December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Leaving the Country
by analyst＠Onramp.NET 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>FYI - the states with no (general) tax on wages are: > >New Hampshire* >Florida >Texas >Tennesee >South Dakota >Wyoming >Nevada >Washington >Alaska* > >*No (general) sales tax either. How do they do it -- Magic. *New Hampshire--alcohol sales (state run liquor stores), anything else? *Alaska--lots of oil. -- Benjamin McLemore analyst(a)onramp.net

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Re: Leaving the Country
by smb＠research.att.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

FYI - the states with no (general) tax on wages are: New Hampshire* Florida Texas Tennesee South Dakota Wyoming Nevada Washington Alaska* *No (general) sales tax either. How do they do it -- Magic. Magic? TANSTAAFL. Alaska has oil money (or has had it), and New Hampshire provides (relatively speaking) fewer services to its citizens, according to folks I know who have lived there. Knowing the politics of much of this list, that's probably considered a Good Thing by many; I disagree, but I won't clutter the list with (even more) politics. But if you're thinking of moving anywhere, find out what you *aren't* getting for your money, and see if it's worth it.

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Re: ID card from hell
by Blanc Weber 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>From Duncan Frissell: It is perfectly possible to have a rich full life even though you disobey your nation state. You need not even be an outcast any longer. There are *other* communities in which you can find full acceptance and support *without* having to move. ..................................................... But it isn't the acceptance of a small group which is the problem - it is the effects of the macrocosm upon the minor element ("tribe", group, or just individual): It is that you must live in their re-arrangements of reality more and more, and in the actual reality less and less; one's own area of authority is constantly reduced, replaced by their overriding decisions. First they nationalize your possessions, then your mind: but it can also be done the other way: while everyone is freely engaging in commercial transactions across national boundaries, in the background everyone is being corralled into a national identity scheme by which they can be made responsive to the "needs of the State" (legitimate law enforcement, etc.) It's not so much the fact that everyone is identifiable individually for every place they go and everything they purchase, etc. which is so much the issue (at least for me); it is that the connection to the Holy Leadership is always maintained, like a tether - you always know, psychologically, to whom you are attached and to whom therefore, you must surrender your money, your time, your identity card........ It's just continous war. I appreciate the tips which Duncan provides, even if they're inconvenient and don't work for everyone. There oughta be a FAQ for Hitchhikers on the Galaxy, on "How to Live Among Them". Blanc

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Factoring
by L. Todd Masco 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I'm confused on a point, and I hope someone will clarify. Factoring keeps being described as a 2^(n/2) problem, yet AFAIK (I wrote the code to do it the other morning before breakfast), it's doable in linear (O(n)) time. What gives? (The algorithm I'm thinking of is: /* Algorithm: To factor the number n, start with n boxes, each with one "marble." Remove last box, put it's marble in box #1. If all boxes have the same number of marbles, the number is factored. If not, remove last box. Put marble in box #2. Compare. Etc. possible optimizations: div by each prime l for a quicker starting point. (2,3...) */ factor(int target) { int place = target; int smallest = 0; int load = 1; while (place>1) { place--; /* N-1 boxes. */ smallest+=load; /* Next box in line gets the marble */ if (place <= smallest ) { load++; if (place == smallest) printf(" Factor: %d by %d\n",place,load); smallest = smallest-place; } } } -- L. Todd Masco | Bibliobytes books on computer, on any UNIX host with e-mail cactus(a)bb.com | "Information wants to be free, but authors want to be paid."

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Re: Leaving the Country
by analyst＠Onramp.NET 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>On Fri, 15 Jul 1994 smb(a)research.att.com wrote: >> TANSTAAFL. >??????????? > >What is this, some comglomerate of 3 federal agencies? tan-sta-afl > >Berzerk There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch Robert Heinlein, _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ (I think) -- Benjamin McLemore analyst(a)onramp.net

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Re: Leaving the Country
by koontzd＠lrcs.loral.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

TANSTAAFL There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch

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Re: Leaving the Country
by merriman＠metronet.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> > >On Fri, 15 Jul 1994 smb(a)research.att.com wrote: >> TANSTAAFL. >??????????? > >What is this, some comglomerate of 3 federal agencies? tan-sta-afl > >Berzerk > > There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch (The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, Heinlein) Clearly, a deprived and mis-spent youth...... :-) Dave Merriman Wherever you go in Life - there you are!

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Card Playing Protocol?
by kentborg＠world.std.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Something that frustrates me in fighting about crypto issues is the amazing quantities of ignorance available on the subject. I wish people knew more. Yes, if they understood how a meet-in-the-middle attack works that would be nice, but I would settle with something far simpler: It would be really nice if people had practical experiance *using* cryptography in a friendly, innocent, and non-threatening way. Familiarity breeds comfort. How to do this? What about a multi-player game which requires cryptography to implement the play? One possiblity would be a cryptographic implementation of playing cards. This has very obvious and easy to understand graphical implementations. So simple a small child can easily understand the product--which means possibly even the ITAR police would get the concept. This "digital deck of cards" would be flexible enough to allow the playing of most card games with the addition of the same manual book-keeping as is needed with physical cards. For assistance in keeping score, bidding--or God forbid--betting, there would be a journaled, low-bandwidth communication channel which would be--very important here--in the clear. The digital cards would be cryptographically strong. Players would appreciate that cheating could be accomplished by cracking the codes, and yet no one seems to be able to cheat. (Note, cheating through collusion in a game like bridge would still be possible.) The cards would not be suitable for distributing porn, bomb making secrets, or drugs, yet would drive the ITAR police *crazy*. What if a deck of the these cards were to be illegally exported from the country?!?!? Try telling all those Regular Citizens who are getting on the net and discover they can play cards that the cards are dangerous munitions. What a wonderful way to make the ITAR police look completely silly. Oh, and to be sure they *do* get upset, make the cards just open enough that they *do* constitute something more general-purpose. (Make calls to PGP, or let others make calls to the crypto functions in the digital cards--something like that.) Comments? Suggestions for a game other than cards that would be better or more suitable? Is anyone already working on a Card Playing Protocol? -kb, the Kent who tries to cause trouble -- Kent Borg +1 (617) 776-6899 kentborg(a)world.std.com kentborg(a)aol.com Proud to claim 32:00 hours of TV viewing so far in 1994!

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Re: Leaving the Country
by shamrock＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Sandy wrote: >>From what Tim alludes to, I still think he is just plain wrong about how >bad things would be on him. He's probably getting bad advice from >practicing lawyers who have a vested interest in having financial privacy >"difficult" to obtain. (More billible hours, more fees.) For the rest >of us who aren't retired zillionaires, though, there is plenty that can >be done. I have read Sandy's and Duncan's posts with great interest. Could one of you perhaps give some concrete examples what a normal person can do to avoid government intrusions such as the national health card, taxes, etc and _get away_ with it? Thanks, -- Lucky Green <shamrock(a)netcom.com> PGP public key by finger Please write to clipper.petition(a)cpsr.org and tell them you oppose Clipper.

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Re: Card Playing Protocol?
by jamiel＠sybase.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 6:44 PM 07/15/94 -0400, Kent Borg wrote: >Comments? Suggestions for a game other than cards that would be >better or more suitable? What about implementing a Multiplayer Game Protocol? That way, you can play cards, checkers, chess, Life(TM), - all those games that used to be really popular circa precolor macintoshes. Have an API for game developers to plug into and let the net.gaming begin. >Is anyone already working on a Card Playing Protocol? Not that I know of, but this is both good and silly enough that I might see if I can find some time. Need to bone back up on real coding... >-kb, the Kent who tries to cause trouble jl, the Jamie who appreciates the subtle. -j -- "Blah Blah Blah" ___________________________________________________________________ Jamie Lawrence <jamiel(a)sybase.com>

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