Re: VMs: Re: word length counts

["Jeff" <jeff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Well I would like to come at it from all 3 angles as I feel I would not only
learn a lot about 3 very interesting subjects along the way, but also this
would give a 3d view of the problem. I try not to limit myself to any one
aspect of a problem. But that is just my way.

BTW I already knew about the wheel used in encryption but was trying to find
a unique way of using it to produce a similar effect to the VMS. What I
determined was that the result was a one-way encryption that would take
computer power to decipher, which would make it a good hoax for the time.
However upon closer inspection the code produced would break down on several
fronts. So either I have got it completely wrong, or there may be a simple
adjustment to the principal that would bring it closer to the method used in
the VMS if any.

I won't completely drop the idea. I will simply walk away from it for a
while.

I am not too bothered about getting help or any sort of attention from the
list members so getting responses is unimportant. But if just one person
sees an off the wall message and gets an idea from it indirectly then it has
been worth it. It may spark a train of ideas that solves the problem. New
blood in a project is never a bad idea.

Also I have avoided going too deeply into the historical side of either
manuscripts or encryption as I want my first efforts to be free of
preconceptions. That way I may see things from a different perspective.
However I do read all the messages from the list and appreciate the effort
that everyone puts in.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Nick Pelling" <incoming@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <vms-list@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: 09 July 2003 09:41
Subject: Re: VMs: Re: word length counts


> Hi Jeff,
>
> At 09:04 09/07/2003 +0100, Jeff wrote:
> >With my spinning wheel theory the glyphs could change due to a change of
> >starting point, therefore mapping each character pair combination to a
> >different grid in the matrix. The fixing position to restart from could
be
> >signified by those wierdo glyphs.
>
> Broadly speaking, there are (IMO) three useful ways of looking at
encrypted
> texts:-
>
> (1) as a cryptographer - this asks the question "how could I construct a
> code that looks like the VMS, ie one that duplicates its properties?" Hoax
> theorists (as Gordon has demonstrated) can share this
> "forward-constructional" frame of mind - they might ask "if it's a hoax,
> how was the text generated, how can I duplicate that construction
process?"
>
> (2) as a cryptologist - this asks the question "what interesting features
> of the code can I determine from the stats, and can I reconstruct the
> code's internal mechanisms from those features?" Similarly, hoax theorists
> can take on this "backwards-reconstructional" frame of mind, by asking "if
> it's a hoax, what signs can I find that point me towards the way it was
made?"
>
> (3) as an historian - this asks the question "from the observable signs
> (cipherbet, structure, presentation, palaeography, layout, etc), what can
I
> deduce about the author's socio-cultural milieu, location, status,
> intention, need, position? And from that (and my additional research),
what
> internal properties of the code can I predict?" This is more a
> "postmodern-deconstructional" frame of mind.
>
> Right now, you appear to be trying to do (1) by single-handedly
> recapitulating the history of cryptography 1400-1550, but without really
> getting to grips with the properties of the VMS: a valiant effort, but one
> which is unlikely to get a great deal of support on-list.
>
> Perhaps it might be an idea to get hold of an accessible book on the
> history of cryptography (like David Kahn's classic "The Codebreakers", or
> Simon Singh's more recent "The Code Book") and see how (for example)
> Alberti, Trithemius and Vigenere did it, to put your own thoughts on
> cryptography into a historical context.
>
> Basically: don't reinvent the (coding) wheel, read up on it first. :-)
>
> FWIW, when a breakthrough comes for the VMS, I think it's likely to be
from
> a combination of all three approaches, as any one of them would probably
be
> insufficient... but people naturally have a bias towards one of the three
> paths... which is perhaps why this requires collaboration so acutely.
>
> Cheers, .....Nick Pelling.....
>
>
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