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The Open Source Initiative needs your help [FYI - Stu]
by Stu Green 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Subject: The Open Source Initiative needs your help From: "Eric S. Raymond" <esr(a)thyrsus.com> Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1998 19:48:39 GMT Approved: linux-announce(a)news.ornl.gov (Mikko Rauhala) Followup-To: comp.os.linux.misc Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce Old-Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 23:19:37 -0500 Organization: Eric Conspiracy Secret Labs Xref: cyclone.swbell.net comp.os.linux.announce:3567 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- The Open Source Initiative needs your help. The Open Source certification mark is a valuable tool for turning on everybody interest in software on to our way of doing things. But for it to keep working, we have to make sure it doesn't get legally diluted. (This is a legal requirement; if we don't enforce the mark, we lose it.) We're a handful of unpaid volunteers. There are a lot of potential diluters out there. We need you to help us keep an eye on them. If you see the term `Open Source' (or even the lower-case `open-source') being used to describe software with distribution conditions that don't fit the Open Source Definition, please inform us at mark-misuse(a)opensource.org All the misuses we've seen so far are accidental. We gently set those people straight. In the process, we try to educate them and bring them fully into the open-source community. If there is ever deliberate or malicious abuse, we will be ready to do what is necessary on behalf of the community. Thanks in advance. - -- Eric S. Raymond The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money. -- Alexis de Tocqueville - -- This article has been digitally signed by the moderator, using PGP. http://www.iki.fi/mjr/cola-public-key.asc has PGP key for validating signature. Send submissions for comp.os.linux.announce to: linux-announce(a)news.ornl.gov PLEASE remember a short description of the software and the LOCATION. This group is archived at http://www.iki.fi/mjr/linux/cola.html -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.3ia Charset: latin1 iQCVAgUBNmbrGFrUI/eHXJZ5AQGXPwQAszpIGeQE6YMeHvlgKCUm285yTsaR84kj K0ZHh6Eu50kpqIfNI3kuJt9ufqM+jPZhiYxNFdT+BtcbEqPGaGLdrD1xqAM6gVY+ 6Ht90AzHrdiwx2Tdlpg1oZo32obiWHLgb5eO4rOeQkmcmmuonKRKb1yNGagnhmbZ a6y3SgRqOoI= =pLE9 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Palm III proves a hi-tech helper for car thieves
by Richard Fiero 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Taken from http://www.theregister.co.uk/981204-000007.html A 3Com Palm III and software that lets the handheld control TVs and VCRs through its infrared port are all you need to nick a car these days, it seems. Danish IT journalist Lars Sorensen made the discovery when testing the sofwtare's legitimate uses. The software samples a TV's remote control signals so it can replicate them -- Sorensen wondered if it would do the same with a car's infrared lock and found that it would. Here in the UK, estimates from the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre, quoted in New Scientist magazine, suggest that three million of the 22 million cars on the road are vulnerable to Palm-toting thieves. Interestingly, older cars that are more at risk than newer models. Most modern vehicles contain locking systems that change the locking code every time the key is used from sequences of 10 to the power 64 (a one with 64 zeros after it) making it virtually impossible to predict the code at any given instance. That said, Sorensen was able to enter a 1998 model, so no one can be sure they are safe.

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Wassenaar Encryption Agreement
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The United States and 32 other nations that belong to a group called the Wassenaar Arrangement, which coordinates export policies for technologies that have both civilian and military use, have signed an agreement restricting exports of encryption technology from their countries. The Clinton administration, which has already imposed such controls in this country, says the agreement will help American companies compete on a more equal footing with their counterparts abroad. Privacy organizations are critical of the agreement, and a counsel for the advocacy group Americans for Computer Privacy says there will still be enormous differences in how the countries put the agreement into practice. (Washington Post 4 Dec 98) #!/usr/local/bin/perl -0777-- -export-a-crypto-system-sig -RC4-3-lines-PERL @k=unpack('C*',pack('H*',shift));for(@t=@s=0..255){$y=($k[$_%@k]+$s[$x=$_ ]+$y)%256;&S}$x=$y=0;for(unpack('C*',<>)){$x++;$y=($s[$x%=256]+$y)%256; &S;print pack(C,$_^=$s[($s[$x]+$s[$y])%256])}sub S{@s[$x,$y]=@s[$y,$x]}

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Crypto deterrents
by Anonymous 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

White men traded as 'sex slaves' of black prisoners By Fergal Keane, in Illinois WHITE male prisoners in American jails are being "sold as sex slaves" by black fellow inmates for money, tobacco, drugs and alcohol, according to campaigners who are urging action to end widespread homosexual rape behind bars. Damaging claims of complicity by prison guards are also emerging. Five wardens at a Californian maximum security jail are facing charges relating to the rape of an inmate by a notorious sexual predator. The wardens allegedly forced a troublesome prisoner to share a cell with a black gang leader, who was rewarded with extra food and clothes for imposing "discipline" on the man. According to the campaigners, the sex attacks often carry ugly racial overtones, with many white prisoners claiming that they were sexually abused after being placed in cells with black inmates. Most victims are too scared to complain, it is claimed, and those that do say they have been ignored by the authorities. The scale of the scandal has been uncovered by the pressure group Human Rights Watch, which next year will publish a report documenting the "staggering prevalence" of prison rape. The situation is not just provoking concern among civil liberties groups. In the state of Illinois, a prominent conservative figure, Republican legislator Cal Skinner, is also pushing for tougher government action. He claims that many of the rape victims have been infected with the HIV virus and that American prisons are becoming a breeding ground for Aids. Mr Skinner said: "There are sexual slaves in too many prisons. People are being given a death sentence." He wants to see the mandatory Aids testing of all prisoners with the segregation of those found to be HIV positive. He believes it is one of the few ways of protecting vulnerable inmates from the potentially fatal effect of prison rape. The renewed concern over rape in prisons has come too late for Michael Blucker, 29, a white man from Crystal Lake in Illinois, who was repeatedly gang-raped while serving a sentence for burglary. Blucker's ordeal is almost too horrific to contemplate: he was forced to become a sex slave to black prisoners at Menard State Penitentiary in Illinois. Prison rape is not confined to white victims but they are particularly vulnerable as black gang members make up such a large part of the American prison population. Blucker said: "I was the only white man in a gallery [wing] of more than 100 prisoners. Most of the guys were in for very serious crimes; they were people who weren't going to be getting out of there any time in the next 30 years." The first attack came when Blucker had been in jail just two weeks. He was set upon by three black prisoners, stripped, beaten and raped. "They would have killed me if I had refused. Killing means nothing to these people," he said. Once it became known that he had been raped, Blucker's life became even more of a nightmare. In the violent world of American prisons, an inmate who "allows" himself to be raped is regarded as fair game for every other inmate and is used as a sex slave, normally under the direction of a senior gang leader. In Blucker's case, one of the black prisoners sold him to other inmates on a daily basis. "He would physically threaten me and threaten to have harm done to my wife outside prison. Every day, I would be sold as a sex object while he was given money and cigarettes and marijuana and alcohol in return." When the threats of violence did not cow Blucker, his tormentor would beat him into submission. While filming in Butner prison in North Carolina, I met Ivory Rhodes, a black prisoner, who was attacked within days of being placed in the cell of a known rapist. The pattern he described was almost exactly the same as that experienced by Blucker. A violent attack and the threat of death followed by brutal rape. Rhodes's solution was to try to spend long periods in solitary confinement, a deprivation he preferred to risking his life in the main cells. Rhodes managed to avoid being raped again, but whenever he was transferred from one prison to another, the stigma of "rape victim" went with him. After his rape, Rhodes never moved out of his cell without carrying a knife. He described a world in which any weakness is preyed upon by the tougher and older inmates. The young, the first-time offenders, the middle class are especially vulnerable to attack. Blucker said: "There are people who say that if somebody attacked them in prison they would kill themselves or kill other people. That is bull. It just doesn't happen that way." What was almost certainly his worst experience occurred in the showers when he was set upon by a large gang of prisoners. "They pulled bricks out of the wall and they hit me in the nose and the eye and then on the back of the head, which knocked me out." Then he was repeatedly raped. "I couldn't tell you if it was one, three, 10 or 15 people. All I know is that I felt very unwell." At first, Blucker said, he was too frightened to report the rapes for fear of being killed by the other inmates, but after the shower incident he spoke to prison officials. The result, he claimed, was indifference. "I spoke to officers and medical people and no one believed me." Blucker subsequently took a court action against several prison guards and the prison psychiatrist but was unable to prove his claims. What is not disputed is that he needed extensive surgery for injuries sustained in the attack and that while in prison he contracted the HIV virus. Blucker was eventually transferred from Menard after lobbying a local politician. Now a free man, he is looking for a job and is actively involved in his church. God, he says, will save him from Aids. Fergal Keane is a BBC Special Correspondent

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SHANGHAI ENTREPRENEUR TRIED IN CHINA
by Secret Squirrel 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The Chinese government has put 30-year-old Shanghai computer software businessman Lin Hai on trial for "inciting the overthrow of state power" by providing 30,000 e-mail addresses to a U.S. Internet magazine called "Big Reference" published by Chinese dissidents. Chinese authorities closed the four-hour trial for what it said were "national security" reasons, and "persuaded" one member of Lin's legal team not to attend the trial. Lin's wife Xu Hong, who was questioned by the police for six hours, has indicated that Lin's lawyer "said he didn't have a very good feeling -- that things won't be good for Lin and he will probably be found guilty." (Washington Post 5 Dec 98) #!/usr/local/bin/perl -0777-- -export-a-crypto-system-sig -RC4-3-lines-PERL @k=unpack('C*',pack('H*',shift));for(@t=@s=0..255){$y=($k[$_%@k]+$s[$x=$_ ]+$y)%256;&S}$x=$y=0;for(unpack('C*',<>)){$x++;$y=($s[$x%=256]+$y)%256; &S;print pack(C,$_^=$s[($s[$x]+$s[$y])%256])}sub S{@s[$x,$y]=@s[$y,$x]}

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MITNICK TRIAL POSTPONED AGAIN
by Secret Squirrel 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The long-awaited trial of Kevin Mitnick, the accused computer hacker indicted on 25 counts of "stealing, copying, and misappropriating proprietary computer software" from a number of cellular and computer companies, has been postponed until April 20 after Mitnick's lawyer asked for more time to prepare his case. The trial was slated to begin on January 19. Mitnick has been in jail in Los Angeles awaiting trial since February 1995. - Los Angeles Times 4 Dec 98 #!/usr/local/bin/perl -0777-- -export-a-crypto-system-sig -RC4-3-lines-PERL @k=unpack('C*',pack('H*',shift));for(@t=@s=0..255){$y=($k[$_%@k]+$s[$x=$_ ]+$y)%256;&S}$x=$y=0;for(unpack('C*',<>)){$x++;$y=($s[$x%=256]+$y)%256; &S;print pack(C,$_^=$s[($s[$x]+$s[$y])%256])}sub S{@s[$x,$y]=@s[$y,$x]}

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Aharonov-Bohm Effect
by Eric Cordian 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Could someone (other than Jim Choate) explain the mechanism behind the Aharonov-Bohm effect, where a quantum field propagating via two distinct paths finds its wavefunction phase shifted by the amount of magnetic flux enclosed, even if it is completely shielded from the magnetic field, and traverses only regions of space where B=0. This has apparently been experimentally verified, and is a leading candidate for reading the state of quantum dots. -- Sponsor the DES Analytic Crack Project http://www.cyberspace.org/~enoch/crakfaq.html

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tyranny of corporations
by Vladimir Z. Nuri 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

------- Forwarded Message Date: Sun, 06 Dec 1998 16:11:08 -0700 From: Robert Weissman <rob(a)essential.org> To: Multiple recipients of list CORP-FOCUS <corp-focus(a)essential.org> Subject: corporation nation Exxon merges with Mobil. Citicorp marries Travelers. Daimler Benz gobbles up Chrysler. BankAmerica takes over NationsBank. WorldCom eats MCI. Corporations are getting bigger and bigger, and their influence over our lives continues to grow. America is in an era of corporate ascendancy, the likes of which we haven't seen since the Gilded Age. Charles Derber, a professor of sociology at Boston College, believes that, contrary to the lessons our civics teacher taught us, it is undemocratic corporations, not governments, that are dominating and controlling society. In his most recent book, Corporation Nation (St. Martin's Press, 1998), Derber argues that the consequence of the growing power of giant corporate multinationals is increased disparity in wealth, rampant downsizing and million dollar CEOs making billion dollar decisions with little regard for average American. A couple of years ago, Derber wrote The Wilding of America (St. Martin's Press, 1996) in which he argued that the American Dream had transmuted into a semi-criminal, semi-violent virus that is afflicting large parts of the elites of the country. That book tried to call attention to the extent to which violent behavior could be understood as a product of oversocialization. "The problem was not that they had been underexposed to American values, but that they could not buffer themselves from those values," Derber told us. "They had lost the ability to constrain any kind of anti-social behavior -- because of obsessions with success -- the American Dream." By anti-social behavior, Derber means the epitome of Reaganism -- "a kind of warping of the more healthy forms of individualism in our culture into a hyperindividualism in which people asserted their own interests without regard to its impact on others." At the time, Derber was interviewed on a Geraldo show about paid assassins - - -- people who killed for money. "It was scary to be around young people who confessed to killing for relatively small amounts of money -- a few thousand dollars," Derber said. "They said things like -- 'you have to understand, this is just a business, everybody has to make money.' I pointed out on the show that this was the language that business usually uses." At the same time, Newsweek ran a cover story titled "Corporate Killers." On the cover, Newsweek ran the mug shots of four CEOs who had downsized in profitable periods and upped their own salaries. "These corporate executives tended to use the same language as the paid assassins on the Geraldo show, 'I feel fine about this because I'm just doing what the market requires,'" Derber explains. "I develop an analogy between paid assassins on the street and those in the suites. In the most general sense, these corporate executives are paid hitmen who use very much the same language and rationalization. I argue that corporations are exemplifying a form of anti-social behavior which is undermining a great deal of the social fabric and civilized values that we would hope to sustain." With the hitmen parallel fresh in his mind, Derber began writing Corporation Nation. In it, Derber points to the parallels between today and the age of the robber barons 100 years ago -- the wave of corporate mergers, the widening gulf between rich and poor (Bill Gates' net worth (well over $50 billion) is more than that of the bottom 100 million Americans), the enormous influence of corporations over democratic institutions, both major parties bought off by big business, and a Democratic President closely aligned with big business (Grover Cleveland then, Bill Clinton today). One big difference between then and now: back then, a real grassroots populist movement rose up to challenge corporate power, though it did not succeed in attaining its core goals. Today, while there are many isolated movements challenging individual corporate crimes, there is no mass movement attacking the corporation as the cause of the wealth disparity, destruction of the environment, and all the many other corporate driven ills afflicting society. Derber, a professor of sociology at Boston College, says that when he asks his students, "Have you ever thought about the question of whether corporations in general have too much power," they uniformly say they have never had that question raised. Derber says that one good way to again build a populist movement to attack corporate power is to study the language and tactics of the populists of 100 years ago. He has, and he makes clear in his book that the original conception of the corporation was one of a public -- not private -- entity. We the people created the corporation to build roads, and bridges, and deliver the goods. If the corporation didn't do as we said, we yanked their charter. The corporate lawyers quickly got their hands around that idea, smashed it, and replaced it with the current conception of the corporation, a private person under the law, with the rights and privileges of any other living and breathing citizen. Thus, a quick transformation from "we decide" to "they decide." Derber is a bit too modest to say it, so we will: perhaps the best way to rebuild a strong, vibrant and populist movement is to get this book into the hands of people who care about democracy. The corporations have us on the run, but we should pause for a moment or two, find a quiet place, and read this book. Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime Reporter. Robert Weissman is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Multinational Monitor. (c) Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman Focus on the Corporation is a weekly column written by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman. Please feel free to forward the column to friends or repost the column on other lists. If you would like to post the column on a web site or publish it in print format, we ask that you first contact us (russell(a)essential.org or rob(a)essential.org) Focus on the Corporation is distributed to individuals on the listserve corp-focus(a)essential.org. To subscribe to corp-focus, send an e-mail message to listproc(a)essential.org with the following all in one line: subscribe corp-focus <your name> (no period). Focus on the Corporation columns are posted on the Multinational Monitor web site <www.essential.org/monitor>. Postings on corp-focus are limited to the columns. If you would like to comment on the columns, send a message to russell(a)essential.org or rob(a)essential.org. - - ------=_NextPart_000_0027_01BE20F3.6E8982C0-- - - --------------81265CC28DD038A0DC2CB928-- - ------- End of Forwarded Message ------- End of Forwarded Message

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Re: What was the quid pro quo for Wassenaar countries?
by Joel O'Connor 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

As Karl Marx said also, "Democracy is a slow form of communism." That's why the forfathers decided to make us a republic, something many have forgotten. ---HyperReal-Anon <nobody(a)sind.hyperreal.art.pl> wrote: > > "Phillip Hallam-Baker" <hallam(a)ai.mit.edu> writes > > John Gilmore may be right, but remember folks that in Europe we > have this thing the Greeks invented called democracy. One of the > ideas of democracy is that decisions are not made in secret closed > meetings. > > Yes, and people democratically demand government enforcement of the > majority will, something made more difficult if the subjects have > strong cryptography. > > As Donn Parker observed several years ago, strong cryptography is > inconsistent with democracy. (Published in Scientific American --- > reference on request.) > > John Gilmore <gnu(a)toad.com> writes > > Some countries actually seem to care what their citizens think > about their crypto laws, unlike the shining example of democracy, > the USSA. And when we educate the citizens, they tend to make the > right choices. Let's keep trying. > > But don't educate them too much, or they will understand that > cryptography can set people free, and if people were free there would > be no political government, and if there were no political government > their social security checks would stop coming, along with all their > other government ``benefits''. > > == Ogre bounces like sonar. . .Peace. Ogre _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com

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DCSB: Ira Heffan and Mike Schmelzer; "Software Patents" and Digital Commerce
by Robert Hettinga 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

--- begin forwarded text Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Sender: rah(a)pop.sneaker.net Date: Mon, 7 Dec 1998 13:02:59 -0500 To: dcsb(a)ai.mit.edu, dcsb-announce(a)ai.mit.edu From: Robert Hettinga <rah(a)shipwright.com> Subject: DCSB: Ira Heffan and Mike Schmelzer; "Software Patents" and Digital Commerce Cc: Ira Heffan <heffan(a)tht.com>, Mike Schmelzer <schmelze(a)tht.com>, Roland Mueller <roland(a)secunet.com>, "Jonathan J. Rusch" <rusch1(a)erols.com> Sender: bounce-dcsb(a)ai.mit.edu Precedence: bulk Reply-To: Robert Hettinga <rah(a)shipwright.com> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- The Digital Commerce Society of Boston Presents Ira Heffan and Mike Schmelzer Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, LLP "Software Patents" and Digital Commerce Tuesday, January 5th, 1999 12 - 2 PM The Downtown Harvard Club of Boston One Federal Street, Boston, MA Although the very idea of patenting software seems to be an anathema to much of the programming community, patents on software continue to stream out of the U.S. Patent Office. Everyone involved in digital commerce applications, which are by definition software-based, probably has heard about recent events: The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided "State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group," which explicitly ratified patenting methods of doing business, and a spate of well-publicized patents have issued claiming to cover such concepts as the virtual shopping cart and the reverse auction. As a prerequisite to discussing these recent developments, the first part of our talk will provide an introduction to patents. We will explain what patents are and what they are not, and describe the business goals that a patent can serve. Then we will talk about current events, and attempt to put the _State Street_ case in context. We will present a survey of recently-issued patents (suggestions welcome) related to digital commerce, and conclude with some speculation about current trends, including a novel form of software patent with potentially huge implications. Ira Heffan (heffan(a)tht.com) and Mike Schmelzer (schmelze(a)tht.com) are patent attorneys at Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, LLP (http://www.tht.com) We will be presenting our own personal views on this topic, and not the views of Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, LLP or its clients. This meeting of the Digital Commerce Society of Boston will be held on Tuesday, January 5, 1999, from 12pm - 2pm at the Downtown Branch of the Harvard Club of Boston, on One Federal Street. The price for lunch is $32.50. This price includes lunch, room rental, various A/V hardware, and the speakers' lunch. The Harvard Club *does* have dress code: jackets and ties for men (and no sneakers or jeans), and "appropriate business attire" (whatever that means), for women. Fair warning: since we purchase these luncheons in advance, we will be unable to refund the price of your lunch if the Club finds you in violation of the dress code. We need to receive a company check, or money order, (or, if we *really* know you, a personal check) payable to "The Harvard Club of Boston", by Saturday, January 2nd, or you won't be on the list for lunch. Checks payable to anyone else but The Harvard Club of Boston will have to be sent back. Checks should be sent to Robert Hettinga, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02131. Again, they *must* be made payable to "The Harvard Club of Boston", in the amount of $32.50. Please include your e-mail address, so that we can send you a confirmation If anyone has questions, or has a problem with these arrangements (We've had to work with glacial A/P departments more than once, for instance), please let us know via e-mail, and we'll see if we can work something out. Upcoming speakers for DCSB are: February Roland Mueller European Privacy Directive March Jonathan Rusch Internet Fraud We are actively searching for future speakers. If you are in Boston on the first Tuesday of the month, and you would like to make a presentation to the Society, please send e-mail to the DCSB Program Commmittee, care of Robert Hettinga, <mailto: rah(a)shipwright.com>. For more information about the Digital Commerce Society of Boston, send "info dcsb" in the body of a message to <mailto: majordomo(a)ai.mit.edu> . If you want to subscribe to the DCSB e-mail list, send "subscribe dcsb" in the body of a message to <mailto: majordomo(a)ai.mit.edu> . We look forward to seeing you there! Cheers, Robert Hettinga Moderator, The Digital Commerce Society of Boston -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP for Personal Privacy 5.5.5 iQEVAwUBNmwX/8UCGwxmWcHhAQFfjgf+IBe01g9XCldZYT+GRDI5ho1sOPgL6W7q zLDQToz0GGM/NZzv44SMTSGpDFx80R1yautvy4xHMnYQy2UnvO2WGsfrjuwSdQte 8qxoRAFkihyP/mi/83As2TwWdp6QhwbjI02hyP6elsdSzsspflwwonOB4I+8E/xX UDsGdQH4AHaWrK1S5XYfJSHSRGOBpk2+cqboiGvbcbC1z0vDRGrnztf8GADoPVC3 6vw4M00f+cgIuoaqqO4ol62Os6D+WPVw2NMop20OD62EGzYO2pyQjboPvBLxyRD7 smLz/4S598uLZF0GX+GO/8rCjAORask/Qt3SFIU2HMMPj9nKIvVtJw== =gz6w -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)philodox.com> Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.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' For help on using this list (especially unsubscribing), send a message to "dcsb-request(a)ai.mit.edu" with one line of text: "help". --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah(a)philodox.com> Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.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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