From: tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)
Date: Thu, 5 Jan 95 14:32:10 PST
To: s675570@aix1.uottawa.ca (Angus Patterson)
Subject: Re: True Names
In-Reply-To: <Pine.3.89.9501051627.A53015-0100000@aix1.uottawa.ca>
Message-ID: <199501052231.OAA11745@netcom5.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Angus Patterson wrote:
> 
> I've been trying to get True Names by Vernor Vinge, and have been told it's
> out of print (like most good cypunk ), does anybody have it scanned? 
> I realize this is without permission, so does anybody have Vinge's address?
> (e-mail or otherwise) or could anybody ask him? Btw, does he have any other
> crypto/anonymity related stories? Thanks in advance.

I see copies in used bookstores often. It's in the collection "True
Names and Something-or-other" and was in print until recenly. I also
have the Bluejay edition, with an afterward by Marvin Minsky.

Check around any large used bookstore.

It's too long for reasonable scanning (and I have both a scanner and
an OCR program, and scanned-in one or more of the papers at the soda
site) and would bring on heat. Besides, it's just too easy to find in
bookstores or libraries, regardless of being "out of print."

As to other such stories, "The Ungoverned" is interesting. And fo
course the "Peace War" and "Marooned in Realtime" (aka "Mushrooms in
Real Slime") novels have some futurist items of interest. (In
particular, I think of public key crypto as "bobbling" data inside,
encasing data in a silvery sphere unbreachable by outsiders. I
mentioned this to Vinge once and he was amused.)

Finally, his Hugo-winning novel, "A Fire Upon the Deep," has some
casual mentions of crypto, including the odd speculation that those in
the know in the distant future don't really trust public key crypto.

Death to vermin!

--Tim May


-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
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W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
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