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Slashback: Sale, Secrecy, Lasers

More details below in tonight's Slashback on the sale of Corel's Linux division, the public posting of the encryption scheme some bright young Irish whippersnapper has come up with, fun details on those toys you can roll around with your computer, and winners of another contest.

That's a lot of Molsen. Bigger R writes contributes this link to a story in the Calgary Herald with more detail on the sale of Corel's Linux division which was mentioned in vague terms the other day. It's going to a company called Xandros, in exchange for cash and equity, so Corel will still have at least some interest in the continued success of Linux, or at least its distro. A snippet: "Xandros Corp. president Michael Bego, who started the Ottawa company recently in preparation for the deal announced Wednesday, is also a shareowner in Linux Global Partners, a privately held New York venture firm that put up $10 million US to start Xandros."

Small, cheap and fun are all good words. An Anonymous Coward writes "There's an announcement of the winners of the embedded linux journal's design contest over at linuxdevices.com. Cool projects -- voting system, digital audio workstation, solar racing vehicle, GizmoCopter Project, and Hacking BigMouth Billy Bass. Follow the urls for the projects which are given in the announcement to learn about each project. Oh, and the prize for winning each category? An all expense paid trip to Costa Rica. Dang, why didn't I enter?"

Stuff that's hard to read. John Sokol writes with an update on the Cayley-Purser Algorithm mentioned here before.

"This story went through some time back about a 16-year-old girl outdoing RSA, but it lacked any discussion of the actual algorithm. This link is her paper that she now has posted on the net. It seems reasonable. Maybe someone here can find a flaw in it?"

Roll 'em. Slide100 writes: "It seems that there is more to the desktop rover that was posted about on Tuesday.

The marketing manager sent me a PDF file that explains some more - apparently, they just don't have the time to update the website.

Each rover comes with a cable that plugs into the transmitter and software to allow control of the rover from your computer (or through TCP/IP).

Additionally, each rover has 'Laser Tag' as an integral part of the vehicle. 10 hits (including sound effects) and your rover is disabled 'till the next match See it here. BTW - I have nothing to do with the company, I just think its very cool."

141 comments

  1. No more quickies? by joeytsai · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Hey, is Slashdot not doing quickies anymore? These Slashbacks are getting more frequent, have they replaced the good ol' round of quickies?

    --
    http://www.talknerdy.org
    1. Re:No more quickies? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was under the impression that Quickies were for large collections of fairly trivial but interesting items. Slashback is supposed to include more updates on (perhaps trivial) items that /. has covered in the past. Or am I not up on my slashdot nomenclature?

    2. Re:No more quickies? by garcia · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      they renamed them, they don't want to feel like the only quickies that they are ever going to have are on the web ;-)

    3. Re:No more quickies? by oliphaunt · · Score: 1

      if you want quickies, do what i do-- go to memepool.

      --




      Humpty Dumpty was pushed.
  2. CP Algorithm broken long ago as public key scheme by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Obviously the poster did not read the article himself. In a postscript of her own paper (http://www.cayley-purser.ie/#Post_Script__An_Atta ck_on_the_CP_Algorit), a successful attack is described. The CP algorithm is only useful as a private key scheme, which is no big news.

  3. I found the flaw! by garcia · · Score: 0, Troll

    since it makes absolutely no fucking sense what-so-ever it must be a lie! She is just tricking us into thinking it is real by using all that fancy mumbo-jumbo ;-)

    1. Re:I found the flaw! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      thats actually true. the paper documents a successful attack on it. the algorithm is broken.

    2. Re:I found the flaw! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah... but give her some respect, she's a chick in a man's industry, she was also only 16 too, it landed her a place in Cambridge. She's managed to achieve a lot at a young age.

      Who cares if the algorithm? She's cute and she's Irish! Gotta love the smooth accent and fiesty temper no doubt.

      Don't rain on her parade... if Adobe can only manage to protect their e-books with ROT-13 then this chick looks really, really intelligent in comparison.

  4. Rock'em Sockem by Neck_of_the_Woods · · Score: 2, Funny


    You know this is a really cool little deal. What is really going to be pretty neat is when you can set up rock'em socke'em robots.

    With lasers on them to plug into your computer though a wireless network work. Then play with them though a head mounted camera! -- Opss wait that is Quake.

    --
    Neck_of_the_Woods
    #/usr/local/surf/glassy/overhead
  5. Laser tag? by Elequin · · Score: 2, Informative

    I don't see anything about laser tag on the vehicle, but I did get this when I was trying to find it:

    This page is being modified, Sorry about that -
    come back later and we should have the
    changes completed. Please Click your
    browser's "Back" Button.

    Thank You!


    Heh. I guess maybe they're trying to add it, or trying to keep from getting slashdotted too badly?

  6. 16 y.o. are as flawed as the rest of us by zenyu · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Umm, she has pointed out the flaw in her own post-script. If I read it correctly, it says
    that if you know the public key and one encrypted
    message then you can break it.

  7. Sarah Flannery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There is a book entitled "In Code" by Sarah and her father, published by Workman, NY, that very interestingly describes her work. In it she tells of being advised by a well known mathematician that there is an attack on the method she described, due to the famous Caley-Hamilton theorem.

    1. Re:Sarah Flannery by mamba-mamba · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Since the encryption scheme is broken (as public key anyway) it is not likely to make a great deal of money for anyone, although it was certainly interesting to read about.

      Furthermore, I think the father is right. Most children who get lots of money and or achieve lasting celebrity while they are still children have messed-up lives. I totally agree with the father's decision. Besides, smart as she is, she will most likely make money later in life if that is what she actually wants to do.

      MM
      --

      --
      By including this sig, the copyright holders of this work or collection unreservedly place it in the public domain.
    2. Re:Sarah Flannery by DGolden · · Score: 2

      Cultural differences. Many Irish, perhaps even most of them, don't value material wealth above all else, despite the usual cultural imperialism of imported hollywood trash. In fact, they tend to be rather disdainful of people who think that having material wealth makes one more worthy of admiration. Her father's just saving her from Evil Consumerist Brainwashing.

      She is profiting massively from it, in Irish terms, not [insert derogatory term for materialistic rest of world] terms - lots of people who matter know her name, and know she's smart. In Ireland, reputation tends to be much more important than money.

      --
      Choice of masters is not freedom.
    3. Re:Sarah Flannery by dardem · · Score: 1

      What nonsense. Ireland's as materialistic as any other country, except we seem obsessed with land possession, 4x4 jeeps and how many pints one can drink before falling over. I'm not saying I agree with this change in culture (I hate people driving bigger cars than me!), but at least I've got my eyes open. MOST people I know think that having material wealth makes one more worthy of admiration. Romantic Ireland's dead and gone...

      "Her father's just saving her from Evil Consumerist Brainwashing"So why'd he let her do the TV advertisement for a newspaper? TV is the tool of choice for any budding Evil Consumerist Brainwasher. ;0) I think he didn't want the attention as people would find out that he was the one who developed the encryption method (he is a maths teacher after all).

      --

      "Ceilean Súil an ní ná feiceann..."
    4. Re:Sarah Flannery by DGolden · · Score: 2

      Ahh... but the very fact that you recognise it as a new and abnormal phenomenon, and one that you don't sound particularly happy about, means that "Romantic Ireland" is not dead and gone. Rest assured that there's plenty of people left who have feelings between hate and pity for those drivers of immaculate, mud-free 4x4s who certainly don't need a 4x4 to get around off-road on the farm.

      Now that the economy's slowing down to saner levels, thanks to it's intimate dependence on currently recessional high-tech industries, there's been a bit of a media backlash against the nouveaux riches, at least in a goodly proportion of newspapers. Depends on what circles you move in, of course.

      I'm pretty confident her father didn't develop the algorithm, based on experience with other teacher's children here - the teacher's children tend to be the ones who are treated most harshly by the teachers themselves, often having to do at least 2x amount of work for same levels of recognition. I would say that she was motivated to work extra hard and do something outstanding because her father would have been much harder to please - and children tend to automatically want to please their parents (At least until the parent falls from grace by some demonstration of fallibility).

      --
      Choice of masters is not freedom.
    5. Re:Sarah Flannery by eagl · · Score: 1

      Maybe some enlightened soul who DOES profit financially could put away the money in a trust fund so she could also profit after her dad can't say anything about it.

    6. Re:Sarah Flannery by dbolger · · Score: 1

      hey I *am* Irish, born and reared. I value material wealth pretty high, and so do most people I know. Don't let yourself be brainwashed by the image of twee Ireland where we all live in thatched cottages and eat potatoes for lunch dinner and breakfast. I eark 35k a year as a SysAdmin. I live in a metropolis, drink coffee, watch anime and talk about sports with my friends. We are *not* a third world country.

    7. Re:Sarah Flannery by dardem · · Score: 1

      Point taken. I have friends who experienced the teacher-parent relationship first hand. I hated all my teachers at school, and I pity their kids.

      If she did develop it by herself, I would have thought her father would be proud enough to allow her to profit from it. "Profit" doesn't necessarily relate to money or material goods.

      --

      "Ceilean Súil an ní ná feiceann..."
    8. Re:Sarah Flannery by DGolden · · Score: 2

      Huh? I am Irish, born and reared, too. My point was not that people don't value material wealth to some extent, just that they don't value it above everything else, and that excessive accumulation thereof is not considered particularly commendable - the people who get most praise seem to be those who share their gains around with the community, not those who accumulate vast fortunes and don't do much with them. And in Ireland, somewhat like in Japan, people consider respect earned from their peers more important than most other things. Accumulation of money does not automatically lead to that respect, although it is one possible means to an end if you want to do things that will earn you said respect.

      Most people I know consider their reputation and their family more important than material wealth. A significant proportion still think that the peculiarly Irish brand of catholicism is more important (although I disagree, being an atheist).

      I live Dublin, avoid coffee (because I went cold turkey and went through two days of blinding withdrawal headaches - either drink lots of coffee or drink none - In between is painful!), watch anime, and talk about sports.

      I wouldn't consider an interest in sport to be exactly materialistic - in fact, athletic prowess is one of those "other than money" things that people hold in high esteem, along with artistic/creative talent and writing ability.

      I certainly didn't say we were a third world country. We haven't been since the 1980s ;-) (I remember when we "officially" stopped being one, when our GDP exceeded the sum of the interest payments on our various loans.)

      A disdain for the glorification of capital gain above all else does not mean that one automatically poor, just that one realises that there's more to life. This is an attitude I have picked up from a fair proportion of people I know here in Ireland (and Australia), to a lesser extent in Britain, and much more rarely from Americans, whether they be rich or poor.

      The thing is, property and material wealth are much more solid concepts in other cultures - in early Ireland, there was a concept of ownership, but it was transient. People were always stealing eachothers cows, lands, etc. It kept them occupied and made for interesting sagas.
      The Irish language doesn't have a verb "To Have", you say "It is with me" - "Tá sé agam". This kindof expresses the transience of the situation of ownership in the Irish psyche, which still persists today, despite British and the current American cultural imperialism.

      --
      Choice of masters is not freedom.
    9. Re:Sarah Flannery by dbolger · · Score: 1

      Ok point taken, I just assumed you were one of those stupid Americans who have this off-the-wall idea of Ireland that they get from their media. The sports-talking reference wasn't meant to show how capitalist I am, but just to show that our society is every bit as "advanced" as the yanks. Still tho, I think your own idea of Ireland is a bit warped. A lot of Irish people have this concept of themselves as "Ireland of the thousand welcomes" thats just a bloody fascade for the aforementioned yanks, and disappears as soon as somebody with a different colour skin appears in need of help. I've seen Irish people being kinder and more generous than I would ever expect them to be, but on the other hand I've also seen them being viscious monsters worse than anything I've seen anywhere else in the world. We have a lust for money/power that is more than the rival to anybody else in the world. The only thing thats stopped us from being known for it is 800 years of occupation and suppression.

  8. I'm confused... by mtvsucks · · Score: 1

    Soposidly the encryption is 20 times faster than RSA. So if it's deemed as secure as RSA, she recommends switching over to it. I could be an idiot, but wouldn't it be faster to brute force crack it if it is 20 times speedier than RSA?

    --
    1337
    1. Re:I'm confused... by carleton · · Score: 1

      Well, you might be a troll, but in case you were being serious:

      1) She was comparing at 200 digit length moduli. This is slightly smaller than one would want to use for long term security (10^200 is somewhere around 2^640, as opposed to recommended key lengths of 1024 or 2048) As a point of reference, it's generally assumed NSA can factor 512 bit keys fairly readily.

      2) Moreover, trying to bruteforce crack even 2^512 is a ridiculous endeavor. Essentially, imagine having a ... wait for it... beowolf cluster of beowolf clusters.... i.e. 1 Million clusters of 1 Million computers, each running at a speed sufficient to do 10^12 (terraOps) operations per second. This works out to 10^6 * 10^6 * 10^12 = 10^24 operations per second. To within 1%, pi seconds is a nanocentury. Or, in other words, in century, there are 3.15 (the slightly more accurate value) * 10 ^ 9 seconds. This means that in a century, 3.15 * 10^33 operations can be done, which is roughly 2^112. So in theory (with enough memory to use the meet in the middle attack on triple des), in 100 years, triple des could probably get broken. However, to factor an 512 bit RSA number with brute force, one still has 2^400 centuries to go. This greatly exceeds the expect heat death of the universe, to say nothing of the sun, which should have bit it well before.
      Brute force really only works well with symetric ciphers (DES, triple DES, RC5, AES, etc. [and even then, more 'elegant' attacks such as differential cryptoanalysis are more potent in some cases]); with public keys, there are typically more efficient was to attack (Pollard's Rho, Number Field Seives, etc.)

      3) There is already an attack against the algorithm; see the postscript of the article.

    2. Re:I'm confused... by DahGhostfacedFiddlah · · Score: 1

      Interesting point - I'm not sure, but it would still have scalability behind it. It takes very little extra time to add a few extra digits to the key. Being able to brute-force it at 20X wouldn't be much of a worry if you tack two digits onto the key.

    3. Re:I'm confused... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nonetheless, the poster is correct in his assertion that if an algorithm is 20 times faster it is 20 times faster to brute-force.

    4. Re:I'm confused... by Dwonis · · Score: 2

      So add 5 bits to your key. Problem solved.

    5. Re:I'm confused... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Then it's a different problem, and the corresponding RSA problem is still 20 times harder to solve.


      The original assertion was correct.

  9. Thoughts on the Cayley-Purser Algorithm by Shoeboy · · Score: 5, Funny

    What I find most interesting is the use of an inverse posiform discombobulator to repel sophisticated man in the middle attacks. Combined with the infix digestive emulator, this will be a key component in the "Digital Nervous System" of the future.

    Superficially, the Algorithm appears similary to the Bosun-Smee cipher which has been shown to be vulnerable to chosen plaintext attacks when not run in output feedback mode. Personally I think an approach based on a 4x4 Holmes-Longpole network would have been a preferable starting point, but this would be more vulnerable to differential polyp-cystizing cryptanalyis. This can (theoretically) be compensated for by a field-coit gestation transform, but no one is quite sure how to overcome the slow encryption speed of such a system.

    All in all it's a fairly interesting approach and I intend to study it further. I'd love to hear anyone elses opinion though.

    --Shoeboy

    1. Re:Thoughts on the Cayley-Purser Algorithm by Glytch · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      This reads like a script of a Voyager episode. You just need to modulate something metaphasic and it would be perfect.

    2. Re:Thoughts on the Cayley-Purser Algorithm by dangermouse · · Score: 1
      I'm fairly certain that if they just re-routed the energy from the shield generator and phase-shifted something or another it would all work out.

      That seems to be the Star Trek equivalent of "turn it off and back on again".

    3. Re:Thoughts on the Cayley-Purser Algorithm by biglig2 · · Score: 1

      Sorry, I'm a TOS - trekkie, so all I can suggest is to reverse the polarity from positive to negative.

      --
      ~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
    4. Re:Thoughts on the Cayley-Purser Algorithm by Stormie · · Score: 2

      All in all it's a fairly interesting approach and I intend to study it further.

      You're not fooling anyone, Shoeboy! "Intend to study it further" my foot, you're lusting after this poor girl, admit it! What will Heidi say??

    5. Re:Thoughts on the Cayley-Purser Algorithm by Stormie · · Score: 2

      p.s. a picture of Miss Flannery for you, Shoe.

    6. Re:Thoughts on the Cayley-Purser Algorithm by mikewhittaker · · Score: 1
      You're only jealous !

      Come on !
      This is Slashdot!
      You're meant to understand stuff like this!

    7. Re:Thoughts on the Cayley-Purser Algorithm by GregWebb · · Score: 2

      Mornington Crescent!

      (or does no-one else know of that fine game?)

      ;-)

      --

      Greg

      (Inside a nuclear plant)
      Aaaarrrggh! Run! The canary has mutated!

  10. Let's hope C-P is secure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    then I wouldn't feel so bad having a 486 as a server. Doing scp's can take the whole processor and still only afford me 100K/s versus the 3Megs/s unencrypted.

    1. Re:Let's hope C-P is secure by TBBle · · Score: 1

      Surely RSA's only used to set up the session key for ssh? Once you're connected, you're using a symetrical cryptography algortihm. So C-P could only save you time in the connection setup.

      --
      TBBle

      --
      Paul "TBBle" Hampson
      Paul.Hampson@Pobox.Com
  11. desktop rover by neonmatrix · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's very strange that I am moved to post by this thing.

    Many of the most useful little devices started as toys. For instance the Aztec and Inca civilizations had wheels on their childrens toys but not on their wagons and carts.

    This little toy, or at least the model of a cheap travelling rover based on existing tech, could lead to cheaply revolutionized communications in cities and other compact spaces, such as aircraft carriers, etc.

    Using these devices as messengers would cut down on traffic and save gasoline and car-use resources in many cities.

    It sounds weird to us not because it's scientifically or fiscally implausible but because we are involved in a car culture.

    --
    Global warming is good for you!
    1. Re:desktop rover by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Interesting point, but not for pure communications, which are quite easily handled without cars by using digital electronics [e.g. the internet]. You'd need some sort of physical item to deliver before this made sense.


      Even then, I would still find it hard to believe it would be faster than walking.


      Methinks this is a clever troll :-)

    2. Re:desktop rover by cburley · · Score: 2, Funny
      we are involved in a car culture.

      Not true! Personally, I'm involved in a cdr culture. I'm always chasing some tail....

      ;-)

      --
      Practice random senselessness and act kind of beautiful.
    3. Re:desktop rover by Rogain · · Score: 1

      And finally the the fantastic dream of the paperless office would come true!

      --
      The current Slashdot moderation system is made by gay communists!
    4. Re:desktop rover by austad · · Score: 2

      Not true! Personally, I'm involved in a cdr culture. I'm always chasing some tail....

      cburley, you're always schemin' on something.

      --
      Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
    5. Re:desktop rover by cburley · · Score: 1
      cburley, you're always schemin' on something.

      Yeah, and always on the positive edge....

      --
      Practice random senselessness and act kind of beautiful.
  12. It says it's broken itself... by Jason+Pollock · · Score: 2
    From the paper itself:
    Thus the system as originally set out is 'broken'.
    Jason Pollock
  13. It isn't just 16 year old girls that can crack... by Kiss+the+Blade · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...codes. Controversial website adequacy.org has the skinny on autistic people being used by the NSA to crack RC5. Apparantly, each autist is capable of 1 megaflop per second, and there are many thousands of unused autists in our fine country. Are we not using their potential as we should?

    --

    KTB:Lover, Poet, Artiste, Aesthete, Programmer.
    There is no

  14. feature/bug with CP alg by shibut · · Score: 2, Interesting

    My crypto (and linear algebra) is somewhat rusty, it's been a few years, but I think that the problem is that Alice can't sign with her secret code. The paper mixes Alice and Bob a little, but assuming that Alice publishes and Bob encrypts in the algorithm, then unlike the RSA keys, Alice can't sign a message with her private key for all the world to see (using her public key). That is a big advantage of RSA.

    Is it a feature or a bug? what's the difference?

  15. FYI by nnet · · Score: 2, Informative
    FYI: its Molson's.

    1. Re:FYI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      its Molson's

      No, retard... it's Molsons. (possessive, then plural) Geezus, if you're going to "correct" someone's grammer, at least get it right...

      (yes, I know...)

    2. Re:FYI by Seenhere · · Score: 1

      "Molsen" is the plural.

      There must be troll in what I write. -- Henrik Ibsen

      --
      "I used to be a dilettante. Then I thought I'd try something else for a while."
    3. Re:FYI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      actually ... he's objecting to someone's spelling ... not grammer

  16. the lazer game by fjordboy · · Score: 2

    Ummm...I can't seem to get the lazer game...any ideas? Appearently the page is up for construction.

  17. Cayley-Purser algorithm by binford2k · · Score: 3, Funny

    The algorithm has already been shown to have fatal flaws (search for Plaintext Defense). Sarah Flannery herself was quoted as such. However, there is nothing to say that the flaw cannot be eliminated in the next version. To say the least, this algorithm provides a strong foundation on which to build.

    1. Re:Cayley-Purser algorithm by RagManX · · Score: 1

      I haven't checked the article posted above, but I have done some reading on the algorithm (http://www.counterpane.com/crypto-gram-9901.html has some good info), and Ms. Flannery, in her book, admits that she has quit working on C-P, as there is no obvious way to fix the flaw. The algorithm apparently works great as a private key system, but is nearly worthless for public key.

      RagManX

  18. partially Uninformed thoughts on the cpa by Garc · · Score: 1

    I just skimmed over the paper, but her algorithm seems a lot like RSA except that she encrypts/decrypts with pre computed matricies instead of exponentiations. There are some easy ways to speed exponentiation up when doing it modulo... I wonder if she took that into account when comparing.

    It appears that the matricies that are used as keys instead of the normal RSA keys are the cause of the crack. They give too much extra info to a possible attacker.

    I want to look this over better when I have more time, it's pretty interesting. God knows I didn't understand RSA that well when I was 16.

    garc

  19. Re:It isn't just 16 year old girls that can crack. by Chester+K · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Controversial website adequacy.org has the skinny on autistic people being used by the NSA to crack RC5. Apparantly, each autist is capable of 1 megaflop per second, and there are many thousands of unused autists in our fine country. Are we not using their potential as we should?

    Of course we're not! Can you imagine a beowulf cluster of those things?!

    --

    NO CARRIER
  20. Big Mouth Billy by krmt · · Score: 2

    If I were hacking Big Mouth Billy Bass to put Linux on it, I'd replace that annoying "Take Me To The River" sample with the classic "Hello, this is Linus Torvalds, and I pronounce Linux as Leenux."

    Of course, that would probably get old really fast, just like the standard sample. Plus, no one really wants to hear Linus say the same thing every day (except maybe his kids, who want to hear the "scary module under the bed" story every night).

    I'd really like to replace the current sample with the Talking Heads cover of the same song. Much better. Maybe give Big Mouth Billy a Big David Byrne Suit too.

    --

    "I may not have morals, but I have standards."

    1. Re:Big Mouth Billy by unitron · · Score: 2
      "...replace the current sample with the Talking Heads cover..."

      Make it worth the time and trouble. Go with the original--Al Green.

      --

      I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.

    2. Re:Big Mouth Billy by pben+harris · · Score: 1

      I'm the guys who made the Billy Bass project. That's a good suggestion about having Billy say "Hello, this is Linus...". I'll do it. And no one will get tired of it because Billy says so many different things....

    3. Re:Big Mouth Billy by pben+harris · · Score: 1

      Oh yeah there are two other quotes I plan to post as movies on the Hacking Billy Bass website.

      • Marsha, marsha, marsha! -- Jan Brady
      • Hasta la vista, baby -- the Terminator

      And of course I have costumes for these quotes. A Barbie scalp for the former, baby sunglasses for the latter.

      More sound bite or song suggestions would be appreciated... it's pretty easy to make the Bass say a given phrase. It takes about 10 minutes to transcribe a saying.
    4. Re:Big Mouth Billy by krmt · · Score: 2

      Cool! Great project by the way. Cool idea. The default Billy Bass is so annoying, it's great that you can hack it.

      --

      "I may not have morals, but I have standards."

  21. Reminds me of Rainman... by kypper · · Score: 3, Funny
    We're counting cards....



    You're counting cards?



    We're counting cards....



    Uhh...huh...

  22. Desk Rover + X10 Camera = Fun? by NitsujTPU · · Score: 1

    Think about it, get one of those desk rovers, strap an x10 camera to it, drop it in somewhere interesting, like the runways in your office for cabling and in the ceiling... Instant remote control first person shooter!

    1. Re:Desk Rover + X10 Camera = Fun? by jedwards · · Score: 2, Informative

      Don't need an X10. Plantraco sell a wireless camera which slots right into the rover.

    2. Re:Desk Rover + X10 Camera = Fun? by Zeno_1 · · Score: 1

      I think X10 should be boycotted for this popunder ads they are putting everywhere..

      Its amazing how much that company is shoving advertising down the throats of internet users.

  23. Slashdot, 12 AD. Hail Siezer. Hail the Mob. by billn · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    It's funny. I've sent in several submissions over time, and certainly, not ALL of them deserved a singular entry, and one of them most certainly did (The short lived media explosion of the Kent State 'bust of a Starcraft Clan for "hate" crimes').

    Just yesterday, I pointed out that the epoch timestamp tacks on another digit next week or so, and that didn't even make the Slashback. I'd bet a case of beer with CmdrTaco and Cowperson Niel that somewhere, there will be a y2k-esque software failure because some twit only packed an int(9) epoch date field.

    No one seemed to care when I submitted an article about content protection plans for ATA hard drives, even though I thought it was interesting.

    Slashdot is no longer news for nerds. It's fodder for the unwashed masses who are stunned and amazed by shiny things and anything to firm up the belief that Microsoft is bad, and Linux is Good, no matter what the truth may be.

    I don't mean to get off on a rant here, but I'm increasingly disillusioned by the portal of interest that Slashdot used to be. You can hardly call this 'news' of any journalistic stripe when it lacks any kind of clear detachment from a specific point of view, and behaves more like a pack of screaming frat boys with pocket calculators.

    I'm pretty much a daily reader, and I occasionally submit something that other people like myself would find interesting. Rejected. 9 for 10. The one piece I've had accepted wound up in a Slashback, with very little mention. It's funny though, considering the content, since you, the foaming-at-the-mouth, Damn-The-Man Slashdot populace, actually took the time to potentially make a situation worse for a Kent State student by sending crap emails and even a few phone calls 'in support' of the accused. I spent three days playing journalist and digging up facts to present a clarified story that apparantly wasn't interesting enough for Slashdot once it wasn't a clear oppression of the geeked. Shenanigans, I say!

    It's enough that the rampant Anonymous Cowards don't have the nerve, integrity, or sheer balls to attach a name to their drivel, but I guess that's for the best. I don't want to know who you are, because your opinion generally isn't worth the price of admission. You guys sit and bitch about Katz, who takes the time to present a clear view that anyone can read, whether you like it or not, and the courage to put his name on it.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm not sitting here with my Microsoft polo biting my thumb at the DoJ, but I'm also not sporting my Linux fanaticism like a bad tupee and sniggering down my nose at anyone who thinks you're talking about algebra when you use 'x' by itself as a term. I used to really dig my daily Slashdot read, but now it's all I can do to just gloss over the front page before skipping straight to Freshmeat to keep up with what's really going on.

    In closing, Katz, we who could be central characters of 'Geeks', salute you. To the news acceptance squad, thanks for the rejections. It's just like high school, and I'm still not good enough. CmdrTaco and founding crew, my condolences on the lobotomization of your site.

    (Yes, I put my name to this, because it's MY voice, and people are damn well gonna know it.)

    - billn

    --
    - billn
  24. Bull! by fm6 · · Score: 3, Funny
    This is a prime example of the proto-Cartesian fallacy at its worst. Remember, retrograde inverses are not prolifically transposed. There not "charmed" (excuse the pun).

    The right approach is to decompress ontlogogical entropism. You have to do this, or all you're left with is a lot of noise!

    1. Re:Bull! by enneff · · Score: 1

      "The right approach is to decompress ontlogogical entropism. You have to do this, or all you're left with is a lot of noise!"

      This is not necessarily the case. If, as cited most notably by Hans Durghstein, we were to apply a series of semi-ontological entropy matrices to the decompression algorithm, we could effectively increase the speed of the retrograde inverses before they're due to be transposed!

      We musn't forget our history, gentlemen.

    2. Re:Bull! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Unfortunately it was proven in a little known paper from 1934 that the ontological entropy decompression operator [OEDO] is actually commutative, when projected onto a Lie Group of 19 dimensions [over Z]. This leads to a simple inverse and hence does not give great data security. The author suggested using a related operator, the etymological entryopy decompression operator [EEDO], but at the time was unable to use the operator due to the lack of computers at the time.


      This paper was famously rediscovered in an old Nazi deathcamp by Wittgenstein in 1949, during routine cleaning. It appears that it then found its way across the Atlantic to England, and was used as one of the first tests of the computer ENIAC by Alan Turing. He proved that, although the EEDO operator is impossible to inverse, it is also impossible to calculate forwards using conventional machinery [some have theorized that quantum computing might enable this calculation].


      So I think it's fair to say that this entire approach has been doomed to failure since 1975.

    3. Re:Bull! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Yes, but if you increase the speed of the retrograde inverse, you also decrease the amplitude after transposition. That's pretty basic stuff, I'm surprised you missed it.


      We musn't forget our history, gentlemen


      Exactly my point. History didn't end on 24th June 1954!

    4. Re:Bull! by On+Lawn · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      This sounds like...

      spaniard: I see you are using Rosettie's Defence...

      man in black: Naturaly, I find it good considering the rocky terain.

      spaniard: You must expect me to counter with Capapelle.

      man in black: Of course, but I find that Tibult cancels out Capapelle, Don't you?

      spaniard: Unless your enemy has studied his Agrippa, which I have!

    5. Re:Bull! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you hava a java/french version of your PSGG (pseudo scientific garbage generator) ?

    6. Re:Bull! by On+Lawn · · Score: 1

      This sounds like...

      spaniard: I see you are using Rosettie's Defence...

      man in black: Naturaly, I find it good considering the rocky terain.

      spaniard: You must expect me to counter with Capapelle.

      man in black: Of course, but I find that Tibult cancels out Capapelle, Don't you?

      spaniard: Unless your enemy has studied his Agrippa, which I have!

  25. Re:It isn't just 16 year old girls that can crack. by theDEFT · · Score: 0
    Are we not using their potential as we should?


    I've had some frustrating times teaching and working with autistic children. Using their potential is easier said than done. Realizing their potential was difficult because it was very hard to keep their attention. In most cases, if they were not on medication beforehand, they became completely uncooperative. Obviously I am only speaking from my experiences, but I took that article with a grain of salt...

  26. Re:It isn't just 16 year old girls that can crack. by jeffy124 · · Score: 2

    i read that link. It doesnt say ANYTHING about NSA using autistic people, nor autistics being able to do computations at 1 megaflop/second. Besides, theose ppl cant be trusted as autistics are easily mislead and such, so anything they do/see can be easily weasled out of them. Learn to read, then try making false claims.

    --
    The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
  27. Re:CP Algorithm broken long ago as public key sche by dragons_flight · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I don't know a lot about alternative encryption schemes, but the relatively simple math involved suggests that this has the potential to be fast by any standard.

    I'm wondering if it might be worthwhile to do a mixed scheme whereby E is returned using RSA or some other technique and the bulk of the message is encrypted using C-P. If I read the comments correctly one has to retrieve the unique E for each message in order to break the system and read the encrypted text of that message.

    The table on the end show that a 250k file takes 50 minutes to encrypt/decrypt with RSA on the P 133 under Mathematica (relatively inefficient), and only a little more than 2 mins for C-P. Even given faster computers and optimized code, it would seem that one might see significant gains in speed if you are encrypting multi-megabyte files.

    Any thoughts?

  28. well ... by timothy · · Score: 0, Troll

    a lot of people I think did not see this posting:
    http://slashdot.org/articles/01/04/17/1915221.sh tm l (it was also mentioned in a slashback, when someone pointed out the several leap seconds that the unix timestamp does not account for).

    There were also more than one posting about content protection on ATA drives. I'd point to one or more, if an airplane hadn't just struck the mountain which houses the /. search engine. Well, google helped me find this interview with Andre Hedrick: http://slashdot.org/interviews/01/01/10/1427235.sh tml

    But if you don't like reading particular authors, you can turn them off in your preferences. If you don't like reading stories about particular topics, same thing. And if you don't like reading Slashdot, well ... :) what can I tell ya besides make your choice and enjoy the returns?

    timothy

    --
    jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
  29. OK, time to enforce anti-spamming rules. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All of the posters advertising adequacy.org, then modding each other up, should have their accounts killed. Let's see if slashdot's editors have enough balls for that.

  30. loser by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    I bet that bitch gets no dick.

  31. Re:CP Algorithm broken long ago as public key sche by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting
    This is how things are done now - RSA is far too slow to use to encrypt a whole file, so a DES [typically] private key is passed using RSA, then DES [or triple DES] is used to encrypt the bulk of the data.


    Block ciphers like DES and AES are much faster to compute than even C-P, since they don't require multiprecision arithmetic. AES, in particular, screams.

  32. Re:It isn't just 16 year old girls that can crack. by TheQuantumShift · · Score: 1

    but will the cluster run linux?

    --

    Shift happens. Fire it up.
  33. Re:CP Algorithm broken long ago as public key sche by dragons_flight · · Score: 2, Informative

    Block ciphers like DES and AES are much faster to compute than even C-P, since they don't require multiprecision arithmetic. AES, in particular, screams.

    The encryption/decrytpion of C-P uses only matrices of integers (all operations are modulo n). Having another encryption method might not be needed, but you're objection doesn't seem accurate.

    Or is there some meaning for "multiprecision arithmetic" other than multiprecision floating-point arithmetic?

  34. Re:CP Algorithm broken long ago as public key sche by Chandon+Seldon · · Score: 1

    Nobody uses RSA to encrypt multi-megabyte files anyway. Traditionally you use a public key algorythim to encrypt a session key (realistically no bigger than 32 bytes or so), and then use the session key to encrypt the message with a well known and tested symmetric algorythim (like 3Des, Blowfish, IDEA, etc).

    --
    -- The act of censorship is always worse than whatever is being censored. Always.
  35. A chick that can break RSA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    When does this chick turn 18? I'm in love....

    1. Re:A chick that can break RSA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I tried that once, "So what if she's a chunk, she is a Phd candidate". Trust me, it's not good. Women of that girth tend to sweat alot in their nether regions so when you got to give a little lick to the puss it's smelly and sweaty, not good. Usually super hairy to, becuase their stomach is to rotund to get around to shave that beaver. Plus academic chicks are to uptight, i gave that snatch a good licken and yet this chick would still not slob my nob, and when i slid it into the putang she would stffen up and just lay there like a dead body. Needless to say the relationship was not cutting it. I'd rather jerk off. Actually i rather fuck a chick that's actually fun to be with, and actually has a healthy body. If these people are so smart they should know being a big chunk is not good for you.

  36. Re:CP Algorithm broken long ago as public key sche by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Matrices of very large integers - 200 bits or more. They are cumbersome to deal with.

    By multiprecision arithmetic, I mean arithmetic involving numbers larger than the computer can natively handle. e.g. multiplying two 200-bit numbers together on a 32-bit CPU.

  37. Re:It isn't just 16 year old girls that can crack. by Dwonis · · Score: 2

    Well yes, but only with x86 emulation ... damn binary-only drivers.

  38. C-P algorithm by Compuser · · Score: 2

    I have a couple of questions. hopefully someone
    who knows a lot about encryption can answer.
    The paper claims there are two lines of attack:
    1. B={(AC)^-1}*C
    2. G=C^r
    For the first attack to be hard we need to
    pick p and q carefully. Does this restriction
    affect the ease of the second attack?
    Also, this negligible probability that the first
    attack will be easy seems to have a PR disaster
    written all over it. Does RSA have similar
    probability issues?

  39. corel linux name? by nilstar · · Score: 1

    Will it still be called corel linux or xandros linux?

    --
    ===> An eye for an eye makes everyone blind - MG
  40. molson ... not molsen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    repeat after me ... mol-son nt molsen ... your playing with fire getting that wrong!

  41. Extra Extra by Rogain · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    The famous Caley-Hamilton theorem was seen coming out of a swanky LA nightclub with a recently dis-charged Mariah Carey! Check our website, http://www.gosipyfag.com for full details!

    --
    The current Slashdot moderation system is made by gay communists!
  42. Wow... by Rogain · · Score: 1

    Imagine a beowulf cluster of those slobbering bastards!

    --
    The current Slashdot moderation system is made by gay communists!
  43. Sarah Flannery by dbolger · · Score: 1
    Whats interesting about this girls story is that her discovery was actually an entry in an Irish Young Scientists competition, and her father has refused to let her profit from it at all for fear it will spoil her. IMHO thats pretty aweful, considering its potential applications.

    --
    Dave

  44. Yawn. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about a slashback talking about Adequacy.org, the Internet's most Controversial Site!

  45. No, it was not. by Axe · · Score: 1
    Why would you assert that an inverse operation, in general, has the same order? That's the whole idea of public key encryption that it is not.

    Anyway - factor of 20 is negligible when we I talking about attacks - but not negligible, when we are talking about usage.

    --
    <^>_<(ô ô)>_<^>
  46. Re:CP Algorithm broken long ago as public key sche by RedWizzard · · Score: 2
    I don't know a lot about alternative encryption schemes, but the relatively simple math involved suggests that this has the potential to be fast by any standard.
    Not by any standard. If you can transmit the key securely than a simple one time pad (i.e. xor with a random key the same length as the message) will be faster. Then of course stuff like PGP doesn't use RSA to encrypt the entire message, DES is used which is much faster. I didn't go into the CP algorithm enough to see how it would stack up against DES or other non-public key algorithms.
  47. Up yours by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What the hell are you talking about? Crack and computers don't mix. If you imagine the future to be some sort of weird spaceworld where pansies like you strap Quake lasers to their head and run around work firing at each other, think again.

    1. Re:Up yours by Neck_of_the_Woods · · Score: 1


      I think you need a little anger management. #1, it was strapping the laser to the head of the robot, which is controlled by the computer. Hence the quake.....You know robot like men running rouand on your computer with lasers shooting at each other. #2 Breath good air in, Breath bad air out, no hum a C# note and think "life is good". Maybe that will help.

      --
      Neck_of_the_Woods
      #/usr/local/surf/glassy/overhead
  48. Why wait for 18. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    16 is the age of consent in the UK (not sure about Ireland). You only need to wait till 18 to get married without parents consent, and even then IIRC you can still legally get married at 16 in Scotland.

  49. A quickie? sure I got an hour free? by kiwipeso · · Score: 1

    This site is cool; where is the babe who has an hour to spare?

    --
    - Kaos games and encryption systems developer
  50. Re:CP Algorithm broken long ago as public key sche by mikewhittaker · · Score: 1
    Not only that, but this paper (with its addendum) has been around for quite some time to my knowledge (and a comment in the HTML mentions May 2000) - so what's it doing here ?

    It's not even a new update to old news.

  51. Re:It isn't just 16 year old girls that can crack. by Ed_Moyse · · Score: 1

    you're not very bright are you?

  52. Re: Thoughts on the Cayley-Purser Algorith and Bul by Savage+Henry+Matisse · · Score: 3, Funny
    You are both clearly insane people! A field-coit gestation transform? Decompressing ontlogogical entropism? You'd probably suggest protecting the nuclear launch codes using a Batman decoder ring from a box of cereal. For the very love of Christ, I pray and hope that neither of you boobs are in the Public Sector.

    Everyone-- me, the old lady next door, the kid down the street, the dog-- knows that field-coit gestation transforms and ontological decompression over a finite field are about as secure as a tipsy girl's chastity on prom night. Field-coit, when push comes to shove, is hardly more than a complex-- but certainly tractable-- hex-stacked XORing from an arbitrary (but by no means random) set of figures of undefined length. And ontological demopression?!? Christalmighty! Not only is it slow (maybe you can wait 1345 months to encrypt "The Old Man in the Sea", but I myself have a wife and dog to feed), but you actually end up with LESS entropy than using, say, triple-DES with unique keys-- which also has the tiny-tiny-twee little advantage of not taking 112 YEARS!!!

    This is what I hate about this ENTIRE FIELD: Some gintch in Ireland comes up with a cute (if entirely infeasable)cryptosystem (which, I might add, she has already aknowledged and published the weaknesses of!), and then I have to listen to every blowhard from here to Katamandu go off about how great field-coit and ontological decompression are. Christ, it's wors than talking about laptops with Mac-Addicts!

    Some days, I'd rather be flipping burgers.

    --
    Much Love,
    "S"HM
    *****
    (I refuse to spellcheck out of contempt for your belief system)
  53. Laser Tag... IrDA? by Gregoyle · · Score: 2

    I wonder, if since the desktop rover can be hooked up via tcp/ip to a computer, and since it has laser tag capabilities...

    Could one hack it to be a remote IrDA port? maybe be used as a second remote control for your TV? There must be some super-cool use for a radio controlled remote control...

    At least you'd never lose it!!

    --

    "He's more machine now than man, twisted and evil."

  54. Re:It isn't just 16 year old girls that can crack. by Hard_Code · · Score: 2

    The government has done tons of wacky stuff...e.g., the CIA had (or maybe still has??) a program, to train people to psychicly detect the presence of russian submarines. The scary thing is that this was apparently really working (or else why would the spooks care?).

    --

    It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
  55. Re:CP Algorithm broken long ago as public key sche by CyberKnet · · Score: 2

    Wouldnt that then be large scale arithmetic rather than large precision arithmetic?

    Just curious.

    --
    Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor - Ovidius
  56. Re:It isn't just 16 year old girls that can crack. by jeffy124 · · Score: 1

    what exactly would you be getting at? If you were to follow the link the post made, you wont see references to NSA nor how well autistic people can do math.

    --
    The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
  57. what he's getting at is that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...oh never mind, you're an idiot. not worth the trouble

  58. That's easily avoided however by Aexia · · Score: 1

    if you reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.

  59. Re:It isn't just 16 year old girls that can crack. by ndogg · · Score: 1

    A cluster of which? The sixteen year old girls or the autistic people? Personally, I'd prefer a cluster of 24 year old ladies, but I doubt I'd ever get that wish.

    --
    // file: mice.h
    #include "frickin_lasers.h"