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Fwd: [Cryptography] Two articles on what is and isn't money
by grarpamp 28 Dec '17

28 Dec '17

A patron tries to pay with cash at the West 40th Street location of Dos Toros Taqueria, only to learn that only credit or debit cards are accepted. The Two Forks chain also does not take cash. Visa recently offered select merchants a $10,000 reward to switch away from cash transactions. “I was shocked,” said David, a 66-year-old accountant who popped into Dig Inn for lunch a few hours before Ms. Bryant. (He declined to give his surname because “I’m a private person.”) “This is very unusual to me.” “My reaction was ‘Jesus, a New York City restaurant that records all its revenue? How can they stay in business?’ ”the credit card companies, who make a commission on every credit card purchase, applaud the trend. Visa recently offered select merchants a $10,000 reward for depriving customers of their right to pay by the method of their choice.He was told he could not pay with cash. He handed over his credit card. There was a problem with the card reader, or maybe the Wi-Fi. In any case, the machine was down. The cashier apologized and said the ice cream was on the house. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Levine <johnl(a)iecc.com> Date: Tue, Dec 26, 2017 at 3:53 PM Subject: [Cryptography] Two articles on what is and isn't money To: cryptography(a)metzdowd.com NY Times: Cash Might Be King, but They Don't Care As restaurants in New York stop accepting cash, they are surprised how few people care, or even notice. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/25/nyregion/no-cash-money-cashless-credit-d… FT: Israeli regulator becomes latest to crack down on bitcoin Israel bars bitcoin trading companies from Tel Aviv stock exchange because "Nobody knows what stands behind this." On the other hand, they're considering a digital shekel for mobile payments. http://click.notice.ft.com/f/a/Z3B0L0Bul4__oT5GvASd6g~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRcJTWpP0… R's, John _______________________________________________ The cryptography mailing list cryptography(a)metzdowd.com http://www.metzdowd.com/mailman/listinfo/cryptography

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Echoes of Eyeball Series: Forensic Architectures
by grarpamp 28 Dec '17

28 Dec '17

http://www.forensic-architecture.org/ Project Forensic Architecture (FA) is a research agency, based at Goldsmiths, University of London, that undertakes advanced architectural and media research on behalf of international prosecutors, human rights organisations and political and environmental justice groups. Forensic Architecture is also an emergent field we have developed at Goldsmiths. It refers to the production and presentation of architectural evidence – buildings and larger environments and their media representations. Background As contemporary conflicts increasingly take place within urban areas, homes and neighbourhoods have become targets, and most civilian casualties occur within cities and buildings. Urban battlefields have become dense data and media environments, generating information that is shared on social and mainstream media. Many violations, undertaken within cities and buildings, are now caught on camera and are made available almost instantly. The premise of FA is that analysing IHL and HR violations must involve modelling dynamic events as they unfold in space and time, and creating navigable 3D models of environments undergoing conflict, as well as the creation of filmic animations, and interactive cartographies on the urban or architectural scale. Aim These techniques allow us to present information in a convincing, precise, and accessible manner crucial for the pursuit of accountability. Architectural analysis is also important since it enables new insights into the context and conduct of urban conflicts. FA has a track record in providing unique and decisive evidence in high profile human rights investigation about incidents that other methods cannot engage with. We often undertake collaborative investigations with partners. These can include human rights organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, Centro para la Acción Legal en Derechos Humanos, B’tselem, Al Mezan and Migeurop. We have also worked with international prosecutors and offices such as the UN Special Rapporteur for Counter Terrorism and Human Rights, as well as reporters from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. We share our work with the public via leading research and cultural institutes. Our main beneficiaries are always the victims of human rights violations and communities in conflict zones. Context The widespread possession of cheap digital recording equipment, the development of satellite communication, the public availability of remote sensing technology and the ability to disseminate information instantaneously through the internet have made urban conflict more complex, but also generate enormous amounts of data that can be used as potential resources for monitoring. Available in real-time, these sources challenge the evidentiary practices of Human Rights Law and IHL, which has traditionally been grounded in witness interviews conducted well after the fact. But these transformations also lead to secondary conflict, about veracity of online content and the disputed interpretations of news and social media websites. The establishment of new forums of international jurisdiction such as the International Criminal Court mean contemporary forums have themselves become dense media environments, where screen-to-screen interaction replaces face-to-face deliberation. The combined urbanisation and mediatisation of conflict makes FA’s pioneering work an urgent and indispensable new practice for human rights investigations. FA seeks to respond to these challenges by developing new modes of media research and new ways of presenting investigations of urban and architectural environments. Public Work In recent years FA has successfully tested its methodologies in a number of landmark legal and human rights cases undertaken together with and on behalf of threatened communities, NGOs, prosecutors and the UN. [see all Investigations] Our work has also generated a robust debate in human rights, architecture and legal circles. The UN Special Rapporteur for Counter Terrorism and Human Rights commissioned FA to analyse the destruction of buildings targeted by drone strikes [see Drone Strikes] as well as patterns of destruction in towns and villages resulting from drone warfare in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Gaza. This work was undertaken with the Bureau for Investigative Journalism [see BIJ Drone Strikes in Pakistan]. We developed unique “data pattern” cartographies for Waziristan and Gaza [see Gaza Platform], and undertook a number of presentations in high courts in Israel, Italy, and France. In 2014-2015 FA collaborated with Amnesty international on reports on the 2014 Gaza conflict [see Rafah, Black Friday]. In 2012, FA was invited to produce architectural evidence for the genocide trial of former Guatemalan military dictators Luca García (July 1978 – March 1982) and Ríos Montt (March 1982 – August 1983) in the National Court of Guatemala, and in the Inter-American Court for Human Rights. FA provided digital architectural models and animations to support a petition brought by the Palestinian village of Battir against the security barrier (wall) in the Israeli High Court, helping to win the case in 2015 [see The Wall in Battir]. Using LIDAR scanners and ground-penetrating radar we undertook a complete forensic survey of the former WW2 concentration camp of Staro Sajmište in Belgrade (2013) [see Living Death Camps]. We worked with Migeurop in relation to the death of migrants in the Mediterranean [see Left-to-Die Boat]. Francesco Sebregondi (Forensic Architecture) presenting the White Phosphorus report in the UN Office at Geneva, 12 November 2012. Photo: Forensic Architecture. Public Reception FA’s evidence files, taking the shape of models, drawings, maps, web-based interactive cartographies, films, and animations have also been exhibited in leading cultural and art institutions [see Exhibitions]. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London purchased some of our visual material for their permanent collection (2015). FA’s impact was further consolidated by academic reviews [see Forensis review in Society and Space, in Radical Philosophy], mainstream media reports [see Press] a documentary film produced about our work [see Architecture of Violence], numerous academic reviews, and was presented in several keynote lectures [see Lecture at UniSA Nelson Mandela, Lecture at Peter Wall Institute of Advanced Studies].

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UFOs: US Defense Dept Videos and Black Money, Alien Tech, To The Stars
by grarpamp 28 Dec '17

28 Dec '17

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NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Round 1 Submissions Posted
by grarpamp 28 Dec '17

28 Dec '17

https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/Post-Quantum-Cryptography ~93 zipfiles Background In recent years, there has been a substantial amount of research on quantum computers – machines that exploit quantum mechanical phenomena to solve mathematical problems that are difficult or intractable for conventional computers. If large-scale quantum computers are ever built, they will be able to break many of the public-key cryptosystems currently in use. This would seriously compromise the confidentiality and integrity of digital communications on the Internet and elsewhere. The goal of post-quantum cryptography (also called quantum-resistant cryptography) is to develop cryptographic systems that are secure against both quantum and classical computers, and can interoperate with existing communications protocols and networks. The question of when a large-scale quantum computer will be built is a complicated one. While in the past it was less clear that large quantum computers are a physical possibility, many scientists now believe it to be merely a significant engineering challenge. Some engineers even predict that within the next twenty or so years sufficiently large quantum computers will be built to break essentially all public key schemes currently in use. Historically, it has taken almost two decades to deploy our modern public key cryptography infrastructure. Therefore, regardless of whether we can estimate the exact time of the arrival of the quantum computing era, we must begin now to prepare our information security systems to be able to resist quantum computing.

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JTRIG GCHQ: Uncovering British spies web of sockpuppet social media personas
by grarpamp 28 Dec '17

28 Dec '17

https://media.ccc.de/v/34c3-9233-uncovering_british_spies_web_of_sockpuppet… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9YhFiZnHkE The Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group (JTRIG), a unit in one of Britain’s intelligence agencies, is tasked with creating sockpuppet accounts and fake content on social media, in order to use "dirty tricks" to "destroy, deny, degrade [and] disrupt" enemies by "discrediting" them. In this talk, we reveal some of that content, in relation to infiltrating activists groups around the world, including during the Arab spring and Iranian revolution.

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Secret Things: Bohemian Grove
by grarpamp 28 Dec '17

28 Dec '17

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bohemian+grove https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Grove >From secret UFO's to secret clubs, they're out there ;)

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[WAR] Ron Paul: “I’m just hoping our [USA govt.] system comes apart as gracefully as the Soviet system.”
by Zenaan Harkness 28 Dec '17

28 Dec '17

Those who observe are in no doubt about, significant, changes very approaching - already past the horizon and staring at us down the barrel. Good luck, Ron Paul: US On Verge Of Soviet Style Collapse http://yournewswire.com/ron-paul-us-on-verge-of-soviet-style-collapse/ Ron Paul says a year of apparent economic growth under President Donald Trump is “a bit of an illusion” and that the American political system is on the verge of coming apart in a way that is similar to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989. … “We’re on the verge of something like what happened in ‘89 when the Soviet system just collapsed,” he said. “I’m just hoping our system comes apart as gracefully as the Soviet system.” Press TV reports http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/12/27/547001/Ron-Paul-Libertarian-Soviet… : The former Republican lawmaker from Texas said he does not necessarily believe the US will break into separate countries, but instead forecasts a complete overhaul of US monetary policy and an end to what he considers the US “empire” overseas. “We have ownership of these countries, but it’s not quite like the Soviets did,” he said. “I think our stature in the world and our empire will end, and that’s when, hopefully, the doors will be open and [people will] say, ‘Hey, maybe these libertarians have some answers to this.’” Paul said “the country’s feeling a lot better, but it’s all on borrowed money” and that “the whole system’s an illusion” built on corporate, personal, and governmental debt. “It’s a bubble economy in many many different ways and it’s going to come unglued.” …

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[Free E-Book] Essays on Bitcoin
by Cecilia Tanaka 28 Dec '17

28 Dec '17

https://www.essaysonbitcoin.com Well, being sincere, I didn't read it yet. Sorry, received the references of this book only a few minutes ago... :P Good night kisses and sweet dreams, dear all. <3 c. ---------- "Don't let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity. It's your place in the world; it's your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live." - Mae Jemison

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Current State of Mailing Lists / Forums about Internet Freedom, Security and Privacy?
by BM-2cXCAVedtJwvdVXg9HeMPZp8k5UAakzTMs＠bitmessage.ch 28 Dec '17

28 Dec '17

Hello. I was originally writing this post for tor-talk mailing list, which is a general mailing list hosted by Tor Project to discuss online anonymity and cryptography technology, I later realized it was probably a good idea to seek feedback from other lists so I crossposted it to many of them. It's all my humble options and please forgive if it's inappropriate. In the history of the Internet, there were always some communities who found themselves (or placed themselves) in the center of the storm on cutting edge development related to Internet freedom, security and privacy in the past 30 years. Back in the 80s, sci.crypto and a handful of newsgroups were prominent and widely read by everyone in the field of security and cryptography. In the 90s, there were comp.risks and the Cypherpunk mailing list, and they are probably everything you need for resources and discussions. In 2000s, Bugtraq and the Full Disclosure movement started, where all the security holes were debated and exposed. Those communities were center of the mass, brought all the talent people together, to conduct free discussions and research about everything ongoing in the field, no matter it was news, debate, designs, programs, rumors or personal argument, with light or no moderation, where ideas crashed on each other and produced fruitful new approaches. Unfortunately, it looks like that this kind of communities is becoming endangered species. It's hard to find anything similar after 2008 (or ~2005)? All the existing lists are dead pools now with few threads, some newsgroups still exist, but are toxic now since only narcissists are posting, and no other existent members to stop them since, they were all gone. The remaining lists are becoming project-centric, only discuss specific technical issues and not a general platform of discussion, such as this tor-talk (historically, mailing lists named as "-talk" were usually popular, like a party). seclists.org still has some historically famous lists but they are not very active, comp.risks only has news digest now! No posters! The Cryptography mailing list on metzdowd.com is still moving, but only 3 or 4 topics are discussed monthly (but in-depth, which is good), with strict on-topic policy. Other popular forums, like HackerNews or Reddit, functions more like a brief digest instead of a general purpose online forum. Where are all the hackers, developers, cryptographers, activists, researchers, etc gone? 1. It seems that the arise of social media, like Facebook and especially Twitter, is partially responsible for the current state of deterioration of online forums, as now all the latest and interesting information are tweets, and everyone's on Twitter. They are turning the Internet communities to be less and less formal and sophisticated people, Have a new project? Instead of writing a 1000 words short essay and debating with all the experts in the mailing list, just send a 50-word tweet and post the code to GitHub! 2. It seems that the scope of Internet freedom, security and privacy has expanded infinitely, it's infeasible to talk to everyone on Earth in this field by posting in two or three mailing lists, everyone moved to their personal (physical and online) social network to talk is a natural result of it. This is how the Cypherpunk list dead according to some, I believe the same thing is going on everywhere. (sorry if Cypherpunks found it's offensive, no intention to insult, but just no longer the center of mass according to John Gilmore in 2002). 3. It seems that the Internet is no longer an academic thing and compared to popular culture online, the research community becomes almost invisible and finally led to the collapse of many of them. 4. It seems that the Internet is no longer an utopian "cyberspace", but now with lots of threats, such as doxxing and mass surveillance. 20 years ago it's normal for a hacker or activist to post a controversial research, with the phone number and personal address attached in a mailing list, and joining monthly offline meetings. But now, many of them, or perhaps even you, the one who is reading this post, would prefer a low profile in the community, or proactively separate different works. Many are also prefer a private Off-the-record talk over a public debate, prefer small private groups with encryption over big open space. Some even proactively obscure or erase online records. This has two consequences, first, the Big Brother has to work harder and it's good. But it also means the community as a whore becomes harder to communicate with each other, there are always time when someone discovered something which is unnoticed to others, or comes up with an exceptionally good idea. But a fragmented community is more difficult to promote them. (It's also difficult to conduct a historical research in the future, which can be a problem. In contrast the Usenet posts from the 80s are still here and it's good for history and research, but bad for privacy, but it's another topic). Look! Number 1, 2, 3, 4 actually goes together, towards the same end! Does anyone have an option about how the things going on today? Any explanations of the current state of the Internet communities? And what is your recommendation of a good online fourm for general discussion of freedom, security and privacy? Cheers, John Random

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Re: [Cryptography] Bitcoin theft and the future of cryptocurrencies
by grarpamp 28 Dec '17

28 Dec '17

On Wed, Dec 27, 2017 at 4:28 PM, Howard Chu <hyc(a)symas.com> wrote: > The paper's author has no connection to any particular coin > project. Didn't say they were connected. The btcmanager article's author is though by disclaimer... "The author owns monero but does not own any zcash." Rephrasing what that prefixed... Is it *possible* to use whichever coin in a way such that an analysis paper against it becomes mitigated / moot? If no, then add the paper to the stack of breaks, and documented design inapplicabilities / oversights / cantfixes / wontfixes and so on, that will weigh upon its validity as a coin, and choices made as to its use cases. "Goes to zero" breaks are obviously included in this. If yes, then simply bashing the coin as broken, is crap rhetoric, when the issue may really be better usage, documentation, knowledge, and design therein so that such footshooting is harder or more obvious. Given the usage caveats and potential mitigations noted in the below, perhaps this is really a case of the latter yes condition. https://z.cash/blog/transaction-linkability.html http://jeffq.com/blog/on-the-linkability-of-zcash-transactions/ http://arxiv.org/pdf/1712.01210.pdf http://jeffq.com/zcash-rtts.htm https://z.cash/blog/new-research-on-shielded-ecosystem.html https://btcmanager.com/linkability-zcash-transactions-study-precipitates-de… A Traceability Analysis of Monero’s Blockchain https://eprint.iacr.org/2017/338.pdf In sum, all the purported privacy coins have years of analysis and improvements to go before the word private can truly be considered to apply to any of them. Further, it may be that newer privacy tech and privacy coins will surpass any that exist today. Communities getting embattled aren't productive way to address design / tech, accept obsolescense, and improve with new. Change is part of the nature of cryptocurrencies. The old rules of fiat should not be expected to apply. There will *never* be one coin to rule them all, but many happy families. And every one will be far different than whatever random stack of fiat notes might fill the purse of a globetrotter. Ps: DPRK, China, "criminals", etc supposedly print US money in bulk just like the US itself does... interesting to compare that to potential outcomes of any compromised ceremonies, inadequate coin architectures, early heights of flawed blockchains still affecting their own subsequent fixes and so on...

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