Paul Moses writes:

the directions to Cygnus remind me of something from "The Crying of Lot 49"

Instead of giving my entire sig, as I usually do, I will isolate just a single line of it: W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. We Await Silent Tristero's Empire! For the Pynchon-deprived, "The Crying of Lot 49" is a novella about the search by Oedipa Maas for the meaning of some strange occurrences, It takes place in California. The _real_ Yoyodyne Corporation came from "Lot 49," not from Buckaroo Banzai! The crypto connections are many, even though "Lot 49" was written in 1966. A private mail delivery system, the direct descendant of European mail systems, is in competition with the U.S. Postal System (secretly, of course, as it is illegal to use other mail systems...a lesson for Cypherpunks?). Mail is deposited in boxes marked "W.A.S.T.E." My W.A.S.T.E. address is Aptos, California, down the coast from Santa Cruz. Now you know what that means. Now I've blown the secret. For those who have found "Gravity's Rainbow" too cryptic, let me recommend "Lot 49" as both a very quick read and an excellent introduction to the world and style of Thomas Pynchon, ur-cypherpunk. -Tim May