Encryption Algorythm Laws Take a Hammering in the USA
No doubt you'll have noticed by now, the rather poor "frills" content of my site! I've got a couple of small icons dotted about (notice how I use the same ones over and over, this way the cache does the work - not the serial interface), but this site is not exactly the "multi-media extravaganza" you might have expected, or been looking forward to, when you first entered my URL. Why is that?
Well it's simply because I'm fed up with accessing a site in anticipation, only to have to wait ten-minutes for a single page to download (by which time, my interest has usually diminished!) I decided to go for the minimalist approach, let's face it - bandwidth is limited, so the one great selling-point of my site is that it's quick to access!
I recently argued this point on IRC with an aquaintance who'd just incorporated a rather large animation in his pages. It looked great, but it took an age to down-load, and by the time it was finally playing - I'd got bored! He defended his position well, arguing that the web was intended to be a showcase of such cyber-decadence, also he felt that the animation was a great way to advertise his business. To his credit, he had coded his site so that the viewer had to select the graphic before it was transmitted, and he'd also written a caption which advised the viewer of the lengthy transfer time.
For myself though, I prefer to get where I'm going without such fuss. I want quick and easy access to the sites I view. Still, each to his own! So that's why there are no video-clips, music samples, or 24-bit full-screen graphics on my pages. Instead, you can view my site with ease and in comfort, without waiting an age for the transfer of my latest 3D-render! But consider this, when you're designing your pages, keep in mind that your audience has to actually down-load all the data which your site comprises, so keep it simple. If you need graphics, make them small, reduce their palette etc. Then the web will be that little bit better for the casual browser.
I recently became the target of a flame-war in a mailing-list I subscribe to, when I responded angrily to a posting which mis-represented me! The subject of my anger responded viciously to my rebuke of him and the situation worsened from that point onwards. Eventually we were able to resolve our bitter exchange (without a single blow!) when we both reached the conclusion that the mail which had started the "war" had not actually originated from the guy whose signature it contained!
It seems that it is all too easy for someone with malicious intent to fake e-mail, right down to the "Reply To" and "Sender" tags.
So a caution: Consider all incoming mail carefully, if a message seems out-of-place or out-of- character to the sender, then check with the guy first! Don't be fooled into thinking e-mail is secure, it isn't.
Encryption Algorythm Laws Take a Hammering in the USA
I enclose the following news report:
QUOTE
Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The State Department's refusal to let a mathematician post his encryption programs on the Internet was unconstitutional, a federal judge said. The ruling announced Wednesday was hailed by computer industry executives who say the export restrictions have allowed the rest of the world to take business away from U.S. companies.
U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel stopped short of forbidding all restrictions on the export of codes that allow computer messages to be scrambled. But she said the current rules, which treat such computer programs as if they were military weapons, go too far.
The immediate effect of Monday's ruling is that anyone in the federal district that includes San
Francisco and Silicon Valley can post the forbidden cryptography on the Internet, said Mike Godwin, a
lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an online civil rights group.
END-QUOTE
At long last, these arcane rulings have taken a hammering. For too long, the US Govt. has restricted the transfer of encryption programs on to the Internet under the rather vague cover of "in the interests of national security". It (the US govt.), has classified such programs as "weapons" and therefore they have been subject to unbelievable export limitations. We might finally get to see such gems as PGP posted to the Aminet and passing into common usage. This can only be a good thing, as we now have the means to use one of the most secure encryption systems available for the transfer of blatantly insecure e-mail. Judge Marilyn Hall Patel - I salute you. Thank you ma'am for having the foresight and common-sense to pass this judgement!
I, like everyone else in the Amiga-world, was delighted to receive the press-release from phase 5 in Germany, re: their forthcoming computer - The A\Box. I won't re-iterate the spec's or anything, as we must all know them off by heart by now with all the chat we've engaged in! Suffice to say that, in my opinion, this is the most interesting announcement in a long time for the Amiga community! I only hope that phase 5 can legally licence the AmigaOS to ensure compatibility with existing software. After, what use is a new Amiga if it can't run Lightwave 3D, Wordworth 6, Pagestream 3 etc.?
I offer every encouragement to phase 5 for their bold step - We're right behind you guys!
However, other events in the Amiga world are not so pleasing. Viscorp have still made no great announcement as to their promised acquisition of Amiga Technologies and there have been many postings to news-groups and mailing lists about their falling share-value.
More and more dealers/producers/programmers, once dedicated to our platform, are investing heavily in the PC market in an attempt to balance the losses they are making on Amiga product. Even our favourite periodical, CU Amiga magazine, was recently criticised for printing an advert, from a long-time Amiga distributer, for the products of Apple Computers Inc.!
Bare with it my fellow devotees, we have always ridden the rough before, and somehow the Amiga lives on. These suppliers have to generate an income in some way, otherwise we'll lose them altogether, so a little tolerance please. We need their support!
Amiga
- battered, but still fighting!Yet, while others look for alternative sources of income and some leave the Amiga altogether, still more producers join us for the first time or provide a rapidly expanding range of new product.
Take, for example, Vulcan Software, they produced a couple of (IMHO) humble games, then suddenly ... they announce a whole host of new software for our machine, seemingly out of nowhere! They have also produced the first Amiga flight-simulation in a long time with their stunning JetPilot! Congratulations Vulcan for a job well done.
Then there's ClickBoom who appear from the depths of the space/time continuum with Capital Punishment, not only is it the finest martial-arts type game we've yet seen but, some would say, the finest game of any genre on the Amiga, EVER! Bold words indeed, but the simple fact is that ClickBoom have very obviously invested a lot of time and energy in the production of Capital Punishment, re-vitalising a sagging Amiga games-market in one fell swoop! These are just two examples on the software front ...
When we move to hardware, I can't understand why depression seems to be the dominant emotion among my fellow Amigans! I've already mentioned phase 5's A\Box, which is a revolution in itself, but let us not forget their continuing research into PowerPC accelerators for existing Amigas, nor their highly respected range of 68000-series accelerators! There is also their excellent CyberVision range of graphics-cards, which are probably the best around - maybe even eventually surpassing the Picasso in the popularity stakes.
Speaking of which, we have Picasso IV on the horizon, another truly astonishing piece of kit if the hype is to be believed!
We also have the Eagle range of tower-systems and the Siamese system to be proud of. The Siamese in particular, represents a stunning Pandora's Box of tricks for the hardware freak, a complete Pentium PC interfaced to your Amiga with both computers running in parallel! Nowhere else is this level of cross-platform integration possible.
Next up, right of the blue, comes Omnilink Corporation, new to the Amiga and about to launch a hardware/software solution for the Connectix Corporation's Quickcam digital camera. This development will allow users to easily introduce still and motion pictures to their Amigas, scanning images for your DTP applications or your www-page perhaps! All we need now is for CUSeeMe to be re-written to allow for transmission as well as the currently-supported receipt of video, then we too can indulge in the gimmick of video-conferencing, that application which is so revered amongst PC users!
I'd say we have an awful lot to look forward to. So let's have a little optimism folks - Stand Proud, you're an Amigan!
So it's not all doom and gloom after all, although it might seem so sometimes. One thing that strikes me is this: Would all this development be taking place if the developers saw no future for the Amiga?
Of course not, and if they're optimistic then I am too! I firmly believe that there is an awful lot of life left in the old dog yet, so don't give up my friends - stay with us, we still have a large presence in this techno-world!
It is my intention to keep this page up-to-date with the latest topical content, to this end I need feedback from you. Write to me with any news/rumours/announcements which you might come across, then I can report them here.
Thanks in advance.
If there's something you'd like to tell the world about, or an opinion you'd like to express - Please drop me a line!