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Nothing Can Stop the Net
by Duncan Frissell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Mule Power Used to Install Fiber-Optic Cable February 10, 1997 11.54 a.m. (1654 GMT) SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- No manner of modern mechanical technology could get over or around the rugged terrain confronting electricians trying to install fiber optic cable through the Ozarks. So they shifted their sights from high-tech to low-tech and hired Festus, Jake, Red and I.B. -- four Missouri mules -- to string 40 miles of cable through southwestern Missouri. "Today's thought is `fast and done quick and make the big money,"' said mule skinner James King, who works the mules for B&L Electrical Contractors. "A lot of people have forgot the fastest way to get through the country is on a mule or a horse." Even through city traffic, the mules are getting the job done. The idea first came about when Empire District Electric Co. was looking for contractors to install fiber optic cable. The cable was to run along the path of a power line strung in 1912. More than 80 years later, it was deemed inaccessible to vehicles in most places because of steep hills, trees or other impediments, such as chain-link fences. B&L submitted a bid based on doing the work with mules. The estimate was tricky since the company had never used mules. And if they couldn't do the job, a backup plan would have cost much more. "This is extremely rugged terrain. You couldn't get any motorized vehicles in there," said Clint Lam, manager of B&L. "You could build a road through there, but cost-wise, it would be so expensive." Empire didn't know the estimate was based on mule power. But when they learned of the idea, it seemed logical, said Darrell Wilson, Empire's telecommunications foreman. He told colleagues at a recent training seminar about the mules' success. "Everybody thought I was joking," Wilson said. "They thought I meant an ATV, some mechanical 4-wheel drive. They didn't really think it was a four-legged animal. They were a little surprised when I said, `No, I mean a real mule."' The mule skinners hook one end of the cable to an overhead pole and knot the other end to a mule's saddle. Then the animal pulls. All-terrain vehicles are prone to tipping on uneven surfaces, while mules are sure-footed and can jump creeks or chain-link fences. In fact, they worked so well in the rough stuff, they were kept on even when the line reached Springfield, the state's third-largest metropolitan area. "I think we're going to try to vote in a new position in our contract for mule skinner," crew foreman John Agee joked. Dr. Melvin Bradley, of Columbia, a retired University of Missouri professor and an expert on mules, was not surprised to learn of the mules' success. "The mule will go places, over banks and rough terrain and stand up and be able to pull that cable through where horses will have trouble," he said. Festus, at 1,250 pounds the largest of the crew, drew curious glances from motorists as he and skinner King recently hauled cable through exhaust-stained snowbanks near a busy city intersection. Festus wasn't fazed, though he was a bit trailer-sick from the 30-mile commute from Galena. "This is his first day on the job," the hard-hatted King said from the saddle where he wraps the rope or cable being pulled by the mule. Festus can tow up to 14,000 feet of cable, a load weighing more than 1 ton. Some people who saw the mules at work didn't know exactly what they were, which King found remarkable. After all, mules were made Missouri's state animal in 1995. "`Look, ma -- it's a horse!"' King said, mimicking what he's heard from children passing the work crew. "It's a good old Missouri mule."

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Re: HANDS UP!
by Chevelle 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Hey guys if there's anything I can do to help Kevin out anything at all please let me know! chevelle out....At 07:14 AM 4/5/96 +0200, THE HIJACK-CREW wrote: >HI THERE! THIS IS etoy! > >"the digital hijack" is NOW running ! > >the internet-underground has decided: it is definitely time to blast SOUND >and ACTION into the net !!! > >our software-agents have invaded the main searchservers... > >++++for more information check out : http://www.hijack.org/++++++++++ > >or get kidnapped live --> go to infoseek (netsearch-button on your browser) >and search for: > >UNDERGROUND - CENSORSHIP - DISCO - XTC - CLINTON - PORSCHE - CRACK - >KRAFTWERK - ELVIS - TERROR - PENTHOUSE - SEGA - MONDRIAN - SEXPISTOLS - >FIREARMS - TARANTINO - DJ - STONES - NETWORKS - BASE - CRIME - WAR - >BUSINESS - WOMEN - NET - SOCIETY - ART - CASTRO - PARADISE - ATHLETICS - >PULP - CYBER - YELLO - PETSHOPBOYS - REM - HUSTLER - BITCH - GUEVARA - >SEVESO - MELODYMAKER - PORNO - GABBER - ROLLERBLADES - REBEL - OASIS - >COMMUNICATIONS - PLAYBOY - BELGIUM - ORB - AND MANY MORE... > >these keywords will all appear on the TOP 10 - LIST. take the link to >hijack.org to get the hijack-experience like millions of bored >internet-users... > >download the hijackers-sound, get the best pictures and help us free our >friend KEVIN D. MITNICK, THE SUPERHACKER (charged for electronic-terrorism, >maximum sentence: 460 years prison) ! > >we would be very happy to welcome you on our site. spread this new >internet-lifestyle to your friends and to internet-freaks + surfers ! > >this is a underground art-project not a bastard-business mail. our grab >robot "etoy.IVANA" got your email-address by cruising the net. > >for the hijack-crew etoy >MARTIN KUBLI > >email mailme(a)etoy.com >fax ++41 1 363 35 57 >_______________________________________________________________________ >http://www.hijack.org/ >for highres-pictures: ftp.etoy.com /press > > >etoy: >leaving reality behind...abusing technology...flashing the net > >

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Re: "Contempt" charges likely to increase
by jim bell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 12:27 PM 4/6/96 -0800, Timothy C. May wrote: >This model, is, I contend, the model with which courts are familiar. They >know that Alice can retrieve the funds, so they simply order her to. If she >does not comply, contempt of court. Q.E.D. > >What of a different model? What if, say, her funds are in a "time lock >deposit," with the bank unwilling or even unable (cryptographic protocols >involving multiple key holders) to retrieve the funds until, say, 2010? >Even if she is being tortured to death and pleading with the >Gemeinschaftbank of Zurich to please, pretty please, release her funds, >they cannot. > >It may take some convincing, and some education of the court (a la the >education that is slowly happening, as in the CDA case), but eventually it >will be realized that "contempt of court" is not applicable. I look at it this way: It is inappropriate to look just at the desire of the court and its sanctions, it is necessary to study what kind of "crimes" are normally dealt with in such a fashion, and why they need to be crimes in the first place. Over time, technology is dramatically increasing our protections: From locks to alarms to monitoring systems to remote cameras, with bank accounts that are secure from ordinary criminals, we are becoming less and less dependant on government for our security. Since the ostensible purpose of courts is nominally to protect us, if those protections begin to be replaced by technology the logical conclusion is that courts will become less numerous and less powerful. The problem is, that isn't happening, and the reason is that organizations tend to act in ways to protect their own power and influence. In fact, the average citizen is subject to far more theft of his assets BY THE GOVERNMENT than by common criminals, so at some point we have to realize that the government is now a net problem, rather than being a net solution. I think that most crimes that subpoenas would normally be used for are probably not crimes at all, and are probably "malum prohibitum," not "malum in se" crimes. And in the future, they would likely be used to harass political enemies, as harassment was done in the 1950's and 60's. This means, for anybody of a libertarian bent, that it would actually be better if the government could be rendered incapable of enforcing them. Naturally, governments and courts will resist, but that will be irrelevant. Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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NYT: Chaotic Encryption: a Solution in Search of a Problem
by Dan Haskovec 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

The New York Times online site reports on a researcher at Oak Ridge National Labs who "devised and patented a new mathematical system for encrypting and authenticating digital data, based on the scientific concept of chaos." The article mention that people in industry were less than enthused about adopting it. Even the inventor says that it "isn't robust enough for military applications." It seems to use a chaotic system at both ends with a symmetric key. It almost sounds like the NYT covered it because chaos is "cool", not because this development is significant. Any insights? The story is online at http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/0407chaos.html

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Re: e$ seigniorage (and is this the cost of untracability?)
by JonWienke＠aol.com 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

Wei Dai writes: >One possible way to get around this is to have ecash issuers pay interest >on ecash. However it requires ecash to be timestamped and therefore >compromises its untraceability. (Think of the timestamp as a serial >number.) Interest-bearing accounts cannot legally be anonymous--the IRS requires records of interest payments for tax purposes. Even if the e$ issuer is collecting interest on my ecash, I don't care as long as they don't charge me any fees,. As far as I am concerned, if the issuer can make anonymous e$ worth his while to issue, the loss in potential interest income is more than outweighed by the advantages of being able to use such a system. Jonathan Wienke

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Re: [NOISE] Unicorn of Color
by erc＠dal1820.computek.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

No, it's "womyn", you Fascist male oppressor pretending to be in sympathy with the cause ;) ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Subject: [NOISE] Unicorn of Color Sent To: cypherpunks(a)toad.com Author: pjm(a)spe.com Reply To: pjm(a)spe.com Date: 4/7/96 1:36:53 AM The spelling is "wymmyn", you neanderthal oppressor.

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LSD|CFP
by Dave Del Torto 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

All constructive comments, corrections & suggestions are greatly appreciated... <http://www.well.com/user/ddt/crypto/crypto.html> dave ___________________________________________________________________ Cryptography is the entertainment branch of the computing industry.

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Re: (Fwd) British Study Claims That Photo Credit Cards Don'
by Deranged Mutant 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

On 8 Apr 96 at 11:44, Declan B. McCullagh wrote: > Fascinating stuff. I've used Mike Godwin's driver's license to buy a > beer when I didn't have mine with me. And, trust me, we look nothing > alike. *chuckle* It was a semi-common practice when I was in high school to show licenses to buy beer, because they never looked at the birth dates. The state got wise to it and now put in big red letters "UNDER 21" on minor's licenses.... Rob. --- Send a blank message with the subject "send pgp-key" to <WlkngOwl(a)unix.asb.com> for a copy of my PGP key.

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Re: "Contempt" charges likely to increase
by jim bell 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

At 11:03 PM 4/7/96 -0700, david friedman wrote: >Unicorn wrote: > >> No ISP in its right mind is going to ask for trouble. If I'm a >>prosecutor and I suspect that the ISP may be complicit in hiding >>evidence, I'm going to ask for a search and seizure warrant (a la sun >>devil) and just walk in and take the equipment I believe the data to be >>on and then satisify myself that it's unattainable. > >Last semester I taught a seminar on computers, crime, and privacy and we >had, as a guest lecturer one evening, Silicon Valley's one full time >computer cop (he works for the SC County D.A.'s office). One of his >comments was that ISP's were generally very cooperative, because they knew >that he could legally impose large costs on them by seizing their systems >as evidence. It is exactly this attitude that we need to change. I presume you saw my comment from a day ago, when I pointed out that before 1968, local phonecos were doing wiretaps without any sort of court order, simply because the local cops (or FBI) asked, even though those requesting the tap could not use the evidence in court. And even _that_ level of cooperation was presumably done without any plausible risk that the prosecutor could sieze a phone switch for non-cooperation. It is even likely that the phoneco could have acted to lose the prosecutor/police his job if they had decided to press and publicize what must have been an illegal request at the time. The fact they did not is telling. It was clearly not an "arm's length" relationship. It was a relationship of friendly people who regularly did favors for each other, playing with their customer's privacy. This is the reality that we must face and deal with: Officials abuse their positions all the time. They will do so if the system is designed to allow them to. Allowing officials to sieze an ISP's equipment is just asking for trouble. In my opinion, ISP's should be able to decide ahead of time whether to cooperate if they are asked for information. They should be entitled to take a position that they will (or will not) contract with their users to prevent any disclosure of information, and this decision should be legally binding on the prosecutor as well. The "feedback loop" is closed by the fact that bad publicity may accrue if the ISP refuses to cooperate, leading to a "market" of different ISP's with different standards. I am convinced that whatever benefit may arguably accrue from being able to subpoena information is far lower than the cost of loss of freedom that surely will occur if prosecutors are able to strong-arm ISP's into illegal cooperation, such as occurred with phonecos before 1968. I'm still waiting for somebody to show that the majority of crimes that are investigated using subpoena power are "malum in se" crimes, as opposed to "malum prohibitum" ones. Jim Bell jimbell(a)pacifier.com

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RE: alt.politics.org.cia
by liberty＠gate.net 17 Dec '03

17 Dec '03

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- - -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Pat Farrell <pfarrell(a)netcom.com> wrote: <snip> >But this raises a question (please, not to start a f-war) >as to what is a "spook"? <snip> >Are contractors such as Mitre, E-Systems, and TRW, who do mega-dollars >of work each year considered spooks? I think some are, as they are >effectively out-sourced civil servants. I think the spook-test, to be fair, needs to be based on something objective, like equipment carried or used. Guns are an easy "yes," as are certain listening devices, etc. Others can probably add to this equipment list, and some of us, considering Mena, might include drugs or large chunks of cash. I certainly would. <g> >I guess I could simply walk into the Soviet Embassy and ask them >where the US spooks are. It isn't a secret from anyone but uninformed >citizens. Amen. CIA office locations are much less "secret" in other countries than they are in the US. Often, a taxi driver knows exactly where the CIA "safehouses" are in many Latin-American countries. <snip> >Is there an ethical question buried here? Making it easy for another nut to >kill mere working stiffs by posting the locations? Yes, but these locations are no-doubt easy for motivated nuts to find. "Military secrets are the most fleeting kind." [Spock on "Star Trek"] >Disclaimer: I'm kinda split on this, I've been on this list a long time, >but my dad, wife, and brother work or worked in town for the government. >I hope that Tim's revolution is quite and peaceful. AGREED! If it's not, it will fail. "War is the health of the state." [I forget who said that.] Contra the many raving media accounts, the vast majority in the libertarian/"anarchist" movement were and are quite opposed to the idea of vigilante-murder through bombing Federal buildings full of mere working stiffs, especially those of us who just happened to be working in a Federal Building. [I was. It wasn't any fun that day...] :-( JMR <snip> - -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Freedom isn't Freeh iQCVAwUBMCgiSW1lp8bpvW01AQHSVQQAn6fdXfLMlCA9RLNJpr9N3CqrwmdEmTXZ 95yAdIHiOwkzjg7pvTcBIuifnLV0pdDHO0f+BXHiw2BW06ED8rK+nJIZm0OmVsIL FVnaWCGEVDc9SrSYByrwy5s5nM/g30L8wRQeo7yAKg/0w5zUR4WOaQrKcnLBDaPO 4P42ckNkg8k= =3+HE - -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- Regards, Jim Ray "The people will again respect the law when the law again respects the will of the people." Jim Ray, Campaign '92 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PGP key Fingerprint 51 5D A2 C3 92 2C 56 BE 53 2D 9C A1 B3 50 C9 C8 Key id. # E9BD6D35 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support the Phil Zimmermann (Author of PGP) Legal Defense Fund! email: zldf(a)clark.net or visit http://www.netresponse.com/zldf ________________________________________________________________________ - --- [This message has been signed by an auto-signing service. A valid signature means only that it has been received at the address corresponding to the signature and forwarded.] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Gratis auto-signing service iQBFAwUBMCgnTyoZzwIn1bdtAQGjOAGA25mHQfQvxsgc8TR+34tGK1BAUB4egwJR N3tNre54vJT2QkxQ/l0rMlPblYbcIbWE =Sm3E -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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