December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Looking for that Perfect Christmas Gift?
by egnarr＠rbc.edu 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

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Re: Hey, what does he know?
by landon dyer 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 08:03 AM 11/22/98, you wrote: >http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2168153,00.html well, no matter wh'appens, microsoft is going to come out of this smelling like a rose >"By the time the government's case is done, who knows how the industry will >look?" he said. "And furthermore, it could open the door to more government >regulation of the technology industry overall." putting on my favorite cryptoparanoia hat, over the next five years: o MS gets what it wants -- more regulation, forcing it to stop selling OSs with computers. instead, if you by an MS OS, you'll rent it annually. ["please, janet, don't throw me in that briar patch!"] to do this, MS has to get intel to put crypto hooks in the wintel architecture; microcode burned-in at the chip fab that prevents MS operating systems from running on other h/w o intel gets what it wants: no clones. if you want to run linux on your AMD K-10, feel free. if AMD wants to get in the game, they'll have to visit ft. meade o the government gets what it wants, because the crypto hooks in the wintel architecture allow KRAP to proceed without any pesky legislation -- just behind-doors agreements with MS and intel a more cynical person than me might note that sun's "java OS" that would run anywhere would be a *lot* more difficult to suborn at the chip level i haven't figured out how the communications infrastructure is going to be noodled. maybe it doesn't have to be. expect ipsec to die a long, slow death -- a delaying tactic, the best kind for the feds, because it prevents any sucessors from getting up a head of steam. [i don't know beans about the current status of ipsec] long about 2020 or so it'll be a federal offense to own an EPROM burner, a processor with re-flashed microcode, an unlicensed logic analyzer, or a copy of linux... :-) [stay tuned for a short story about the freedom fighters of 2025, hacking secure communications on copies of the last architectures known not to be compromised ("daddy, what's a PDP-10?"), running ITS on souped-up gigahertz pocket portables, getting packets through on covert channels involving the coat-tails of the (now ubiquitous) KRAP session key negotiations...] -landon [re-lurking]

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Re: Oh, a warning about playing with glass & charge.... (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 10:05:41 -0800 > From: Tim May <tcmay(a)got.net> > Subject: Re: Oh, a warning about playing with glass & charge.... > And when you do your "...and then take away one of the copper plates" > experiment, you'll find that force is needed. Force times distance is > energy. The energy to pull one of the plates away equals the 0.5CV^2 energy > no longer stored in the capacitor. This is true ONLY if the dielectric doesn't touch either plate and is simply used to increase the storage capability (via Gauss' Law) of the capacitor over an air gap type of the same physical structure. The reason you have this force is the induced charge on the surface of the dielectric and the electrostatic attraction this causes with the charge on the plate. If the plate ACTUALY TOUCHES there is NO INDUCED CHARGE via Gauss's Law, it's a REAL charge stored on the surface of the insulating dielectric and the plate remains NEUTRALY charged. Why is there no induced charged? Because as you place charge on the conducting plate it induces a charge via Gauss' Law on the dielctric. Since the metal has outer orbital electrons available (which an insulator doesn't) the charge in the plate gets transported to the surface of the insulator and bonds there (remember unlike charges attract) with the induced charge. Why does the charge storage increase because of the dielectric? The electrical moment of the atoms is greater than that of the air. This is another reason the charge once deposited on the dielectric surface will stay there when the plate is removed. If you go back and look at the examples in your physics books that your basing your position on you'll find that in EVERY case there is an air gap between the plates and the dielectric. Remove the air gap and the behaviour of the charge and hence it's explanation changes accordingly. > The energy stored is not stored either on the plate or on the insulator. It > is in the electric field. Q: Where does the electric field come from Tim? A: The charges (ie electrons and protons) that are sitting on the surface of the dielectric (where the di- comes from). The electric field strength is a measure of the wavelength of the photons those two contrary sets of particles are bouncing back and forth between themselves. Q: Explain why the charge sitting on the surface of that dielectric will stay on the metal plate when the metal plate is removed. The metal plate is a conductor so as it is removed it effectively carries the charge of the part of the dielectric that it still retains contact with. Why would that e- choose to move TOWARD a ne- charge when it's sitting there with an opposite charge already in a minimum energy configuration? A: It won't. To do so violates the minimal energy requirements of the system as well as the standard behaviour of charges (ie like repel, opposite attract). Another experiment.... Try removing the metal foil when there is a charge and when there isn't. You won't find an appreciable difference. As to the energy required to remove the foil, yes force times distance is energy and it's the energy requisite to overcome the inertia of the metal foil. There is also a small additional force caused by Gauss' Law because the the distance between the e- (for example) stored on the dielectric and the metal plate will form a 'virtual' charge on the surface of the plate. However, since the plate itself is neutral (by definition) there will be a contrary charge on the opposite side. Hence, you won't loose a single coulomb of charge to the metal plate. You can check this by using either an electronic charge meter (1-800-OMEGA if you're interested) or you can use a gold leaf electrometer. If the charge varies as Tim claims then the angle between the leaves should change (ie get smaller). It won't. As to the force, the maximal force will occur when the plate is removed as a single piece perpendicular to the surface of the dielectric. If you roll or peel it off it will for all intents and purposes come free effortlessy because you won't have to fight the electrostatic force. -------------------------------------- < Cu + ------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- < Cu - ------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- < Cu + ------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- < Cu - NOTE: there is NO air gap between the glass and the Cu sheeting. I use normal old cinter blocks to press them together as tightly as I can. Another experinment: Build the stack as shown above and remove each later one at at time with and without charge. Note the behaviour of the metal plate. It will tend to go with the glass plate that is being removed. Because of induced charges via Gauss' Law the foil will tend to go with the glass plate as it's removed. --------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- Cu + --------------------------------------------- As the top plate is removed the air gap will force a virtual charge to build up on the surface of the foil. As a consequence an opposite and equal charge will build up on the other side of the foil and it will be + and in opposition to the + charge already sitting on the bottem glass plate. The induced charge on the top of the Cu will be - and will be attracted to the + charge on the bottem of the top plate. This of course assumes you're using very thin foil. If it's very thick at all you won't see this because of gravity. I tend to use very heavy foil so that I don't get shocks from these various induced fields when I'm handling the plates. Be sure to use heavy rubber gloves. Rubbermaid kitchen gloves intended for industrial washing are sufficient unless you're going to use a high voltage and charge. Anybody who wants to understand the theory (despite Tim's claims to the contrary) is welcome to check out: Physics Jay Orear ISBN 0-02-389460-1 Chpt. 16, Electrostatics pp. 308 - 338 in particular, pp. 327, 16-6 Dielectrics ____________________________________________________________________ Technology cannot make us other than what we are. James P. Hogan The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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Re: Hey, what does he know?
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 09:23 AM 11/22/98 -0800, landon dyer wrote: >> long about 2020 or so it'll be a federal offense to own an EPROM >burner, a processor with re-flashed microcode, an unlicensed logic >analyzer, or a copy of linux... :-) A CPLD, a compiler, a computer-controlled radio, a soldering iron... :-(

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No Subject
by holist 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I'm sorry if this is gnawing at old bones for you, but I recently heard from a rather paranoid, anonymous source here in Hungay that PGP was compromised, Zimmermann sold out to the Feds, all versions except possibly early DOS versions of PGP have back doors in them. He is also claiming that the CIA have already provided the backdoor-key to PGP 5.0 to the Hungarian Secret Services. Is he being too paranoid, or what? The reason I am asking cypherpunks, which I realise is not really a list dedicated to PGP, about them, is that their credentials to my mind would be sufficient to discredit. I have heard this rumour in sufficiently bogus intellectual contexts before (Cyberconf8, if that rings a bell to anyone - wouldn't blame you if it didn't) where it seemed blatantly obvious that it was entirely unfounded, as the people who were spreading it could not recognise code if they saw it, and seemed only an attempt to appear to be in the know. This source, however, seems different. Can I have some reassurance, please? And could you possibly suggest how someone unable to check the code themselves could go about authenticating a version of PGP? It is fated to become a rather important issue here soon. thank you holist

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Pi(x) - How many primes below x?
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > X-within-URL: http://www.utm.edu/research/primes/howmany.shtml#pi_def > Consequence Three: The chance of a random integer x being prime is > about 1/log(x) > 1.1. pi(x) is the number of primes less than or equal to x > [up] 2. The Prime Number Theorem: approximating pi(x) > > Even though the distribution of primes seems random (there are > (probably) infinitely many twin primes and there are (definitely) > arbitrarily large gaps between primes), the function pi(x) is > surprisingly well behaved: In fact, it has been proved (see the next > section) that: > > The Prime Number Theorem: The number of primes not exceeding x is > asymptotic to x/log x. > > In terms of pi(x) we would write: > > The Prime Number Theorem: pi(x) ~ x/log x. ____________________________________________________________________ Technology cannot make us other than what we are. James P. Hogan The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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Is Open Source safe? [Linux Weekly News]
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > X-within-URL: http://lwn.net/1998/1119/Trojan.html > THE TROJAN HORSE > > > Bruce Perens <bruce(a)hams.com> > > > There's a problem that could very badly effect the public perception > of Linux and Open Source. I want people to think about this, and > hopefully "head it off at the pass" before it happens. > > Perhaps it's already on your system today: a trojan-horse program. It > might be a game, or more likely a system utility. It's author uploaded > it to an FTP archive, where it was then picked up by your favorite > Linux distribution, who wrote it onto the CD-ROM that you bought. It > works just fine, but hidden away in the program is a special feature: > a secret back-door past your system's security. > > Perhaps the author of this attack is tired of hearing about what great > hackers we are, and wants to take us down a notch. He's patient - he > will wait until his program is distributed to tens of thousands of > Linux systems before he says a word. But say is what he'll do - he's > not really interested in breaking into your system. What he wants is > the publicity, bad publicity for us, and lots of it. We've left the > gates open for this trojan horse. Let's talk about how to close them, > and hope we have enough time to solve this problem before our > reputation is hurt. [mnoga tekct oodalyaty] ____________________________________________________________________ Technology cannot make us other than what we are. James P. Hogan The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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Wired: AOL selling E-Stamps
by Bill Stewart 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

http://www.wired.com/news/news/business/story/16374.html AOL's E-Stamp of Approval Wired News Report 12:20 p.m. 19.Nov.98.PST Is it time for stamp collectors to go online? America Online (AOL) and E-Stamp, an online postage firm, said on Thursday they will make Internet postage service available to customers of AOL, CompuServe, AOL.COM, and AOL's Digital City. AOL and E-Stamp's service will allow customers to securely purchase postage online and print "digital stamps" on envelopes, labels, or documents using their personal computer and a standard printer. Customers must first install E-Stamp software. They can then buy postage by credit card, electronic fund transfer, or check. Thanks! Bill Bill Stewart, bill.stewart(a)pobox.com PGP Fingerprint D454 E202 CBC8 40BF 3C85 B884 0ABE 4639

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Registration confirmation - Yahoo! Chat
by chat-register＠yahoo-inc.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Welcome to Yahoo! Please save this message for future reference. This confirmation message is sent to all users when they create a new account with Yahoo. During registration we require users to enter their email address. This confirmation notice is then sent to that address. If you DID NOT request this account, we encourage you to REMOVE it by doing the following: If your email software supports it, you can simply click on the link below. Since this web address (URL) is quite long you may find it necessary to copy the entire URL and paste it into your Web browser. http://edit.my.yahoo.com/config/remove_user?k=IXtKZI53f2J1aHdyeXw4jiF5Sjd3M… If you are prompted for the deletion key when using the URL above, please use the following deletion key: IXtKZI53f2J1aHdyeXw4jiF5Sjd3MnpOfDc1T2BlTnkhdUpONjZOMjU1MDQhc0pkf2Zz Or, if you do not have internet access, please reply to this email (and make sure to copy this entire email in your reply) with REMOVE as the subject line. ___________ Your Yahoo ID is: cypher_punk You can return to Yahoo! Chat by going to http://chat.yahoo.com/ Your Yahoo! ID may be used to access any of the Yahoo! services that request a Yahoo! ID, such as: My Yahoo - http://my.yahoo.com Yahoo Calendar - http://calendar.yahoo.com Yahoo Chat - http://chat.yahoo.com Yahoo Classifieds - http://classifieds.yahoo.com Yahoo Clubs - http://clubs.yahoo.com Yahoo Finance - http://quote.yahoo.com Yahoo Games - http://play.yahoo.com Yahoo Mail - http://mail.yahoo.com Yahoo Message Boards - http://messages.yahoo.com Yahoo Pager - http://pager.yahoo.com Yahoo Travel - http://travel.yahoo.com Your e-mail is: cypherpunks(a)toad.com We will use this address is case you ever forget your Yahoo ID or password. We'll need an address to automatically send a response to you. To change this address, go to http://my.yahoo.com and click on the Account Information link at the top of the page. The edit page will let you update your E-Mail address, and other personal information and preferences. ________ Yahoo! Accounts - Top Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Q. How much is all this going to cost me? A. Absolutely nothing. All Yahoo! information is paid for through advertising. Q. What if I forget my Yahoo! ID or password A. Just click on the Help is Here link at the bottom of the login page. We'll ask you some basic questions to confirm your identity, then send you the information to the email address listed in your account. Q. How do I change my password or Yahoo! ID? If you would like to change your Yahoo Password in My Yahoo!, just click Acct Info at the top of the page. Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to change your Yahoo! ID. You will have to create a new account if you wish to have a new Yahoo! ID. Please note that if you do re-register, you will need to re-set all of your preferences for your My Yahoo! and other Yahoo! personalized services. Q. What is an Alias? A. Under your Yahoo! ID, you may add additional names for use in our various services, such as Chat and Classifieds. Q. How is the Yahoo! ID stored? A. Your Yahoo! ID is stored as a cookie on your computer. This way, you only need to login once. If you upgrade your computer software, change computers, delete your internet files, or click Sign Out at any time, it will clear the cookie from the computer's hard drive. Just return to the login page and enter your Yahoo! ID and Yahoo Password in the spaces provided and click Sign In to restore the information. You do not need to register again. Q. I use a public terminal, how do I sign out? A. If you are using a public computer, you should always sign out to clear your Yahoo! ID and cookie from the computer's hard drive. Just click the Sign Out button or link near the top of the main page. Thank you for using Yahoo! [208.198.164.2]

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update.403 (fwd)
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Forwarded message: > Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 11:40:29 -0500 (EST) > From: physnews(a)aip.org (AIP listserver) > Subject: update.403 > CLUSTERING AND COLLAPSE IN GRANULAR MATERIAL. > DOES CHAOS AFFECT THE COURSE OF AN ARMS RACE? > Yes, it may, particularly when great disparities exist between two > nations' economies (as is the case with the US and Iraq), according > to a new mathematical model developed by researchers in Japan > (Mitsuo Kono, Chuo University, kono(a)fps.chuo-u.ac.jp, 011-81- > 426-74-4161). In an attempt to mathematically model the feedback > between two adversarial nations as each builds up arms stocks, > British scientist Lewis F. Richardson published in 1949 a well- > known set of equations with variables describing such things as a > nation's military spending levels and parameters quantifying factors > such as a nation's internal pressure against military spending. This > model suffered from shortcomings, most notably that its linear > equations provided all too predictable results; critics noted that > many arms races spiral unpredictably out of control. In the > Japanese researchers' model a nation's reaction to an enemy's > weapons buildup is not automatically to build more weapons but is > instead a function of the difference in weapons and military > spending between two nations. This approach leads to more > realistic nonlinear differential equations which quantify concepts > normally unknown to physics, concepts such as fear, threat, > grievance, and fatigue. Their model shows an arms race can > progress in a mathematically chaotic fashion when the economic > situation of the two countries is different, but is more predictable > when the economies are more comparable (Tomochi and Kono in > the journal Chaos, December 1998.) > CORRECTION. A typo affecting a single letter can completely > reverse the meaning of a sentence. Thus in Update 402 in the > sentence "It is not thought that physics does differentiate between > the forward or backward movement of time," "not" should be > changed to "now." ____________________________________________________________________ Technology cannot make us other than what we are. James P. Hogan The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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