...

A recent episode used "anonymous remailers" as a plot device, with spies using them to communicate.<<

...

This show has been remarkably prescient (though not to folks like us) about public events. Episodes already in the can before 911 dealt with

Memo to jya.Couple of years to APster,tops. the Al Quaida terrorists, anthrax, and suitcase nukes. Some were deemed so close to real world events that they were delayed, sometimes more than once.<< Tims delay on commenting on the FBI anthrax investigation freeze; Senility or treachery or BOTH!?

...

The only exciting scenes were of a woman killing someone on a jet and then rigging explosives to detonate the escape door (she had a chute).<<

Sandline,the UK mercenary outfit have a couple of Boeings,presumably for sale/hire.Mundane reality.Anarcho-capitalist army of the future?

...

Less related to spy themes, "UC: Undercover." A good series about an FBI undercover infiltration team.<<

They spy on the Soprano's pretty good.Directly related to spy themes anyone with a normal mind on this list might notice,Tims slipping.

...

Now, on to "A Beautiful Mind." I'll try to forget Bob Hettinga's gratuitous, but oh-so-typical, negative comparison of me to the John Nash character.<<

...

There are several themes in this movie of interest to (some) Cypherpunks

Nash had some nasty *nazi* strands.Not like our Timmy.Oh no,never.Stop it! list subscribers: 1. Nash's role in game theory. Especially the theory of Nash equilibria, which relates closely to Schelling points, which relates closely to notions of where "rights" come from.<< That relates to Tims fascination with technical sounding obscurantist,dehumanizing jargon.Tim has a right to enjoy scientologist style crap.

...

2. Codes and code-breaking. This is somewhat fanciful, for reasons which become clear a bit later in the movie. <<

Language as communication not code is something Tim disapproves of.

...

3. Paranoia and schizophrenia. Nash would have done well on the Cypherpunks list, had it existed back in the 1950s.<<

Not Tims list.See archive for Pope Tim's excommunication of jim bell,early 96.plus many more recent papal Bulls.

...

(edit)...However, anybody who doesn't know the basics of game theory--payoff matrices, games of chicken, prisoner's dilemma, etc.--is not likely to understand the "who gets the blonde" very brief scene. Too bad, as the game theory part is what was most interesting to me.<<

...

(* Nash Equilibria. Imagine India and Pakistan both competing for the

You lost a game of chicken with me last week and dont seem understand prisoners dilemma,also you keep going on about digital swiss banks.Are you nuts? ultimate prize, Kashmir. Nash showed that the "best is the enemy of the good" by showing that a good-enough equilibrium exists when, say, both nations accept less than their first choice. The movie portrays this as a bunch of guys competing for a gorgeous blonde, but winning by accepting the lesser women around the blonde. As with many things in game theory, it works better in theory in practice.<< Anarcho-capitalism anyone?

...

In practice, _someone_ competes for the blonde and gets her, something the abstract model skips. But the notion of Nash equilibria is important because it leads directly to Schelling points, an extension of the idea. The borders between India and Pakistan are largely a series of Nash equilibrium points. Borders are "arrived at without explicit negotiation" for information-theoretic reasons.)<<

I think we might be safer in jim bells anarchy.

...

The film is worth seeing for several reasons. Russell Crowe does a fine acting job.<<

...

The theme is interesting. Members of this list will likely find several points of resonance, though nothing explicity about

You might enjoy "The sum of us" then Timmy. politics in the film.<< Not much politics on this list since we found that "yes,we have no libertarians."

...

I'm concerned, though, about elevating John Nash to superhero cult status. His "great idea" was interesting (more than anything I have done, of course),<<

False modesty,Tim,You are shitloads more interesting.(or were once.)

...

but was done when he was very young and can almost be seen as a pretty obvious extension of minimax and Von Neumann/Morgenstern payoff matrices..<<

...

We all know that people don't compete mindlessly for the "best," that they routinely accept second-best. This is part of the cost-benefit calculus of life. Nash did more than just hand-wave about this, of course...his sets of curves have mathematical rigor. So he deserves a role in the pantheon of game

The Hungarians are the real trailblazers,Whit Diffie should have his own movie.Tim still loves his jargon. theorists, but we shouldn't let his nuttiness give him more credit than he would be due if he had just evolved into a Rand Corp. talking head as so many of them did.<< Admiring johns curves,carefull Tim,you'll out yourself.Shouldn't let your fascist nuttiness give you more credit than as a Cypherpunk windsock.Any thoughts on the stupidity of peter Trei? RSA for hiring him? Say something definite for once.

...

A fellow nutcase in Princeton (*) during the same period was Kurt Godel (umlaut over the single "o"). His achievement was the greater one, and he remained a member of the IAS until his death. His story would be just as interesting, though maybe not as sympathetic as Nash's.<<

Whats his diagnosis oh Shrinkus Maximus?

...

All in all, recommended. I thought the film started briskly but then slowed to a crawl in the third reel. It picked up again in the final reel.<<

Probably how the cypherpunk movie will go.Who to play you Tim? Ronnie Cox or ned beatty? Thanks for the free reviews

...

--Tim May "The State is the great fiction by which everyone seeks to live at the expense of everyone else." --Frederic Bastiat<<

Moving to Montana soon?