Date: Thu, 5 Aug 93 19:38:58 PDT Reply-To: Return-Path: Message-ID: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain From: surfpunk@osc.versant.com (jro bs gehfg) To: surfpunk@osc.versant.com (SURFPUNK Technical Journal) Subject: [surfpunk-0092] DIGEST: archive, mime, _Runesong_, Potato Guns, AMER via gnu to cypherpunks: > Interestingly, I am coming to the conclusion that big > business operates on a web of trust very much like > what is found in PGP. There are Dun&Bradstreet > reports of course, but, bye-and-large, when a company > wants credit, they give a list of the other companies > that they do business with as evidence of their > trustworthiness in receiving credit. > > Peace ..Tom Jones nimrod appends to some mail: # A full VR 3D BBS is feasible at 9600 Bd on PC+CyberScope # as I hope to demonstrate within 6-12 months. # zzzen@pax.eunet.ch (Nimrod S. Kerrett) questions we get: @ From: A.Mcbride@axion.bt.co.uk @ @ Is there an ftp site for this stuff? @ @ regards, alan There's a WWW site -- if you have www or xmosiac, you can use the address http://www.acns.nwu.edu/surfpunk/ I should talk to the www.acns.nwu.edu people and see if we can get surfpunk into the anon-ftp there as well. + Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1993 23:57:33 -0700 (MST) + From: Horea Virgil Marian + Subject: mime + To: surfpunk@versant.com + hi! + + where i can get mime on the net? + + thank you, + + horea The main ftp site is "thumper.bellcore.com", but it hasn't been working for me for the last couple of days. I've found a MIME FAQ that I might issue as a surfpunk soon: Xref: netcom.com comp.mail.mime:1358 comp.answers:1389 news.answers:10585 Path: netcom.com!netcomsv!decwrl!olivea!uunet!pipex!pipex!not-for-mail From: tim@pipex.net (Tim Goodwin) Newsgroups: comp.mail.mime,comp.answers,news.answers Subject: comp.mail.mime frequently asked questions list (FAQ) Supersedes: Followup-To: comp.mail.mime Date: 22 Jul 1993 21:11:05 +0100 Organization: Pipex Ltd., 216 Science Park, Cambridge CB4 4WA, England Lines: 1467 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: tank Summary: This posting contains answers to some of the Frequently Asked Questions about MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions). Please read it before posting a question to comp.mail.mime. Archive-Name: mail/mime-faq Last-modified: 1993/07/22 Version: 2.7 strick ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Date: Sat, 17 Jul 93 15:22 GMT From: Don Webb <0004200716@mcimail.com> To: ARCANA To: surfpunk Subject: _Runesong_ Dear Dwellers in Arcana, While I'm in the plug mode this morning, I thought I would mention that my friend Edred Thorsson has finally come out with his long promised book and tape package _Runesong: A Practical Guide to Rune Galdor_. I have found the cassette a great help in what has been for me a major stumbling block along the way the way to learning the lore -- the pronunciation of the now-exotic sounding words and phrases of the Teutonic tradition. This product was designed to remedy that problem. Pronunciation of languages such as Proto-Germanic (the reconstructed tongue from which all Germanic languages are derived) Old English or Old Norse is usually the kind of thing only learned in the ivory towers of academia. With his cassette and booklet, the information is now available beyond that sphere. _Runesong_ is available for $19.95 from Runa Raven Press/ POB 180931/Austin, TX 78718 Don Webb 0004200716@mcimail.com The Secret of magic is to transform the magician. ________________________________________________________________________ Date: Fri, 30 Jul 93 19:36 EDT From: thug@phantom.com (Murdering Thug) To: surfpunk@osc.versant.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: thaanuj@prism.CS.ORST.EDU (John Thaanum) Subject: Re: Potato Guns In article <9307240917.1.11327@cup.portal.com> #I just saw on TV a news story where they covered a police demonstration #of the deadly potato gun. These are not the sort of potato guns you #may have played with as a child, using a small tube such as an ink #cartridge for a pen that had the point cut off and the ink cleaned #out. # #This was a big potato gun. It appeared to be made from PVC pipe #about 2 inches in diameter (that's 2.733 decihectares, for our #Canadian friends :-). The cops were shooting potatoes at an old #car, and managed to smash a side window in one shot from a distance #of about 10 feet. # #The cops said children as young as 12 had been caught with these #things, and that they are illegal under the same laws that make #sawed-off shotguns illegal. # #The TV spot was carefully filmed to avoid revealing any detail how #to build one. Could anyone provide a detailed set of instructions #how to build a monster potato gun? I don't know what the law has to say about such devices, but they are quite the rage back in my hometown. I was there last week, and saw one that a friend of mine built. They are so popular that all the plumbing and irrigation supply stores are sold out on the materials. My friend built his with a barrel length of about three feet, and a bore diameter of about two inches. The combustion chamber was slightly larger in diameter, maybe five inches. Standard plastic tubing adapters were used to connect the two different sized peices. At the base of the barrel was drilled a small hole, with a wooden dowel inserted and glued into place. This keeps the potato from being pushed too far with the ramrod. The muzzle end of the barrel was filed down to a sharp edge all the way around. This way, the user can take a potato larger than the bore diameter, and manually force it into the muzzle, and the sharp edge trims it off to snugly fit in the bore, and a snug fit is necessary for good performance, just like a conventional gun. At the very end of the gun was a threaded plastic fitting. This could be unscrewed to squirt a -small- amount of engine starting fluid, which is mostly ethyl ether. A squirt lasting about 1/2 a second seemed about optimal. Too much or too little results in a weak shot. Anyway, after squirting in a small amount of propellant, quickly screw the plastic plug back into place. A push-button barbeque igniter was used to touch off the propellant. It was installed through a small hole drilled in the side of the combustion area. Note- all joints between the pipes, igniter, and dowel must be sealed with a strong glue. These things belch fire out of every seam even when throughly sealed, so be careful. They are not very loud, and can launch a decent sized baker potato about 150 yards. They are a lot of fun. Getting the quantity of fuel just right takes some practice, but when the ratio of fuel/air is just right, they really go! Disclaimer: These things are potentially dangerous. Build and shoot one at your own risk. If they are illegal in your area, don't build one! Have fun! -- ************ John Thaanum thaanuj@prism.cs.orst.edu ************ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: kj@solbourne.com (Ken Sullivan) Subject: Potato Bazooka PlanZ!@#! Well it seems to have spread across the country :-) I was talking to my dad in N.C. who said that all of the kids over 30 were playing with potato bazookas :-) And that it was developed in CA. and introduced to the East Coast. Now Rush Limbaugh ?sp. has talked about it! Well, I built one from verbal instructions and it works! It has a few bugs to be worked out, but all in all, it's very impressive. I thought I would post an acsii drawing of it to the net ;-) ___ <---- sharpen this end to | | cut the potato plug | | | | ~~~~~ <---- 2" diameter ABS |~~~| plastic pipe 36" long | | | | |___| [___] /_____\ <--- 4" to 2" reducer [_______] | | | | | | | @|@ <--- gas grill ignitor | | | | <--- 4" diameter ABS tube |_______| 12" long [_______] [///////] <---- screw thread fitting [///////] [__] <--- screw cap Assemble all the parts (except the screw cap) and glue them together using ABS glue. Fit the gas grill ignitor through the middle of the 12" section of tube. So far, what I have seen that works is to load a potato plug, spray a couple shots of Aquanet Hairspray into the other end, screw on the cap, and using a 30" plunger - push the potato plug down the 36" tube. Aim (never aim this at a person or animal!!) and fire! It will launch a potato plug about 1200'!!! I will not assume any responsibility for your ability to build this correctly, choice of fuel, ammo, or choice of target. You are responsible for your actions. Be careful and have fun :-) If this is illegal in your state, I am not responsible if you break the law. std. disclaimer. etc. -- KJ Sullivan ====== END OF FILE ===== ________________________________________________________________________ Date: Sun, 1 Aug 93 21:58 GMT From: Don Webb <0004200716@mcimail.com> To: scotto To: "Arnold R. Watson" <0005317516@mcimail.com> To: "John A. Youril" <0002135500@mcimail.com> To: "fringeware@wixer.bga.com" To: surfpunk To: "Mary A. Bordi" To: Jon Lebkowsky To: jon lebkowsky To: "Dr. Michael A. Aquino" <0002784041@mcimail.com> Subject: Jonesboro Case Dear Folk, My friend Chris Carlisle of AMER asked me to distribute this. If you find the case important, please post it. Don Webb July 31st, 1993 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Civil Rights Activists Denounce Religious Discrimination in Jonesboro, Arkansas Today the Alliance for Magical and Earth Religions (AMER), a national civil rights and civil liberties organization based in St. Louis, Missouri, issued a statement denouncing recent religious discrimination against the owners of a small business in Jonesboro, Arkansas. AMER's president and spokesman, Brad Hicks, called recent events in Jonesboro "deplorable" and "un-American" and said that he would be proud to march in a protest against such discrimination planned for Jonesboro on Sunday, August 1st. The controversy began on June 21st when a Jonesboro couple named Terry and Amanda Riley opened a bookstore, called Magic Moon. The Rileys are self-proclaimed Witches, members of the religion known as Wicca, and the store specializes in books and supplies of interest to other members of their faith. According to AMER's sources, on June 23rd their landlord, accompanied by two local ministers, entered the store and instructed the Rileys that their store would have to close and vacate the premises by July 10th (since extended to August 10th). AMER has also heard that a number of local ministers have denounced the Rileys and their store, falsely accusing them of being Satan worshipers, and have asked other property owners and realtors in Jonesboro not to rent to the Rileys. Since June 23rd, the Rileys have been seeking new quarters for their store but have been unsuccessful. AMER, through its president and spokesman Brad Hicks of St. Louis, Missouri, denounced these actions in strong terms. "Religious discrimination like this," said Hicks, "is wrong and un-American." Hicks stressed that if Jonesboro residents are afraid of Witches, their fears are misplaced. "Above all, the Rileys and their customers are regular members of the community who have never hurt anyone." Hicks and AMER called for calm, hoping that "cooler heads will prevail." Another reason that AMER believes that the Jonesboro churches are wrong to denounce Magic Moon is that their denunciation is based on two factual errors. First, there appears to be a widespread misconception that the Rileys and their customers are Satan worshipers. AMER and many other national religious experts agree that there is no more similarity between Wicca (also known as Witchcraft) and Satanism than there is between any two other religions, such as Christianity and Buddhism. Wicca is a form of natural magic and nature worship, usually worshiping a God and a Goddess of nature and following the natural cycles. Religious Satanists, on the other hand, honor a single God whom they call Satan, Set, or Prometheus, whom they claim gave the gift of intelligence and consciousness to human beings. Satanists and Witches do have one thing in common: a reverence for human life, which both consider sacred, albeit for separate reasons. This contradicts the other apparent misconception of the Jonesboro residents who have denounced Magic Moon, who seem to fear that allowing Witches to transact business in their community is in some way dangerous. Hicks said that most of the image that people have of Satan worshipers and Witches as dangerous lunatics comes from what experts call "dabblers." Dabblers are maladjusted young people or small groups who base their practices or beliefs on what they've "learned" from horror films, denunciations at church, or in the most dangerous cases, from misleading information from ill-informed, self-proclaimed anti-occult "experts" instead of what the religions of Wicca or Satanism teach. In addition, AMER warned that business practices which discriminate, such as denying business owners a lease on the grounds of their religion, are illegal and open up the person or business that so discriminates to both criminal and civil liability. "Besides," said Hicks, "I would hope that the horrible religious conflicts in Bosnia, Northern Ireland, and Algeria would have taught us by now that religious discrimination is wrong and dangerous." In each of the examples cited, terrible wars or insurrections were started when a majority religion attempted to outlaw the practices of religious minorities. "How can anyone say that they believe in America while opposing the free exercise of religion? How can anyone say that they believe in civil rights while opposing civil rights for religions they don't understand?" asked Hicks. The Alliance for Magical and Earth Religions is sending its President, Brad Hicks, and possibly other members and officers, to march in support of the Rileys in an event planned for Sunday, August 1st, in Jonesboro, Arkansas. For more information, contact the Alliance for Magical and Earth Religions at P.O. Box 16551, St. Louis, Missouri 63105, or call its president, Brad Hicks, at (314) 878-8402. FOR UPDATES, PLEASE CONTACT CHRIS CARLISLE AT C24884CC@WUVMD.BITNET OR BRAD HICKS AT JBHICKS@MCIMAIL.COM. PLEASE DO NOT REDISTRIBUTE WITHOUT THE DATE OR THESE EMAIL ADDRESSES. ****************************************** *CHRIS CARLISLE C24884CC@WUVMD.BITNET * * OR C24884CC@WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU * * EMAIL LIAISON AND VICE-PRESIDENT * * ALLIANCE FOR MAGICAL AND EARTH * * RELIGIONS * ****************************************** ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ The SURFPUNK Technical Journal is a dangerous multinational hacker zine originating near BARRNET in the fashionable western arm of the northern California matrix. Quantum Californians appear in one of two states, spin surf or spin punk. Undetected, we are both, or might be neither. ________________________________________________________________________ Send postings to , subscription requests to . ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Finder: keith@cc.gatech.edu (Keith Edwards) Subject: "Using the Spin of Electrons to Make the Smallest Chips Yet" Source: NYT, 7/6/93, pg B5, William Broad <100 LINES> 'Each chip could hold trillions of transistors, compressing vast power into a tiny space' - a standard circuit line today is about a micron wide - 100 times thinner than a human hair o with considerable work, it can be seen how to make .1 micron circuits - enabling billions of transistors - that's been seen as the likely end of the electronics race o a new field is emerging that may leap the size barrier - circuits perhaps .01 microns wide - the width of about 100 atoms - enabling trillions of transistors o a subtle aspect of quantum mechanics is used - electron spin - in a normal electric current, the electrons spin in a random mix . quantum states known as up and down - by viewing this as analogous to light polarization, scientists are creating "off" and "on" states - enabling a surprising new dimension to computing o Mark Johnson, Bellcore (Red Hook NJ) physicist - unveiled his invention of a spin transistor in a recent Science issue - his device is only a prototype but its properties excite experts - for one thing, it works better as it gets smaller! - and it's made of highly conductive metals, not semiconductors o Gary Prinz, Naval Research Lab solid-state physicist "The 21st century could run on spin polarization. It could be the answer to the diminishing-size dilemma of semiconductors. Johnson's work is certainly going to make a mark, the question is how large" o one application is likely to be computer memory - the spin transistor works basically on magnetism . fundamentally, itself an expression of aligned electron spins - arrays of spin transistors could be information storage banks . replacing bulky, slow and unreliable computer disk drives o Eli Yablonovitch, U of CA at Los Angeles electrical engineer "You'd think, with the end of the 20th century, we'd have banished moving parts....what Johnson has done will contribute to their demise" o Johnson's work at Bellcore extended his PhD work at Cornell in 1986 - "Interjection and Detection of Spin Polarization Electrons in Metals" - in 1990 he experimented with exceedingly fine films - in July 1992, he found very strong signals . unlike the weak ones he recorded as a graduate student - the polarization efficiency in the target was nearly 100% . 'why this should be so is still largely a mystery' o what was clear: shrinking the device redoubled its signal strength - theory predicted even further strides "As you trap the spins in a smaller volume, the effect gets relatively bigger" Johnson o Johnson saw the application in switching, digital revolution's heart - his device is a thin gold film between 2 magnetic strips - a current sends polarized electrons from the 1st strip into the gold - their ability to exit (turn the circuit 'on') depends on the magnetic orientation of the 2nd strip - passage requires the electrons and the strip all have the same polarity o this sandwich thus can act as a memory device - the magnetic polarity of the 2nd strip is remembered after the current is turned off - reading the memory requires only a brief electrical impulse - 'arrays of such devices could produce chips that don't need electricity to store information - one of the most coveted prizes in computing' o it's even possible spin transistors could be used in logic processors - if further work in the field is encouraging: Johnson - so far the sandwich has been tested at -297 degrees - Johnson expects spin devices working at room temperature in 1993 o another question is whether the signal amplification of spin devices will be large enough for logic applications: Johnson "If other people become interested, within 1-2 years we could answer a lot of questions" o Bellcore cannot make and sell spin chips, due to legal constraints - they have applied for a patent and could reap licensing fees o if the answers to these questions are positive, the effects will be huge - everything will become dramatically smarter or smaller or both - cars could drive themselves - large machinery would waste less energy - satellites would shrink from yards to inches - robots might become talented - PCs could have the power of todays supercomputers o Dr. Prinz warns that this new frontier is endangered in America "The Japanese are very good in magnetics. I don't know who is going to do this here. The companies are getting out of basic research. It's a tragedy" o a few dozen US scientists has been exploring spin engineering - most are at universities - some at companies: Bellcore, 3-M, Honeywell, IBM . IBM is working in giant magnetoresistance, a spin phenomenon . to improve magnetic disk drives o several Federal agencies are studying the work in spin devices - including the Advanced Research Projects Agency - their funding could pickup the pace of work - David Awschalom, U of CA at Santa Barbara physicist: "You can now spin engineer systems to do all kinds of unique things... Spin devices could be the basis for a new generation of devices" REQUEST ATOM from NSDEC at CARVM8 Norm deCarteret Advantis - Tampa FL ------------------------------------------------------------------