In all the discussion concerning turnips in the past few days, I haven't seen any discussion about a subject I would think most would be interested in---secure and/or anonymous physical transactions.
Is it really the case that a provably secure physical transaction is simply impossible? I've searched for references on this and have found almost nothing. In particular, it seems that the best anyone has to offer for anonymity is dropping a letter in a mailbox on the sending end, and having a p.o. box arranged anonymously on the receiving end. Neither of these are all that great. As far as security, it seems like keeping someone from snooping in the box you're sending involves tamper sensors that destroy the contents. The sort of security and anonymity I'm interested in would allow, for example, an anonymous version of EBay where "illegal items" could be bought or sold. Examples include firearms, controlled substances, and even organs. Assuming that anonymous digital cash &c are available, the only remaining problem is transferring the goods physically. (Granted, the assumptions about digital cash are a bit of a stretch, but I'd argue that their problems are dwarfed in comparison to the problem of physical transfers.) Is this just a pipe dream? Is it provably impossible? Or have people actually been thinking hard about this and producing results? -Buddy Ackerman Hush provide the worlds most secure, easy to use online applications - which solution is right for you? HushMail Secure Email http://www.hushmail.com/ HushDrive Secure Online Storage http://www.hushmail.com/hushdrive/ Hush Business - security for your Business http://www.hush.com/ Hush Enterprise - Secure Solutions for your Enterprise http://www.hush.com/ Looking for a good deal on a domain name? http://www.hush.com/partners/offers.cgi?id=domainpeople
