h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: A Study of the Applications, Benefits and Necessity of Cryptography in Modern Communication - A933978
Author: jargonCCNA - U152739

Took me a while to write and research this, but I think it excellently complements the entries available on crypto.

Excellent entry. Very interesting and not too techy for people (like me) who don't understand cryptography to learn from. A few comments:

The title is far too long. 'Modern Cryptography' or 'Modern Cryptography - a study' would be better.

"Your security; my security; everyone's security" - be wary of lapsing into the first person. It probably isn't suitable for entries like this one.

"A. Introduction
i. What is cryptography?"

It probably isn't necessary to number/letter your headers and subheaders. The fact that you've divided it all up using GuideML is enough to make the different sections and content obvious.

"approximately 340 undecillion possible keys" - is undecillion a word? Perhaps it would be better to write the number in standard form - 3.4 x 10^38. You might have to use the tag to get the powers to raise up.

I agree with the article is great - more comprehensvie and informative than existing Entries, but as a minor point the title needs abbreviating - on my screen I could only see
"A Study of the Applications, Benefits and Necessity of..." I was intrigued so I pulled up the Entry.

Early history of codes and ciphers pretty sketchy - is the tattooed slave's head the best example? Maybe you could you link to a different Entry that covers the early period in more detail, and leave you free to concentrate on the modern stuff.

Pimms

Yes, the slave example is a poor one. It would be better to include the example of another code, such as that one cracked by Charles Babbage (sorry, can't remember the name).

By all means write a separate entry on the early history of secret messages, but this entry covers the modern period so more old examples aren't particularly necessary. The Caesar's cypher one will probably suffice on its own.

A few things --

Title length -- I agree. It was originally intended as a report for English class, so I thought I'd add some unnecessary verbiage to make it look all intellectual and whatnot.

First person -- I dunno, I think it could be handy to keep the not-too-techy thing going. I'll read through it again, though.

Yes, undecillion's a word. Took me about ten minutes of looking through cross-referenced entries on Dictionary.com to find it. I'll probably switch it to 3.4x10^38.

The slave bit -- I thought it might be best to provide an example of why messages have been hidden for the English class thing. That's a good point, though; I'll probably take it out now.

Thanks for the advice! I'll get on that.. ooh.. later today. Got some contracts to take care of first :-,

Okey pokey, I think I have all those little fixes done up. Any more suggestions?

Very good entry

I agree with the suggestion to remove "A." "i." etc from all the headers and subheaders - it would look better without them on h2g2.

I also think it might be worthwhile adding the basics of at least one other cipher between the Caesar Shift Cipher and Enigma, to demonstrate just how much more advanced Enigma is than a monoalphabetic substitution cipher. Perhaps the Vignere cipher would be a suitable inclusion?

Well done
RhoMuNuQ

Hmm... yeah, I really should include some other forms of crypto.. I'll see what I can find at home.

As far as the indexing goes, I did that because there are subheadings within subheadings... is there any way within GuideML to do that?

I see what you mean. Perhaps creating a bulleted list with the current subheading in bold would work? If you add and inside the and tags, the bullet points will be spaced out automatically:


Point - explanation
Point 2 - explanation 2


I think that would be the best solution.
RhoMuNuQ

I think I figured out a better technique using <BLOCKQUOTE> tags. Tell me what you think.

first, the code babbage cracked (without getting the credit because the military wanted to keep the solution to themselves) was know as "LE CHIFFRE INDECHIFFRABLE", or the uncrackable code.

second, you present digital rights management as a good thing, but it has a large downside as well. (imagine getting the "scunthorpe problem" on the book you have just spent months writing, only to have microsoft word hide it because of a faulty digital signature algorithm).

lastly, the whole process of looking at the strength of security applications is presented as being illegal under both the digital millenial copyright (DMCA) act in america and the European Copyright Directive (EUCD). while nether of these have been tested in court yet, both have been used to stop security experts pointing out blatant weaknesses in products claiming to help improve your security.

Hey, that code could be useful. I'll see what I can find on it...

As far as DRM goes, I'd like to leave my commentary as it is. The entry's on crypto, not DRM. Maybe I'll do a pro-con critique of DRM in a later entry.

The examining strengths thing could be interesting to touch on, though. Again, not a huge issue for this entry. Maybe later, though.

I think its good Any deeper and it would ostracize those who knew nothing of codes and any more side issues and it would get too big. This is not to deny the issues that arise with DRM, and I think a line to say that the NSA approach to security has raised issues and problems around the world - but its your article.

Actually, I think it could be useful to add in a quick comment about the NSA's views on crypto and security. Probably toss it into the glossary. Mind if I add you as a Researcher for the entry?

All I was suggesting about DRM is pointing out in that section that it is not universally accepted as a good thing, in contrast to the current text about it which ignores the possibility of there being a downside to it at all.

how about changing the sentence "This could greatly speed up various legal or bureaucratic situations." to something more like "This could greatly speed up various legal or bureaucratic situations, but there are substantial unsoved problems over it's implimentation."?

oops, that should have been:

how about changing the sentence "This could greatly speed up various legal or bureaucratic situations." to something more like "This could greatly speed up various legal or bureaucratic situations, but there are substantial unsolved problems over it's implimentation."?

Thats kind of you but I don't think such a small matter warrants elevation to such a level - its just what Peer Reveiew is about.

For balance, you might mention the transparency movement.

I find your definition of the NSA rather odd. The NSA does other things than code-cracking, and there are sections of military intelligence that duplicate the code-cracking function.

Nice entry... one thing though... most of your description of the workings of an Enigma machine has already been covered... have a glance at A653276 - you might be able to shorten and simplify your version just by linking to the existing edited entry


Whisky

Anyway, the NSA doesn't actually exist. We are a figment of your imagination.