Re: [liberationtech] libfortuna fun

[Waitman Gobble]

On Wed, 17 Jul 2013 22:19:06 -0700 (PDT), Waitman Gobble
 wrote: 
>
>I've been researching the Fortuna PRNG and found a good implementation
within
>PostgreSQL. I ripped out a big chunk of the code in pgsql/contrib/pgcrypto
and
>turned it into libfortuna. My first tests are positive, seems to work. I'm
>building on FreeBSD, but should work on other BSD/Unix systems. Maybe
>GNU/Linux, not sure, I tend to only build other people's projects on Linux.
>
>At the moment my test program dumps out 1024 fortuna-generated random
numbers.
>But there's a whole swiss army knife of encryption related routines in
>pgcrypto, so it looks to be great fun to tinker with and expand the
library,
>import the rest of the pgcrypto code base. I'm just getting started
>experimenting. Perhaps irrelevant, yet it seems like there's a good
interest
>in encryption in this group, so I thought I'd share.
>
>The library code is at: https://github.com/waitman/libfortuna
>testing 123 programs at: https://github.com/waitman/fortuna-tests
>
>It's mostly unmodified PG code, replacing the PG memory management routines
>with 'native' jemalloc/malloc_np.h. When it seems sane I'll submit a
FreeBSD
>port.
>

There weren't any replies to this, so maybe it's a totally dead/DOA issue, but
I
have seen some people talking about TRNG and PRNG recently.. so somewhat
relevant.. follow-up. anyway, I ran some visual randomness tests using the
MagicWand api and ripped the rngtest program out of rng-tools (Debian
source),
ported it to FreeBSD. So libfortuna passes the FIPS 140-2 tests (according
to
rngtest), and of course that's circa 2001... Anyway today I created a port
and
submitted it, as of r32 (now) it's in the FreeBSD ports tree if you want
to check it out. 

tests, images, docs, source, etc on my personal desktop machine at
https://dx.burplex.com/bin/libfortuna.html

despite it's age, the rngtest tool is possibly a good thing to use on
miniature computing devices. or software/api expirements, if only to get
warm
fuzzies.(?)

i do want to check out sp800-90b as the poster recommended in another
thread.. looks cool. if possible build an even better testing tool.

--
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San Jose California USA
+1.5108307875

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Re: [liberationtech] Stability in truly "Democratic" decision systems

[Peter Lindener]

Mitar -

You write: ""*I have not yet found a mathematical function which would
take two*
*human produced texts describing two proposed solutions to a problem*
*and produce a third text which would be a comprehensible and rational*
*merge of this two proposed solutions. Maybe your theory should start*
*from this?*""

   Your suggestion is interesting for that mater, our proposed solution
is to achieve exactly what you suggest..   You seem to somehow think that
it in some way is less that possible to build a collaborative information
process that would produce the third text that you mention...

   That is: build a "democratic" word processor that permits forking
versions of any proposed document...followed by a well formed preference
ranking process  Continue to "Feed" an ecosystem of proposed competing
 alternative solutions.  Take care not to kill off "embryonic" proposals
before they mature enough to survive with respect to other well formed
proposed solutions...

   Before, dismissing all of what is being proposed here, Please consider
that the one way of making any real progress here IS by way of some level
of formality.

   -Peter


On Fri, Jul 19, 2013 at 4:01 PM, Mitar  wrote:

> Hi!
>
> On Fri, Jul 19, 2013 at 3:29 PM, Peter Lindener
>  wrote:
> >So I gather your taking the position that Social Choice theory has no
> > place in Social Decision Theory?  That is that the formality's of
> > information as well as Game theory are entirely inapplicable in the
> process
> > of achieving a better understanding of the truly democratic group
> decision
> > process...
>
> I have not yet found a mathematical function which would take two
> human produced texts describing two proposed solutions to a problem
> and produce a third text which would be a comprehensible and rational
> merge of this two proposed solutions. Maybe your theory should start
> from this?
>
> I agree that theoretical foundation is important. But don't forget
> what is the goal of democracy: that people can live together in a way
> which satisfies all of them the most. We are using voting as a method
> currently, because we might not know better (we are still using a two
> thousand year old method!).
>
> I agree with the interesting idea André pointed out. That we are
> voting and getting everybody involved in decisions because we don't
> know better. But the process of voting is not the end goal. It is not
> the question how can we optimize voting, but can we finally find
> something better? Which does not build on premises that everybody has
> to be involved, that everybody knows how to decide for everybody, that
> everybody has knowledge for that, and time to be involved. But which
> still makes sure that decisions we are making as a society are those
> people want and support. You can ask everyone of them (what is voting
> in a way), or you could be smarter and know what they want and support
> in some less invasive way?
>
> You know what is a good governance system? Not one where you ask all
> people for any small thing how they would decide. But one which
> produces solutions which all people when they see it say "Wow, this is
> a great solution, if just I could come up with it myself! I support
> it!" Because this is what you would like: that the solutions we decide
> for as a society are better than any individual him or herself could
> come up with by him or herself.
>
>
> Mitar
>
> --
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> https://twitter.com/mitar_m
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Re: [liberationtech] One time pad Management system?

[Sandy Harris]

Paul Elliott  wrote:

> Given a secure communications channel for key exchange,
> OTPs are absolutely unbreakable.

Against some attacks, yes. However, unless authentication
is used as well, they have absolutely no resistance to a
rewrite attack:

http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Stream_cipher#Rewrite_attacks

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Re: [liberationtech] Random number generator failure in Rasperri Pis?

[Sandy Harris]

KheOps  wrote:

> Just came accross this article, apparently showing the bad quality of
> the hardware RNG in Raspberri Pi devices.
>
> http://scruss.com/blog/2013/06/07/well-that-was-unexpected-the-raspberry-pis-hardware-random-number-generator/

I agree with other posters; you are misreading an article that
says the hardware generator on the Pi seems OK.

I have implemented something that can provide an alternative
or a supplement if necessary, Documentation describes some
other choices as well:

ftp://ftp.cs.sjtu.edu.cn:990/sandy/maxwell/
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Re: [liberationtech] Stability in truly "Democratic" decision systems

[Mitar]

Hi!

On Fri, Jul 19, 2013 at 3:29 PM, Peter Lindener
 wrote:
>So I gather your taking the position that Social Choice theory has no
> place in Social Decision Theory?  That is that the formality's of
> information as well as Game theory are entirely inapplicable in the process
> of achieving a better understanding of the truly democratic group decision
> process...

I have not yet found a mathematical function which would take two
human produced texts describing two proposed solutions to a problem
and produce a third text which would be a comprehensible and rational
merge of this two proposed solutions. Maybe your theory should start
from this?

I agree that theoretical foundation is important. But don't forget
what is the goal of democracy: that people can live together in a way
which satisfies all of them the most. We are using voting as a method
currently, because we might not know better (we are still using a two
thousand year old method!).

I agree with the interesting idea André pointed out. That we are
voting and getting everybody involved in decisions because we don't
know better. But the process of voting is not the end goal. It is not
the question how can we optimize voting, but can we finally find
something better? Which does not build on premises that everybody has
to be involved, that everybody knows how to decide for everybody, that
everybody has knowledge for that, and time to be involved. But which
still makes sure that decisions we are making as a society are those
people want and support. You can ask everyone of them (what is voting
in a way), or you could be smarter and know what they want and support
in some less invasive way?

You know what is a good governance system? Not one where you ask all
people for any small thing how they would decide. But one which
produces solutions which all people when they see it say "Wow, this is
a great solution, if just I could come up with it myself! I support
it!" Because this is what you would like: that the solutions we decide
for as a society are better than any individual him or herself could
come up with by him or herself.


Mitar

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Re: [liberationtech] Traffic Analysis Countermeasures

[adrelanos]

The Doctor:
> On 07/18/2013 11:51 AM, Charles Allhands wrote:
>> Thanks for the link! Is there a reason why mix networks aren't
>> commonly used? I see mixminion hasn't been worked on in years.
> 
> One possible factor may be that many people are less interested in
> anonymity of communications (i.e., sending e-mail) and more interested
> in anonymity of net.access these days.  I doubt that there is only one
> factor contributing to the general lack of advancement in this field,
> though.

Another good argument made on tor-talk (and probable a few other places)
was, that the user interfaces were never user friendly.
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Re: [liberationtech] seeking open wireless projects

[Mark Summer]

In addition there are a number we ( Inveneo, a non-profit based in San
Francisco ) have worked on here are just a few:

Northern Uganda - http://boscouganda.com/
Dadaab north eastern Kenya - http://www.inveneo.org/projects/dadaabconnect/
Chuuk, Micronesia -
http://www.inveneo.org/2013/05/connecting-schools-in-micronesia-using-long-distance-wifi/

Also many others come to mind like wireless Nepal (
http://www.nepalwireless.com.np/ ) and Airjaldi (
http://drupal.airjaldi.com/ )

Mark


On Fri, Jul 19, 2013 at 3:33 PM, Mitar  wrote:

> Hi!
>
> I hope you checked this list:
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wireless_community_networks_by_region
>
> :-)
>
> There were already few times people were analyzing existing wireless
> networks. I think you should get into the contact with those
> researchers. (At least I know that I had to answer interview questions
> few times already.) Currently, as far as I know, part of this current
> EU project is to also analyze existing networks. I would recommend
> that you get into the contact with them:
>
> http://confine-project.eu/
>
> And of course with everybody involved in International Summit for
> Community Wireless Networks.
>
> http://wirelesssummit.org/
>
> I am involved with wlan slovenija, http://wlan-si.net/.
>
>
> Mitar
>
> On Fri, Jul 19, 2013 at 2:44 PM, Dan Auerbach  wrote:
> > Hi libtech,
> >
> > We at EFF are writing up a taxonomy of existing "open wireless"
> > commercial or non-commercial projects that have launched and would love
> > input from folks on this list. So far we are looking at:
> >
> > Fon - http://corp.fon.com/
> > Comcast -
> >
> http://corporate.comcast.com/news-information/news-feed/comcast-unveils-plans-for-millions-of-xfinity-wifi-hotspots-through-its-home-based-neighborhood-hotspot-initiative-2
> > Karma - https://yourkarma.com/
> > Ruckus - http://www.ruckuswireless.com/
> > KeyWifi - is this project still active?
> >
> > We're sure there are many more, and wanted to see if people here could
> > help by pointing us towards launched projects to add to the list. It's
> > hard to draw a bright line between what counts as a "launched project"
> > vs, say, a technical solution. For example, we don't want to include a
> > protocol like EAP-SIM or firmware that has optional open wireless as a
> > launched project, but firmware that ships with "default on" guest
> > networking might qualify. Any suggestions you have are great so don't
> > hesitate to let us know about any cool thing related to open wireless,
> > just please don't be offended if we decide not to categorize it as a
> > launched project.
> >
> > Our goal is NOT to promote these solutions, but rather just to give an
> > idea of what's out there, what desirable properties each offering has,
> > and what properties it lacks. For example, we think decentralized
> > solutions that have no captive portals or authentication and are
> > universally available are preferred. We do not want to get into a
> > discussion of the security properties of open wireless, or any
> > discussion about the merits of one solution vs another -- we are simply
> > seeking information on what is out there.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > --
> > Dan Auerbach
> > Staff Technologist
> > Electronic Frontier Foundation
> > d...@eff.org
> > 415 436 9333 x134
> >
> > --
> > Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by
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>
>
>
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Re: [liberationtech] seeking open wireless projects

[Mitar]

Hi!

I hope you checked this list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wireless_community_networks_by_region

:-)

There were already few times people were analyzing existing wireless
networks. I think you should get into the contact with those
researchers. (At least I know that I had to answer interview questions
few times already.) Currently, as far as I know, part of this current
EU project is to also analyze existing networks. I would recommend
that you get into the contact with them:

http://confine-project.eu/

And of course with everybody involved in International Summit for
Community Wireless Networks.

http://wirelesssummit.org/

I am involved with wlan slovenija, http://wlan-si.net/.


Mitar

On Fri, Jul 19, 2013 at 2:44 PM, Dan Auerbach  wrote:
> Hi libtech,
>
> We at EFF are writing up a taxonomy of existing "open wireless"
> commercial or non-commercial projects that have launched and would love
> input from folks on this list. So far we are looking at:
>
> Fon - http://corp.fon.com/
> Comcast -
> http://corporate.comcast.com/news-information/news-feed/comcast-unveils-plans-for-millions-of-xfinity-wifi-hotspots-through-its-home-based-neighborhood-hotspot-initiative-2
> Karma - https://yourkarma.com/
> Ruckus - http://www.ruckuswireless.com/
> KeyWifi - is this project still active?
>
> We're sure there are many more, and wanted to see if people here could
> help by pointing us towards launched projects to add to the list. It's
> hard to draw a bright line between what counts as a "launched project"
> vs, say, a technical solution. For example, we don't want to include a
> protocol like EAP-SIM or firmware that has optional open wireless as a
> launched project, but firmware that ships with "default on" guest
> networking might qualify. Any suggestions you have are great so don't
> hesitate to let us know about any cool thing related to open wireless,
> just please don't be offended if we decide not to categorize it as a
> launched project.
>
> Our goal is NOT to promote these solutions, but rather just to give an
> idea of what's out there, what desirable properties each offering has,
> and what properties it lacks. For example, we think decentralized
> solutions that have no captive portals or authentication and are
> universally available are preferred. We do not want to get into a
> discussion of the security properties of open wireless, or any
> discussion about the merits of one solution vs another -- we are simply
> seeking information on what is out there.
>
> Thanks,
>
> --
> Dan Auerbach
> Staff Technologist
> Electronic Frontier Foundation
> d...@eff.org
> 415 436 9333 x134
>
> --
> Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by 
> emailing moderator at compa...@stanford.edu or changing your settings at 
> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech



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Re: [liberationtech] Stability in truly "Democratic" decision systems

[Peter Lindener]

Hi
   Martar -

   So I gather your taking the position that Social Choice theory has no
place in Social Decision Theory?  That is that the formality's of
information as well as Game theory are entirely inapplicable in the process
of achieving a better understanding of the truly democratic group decision
process...
  Is that what your suggesting  or as some may be suggesting, this
would be some form of a more mathematically defined "fetish"...  as Andre
seems to be suggesting...

   I have not yet found all to many wanting to approach the discussion of
what constitutes a  Democratic group decision information process, in terms
of formal constructs in optimization theory..
knowing full well that there are many at Stanford, who at least appreciate
that the idea of optimization is a mathematically somewhat coherent
construct, and that in some ways, If one is to get beyond just bashing the
very challenging work of others...one might want to consider leveraging
some sense of more rigorous formality.

   So I suppose you'r also wanting to challenge: Von_Neumann_Morgenstern's
expected 
utility_theorem
...
If so, may I conjecture the additional hypothesis that some seem to have
little intrest in actually making progress on formalizing what it actually
means to be democratic.

   Not sure what else I can say here...
 -Peter
---




On Fri, Jul 19, 2013 at 2:38 AM, Mitar  wrote:

> Hi!
>
> On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 2:20 PM, Peter Lindener
>  wrote:
> > I think I mentioned Wide open group choice ranking systems as a critical
> > component in the effective function of crowd sourced "idea
> percolators"...
>
> Why? Why should we rank anything? How can you put ideas into a linear
> ranking? What do you think that ideas are even comparable? That there
> is any partial or total order among them?
>
> >My work in Social Choice theory, that is maximizing voter preference
> > priority information flow is each voter's consistent representation
> across
> > all possible group decision outcomes...turns out to be a critical
> component
> > not only at the point of a group's eventual decision, but also during the
> > group's deliberative process where the best of emerging alternatives are
> > enduring further evaluation.
>
> "Best" in the meaning of most individuals expressed preference for it?
> But why would such an alternative be "best" for the group in the
> meaning of well being of the group?
>
> >Mitar suggests: "I could argue that the biggest issue is assumption
> that
> > we can based on preferences of individuals determine what would be the
> best
> > for the group as a whole."
> >.. In  response,  our work in social decision theory builds upon the
> > thought exercise of a Social-Political circumstance where individual and
> > group objectives have by means of social contract been co-aligned...
> While
> > this is only the beginning of our reasoning, it certainly does in some
> way
> > begin to address your argument...
>
> So you are saying that you can show me how it follows that if
> everybody expresses what is his or her personal/individual preference
> (where we do not define any rules on how this preference should be
> established), that we are capable/that it is possible to compute what
> would be the preference of all people if they would take into the
> account everybody when making their decisions?
>
> So I think that such thing would work only if we would ask everybody
> to think what would be the best for everybody in their opinion. Not
> just for themselves. But for everybody. And because nobody can really
> take into account everybody, those preferences would be suboptiomal
> but still better than just individual preferences, and we might find a
> way to merge them together.
>
> And I believe we should concentrate on how to achieve that people take
> into account also other people when stating their preferences. How to
> present them with necessary information and knowledge and tools to be
> able to do this in the best possible way.
>
> > one thing for certain... in the end, Democracy IS about the flow of
> information
> > regarding the desires of the electorate into the governance process...
>
> No. If it is desires of the electorate then this is called mob
> mentality. We would like crowd wisdom, instead. Where individuals look
> at a bigger picture and we combine that into one picture at the end.
>
>
> Mitar
>
> --
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> https://twitter.com/mitar_m
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[liberationtech] seeking open wireless projects

[Dan Auerbach]

Hi libtech,

We at EFF are writing up a taxonomy of existing "open wireless"
commercial or non-commercial projects that have launched and would love
input from folks on this list. So far we are looking at:

Fon - http://corp.fon.com/
Comcast -
http://corporate.comcast.com/news-information/news-feed/comcast-unveils-plans-for-millions-of-xfinity-wifi-hotspots-through-its-home-based-neighborhood-hotspot-initiative-2
Karma - https://yourkarma.com/
Ruckus - http://www.ruckuswireless.com/
KeyWifi - is this project still active?

We're sure there are many more, and wanted to see if people here could
help by pointing us towards launched projects to add to the list. It's
hard to draw a bright line between what counts as a "launched project"
vs, say, a technical solution. For example, we don't want to include a
protocol like EAP-SIM or firmware that has optional open wireless as a
launched project, but firmware that ships with "default on" guest
networking might qualify. Any suggestions you have are great so don't
hesitate to let us know about any cool thing related to open wireless,
just please don't be offended if we decide not to categorize it as a
launched project.

Our goal is NOT to promote these solutions, but rather just to give an
idea of what's out there, what desirable properties each offering has,
and what properties it lacks. For example, we think decentralized
solutions that have no captive portals or authentication and are
universally available are preferred. We do not want to get into a
discussion of the security properties of open wireless, or any
discussion about the merits of one solution vs another -- we are simply
seeking information on what is out there.

Thanks,

-- 
Dan Auerbach
Staff Technologist
Electronic Frontier Foundation
d...@eff.org
415 436 9333 x134

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[liberationtech] Fwd: A hacker's guide to Amsterdam

[Jens Christian Hillerup]

-- Forwarded message --
From: "Jens Christian Hillerup" 
Date: Jul 19, 2013 11:12 AM
Subject: A hacker's guide to Amsterdam
To: "Hackerspaces General Discussion List" 
Cc:

... So I'll be coming to Amsterdam on the 27th of July, following the
UbiCrypt summer school on reverse engineering in Germany (anyone going?
let's hook up!) I plan on showing up at the OHM site a few days in advance
to help with the build-up etc, but that still leaves me with two or three
days in A'dam.

I'm looking for suggestions for things to see that might be of interest for
hackers -- small or large, well-known or obscure. I've not been in
Amsterdam for ten years, so my knowledge of the city is close to nil.
Technical stuff, DIY stuff, urban exploration stuff, graffiti stuff and
hackerspaces is my deal. If anyone has suggestions (or even a place to
crash), I'm all ears!

Thanks,
JC
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[liberationtech] Liberationtech Jobs List

[Yosem Companys]

Just a reminder that we have a Liberationtech Jobs List, so feel free to
join and spread the word:

https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech-jobs

We also have an events list here:

https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech-events

And, of course, the drones list:

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Best,

Yosem, one of your moderators
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[liberationtech] India cuts Internet in Kashmir?

[Yosem Companys]

India cuts Internet in Kashmir again after latest Ramban Massacre
http://t.co/TMKzp63wfq via @georgiebc
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Re: [liberationtech] Random number generator failure in Rasperri Pis?

[Adam Fish]

Dear Colleagues,

I am presently writing on politicians, namely Gore and Obama, talking about
the internet on the campaign trail. I am looking for citations for research
on discourses on technology in politics.

Any leads?

Thank you.

Best,




Adam Fish, PhD

Media and Cultural Studies

Department of Sociology

Lancaster University, UK, LA1 4YT

p. 01524592699

University Research
Portal

Twitter 


On Fri, Jul 19, 2013 at 1:03 PM, KheOps  wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Just came accross this article, apparently showing the bad quality of
> the hardware RNG in Raspberri Pi devices.
>
>
> http://scruss.com/blog/2013/06/07/well-that-was-unexpected-the-raspberry-pis-hardware-random-number-generator/
>
> Quite interesting since (pseudo-) random numbers are heavily used in
> crypto. Interesting also to see another post on this topic, after the
> study of a random number generation procedure formerly used in Cryptocat
> and that was also problematic.
>
> Datalove,
> KheOps
>
>
>
>
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Re: [liberationtech] Random number generator failure in Rasperri Pis?

[Matt Mackall]

On Fri, 2013-07-19 at 10:42 -0700, Andy Isaacson wrote:
> On Fri, Jul 19, 2013 at 01:17:51PM +0100, Michael Rogers wrote:
> > On 19/07/13 13:03, KheOps wrote:
> > > Just came accross this article, apparently showing the bad quality
> > > of the hardware RNG in Raspberri Pi devices.
> > > 
> > > http://scruss.com/blog/2013/06/07/well-that-was-unexpected-the-raspberry-pis-hardware-random-number-generator/
> > >
> > >  Quite interesting since (pseudo-) random numbers are heavily used
> > > in crypto. Interesting also to see another post on this topic,
> > > after the study of a random number generation procedure formerly
> > > used in Cryptocat and that was also problematic.
> > 
> > Is that what the article shows? Looks to me like the Raspberry Pi's
> > hardware RNG (/dev/hwrng) is being held up as an example of 'good
> > randomness' in contrast to the RANDU algorithm's 'bad randomness'.
> 
> Regardless of the quality of the HW RNG on RPI, it's not good to expose
> the entropy directly to userspace in /dev/hwrng.  Rather, the RPI kernel
> should mix the entropy into the kernel entropy pool and apps should use
> /dev/random to get high-quality entropy mixed from all available entropy
> sources.  That way even if an attacker has a backdoor to the HW RNG,
> the user still has a second line of defense due to the other
> unpredictable data mixed into the same pool.

And there's a daemon for this:

apt-get install rng-tools

-- 
Mathematics is the supreme nostalgia of our time.


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Re: [liberationtech] Random number generator failure in Rasperri Pis?

[Andy Isaacson]

On Fri, Jul 19, 2013 at 01:17:51PM +0100, Michael Rogers wrote:
> On 19/07/13 13:03, KheOps wrote:
> > Just came accross this article, apparently showing the bad quality
> > of the hardware RNG in Raspberri Pi devices.
> > 
> > http://scruss.com/blog/2013/06/07/well-that-was-unexpected-the-raspberry-pis-hardware-random-number-generator/
> >
> >  Quite interesting since (pseudo-) random numbers are heavily used
> > in crypto. Interesting also to see another post on this topic,
> > after the study of a random number generation procedure formerly
> > used in Cryptocat and that was also problematic.
> 
> Is that what the article shows? Looks to me like the Raspberry Pi's
> hardware RNG (/dev/hwrng) is being held up as an example of 'good
> randomness' in contrast to the RANDU algorithm's 'bad randomness'.

Regardless of the quality of the HW RNG on RPI, it's not good to expose
the entropy directly to userspace in /dev/hwrng.  Rather, the RPI kernel
should mix the entropy into the kernel entropy pool and apps should use
/dev/random to get high-quality entropy mixed from all available entropy
sources.  That way even if an attacker has a backdoor to the HW RNG,
the user still has a second line of defense due to the other
unpredictable data mixed into the same pool.

-andy
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Re: [liberationtech] Traffic Analysis Countermeasures

[The Doctor]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

On 07/18/2013 11:51 AM, Charles Allhands wrote:
> Thanks for the link! Is there a reason why mix networks aren't
> commonly used? I see mixminion hasn't been worked on in years.

One possible factor may be that many people are less interested in
anonymity of communications (i.e., sending e-mail) and more interested
in anonymity of net.access these days.  I doubt that there is only one
factor contributing to the general lack of advancement in this field,
though.

- -- 
The Doctor [412/724/301/703] [ZS]
Developer, Project Byzantium: http://project-byzantium.org/

PGP: 0x807B17C1 / 7960 1CDC 85C9 0B63 8D9F  DD89 3BD8 FF2B 807B 17C1
WWW: https://drwho.virtadpt.net/

As long as the music's loud enough, we won't hear the world falling apart.

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Re: [liberationtech] History of hardware RNGs in PC?

[Paul Elliott]

On Fri, Jul 19, 2013 at 02:03:23PM +0200, KheOps wrote:

What is the history of HRNG is consumer PCs?

Is there any indication that this lawsuit had any impact
on the availablity of HRNGs in consumer PCs?
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/texas/txedce/2:2007cv00024/100867/

Which side won the lawsuit or is that known since it
was settled?

Any indication of governmental influence in the lawsuit?

Anyone knowing the true story please post it.

Thank You.

-- 
Paul Elliott   1(512)837-1096
pelli...@blackpatchpanel.com   PMB 181, 11900 Metric Blvd Suite J
http://www.free.blackpatchpanel.com/pme/   Austin TX 78758-3117
---
"Encryption works. Properly implemented strong crypto systems are one
of the few things that you can rely on. Unfortunately, endpoint
security is so terrifically weak that NSA can frequently find ways
around it." Edward Snowden
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Re: [liberationtech] Ensuring Free Access to Ideas in Public Spaces?

[Michael Allan]

Hi Nick,

In a recent search, I came across these folks: http://www.ifla.org/
See in particular their mailing lists and their FAIFE committee:
http://www.ifla.org/mailing-lists
http://www.ifla.org/about-faife

Hope this is helpful,
-- 
Michael Allan

Toronto, +1 416-699-9528
http://zelea.com/w/User:Mike-ZeleaCom/in


> Hi folks,
> 
> Thanks to the awesomeness that is TA3M [0], I've had a chance to talk
> with a few librarians who're somewhat disappointed by the fact that it's
> difficult to freely access knowledge at libraries: all Internet access
> is filtered and surveiled, reducing the freedom of expression and the
> free exchange of ideas.  So, I promised I'd reach out to folks to see
> what, if anything, we can do about the situation.
> 
> First, what technologies could public libraries employ that would ensure
> or best facilitate intellectual freedom, free expression and free access
> to ideas when people use the library?  Different libraries will have
> different connectivity structures, so this is a fairly broad question.
> 
> I think there's a more fundamental question, though, which is figuring
> out how to make libraries again responsible for providing unencumbered
> access to ideas.  I don't know how to do this.  I could help draft
> standards-language for "The Responsibilities of Libraries to the Public"
> but perhaps there's already such a document out there that could be
> updated or re-enforced.  At this point, I'm trying to start a
> discussion.
> 
> Thanks for your time,
> Nick
> 
> 0: http://wiki.openitp.org/events:techno-activism_3rd_mondays
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Re: [liberationtech] Ensuring Free Access to Ideas in Public Spaces?

[Julian Oliver]

..on Fri, Jul 19, 2013 at 07:58:43AM -0500, Nick Daly wrote:
> Hi folks,
> 
> Thanks to the awesomeness that is TA3M [0], I've had a chance to talk
> with a few librarians who're somewhat disappointed by the fact that it's
> difficult to freely access knowledge at libraries: all Internet access
> is filtered and surveiled, reducing the freedom of expression and the
> free exchange of ideas.  So, I promised I'd reach out to folks to see
> what, if anything, we can do about the situation.
> 
> First, what technologies could public libraries employ that would ensure
> or best facilitate intellectual freedom, free expression and free access
> to ideas when people use the library?  Different libraries will have
> different connectivity structures, so this is a fairly broad question.

Host the data locally and allow people to connect to it using computers at the
library or their own phones associated with the libraries own 'offline' wireless
network. Move terabyte archives to each partner library over snail-mail or
securely copy it between libraries over the Internet, for local hosting.

Here's a project of ours, that albeit artistic and conceptual in its goals, is a
fully functioning wireless web-server that even takes the form of a book:

http://weise7.org/book/

Being Internet independent the book can be read on wireless-capable devices in
a cave, out on the ocean etc.

Cheers,

-- 
Julian Oliver
PGP B6E9FD9A
http://julianoliver.com
http://criticalengineering.org
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[liberationtech] Ensuring Free Access to Ideas in Public Spaces?

[Nick Daly]

Hi folks,

Thanks to the awesomeness that is TA3M [0], I've had a chance to talk
with a few librarians who're somewhat disappointed by the fact that it's
difficult to freely access knowledge at libraries: all Internet access
is filtered and surveiled, reducing the freedom of expression and the
free exchange of ideas.  So, I promised I'd reach out to folks to see
what, if anything, we can do about the situation.

First, what technologies could public libraries employ that would ensure
or best facilitate intellectual freedom, free expression and free access
to ideas when people use the library?  Different libraries will have
different connectivity structures, so this is a fairly broad question.

I think there's a more fundamental question, though, which is figuring
out how to make libraries again responsible for providing unencumbered
access to ideas.  I don't know how to do this.  I could help draft
standards-language for "The Responsibilities of Libraries to the Public"
but perhaps there's already such a document out there that could be
updated or re-enforced.  At this point, I'm trying to start a
discussion.

Thanks for your time,
Nick

0: http://wiki.openitp.org/events:techno-activism_3rd_mondays
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Re: [liberationtech] Random number generator failure in Rasperri Pis?

[Petter Ericson]

On 19 July, 2013 - KheOps wrote:

> Hey,
> 
> Le 19/07/2013 14:22, Petter Ericson a écrit :
> >> Just came accross this article, apparently showing the bad quality of
> >> the hardware RNG in Raspberri Pi devices.
> >>
> >> http://scruss.com/blog/2013/06/07/well-that-was-unexpected-the-raspberry-pis-hardware-random-number-generator/
> > 
> > I see nothing in the blog post indicating that the random data from the
> > Pi HW is bad. Rather, he uses that to show how good random data should look,
> > after which he implements RANDU to show how _not_ to do it.
> > 
> > I have seen this being posted here and there as a "look, Pi HWrand bad"
> > thing, but I have to wonder how many actually read the blog post, 
> > considering
> > he even ran rngtest for a thousand runs with no failures on the output of 
> > /dev/hwrng
> 
> I might have read it and concluded too fast, and yes obviously he shows
> how another implementation is failing.
> 
> But I see this:
> sudo cat /dev/hwrng | rngtest -c 1000
> which for me refers to the previously installed driver for RasPi
> 
> and then he says: "We were lucky that none of the tests failed for that
> run; sometimes there are a few failures. RANDU, on the other hand fares
> very badly"
> 
> Meaning that RANDU is really bad whereas the RasPi one would be ...
> better but still failing to pass some tests in some occasions?

You raise a good point.

I must admit ignorance in regards to the specifics of linux, HWRNGs, /dev/hwrng
and /dev/random, but my personal guess would be that /dev/hwrng supplies true
random values, while /dev/random is the place to look for properly hashed and
checked random output.

Having true random values fail a FIPS-140 test is definitely not out of the 
realm
of possibility, though I have no idea how common it would be.

It might be a good idea to do some digging around the components and source 
code, 
though. If for no other reason than it always is.

Best

/P

-- 
Petter Ericson (pett...@acc.umu.se)
Telecomix Sleeper Jellyfish
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Re: [liberationtech] [cryptography] Random number generator failure in Rasperri Pis?

[Eugen Leitl]

- Forwarded message from Peter Gutmann  -

Date: Sat, 20 Jul 2013 00:44:33 +1200
From: Peter Gutmann 
To: cryptogra...@randombit.net, eu...@leitl.org, i...@postbiota.org, 
zs-...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [cryptography] [liberationtech] Random number generator failure in 
Rasperri Pis?

Eugen Leitl  quotes:

>Just came accross this article, apparently showing the bad quality of the
>hardware RNG in Raspberri Pi devices.
>
>http://scruss.com/blog/2013/06/07/well-that-was-unexpected-the-raspberry-pis-hardware-random-number-generator/

That shows the bad quality of RANDU.  It shows that the Pi randomness source
seems OK, at least as determined by rngtest.

Peter.

- End forwarded message -
-- 
Eugen* Leitl http://leitl.org";>leitl http://leitl.org
__
ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://ativel.com http://postbiota.org
AC894EC5: 38A5 5F46 A4FF 59B8 336B  47EE F46E 3489 AC89 4EC5
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Re: [liberationtech] Random number generator failure in Rasperri Pis?

[KheOps]

Hey,

Le 19/07/2013 14:22, Petter Ericson a écrit :
>> Just came accross this article, apparently showing the bad quality of
>> the hardware RNG in Raspberri Pi devices.
>>
>> http://scruss.com/blog/2013/06/07/well-that-was-unexpected-the-raspberry-pis-hardware-random-number-generator/
> 
> I see nothing in the blog post indicating that the random data from the
> Pi HW is bad. Rather, he uses that to show how good random data should look,
> after which he implements RANDU to show how _not_ to do it.
> 
> I have seen this being posted here and there as a "look, Pi HWrand bad"
> thing, but I have to wonder how many actually read the blog post, considering
> he even ran rngtest for a thousand runs with no failures on the output of 
> /dev/hwrng

I might have read it and concluded too fast, and yes obviously he shows
how another implementation is failing.

But I see this:
sudo cat /dev/hwrng | rngtest -c 1000
which for me refers to the previously installed driver for RasPi

and then he says: "We were lucky that none of the tests failed for that
run; sometimes there are a few failures. RANDU, on the other hand fares
very badly"

Meaning that RANDU is really bad whereas the RasPi one would be ...
better but still failing to pass some tests in some occasions?

That's how I understood it,
KheOps

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Re: [liberationtech] Random number generator failure in Rasperri Pis?

[Petter Ericson]

> Just came accross this article, apparently showing the bad quality of
> the hardware RNG in Raspberri Pi devices.
> 
> http://scruss.com/blog/2013/06/07/well-that-was-unexpected-the-raspberry-pis-hardware-random-number-generator/

I see nothing in the blog post indicating that the random data from the
Pi HW is bad. Rather, he uses that to show how good random data should look,
after which he implements RANDU to show how _not_ to do it.

I have seen this being posted here and there as a "look, Pi HWrand bad"
thing, but I have to wonder how many actually read the blog post, considering
he even ran rngtest for a thousand runs with no failures on the output of 
/dev/hwrng

Best

/P

-- 
Petter Ericson (pett...@acc.umu.se)
Telecomix Sleeper Jellyfish
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Re: [liberationtech] Random number generator failure in Rasperri Pis?

[Michael Rogers]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

On 19/07/13 13:03, KheOps wrote:
> Just came accross this article, apparently showing the bad quality
> of the hardware RNG in Raspberri Pi devices.
> 
> http://scruss.com/blog/2013/06/07/well-that-was-unexpected-the-raspberry-pis-hardware-random-number-generator/
>
>  Quite interesting since (pseudo-) random numbers are heavily used
> in crypto. Interesting also to see another post on this topic,
> after the study of a random number generation procedure formerly
> used in Cryptocat and that was also problematic.

Is that what the article shows? Looks to me like the Raspberry Pi's
hardware RNG (/dev/hwrng) is being held up as an example of 'good
randomness' in contrast to the RANDU algorithm's 'bad randomness'.

Cheers,
Michael


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[liberationtech] Random number generator failure in Rasperri Pis?

[KheOps]

Hi all,

Just came accross this article, apparently showing the bad quality of
the hardware RNG in Raspberri Pi devices.

http://scruss.com/blog/2013/06/07/well-that-was-unexpected-the-raspberry-pis-hardware-random-number-generator/

Quite interesting since (pseudo-) random numbers are heavily used in
crypto. Interesting also to see another post on this topic, after the
study of a random number generation procedure formerly used in Cryptocat
and that was also problematic.

Datalove,
KheOps



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[liberationtech] Job oppurtunity: an Arabic speaking Online Platform Manager

[Amin Sabeti]

Hi guys,

Small Media wants to launch the Arabic e-Learning Platform and needs an
Arabic speaking Online Platform Manager. If you know someone, please pass
this email to him/her:

We are looking for an Arabic speaking Online Platform Manager to join our
team!
 tag:
Jobs 
 share this

   -
   

   -
   




Small Media is looking for an Arabic speaking Online Platform Manager to
help with launching an online training platform targeting the youth in MENA
region.

The project is intended to provide practical training and skills to Arab
youth (18-30 years old) utilizing a modern and edgy design and dynamic
online platform equipped with unique relevant content and networking
capabilities.

Applicant should be passionate about either and all: design, social media,
training, networking, Arab youth and making an impact through action
oriented skills building. The position requires a leader, and ideal for
someone who wants to build something from scratch and watch it grow.

This position can be filled remotley.


*Responsibilities:*

   - Be the primary person responsible for quality assurance and ensuring
   the diversity and relevancy of content for the Arabic e-learning courses
  - Intensive interfacing with course writers, leading to the
  development of a network of reliable and proficient course writers
  - Editing the courses to ensure accuracy and adherence to platform
  guidelines
  - Liaise with potential course writers, accept submissions, review
  and select
   - Be wholly responsible for managing and maintaining the reputation of
   the e-learning process in Arabic, including but not limited to:
  - Ensuring the smooth operation of the platform, liaising with Small
  Media’s Technology Team as necessary
  - Scheduling the courses
  - Facilitating the helpdesk for trainees and providing help in a
  timely and efficient manner, providing help as the need arises
  - Monitoring performance indicators, assessing performance with
  reference to targets, and presenting monthly reports including both
  narrative and metric indicators
   - Encourage the growth and development of an online community around the
   platform, a task that includes:
  - Managing the social media accounts for the platform (Twitter,
  Facebook, G+, YouTube) and developing an online community of users
   - Promote the e-learning platform in the broader Arabic webosphere
  - Managing, maintaining and moderating the blog. Create content to
  tag to penetrate into Arab language internet.
  - Foster and maintain connections with relevant individuals
  (bloggers, developers, IT experts, key social media
personalities), tapping
  into their extended networks to disseminate the platform and recruit new
  trainees
  - Build site’s SEO by building site’s linkages with other sites,
  building site’s tagging system
  - Identify sites to advertise with
  - Monitor marketing campaigns to determine best return on investment
  - Monitor site’s analytics to understand usage and gaps in marketing
   - Coordinating with the Farsi e-learning manager to share experiences

*Qualities:*

   - Self-starting- applicant should have experience with managing projects
   from start to finish.
   - Passion- applicant should be passionate about the potentials of online
   education and online networking particularly as it appeals to citizens
   rights and responsibilities, and citizen initiatives.
   - Problem solving- Applicant should be able to problem solve through
   project challenges independently and within a team.
   - Technology- Applicant should have an interest in technology,
   particularly website functionality and ensuring a quality user experience.
   - Training- Applicant should have a curiosity about the ways in which
   adults learn and the effective presentation of content and curriculum to
   ease learning.
   - Communication skills- Applicant must be able to communicate with a
   variety of people from contractors, to fellow colleagues, to designers
   across multiple languages. Effective communication and conflict resolution
   skills are essential for effective implementation of the project.
   - Social Media and website marketing- Applicant should understand how to
   market the site through content tagging, and other social media tools.
   Applicant should be interested in strategies to raise website SEO and other
   ways to increase website readership and conversions.
   - A

Re: [liberationtech] Stability in truly "Democratic" decision systems

[André Rebentisch]

Am 18.07.2013 23:20, schrieb Peter Lindener:
>
>My work in Social Choice theory, that is maximizing voter
> preference priority information flow is each voter's consistent
> representation across all possible group decision outcomes...turns out
> to be a critical component not only at the point of a group's eventual
> decision, but also during the group's deliberative process where the
> best of emerging alternatives are enduring further evaluation.

The deliberative decision taking fetish often overlooks that the core
issue is contestability, not deliberative consensus.

A perfect servant gets me water exactly when I want it, he does not
bother me with decisions or commanding him.

I advocate that a democratic order should become a perfect servant. Then
voting is just a tool to contest a current rule and re-educate the
governing persons about the genuine nature of their master-servant service.

Best,
André
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Re: [liberationtech] [Freedombox-discuss] Serval Mesh Extenders

[Eugen Leitl]

- Forwarded message from haxwithaxe  -

Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2013 01:32:43 -0400
From: haxwithaxe 
To: FreedomBox 
Subject: Re: [Freedombox-discuss] Serval Mesh Extenders
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:17.0) Gecko/20130514 
Thunderbird/17.0.6



On 07/17/2013 12:11 PM, Eugen Leitl wrote:
> - Forwarded message from John Gilmore  -
> 
> Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2013 11:17:54 -0700
> From: John Gilmore 
> To: Eugen Leitl , g...@toad.com
> Cc: freedombox-discuss 
> Subject: Re: [Freedombox-discuss] [HacDC:Byzantium] Re: Serval Mesh Extenders
> 
>> if you expect every single device to be a mesh node in the same
>> collision domain within range of each other of course it won't work :P
> 
> It is not obvious that "of course it won't work".  A sensible mesh
> protocol would avoid congesting its medium, having most nodes avoid
> forwarding packets for each other in order to increase the amount of
> end-user traffic it could carry.  So the real issue is that people
> have to manually configure "mesh nodes" versus "end user nodes",
generally in most use cases i've seen there are mesh nodes that are
setup as APs for non-mesh nodes as well so there is little thinking to
be done once the nodes are turned on. there are protocols that say they
do more intelligent or less verbose communication but i haven't
personally tested any in that way beyond ~28 mesh nodes in a small room.

> because if every node is a mesh node, the mesh protocol doesn't work.
> This operational requirement of current mesh protocols violates the
> principle of least surprise and the zero configuration principle.
there will always be a tiny bit of config as a certain amount of
collusion is required to get some details matched. with most protocols
the collusion amounts to using the defaults and joining the right adhoc
network (ala babel). in the case of byzantium we have a preconfigured
network so it will just have to (automatically) run the mesh protocol to
be usable.

> These multiport nodes run a "spanning tree algorithm" together, which
> will pick a working subset of multiport nodes and disable forwarding
> on the rest, to avoid traffic loops that congest the network.  When
most if not all of the contemporary, deployed, wireless mesh protocols
implement loop avoidance or prevention of some kind. some of which are
mathematically proven to prevent loops (so the babel people say).

> the network configuration changes, the algorithm adapts within a few
> seconds.  Networks can have thousands of nodes without running into
> scale issues.  See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet for more
> details.
on a practical level we have complex ways of consolidating the physical
infrastructure in wired systems that make having that many wired nodes
practical and you can in fact have thousands of nodes in a wireless mesh
(not all in the same small room though :P).
athens municipal wireless mesh network >1k mesh nodes and is the ISP for
a giant chunk of athens, greece.
http://www.awmn.net/ << literally all greek to me
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens_Wireless_Metropolitan_Network

> The promise of mesh networks was to offer the same level of end-user
> utility and convenience as Ethernet, with radio links rather than
> wires.  So far that promise has been unfulfilled.
i'm too young to have heard that particular promise so my apologies for
making assumptions :) by the time i heard about mesh networking, wifi
was already at 802.11b.
in my opinion wireless mesh is very close in the way of end user
friendlyness and way ahead in not needing wires running between each of
the nodes. i would even argue in many cases the time and energy spent
running cables can be greater than setting up a wireless mesh. there are
project like byzantium and serval that are trying to make things as easy
as possible for end users. while it might not be the vision the people
on roofnet had in mind the infrastructural mesh acting as a backbone for
non-mesh clients is a decent short* term solution for several practical
problems.

some links that may interest you
http://www.olsr.org/ - what freifunk, commotion wirelss, and byzantium use
http://www.pps.univ-paris-diderot.fr/~jch/software/babel/ - babel which
is what byzantium used to use
http://bmx6.net/ - bmx6 which is a derivative of batman that is supposed
to solve many of the issues that batman-adv has
http://battlemesh.org/ - really big wireless mesh shootout and more info
on the limits of the different protocols

* when we get this whole ISPs not shutting down community/municipal
networks in the US and someone writes a decent mesh protocol
implementation for windows that doesn't require cygwin :P




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Re: [liberationtech] Stability in truly "Democratic" decision systems

[Mitar]

Hi!

On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 2:20 PM, Peter Lindener
 wrote:
> I think I mentioned Wide open group choice ranking systems as a critical
> component in the effective function of crowd sourced "idea percolators"...

Why? Why should we rank anything? How can you put ideas into a linear
ranking? What do you think that ideas are even comparable? That there
is any partial or total order among them?

>My work in Social Choice theory, that is maximizing voter preference
> priority information flow is each voter's consistent representation across
> all possible group decision outcomes...turns out to be a critical component
> not only at the point of a group's eventual decision, but also during the
> group's deliberative process where the best of emerging alternatives are
> enduring further evaluation.

"Best" in the meaning of most individuals expressed preference for it?
But why would such an alternative be "best" for the group in the
meaning of well being of the group?

>Mitar suggests: "I could argue that the biggest issue is assumption that
> we can based on preferences of individuals determine what would be the best
> for the group as a whole."
>.. In  response,  our work in social decision theory builds upon the
> thought exercise of a Social-Political circumstance where individual and
> group objectives have by means of social contract been co-aligned...   While
> this is only the beginning of our reasoning, it certainly does in some way
> begin to address your argument...

So you are saying that you can show me how it follows that if
everybody expresses what is his or her personal/individual preference
(where we do not define any rules on how this preference should be
established), that we are capable/that it is possible to compute what
would be the preference of all people if they would take into the
account everybody when making their decisions?

So I think that such thing would work only if we would ask everybody
to think what would be the best for everybody in their opinion. Not
just for themselves. But for everybody. And because nobody can really
take into account everybody, those preferences would be suboptiomal
but still better than just individual preferences, and we might find a
way to merge them together.

And I believe we should concentrate on how to achieve that people take
into account also other people when stating their preferences. How to
present them with necessary information and knowledge and tools to be
able to do this in the best possible way.

> one thing for certain... in the end, Democracy IS about the flow of 
> information
> regarding the desires of the electorate into the governance process...

No. If it is desires of the electorate then this is called mob
mentality. We would like crowd wisdom, instead. Where individuals look
at a bigger picture and we combine that into one picture at the end.


Mitar

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