Infinite \In"fi*nite\, a. [L. infinitus: cf. F. infini. See
In- not, and Finite.]
1. Unlimited or boundless, in time or space; as, infinite
duration or distance.
Whatever is finite, as finite, will admit of no
comparative relation with infinity; for whatever is
less than infinite is still infinitely distant from
infinity; and lower than infinite distance the
lowest or least can not sink. --H. Brooke.
2. Without limit in power, capacity, knowledge, or
excellence; boundless; immeasurably or inconceivably
great; perfect; as, the infinite wisdom and goodness of
God; -- opposed to finite.
Great is our Lord, and of great power; his
understanding is infinite. --Ps. cxlvii.5.
O God, how infinite thou art! --I. Watts.
3. Indefinitely large or extensive; great; vast; immense;
gigantic; prodigious.
Infinite riches in a little room. --Marlowe.
Which infinite calamity shall cause To human life.
--Milton.
4. (Math.) Greater than any assignable quantity of the same
kind; -- said of certain quantities.
5. (Mus.) Capable of endless repetition; -- said of certain
forms of the canon, called also perpetual fugues, so
constructed that their ends lead to their beginnings, and
the performance may be incessantly repeated. --Moore
(Encyc. of Music).
Syn: Boundless; immeasurable; illimitable; interminable;
limitless; unlimited; endless; eternal.
Justice, by definition brings closure to an event or crime, sets the record straight, evens out the score. Justice is descreet, deals in instances that have a beginning and an end. And there is always an end in justice, that is how parties seeking justice can finally be satisfied. Since Justice is about bringing balance, and attaining a single goal, rectifying once, an injustice it is totally absurd to speak about INFINITE JUSTICE. You FOOLS!
Wait a minute:
The opposite of INTINITE is FINITE. So they for sure have spoken about a FINAL SOLUTION TO THE ISLAMIC TERRORIST PROBLEM. Oh dear me, can you imagine?, "turn the name around boys; no one will notice".
Wednesday, September 19, 2001
When you have a leaking pipe that you want to stop, you do not write legislation outlawing leaking pipes; you TURN OFF THE WATER and PATCH THE HOLE. Banning cryptography, introducing ID cards, opening peoples mail, security cameras, face scanners; NONE of these will stop people from bombing, hijacking and murdering.
Its amazing (though not surprising) that no one has pointed out to the Americans that the most CCTV'd country on earth STILL gets bombed by the IRA whenever they choose to do a campaign. Are we the only people who understand this? cameras have not prevented a SINGLE explosion from taking place in mainland UK. It does however, provide huge revenues for the CCTV companies and the Police, who use them to fleece car drivers.
The only measures that people should be thinking about are the ones that FIX THE PIPES, in other words, solutions that fix the ROOT CAUSE of all these problems, the main one being an un-democratic United Nations. Everything else is just a ploy to enforce Orwellian controls on the civilized peoples of the earth. It will solve nothing, destroy everything, and leave the "criminals" untouched.
If freedom is outlawed, only outlaws will have freedom.
You heard it here first.
Tuesday, September 18, 2001
In response to Tuesday's terrorist attacks, Clear Channel, the world's
largest radio network, has sent out a list of some 150 "lyrically
questionable" songs by everyone from the Animals to the Zombies to its radio
stations, recommending that the songs not be aired. Some songs are overtly
violent in their intent, but the majority simply contain metaphorical
language or narrative aspects that connect uncomfortably with the tragedy.
http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/songs.html
Clear Channel's List of Songs with Questionable Lyrics
Artist - Title
Drowning Pool - "Bodies"
Mudvayne - "Death Blooms"
Megadeth - "Dread and the Fugitive"
Megadeth - "Sweating Bullets"
Saliva - "Click Click Boom"
P.O.D. - "Boom"
Metallica - "Seek and Destroy"
Metallica - "Harvester or Sorrow"
Metallica - "Enter Sandman"
Metallica - "Fade to Black"
All Rage Against The Machine songs
Nine Inch Nails - "Head Like a Hole"
Godsmack - "Bad Religion"
Tool - "Intolerance"
Soundgarden - "Blow Up the Outside World"
AC/DC - "Shot Down in Flames"
AC/DC - "Shoot to Thrill"
AC/DC - "Dirty Deeds"
AC/DC - "Highway to Hell"
AC/DC - "Safe in New York City"
AC/DC - "TNT"
AC/DC - "Hell's Bells"
Black Sabbath - "War Pigs"
Black Sabbath - "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath"
Black Sabbath - "Suicide Solution"
Dio - "Holy Diver"
Steve Miller - "Jet Airliner"
Van Halen - "Jump"
Queen - "Another One Bites the Dust"
Queen - "Killer Queen"
Pat Benatar - "Hit Me with Your Best Shot"
Pat Benatar - "Love is a Battlefield"
Oingo Boingo - "Dead Man's Party"
REM - "It's the End of the World as We Know It"
Talking Heads - "Burning Down the House"
Judas Priest - "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll"
Pink Floyd - "Run Like Hell"
Pink Floyd - "Mother"
Savage Garden - "Crash and Burn"
Dave Matthews Band - "Crash Into Me"
Bangles - "Walk Like an Egyptian"
Pretenders - "My City Was Gone"
Alanis Morissette - "Ironic"
Barenaked Ladies - "Falling for the First Time"
Fuel - "Bad Day"
John Parr - "St. Elmo's Fire"
Peter Gabriel - "When You're Falling"
Kansas - "Dust in the Wind"
Led Zeppelin - "Stairway to Heaven"
The Beatles - "A Day in the Life"
The Beatles - "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
The Beatles - "Ticket To Ride"
The Beatles - "Obla Di, Obla Da"
Bob Dylan/Guns N Roses - "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
Arthur Brown - "Fire"
Blue Oyster Cult - "Burnin' For You"
Paul McCartney and Wings - "Live and Let Die"
Jimmy Hendrix - "Hey Joe"
Jackson Brown - "Doctor My Eyes"
John Mellencamp - "Crumbling Down"
John Mellencamp - "I'm On Fire"
U2 - "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
Boston - "Smokin"
Billy Joel - "Only the Good Die Young"
Barry McGuire - "Eve of Destruction"
Steam - "Na Na Na Na Hey Hey"
Drifters - "On Broadway"
Shelly Fabares - "Johnny Angel"
Los Bravos - "Black is Black"
Peter and Gordon - "I Go To Pieces"
Peter and Gordon - "A World Without Love"
Elvis - "(You're the) Devil in Disguise"
Zombies - "She's Not There"
Elton John - "Benny & The Jets"
Elton John - "Daniel"
Elton John - "Rocket Man"
Jerry Lee Lewis - "Great Balls of Fire"
Santana - "Evil Ways"
Louis Armstrong - "What A Wonderful World"
Youngbloods - "Get Together"
Ad Libs - "The Boy from New York City"
Peter Paul and Mary - "Blowin' in the Wind"
Peter Paul and Mary - "Leavin' on a Jet Plane"
Rolling Stones - "Ruby Tuesday"
Simon And Garfunkel - "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
Happenings - "See You in Septemeber"
Carole King - "I Feel the Earth Move"
Yager and Evans - "In the Year 2525"
Norman Greenbaum - "Spirit in the Sky"
Brooklyn Bridge - "Worst That Could Happen"
Three Degrees - "When Will I See You Again"
Cat Stevens - "Peace Train"
Cat Stevens - "Morning Has Broken"
Jan and Dean - "Dead Man's Curve"
Martha & the Vandellas - "Nowhere to Run"
Martha and the Vandellas/Van Halen - "Dancing in the Streets"
Hollies - "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"
San Cooke - Herman Hermits, "Wonder World"
Petula Clark - "A Sign of the Times"
Don McLean - "American Pie"
J. Frank Wilson - "Last Kiss"
Buddy Holly and the Crickets - "That'll Be the Day"
John Lennon - "Imagine"
Bobby Darin - "Mack the Knife"
The Clash - "Rock the Casbah"
Surfaris - "Wipeout"
Blood Sweat and Tears - "And When I Die"
Dave Clark Five - "Bits and Pieces"
Tramps - "Disco Inferno"
Paper Lace - "The Night Chicago Died"
Frank Sinatra - "New York, New York"
Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Travelin' Band"
The Gap Band - "You Dropped a Bomb On Me"
Alien Ant Farm - "Smooth Criminal"
3 Doors Down - "Duck and Run"
The Doors - "The End"
Third Eye Blind - "Jumper"
Neil Diamond - "America"
Lenny Kravitz - "Fly Away"
Tom Petty - "Free Fallin'"
Bruce Springsteen - "I'm On Fire"
Bruce Springsteen - "Goin' Down"
Phil Collins - "In the Air Tonight"
Alice in Chains - "Rooster"
Alice in Chains - "Sea of Sorrow"
Alice in Chains - "Down in a Hole"
Alice in Chains - "Them Bone"
Beastie Boys - "Sure Shot"
Beastie Boys - "Sabotage"
The Cult - "Fire Woman"
Everclear - "Santa Monica"
Filter - "Hey Man, Nice Shot"
Foo Fighters - "Learn to Fly"
Korn - "Falling Away From Me"
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Aeroplane"
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Under the Bridge"
Smashing Pumpkins - "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
System of a Down - "Chop Suey!"
Skeeter Davis - "End of the World"
Rickey Nelson - "Travelin' Man"
Chi-Lites - "Have You Seen Her"
Animals - "We Gotta Get Out of This Place"
Fontella Bass - "Rescue Me"
Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels - "Devil with the Blue Dress"
James Taylor - "Fire and Rain"
Edwin Starr/Bruce Springstein - "War"
Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Tuesday's Gone"
Limp Bizkit - "Break Stuff"
Green Day - "Brain Stew"
Temple of the Dog - "Say Hello to Heaven"
Sugar Ray - "Fly"
Local H - "Bound for the Floor"
Slipknot - "Left Behind, Wait and Bleed"
Bush - "Speed Kills"
311 - "Down"
Stone Temple Pilots - "Big Bang Baby," Dead and Bloated"
Soundgarden - "Fell on Black Days," Black Hole Sun"
Nina - "99 LuftBalloons/99 Red Balloons"
Monday, September 17, 2001
Cryptome and a host of other crypto resources are likely to be shutdown if the war panic continues. What methods could be used to assure continued access to crypto for homeland and self-defense by citizens of all nations against communication transgressors?
A while back a list of global sites for accessing crypto and privacy tools was set up:
http://jya.com/crypto-free.htm
This list of crypto sources, and additions to it, should be mirrored and the mirrors widely publicized to aid citizen access to tools for personal and homeland protection worldwide from those urging war and terrorism at home and around the globe.
To supplement that, Cryptome would appreciate hearing by encrypted mail (anonymous remail too) what others have done or could do to stockpile and distribute self-dense tools. We've sent out a few hundred CDs of the Cryptome collection, and are considering offering here a ~100MB compressed package of the ~8000 files. If so, we would first make more of the packages available to other global sites to offset our bandwidth limitations.
There are only a few crypto programs in the files, mostly PGP since 2.62. We might grab more for inclusion unless others are doing that. To comply with law we'd have to notify BXA of any new program offerings.
Responses welcome: jya@pipeline.com
Pipeline.com is owned by Earthlink, one of the ISPs reportedly now intercepted by Carnivore; Verio, host of this site, may be as well, your hosts too.
John Young PK below.
Check it, the tide anti war sentiment is growing.
WW3 has been looming on the horizon for years; its only now that a hot enough match has been found that will ignite it. No thanks. no to war, no to unfairness, taboo subjects, lies and favouritism.
Sunday, September 16, 2001
Both sides of the calendar debate were wrong; the new century began on 11 September 2001.
All day I fielded phone calls from reporters looking for the "computer security angle" to the story. I couldn't find one, although I expect several to come out of the aftermath.
Calls for increased security began immediately. Unfortunately, the quickest and easy way to satisfy those demands is by decreasing liberties. This is always short sighted; real security solutions exist that preserve the free society that we all hold dear, but they're harder to find and require reasoned debate. Strong police forces without Constitutional limitations might appeal to those wanting immediate safety, but the reality is the opposite. Laws that limit police power can increase security, by enforcing honesty, integrity, and fairness. It is our very liberties that make our society as safe as it is.
In times of crisis it's easy to disregard these liberties or, worse, to actively attack them and stigmatize those who support them. We've already seen government proposals for increased wiretapping capabilities and renewed rhetoric about encryption limitations. I fully expect more automatic surveillance of ordinary citizens, limits on information flow and digital-security technologies, and general xenophobia. I do not expect much debate about their actual effectiveness, or their effects on freedom and liberty. It's easier just to react. In 1996, TWA Flight 800 exploded and crashed in the Atlantic. Originally people thought it was a missile attack. The FBI demanded, and Congress passed, a law giving law enforcement greater abilities to expel aliens from the country. Eventually we learned the crash was caused by a mechanical malfunction, but the law still stands.
We live in a world where nation states are not the only institutions which wield power. International bodies, corporations, non-governmental organizations, pan-national ethnicities, and disparate political groups all have the ability to affect the world in an unprecedented manner. As we adjust to this new reality, it is important that we don't become the very forces we abhor. I consider the terrorist attacks on September 11th to be an attack against America's ideals. If our freedoms erode because of those attacks, then the terrorists have won.
The ideals we uphold during a crisis define who we are. Freedom and liberty have a price, and that price is constant vigilance so it not be taken from us in the name of security. Ben Franklin said something that was often repeated during the American Revolutionary War: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." It is no less true today.
From Cryptome, Sept 15 2001
MP George Galloway was, whilst explaing to the dim witted Adam Bolton on Sky news the REASONING behind this atrocity, was abruptly cut off by the Sky News vision controllers.
There will be no debate. There will be no reason. There will be no withdrawl from the affairs of the Middle East. There will only be WAR and INSANITY and STUPIDITY, BLINDNESS, LIES and counting of the dead.
Saturday, September 15, 2001
Daily Telegraph
"The World Trade Centre outrage was co-ordinated on the internet, without question. If Washington is serious in its determination to eliminate terrorism, it will have to forbid internet providers to allow the transmission of encrypted messages - now encoded by public key ciphers that are unbreakable even by the National Security Agency's computers - and close down any provider that refuses to comply.
Uncompliant providers on foreign territory should expect their buildings to be destroyed by cruise missiles. Once the internet is implicated in the killing of Americans, its high-rolling days may be reckoned to be over."
Anyone watching the special debate in the UK Parliament yesterday would have been amazed at some of the outbursts; Dennis Skinner made the most absurd statement, to the effect,"..should the UK government be riding on the coat-tails of an American president, who whilst the firefighters were standing ten feet tall, was cowering in a bunker?"
One MP called for the mandatory issuing of ID cards for all UK citizens, as well as "mandatory genetic profiling of all UK citizens", "so that we can follow these people where ever they go, from safe house to safehouse".
Yet another asked if the government would be preparing to invoke its special wartime measures allowing it to round up potential enemies living in the UK. Think about it; this will HAVE to happen if the UK decides it is going to "stand shoulder to shoulder" with the USA when it bombs, for example, XXXXXXX. They will, as the americans rounded up all people with "Japanese ancestry" in WW2, round up all citizens of XXXXXXX because they will be seen as potential threats.
If however, there is no bombing, this will not be an issue.
40 billion Dollars has been freed up by congress to prosecute this battle, after "the Pearl Harbor of World War 3". It would be the correct move to simply NOT go to war, as it will only possibly CAUSE WW3 to start, solve nothing, create more hate and disorder and a destruciton of our already eroding freedom.
George Gallawy, made the only sensible speech during the debate. He has never been listened to, and of course, his words fell on deaf ears today. He said, and these are not ver batim but they are close, "10,000 Bin Ladens will be created if we bomb any country that we believe is involved in this atrocity"..."if 5000 people were killed in this attack, then that is the same number of people that have died EVERY MONTH in Iraq in the 10 years since the end of the Gulf War". No one wants to address the root problem in this, and it has nothing to do with timing and respect for the dead. It's a symptom of the wests refusal to play fair, its refusal to apply the same standards to everybody that it does to itself. If it cannot do this, then it should take its marbles home and go and play with the people it feels equal to.
Jack Straw engaged in a "told you so" tirade saying that, "the extra powers for the security services and police that we asked for were in proportion to the "terrorist threat", as we said". This is par for the course from him.
Everyone is angry, scared and ill. Aparently in France, there are two kilometer lines for Diesel in advance of shortages due to forthcoming military action. This could have all been avoided if the UN was a fair place, which it is demonstably not. Now we are being dragged into a fully blown war, at a time when we should be thinking about everything else BUT war. This is the fault of the UN, who, as the last place a country can turn to for justice, failed miserably to apply its resolutions evenly, failed miserably to heed the calls for help from the countries that were suffering, failed to stop the USA controlling the amazingly undemocratic and unrepresentative Security Council.....which of you will be called up to fight in this? and where will you run to to avoid sucking in some depleted uranium dust, taking an experimental anti biological warfair coctail or just getting killed?
Thursday, September 13, 2001
"CNN reported on television broadcast earlier today that the NSA was now going through volumes of recorded cellular calls for calls made by passengers on the planes."
Someone at the NSA has made a slip of the tounge; this is an admission that they have recordings of all cellular telephone calls made in the USA!
"LET'S BE PERSONAL"
Broadcast June 5, 1973, CFRB, Toronto, Ontario
Topic: "The Americans"
The United States dollar took another pounding on German, French and British exchanges this morning, hitting the lowest point ever known in West Germany. It has declined there by 41% since 1971 and this Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least-appreciated people in all the earth.
As long as sixty years ago, when I first started to read newspapers, I read of floods on the Yellow River and the Yangtse. Who rushed in with men and money to help? The Americans did.
They have helped control floods on the Nile, the Amazon, the Ganges and the Niger. Today, the rich bottom land of the Misssissippi is under water and no foreign land has sent a dollar to help. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy, were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of those countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.
When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.
When distant cities are hit by earthquakes, it is the United States that hurries into help... Managua Nicaragua is one of the most recent examples. So far this spring, 59 American communities have been flattened by tornadoes. Nobody has helped.
The Marshall Plan .. the Truman Policy .. all pumped billions upon billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now, newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent war-mongering Americans.
I'd like to see one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplanes.
Come on... let's hear it! Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tristar or the Douglas 107? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all international lines except Russia fly American planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or women on the moon?
You talk about Japanese technocracy and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy and you find men on the moon, not once, but several times ... and safely home again. You talk about scandals and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everyone to look at. Even the draft dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, most of them ... unless they are breaking Canadian laws .. are getting American dollars from Ma and Pa at home to spend here.
When the Americans get out of this bind ... as they will... who could blame them if they said 'the hell with the rest of the world'. Let someone else buy the Israel bonds, Let someone else build or repair foreign dams or design foreign buildings that won't shake apart in earthquakes.
When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. I can name to you 5,000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble.
Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.
Our neighbours have faced it alone and I am one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles.
I hope Canada is not one of these. But there are many smug, self-righteous Canadians. And finally, the American Red Cross was told at its 48th Annual meeting in New Orleans this morning that it was broke.
This year's disasters .. with the year less than half-over� has taken it all and nobody...but nobody... has helped.
Wednesday, September 12, 2001
Incredibly, something that we all knew was �do-able� but never though would happen, has happened. The words that have come after this sickening outrage have been as predictable as they are useless. Much fighting talk, talk of steel, talk of resolve, and speech saying that this will �not change us or our direction.�
Oh dear.
Everything in this sad matter boils down to a choice. The UK and USA need to decide if they want to live a life of plenty and peace, or live a life of poverty, fear, uncertainty and death. The Swiss live a life of security, privacy, wealth and harmony. They are respected the world over. The people of the Netherlands have an extremely high standard of living, no enemies abroad, and the kind of security that the British only dream about. The Japanese, whilst not particularly loved by the generation of WW2, have had unprecedented growth, admiration, peace and prosperity.
A choice needs to be made.
Are the �superpowers� going to continue to foot the bill financially and psychologically of trying to civilize the rest of the world, or are they going to turn their backs on these people who are clearly so different from them that it is impossible to make any kind of human connection other than the most superficial changing of monies and false diplomatic gestures.
America and Britain have many problems that need to be resolved; poverty, economic deterioration, dwindling and ageing populations, decaying infrastructures. These problems need the urgent attention of the people in their respective governments. The Middle East, and all of its irresolvable problems are not and should not be the responsibility of anyone but the people who live there.
The west should look inwards, and turn away from these insane people once and for all; water always finds its lowest level, and the Middle East problems are being artificially bolstered by repeated, expensive and counterproductive intervention by foreign governments.
The problems that have caused this attack are similar to the ones that America faced in the era of prohibition. A small religious minority caused the enactment of the prohibition laws. These insane, ant-freedom laws were the sole cause of the birth of organized crime in the USA, and we have been suffering the consequences of these laws ever since.
The Middle East problems are exactly the same. Wrong-headed international policy has caused the USA to be the number one despised country on the planet. The problems of America and the Middle East are not going to be stopped by �defeating terrorism�, or �defeating evil�, but by changing the systemic problems that are the root cause of all the woes that are increasingly afflicting the USA. We need to do the modern equivalent of erasing the prohibition laws; this means extricating ourselves from anything to do with Middle East politics and people. It means driving out those embassies that hail from countries that do not comply 100% with UN resolutions and regulations. It means stopping all monies that are given away freely to all countries. It means a total and absolute isolation from the people who insist on living in a way that is not our way.
I believe that these people have every right to live as they choose, under whatever type government that they like. It is not our place to tell anyone or any government what they should and should not do. If they should choose to live in a style that is not suited to us, then they must be separate from us, in every way shape and form. They should have their own UN, their own organizations, their own emergency systems that are totally separate from ours, run by and for them, and for which they have to foot 100% of the bill. We should not sing with them. We should not play sports with them, neither visit their lands or allow them to visit us. We should not teach them or sell them our technology. We need to be absolutely and completely separate from these people. They should not be able to use our phone systems, nor our satellite navigation systems; nothing that belongs to us. Let them create their own infrastructure from scratch.
If the west turns inwards, and spends its saved billions on its own problems, we will live lives of unprecedented prosperity, as have all countries that have diminished their waste spending.
We must however, keep �final course of action� defense systems in place, and there should be only one possible response from these systems, should any member of the west be attacked. We have to take this approach because it is extremely expensive to maintain and equip armies. This is an expense that we should not be compelled to make for the sake of people who are uncivilized and hell bent on suicide. It is the maintenance of these huge military budgets that keeps parts of the UK and USA in what the UN classifies as absolute poverty. The one response is this: if you attack us, you loose everything. Period.
Bill Clinton enacted terrible legislation as a reaction to the original World Trade Center bombing. You can expect similar removals of our God given rights from this president as a reaction to this despicable and unnecessary act. As I have said before on this list, this is the worst side effect of terrorism after the deaths of the victims; knee jerk legislation that removes freedoms from the innocent population, and causes evermore internal friction.
At the time of writing, it is not known who carried out this act of mass murder. �Make no mistake� it is far from clear who was responsible, and if this was another internal attack, more draconian legislation and restrictions on the American population will only make matters worse.
America needs to roll back the part that government plays in its citizen�s lives to what it was in the 1920�s (without throwing away the social advances that make America work better). This is the only action that will restore the internal harmony that is missing inside America, it�s the only thing that will restore confidence in the federal government, the thing that will cause the four million militia men to go back to regular lives. Combined with a complete withdrawal from interfering in the affairs of other countries, America will finally be able to be at peace with itself, and with the rest of the world. It will be a dynamic, non �coo-coo-clock Switzerland, with all of the advantages of that fine nation, plus the advantage of American dynamism, flair and know how.
The alternative is a total erosion of all the freedoms that the founding fathers fought and died for, an escalation of atrocities, outrages and hatred, more wars, and most importantly, a missed opportunity to lead by example.
Those countries that believe what we believe should join with us in turning our backs on the barbarians. Together, the security of the western nations is stronger, bound by common ideals, goals and a love of freedom and the value of human life, a block of free countries will be able to trade with each other and thrive. The rest of the world will fall into savagery, and we should not feel bad about this, because it is precisely what they desire. If a descent into savagery were not what they desired, then all of these lands would have settled into stable places of order, prosperity and human dignity many years ago. They want war. They want to hate. It is up to us to decide whether we want to continue to consume them and their hatred, or whether we will eat another, more pleasant dish.
One thing is for certain; no change in policy is the worst possible decision, leading inevitably to the worse possible outcome.
Tuesday, September 11, 2001
Friday, September 07, 2001
Wednesday, September 05, 2001
wow.
that Danmed site is scary.
i searched my TypedURLs directories and found old messages i wrote in hotmail, URLs i typed into Internet Explorer and thought i had deleted out of History long ago, and searches i did all hidden away in folders only accessible by entering DOS mode.
ANYbody using MS Internet Explorer or Outlook should go to the site that alex recommended:
http://nvukcgi.virtualave.net/fuckms.htm
Tuesday, September 04, 2001
Sunday, September 02, 2001
Wednesday, August 29, 2001
Noisetraffic
Game Boy Music, You heard it here first, thanks to the BLOGDIAL uesrs. This shit ROCKS!
Tuesday, August 28, 2001
We regret to inform you that Flooz.com, Inc. has ceased operations. The offices are closed and the company will file for bankruptcy protection.
Flooz.com has been adversely affected by dramatic changes in capital markets and the general slowdown in the economy. Flooz.com had been in merger discussions with a number of companies but was unable to find a suitable partner.
We wish to thank all of our customers, merchant partners, service providers, employees and investors for their support.
The idea of online currency is not flawed; what IS flawed are the perceptions of people; they have no imaginations, and don't understand that the paper in thier pockets is IDENTICAL (and ultimately inferior) to a chaumian online currency. This is the first generation of companies; the next generation will probably get the public education right, and create some very rich people...
Monday, August 27, 2001
Friday, August 24, 2001
"AbandonWare"
A petition that urges software makers to release their obsolete titles into the public domain as freeware.
http://mivox.com/essays/text/petition.html
In an interview with John Lydon:
Does it depress you that ultimately you changed nothing and British culture in the 21st century is now the essence of tedium, banality and mediocrity?
Oh, I disagree, I changed everything and then it all went back. That isnt my fault. Its for the next lot to come up with their stuff. I'm not waving no big flag for you all to stand behind. I'm not the leader; there are no leaders. We all lead ourselvs individually. Life is bad when you don't do fuck all about it. But somethihng will come out of it, I dont know what. I hope so at least, and if it doesnt, its tough tits because I've done my bit and now its your turn mates. You can't just leave it all up to just one bod, or a group of people. That's selfish and lazy. Followers are the very people, from the Sex Pistols onwards, that I dislike the most, because they're sheep. They're living their lives through you and thats wrong. Respect what I do, but dont bloody live in it or copy it, imitate it.
From the new "year zero" magazine
Thursday, August 23, 2001
Tuesday, August 21, 2001
A212 ver. 2
325 Songs, 1:06:27:39 total time, 1.60 GB
>>>The new version of A212 is now available.<<<
You can get it like this:
Refer irdial list to five of your friends by clicking here.
Send three blank CDRs in thier original packaging.
Send enough postage for us to return the CDRs to you, in UK stamps or International Reply Coupons.
Send us a 10 donation to the server fund (optional)
Post everything in a recyclable Jiffy bag.
Love us unconditionally.
The new A212 comes with an HTML interface, newly ripped items from the venerated Irdial-Discs catalogue and newly crafted artists biogs.
Upgrade your old version of A212
If you have a previous version of A212, you can get an upgrade disc. This disc contains the new rips, HTML and directory structure so that you can fuse the old version with the new version. To get an A212 upgrade disc, send one blank CDR in its original packaging, IRCs or return postage post everything in a recyclable Jiffy bag, with a 5 donation to the server fund (optional).
If you have any problems, questions you can always email us....
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
August 16, 2001 � Beverly Hills, CA
Do your kids know what a UFO is? Have they ever seen one? Have you ever
briefed them on the subject of your investigations?
Let best-selling children�s book author Eric Elfman do it for you. Elfman�s
new book, ALMANAC OF ALIEN ENCOUNTERS, just published by Random House,
outlines the fascinating history of UFOs in a chronological overview that
kids will find gripping.
The Almanac of Alien Encounters is an in-depth, thought-provoking look at
classic unsolved sightings and close encounters with extraterrestrials, along
with other related phenomena such as ancient astronauts, crop circles, the
Face on Mars, cattle mutilations, and much more. The book also details the
U.S. government�s official response to UFO reports, as well as a look at
science�s more cautious approach to alien encounters: SETI, the on-going
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.
�I have never seen a book on the young adult level which provides so much
information to the young reader in such a simple, yet adult-like, manner. The
book gives an excellent overview of the early flying saucer sightings, from
prehistory right up to the present. Having a section on what to do if you
see a UFO is encouraging to us UFO investigators.�
-- Raymond W. Cecot, Organizational Director, IRAAP
Whether your kids are dedicated skeptics or True Believers--and from his
visits to schools, Eric has found that kids span the spectrum--they�ll find
something in the Almanac to make them think, make them laugh, send a shiver
down their spine, and spark their curiosity about the universe around them.
And most important of all, this book is sure to get even the most reluctant
readers reading!
The Almanac of Alien Encounters is available at all major bookstores, as well
as from www.amazon.com. It has been published both in paperback and in a
more-durable hardcover �library binding�.
Eric Elfman is the author of eight books for children and young adults,
including three X-Files novelizations and the award winning �Almanac of the
Gross, Disgusting & Totally Repulsive.� He has written for television and
film, and currently has several TV projects in the works. His website,
www.elfmanworld.com, describes his books in more detail, and also contains
lots of gross facts, scary stories, and other fun and educational material
for kids.
Eric is available for interviews, conferences, on-line chats, and can provide
kid-friendly articles for your newsletters and websites. Please feel free to
contact him if you have any questions or comments at eric@elfmanworld.com.
Friday, August 17, 2001
nyc smile on me....as i'm leaving!!!
off to canada today for good. bye bye imperalist
pigdogs! as soon as i cross the peace arch
i plan to shoot the finger right back east at
washington.
thank god i no longer have to feel the embarressment of
being american. and for those of you still in the states
beware the coming fall of the empire. i can gaurentee you it
won't go down without kicking and screaming....or worse.
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0133/meyers.php
NYC Village Voice
Week of August 15 - 21, 2001
Motley Crew Beams No-Cost Broadband to New York
High Speed, Freed
by Peter Meyers
"This is why I love New York," says Anthony Townsend, standing in
the middle of Washington Square Park, holding his laptop computer
like a butler's tray and scanning the adult playground the place
becomes on hot summer evenings. Where else, he asks, can you
walk around with a computer, surf the Web, and go utterly
unnoticed?
As if to prove his invisibility, or perhaps to demonstrate that he belongs, he
hoists his machine like some digital prayerbook and begins chanting: "Jesus!
Jesus! Thank you!"
No one�not the guy playing the Ramones on acoustic guitar, not the tonguing
teenage lovers�notices this modern miracle worker or the cybernet he has cast
around them. Along with some 30 other volunteers in a group called NYCwireless,
Townsend's on a crusade to set up wireless Internet access zones: small areas,
often called free networks, where people can tap into high-speed connections,
without cables or phone lines, at no cost.
Call it a marriage of the Web and pirate radio, forged even as big telecom
interests bicker over the rights to wireless-spectrum licenses. Last week, the
White House announced it would ask the Supreme Court to uphold the seizure of
licenses from Next-Wave, which bought them at auction but failed to make
payments.
Meanwhile, the Washington Square network already exists�thanks to a homemade
setup Townsend rigged in late July in his nearby office at NYU, where he's a
fellow at the Taub Urban Research Center. Townsend, 27, used an antenna to
broadcast his connection a few hundred feet out into the park. So far only a
handful of these networks have been activated in New York. But if the group has
its way, zones like these will soon be springing up everywhere, spreading Net
connections like streetlamp light to anyone willing to put a cheap plug-in card
into a computer.
Aside from the opportunity to perform evangelical chants, why, you might ask,
would Townsend and his friends do this?
For starters, they have an earnest desire to share, a hacker's love of all
things jury-rigged, and an almost quixotic yen to make connections�human links,
as it were�in an impersonal city. Yet the simplest explanation is that they do
it because they can.
Building a free network requires some expertise, but using one is almost easy.
Those who wish to log on simply need to slip a "WiFi" card�which contains a
mini-antenna, costs about $100, and is available at computer shops�into a slot
on their machine and enter a few basic settings. Then they can cruise the
Internet and send e-mail as they normally would. The NYCwireless Web site,
www.nycwireless.net, lists a handful of the currently active networks.
Sharing resources like this is a longstanding tradition within the technology
world, from kids swapping music to programmers teaming up to improve Linux.
That's what attracted Terry Schmidt, an independent consultant, who joined
forces with Townsend this spring. Schmidt, 25, says he wanted to contribute his
know-how to a group effort. "I wanted to give something back," he says.
But free things draw suspicion these days, now that share-the-wealth movements
like Napster have acquired the taint of the mass-looting spree. Schmidt, who
along with Townsend acts as an informal spokesperson for NYCwireless, firmly
rejects the Napster comparison and says his group is simply giving the bandwidth
they pay for to anyone who happens to be nearby. "I'm sharing it with people,"
he says. "I'm not selling it. I'm not making a profit off it."
Which doesn't make Internet service providers any happier. Though most broadband
companies don't seem much aware of free networks, a Time Warner Cable
spokesperson says such sharing could violate the terms of its residential-
subscriber agreement.
In any case, Schmidt says he spends lots of time attempting to explain that this
is not some new dotcom business idea, that there is no commercial hook beneath
the giveaway lure. At a recent tech convention in Las Vegas, he tried again.
"They would ask, 'What's the business model?' " he recalls, "and we'd say,
'There is no business model. It's free.' "
Those in the free-network community, both in New York and elsewhere, treat the
project mostly as a hobby. Part of this reluctance stems from wanting to avoid
the responsibilities of running a business. If no one gets charged, then no one
can complain when things don't work. And by not charging, they're much less
likely to draw the attention of those supplying the bandwidth they're sharing.
But it's also evident that a communitarian impulse powers their most ambitious
vision, of a city blanketed with public Internet access.
"I want to make it an attractive thing for everybody to use. I want to make it
easy," says Schmidt, who thinks broadband connectivity is close to becoming as
necessary as water or electricity, and as such should be in public places, as
available as drinking fountains.
On May 3, Schmidt got the first NYCwireless network up and running in a coffee
shop near his Upper East Side apartment. "Basically, that was a nightmare," he
says, sounding as genuinely disturbed as a horror movie fan spooked by a scary
flick. Convincing the shop was not a problem. As he told the management, the
project would cost them nothing, require no work on their part, and enable their
customers to surf the Web for free. The problem was that between Schmidt's place
and the caf�a distance of about 100 feet as the crow flies�stood several 16-
inch-thick brick walls and enough curves to exhaust even the strongest radio
wave.
First, Schmidt experimented with a variety of powerful antennas and signal
amplifiers, all of which, given unobstructed views, can be used to propel a
signal many miles. No luck. Then the brainstorm hit. The handiest solution to
the wireless network, he realized, was to run a wire. Off he went to Home Depot,
where he bought 250 feet of Ethernet cable to pipe the broadband connection from
his apartment to an access point in the coffee shop, which would in turn
distribute the signal. After securing permission from his landlord�who also
owned the coffee shop's building�he set about finding a means to get the cable
through those walls.
Enter Schmidt's friend who works as a metal fabricator. He customized the bit
needed to bore a slender channel through such thick walls, leaving only the
matter of drilling the actual hole. For this Schmidt used a hammer drill, which
is kind of like a jackhammer for the do-it-yourself crowd. Schmidt was then able
to run the cable from his apartment to the shop, where he snaked it into a
Rubbermaid container that held the miniature broadcast antenna.
In some ways that's when the real work started, as group members were forced to
grapple with the question of what their wireless network might evolve into and
how it might be used. Townsend, the urban planner, has visions of location-based
services delivering information to people according to where they are. But he
admits to not knowing exactly how a large-scale system of free networks will
function. "What we're doing is building an infrastructure," he says, confident
that once it's in place people will figure out things to do with it�especially
once they start carrying handheld computers with wireless connections.
Creating a truly widespread system will take more than a handful of volunteers.
The most optimistic members of NYCwireless talk of a "cloud" of free WiFi
networks filling the skies of New York City with Internet connectivity. As it
turns out, thousands of private corporate networks already exist, having been
designed to give employees wireless broadband connections.
Those in NYCwireless know this is so because a member recently went out "war
driving," a method for detecting active WiFi networks that involves outfitting a
car with global positioning technology, a hood-mounted antenna, and a suite of
special software. The term comes from "war dialing" (popularized in the Matthew
Broderick movie War Games), in which phone number after phone number is
automatically dialed in the search for a modem.
War driving is of interest to the free-network movement for two reasons: It
helps demonstrate the ubiquity of WiFi networks and exposes the security
problems that need to be addressed for the networks to be secure and,
potentially, more popular. The drive through Manhattan, which covered only a
portion of midtown, identified approximately 1400 WiFi networks.
Though many of these networks were inaccessible to the average WiFi card-
carrying computer user, anyone with a little networking savvy could likely break
in. Security flaws are as much a concern to free-network operators as they are
to their corporate counterparts, since network abuse�sending out spam or
threatening e-mail�could lead to their being shut down. War driving helps raise
awareness within the tech community that these networks are not yet secure.
Ultimately, a more pressing question is whether ordinary people will start using
these free networks. According to Schmidt, three months after establishing the
access point, only about one person per day taps the connection. Hooking up,
after all, requires someone with not only the wherewithal to buy a wireless card
but also the desire to play with what many people see as a work tool.
Whether these free zones flourish remains to be seen. But by another measure the
effort is already a success. Adam Shand, a Portland, Oregon-based advocate of
the movement, observes that "computers are fundamentally an isolating
technology."
Because the Internet helps connect people at a distance, the computer-dependent
have spent less time hanging around each other. Wireless free networks�both
because of the work required to build them and the signal's limited range�could
bring back the fun of being together. Rather than seeking an escape from 24/7
Web access, people could leave their desks and wander out to the digital
commons, no longer isolated.
Back in Washington Square Park, Townsend's just happy everything checks out. He
tests the first live feed of streaming video. It's of a teenage girl on CNN,
talking about what Ecstasy did to her. "I didn't care about anything except
doing X," she says. "I didn't want to wake up unless it was to do X."
Townsend stares at the screen. "This is fucking cool," he says. "This is better
than 3G"�the high-speed network cell phone companies are hyping. "That's not
even half the speed of what we're getting. And it
works."
Dont upgrade to IE5.5 SP2
This concerns Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2. For those of you who don't know:
"SP" is Microsoft lingo for "service pack", which is their stupid code
phrase for upgrade. This is different from IE 6 (which is currently in
beta).
Short version: with no warning to the dev community, MS is covertly
dumping support for any plugins that do not support their own proprietary
model -- which is a lot of damned plugins. Quicktime is perhaps the most
prominent one but, as you can see from the last paragraph below, this also
impacts some database applications and other mission-critical
implementations of online tech. Methinks other problems will also be
discovered before long.
It's obviously part of their endgame strategy to finally kill Netscape,
Mozilla and other browsers.
---
from http://www.macfixit.com/
IE for Windows blocks QuickTime
Robin Walker found that Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2 for Windows is
incompatible with QuickTime: "It will not play QuickTime movies, or work
with any other function that requires the QuickTime plug-ins. QuickTime
plug-ins play QT movies in other versions of MSIE up to and including MSIE
5.5 SP1, but SP2 just gives a blank frame or broken graphic icon. This has
been verified here with Win98, WinME, WinNT, and Win2K. The same problem
with QuickTime is reported to be present in the previews of MSIE 6.0 for
Windows. The QuickTime plug-ins continue to function correctly in Netscape
and other browsers." In addition, MacNN has posted an item which appears
to confirm Robin's observation. It states that "A note from Apple
engineering staff to the QuickTime VR mailing list says that 'IE 5.5 SP2
[for Windows] will not use the QuickTime plug-in no matter what you do.'"
Update: Jim Gaynor writes: "IE 5.5 SP2, apparently, isn't singling out
QuickTime. It seems that Microsoft dropped support for plug-ins written to
the Netscape standard, and is now only supporting ActiveX plug-ins. Here
at the University of Washington, several groups have been told not to
upgrade, as certain plug-ins that are used for our in-house databases
break under IE 5.5 SP2."
Thursday, August 16, 2001
House music causes impotence
Italian psychologists House music causes temporary impotence, Italian researchers claim. Research conducted by psychologists at the Help Me association in Rome found 66% of Italian youngsters suffer sexual problems after listening to the music. The survey was conducted on 500 Italian clubbers aged 16 to 24. Psychologist Willy Pasini told the News 2000 website: "The strong rhythmic component, and the almost total lack of melody do not inspire sexual thoughts in one's mind." The researchers claim house music cause "mental impotence" because it doesn't leave room in the brain for sexual desire. "Music heard in the clubs causes an alternate state of consciousness, which distracts the brain from taking care of its vital functions", researcher Chiara Simonelli said. Claus, I HAD to post this; its just TOO FUNNY!
I spoke to a fruity cellular telephone company today about integrating SMS into P2PQ.
When I got through to the switchboard, the woman said to me; "Can you tell me what SMS is? I've only been here two weeks"
I then was put through to another woman, who, after putting me on hold three times, gave me the free number that is used to sign up to Orange!
**** **** MAJOR PROTON EVENT IN PROGRESS **** **** A category S2 (Moderate) Solar Radiation Storm is in progress. This event began with high energy proton flux above event levels at 7:05 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) on August 15, 2001. Current proton fluxes are at a level equivalent to S2 (Moderate) on the NOAA Solar Radiation Storm scale. Effects may include, but are not limited to, single-event upsets on satellites in earth orbit, and degradation of high frequency radio communications at polar latitudes, also known as Polar Cap Absorption (PCA). The NOAA S-scale is defined by the lower energy proton flux (10 MeV), but because this event also includes a significant higher energy flux component (100 MeV), other effects are also possible, including increased radiation exposure for manned space flight operations, more widespread radio communication effects, and a wider range of potential impacts on satellites, such as "snow" in imaging systems and degradation of satellite components due to radiation exposure. Major proton events generally follow energetic x-ray flares from active sunspot regions on the visible side of the sun. This event was somewhat unusual in that no notable x-ray enhancement was seen on satellite monitors prior to its occurrence, suggesting a more unusual "backside" event, from a sunspot region that has rotated beyond the side of the sun facing Earth. Subsequent imagery received from the LASCO instrument on the SOHO satellite, operated by NASA/ESA, confirm that a major coronal mass ejection (CME) emerged from a backside source starting at about 5:54 p.m. MDT on August 15th. Proton enhancements were first observed on the SOHO SIS instrument at 6:25 p.m. MDT, indicating that these particles were ejected from the sun at a velocity near 30% of the speed of light. By 7:05 p.m. MDT, the flux of energetic protons observed on the NOAA GOES-8 satellite had risen to the threshold for a major proton event (as determined by 100 MeV proton flux). A second threshold for lower energy protons (10 MeV proton flux) was reached at 7:35 p.m. MDT. An associated Polar Cap Absorption (PCA) began at 8:10 pm MDT. The last S2 (Moderate) event with flux levels similar to the one in progress occurred on 18 April 2001, and lasted for about two days. Interestingly, that event was also caused by a backside CME.
Wednesday, August 15, 2001
in the These records catalog posted on the Irdial site:
This Heat records "Blue & Yellow" and "Deceit" are listed as "due later in the year... compact disc and vinyl remasters / repackage"
does any one know the status of these?
i've gotten _some_ of the mp3s from Gnutella, but would love to get my hands on physical releases...
Monday, August 13, 2001
http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/100801/platefrm.asp
August 10, 2001
Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad
THE LASHKAR-e-Tayyeba militants responsible for the Red Fort attack
were running a cybercafe and using electronic mail to receive
instructions from abroad.
When the Delhi Police seized their computers and hundreds of encrypted
e-mail messages, they found a vast amount of pornographic films and
photographs on the hard disks. Thinking that the militants had amassed
their pornographic collection for personal enjoyment, the police
turned it over to the maalkhana as case property.
A few weeks later, a police officer in Delhi read in the USA Today
about the testimony furnished by George Tenet, Director, CIA, to the
US Congress. Tenet said that Islamic extremists were hiding their
messages within pornographic and sports images and movies, as well as
in music files, and were utilising heavily-visited electronic chat
rooms and bulletin boards as drop sites.
The intended recipient would download the file and decrypt the hidden
message. To all others who would download that file, it would seem to
be an innocuous image. Tenet was alarmed that the extremists had
successfully evaded the SIGINT (signals intelligence) and COMINT
(communications intelligence) interception operations of Americas
National Security Agency.
Hence, it occurred to this alert policeman in Delhi that the
pornography seized from the militants could contain hidden
instructions.
These developments have drawn attention to the recondite field of
steganography, the science of concealing encrypted messages within
innocuous cover messages, pictures or music in such a manner that an
interceptor or other recipients of the cover file would not even
suspect that hidden within it was an encrypted message.
In the simpler field of cryptography, an interceptor would be able to
discern that the encrypted message existed, and his challenge would be
merely to crack the code and decrypt the secret message; even this
simple task would take the best security agencies several weeks to
perform. The US Air Force Research Laboratory has forecast the future
information warfare technologies and the counter measures to fight it.
Steganography topped the list.
While the fundamentals of steganography were enunciated by Johannes
Trithemius of Frankfurt, it is in the last 18 months that
technological advances have taken place, mainly at German, Austrian,
Swiss, Italian and Finnish universities, Cambridge University in the
UK, and Carnegie Mellon and George Mason Universities in the US.
Security agencies have been rendered impotent by the inexpensive
steganographic software packages which conceal information in digital
audio, video and image files.
The first organisations to recognise the utility of steganographic
algorithms developed in European universities were Pakistani hacker
groups, the Palestinian cells of Hamas and Hizbollah, Osama bin Ladens
Al Qaida, and the LTTE. Al Qaida heeded bin Ladens directive that
mastering advanced technologies was integral to jehad. It was the
first to practise the research results of Professors Ross Anderson and
Fabien Petitcolas of Cambridge University, and conceal its messages in
dense packet internet traffic, and large bandwidth uncompressed audio,
video and image files.
These would be located at heavily visited pornographic sites, music
download sites, chat rooms and bulletin boards. Al Qaida began to use
these as message drop sites for their agents. A security analyst
detected steganographic activity even on heavy-traffic commercial
portals such as Amazon and eBay, who were not even aware that their
websites were being used for such purposes.
A security analyst recounted the case of a suspected Islamic militant.
The FBI in the US, which had placed him under surveillance using its
packet-sniffing tool Carnivore, was intrigued that while he kept
e-mailing photographs of his family to e-mail addresses that appeared
to be those of relatives, he never received any replies. He was found
to be sending instructions to his agents using DEMCOMs Steganos, which
was undetectable by FBIs Carnivore.
Packages that combine technical excellence with human psychological
factors to avoid suspicion are Texto, developed in Finnish
universities, which converts messages into blank verse poetry, and
Spam Mimic, developed by Peter Wayner, which encodes messages into
what looks like a junk e-mail.
While round one has gone to the terrorists, Indian security agencies
can fight back. Compressed video, music and image files have
predictable patterns that would be disrupted when a message is
inserted. It is possible to develop a stegoscanner program, akin to a
virus scanner, to examine hard drives and identify the electronic
fingerprints and signatures left behind by steganographic
applications.
A US steganography expert has formulated a roadmap for future efforts:
First, derive the signatures/indicators associated with each
steganographic package and write a scanner. The harder part is picking
up the dead drops. This would require thousands of police officers to
continuously monitor the websites, bulletin boards and chat rooms. The
next stage is difficult. Once all possible nodes are identified, one
should write a Trojan horse that would sit in the machines and scan
all activity.
Indias security agencies should utilise the latest steganographic
technologies for their internal communications, in contrast to the
insecure channels they use at present. They should also develop the
futuristic science of detecting these hidden messages and decrypting
them, in order to trace sensitive information being leaked out under
innocuous guises. For these, they should work together with the IITs,
just as the Center for Secure Information Systems in the US is a joint
venture between the National Security Agency and the George Mason
University. The Pentagon and CIA are funding steganalysis research at
the Carnegie Mellon.
If Osama bin Laden and the LTTE can put into practice the latest
technological breakthroughs from European universities, there is no
reason why India should not use its academia and industry. The
intelligence agencies should, for instance, examine the hard drives of
those Sudanese associates of bin Laden whom they caught some time
back.
Friday, August 10, 2001
XXXXX SUNDAY, AUGUST 12 XXXXX
Share: A Place for Portables, Laptops, Powerbooks
Data exchange, mp3 djing,
performances. Actually speak to and see the people you are networking
with. Wow computers and a social life. At the same time no less.
A laptop-only live performance series, so all laptoppers can actually
experience each other's audio performance and exchange more ideas. If
you have any portables, bring it under your arm! But if you're a
super muscular person and willing to bring the desktop, that's
acceptable. I guess. Otherwise, everything's acceptable -- Windows,
Mac, Linux! Hey, Palm Pilot/Visor warriors, bring it in if you have
some nifty sound-network performance solution! Share and expand more,
seems to be the very base philosophy behind this. Eventually all the
attendees will be networking and create a huge laptop jam.
Open Air
121 St. Marks, between 1st and A avenues
new york city
Continues every Sunday
4-9p; $free
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx
Thursday, August 09, 2001
Never mind posting keys online, if you simply take the audio out of your dataplay device and plug it into your soundcard, you can rip the output to mp3 or whatever, and then the sound is free and clear to copy ad nauseum. Once again: Trying to make digital information uncopyable is like trying to make water that is not wet. Whats incredible, is that these people actually get tens of millions of dollars in investment to produce this junk.
Tuesday, August 07, 2001
dataplay?
mmm yeah, uh see ya in a year dataplay "DOT COM".
where are the ideas these days?
right here!!!!!!!
"This whole music piracy problem isn't going to go away until the CD dies," said Talal Shamoon, senior vice president at InterTrust. "A lot of these music subscription services and download services that have been put together...are great, but they're not an effective replacement for a new entertainment experience because CDs are still here, and CDs define the path."
Here we go again!!
Monday, August 06, 2001
Saturday, August 04, 2001
Someone smart said:
Or download free stuff from MP3.com.
It's not like the bands the RIAA push onto us are significantly better than most of the better artists on MP3.com, anyway.
This raises a very good point. If RIAA's music control fails, and the consumers route around the damage, buying CDs in the Bahamas for artists who are willing to list MP3 songs so we can try them out, it really doesn't matter what Congress tries to do.
In the end, the market has no soul, no love for RIAA and the corporate music scene. If they increase costs and try to closed source their music, open source music alternatives will become more attractive. If I'm into Techno and they try to charge me USD$20 for a CD of 10 songs, when I can get decent (if not better) quality Techno for USD$0 for tryout and USD$0 for one or two sample MP3 songs (full length), then I'll send them USD$10 for the 10 song CD. Cost to band - USD$7 for production, shipping, handling, MP3.com split. Profit to band - USD$3. Profit under RIAA USD$20 CD to band is USD$0.20 at most. If you're a techno band and you can sell 2 million CDs with USD$3 profit or choose to sell 1 million CDs via RIAA groups for USD$0.20 profit, which will you choose?
Right, you choose open source, cause you get more fans, more net dollars to band, and you also get the charts of where your CDs sell the most to plan tours with and can then email those fans and crash at their places.
The market wins, open source wins, RIAA loses.
Thursday, August 02, 2001
You need this red button!!!!!
http://www.anonymizer.com/
UPDATED
Actually, this button anonymizez pages, but BLOCKS lots of interesting URLs based on keywords (aparently) so, actually, it SUCKS! use SafeWeb instead; free and no censorship.
Wednesday, August 01, 2001
If any of you have been reading the papers, the 180° that the Sun did for example, was quite simply breathtaking. It was absolutely clear that NONE of the journalists that wrote about the programme actually saw it.
There is also a very interesting facet of this whole sad saga that no one has touched upon yet; the Home Secretary David Blunkett is blind. There is no reason why he should not be Home Secretary, but some interesting situations are bound to arise in his job, since he has to make determinations on obscenity. How will he determine wether a picture or film is obscene? In the case of the Brass Eye episode, he had the programmes contents desctribed to him.
Surely, someone is going to argue that he in fact cannot make a judgement on what is or is not obscene because he cannot see the porn to determine wether it is likely to offend public morals. A section of Brass Eye had a customs official making an on the spot determination of wether or not a two foot tall picture of a childs head on the body of a 4 inch tall naked woman was obscene or not. It was totally hilarious. When the same head was put onto a different, but totally absurd picture featuring "bigger naked parts" the official said that it was obscene!
Someone is going to raise this point eventually; even when the officials can see, the standards that they apply to determine what is in violation of obscenity laws are clearly absurd. There has never been a time in the UK where so many elements are in place at the same time, the combination of which could destroy the obscenity laws once and for all.
Monday, July 30, 2001
We have always said, "dont worry/shout/complain/bitch about stuff you dont like happening, go out and DO SOMETHING about it" Well, some very clever people have done just that. Instead of using Microsoft Passport, use this. It looks good, works good, and the first million users are free.
You are not going to be forced to use Microsoft products in the future. Use them if you want to, but dont complain that there are no alternatives, especially when there are cool ones available!
Sunday, July 29, 2001
I just saw an amazing thing; at the US mint, they use a huge mechanical transcripting lathe to copy and reduce the original artwork for a coin to a master die, "to date, no one has found a better, more accurate way to transcribe the orginal artwork to the master die with such a high degree of accuracy" Hmmmmm....you know the rest!
Someone Clever Said...
Timeline..
* Printing press and phonograph invented
* Copyright is invented, a controversial law from the beginning.
* Publishers rise to control physical distribution, pay authors--though not always fairly. There is no alternative.. people need books / records, authors need some cash. This system works relatively well for awhile. Consumers bootleg copyrighted materials by exchanging physical media. Losses are minimal and individuals aren't worth prosecuting.
* Copyright law changes at the whim of publishers, effectively eliminating the creation of public domain works by extending the length of copyright indefinitely. Artists and authors increasingly produce "works for hire," which are then owned by the publisher they work for.
* Popularization of the Internet and new data compression algorithms render traditional means of disseminating information nearly obsolete overnight. Some artists and authors realize that they don't need publishers anymore. Publishers ignore the Internet, seeing little threat.
* Consumers realize that they can obtain copyrighted works on the Internet instead of paying for getting them on traditional media. Publishers for the most part look the other way.
* DMCA quietly slips through Congress, in the guise of protecting US businesses and complying with international copyright treaties.
* Napster shows the world the power of P2P information exchange with each user contributing a small part of the whole. Publishers get worried, can't sue every user, fumble for recourse. Napster falls and DMCA is challenged in numerous cases, but wins out in the end because money is power and those behind DMCA have lots of it. Consumers watch the Napster case curiously, stop using it after it's clear the end is near.
* Publishers finally realize that the future of distribution is online and design crude digital copy control technologies which are protected under the DMCA. Each successful attempt to defeat these measures is crushed legally but is given little attention by the media.
* Consumers aren't as comfortable with the new intangible online media and would prefer to keep buying books and CD's. Sales stagnate. Consumers don't realize the implications of future technologies that they have not yet experienced and remain quiet.
Prediction
* Publishers attempt to phase in online media sales. Some consumers bite, but are quickly frustrated by the inability to read an e-book or listen to music on multiple computers they own. HDTV arrives with its own copy protections. VCR's recording functions stop working. Copy protected audio disks don't work in consumers older players or in car players. Works are distributed in both old and new formats while consumers are encouraged to buy new (and better) hardware that supports the new formats. [This process would likely take at least 10-20 years given the installed base of CD players, saturation of the home computer market, and lack of inexpensive, eye-friendly electronic books]
* Just when the publishers think they have won the war over content, a movement similar to Open Source is established that sweeps the world and begins a modern cultural renaissance. Publishers disappear. The public domain expands rapidly. Artists and authors are fairly reimbursed by using alternative business models and handling distribution themselves. (eg. give away music, sell concert tickets) The world is a better place.
Wishful thinking? People said the same thing about Open Source 5 years ago and IT hasn't even fully taken off yet.
Saturday, July 28, 2001
It was hotter than usual today, the holidays are in full swing...no emails, no fuss...cold beers...Thai pubs...Pimms...Iced water.
Met up with a certain TB / PM and another chap with pink hair whose name I forget, for a delivery of a beautiful painting and a sit around in a first class saloon. Alas, the session was too short, as they always are...
Got js.KakWorm.G the other day; it infected my old_email.mbx. The filesystem of Eudora is flawed; if one email carries a worm, the WHOLE FILE gets infected, so all of your messages have to be nuked just because of one file. It would be much better if each email was a separate file sitting in a folder, then only the infected message would need to be thrown away.
I've never seen so many worms in email; its a bore after the first one.
The spirit of pessimism is destroyed by sunlight.
Friday, July 27, 2001
We are doing a set of mouse pads to help finance our own T1 and dedicated server for irdial.com where we will be moving everything.
The actions you need to take are: "just do it".
where "do it" = tell your friends | buy one if you can
If Brother Stair can raise millions of dollars to stay on the air 24/7...you know the rest!
Thursday, July 26, 2001
A dolphin that generates an RSA key.
#!/usr/bin/perl -s
@x=qw/e n d/;if(
$kg){$e=13;$_="setrand(@{[int((rand)*90)]})
;K=vector(2,g,nextprime(random(10^$s)));e=$e;n=K[1]*
K[2];d=e^-1%((K[1]-1)*(K[2]-1));";s/\s//sg;for(
`echo "$_ e\nn\nd\n"|gp -q`){print$x[$j++]
,"=",`echo "10i16o$_ p"|dc`}exit}$t=
unpack'H*',join'',<>;$l=length$n;$y
=$e?$l-2:$l;$i="16dio";while (){$M=
($e&&1+int(rand 8)).(substr $t,$p
,$y or last);$i.="\U$M $k $n\E|
pc";$p+=$y}for(reverse
`echo "$i"|dc`){chop
;$d&&s/^(.)//||($_=
sprintf"%0${l}s"
,$_); $f
.=$_}#
print
pack
'H*'
,$f
Wednesday, July 25, 2001
Just got sent WScript.Kak.Worm. "The worm utilizes a known Microsoft Outlook Express security hole so that a viral file is created on the system without having to run any attachment. Simply reading the received email message will cause the virus to be placed on the system."
Claus, you have to, for sure, go to The London Eye. Its simply awesome.
Then stroll down to the Tate Modern.
Do a Pepsi Max Drop at the Trocadero.
Drink some beer.
Eat some Cornish Pasties.
WASHINGTON--A researcher in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's cyber-protection unit unleashed a fast-spreading Internet virus that e-mailed private FBI documents to outsiders. Although the Sircam virus didn't spread to other computers at the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center, it did send at least eight documents to a number of outsiders. One, about the investigation into an unrelated virus, was marked "official use only."
US rejects germ warfare plan
The United States says it will not back a proposed international plan for enforcing a ban on using germs as a weapon of war.
FUCK OFF YOU SLAAAAAAGS!
SirCam is giving me hours of enjoyment; I'm seeing some super strange subject lines: satscape_v1, Vicente Rodriguez - Volver Volver, PROJECT IN RAJASTHAN, IH Probationer Oath, Focus Report Linux, THE STORY OF THE IRISH RACE, New videotec HK 2000 Euro Pricelist, Delta Status Report Draft May24_2001, LIVING WILL Ken... Copy of Copy of VES Rate REVISED?! Dude... a copy of a copy of a revised document? Oh no... the best SirCammer so far: Network Security Breaches.
Tuesday, July 24, 2001
X-Envelope-From: Geche1@aol.com From: Geche1@aol.com Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 07:07:25 EDT Subject: why? To: irdial@irdialsys.win-uk.net X-Mailer: AOL 6.0 for Windows UK sub 10503 X-Envelope-To: irdial@irdialsys.win-uk.net
it's probably due to a foot square piece of tinfoil with an elongated lemon at each corner.
thought so
Monday, July 23, 2001
Eintsien advocated socialism aparently. I was cc'd into a fwd of this essay, which arrived early in the morning. This is what I replied to all:
At 07:02 PM 7/22/01 -0700, Shawn Aron Vandor wrote:
you caught me early in the morning, so i had a little time...
***
society, are suffering from this process of deterioration. Unknowingly prisoners of their own egotism, they feel insecure, lonely, and deprived of the naive, simple, and unsophisticated enjoyment of life. Man can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is, only through devoting himself to society.
***
Absolutism + atheism + reductionism = suffering. Now *there* is an equation for you. When people without any understanding of human nature, in a fit of pity, try to solve the worlds problems using broken tools, disaster is the result. just ask anyone that lived under the USSR.
***
The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil.
***
Mandlebrot & every modern scientist would disagree; self organizing systems are inherently stable, even though at the moment, the economy is in an oscillating state, it is stable in that state, and needs only to be adjusted so that it shifts into a non oscillating stable state. There is no such thing as "economic anarchy".
***
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy,
***
Einstein was wrong about faster than light travel, amongst other things, and he is wrong about this. There is, for sure, more than one way to eliminate these terrible evils; socialism is, and this has now been _demonstrated_, NOT the only way, or ANY way to eliminate them.
I don't have any problem with atheists, or socialists or anyone else. What I DO have a problem with is the behavior and assumptions of strongly convicted people, that only they have the answers, and if we only were to obey them, then all of our problems will be solved.
Its not sufficient for them that they simply write down their ideas and promote them, or even live them to lead by example. They must *coerce* other people, replace and destroy the ideas and beliefs of others for their systems to be fulfilled.
Blowing up statues, eliminating economic rights, enslavement, elimination of privacy; these are their tools and goals, and they strive for this with total, blind conviction.
Scientists are the most irresponsible of all humans today; they believe that the whole world is a laboratory within which they can carry out any experiment they like with no regard for the consequences. Genetic Biologists are the worst offenders today, Nuclear scientists where the worst of the last generation.
Einstein is their grandfather, and this essay proves it.
Sunday, July 22, 2001
Ak-chelly, that Webmonkey homepage has just been 100% re-designed, and its identical in Mozilla and IE5, and is almost total CSS...wow...the Moire pattern in the upper left corner just r00lz ur ass....the tag is dead; now all we need is a decent editor (the next dreamweaver iteration) that allows you to control/create CSS like you control the old ass tag generation.
Saturday, July 21, 2001
I had an email from someone (unrelated to Irdial-List) saying that HTML email is "obnoxious". This "complaint" came after the THIRD email that was sent to this person, (two similar emails failing to solicit a complaint) who is a "UNIX sysadmin".
hmmmm lets see what Mr. Webster says...
One entry found for obnoxious.
Main Entry: ob�nox�ious
Pronunciation: �b-'n�k-sh&s, &b-
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin obnoxius, from ob in the way of, exposed to + noxa harm -- more at NOXIOUS
Date: 1597
1 archaic : exposed to something unpleasant or harmful -- used with to
2 archaic : deserving of censure
3 : odiously or disgustingly objectionable : highly offensive
- ob�nox�ious�ly adverb
- ob�nox�ious�ness noun
Nothing there that can be in ANY WAY related to recieving HTML EMAIL, unless you are using archaic english. Disgustingly objectinonable? Highly offensive? Not applicable here for rational people.
Perhaps it can be called "Annoying"? hmmmm lets see:
1 : to disturb or irritate especially by repeated acts [my italics]
2 : to harass especially by quick brief attacks
intransitive senses : to cause annoyance
- an�noy�er noun
synonyms ANNOY, VEX, IRK, BOTHER mean to upset a person's composure. ANNOY implies a wearing on the nerves by persistent petty unpleasantness IF I KNEW THAT YOU DIDNT LIKE HTML EMAIL.
It would be better, more mannered, useful, sensible, human, to simply say, AFTER THE FIRST EMAIL, and NOT THE THIRD, "please do not send me HTML email, since I cannot see it."
How hard can that be? There is nothing like good manners and good humor. It makes the world infinitely more pleasant. For example, someone who subscribes to Irdial-List said:
if you are going to continue sending lists in html, i will unsubscribe.
plaintext ONLY please.
or did you recently subscribe to AOL? 8)
now that is a well mannered, balanced complaint. It is gentle, humorous, (AOL, oh dear!), makes its point forcefully but keeps human civilized relations intact.
Over reacting, illiterate use of language and ill manners solves nothing, exposes ones weaknesses and alienates your potential comrades.
Aparently, AOL in version 6 is HTML only for its email. Why is this being done? HTML email looks good and works good for the millions and millions of "ordinary people" who are populating the internet in increasing numbers.
Everyone has to make a choice, and some have already sided, by excluding all AOL6 users from forums because of this HTML issue. This is one way of doing it, but you will NEVER gather new believers in any substantial numbers by taking the incredibly irrational stance of saying that HTML email is "Obnoxious". You will never reach them with the important messages, like "get off of AOL".
Linux will not reach its full revolutionary potential if it does not embrace even the most simple things like HTML email. No "ordinary person" will put up with being constrained to plaintext email. Asking people to accept only plaint text email is like asking everyone on earth to live without telehones just because the majority of people on earth do not have telephones.
That is absurd.
No one will go for it. Of course there are people who WANT to be separate from everyone. These isolationists are actually the enemies of change and the improvement of the software and hardware markets. Thankfully there are some farsighted people who are thinking ahead, with a wide vision, and are taking the steps necessary to make powerful systems that are palatable and usable to everyone, no matter what your skill level is. Gnome have just done a usability study in conjunction with SunMicrosystems to evaluate the Gnome desktop. Moves like this are essential if "the better result" is going to happen.
The alternative that we will end up with if people cant start behaving is two paralell and separate types of internet, one populated by AOL / .net people, and a small number of aggressive, bitter, isolated, shrinking, bickering hobbyists who, thanks to thier inhuman, mannerless and tunnel vision constrained attitudes will consign any hope of a breaking of the stranglehold on software (including music) and hardware to the garbage. If you dont think that this can happen, just ask anyone that used to use dial up BBSes in the 1990s. They have all dissapeard, the culture that went along with them has also dissapeared, replaced by the internet. The internet as we know it will also be replaced. You can bet on it. Wether its replaced with something we want or something that a small clutch of business men want is, literally, up to what we do today, and how we deal with each other.
As for Irdial-Discs, after sending out HTML email to Irdial-List containing BLOGDIAL, we SOLD SOME T-SHIRTS when people clicked on the pictures. Text links to t-shirts dont sell t-shirts. Do you want Irdial-Discs to die or survive? If the difference between us selling t-shirts and surviving and not selling t-shirts and folding means making a choice between using HTML and text only email, then the choice is clear, and I think you will all agree with me; HTML email is the way to go, especially since people seem unable to respond to a written call to action to do something.
"Prove Me Wrong" as Beniot says!
Friday, July 20, 2001
ATC vermin, under strict hear no evil see no evil speak no evil instructions LIE AND LIE AGAIN year after year. But does it matter anymore?
Tuesday, July 17, 2001
Have you all seen this?:
Fast Track
Its the company that has created the improved, scaleable Gnutella like network protocol that has fuelled the services that are now bigger than Napster was on Kaza, Morpheus and Grokster. Based outside the USA, and with an unnasailable infrastructure, this is something really exiting, especially as they have had 1 million downloads in one week.
Monday, July 16, 2001
Irdial-Discs "top ten" as reported on the BBC website
And now, the BBC is transmitting an MI5 signal, in the form of a clip from The Lincolnshire Poacher!
In Russia, apparently, it's illegal to sell software without the ability to make "at least one backup copy of the data it works with."
Crack Adobe Ebook 2 Webpage
Sunday, July 15, 2001
BoOTsY
Description: Official Bootsy Collins website, the albums, gallery, and music.
Category: Arts > Music > ... > Bands and Artists > Parliament-Funkadelic > Collins, Bootsy
www.bootsycollins.com/ - 4k - Cached - Similar pages
Friday, July 13, 2001
New article on P2PQ at Zeropaid
Radiohead: there is nothing wrong with being depressed. Jaco Pastorius suffered from depression, as have many geniuses. What we hate is BAD MUSIC / SUCK-SHIT / NAVEL GAZING / LamErS. We want innovation, exitement, awe inspiration, FUN, adrenalin, hysteria, beauty, Art, revelation, transformation, uplifting, sonic devastation and real emotion expressed with any combination of the latter.
One night, in 1994, at Disobey in Islington, one of the acts was billed as ??????? ?????. When this act started, there was no one on stage. There was simply, the most brutal, explosive, scary, wild, mind bending, far out, extreme, jaw dropping, inexplicable, stupifying and insane sounds that I have ever heard. After this "set" was finished, a voice came over the PA: if you would like to find out who was behind that set and how it was done, go to the back of the room where you can find the details.
On sale at the back of the room was a set of limited edition sealed envelopes, made from maps, that had black envelopes in them that in turn contained square pieces of sandpaper with perfect holes in the centers for a record spindle. On the front of the inner envelope was the name of the responsible person. The person behind this set was:
Richard James
??????? ?????
Richard James is one of the most mind blowing and exiting artists ever to make records. I became a 100% believer on that night, and anyone who was not totally converted / convinced on that same night could not have been in the same room. What a man. What a maniac. What a genius!
Thursday, July 12, 2001
If you want to read something funny, read about how top Perl geeks charge $20,000 for one weekend of perl training PER PERSON!
Thats what we call a $BIGNUMBER
Im all for humor, but when you are trying to get your head into a space, and understand something tricky (like regexps), joke cracking, unless its carefully used, can be a useless distraction. The humor starts from the first page; spare the jokes until later in the book, I want to learn Perl!
Wednesday, July 11, 2001
Im currently reading / doing "Learning Perl 2nd Edidion" Its very good; though I dont like the way Shwartz & Co. use nonsense words as variables in examples sometimes. After knowing only BASIC, Perl is not too much of a big leap. Perl, when its properly written, reads like english; it has grammar. Of course TIMTOWTDI, and you can write Perl that is totally illedgible. They have contests to see who can write the most obscured Perl routines...If any of you are using a cool editor, let me know; I use Jedit most of the time, because it visually alerts you when you mess up your syntax.
Anyone taken a look at the .Net specifcation?
They will never get away with it.....or maybe not.
And as for the blogger two buttons problem, just press "post & publish" by default...works for me.
info anarchy has done a piece on P2PQ
M/Y
Sunday, July 08, 2001
Everybody of course have heard of xircle which is as easy as it gets (now with an OSX version!). I have found some great people on IRC...its serverd me well, despite EFFnet being extremely hostile in places.
Radiohead? I have to agree with Davros, Radiohead are NOT my cup of ANYTHING. Just like Tortoise. They both suck so bad its almost like youre dreaming of a crap band, only to find that you are not asleep, and yes, "oh shit", these guys really exist.
Saturday, July 07, 2001
I wish that it was easy to port software to every platform; havig been involved in a complex software project, I can testify to the dificulty of porting an application to multiple OSes. In an ideal world, I would have one person doing the development for the windoze version of P2PQ another for Linux and one for MacOSX, but it would have been extremely expensive, when we are putting all of our efforts into creating a working project. We hope to be able to create a native MacOSX client and a native Linux Client, but if thats not possible, then it will have to be Java for all non windoze OSes, which would suck a little, since java is generally slow.
I cant understand why Mac people never use IRC; you can find EVERYTHING YOU WANT on IRC, its a piece of piss to use, and blows Hotline out of the water...
As for those kids who posted links to MP3s, well, any court that upholds something like that is simply making the law an ass. They clearly cannot distinguish between a device and a piece of text. A device is a physical object, like a hard drive or monitor, a piece of text, wether its hypertext or plaintext, is (or should be) protected as a universal right when it comes to publishing. If a link points to a copyrighted file or text, it does not connect to it in any way like taking the actual text and reproducing it this is the critical distinction that the courts cannot make. It might take the death of all the judges and thier replacement by computer literate people for these legal precedents to be struck down. I cant wait for some Ambulance Chaser to realize that Google and all of the other serach engines are doing the exact same thing that Napster was doing. Now THAT would be a cause celeb! (SP)
Thursday, July 05, 2001
Music City used to run many open nap servers, where millions of tracks could be found. Then they switched over to Morpheus, which i have not yet tried. I would be VERY surprised if anyone pays to use Napster. Why should you pay someone money to list the tracks you have on your HD? After all, thats what Napster does, it lists tracks. If someone takes on the role of the major player on Open Nap we may see a return of high population / quality Napster use. They will have to find a country where the legislature understands the difference between hosting a list of the location of information and hosting the information itself. This is a crucial difference that computer illiterates simply do not get, and its what brought Napster crashing down. If they can get people to pay for access, it will be a big breakthrough for the subscription model. That has got to be one of the shortest lived revolutions ever. There are still plenty of open nap servers online; it doesnt appear that they are linked: Napigator keeps a dynamic list of whats running.
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