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REAL LIVE RED BLOODED ANARCHY
by mattd 29 Dec '01

29 Dec '01

Anarchy: Revolution is the Solution. by Vigil ANti 11:40am Sat Dec 29 '01 (Modified on 4:16pm Sat Dec 29 '01) Reform is ineffective and only serves to further strengthen the Complex. Anarchy holds many ideas worth considering in the quest towards a sane world. A.1 What is anarchism? Anarchism is a political theory which aims to create anarchy, "the absence of a master, of a sovereign." [P-J Proudhon, What is Property , p. 264] In other words, anarchism is a political theory which aims to create a society within which individuals freely co-operate together as equals. As such anarchism opposes all forms of hierarchical control - be that control by the state or a capitalist - as harmful to the individual and their individuality as well as unnecessary. In the words of anarchist L. Susan Brown: "While the popular understanding of anarchism is of a violent, anti-State movement, anarchism is a much more subtle and nuanced tradition then a simple opposition to government power. Anarchists oppose the idea that power and domination are necessary for society, and instead advocate more co-operative, anti-hierarchical forms of social, political and economic organization." [The Politics of Individualism, p. 106] However, "anarchism" and "anarchy" are undoubtedly the most misrepresented ideas in political theory. Generally, the words are used to mean "chaos" or "without order," and so, by implication, anarchists desire social chaos and a return to the "laws of the jungle." This process of misrepresentation is not without historical parallel. For example, in countries which have considered government by one person (monarchy) necessary, the words "republic" or "democracy" have been used precisely like "anarchy," to imply disorder and confusion. Those with a vested interest in preserving the status quo will obviously wish to imply that opposition to the current system cannot work in practice, and that a new form of society will only lead to chaos. Or, as Errico Malatesta expresses it: "since it was thought that government was necessary and that without government there could only be disorder and confusion, it was natural and logical that anarchy, which means absence of government, should sound like absence of order." [Anarchy, p. 12]. Anarchists want to change this "common-sense" idea of "anarchy," so people will see that government and other hierarchical social relationships are both harmful and unnecessary: "Change opinion, convince the public that government is not only unnecessary, but extremely harmful, and then the word anarchy, just because it means absence of government, will come to mean for everybody: natural order, unity of human needs and the interests of all, complete freedom within complete solidarity." [Ibid., pp. 12-13]. This FAQ is part of the process of changing the commonly-held ideas regarding anarchism and the meaning of anarchy. A.1.1 What does "anarchy" mean? The word "anarchy" is from the Greek, prefix an (or a), meaning "not," "the want of," "the absence of," or "the lack of", plus archos, meaning "a ruler," "director", "chief," "person in charge," or "authority." Or, as Peter Kropotkin put it, Anarchy comes from the Greek words meaning "contrary to authority." [Kropotkin's Revolutionary Pamphlets, p. 284] While the Greek words anarchos and anarchia are often taken to mean "having no government" or "being without a government," as can be seen, the strict, original meaning of anarchism was not simply "no government." "An-archy" means "without a ruler," or more generally, "without authority," and it is in this sense that anarchists have continually used the word. For example, we find Kropotkin arguing that anarchism "attacks not only capital, but also the main sources of the power of capitalism: law, authority, and the State." [Op. Cit., p. 150] For anarchists, anarchy means "not necessarily absence of order, as is generally supposed, but an absence of rule." [Benjamin Tucker, Instead of a Book, p. 13] Hence David Weick's excellent summary: "Anarchism can be understood as the generic social and political idea that expresses negation of all power, sovereignty, domination, and hierarchical division, and a will to their dissolution. . . Anarchism is therefore more than anti-statism . . . [even if] government (the state) . . . is, appropriately, the central focus of anarchist critique." [Reinventing Anarchy, p. 139] For this reason, rather than being purely anti-government or anti-state, anarchism is primarily a movement against hierarchy. Why? Because hierarchy is the organizational structure that embodies authority. Since the state is the "highest" form of hierarchy, anarchists are, by definition, anti-state; but this is not a sufficient definition of anarchism. This means that real anarchists are opposed to all forms of hierarchical organization, not only the state. In the words of Brian Morris: "The term anarchy comes from the Greek, and essentially means 'no ruler.' Anarchists are people who reject all forms of government or coercive authority, all forms of hierarchy and domination. They are therefore opposed to what the Mexican anarchist Flores Magon called the 'sombre trinity' -- state, capital and the church. Anarchists are thus opposed to both capitalism and to the state, as well as to all forms of religious authority. But anarchists also seek to establish or bring about by varying means, a condition of anarchy, that is, a decentralized society without coercive institutions, a society organised through a federation of voluntary associations." ["Anthropology and Anarchism," Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed, no. 45, p. 38] Reference to "hierarchy" in this context is a fairly recent development -- the "classical" anarchists such as Proudhon, Bakunin and Kropotkin did use the word, but rarely (they usually preferred "authority," which was used as short-hand for "authoritarian"). However, it's clear from their writings that theirs was a philosophy against hierarchy, against any inequality of power or privileges between individuals. Bakunin spoke of this when he attacked "official" authority but defended "natural influence," and also when he said: "Do you want to make it impossible for anyone to oppress his fellow-man? Then make sure that no one shall possess power." [The Political Philosophy of Bakunin, p. 271] As Jeff Draughn notes, "while it has always been a latent part of the 'revolutionary project,' only recently has this broader concept of anti-hierarchy arisen for more specific scrutiny. Nonetheless, the root of this is plainly visible in the Greek roots of the word 'anarchy.'" [Between Anarchism and Libertarianism: Defining a New Movement] We stress that this opposition to hierarchy is, for anarchists, not limited to just the state or government. It includes all authoritarian economic and social relationships as well as political ones, particularly those associated with capitalist property and wage labor. This can be seen from Proudhon's argument that "Capital . . . in the political field is analogous to government . . . The economic idea of capitalism . . . [and] the politics of government or of authority . . . [are] identical . . . [and] linked in various ways. . . What capital does to labor . . . the State [does] to liberty . . ." [quoted by Max Nettlau, A Short History of Anarchism, pp. 43-44] Thus we find Emma Goldman opposing capitalism as it involved people selling their labor and so ensuring that "the worker's inclination and judgement are subordinated to the will of a master." [Red Emma Speaks, p. 36] Forty years earlier Bakunin made the same point when he argued that under the current system "the worker sells his person and his liberty for a given time" to the capitalist in exchange for a wage [Op. Cit., p. 187]. Thus "anarchy" means more than just "no government," it means opposition to all forms of authoritarian organization and hierarchy. In Kropotkin's words, "the origin of the anarchist inception of society . . . [lies in] the criticism . . . of the hierarchical organizations and the authoritarian conceptions of society; and . . . the analysis of the tendencies that are seen in the progressive movements of mankind." [Kropotkin's Revolutionary Pamphlets, p. 158] Thus any attempt to assert that anarchy is purely anti-state is a misrepresentation of the word and the way it has been used by the anarchist movement. As Brian Morris argues, "when one examines the writings of classical anarchists. . . as well as the character of anarchist movements. . . it is clearly evident that it has never had this limited vision [of just being against the state]. It has always challenged all forms of authority and exploitation, and has been equally critical of capitalism and religion as it has been of the state." [Op. Cit., p. 40] And, just to state the obvious, anarchy does not mean chaos nor do anarchists seek to create chaos or disorder. Instead, we wish to create a society based upon individual freedom and voluntary co-operation. In other words, order from the bottom up, not disorder imposed from the top down by authorities. A.1.2 What does "anarchism" mean? To quote Peter Kropotkin, Anarchism is "the no-government system of socialism." [Kropotkin's Revolutionary Pamphlets, p. 46]. In other words, "the abolition of exploitation and oppression of man by man, that is the abolition of private property [i.e. capitalism] and government." [Errico Malatesta, "Towards Anarchism," in Man!, M. Graham (Ed), p. 75] Anarchism, therefore, is a political theory that aims to create a society which is without political, economic or social hierarchies. Anarchists maintain that anarchy, the absence of rulers, is a viable form of social system and so work for the maximization of individual liberty and social equality. They see the goals of liberty and equality as mutually self-supporting. Or, in Bakunin's famous dictum: "We are convinced that freedom without Socialism is privilege and injustice, and that Socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality." [The Political Philosophy of Bakunin, p. 269] The history of human society proves this point. Liberty without equality is only liberty for the powerful, and equality without liberty is impossible and a justification for slavery. While there are many different types of anarchism (from individualist anarchism to communist-anarchism -- see section A.3 <http://flag.blackened.net/sai/faq/secA3.html> for more details), there has always been two common positions at the core of all of them -- opposition to government and opposition to capitalism. In the words of the individualist-anarchist Benjamin Tucker, anarchism insists on "the abolition of the State and the abolition of usury; on no more government of man by man, and no more exploitation of man by man." [cited in Native American Anarchism - A Study of Left-Wing American Individualism by Eunice Schuster, p. 140] All anarchists view profit, interest and rent as usury (i.e. as exploitation) and so oppose them and the conditions that create them just as much as they oppose government and the State. More generally, in the words of L. Susan Brown, the "unifying link" within anarchism "is a universal condemnation of hierarchy and domination and a willingness to fight for the freedom of the human individual." [The Politics of Individualism, p. 108] For anarchists, a person cannot be free if they are subject to state or capitalist authority. So Anarchism is a political theory which advocates the creation of anarchy, a society based on the maxim of "no rulers." To achieve this, "[i]n common with all socialists, the anarchists hold that the private ownership of land, capital, and machinery has had its time; that it is condemned to disappear: and that all requisites for production must, and will, become the common property of society, and be managed in common by the producers of wealth. And. . . they maintain that the ideal of the political organization of society is a condition of things where the functions of government are reduced to minimum. . . [and] that the ultimate aim of society is the reduction of the functions of government to nil -- that is, to a society without government, to an-archy" [Peter Kropotkin, Op. Cit., p. 46] Thus anarchism is both positive and negative. It analyses and critiques current society while at the same time offering a vision of a potential new society -- a society that fulfills certain human needs which the current one denies. These needs, at their most basic, are liberty, equality and solidarity, which will be discussed in section A.2 <http://flag.blackened.net/sai/faq/secA2.html>. Anarchism unites critical analysis with hope, for, as Bakunin pointed out, "the urge to destroy is a creative urge." One cannot build a better society without understanding what is wrong with the present one. Do you want to know more?

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Re: Fun with bleach and nail polish remover
by David Honig 29 Dec '01

29 Dec '01

At 02:34 AM 12/30/01 +0200, Sampo Syreeni wrote: >On Sun, 30 Dec 2001, Eugene Leitl wrote: > >>> Minor correction: /H2H2/ should be /H2O2/, naturally. >> >>Organic peroxides are useful as improvised blasting caps, but otherwise >>much too unstable. > >Yes, it's unstable, but what, exactly, is it that makes $H_{2}O_{2}$ >organic? EL first made a correction to the text, then independently commented about how *acetone* peroxides are touchy. Acetone being organic.

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http://www.fcc.gov and LINUX exclusion (fwd)
by Jim Choate 29 Dec '01

29 Dec '01

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2001 18:50:52 -0600 From: Donn aka N5XWB <dwash(a)hal-pc.org> Reply-To: n5xwb(a)arrl.net To: Bob Bourgeois <bbourg(a)ccsi.com>, Carl Perry <caperry(a)edolnx.net>, Collene Pearce <collene(a)jump.net>, Connie Neal <magpie(a)ccsi.com>, Dan_Lee Vogler - TV Linux <dan(a)hdtv.net>, "David \"USB\" Nelson" <dnelson(a)jump.net>, "David A. Nelson" <david(a)kndn.com>, Doc Shipley <drdoc(a)netcene.com>, Donald Palmer <d.plamer(a)cc.utexas.edu>, "E. Ratliff" <ratliff(a)polaris.net>, geoffrey <monkey(a)blackhat.net>, "J.D.K. Chipps" <jdkc(a)woptura.com>, Jep Hill #1 <jep(a)jephill.com>, Jim Chote <ravage(a)einstein.ssz.com>, Joe Barr <joe(a)pjprimer.com>, John Dierdorf <dierdorf(a)io.com>, Josie Duffey <josie(a)duffey.net>, Mark Farver {KA9JMZ} <farver(a)texas.net>, Michael Rice <mrice(a)colltech.com>, Michael Stabenfeldt <stabie(a)stabie-soft.com>, Mick <mick2275(a)texas.net>, Mike Collins <mhtexcollins(a)austin.rr.com>, Paul Elliott <pelliott(a)io.com>, Ray Menke {WX5D} <rndmenke(a)lockhart.net>, Robb Romans <robb(a)killsoft.com>, Scott Brown <scott.brown(a)triptych.net>, Stephen Johnson <omnix(a)austin.rr.com>, Stu Green <sgreen(a)tigertesting.com>, Tami Friedman <tami(a)gnu.org>, Zachary McGrew <zmcgrew(a)yahoo.com> Subject: http://www.fcc.gov and LINUX exclusion Hello Group; Sorry about the long mail list. I would like to request you to contact your State Representative, Senators and the Federal Communication Commission Officers about a issue that is causing ALL UNIX/Linux and Apple users a problem. It seems that the FCC has chosen to exclude all NON Microshaft NT/95 users from being able to use their Internet Universal Licensing System which they have requested FCC Licenses holder to use for license renewals. The problem is that it requires a JavaScript Plug-in that is a Microsoft product only. Simply go to "http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls" and then select "ONLINE FILING". I believe this to be the complete path to the failure. Which is "This plug-in only runs on Windows NT/95". We need to protect the finest operating system from being excluded from the United States by our Government Officials. -- 73 de Donn Washburn __ " http://www.hal-pc.org/~dwash " Ham Callsign N5XWB / / __ __ __ __ __ __ __ MSDOS Virus 307 Savoy St. / /__ / / / \/ / / /_/ / \ \/ / "Free Zone" Sugar Land, TX 77478 /_____/ /_/ /_/\__/ /_____/ /_/\_\ OS 1.281.242.3256 email:n5xwb@arrl.net Info:" http://www.hlug.org "

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Re: Fun with bleach and nail polish remover
by Sampo Syreeni 29 Dec '01

29 Dec '01

On Sun, 30 Dec 2001, Eugene Leitl wrote: >> Minor correction: /H2H2/ should be /H2O2/, naturally. > >Organic peroxides are useful as improvised blasting caps, but otherwise >much too unstable. Yes, it's unstable, but what, exactly, is it that makes $H_{2}O_{2}$ organic? Sampo Syreeni, aka decoy - mailto:decoy@iki.fi, tel:+358-50-5756111 student/math+cs/helsinki university, http://www.iki.fi/~decoy/front openpgp: 050985C2/025E D175 ABE5 027C 9494 EEB0 E090 8BA9 0509 85C2

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Afghans Demand End to Bombing
by Anonymous 29 Dec '01

29 Dec '01

Heard on the news tonight that the "interim Afghan government" was demanding an end to the bombing in 3 days, and that all troops leave in 6 months. Some US general asshole then announced from Dubbya's ranch in Texass that "we will decide when we'll stop bombing, and nobody else" and Dubbya says the troops will be there for a long time. I love it -- won't it be fun when the Afghans all start killing Yanks? Anybody want to bet on how long it will be before the first Americans are killed by non-Taliban Afghans?

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Violating the Constitution with Impunity
by keyser-soze＠hushmail.com 29 Dec '01

29 Dec '01

A recent speech by former FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth is rather refreshing. A key quote. "Today, when the federal government violates the constitution including the First Amendment, we mostly find silence from the media." http://www.aei.org/sp/sp111601b.htm There is little doubt that much that we have taken for granted in the United States has changed in the past two months. Our feeling of security, our confidence in the safety of public facilities, and our general sense of well-being have all been shaken. The poignant question is raised about whether the First Amendment—particularly the speech provision--has changed, or perhaps whether the government’s interpretation of it has changed. I have some good news. The words of the First Amendment are the same today as they were two months ago, or two years ago, or two decades ago, or two centuries ago. But I also have some bad news. The First Amendment has been violated many times in the past two centuries. As Floyd Abrams noted earlier this morning, many of our greatest national leaders have taken great liberties in curtailing the First Amendment, particularly in times of crisis. And it is not just our great leaders, and it is not only in times of crisis, that the First Amendment has been violated. The constitution itself, and the First Amendment in particular, are violated frequently. Moreover, those who violate the constitution are rarely held accountable. Public servants largely have immunity for liability in their performance of their public functions. But, when it comes to the constitution, that immunity often turns into impunity, a veritable license to violate at will. Aside from occasional public disapprobation, there is no penalty for violating the Constitution generally or the First Amendment in particular.

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Re: Fun with bleach and nail polish remover
by KPJ 29 Dec '01

29 Dec '01

It appears as if Anonymous via the Cypherpunks Tonga Remailer <noreply(a)cypherpunks.to> wrote: | |I have seen too many "dangerous" mistakes in this NG when AP is being |discussed. I will rather give you the correct details that you make it and do |not blow off your hands. [...] |Hydrogen peroxide H2H2 - Available at a beauty supply store and possibly a |pharmacy. Minor correction: /H2H2/ should be /H2O2/, naturally.

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Re: Fun with bleach and nail polish remover
by keyser-soze＠hushmail.com 29 Dec '01

29 Dec '01

At 11:29 PM 12/29/2001 +0100, Anonynmous wrote: >You will need 30% Hydrogen Peroxide (6% will give you a rather poor yield). Now to get the 30% Hydrogen Peroxide, go to your local hospital chemist. 30% will never be sold to someone for their hair so don't try that story, so spin a story that the Peroxide is to clean a wound as it is a great disinfectant (diluted of course). If you have trouble finding concentrated H2O2 you can distill your own from dilute sources. http://webhome.idirect.com/~earlcp/Reports/Stills_199x.html

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Fun with bleach and nail polish remover
by Anonymous via the Cypherpunks Tonga Remailer 29 Dec '01

29 Dec '01

However, it may be impossible to prevent the publication of all information concerning the making and use of explosives. The problem of easy availability of information on how to make improvised explosive devices is compounded by the ease with which anyone can also obtain the necessary materials to make a bomb. Improvised explosive devices can be manufactured from such common chemicals as acetone (fingernail polish remover), peroxide (hair bleach), and one additional readily available ingredient. For example, Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP), a combination of these ingredients, is currently the most common explosive used by terrorists in Israel. I have seen too many "dangerous" mistakes in this NG when AP is being discussed. I will rather give you the correct details that you make it and do not blow off your hands. You will need 30% Hydrogen Peroxide (6% will give you a rather poor yield). Now to get the 30% Hydrogen Peroxide, go to your local hospital chemist. 30% will never be sold to someone for their hair so don't try that story, so spin a story that the Peroxide is to clean a wound as it is a great disinfectant (diluted of course). The acetone can be bought at either a hardware store or at a hospital or normal chemist. If you get asked why you need the acetone, spin a story that it is used to thin paint, or to strip paint. Remember that acetone is highly flammable. The Hydrochloric Acid can be purchased from any swimming pool shop, or from your local hardware store. The type that goes into your pool is normally 31.5% and is perfect for what you need. The Hydrochloric acid will give you a trimmer, sulphuric acid will give you the dimmer version of the AP. Now that you have acquired all the ingredients, take a beaker or clean 500 ml bottle and place it into some nice cold water. Into this beaker, add 200 ml hydrogen peroxide (try not to get any of this onto your skin). Now add 150 ml of the acetone. Remember to do this outside as the fumes are rather unpleasant to breath in. You will feel the beaker will start to get a bit warm. Now add 50 ml hydrochloric acid to the mixture and stir with a glass rod. There that is all you have to do. Do this experiment in the evening and let the AP stand over night. In the morning you will see that you will have +- 2.5 cm of crystals at the bottom of the flask and +- 0.5 cm floating on the top of the flask. Take a glass funnel and insert coffee filter paper or oil filtering paper and filter the AP crystals out. Place these crystals out onto a sheet of clean paper and leave them to dry +- 1/2 a day to a day. Try to keep the crystals out of direct sunlight, preferably in a shady area. Place these dry crystals into a camera film container. Please do not hit these crystals with a hammer as a bright person claimed to have done, you could land up with that hammer in your forehead. AP is sensitive to heat and to friction. When the crystals do not respond to either friction or impact it simply means that the crystals are still too wet. WARNING: Acetone Peroxide is dangerous and very sensitive to FRICTION, SHOCK, HEAT OR FLAME. Handle with great care!! This composition is dangerous and would need to be handled by someone with a lot of common sense. If you do not have experience with explosives DO NOT MAKE THIS. I can not stress enough how unstable and dangerous acetone peroxide is. This explosive is the most unstable of all other explosives. Making large quantities is suicide as the weight of the crystals will detonate themselves. Information on Acetone Peroxide: Acetone peroxide is formed when hydrogen peroxide 30% acts on acetone. The introduction of dilute sulfuric acid causes the reaction to go into completion. There are actually two isomers of acetone peroxide, the first is tricycloacetone peroxide and the second is dicycloacetone peroxide. Both of these compounds are very similar, but the reaction seems to favor the tricyclo over the dicyclo. Both will be made in the reaction to differing degrees. The trimmer has about 80% the power of TNT. A quantity the size of a pea in contact with a flame will burn instantaneously with a small 'pop' and producing a fireball, much like HMTD does. Any sign of confinement will ensure that ignition will rapidly give rise to detonation. Acetone peroxide is a powerful primary explosive. It, as with other explosive peroxides, seems to be very volatile. In standing 10 days at room temperature, 50% of the sample will completely volatilize. It's vaporizable nature makes it a explosive that would have to be used immediately after manufacture. However, this explosive is compatible with metals and will not cause their corrosion and the subsequent dangers involved. It is also compatible with picric acid, R.D.X., T.N.T. and P.E.T.N. It is highly friction sensitive and extreme care should be taken to avoid this. Acetone peroxide is one of the most sensitive explosive known to man. Great care would be needed to handle this explosive carefully. Mixtures of R.D.X. and Picric acid with acetone peroxide are reported to be used between primary explosive and the base charge. Mixtures such as picric acid / acetone peroxide (40/60) or similar mixtures with R.D.X. and P.E.T.N. will give explosives greatly increased resistance to impact without losing much performance. These dried crystals would be ready to load into detonators for immediate use as the storage stability is not very good. DETONATION VELOCITY: 3750 M/sec. @ 0.92 G/cc 5300 M/sec. @ 1.18 G/cc FRICTION SENSITIVITY: Very Sensitive!!! Materials Sources ---------------- Acetone C3H6O - Used as a solvent for stripping paint and cleaning brushes. It can be purchased in pint to gallon sizes at hardware stores or paint supply stores rather cheaply. Sulfuric acid H2SO4 - Available at chemistry stores. Hydrogen peroxide H2H2 - Available at a beauty supply store and possibly a pharmacy. Procedure For Tricycloacetone Peroxide -------------------------------------- This information is no longer available. However I will give some tips on the procedure: I used a 500-mL beaker during the stirring/preparing of the AP. Make up a salt-ice tub. Place the beaker in the tub and cool it to 50 C. When adding concentrated (75%) sulfuric acid, do it drop by drop using an eye dropper. Stir the mixture continuously while adding the acid, keep the temperature between 50 C to 100 C, stop adding acid if the temperature gets to high. After adding all the acid continue stirring for 5 minutes. Keep the mixture in the tub for about 24 hours. After sitting a white precipitate should have formed. The mixture is poured over a filter to collect the crystals, then the white product is washed three times with distilled water. Allow the crystals to dry before using. Keep them damp if storing. I would suggest using this explosive within several days because it will quickly vaporize. If you wish to store the crystals, you should keep them damp. NOTE: If the crystals vaporize inside a container it will crystallize into a unstable form that will explode at the touch, even if damp! ----- >From the Diane Feinstein Center for the First Amendment

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Article: Embedding Identities
by BlancInk 29 Dec '01

29 Dec '01

>From http://www.israel21c.com/channels/technology/articles/tech_0014.htm: Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the University of Connecticut have designed a novel method for improving the security of identification cards or passports. In the sophisticated approach, a block of encrypted information - such as the bearer's fingerprint pattern or other unique personal facts - can be concealed within a picture on a document. Because this information is relevant to the bearer alone, use of the ID by a person resembling the cardholder is easily unmasked. Moreover, since only the issuer knows the complex keys used to encrypt the hidden information, it would be nearly impossible to forge an ID that would pass through the system. According to Prof. Joseph Rosen at BGU's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the new development combines two well-known methods of representing data. One is the half-tone image, a two-dimensional pattern of larger and smaller dots used in reproducing pictures. The other is a 2D barcode, in which a checkerboard of tiny dots and spaces represents digital information. Barcodes are familiar to all of us: They are the long string of lines printed on packaging labels for product identification. But a 2D barcode comprised of small dots can record much more information than the string of lines and is an inexpensive way to provide extensive data about a person or a manufactured product. In this new development, Rosen and his colleague Prof. Bahram Javidi of the University of Connecticut have combined the 2D halftone image and barcode by slightly shifting the positions of the arrangement of halftone dots. The concealed barcode information can be retrieved using what is known as a 2-D spatial correlator, which contains a confidential filter function that deciphers the concealed image. The new technology, Rosen said, is very robust as even a damaged ID picture or a half-covered picture contains sufficient hidden data to retrieve the encrypted information. This is because the entirety of secret data is distributed throughout the picture. However, if the original picture is not whole, the hidden picture will be reproduced with lower quality. Another advantage of this development is that both optical and computational approaches can be used to reveal the hidden data. A patent has been submitted for the approach to conceal an image within an image. -------- .. Blanc

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