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Why waste your money? Save big on long distance
by Brian Hale 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

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Why waste your money? Save big on long distance
by Brian Hale 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

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RE: Rumours of NSA breakin
by Alex Filacchione 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I've been hearing rumours of an alledged compromise of the NSA Web server but no hard evidence. The claim made is that several Mb of files were downloaded from the server and posted to the "Internet". I can't see it in sci.crypt or alt.conspiracy though. I am more than a little skeptical of the claim, unless the files in question were not considered sensitive - and there is no reason to believe that the NSA would be keeing anything secret on their Web server. =-=-=-=-=- *if* the page was hacked indeed, then I seriously doubt that files of any significance were taken. I would think that they would not keep any classified info on a web server (!). If someone hacked into the page, got the files, and then posted them to the internet they probably would *not* have posted these to sci.crypt, etc. (I like the addition of alt.conspiracy though). My guess is that they would end up on a private mailing list, or end up getting posted to one of the "warez" groups or something. If this were true, I would be interested to know just what it was that they were keeping on their website and why. Could they be trojaned files? Would the NSA go to so much trouble when there are easier ways of doing things? Just curious about this.... Alex F alexf(a)iss.net

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Re: Privacy Issues
by Hal Finney 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

I recommend the web/gopher site <URL: http://chaos.taylored.com:1000/ > managed by Chael Hall and Karl Barrus. It has a collection of articles from the early days of the cypherpunks list when we initially explored a lot of the ideas which are getting rehashed today. In fact, I would recommend this to all new readers of the list in order to understand what has been discussed before and what some of our goals have been. Looking back, some of the essays seem a bit naive in our hopes and expectations for what crypto would do; things have turned out to be more corporate, more political, less grass-roots, than many of us expected. But the basic issues have remained much the same. Hal

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Re: "Montgolfiering" mindlessness
by frantz＠netcom.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Gee, I put that post in the same place I carefully keep my back issues of the Cypherpunks Enquirer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill Frantz | Tired of Dole/Clinton? | Periwinkle -- Consulting (408)356-8506 | Vote 3rd party. I'm | 16345 Englewood Ave. frantz(a)netcom.com | Voting for Harry Browne | Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA

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Re: When did Mondex ever claim to be anonymous?
by Hallam-Baker 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Derek Bell wrote: > > In message <Pine.HPP.3.91.961029194511.27228A-100000(a)cor.sos.sll.se>, Asgaard w > rites: > >Disinformation is a time-honoured weapon in political struggle. > >A rumour is called just that because it can't easily be checked > >- somebody heard from somebody, who heard from somebody etc. The > >spreader is hardly ever discredited since he does not guarantee > >the validity of the information. 'It's just a rumour, but...' > > The problem I have is with the "hardly ever" part - there is always > a chance of being caught out. Or of being ignored entirely. I quite often know something that I can't point to proof of. I wouldn't try to use such evidence in an argument as "proof". Acting on rumour is ultimately self defeating. The republicans have been dirt digging on Whitewater for four years and have failed to unearth anything. As a result they are finding it very difficult to get anywhere with their latest allegations of campaign corruption which are probably true. Of course they might not be having any effect for other reasons such as the fact that its Bob Dole's campaign vice-president thats in jail for corruption at the moment and not Clinton's but the general principle holds, you don't shoot until you know you can hit the target. > >Those arguing in favour of Big Brother - 'the needs of law enforcement' > >- frequently use (probably false) information that is hard to check, to > >impress the public: about terrorists stopped by wiretapping, > > This is interesting, as the UK police don't claim they need such > powers to deal with the IRA. Now they may already have large wiretapping > powers under law, but I get the impression that most successful anti-IRA > action is due either to infiltration or informers. Actually the police are currently asking for permission to use wiretap evidence in court. There is some opposition because there are those who want to keep the extent of the capability quiet. There is very good evidence for widespread use of wiretaps and SIGINT against the IRA. > IIRC, the bullshit claims are enough to annoy most netizens, though > the politicians aren't aiming at us. Still - I think documented risks of, > say, Mondex would hold more weight. Since when was cash annonymous? In the UK each banknote has a serial number which is recorded at the banks when it is passed arround. There is no reason why the US federal reserve wouldn't have added it to its existing note processing machinery since they must read the serial number during their checks for countrefeit notes. If Mondex said their product was "like cash" that does not mean they claimed it to be anonymous. Phill

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Computer Security Risk Assessment Software?
by Ross Wright 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On or About 31 Oct 96 at 12:19, Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM wrote: > which I assume is NOT what you have in mind :-) Do you mean > something that'll take a survey of a company's computer security Boom. Nail, head, one shot!!!! What's on the market now in that area? > and > assess the risk (like Stan) or something more global? The issues are: Information Risk Assessment and Management and also Information Security Assessment. > AFAIK, there's > no tool on the market to help in all aspects of risk management even > for a small outfit, because there are so many sources of risk. There > are many good specialized packages. "Ross Wright" <rwright(a)adnetsol.com> writes: > I am about to do some marketing on a certain company's Risk > Assessment Software. At this time I can't say who that firm is, but > I need information on what other firms are offering this type of > software. I figured someone on this list would know. =-=-=-=-=-=- Ross Wright King Media: Bulk Sales of Software Media and Duplication Services http://www.slip.net/~cdr/kingmedia Voice: 415-206-9906

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Shift Control's new look
by the.news＠shiftcontrol.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Shift Control has a new look this week. It's out with the old red, black and white, and in with a distinctly tasteful blue and cream. And the change in colours is just the start. We've listened to the feedback we've had about the site, and made it quicker and easier to access and read. The content, of course, is as good as ever. In Critical Shift, William Leith asks what has happened to our heroes. "We don't want heroes anymore," he writes, "because we think we've failed as a race. We are hungry for stories which tell us about how nasty and greedy and self-destructive we are, because this is what we believe. We don't fall for a nice, smiling man who is nice to people. We wonder what he's hiding." In Write Out of Control, we have three new pieces of writing. There's the next exclusive (and rather shocking) instalment of Toby Litt's novel, 'œ'. We also have the first winner of our White Out of Control competition. Not only can you read it, but you can also write the sequel and win £200. And, in 'Large', Nick Green describes an awesome summer of pills and thrills on the festival scene. "The first event of the summer," he writes, "saw me at my most ineffectual, having been rendered completely useless by what can only be described as 'a lethal drugs cocktail'. I didn't realise that a seemingly harmless combination of acid, speed, Ecstasy and skunk could be quite so debilitating." In Plug n Play we bring you an interior design special - From Habitat to Hell and Back - and Fags-u-like, in which our special panel of cigarette connoisseurs smoke their way through several packs of fags in order to tell you which are the best. We've also changed our weekly diary. Instead of Roland bragging about his hyperactive social life, he now presents you with 10 essential cultural happenings for the week ahead. Gigs, clubs, movies and books - they're all in Roland's diary. Yes, you'd be mad not to visit www.shiftcontrol.com this week. Regards, The Shift Control Team Shift Control is produced by the Guardian New Media Lab, with help from Stella Artois and Boddingtons.

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Re: silly putty
by Adamsc＠io-online.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On Wed, 30 Oct 1996 17:19:38 -0800 (PST), sameer wrote: > Would anyone be interested in 50 pounds of silly putty? A >friend of mine would be grateful if I could help him get rid of 50 >pounds of silly putty. It would be $500. You mean that silly putty sells for more than tri-tip? # Chris Adams <adamsc(a)io-online.com> | http://www.io-online.com/adamsc/adamsc.htp # <cadams(a)acucobol.com> | send mail with subject "send PGPKEY" "That's our advantage at Microsoft; we set the standards and we can change them." --- Karen Hargrove, Microsoft (quoted in the Feb 1993 Unix Review editorial)

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BAY GUARDIAN ITEM
by Sandy Sandfort 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SANDY SANDFORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C'punks, This item appeared in the calendar section of the San Francisco Bay Guardian: INDEPENDENCE DAY The Internet's status as a censorship-free zone is a tenuous one, so a little digital activism is always in order. The San Francisco Art Institute's Center for Digital Media rises to the occasion with WEB FREEDOM DAY, a symposium addressing the implications of the Communications Decency Act and accompanying government regulation of the Net. The event inclludes a morning session with artists working in electronic media and an afternoon session with media lawyers, activists, and multimedia developers exploring administrative and legal issues. 10 a.m.--6 p.m., San Francisco Art Institute, Lecture Hall, 800 Chestnut, S.F. Free. (415) 749-4588. S a n d y ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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