826 lines
31 KiB
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826 lines
31 KiB
Plaintext
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Computer underground Digest Sun May 31, 1998 Volume 10 : Issue 31
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ISSN 1004-042X
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Editor: Jim Thomas (cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu)
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News Editor: Gordon Meyer (gmeyer@sun.soci.niu.edu)
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Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
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Shadow Master: Stanton McCandlish
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Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
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Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
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Ian Dickinson
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Field Agent Extraordinaire: David Smith
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Cu Digest Homepage: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest
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CONTENTS, #10.31 (Sun, May 31, 1998)
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File 1--Islands in the Clickstream. a wild-eyed dreamer. April 25, 1998
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File 2--"computer haiku"
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File 3--Blitzkrieg server computer virus
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File 4--CONFERENCE -- New Media Arts in Advanced Technology Culture
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File 5--Wiretaps Increase in 1997; Only Two Computer Taps (EPIC fwd)
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File 6--REVIEW: "Firewalls Complete", Marcus Goncalves
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File 7--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 25 Apr, 1998)
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CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION ApPEARS IN
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THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE.
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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Date: Mon, 27 Apr 1998 17:01:27 -0500
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From: Richard Thieme <rthieme@thiemeworks.com>
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Subject: File 1--Islands in the Clickstream. a wild-eyed dreamer. April 25, 1998
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Islands in the Clickstream:
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a wild-eyed dreamer talks to himself late at night on a dark
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side street
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A: Exactly. While we know that other cultures see things differently, it's
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difficult not to believe that our way of constructing reality is right. And
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obviously superior. The same goes for the little differences between us,
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differences amplified in cyberspace (or contact-space) inversely in
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proportion to the lack of a conversational context. How can we know what
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we're hearing when we don't know who we're talking to?
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Q: Say what?
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A: Put it this way. Insufficient bandwidth, an absence of real earth-time
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context to provide recognizable cues make it difficult to understand. Add
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differences in background and temperament and you have the makings of a
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real mess.
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Q: What do you mean by temperament?
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A: Different ways of perceiving, framing things. Like the Myers-Briggs.
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Q: What's that?
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A: The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is based on Jungian personality types.
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It's popular because everybody using it feels validated. Each person in a
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group can see how everyone else contributes.
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Q: Is that important to you, that everyone see that?
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A: Yes. The group works better that way.
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Q: Like Capricorns learning to live with Leos?
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A: Right. The MBTI is like a horoscope for intellectuals. Instead of the
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stars, it locates why we do things in our genetic heritage.
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Q: What's your temperament?
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A: I'm an ENFP, an extroverted intuitive feeler. I see the future more
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clearly than what's right in front of my face. Visions are more real to me
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than chemicals in a test tube.
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Q: And you think that's better than being, say, someone who makes things
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work? Someone who sees why a satellite won't work, say, if it's missing a
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few bolts?
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A: Not better, but that's how things come to me. Dilbert thinks the fact
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that a pager is pink is irrelevant. I think it's clever. When the chips
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inside are identical, packaging matters. Marketing product when we're
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selling perceptions. In the digital world, that's what there is. Diplomacy.
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How we present ourselves in symbols.
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Q: You like to "network" too, I imagine?
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A: Absolutely. Hanging out in the Web is the name of the game, even if it
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goes nowhere.
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Q: Why would someone want to go nowhere?
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A: Well, there isn't really nowhere to go, there's always somewhere. Like
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divination. The Web is a meaningful network of symbols that if nothing else
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displays ourselves for all the universe to see.
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Q: <smirk>
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A: Anyway, I was talking about networking with a typical representative of
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the dominant culture here in the upper Midwest, an STJ if ever there was
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one. He said, "Sorry, but that sounds like a woman.
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"Someone asks me to lunch," he said, "if I don't know by the time we're
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eating what they want, I get angry. The thought of meeting just to have
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lunch - just to "connect" - makes me nuts."
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Q: Of course it does. So what's your point?
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A: Don't you think that's interesting? <pause> Oh. Well, it's kind of a
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game, see, just getting out there into the Web. Start when you want and not
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be behind, quit when you want and not be ahead.
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Q: Then how do you know who wins?
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A: Everybody wins.
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Q: Huh. Alice in Wonderland. <pause> But the Net's exploding with
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commerce, ways to make money. It does matter how it gets built, who gets
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what.
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A: I won't argue with that. The rewards appropriate to knowing how to do
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whatever are always exactly that, the appropriate rewards. Meanwhile the
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Web is becoming the air we breathe. To me, that's what matters.
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Remember the robber barons. For a generation, the men who built the
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railroads looked like they were going to own America. By the end of their
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time, though, the infrastructure had been built, most were bankrupt, and
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something brand new was being born. But the railroads were in place. That's
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what mattered to the next generations. Where is the Soviet Union now and
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the Space Race?
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Q: So what will matter to the "next generations?"
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A: [faraway look in his eyes] I don't have a clue. All I know is what's
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happening now.
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Q: And ? What do you see?
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A: I see only the obvious.
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Our religions, the symbol systems we worship instead of God, are cracking
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and about to explode. The molten flow will coalesce into different shapes
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of beliefs, new gods rising in the steam. The shape of the global economy
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itself will pull political realities into the next century after it, like
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civilization bootstrapping itself, and what we call nations will be tribal
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identities or neighborhoods. The earth is our cradle, and the contact with
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other life that has already happened will quicken in our consciousness when
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we see what's right in front of our eyes. We'll re-invent and engineer
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ourselves and then be able to understand a little bit more where we came
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from and why. Maintaining social order will matter more than anything else.
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In the name of security and efficiency, we'll sell our freedoms for a mess
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of digital images. We'll invent more sports to keep people off the streets.
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We'll manage the aftermath of catastrophe. Humankind will move through a
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zone of annihilation in which everything we thought ourselves to be -
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everything - is called into question. We'll think we are losing our Mind,
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only to emerge on the other side when we least expect it. As we come to
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recognize our collective Self, what we call psi will become an integrated
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aspect of knowing. And what we call culture, when we have encountered
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deeply the way the alien races think, the way they construct their millions
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of years of non-history, will invent itself as an image in our minds seen
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through their eyes the way, for example, Hawaiians imagine Hawaiian culture
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in the reconstructed image of the European mind.
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Q: <shrug> Well. As you say, that's all happening now. That's nothing new.
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That doesn't give me any answers.
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A: No. It's nothing new. It's just a digital monkey chattering to itself.
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**********************************************************************
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Islands in the Clickstream is a weekly column written by
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Richard Thieme exploring social and cultural dimensions
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of computer technology. Comments are welcome.
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Feel free to pass along columns for personal use, retaining this
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signature file. If interested in (1) publishing columns
|
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online or in print, (2) giving a free subscription as a gift, or
|
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(3) distributing Islands to employees or over a network,
|
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email for details.
|
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To subscribe to Islands in the Clickstream, send email to
|
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rthieme@thiemeworks.com with the words "subscribe islands" in the
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body of the message. To unsubscribe, email with "unsubscribe
|
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islands" in the body of the message.
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Richard Thieme is a professional speaker, consultant, and writer
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focused on the impact of computer technology on individuals and
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organizations.
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Islands in the Clickstream (c) Richard Thieme, 1998. All rights reserved.
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ThiemeWorks on the Web: http://www.thiemeworks.com
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ThiemeWorks P. O. Box 17737 Milwaukee WI 53217-0737 414.351.2321
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------------------------------
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Date: Tue, 28 Apr 1998 22:29:01 -0500
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From: Avi Bass <te0azb1@corn.cso.niu.edu>
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Subject: File 2--"computer haiku"
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((MODERATORS' NOTE: We're not certain where the following
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originally appeared, but it may have been part of a Net contest.
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If anybody knows, drop us private mail to: cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu))
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IMAGINE IF INSTEAD OF CRYPTIC, GEEKY TEXT STRINGS,
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YOUR COMPUTER PRODUCED ERROR MESSAGES IN HAIKU...
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A file that big?
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It might be very useful.
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But now it is gone.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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The Web site you seek
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cannot be located but
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endless others exist
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Chaos reigns within.
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Reflect, repent, and reboot.
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Order shall return.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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ABORTED effort:
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Close all that you have.
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You ask way too much.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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First snow, then silence.
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This thousand dollar screen dies
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so beautifully.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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With searching comes loss
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and the presence of absence:
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"My Novel" not found.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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The Tao that is seen
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Is not the true Tao, until
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You bring fresh toner.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Windows NT crashed.
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I am the Blue Screen of Death.
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No one hears your screams.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Stay the patient course
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Of little worth is your ire
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The network is down
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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A crash reduces
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your expensive computer
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to a simple stone.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Yesterday it worked
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Today it is not working
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Windows is like that
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Three things are certain:
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Death, taxes, and lost data.
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Guess which has occurred.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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You step in the stream,
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but the water has moved on.
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This page is not here.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Out of memory.
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We wish to hold the whole sky,
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But we never will.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Having been erased,
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The document you're seeking
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Must now be retyped.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Rather than a beep
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Or a rude error message,
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These words: "File not found."
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Serious error.
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All shortcuts have disappeared.
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Screen. Mind. Both are blank.
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------------------------------
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Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 23:30:39 -0500
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From: Rob Rosenberger <us@kumite.com>
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Subject: File 3--Blitzkrieg server computer virus
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You know, every once in awhile I lean back and say "I've seen it
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all in the antivirus world." Then something like THIS comes
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along...
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The London Sunday Times, New Scientist magazine, Hewlett-Packard,
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and the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association
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published separate stories about the amazing new "Blitzkrieg
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server computer virus." AFCEA's president (a retired three-star
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general) stakes his association's reputation on this story.
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Here's what we know so far about Blitzkrieg creator Larry Wood and
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his company's new product:
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* The Blitzkrieg server computer virus defends networks by
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launching retaliatory strikes against a hacker's Internet provider
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and every hapless customer logged on at the same time.
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* Larry Wood "will simulate a computer attack that disables a
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defense agency by making it impossible to launch any missiles"
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during TechNet'98 (the Defense Department's version of COMDEX).
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* The Blitzkrieg server computer virus can resolve Heisenberg's
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uncertainty principle -- a feat which will guarantee Mr. (not Dr.)
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Wood a Nobel prize in physics, since it flies in the face of how
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we currently perceive the universe at the quantum level.
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* Wood says the Blitzkrieg server computer virus "assimilates
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all other nodes attached to the network in a process that is
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intentionally transparent to the host computer irrespective of any
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antivirus preventive or protective mechanism." [Translation: "you
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will be assimilated; resistance is futile."] It can move to
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another network without detection, too. "As the wind is to a puff
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of smoke [sic], no trace of the virtual machine, its dynamic
|
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problem-solving state or its historical activities remain upon
|
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transfer from a network host unless ordered by the collective,"
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Wood declared. [His use of the term "collective" equates to the
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Borg collective in Star Trek. "Automacapcids" (not "drones")
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describe individual elements within the collective, similar to the
|
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term used in a recent episode of the X-Files.]
|
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|
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* The Blitzkrieg server computer virus can peer into the future
|
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with astounding clarity. "After only two weeks of on-line
|
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operational testing, the Blitzkrieg server determined a high
|
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probability that a hacker attack would be targeted at specific
|
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U.S. corporations and California state government installations.
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The server predicted that the network attack would be from
|
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Japanese nationals with the help of U.S. collaborators affiliated
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with the 2600 international hacker group."
|
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* On a lesser note, the Blitzkrieg server computer virus can
|
||
|
trace spam email to its original source and can "plant a virus" on
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those computers. Talk about a useful function!
|
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* AFCEA's magazine editor (originally "sworn to secrecy" about
|
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|
some of the details) believes CIA or NSA "will probably make it
|
||
|
black now," meaning they'll classify the entire project to keep it
|
||
|
from falling into the wrong hands. An unnamed CIA agent (aren't
|
||
|
they all?) called the Blitzkrieg server computer virus
|
||
|
"potentially more dangerous than nuclear weapons" should it fall
|
||
|
into the wrong hands. And "the thing is [only] in a prototype
|
||
|
form right now" according to AFCEA's magazine editor. Imagine
|
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what the final product could do!
|
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|
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|
* Wood's company claims the Los Angeles Times wrote a
|
||
|
copyrighted story about Blitzkrieg. Actually, it's word-for-word
|
||
|
identical to a press release with a Business Wire copyright
|
||
|
notice. The Times business desk couldn't find the story in their
|
||
|
news archive. And why does AFCEA's magazine editor appear on the
|
||
|
press release as the primary contact for more info?
|
||
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|
||
|
Visit http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~crypt/other/blitz.htm and
|
||
|
http://www.kumite.com/myths/opinion/thoughts to learn more about
|
||
|
the Nobel shoo-in who created this amazing computer virus.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Rob Rosenberger, webmaster
|
||
|
Computer Virus Myths home page
|
||
|
http://www.kumite.com/myths
|
||
|
|
||
|
------------------------------
|
||
|
|
||
|
Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 11:32:21 -0500
|
||
|
From: Jon Epstein <epstein@raex.com>
|
||
|
Subject: File 4--CONFERENCE -- New Media Arts in Advanced Technology Culture
|
||
|
|
||
|
From--CREATIVITY@luton.ac.uk
|
||
|
Date-- Tue, 26 May 1998 15:16:39 GMT
|
||
|
|
||
|
Please forward to interested colleagues or cut and paste to discussion
|
||
|
lists
|
||
|
|
||
|
******Call for CONFERENCE Papers*****
|
||
|
|
||
|
Creativity and Consumption
|
||
|
New Media Arts in Advanced Technology Culture
|
||
|
|
||
|
International conference
|
||
|
29-31 March 1999
|
||
|
to be held at the University of Luton, UK
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Submission deadline: 30 September 1998
|
||
|
E-mail: CREATIVITY@luton.ac.uk
|
||
|
|
||
|
Creativity and Consumption will explore theoretical issues around the
|
||
|
'content' and 'use' of digital technology in order to promote a critical
|
||
|
understanding of new media products and the context in which they
|
||
|
circulate.
|
||
|
|
||
|
We require both PAPERS and PANELISTS and there will be an EXHIBITION.
|
||
|
see below
|
||
|
|
||
|
CALL FOR PAPERS
|
||
|
In particular we are looking for research papers that relate to the
|
||
|
following themes:
|
||
|
|
||
|
o computers and creativity
|
||
|
o the human-machine interface
|
||
|
o dead media and science fiction
|
||
|
o 'interactivity' and cultural practices
|
||
|
o the aesthetics and politics of new media practices
|
||
|
o implications of the 'new media age' for cultural institutions
|
||
|
o distribution, exhibition and the audience
|
||
|
o preservation and access
|
||
|
o copyright, ownership and economic models
|
||
|
|
||
|
Papers addressing others aspects of artistic and cultural practices and
|
||
|
products would also be welcome.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Please submit a 500 word abstract, together with author name, address,
|
||
|
tel and fax numbers and email address, by 30 September 1998
|
||
|
|
||
|
A selection of the papers presented will be published in Convergence:
|
||
|
The Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, published quarterly
|
||
|
by John Libbey Media at the University of Luton Press.
|
||
|
|
||
|
CALL FOR PANEL DISCUSSIONS
|
||
|
We are also calling for proposals for specific panel discussions that
|
||
|
aim to promote debate and offer a forum for discussion around the
|
||
|
conference themes. The proposer should supply a list of panel
|
||
|
participants, together with an outline of each participant's
|
||
|
contribution and the aim of the discussion (the full proposal to be
|
||
|
approx 500 words in total).
|
||
|
|
||
|
Please submit the 500 word proposal, together with author name, address,
|
||
|
tel and fax numbers and email address, by 30 September 1998
|
||
|
|
||
|
EXHIBITION
|
||
|
There will be a concurrent exhibition of new media artworks located in
|
||
|
key venues around Luton town centre. Subject to funding this will
|
||
|
feature two new works : Simon Biggs' The Great Wall of China, as a
|
||
|
multi-screen, multi-user gallery installation and Black Box, a
|
||
|
compilation installation produced by the Film & Video Umbrella. Both
|
||
|
works will be exhibited at Luton's new lottery-funded arts centre,
|
||
|
artezium.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Sponsored by JVC, Eastern Arts Board, Centre for the Book at the Library
|
||
|
of Congress.
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
******
|
||
|
|
||
|
This is an academic, non-commercial mailing
|
||
|
|
||
|
*****
|
||
|
*********************************
|
||
|
Caroline Smith,
|
||
|
Research and Development Worker
|
||
|
Julia Knight, Project Coordinator
|
||
|
Creativity and Consumption
|
||
|
Dept of Media Arts
|
||
|
University of Luton,
|
||
|
75 Castle Street
|
||
|
Luton. LU1 3AJ
|
||
|
UK
|
||
|
Tel: +44 (0)1582 489144
|
||
|
Fax: +44 (01582) 489014
|
||
|
email: CREATIVITY@luton.ac.uk
|
||
|
|
||
|
------------------------------
|
||
|
|
||
|
Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 17:34:29 -0400
|
||
|
From: "EPIC-News List" <epic-news@epic.org>
|
||
|
Subject: File 5--Wiretaps Increase in 1997; Only Two Computer Taps (EPIC fwd)
|
||
|
|
||
|
EPIC Alert, 5.06 (May 12, 1998)
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
Published by the
|
||
|
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
|
||
|
Washington, D.C.
|
||
|
|
||
|
http://www.epic.org/
|
||
|
|
||
|
*** 1998 EPIC Cryptography and Privacy Conference ***
|
||
|
http://www.epic.org/events/crypto98/
|
||
|
** Last week for Early Registration **
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
=======================================================================
|
||
|
[3] Wiretaps Increase in 1997; Only Two Computer Taps
|
||
|
=======================================================================
|
||
|
|
||
|
State and Federal wiretapping increased by three percent in 1997
|
||
|
according to the annual report of the Administrative Office of the U.S.
|
||
|
Courts, released last week. The total number of wiretaps approved by
|
||
|
state and federal judges in 1997 was 1186, up from 1149 in 1996. There
|
||
|
was a slight decrease in federal orders and an eight percent increase
|
||
|
in state requests, mainly from a special New York police anti-narcotics
|
||
|
squad. Once again, no request for a wiretap order was turned down by a
|
||
|
federal or state judge.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Investigation of drug cases was again the major reason for wiretaps.
|
||
|
Seventy-three percent of all applications listed narcotics as the
|
||
|
primary reason, up from 71 percent the previous year. Gambling and
|
||
|
racketeering each accounted for eight percent of the applications.
|
||
|
Only three cases involved "arson, explosives, and weapons" cases.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Wiretaps continued to be relatively inefficient as an investigative
|
||
|
tool. In 1997, each tap intercepted an average of 2081 calls for a
|
||
|
total of nearly 2.5 million calls intercepted. Only 20 percent of
|
||
|
conversations intercepted were deemed "incriminating" by prosecutors.
|
||
|
Federal taps were even less efficient -- only 16 percent were deemed
|
||
|
"incriminating."
|
||
|
|
||
|
An analysis by EPIC of the reports for 1995-1997 has found that while
|
||
|
the FBI continues its push towards limiting cryptography used to
|
||
|
protect the privacy of electronic communications, federal and state
|
||
|
investigators only conducted five wiretaps that involved computer
|
||
|
communications in that period. In 1997, two such instances were
|
||
|
reported. The two 1997 cases were a fraud case in Ohio and an
|
||
|
extortion case in Illinois. The Illinois order was only in force for
|
||
|
six days and did not yield any "incriminating conversations."
|
||
|
|
||
|
More information on wiretapping, including the text of the
|
||
|
Administrative Office of the U.S. Court's 1997 Wiretap report (in PDF
|
||
|
format) is available at:
|
||
|
|
||
|
http://www.epic.org/privacy/wiretap/
|
||
|
|
||
|
<snip>
|
||
|
=======================================================================
|
||
|
[5] Industry, Public Interest Groups Ask FCC to Delay Wiretap Law
|
||
|
=======================================================================
|
||
|
|
||
|
Public interest groups, telecommunications companies and trade
|
||
|
associations filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission
|
||
|
on May 8 asking the FCC to delay the implementation of new technical
|
||
|
standards required by the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement
|
||
|
Act (CALEA). Under the law, telecommunications companies and equipment
|
||
|
manufacturers have until October 25, 1998, to implement new standards
|
||
|
for digital wiretapping or face heavy fines. However, delays due to
|
||
|
controversial FBI demands in the standard-setting process have
|
||
|
prevented them from being adopted.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Comments filed jointly by EPIC, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and
|
||
|
the American Civil Liberties Union asked the FCC to indefinitely stay
|
||
|
the proceeding until the controversy over the standards are resolved.
|
||
|
The groups also urged the FCC to issue one order covering all
|
||
|
companies, rather than process several thousand individual requests for
|
||
|
relief from the requirements.
|
||
|
|
||
|
More information on CALEA and wiretapping is available at:
|
||
|
|
||
|
http://www.epic.org/privacy/wiretap/
|
||
|
|
||
|
=======================================================================
|
||
|
Subscription Information
|
||
|
=======================================================================
|
||
|
|
||
|
The EPIC Alert is a free biweekly publication of the Electronic
|
||
|
Privacy Information Center. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send email
|
||
|
to epic-news@epic.org with the subject: "subscribe" (no quotes) or
|
||
|
"unsubscribe". A Web-based form is available at:
|
||
|
|
||
|
http://www.epic.org/alert/subscribe.html
|
||
|
|
||
|
Back issues are available at:
|
||
|
|
||
|
http://www.epic.org/alert/
|
||
|
|
||
|
=======================================================================
|
||
|
About EPIC
|
||
|
=======================================================================
|
||
|
|
||
|
The Electronic Privacy Information Center is a public interest
|
||
|
research center in Washington, DC. It was established in 1994 to
|
||
|
focus public attention on emerging privacy issues such as the Clipper
|
||
|
Chip, the Digital Telephony proposal, national ID cards, medical
|
||
|
record privacy, and the collection and sale of personal information.
|
||
|
EPIC is sponsored by the Fund for Constitutional Government, a
|
||
|
non-profit organization established in 1974 to protect civil liberties
|
||
|
and constitutional rights. EPIC publishes the EPIC Alert, pursues
|
||
|
Freedom of Information Act litigation, and conducts policy research.
|
||
|
For more information, e-mail info@epic.org, http://www.epic.org or
|
||
|
write EPIC, 666 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Suite 301, Washington, DC
|
||
|
20003. +1 202 544 9240 (tel), +1 202 547 5482 (fax).
|
||
|
|
||
|
If you'd like to support the work of the Electronic Privacy
|
||
|
Information Center, contributions are welcome and fully
|
||
|
tax-deductible. Checks should be made out to "The Fund for
|
||
|
Constitutional Government" and sent to EPIC, 666 Pennsylvania Ave.,
|
||
|
SE, Suite 301, Washington DC 20003. Individuals with First Virtual
|
||
|
accounts can donate at http://www.epic.org/epic/support.html
|
||
|
|
||
|
Your contributions will help support Freedom of Information Act and
|
||
|
First Amendment litigation, strong and effective advocacy for the
|
||
|
right of privacy and efforts to oppose government regulation of
|
||
|
encryption and funding of the digital wiretap law.
|
||
|
|
||
|
------------------------------
|
||
|
|
||
|
Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 08:10:35 -0800
|
||
|
From: "Rob Slade, doting grandpa of Ryan and Trevor" <rslade@sprint.ca>
|
||
|
Subject: File 6--REVIEW: "Firewalls Complete", Marcus Goncalves
|
||
|
|
||
|
BKFWCMPL.RVW 980315
|
||
|
|
||
|
"Firewalls Complete", Marcus Goncalves, 1998, 0-07-024645-9, U$54.95
|
||
|
%A Marcus Goncalves goncalves@process.com
|
||
|
%C 300 Water Street, Whitby, Ontario L1N 9B6
|
||
|
%D 1998
|
||
|
%G 0-07-024645-9
|
||
|
%I McGraw-Hill Ryerson/Osborne
|
||
|
%O U$54.95 800-565-5758 fax: 905-430-5020 louisea@McGrawHill.ca
|
||
|
%P 632 p. + CD-ROM
|
||
|
%T "Firewalls Complete"
|
||
|
|
||
|
While there is a large amount of information in this book, and a
|
||
|
particularly valuable compilation of vendor data, I am not sure that I
|
||
|
can agree with the claim to be complete. It is difficult to point out
|
||
|
specific gaps in the work, since the whole volume could use a thorough
|
||
|
reorganization.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Part one is described as a reference section. Chapter one, rather
|
||
|
oddly for a security book, deals not with security, but with the
|
||
|
TCP/IP suite of protocols. This appears to set the stage for a
|
||
|
technical treatment of the subject. Networking details continue in
|
||
|
chapter two with an overview of the various connection methods over
|
||
|
the net. I am always delighted to get more information about new
|
||
|
Kermit products, but I would sympathize with any reader who was
|
||
|
confused about what this material may have to do with firewalls.
|
||
|
Encryption gets a brief review in chapter three. The content gets the
|
||
|
basics across, but is of uneven depth between topics. Chapter four
|
||
|
does start to provide security, and specifically firewall, related
|
||
|
information in regard to the Web. The data is good, but seems to be
|
||
|
somewhat random and unstructured. Advanced Web security areas
|
||
|
(including a more detailed examination of ActiveX vulnerabilities) is
|
||
|
found in chapter five. Chapter six looks at specific programming
|
||
|
problems with the standard net APIs (Applications Programming
|
||
|
Interfaces) but does not address firewall responses.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Firewall technologies, implementations, and limitations are discussed
|
||
|
in part two. Chapter seven attempts to define firewalls and describe
|
||
|
firewall technologies, but concentrates almost exclusively on packet
|
||
|
filtering aspects. Vulnerabilities of individual Internet
|
||
|
applications are the subject of chapter eight, but many concerns
|
||
|
mentioned are more potential than actual (and thus difficult to defend
|
||
|
against) while a good deal of the content (including a complete, ten
|
||
|
page Perl script) is repeated from earlier chapters. "Setting Up a
|
||
|
Firewall Security Policy," in chapter nine, is much broader, touching
|
||
|
on many security topics that may have little or nothing to do with
|
||
|
firewalls. An example is the information on viruses, which is
|
||
|
generally trite. The overview of antiviral software betrays no
|
||
|
knowledge of activity monitoring or change detection classes of
|
||
|
programs. The recommended protection procedure suggests copying
|
||
|
downloaded programs to a floppy disk rather than the hard disk, which
|
||
|
is both useless (malicious software invoked from floppy will generally
|
||
|
happily destroy data on your hard drive) as well as being impractical
|
||
|
in these days of enormous packages. The more effective approach would
|
||
|
involve a type of firewall: an isolated machine that could download
|
||
|
software and test it before the programs were used on production
|
||
|
machines. Chapter ten is supposed to address issues of design and
|
||
|
implementation, but deals primarily with considerations for evaluation
|
||
|
of specific products. The question of design is made more problematic
|
||
|
by the fact that the second major type of firewall Goncalves proposes,
|
||
|
an application gateway, while first mentioned in chapter seven, is not
|
||
|
defined until chapter eleven as a more generic form of a proxy server,
|
||
|
which is itself first mentioned in chapter five but not described
|
||
|
until this point. Chapter twelve covers basic auditing of the
|
||
|
firewall, while chapter thirteen promotes the TIS Internet Firewall
|
||
|
Toolkit and offers three ludicrously short "case studies."
|
||
|
|
||
|
Part three is chapter fourteen, which lists firewall vendors and
|
||
|
products. Descriptions of the products are extensive, and sometimes
|
||
|
technically detailed, but it is difficult to call them evaluations,
|
||
|
since there is little analysis of strengths and weaknesses. It is
|
||
|
also hard to make comparisons, since there is little similarity of
|
||
|
format in the entries. Appendix A is a collection of vendor contact
|
||
|
information.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Goncalves' writing on any given section is quite readable.
|
||
|
Explanations are clear and illustrations can even be amusing. At
|
||
|
times it seemed that the material was moving into common traps and
|
||
|
misconceptions, but ultimately the analysis is generally balanced and
|
||
|
realistic. However, in some cases there is an apparent contradiction
|
||
|
between one paragraph and the next. The incongruity disappears on
|
||
|
more rigorous scrutiny, but the text can be startling. In addition,
|
||
|
the structure of the book, both overall and within individual
|
||
|
chapters, leaves something to be desired. It can be difficult to
|
||
|
follow developing concepts, and also to use the book as a reference by
|
||
|
going back to specific topics to pick up particular points.
|
||
|
|
||
|
As an adjunct to Cheswick and Bellovin's "Firewalls and Internet
|
||
|
Security" (cf. BKFRINSC.RVW) or Chapman and Zwicky's more practical
|
||
|
"Building Internet Firewalls" (cf. BKBUINFI.RVW), this work does have
|
||
|
useful information. As a reference or introduction it falls short.
|
||
|
|
||
|
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1998 BKFWCMPL.RVW 980315
|
||
|
|
||
|
------------------------------
|
||
|
|
||
|
Date: Thu, 25 Apr 1998 22:51:01 CST
|
||
|
From: CuD Moderators <cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu>
|
||
|
Subject: File 7--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 25 Apr, 1998)
|
||
|
|
||
|
Cu-Digest is a weekly electronic journal/newsletter. Subscriptions are
|
||
|
available at no cost electronically.
|
||
|
|
||
|
CuD is available as a Usenet newsgroup: comp.society.cu-digest
|
||
|
|
||
|
Or, to subscribe, send post with this in the "Subject:: line:
|
||
|
|
||
|
SUBSCRIBE CU-DIGEST
|
||
|
Send the message to: cu-digest-request@weber.ucsd.edu
|
||
|
|
||
|
DO NOT SEND SUBSCRIPTIONS TO THE MODERATORS.
|
||
|
|
||
|
The editors may be contacted by voice (815-753-6436), fax (815-753-6302)
|
||
|
or U.S. mail at: Jim Thomas, Department of Sociology, NIU, DeKalb, IL
|
||
|
60115, USA.
|
||
|
|
||
|
To UNSUB, send a one-line message: UNSUB CU-DIGEST
|
||
|
Send it to CU-DIGEST-REQUEST@WEBER.UCSD.EDU
|
||
|
(NOTE: The address you unsub must correspond to your From: line)
|
||
|
|
||
|
CuD is readily accessible from the Net:
|
||
|
UNITED STATES: ftp.etext.org (206.252.8.100) in /pub/CuD/CuD
|
||
|
Web-accessible from: http://www.etext.org/CuD/CuD/
|
||
|
ftp.eff.org (192.88.144.4) in /pub/Publications/CuD/
|
||
|
aql.gatech.edu (128.61.10.53) in /pub/eff/cud/
|
||
|
world.std.com in /src/wuarchive/doc/EFF/Publications/CuD/
|
||
|
wuarchive.wustl.edu in /doc/EFF/Publications/CuD/
|
||
|
EUROPE: nic.funet.fi in pub/doc/CuD/CuD/ (Finland)
|
||
|
ftp.warwick.ac.uk in pub/cud/ (United Kingdom)
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
The most recent issues of CuD can be obtained from the
|
||
|
Cu Digest WWW site at:
|
||
|
URL: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest/
|
||
|
|
||
|
COMPUTER UNDERGROUND DIGEST is an open forum dedicated to sharing
|
||
|
information among computerists and to the presentation and debate of
|
||
|
diverse views. CuD material may be reprinted for non-profit as long
|
||
|
as the source is cited. Authors hold a presumptive copyright, and
|
||
|
they should be contacted for reprint permission. It is assumed that
|
||
|
non-personal mail to the moderators may be reprinted unless otherwise
|
||
|
specified. Readers are encouraged to submit reasoned articles
|
||
|
relating to computer culture and communication. Articles are
|
||
|
preferred to short responses. Please avoid quoting previous posts
|
||
|
unless absolutely necessary.
|
||
|
|
||
|
DISCLAIMER: The views represented herein do not necessarily represent
|
||
|
the views of the moderators. Digest contributors assume all
|
||
|
responsibility for ensuring that articles submitted do not
|
||
|
violate copyright protections.
|
||
|
|
||
|
------------------------------
|
||
|
|
||
|
End of Computer Underground Digest #10.31
|
||
|
************************************
|
||
|
|