On Wed, 21 Apr 93 11:30:24 -0600, L. Detweiler <uunet!longs.lance.colostate.edu!ld231782> LD> EFF is drawing fire on the proposal or EFF is drawing fire on LD> itself? I read this elsewhere, but I just can't remember where, off the top of my head. Anyway, here is a snippet from WIRED (Vol 1, Issue 2, May/June 1993, page 97) that also mentions it - 8<------- Cut Here ------------ HYPE LIST Current Position Months Position Last Month on List -------- ---------- ------- Cryptography 1 4 3 Wireless Everything 2 - 2 Wired 3 - 1 EFF Sells Out 4 - 1 Piercing 5 - 2 1. Cryptography Cryptography continues to rise in popularity as the solution for all digital ills. The use of the software encryption package Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) for e-mail is now tres hip among the network elites, and public keys are being traded like baseball cards. Of course, encryption is just a way to hide the same boring messages, but it does add that element of intrigue. Crypto-philes are a '90s version of the NRA gun nuts: paranoid of the government's attempts to legislate, and coonvinced that their guns (codes) are necessary for freedom. "If encryption is outlawed, only outlaws will have encryption," is already splattered around the Net. 2. Wireless Everything There seems to be an unwritten rule nowadays that every product announcement must trumpet the fact that the new gizmo is, even if only in some minor way, wireless. We now have wireless mice, keyboards, modems, printers, and networks. The once-esoteric deliberations concerninng radio bandwidth auctioning have become front page news in the Wall Street Journal. What's strange is that there is no corresponding consumer clamor for wireless products. In fact, wireless keyboards and printers have flopped every time thay have been introduced. But don't expect this to stop Buck Rogers-obsessed electronics companies anytime soon. 3. Wired The glut of recent media hype surrounding this new rag is proof the WIRED staff has read and understood its Marshall McLuhan. Through deliberate manipulation of broadcasters, spin-doctored press releases, and billboards everywhere, WIRED has achieved near total ubiquity, including spots on everything from Good Morning America to NPR. While the mainstream media looks on in disbelief, the reaction on the Net has been more divided. Some on alt.cyberpunk see it as the unholy offspring of M2 and the Economist, while others see it as a rehash of the Same Old Stuff, down to the obligatory article on virtual sex. Like VR, it's a viewpoint-dependent medium. 4. EFF Sells Out The Electronic Frontier Foundation's announcement of their reorganization and the closure of their Cambridge office was greeted with cries of betrayal and the ripping of membership cards. Many people on the Net saw the reorganization as a move by the EFF towards a more slick-corporate-Washington D.C.-Clinton-ass-kicking type of organization. The critics have grossly exaggerated the charges, but there is a kernel of truth to them: The EFF gets most of its financial support from large corporations such as AT&T and Apple, and John Perry Barlow has admitted that this has influenced the EFF's actions. (Heck, how many times hhave you seen John Sculley standing next to Clinton in the past four months?) But a well-endowed EFF is sure to be more effective than a politically correct one -- we just need to hope that what is best for Apple is also best for us. 5. Piercing Body piercing has been hyped for the last five years, but only recently has it really caught on in the computer community. Now it seems as though every programmer in San Jose has a pierced nipple and is eagerto tell you about it. As Jaron Lanier said, piercing is the only thing left that can still get a rise from a teenager's ex-hippy parent. Cyberpunk lit has always emphasized body malfunctions, from fake eyes to knives implanted under yourr finger nails, and piercing is a cheap and easy way to be like your heros -- and it;s oh so rebellious. I just hope that liposuction becomes the next big trend with this group. - Steve Steinberg 8<----- Cut Here --------- Cheers. Paul Ferguson | Uncle Sam wants to read Network Integration Consultant | your e-mail... Centreville, Virginia USA | Just say "NO" to the Clipper fergp@sytex.com | Chip...