On 06/09/2012 09:44 AM, Robert J. Hansen wrote: >> It doesn't really matter how many Werner Kochs there are. > > Sure it does. As an absurdist thought experiment...
An anecdote might work better than an absurdist thought experiment, come to think of it... ===== In the United States, the collegiate basketball championships are the occasion for a lot of betting. People stake wagers on which teams will make the semifinals (the "Sweet Sixteen") and the playoffs (the "Final Four"). As you might expect, a lot of people try to get some kind of inside information -- they might have a cousin who plays for one team and their cousin says the University of Nevada at Las Vegas is the one to look out for or something. Whenever you've got gamblers you'll have people who try to get inside information or expert advice. The University of Iowa's color-commentator for their basketball games is a great guy -- I met him a couple of times, once when he was playing ball for UI and a couple of times when I was a grad student at UI. He's also a legend in professional basketball, having replaced Michael Jordan in the 1992 NBA Finals while the Bulls were down by 15 and rallying them to a 97-93 win. Anyone who can not only replace Michael Jordan in a game, but replace him *and* rally the score, is a deservedly legendary figure. We have the same name, we're both University of Iowa graduates, and we both have a lot of family in Des Moines. We both answer to "Bob Hansen". (I prefer "Rob," but I'll answer to "Bob" or "Robert".) Even our middle initials are similar: he's Robert L. Hansen and I'm Robert J. Hansen. It doesn't take a bad case of dyslexia to get those initials reversed. So during Final Four season when people look around for the Bob Hansen who attended the University of Iowa... well, sometimes they get me. "Are you Bob Hansen?" Yes, I am. "Did you attend the University of Iowa?" Yep! "Are you *that* Bob Hansen who attended the University of Iowa? Bob Hansen from Des Moines?" Well, I'm not actually from Des Moines, no, but yes, I have a lot of family there. "OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE I FOUND YOU. Quick! Who are your Final Four picks? And are you still tight with Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan?" Verification is a hard problem. Even when dealing with someone who is giving *completely honest answers*, it's still easy to confuse *a* Bob Hansen for *the* Bob Hansen. And when it comes to getting good Final Four picks, you really want *the* Bob Hansen, and not me. I've seen a total of two basketball games in my life. Likewise, you want *the* Werner Koch, not *a* Werner Koch. When it comes to getting a correct copy of GnuPG, you really want his certificate and not some other Werner Koch's! _______________________________________________ Gnupg-users mailing list Gnupg-users@gnupg.org http://lists.gnupg.org/mailman/listinfo/gnupg-users