December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

[NOISE]Re: Sex, drugs, and libertarianism
by Jim Ray 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To: SAlanEd(a)concentric.net, cypherpunks(a)toad.com Date: Thu Oct 31 06:51:05 1996 Steve Edwards writes: ... <snip> >I agree that the war on drugs is useless, and that prohibiting > prostitution is even more mindless. Still, the libertarian ideal seems > even > worse. Think about Thailand, where sex is bought and sold openly. The > AIDs > infection rate has gone from near zero to 2.5% in a couple of years, and > promises to devastate the whole country. Burmese kids are sold into sex > slavery. Is this the future? People make choices every day, but few > people make INFORMED choices, and a lot of people, believe it or not, > have > very little choice. They are caught between the Devil and the Deep Blue > Sea. 1. Prostitution is (nominally) illegal in Thailand. 2. So, what would you do? (I'd still make it legal.) The issue is more complex than many would make it out to be. Where prostitution is legal in this country (Nevada) the marketplace seems, without the help of Dr. Kessler and his minions, to have dictated the universal use of condoms, and the spread of all STDs is slower than in other areas, like here in Miami (where prostitution is (nominally) illegal. JMR Regards, Jim Ray -- DNRC Minister of Encryption Advocacy "They never say: 'Please vote for me because I have an obsessive, all-consuming need, bordering on mental illness, to live in the White House and fly around in Air Force One and have a vast entourage of lackeys.'" -- Dave Barry, describes Bill, Bob, and Ross in the Miami Herald, September 22, 1996 Defeat the Duopoly! Vote Harry & Jo http://www.HarryBrowne96.org/ ___________________________________________________________________ PGP id.E9BD6D35 51 5D A2 C3 92 2C 56 BE 53 2D 9C A1 B3 50 C9 C8 I will generate a new (and bigger) PGP key-pair on election night. jmr(a)shopmiami.com ___________________________________________________________________ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMniSrm1lp8bpvW01AQGGxAP/b72K+0PXT9xxE1E2KCgls5iXSvVvlnoa aqG3mJuVjPDbPLVCav5ajHjdO8IoNyk7B6LnoBRH0haTn+3yd0tHYI/yMRKwmaJR 4FjmoTKDOF45obWtynqalfHetkAfZtBzVfyM4iLHG5YHnGiEgKg8baiffr6AGxYp me6gehTq1p8= =296o -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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update.293 (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: >From physnews(a)aip.org Wed Oct 30 17:36:20 1996 Date: Wed, 30 Oct 96 13:58:39 EST From: physnews(a)aip.org (AIP listserver) Message-Id: <9610301858.AA27601(a)aip.org> To: physnews-mailing(a)aip.org Subject: update.293 PHYSICS NEWS UPDATE The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Physics News Number 293 October 30, 1996 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein SIGNAL TRANSMISSION THROUGH A MAMMALIAN NERVE-CELL NETWORK can be enhanced with the help of electrical noise, a new experiment has shown. First proposed to explain the periodicity of ancient ice ages (in which the random "noise" of climate variations may have augmented the effects of predictable Earth-Sun distance variations from year to year) and first experimentally demonstrated in lasers (in which the direction of laser light traveling around a loop was switched from clockwise to counterclockwise by adding acoustical noise to the crystal from which the light emerged), the phenomenon of "stochastic resonance" (SR) describes how introducing a certain amount of noise into a system can actually enhance the transmission or detection of a weak signal so as to maximize the ratio of signal to noise. In the first demonstration of SR in mammalian tissue, researchers (Mark Spano, Naval Surface Warfare Center, 301-227-4466) apply a weak electric signal (containing both signal and noise) to a slice of rat hippocampus, a brain region essential for memory and other tasks. With the slice parallel to the plane in which nerve cells convert incoming signals into electrical nerve impulses, the researchers could transmit a weak signal to all nerve cells in the network. At an optimal noise intensity a maximum in the signal-to-noise ratio was reached--a hallmark of SR. This experiment offers the intriguing possibility that SR may potentially be exploited to aid transmission, detection and processing of signals in neuronal networks. (B.J. Gluckman et al., Physical Review Letters, 4 November 1996.) A QUANTUM COMPUTER COULD TOLERATE ERRORS while carrying out calculations, researchers at Los Alamos have now shown. Computers that operated according to the rules of quantum mechanics have the potential to perform powerful tasks (such as factoring huge numbers) because of their radically different approach to logic: unlike a conventional computer's bits, which exist either as a 0 or a 1, a quantum bit (or "qubit") could not only exist simultaneously as a 0 and a 1 but could interact with other qubits so that its properties became "entangled" with those of the other qubits. Yet some physicists argue quantum computers may be impossible to achieve on a practical level because the slightest amount of noise would destroy the entanglement and thus corrupt the state of the qubits. Up to now, proposed "quantum error correction" schemes have shown merely how to preserve the state of qubits. Now, Los Alamos researchers (Raymond Laflamme, 505-665-3394) have developed an algorithm for carrying out reliable calculations on a "qubyte" made of 7 entangled qubits while accounting for the possibility that one of the qubits is corrupt (upcoming paper in Phys Rev Lett). Experimentally, quantum computing is regarded as a long-term possibility: although quantum versions of logic gates have been constructed (see Update #250), researchers are still working to entangle more than two quantum systems at a time. A PHOTOELECTROCHROMIC (PEC) cell harnesses a photochromic layer, which changes color by absorbing light, with an electrochromic layer, which changes color under the influence of an electric field, to make a self-powered smart window. On a sunny day the one layer supplies the photovoltage needed by the other layer to darken the window, letting in less light and thus lowering air- conditioning costs. This photoelectrochromic process, developed by scientists at the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, Colorado, might also be useful in display applications. (C. Bechinger et al., Nature, 17 October 1996.)

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silly putty
by sameer 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Would anyone be interested in 50 pounds of silly putty? A friend of mine would be grateful if I could help him get rid of 50 pounds of silly putty. It would be $500. -- Sameer Parekh Voice: 510-986-8770 C2Net FAX: 510-986-8777 The Internet Privacy Provider http://www.c2.net/ sameer(a)c2.net

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Risk Assesment Software?
by Ross Wright 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hi. I am about to do some marketing on a certain company's Risk Assessment Software. At this time I can't say who that firm is, but I need information on what other firms are offering this type of software. I figured someone on this list would know. Thanks, in advance. Ross =-=-=-=-=-=- Ross Wright King Media: Bulk Sales of Software Media and Duplication Services http://www.slip.net/~cdr/kingmedia Voice: 415-206-9906

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WWII & Japan
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > > > > Armenia never entered the war (whether they were sympathetic or not is > > another matter), Japan (although i believe never formally 'declared war') > > pushed USA's button i guess, something to do with an incident at Pearl > > Harbor <g>. Japanese Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomura and Special Ambassador Saburo Kurusu were to present Secretary of State Cordell Hull a Declaration of War at 1pm Washington time on Dec. 7th. To achieve technical compliance with international rules it was intended to be delivered approx. 30 minutes prior to the actual attack. There were decoding difficulties however and it was delivered after the attack. Neither of the Ambassadors is thought to have had any knowledge of the actual attack and therefore did not understand the criticality of delivery. Japan intended to go to war with the United States, Great Britian, and Holland over their policies concerning the Japanese presence in China and Manchuria. (1) East Wind Rain: A pictorial history of the Pearl Harbor attack Stan Cohen ISBN 0-933126-15-8 (2> The Pacific War Atlas 1941 - 1945 David Smurthwaite ISBN 0-8160-3286-6 Jim Choate

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Release of premail 0.45
by Raph Levien 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

This is to announce the release of premail 0.45, an e-mail privacy tool for Unix. The major new feature is support for the nym.alias.net style nymservers. Most of this code was contributed by the admin of nym.alias.net. Thanks! Other than that, it's a minor maintenance release. Several small bugs have been fixed. Thanks to all who wrote in with bug reports. For more information, see: http://www.c2.net/~raph/premail.html Raph Levien

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Re: "Montgolfiering" mindlessness
by frantz＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Gee, I put that post in the same place I carefully keep my back issues of the Cypherpunks Enquirer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill Frantz | Tired of Dole/Clinton? | Periwinkle -- Consulting (408)356-8506 | Vote 3rd party. I'm | 16345 Englewood Ave. frantz(a)netcom.com | Voting for Harry Browne | Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA

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Privacy Issues
by Lurker 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I am writing a paper for a computer ethics class about privacy and technology. I was wondering if anyone could suggest some good books, periodicals, or (of course) reliable web sources. Thanks...

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Re: silly putty
by Greg Broiles 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> Would anyone be interested in 50 pounds of silly putty? A >friend of mine would be grateful if I could help him get rid of 50 >pounds of silly putty. It would be $500. Dear Mr. Parekh: I represent the Comic Publishers Association, a trade group formed to combat the illict theft of our members' intellectual property. Your message has come to the attention of our "flexible media" section, which licenses the duplication of our members' creative efforts in flexible media, such as Silly Putty (tm). Many people do not realize (or, more likely, merely pretend not to realize) that the duplication, even in mirror image, of portions of protected comic strips in flexible media infringes upon our members' exclusive rights as granted by the Copyright Acts of 1909 and 1976, 17 USC 101 et seq. Further, the irresponsible distribution of this flexible media by fly-by-night retailers and distributors compounds this problem. Many of the wrongdoers who violate our members' rights do so as part of an informal social framework, utilizing aliases like "Junior", or common first names such as "Billy" or "Tommy". You can imagine our members' frustration when we must enforce our rights against six and seven year old defendants known merely as "Jimmy" or "that big kid from soccer practice". The fact that flexible media can be used to make illicit copies of visual art is well known; in fact, it is one of the selling points used when flexible media is sold at the retail level. It is our position that distributors and retailers selling flexible media do so knowing full well that their juvenile purchasers intend to irresponsibly flout the Copyright Act; and that such sales constitute contributory infringement. Sellers of flexible media are the linchpins in the deadly chain of comic book copyright infringement via "Silly Putty (tm)". We realize that some retailers do not wish to be complicit in this serious injustice. Therefore, we have drafted the "flexible media code of conduct", which we are asking sellers of flexible media to sign. We are asking you to sign this code of conduct as a demonstration of your good will and responsibility towards copyright owners worldwide. If you do not sign our code of conduct we'll make some stuff up and then sue you and send out lots of press releases. --- FLEXIBLE MEDIA SELLER'S CODE OF CONDUCT As a seller of "Silly Putty (tm)" flexible media, I agree to: 1. Maintain records of the first name, last name, parent(s)' names, school's name, teacher's name, and grade level of every purchaser of flexible media. 2. Present an educational program which will sensitize my customers to the grave responsibilities that the Copyright Act imposes upon each of us. 3. Police my customers' use of flexible media, including but not limited to in-store use of flexible media, simultaneous purchases of flexible media and comic books such that illegitimate use can be inferred from the circumstances, and the structuring of transactions to obscure what would otherwise be simultaneous or contemporaneous purchases of flexible media and comic books. 4. Cooperate with the Comic Publishers Association by providing customer lists and transaction detail logs so that suspicious purchase patterns at multiple retail location may be tracked by the CPA. 5. Agree to allow the CPA to audit my records and record keeping procedures, at any time, without notice or right to refuse. --- Please print out a copy of our agreement, sign it, and mail it to me via postal mail by the close of business tomorrow. Flexible media copies are not acceptable. If you don't, we'll kick your ass. Have a nice day. /s/ L. Itta-Gator (#65535) for DEWEY, CHEATHAM, & HOWE, P.C. Counsel for Comic Publishers Association

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Re: Q.E.D (fwd)
by cypher＠cyberstation.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The following was sent to an individual in response to a private inquiry. I am forwarding the response since it seems to be germane to the subject at hand. Have you looked at the algorithm. A brief explanation is disclosed in the other posting being made to you. However, a much more detailed disclosure and explanation is set out at our web site: netprivacy.com The algorithm is at: netprivacy.com/algo.html If you know cryptography, you will discover that it produces quite a remarkable PRNG stream, one that when submitted to any statistical analysis, including Shannon to a degree, reveals itself to be random, though we know it is not because it was generated by the algorithm. At first blush, it may appear as some form of a linear congruential generator. However, that is a misconception as you can quickly determine. There are nonlinear congruential generators, somewhere between 49 and 79 separate ones, of a sort used in the algorithm, but they serve only as a seed, to every block of 4 or 8 characters, to the main algorithm. The nonlinear congruential generators are modulo 16384, which produces a staccato stream of the set 0,..,16383, which in the case of the disclosed algorithm are further used to make a three dimensional table lookup in the Displacement Table, the Determinate Table, and finally the Diffusion Table. The nonlinear congruential generators run at different speeds, that is in C iterations, they are used only C mod 16384 times, and since all of them are unique, out of say a message length of 20,000 characters, they will each be used at a different number of times, and with different message constituents, that is they cannot be blocked, as seeds to the table lookup procedures. The three tables are dynamic, undergoing constant modification, the Diffusion table only at the completion of an 8192 byte cycle, as the stream is generated. Furthermore, the indexes into the three lookup tables are accumulative and are being constantly switched so that they too are always dynamic. A close examination of this will reveal that the output stream is a statistical random appearing stream, as a result of the staccato nature of the seeds combined with the fact that the sum of seeds start asymptotically approaching an even distribution of the values 0,..,16383. The Displacement Table and the Diffusion Table, are both tables of the integers 0 through 4095 respectively and the Diffusion Table is a table of 16 sets of the ASCII decimal values, 0,.., 255. All three tables are scrambled using a random key generated by the user. The process of doing that is explained in the aforementioned web page: netprivacy.com/algo.html An user may also uniquely customize their own initial Displacement, Diffusion and Determinate tables, some 10^34000 possibilities. Also 200 million bytes of raw encryptor stream output are at our web site, using the same key and other parameters. Can you determine the key? The algorithm is quite simple to implement for testing purposes, and you can use the table values set out as the basis for doing your own testing. You will find that it produces an incredible random like PRNG streams, each unique, if you look at it. With kindest regards, Don Wood,

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