From: Rabid Wombat <wombat@mcfeely.bsfs.org>
Date: Fri, 3 May 1996 18:42:20 +0800
To: Mike McNally <m5@vail.tivoli.com>
Subject: Re: [getting off topic] Re: Freedom and security
In-Reply-To: <3188FCD2.3885@vail.tivoli.com>
Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.3.91.960502212748.9225E-100000@mcfeely.bsfs.org>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



On Thu, 2 May 1996, Mike McNally wrote:

> Rabid Wombat wrote:
> 
> > If I send snail, there are "rules" governing who can open the envelope.
> > If I'm suspected of criminal activity, the community has recourse.
> 
> If you don't encrypt or otherwise secure sensitive surface mail the same 
> way you would e-mail, you deserve what you get.  The community, of course,
> is in the same state with secure snail-mail case as it is with PGP-encrypted
> e-mail.
> 
Yes, I CAN encrypt. The point being discussed is whether society should 
allow me to do so, and if I have the RIGHT to do so. Classic freedom of 
individual vs. rights of society. Plato, Aristotle, Montesquieu, etc. etc.
Can't swing a dead marsupial without hittin' a philosopher on 'punks 
these days.

> Which reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask about.  I read
> (probably in WiReD) about a bar-code-like (well, not *much* like, but
> ink-on-paper similar) technique for rendering data onto paper with
> enhanced properties of storage efficiency, resistance to degradation
> through photocopying, and ease of recovery via ordinary scanning.  The
> stuff looks like bunches of little lines at different angles, I think.
> Anyway, what I'm curious about is whether encode/decode (i.e., print
> and scan) software is available.
> 
Ah, the modern day version of the Rosetta Stone, unearthed in 
post-nuclear holocaust Peoria ...

> ______c_____________________________________________________________________
> Mike M Nally * Tiv^H^H^H IBM * Austin TX    * pain is inevitable  
>        m5@tivoli.com * m101@io.com          *
>       <URL:http://www.io.com/~m101>         * suffering is optional
>