December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Mixmaster Questions
by Q Mixmaster Remailer 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Is there an automated way I can keep my PUBRING.MIX and TYPE2.LIST files updated automatically? (I'd prefer to be able to "finger" them from somewhere and redirect the results into a file.) Also, does anyone do a periodic "ping" of Mixmaster remailers to make sure they're up and running? I only run Mixmaster as a client, and not as a remailer, and I'd like a way to make sure I don't send a message to the bitbucket by accidentally chaining it through a "dead" remailer. Also, what is the latest version of Mixmaster? Thanks.

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Sierra On-Line FAQ
by NCSA HTTPd 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

(Following is a FAQ for the SierraWeb Welcome Kit) Welcome to SIERRAWEBª Here is some helpful information which we hope can answer a range of possible questions. At Sierra On-line, we want to make all your visits to our web site most enjoyable. SIERRAWEB FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Q: How do I log on to the Sierra On-line web site? A: The SierraWeb address on the World Wide Web is http://www.sierra.com/ Since this document was most likely sent to you along with your password verification then you've already signed on to SierraWeb once. Q: What do I do with the verification code-words you e-mailed to me? A: Log back on to SierraWeb by typing our address in your web browser. Then, after typing in your name and password, type in the Verification Code-Word and you'll be officially registered. This is the only time you'll have to type in your Verification Code unless you re-register again. Q: Why does SierraWeb use a password and verification code-word? A: We ask for your name and email address to confirm the unique- ness of every member. It allows us to a.) customize the service for each individual member's preferences and b.) help us better understand the demographic profile our membership and c.) prevent abuse of the website such as unauthorized orders or the use of offensive language. All in all, we want to get to know you as an individual. Q: What if I forget my password? A: At SierraWeb, you choose your own password so we hope it will be easy to remember. If you forget it, then you'll need to re- register and pick a new one. Q: How do I change the look and links of my personal User Page? A. Just one of the things that makes SierraWeb unique is that it allows you to change the way you view much of the information that is available. Special 'looks' will change the web control page bars at the top and bottom of the page as well as the page background. (Can't view backgrounds on your browser :^( , you can still change your control bars.) For instance, you can choose an Arcade 'look' by choosing 'Arcade' from the pop-up menu at the bottom right of your SierraWeb Personal Page. If you're in- terested in Football or Baseball, you might select the 'Box Seats' look. Do you like outer space and science fiction? Try out the Space Command look. Here's a chart to help you choose the look or looks that you might like If you like... You might try... Adventure games like Myth and Magic King's Quest Mother Goose or Playtoons 'Family Fun' Comedy like Space Quest or 'Comedy' Leisure Suit Larry or Woodruff & the Schnibble Children's Learning 'Kid Smarts' Reality Role Playing '9-1-1' Action/Arcade 'Arcade' Air/Sea Battle Simulations 'Combat' Football/Baseball 'Sports Fan' Horror/Mystery/Suspense 'Frightful' ...and more! Plus you can choose from a selection of pure colored backgrounds Q: What does the LINK change do? A: Along with changing your 'look' on SierraWeb, you can also change your 'Link.' A 'link' is a direct click-jump to a Sierra game category (also called genre). There are a number of categories of games at Sierra. Here is a brief list. ACTION ADVENTURE COMEDY KIDS EDUCATION FAMILY SIMULATION SPORTS ...and more! To create a link directly to a category, select the 'Link' you want to jump to and click on the change button. The new 'Link' you select will appear in the Link window. Q: Back to the 'looks,' I noticed that I have a choice between a full page's background and a GIF tile. What's the difference? A: The full page background is a page backdrop from an actual Sierra game. Since these files are generally around 30K in size you'll either need to have a fast modem, say 14,400 or 28,800 or some patience. (They're worth waiting for!). If you are using a slower modem, or would like a change of pace, choose the tile looks. These files load much quicker since they are quite a bit smaller in size. Q: I can't see any backgrounds on my page. A: Some browsers are not yet compliant with the background feature. You may wish to change your browser to one that meets the HTML 2.0 standards. Q: I can't see the whole page? A: The standard width size for most pages on our website is 9 inches and you should adjust the size of your browser window to that width. Q: I see a mailbox on my personal page and the words 'YOU HAVE MAIL!'? What is this? A: From time to time, Sierra will be informing members with news about our company products and people. If you see the words 'YOU HAVE MAIL!,' click on the mailbox to read your mail from Sierra HQ. Q: How do I send mail to Sierra? A: To reach Sierra On-line with a Technical Support question, go to the Help Center which is reachable by clicking the 'Help Center' icon on the bottom control bar (the one with the ? Over the globe). You can also make Customer Service inquiries from the Help Center. Note: Some links may not be suitable for youngsters under the age of 13 and may be automatically deactiviated. Q: How do I use the SEARCH feature? A: You'll find a SierraWeb SEARCH button in the upper left hand corner of most SierraWeb pages. Click on it and you will be presented with a Word Search Box ready for you to type in the word or words you are interested in locating on other pages. For instance, if you are interested in football, Simple type in: football. If you are interested in Space, type in: Space. By typing space you might be directed to the Space Quest series games or to a space game like Outpost. Q: How do I find my way back to my Personal Page? A: Just click on the HOME button underneath the Sierra logo in the upper right hand corner of most pages on SierraWeb and you will be automatically transported back HOME to your Personal Page.

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Exit Remailer Suggestion
by Mike Duvos 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Someone wrote: > What about AOL disks? We need shorter lived, disposable > remailers as exit remailers... Let them take the heat, > while the real remailers walk. Lets see a series of > "exitman" remailers. Exitman remailers are walking targets > left to fend for themselves as long as they may. We already have a preconfigured set of exit remailers. They have names like "hotmail", "rocketmail", etc... These are the web-based email services which will instantly create accounts for anyone, no questions asked or authentication required, and permit access to these accounts with the chosen password from anywhere on the Net. You can even chain them, using an account on one to apply for an instant account on another, leaving few bread crumbs for anyone to follow. Most of these services don't care, don't log, and rarely read their email to abuse@. Even if pressure does cause an occasional account to be deleted, you can easily create ten more in as many seconds. By reconfiguring current remailers to use a public Email service as the last link in the chain, we tap a potentially infinite supply of disposable accounts, on advertising-supported service providers with skins as thick as those of the bulk emailers. Sounds like a plan to me. -- Mike Duvos $ PGP 2.6 Public Key available $ enoch(a)zipcon.com $ via Finger $ {Free Cypherpunk Political Prisoner Jim Bell}

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Sierra On-Line Authentication Key
by NCSA HTTPd 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Welcome cypherpunks to SierraWeb. We are pleased to present you with the key to our magical kingdom in the form of a verification key. Your Sierra Web verification key is... humane-tomato Be sure and make a note of it! The next time you log in and are prompted for it, type in your verification key. Remember, your verification key is not your password. Your password is the word you chose when registering. Use the following URL to verify your membership: http://www.sierra.com/authenticate.html

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Gore on "information standard," from wire service reports
by Declan McCullagh 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

@TEXT <B>gore-urban-league 6thadd<P> GORE/URBAN LEAGUE PAGE 10 08/06/97 .STX x x x high. You know, forget about the gold standard; we're on the information standard. There's $1-1/2 trillion in the global economy sloshing around every single day, flowing toward those nations that make hard choices based on real numbers and get away from illusionary policies based on secondhand smoke and rear-view mirrors. By making the tough choices and investing more in our priorities for the future, while at the same time steadily reducing the budget deficit, we are keeping interest rates down and drawing investment capital to the right places in the United States of America. President Clinton and I know that while a strong and growing national economy is job number one, and while we are proud of the progress that has been made, we know that it is only a start, and much more needs to be done. We know that it's also not enough, because while we must improve the track, we must also make sure that everyone has the opportunity to get to the starting gate. That's especially important today, because we are entering a new economy, one that is not just better and stronger than the old one, but one that is very different as well, in fundamentally new ways. It is an economy driven by information and technology. It is an economy that depends less on the size of our factories than it does on the skills and creativity of our people. It is an economy that is linked to the global marketplace by phone, fax, and computer cable. It is an economy that is zapping dollars and data around the world every moment at the speed of light. That's something new. We all know that. We see it in our daily lives. We experience it when we walk into a business establishment. We see it in our own work. And if we prepare for this new economy, this new world, in the right way, then this new economy can be the most empowering and inclusive economy that the United States of America has ever known. In an economy where goods and services are increasingly traded along and across the information superhighway, a simple connection to the Internet can transform an isolated urban community into a thriving economic center. In an economy where companies cannot afford not to hire and promote the best-educated, best-trained, best-skilled employees, the right kind of education can indeed help to crack the glass ceiling and break through the barriers of prejudice and hatred, and get rid of the residue of that hatefulness from history in an economy. .ETX GORE/URBAN LEAGUE PAGE 11 08/06/97 .STX MORE .ETX Aug 06, 1997 12:04 ET .EOF

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Re: C2.ORG REMAILER
by jsantala＠walli.uwasa.fi 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- In scroll <41jnqn$qgm(a)nntp.crl.com>, Nobody wrote: > sameer(a)soda.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU (Sameer Parekh) wrote: >> Community COnneXion will not reveal the identity of non-anonymous >> account holders without a court order or explicit permission from >> the account holder. > Sameer - You caved WAAAY too easily - I will suggest that we ban ALL > inclusion of your reamiler in any chain, due to the fact tha your > c2.org CAN NOT be trusted to resist pressure. See ya on the c-punks > area. Now, Nobody, that is chickenshit if anything, and I "suggest" you know it. The actions taken by Community ConneXion in no way prove that it would be any less trustable in this matter than any other remailer in the world. In fact, certain coolheadedness to all parties present is, in my opinion, one of the main requirements of respectable remailer. In fact, had c2.org been pinned down for the copyright infrigment with no ability to point the real infriger, CoS could well have stood a change to get hold of any possible remailer logs. Just like in the anon.penet.fi case, where Helsingius gave out the entries identifying the account in question instead of holding them back at the risk of getting all the entries confiscated. It's called picking the lesser evil. In fact, the only effect you stand to gain from accusing people of such acts is perhaps making them that much more inclined to really co-operate with your enemy next time they ask for it. Furthermore, altough Sameer could've been pretty sure of even monetary support from the 'net community in his battles against CoS, I personally think such would only be waste of resources. The copyrights of OT materials will be found out in Erlich's case, posting them publicly in Lerma's case and the common provider status of ISP's will be tested in Netcom's case. In my opinion, we stand nothing to gain, only lose, from increasing the number of cases further. Not to even mention that the Fishman documents have now been temporarily sealed, which further clouds the issue. Finally, I hope you do know that the reason of actually using remailer-chains is the admittance that some of them might be compromised. The idea behind remailer chains is that each and every one of the mailers in the chain needs first to be identified and then compromised to successfully find out the real poster. "Banning" it out of the remailer chains, even if possible, would serve no purpose. Posting the facts and letting people make their own decisions based on those could, perhaps, be warranted. Regards, Donwulff Intergalactic terrorist and arms dealer, squire for Knights of Xenu. Operation Entheta National Command, captain Donwulff of Discordia. Tell your people. alt.religion.scientology Let The World Know! -><- Hail Eris! All hail Discordia! -><- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2i iQCVAwUBMEBkayrmAC3+VL2ZAQEw3AQAvq5NKAExecLJ1/GKpSfO10w8Y/H/1cpi AJAGc2JikWfPVvhxaw1b1Ib3TiX4IyvMHXu2YIldDUcWnCYq/Yx2iAnbeo08r7Uq y7sgDjghyuMBX9EXtaVN4uiRSc+ESDM/oTQGc6atFbtqrSmoKlyO/jHWp/A76pL/ SIYVGLU+kV8= =DQ3K -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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this is getting silly (was Re: C2.ORG REMAILER)
by henri＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- In article <vxFQws0p3fRe084yn(a)walli.uwasa.fi>, Jukka Santala <jsantala(a)walli.uwasa.fi> wrote: >In scroll <41jnqn$qgm(a)nntp.crl.com>, Nobody wrote: >> sameer(a)soda.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU (Sameer Parekh) wrote: >>> Community COnneXion will not reveal the identity of non-anonymous >>> account holders without a court order or explicit permission from >>> the account holder. >> Sameer - You caved WAAAY too easily - I will suggest that we ban ALL >> inclusion of your reamiler in any chain, due to the fact tha your >> c2.org CAN NOT be trusted to resist pressure. See ya on the c-punks >> area. this is bogus. i'll explain why. >Now, Nobody, that is chickenshit if anything, and I "suggest" you >know it. The actions taken by Community ConneXion in no way prove >that it would be any less trustable in this matter than any other >remailer in the world. In fact, certain coolheadedness to all >parties present is, in my opinion, one of the main requirements of >respectable remailer. In fact, had c2.org been pinned down for the >copyright infrigment with no ability to point the real infriger, CoS >could well have stood a change to get hold of any possible remailer >logs. i seriously doubt that sameer keeps logs, as i believe he runs a cypherpunks remailer. furthermore, regardless of how anyone feels about the state of sameer's courage, attacking his integrity is utterly ridiculous. he hasn't given out anyone's userid, nobody's anonymity has been compromised, and to suggest that because you don't like his decision in this matter that he's going to go around coughing up userids and personal identities is completely ridiculous. ridiculous beyond belief. i agree with jukka. sameer's given us no reason not to trust him, even if he's given us a bit of attitude. i'd probably have responded in about the same way if i were suddenly dragged into what you have to admit is an extremely convoluted and bizarre netwar with an alarming tendency to get people's computers confiscated and homes attacked. h - -- Xenu's Famous House o' Clams T-shirts! *All* profits go to MoFo to help with the Dennis Erlich Defense Fund. Email to: ladyada(a)gnu.ai.mit.edu for details $15 per shirt, 3 colors. Design available at http://www.cybercom.net/~rnewman/scientology/home.html -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.i iQBVAgUBMEBxw3Z/m2/Pgo35AQHpkwH8DO752jxoMFwG6fCLsI7vZGMV/hxX4H/U K1PWw5XZQanIeSMytdML5lbok5iwWWoD2xMwnWBSjvgSRyxmuNkLyQ== =tTgw -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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SSL trouble
by Damien.Doligez＠inria.fr 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Let us call "sequential search" an algorithm that remembers which keys were tried and avoids trying them again, and "random search" an algorithm that just tries keys at random without bothering to check. The sequential search has the following problems: 1. The server is badly overloaded. It is vulnerable to a variety of active attacks: 2. "result hoarding" attacks: finding the result and reporting it "not found". 3. "dilution" attack: allocating some search space and not sweeping it. 4. plain old "denial of service" attack: deliberately overloading the server with bogus communications. 5. And of course all of the above in their "buggy software or hardware" versions. The random search has none of them: attacks 1 and 4: there is no server to overload attacks 2 and 3 are no worse than simply refusing to participate in the search, because the rest of the computation is independent of what any one party is doing. The main drawback of the random search is that the expected running "time" is the size of the key space instead of half the size for the sequential search ("time" here is the number of keys to try before finding the right one). In practice, because of server overload, our machines don't seem to be working more than half the time, so the random search could be actually faster than the sequential search. Even if it isn't, I think doing twice as much work is a good trade-off for protection against all attacks, and no more network or server problems, and no more allocation hassles for off-line users. Four more remarks: * I get the factor of two by assuming that the algorithm is "pick a segment at random, look for the key in it, pick a new segment at random, and so on". I suspect that sequential searching from a random starting point would be much worse in the case of many independent searchers. * I hope there's no bug in my math. * Another drawback is that the worst-case running time is infinite (but it is infinitely unlikely). * Of course, we need a good PRNG, but that's essentially what RC4 is. In conclusion, I think random searching is the way to go. It's even better than Monty's pre-allocation with quad-coverage. -- Damien

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Whining for 'Accountability'
by Damaged Justice 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Net crime begs questions: Who to call? By [38]Janet Kornblum August 5, 1997, 8:00 p.m. PT On June 10, out of the blue, Bruce Hovland's business phone started ringing off the hook. The people calling weren't happy. They all demanded to know the same thing: How did they get on his mailing list? They also insisted, not always nicely, that he not send them the pornography he had apparently promised them in an email. They didn't order any porn, they said. Hovland doesn't send out pornography for a living, and he hadn't sent angry callers any email, either. In fact, Hovland is a Florida businessman who rents out an inland marina and markets various products like construction materials, none of which have anything to do with porn, email, or the Internet. He surfs for educational reasons and sometimes sends mail, but that's about it. According to Hovland, he is a victim of a crime. Someone--he thinks he knows who--sent out an email to possibly thousands of people telling them that "in 48 hours your credit card will be charged $184.80" for three adult videos. Recipients were then told they could not reply by email but "If we do not hear from you within 48 hours, we will assume everything is correct and make the charge to your card." The email supplied contact numbers, all belonging to Hovland. Perhaps adding insult to injury, the email said "you may call collect you if you wish." Hovland estimates there were thousands of calls from everywhere. "I've been pretty much threatened from all corners of the world," he said. He added he reported the incident to the local sheriff's department and to the [39]FBI and Secret Service. "I think I've been internationally defamed. I'm known worldwide as a porn dealer." But that's not even the part that bothers him the most: Hovland said this incident alerted him to the fact that there's no place to deal specifically with Internet crimes. Now, he wants to do something about it. "I believe that the entity, the Internet, is accountable. The freedom of it is what makes it so great, but they need to police it. They need to have 911 [for the] Internet." He's already gotten support from one person: Philip Kirschner, a law student who received the spam and called Hovland to cancel the order. Kirschner is helping to mount a campaign for legislation or some sort of task force. Hovland said he and a friend started tracing the email spam. With some luck, he explained, he figured out that it came from a wanted man who had fled the country and left his boat and car at Hovland's marina without paying rent. Hovland eventually sold the goods, but catching the alleged culprit is a different story; suing him would be nearly impossible. Hovland said he's lost two weeks worth of work. But he noted it could have been a lot worse: Someone could have directed the spam victims to a hospital switchboard or some other business that counts on their phones to help save lives. "Anyone can be a victim, whether you're an Internet user or not. If a guy can be in a foreign country and pinpoint his harassment and maybe be unprosecutable, there's a major problem. International harassment via the Internet can be an extremely volatile thing. It's a lot more serious than some fat white guy in Florida getting harassed." Now he hopes the spam and his experience will lead to something bigger, maybe even a movement that speaks for the average person who winds up being a victim of a Net crime. "A regular businessman in this society can be victimized at the point of a mouse," Hovland said. "They could literally put me out of business if they continued. It's bizarre." related news stories  [40]CNET Special Feature: Dark side of the Web July 18, 1997  [41]Laws of cyberland April 25, 1997  [42]CNET Special Report: Crime on the Net February 7, 1997  [43]States mull harassment laws January 31, 1997  [44]States fight harassment December 16, 1996  [45]FBI in Net porn probe December 12, 1996 38. mailto:janetk@cnet.com 39. http://www.fbi.gov/ 40. http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,12590,00.html 41. http://www.news.com/SpecialFeatures/0,5,10040,00.html 42. http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,7754,00.html 43. http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,7550,00.html 44. http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,6262,00.html 45. http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,6157,00.html

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Shor's Algorithms: Mad, Bad and Dangerous (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Thu, 07 Aug 1997 21:12:15 -0400 > From: John Young <jya(a)pipeline.com> > Subject: Shor's Algorithms: Mad, Bad and Dangerous > >From a WSJ nook review today of "The Fabirc of Reality," > by David Deutsch (Allan lane, 390 pp., $29.95): > > Using something called "Shor's algorithm," a quantum > computer can factor giant numbers and thereby break > secret codes that no conventional computer could touch. > > The only way it could do this, Mr Deutsch argues, is by > distributing its operations over many parallel universes. > "To those who cling to a single-universe world-view," > he writes with evident asperity," I issue the challenge: > *explain how Shor's algorithms works.*" The Many Worlds Hypothesis was developed by David Bohm and is an alternate way of looking at the Uncertaintly Principle, which gets its origin from the collapse of wave functions used to describe the potential states of a wave. The advantage of using a Many Worlds Hypothesis is that it allows you to do away with Bohms, Schroedinger, Einstein, etc. objections to the standard model, God playing with dice. >From an existential perspective it is simply another way of viewing the Hamiltonian of the wave equation. In short the Many World theory says that all possible outcomes are available in parallel, you only get to experience one of them. The standard model says the Hamiltonian collapses from its n-element state to a single valued state at the time of measurement (ie the system is in no state unless measured). Which was Schroedingers explicit complaint, in his cat model the question he was asking (that gets dropped by modern physicist because it is so subversive to the Standard Model) is "Doesn't the cat know what state it is in?". The implicit (and never stated) assumption in the Standard Model is that a particle's state is defined by the particles and their interactions that surround it AND the particle is comletely unaware of it. Which brings questions like "How does the electron know to be in the S1 orbital if it doesn't have any way of knowing its energy state?". This is especialy problematic since a base assumption is that the only way to effect an electron is through a photon. A good extension is consider the insanity of the Moon disappearing when you aren't looking at it. Look at the Moon and the tides appear, look away from the Moon and the tides go away... > Combining the many-universes notion with quantum probablity, You can't combine them, the whole point of the Many Worlds theory is to explicity eliminate quantum probability and bring the mechanism into the deterministic model used at higher levels of scale (ie Newtonian Mechanics). The goal is to build a system that is consistent across questions of scale. > and adding elements of Darwinism and Karl Popper's theory > of knowledge, Mr. Deutsch apsires to nothing less than a > complete understanding of "the fabric of reality." Arrogant > in tone and marred by leaps of logic, his book nonetheless > bristles with subversive insights about virutal reality, > time travel, mathematical certainty and free will. > Intellectually speaking, Mr. Deutsch is mad, bad and > dangerous to know. Sounds like a bunch of wishfull thinking and serious misunderstanding of Bohm, Schroedinger, etc.'s work. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | Participation requires more than just bitching! | | | | _____ 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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