December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: Twenty Bank Robbers -- CLARIFICATION
by James A. Donald 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 04:33 PM 7/25/96 -0700, Jeremey Barrett wrote: >-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > > Assuming "perfect" intelligence on the part of the robbers (i.e. they will > follow deterministic behavior and do the "right" thing), then here's what > must happen IMO (1 being the first guy and 20 being the last): [...] > If 2 are left (19 & 20), 19 gets all the money. So 20 will vote for whatever > 18 says, which MUST include 20 in the deal. But here we run into the paradox, that it is not in each persons self interest to pursue is self interest. Example; Suppose only two are left: Then No. 19 get everything, and No. 20 gets nothing. So if only three are left, it will maximize 20's return to vote for a proposal by number 18, that number 18 gets 19,999,999 dollars, and number 20 gets one dollar But suppose that number 20 announces in advance that he considers an unequal division morally wrong, and will always vote against any unequal division. If this threat is credible, which it is, number 18 will have no choice but to propose an equal split, so number 20 now gets 6,666,666 dollars, instead of one dollar. Now if number 20 had threatened to vote against any proposal that did not split the money equally between himself, and number 18, thus going for ten million instead of six million, this threat would be less credible, and he would very likely have wound up with one dollar. This is a particular example of the various well known paradoxes of utilitarianism, that utility is maximized by a firm and credible promise to utterly disregard utility maximization. --------------------------------------------------------------------- | We have the right to defend ourselves | http://www.jim.com/jamesd/ and our property, because of the kind | of animals that we are. True law | James A. Donald derives from this right, not from the | arbitrary power of the state. | jamesd(a)echeque.com

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Re: Game Theory and its Relevance to Cypherpunks
by James A. Donald 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Llywarch Hen wrote: > > > What Timothy May espouses is not the appearance of craziness but actual > > > insanity itself. James A. Donald wrote > > if you organize your nuclear forces so that any > > serious war is likely to escalate uncontrollably into the battle of > > armageddon, regardless of your intentions and desires, which is how > > the American government organized its nuclear forces in Europe, > > then you can pretty much guarantee you will not have to face a > > serious war. At 03:09 PM 7/27/96 -0700, Jon Leonard wrote: > This was, of course, the logic behind the alliances before World War I. > It was obviously suicidal to start a war with any of the major powers, > but it happened anyway. Your history is false: War was romantic and a big vote winner before World War I, and after World War I and before world war II the "intellectuals" were still big fans of war, just as they are still big fans of communism and socialism today, though World War I was sufficient to kick sense into most normal people. --------------------------------------------------------------------- | We have the right to defend ourselves | http://www.jim.com/jamesd/ and our property, because of the kind | of animals that we are. True law | James A. Donald derives from this right, not from the | arbitrary power of the state. | jamesd(a)echeque.com

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BOMB PLANS
by Sandy Sandfort 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SANDY SANDFORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C'punks, The Sunday San Francisco Examiner had an article about how simple it is to make a pipe bomb. It was syndicated from the Dallas Morning News. In the article a "federal bomb expert" opined: They're probably one of the more common explosive devices that are encountered. That's because the pipe not only provides a container, but fragments into sharapnel." ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Now I don't know what takes to qualify one as a "bomb expert," but the standards must be pretty low. The reason hand grenades look like pineapples is because it's very difficult to get metal to fragment unless it is scored or otherwise predisposed to come apart in little pieces. What I've been told is that a pipe bomb just peals open at it's weakest place and otherwise stays in one piece. Don't know, but that's what I've heard. Makes sense to me. To put the fear of god in the readers the article dutifully chants the following mantra: Detailed instructions for making pipe bombs and other explosive devices are available for sources as varied as anti-government publications [what about GOVERNMENT publications?], pamphlets sold at gun shows and the Internet. Are we surprised? S a n d y P.S. On an odder note, the same paper had an article entitled, "Two-headed baby born in Tijuana." The article reported, "...the child (sic) had been born with two spinal columns and two heads" One of the more bizarre statements was, "It's not clear whether un-named girl--or girls--are Siamese twins." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Re: E-Cash promotion idea
by Arun Mehta 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 05:15 24/07/96 -0500, Matt Carpenter wrote: >getting change from the merchant. Ian Goldberg pointed out that >with the current ecash protocol, accepting change not only eliminates your >anonymity, but that you also have to go online to make sure you aren't being >cheated. I'm sure it should be possible for the merchant to electronically give you an "IOU" for the amount of change s/he owes you, no matter how small, without loss of your anonymity. Next time you go to the same merchant, the IOU could automatically be adjusted against the new purchase. Arun Mehta Phone +91-11-6841172, 6849103 amehta(a)cpsr.org http://www.cerfnet.com/~amehta/ finger amehta(a)cerfnet.com for public key

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Re: your favorite poison recipes
by Lou Zirko 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- To: cjs(a)netcom.com, jimbell(a)pacifier.com, cypherpunks(a)toad.com Date: Sun Jul 28 21:12:49 1996 You forgot 2oz of Grand Marnier(sp). Also the Creme should be Irish. Lou Z. > While > > I recommend: > > 2oz Kahula > 2oz Vodka > 2oz Creme > > Mix this with some ice in a glass, garnish with a cherry. > > If you use Midori instead of Kahula, it turns a really cool > shade of green. > > Drink. > > If ya don't like my poison, pick ya own. =) > > Christopher > > Lou Zirko (502)383-2175 Zystems lzirko(a)c2.org "We're all bozos on this bus" - Nick Danger, Third Eye -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.3i Charset: latin1 iQEVAwUBMfweNstPRTNbb5z9AQEikwf/ZuyH2o7oip3C8Tt14mi5Vkc2yLhndlM8 q6m6/+AmsyaS0wrba+Dc52mPsmDLRraalYBY+IX5rFW/WRbSYoFqSrydxNr6XH7x PFRmKr2eYHy4lia2jc2CyUahfu4HXn4kr9rJdEBb2mr/LOkrZJKnrFBgORvvbxMv bHBGWILa2EgAb7fBEXNgeoJlZbyOfj296SAw/bI5dkb3R+A53DouvUi6cTF7ZgKx nfZVRbb34qwH3oi6ey6S3buZBnEHjsl6sIBCEKxkM/blVafX2XiLwN6k7nmH7ZRh AXvvoNMi8JlGJMQGqZUzyZqMm9IRd27oPT19qVITOzcuUwYryZY1+w== =VFom -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: ALL OF YOU ARE CRIMIN
by AwakenToMe＠aol.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Obviously this was someone trying to be anoying and someone that wasnt too serious.

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SET in Java
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Date: Sun, 28 Jul 1996 11:40:33 -0700 From: tedg(a)doppio.Eng.Sun.COM (Ted Goldstein) To: set-discuss(a)commerce.net, bjueneman(a)novell.com Subject: SET in Java Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-MD5: nhtCOgaiveb2ol2V4sPdow== Sender: owner-set-talk(a)commerce.NET Precedence: bulk +----------------------------------------------------+ Addressed to: set-discuss(a)commerce.net +----------------------------------------------------+ JavaSoft is developing a SET implementation as part of the Java Electronic Commerce Framework (http://java.sun.com/commerce) For more information, feel free to contact me. Thanks, Ted Goldstein Chief Java Commerce Officer, JavaSoft, Sun Microsystems Inc. (408) 343-1675 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This message was sent by set-discuss(a)commerce.net. For a complete listing of available commands, please send mail to 'majordomo(a)commerce.net' with 'help' (no quotations) contained within the body of your message. --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah(a)shipwright.com) e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "'Bart Bucks' are not legal tender." -- Punishment, 100 times on a chalkboard, for Bart Simpson The e$ Home Page: http://www.vmeng.com/rah/

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Re: BOMB PLANS
by AwakenToMe＠aol.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

welllll pipe bombs do fragment. Years ago someone decided to try to put one under my step brothers truck tire....... needless to say...nothing happened to the truck or our house in front of the truck but next door and across the street..the houses were sprayed with metal fragments.

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FW: LOOKING FOR THAT SPECIAL SOMEONE?
by geeman＠best.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Anyone else on the list goet this? ---------- From: mary[SMTP:mary@globalpac.com] Sent: Sunday, July 28, 1996 3:56 PM To: ml(a)aol.com Subject: LOOKING FOR THAT SPECIAL SOMEONE? Feeling sentimental? Would you like to get in touch with an old friend, loved one, family member or colleague? Do you need help in locating a (former) spouse for alimony or support payments? Does someone owe you money that you haven't been able to collect because you can't find them or their assets? Let me help. I've been doing this for twenty some years and am very good at it. My fees are reasonable and if I can't find what you need, there will be no charge. If interested, please reply to above. Thank you for your time. Mary Anderson P O Box 39362, Los Angeles, Ca 90039

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RE: Internet blamed for pipe bombs
by geeman＠best.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I've heard that in a lot of cases, too, automobiles have been the vehicle used by the prep. to transport bomb-making materials and bombs to/from their target sites. I'm starting to get concerned that this type of personal transportation technology makes it just too damn easy to wreak havoc and destruction on unsuspecting innocents. I think they ought to pass some kind of legislation restricting the use of vehicles that do not have approved travel-itineraries on file with the Travel Escrow Bureau. >>> Across the country, latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, >>> Tobacco and Firearms show a 20 percent jump in pipe bomb incidents >>> between 1990 and 1994. >> >>[...] >> >>> "We've been incredibly busy," said sheriff's bomb technician Judd >>> Holiday. "As crime in other categories is dropping, this is going up." > >The friendly Anarchist's Bookstore in San Francisco sells several books on >building bombs. No Internet connection required. I would like offer ano ther >possible explanation for the increase in pipe bombings. The People are >getting frustrated and a pipe bomb can be very useful device releasing >one's frustration.

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