From: "Omegaman" <omega@bigeasy.com>
Date: Sat, 3 Aug 1996 06:58:46 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Silliness on cypherpunks
Message-ID: <199608021958.OAA02684@betty.bigeasy.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


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> The first issue is the seemingly sincere attempts at answering questions
> that are obviously irrelevant.  IMO cypherpunks are not "Mr. Answer Man"
> for every question someone has regarding computers or electrical
> engineering.  Sure, most of us are pretty capable of answering these
> questions - that doesn't mean that we should.  

At most, they might be privately directed to the appropriate URL or 
other reference.  Some take the time to answer such questions by 
providing an exercise which should lead the individual to the answer.  

Chances are, though, that they're perfectly aware of Schneir's book 
and numerous other FAQ's of relevance.  That means most likely we're 
dealing with laziness - which does not deserve a response

> Whenever I asked a silly
> question at home, my dad used to tell me - "look it up".  The process of
> finding the answer was actually far more important than the answer itself. 
> We should attempt to ignore these kinds of questions.  Maybe eventually
> they will go away.

I believe that's called "learning."  Unfortunately, far too many 
people engage in what I call "willful ignroance."   

I'm not an engineer.  I'm not a mathmetician.  I don't fully 
understand everything I've read here.  If I'm interested, however, I 
look further and read up on the subject so I can make informed 
queries if needed.

Some seem to think that this list is cruel to newcomers by posting 
sarcastic responses to newbie inquiries.  This list assumes some 
amount of prior knowledge on the part of it's members.  It is not the 
place for "what does PGP stand for?" questions.

> My other "peeve of the day" is the wonderful introduction of the "mee too"
> postings to cypherpunks. 

me too.

 

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 Omegaman <omega@bigeasy.com>
 PGP Key fingerprint =  6D 31 C3 00 77 8C D1 C2  
                            59 0A 01 E3 AF 81 94 63 
send a message with the text "get key" in the "Subject:"
field to get a copy of my public key.
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