I'm a physicist and currently responsible for hiring new undergraduates and potential PhD students to our laboratory.
During the last five or so years I've noticed that we've started getting an increasing number of undergraduates who don't know anything about things outside their own narrow field of so called expertise.
This coincides with the university's decision to "focus" the undergraduate programs. The idea was to streamline the process and to make the students better prepared for postgraduate studies.
As a result, more practical courses such as laboratory exercises involving the use of basic tools such as the oscilloscopes or multimeters were dropped in the favour of too theoretical physics and esoteric courses such as "The Philosophy of Natural Sciences", "History of Physics" and "Writing a Scientific Article".
Someone seems to have forgotten that there is only a small market for theoretical physicists. A typical argument is that "a Physicist will always be able to adapt to any job involving natural sciences". That was true for the physicists who graduated from us before the curriculum was streamlined. The people who graduate now with these courses under their belt will not able to do experimental research or get into engineering stuff unless they've.
In my opinion, creating fast-track options for university students is a recipe for disaster.
When you're 18-21 years old you DON'T know where you'll end up. It's better to study "useless" subjects and even "waste" time by taking a summer job in a completely different field. I, for instance, encourage potential postgraduate students to take a job in a hardware store or as an electricians assistant.
It's also important not to forget to hone your soft skills. All work and no fun makes an anti-social graduate who will hit trouble in work interviews and in work.
I don't know about you, but I'm going to mail Phil that in my opinion he and the other crypto advocates have done the right thing and, as the previous poster pointed out, should feel no guilt for producing a wonderful product. Any tool that cannot be used for both good and evil doesn't really have any use at all.
See chapter 10.7. in Bruce Schneier's "Applied Cryptography":
You can obviously detect ASCII files (and TeX, C, Microsoft Excel etc.) simply by looking at the file.
Executables and compressed files usually have a standard header.Try uncompressing the file with as many algorithms as possible.
Try compressing the file. If it is ciphertext it should not compress appreciably (more than 1 or 2 percent). If it something else like a binary image or binary data file, it probably can be compressed.
Ban books and research on cryptography and discrete mathematics next?
It doesn't matter if the "official" software has backdoors as long as the algorithms and mathematics are available. But I guess the idea of someone making their own software is too far fetched for the general public: "The terrorists can't encrypt their messages if Microsoft doesn't sell encryption software our government can't decrypt!"
I know you probably meant Steganography, but this might interest you anyway:
10.7 Detecting encryption
...
Examine the file. ASCII text is easy to spot. Other file formats, such as TIFF, TeX, C, PostScript, G3 facsimile or Microsoft Excel, have standard indentifying characteristics. Executable code is detectable, as well. UNIX files often have "magic numbers" that can be detected.
Try to uncompress the file, using the major software compression algorithms. If the file is compressed (and not encrypted), this should yield the original file.
Try to compress the file. If the file is ciphertext (and the algorithm is good), then the probability that the file can be appreciable compressed by a general-purpose compression routine is small. (By appreciably, I mean more htan 1 or 2 percent). If the file is something else (a binary image or a binary data file, for example) it probably can be compressed.
Any file that cannot be compressed and is not already compressed is probably ciphertext.
it is also necessary to note that people of the islamic faith...They believe that dieing...acts as a military for these people
I see. How nice of you to bunch all the people of the same faith into one faceless mass.
I wonder how you've actually come to this conclusion and know the islamic culture so well? Do you actually have muslims in your daily life or are you just basing your opinions on the image created by the not-so-neutral Middle East reporting of CNN?
Quite frankly, to me your post looks nothing but a xenophobic rant of a someone who is afraid of encountering and trying to really get to know and respect different cultures and religions.
I have been outside the U.S.- people hate us.
Simply not true. I bet you're just projecting your own feelings of hatred to other people.
That's like saying "destroy all Christian holy sites" after what Tim McVeigh did. Based on your comment you are exactly the kind of person all terrorists are: a hothead with a tendency towards violent knee-jerk reactions and intolerance towards cultures, habits and religions you don't understand.
Islam can be used to justify this horrific act of terrorism just as well as Christianity can be used to justify the "religious" violence in the Northern Ireland (a large part of which is being funded by Irish Americans, by the way).
The people that make money are intelligent, ambition driven and don't expect jack squat from anyone.
Oh, stop flattering yourself.
I'm well off. I've got a PhD in Physics and I'm currently a founding member of a semiconductor spin-off firm that's about to make profit for the first time next year.
Yet, I've got no problem when it comes to paying my 30% income tax that's being used to pay for the excellent public health care, public transportation and public services. As a result there's no population living below the poverty line, the unemployment level is 5.7%, literacy out of total population is 100% and I believe this achievement is certainly worth defending! If it means accepting that there will be people who'll abuse the system, so be it. It's the same thing as with the western legal systems where it's preferable that a criminal escapes punishment than an innocent gets punished. To my mind, protecting and helping the less fortunate is a worthwhile goal even if it means that some people will abuse this generosity.
Is it just because my mindset, being a native to a northern European country where the function of the society still is seen as "to take care and protect the weak" instead of "to protect the interests of the wealthy", is so different?
For many business/organisations/people, it is an essential part of their operations.
As if that somehow legitimizes the attempt by the corporate world to choke the free movement of information in the net and make it more like a cable tv with informercials with which you can buy (buy, buy!, BUY!!!) stuff.
Who gave them the permission to take over an academic/military born free network and turn it into a commercialized wasteland with nothing but ads and pay-for-access content?!
I mean, use a 2048-bit PGP key, and you'll probably be home free...
Unless, of course, the FBI gets a search warrant, raids your house and copies your secret key from your hard drive (or floppy disk, if you've tried to be that careful).
Or would they have to have a search warrant at all. Just carry out in illegal search, copy the key and just claim in court that you cracked the encryption using a new, classified method that cannot be revealed "for obvious reasons" (as in the keyboard logger case).
"Right now you're thinking in terms of not being a rat regarding your friends. Let me tell you a few things: first, they are not your friends to get you in a fix like this. You don't owe them a thing. Second, you have a duty to do your part to keep this society together. You need to face this like a man and do the right thing as you were rised and trained to do".
To most law enforcement personnel, this argument makes complete sense. Everybody has a duty to do whatever possible to make the world a better place. They learned this at home and had it reinforced by various social institutions such as the church, school, scouts, and the military. Thus, an interrogator might think: "How can anybody not see this? Everybody knows this. I'm merely verbalizing the obvious so the subject will find it easy to agree."
-John E. Hess, "Interviewing and Interrogation for Law Enforcement" (ISBN 0-87084-348-6).
When will you people learn that whatever's broadcast can and WILL be intercepted. The only question that remains is whether they can break your encryption...
Brazil is more concerned about saving money than actually saving lives.
Oh, I don't think so.
a) Brazil really cannot afford the cost of medication for such a large number of their citizens.
b) They know the formula for effective medication and they can produce the drug.
c) They are prepared to accept the PR damage caused by infringing an international patent.
Solution: manufacture the drug.
I think that's only fair. The company is at fault for not being able to provide their drug at a reasonable cost.
Unlike you fearmongers seem to imply, the drug development won't stop even if the companies would go under (which they won't). People get sick and drugs are always needed. If the companies stop producing drugs (which would be economically insane), governments will through publically funded university research.
(sarcasm)Awww... my heart bleeds for the pharma companies who have been ripping fat dividends for their shareholders forever.(/sarcasm)
The Big Pharma can either put up or shut up. They had two options: negotiate reasonable drug prices with Brazil and still make profit or lose every chance for profit. Any self-respecting government will opt for patent infringement if it is a way to save the lives of their citizens.
It will be a sad day indeed if and when the corporations become so big and so powerful that sovereign governments won't dare to tread on them if necessary.
Slashdot Mirror
Very brave, considering that "hackers" may soon be labelled as dangerous terrorists.
During the last five or so years I've noticed that we've started getting an increasing number of undergraduates who don't know anything about things outside their own narrow field of so called expertise.
This coincides with the university's decision to "focus" the undergraduate programs. The idea was to streamline the process and to make the students better prepared for postgraduate studies.
As a result, more practical courses such as laboratory exercises involving the use of basic tools such as the oscilloscopes or multimeters were dropped in the favour of too theoretical physics and esoteric courses such as "The Philosophy of Natural Sciences", "History of Physics" and "Writing a Scientific Article".
Someone seems to have forgotten that there is only a small market for theoretical physicists. A typical argument is that "a Physicist will always be able to adapt to any job involving natural sciences". That was true for the physicists who graduated from us before the curriculum was streamlined. The people who graduate now with these courses under their belt will not able to do experimental research or get into engineering stuff unless they've.
In my opinion, creating fast-track options for university students is a recipe for disaster.
When you're 18-21 years old you DON'T know where you'll end up. It's better to study "useless" subjects and even "waste" time by taking a summer job in a completely different field. I, for instance, encourage potential postgraduate students to take a job in a hardware store or as an electricians assistant.
It's also important not to forget to hone your soft skills. All work and no fun makes an anti-social graduate who will hit trouble in work interviews and in work.
Then tell me who should get to decide what is spam?
A) People who are bothered by unsolicited e-mail?
B) People who're trying to make money with it?
As opposed to driving around with highly flammable and explosive fluid tanks in their cars?
what's the point in trying if you're going to fail anyway?
I don't know about you, but I'm going to mail Phil that in my opinion he and the other crypto advocates have done the right thing and, as the previous poster pointed out, should feel no guilt for producing a wonderful product. Any tool that cannot be used for both good and evil doesn't really have any use at all.
You can obviously detect ASCII files (and TeX, C, Microsoft Excel etc.) simply by looking at the file.
Executables and compressed files usually have a standard header.Try uncompressing the file with as many algorithms as possible.
Try compressing the file. If it is ciphertext it should not compress appreciably (more than 1 or 2 percent). If it something else like a binary image or binary data file, it probably can be compressed.
Ban books and research on cryptography and discrete mathematics next?
It doesn't matter if the "official" software has backdoors as long as the algorithms and mathematics are available. But I guess the idea of someone making their own software is too far fetched for the general public: "The terrorists can't encrypt their messages if Microsoft doesn't sell encryption software our government can't decrypt!"
I see. How nice of you to bunch all the people of the same faith into one faceless mass.
I wonder how you've actually come to this conclusion and know the islamic culture so well? Do you actually have muslims in your daily life or are you just basing your opinions on the image created by the not-so-neutral Middle East reporting of CNN?
Quite frankly, to me your post looks nothing but a xenophobic rant of a someone who is afraid of encountering and trying to really get to know and respect different cultures and religions.
I have been outside the U.S.- people hate us.
Simply not true. I bet you're just projecting your own feelings of hatred to other people.
That's like saying "destroy all Christian holy sites" after what Tim McVeigh did. Based on your comment you are exactly the kind of person all terrorists are: a hothead with a tendency towards violent knee-jerk reactions and intolerance towards cultures, habits and religions you don't understand.
Islam can be used to justify this horrific act of terrorism just as well as Christianity can be used to justify the "religious" violence in the Northern Ireland (a large part of which is being funded by Irish Americans, by the way).
You've never been outside the U.S.A., have you?
"We"?
I don't see why anybody should have anything to say about the way how someone satisfies him/herself without hurting someone else in the process.
Remember what the Sony executive once said about taking the "battle for IP rights" to each users home and computer.
Oh, stop flattering yourself.
I'm well off. I've got a PhD in Physics and I'm currently a founding member of a semiconductor spin-off firm that's about to make profit for the first time next year.
Yet, I've got no problem when it comes to paying my 30% income tax that's being used to pay for the excellent public health care, public transportation and public services. As a result there's no population living below the poverty line, the unemployment level is 5.7%, literacy out of total population is 100% and I believe this achievement is certainly worth defending! If it means accepting that there will be people who'll abuse the system, so be it. It's the same thing as with the western legal systems where it's preferable that a criminal escapes punishment than an innocent gets punished. To my mind, protecting and helping the less fortunate is a worthwhile goal even if it means that some people will abuse this generosity.
Is it just because my mindset, being a native to a northern European country where the function of the society still is seen as "to take care and protect the weak" instead of "to protect the interests of the wealthy", is so different?
As if that somehow legitimizes the attempt by the corporate world to choke the free movement of information in the net and make it more like a cable tv with informercials with which you can buy (buy, buy!, BUY!!!) stuff.
Who gave them the permission to take over an academic/military born free network and turn it into a commercialized wasteland with nothing but ads and pay-for-access content?!
The pass phrase is susceptible either to the brute force method (or, if you're really paranoid, to the "rubberhose" method).
Unless, of course, the FBI gets a search warrant, raids your house and copies your secret key from your hard drive (or floppy disk, if you've tried to be that careful).
Or would they have to have a search warrant at all. Just carry out in illegal search, copy the key and just claim in court that you cracked the encryption using a new, classified method that cannot be revealed "for obvious reasons" (as in the keyboard logger case).
I wonder what you're trying to do with that X-terminal?
Telnet somewhere? Ok, that might work.
Browse the web? No way unless you're content with something like Lynx!
Most people I know would not touch something as slow as a 486 X-terminal with a 10-feet pole. I know. I tried it at work.
I'm really looking for the day when I can find my way to a co-location site like this just by looking for the cooling towers steaming outside...
When will you people learn that whatever's broadcast can and WILL be intercepted. The only question that remains is whether they can break your encryption...
Oh, I don't think so.
a) Brazil really cannot afford the cost of medication for such a large number of their citizens.
b) They know the formula for effective medication and they can produce the drug.
c) They are prepared to accept the PR damage caused by infringing an international patent.
Solution: manufacture the drug.
I think that's only fair. The company is at fault for not being able to provide their drug at a reasonable cost.
Unlike you fearmongers seem to imply, the drug development won't stop even if the companies would go under (which they won't). People get sick and drugs are always needed. If the companies stop producing drugs (which would be economically insane), governments will through publically funded university research.
The Big Pharma can either put up or shut up. They had two options: negotiate reasonable drug prices with Brazil and still make profit or lose every chance for profit. Any self-respecting government will opt for patent infringement if it is a way to save the lives of their citizens.
It will be a sad day indeed if and when the corporations become so big and so powerful that sovereign governments won't dare to tread on them if necessary.
I'm glad I don't live in your society...
I don't see a problem here.
This is what happens with every new Linux kernel and VMware, for instance.