The world has changed enormously since the advent of technology but what does the future hold? What will be the next technological revolution: the next telephone, the next railway, the next car, or the next Internet? People often talk about the Internet of Things, but to me this seems to be just an obvious extension of the movement of incorporating technology into day-to-day products. Fridges, … Continue reading It’s a Brave New World
If you have read the recent blog on the news about the rise of AI, one might be forgiven for thinking that the dawn of some futuristic Science-Fiction film is upon us. That soon robots will be roaming the Earth causing devastation and some AI will free itself from the bonds of its owner and start a devastating, destructive campaign! Well, this might sound exciting, … Continue reading Intelligent Machines: They’re taking over!
The encryption schemes in Part I are fun to play with but they are not effective enough to protect passwords and messages in the modern world. With huge computing power and far faster machines, we can brute force most of these techniques. The others can be cracked by using statistical techniques. So how can we protect our messages in this age where every week seems … Continue reading Cryptography: Cracking the Code Part II
Try your hand at the following: “CIGG PHNI KE CHMV JVEKL E NZJX OMVYSNL MV ZW EAOG R WNFPGJW ZSVFVR PZIP KLX XPQNIKK ETV HXSH” – QJGTJ AKCHX “PQDGD VH KCPQVKF FCCR CG LNR LSP PQVKWVKF INWDH VP HC” – JVEEVNI HQNWDHZDNGD “RO VDBRL KN CQN OXXM XO UXEN YUJH XW” – FRUURJV BQJTNBYNJAN “KB XZ XYG UPYO FH IC LHLEIILH DKVS AS SG IQSI … Continue reading Cryptography: More Puzzles!
“HIQGPX OLQ KLBFO VYIR CRQN IOWVAKLBFK CII T YVGRX TFRQPEGUI VF XAGWG FJ NK AJF HH” – AWCRG TKMOFZ How could you even start cracking this code (or writing one)? Well, to understand how one could even start thinking about this, let’s start with the basics. Code breaking has been around for centuries. Indeed, the Romans used codes to hide communication from their enemies. This … Continue reading Cryptography: Cracking the Code Part I
Following the Difference Engine, Babbage turned his attention to constructing a more general machine. Indeed, he was hoping to construct a machine that was “…capable of executing not merely arithmetical calculations, but even all those of analysis, if their laws are known” [1]. This machine, if it had been built, would have been a precursor of the modern day computers as it had a ‘reader’, … Continue reading Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine
The Pioneers: Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine The history of the modern day computer begins with Charles Babbage, a Cambridge mathematician and the `father of the computer’ and Ada Lovelace, an aristocratic woman who is widely recognised as the first programmer. Babbage was born to a banker’s family and, following childhood illness, went on to read mathematics at Cambridge University [1]. Following this time in Cambridge, Babbage … Continue reading Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine
We all know about Enigma and its importance during the war. Yet we never hear about Tunny which was arguably far more important and vital for the war-effort. This leads to the question: what was the purpose of Tunny, and how was it cracked? Tunny was the encryption used by the German military high command. Indeed, Adolf Hitler himself would use it to send, as he … Continue reading Bletchley Park: The Tunny Machine
Tunney Ideas 