Sun, Apr 25 2004 04:47 pm
I love Da Vinci

is there anything this man didnt invent?
"Da Vinci's cryptography invention is a tube with lettered dials. The dials have to be rotated to a proper sequence, spelling out the password, for the cylinder to slide apart. Once a message was "encrypted" inside the container only an individual with the correct password could open it.
This encryption method was physically unhackable: If anyone tried to force the container open, the information inside would self-destruct.
Da Vinci rigged this by writing his message on a papyrus scroll, and rolling it around a delicate glass vial filled with vinegar. If someone attempted to force the container open, the vial would break, and the vinegar would dissolve the papyrus almost instantly." -Michelle Delio, Wired 2003
orig. article

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Wed, Apr 21 2004 03:04 pm
encryption list

Kremlin Crypt :nice list of encryption methods.
other links (slightly dated but still good) darknet links

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Mon, Apr 05 2004 09:48 am
binary vs text, regurgitate after me

the post below basically says.. text needs seven bits of info.. binary file data follows the usual 8 bits makes a byte pattern. again for those of us with short reading spans "In computers, every 8 binary digits are used to represent a byte. However, only 7 binary digits are needed to convey text (26 upper case, 26 lower case 10 decimal digits, a number of punctuation characters, etc). Therefore, data using just 7 binary digits per bytes is always text data. It is pointless to say binary computer data, since all computer data is binary. "

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Mon, Apr 05 2004 09:44 am
back to basics

One of the basic foundations upon which computer science is based, binary is simply the concept of representing all things as a series of 1s and 0s. Mathematically, this means that all numbers are represented in base2 arithmetic, and that all things are represented with numbers. Contrast: The word binary usually means not text. In computers, every 8 binary digits are used to represent a byte. However, only 7 binary digits are needed to convey text (26 upper case, 26 layer case 10 decimal digits, a number of punctuation characters, etc). Therefore, data using just 7 binary digits per bytes is always text data. It is pointless to say binary computer data, since all computer data is binary. When someone says binary, rather than being redundant, what they are really trying to convey is that the data in question isn't text data. For example, FTP is a text protocol, whereas SMB is a binary protocol. from Robert Graham's wonderful Hacking Lexicon

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Mon, Apr 05 2004 06:56 am
behold .. its Javascript

there you go.. Base 64 in Javascript.

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Fri, Mar 26 2004 04:40 am
base 64 in relation to...

Its funny, I was mentioning to Jen today how the base 64 tests I'm doing fit so nicely with my early research into cryptography.

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Mon, Mar 15 2004 10:42 pm
Vector Stegano

I saw Nic's type project. Its progressing really nicely.. as you can see the last post here was back in early Feb so not a huge amount of crypto activity going on in my head. but I suppose conceptually things are linking and locking together, the crypto will come into play at some point as well, especially if I envisage taking peoples typed input, obfuscating it and projecting back at them. anyhow the reason why I mentioned nics project is that, I asked him how much scope might exist in encoding information in the curves. quite a bit it seems though nothing to shake the world, i researched this purely for its novelty value. heres something about vector steganography in maps. Vector Stegano in GIS data I guess its pretty hard to come up with a damn original idea, that I dont care anymore. the more you research the more you find out and the more you know the more I think you should simplify.

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Mon, Feb 02 2004 04:12 pm
Book for FontSteg

"Character Recognition and document image analysis." H. Bunke, P. S. P. Wang.
just for reference.
Its more like a collection of papers pertaining to OCR.

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Thu, Jan 22 2004 03:43 am
Random Number

Random Numbers are very essential to the generation of cryptographic keys. Random.org provides a service which gives you random numbers.
The way the random.org random number generator works is quite simple. A radio is tuned into a frequency where nobody is broadcasting. The atmospheric noise picked up by the receiver is fed into a Sun SPARC workstation through the microphone port and the rest is a simple process whihc you can read about on : random.org

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Sat, Jan 17 2004 07:09 am
Art Cryptography®

old net. art project. ext. link

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Wed, Jan 14 2004 07:10 pm
crypto direction

not sure where my cryptology thing is headed for now, in the review, the conveyance of meaning through glitches was more interesting for the panel, even though I started talking a little about James Sanborn and cryptology. in my dissertation its referenced twice, one relates to steganography (video crypt idea) the other relates to quantum cryptography and how its eavesdropping detection qualities are similar to opening an image in wordpad and saving it. do it see what happens. :)

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Sun, Dec 14 2003 02:17 am
ROT - 39

for an implementation of weakcrypt I thought of using ROT-13 , - then I came across ROT-39!
ext. link ROT 39
background to Rot-13
Rot-13 (short for rotate 13) is a simple letter substitution encryption scheme. It works by replacing the current letters in a message with those that are 13 positions ahead in the alphabet.
historically an implementation of ceasar's famous ceasar shift, in the 90's used to prevent inadvertant viewing of offensive newsgroup postings, naughty jokes, spoilers of films, or solutions to riddles.

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Sun, Dec 14 2003 01:44 am
PGP intro

a good intro to cryptography, which describes how PGP works
PGPI link

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Tue, Dec 09 2003 09:59 am
spoon fed steg

nice article by Dru Lavigne.
Im actually quite interested in applications of steganography for digital watermarking, -verifying the authenticity of images.
link from article

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Sun, Nov 30 2003 03:35 am
Quantum Cryptography

Stuart was kind enough to let me know about a quantum cryptography article in this months New Scientist. I got in town late today, so I couldnt get my hands on it. I subsequently posted what I understand about this area to the mailing list.
I havent read the article yet but to anyone who is interested, as far as I know, Quantum Cryptography makes eavesdropping on secure communications impossible without being detected:
in a Voice of America interview, Simon Singh once described it as:
[SS]: "It works according to the following principal: In quantum physics, whenever you observe something, you necessarily change it. If I stare at a dollar bill the photons must bounce off the dollar bill and into my eye. That impact, that momentum, will change the face of the bill. Imperceptibly, but there will be a change. Similarly, if I send you a message,and that message is made of individual electrons, or individual photons, if anybody tries to intercept that message, they must observe that message. If they observe it, they change it. If they change it, we can spot that change and we know there is an observer there on the line. We can stop communicating. So, quantum cryptography is a way of preventing the interception of a message, really, and therefore guaranteeing security that way. It is thought to be absolutely unbreakable. People have said this through the centuries that a code is unbreakable. But this seems to be truly, truly unbreakable."
Source : www.fas.org/irp...
since that interview in 1999 and quite recently actually, a company called MagiQ has been involved in providing solutions to secure key distribution using the principles of quantum communication, you can view their presentation here:
magiqtech video


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Sat, Nov 22 2003 04:48 am
Books and library rant.

start rant
health and safety regulations are there to annoy most of us, or there to be given as stupid reasons for declining power usage requests/ art installations, etc. Town library wouldnt allow me to plug my laptop in for 30 mins to charge it up despite asking very nicely.
therefore I had to make photocopies all day
end of rant.
anyway two books:
James Kelman - translated accounts. blurb on picture

Harraps Book of Codes, Ciphers and Secret languages. (quite an old book, possibly found in dusty corners of reference libraries) or secondhand off amazon.


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Wed, Nov 19 2003 02:04 am
Simon Singh: Manchester

Stuart mentioned that Simon Singh is talking in Manchester on the 10th, at the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. IMA site
His lecture is titled: 'Mathematics of Secrecy'
I'm definately going, as theres no way I'd miss a chance to possibly meet Simon Singh.
Simon is the author of The Code Book and Fermats last theorem.The Code book: amazon link

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Mon, Nov 17 2003 05:27 pm
Spielberg interfaces

to counter my previous claim, I thought its unfair to leave the best of interface design and technology portrayal in films uncredited. Namely in Spielberg's Minority Report. According to a Wired Article - June 2002, Spielberg explains that most of the software in the movie is based on the suggestions of what software will be like in 50 years, he invited some of the most far reaching thinkers to a three day think tank. (Long now foundation Stewart Brand, Doug author Coupland, Cybergold founder Nat Goldhaber, biomed researcher Shaun Jones and virtual reality maven Jaron Lanier) to contribute to ideas on the future of cities and suburbs, play and work, nutreuceuticals and even food. not sure how I can explain how all this relates to cryptology, but watch this space.

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Mon, Nov 17 2003 02:41 am
Hollywood interfaces

one of the things that really annoys me about hollywood films, is their dim portrayal of computers interfaces and computer culture. specially any film that tries to depict computer reality rather than fiction.
in my opinion, not only are they dumbing down the audience but they are also creating false imagery and expectations for a generation that are immediately influenced by them.
slashdot article
perhaps as some views suggest, looking at computer terminals would be boring for the audience?
I think everyone has their own views of why they do it,
perhaps they just dont know. Whatever the case, I have always wanted to explore this area. specially in relation to security related concepts that seem to crop up quite regularly in films.

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