February 2004 - cypherpunks-legacy

If you doubted that history repeats...
by Major Variola (ret.) 28 Feb '04

28 Feb '04

Agencies Finishing Warnings On Lead http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10503-2004Feb26.html Now can anyone think of another colonial empire whose capital was thought to suffer from lead poisoning too? When DC is cratered, after a few half-lives elapse, when its inhabitable again, perhaps they'll use copper next time.

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RE: Gentlemen don't read each others' mail
by Major Variola (ret) 28 Feb '04

28 Feb '04

At 10:05 PM 2/27/04 -0800, Sarad AV wrote: >They must be doing it all time.It now just turned out >as a diplomatic issue. Yep. When a govt is caught, its a diplomatic issue. When a tech is caught, its death, prison, or prison followed by a trade for similar. Unless the tech is recognized "embassy staff" in which case he merely has to pack his bags pronto. Does Annan/UN have its own counterintel group? Are they 0wn3d by the US? Not that some of the better bugs can be found by a sweep. Anyone remember the bursting bug in the wall-trim-that-prevents-chair-damage, in some US State Dept room? Of *course* the phones are tapped at the CO, and yes a SecPhone would work, *except* for the room bugs, no lasers (too finicky) needed. As is Annan's (et al) limo and apartment. Hell, all the luxury cars have microphones to adjust the radio volume anyway; sometimes for noise cancellation. And the On-Star mic has been used to bug folks too, from the On-Star office. Isn't remote control great? A trojan on wheels. Well, the original trojan probably had wheels too. PS: the solution for a laser-bugger to a speaker in your double-glazed window is to find the recording of the music used as cover, and subtract. Takes a little longer but there's a machine in Ft. Meade that does this real fast. Getting the phase right is the hardest part. The secretary will disavow any knowledge, of course.

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RE: Gentlemen don't read each others' mail
by Tyler Durden 28 Feb '04

28 Feb '04

Looks like the UN's going to need some encrypted VoIP... -TD >From: "Major Variola (ret.)" <mv(a)cdc.gov> >Reply-To: cypherpunks(a)lne.com >To: "cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net" <cypherpunks(a)al-qaeda.net> >Subject: Gentlemen don't read each others' mail >Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 13:39:22 -0800 > >Britain Accused of Spying on U.N.'s Annan > >LONDON (AP) - Britain spied on U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in the >build up to the Iraq war, a former Cabinet minister said Thursday, >triggering yet another postwar crisis for Prime Minister Tony Blair > >http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040226/D80V5N901.html > > >Gentlemen don't read each others' mail >Unless they're at war.. >And we have always been at war with Oceania bin Laden > > > > _________________________________________________________________ Take off on a romantic weekend or a family adventure to these great U.S. locations. http://special.msn.com/local/hotdestinations.armx

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Anger Management
by R. A. Hettinga 27 Feb '04

27 Feb '04

This just came by on another list. It's been passed around, and it's a chestnut, probably here even, I don't remember, hell, it's probably in Snopes or something, but, hey, it's got a cypherpunk punchline, and we need a laugh around here... Cheers, RAH ------- Anger Management When you occasionally have a really bad day, and you just need to take it out on someone, don't take it out on someone you know, take it out on someone you don't know. I was sitting at my desk when I remembered a phone call I'd forgotten to make. I found the number and dialed it. A man answered, saying "Hello." I politely said, "This is Chris. Could I please speak with Robin Carter?" Suddenly the phone was slammed down on me. I couldn't believe that anyone could be so rude. I tracked down Robin's correct number and called her. I had transposed the last two digits of her phone number. After hanging up with her, I decided to call the 'wrong' number again. When the same guy answered the phone, I yelled "You're an asshole!" and hung up. I wrote his number down with the word! '! asshole' next to it, and put it in my desk drawer. Every couple of weeks, when I was paying bills or had a really bad day, I'd call him up and yell, "You're an asshole!" It always cheered me up. When Caller ID came to our area, I thought my therapeutic 'asshole' calling would have to stop. So, I called his number and said, "Hi, this is John Smith from the telephone company. I'm calling to see if you're familiar with our Caller ID Program?" He yelled "NO!" and slammed down the phone. I quickly called him back and said, "That's because you're an asshole!" One day I was at the store, getting ready to pull into a parking spot. Some guy in a black BMW cut me off and pulled into the spot I had patiently waited for. I hit the horn and yelled that I'd been waiting for that spot. The idiot ignored me. I noticed a "For Sale" sign in his car window, so I wrote d! ow! n his number. A couple of days later, right after calling the first asshole ( I had his number on speed dial,) I thought that I'd better call the BMW asshole, too. I said, "Is this the man with the black BMW for sale?" "Yes, it is." "Can you tell me where I can see it?" "Yes, I live at 1802 West 34th Street. It's a yellow house, and the car's parked right out in front." "What's your name?" I asked. "My name is Don Hansen," he said. "When's a good time to catch you, Don?" "I'm home every evening after five." "Listen,Don, can I tell you something?" "Yes?" "Don, you're an asshole." Then I hung up, and added his number to my speed dial, too. Now, when I had a problem, I had two assholes to call. But after several months of calling them, it wasn't as enjoyable as it used to be. So, I came up with an idea. I called Asshole #1. "Hello." "You're an asshole!" (But I didn't hang up.) "Are you still there?" he asked. "Yeah," I said. "Stop calling me," he screamed. "Make me," I said. "Who are you?" he asked. "My name is Don Hansen." "Yeah? Where do you live?" "Asshole, I live at 1802 West 34th Street, a yellow house, with my black Beamer parked in front." He said, "I'm coming over right now, Don. And you had better start saying your prayers." I said, "Yeah, like I'm really scared, asshole." Then I called Asshole #2. "Hello?" he said. "Hello, asshole," I said. He yelled, "If I ever find out who you are..." "You'll what?" I said. "I'll kick your ass," he exclaimed. I answered, "Well, asshole, here's your chance. I'm coming over right now." Then I hung up and immediately called the police, saying that I lived at 1802 West 34th Street, and that I was on my way over there to kill my gay lover. Then I called Channel 13 News about the gang war going down on West 34th Street. I quickly got into my car and headed over to 34th street. There I saw two assholes beating the crap out of each other in front of six squad cars, a police helicopter and a news crew. NOW I feel much better. Anger management really works !!! :) -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.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'

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RE: Gentlemen don't read each others' mail
by Tyler Durden 27 Feb '04

27 Feb '04

Variola wrote... >Silly lad, the walls have ears. And the ceilings, trimwork, light >fixtures, >heating ducts, etc. > >Think outside the (secure) box, dude. Well, of course those are the conventional channels, and for sure some of them would have been employed. But an all-around secure communications infrastructure would have to include the telephony, or else all of the other precautions can more or less be CALEA'd away 9ie, using the physical infrastructure of CALEA). And there's also the question of willing "our boys" would be of incurring some international incident by installing eavesdropping devices. Something CALEA-like seems far less instrusive. Of course, there's laser-based eavesdropping from the outside of the building, and I'd bet this was actually the method used in many cases. Laser/vibration-proof glass apparently does exist (it's installed in that DARPA building in downtown watchamaface VA), but I doubt it's installed in the UN, as it's VERY expensive. (But then again, maybe some select rooms have it.) -TD _________________________________________________________________ Click, drag and drop. My MSN is the simple way to design your homepage. http://click.atdmt.com/AVE/go/onm00200364ave/direct/01/

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FCC commisar wants to earn hanging
by Major Variola (ret.) 27 Feb '04

27 Feb '04

NEW YORK, Feb 25 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators should consider whether radio and television services carried by cable and satellite must adhere to indecency standards, Federal Communications Commissioner Kevin Martin said on Wednesday. http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040225/tech_summit_indecency_1.html -------- If the FCC can regulate the content of *private* media which one must choose (and pay) to receive, what is to stop them from regulating the Internet or other interstate media? Such attempts would be a treasonous violation of the 1st.

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RE: Gentlemen don't read each others' mail
by Major Variola (ret) 27 Feb '04

27 Feb '04

At 09:41 AM 2/27/04 -0500, Tyler Durden wrote: >Looks like the UN's going to need some encrypted VoIP... >-TD Silly lad, the walls have ears. And the ceilings, trimwork, light fixtures, heating ducts, etc. Think outside the (secure) box, dude.

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FBI above the law
by Major Variola (ret.) 26 Feb '04

26 Feb '04

WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI has banned its employees from taking any items from crime scenes or evidence sites after Justice Department investigators found that 13 agents took debris from the rubble of the World Trade Center. ... Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a letter Thursday to FBI Director Robert Mueller that there appears to be a double standard for agents because private citizens have been prosecuted and given prison sentences for taking items from the site. http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040226/D80V2MP80.html

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Gentlemen don't read each others' mail
by Major Variola (ret.) 26 Feb '04

26 Feb '04

Britain Accused of Spying on U.N.'s Annan LONDON (AP) - Britain spied on U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in the build up to the Iraq war, a former Cabinet minister said Thursday, triggering yet another postwar crisis for Prime Minister Tony Blair http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040226/D80V5N901.html Gentlemen don't read each others' mail Unless they're at war.. And we have always been at war with Oceania bin Laden

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Re: The EFF Offers a Better Way Forward on File Sharing
by Major Variola (ret) 26 Feb '04

26 Feb '04

Quoth A. Metet: >>Many people have come of age with the expectation that music ought to be free, because that is all they have known. They see the creation of music as an inexhaustable fountain from which they can drink as often and as long as they wish. Now that they have gotten used to having their music for free, they won't want to go back to paying for it.<< Interesting that the govt and its RF licensees *created* this expectation. With the complicity of the creators and their ASCAP et al. mafia. Since the 30s, people "came of age" with free radio, all you have to do is listen to the commercials, you can tape what you want, and dupe those copies too. Later the same situation with TV. The internet did the same with e.g., news and commentary, though there was no govt-granted slice of spectrum involved here, just the value of eyeballs, market share in an exponentially growing population. The development of this expectation of "free as in beer" is really an aside to Metet's essay. But the EFF proposal which he lauds is just an upgraded ASCAP. What they and others really need to get their heads around is the Street Performer Protocol, and/or the Grateful Dead business model.

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