December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Y2K prompts many to prepare, 6-month delays now common
by Declan McCullagh 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

>X-Sender: declan(a)mail.well.com >X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.0.2 >Date: Thu, 05 Nov 1998 08:24:55 -0500 >To: politech(a)vorlon.mit.edu >From: Declan McCullagh <declan(a)well.com> >Subject: FC: Y2K prompts many to prepare, 6-month delays now common >Sender: owner-politech(a)vorlon.mit.edu >Reply-To: declan(a)well.com >X-Loop: politech(a)vorlon.mit.edu >X-URL: Politech is at http://www.well.com/~declan/politech/ > >[I think this is important news: Y2K fear has grown faster than many of us >expected it would. Companies tell me that unless you place your order by >early next year, you'll receive it after 1-1-00. --Declan] > > >http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/16035.html > > Companies selling bulk food, > generators, and solar energy systems > report backlogs of up to six months. The > reason: nationwide hand-wringing over > the millennium bug. By Declan McCullagh. > > > > > >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology >To subscribe: send a message to majordomo(a)vorlon.mit.edu with this text: >subscribe politech >More information is at http://www.well.com/~declan/politech/ >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >

1 0

How to test *your* microwave oven distribution pattern.
by Jim Choate 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Here's a simple way to test the bounce-pattern of your micro-wave oven: - Go to your local hobby store and buy some small balsa or pine sheeting, stringers (4x), and glue (non-water based). You'll also need several small open top containers (like a shot glass but smaller for best effect) and a marker. - Cut the stringers to the vertical height of your oven cavity. - Cut the sheeting into 1in. sq. pieces. - Mark the stringers evenly such that there is enough room to glue the sheeting between the stringers, forming a multi-leveled tower. - On each level place your container with a suitable amount of water (fill it almost to the brim). - Place the tower w/ it's containers in one of the corners. Mark a line around the base so you know where you been. - Start your microwave up (adjust time as needed, say start with 30s) and note the temperature of each container after the time. Note that putting your thermometer in there will cool it slightly and you'll also need to have the same number of runs and levels so so each level can be measured immediately after opening the door. If you have access to an optical pyrometer you could potentialy measure them all. - Once you've measured it here, move it over to be adjacent to the lines you drew above, outline the base again and repeat as needed. - Run your regression and your done, tadah. Some glasses will be hot, others won't. Trace the path of the beam out of the magnetron and you'll get a good idea of what your oven is really doing. Whether the cavity is stricly a corner reflector (ie corners are square) or is trapezoidal (slightly off square to help disperse the bounce pattern not the beam) is irrelevant to the actual holes in the pattern, they will be there. I'll mention but not go into the shadowing effect of objects placed in the cavity and the requirement for even cooking means that they have to be rotated for even dispersal of the cooking effect. Another indication that the beam doesn't disperse as widely or quickly as some claim. On another topic about holes and escaping microwaves, if the holes are the right size (which the screen in the glass in the front of your oven is) they will preferentialy absorb the microwave, if it's correctly grounded very little of the radiation will escape (as you can measure with a standard microwave oven leak detector). Now, let's talk about ways to build a laptop that will reduce the emissed radiation to a minimum. First, put all the computing guts into a small box that is well grounded (running on a battery will pretty much screw you here since it ain't grounded unless you drive a stake into the ground). Then make sure that any openings or gaps are in the front edge or on the bottem pointed down. There should be no breaks in the sides, rear, or top. Make sure the floppy, CD, hard drive are placed in the front of the laptop container adjacent to the metal box above and make sure any openings in them point out. The reason you want the openings in the front edge is that your body will make a very good sheild to that hi-energy rf that folks want to tap. The openings on the bottem will direct it to the ground where where they are absorbed (why they call it a ground-plane). Make sure that all cabling from the peripherals to the computing box are shielded (remember, ground the shield at one end only). The seam or hinge between the display and the case should be shielded with standard copper fingers. The cabling should also be well shielded. Make sure there is a grounded screen covering the front of the LCD (and for gods sake don't ever use a plasma display). The exterior case should be metal (why I love my Tadpole 3XP and IBM N40). All openings for batteries and such should be screwed down and not simply retained by a latch of some sort. The *ONLY* way to power the laptop should be by battery. There should be no provision to power it off the ac mains (this is going to be inconvenient since you'll need to carry extra batteries, an external charger for them, and the screw drivers and such to change them - no simply and easy pop-outs here). As to the display, the ideal display would be a dual-display HMD that was also sheilded. This is based on the assumption that if your data is so sensitive that you don't want people snarking it out of the air you probably don't want them reading it over your shoulder (up close or through a tele-photo). If you do decide to stake your laptop as refered above there are a few things to know.... - Make sure the stake is in suitable ground without lots of quartz and other similar peizo-electric materials. - The stake should extend at least 3ft. into the ground. - When the stake is driven in, the ground should be thoroughly wetted which usualy means quite a bit of water (30 gals or so should do it), if possible wet it over a 24 hour period prior to staking. - Make sure the stake and the cable leading to the laptop are copper (or silver if you're rich) - You don't want to be close to phone, power, and other sorts of underground utilities. ____________________________________________________________________ To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice. Confucius The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

2 1

Who Cares (fwd)
by Albert P. Franco, II 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> >Forwarded message: > >> From: "Blanc" <blancw(a)cnw.com> >> policy: what are all those other people doing? > >From: Jim Choate <ravage(a)EINSTEIN.ssz.com> >If you're talking about the people who didn't vote, they're trying to keep >from going under. Probably working two jobs, keeping the kids in school and >out of trouble, saving for college, paying the house morgage off, etc. Who's >in office won't make a whit of difference to any of that. It's irrelevant. > >If you're talking about the politicians, they're laughing their ass off on >the way to the bank to cash their tax-derived income. > > And then there are those of us who are denied our opportunity to vote because the damn absentee ballot always seems to arrive a week after the election!! Coincidence? Bad Luck? Or is it design? APF

1 0

(Fwd) Re: DigiCash Inc. to File Reorganization, Seeks Partners
by Warren E. Agin 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

For those who are really interested, the DigiCash Incorporated Chapter 11 case was filed in the Northern District of California. The case number is 98-58986. -Warren Agin ___________________________________________________ Warren E. Agin Law Offices of Warren E. Agin 76 Canal Street, Boston MA 02114 (617)227-3201 (f)(617) 227-6365 www.agin.com ___________________________________________________

1 0

US Cyberthreat Policy
by John Young 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The USIA E-journal, Foreign Policy Agenda, for November is titled "Cyberthreat: Protecting US Information Networks." It has articles by the head of NSA, DoD's Hamre, CIAO's Hunker, Y2K Office's Koskinen, Senator Kyl, and reps from Microsoft, IBM and others: http://www.usia.gov/journals/itps/1198/ijpe/toc.htm Martin Libicki of RAND criticizes the administration's crypto policy for hindering widespread information protection: http://jya.com/ml110498.htm

3 2

How to save a real audio stream?
by Bart van Moorsel 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Can anybody explain how to save a real audio stream? I think I saw this question before, sorry to ask for a replay.

1 0

IP: Text: Gore Announces New SS# Effort for Victims of Domestic Violence
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Delivered-To: ignition-point(a)majordomo.pobox.com X-Sender: believer(a)telepath.com Date: Thu, 05 Nov 1998 09:31:32 -0600 To: believer(a)telepath.com From: believer(a)telepath.com Subject: IP: Text: Gore Announces New SS# Effort for Victims of Domestic Violence Mime-Version: 1.0 Sender: owner-ignition-point(a)majordomo.pobox.com Precedence: list Reply-To: believer(a)telepath.com Source: USIA http://www.usia.gov/current/news/latest/98110403.wlt.html?/products/washfile /newsitem.shtml 04 November 1998 TEXT: GORE ANNOUNCES EFFORT FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (SS numbers to be changed to help victims escape abusers) (630) Washington -- Vice President Al Gore announced November 4 a new policy to allow victims of domestic violence to change their Social Security number. "Today, our message to the victims of these hateful crimes is this: we will offer you the protection you need to regain your safety and rebuild your life. You have suffered enough without having to fight for the protections you need to start a new life for yourself and your children," Gore said, according to a press release from his office. The vice president also mentioned a new booklet, "Protecting Victims of Domestic Violence: A Law Enforcement Officer's Guide to Enforcing Orders of Protection Nationwide," that outlines the meaning of the Violence Against Women Act's requirement to give full faith and credit orders of protection for victims of domestic violence. Following is the text of the release: (Begin text) November 4, 1998 THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Vice President For Immediate Release Wednesday, November 4, 1998 VICE PRESIDENT GORE ANNOUNCES NEW POLICY TO ALLOW VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE TO CHANGE THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER Washington, DC -- Vice President Gore announced today a new effort to help victims of domestic violence escape their abusers -- a federal policy that will make it easier for victims to change their social security numbers. "Today, our message to the victims of these hateful crimes is this: we will offer you the protection you need to regain your safety and rebuild your life," Vice President Gore said. "You have suffered enough without having to fight for the protections you need to start a new life for yourself and your children." For the first time, victims of domestic violence will be able to get a new Social Security number simply by providing written affirmation of their domestic abuse from a third party, such as a local shelter, treating physician, or law enforcement official. The Social Security Administration's (SSA) employees in field offices nationwide will work closely with local domestic violence shelters, the police, the courts, treating physicians, medical facilities, and psychologists to help victims of domestic violence get the documentation necessary to secure a new Social Security number. Previously, the SSA required victims to provide proof that their abuser had misused their Social Security number. For victims of domestic violence, providing this kind of proof was extremely difficult -- only victims who were severely abused or who were in danger of losing their lives were allowed to change their Social Security number. To improve its services to victims of domestic violence, the SSA will post on its web site the steps a victim needs to take to change their Social Security number and provide important referral information. The Vice President also announced a Presidential directive for the Office of Personnel Management to prepare a resource guide that will: (1) assist victims of domestic violence by providing up-to-date information about available resources and outline strategies to ensure safety; and (2) help those who know anyone who is being abused to prevent and respond to the situation. This guide will list private as well as public resources such as counseling, law enforcement, federal workplace leave policies, and substance abuse programs. In addition, he highlighted a new booklet, "Protecting Victims of Domestic Violence: A Law Enforcement Officer's Guide to Enforcing Orders of Protection Nationwide," that outlines the meaning of the Violence Against Women Act's requirement to give full faith and credit orders of protection for victims of domestic violence. This booklet was written by the International Association of Chiefs of Police with a grant from the Justice Department. It will be disseminated to law enforcement officers nationwide to teach them how to enforce protection orders. (End text) ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- **************************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo(a)majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address or (un)subscribe ignition-point-digest email@address **************************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **************************************************** --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)philodox.com> Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

2 1

Microsoft Statement
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text X-Authentication-Warning: www.ispo.cec.be: majordom set sender to owner-e-commerc(a)www.ispo.cec.be using -f Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 09:16:56 -0500 From: Freddie Dawkins <freddied(a)compuserve.com> Subject: Microsoft Statement To: CEC E-commerce list <E-commerc(a)www.ispo.cec.be> MIME-Version: 1.0 Sender: owner-e-commerc(a)www.ispo.cec.be Precedence: bulk Reply-To: Freddie Dawkins <freddied(a)compuserve.com> All here - I thought you might like to see this. It was published at the ICX London conference on October 19. Rgds Freddie Dawkins ICX - Building Trust in E-commerce ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Statement of Microsoft on UK Department of Trade and Industry Proposals for Encryption on Digital Signatures October 1998 Microsoft welcomes this opportunity to respond to recent DTI proposals on encryption and digital signatures. As a leading developer of business software applications, on-line tools and operating systems, Microsoft strongly supports the growth of electronic commerce in Europe. 1. UK legislation should eliminate all key escrow and key recovery requirements. The UK should not make the use of encryption subject to mandatory key escrow. The DTI's Secure Electronic Commerce Statement of April 1998 contemplates authorising law enforcement to obtain access to private encryption keys on request. This could effectively require users or encryption service providers to "escrow" their private keys, which would depart from the Statement's rejection of mandatory key escrow and make the use of encryption more costly and burdensome. Many users would also view the obligation to store copies of their private keys as compromising the security of their on-line messages, thus deterring them from fully exploiting electronic commerce. Mandatory key escrow does not serve any legitimate law enforcement goals. Key escrow serves no legitimate law enforcement goals because criminals and terrorists are unlikely to store their private keys or provide them to police on request. Law enforcement's needs in this area could be fully met by requiring users to produce the plain text of any message to which police require access. 2. The proposed legislation should extend legal recognition to all digital signatures. Legal recognition should extend to all electronic signatures, not just those issued by licensed certification authorities (CAs). The secure Electronic Commerce Statement would limit legal recognition to certificates issued by licensed CAs. Because virtually all users will want to rely on the legal validity of their electronic signatures, this would effectively require the use of licensed CAs. Such a rule would impose unnecessary costs on electronic commerce and would place UK law in conflict with the proposed EU Electronic Signatures Directive, which extends legal recognition to both licensed and unlicensed electronic signatures. UK law should extend legal recognition to closed-system and limited-use certificates and affirm parties' freedom of contract. Electronic signatures are used in a variety of closed systems and for a broad range of specific uses, such as on-line banking and credit card systems. Because closed-system and limited-use certificates will play a crucial role in the development of on-line applications, the law should expressly extend legal recognition to such certificates. UK legislation should also treat electronic and paper transactions the same in terms of freedom of contract, so that private parties have the same flexibility to structure their electronic transactions as they do for traditional forms of commerce. The proposed legislation should not require licensed CAs to escrow encryption keys. Many users of electronic signatures will refuse to allow their private encryption keys to be escrowed, and will therefore refuse to use licensed CAs if they must also hand over their private encryption keys. Such a result would undermine the use of electronic signatures and would threaten the development of electronic commerce in the UK. Thus, UK law should allow licensed CAs to provide encryption services without maintaining a key escrow or key recovery system. 3. DTI should abandon plans to extend existing export controls to "intangible" transfers. Applying existing export controls to intangible transfers of encryption is unworkable and impractical. In its recent white paper on Strategic Export Controls (July 1998), DTI announced plans to extend existing export controls to intangible transfers. However, strong encryption is widely available on the Internet from servers located outside the UK. Thus, the proposed restrictions would not prevent criminals from using strong encryption, but would impose added costs and burdens on lawful manufacturers and distributors of encryption products. The proposed export controls will harm UK firms. UK businesses already face a competitive disadvantage to foreign competitors due to restrictions on exporting encryption in tangible form. To extend this to intangible transfers will make it even more difficult for UK firms to compete globally. The UK should loosen, rather than tighten, existing export controls on encryption. Export restrictions on encryption make it much more expensive for UK firms to compete globally, without having any real impact on crime. Rather than act unilaterally on this issue, the UK should adhere to the European-wide standards set forth in the EU Regulation on Dual-Use Goods. /ends # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # To leave the list, send email to Majordomo(a)www.ispo.cec.be saying unsubscribe E-commerc your(a)email.address as the first line of your message (*not* as the subject) # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)philodox.com> Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

1 0

Re: TEMPEST laptops (fwd)
by Michael Motyka 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Jim, *** True, the point I'm trying to make to you folks is that it *ISN'T* the absolute level of the signal that you are necessarily concerned with but rather the dynamic range in that signal. Simply knowing there's a 3mV signal out there won't do you a damn bit of good unless you have enough signal range to decode the contents. In actuality you could be emitting GW's of signal and if there was only say 1uV of signal range you'd never get anything off it. *** The distinction you are trying to express is that not all signals have equal information content and that it is the levels of the high-content ones that matter. Fine, but shielding is indiscriminate so shield away. And run your Tesla coil and some Ramones music to increase the ambient noise while you're doing sensitive computing. BTW - Aren't most receivers sensitive to RF field strengths in the 1 uV/m range? With cryogenically cooled front ends the nV/m range is probably usable. Look for MIB carrying Dewars in your neighborhood! How cold do Peltier junctions get? Probably good enough for a sidewinder or a low-noise rcvr. Mike Gabba-gabba hey!

1 0

Announcing Extensis Preflight Pro 2.1
by listmaster＠extensis.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The Award-Winning, Preflighting Tool from Extensis Just Got Better. http://www.extensis.com/products/PreflightPro * New! Now inspect your Acrobat(r) PDF Files! * Inspect, correct and collect print jobs for perfect prepress delivery. * Advanced features include customizable inspection profiles, PDF creation, and AppleScript Automation. * FREE! 5 free copies of Collect Pro with each copy of Preflight Pro! Extensis Preflight Pro 2.1 answers all of your Preflight questions. Designed to save prepress professionals time and money, Preflight Pro inspects your documents and corrects problems to ensure they are error-free prior to printing. With an interface that mimics the traditional prepress workflow, Preflight Pro provides you with a familiar environment to review files prior to printing. Further, Preflight Pro now supports documents in all the major graphics applications including Adobe PageMaker, Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat, QuarkXPress, Macromedia FreeHand EPS, and Multi-Ad Creator2. What's New in Preflight Pro 2.1? Now you can inspect Acrobat PDF files, along with files from all the other major graphics applications. Preflight Pro 2.1 now examines PDF files using more than 40 different profile items, including document security settings, font subsetting and embedding, downsampling rates and compression types. Better yet, Preflight Pro also includes 5 free copies of Collect Pro 2.1. Give Collect Pro to any creative professional you work with to help them correctly collect a job for hand-off to the prepress house. Collect Pro eliminates the problems of missing files (e.g.: fonts and linked graphics) that can delay a job. Extensis Preflight Pro 2.1 will dramatically streamline your preflight workflow, saving you time, headaches and money. For more information, to order, or to download a FREE, 30-day demo of Extensis Preflight Pro, please visit: http://www.extensis.com/products/PreflightPro Or call your Extensis Preflight Specialist at (800) 796-9798 x.168 or (503) 274-2020 x.168 or email to: preflight(a)extensis.com . Already own Preflight Pro 2.0? NO PROBLEM! Visit http://www.extensis.com/products/PreflightPro and download Preflight Pro 2.1 for free (your Preflight Pro 2.0 serial number is required) Are you a FlightCheck(r) User? NO PROBLEM! Upgrade to Extensis Preflight Pro 2.1 for only $99.95 (SAVE $300!) Preflight Pro 2.1 and Collect Pro 2.1 are compatible with QuarkXPress 3.31 or later, including QuarkXPress 4.0, Adobe PageMaker 6.5 and later, Adobe Illustrator 5.5 and later, Adobe Photoshop 3.0.4 and later, Macromedia FreeHand 5.5 and later, and Multi-Ad Creator2 version 1.0. PS. We have made every effort to ensure this message is being sent only to people who have expressed interest in Extensis products. If we have sent this to you in error, please accept our apologies and reply with remove in the subject line for automatic exclusion from future communications. If you know someone who would like to be on our mailing list have them send an email to listmaster(a)extensis.com with ADD in the subject line and their email address in the body. P.P.S. This message is intended for customers in North America. If you are located outside of North America and have received this message, please visit www.extensis.com/purchase/ to find the nearest local distributor in your country.

1 0