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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: "Robert A. Hayden" <hayden@*******.MANKATO.MSUS.EDU>
Subject: tales from the encrypt
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 1994 17:18:30 -0600
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 1994 14:58:49 -0800
From: Stefan Hahn <HAHN@***.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list SHADOWRN <SHADOWRN@*****.NIC.SURFNET.NL>
Subject: tales from the encrypt

Okay, but if you want a supposedly-private-mail message to go through, then you
hafta specify everyone else you don't want to see it. How long is that cast
list these days?

other than that, yes! esp. for standardization of vid and file includes.
For private messages, what about doing:

*****PRIVATE.ENCRYPT TO: Doom, Countess, Hangtime
>>>>>[ Of course I'll be there. We'll bring the champagne and APDS.
]<<<<<
-- Blindside <now you see it.../...now you don't>

WITH ORION'S SWORD THE HUNTER AROSE AND CONQUERED THE WORLD WITH FURY AND GRACE
/ \
Hahn@***.edu (\ /)
\ O /
IN HIM WAS I BORN, IN HIM SHALL I DIE, IN HIM DO I LOSE NAME, STATION, AND FACE
Message no. 2
From: "Robert A. Hayden" <hayden@*******.MANKATO.MSUS.EDU>
Subject: Re: tales from the encrypt
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 1994 18:04:35 -0600
On Sat, 26 Mar 1994, Robert A. Hayden wrote:

> *****PRIVATE.ENCRYPT TO: Doom, Countess, Hangtime
> >>>>>[ Of course I'll be there. We'll bring the champagne and APDS.
]<<<<<
> -- Blindside <now you see it.../...now you don't>

Why woudl the above be posted to a public system?

We survived for almost six months without whole-message encryptions, and
then everything went to hell from there.

Let's crawl out of this pit and fix the damn thing.

____ Robert A. Hayden <=> hayden@*******.mankato.msus.edu
\ /__ -=-=-=-=- <=> -=-=-=-=-
\/ / Finger for Geek Code Info <=> Political Correctness is
\/ Finger for PGP 2.3a Public Key <=> P.C. for "Thought Police"
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
(GEEK CODE 1.0.1) GAT d- -p+(---) c++(++++) l++ u++ e+/* m++(*)@ s-/++
n-(---) h+(*) f+ g+ w++ t++ r++ y+(*)
Message no. 3
From: Timothy Skirvin <tskirvin@********.UNI.UIUC.EDU>
Subject: Re: tales from the encrypt
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 1994 18:21:12 -0600
> Why woudl the above be posted to a public system?

I think we've hit the essential problem of all of this...we're trying
to combine private mail and public mail.

The way I see it, in the matrix there are a bunch of files sitting
around. There really isn't any way to leave a completely private message, with-
out any chance of someone else finding out about it. But what you CAN do is
have, at the beginning, an encryption prominently stating that it is a private
mail, and then using a PGP-like system. This DOES have its drawbacks, but...

Maybe there should be yet another list, for those off the board things.
That would probably work, if we were willing to take up more bandwidth...or else
we could just post it to Shadowtk, while saying at the beginning that it was
non-Matrix.

Make sense? It's difficult, but if we're trying to keep plot-integrity
going here we need encryption schemes. Oh well...

----------------------- "Well, you see, they took the Bible literally.
Tim Skirvin Adam and Eve, the snake and the apple...took
(tskirvin@ it word for word. Unfortunately, their
superdec.uni.uiuc.edu) version had a misprint."
----------------------- - Rimmer, Red Dwarf (The Last Day)
Message no. 4
From: Doctor Doom <JCH8169@*****.TAMU.EDU>
Subject: Tales from the Encrypt . . .
Date: Sun, 27 Mar 1994 15:34:16 -0600
Meine Kamaraden:

The basic problem with these encryptions is that they have been utilized with
such monotonous regularity as to be nigh unto ridiculous.

However, my difficult with them has /not/ been the exclusion of character
knowledge regarding various other list members activities, although I readily
acknowledge the excessive use in this area, but rather this manner of posting:

*****ENCRYPT: MIND OF GOD, Version Infinity
*****DEITY BLACK IC (with BIG, BAD option) set to <standby>
*****Scanning . . .
*****WARNING: Tampering Detected
*****BLACK IC set to <active>
*****Target Locked: Infidel Netrunner
*****Running: HAND OF GOD; SMITE
*****Target MPCP Destroyed
*****Scanning . . .
*****STATUS: No further tampering detected.
*****(BIG, BAD) DEITY BLACK IC set to <standby>
*****Message Received.
>>>>>[ So, we still on for the clam-bake, eh? ]<<<<<
-- MunchKing <a:god:in/my-own-mind>

This sort of abomination is a VERDAMMTE annoyance!

Whatever is adopted, it should be ONE line, none of these ludicrous processions
of ascii demonstrating that one's encryption is the "biggest, baddest" upon
the board. Such things are a certifiable waste of bandwidth.

One problem I foresee with is in the case of private, although not necessarily
sensitive information, messages. Is one to exclude all cast members but the
intended recipients?

Furthermore, there isn't a question of WHY these sort of messages would be
posted to a public system; rather, the fact of the matter is that the present
situation, i.e. the ability to implement encryptions, has fostered a great
abundance of /personal/ private messages which ARE being posted.

I would suggest that we not simply BAN these, as they do foster the idea of the
shadowrunners as a community, or even a "neighborhood" feel to ShadowLand, and
if one is to see the various discussions on ShadowLand as something similar to,
say, Internet Relay Conferencing, there are measures for the dispatching of
private messages to other users in real-time discussions.

Moreover, these private personal communiques can clarify something to other
"players" even if their characters are yet unaware of the contents. This
makes for better storytelling, as there are certain things that a character
/would/ not say publicly, but can nevertheless shed light upon various aspects
of the plot.

So, for security, I would propose the following alternatives:

1) If one seeks to exclude specific parties, i.e. other characters, from
receipt of a message, use the NOT TO: protocol.

******NOT TO: Ramirez
>>>>>[ Hey, guys, is the surprise party still on? ]<<<<<
-- Mind Bender

Although some degree of security should be assumed given that it is ShadowLand,
after all . . . otherwise we shall be getting messages like

******NOT TO: Tirandor, MONICA, Herr Ganz, Leon Meyers, General Trevor,
President Clinton, Barney, Illinois Nazi Party, The Flat-Earthers, AMWAY . . .
ad infinitum, ad nauseam.

And owing to the fact that there ARE personal private messages already present
upon the 'Net:

2) If one seeks to send something the equivalent of private mail to SPECIFIC
characters, use the PRIVATE: protocol.

*****PRIVATE: Doom, Countess, Hangtime
>>>>>[ Of course I'll be there. We'll bring the champagne and APDS.
]<<<<<
-- Blindside <now you see it.../...now you don't>

[ Notice the appropriation and slight modification of CoHort's idea. ]

This should involve /particularly/ sensitive or personal information to
the characters involved. Again, having reached ShadowLand, one's messages
should be thought to be rather secure by mere merit of being there.


Also, the above two methods have the strength of directly stating exactly who
is intended to be ignored or targeted by a message. And it does not involve
several lines of demonstrating the supposed invulnerable encryption protocols
developed by whatever character fabricated the message.

However, there are some admonitions involved:

1) These should be used JUDICIOUSLY, that is, NOT ALL THE BLOODY TIME.
ShadowLand is still a DISCUSSION BOARD, not a communications hub for
the relaying of all sorts of under-the-table messages.

Continuing on that thought, it should be re-emphasized that such are being
implemented FAR too frequently at present, and if this system is adopted
one should maintain the /primarily/ public atmosphere of the BBS. I,
myself am loathe to include more than ONE encrypted statement per message,
as it gets decidedly tedious.

2) So-called "breaking" another's exclusionary or private message (if judged
necessary to the furtherment of a plot) should and may only be done with
the author's permission.

Of course, the above guidelines call for a measure of responsibility and
maturity upon the part of all involved. Let us demonstrate that each of
our respective characters embrace these attributes by COMPLYING with them.


>We also need to come up with a more standardized format for things such
>as file inclusions, vidlinks, etc.

*****INCLUDE FILE: filename.

*****VIDEOLINK:

Alternatively,

*****IMAGE:

for static visual data.

Thoughts?

________________ _______ _______ ____ ____
\ _____ \ / \ / \ / \/ \ >>> Attack,
\ | | | |---___ | ___---| | || || | attack, and
| | | | |_____/ | \_____| | || || | if in doubt
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- | | | | | | || || | ATTACK! <<<
"Iron hand in a | |___/ / \_______/ \_______/|____| |____| -=-=-=-=-=-
velvet glove." | / ||
-- Charles V |_______/ Dread Executor of Administrative Tasks for Hayden

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^
"Rule through fear of force rather than through force itself."
-- Grand Moff Tarkin
Message no. 5
From: MAGECK <JVXNSYA@***.BITNET>
Subject: Re: Tales from the Encrypt . . .
Date: Sun, 27 Mar 1994 18:02:24 -0500
I agree with what Doom has said, that seems to be the most logical and easiest
to accomplish.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adam E. Buchanan | MAGECK
"One Dream One Soul One Prize One Goal" | ECKMAN
JVXNSYA@***.grove.iup.edu |
Many deny our existence |We are not just in Tales
And some think we might be there |But we are here
Few truly believe |We are the SIDHE
Reconsider your thoughts |Do not deny
Cause you may be |We are the SIDHE
With one of us right now |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.

Thwap!