December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Cylink and Organized Crime?
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Mr. Gene Carozza Security Public Relations Cylink Corporation Dear Mr. Carozza, We have received two recent e-mail messages concerning Cylink's alleged links to organized crime. The messages may be seen on the Web at: http://jya.com/cylinked.htm This is a serious charge. Could you provide information to answer it? Sincerely, John Young

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Re: Cylink and Organized Crime?
by Gene Carozza 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Dear John, Thanks for your inquiry. These "serious charges" are completely inaccurate. Regards, Gene C. At 12:42 PM 1/26/98 -0500, John Young wrote: >Mr. Gene Carozza >Security Public Relations >Cylink Corporation > >Dear Mr. Carozza, > >We have received two recent e-mail messages concerning >Cylink's alleged links to organized crime. The messages >may be seen on the Web at: > > http://jya.com/cylinked.htm > >This is a serious charge. Could you provide information to >answer it? > >Sincerely, > >John Young > > > Gene Carozza Phone: 408-328-5175 Sr. Public Relations Manager Fax: 408-774-2522 Cylink Corp. Pager: 1-800-716-6434 910 Hermosa Ct. Cell: 408-529-8402 Sunnyvale, CA 94086 email: carozza(a)cylink.com www.cylink.com

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Burning Papers - Plastics - Cyanides - Reference
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hi, It took a few minutes to find one, but below is just one of the many standards that are implimented for plastic uses in the home that make reference to minimal levels of HCN in particular. Despite what some folks would like you to believe, plastics in conflagration are *NOT* safe to inhale even in small quantitites because of these gases. Note that I edited a bunch of lines out for brevity. Forwarded message: > X-within-URL: http://www.cern.ch/CERN/Divisions/TIS/safdoc/IS/is41/table1.html > > IS 41 : TABLE 1 > > Test Standards and Specifications > for the Selection of Plastics > > TEST > Standards (1) > Requirements > _________________________________________________________________ > [text deleted] > > Duration of flame application 60 s unless > otherwise stated according to Clause 5. > Time to extinction: 30 s * > Damaged length (mm) must be measured* > > FV0 or FV1 > 94 V0, 94V1 > > FT >260!C. Length burnt > _________________________________________________________________ > [text deleted] > _________________________________________________________________ > > > Toxicity > Toxicity of fire gases > > ABD 0031 > > HF HC1 HCN SO2 + H2S CO NO + NO2 > _________________________________________________________________ > [remainder deleted] ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The most powerful passion in life is not love or hate, | | but the desire to edit somebody elses words. | | | | Sign in Ed Barsis' office | | | | _____ 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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Latest Clinton dodge?
by Declan McCullagh 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Clinton said this morning: >>>> I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time -- never. These allegations are false. <<<< The question then becomes, of course, what does "sexual relations" mean? Is it oral sex? -Declan

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Re: Burning papers (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 19:05:54 +0100 (MET) > Subject: Re: Burning papers (fwd) > From: nobody(a)REPLAY.COM (Anonymous) > As usual Jim, your posting is prolific but your science is lacking. Ad hominims, opinions, and no proof... > bind to whatever it comes in contact with (usually oxygen). The only way > cyanide could escape in gaseous form is as HCN, however this cannot happen > because the hydrogen has a lower activation energy for combining with > oxygen, and thus the reaction is starved of free hydrogen by the time the > carbon begins to burn. Various other nitrogen compounds are produced, > such as NOx, but this is true of all combustion and not limited to plastic. I have forwarded to the list a single safety standard for plastics and fires. It *specificaly* mentions HCN, so apparently it not only can happen but does often enough they want to test for it on a national level. There are many more out there and as I said before, if you contact your local fire dept. they can provide you with documentation as well. > A more likely (and deadly) result, which you did not mention, is sulfur > dioxide. Most plastics don't contain sulfur, but rubber products may. Sulfur dioxide is present and does pose a threat, fortunately it's a rather short termed threat and treatable. Sulfur dioxide turns into sulphuric acid in the water of the body. Not to mention it burns up the oxygen in formation. The biggest threat with the acids that are produced in a fire is to your possessions. They soak this stuff up and then when the firemen put the fire out they use water which creates acids. These acids effect the components of your possessions over an extended time. > Sulfur dioxide combines with water to produce H2SO3 and H2SO4 (sulfuric > acid) which is quite toxic if inhaled. Depends on the molarity. It is nowhere near as toxic as cyanide on a per part basis. > Most smoke inhalation deaths result for particles clogging the lungs rather > than gases. Cats have a tendency to hide when they feel threatened or > injured, an instinct which often imperils them in a burning building. Actualy most smoke inhalation deaths occur because of lack of oxygen and the elevated temperatures. The actual clogging process would take much longer than the 2-3 minutes most smoke deaths take to occur. As to cats hiding, they tend to hind *under* furniture which is actualy the *safest* place to be, the clearest air is next to the floor. It was also where my cats were found, in the living room under the couch where the smoke very clearly never got below about shoulder height - it stains the walls quite well. The fire didn't even make it into that part of the house, it stopped in the next room. The fire itself burned for less than 20 minutes total because the neighbor saw it about 5 minutes after the person who accidently set it off had left. The fire station was on the next block. It was very quick. The firemen were very careful to explain to me exactly why the cats died, gases from the plastics (HCN was specificaly mentioned) and the temperature of the air (they estimate over 350F). While not enough to cause spontaneous combustion it is more than enough to cook the lungs. The air was hot enough that several plastic bags holding wargame materials within 1 ft of the floor were melted but the paper materials were not even scorched. This would further indicate that the damage was done by the temperature of the gas and not direct flame or smoke. > Also remember that computers have materials in them other than plastic, for > example lead and other heavy metals. Batteries and electrolytic capacitors > are also sources of many toxic materials. The leads on most components are an aluminum compound (my background is EE) and they typicaly don't start to burn until well over 800F, aluminum itself burns at 600. Since typical tip temperatures in soldering (lead eutecticts only - not indium composites) are in the 600 to 700 it is clear that pure aluminum would not be desirable. So they mix tin and other compounds with it. As to electrolytics, the liquid plastics that make up the dielectrics are very toxic and most certainly give off xCN compounds when burned. Just for the record, Lead (the element) is not generaly used in modern electronics except in a eutectic solder mix for connections. I have several computers that were burned in the fire and the majority of the solder on the pcb's was *not* evaporated. In most cases it wasn't even melted even though the case was completely gone (2 A1000's that work fine though the cases were completely destroyed by the temperature of the air, not fire). > In short, it's not the plastic that's toxic, it's all the other crap (ink, > dye, glue, solder, batteries, dielectric, etc) Malarky. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The most powerful passion in life is not love or hate, | | but the desire to edit somebody elses words. | | | | Sign in Ed Barsis' office | | | | _____ 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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Re: Video & cryptography... (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > From: Adam Shostack <adam(a)homeport.org> > Subject: Re: Video & cryptography... > Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 13:56:57 -0500 (EST) > Schneier, Wagner and Kelsey have done some work on an authenticating > camera. > > One issue to be concerned with is that what the camera sees is not > always the truth. Putting a film set together to film bigfoot is > easy. The fact that the film is authenticated as having come from the > camera doesn't mean a whole lot in some cases. Doesn't this same sort of issue arise from any other digital signature process then? There should be nothing fundamentaly different between the characteristics of a video camera signing a frame than a person signing email. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The most powerful passion in life is not love or hate, | | but the desire to edit somebody elses words. | | | | Sign in Ed Barsis' office | | | | _____ 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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Re: Latest Clinton dodge?
by miner 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 12:55 PM 1/26/98 -0500, Declan McCullagh wrote: > >Clinton said this morning: > >>>>> > I want you to listen to me. I'm >going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that >woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time >-- never. These allegations are false. Doesn't gennifer flowers has(had?) an audio tape of clinton asking her to deny their affair, there is no proof, etc.? I think a sequence of that audio and then the above statement played maybe 10 times on CNN would make a nice piece of news. ><<<< > >The question then becomes, of course, what does "sexual relations" mean? > >Is it oral sex? > >-Declan > > >

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RE: Update on New Zealand crypto policy
by Ernest Hua 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Need help: Can anyone get to this URL? Ern -----Original Message----- From: pgut001(a)cs.auckland.ac.nz [SMTP:pgut001@cs.auckland.ac.nz] Sent: Saturday, January 24, 1998 4:20 PM To: cryptography(a)c2.net Cc: cypherpunks(a)cyberpass.net Subject: Update on New Zealand crypto policy As part of my recent effort to prepare a useful home page after 2 years of having instead a mini text adventure, I've finally got around to finishing off the web page containing the recent history of, and current state of, New Zealands crypto export policy as decided by several intelligence agencies and a supporting cast of bungling bureaucrats. This policy has resulted in New Zealand enjoying the dubious distinction of having the strictest export controls on earth, with everything ranging from crypto hardware down to software, library books, computer magazines, and journals being restricted from export. It's not even possible for a university to publish academic research without prior permission from a government agency, and the requirements for obtaining this permission are structured to ensure that they can never be fulfilled. You can find the information on: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/policy/ The page also contains links to a sizeable collection of never-before- published documents including correspondence with relevant government agencies, and media reports on the situation. If you're going to send me mail about this, please note that I'll be at Usenix in San Antonio for the next week, so it'll take awhile for me to reply. My PGP key's at the bottom of my home page if you need it. Peter.

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Compaq / DEC buyout
by David Miller 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Jim, I'm forwarding this to the list: Jim Choate wrote: > >From the news on CNN it's a done deal. DEC share holders are supposed to get > like $30/share and some sort of transfer of stocks... Oh, shit. Well, it seems as though Compaq has been pulling away from Intel lately (towards AMD), so perhaps this will be a GoodThing(tm), because otherwise DEC might turn out to be like Apple, except to die a much, much slower death. > Wonder if this means that Compaq will go head to head with MS/Intel now? I think so. Tim had mentioned that last he heard the Intel/DEC deal was dead. Perhaps this is what he was talking about. The thing is, how much about the Alpha does Intel know, and does this mean yet another round of lawsuits? I'm afraid that Intel may know enough now to make a 1GHz pentium, which would probably a ModeratelyBadThing(tm). I'd much prefer DEC to save mankind and lead them into the next millenium. > They will certainly have the experience and the market name to attempt it. > Last time I checked the Alpha was still a good deal faster than the Pentium. Yep, but for how much longer? Some elephants never die, and right now it looks like Intel can once again save MicroSoft's OS by hardware (ironically via DEC). NT bloats as the hardware gets faster. > Now since Compaq can use vertical marketing in regards to Alpha chips they > should be able to produce much more competitive machines price wise than DEC > was able to do. > > I have a fond place for DEC, a PDP/8e was the first machine I ever actualy > got to put my hands on. I miss the front panel switches sometimes (not often > though)... I'll aways have a fondness in my heart for installing RSTS from a TU-10 tapedrive and having to wait almost an hour for it to fall off the spindle before having to start all over... --David Miller middle rival devil rim lad

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Compaq / DEC buyout (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 15:46:58 -0800 > From: David Miller <dm0(a)avana.net> > Subject: Compaq / DEC buyout > Oh, shit. Well, it seems as though Compaq has been pulling away from Intel > lately (towards AMD), so perhaps this will be a GoodThing(tm), because > otherwise DEC might turn out to be like Apple, except to die a much, much > slower death. Had DEC not been bought this is exactly (IMO) what would have happened. > I'm afraid that Intel may know enough now to make a 1GHz pentium, which would > probably a ModeratelyBadThing(tm). I'd much prefer DEC to save mankind and > lead them into the next millenium. Unless my info is seriously off DEC is already shipping 500MHz Alpha's and has 1GHz chips in test. DEC historicaly has been way ahead of Intel (say a year or so which in this business is a lot) and I don't see any reason to suspect that to stop. A comparison of base technology between Intel and DEC leads me to believe DEC is ahead a good margin. Intel won because of the price (DEC has historicaly been very expensive) and support of MS and IBM. (remember, nobody ever lost their job for buying IBM) > Yep, but for how much longer? Some elephants never die, and right now it > looks like Intel can once again save MicroSoft's OS by hardware (ironically > via DEC). NT bloats as the hardware gets faster. The only question I have is whether MS will continue to produce a HAL for WinNT 5.0 or whatever they call it. That could put a serious crimp in Compaq/DEC and would most definitely spawn a new round of lawsuites. Had you realized that when we break the 1GHz barrier it won't be safe to operate these machines without the cover on them? It'd be like breaking the inter-lock on your microwave. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The most powerful passion in life is not love or hate, | | but the desire to edit somebody elses words. | | | | Sign in Ed Barsis' office | | | | _____ 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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