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First RFC1149 Implementation

Crossfire writes: "IP over Avian Carrier (RFC1149) was just a joke, right? It would seem not. The Bergen Linux Users Group has made it a reality! It would also seem that Alan Cox was present for the event too, given by the photos on the page." This is just excellent. Kudos to everyone involved.

143 comments

  1. Re:Just imagine... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    better known as FIM-attac (Food In the Middle)

  2. Re:Open Source by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1
    RFC & NWG != Open Source. Those RFC's are written for the big companies to follow as well, and have several inputs from big companies.

    A better way of saying this would be "from the Computer Science community". I would have to agree with the other reply to this parent, which states that you are, in fact, a troll.

  3. No. Swallows. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Microsoft will use swallows. You will only be able to send through their gateway in Capistrano.

  4. Kick ass! by Phroggy · · Score: 1
    This just seriously made my morning. Way to go guys! :-)

    --

    --
    $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
    $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
    1. Re:Kick ass! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      Not sure this is something new. It is perhaps an explanation of the 18+ hour ping reply I once got from a nick on efnet's telstra server. But then they are likely using kpp (kangaroo pouched packets).

  5. IP hijacking? no by shaldannon · · Score: 1

    You have to catch the pigeon, change its packet, and release it to be a successful hijack. Now the question still burning in my mind is how do you spoof using pigeons?


    if ($user =~ m/shaldannon/i) {
    print "\n-- $user :)\n"
    }

    --


    What is your Slash Rating?
  6. Re:Sorry... by troc · · Score: 1

    African or European Packet?

    --
    Troc's dubious podcast and blog: http://www.trocnet.net
  7. Ah, I see by suitcase · · Score: 1

    The 'inspiration' behind the whole project, no doubt:

    http://www.blug.linux.no/rfc1149/vegard_bilder/t n/ 15packet_one_ready.jpg.html

    I'm sure they all had few good laughs

  8. Re:Man-in-the-middle-with-a-big-net Attacks by Julian+Morrison · · Score: 1

    "Worse, quantum encryption would be impossible, doe to the carrier's inability to fly in an entangled state."

    I've heard cats work for that one (cf. Schrodinger et al). Although they need to stay unobserved, and herding them can be quite hard.
    --

  9. Re:Limitations by BJH · · Score: 1

    Packet size isn't that limited - just make sure to use microfilm.

  10. Re:These are not dropped packets... by Vegard · · Score: 1

    Indeed. And they did leave at least one audit trail, as seen in http://www.blug.linux.no/rfc1149/bilder/tn/20audit _trail.jpg.html

  11. Re:How about Email by Vegard · · Score: 1

    We did actually think about that. But, you don't send email as your first network test. You send a ping - or a traceroute, but that was not really interesting, as it was only one hop. And well, losing packets with email is quite worse than losing them with a ping. A retransmission could easily mean an hour or three extra time :) And basically, we'd have needed more pigeons...

    - Vegard

  12. More pictures. by Vegard · · Score: 1

    More pictures, this time mostly from the other site, is at http://www.blug.linux.no/rfc1149/bjoff_bilder/

    - Vegard

  13. What I'd really like to see... by HunterZ · · Score: 1

    ...would be a traceroute of the packets!

    --
    Arguing about vi versus Emacs is like arguing whether it's better to make fire by rubbing sticks or banging rocks.
  14. Re:Of course it's secure... by willki · · Score: 1

    I don't know what's up, but the system has chosen a friend of mine to moderate posts twice in the last 4 days. I'm trying to figure out what's up there, but at the same time, he's not complaining.

  15. Re:Privacy and CPIPsec by Valdrax · · Score: 1

    That is: "For the sake of freedom, we cannot slip..."

    Now we return you to your regularly scheduled nonsense...

    --
    If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
  16. Don't look up! by MartyJG · · Score: 1

    You might get a dropped packet!

    --
    insignificant sig
  17. Wasn't there a hard-wired timeout value? by Dwonis · · Score: 1

    ... of about 5 minutes, or was that TCP?
    ------

  18. Re:Reuters implemented this in the 1800's by kev-san · · Score: 1

    Perhaps, in amazon.com fashion, Reuters could sue the Bergen LUG for patent infringement.

  19. Re:Bandwidth is not the problem, but latency is... by salyavin · · Score: 1

    Ultrium tapes are higher still. On top of that you can fit more in an Aircraft carrier I should think ;)

  20. Re:UPS truck with DVDs by rtaylor · · Score: 1

    I'll still stick with the UPS 18 wheeler than yours.. But, the 747 FedEx planes have got to beat all standard shipping lanes for this kind of traffic. Half decently quick and really really high parallism.

    --
    Rod Taylor
  21. It needs a fancy graphic if it's ever to be popula by rs79 · · Score: 1

    http://images.vrx.net/buttons/rfc1149now.jpg

    Do what you want with it.

    --
    Need Mercedes parts ?
  22. Re:Of course it's secure... by GreyyGuy · · Score: 1

    BTW, why are we seeing so many posts moderated so high recently? I only want to see a few posts per article, and now you get 15 at +5. Did Taco make everyone a moderator full-time or something?

    For a couple of days there was next to no moderating done and then they switched moderating back on. I thought the moderation permissions were just backed up and so there were a flood of them. Maybe the fix turned on too many moderators.

    Or maybe /. already implimented the CPIP for moderation, but still need to work the bugs out :)

  23. Re:UPS truck with DVDs by linuxguy · · Score: 1
    > there is no higher bandwidth link than a UPS truck fully loaded with DVDs

    I can easily beat that. How about an 18 wheeler fully loaded with DVDs? :)

  24. Re:Limitations by Peter+Harris · · Score: 1

    Is that aftrican pigeons or european pigeons?

    --

    -- What do you need?
    -- Gnus. Lots of Gnus.
  25. Re:Of course it's secure... by FunkyChild · · Score: 1

    me too..
    I've been a mod twice in the last few days. I actually think that the quality of /. has improved lately with the extra mods.

  26. I guess this one is for... by cperciva · · Score: 1

    ...the guy who wrote this who seems to think that RFC == standard.

    Oh, and of course the crack-smoking moderators who consider bogosity to be insightful. ;)

    1. Re:I guess this one is for... by Error27 · · Score: 3

      Yes. Because the people who write RFC's joke around in such non-professional way means that RFC's can be ignored with no loss.

      Especially RFC's about routers. Those can be ignored and your router will still work with all future network protocols.

      Or perhaps, while one or two RFC's are meant to be funny, the other RFC's are not. RFC's are often the accepted standard though not always.

      That may be very hard to understand at first but I think it's true none the less.

    2. Re:I guess this one is for... by Cerlyn · · Score: 4

      Let me say this once before everyone goes nuts:

      I never said that RFC == standard.

      Read what I wrote. I said "well on its way." I did not say "definitely will become." Just because I did not explicitly say "but may not reach that point" doesn't mean it that isn't implied.

      RFCs tended to be well documented protocols and procedures that tend to head towards standards or at least widely used methods. Most protocols never even reach this point. If a person or group writes an RFC, they believe they have something worthy of a larger audience.

      And yes, I am aware of the multitude of humorous standards in there (IMPS, RFC 2795, comes instantly to mind, RFC 1097 or "subliminal telnet messaging" being an earlier one).

      Still, my point in that post was that many RFCs are widely used as if they were standards even though they are not stands. Internet Relay Chat is RFC's 1459, 2810, 2811, 2812, and 2813, all marked "Experimental" or "Informational". Their headers do state they are not information standards, but this has not stopped over 10 IRC networks, dozens of client programs and tens of thousands of users from using them. Likewise, RFC 1413, a.k.a. the ident protocol, has been a proposed standard for seven years, yet is included in every UNIX-based operating system. Your secure shell products (SSH) use a protocol that has a working group, but they have not even reached the RFC point in the process!

      Just because someone says something is not a standard does not mean it is not widely adopted. Personally, I want to implement RFC 2324, better known as the Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol :)

  27. OT: not frozen by Carnivore · · Score: 1

    MS will purchase several of the air cannons used to launch frozen poultry at aircraft windows to test for breaking point

    The brits tried that once--damn thing punched right through the windscreen and embedded itself into the bulkhead behind the pilot's seat.
    It makes slightly more sense to do this with non-frozen birds, since most of the birdstrikes that _I_ can think of don't involve icy wildlife.

  28. Re:Would a Denial of Service attack ... by Anonymous+Squonk · · Score: 1

    I think Hitchcock showed what this would be like...

  29. Re:Bandwidth is not the problem, but latency is... by AlienWorker · · Score: 1
    there is no higher bandwidth link than a UPS truck fully loaded with DVDs...

    The second to it would be a Ryder truck fully loaded with punch cards...

  30. Re:Open Source? by NullLogic · · Score: 1

    It's the packet loss, I'm most worried about.

  31. New wireless standard by scotchie · · Score: 1
    I can see the press release now:
    BLUG, a bold new startup, has demonstrated the first implementation of a revoutionary and unique wireless technology called PigeonNet (tm).

    A key advantage of PigeonNet over competing wireless standards, such as Bluetooth and 802.11b, is that it is free from interference with the wide variety of devices operating in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz spectrum. In addition, PigeonNet is environmentally sensitive. It is the only network technology to use only renewable energy sources in the transmission of data.

    etc ...
  32. Re:Similar, more monolithic method by sulli · · Score: 1

    Of course, it's actually (TCP or UDP or ICMP)/IP/HCP/(make of automobile)...

    --

    sulli
    RTFJ.
  33. Pigeons in an aquarium? by donutz · · Score: 1
    I dont know how things work in Norway...maybe you have different kinds of pigeons, but in America our pigeons don't swim! I hope you at least outfit them with little snorkels.

    . . .

    1. Re:Pigeons in an aquarium? by ek_adam · · Score: 2

      The penguins in the aquarium are part of the underwater IP working group.

  34. I had thought... by TooTallFourThinking · · Score: 1

    little transmitters and receivers would be placed on birds and a network would be set up that way. The signals would always be best in parks or where birds are fed. Power for the device would be generated from the motion of the bird. And if you cover enough birds, you could get city wide coverage.

    For rural areas: deers, badgers, dogs, cats, squirrels and/or small unsuspecting children could be used in addition to birds.

  35. Penguins by baywulf · · Score: 1

    Anyone try this out with penguins?

  36. This is why slashdot is vital to human progress by Spinality · · Score: 1

    Can you imagine having missed this story? What could be more important or hilarious than a nerdgram about sending IP via carrier pigeon? Thank you, slashdot, for providing a forum where such vital news can be shared by geeks everywhere.

    --
    -- We all have enough strength to endure the misfortunes of other people. La Rochefoucauld
  37. Re:On closer observation... by MadSaxon · · Score: 1
    I should like to add that Balaji Venkat from Cisco and I submitted a draft in December of 1999 entitled "A Method for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Chip-ridden Avian Carriers" that described an experimental method for funneling IP datagrams over avian carriers using a system of tweets and chirps generated by embedded avian microprocessors.

    For some reason it never made it to RFC status. :-(

    It is available at http://rgfsparc.cr.usgs.gov:8090/sysadmin/chips_on _avians.txt

    Cheers,

    MadSaxon

  38. Announcing: New Microsoft/Monsanto deal by skwirl42 · · Score: 1
    REDMOND, WA - Microsoft and Monsanto have announced a partnership to deliver the world's leading RFC1149 compliant network. Monsanto's improved "IP Pidgeon" is capable of carrying more data faster, to Microft powered devices.

    Licensing deals to hardware manufacturers are likely to follow, reports I. M. A. Dingus, an industry analyst familiar with the technology. No word has been received from Microsoft as to who the hardware vendors would be. &tongue location="removed from cheek"&

  39. The event has been noted in The Jargon File v4.3.0 by mrgumby-reaktor · · Score: 1

    Eric S. Raymond has decided to include this event into The Jargon File version 4.3.0. He salutes the RFC fetishists of BLUG and calls them "wonderfully insane hackers", in addition to describing the event as "what may just be the funniest, cleverest hack of the last fifteen years" in a Linux Today article.

    The Jargon entry can be found here.

    --

    Jakob Breivik Grimstveit, jakob@grimstveit.net, www.grimstveit.net

    Excuse me, can you spare an IRQ?

  40. What kind of swallow? by ragefan · · Score: 1

    obviously, a european swallow would not be able to carry such a heavy load, and african swallows ane not migratory.

  41. AC over IP by tweakt · · Score: 1

    Now we just need to work on the Power over IP implementaion. ACIP encapsulation?

  42. Re:On closer observation... by antAllan · · Score: 1

    Would we have to use Duck tape for carrier mallards?

  43. Re:Limitations by DarenN · · Score: 1

    No, you use African for LAN's, and European for everthing else!

    --
    Rational thought is the only true freedom
  44. wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    this is about to be a +1 Funny slut-fest.

    so um, whatever, this one isn't.

    1. Re:wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3

      What? You expect someone to say something insightful about pigeon-based IP?

  45. Okay, now that we have this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    ...let's implement Napster over the avian carrier IP!

  46. Meow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    And ofcourse all the script kitties well be using netcat to sniff packets

  47. Re:Of course it's secure... by acroyear · · Score: 2

    hmm...seems to be a reaction in the system to last week, where it seemed like _nobody_ was a moderator and most stories had no 4+ comments at all...
    --
    You know, you gotta get up real early if you want to get outta bed... (Groucho Marx)

    --
    "But remember, most lynch mobs aren't this nice." (H.Simpson)
    -- Joe
  48. OK, now try these! by B.D.Mills · · Score: 2

    * Ping flood. They would need a lot of pigeons for this.

    * Send an e-mail.

    * Serve a web page.

    * DOS attack! Just release a LOT of pigeons at the same time, most with SYN packets.

    * Read news.

    * Increase the bandwidth by attacking a mini-CDROM to each pigeon.

    --

    --

    The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. - Edmund Burke
  49. Re:Improvements possible by willki · · Score: 2

    I just thought of another improve ment that could increase the amount of data transfer that the pigeons could carry: if you could figure out a way to get the pigeon to Carry a CD-R, Zip disk or the like, you could transfer much larger packets.
    650 MB in 6319 seconds would be a little better than 64 Bytes....

  50. University of Mars Now On The Internet by SEWilco · · Score: 2

    This should take care of the documented problem of Mars not being able to be on the Internet due to TCP/IP delays being too long. The bandwidth depends upon how many pigeons one can fit in a rocket.

  51. Privacy and CPIPsec by Valdrax · · Score: 2

    No! Tying us to physical locations without protection rids us of anonymity and privacy!

    What we need is CPIPsec, a new extension to RFC1149. Genetic engineering should allow us to engineer super-pigeons, capable of decoding encrypted mail addresses so that no one following the pigeon with binoculars can tell where it is going, while keeping the pigeon from getting lost itself. We can use the person's address to generate public PGP (Pigeon-Genius-Privacy) keys for protection of address info, and let the pigeon keep it's private key internally.

    Plus, with advances in stealth technology, we can modify our pigeons to have anti-radar coating on their feathers. With these advances, our pigeons would show up on radar as smaller than a fly, instead of being the size of a bird like those bulky bombers that the US military has come up with. Advanced training can allow our pigeons to know how to use buildings as cover to baffle pursuers.

    We must push through this new safer protocol to keep the U.S. Goverment's "RAPTOR" program from intercepting and recording our messages. Only this will avoid "birdcatcher-in-the-middle" attacks on our security systems. For the sake of freedom, slip in vigillance and become complacent with plainbird messaging. Only avian encryption will protect the foundations of democracy that we depend on.

    --
    If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
    1. Re:Privacy and CPIPsec by plover · · Score: 2
      Don't forget, if you CLONE all the pigeons in a network from the same DNA, it'll anonymize the birds and foil traffic analysis...

      John

      --
      John
  52. Dinner picture by csbruce · · Score: 2

    The dinner picture would have been better if it had shown them eating small birds. Equipment recycling.

  53. Re:These are not dropped packets... by DeltaStorm · · Score: 2

    Besides logs and cable trays many of these audit trails will converge at the location of a freshly washed car.

    --
    .sdrawkcab si gis siht
  54. Re:Will Microsoft use falcons ... by mini+me · · Score: 2

    Actually falcons will be used as firewalls, if a pigeon's packet is trying to breach security the falcon will take it out.

  55. Re:Just imagine... by enneff · · Score: 2

    "I also suspect CAT might cause a segment fault."

    Wouldn't that be netcat? ;)

  56. Even better... by Sapien__ · · Score: 2
    Now all we need is someone to implement rfc1217, "Memo from the Consortium for Slow Commotion Research (CSCR)" which describes an ultra low-speed, ultra robust networking protocol.

    Anyone got a few thousand M1A1 tanks lying around?

  57. Re:If Slashdot used these thing by sulli · · Score: 2

    It happened in the movies!

    --

    sulli
    RTFJ.
  58. Salon has a story on this by sulli · · Score: 2
    --

    sulli
    RTFJ.
  59. Re:If Slashdot used these thing by egjertse · · Score: 2

    Hehe - I can picture the headlines:
    System engineer pecked to death, server room burried in pigeon droppings

  60. Re:If Slashdot used these thing by Vuarnet · · Score: 2

    System engineer pecked to death, server room burried in pigeon droppings

    JonKatz writing an essay about the way Pigeon Technology will completely transform the way people look at geeks, and proclaims he knew this was coming ever since he played "Duck Hunt" in the 80's...

    Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I

    --
    Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I
    Learning to fly, Pink Floyd.
  61. Re:Will Microsoft use falcons ... by agentZ · · Score: 2

    You can buy more licenses for a Microsoft product to extend it after purchase. How does one "extend" a castrated pigeon?

  62. Re:Open Source? by tswinzig · · Score: 2

    I mean, is the gene sequence of pidgeons freely available for download?

    Of course.

    If I find a design flaw in the pidgeon, who do I submit patches to?

    god@heaven

    He answers all prayers, you know.

    --

    "And like that ... he's gone."
  63. Re:Buggy protocol by madvid · · Score: 2

    Actually, all transmitted ping replies did come through. If you read the story on the page, it says that the replying end had six pigeons, and two escaped without payload.

    The reason we transmitted 9 pings is that we had to keep ping running to be able to feed the replies back. If we had stopped it we wouldn't get the stats.

  64. Re:On closer observation... by Liquid-Gecka · · Score: 2

    There is always room for improvement over existing protocols.

    Yea.. Microsoft said the same thing and now every message I get from a outlook client has html embeded in it even though its marked as plain text...

    (Sorry.. thats been a gripe of mine latley..)

  65. Re:Sorry... by TequilaMonster · · Score: 2

    I don't know.

    Eeeeeeearggggh...........

    --
    Tequila - drink of the gods.
  66. Re:We need RFC1149.b... by Tachys · · Score: 2

    Hey you could use these to get the internet to Antarticia. Sure latency would be measured in weeks. But it would still be their fastest method of communication to civilization.

  67. Re:Limitations by turin_turambar · · Score: 2

    for LAN, implement fast ground birds, like roadrunners, or perhaps emus (those things are frickin' fast!)?

  68. Re:Open Source? by Jaseace · · Score: 2

    This is one of the benefits of this transmission fabric not pointed out in the RFC. The process of natural evolution will ensure the next release of the transport will include organic modifications correcting design flaws. Unfortunately, this approach lends itself to comparison to Microsoft's product upgrade, new release and patching process. Especially considering the common user has no avenue through which to suggest enhancments or design flaws.

  69. Re:Buggy protocol by badger.foo · · Score: 2

    We had 8 pigeons at the pinging end and for some reason only six at the other. After the first four replies were sent, the remaining two pigeons escaped, leaving us in the 'carrier lost' state.

    --
    -- That grumpy BSD guy - http://bsdly.blogspot.com/
  70. spoofing pigeons by hawk · · Score: 3
    *duh* With a quai, of course!


    :)

  71. Improvements possible by Julian+Morrison · · Score: 3

    1. Either:

    1.1. Use barcodes instead of OCR, or

    1.2. Use magtape instead of paper.

    2. Transmit redundant packets to cut lossage.

    3. Use better trained pigeons.

    4. Secure packets against rain damage using cling film (saran wrap).

    --

  72. Combine with the 11 pound plane... by geoffeg · · Score: 3

    Just use 11-Pound Model Plane Vs. The Atlantic as the carrier and you have a new method for cross-continent communications!

    Ok, so the ping times are gonna suck and having to wait months for a new packet to be constructed if the previous failed also isn't too good.

    "How come I didn't get that email from Bob?"
    "Oh, the model plane lost a wing half way across the ocean, sorry."

    Geoff

  73. CURSES! by Levine · · Score: 3

    I will no longer be able to make jokes about TCP/IP over carrier piegons in jest! Curse you, RFC! CURSE YOU!

  74. Re:Just imagine... by Vryl · · Score: 3
    Heh... problem with hacking too, you could lure them down with food or whatever (or just catch them whilst asleep during long distance IP) read the message and let them go - or even change said message - and nobody would know.

    It's just TCP/IP transport layer. You can add whatever encryption and authentication protocols on top as you like.

    There is no theoretical difference between this transport and any other (ethernet anyone?) ... to the application it is all the same ... albeit perhaps a little slower ...

  75. Re:Just imagine... by passion · · Score: 3

    A DOS attack of the Avian carrier. Clip their wings, perhaps?

    I would picture a DOS as being where you send *armies* of your own pigeons to the secondary base camp to elbow out the legitimate pigeons from dropping their messages.

    Perhaps a herd of cats invading the receiving base camp might deter packets from landing, and cause bad pings.

    --
    - passion
  76. Buggy protocol by magi · · Score: 3
    WOW! At least an IP protocol where bugs (such as mosquitos) actually benefit the transmission!

    I just loved the ping reports:

    $ ping -i 450 10.0.3.1
    PING 10.0.3.1 (10.0.3.1): 56 data bytes
    64 bytes from 10.0.3.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=6165731.1 ms
    64 bytes from 10.0.3.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=255 time=3211900.8 ms
    64 bytes from 10.0.3.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=5124922.8 ms
    64 bytes from 10.0.3.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=6388671.9 ms
    9 packets transmitted, 4 packets received, 55% packet loss
    round-trip min/avg/max = 3211900.8/5222806.6/6388671.9 ms

    What happened with the 5 packets? Was the "carrier lost" or perhaps eaten? Or did it just "drop the packet?"

    1. Re:Buggy protocol by Vegard · · Score: 4
      I have an explanation for this. We had 8 carriers for one direction, 6 for the return direction. I started a ping with 7.5 minutes interval, and envisioned having 2-3 packets in the loop. But, the neighbor had just let his pigeons out. Our pigeons seemed to want to fly with his pigeons for a while. Thus, at one time we had 5 packets in that flock.

      When they finally broke off from the flock, they all broke off more or less simultaneously. This created some chaos at the other end. Simply said, they forgot to close the door of the pigeon cage, so the 2 last pigeons of 6 escaped.

      We could have had 6 replies in maximum, but I had to let it go to 9 packet sent to get all the replies back. 8 of those packets was sent to the remote sent, for the 9th, we didn't have a pigeon to carry it. And alas, loosing two pigeons at the remote site, we only had 4 return pigeons.

      - Vegard

    2. Re:Buggy protocol by deebaine · · Score: 5
      Link encap:Point-to-Point Protocol
      inet addr:10.0.3.2 P-t-P:10.0.3.1
      collisions:0
      RX bytes:88 (88.0 b) TX bytes:168 (168.0 b)

      You know, I never thought of packet collisions as really funny. Now, somehow it seems much more entertaining.

      -db
  77. I wanna be a CPIP firewall! by Jakdaw · · Score: 3

    Someones port-scanning us! BANG! BANG! BANG!

  78. No, I can see this working in the real world.. by popeydotcom · · Score: 3

    ..at least we won't be needing IPV6 if we do this.. in fact we won't need IP at all.. we could just use good old zip codes for the addressing schema.. in fact why use birds, we already have a transport system for that.. the Royal Mail / UPS / DHL / USPS..

    So we translate all our communication data into TCP datagrams.. print them out.. stick them in envelopes... write the zip code and house number on the outside.. genius!

    ah, no wait, that's a letter isn't it.

    Al.
    sapstuff.com

  79. Re:If Slashdot used these thing by Misch · · Score: 3

    I certainly feel sorry for anyone who get slashdotted

    Methinks they would get splatdropped...

    --

    --You will rephrase your request for me to go to hell. Goto statements are not acceptable programming constructs
  80. packet life? by shokk · · Score: 3

    This gives a new meaning to TTL for packets. =) How many uses do you get out of one of those poor pidgeons? It'd be interesting to see network traffic by looking up and seeing how big the cloud of birds is. What happens to the bird when you have a resend or a NAK?

    No Misha, this is packet 1527. Packet 1257 is next. Find it in that huge pile.

    or

    OK, we scanned in 3000 packets, and it's a page from goatse.cx. Thanks guys!

    or

    How come we scanned all those packets and the output is garbled? Scan them again...

    Have to watch out that you don't get cats sniffing the packets or that the packet falls out of the sky from heat exhaustion. Seriously, this is an example of doing something because it could be done. What good is this in an age were people turn their nose up at 300 baud? They could have put that bird to some use afterwards and eaten it. =)

    --
    "Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart, he dreams himself your master."
    1. Re:packet life? by SpinyNorman · · Score: 4

      No Misha, this is packet 1527. Packet 1257 is next. Find it in that huge pile.

      Not a problem actually - TCP/IP takes care of packet order and loss.

      This could actually be a genuiinely useful form of wartime or covert communications, as long as you use encryption on the link. Just imagine anyone trying to make sense of all the encrypted TCP/IP packets (literally) flying around, and imagine their frustration when any packet loss they manage to cause doesn't affect the reliability of the communication channel.

      Coming soon hamster-IP for your ground-based communications!

  81. perfect chance.. by crazney · · Score: 3

    to fix the ipv4/6 problem.

    we can destroy the internet as it is know, and use these little pigeons (maybe penguins that fly would be better) as our tunnel...

    this way, everything would be almost to slow todo, except for the old schoolers that are used to there old 200bps modems..
    now, everyone else decides to drop the internet, and we only have several people using it now..

    then we will let it grow... but what will happen? i reckon itl end up like it is now.. again.
    (a) some people see a chance for it making money
    (b) they set up a 'bsp' or bird service provider
    (c) this bsp has a user base of about 20
    (d) several other small bsp's start. they hub together in a very unordered and unplanned fation, where each bird goes to a particular address, in its memory. unfortunatly the memory of pigioeons only holds 5, pengiuns actually hold 7.
    (e) someone decides that the Australian's (me) want bird access.. and trains some pigeons to travel between us and au. Unfortunatly, most pigeons die because of the over loaded packages they are carying, bird loss is at 90%
    (f) after a decade or so, despite its slowness, bird net is rocking along, with a whole 1000. Since the memory of a bird is maxed at 7 address', they have to start again. and where back to square one.

    --
    stuff
    1. Re:perfect chance.. by Jose · · Score: 4

      this way, everything would be almost to slow todo, except for the old schoolers that are used to there old 200bps modems..

      what?!? I think 200 Birds Per Second is pretty fast!!

      --
      The basic sleazeware produced in a drunken fury by a bunch of UCBerkeley grad students was still the core of BIND. --PV
  82. RFC Author by DirtyDevo · · Score: 3

    Did anyone contact the author of the RFC to let him know the protocol has been implemented? He's listed as: David Waitzman EMail: dwaitzman@BBN.COM Maybe someone should send him a pingflock....

    1. Re:RFC Author by madvid · · Score: 3

      Yes, he has been informed. Or maybe he found it here (or somewhere else himself).

      According to David Waitzman himself, this is indeed the first implementation of his "joke" RFC. (However, someone in Australia asked him about it some years ago, but he never heard back from them again, so it's likely they cancelled.)

  83. A flying start by boltar · · Score: 3

    Looks like the guys are egging each other on in those pics. But I guess if things go wrong they literally can't wing it! Still, its something to crow about though I wouldn't want to be the salesman who has to hawk it as theres not much chance of it ruffling any feathers down at the likes of Cisco. Ok, ENOUGH puns!

  84. Other applications... by flynn_nrg · · Score: 3

    Seeing this makes me think of other protocols that I haven't seen implemented yet such as IP over snail mail or IP over Tam Tam (maybe using a morse encoding), even tcp/ip over voice, so you could use VoIP and then IPoV recursively.

  85. How ironic by deran9ed · · Score: 3

    2 years ago as a joke I wrote a vulnerability mock up on Packet Pigeons had I known the RFC existed I would've tried to make it funnier.

  86. Reuters implemented this in the 1800's by flakac · · Score: 3

    When Reuters was first starting out, there were certain areas where the telegraph hadn't been run through yet. So until the lines were completed, they had to send messages (packets) via carrier pigeons. It's by no means a new concept.

    1. Re:Reuters implemented this in the 1800's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4

      So what you're saying is that sending messages by carrier pigeons isn't a new concept? What a clever observation ;) Thanks for sharing this information with us.

  87. Re:Will Microsoft use falcons ... by actiondan · · Score: 3


    Or they'll install doors at the end stations which only allow Microsoft pigeons through

  88. If Slashdot used these thing by Tachys · · Score: 3

    What if Slashdot started using these thing.

    I certainly feel sorry for anyone who get slashdotted

  89. I tried to look at 10.0.3.1 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4

    ... but it seems to be slashdotted already. I guess they need more birdwidth.

  90. Re:Bandwidth is not the problem, but latency is... by iabervon · · Score: 4

    Hmm... IP over UPS truck...

  91. Re:Just imagine... by troc · · Score: 4

    Heh... problem with hacking too, you could lure them down with food or whatever (or just catch them whilst asleep during long distance IP) read the message and let them go - or even change said message - and nobody would know.

    I guess you could rig the package to explode if tampered with. Maybe for long distance, we could use a modified avian carrier such as an albatross.

    Troc

    Great, someone ate the packets again.

    --
    Troc's dubious podcast and blog: http://www.trocnet.net
  92. Mirror. by Vegard · · Score: 4

    www.blug.linux.no should have both cpu and
    bandwith that can withstand som slashdotting.

    However, there is a mirror at http://www.pvv.org/rfc1149/

    - Vegard, member of BLUG and the CPIP WG.

    1. Re:Mirror. by nick255 · · Score: 5

      > www.blug.linux.no should have both cpu and
      > bandwith that can withstand som slashdotting.
      Not if they are using CPIP!

  93. Similar, more monolithic method by omarius · · Score: 4
    I have a fellow that works for me named H.C. Phillips. One day when we had an ISDN user down, I told him that if we couldn't get it fixed he would have to write down all their packets and drive them back to the shop for input.

    We called it "HCP/IP."

    -Omar

  94. Of course it's secure... by not_cub · · Score: 4
    ... no one wants to port scan a pigeon, let alone sniff it's packets.

    BTW, why are we seeing so many posts moderated so high recently? I only want to see a few posts per article, and now you get 15 at +5. Did Taco make everyone a moderator full-time or something?

    not_cub

    --
    q='echo "q=$s$q$s;s=$b$s;b=$b$b;$q"';s=\';b=\\;echo "q=$s$q$s;s=$b$s;b=$b$b;$q"
  95. Re:On closer observation... by enneff · · Score: 4

    I imagine that shortsightedness on behalf of the authors of rfc1149 meant that they'd specified duct-tape, when they didn't know that it would be inhumane to do so. Carrier pidgeons do not take kindly to having duct tape attached and then subsequently ripped off, not to mention the fact that the packet itself could become torn in the process.

    There is always room for improvement over existing protocols.

  96. Re:Open Source? by Darth+Turbogeek · · Score: 4

    Service pack for Pidgeon ver 1.0 has been announced by the spokeangel for the developer, God. Several flaws have been fixed, however, spokedemon for Hell have already found a security hole, a DOS attack dubbed birdseed.

    A Hot fix is due out next week.

    --
    "Old Rallydrivers never die - they just fail to book in on time"
  97. Nice music.. by popeyethesailor · · Score: 4

    I can see it now.. Someone just started a bird-farm, instead of a server farm, to index MP3 requests..

    wait..the RIAA has already sued the bird-farm owner..

    Gives me a great new idea. If each one of us had 4 pigeons, and we pool them together, cant we beat Freenet or Gnutella ?

  98. Did they... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5

    drop any 'packets'?

  99. Would a Denial of Service attack ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5

    ... consist of a 12-gauge shotgun and some birdshot ? Would an IP hijacking session be achieved by using an Irish setter to locate the dropped avian carrier ? I'll stop now :)

    1. Re:Would a Denial of Service attack ... by actiondan · · Score: 5

      A DOS attack could also involve taking over 1000 pigeon lofts and sending 10,000 pigeons to an unfortuante recipient.

  100. Re:Sorry... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5

    african or european?

  101. Re:Limitations by JanneM · · Score: 5

    Broadcast support isn't a problem; just have a whole bunch of pigeons pull a large packet banner for everybody on the ground to see...

    /Janne

    --
    Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
  102. Innovation by ch-chuck · · Score: 5

    I head Msft already has an "improved" version in the works involving predatory hawks - your data doesn't get thru any faster but the UI is more attractive and it just naturally interfers with pidgeon carriers, causing packet droppings.

    --
    try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
  103. Alan Cox by Eivind · · Score: 5
    Did indeed honour us by being present. I just hope he had as much fun as we did. This all took place saturday. On Thursday there was a lecture by Alan, and also he had the opportunity to go feed the penguins in the local aquarium.

    Pictures fro mthe last event are available here

  104. Re:Will Microsoft use falcons ... by sharkey · · Score: 5
    No. Falcons are lean and fast. They are also efficient hunters. Microsoft will be using turkeys bred for the US holiday of Thanksgiving, for several reasons:
    • The birds name is synonymous with the usual quality of MS products.
    • They are so bloated with overfeeding (overfeaturing) that they can't stand up without breaking their own legs.
    • They make a big stink, and a lot of noise, but aren't really effective at anything but dying.
    The process will be simple: MS will purchase several of the air cannons used to launch frozen poultry at aircraft windows to test for breaking point, and use those to launch the MS TIEE (Turkey Internet Enhanced Enabler) stack at any and all CPIP packets which get too close to Redmond, or any other MS campuses. And probably any QWest property now as well.

    --
    --

    --
    "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
  105. Spam? by sharkey · · Score: 5

    So was that spam that hit my windscreen on the way to work today? I'm NOT gonna "packet-sniff" it to see if was a commercial ad or not, but it sure as hell was unsolicited.

    --

    --

    --
    "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
  106. Re:Bandwidth is not the problem, but latency is... by uncleFester · · Score: 5
    Latency (time to deliver the data to destination) might be a problem though...

    Not to mention out-of-order packet reception. I think we could have a rather large issue hunting for pigeon #35431 in the Great Flock. And of course, the risk of packet loss is much higher. Farmers out in their fields with shotguns have a lot lower chance of disrupting your ethernet connection but could take out pigeons #234, 54245 and 6644 with one good blast of 00 buck. Just imagine of the retransmission requests.. *shudder*

    Suckey as it is, I'll stick with my csma/cd, thank you. Though it doesn't have that soothing 'coo.' :)

    --
    -'fester
  107. On closer observation... by ASCIIMan · · Score: 5
    This actually appears to be the first non-compliant usage of RFC 1149. RFC 1149 specifically indicates that "A band of duct tape is used to secure the datagram's edges." In this implementation, it is clear from the photographic evidence that duct tape was not used in the test.

    I propose that once testing has been completed on a fully standards complient version of RFC 1149, testing on the implementation of RFC 2549, or "IP over Avian Carriers with Quality of Service", should begin. This extention of RFC 1149 adds many important features, such as quality of service, security, and traffic shaping.

    1. Re:On closer observation... by IAmHansemann · · Score: 5
      This actually appears to be the first non-compliant usage of RFC 1149. RFC 1149 specifically indicates that "A band of duct tape is used to secure the datagram's edges."

      Nope, you are wrong: the duct tape is only a informal suggestion. Otherwise the statement would be: "A band of duct tape MUST BE used to secure the datagram's edges"

      SCNR :-)

  108. Man-in-the-middle-with-a-big-net Attacks by Velox_SwiftFox · · Score: 5

    Worse, quantum encryption would be impossible, doe to the carrier's inability to fly in an entangled state.

  109. Re:Open Source by gazdean · · Score: 5

    He meant open sauce.

    Take a bird, open some sauce and
    then cook it.

    --
    "You can catch flies till the cows come home, but wasps are a totally different kettle of fish."
  110. Bandwidth is not the problem, but latency is... by EyesOfNostradamus · · Score: 5
    CPIP could allow for as high a bandwidth (amount of data sent in a given time) as you wish: just send an enormous number of pigeons at once! Latency (time to deliver the data to destination) might be a problem though: 2 hour ping times, as observed at the event.

    As the saying goes: there is no higher bandwidth link than a UPS truck fully loaded with DVDs...

    1. Re:Bandwidth is not the problem, but latency is... by EyesOfNostradamus · · Score: 5
      > Not to mention out-of-order packet reception. I think we could have a rather large issue hunting for pigeon #35431 in the Great Flock.

      TCP/IP is perfectly able to deal with packet loss and re-ordering, so no problem there. Of course, this might cause some performance drop, unless selective acknowledge (SACK) is used.

      > Farmers out in their fields with shotguns have a lot lower chance of disrupting your ethernet connection but could take out pigeons #234, 54245 and 6644 with one good blast of 00 buck.

      True enough. However, consider this: roadworkers have a lot lower chance of permanently stopping your pigeons from flying but could take out your spiffy new phiber optic link with an appropriately placed "dig" of their backhoe... And don't talk about backup connectivity: everybody knows that usually the backup fiber runs within the same duct as the primary.

    2. Re:Bandwidth is not the problem, but latency is... by mrericn · · Score: 5

      Actually,

      I think the quote is:

      "Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway." -- Andrew S. Tanenbaum - Computer Networks

  111. These are not dropped packets... by EyesOfNostradamus · · Score: 5
    but rather audit trails. It's even documented in the RFC:

    Audit trails are automatically generated, and can often be found on logs and cable trays
  112. Re:Sorry... by AtrN · · Score: 5
    This is actually a serious point. In order to meet timeouts specified in numerous protocols (e.g, TCP) the birds need to travel pretty quickly, either that or your network radius is severly limited. I much prefer to think of large networks which gives us reason to modify the network media a bit. Afterall Ethernet is now running at a thousand times its original speed. Why not pigeons? With our increasing abilities in genetic manipulation (Mephisto, I hear you) this would make an excellent project.

    Another time related problem is the speed of attaching the datagrams to the pigeons and then reading them. We need pigeons with detachable legs so we can easily pop the data on and off of the transport mechanism (a bit like a physical implementation of mbufs, the pigeon being analogous to an Ethernet frame).

    We could try little rockets or shooting them out of cannons (reduces latency) but this can lead to excessive packet loss if you try to push the birds past their limits. Routing is also an issue, you've got to give them some initial aim otherwise all that energy is just wasted. Topological routing is now appearing which could come in handy for this but does anyone have a driver for a turret mounted pigeon cannon handy?

  113. Ping Flood by zsazsa · · Score: 5

    I would imagine that a ping flood attack would look like something out of Hitchcock's The Birds ...
    (don't worry, not a goatse.cx link..)

    zsazsa

  114. Just imagine... by Darth+Turbogeek · · Score: 5

    A DOS attack of the Avian carrier. Clip their wings, perhaps?

    I also suspect CAT might cause a segment fault.

    --
    "Old Rallydrivers never die - they just fail to book in on time"
  115. Sorry... by smack_attack · · Score: 5

    What's the air speed velocity of an unladen packet?

    -if not me, someone else.

    ---

  116. Open Source? by NullLogic · · Score: 5

    How secure is this, really? I mean, is the gene sequence of pidgeons freely available for download? If I find a design flaw in the pidgeon, who do I submit patches to?

  117. Potential security problem by davejhiggins · · Score: 5

    Does this mean anyone filtering packets using a Firewall could be prosecuted on charges of cruelty to animals? Dave

  118. That's not a packet Alan Cox is holding! by dstone · · Score: 5

    See for yourself...

    Pic here.

    "Hey Alan, stop bogarting. Pass it!"

  119. Limitations by egjertse · · Score: 5
    Really great! Now, there are a few points to CPIP that bothers me a little.
    • Packet loss - hunting season could cause major disruptions to services.
    • Lack of broadcast/multicast support
    • Limited packet size
    • Mandatory source-routing could be a problem (I always configure my Linux kernel to drop source routed packages)
    • Mating season could cause abnormal round trip delays
    On the positive side, packet collisions are history - unless someone implements CPIP in a LAN that is...
  120. Will Microsoft use falcons ... by MRossland · · Score: 5

    ... to eat the pigeons of other, smaller and open-source companies?

    1. Re:Will Microsoft use falcons ... by The+Smith · · Score: 5

      They will presumably find some method of extending the generic pigeon design to make it incompatible with everybody else's pigeons. To make a closed-source pigeon, they will castrate all of their pigeons (after taking a DNA sample) to ensure none of their 'trade secrets' are spread without a license to pigeons not under their control.

  121. Open Source by ConsumedByTV · · Score: 5

    One thing I really like about the open source movement is that never ceases to make me happy.

    This is a great example of community acting in a fun and open way.

    Not for greed, but because its fun.
    A sense of community that I don't see in the rest of my life (Where I live, where I work).
    It makes life worth living when you enjoy it.


    Are you on the Sfglj (SF-Goth EMail Junkies List) ?

    --


    "Not my manner of thinking but the manner of thinking of others has been the source of my unhappiness." - M
  122. Faster than a 300 bps modem :-) by lushman · · Score: 5

    Well, maybe not, but anyway ...

  123. We need RFC1149.b... by SomeoneYouDontKnow · · Score: 5

    ...to accommodate penguins, since they can't fly. They can swim, but I don't think the paper and duct tape will hold up too well under water.

    --
    That light you see at the end of the tunnel might be from an oncoming train.
  124. The Pigeons vs Windows by madvid · · Score: 5

    A funny little anecdote: One of the last frames (i.e. pigeons) we released actually crashed into a neighbor's bathroom window, after which Alan Cox himself commented; "Oh no, windows causing problems again." - Just thought I'd share that. :)

    (BTW, I'm not officially a BLUG member, but was cordially invited by a friend of mine - thanks Karlmag! And hi mom!;)

  125. Upgrading to RFC1149 by McCarrum · · Score: 5
    I've tried to read webpages in some countries which would have been faster if they did use a pigeon. Sitting here in my office, I envision my message trying to be sent along an old goat track, on the back of the trusty village-owned three-legged billygoat.

    --
    McCarrum!