December 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

Re: <<Vitamin B>>(October 28, 1997) The Power of Ecobabble
by nobody＠neva.org 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- While I know nothing of Bionomics, Professor Krugman's ill-tempered essay intrigues me. Robert Hettinga wrote that VitaminB(a)bionomics.org wrote that Paul Krugman wrote in Slate: > Take, for starters, his assertion that "orthodox economics describes > the 'economy as a machine.' " You might presume from his use of > quotation marks that this is something an actual economist said, or > at least that it was the sort of thing that economists routinely > say. But no economist I know thinks of the economy as being anything > like a machine--or believes, as Rothschild asserts a bit later, that > because the economy is like a machine, it is possible to make > precise predictions. "Methinks the lady doth protest too much." While hard core economists may not describe the economy as a machine, the popular literature, such as that found in news stories on "the economy", almost always uses machine metaphors. "The economy was in danger of becoming overheated, so the Fed raised interest rates." The metaphors which people choose often have powerful political implications. After all, if the economy is sort of like a machine, then it makes sense to have trained professionals who tune that machine to operate with optimal efficiency. It is not hard to figure out why the ruling elite prefers this metaphor to some others that could be chosen. For instance, you could say the economy is an elaborate network of relationships based on trust. You could say that employment occurs when two or more people agree to exchange goods or services. Let's say unemployment figures are up. If you believe the economy is like a machine, then you will believe that there should be a central planning organization like the Fed that should lower interest rates. If you believe that the unemployment goes down when people form employment relationships, you may think about ways to remove obstacles to the formation of these relationships. Note that the second more reasonable approach does not promote the interests of a national ruling elite. > In just the last two years, I've learned that I believe that gross > domestic product is the sole measure of economic welfare... In popular economics GDP is used almost exclusively as a measure of success. I strongly suspect that when Krugman says he himself does not believe this, that he has some other set of statistical measures which he considers to be better measures of success. If this is the case, then he has completely missed the point. Such statistical measures are sensible when one accepts that the purpose of economics is to best instruct the rulers of a society in their economic policy decisions. In such a framework, the rulers decide what is good and then decide how to cause that good to increase. The only problem with this is that it neglects to consider the preferences of individual people. It is highly unlikely that their economic behavior is dictated by the authorities for their own best interest because the authorities have no way of knowing what that best interest might be. People have their own beliefs and preferences on that subject. For example, a small island nation in the Pacific is highly regarded as an "economic success". One of the features of this society is that government provided or subsidized housing is widely available. People who wish to spend their money on having a nice apartment like this. But, many people may prefer to live in less expensive surroundings and spend the money they save on other things, or to simply work less. Krugman supports my theory about his beliefs later when he says: > But it does not deify the market system, and it even offers a number > of fairly well-defined ways in which markets can fail, or at least > could be helped with government intervention. And that, for some > conservatives, is just not good enough. We do not see any examples of "market failures" and, indeed, the people Krugman refers to would probably not see them as failure at all. It seems highly likely that Krugman has committed the sin he accuses the Bionomicists of committing: he doesn't truly understand the philosophy he is criticizing. Also interesting is Krugman's obvious discomfiture with people who would explore the ideas of the Bionomicists. It may be the case that the Bionomics crowd does not thoroughly understand classical economics or evolutionary biology. This would not be the first time that people on the fringes of several disciplines came up with new ideas which transformed the field. (Take J. Kepler, the professional astrologer. Kepler had many totally wacked out theories. He believed completely in astrology. He believed the Earth was a living organism and the tides were related to its breathing. He believed the orbits of the planets were distributed in relationship to the Platonic solids. And, get this, he believed that the area a planetary radius swept out in time was constant.) Obviously, Bionomics might be fraught with errors, oversimplifications, and misrepresentations. In spite of this, there may be ideas that would interest an open minded professional. Even Marxists occasionally come up with an interesting observation, after all. So, Krugman's hostility to the exploration of ideas strikes me as a little odd for a professor. Take his final paragraph for an example: > Anyway, I guess I won't attend the conference. I would have liked to > meet Benford; but I couldn't stand to watch the author of _Great Sky > River_ demeaning himself by consorting with such disreputable > company. Somehow I can hear an upper class Victorian mother telling her son: "You should not be seen with that girl. She's much too common." Monty Cantsin Editor in Chief Smile Magazine http://www.neoism.org/squares/smile_index.html http://www.neoism.org/squares/cantsin_10.htm -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQEVAwUBNFebtJaWtjSmRH/5AQEKUQf7B0XnUn1xwIbIcLFMDUDpL8HEaDb3bclO syR2QJCvMa4BsjPKHWGRa5pEDNLdXfiQt0bXYZ+9WzVrr18VlAFJ2pqWoxv3PW76 YqDbfhGCwmseo8EzoRen5PEnxkZuNN+KKN92dEaEfj8NJMwBVZ2V5443HlPXxTWA TXxZIeFYgldndpgIdqFxIc4qnVtrJbsGI1YrzbCNeeTgTKg8d1oZlDVDMbLDGeyx wyb3hwzTB2wiLiLsTjhlcONEdbu0bwGUu7F3l60+C9JZjn3DWgl/+y562kejfcKP LgdSplUSc8gFrR3bCFufpyOOGFDgp0keV3SRWOaO8i/N2N+l/XhI3w== =iy9O -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: Clinton's Bigger Gun Ban
by Tim May 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I wrote: --- The Klinton Klan has already effectively banned imported SKS ammo (7.62x29, as I recall, given that I don't have any rifles chambering this popular round). --- Before you rush to correct me, I _meant_ to write "7.62x39" of course. (A round used by the Chinese, Soviet, and East Bloc nations, and roughly equivalent to the American M-16 round, known either as the .223 or 5.56mm. The NATO "7.62" is in a longer case length. 7.62x54, as I recall. Known in America as .308. --Tim May The Feds have shown their hand: they want a ban on domestic cryptography ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, ComSec 3DES: 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^2,976,221 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

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Discount Full-Service Travel
by globaladventures＠alluwant.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Good Morning, We were given your name as someone who enjoys (or must) travel. Global Adventures Travel Service is a full service, wholesale and retail travel agency. Combining high-tech and high-touch to deliver an unparalleled level of customer service. We have divisions specializing in Domestic and International Leisure Tours, Cruises, Business, Corporate, Singles, Seniors, and Last Minute Adventures. Our prices are always low and service always high... For a few current .specials. (as of 10/06/97), please hit reply and put the word "SPECIALS." in the subject line and push send for an automated response. For a personal response, press reply, do not change subject, and just ask.... we will be glad to help! Thank You for your time... The Crew at Global Adventures Travel Service /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// If you would like to be taken off our mailing list....please hit reply and type the word 'remove' in the subject field and you will be omitted from Global Adventures future mailings.... ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

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Where are another cypherpunk
by Nobuki Nakatuji 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Where are another cypherpunk mailinglist ? ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

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Information Security Policies
by scannmann＠nevwest.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Security Policies To Go! Don't re-invent the wheel. Get the most comprehensive source of information security policies available. Information Security Policies Made Easy (version 6) is a collection of 840 already-written policies in book and CD-ROM. ISPME is the fastest and most expedient way to write new and /or revise existing information security policies. Use your favorite word processing package and cut and paste from these ready-to-go policies, justification statements, and other supporting materials. Generate a complete policy statement in five minutes or less. It Includes extensive instructions which provide practical advice about the policy development process. Applicable to organizations throughout the world, the book/CD-ROM provides policies covering a broad range of topics including: Internet, intranets, firewalls, network security, contingency planning, computer viruses, electronic payment systems, web surfing activity monitoring, Java, macroviruses, data classification, push information distribution, software development, intellectual property rights, password management, and much more. The latest version also includes ten skeleton policies which are ready-to-go complete policy statements. These skeleton policies can be used as is or expand them with other policies from the book. ISPME provides everything needed to write standards and communicate them in a clear, concise manner. Check out our web site for further details -- www.baselinesoft.com or contact us via e-mail info(a)baselinesoft.com or call us today (800) 829-9955 (USA & Canada) (415) 332-7763. Here are what people are saying about ISPME: "It saved me thousands of hours and thousands of dollars." -- J. P., Capital Blue Cross "An excellent source for policies on new technologies. Great to have it on CD." -- B. S. F., CISSP, The Vanguard Group "Excellent reference, I would recommend this book to all policy writers." -- R. M., Atlantic Lottery Corporation. "Wood has hit a home run with this one!" -- B. A., Rekam Graphics

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Checklist
by Daniel Colpi 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Greetings and Salutations, A few days ago, I asked for help in making a step by step list on how to "copy" OpenBSD from one computer to another. Well I got a few answers, but many people wanted me to post this list when I was done. So this is it, a mindless checklist of everything I did to "convert a DEC 3100 to the Dark Side" If you can think of something I have missed, please throw me an e-mail. Thanks Daniel Colpi colpi(a)purdue.edu ====================================================================== So, you want another OpenBSD computer hu? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (assuming same disk setup, target is disk #0, and source is disk #1) (also assuming rrz0a -> / ; rrz0c -> swap rrz0d -> /usr ; rrz0e ->/usr/target ) (Note: I am on a /bio backbone, this isn't going to be the same for you) (Note: /bio/scratch3 is a temp space that I can write to) ___Save Files ___dump root to scratch (just in case) -->% dump -0f /bio/scratch3/dump /dev/rrz0a ___/etc/passwd --> % mv /etc/passwd /bio/scratch3/passwd.target ___/etc/crontab ___any self created scripts you made to run with crontab ___/etc/fstab ___/usr/local/etc/mk-exports ___/etc/export.hosts ___/etc/export.fs.[n] (if you have a drive that is set up the way you want for target machine, you might want to save it to a file to save you some time) (Note: you might want to do this on a machine that is already converted) ___save your partition list -->% disklabel -r /dev/rrz1a >> temp_part % mv temp_part /bio/scratch3 ___Shut down target ___Connect source drive ___Make sure drives are jumpered not to conflict (target=>0 ; source=>1) ___Plug in and power up ___Make sure clock is right time (some old computers lose some time) ___Make sure you see both drives (ie drive 1 & drive 0) ___Run disklabel (I had drouble labeling the disk, but this worked) -->% disklabel -r /dev/rrz1a >> temp % disklabel -B -R /dev/rrz0a temp % disklabel -e /dev/rrz0a ___ / = _______________ ___ swap = ____________ ___ /usr = ____________ / ______________ (target / source) (remove src if desired) ___ /usr/target = _______________ (if you have a "cookie-cut" version you can just:) -->% disklabel -B -R /dev/rrz0a /bio/scratch3/temp_part ___Run newfs -->% newfs /dev/rrz0[ad] ___Transfer files --->% mount /dev/rz0a /mnt % cd /mnt % df -k . (make sure enough room) % df -k / % dump 0f - /dev/rrz1a | restore -rf - % rm restoresystable (if you don't do this you'll be sorry) % cd / % umount /mnt % mount /dev/rz0d /mnt ---+ % cd /mnt | % df -k . | Repeate this % dump 0f - /dev/rrz1d | restore -if - | section if restore > add [all dir's you want to keep] | needed restore > extract | on restore > set owner/mode for /./? [yn] n | other restore > quit | partitions (Note: it will say "DUMP not completed" if you | did not restore everything. This is not a bad | thing, ignore it) | % rm restoresystable (might not be there) | % cd / | % umount /mnt ---+ ___Configure (BE CAREFUL to configure /mnt/etc NOT /etc !!!!) ___mount /usr --->% mount /dev/rz0d /mnt ___remove /mnt/etc/npt.drift ___make dir /mnt/usr/preserve ___replace all scripts made to be run by crontab ___move /bio/scratch3/mk-exports /mnt/usr/local/etc/mk-exports ___umount /mnt ___mount / --->% mount /dev/rz0a /mnt ___replace rest of scripts to be used by crontab ___move /bio/scratch3/export.hosts /mnt/etc/export.hosts ___move /bio/scratch3/export.fs.[n] /mnt/etc/export.fs.[n] ___hostname ___/mnt/etc/hostname.le1 ___/mnt/etc/exports (or run /usr/local/etc/mk-exports) ___/mnt/etc/hosts (change IP number too) ___/mnt/etc/myname ___/mnt/etc/rc (maybe not if (flavor == vanilla)) ___/mnt/etc/mygate ___/mnt/etc/passwd ___/usr/local/bin/tcsh (OpenBSD doesn't come with tcsh) ___reconfigure passwd file (for correct format) __ % mv /bio/scratch3/passwd.target /mnt/etc/passwd.orig same / % nawk -F: ' { print $1 FS $2 FS $3 FS $4 "::0:0:" $5 FS \ line \__ $6 FS $7 } ' /mnt/etc/passwd.orig >> /mnt/etc/passwd % pwd_mkdb -c /mnt/etc/passwd % pwd_mkdb -d /mnt/etc/ /mnt/etc/passwd % pwd_mkdb -d /mnt/etc/ -p /mnt/etc/passwd % chmod 600 /mnt/passwd.orig ___do you want permissive /mnt/root/.rhosts (bilbo root ; gimli root) ___how about cooperative /mnt/etc/ttys (%s/network/network secure) ___if your source machine boots off disk 1 and target boots off disk 0, you need to make sure the correct kernal is at /mnt/bsd ___umount /mnt ___Power down ___Remove source drive ___Correct jumpers if nessary ___Power up ___Before starting OpenBSD at Boot Ram type: >> printenv >> setenv bootpath rz(0,0,0)/bsd ___Boot off of target disk ___restore user file system --->% cd /usr/target % rsh bilbo ls /usr/amanda/\* __ (now in order) same / % rsh bilbo cat /usr/amanda/target.date.[0->(n-1)] \ line \__ < /dev/null | resore -rf - (now when done with above loop (IN ORDER!!!!!)) % rm restoresystable ___recreate crontab --->% crontab -e ___Checks ___ping source machine (to make sure not same IP addresses) ___run ntpq -p ___finger @localhost ___finger @target ___cd into /bio/scratch3/ ___run date ___telnet to target from another machine ___ftp one file from another machine ___cd to /bio/target from another machine ___Go home early Nessary Tools: =============== Screwdrivers (if internal drives) Postit-notes (for keeping drives straight) One hell of a lot of coffee

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Re: Documentation
by Charlie Root 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

> >In the coming weekend, I'll be updating the newuser FAQ > >(for things like PPP and 2.2). I'm sure a post-install checklist would be > >a welcome addition. > > > >B U T . . . . > > > >Not everyone runs things like Kerberos or DNS. Keep in mind that many > >people use OpenBSD for many things and in many environs. The OpenBSD setup > >on my firewall at the office is much different than the Sparc, Alpha, and > >P5/133 I run it on at home. The setup on my router machine at home is also > >much different than the other machines in my house. There are ways people > >have setup OpenBSD on embeded systems to do things like manage the > >fuel/air mix ratio on their Corvettes (OK, one person I know of planned > >that, but couldn't get the financing for the car...) I hope that draws the > >picture. > > > >As for the verification after install, that is sort of "auto-manditory"-- > >if a filesystem isn't mounted right, /etc/fstab has to be checked out. If > >the network doesn't work, the network files must be examined to "make it > >go." As oopposed to attacking this as a checklist, how about it is > >attacked as "If networking doesn't work, check hostname.(interface)"-- but > >there is more to that then just files in /etc (boot -c in order to > >reconfigure hardware addresses) > > As a user of OpenBSD, and having tried to manage projects with it for > implementation of added features for customers...I could not agree with > the above position. > > You see, if you are ALREADY familiar with OpenBSD then you will most likely > know exactly what to do when installing and seting up a system. New User's > Notes / Installation Checklist's will most likely be ignored by you. > > However, if you are brand new to the system, then an Installation / Setup > Checklist (a good one) will prove to be essential. Wouldn't it be great if > just about every post to these groups from a new user was one like "..hey! > This OpenBSD thingy works great! The installation was a snap!.." or something > like that. We all know that hardly happens now...but, it could..... > > I, for one, believe strongly that a good 'Overview', 'Setup Notes' and 'Installation > Checklist' must somehow find it's way into the distribution. It is also clear > that the machine / arch specific differences will require unique versions > for each. I completly agree with you. Just anoze topic that i can add is installation procedure,especially disk partitoning. It's a very dungerous/important procedure but it's description ins INSTALL.i386 is a bit too short and need examples(espcially). Something like - "Imagine we have disk with such and such patitions and now we want to install OpenBSD here & there so we should... It would'be _very_ helpfull. BTW, does anybody work on installation software ? Something like in FreeBSD/RedHat ? Alexey Pialkin

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Collisions
by Daniel Colpi 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Greetings and Salutations, Does anyone know of where I can get some sort of window to "catch" all of the system mess. while xdm is running? There are a lot of collisions that happen, and they mess up the screen with error mess. The people who use these computers assume the this is broke. Any ideas? Thanks, Daniel Colpi colpi(a)purdue.edu

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pro-crypto govt. people
by Stanton McCandlish 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

This year I recall seeing 1 former prosecutor saying that widespread encryption was good and/or that GAK was bad, and 1 military or former military person of fairly high status saying that GAK was bad. Circa 1994-5 I also recall a military or retired miltiary person of rank reporting that very widespread crypto would be a boost to national security. We could really use these people's, and similar people's, words in pro-crypto efforts. Unfortunately, disk problems a while back cost me most of my old mail, including all of these saved items. If anyone has them and/or knows who these people are, please let me know. -- Stanton McCandlish mech(a)eff.org Electronic Frontier Foundation Program Director http://www.eff.org/~mech +1 415 436 9333 x105 (v), +1 415 436 9333 (f) Are YOU an EFF member? http://www.eff.org/join

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Bernstein case update: Government appeal brief filed
by John Gilmore 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The government has filed its 81-page "brief" with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Bernstein case. They argue that the export controls are "constitutionally permissible", that they are not a facially unconstitutional prior restraint on publication, and that the District Court gave Prof. Bernstein "too broad" relief by declaring the law and regulations unconstitutional and partially enjoining their enforcement. The brief has been scanned in as page images, and is at: http://www.eff.org/pub/Legal/Cases/Bernstein_v_DoS/Legal/970116_appeal_brie… Prof. Bernstein's legal team will file its reply by November 10, the government will reply by November 17, the Court will hold a formal hearing sometime during the week of December 8, then the Court will issue its decision. John Gilmore Electronic Frontier Foundation

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