Sunday, October 28, 2007

The Enigma Variations

I have been watching Mind of a Codebreaker - video instead of blogging. I should be ashamed of myself, but I am not. It is a fascinating story about how the British broke the German codes. Ultimately it is also the story of the World's First Programmable Electronic Computer. It had 1,500 valves. What we in America call tubes. An amazing story. If you have the time and bandwidth well worth it. I have studied this subject from a number of different aspects over the years since I first read a book called The Ultra SecretThe Ultra Secretand I must say this is one of the best technical expositions of the Enigma story I have yet come in contact with. The part about "cribs" is very interesting. Until I read a book on Enigma technology a few years back I had never seen a good explanation of "cribs". The video covers the essence of "cribbing" very well.

3 comments:

Karridine said...

Isn't this an INTERESTING subject? Secrets and de-secretizers...

I share the same insane compulsion as other code-breakers... I WANNA KNOW!

When we're face to face, I'll share some more relevant info re this subject... but until then, I'll watch the video!

M. Simon said...

The Modulo Two addition mentioned in the videos has a special name in electronics.

It is called an XOR gate. Or XNOR. One is normal logic the other inverted.

Gayle said...

I'll tell my husband about it, Simon. He'll understand it far better than I, as he has a background in electronics. Thanks!

BTW: I've posted the video and a link to the story that you sent me. Thanks again. :)