"Dan Harmon" wrote:
I'm reposting this in response to a few recent posts inquiring about the NSA flyer.
[..]
This is from a flyer that NSA people have been distributing:
NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY -- TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
Information Sorting and Retrieval by Language or Topic
Related note: I was doing some research at the National Library of Australia the other day and came across a publication (a 12 page pamphlet or thereabouts) titled "Careers for Mathematicians and Engineers at the National Security Agency". It's dated about 1976, and describes what engineers, physicists, mathematicians and computer scientists can engage in at NSA. The people in the pictures look like they had been rescued from a 70's low budget CIA or Police TV flick. As for equipment, there were pictures of oscilloscopes, `computers' with LEDs and switches on the front and other stuff as well (and neat labels on the switches too). Much was given to the potential types of work you can do, and descriptions of the facilities at Ft. Meade (though, it didn't explicitly name the place, but named campuses where you can study at while working at NSA -- the target audience is high school students it seems), most either in Maryland or Washington DC (if my US geography serves me the best), Georgetown University was one of them. IMHO a security risk in itself, knowing the exact places and courses that NSA personel are located, almost as bad as our DSD advertising for job placements in the Government Gazette ` .. for the collection and interpretation of foreign signals intelligence ..'. Some of the claims are down right funny. For instance, it is stated that "To assure maximum opportunity for achievement, the Agency provides a high degree of personal freedom to pursue individual interests in an atmosphere conducive to scholary achievement". Sure! You just have to suffer the indignation of not being able to publish it to your respected peers (well, at least those outside the agency). I made a photocopy of two pages, one with a guy standing in front of the NSA emblem, smiling of course [would you by a cryptosystem from this man ...]. The other, my favourite, is of a woman standing at a blackboard with another guy, she's obviously teaching him about something. Chalked on the board is a picture of a 7 bit LFSR with a single tap, and then next to it (partly obscured by the man) are a few equations. It lost a bit in the color -> b/w photocopy, but I plan to scan in the two photocopied papers when next I see my friend and his flatbed. It was a good giggle! Matthew. -- Matthew Gream <M.Gream@uts.edu.au> -- Consent Technologies, (02) 821-2043 Disclaimer: I'm only a student at UTS, and don't represent them.