That's sounds personal...

You're a lucky guy Brad!

---
"Jelly-belly gigglin, dancin and a-wigglin, honey that's the way I am!" Janice the Muppet

Are you kidding? 28 is a Perfect Number. Much geekier than a just plain Cube.

---

DexX uses his brain briefly. The sound of grinding gears emanates from his head.

Hey! You're right!

1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, 28, 36, 45, 55, 66, 78, 91, 105...

---
This signature has performed an illegal operation and has been shut down.

Are you kidding? 28 is a Perfect Number. Much geekier than a just plain Cube.

---

DexX uses his brain briefly. The sound of grinding gears emanates from his head.

Hey! You're right!

1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, 28, 36, 45, 55, 66, 78, 91, 105...

---

Uh, actually, those are Triangular Numbers (so called because they can be represented like:

*
* *
* * *
* * * *
* * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * * *

), which 28 is too. As for being "perfect" ...

Take the numbers that divide evenly into 28:
1, 2, 4, 7, and 14
Now add them together ...

---
ken.kaufman@gmail.com

Ever play with matrix cryptography, kaufman? I'm guessing yes.

Let's set up a key for a 3 by 3 matrix and talk shit behind these guys' backs. I have a few things to say about wirthling, by god.

---
I ate a hooker half a bottle of knife.

quote:

---

Ever play with matrix cryptography, kaufman? I'm guessing yes.

Let's set up a key for a 3 by 3 matrix and talk shit behind these guys' backs. I have a few things to say about wirthling, by god.

---

Why bother with the crypto thing when we've got the [u]secret forum[/u]?

---
ken.kaufman@gmail.com

Happy yesterday, Brad!

Man, get offlined for a while and look what I miss...

---
"Only things I approve of should exist." -some guy on the internet

quote:

---

Take the numbers that divide evenly into 28:
1, 2, 4, 7, and 14. Now add them together...

---

Ah, I see where my confusion came from - I knew from my childhood that 6 was a perfect number. My brain had lost the precise reason why, and thought it was its triangularity. Thanks for clearing that up, you colossal geek, you.

As for codes and ciphers, I had a wonderful one that I got from a Lewis Carroll book, based on this grid...

[font=courier].|ABCDE|FGHIJ|KLMNO|PQRST|UVWXYZ|
-+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+
A|abcde|fghij|klmno|pqrst|uvwxyz|
B|bcdef|ghijk|lmnop|qrstu|vwxyza|
C|cdefg|hijkl|mnopq|rstuv|wxyzab|
D|defgh|ijklm|nopqr|stuvw|xyzabc|
E|efghi|jklmn|opqrs|tuvwx|yzabcd|
-+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+
F|fghij|klmno|pqrst|uvwxy|zabcde|
G|ghijk|lmnop|qrstu|vwxyz|abcdef|
H|hijkl|mnopq|rstuv|wxyza|bcdefg|
I|ijklm|nopqr|stuvw|xyzab|cdefgh|
J|jklmn|opqrs|tuvwx|yzabc|defghi|
-+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+
K|klmno|pqrst|uvwxy|zabcd|efghij|
L|lmnop|qrstu|vwxyz|abcde|fghijk|
M|mnopq|rstuv|wxyza|bcdef|ghijkl|
N|nopqr|stuvw|xyzab|cdefg|hijklm|
O|opqrs|tuvwx|yzabc|defgh|ijklmn|
-+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+
P|pqrst|uvwxy|zabcd|efghi|jklmno|
Q|qrstu|vwxyz|abcde|fghij|klmnop|
R|rstuv|wxyza|bcdef|ghijk|lmnopq|
S|stuvw|xyzab|cdefg|hijkl|mnopqr|
T|tuvwx|yzabc|defgh|ijklm|nopqrs|
-+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+
U|uvwxy|zabcd|efghi|jklmn|opqrst|
V|vwxyz|abcde|fghij|klmno|pqrstu|
W|wxyza|bcdef|ghijk|lmnop|qrstuv|
X|xyzab|cdefg|hijkl|mnopq|rstuvw|
Y|yzabc|defgh|ijklm|nopqr|stuvwx|
Z|zabcd|efghi|jklmn|opqrs|tuvwxy|
-+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+[/font]

You have a code word or phrase known only by those who want to communicate secretly, and write them one on top of the other to get grid references. For example, the code word "donkeysodomy" and the message "wirthling really truly sucks" would be written like this:

[font=courier]donkeysodomydonkeysodomyd
wirthlingreallytrulysucks[/font]

You then take the corresponding letter from the grid. D on the top row, W on the vertical, gives you Z, and so on, giving you:

[font=courier]donkeysodomydonkeysodomyd
wirthlingreallytrulysucks
zwedljabjfqyozldvsdmvioiv[/font]

With this code, if you keep the keyword in your head, you can have the grid and the coded message in plain sight with no danger of them being used successfully. I have been going to write a computer program to accept the keyword and coded message for a couple of years now, but the mood has never struck me.

---
This signature has performed an illegal operation and has been shut down.

That's a cool method. It's basically the same as the method I was talking about using matrices, in that both require a "key". It's been a couple of years since I've taken my linear algebra class, but I think it works as follows.

You give A through Z numeric values:

A=1, B=2, C=3...Z=26.

Then, say I wanted to transmit the message "wirthling sucks". I'd set up a matrix using the numeric values of this message. For instance:

|w i r t h l i |
|n g s u c k s|

=

|23 9 18 20 8 12 9 |
|14 7 19 21 3 11 19|

Since this is an easy code to break, you then multiply it by another matrix, called the key. This key can be ANYTHING, and it's that very reason that makes breaking a code without knowing the key so difficult.

For example, if we used the key:

|6|
|3|
|8|
|2|
|9|
|5|
|4|

We'd get the coded matrix:

|517|
|457|

Those two simple numbers hold the message "wirthling sucks" with the key we used. The only way to decipher it would be to apply the above matrix operations in reverse, then convert the numeric values of the alphabet to their letter form. But in order to do this, you must have the key.

You can see why these types of encryptions are so effective. Unless, of course, you stopped reading by now.

---
I ate a hooker half a bottle of knife.

I never did matrices in six years of high school and a semester of university maths. Actually, that semester of maths in uni was disturbingly enjoyable. I could not believe I enjoyed it so much. The tutor was a great guy, too.

Stuffed if I can even remember what Big O notation is even about a year and a half later, though, let alone still do it.

---
This signature has performed an illegal operation and has been shut down.

Why would one need to encrypt the message "wirthling sucks"? It's hardly a state secret.

---
"And Wirthling isn't worth the paper he isn't printed on."

I'd have to disagree. Russia's using the essence of your suck to power their reactors.

---
I ate a hooker half a bottle of knife.

|925|
|165|

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

---
Dad was flammable

For those about to rock... by ObiJo 11-18-01

Look at my cool decoder ring, ma! You can turn any message into a code! Here, try it! Sweety, sit down. There's something we need to talk about. C'mon, try it once first. Pleeeeze? 9 3 1 14 20 2 5 12 9 5 22 5 25 15 21 20 15 15 11 20 8 5 20 9 13 5 20 15 20 18 1 14 19 12 1 20 5 20 8 9 19 9 19 1 12 21 20 5 25 15 21 12 15 22 5 15 2 9 Wow, that's a good one! What'd you say?! "Your father just called. He's leaving us and moving in with his secretary. It's all your fault."

---
I ate a hooker half a bottle of knife.