Re: 17 Cypherpunks subscribers on watch list, Project Lookout

[Mike Rosing]

On Tue, 19 Nov 2002, Eric Cordian wrote:

 This of course is not a true tale, but an incredible simulation to make a
 point.

Yeah, it was funny.  Not sure what the point was...

 The earth currently has a population of just slightly over six billion
 people.  This means that a 200 gigabyte drive can store 256 bits of
 information on every single person on the planet, and you can hold it in
 the palm of your hand, and use it for any devious purpose you can
 conceive.

Yup, and in 2 years it'll be 2k bits.  That's still not a whole lot,
but in 5 years it'll be 2k bytes and now things get interesting.

 Supercomputers are just about to reach, and then surpass, human brain
 equivalent capacity in both OPS and memory.  A few more years, and these
 supercomputers will be desktops.

Not even close  A super computer can't deal with an insect's
capability today, let alone a mouse.  It will be another 100 years before
all the computing capcity on the planet begins to approach the capability
of mice.  We already have 1980's supercomputers for desktops, why
aren't terrorists building their own nukes from scratch?  Because it
requires _thinking_, not just memory and ops.  And guess what dude,
nobody knows what thinking is.  If we did, we'd build computers that
could think.

 There are companies that now hire only non-smokers.  In the future, this
 could just as easy become never-smoked, never used drugs, had a perfect
 attendance record in the Gubmint School, and never criticized the
 President.

Just like the police today - if they tried to hire only people who
never smoked pot, they'd not be able to hire *anyone*!  So guess what,
keeping track of all that crap isn't useful.  Don't ask, don't tell
works all the way up the chain :-)

Patience, persistence, truth,
Dr. mike

Re: 17 Cypherpunks subscribers on watch list, Project Lookout

[Eric Cordian]

Tim Spoofs:

 A company I am involved with has been on the distribution list for the 
 FBI's Project Lookout watch list, the list being shared with banks, 
 electronics companies, consulting firms, transportation companies, and 
 1100 other firms.

 Cross-indexing with the CP subscriber list, I find 17 names on both 
 lists.

 We must be vigilant! Civil rights are only for innocents, not guilty 
 persons.

This of course is not a true tale, but an incredible simulation to make a
point.

The real danger, however, lies not in a watch list, but in the
government's desire for a massive computer system which will link every
single bit of computer accessible information on every individual for
instant access, from credit files, to tax records, to web pages and Usenet
posts, to insults hurled at you by various vigilante groups.

The earth currently has a population of just slightly over six billion
people.  This means that a 200 gigabyte drive can store 256 bits of
information on every single person on the planet, and you can hold it in
the palm of your hand, and use it for any devious purpose you can
conceive.

Supercomputers are just about to reach, and then surpass, human brain
equivalent capacity in both OPS and memory.  A few more years, and these
supercomputers will be desktops.

OPS and bits have simply become so cheap, that everyone on the planet can
potentially have instant access to everything everyone else on the planet
has ever publicly said or done, grepped and condensed anyway they like,
before dealing with anyone.

Libertopians are hardly likely to want any legal restrictions on freedom
of choice in business or personal dealings, or in the free market trade in
publicly accessible information about citizens, so few limits are likely
to be placed on the inevitable march of this technology.

There are companies that now hire only non-smokers.  In the future, this
could just as easy become never-smoked, never used drugs, had a perfect
attendance record in the Gubmint School, and never criticized the
President. 

Try to board a plane, and get told, I'm sorry, but Homeland Airlines
doesn't carry people who wrote an essay like the one you turned into your
10th grade teacher on such and such 15 years ago.

Brinworld on steroids.

-- 
Eric Michael Cordian 0+
O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division
Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law