Comments on: Chapter 17

By: tiptoe

tiptoe — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 05:42:54 +0000

According to an article in the Electronic Frontier Foundation Web site, a University of California-Berkeley graduate student named Dan Bernstein sued the government after being forced to register as an arms dealer after developing a cryptographic algorithm. For more information on the case, go to http://www.eff.org/cases/bernstein-v-us-dept-justice. In 1997, a U.S. District Court judge ruled the government’s cryptography rules unconstitutional. See the story here: http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/04/21-32

By: tiptoe

tiptoe — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 05:32:35 +0000

The export of cryptographic equipment was regulated by the defense department and placed on the U.S. government “munitions list” as late as 1992, according to this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography. For information on how some radicals in the freedom movement view the restrictions on cryptography, see the Cypherpunk’s Manifesto, by Eric Hughes, here: http://www.activism.net/cypherpunk/manifesto.html//www.activism.net/cypherpunk/manifesto.html

By: Alex H.

Alex H. — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 03:21:35 +0000

Although there isn’t a definitive source, there are strong suspicions that this saying has been around for a while. Perhaps since 1925, according to:

Partridge, E., & Beale, P. (1986). A dictionary of catch phrases. Routledge. p. 241.

By: missyka04

missyka04 — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 02:10:16 +0000

The crypto wars started in the late nineties according to Wikipedia. 1970s to be exact.

By: missyka04

missyka04 — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 02:01:13 +0000

The Electronic Frontier Foundation was founded in 1990 and is located in San Francisco, CA.

By: missyka04

missyka04 — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 01:51:21 +0000

This is real court case, Bernstein vs. United States.

By: missyka04

missyka04 — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 01:27:25 +0000

Reading the rhyme on its own I interpreted it to mean that if you were in trouble, you should create a distraction to take the attention away from the problem at hand… in other words, a war strategy to create chaos to cover something up.

By: missyka04

missyka04 — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 01:17:41 +0000

This is actually the first time I have ever heard this saying. I found it to be fun and catchy so I decided to try to find out where it originated. The earliest I was able to find it documented was in a book written in 1951 by Herman Wouk, The Caine Mutiny: A Novel. The Caine Mutiny is about a guy aboard a Navy ship, The USS Caine, during World War II. The text leading up to this quote in the book is: "To Willie's eye it was a scene of confusion and panic. He surmised that the Caine crew were unfitted for their jobs, and were fulfilling the ancient adage: When in trouble or in doubt, Run in circles, scream and shout." Even though it is referred to as an adage, I was not able to find this saying anywhere before this book.