Copyright 1995, 1996, 1997 Pearl Publishing
TruthMonger
Jonathan rubbed his temples, for the thousandth time, leaned back in his chair, and rolled his head back and forth, easing the strain on his neck and back muscles, which were wound tight as a drum from endless hours of exhausting analysis of emails, CyberPosts, keyword searches and traffic analysis reports which stretched over the course of history starting with the birth of the Author of "The Xenix Chainsaw Massacre" and ending with the death of the CypherPunks.
Access to the Cowboy's files had led to a discovery that would
have shocked both the Masters of Antiquity, and scientists and
engineers around the world.
Apparently, HydroCube storage technology had been in existence
for some time before its official announcement by BabyGates Technology.
The Kid, as she was called, had been the daughter, lover, or employee
of the richest man in the world, depending on which version of
this era you believed. Her star had risen, even as Microsoft's
star had begun to fall, mostly as a result of her development
of the HydroCube, with its nearly infinite data-storage capacity.
Now, however, Jonathan was wondering if she hadn't actually discovered
the HydroCube long before previously thought, and made it available
to those working in the background on the InterNet, to fight against
the monopolizing power held by government and large corporations
during the early days of the CypherPunks.
And now, Jonathan had reason to believe that the Kid had actually
been a member of the CypherPunks, masquerading under the pseudonym
of Blanc Weber.
What's more, examination of her private email revealed to Jonathan
her close connection to another CypherPunk named Alec, who, in
turn, seemed to have some unknown relationship with the Author,
since he had the Author's PGP Public Key for 'sog' in his pubring.pgp
file. Possession of the 'sog' Public Key, a variation of the 'son
of gomez' key, was very rare, as Jonathan had found in his data
searches.
This apparent connection between the Circle of Eunuchs, the CypherPunks, and BabyGates Technology was the only explanation that Jonathan could find for the fact that he now had access to every bit and byte of data that had ever traveled the InterNet since January 19, 1997 AD.
Jonathan shook off his reverie, and returned his attention to the task at hand.
He was studying a trail of TruthMonger posts that had been sent to the CypherPunks and Freedom-Knights lists, among others, shortly after the CypherPunks list had moved off of the toad.com server, and onto several others, forming a distributed list.
The TruthMonger persona was historically known as the first multi-user
pseudonym, one which appeared shortly after the original meeting
of the Circle of Eunuchs, according to legend.
Once an individual had posted an opinion, using the TruthMonger
persona, anyone who wished could follow up on that post, using
the same persona. The only non-enforceable 'requirements' for
using the pseudonym were that the first post should contain some
element of thinly veiled humor, and subsequent posts by others
should start out with logic and flow consistent with the previous
post before moving in the direction of the current author's predilections.
Often, a series of TruthMonger posts would start out from one
perspective, gradually move to its polar opposite, and then wind
its way circuitously back to the original frame of perspective,
but having gathered a much larger scope of perception along the
way.
TruthMonger posts tended to defy any attempts at categorization
by even the most proficient of traffic analysts, much to their
chagrin. As well, other shadowy entities sometimes leapt into
the fray, posting counterpoints to the TruthMonger missives, or
doing a winding dance of agreement and/or disagreement with the
various authors.
The persona was handy for those who sometimes felt the need to step out of their own skin and argue from a point of view which might be considered by some to be inconsistent with their usual personality. It was considered shallow and rude, however, for one to use the persona to reply directly to their own posts, although they could play devil's advocate against themselves if someone who supported their public position quoted them in a post.
And now, Jonathan found himself staring at a humorous spin-off in a series of posts involving the traditional TruthMonger posts, and some parallel posts by an entity or entities known as Dr. Roberts.
From - Fri Mar 28 07:52:49 1997
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Date: Friday, 28 Mar 97 07:18:53 CST
To: [email protected]
From: Truth Mongrel <[email protected]>
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Igor Chudov @ home wrote:
> As far as I understand, the process of building a distributed
network of
> cypherpunks mailing lists is logically complete. It means
that the following
> list servers are now connected:
> ssz.com <---> algebra <----> cyberpass
> Again, you are free to do so and your Cc-copies will NOT
cause any
> duplication of traffic because each mailing list server employs
an
> anti-duplicate filter. It is just a waste of your keyboard
typing.
> Dale Thorn @ bat:
>> That's funny - I unsuscrived to toad, and 'scribed to
cyberpass and
>> algebra. I have been getting an average of 2-1/2 of each
message
>> that comes through. Mostly three's, a few two's, and
an occasional
>> five or six copies.
It sounds to me as if we might already have a naturally recurring
parallax to a hash-collusion system here.
In other misused words, perchance the ASCII art spams and multiple
copies of various posts, which became common fare for anyone who
followed the moderation/censorship experiment/dictatorship of
Gilmore/Sandfort and Toad/C2Net in Jan/Feb, are nature's way of
exacting a cost for subscription to the CypherPunks list(s).
Perhaps the good Dr. Vulis DV K, rather than being called a flamer,
should be referred to as our good friend, Mr. Fire, who helps
to
clear the deadwood out of the forest.
Apparently, over a thousand pieces of deadwood were cleared
in the last cycle of flame wars. ("Run, Bambi. Run!")
Below, agreeing with me (in my dreams):
Hal Finney wrote:
> Adam Back writes:
> > [ Re idea to for a nym to "post a bond" to
enhance reputation]
> > Your suggestion is another neat way of passing expense
and tying an
> > investment to a nyms reputation.
> > X-reputation: 64 bit SHA1 collision
> > or
> > X-reputation: $100 digicash
> >
> Don't forget though, it's not really a payment system. The
hash
> collisions can't be exchanged for anything in the real world.
> They represent a certain threshold of effort which someone
has to have
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ (emphasis mine)
> expended to create them, but they can't replace cash. At
best they
> could be sort of a "play money" which some people
choose to accept.
>
> I do like your idea of using it as an incoming spam filter,
though.
> (By spam I mean mass mailings.)
Which begs the question, is the current system capable of acting
as an outgoing filter? Can it glean out the losers who are cruising
for an easy view of cryptography issues, and help maintain a higher
level of membership, limiting it to losers who have a more dedicated
interest/psychosis in privacy/paranoia cryptography/disinformation
issues?
> > - and anyway I've nearly finished implementing it (I'll
post the hash
> > cash postage money mint (collision generator) and remailer
plug-in
> > for postage later on today) where as not many people
have digicash
> > accounts.
Perhaps if Dale developed an 'outgoing filter' system to go with
Adam's 'incoming filter' system, we could have the best of both
worlds, being saved from "Make $$$ Fast" spams, but
having to use
our delete keys to ante-up in regard to our own list loons.
We could also institute a 'bad hash' system, where bad-hashes
like Tim C. May and Attila T. Hun could use their guns to balance
the threat of legal actions from bad-hashes like Greg Broiles
and
Side-Door Sammy.
With new developments such as these, to thwart the efforts of
anti-thwarters to bring balance and sanity to the list, perhaps
the CypherPunks can bypass the inevitable evolutionary extinction
of the 'bug-fixed' victims of insect vasectomies, and bring in
the new millennium as the longest running wash-out-your-mouth-with
Soap Opera on the InterNet, staying one step ahead of the guys
with the ButterflyNet.
The Truth of the Mongrel is, that we obviously need to develop
a system that makes certain the spam we receive is CypherSpam.
The loons on the list should be CypherLoons. Our membership
should consist of CypherIdiots, CypherNewbies, CypherElitists,
CypherLosers, CypherCynics, CypherSpooks and CypherGenius'.
Where else can movers and shakers like Robert Hettinga join
in an list-takeover attempt, then participate in the call for
the killing
of the list when the takeover attempt has failed miserably,
and then, like a whirling dervish acting as his own spin doctor,
re-appear, riding on the back of the CypherXenix rising from the
ashes, and genuinely declare, "I *love* this list."?
Where else can CypherWoofers like Toto roundly condemn Sandfort
<spit>* and Gilmore <swallow>* as fascist censors,
then praise
his own bum-buddy, Igor Chewed-Off <commie>*, for his site
blocking
efforts, and then again, cynically whine when his own "Make
Big $$$
Licking Your Own Nuts At Home" bulk-emails are intercepted
and deleted?
(* - ASCII Graphicology allegedly (c) DV K Bot-ling Plant, No-Inc.)
Where else can Afro-American cryptographers have their native
tongue, Ebonics, recognized as a valid encryption system?
Where else can you be guaranteed that your typos will be
forwarded to Ft. Meade, to be pored over by military analysts
for hidden meaning, quite possibly launching world infowars as
a result of drunken, sticky fingers.
The CypherPunks list, love it or leave it, is still, far and away,
the best show in town.
("If I can make it theeerrre...I can make it anywheeerrre…")
And the way this relates to cryptography is...my brain is
scrambled/encrypted.
Anarchist (Don't) Rule!
Truth Mongrel
~~~~~~~~~~~
Just say "No" to "Bad Dog Inside"
We got nuts, we're peeing on telephone poles, I know that ain't
allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:--------:--------
Truth Mongrel | Doggie Anarchy: cats chased, bones buried,
[email protected] | anonymous droppings, analog come-calling
Woof! Woof! | legs lifted, territories marked
"Yard fences aren't even speed bumps on the garbage sniffing
alleyway."
Jonathan went through his pile of pattern ratiocination logs, identity/pseudonym affinity markers, and traffic analysis flow-charts.
Every time that Jonathan began to think he had a grip on the underlying
associations and relationships behind the CypherPunks, their protagonists,
antagonists, friends and foes, he would come across a post such
as this one, which indicated that they were indeed just a loosely
connected band of rounders as their historical reputation made
them out to be. Every time that a plot line began to develop in
their history, then a post such as this would pop up suggesting
that they were merely a bunch of loose cannons, rolling around
on the deck of a ship that was not destined for any specific port.
Yet, at the same time, they always seemed to be on the cutting
edge of various upcoming technologies, with their ideas, philosophies
and methodologies being forerunners of the future directions of
the social society and scientific community of their era.
No matter what model Jonathan worked with, he found that he could not predict with any amount of certainty which course of thought or action any of the players on the list would take in any given situation. Known spooks and government officials were just as likely to switch roles with the known misfits on this or that issue-depending, as far as Jonathan could tell on the air quality on a given day-as they were to stoutly defend an entrenched position.
Even during the famed 'moderation' experiment, C2Net, the apparent villain of the 'list takeover,' as the action was viewed by some, had an abundance of employees who had previously played important roles in the CypherPunks maintaining independence from outside pressures, and who would do so in the future, as well.
Hettinga, known to the eCa$h Cows as the 'Patron Saint of eCa$h,' had played varying roles in the CypherPunks history. An unabashed glad-hander and master of public relations, he had had many an apparent alliance with big-money outfits who were allied against much of what the CypherPunks stood for, but he somehow managed to maintain his alliances with even some of the more radical anarchist on the list, eventually being the main player responsible in turning control of the InterNet over to the CypherPunks at the end of Channel War I.
Side-Door Sammy got his nickname by plugging Key Escrow for the U.S. government-allowing them a back door into encryption systems by holding the secret keys-at a time when government regulators were close to losing support for it. Later, it turned out that he had put in a famed Side-Door in his products, which could be used by the CypherPunks to block the government's access to their secret key.
Everywhere he looked, Jonathan saw examples of various factions
of the CypherPunks acting in a manner which seemed ill-suited
to the traditional roles that history would place on them as a
result of their perceived positions and alliances.
Jonathan looked at his charts on the others mentioned in the email
that currently held his attention.
Chudov-one of the shit-disturbers during the censorship crisis, but also one of the administrators of the resurrected distributed lists.
Thorn-a "been there, done that, got the T-shirt" type of individual who had still managed to remain naïve in many ways, even in regard to his own deep-seated paranoia and resulting conspiracy theories.
Back and Finney-both strong intellectuals with a good grasp of both the technology and politics of encryption and privacy issues, but both had replied in private email to Toto's "Make Big $$$ Licking Your Own Nuts At Home" spams. Were they double agents, setting him up for a fall, or were their private lives a world apart from their public personas?
Even Jonathan's grandfather, one of the legendary founders of the list, had, to all appearances, betrayed them toward the end of Channel War II. Yet Jonathan clearly remembered the joy with which his family was received in their journey through the CypherPunks underground at the close of the war.
Jonathan took off his reading glasses and rubbed his eyes, once
again. He decided to knock off for a while, have a quiet drink,
and get some much needed rest.
It seemed that the more information he had at his beck and call,
the less he knew about the players in the CypherPunks arena, and
the bigger the mystery surrounding their actions and the motives
behind them.
He sighed, and reached for the Jim Beam, once again.
Chapter 19 - TruthMonger