December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

UPS sorters love PGP
by Philip Zimmermann 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I was just sorting through my backlog of paper mail after returning from a 3-week trip. I found an envelope sent to me via United Parcel Service from George Washington University. Addressed to Philip Zimmermann, Boulder Software Engineering, at my address. On the back of the outside of the envelope was a scrawled note, "UPS sorters love PGP". :-)

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currency strips "salted" for neutron activation analysis?
by Brad Dolan 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Re. detectability of the funny plastic threads in recent U.S. currency issues: I think it would be interesting to try neutron activation analysis on currency. To do this, you would bombard the currency with neutrons and then look at the activated gamma spectrum to see how much of what odd trace materials might be present. I don't have any specific knowledge that the threads are "salted" for easy identification but this technique would work very nicely and has been used elsewhere. I used to have ready access to a californium source but don't any longer. Anybody else out there want to give this a try? Brad D.

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Re: I Like ASCII, not MIME and Other Fancy Crap
by shamrock＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Tim wrote: >I really do feel we're on the edge of chaos here. Every day that >passes I get more junk mail, more MIME mail, more > 80 column mail, >etc. Yes, the solution is for me to either filter this junk out >or to jump out out to the bleeding edge myself. Re-reading the above paragraph, you know that in the long tern there is only one answer. >But many people won't. We risk losing our lingua franca in a >transition to chaos. There are a lot of new tools out there. Some will survive the test of time, others won't. But if anything, there is less chaos today than there was two years ago. Two years ago, nobody used URLs. They typically described the location of a file as such: "You can get the file at ftp foo.bar.com, its in the pub/mac directory, I think it's called wonder.sit." So you hit ^Z to get out of tin, type ncftp, type all the stuff above, hope it is right - it probably isn't - find the file, get it, type "quit", type sz wonder.sit, get up to fetch a cup of coffee instead of just sitting there and staring at the screen while the file is being transfered to your machine, drink the coffee, ten minutes later you type "fg". Back to tin. Neato, isn't it? Today, most posters on USENET have learned to use URLs and it has become easier to do so, because more and more programs supports them. This is how the above exchange works today: I read my news with Newswatcher. Someone mentions the new hot piece of software at ftp://foo.bar.com/pub/mac/wonder.sit. I option-click anywhere on the URL. Newswatcher passes it to Anarchie for retrieval in the background. I read the next post. I say, burn all the VT52 terminals of this world to fuel the fire of progress. Toss the 2400 bps modems in there, too. I know that few folks will feel sad over the long overdue end of the ASCII era. I can, of the top of my head, name five friends with computers who, after seeing the VT100 display of a shell account, refused to have anything to do with the Internet. "You got be joking. I am not dealing with *this*." Now years later and after much evangelizing and MacWeb demonstrations, they are finally begining to show interest. The dialog was always the same: "I won't have to do any work in one of those terminal windows, will I?" -- "I promise, you won't." -- "Good, because I hate this ASCII garbage." It typically takes me 1-2 hours to install and configure everything on their machines. Yes, it is true, I have spent many hundered hours obtaining the knowlege in the first place, but I am willing to share my knowledge with anyone who asks. As for my friends, they all have been very happy with their new tools. None of them has so far expressed any interest in the telnet client that I have included. Happy netting, -- Lucky Green <shamrock(a)netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred.

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Re: Cash
by RGRIFFITH＠sfasu.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> According to Treasury figures as of Mar 31, 1993, there were still 335 $10,000 bills out, 345 $5,000 ones, and 169,645 $1,000 bills (counting FRN only). >I though all the $10,000 had been accounted for. Are there really some >left running around? Any idea how much one is worth? Last time I heard >of a $1000 going to auction, it sold in excess of $7000. >-- >America - a country so rich and so strong we can reward the lazy > and punish the productive and still survive (so far) > >Don Melvin storm(a)ssnet.com finger for PGP key. >

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SPOOF SENDERS?
by nobody＠jpunix.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>More remailers (maybe one that 'spoofs' real identities to hide the fact the it is a remailer?) with transparent PGP (download the whole keyring to the Great idea, at least on the face of it. Those in charge have a history of assuming that if you want privacy and low profile then you must have something to hide. If I use remailers to obtain privacy / low profile, why would I want to use a remailer that advertises itself as such? Rather, I'd prefer a nice little quiet one so my messages would blend in with all the rest of the usenet junk. I hate the five lines of disclaimers. I'd pay for my remailing if I could (and will when the feature becomes available), but I'd take my business to the discreet firm of _Chaemeleon Remailers S.A._ - not to all the _Remailers 'R' Us_ that advertise their business in neon on top of my messages.

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Re: I Like ASCII, not MIME and Other Fancy Crap
by amanda＠intercon.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> [...] ELM bombs [...] Well, aside from the fact that I was being intentionally annoying (you will note that I do not normally include my GIF signature in my messages), I will say that the bugs in your mailer are not entirely my concern. MIME is a standard for email on the Internet. If your mailer chokes on it, you can always get another mailer. Pine is good, from what I've heard, and handles MIME just fine. It's just as free as ELM... Amanda Walker InterCon Systems Corporation

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Re: usenet-to-mail
by adam.philipp＠ties.org 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>"Robert A. Hayden" <hayden(a)krypton.mankato.msus.edu> wrote: >>More importantly, are there are usenet-to-mail gateways? > >Would there by any benefit to doing this at all over the present system? >Why would someone submit a message to the remailer "bramble" via newsgroup >instead of just mailing it? Unless you find an anonymous way to post to >the newsgroup in the first place, your security seems to be seriously >compromised. Even if everything is encrypted, you've made traffic analysis >a huge amount easier. And if you are finding a way to post the a newsgroup >anonymously in the first place, odds are you have some other entry point to >the remailer bramble, so why make a stop on the newsgroup opening yourself >up to traffic analysis? > >Now that I think about it, it seems that there isn't really any reason for >such a thing. > Also one very bad reason NOT to do this. Posting to a newsgroup would remove any ECPA protection that your e-mail may have had. Sure, it isn't much, but at least proven interception could discourage traffic analysis. Proving it is left as an exercise for the student. Adam -- PGP Key available on the keyservers. Encrypted E-mail welcome. Sub rosa: Confidential, secret, not for publication. -Black's Law Dictionary

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Re: I Like ASCII, not MIME and Other Fancy Crap
by Pat Farrell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

tcmay(a)netcom.com (Timothy C. May) writes: > Oh, I'll go along with this. After all, this is partly why the terminal > standard is about 80 columns (there may be some FORTRAN and CRT > technology of the 1970s reasons as well). Revisionist history! CRT's were 80 columns because Hollerith cards were 80 columns. They had been that size since the late 1800s. 70s compilers for Fortran and Cobol used the columns. Cobol had A and B margins, Fortran had sequence numbers in columns 1 thru 6, and the continuation column in 7. The compilers weren't changed just because of a new fangled I/O device. In the good old days, there were only two I/O sizes that counted, 80 and 132. Pat Pat Farrell Grad Student pfarrell(a)cs.gmu.edu Department of Computer Science George Mason University, Fairfax, VA Public key availble via finger #include <standard.disclaimer>

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Re: Critias Unmasked
by an234＠vox.xs4all.nl 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- On Fri, 18 Nov 1994, Timothy C. May wrote: >Before the (unsigned) reputation of Critias_the_conspirator is tossed >about further, I was the author of the "anonymous" version. > >(No, I can't prove this, either, but such is life.) > >I wanted to remind folks of just how easy such unsigned reps can be >"used" by others. (No, I don't sign my own messages, due to hassles >with uploading signed messages to my Internet host, but I also rarely >use digital pseudonyms.) Which is why, in spite of the same sort of hassle that Tim mentioned, I make it a point to sign everything I post to the list. I regard the minor annoyance to be a necessary part of legitimizing this new nym -- for what it provides and especially for what it prevents. N. Cognito =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= N. Cognito "Don't put no constrictions on da people. an234(a)vox.xs4all.nl Leave 'em ta hell alone." -- J. Durante =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= public key available via keyserver -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBLs5yOqL3ipYu3mvVAQHPSAP8C50Izeg6KxRfgOTpC0vrHxQakvPHRdrk m0rh4BtObR6qdSCywlLz2bJ5z5ZetxrW+d6CsTgHqSLTKyf2t5dTuXoI6xMM6dnk aPSkEyBAr0AETGXA0rgiucEWosP09/t8mOoJCdIut/oqu8A5OarGRILlMuvOZuHC Ki5pNcabPpI= =tsCR -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: I Like ASCII, not MIME and Other Fancy Crap
by shamrock＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>> As for solutions, the only solutions there are and ever will be involve you >> getting of that terminal server. The evolution of the Internet will make >> ASCII terminals obsolete. If it hasn't already done so. >> >> Let's take that poll of what people use. I am curious. > >All right, you asked for it. :-) [Long list delete. Wow! But notice, he _is_ getting the stuff of the termial server.] >My best experience with PGP is using perl scripts integrated with elm >(thus a preference for using linux for mail). However it doesn't handle >MIME right. Pine seems to handle MIME, but I haven't figured out how to >add PGP support. There is a Pine with PGP support out there. I don't use mail on UNIX, so I don't have it handy, but I am sure someone else on the list will tell you all about it. >I have yet to play with the PGP Applescripts for Eudora. They're >sitting on my Mac's disk waiting for me to try them. Same here. I have just been to busy helping people get a better net connection. >I'd be curious to hear your commentions/suggestions. How about someone makes up a fill out form that we then send in for analysis? That's how we did it two years ago. >> P.S. If anybody here on the list wants to know how to turn their regular >> shell account into a SLIP account, email me for info or read >> alt.dcom.slip-emulators. Please don't ask about it on the list. > >Is this TIA on the Mac? I haven't tried that yet. I've tried term in >linux, which sounds similar, and it didn't work. And for the moment, I >do have means to get a SLIP connection. If you have a SLIP connection, then use that. Yes, it is TIA, but not on the Mac. TIA runs on the UNIX host only. Your Mac/PC/Whatever just uses standard SLIP software and doesn't have the slightest clue that the other end isn't _really_ a SLIP sever. Unlike term, where you have to recompile the software on the client to work with it. But please, lets keep the SLIP discussion off the list. Anyone who is interested please email me for more info. Happy netting, -- Lucky Green <shamrock(a)netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred.

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