RE: Overwelmed with Stupidity...

>Shaun Clark <jacquard@teleport.com> writes:
>
> > Ok, ok... Let me say something, but I don't want anyone to
> > take this wrong. I'm not trying to be stupid, but I don't
> > have half the knowledge you all seem to posses.
>
and Mike Duvos <mpd@netcom.com> replies:

>That's ok.  Welcome to the list.
>
then proceeds to pull Mike's leg by telling him TRS-80 is a technical
paper by David Sternlight, DES is a synthetic estrogen that shrinks your
dick, and GAK is green slime on a kiddie show.

In my mind, this is just schoolyard bully-ism at the expense of the "new
kid."  Really mature, really nurturing of the serious values and issues
this list exists to disseminate.  Go back to second grade, Mike.

I, too, am a relative newcomer to this list, and have not participated
very actively because I'm having a hard time gauging the balance between
the genuinely useful technical and philosophical issues being discussed
(of which there are many) and the childish, irrational ranting and
insulting pseudo-intellectual one-upsmanship being bantered about (of
which there is far too much).  If people like Mike Duvos can't bring
themselves to offer any useful information to newcomers who earnestly
ask, they could at least refrain from insulting them for the "crime" of
not knowing.

Shaun, TRS-80 is an early line of microcomputers produced by Radio
Shack, DES is a (not very secure) encryption algorithm supported by the
Bureau of Standards, and GAK stand for "govenment access to keys," the
position that the government should have access to all private keys (in
escrow, of course) just in case there is a "legitimate" need to listen
in on anybody's private communications.

I believe in the values this list was founded to promulgate, and I value
it for the open political, technical and philosopical discussions of
issues crucial to our time.  And, yes, it's great to have fun, too, but
does it always have to be mean-spirited fun at someone else's expense?

-- Gregory

<gregorye@microsoft.com>
"Opinions expressed herein are entirely my own and not the opinions of
my employer."
PGP key for <gregorye@microsoft.com> is on the keyservers


>

Gregory Ellison <gregorye@microsoft.com> writes:

 > then proceeds to pull Mike's leg by telling him TRS-80 is a
 > technical paper by David Sternlight, DES is a synthetic
 > estrogen that shrinks your dick, and GAK is green slime on a
 > kiddie show.

Well, I will admit the first one was satire, but the last two
were perfectly accurate.  For the humor impaired, this is an
example of AOL.  (That's Acronym OverLoad, not to be confused
with the popular online service.)

You see, Gregory, there are far more things in the universe than
there are three letter abbreviations for them.  Hence, as the
number of acronyms increases, collisions are inevitable. Asking
"What is GAK?" or "What is ATM?" is really not well-defined
outside of a narrow discipline.

 > Really mature, really nurturing of the serious values and
 > issues this list exists to disseminate.

 > I, too, am a relative newcomer to this list, ...

As is evident.

 > Shaun, TRS-80 is an early line of microcomputers produced
 > by Radio Shack,

"TRS" is also an excellent line of precision torque sensors,
should you be in the market for one.

 > I believe in the values this list was founded to
 > promulgate, and I value it for the open political, technical
 > and philosopical discussions of issues crucial to our time.
 > And, yes, it's great to have fun, too, but does it always
 > have to be mean-spirited fun at someone else's expense?

Har!  If you want "mean-spirited fun", drop into rec.pets.cats
sometimes.  Methinks you live a sheltered life.

--
     Mike Duvos         $    PGP 2.6 Public Key available     $
     mpd@netcom.com     $    via Finger.                      $

On Sat, 27 Jul 1996, Mike Duvos wrote:

> Well, I will admit the first one was satire, but the last two
> were perfectly accurate.  For the humor impaired, this is an
> example of AOL.  (That's Acronym OverLoad, not to be confused
> with the popular online service.)
> 
> You see, Gregory, there are far more things in the universe than
> there are three letter abbreviations for them.  Hence, as the
> number of acronyms increases, collisions are inevitable. Asking
> "What is GAK?" or "What is ATM?" is really not well-defined
> outside of a narrow discipline.

It's quite obvious from the context of the post what the original poster was
asking.  You're just being a smart-ass.  Your nonsense post is the kind of
thing that most 5th graders would find immature.  Grow up.

PGP encrypted mail prefered
Key fingerprint = d61734f2800486ae6f79bfeb70f95348
http://www.voicenet.com/~markm/

Mark M. Writes:

 > It's quite obvious from the context of the post what the original 
 > poster was asking.  You're just being a smart-ass.  Your nonsense 
 > post is the kind of thing that most 5th graders would find immature.
 > Grow up.

Every once in a while, this list receives a burst of inquiries
which...

  A.  Are clearly explained in a number of widely available FAQs
      which one would hope people interested in cryptography would
      have bothered to read.

  B.  Request information which reasonable persons might better 
      obtain by using, or learning to use, various commonly
      available Net grepping tools.

If the Nth such inquiry in a given week is not always responded to
with complete and utter seriousness, that is something you and
others of your ilk will just have to deal with. 

This is Cypherpunks.  It is not "Unix hacking hints", "Introduction to
Cryptography", nor "Fun With Batteries and Wire."

Everyone with an interest in the topics covered by this list is 
welcome here, but let's keep the "What is DES?" questions out of
the feed from the list server. 

This is, of course, merely the opinion of one person, and may be
agreed with or ignored as others see fit. 

--
     Mike Duvos         $    PGP 2.6 Public Key available     $
     mpd@netcom.com     $    via Finger.                      $