[web-team] Upcoming SVLUG speakers through November 2001

[Tom Geller]

Thanks to Winston for noodging me to get info about upcoming speakers 
to the Web team. Here's the goods on all the upcoming talks. (I 
actually sent something similar a few weeks ago, but it was to 
"web-team", not "webteam". Duh. I wonder where it went?)


---begin---

6 June:
Jon Callas from Counterpane

Abstract:

The Effect of Anti-Circumvention Provisions on Security

Counterpane Director of Software Engineering Jon Callas explores 
security design, copyright, and shows how the two can be reconciled. 
One of the properties of digital Intellectual Property (IP) is that 
it can be easily reproduced, modified, and transferred. In response, 
IP owners have created creating new security technologies for 
controlling the digital works. Inevitably, this creates an 
opportunity for those who can circumvent those technologies. Recent 
changes in copyright law attempt to address this on-going battle by 
prohibiting circumvention of these technologies. Unfortunately, this 
well-meaning provision has a number of unfortunate effects on 
development of security systems, including techniques that protect 
intellectual property itself.

Bio:

Jon Callas is a premier figure in the world of Internet security. He 
produced RFC 2440 (the IETF standard for OpenPGP), created the 
architecture for a unified PGP and X509 certificates, and has worked 
to get PGP software available worldwide. His current passion is the 
Digital Millennium Copyright Act and its effects on security, 
testifying before the U.S. Congress in 1998.

He is now Director of Software Engineering at Counterpane, a Managed 
Security Monitoring company; prior to that, he was one of the kernel 
developers for the VMS operating system at DEC, founder of 
meeting-software company World Benders, CTO at Network Associates, 
and Senior Scientist at Apple Computer (where he was known as the 
company's "Security Czar"). He still runs Linux on the 486 box he 
bought for the 1.0 release.



-----
4 July: No meeting


-----
1 August:
Mark C. Langston, Chief Technical Officer
Taos - The SysAdmin Co.

Abstract:

From the advent of the first digital computer, systems administration has
meant coaxing software and hardware to efficiently perform a given set of
tasks.  Over the years, the equipment, operating systems, and applications
have grown more complex.  To effectively manage today's demands,
an SA must consider and control not only the hardware and software one
normally thinks of when using the word 'systems', but the people and
environment in which these systems function.  This talk will detail the
ways in which these components are also systems to be administered, and
will outline the factors that must be considered to encompass this
broader definition of systems administration.

Bio:

Mark C. Langston is the Chief Technical Officer of Taos - The SysAdmin
Company, headquartered in Santa Clara, CA.  He has been administering
Unix systems of various flavors and the networks that connect them
for approximately 10 years.  He is a member of the SAGE Certification
Policy committee and the Linux Professional Institute's Advisory Council.
He holds a master's degree in experimental cognitive psychology from the
University of Chicago.


-----
5 September:
Still deciding (several candidates have been invited)

-----
3 October:
Still deciding (several candidates have been invited)


-----
7 November:

The Evolution of Public Key Cryptography
Martin E. Hellman
Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering
Stanford University

Abstract:

In our 1976 paper, "New Directions in Cryptography," that introduced 
public key cryptography Whit Diffie and I wrote: ìWe stand today on 
the brink of a revolution in cryptography.î As with most revolutions, 
there was also an evolutionary process that culminated in the 
revolution. That evolutionary process is easier to see in hindsight, 
and will be the subject of this talk. The talk also gives credit to 
some of the individuals whose work is often overlooked, but whose 
contributions were clearer to those of us working in the early days 
of the field.

Biography (needs shortening):

	Martin E. Hellman was a researcher at IBM's Watson Research 
Center from 1968-69 and an Assistant Professor at MIT from 1969-71. 
He returned to Stanford in 1971, where he served on the regular 
faculty until becoming Professor Emeritus in 1996.
	Prof. Hellman is best known for his invention, with Diffie 
and Merkle, of public key cryptography. Prof. Hellman has also been a 
long-time contributor to the computer privacy debate, starting with 
DES' key size in 1975 and culminating with service (1994-96) on the 
National Research Councilís Committee to Study National Cryptographic 
Policy, many of whose recommendations have since been implemented.
	Prof. Hellman also has a deep interest in the ethics of 
technological development. With Prof. Anatoly Gromyko of Moscow, he 
co-edited Breakthrough: Emerging New Thinking, a book published 
simultaneously in Russian and English in 1988 during the rapid change 
in Soviet-American relations. He also worked to develop an 
environment within the university within which students of diverse 
backgrounds can function to the best of their ability.  His work in 
this last area has been recognized by four teaching awards, including 
three from minority student organizations.
  	Prof. Hellman has been involved with a number of high-tech 
startups over the last twenty-five years, serving as a founder, 
advisor, and investor. In his spare time, he enjoys people, soaring, 
and hiking. He and his wife of 33 years, Dorothie, reside on the 
Stanford campus.



-----
December 2001 and on:
Still deciding (several candidates have been invited)




---end---
-- 

          Tom Geller  *  San Francisco * tgeller.com
bandwidthpr.com, openppc.org, suespammers.org, popcomputers.com
Speaker Coordinator, Silicon Valley Linux Users Group (svlug.org)