Cryptography

The History and Mathematics of Codes and Code Breaking

Month: October 2018 Page 2 of 4

The Captivating Story of a Serial Killer

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On October 10, 2018

In Student Posts

The first thing that I noticed in the podcast “A Killer on the Loose: The Zodiac Ciphers” by Kelsey Brown was the background music. The music went well with the topic of the podcast. The music sounded very ominous and I think that relates to the dark theme of the podcast. Without even completing the podcast I was compelled because the background music captured my attention and made the podcast more interesting. The music would transition with the story when Kelsey would talk about the different subject matter.

One of the things that I admired about the podcast was Kelsey Brown’s use of storytelling. The podcast was very fluid. This makes me want to make my podcast in a similar way. I think that if my podcast was not fluid, there would be a disconnect with the listeners. Kelsey Brown’s podcast is so alluring because of how smoothly it transitions.

The topic of the podcast was very interesting to me. I am an avid enjoyer of murder mysteries, and crime television shows like Criminal Minds. I actually researched the Zodiac Killer a couple of years ago because the zodiac killer was a topic on one of the episodes on the show. I decided to listen to this podcast because the topic relates to my own interests in life. I know that for me to keep the listener’s attention in my own podcast, I have to be passionate about what I am speaking of.

Analysis of One-Time Pod “Something Out of Nothing”

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On October 10, 2018

In Student Posts

I listened to the podcast “Something Out of Nothing” by Maria Sellers. In this podcast, Sellers explained how a bi-literal cipher could point to Shakespeare not being who we really think he is.

Overall, I found the entire premise for the podcast to be very interesting. For me, the topic directly undermines a concept I learned in high school, and I am sure the same applies to many others. Due to this, I personally believe that the topic would be easy to present to almost any audience and keep their attention for the short fourteen minutes that it runs.

I also really enjoyed the introduction that featured several different voices. The pacing was nice and everyone flowed together perfectly. The chosen music fit very well, and it was used appropriately. The topic itself was interesting, but these stylistic choices helped me initially engage.  

One technical aspect I appreciated was the reintroduction of Seller’s music as she moved to different “acts” in her podcast. Not only did I find it clever that she chose to section off her podcast in this way, but her use of the music to bring in each section sort of felt like the curtain was closing and then opening into the next point. Based on other podcasts I have listened to, however, I would have loved to hear some more of the music or even other sounds/music.

This podcast has helped me realize how important the topic itself is. I will also be looking into using other voices and music when necessary.

What makes a Good Podcast?

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On October 9, 2018

In Student Posts

My first thoughts after listening to both the professional podcasts and the student made podcasts was that podcasting is very difficult, and to be good at it, one needs to put in a lot of time and practice. The professional podcasters in 99% Invisible sounded so fluid and smooth, as if they were having a completely normal conversation. Music and sound effects fit in extremely well, and they complemented the podcast without distracting from what was being said. I imagine that it would be very easy to accidentally mess up how the music fits into a podcast properly, so I was very impressed.

In both of the 99% Invisible podcast, and especially Vox Ex Machina, I liked how the producers used stories to describe all of the examples they were making. They started with a relatively broad topic, and slowly narrowed it down to the specifics of how it was used in the war, using stories and narratives. I found it very interesting how the vocoder turned out to be something used commonly today in a lot of music. I’ve heard so many songs with that “robot voice”, but I never knew the vocoder was responsible. It seems like a lot of things that were created for wars have ended up being remade into common modern day items. I find this very interesting, but it also makes sense. Wars are a time where we are trying to make new technologies to one-up our enemies, and a lot of this stuff can eventually be adapted.

After listening to these, I think it would be cool to do a podcast on Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace, though I’m not sure how unique of a topic that is.

Mysterious Numbers

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On October 9, 2018

In Student Posts

The 99% Invisible episode about numbers stations was interesting to me because radio is a unique form of communication as it relates to cryptography. Since radio is publicly broadcast, anyone can tune in, so while sending an encrypted message, you have to assume that your enemies are listening at all times. Because of this, using the radio to broadcast highly sensitive information such as important updates to spies in the field seems like an odd form of communication to choose. However, as was pointed out in the podcast, the benefit of using radio for communication is that it is accessible from anywhere, and it keeps the location of the recipient unknown, making it the perfect form of communication for spies who need to keep their heads down. This in addition to the use of one time pads which are in theory unbreakable without the key make numbers stations a surprisingly efficient way to distribute information.

In addition to the interesting content, there were a variety of techniques used to keep the podcast interesting to listen to. Even while people were talking, there was always background music, sometimes even a numbers station playing in the background. I would have thought that having someone listing numbers in the background would make it difficult to understand the podcast, but it was done in such a way that it actually made the audio more interesting to listen to, and it provided continuity between segments. In addition, even when there was dialogue going on, there was always something in the background to keep your ears fully engaged, and it strengthened the sense of continuity of the episode making it easier to listen to without zoning out.

An invention to win the war

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On October 9, 2018

In Student Posts

When you think about the World War, there must be a scene or a voice in your mind that broadcasts the radio talks. The classic voice with electronic noises in the movies probably has made an impression. I didn’t know about the source of the noise before. I used to thought that the voices were not clear because of the lack of technology to communicate efficiently; but after the podcast, I learned that those noises were created for data encryption.

The podcast explained clearly how the machine works. The machine can break down a human voice into basic components; then transmit those basic components so that the receiver can recreate the voice on the other side. This invention was marvelous enough to create a new generation. For the first time, sounds can be digitized and transmitted over a long distance. What’s more, it also mixed noises with those components to make the encryption unbreakable. These two innovative ideas were combined together, led to the success of the war.

The producer used different soundtracks so that we can hear different people telling the whole story. This new approach creates a sense of warm and inspiring. We all have the terrible experience of losing focus after hearing a stable and unchanging sound for a long time. This podcast can easily catch the audience’s attention. It feels like having a conversation in front of a bonfire with several knowledgeable scholars. Besides, the producers also presented the original radio sound back to the time of war. When those clips were related to the sound people often hear in the movies, the audience can better understand the ways Voder are used. The lecture will not be complex and boring principle telling in this way, but be a vivid presentation.

After hearing this episode, I’m probably going to consider more about the audience for the podcast episode. Audiences’ interest is always the first thing to think about while making an episode.

The Progress of Necessity

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On October 9, 2018

In Student Posts

In 99% Invisible’s episode Vox Ex Machina, the producer outlines the transformation of a piece of groundbreaking technology from recreational to military use in the midst of the Second World War. The “Voder” was introduced in 1939 to a crowd of dazzled people at the World Fair. A marvel of mechanical mimicking of the human vocal chords, inventor Homer Dudley had embarked on a quest that would shape the way humans will communicate up to this day.

I really enjoyed how the producer, Delaney Hall, pulls the audience in with the dramatic shift from a playful invention to a wartime necessity. Soon after Pearl Harbor, the United States Government commissioned specifically Homer Dudley to design a machine that would effectively encrypt radio waves for secure communication. Halls use of a dramatic need with a ticking clock adds an element of interest to the podcast. Furthermore, she expands on not just the one time use of the “vocoder”, but the way it transformed the history of communication.

The continued decrease in size brought on by the military’s improvements was a gradual process that aided Cold War negotiations. Consequently, these adaptations eventually reached the grasp of the public. With AT&T’s lawsuit against the military to release information, the capability of public communication skyrocketed. I enjoyed the fun twist Hall applied to the end of the podcast where she included links to its effects on electronic music of famous artists. Hall’s creativity and dramatics made this podcast extremely gripping and will be elements I incorporate into my own podcast.

 

Sounds in Cryptography and Podcasts

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On October 9, 2018

In Student Posts

What I found most interesting about the “Vox Ex Machina” podcast was Homer Dudley’s choice to use a pair of vinyl phonograph records as the key both the encryption and decryption process. Prior to listening to this podcast, I had not considered noise could be used as an encryption method. What surprised me even more was the security of Dudley’s encryption method.The single use keys were extremely secure because the enemy cannot replicate a record with the same random noises. Furthermore, even if the enemy was able to lay their hands on the keys, it would be useless without the SIGSALY machine and without knowledge of the agreed time to conference. To add an additional layer of security, the SIGSALY could only function in a narrow temperature range so it needed to be maintained specifically by an entire division of engineers. Enemies who got their hands on the machines might lack the knowledge about how to maintain and use the machine, thus rendering it unusable.

The podcast producer added audio tracks to the podcast which helped to better tell the story. For example, in the beginning of the podcast, the narrator is talking about the debut of the Voder at the New York World’s Fair, so he plays a recording of the Voder in action. A second example of this is when the narrator explains that as the SIGSALY machine processes voices, the voices are slightly mutated but the message is still intelligible. He then inserts a recording of what a SIGSALY communication might sound like to illustrate his statement. The variation in sounds also keeps the listener interested because he or she is not listening to the same voice speak for 20 minutes.

The narrator states an entire division of engineers was necessary to maintain the machine because it was so technically demanding. To make the technical aspects of the material accessible, the producer omits the technical details of the machine’s processes that were nonessential to the listener’s understanding of the SIGSALY. This way the foundational ideas are not lost but the processes that might confuse the general audience are not included.

This podcast inspired me to consider researching some non-conventional applications cryptography for my podcast. I will also aim to include different voices or sounds as this podcast has done to keep my audience captivated.

A Killer Podcast

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On October 9, 2018

In Student Posts

The part of the podcast I found most interesting was when Kelsey talked about Corey Starliper and how he supposedly decrypted the Z340 cipher. Before, I had thought that the Zodiac codes were almost all unbroken, and that the identity of the killer was completely unknown. However, if Starliper’s decryption of the Z340 cipher is correct, that means there’s a very solid lead on the Zodiac killer’s identity. Whether or not it’s actually Leigh Allen is up to debate, as it could have been intended to misdirect investigators, but it sheds more light on the mystery of the killer. Since I had previously thought that none of the decrypted codes yielded any useful information, this part of the podcast really stood out for me.

In the podcast, the producer introduced several technical concepts like cribs, frequency analysis, and substitution ciphers, while talking about the Zodiac killer. When the concepts were first brought up, she would add in a little side note explaining exactly what the term meant as well as how it applied in the context of whatever she was talking about. For example, when the concept of cribs came up, Kelsey gave the definition of a crib, and then connected it back to how the crib “KILL” was used to crack Z408 by Donald and Bettye Harden. Additionally, she refrained from using overly complex language that would push away listeners with less knowledge of cryptography and cryptographical history.

Podcast Issues: Manuvering Through Describing the Topic of Stenography.

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On October 9, 2018

In Student Posts

The podcast, Something Out of Nothing, discussed theories that believe that Shakespeare did not any of his sonnets, poems, or even plays. The speaker dives into the presence of cryptography in a lot of Shakespeare’s writing; the speaker gathered information about a unique cipher that utilized a substitute key and a form of stenography to embed messages within Shakespeare’s writing. I found it interesting how the speaker described Francis Bacon’s Bi-literal Cipher within the podcast and with a single visual aid as the SoundCloud cover image. Without the visual aid, the description of the five letter long strings of a’s and b’s used to code each separate letter would not have made sense to me. Furthermore, she included the techniques used to hide the cipher within plain sight and brought a relevance to the use of stenography in Shakespeare’s writing in comparison to other classical writers of that time. I appreciated how in depth the description was during the podcast, and how she carefully worded her description to not use heavy and technical words that could confuse me or other listen.

While the podcast did not use much audio clips from different speakers, the director of the podcast included some music breaks with appropriate music to fit these specific high intensity moments. These breaks offered the listen both a short mental break to absorb the information and to ponder some of the thoughts that the speaker just said. This discussion about stenography seems to interest me and I would like to have my podcast about some sort of modern stenography and utilize audio clips and more external resources.

Voder in the past and future

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On October 8, 2018

In Student Posts

From the audio, I feel that the Vox Ex Machina is a very powerful machine. The using of it will be used or already used in many ways in our daily life. The technology that mimics the human’s voice was awesome and at that age sounds like ridiculous. Although the machine was made for war at the beginning, in the peaceful ages it will also be very useful.

This machine can be made such as the GPS or something else, also the most interesting part is that when the producer makes it, it can be controlled by the pitch. This will let the machine more useful, it can be used in the arts. We can think about that the outlook is like a piano, but sounds like a human is singing. Also, it can help the people to distinguished the male and female voices.

Also, the voder’s keyboard looks like very easy to control, because it shaped as the hands. And the inside machine helps the people to decipher the digital instruction to the human’s voice. In the WWll, it also played an important role. By the encryption of the voices of the leaders, the work of intelligence theft will become even harder, and even these encrypted voices will not be deciphered at all.

In the future, the voder machine can be smaller even invisible, at that time depends on the bionic technique, it will be very helpful for the society.

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