Re: Seriation

Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> wrote:

On 01/02/2025 16:04, Rich wrote:

Welcome back, after a long silence.

 
Bloody Thunderbird.  I start using a new computer for the first time
since Trafalgar and BING!  --- Usenet is working again!

One of the reasons I use Tin and read/post from an xterm. :)

What I posted was what I took to be the meaning from your posts.

 
And you may well be righter than me, it all being several centuries
ago now.

Yeah, what was it, circa Dec 2019 timeframe.  So "around" five years
now.

Naturally I may have 'diverged' slightly in my interpretation from
your true intent (my not having a Usenet crystal ball with which to
read minds remotely certianly helps explain some divergence).

 
Yeah, that's your problem right there - failing not only to read
minds but /future/ minds.

If I only had that "future mindreading crystal ball".  I'd own my own
Caribbean island by now.

If I recall correctly (and it's entirely possible that I don't),
what I was after in SCOS was something just a little bit harder to
read than ROT-13, because people here were having ROT-13
conversations that they clearly believed some regulars (eg aob)
couldn't read, but I couldn't quite bring myself to believe that
anyone could be incapable of decrypting ROT-13.

 
I do believe there were some rot-13 posts, and quite possibly an
assumption that AOB could not crack them.

 
I do actually stand by those two claims.

Was not refuting your memory.  I believe your claims re posts and the
general consensus on AOB are correct (or at least within the same
ballpark as my own recollections).

But that was AOB we were dealing with.

 
Well, quite so.

Of note, his website is no longer on the internet.  I suspect (but have
no evidence) that "time" has come for him by now.

His knowledge of actual cryptography was very much suspect, so it is
'possible' he could not crack them himself.  Now, might he have
found a rot-13 decryptor web page to use, possibly.....

 
Indeed, or he might not have been quite so dense as he made out?

Also possible.  Although I'd give that maybe a 10% chance.  Otherwise
he was expert master class at both trolling and appearing to be a
cryptographic and programming imbecile.  Another very unlikely, but not
zero likelyhood, opinion.

The point of SCOS was a little like the point of the scary devil
monastery.  If you could post in asr, it proved you were good
enough to post in asr, and if you could post and decrypt SCOS
messages it proved...  well, that you were good enough to take part
in SCOS conversations.

 
Ah, so maybe I did miss a sublety in your intent -- beyond a
"christmas holiday fun exercise in decrypting a new system".

 
Isn't that just another way of saying the same thing?  Well, okay,
not exactly...  but the kind of people it was meant for were the kind
of people who'd have a crack at it.

Yes, and it did get quick uptake in the group at the time.  I had no
time at the time to devote to it, but months later when I did have
time, digging out the algorithm was a fun exercise.

But yes, being easy (but not /quite/ trivial) to crack was indeed
at the heart of SCOS.

It took me some WTF's before I finally sussed out the critical bit of
SCOS1 that made everything finally make sense.  You obviously know of
what "finer point of the algorithm" of which I speak. :)  And of course
once SCOS was understood, understanding SCOS2 was less of an effort.

Do note that by "secure" I was referring to Claus' usual statements
about being able to communicate from "inside enemy lines in a
hostile environment".  I doubt very much you'd recommend SCOS or
SCOS2 for such usage.  I certianly would not recommend use of either
variant for a "behind enemy lines" or "hostile environment"
situation.

 
You doubt correctly, of course, but frankly communicating from inside
enemy lines isn't all that hard if you put your mind to it.  Step 1:
don't attract suspicion.  Step 2: keep your messages short.  Step 3:
use something strong eg AES.  Step 4: hide it in a bitmap or a MIDI
or a WAV or whatever.  Step 5: apply for a transfer back to Head
Office because frankly life's too short to waste it pissing about
with spying and stuff.  But if you must, Steps 1-4 should see you
through.

Agreed, not having to do so is the much preferred state of being. 
Sadly, not everyone gets that luxury at all times.