Date: Fri, 9 Jul 93 19:28:15 PDT Reply-To: Return-Path: Message-ID: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain From: surfpunk@osc.versant.com (k^a + l^a = m^a) To: surfpunk@osc.versant.com (SURFPUNK Technical Journal) Subject: [surfpunk-0090] DIGEST: Fermat's Last, PW, Hermes, Cyborganics, Incidents INSIDE SURFPUNK-0090: [stjude] The Chicago Tribune on Fermat's Last Theorem [Webb] _Future_ issuse of PW [Webb] Emerald Tablets of Hermes [Webb] Cyborganics [spaf] Incident Response Workshop info [strick] thanks for the U S Government Subscription catalogs and brochures This should be it for a while. Seeya in August --strick ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ From: Judith Milhon To: cypherpunks@toad.com Subject: fwd of Chi.Trib article... Date: Tue, 6 Jul 1993 18:42:20 -0700 ...for you maths hooligans and crypto thugs... From: SPOETZ Subj: The Chicago Tribune on Fermat's Last Theorem To: DELTORTO, SaintJude ------- Forwarded Message Subject: The Chicago Tribune on Fermat's Last Theorem From: David Notkin The following column appeared in the Chicago Tribune / DuPage County edition Tuesday June 29 1993 page 2-1. MATH RIOTS PROVE FUN INCALCULABLE /by/ Eric Zorn /begin italics/ News Item (June 23) -- Mathematicians worldwide were excited and pleased today by the announcement that Princeton University professor Andrew Wiles had finally proved Fermat's Last Theorem, a 365-year-old problem said to be the most famous in the field. /end italics/ Yes, admittedly, there was rioting and vandalism last week during the celebration. A few bookstores had windows smashed and shelves stripped, and vacant lots glowed with burning piles of old dissertations. But overall we can feel relief that it was nothing -- nothing -- compared to the outbreak of exuberant thuggery that occurred in 1984 after Louis DeBranges finally proved the Bieberbach Conjecture. "Math hooligans are the worst," said a Chicago Police Department spokesman. "But the city learned from the Bieberbach riots. We were ready for them this time." When word hit Wednesday that Fermat's Last Theorem had fallen, a massive show of force from law enforcement at universities all around the country headed off a repeat of the festive looting sprees that have become the traditional accompaniment to triumphant breakthroughs in higher mathematics. Mounted police throughout Hyde Park kept crowds of delirious wizards at the University of Chicago from tipping over cars on the midway as they first did in 1976 when Wolfgang Haken and Kenneth Appel cracked the long-vexing Four-Color Problem. Incidents of textbook-throwing and citizens being pulled from their cars and humiliated with difficult story problems last week were described by the university's math department chairman Bob Zimmer as "isolated." Zimmer said, "Most of the celebrations were orderly and peaceful. But there will always be a few -- usually graduate students -- who use any excuse to cause trouble and steal. These are not true fans of Andrew Wiles." Wiles himself pleaded for calm even as he offered up the proof that there is no solution to the equation x^n + y^n = z^n when n is a whole number greater than two, as Pierre de Fermat first proposed in the 17th Century. "Party hard but party safe," he said, echoing the phrase he had repeated often in interviews with scholarly journals as he came closer and closer to completing his proof. Some authorities tried to blame the disorder on the provocative taunting of Japanese mathematician Yoichi Miyaoka. Miyaoka thought he had proved Fermat's Last Theorem in 1988, but his claims did not bear up under the scrutiny of professional referees, leading some to suspect that the fix was in. And ever since, as Wiles chipped away steadily at the Fermat problem, Miyaoka scoffed that there would be no reason to board up windows near universities any time soon; that God wanted Miyaoka to prove it. In a peculiar sidelight, Miyaoka recently took the trouble to secure a U.S. trademark on the equation "x^n + y^n = z^n " as well as the now-ubiquitous expression "Take that, Fermat!" Ironically, in defeat, he stands to make a good deal of money on cap and T-shirt sales. This was no walk-in-the-park proof for Wiles. He was dogged, in the early going, by sniping publicity that claimed he was seen puttering late one night doing set theory in a New Jersey library when he either should have been sleeping, critics said, or focusing on arithmetic algebraic geometry for the proving work ahead. "Set theory is my hobby, it helps me relax," was his angry explanation. The next night, he channeled his fury and came up with five critical steps in his proof. Not a record, but close. There was talk that he thought he could do it all by himself, especially when he candidly referred to University of California mathematician Kenneth Ribet as part of his "supporting cast," when most people in the field knew that without Ribet's 1986 proof definitively linking the Taniyama Conjecture to Fermat's Last Theorem, Wiles would be just another frustrated guy in a tweed jacket teaching calculus to freshmen. His travails made the ultimate victory that much more explosive for math buffs. When the news arrived, many were already wired from caffeine consumed at daily colloquial teas, and the took to the streets en masse shouting, "Obvious! Yessss! It was obvious!" The law cannot hope to stop such enthusiasm, only to control it. Still, one has to wonder what the connection is between wanton pillaging and a mathematical proof, no matter how long-awaited and subtle. The Victory Over Fermat rally, held on a cloudless day in front of a crowd of 30,000 (police estimate: 150,000) was pleasantly peaceful. Signs unfurled in the audience proclaimed Wiles the greatest mathematician of all time, though partisans of Euclid, Descartes, Newton, and C.F. Gauss and others argued the point vehemently. A warmup act, The Supertheorists, delighted the crowd with a ragged song, "It Was Never Less Than Probable, My Friend," which included such gloating, barbed verses as --- "I had a proof all ready / But then I did a choke-a / Made liberal assumptions / Hi! I'm Yoichi Miyaoka." In the speeches from the stage, there was talk of a dynasty, specifically that next year Wiles will crack the great unproven Riemann Hypothesis ("Rie-peat! Rie-peat!" the crowd cried), and that after the Prime-Pair Problem, the Goldbach Conjecture ("Minimum Goldbach," said one T-shirt) and so on. They couldn't just let him enjoy his proof. Not even for one day. Math people. Go figure 'em. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- St.Jude the Oblique ________________________________________________________________________ Date: Wed, 23 Jun 93 14:24 GMT From: Don Webb <0004200716@mcimail.com> To: surfpunk To: Fringeware Subject: _Future_ issuse of PW Dear Folk, _Processed World_ Magazine, supported by BACAT (The Bay Area Center for Arts and Technology) is in the process of putting together it's Utopian Future issue. So you might wish to contact them for writer's guidelines. Their phone number is 415-626-2979, their email is pwmag@well.sf.ca.us and their address is 41 Sutter St. #1829/ San Francisco, CA 94104. They pay nothing, but got one hell of a distribution. Leftist office workers with good graphics . . . Don Webb 0004200716@mcimail.com The Secret of magic is to transform the magician. ________________________________________________________________________ Date: Mon, 28 Jun 93 14:02 GMT From: Don Webb <0004200716@mcimail.com> To: Fringeware To: surfpunk Subject: Emerald Tablets of Hermes Dear Folk, I am involved on a research project concerning the magical papyri recently. I was struck this weekend, while a friend helped learn how to use UUDCODE (which he had downloaded from Northern Lights), how similar the technologies of the magician writing magical papyri in the first four centuries of the common era and the current computer technology is. Magic in the Roman Empire was a crime against the state, so the magical books utilized means of compression and encoding -- the development of compact meaningful utterance -- loaded with meaning for the Initiate -- and meaningless for the non-Initiate. This is an interesting remanifestation. The early use hid valuable information in an information dry age -- today as we are drowning in information codes become more and more important to present the useful information as a pure stream among the filth. I was playing around with the Emerald Tablets of Hermes with a view for toward a semiotic theory of magic, and came up with what is below. Feel free to share this with anyone, who you feel might be interested. The Precepts of Hermes Trismegistus (Authentically Translated from an Unknown Tongue) I. What I say is not fictitious but reliable and true. II. What is below is like what is above, and what is above is like what is below. They work to accomplish the wonders of the One Thing. III. As all things were created by the One Word of the Mind, so all things were created by the One Thing by adaptation. IV. I Hermes-Toth am the teacher of magic and did create words for magic is a process of inter-reality communication. V. Magic is the process by which that which is below is able to communicate its will to that which is above,and change the subtle paradigms of that which is above. If this is done that which is below shall receive a message in the form of a modification of the environment below. VII. That this should be so is not subject to objective experimentation. It is a divine event, a legacy from the Mind to the Children of Sophia, whose honeyed lips drip with wisdom. These last born Children are the most mutable of all beings,and must remember to separate the subtle from the coarse, and to be prudent and circumspect as they do so. VIII. Magical communication does not take place as the speech of men and women in the marketplace, which I Hermes-Toth also rule, but it does follow the same Archetype, which I myself created in order that I might see the worlds. IX. This has more virtue than Virtue, herself, because it controls every subtle thing and it penetrates every subtle thing. X. This is the way the world is created and re-created. XI. This is the origin of the wonders that are performed here. XII. This is why I am called "Thrice Greatest Hermes" for hold the Mysteries of the Sender, the Receiver, and the Message. XIII. What I had to say here about the Process of Transformation is finished. Don Webb 0004200716@mcimail.com The Secret of magic is to transform the magician. ________________________________________________________________________ From: Don Webb <0004200716@mcimail.com> To: Arachnet To: surfpunk To: "fringeware@wixer.bga.com" Subject: FringeWare, Inc. Dear Folk, The following is an article I am doing for _Tech-Connect_ on FringeWare Inc. whihc I thought might be of interest. It is Copyright (c) 1993 Don Webb Don Webb 0004200716@mcimail.com Cyborganics by Don Webb My favorite haunts have always been the places where I can trade ideas and dreams, and occasionally do a little business. In short I seek out the hidden temples of Hermes, god of communication, commerce, and magic. The best temple I've found in quite sometime is Fringeware, whose fathers are Paco Xander Nathan and Jon Lebkowsky and whose mother is the Internet. I interviewed Paco Nathan Xander after his recent trip to Europe -- Fringeware is far more than an Austin based BBS and mail order catalog service -- it does business in Europe, Japan an Latin America (as well as extensive sales in the US and Canada). The big idea that Fringeware promotes is Cyborganics, which Paco defined for me, "Cyborganics - a community, alive, growing around a marketplace based on people and machines merged into an ecology of activities. It may sound like science fiction, but it's real, day to day biz for us." Fringeware sells books,magazines, Do-It-Yourself electronics, DIY Brain reprogrammers, and independently developed software. It gives away ideas and dreams. Fringeware exists as an electronic list, that is to say whenever Jon or Paco or any member of the list mails things to Fringeware, it shows up in everybody's' electronic mailboxes. So not only are there product annocemnets from Jon and Paco, but filmmaker David Blair discussing his film Wax, or virtual reality art show announcements, or information on the cypherpunk movement, or open ended discussion on Buddhist economics. The best trades here are those of ideas and Principles. The best selling physical items are: Bestsellers: two categories seem to run in the lead.. electronic publications and brain machines. So we have titles like Beyond Cyberpunk, Electronic Hollywood and all the Voyager Expanded Book series. Then on the brain side, we've got Day Dreamer (nonelectronic - REALLY great) and the cool, low-cost, post-newage Synetics line (electronic). Funny thing, but our ebook titles are all for the Mac - people always come to us demanding DOS titles and it's a joke.. Apple plowed a whole lot of cash under-writing the grassroots multimedia revolution while Microsoft was busy undermining small developers in the same arena - so now the fallout is that nobody wants to write DOS multimedia w/o a ridiculously top-heavy business plan.. Actually, the Platform Wars really strike a sour spot in me - I stay away FAR from people who get dogmatic about machines, . wanting to run multimedia on DOS or spreadsheets on Unix - wrong tool for the wrong purpose - being a software developer on Mac, DOS, Windows, Unix, etc., I could go on at length about this particular form of human perversity." Fringeware has a typically value added catalog including great fiction, art, and ideas plus the product line. Paco said of the catalog, "A person can make initial contact by neocranially fondling a copy of Fringe Ware Review off the newsstand and finding where to proceed from there. That was carefully crafted as an intro to our biz: good roadmap, pretty easy to parse. We're looking for people to buy the magazines, always looking for good writers and artists, people to buy products, vendors selling products, interesting people to interview/grok, cyborganic events to help sponsor, people to participate in the online email list, etc., so there's plenty of avenues for approach. My favorite is when somebody sends a check in the mail with a note saying "12 widgets to the following address" but of course most of our mail is much stranger and more wonderfully diverse." If you want to contact Fringeware directly (to obtain a catalog, or join their Email service, which I can not recommend too highly): FringeWare Inc. PO Box 49921 Austin, TX 78765 USA fringeware@wixer.bga.com Jon and Paco both came from solid business backgrounds, they decided to play the game on their own terms, and for rewards beyond, but including the buck. Paco's words on the subject are worth considering," Jon and I are both writers, with diverse histories of other talents, but we could surmise our common goal/focus under a single heading: cyborganics. I really dare just about anybody to go get a really good education, then get involved in high-tech megacorp biz for several years, then jump out on their own and consider how to make a living in the midst of a burgeoning Info Economy. I mean, take a hard look at what the monicker "Info Economy" really implies in terms of which markets will live and which will die. My own resume reads: West Point, Stanford, IBM, NASA, Bell Labs, etc., so I'm not just musing here.." ________________________________________________________________________ To: surfpunk@versant.com Subject: Incident Response Workshop info Organization: COAST, Department of Computer Sciences, Purdue Univ. Date: Thu, 08 Jul 93 20:16:18 -0500 From: Gene Spafford [Please forward this to other lists and to interested parties.] ** NOTE: July 10 is the deadline for discounted registration!! ** PRELIMINARY AGENDA 5th Computer Security Incident Handling Workshop Sponsored by the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) August 10-13, 1993 St. Louis, MO TUESDAY, August 10, 1993 Full-day Tutorials 1. Creating a Security Policy presented by Charles Cresson Wood: [no abstract available at time of posting] 2. Vulnerabilities of the IBM PC Architecture: Virus, Worms, Trojan Horses, and Things That Go Bump In The Night presented by A. Padgett Peterson: An intensive look into the architecture of the IBM-PC and MS/PC-DOS -- What it is and why it was designed that way. An understanding of assembly language and the interrupt structure of the Intel 80x86 processor is helpful. The day will begin with the BIOS and what makes the PC a fully functional computer before any higher operating system is introduced. Next will be a discussion of the various operating systems, what they add and what is masked. Finally, the role and effects of the PC and various LAN configurations (peer-peer and client server) will be examined with emphasis on the potential protection afforded by login scripting and RIGHTS. At each step, vulnerabilities will be examined and demonstrations made of how malicious software exploits them. Demonstrations may include STONED, MICHELANGELO, AZUSA, FORM, JERUSALEM, SUNDAY, 4096, and EXEBUG viruses depending on time and equipment available. On completion attendees will understand the vulnerabilities and how to detect attempted exploitation using simple tools included with DOS such as DEBUG and MEM. 3. Unix Security presented by Matt Bishop: Unix can be a secure operating system if the appropriate controls and tools are used. However, it is difficult for even experienced system administrators to know all the appropriate controls to use. This tutorial covers the most important aspects of Unix security administration, including internal and external controls, useful tools, and administration techniques to develop better security. Upon completion, Unix system administrators will have a better understanding of vulnerabilities in Unix, and of methods to protect their systems. WEDNESDAY, August 11, 1993 8:30 - 8:45 Opening Remarks - Rich Pethia (CERT/CC) 8:45 - 9:30 Keynote Speaker - Dr. Vinton Cerf (XXXX) 9:30 - 10:00 Break 10:00 - 12:00 International Issues - Computer networks and communication lines span national borders. This session will focus on how computer incidents may be handled in an international context, and on some ways investigators can coordinate their efforts. SPEAKERS: Harry Onderwater (Dutch Federal Police) John Austien (New Scotland Yard) other speakers pending 12:00 - 1:30 Lunch with Presentations by various Response Teams 1:30 - 3:00 Professional Certification & Qualification - how do you know if the people you hire for security work are qualified for the job? How can we even know what the appropriate qualifications are? The speakers in this session will discuss some approaches to the problem for some segments of industry and government. SPEAKERS: Sally Meglathery ((ISC)2) Lynn McNulty (NIST) Genevieve Burns (ISSA) 3:00 - 3:30 Break 3:30 - 6:00 Incident Aftermath and Press Relations - What happens after an incident has been discovered? What are some of the consequences of dealing with law enforcement and the press? This session will feature presentations on these issues, and include a panel to answer audience questions. SPEAKERS: Laurie Sefton (Apple Computer) Jeffrey Sebring (MITRE) Terry McGillen (Software Engineering Institute) John Markoff (NY Times) Mike Alexander (InfoSecurity News) 7:00 - 9:00 Reception THURSDAY August 12 8:30 - 10:00 Preserving Rights During an Investigation - During an investigation, sometimes more damage is done by the investigators than from the original incident. This session reinforces the importance of respecting the rights of victims, bystanders, and suspects while also gathering evidence that may be used in legal or administrative actions. SPEAKERS: Mike Godwin (Electronic Frontiers Foundation) Scott Charney (Department of Justice) other speaker pending 10:00 - 10:30 Break 10:30 - 12:00 Coordinating an Investigation - What are the steps in an investigation? When should law enforcement be called in? How should evidence be preserved? Veteran investigators discuss these questions. A panel will answer questions, time permitting. SPEAKER: Jim Settle (FBI) other speakers pending 12:00 - 1:30 Special Interest Lunch 1:30 - 3:00 Liabilities and Insurance - You organize security measures but a loss occurs. Can you somehow recover the cost of damages? You investigate an incident, only to cause some incidental damage. Can you be sued? This session examines these and related questions. SPEAKERS: Mark Rasch (Arent Fox) Bill Cook (Willian, Brinks, Olds, Hoffer, & Gibson) Marr Haack (USF&G Insurance Companies) 3:00 - 3:15 Break 3:15 - 5:30 Incident Role Playing -- An exercise by the attendees to develop new insights into the process of investigating a computer security incident. Organized by Dr. Tom Longstaff of the CERT/CC. 7:30 - ? Birds of a Feather and Poster Sessions FRIDAY August 13 8:30 - 10:00 Virus Incidents - How do you organize a sussessful virus analysis and response group? The speakers in this session have considerable experience ans success in doing exactly this. In their talks, and subsequent panel, they will explain how to organize computer virus response. SPEAKERS: Werner Uhrig (Macintosh Anti-virus Expert) David Grisham (University of New Mexico) Christoph Fischer (CARO) Karen Picharczyk (LLNL/DoE CIAC) Ken van Wyk (DISA/Virus-L) 10:00 - 10:15 Break 10:15 - 11:15 Databases - How do you store incident, suspect, and vulnerability information safely, but still allow the information to be used effectively? The speakers in this session will share some of their insights and methods on this topic. SPEAKERS: John Carr (CCTA) Michael Higgins (DISA) speaker pending 11:15 - 12:15 Threats - Part of incidence response is to anticipate riska and threats. This session will focus on some likely trends and possible new problems to be faced in computer security. SPEAKERS: Karl A. Seeger speakers pending 12:15 - 12:30 Closing Remarks - Dennis Steinauer (NIST/FIRST) 12:30 - 2:00 Lunch 2:00 - 3:00 FIRST General Meeting and the Steering Committee Elections 3:00 - 4:00 FIRST Steering Committee Meeting ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Registration Information/Form Follows^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ INQUIRES: Direct questions concerning registration and payment to: Events at 412-268-6531 Direct general questions concerning the workshop to: Mary Alice "Sam" Toocheck at 214-268-6933 Return to: Helen E. Joyce Software Engineering Institute Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890 Facsimile: 412-268-7401 TERMS: Please make checks or purchase orders payable to SEI/CMU. Credit cards are not accepted. No refunds will be issued, substitutions are encouraged. The registrations fee includes materials, continential breakfast, lunches (not included on August 13), morning and afternoon breaks and an evening reception on August 11. Completed registration materials must be received by the SEI no later than July 10, 1993. A minimum of 7 attendees are needed for each tutorial and there will be limit of 50 attendees. You MUST indicate which tutorial you would like to attend and an alternate if your first choice is full. GOVERNMENT TERMS: If your organization has not made prior arrangements for reimbursement of workshop expenses, please provide authorization (1556) from your agency at the time of registration. GENERAL REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Workshop................................. ..............$300.00 All registrations received after July 10, 1993..........$350.00 Tutorials (Must be registered by July, 10, 1993)........$190.00 NAME: TITLE: COMPANY: DIVISION: ADDRESS: CITY: STATE: ZIP: BUSINESS PHONE: EMERGENCY PHONE: FACSIMILE NUMBER: E-MAIL ADDRESS: DIETARY/ACCESS REQUIREMENTS: CITIZENSHIP: Are you a U.S. Citizen? YES/NO Identify country where citizenship is held if not the U.S.: (Note: there will be no classified information disclosed at this workshop. There is no attendance restriction based on citizenship or other criteria.) GENERAL HOTEL INFORMATION: RATES: A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hyatt Regency at Union Station, One St. Louis Union Station, St. Louis, Missouri 63103. The hotel will hold these rooms until July 10, 1993. Hotel arrangements should be made directly with the Hyatt, 314-231-1234. To receive the special rate of $65.00 per night, please mention the Fifth Computer Security Incident Handling Workshop when making your hotel arrangements. ACCOMMODATIONS: Six-story hotel featuring 540 guest rooms, including 20 suites. All rooms have individual climate control, direct-dial telephone with message alert, color TV with cable and optional pay movies. Suites available with wet bar. Hotel offers three floors of Regency accomodations, along with a Hyatt Good Passport floor, and a special floor for women travelers. LOCATION/TRANSPORTATION FACTS: Downtown hotel located in historic Union Station one mile from Cervantes Convention Center and St. Louis Convention Center and St. Louis Arch. Fifteen miles (30 minutes) from St. Louis Zoo. DINING/ENTERTAINMENT: Italian Cuisine is features at Aldo's, the hotel's full-service restaurant. Enjoy afternnon cocktails in the Grand Hall, an open-air, six-story area featuring filigree work, fresco and stained glass windows. The station Grille offers a chop house and seafood menu. RECREATIONAL/AMUSEMENT FACILITIES: Seasonal outdoor swimming pool. Full health club; suana in both men's and women's locker rooms. Jogging maps are available at the hotel front desk. SERVICES/FACILITIES/SHOPS: Over 100 specialty shops throughout the hotel, including men's and women's boutiques, children's toy shops and train stores. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ The SURFPUNK Technical Journal is a dangerous multinational hacker zine originating near BARRNET in the fashionable western arm of the northern California matrix. Quantum Californians appear in one of two states, spin surf or spin punk. Undetected, we are both, or might be neither. ________________________________________________________________________ Send postings to , subscription requests to . Math hooligans are the worst. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ To: subgenius@mc.lcs.mit.edu From: menya zavoot cmpuk Subject: thanks for the U S Government Subscription catalogs and brochures Date: Thu, 08 Jul 93 13:50:19 -0700 Someone ordered me an U S Government Subscription catalog and one of each Subject Bibliography brochure (except for subject bibliographies number 23 and 69, of which they ordered ten of each.) This amounts to an 8" stack of material. anyway, given the choice of which brochures multiple copies were ordered, I have a feeling that the requesting agent reads this list. And I wanna say THANKS! WAY COOL SHIT! menya zavoot cmpuk strick@versant.com Here's a sampling: Practical Spanish Grammar for Border Patrol Officers. Deals with situations that are of special interest to patrol inspectors. Includes a comprehensive list of idiomatic and other useful expressions with particular attention to those used along the Mexican border. 1988: 231 p. revised ed. S/N 027-002-00362-4 $8.00 ATF Arson Investigative Guide. A practical guide for arson investigators to use during the investigative stages that follow the identification of the cause and origin of a fire. 1988: 158 p., 7 dividers. 0-16-004721-8 T 70.8:Ar 7/988 S/N 048-012-00089-2 $5.50 Poultry Slauter (Monthly); Agricultural Statistics Board Reports. Contains information on numbers of various kinds of poultry slaughtered. $20 a year. File code 2B. List ID POULS. 0-16-009397-X. A 92.9/5: s/n 701-041-00000-3 Mail order to: Superintendent of Documents P O Box 371954 Pittsburgh PA 15250-7954 Also, for free catalog, mail to Free Catalog P O Box 37000 Washington D 20013