Silk Road forums

Because if his order got intercepted then he would go to pick up his package like normal and.... well you can figure out the rest...

But what if the vendor he works with keeps a list of customer addresses to turn into the police after being arrested? Wouldn't it be better if the vendor only has fake information? Then if he learns the vendor was arrested, he can drop that box and cut any link his identity has to that vendor. I know a lot of people who use fake ID boxes and in many cases they have learned a vendor they work with was compromised and dropped the boxes. What if he orders from a vendor and learns that everybody else who ordered from the vendor had an interception? Wouldn't it be better to be able to not go and pick up the package, than to have the package delivered right to him? I know this has happened in many cases as well. What if he orders from somebody who decides to blackmail him with his address? This has certainly happened to many people in the past. What if he just wants to switch up boxes every now and then? Perhaps he works with several vendors who send packages to his fake ID box, and then he switches to a new fake ID box and doesn't bring some of the old vendors over to it? Now he has reduced his threat surface area, because less vendors know his shipping information than would be the case if he used his real address (and identity).

What if he wants to make it more expensive for the police to arrest him? Look at what happened to Enelysion. They followed him around watching him send out orders, and they recorded the shipping information on several of his outgoing packages. They didn't follow up with all of those people, but they definitely have their addresses recorded. The same thing happened with Raw Deal and Webtryp, they had thousands of addresses compiled but didn't follow up on all of them. In all of these cases we learned of the operations before everybody was followed up on. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to drop a box and know that your address isn't on a big list of addresses of people known to order illegal drugs? Didn't a lot of people who ordered from the farmers market end up getting letters from the feds saying to stop ordering drugs? Wouldn't it be nice if those letters went to boxes registered with fake ID and long since dropped? I know several people who ordered from joot up until he was busted, and the ones who had shipments sent to fake ID boxes and who dropped them immediately after learning he was busted certainly slept sounder.

What about when your tracking says that your package was intercepted by the feds? Wouldn't it be nice to know that they are not going to be able to link it to you, because you are never going to go and pick it up?

I am still very convinced that using fake ID box is the best technique, particularly if you have an in state fake ID. The argument that using your real address gives you plausible deniability is totally flawed, the police will simply wait for you to open the package and then raid you. In one case they waited a full day and pulled the person over the next day as he left his house. The only good argument against fake ID boxes is that it adds an additional charge if you are ever caught, but I certainly think it reduces the risk of you getting caught in the first place.

Agreed. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

Quote

Java is both a language and a set of programs for executing software written in that language -- a single exploit could work on both systems because of the Java virtual machine.

Having never studied Java in much detail, I never knew this was how it worked. Thanks for the clarification

A great many modern languages usually work like that. Java, Ruby, Python, Perl, PHP, Javascript, C#, and many more. Some popular languages that usually work differently are C and C++ , and of course all of the assembly languages. It is a difference between interpreted languages (which  need interpreter software) and  compiled languages. Although all languages can be interpreted or compiled, almost all of the popular modern languages are primarily interpreted. Interpreted languages are dependent on the interpreter, but get the advantage of being cross platform (ie: java applications work wherever there is a java interpreter aka the java virtual machine). Of course there are a lot of different virtual machines / interpreters for these languages though, Ruby has about a dozen.

Do private forums for this still exist? And why did all those old ones get taken down?

The old ones got taken down because over time they splinter apart, people break off from an established forum and make a new forum that shares most of the same member base until it overtakes the old forum, etc. They are not so much getting taken down as they are evolving, changing admins, merging together, splintering apart, changing servers, etc. The life of a private forum tends to be fairly short, several months usually although in some cases a year or two. But the members all know each other and the groups kind of migrate together for the most part.

For example, Sandoz Labs, a largely American / English Native community merged with The Bible, a largely European community with English as secondary language, when Bible was shut down many of the members went to RCN which then splintered off into FTWR which then turned into FTGB which then had someone on it splinter off into Su.pplier which broke apart into TLG, AFOYI and BBS (with the less trusted people on TLG and most trusted people on BBS), all three of which were shut down just prior to OVDB launching, which shut down but probably has a lot of members who joined SR after it went down.

That is just one example of a migratory path. This shit has been going on for a decade now, with a lot of different 'original communities' and 'forum lines'. I am just naming one of many, the others I wouldn't want to name because they are not communities I had much of a role in. Another thing is that a lot of the really old forums have pretty much disintegrated due to lack of need, people talk with instant message programs now and have known each other for a long ass time. If you want something you just hit up one of your IM buddies and ask them to ask around for you. For example I don't even really need to be on any forums because I stay in regular touch with a lot of vendors who used to operate on forums.

But there are definitely still a lot of private forums out there. I just don't really follow it much anymore. There are probably a lot more today than there were a few years ago even, over time the number of forums has always grown and I don't see why it would slow down really. Although one of the main phenomenon today is that people are on SR, so it is possible that SR kind of centralized everything to it. Instead of a noob forum starting and getting 100 members, then closing registration and another noob forum starting and getting 100 members, etc, all the noobs are just joining SR since it is so widely known and easily accessed.

Quote from: JohnRambo on May 13, 2013, 10:27 pm

Quote from: KitKatisBorednow on May 13, 2013, 07:36 pm

Quote from: JohnRambo on May 13, 2013, 05:35 pm

We all know how porn has revolutionized relations between men and women. After all, it's very hard to be satisfied with an ordinary woman when you can watch porn and imagine having sex with a perfect 10.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2012/12/17/company-developing-fully-immersive-virtual-reality-sex-game/

Looks like VR, virtual reality sex, is almost here. It will probably be available within a couple of years and becomes mainstream within 10 years.

What will feminists and women in general do when most men would rather fuck a supermodel in virtual reality than have sex in real life with a fat, bitchy, smelly cunt?

Looks like women and feminists are going to lose out to technology!

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

God...you are like...the perfect example of an angry man on the internet.  Jesus Christ.

You should have entitled this thread

"I hate women and love porn"

What the hell kind of porn are you watching that has perfect 10s?  Maybe the body is occasionally a 10, but most of those girls have some busted faces.  How do people get into the highly produced shit anyway?  I prefer watching real people fuck, home movie stuff.

But, maybe that is because I am a "feminist" or a  "slut" and I actually have had lots of real sex and enjoyed it a lot better than even the best porn or sex toy

Sweetheart, your anti-male shaming language and feminist man-hatred is not going to stop the coming technological sexual revolution.

Have fun growing old alone with your 10 cats.

Chuckles...

I hate cats...and I am the furthest thing from a feminist.

Women will be getting robots too you know...to avoid insecure individuals like yourself.  Men can be just as needy and clingy and jealous as women....they get worse actually.  I bet you anything that men will be more upset by their girlfriends and wives going out to buy robots that look like Jude Law but don't smother them.

But for females to enjoy VR sex first scientists would need to program AI that passes the turing test. For men to enjoy VR sex it is mostly only a graphics problem.

hmm, except vendors will connect every day, so if you're watching the network, you can exclude everyone else.

The 90K daily users include people who connect occasionally. The number of people who literally connect daily may be 60K.

Then the numbers are:

Tor users

City of 100K: 20
City of 1M: 200

That makes things substantially worse for SR vendors, so it's best not to connect to the Tor network directly.

It seems to me from reading that metrics page that they still have not implemented directory guards. That makes it substantially easier to enumerate Tor clients. For a long time clients directly connected to the directory authority servers, the first time the client ran Tor and anytime that Tor had not been connected for about 24 hours or longer. Only after that did they use the directory mirrors, of which there are a few hundred. Quite a while ago they proposed adding directory guards, and having Tor users always connect to the DA's or mirrors through a set of random Tor nodes selected from a list of nodes included with the original download of Tor (optimistically trying nodes until you find some that are currently up). I thought they had implemented this by now but now it seems to me that they have not. That means watching the directory authority servers is a good way to enumerate Tor client IP addresses still. No matter what watching the Tor download page could do this though, unless users download Tor with open WiFi from a random location or similar. The best bet would be if they used directory guards + Tor starts coming bundled with popular Linux distros (even if it is out of date and doesn't include TBB, it could be used for the initial download of TBB from the centralized download site). I2P is still much weaker to client IP address enumeration though.

http://www.rdos.net/eng/ has a more comprehensive Autism test may be a bit more resistant to the selection bias that Astor thinks is influencing the results. You need to go to the Aspie Quiz link from the left bar. It asks for personal information (sex, date of birth, race) prior to taking it, but this can and should all be bullshit if you plan on posting results from it here. Unfortunately their site looks like it was made with geocities drag and drop editor about a decade ago.

My results:

Your Aspie score: 128 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 98 of 200
You seem to have both Aspie and neurotypical traits

And here is an article about the cognitive profiles of people with Aspergers syndrome, now folded into high functioning autism (but possibly not HFA high functioning autism):

http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=252

Ms. Kelly could see that all was not well with Aaron. The four-year-old walked with a strange lope, vaguely pigeon-toed, and slumped, as if wanting to fold in on himself. Even after a week of child care, he refused to make eye contact. When he did respond to questions, he spoke in a machine-like monotone.

While Aaron occasionally eyed the other children, he made no attempt to engage with them. In fact, Aaron seemed content to play with his toy dinosaur, a replica of a stegosaurus whose name, his mother laughingly told the staff, was “Amph.” Whenever Ms. Kelly or another teacher attempted to get him to join the group, Aaron pulled away, as if physical contact and closeness burned his skin. But when, by the end of the second week, Aaron was no more engaged with the group than he was initially, Ms. Kelly firmly explained to him that he needed to participate in a game of musical chairs. As she gently removed Amph from Aaron’s hands, he met her eyes with an expression of pain, confusion, even betrayal. Though Ms. Kelly tried to soothe him, Aaron’s tantrum escalated. He appeared not to hear or even to be aware of other people trying to talk to him. Eventually, he was removed from the classroom.

Later that day, when Aaron’s mother came to pick him up, Ms. Kelly discussed Aaron’s behavior. “He can be stubborn,” Aaron’s mother agreed. “He won’t learn manners,” she said, describing how Aaron interrupted people in the midst of conversation with a monologue on his favorite topic, dinosaurs. Aaron’s tantrums at home also disturbed and baffled his mother. Many times she couldn’t figure out what they were about, but she had noticed that they occurred most frequently when they were leaving the house.

Based on this conversation, it was clear to Ms. Kelly that Aaron’s problems were not confined to the center. When asked what his pediatrician had to say about Aaron’s behavior, Aaron’s mother confessed that he had recommended that her son see a psychiatrist, who could prescribe him medication to alleviate some of his problematic symptoms. “But I didn’t want my son on drugs,” she said. Nevertheless, Aaron’s mother agreed to allow a psychologist to evaluate Aaron.

The psychologist administered a sophisticated and exhaustive series of psychological, neuropsychological, and educational tests. Fortunately for Aaron, his family, and his teachers, this psychologist had evaluated children whose behaviors were similar to Aaron’s. With a verbal IQ of 140 and a full scale score of 122, Aaron did not fit the standard profile of a child with autism. Neither could he be categorized as “Oppositional-Defiant,” or ADHD, or obsessive-compulsive, though he exhibited signs of each of these diagnoses. The psychologist concluded that Aaron was one of a growing number of children with Asperger’s Syndrome.

Children With Asperger’s Syndrome
Every teacher knows children like Aaron. They’re “different,” “strange,” “eccentric.” They don’t fit in. They grow up to become the brainy kids, the computer “geeks,” socially aloof and alone. Though it may not have felt so to his mother at the time, Aaron was lucky to have been diagnosed so swiftly. Many children with Asperger’s Syndrome are initially misdiagnosed and thus treatment, however well-intentioned, is misguided and involves medication targeting one or more symptoms without taking the entire condition into account. Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) is a neurologically based developmental disorder marked primarily by qualitative impairments in social interaction, communication, and behavior (Tanguay, Robertson, & Derrick, 1998). Named after Hans Asperger, an Austrian pediatrician who first identified the disorder in the 1940s, AS affects as many as one in 300 children. It is very rarely recognized before the age of three, and is thought to be far more common in males than females (Porter, 1996).

Asperger’s Syndrome is considered by many mental health experts to belong to the spectrum of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD), and is often used synonymously with “high functioning autism” (Williams, 1995). Other experts believe that the characteristics of AS are different enough from autism to warrant its own category of diagnosis. With a later onset, less severe social and communication impairments, and a higher verbal IQ than autism, the diagnosis of AS implies a more promising prognosis, and therefore affects both treatment modes and outcome. Whether the diagnosis ultimately exists in its own category or not, the numbers of people being diagnosed with AS—children and adults alike—is steadily ising (Autistic Association of New Zealand, 1998). “Asperger’s Syndrome is such an inconsistently used term,” says Fran Goldfarb, Director of Parent & Family Resources at the Center for Child Development at Children’s Hospital-Los Angeles (personal communication, May 18, 1998). “The terminology, more than anything, tends to confuse people.”

According to Stephen Bauer, M.D., from the Developmental Unit of the Genessee Hospital in Rochester, NY, “For each case of more typical autism, [mainstream] schools can expect to encounter several children with a picture of AS” (1997). For this reason, teachers’ awareness of this syndrome is increasingly critical, not only in order to conference effectively with parents around their children’s educational needs, but to be able to work directly with these students on a daily basis. Children with AS can be tremendously challenging to teachers. The more education, empathy, and support the teacher brings to bear on this situation, the better the child and the classroom as a whole will fare.

Features of Asperger’s Syndrome
Asperger’s Syndrome is a disorder that affects a child’s social, behavioral, speech/language, and physical abilities. The following are some common features of the disorder, divided by areas of strength and weaknesses, as compiled from articles by Ruth M. Ryan, M.D. (1992); Stephen Bauer, M.D., (1997); Amy Klin, Ph.D., (1994); Karen Williams (1995); the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth edition; the O.A.S.I.S. (On-line Asperger Syndrome Information and Support Home Page, updated 1998); the Asperger’s Syndrome Support Network Homepage (updated in September 1996); and the Autistic Association of New Zealand, Inc. (1998).

Areas of Strength


Children diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome

    Have excellent rote memory;
    Absorb information and facts easily;
    Have an average or above-average intelligence (IQ);
    Are usually verbally advanced;
    Are extremely gifted in specific areas such as math, science, music, and art;
    Are academically proficient in several subjects including reading, vocabulary, and memory skills;
    Have the ability to focus on an area of interest, albeit to the exclusion of other interests and activities;
    Are intensely curious about their particular areas of interest, albeit to the exclusion of other areas; and
    Can be absorbed into mainstream education with appropriate support services.

 

Areas of Difficulty
Although children with AS have many strengths, they also have areas of difficulty which make interaction with others and learning difficult. These areas are listed below.

In social situations, children with Asperger’s Syndrome

    Play in solitaire or with much younger or older children;
    Exhibit a lack of empathy or ability to see others’ point of view ;
    Demonstrate a lack of awareness of how their behavior affects others;
    Show absence of spontaneous interest in sharing experiences with others (they live in “their own world”);
    Have inappropriate behavioral and emotional responses to social situations (i.e., laughing at something sad);
    Suffer impairment in non-verbal expression (limited facial expressions and social cues; limited use of gesture, and inability to judge appropriate social distances);
    Have limited and/or missing non-verbal communication; and
    Are often teased and bullied by peers because they cannot perceive that others are fooling or manipulating them.

Behaviorally, children with AS

    Exhibit restricted and repetitive, often bizarre patterns of behavior, interests, and activities (these routines or rituals may be imposed on self and/or on others);
    Display repetitive movements, mannerisms, and vocalizations;
    Develop unusually intense attachment to particular possessions;
    Lack the ability to explain motivations, feelings, or reactions;
    Show inflexibility and rigidity of routine (when they are met with a change in plan or with a surprise, even a pleasant one, they become extremely anxious and upset); and
    Lack the ability to tolerate frustration, often resulting in emotional outbursts.

Children with AS display speech and language difficulties by

    Speaking in peculiar voices (monotone, machine-like);
    Not understanding metaphor/simile, figurative language, and abstractions (everything needs to be very concrete); and
    Expressing difficulty in holding give-and-take conversations.

Physically, children with Asperger’s Syndrome

    Are clumsy and ill-coordinated (unusual gait or stance);
    “Avoid and may become overwhelmed and confused by phsical contact with others” (Cesaroni & Garber, 1991);
    Have gross or fine motor impairment which may affect penmanship, keyboard manipulation, and drawing; and
    Utilize relatively little eye contact.

Students with Asperger’s Syndrome can also have erratic and irregular results from educational and psychological testing. A child with autism or AS “may be a ‘math whiz’ in algebra, but not able to make simple change at a cash register.” Or, he or she may have an astonishing memory for statistics or prose, but forget to bring his or her supplies to class day after day. “Uneven skills development is a hallmark of autism” (Moreno, & O’Neal, 1998).

Sensory Overload
An additional, fundamental feature of Asperger’s Syndrome is a hypersensitivity to external stimuli. People with AS may hear things more acutely than the average person, feel things more sharply, and smell things with exaggerated intensity. Thus they are often in a state of sensory overload. In her paper, “My Experiences with Visual Thinking, Sensory Problems and Communication Difficulties,” Temple Grandlin (1996) describes her experiences with autism. “Sudden loud noises hurt my ears, like a dentist’s drill hitting a nerve,” she writes. “Being touched sent a...tidal wave of stimulation through my body. I wanted to feel the comforting feeling of being held, but the effect on my nervous system was overwhelming.” She writes, “The fear [or anticipation] of a noise that hurts the ears is often the cause of many bad behaviors and tantrums.” Her revelations make accessible and understandable what would otherwise be incomprehensible to most of us.

Suggestions for Early Childhood Professionals
For each of the areas of difficulty, Williams (1995) outlines ways for teachers to deal with the AS child in the mainstream classroom. (Another invaluable resource, written from the perspective of an adult person with Asperger’s Syndrome, is the article by Temple Grandlin, Ph.D., “Teaching Tips for Children and Adults With Autism,”http://www.autism.org/asperger.html.) While there is not room here to enumerate them all, the following are some basic guidelines for helping teachers deal with the AS child in their classroom.

    Minimize transitions by anticipating and preparing the child for any change in routine or schedule and avoid surprises.

    Explain why. AS children do not have the intuitive ability to see that their behavior is insensitive or inappropriate. They need to be told why in very concrete terms.

    Help AS children develop self-consciousness around behavior that is socially insensitive or inappropriate by explaining the reaction their behavior elicits, why their behavior offended people, and why it would have been better to behave in a specifically defined alternative way in the future. Help them to “practice” this alternative way.

    Learn to differentiate between what the child can help and what he or she cannot help, behaviorally, emotionally, or socially. Speaking at length, regularly, with the parents is invaluable towards this end.

    The combination of firm expectations and flexibility is necessary with the AS child. Provide choices, but limit them. In addition, require that they follow the rules of the classroom, and learn to sense where their rigidity can and cannot be loosened.

    To the best of your ability, protect the child from bullying and teasing by peers. Aside from the obvious aim of avoiding hurt feelings, peer insensitivity can be an opportunity to teach and model empathy, even to do some role playing. AS children can also learn to “mimic” empathetic responses.

    Limit their tendency to perseverate on circumscribed areas of interest by designating a specific time during which they may discuss or ask questions about the topic. Likewise, use their interest area as a reward for completing assigned tasks.

    Be calm, predictable, and matter-of-fact in interactions with the child with AS, indicating compassion and patience. It will be “necessary to teach children [with AS] seemingly obvious things...” (Asperger, 1991).

    “Be positive. Be creative. Be flexible” (Moreno, & O’Neal, 1998).

Therapy, Medication, or Behavioral Modification?
No one knows better than professional educators that every child is an individual. Children with Asperger’s Syndrome are no exception. Each one exhibits his or her own cluster of behaviors and traits, some of which may be more attributable to inherent personality characteristics than to a feature of the Asperger’s disorder. Likewise, treatment for AS will be different with each child. Some will benefit from medication for problems having to do with attention, or anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Others do not seem to benefit from medication, but respond well to a supportive behavioral approach to their idiosyncratic ways of experiencing and dealing with the world. A therapist experienced in working with AS children and their families is invaluable. Teachers may find themselves in a position of having to refer the families for consultation to a mental health professional. At times they may have to deal with a degree of family denial. Therefore, your role in recognizing and supporting the family in dealing with their child is crucial.

Conclusion
With the ever-increasing number of children in mainstream educational settings being diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, teachers and parents need to come together around the special academic, social, and emotional needs of the AS child. Parents are rightfully concerned that the bureaucracy of educational planning committees is not equipped to accommodate their children’s unique needs. Cognitively and academically, these students are, if anything, advanced, making them ill-suited for most special education programs. On the other hand, the emotional and social challenges of the mainstream school setting can be extremely taxing for AS children and their teachers. Education and awareness are the first steps towards a sympathetic and effective program for these frequently gifted children with special emotional and social needs. What’s singularly important to remember is that the AS child experiences the world in a high-volume way, uniquely and creatively. The more we can learn from them about patience, compassion, and empathy, the more we will all benefit.

However these articles are rather cherry picked to support my initial hypothesis that people with low functioning Autism are more likely to have exceptional visual memories  (although many are retarded in all areas) and people with high functioning autism are more likely to have exceptional verbal memories. Unfortunately, when it comes to Autism disorders, it is pretty much possible to find plenty of research supporting nearly any hypothesis you want to throw out there. I do believe that this is an accurate point of view though.

The average score of everybody who posted their specific score so far:

28 + 29 + 13 + 26 + 20 + 37 + 34 + 20 + 9 + 7 + 29 + 19 + 9 + 29 + 6 + 33 + 25 + 10 + 41 + 29 + 35 = 488 (up to shakedown)

488 / 21 = 23.23 , which is 6.83 points above the average in control groups, which is 16.4