Human-Nets-Request@RED.RUTGERS.EDU (Charles McGrew, The Moderator) (01/07/86)
HUMAN-NETS Digest Tuesday, 7 Jan 1986 Volume 9 : Issue 1
Today's Topics:
Queries - Failure probabilities &
Braille Printer (2 msgs),
Computers and People - "Mind rape" by Computer Mail &
The "Hacker" Game &
Aliens Among Us
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Return-path: <wmartin@BRL.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 85 14:58:42 EST
From: Will Martin <wmartin@BRL.ARPA>
To: Soft-Eng@mit-xx.ARPA, Risks@sri-csl.ARPA
Cc: walsh@almsa-1.ARPA
Subject: Failure probabilities in decision chains
One of our Directors has asked me to inquire about a reputed Bell labs
study from 7 or so years ago, which he heard about at a conference.
This study was on "failure probabilities"; one of the statements or
conclusions he recalls was that if you have a string of five
sequential decisions, one after the other, each based upon the
preceeding, the reliability of the result is at the 59% level. I don't
really have much other than this to go on, so, if this comment rings a
bell with you, and you know the study (or studies) that this sort of
conclusion came out of, I would greatly appreciate it if you could
mail me a reference. If you know of work being done in this area by
other organizations or particular researchers, any comments or rumors
or hearsay or pointers to published work or theses would be welcomed.
If any documents related to this area of research exist on-line and
are not proprietary, please feel free to mail me copies of anything
you think might be relevant. The context of this is to provide some
sorts of standards of comparison or generally-acceptable figures to
use when evaluating the quality of a very complex and involved large
software system.
Please e-mail responses to one of the addresses below. Thank you.
Will Martin
US Army Materiel Command Automated Logistics Mgmt Systems Activity
UUCP/USENET: seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin
or
ARPA/MILNET: wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA
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Return-path: <DAUL@OFFICE-1.ARPA>
Date: 22 Dec 85 02:13 PST
From: William Daul / McDonnell-Douglas / APD-ASD
From: <WBD.TYM@OFFICE-1.ARPA>
Subject: Braille Printer? BRAILE
To: irdis%vpi.csnet@CSNET-RELAY.ARPA
Does anyone know of a printer that can take a file and print it in
Braille?
Thanks, --Bi//
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Return-path: <@MC.LCS.MIT.EDU,@OFFICE-1.ARPA:WRS@Office-2.Arpa.ARPA>
From: William R. Soley <WRS@Office-2.Arpa>
Date: Wed, 1 Jan 86 15:10:57 PST
Subject: need braile printer
A friend and I operate a ham radio repeater system (N6IGF/R) and were
recently approached by a blind person who would like to join the club.
We need somebody who can print a copy of the documentation in braile
from a text file. The manual is about 30 pages on a standard printer.
Please send replies directly to me, I'm not on the list. Thanks for
any suggestions or volunteers...Bill
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Return-path: <@MC.LCS.MIT.EDU:Hoffman.es@Xerox.ARPA>
Date: 27 Dec 85 18:31:40 PST (Friday)
From: Hoffman.es@Xerox.ARPA
Subject: "Mind rape" by computer mail
In the October 1985 issue of 'Ms.' magazine, there's a lengthy article
entitled "The Strange Case of the Electronic Lover" by Lindsy Van
Gelder. It's tells how a prominent New York psychiatrist in his early
fifties maintained an on-line identity over CompuServe for more than
two years as a disabled, late-twenties, female neuropsychologist,
developing intimate friendships with scores of electronic
correspondents.
"She" had a detailed contrived life history, announced her marriage
during the course of the fraud, sent gifts to people, and was heavily
into (bisexual) compusex.
As you might imagine, many of "her" victims felt enormously betrayed,
likening the experience to "mind rape". The article has quite a bit
to say about the nature of electronic correspondence in general.
--Rodney Hoffman
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Return-path: <decwrl!glacier!oliveb!felix!birtch!ken@ucbvax>
Date: Mon, 23 Dec 85 14:45:37 pst
From: decwrl!glacier!oliveb!felix!birtch!ken@ucbvax (Ken B)
Subject: Re: HUMAN-NETS Digest V8 #38 (the game hacker)
Moderator: This is in regards to the game 'HACKER'
----------------------------------------
The game HACKER does not come even close to simulating how to
'break-in' to a system. The first screen asks you to login, then says
the password has been changed. THERE IS _NO_WAY_ THIS GAME WILL _EVER_
TEACH PEOPLE HOW TO BREAK INTO A COMPUTER SYSTEM! Any thing you type
will 'get you in.'
I helped write the IBM/PC version of the game, and the initial
game screen is the only relation to a system that exsists. The game
is more of a maze/exploration game more than anything else.
The packaging and blubs (in regards to 'hacking') are to get
you to buy the game. Nothing else!
Disclaimer: The above is _only_my_opinion_ of the game hacker,
and does not (probably) represent the views of my employer, fellow
employees, or Activision. [Activision is not my employer]
regards,
Ken Brown
uucp: ...{!glacier!oliveb,!trwrb!scgvaxd} !felix!birtch!ken
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Return-path: <crash!victoro@sdcsvax.ucsd.edu>
From: crash!victoro%sdcsvax@sdcsvax.ucsd.edu
Date: Mon, 6 Jan 86 14:22:21 PST
To: sdcsvax!risks@sri-csl.arpa
Subject: A Bit of 'News'
Cc: sdcsvax!info-nets%mit-oz@mit-mc.arpa,
Cc: Cc: sdcsvax!MsgGroup@brl.arpa, sdcsvax!security@red.rutgers.edu
[Munch, Munch - Now it comes suger free!]
The following text is printed in its entirity and covers many
areas of interest to the readers of these digest. Please excuse
the possible multiple copies of this text as I give total
permission to resend this to any group that may have an interest
in the subjects herein. (Including net.jokes)
====================
Exchange Students Spying?
Trade Expert Warns They Could Crack DoD Computers
-California Computer News
-January 1986, Volume IV, No 1
By Lona White - CCN Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES - Approximately 11,000 Communist Chinese
foregin exchange students enrolled in the most technically-
orientated U.S. universities may possibly have cracked the top-
secret Defense Department computers.
According to Dr. Miles Costick, Washington, D.C.-based
private trade expert, many of these alleged "students" hold
high-level degrees and have acquired considerable practical
experence in advanced science.
"Obviously the majority are students and experts and to a
lesser degree graduate and post-graduate students," he said.
They are studying at such heavyweight institutions as Los
Alamos, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cal
Tech, Stanford, Lawrence Livermore and the University of
California, Berkley.
At the California Institute of Technology, they are studying
composite materials, which are compounds for making heat
resistant nuclear missile nose cones.
At MIT they are involved in physics, propulsion and
navigation studies, but computer technology, especially hybrid
technology, appears to be the primary goal. These hybrids are
the product of digital and analog computers and are most suitable
for military intelligence operations.
They are also interested in microelectronics, production
technology for advanced microchips, nuclear weapons technology,
advanced fiber optics, astronomics, areonautics, and advanced
telecommunications systems, including satellites and satellite
ground stations.
"The Chinese students have free access to everything," said
Costick, "even at our nuclear weapons defense facilities where
lasers and particle beam weapons research is conducted for the
President's Strategic Defense Initative (SDI). Our own people
are required to have top security clearance in these areas," he
said.
At Los Alamos or California's Lawrence Livermore they have
access to terminals where much of the U.S. military intelligence
research work is done. "For a good mathematician it takes less
then 15 minutes to break into the codes," Costick said.
"Our entire data bank is extremely vulnerable," he
continued. "A very skillful person with access to the terminals
which lead into the data bank could conceivably penetrate CIA's
data bank."
In addition, they are working in the areas where the Defense
Departments' electronic mail network terminals are located, the
ARPA network (Advanced Research Projects Agency). Costick
suspects they have broken into that network and have been "spying
for two or three years."
The ARPA system, connects to the entire military complex,
including the daily electronic mail sent to the secretary of
defense. It describes the latest developments in military
research and the extent of our research in the newest weapons and
intelligence systems.
This open-arms policy exists for the sake of good Chinese-
Americans relations. By contrast, however, the under-400
American students studying in the People's Republic of China are
denied any activities that remotely approach the freedom allowed
visiting Chinese here.
They are restricted to one particular area or to the
university and can be arrested or expelled if they are found
driving in forbidden areas. The secret police even prevent them
from mingling with Chinese students at the schools.
The Chinese, however, are not the only communists interested
in gaining access to our universities' computers. A Defense
Department report revealed scores of American universities,
including six in California, which are prime targets for the
Russian KGB and Eastern bloc nations.
USC, UCLA, Stanford, Cal Tech, and the Universities of
California at San Diego and Berkley are listed as among the top
American educational institutions possessing technology desires
by the Soviets to enhance their industrial and military power.
In addition, four supercomputer centers at Princeton,
Cornell, and the the Universities of Illinois and California at
San Diego are available to members of the academic community
involved in highly technical research.
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I do hope I haven't triggered anyones strange editing program...
And I hope that this send is of interest to those interested in
the media coverage of your little world.....
Victor O'Rear-- {ihnp4, cbosgd, sdcsvax, noscvax}!crash!victoro
San Diego, California or bix!victoro
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End of HUMAN-NETS Digest
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