Vitanuova for 2003 November 27

Wolfgang in print

Wolfgang has been writting a weekly column in the California Aggie.

• Welcome to Lobataland
• How to eat an oak tree
• The Billboard and the Spark
• Rats!
• Soc Sci and Hum, or nature
• Crow hour

SSDI

I used the Social Security Death Index to find that Jonas Klein's birthday was August 16, 1975. I think my dedication is finally complete -- now I just have to finish the accompanying book.

A pun

Some Talmudic scholars should open an Indian restaurant. They could call it Tandoor Achnai.

Another pun

How did we know the president of the MPAA was wrong when he said the VCR would destroy the movie industry?

Because, as the saying goes, Valenti non fit iniuria.

ARDG comments

I filed our ARDG comments, containing a brief discussion of the process of hiding watermarks from detectors without actually removing the watermarks. I allude to the fact that analog encryption (including encryption schemes that don't expand bandwidth or dynamic range) was well-developed in the past. Today it seems out of date because digital encryption is so much more efficient, but the old analog encryption techniques could find new life if many devices start looking for watermarks.

The ARDG comments should be up on EFF's web site after the Thanksgiving weekend, and also included in the ARDG report early next year.