....it's the nature of hierarchical systems like corporates that the _WORST_ companies, employing the WORST methods employ the most people because they are so inefficient that they need to get the job done.
Of course, sometimes company A employs 10 times the people of company B because it's *more* efficient, and doing 20 times the business. Got to look at the context.
I was at the talk as well. It look like the technique will be applicable to a number of LFSRs, but the most interesting thing I saw was that the preprocessing stage lets you figure out whether a cipher is susceptible to the attack without knowing anything about the cipher. The preprocessing stage starts with a guess at the degree of an unknown cipher, and adjusts the guess based on the results of the preprocessing tests.
Current block ciphers have degrees that are (probably) in the thousands, but hey, if in doubt there's an automated way to check this out now, and you don't even need to know anything about the structure of the cipher. Of course it could take a long time to run:-)
This looks like it might be related to research (PDF) done a few years back by the Argonne National Laboratory on diet and jet lag. There's a summary of their diet here. It's more complex than just fasting. I've used it travelling to Israel, Russia and Burma, and it's worked well for me.
There's a Dvorak page which has a link to a lengthy discussion of the Fable of the Keys, and where they made some pretty serious errors. There's also a Google cache of that discussion if you search on:
brooks dvorak dissenting
Arguing that market forces will always select the better product is pretty ridiculous. Market forces may always select a product that is good *enough*, but it may be only a local maxima...
One of the changes that is inevitable as computers become commodities is the emergence of a group of people who can perform basic repairs, maintenance and operation, but who do not have a full 4-8 year degree.
Washing machine repairmen don't need to know how to build washing machines, and a similar group is emerging for computers. It's the job of the designers and engineers to ensure that the systems can be maintained by someone without a degree in C.S. Repairs need to be within the price range of low-end users...
I think they do qualify as "IT Professionals." Everyone involved in computers doesn't need to be a theory buff (although I tend that way myself)...
Actually Meganet's web site says, in an announcement dated July 25, 2001, that they got an export license. Not just a one-time license, but a general license. They claim that this "marks the extent the government's ease of export regulations." Or, more realistically, it could have been that the gusts of laughter from the NSA cryptographers blew the license into their hands.
It's also interesting to note that their "latest news" update appears to be Feb. 2002...
Slashdot Mirror
Of course, sometimes company A employs 10 times the people of company B because it's *more* efficient, and doing 20 times the business. Got to look at the context.
Current block ciphers have degrees that are (probably) in the thousands, but hey, if in doubt there's an automated way to check this out now, and you don't even need to know anything about the structure of the cipher. Of course it could take a long time to run :-)
This looks like it might be related to research (PDF) done a few years back by the Argonne National Laboratory on diet and jet lag. There's a summary of their diet here. It's more complex than just fasting. I've used it travelling to Israel, Russia and Burma, and it's worked well for me.
brooks dvorak dissenting
Arguing that market forces will always select the better product is pretty ridiculous. Market forces may always select a product that is good *enough*, but it may be only a local maxima...
Washing machine repairmen don't need to know how to build washing machines, and a similar group is emerging for computers. It's the job of the designers and engineers to ensure that the systems can be maintained by someone without a degree in C.S. Repairs need to be within the price range of low-end users...
I think they do qualify as "IT Professionals." Everyone involved in computers doesn't need to be a theory buff (although I tend that way myself)...
Actually Meganet's web site says, in an announcement dated July 25, 2001, that they got an export license. Not just a one-time license, but a general license. They claim that this "marks the extent the government's ease of export regulations." Or, more realistically, it could have been that the gusts of laughter from the NSA cryptographers blew the license into their hands. It's also interesting to note that their "latest news" update appears to be Feb. 2002...