programmers, which could give > Transmeta a big leg up in any effort to design a processor tuned to > handle real-world networked applications. > > Alexander Wolfe is EE Times' Managing Editor for computers and > communications ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The most powerful passion in life is not love or hate, | | but the desire to edit somebody elses words. | | | | Sign in Ed Barsis' office | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

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Re: Another Linus market observation... (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Subject: Re: Another Linus market observation... > From: dlv(a)bwalk.dm.com (Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM) > Date: Sun, 08 Feb 98 13:38:30 EST > Jim Choate <ravage(a)ssz.com> writes: > > monthly magazines. Linux has a roughly 6M user market penetration yet there > > is only a single Linux specific magazine available. ... > > I disagree. There are plenty of printed publications about the hardware > that Linux runs on (i.e. Intel and compatible boxes) (not that I read them). > There are also rags about Unix, which are almost entirely applicable to Linux. The problem with this interpretation of the market is that AmigaWorld, Info, Compute!, etc. didn't cover the hardware to that great a degree. What they did do was discuss the programming and applications of those machines to problem solving, education, programming, etc. This point isn't the hardware and it isn't selling magazines on related os's that can be applied to Linux because of its similarity. The issue *is* increasing Linux' market share, magazines that discuss issue about AIX or HP/UX that can be applied to Linux don't do that. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The most powerful passion in life is not love or hate, | | but the desire to edit somebody elses words. | | | | Sign in Ed Barsis' office | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage(a)ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|

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Latest in Factoring
by Alan Tu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Jeff Lawrence wrote: >>>>> Well, my opinion is only one of many, but I just finished installing PGP 5.5 and it allows both RSA keys (max of 2048) as well as DS/DHH keys (max of 4096). Most keys I'm seeing these days are running at 2048, so 1024 could be considered as "below average". Just my $0.02 <<<<< First, I do have a 2048 RSA key I generated with 2.6.3ix, but its in hibernation and not on a key server, yet. (g) Second, what is 5.5 compared to 5.0? Let alone 5.5.3 as displayed in your key block? Third, I think its arrogant that PGP Inc. (and many many other software companies) have left dos/win 3.x users behind. The people, like me, who still use DOS/Win 3.x obviously like it, not to mention people not in the USA. Then, because of the lack of conventional encryption, and other options not in pgp 5.0 (I don't know about 5.5), and because its not freeware (freeware doesn't fully support RSA), people on the Internet had reached the concensus that they weren't going to stop using pgp 2.6.xxxx. When I complained about 5.0, one person asked me if my 2.6.3ix version had stopped working. Anyway, I think that PGP Inc. should release a version of PGP for DOS that lets you generate longer keys, be it RSA or otherwise. Finally, there are a lot of people in other countries (where PGP has spread as widely as in the US, if not more so) who are not compatible with Win95 users using PGP 5.0 freeware. --Alan Tu Type Bits/KeyID Date User ID pub 1024/E5D915E1 1997/04/27 Alan Tu <atu5713(a)compuserve.com> Alan Tu <102534.2165(a)compuserve.com> -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.6.3i Comment: Requires PGP version 2.6 or later. mQCNAzNivkwAAAEEALdGUXD3j+RioIirVG46N6LaGD3YMMVVT5Mjwr5JojQsDICy 856I06Ugo/Fqid2A/os7v/gwE+Sj/WhMERgTsTejUZtsucTpS9sae+cc27Fjjq1l hOnqcLZqnHDDNyn3+jesVFPLnRlSoHbmcBK1XDW/SJT1anZz55ezmBrl2RXhAAUR tCBBbGFuIFR1IDxhdHU1NzEzQGNvbXB1c2VydmUuY29tPokAlQIFEDOguk6Xs5ga 5dkV4QEBBF8D/1B0ePqlMavWEUMP0uTmyvWFI7jooAcih6uHZFo2u+u3EzE2Is8X EoLHg39DhjleTHPu6TnGsWIiwDYEslzYeVw/Cglx6eliYIr/qs7peEywuhtZsEFH ln6yR9IE6rX3b3GCvPSQ5uPhXWrd2kWaZvG4rQ4Oj1m3yTrFaPRqCBPvtCRBbGFu IFR1IDwxMDI1MzQuMjE2NUBjb21wdXNlcnZlLmNvbT6JAJUDBRAzyUJWl7OYGuXZ FeEBAc4TBACT8gLtyE0C8NBGs9aDa9kHfeNzN8VbNfUpoOiWi4duAAZFiAt/e+ji J2BUMLIY8kzm2WX4mVzpKYjvea5TtHeQgbESV1HVZ5k7abENMUYz5nSMloOE+bb+ XRzgGgFF3htGXDJNywlLNgoYi5vTMT0pbGlCzOu215Cc4mFls2w1iA== =CM85 -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

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Re: Guy Polis is a pedophile
by Information Security 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Heh-heh-heh: it's so funny so see how high Dimitry jumps when he sees people being made aware of his body of work. > From: dlv(a)bwalk.dm.com > > I have perfected sucking my own cock! Call me for a video! Oh, Dimitry, we already know you are in love with yourself. ---guy And what a pathetic Net researcher... ;-)

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