From: "Perry E. Metzger" <pmetzger@lehman.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 94 07:22:04 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: szabo@netcom.com is NOT a tentacle!!!
In-Reply-To: <9401121210.AA13798@pmantis.berkeley.edu>
Message-ID: <199401121519.KAA23805@snark>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



This feels like Detweiler spoofing again. Anyone else get that
feeling?

Perry

nobody@pmantis.berkeley.edu says:
> As for the `Szabo being a tentacle thread' in the newsgroups, pmetzger
> just posted stating that he had indeed posted the name of 
> the town Szabo lives in, as well as the names of his roommates.  He refrained
 
> from posting that information again.  I seem to vaguely recall seeing the 
> original post, but can't find it in the buffers here -- everything before 
> December 21st or so has expired. 
>  
>  the thing that ROYALLY PISSES ME OFF is that NOONE WHO HEARD 
> PMETZGER CLAIM THIS has POSTED TO SAY THAT THEY HEARD HIM SAY THAT. 
> reminds me of the infamous rape and murder of that NY woman, with 
> dozens of witnesses hearing her screams, just going about their 
> business. who will be raped next? and who will be silent? everyone who 
> is watching my thread, and being silent about what they know, is a 
> hypocrite and a dangerous accomplice to lies. 
>  
> I guess that's a bit overstated.  I suspect people in most major metropolitan
 
> areas don't want to get involved partially because they fear retribution, and
 
> partially because, with that many people packed together, you tend to care 
> less about your neighbors than you would in a small town, where you know the 
> people in your building or street.  I suspect people on the net don't bother 
> because "it's just bits" -- they read the Net like they watch TV, without any
 
> connection to the characters or dramas unfolding before them.  In large part,
 
> what is said here doesn't really matter.  People get curious, but it's not 
> worth getting into an uproar. 
>  
> if YOU GIVE A DAMN, POST! 
>  
> Ah, there's the rub.  Deep down, I really don't care about this particular 
> issue.  To my knowledge, Nick Szabo, whether real or not, has never said 
> anything that has made me even care whether or not he has real.  I've never 
> found anything he's said particularly interesting.  He's a net.person.  Shoul
d 
> he turn out to be a "tentacle," that's fine by me -- he won't be the first 
> I've encountered.  If he turns out to be T.C.May in disguise, all that means 
> is that there's one less person with T.C.May's ideas in the world than people
 
> thought. 
>  
> I think that uncaring attitude, which I regard as fairly dominant among peopl
e 
> who've used cyberspace (and especially Usenet) a good amount of time, is the 
> very reason that May's ideas about widespread crypto bringing down government
s 
> will never come to pass.  People have, and I believe will continue to have, a
 
> distrust about putting much faith into computers, and thus cyberspace will 
> always have limitations.  I believe people put a great deal of stock in the 
> feel of a crisp paper dollar bill, as well as a smile and a handshake. :-) 
>  
> Perhaps to add more fuel to the fire, a Nicholas Szabo does indeed live in 
> Cupertino, according to a 1990-1991 White Pages from the area.  There is no 
> G.Dale listed, however.  (I was hoping to correlate the two numbers)  I 
> suspect that I need a more recent phone book to make a better test. 
> 
> 
> ------ Legalize:          >--<o | I confess to an unatural, and abnormal .
> \    /  :-)-~             o>--< | act I have programmed a computer.     . .
>  \  / You are ~1,000,000,000,000,000 .1ms NAND gates have a nice day.  . . .
>   \/ The true theory of everything will run on a finite turing machine. . . .