March 2004 - cypherpunks-legacy

[p2p-hackers] Ideas for an opensource Skype lookalike (fwd from em@em.no-ip.com)
by Eugen Leitl 14 Mar '04

14 Mar '04

----- Forwarded message from Enzo Michelangeli <em(a)em.no-ip.com> -----

2 1

Re: Return of the homebrew coder
by Major Variola (ret) 14 Mar '04

14 Mar '04

At 10:11 AM 3/14/04 -0500, R. A. Hettinga wrote: >Return of the homebrew coder > >BEFORE Henry Ford unleashed the practice of mass production on the world, >every little town had a few dozen artisans who made the lives of citizens >easier. Software is also still in the "craft" stage where the designers actually do the building, in some cases. Know any architects that can handle an automatic nailer? The article doesn't address the real reason that lone software artisans (and small software businesses) can still exist: there are niches too small for Microsoft, not sexy enough for a squad of Open Source Gooncoders to replicate your work for free. Life in the 21st century feels like being a proto-mammal 65Mya, do not get squashed by the monster lizards nor noticed by the hungry others. Small, quick, furry, that's us. Sometimes it gets cold, the lizards can't move fast enough, so we eat them. Last two sentences sound like something Al Q could say :-)

1 0

Return of the homebrew coder
by R. A. Hettinga 14 Mar '04

14 Mar '04

Geodesic software, anyone? :-) Cheers, RAH ------- <http://www.economist.com/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Story_ID=2476892> The Economist MONITOR Return of the homebrew coder Mar 11th 2004 >From The Economist print edition Software: Most modern software is written by huge teams of programmers. But there is still room for homebrew coders, at least in some unusual niches BEFORE Henry Ford unleashed the practice of mass production on the world, every little town had a few dozen artisans who made the lives of citizens easier. A cobbler made the shoes, a tailor sewed suits and a carpenter built furniture. Mass production sounded the death knell for many specialist craft jobs, and the rise of computerised supply chains finished off most of the rest. But now, a century later, the trend is reversing itself. The new craftsmen do not stitch leather, cut cloth or saw wood: instead, they write software. This is because, as digital gizmos proliferate, consumers are running into some niggling problems. How can you synchronise a Sony Ericsson smartphone with a Macintosh computer running Microsoft's Entourage software? How do you send instant messages from your PocketPC or Palm handheld? How do you maintain a weblog quickly and easily? Such difficulties are typically faced by just a few thousand people with specific and unusual requirements-too few to merit the attention of the big computer firms, but enough to provide opportunities for a growing band of homebrew coders who set out to develop niche products. In many cases these programmers are making a decent living in the process, thanks to the availability of high-speed internet connections, cheap web-hosting services and online-payment systems such as PayPal and Kagi-all of which make it quick and easy to distribute software and collect money from customers. The trend is also a response to the sorry state of the technology industry, following the bursting of the dotcom bubble. Where they could once command salaries of $100,000, programmers now worry about their jobs disappearing to India. So instead of waiting for things to improve, some have decided to strike out on their own. Brent Simmons is one such programmer. With the help of his wife, he runs Ranchero Software from his garage in Seattle. They make a clever piece of software called NetNewsWire, which runs on the Mac OS X operating system and makes it easy to read news and then post comments on to a weblog. "I like being able to design and implement software and have the final say," says Mr Simmons. "It's a higher level of creativity than working on someone else's software. I get to refine and market my own ideas." At $40 each, Mr Simmons needs to sell 2,000 copies of his program each year to earn what he would be paid as an employee elsewhere. Jonas Salling of Salling Software in Stockholm, meanwhile, has attracted a loyal following for his handy software utilities. One allows data from Microsoft's Entourage personal-information manager for Macintosh computers to be transferred to Sony Ericsson smartphones. The other allows such phones, and certain Palm handhelds, to be used as wireless remote-controls via a Bluetooth link. So you can, for example, advance slides in a presentation by clicking on your phone's keypad. The number of people who actually want to do this is quite small, but they want to do it enough to pay Mr Salling $10 for his software, which has won several awards. Even more successful are Gaurav Banga and Saurabh Aggarwbi, based in Sunnyvale, California. They sell VeriChat, a nifty piece of software that allows people to send and receive instant messages on smartphones, or on PocketPC and Palm handheld computers. VeriChat is sold on a subscription basis, and brings in $20 per user per year, collected via PayPal. The company's sales are expected to reach $1m this year. Another homebrew coder is Nick Bradbury, who lives in Franklin, Tennessee. He wrote one of the first web-publishing tools, called HomeSite, and sold it to Allaire, which is now part of Macromedia. Then he started Bradbury Software, which sells a web-page editor called TopStyle and a news-reading program called FeedDemon. Self-employment, he notes, has more than just financial benefits. "I put in more hours, but those hours are very flexible, which in my case means I can spend a great deal of time with my two kids," he says. And he finds it very rewarding to know that his software is making people's lives a little easier-"something I rarely, if ever, experienced while working in the corporate world." The phenomenon of the homebrew coder is not new, of course. For two decades, programmers have distributed their wares as "shareware", initially through dial-up bulletin boards or via disks given away with computer magazines, and later via the internet. People can try a piece of software free of charge, and then send a cheque to its creator if they want to continue using it. This often entitles them to a registration code that unlocks extra features. But online payment services such as PayPal and Kagi have simplified and sped up the payment process, making the shareware model far more attractive for programmers. "Software developers are essentially cutting out the traditional distribution channels, which are not efficient," says Kee Nethery, the founder of Kagi, who has noticed a growing number of independent software developers collecting money using his firm's service. Mr Bradbury also points to improvements in development tools, which make it easier for lone programmers to build complex software, and to a growing number of niche markets, as programmable devices such as smartphones proliferate. While new opportunities abound, however, this world of independents is an unforgiving meritocracy. For homebrew coders, the fact that their fortunes depend directly on the quality of their products is both the risk and the reward. -- ----------------- 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'

1 0

Re: inverse finding
by Major Variola (ret) 14 Mar '04

14 Mar '04

At 09:55 PM 3/12/04 -0800, Sarad AV wrote: >if gcd(a,m)=1, >for a*a inverse==1 mod m >is it better to find >a invese=a^(m-2) mod m by binary exponentiation >modulo m or is it more time efficient by extended >euclids algorithm for large 'm'? I dunno, why don't you think about it some? How are you going to land a sweet outsourced job if you ask others to do your homework?

4 3

[p2p-hackers] Ideas for an opensource Skype lookalike (fwd from
by Major Variola (ret) 14 Mar '04

14 Mar '04

At 12:45 PM 3/13/04 +0100, Eugen Leitl FORWARDED: >----- Forwarded message from Enzo Michelangeli <em(a)em.no-ip.com> ----- > >Skype claims to use RSA-based key exchange, which is good for multi-party >conferencing but does not preserve forward secrecy. Maybe some variant of >ephemeral D-H authenticated by RSA signatures, with transparent >renegotiation every time someone joins the conference, could do the job >better. RSA (ie persistant keys) may be an option but MUST NOT be required, for secrecy reasons as mentioned. (At worst RSA keys can be used once, then discarded. Lots of primes out there :-) Also, this is *voice*, ie biometric auth, so public-key-web-o-trust verislime scam is unnecessary at best. (Although for ringing up a business it might be a useful redundancy in case you misdial, and if there are introducers more trusted and perhaps liable than verislime) >But the thing I particularly would like to discuss here is if, and how, to >leverage on existing P2P networks. Get Real Networks or AOL or M$ to bundle a free, open secphone with their regular products. In AOL case you can exploit their "buddy" (aka traffic analysis) system for your directory services. I bet its suggested monthly. And shot down by managers who have been shown photos of their personal indiscretions taken by spooks. One could always implement a brand new >network, using Distributed Hash Table algorithms such as Chord or >Kademlia, We don't give a flying fuck as to which shiny new algorithm you use, although were we a graph theory wonk, we might care. but it would be much easier to rely from the very beginning upon >a large number of nodes (at least for directory and presence >functionality, if not for the reflectors which require specific UDP code). What the NAT world (yawn) needs is free registry services exploitable by any protocol. Those NAT-users with RSA-clue can sign their registry entry. >That would somehow repeat the approach initially adopted by Vocaltec when, >in 1995, they launched their Iphone making use of IRC servers to publish >dynamic IP addresses. Incidentally, the IRC users community didn't >particularly appreciate ;-), triggering the Great Iphone War, which >quickly led Vocaltec to set up its own dedicated IRC servers. Net was a smaller place in 95. A '95 machine didn't have MIPS to burn. Not so many broadband nodes. Bush was just an airhead redneck governor, not a rabid Caesar.

1 0

FBI Adds to Wiretap Wish List (fwd from brian-slashdotnews@hyperreal.org)
by Eugen Leitl 13 Mar '04

13 Mar '04

Now here's a good reason to figure out how to patch IPsec to go OE on all major platforms. ----- Forwarded message from brian-slashdotnews(a)hyperreal.org -----

1 0

I'd recognise that ear, anywhere
by R. A. Hettinga 13 Mar '04

13 Mar '04

<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/36106.html> The Register I'd recognise that ear, anywhere By Lucy Sherriff Posted: 09/03/2004 at 10:11 GMT Never mind retinal scans, finger printing or facial recognition: we'll have our ears on a national database, soon. Boffins at the University of Leicester, working with K9 Forensic Services, have developed a computerised ear image and ear print identification system. Their technology is capable of recognising partial earprints and images Professor Guy Rutty, head of the forensic pathology unit at the university, said the technology "may ultimately allow the development of a system similar to that of the national finger print system which is used for the identification of individuals by police forces across the world". The human ear is a particularly difficult biometric to track, because it is flexible and deforms under pressure. Several organisations are researching the field, and in 2003 the EU launched a three-year investigation into the feasibility of using ear prints for criminal identification. reg; -- ----------------- 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'

3 6

Quantum crypto reaches 150 km (March 2004)
by R. A. Hettinga 12 Mar '04

12 Mar '04

<http://optics.org/articles/news/10/3/11/1> optics.org - News - Quantum crypto reaches 150 km 12 March 2004 A single photon is sent over a 150 km optical link beating the previous transmission record by 50 km. Scientists at NEC in Japan claim to have smashed the transmission distance record for quantum cryptography. The team says it successfully sent a single photon over a 150-km-long optical fiber link. This significantly extends the previous record of 100 km, which was announced in June 2003. Quantum cryptography uses a stream of single photons to transfer a secret key between a transmitter and a receiver. Each transmitted bit of the cryptographic key is encoded upon a single photon. Any attempt to intercept the key changes the quantum state of the photons, which reveals the presence of a hacker. NEC's record-breaking system relies on planar lightwave circuit (PLC) technology and a low-noise photon receiver. The system containing was developed by a collaboration of researchers from NEC, the Telecommunications Advancement Organization of Japan and the Japan Science and Technology Agency. According to NEC, its system has two distinct benefits. Firstly, it offers stable one-way photon transmission. This reduces the noise of backscattered photons from the optical fiber to below one-tenth that of conventional round-trip systems. The system's second plus-point is an alleged ten-fold increase in signal-to-noise ratio compared with current systems. This is largely thanks to the receiver's increased sensitivity to photons that have been broadened by dispersion in the long fiber-optic link. "Due to wide-area coverage, this system can realize quantum cryptography transmissions in optical network in metropolitan areas and is expected to contribute to the realization of an optical fiber network system requiring advanced safety levels to prevent code-breaking in the future," said NEC in its press release announcing the breakthrough. Author Jacqueline Hewett is technology editor on Optics.org and Opto & Laser Europe magazine. -- ----------------- 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'

1 0

Re: Evidence is clear: Videos convict
by Major Variola (ret) 11 Mar '04

11 Mar '04

At 06:34 AM 3/9/04 -0800, Sarad AV wrote: >,I mean a very good >editing tool and a CG expert working on it may come >out with real frightening stuff. >Who would say that the dinasours of jurrasic park >didn't look real :) A movie has been made about this. I think it took place in the white house, and a prostitute was killed. (spoiler next) in the movie the cg boys missed a reflection. Details, details.

3 2

RE: J.P. Morgan Is Facing Heat Of Patriot Act
by Major Variola (ret) 11 Mar '04

11 Mar '04

At 02:27 PM 3/10/04 -0800, Steve Schear wrote: >At 11:49 AM 3/10/2004, Major Variola (ret) wrote: >>This is how the US intimidates such that the USG can monitor >>all transactions. A serious practical problem for e$ when it >>needs to interface to atoms. > >not really. it means there is a need for a more P2P approach, like >Kawalah, where trusted individuals act as entry and exit points using their >own banking accounts in exchange for the lion's share of the service >fees. Kawalah, isn't that a terrorist tool? ;-) If it isn't already, it will be declared one. Unlicenced transfers over N$ get you a discrete military tribunal, after detention incommunicado, sans charges, of course. Cuba really is nice this time of year. Moving money between people will require government-licensed (ie 0wn3d) intermediary, much like moving handguns (or pharmaceuticals) inside various States. >this is not uncommon now in e-gold where secondary players offer >such transactions. The next time Ashcroft [1] gets a hard-on for gambling | drugs | porn | arabs, e-gold systems will see major hasslement ranging from frozen or confiscated subscribers assets to the latest in Raytheon's precision versions of the V-2 delivered to their doorstep. No extra charge for nighttime delivery. [1] Hey, at least that bastard Bennett would have been soft on gambling, given his addiction, not that such innumeracy redeems the slow painful death he earned. ------ "They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it's worked for over 200 years, and Hell, we're not using it anymore." -Jay Leno

2 1