| From: | Mike Goldberg <michael.goldberg@*******.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | I have a few comments in general with everything going on. |
| Date: | Fri, 13 Oct 1995 23:40:36 MST |
would like to mention the following things.
One, I sense things are growing out of control in not just my stories.
Remember to play nicely with others. It is one thing to occasionally
surprise a person. It is another to violently yanked the carpet out
underneath someone. We have had problems with this before, I think
the whole Universal Brotherhood is one of many examples. Be careful
of crimping other stories.
With that said, I seriously object to that frame being there. I would
have three deckers (one can't) that would try and take it out, and I
have a feeling they would not be alone. A dynamically adapting
smartframe. Might as well just say one step away from AI. The reason
I object is not the AI (and this maybe a surprise for some) bit, but
that there is a general agreement on the node not to track stuff
because otherwise all corporations would use here to trace everything.
You change the game and EVERY post will be encrypted to avoid the
frame. Poor. Second, I think the system administrator of the node,
which we have occasionally portrayed for a brief post, would have the
skill to stop it.
Which leads to another topic. I pointed it out to someone already but
think about this real carefully. I have some pretty good deckers.
Some borderline great (Scourge), but none of them use a timestamp
modification. Why? Two major reasons. One, it advertises that you
have an ego and feel the desperate need to flaunt the phone companies.
Two, if you are really good at what you do, for example Ratspeak, you
truly don't need to advertise your skills that much.
Now, I cannot speak for recent FASA releases because I haven't bought
anything since Corporate Security Handbook, but I only noticed 1
decker modifying time/date stamps. And from the knowledge implied in
his posts, he was more than just outrageously good. My impression is
that he had a past history in the phone company so that he knew where
to look and what ice to deal with to get his stamp modified. If ma
bell saw that everyone was defeating her security, she would up it so
much that a lot of the previous successful stamps would be stymied for
a while to cut back on them.
Furthermore, I don't think a static program would do the trick. I
think because they know it is a weak-spot they would hire a drek hot
decker full time to constantly change the security in that area, just
so a frame couldn't reliably walk through it. Complete with choke
points and the hole nine yards.
Last point, only deckers should be modifying their time stamps, and
that you shouldn't do it if you want them to know a ballpark
competency level you are at. Frankly, I believe that deckers would
constantly have to be modifying there programs to keep modifying the
stamp. It's getting over used, people, and point blank, it's as stale
as the old encryption names everyone used to use until our fearless
leader cried out that enough was enough.
Let's start a discussion on time stamps and them being modified
because it is overused and abused at this point Sorry, so much for
keeping this short. Sigh. I really hate having to be the one to
bring up topics like this and look like the bad guy. This is plot-d
and dedicated to administrative issues. Let's deal with this
rationally and talk it out.
Later,
M.
