Angus Patterson wrote:

I've been trying to get True Names by Vernor Vinge, and have been told it's out of print (like most good cypunk ), does anybody have it scanned? I realize this is without permission, so does anybody have Vinge's address? (e-mail or otherwise) or could anybody ask him? Btw, does he have any other crypto/anonymity related stories? Thanks in advance.

I see copies in used bookstores often. It's in the collection "True Names and Something-or-other" and was in print until recenly. I also have the Bluejay edition, with an afterward by Marvin Minsky. Check around any large used bookstore. It's too long for reasonable scanning (and I have both a scanner and an OCR program, and scanned-in one or more of the papers at the soda site) and would bring on heat. Besides, it's just too easy to find in bookstores or libraries, regardless of being "out of print." As to other such stories, "The Ungoverned" is interesting. And fo course the "Peace War" and "Marooned in Realtime" (aka "Mushrooms in Real Slime") novels have some futurist items of interest. (In particular, I think of public key crypto as "bobbling" data inside, encasing data in a silvery sphere unbreachable by outsiders. I mentioned this to Vinge once and he was amused.) Finally, his Hugo-winning novel, "A Fire Upon the Deep," has some casual mentions of crypto, including the odd speculation that those in the know in the distant future don't really trust public key crypto. Death to vermin! --Tim May -- .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. Cypherpunks list: majordomo@toad.com with body message of only: subscribe cypherpunks. FAQ available at ftp.netcom.com in pub/tc/tcmay

On Thu, 5 Jan 1995, Angus Patterson wrote:

I've been trying to get True Names by Vernor Vinge, and have been told it's out of print (like most good cypunk ), does anybody have it scanned? I realize this is without permission, so does anybody have Vinge's address? (e-mail or otherwise) or could anybody ask him? Btw, does he have any other crypto/anonymity related stories? Thanks in advance.

I saw a copy of _True Names_ in a local bookstore recently, so if you check around you may be able to find it. You may also want to check the used bookstores in your area. Good luck! -- Christopher E Stefan * flatline@u.washington.edu * PGP 2.6ui key by request