From: dlv@bwalk.dm.com (Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM)
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 11:05:30 -0800 (PST)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Proof that "cypher punks" have complete degenerated...
In-Reply-To: <32B97685.69BA@gte.net>
Message-ID: <3qm9yD15w165w@bwalk.dm.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Dale Thorn <dthorn@gte.net> writes:
> geeman@best.com wrote:
> > It wasn't worth commenting on.
> > Appending data after the ctrl-Z as stego?
> > Not even worth a letter to the ed!
>
> > Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM wrote:
> > > No one even commented on the latest Dr. Dobbs issue.
>
> After seeing the initial post, I ran out to get a copy, but they were
> all gone.  I find it hard to believe that appending data to a file is
> considered stego, even by a commercial publication such as Dr. Dobb's.
> Can anyone confirm this?

I agree that Dr.Dobb's ain't what it used to was (they mention that Bruce
Scheneier is a contributing editor - a bad sign), but this issue was
worth getting.

1. A very interesting interview with Eva Bozoki, chief scientist as
Digital Secure Networks Technology. Among other fascinating stuff
she complains about export controls.

2. "The RIPEMD-160 Cryptographic Hash Function" (with C source code).

3. A nice article explaining Reed-Solomon error correction, with
nice-looking C source code.

4. An announcement of a free compression library (the article only discusses
the APIs, not the internals).

5.  A discussion on hooking system calls in WinNT, allowing a program to
monitor system activity.

6. "Steganography for DOS programmers." Yes, it suggests putting data to
be hidden after a ctrl-Z, which hardly qualifies as stego, IMO. Not a
good article.

7. An article on extended MAPI 1.0 (I was looking for a place for crypto
hooks), announcing some inetersting code.

8. A discussing of publishing databases on the internet, including payment
systems.

9. A discussion if fractal-based compression (again, API's, not the guts).

Other interesting stuff with no crypto-relevance.

...
> I guess at the time their philosophy was something like "Yes, we live
> in a world of crap, so, since we have to make a living with this crap,
> let's deny that it's crap so we can continue to sell the stuff", etc.
> Kinda like *certain* c-punks, who have nothing to say, so they blame
> myself or Dr. Vulis for interfering with their degenerate doings on
> the c-punks list.

Byte magazine used to be very useful from the beginning to about '86,
when it turned into another Ziff-Davis clone. I have most of the issues
from that time filed somewhere. It's still relevant.

I guess good publications don't survive in the free market environment.

---

Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM
Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps