I have followed the cypherpunk list for about 9 months now, and I have learned A LOT directly from it. I have rarely posted, just read the material as it appeared, learning from what I was able to without getting lost in equations. There is always a certain amount of noise to useful signal from any information source, although over the past month the signal to noise ratio on Cypherpunks has become almost intolerable. I now read few of the messages, just sifting out what I hope will be useful to me from the subject headings. If any of you are able to read ALL of the posts, and keep up the rest of your work, I commend you. Perhaps the current state is a symptom of growing popularity. Since it has always appeared to me that the point of the list was to disseminate information on cryptography, and provide a discussion point for those interested in spreading the use of cryptography, growing popularity would seem to be a signal of success. However, I miss the state of the list last April, when every time I checked it I felt like I learned something new about cryptography. Perhaps those with little to say, that seem to be posting just to cause trouble or to be heard, would better serve the group if they faded out for a while now, and just watched until they were ready to say something useful. I do not wish to flame anyone in particular, or to start a flame war, just point out (probably for the nth time) what is a growing problem. If any new listeners are interested, I have an archive of the postings which I found interesting, or seemed like they would be useful. I do not pretend that it is the definitive cypherpunk archive, especially since there is a 2.5 month gap for the summer when I was living out of my pack in the Sangre De Christo Mtns. If you want a copy, e-mail me. Please put "archive request" in the subject header. For intro. information, the Cryptography FAQ, posted on sci.crypt was very helpful for me. This posting has now gotten too large, and is perhaps guilty of the problem I am addressing. For this, I apoligize. code on, -john. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Blair |Fertilize your garden with dirt, compost, jdblair@nextsrv.cas.muohio.edu |old magazines, Apple II logic boards, obsolete PGP Key available upon request |software, forgotten video images, rusty cans, |canceled stamps, love, hate, and desire. |Wait untill spring, and see what comes up.