Re: nCipher Gag

["R. A. Hettinga" <rah@shipwright.com>]

At 11:10 AM -0500 on 1/5/00, John Young twylaed in and tharped:


> Why you spittle these guygay metaphors, Bobbikins dear
> biteneck bugger? Cryptoanarchic mouthwash get thee swig,
> swisher babebob.

:-).

Actually, John, the toothbrush analogy really *was* the first thing which
instantly came to mind when Wayner told me what Nicko and Adi had managed
to do.

And, I think it *is* an appropriately unsanitary metaphor for what is now,
apparently, very unsound digital commerce security practice. Probably right
up there with DES and 40-bit crypto, which means, unfortunately, that some
people will continue to do so, at least until they lose money.

And, no, while I may be king, as far as I can tell I'm not Alexander, John,
much less queen. Not that, frankly, it matters one way or another.

So, in the spirit of such things, maybe *thou* doth protest too much?

No, on second thought, that's not a very nice thing to say, even if you
weren't being very nice yourself.

Cheers,
RAH


-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'