September 2003 - cypherpunks-legacy

The Register - Jury convicts DirecTV pirate on DMCA charges (fwd)
by Jim Choate 23 Sep '03

23 Sep '03

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/32977.html -- -- God exists because mathematics is consistent, and the Devil exist because we can't prove it. Andre Weil, in H. Eves, Mathematical Circles Adieu ravage(a)ssz.com jchoate(a)open-forge.com www.ssz.com www.open-forge.com

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Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Bush covers up climate research (fwd)
by Jim Choate 23 Sep '03

23 Sep '03

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1046388,00.html -- -- God exists because mathematics is consistent, and the Devil exist because we can't prove it. Andre Weil, in H. Eves, Mathematical Circles Adieu ravage(a)ssz.com jchoate(a)open-forge.com www.ssz.com www.open-forge.com

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Ca passes car data recorder privacy law
by Major Variola (ret.) 23 Sep '03

23 Sep '03

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 California today adopted the nation's first law meant to protect the privacy of drivers whose cars are equipped with "black boxes," or data recorders that can be used to gather vital information on how a vehicle is being driven in the last seconds before a crash. Gov. Gray Davis signed the law, which takes effect on July 1, requiring carmakers to disclose the existence of such devices and forbidding access to the data without either a court order or the owner's permission, unless it is for a safety study in which the information cannot be traced back to the car. More than 25 million cars and trucks have the boxes that measure speed, air-bag deployment and the use of brakes, seat belts and turn signals. But California's privacy law is the first of its kind, says Thomas M. Kowalick, co-chairman of a committee convened by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to set standards for the boxes. Most of the recorders are on General Motors vehicles, but Ford and others have deployed some. Other manufacturers have plans to do the same. <snip> http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/23/politics/23CRAS.html?ex=1064894400&en=145…

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Re: Elngsih (was "")
by Major Variola (ret) 23 Sep '03

23 Sep '03

At 08:28 PM 9/22/03 -0400, Roy M. Silvernail wrote: >On Monday 22 September 2003 18:39, Thomas Shaddack wrote: >> Could be the l33t sp3ak next generation for the cases when the >> communication is monitored by automated tools for keywords. Could foil >> both alerting on keywords and keyword searching on intercepted and stored >> material (unless the keyword search would look also for all the possible >> permutations of the words). You don't actually think that Folks Who Care use interesting keywords, do you? You *at least* use codebooks. As Dr. Teller wrote, "its a boy". >No, the channel is better than that. The true keywords aren't even in the >message. Correct. The text-stego channel is *much* more subtle. In fact, it doesn't even require the recent perceptual-linguistic fnidnig, fascinating as it may be. Only some stego binary codes that are translated after recovery, so >one need not even be as obvious as "Pick up the 2 cases of beer at Simon's on >the way home." Srue, it's obvoius if you try to sutff too much itno one >cleratxet, but that would be a rookie mistake. Folks, you 1. compress 2. encrypt 3. stego, in that order. You probably use an ECC in between 2 & 3; this is vital if Mallory messes with your spelling [1]. You probably also add misspelling "chaff" just to make it harder for the adversary to undo the stego. (E.g., you're using a keyed PRNG to determine which words to misspell. So you misspell others too. You use your choice of misspellings to encode the cargo. Maybe have multiple misspellings map to 0 or 1.) Note that its harder to do this in Hebrew, since it has a higher bit:symbol ratio, thanks to vwl drppng. The notion of using "bmob" or "hroien" in a message to avoid keyword nets is just *comical*. (Note that ammo, beer, and weed cannot be stego'd this way :-) Note that these newfangled blog thingss are very good broadcasting (ie, traffic-analysis resistant) media, assuming you write something interesting enough to have a nontrivial audience. So, more traditionally, are posts to usenet or lists like this. [1] In wartime, censors *gisted* letters, tossing out your wordage. --- "One of these centuries, the brutes, private or public, who believe that they can rule their betters by force, will learn the lesson of what happens when brute force encounters mind and force." - Ragnar Danneskold, from Atlas Shrugged

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Re: Drunken US Troops Kill Rare Tiger
by Tim May 22 Sep '03

22 Sep '03

On Monday, September 22, 2003, at 02:19 PM, Sunder wrote: > They *ALL* promise freedom, democracy, and development. It's voting > for > someone who delivers thems instead of opression, fascism, and theft > that's > the problem. > Anyone who claims to deliver "democracy, and development" needs to be assassinated. As for delivering "freedom," they can butt out of the election as a first step. --Tim May

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Re: Drunken US Troops Kill Rare Tiger
by Tyler Durden 22 Sep '03

22 Sep '03

"I no longer consider 9/11 a terrorist act." Fuck. I've been nearing a similar conclusion, though from an entirely different, uh, line of approach. Though I don't consider having quite crossed that line yet. I guess in the end we are responsible for the actions our government takes. And if we remain ignorant and continue to benefit (and do nothing to stop it), then we are responsible, particularly when our military represents an outrageously assymetric invasionary force. On the "left wing liberal" NPR I heard some army dude interviewed. He openly referred to Iraq's #1 oil pumping station as "The Crown Jewel", and discussed a military action to capture it in terms of a dollar value--"This was a $6 billion dollar target" or some such thing. Let's say that 9/11 may have been a terrorist act, but Bush & pals are rendering it an ever purer act of war with each passing day. -TD >From: Eric Cordian <emc(a)artifact.psychedelic.net> >To: cypherpunks(a)minder.net >Subject: Drunken US Troops Kill Rare Tiger >Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 18:27:03 -0700 (PDT) > >News services are reporting that US Troops, who have been holding regular >drunken parties at the Baghdad Zoo, have shot and killed the Zoo's rare >Bengal tiger. > >It seems not only civilians are in danger from US Troops in the Occupied >Iraqi Territories. > >In my opinion, the tiger was worth more than all the US Troops currently >occupying Iraq. An occupation in violation of international law as part >of Shrub's unprovoked War of Aggression to settle his family grudge with >Saddam Hussein, control the world's oil supply, and take out one of the >two regimes that refused to pressure the Palestinians to make peace on >Israel's terms. > >A few years ago, I said there were no civilians in Israel, and therefore >no retaliation by the Palestinians against Israeli military aggression >could be considered a terrorist act. > >If AmeriKKKa freely re-elects Shrub, because Americans admire his bullying >the rest of the world, and the American people freely support and fund >such activities as the Pax AmeriKKKana, and unprovoked wars of aggression, >then it's probably true there are no civilians in AmeriKKKa either. > >I no longer consider 9/11 a terrorist act. > >Some URLs on the tiger... > >http://us.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/20iraq1.htm >http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-12796568,00.html > >-- >Eric Michael Cordian 0+ >O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division >"Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law" _________________________________________________________________ Instant message in style with MSN Messenger 6.0. Download it now FREE! http://msnmessenger-download.com

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"Spin State" cyberpunk?
by Freematt357＠aol.com 22 Sep '03

22 Sep '03

On page 61 of the November issue of Analog there is an ad for the book, "Spin State" by Chris Moriarty (www.bantamdell.com) The book is alleged to be "A thrilling high-end upgrade of cyberpunk." Has anybody read it? Of some suspicion is Brin's recommendation "Science fiction for grownups who want some 'wow' with their 'what-if.'" The ad writes about the book; "UN Peacekeeper Major Catherine Li is hiding secrets about her past. And in a post-human universe of emergent AIs, genetic constructs, and illegal wetware, one misstep in her hunt for a killer could literally blow her mind." If anybody has the read the book or knows if the book is pro-freedom please let me know. Regards, Matt Gaylor-

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Political cartoon says it all: Saddam falls
by Steve Schear 22 Sep '03

22 Sep '03

http://www.courier-journal.com/nick/2003/09/0912.html "The guerrilla wins by not losing, the army loses by not winning" -- Henry Kissinger

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Drunken US Troops Kill Rare Tiger
by Eric Cordian 22 Sep '03

22 Sep '03

News services are reporting that US Troops, who have been holding regular drunken parties at the Baghdad Zoo, have shot and killed the Zoo's rare Bengal tiger. It seems not only civilians are in danger from US Troops in the Occupied Iraqi Territories. In my opinion, the tiger was worth more than all the US Troops currently occupying Iraq. An occupation in violation of international law as part of Shrub's unprovoked War of Aggression to settle his family grudge with Saddam Hussein, control the world's oil supply, and take out one of the two regimes that refused to pressure the Palestinians to make peace on Israel's terms. A few years ago, I said there were no civilians in Israel, and therefore no retaliation by the Palestinians against Israeli military aggression could be considered a terrorist act. If AmeriKKKa freely re-elects Shrub, because Americans admire his bullying the rest of the world, and the American people freely support and fund such activities as the Pax AmeriKKKana, and unprovoked wars of aggression, then it's probably true there are no civilians in AmeriKKKa either. I no longer consider 9/11 a terrorist act. Some URLs on the tiger... http://us.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/20iraq1.htm http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-12796568,00.html -- Eric Michael Cordian 0+ O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division "Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"

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RE: Drunken US Troops Kill Rare Tiger
by Trei, Peter 22 Sep '03

22 Sep '03

> Major Variola (ret)[SMTP:mv@cdc.gov] > > As far as I can tell, the EuroXian guilt after WWII > was shed by sending the Jews to a slice of desert that the Brits > had conquered previously. "Two wrongs not making a right" doesn't > seem to have occurred to them. [...] > Its a bummer that this would have to be done 60 years too late, > displacing some Euros, but hey, maybe three wrongs make things right? > Two wrongs do not make a right, but three rights do make a left :-) Peter Trei

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