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Denver Post.com - Face-ID technology gains new support
by Jim Choate 19 Sep '01

19 Sep '01

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,53%257E151641,00.html -- -- ____________________________________________________________________ The future, as always, belongs to the dreamers. Heinz Pagels The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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They all have to rearrange their brains now -- [WTC] is the greatest work of art ever.
by Subcommander Bob 19 Sep '01

19 Sep '01

Composer creates storm describing attack on US as 'work of art' HAMBURG, Germany, Sept 18 (AFP) - Composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, 73, has roused indignation in Germany for describing last week's catastrophic airplane assaults on New York as "the greatest work of art ever." The renowned contemporary composer, who was speaking to journalists in Hamburg late Sunday, immediately retracted the remark and asked them not to report it. But as a result of what he said, two concerts featuring Stockhausen which were to be given Tuesday and Wednesday were cancelled by the organisers of a music festival at the request of the local cultural authorities and festival sponsors. Hamburg's general director of music, Ingo Metzmacher, had invited the composer to stage performances of his own works at the current Hamburg music festival. The German news agency DPA said the composer had quit Hamburg, greatly upset by the affair. In a statement issued by the music festival organisers, Stockhausen said he had been asked whether characters in his work, such as Lucifer, were historical, and that he had replied "they are always contemporary, for example Lucifer in New York. "I recalled the destruction of art. Any other words outside of this context have no relation to what I meant," he insisted. Hamburg culture senator (minister) Christina Weiss said the composer's reported remark was inexcusable, given the grief and mourning in the United States. "Out of feeling for the political culture of the city and the federal republic, the concerts had to be cancelled," she said. According to DPA, the composer, who had been asked about the attacks on the United States, said: "What happened there is -- they all have to rearrange their brains now -- is the greatest work of art ever. "That characters can bring about in one act what we in music cannot dream of, that people practise madly for ten years, completely fanatically, for a concert and then die. That is the greatest work of art for the whole cosmos. "I could not do that. Against that, we, composers, are nothing." http://asia.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/entertainment/afp/article.html?s=…

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Re: chip-level randomness? (fwd)
by Jim Choate 19 Sep '01

19 Sep '01

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 13:50:53 -0700 From: John Gilmore <gnu(a)toad.com> To: Pawel Krawczyk <kravietz(a)aba.krakow.pl> Cc: Bram Cohen <bram(a)gawth.com>, cryptography(a)wasabisystems.com, gnu(a)toad.com, tytso(a)mit.edu Subject: Re: chip-level randomness? The real-RNG in the Intel chip generates something like 75 kbits/sec of processed random bits. These are merely wasted if nobody reads them before it generates 75kbits more in the next second. I suggest that if application programs don't read all of these bits out of /dev/intel-rng (or whatever it's called), and the kernel /dev/random pool isn't fully charged with entropy, then the real-RNG driver should feed some of the excess random bits into the /dev/random pool periodically. When and how it siphons off bits from the RNG is a separate issue; but can we agree that feeding otherwise-wasted bits into a depleted /dev/random would be a good idea? A better way to structure this might be for /dev/intel-rng to register with /dev/random as a source of entropy that /dev/random can call upon if it depletes its pool. /dev/random would then be making decisions about when to stir more entropy into the pool (either in response to a read on /dev/random, or to "read ahead" to increase the available pool in between such reads). Thus, when demand on /dev/random is high, it would become one of the "application programs" that would compete to read from /dev/intel-rng. Since /dev/random is the defined interface for arbitrary applications to get unpredictable bits out of the kernel, I would expect that in general, /dev/random is likely to be the MAJOR consumer of /dev/intel-rng bits. (Linux IPSEC uses /dev/random or /dev/urandom for keying material. It can easily consume many thousands of random bits per second in doing IKE's Diffie-Hellman to set up dozens of tunnels. Today this "surge demand" occurs at boot time when setting up preconfigured tunnels -- a particularly bad time since the system hasn't been collecting entropy for very long. /dev/intel-rng's high-spead stream can significantly improve the quality of this keying material, by replenishing the entropy pool almost as fast IPSEC consumes it. Over time, IPSEC's long-term demand for random bits will increase, since opportunistic encryption allows many more tunnels to be created, with much less effort per tunnel by the system administrator.) Also, the PRNG in /dev/random and /dev/urandom may someday be broken by analytical techniques. The more diverse sources of true or apparent randomness that we can feed into it, the less likely it is that a successful theoretical attack on the PRNG will be practically successful. If even a single entropy source of sufficiently high speed is feeding it, even a compromised PRNG may well be unbreakable. John --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to majordomo(a)wasabisystems.com

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Aid and understanding...
by news＠mailings.advisorteam.com 19 Sep '01

19 Sep '01

<PRE> We at AdvisorTeam are horrified and saddened by the events of September 11. All of our lives, and our sense of safety and security, have been immeasurably changed. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and friends, and with all of those people whose lives have been directly affected. We're grateful to those who are at the site contributing to the ongoing relief and rescue efforts. In an effort to help, we are sending you this special newsletter. In it, we provide information about ways you can show support, as well as some suggestions for understanding and coping with symptoms of stress and anxiety. During the days and weeks to come, it is to be expected that many of us may experience unpleasant symptoms, including those listed below. These vary with each individual and tend to diminish gradually as time passes. We believe that temperament theory is a useful source of understanding about the human condition and contains some wisdom that can help us deal with extreme situations. As you try to understand your reactions, as well as those of your loved ones, friends and others with whom you come in contact, keep in mind that we all have certain core needs. We usually speak of Artisans, Guardians, Idealists, and Rationals as if they were "four kinds of people." In reality, the temperaments are clusters of traits and needs that represent four patterns of the human experience, each of which comes to play in every one of us. It's important to remember that we're all affected by these patterns, particularly when we are jolted out of our usual routines. Our feelings of well-being are affected when we experience temporary restrictions on our freedoms; disruption of the order and structure that we take for granted in our daily lives; a shock that may have brought up questions of "meaning"; and a loss of our sense of control. You and the people around you may experience some of the following symptoms, which may or may not be connected to your conscious thoughts, opinions, or feelings about the events. At a very basic level, they are how we respond to disequilibrium - manifestations of the "flight or fight response." - Increased or decreased need for food, sex, and/or sleep - Social withdrawal or increased need for social contact - Irritability or anger - Being easily startled - Restlessness - Mood swings - Difficulty concentrating, "spacey-ness" - Preoccupation with troubling thoughts, images, or nightmares - Feelings of fear or hopelessness, or of personal responsibility - Shock or denial - Grieving Here are some things you can do to manage your anxiety: 1. Be aware that you and people around you may be affected. 2. If your symptoms are severe, speaking with a counselor or clergy member may help. 3. Be patient with yourself and with other people. 4. Acts of kindness can make a world of difference, not just to those to whom they are directed, but also to those who perform them. ------------------------------------------------------------------- For information numbers and some ways you can help, please visit: http://www.advisorteam.com/newsletter0801/howtohelp.html In support of the rescue and recovery efforts, AdvisorTeam will contribute 10% of the price of every report purchased at our site between now and September 30th. ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you would like to be removed from our e-mail list, please opt-out http://mailings.advisorteam.com/remove3/CKA_OMCAB!f7a4d6226eae6cc8. <img width=1 height=1 border=0 src="http://mailings.advisorteam.com/client3/CKA_OMCAB.gif"> <PRE>

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Re: Mandatory ID Cards
by Meyer Wolfsheim 19 Sep '01

19 Sep '01

> MSNBC is reporting that Congress is thinking of requiring all citizens > and non-citizens in the United States to carry ID cards. We're already half-way there. With our photo-id driver's licenses, and required identification before boarding airplanes, convenient travel and lack of anonymity go hand in hand. > It looks like the anti-privacy folks are going to do an end-run around > the encryption issue, and first attack anonymity. An interesting > strategy, and one which we should not let go unchallenged. This was my thought, to which I eluded in my last post the list. I don't think crypto opponents could find ways to justify banning its use. However, an anonymity crack-down is most certainly coming. And be on the look-out for RIP-USA. -MW-

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Freedom flees in terror from Sept. 11 disaster By Paul McMasters
by Matthew Gaylor 19 Sep '01

19 Sep '01

<http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=14924> Freedom flees in terror from Sept. 11 disaster Ombudsman By Paul McMasters <pmcmasters(a)freedomforum.org> First Amendment Ombudsman First Amendment Center 09.19.01 Last Tuesday's terrors were so calamitous that they threaten to shake us loose from our constitutional mooring. A civil liberties catastrophe looms as citizens surrender to fear, fury and frustration and as lawmakers throw money and shards of the Bill of Rights at the specter of terrorism. Some of our elected leaders predict a gloomy future for freedom. "We're in a new world where we have to rebalance freedom and security," said House Democratic Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt, D-Mo. "We're not going to have all the openness and freedom we have had." Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., repeated the warning: "When you're in this type of conflict, when you're at war, civil liberties are treated differently." Even staunch First Amendment advocates, haunted by the suffering and devastation in New York City, near Washington, D.C., and the Pennsylvania countryside, are tempted to temporize in the face of insistent calls to suspend or re-examine our commitment to civil liberties. The First Amendment fallout commenced within hours of the airplanes crashing into their targets. Tuesday afternoon, FBI agents fanned out to persuade Internet firms and service providers to hook up e-mail sniffing software to monitor private citizens' e-mail. While the desire to marshal all resources in such circumstances is understandable, there are serious consequences for private speech and public discourse when ordinary citizens fear that law enforcement officials with broad powers to investigate and detain are listening in. Expressive activity was curtailed in a variety of places. A high school official reprimanded a student who distributed a flier asking her classmates to pray. Officials at the Baltimore Museum of Art took down a Christopher Wool painting containing the word "Terrorist" (later, they promised to provide "new interpretation" for the painting when it is reinstalled). New York police and members of the National Guard confiscated film from journalists and tourists. If only that were the worst of it. Government officials and policymakers immediately called for measures that would chill public discourse, disrupt reporting by the press, and interrupt the flow of information to the public. They want an expansion of law enforcement powers to spy on telephone and Internet traffic, to restrict the use of Internet encryption products that thwart online monitoring of private email, to slow down and divert funds from the declassification of secrets, and to force public libraries to reveal information about patrons' use of their computers. In Congress, prospects brightened for several troubling measures, including: * The Cyber Security Information Act, which among other things would blow a gaping hole in the Freedom of Information Act. * Anti-leaks legislation, dubbed the "official secrets acts" by those who are deeply concerned about its impact on speech and the press and the flow of critical information to the public. * The Flag Desecration Act, which would for the first time in the history of our nation amend the First Amendment to prohibit burning the flag as a form of political dissent. To compound the threat, there are disturbing examples of private or self-imposed restrictions on expression. Web pages shut down or removed content, a radio network circulated a list of songs that would be problematic to play, an employer confiscated American flags from the desks of workers, and a wire service withheld news footage after Palestinian threats against a photographer. It would be foolish to dismiss such events - public or private - as mere nibbling at the edges of our rights. In fact, each nibble diminishes our commitment to freedom and the principles that distinguish our way of life from all others. In such an atmosphere, voices of dissent grow silent, probing questions by the press are viewed as unpatriotic and subversive, and whistleblowers inside government with vital information are quieted. In such an atmosphere, propaganda, rumor and paranoia fester and infect. In such an atmosphere, citizens are denied their place as full partners in their own governance. By suspending some of our most precious principles, the risk becomes not just terrorists whose hearts have grown rancid with hate but also a citizenry whose hearts are filled with fear. There are things we can and should be doing rather than joining the stampede to ditch our rights. As columnist Thomas Friedman put it: "We have to fight the terrorists as if there were no rules and preserve our open society as if there were no terrorists." First, we must remember that we've gone down this road too many times before. We have suspended freedom of speech, press and assembly during wartime and other crises, to the point of sending prominent Americans to jail for long terms for uttering unpatriotic words. And always we've looked back in wonderment that we could have been so stupid, that we could have so easily cast aside our democratic heritage. We must demand of ourselves that a distinction is made - in public discourse as well as public policy - between what is merely inconvenient and what strikes at the heart of our most important freedoms. We must demand of those proposing a degradation of our freedom that they provide an immediate and convincing argument that such an approach represents a real solution rather than a false hope. Finally, before we begin to contemplate forfeiture of any of our essential liberties, we must thoroughly examine the lapses in public policy and operations that have become so cruelly evident in the wake of the disaster. Lapses in intelligence collection and analysis; in basic security measures at airports; in granting and monitoring of visas; in national, state and local emergency preparedness. As much as we wish to be safe forever from the horrors of last week, we simply cannot protect freedom by forsaking freedom. As much as we want relief from this time of national duress, we simply cannot make ourselves more secure by making fundamental freedoms less secure. The words of Samuel Adams, in a different time and context, present a challenge to our natural impulse to sacrifice freedom in the face of terrorism: "Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say, What should be the reward of such sacrifices? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude than the animating contest of freedom - go from us in peace. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you." What an affront to the courage and heroism shown by those who gave their lives in rescue efforts or in forcing hijackers into a crash if we give in easily to fear or panic. Fire from the skies and hatred from afar last Tuesday caused human carnage and suffering at an unthinkable level. They dealt terrifying blows to our financial institutions, our transportation and communications systems, our political and military nerve centers, and to a nation's sense of self and security. Do we really want to add constitutional freedoms to that sorrowful list of casualties? ************************************************************************** Subscribe to Freematt's Alerts: Pro-Individual Rights Issues Send a blank message to: freematt(a)coil.com with the words subscribe FA on the subject line. List is private and moderated (7-30 messages per week) Matthew Gaylor, (614) 313-5722 ICQ: 106212065 Archived at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fa/ **************************************************************************

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Re: CNN poll
by Steve Thompson 19 Sep '01

19 Sep '01

Quoting Trei, Peter (ptrei(a)rsasecurity.com) > While these online polls are rarely terribly meaningful, > I will note that CNN has one going now, at > http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/19/gen.america.under.attack/ > > It asks 'Would you accept more government involvement in your > life if it meant more security against terrorism?" > > So far: > > Yes: 70% 118946 votes > No: 30% 49938 votes > > Peter Trei I wonder why they bother with such polls. At this time, there is enough legislation and political will to mandate `more government' involvement in people's lives without the need for unscientific study. Not only is there a need for a war to boost the flagging economy, but obviously the future security of the human race _depends_ on omnipresent government intrusion in the affairs of man. What, exactly, is gained by these silly pretences at polling the people for their opinions when the unassailable logic of military necessity is sufficient unto itself? I suggest that journalists explain, in simple terms, the facts of national security to the public. Properly presented, the majority will easily accept the inevitable without complaint since the only other option will be to abandon facts and logick for chaos and uncertainty. Regards, Steve -- Several eye-witnesses report seeing a missile strike the WTC before it went down.

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CNN poll
by Trei, Peter 19 Sep '01

19 Sep '01

While these online polls are rarely terribly meaningful, I will note that CNN has one going now, at http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/19/gen.america.under.attack/ It asks 'Would you accept more government involvement in your life if it meant more security against terrorism?" So far: Yes: 70% 118946 votes No: 30% 49938 votes Peter Trei "They that give up necessary liberty to obtain temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin

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CNN.com - China's dilemma in the fight against terrorism - September 19, 2001
by Jim Choate 19 Sep '01

19 Sep '01

OBL for Taiwan... http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/east/09/19/ret.china.dilemma/ -- -- ____________________________________________________________________ The future, as always, belongs to the dreamers. Heinz Pagels The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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SIG: A 'Tarpit' That Traps Worms
by Jim Choate 19 Sep '01

19 Sep '01

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,46964,00.html -- -- ____________________________________________________________________ The future, as always, belongs to the dreamers. Heinz Pagels The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage(a)ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------

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