Reality Cracking

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Reality cracking tools: H. Cioff's suggestions

25 November 1998

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Courtesy of Fravia's pages of reverse engineering ~ Slightly edited by Fravia+

Well, 'firm for facts' is an even better allitteration, yet H.Cioff is quite right (apart from his beer-related footnotes menaces, he probably just never tasted the beer quintessence: Ename triple): "Reality cracking is so important that it should have a (completely open and transparent but) unambiguous terminology, quite distinct from the language of politicians". Yeah, quite right... yet I still would like some more practical beef and less taxonomical theory :-)
Somehow I don't believe that the links to the pharmaceutical industry's international gossip magazine, though VERY interesting are 'beefy' enough for a 'normal' reader... unless Cioff himself (or somebody else) does not care to explain "the up and the downs" -in a reversing sense- of that specifical sector. I'll make an easy example. Though I knew from the beginning that my chances of winning a lottery are rather slim, I never realized, before learning +Atheist's unsurpassed essay Statistical cracking: basics: cracking lotteries that there is a PURPOSELY spread of lotteries all over the world in order to STEAL money from the gullible ones. So, you see, that's 'reality cracking beef' IMNSHO. But Cioff's essay is -of course- jolly worth publishing as it is, and those among us that will follow his links in order to consider (and delve a little inside) the pharmaceutical industry's ugly deeds will find this really worth it... in order to defend themselves and us all

Reality cracking tools: Cioff's suggestions

I believe, dear reader, that we agree on the need of reality reversal. So it is inhibitory to our real purpose to use too much energy in deepening and extending our understanding of the need. This could wait until we need to recruit more members of the Reversing Society. I think there is homework to be done before that.

It is my impression that you may be more analytically tempered than I in matters relating to the real world. I may be more impatient - maybe I have fewer years to do it? Fravia+ wants more from me on marketing. I will give some to you, but in a secondary context. Doing too much primary work in that direction now would lose time for us in more urgent matters. Most people don't mind about mass marketing, so reversing it will be soooooooo slow. As I said in my previous essay: If we go for the less sophisticated industries first, a lot of simple people may get hurt. Let's take the big ones first of all, that's where the challenges are. And the nice tools. Some toolboxes are out there, rewarding to be found and cracked. Some other ones must be invented.

I believe we should start working on more advanced tools and start having real debates, not only about beers (I really would need a footnote here, but I abstain 0|8--)

AND, dare I say it: Field tests. If we really are among the few survivors of the Age of Reason (those not taken over by the thistledown emotionality of the politicians or the popular press, or the general cowardice of organisation and corporation inmates), I think we should stand firm on facts (nice alliteration, don't you think?).

First we must make ourselves some ideas and plans

I have some suggestions. But so have others. How about a competition? Best reversing projects Authors will earn a reversed question mark in front of their names. ?Cioff - looks nice, doesn't it? (You pronounce it "Cioff?")

These ideas must be tried out scientifically.

In practice: We could state a hypothesis, give an experimental setting, and try to find quantifyable variables to study. We could start quite simply. I can list a few experiments, but again I abstain.

I'm not sure yet how we should set up the experimental protocol. Could we discuss it? Internet social science and computer activism FUSION project?
 

Hurting Muckrosoft

If we are going to hurt Meekrosoft, we should start doing the Oryx Orca (the North Atlantic Killer Whale) thing: Eat into the fat of the slow and stupid plankton-eating whale (the oceanic variety of the cow). Could it be an idea to launch a Debian-for-beginners-who-are-a-little-afraid-of-taking-the-big-step-out-of-the-long-Win-Doze workshop on Fravia+' pages? Explain step-by-step -for instance- how to migrate to Linux for dummies. Get 100000 clever ones, per day, bidding farewell to Gates... If successful such a move could REALLY hurt µ$, and strengthen all GNU (I suppose GNU are friends)

Reversing tools

Reality cracking
Reality reversing
Reality inverting
Reality perverting
Reality polluting
Reality obscuring
Reality spoofing or faking

Just for a start. Maybe all the words are useless, maybe not. Anyone could come up with a list of other words to be taken care of. I come along with these suggestions because I'm not sure I have understood the difference between reality cracking and reality reversing - unless cracking is breaking the code, i.e. understanding, and reversing is planning to or actually implementing improvements in the code. We need a common and simple code if we have the ambition of doing mass reversal. Reversing the world!?

Reality cracking is so important that it should have a (completely open and transparent but) unambiguous  terminology, quite distinct from the language of politicians. I think we must keep politics - as up to now - more than an arm's length away.

I also must put on the brakes a little on the top-down reality cracking or reversing. The top-down reality cracker or Fravia must not be seen as such. Obscurity is the best way to stay in office. Schindler saved some Jews. von Stauffenberg was executed.

Another very important matter: If we go for the top-down stealth option (not you or me - but we can support those why go for it 8--) ) we should calculate a net yield of less than 5 percent. Most will defect when they have reached office because they are rewarded for changing sides, or see the keeping of their convictions as a too expensive luxury. Only those with nothing to lose... or with so much all their life long that they don't care... Go for those with the well-educated and well-paid wives (or husbands), go for those lucky enough that they give for granted -and yet don't like- the 'affluent society they live in! Go for 'noble' (in a knowledge sense, of course) and despise 'vulgar' (in a knowledge sense, of course) ones!

I'm so thrilled by this because I see your efforts and quite a few others as a restoration of generosity in this world of greed. I believe there must be donors around if the world is going to be put right. Important for quality, important for productivity, important for innovation. And the donors must be middle-aged or old men. You'll seldom find the young there: They have mostly nothing to give away, but struggle hard to establish themselves. It can't be -mostly- the women either (I'll try to explain you why with anorther essay, in the mean time I would love it if some girl would show me that I'm wrong). So it must be the "middle-age plus" men, the 'clever seniores' with a career of learning or teaching already behind them, so they have experience and real knowledge to give away. (most of them are not generous, but cling to their knowledge to gain power over others, or are well-adapted cowards, some of them have lost any illusion about life, democracy or politics, and are just trying the last tricks in the box in a desperate attempt to change things).

Reality reversing tools

The best of all sources about the pharmaceutical industry is the international gossip magazine Scrip, which is published twice weekly, and is updated online. I have access to a paper subscription, so I'm unstalkable there. I've never been at the Web sites.

But even though it is an invaluable source, you should read the conditions of sale.

Their conditions for sale are (1 & 2 are rather strict copyright notices). Points 3 and 4: may interest you more:

3.That it will not be circulated without prior agreement with the publisher outside the staff who work at the address to which it is sent.

4. An order for additional copies at reduced rates constitutes as undertaking by the subscriber that such copies will not be exported or distributed so as to avoid taking full price subscriptions elsewhere without prior agreement with Scrip."

And then the annual subscription prices: Europe: £615 (UK £535) - (380 and 320, respectively, for additional copies in the same envelope).

I can imagine that a fair number of people who cannot afford it would love to see the meat of these sites. Would Fravia+' Web searching methods work for these sites?

http://www.pjbpubs.co.uk/scriprep/
http://www.pjbpubs.co.uk/scriprep/home1.html
http://www.pjbpubs.co.uk/scrip/
http://www.pjbpubs.co.uk/online/

I consider this as a possible beginning for the tools section of the big reversing effort. Other industries must have similar tools, I suppose. Who dares be the next?

?H.Cioff

You are deep inside Fravia's pages of reverse engineering, choose your way out:

Reality cracking

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