xanthian@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Kent Paul Dolan) (04/06/91)
Could all those posting pi and e computation article in comp.compression please _stop_? There have been over a dozen in the last couple of days, and the net has other, perfectly adequate venues for such discussions. Try sci.math. This group is targeted toward advancing the state of data compression, and it is going to be a hard enough task without having to dodge lots of noise postings. The cryptographic questions are also inappropriate here. That's why sci.crypt exists. The fact that a compression and archiving package may also include encryption capabilities doesn't make this the place to talk about them. It would be a shame to have to add the time and effort overhead of moderation just to cure a problem of inappropriate postings that simple individual self control should never have let happen in the first place. Kent, the man from xanth. <xanthian@Zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> <xanthian@well.sf.ca.us>
toddpw@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Todd P. Whitesel) (04/07/91)
It just occured to me that this arbitrary digits stuff might really have a compression or at least encryption use (encryption is a marginally appropriate topic here, I know): Has anybody tried developing a compression or encryption scheme that uses the digits or bits of an irrational number as a key or pseudorandom generator? I have no idea. The thought just occured to me as I was reading the topic police postings. Todd Whitesel toddpw @ tybalt.caltech.edu
drenze@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu (Douglas Renze) (04/07/91)
In article <1991Apr7.020617.12261@nntp-server.caltech.edu> toddpw@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Todd P. Whitesel) writes: >Has anybody tried developing a compression or encryption scheme that uses the >digits or bits of an irrational number as a key or pseudorandom generator? Interesting question. I did something along these lines in encryption about a year ago, although I was only experimenting with the encryption of text files (I'm somewhat of an amateur cryptographer). The application of this to binary files had never occured to me. In fact, it seems to me, though, that any en- cryption scheme which relies on the generation of pseudorandom numbers from a given "seed" could be adapted to fit this requirement by simply substituting the digit from the irrational number for the pseudorandom number. It would also seem to me that there shouldn't be any appreciable loss of security, especially if multiple encryption passes were run. Anybody care to prove me wrong? This is only a hobby for me and I know very little about binary encryption, so if somebody can teach me a lesson, I'd be much obliged. BTW, for the benefit of the thought police, it seems to me that in the field of computers, there is an intimate relationship between data compression and data encryption. Therefore it would seem to me that some crossover in this newsgroup is both expected and acceptable. Just my $0.02 worth. Peace and Long Life, Doug internet: drenze@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu delphi: drenze "I don't care if you tell me I'm wrong, but tell me *why* I'm wrong!"