Forwarded message:
Date: Wed, 13 Nov 1996 08:02:16 -0600 (CST) From: Ron Strasburg <rstrasbu@bronco1.hastings.edu> To: cypherpunks@toad.com Subject: Re: A really short one time pad.
On Tue, 12 Nov 1996, Timothy C. May wrote:
At 5:39 PM -0800 11/12/96, Sean Roach wrote:
[deletia]
For that patter the nth root of any prime number. Cheap, I know. Wonder if this type of "one time pad" is as foolproof as truly randomly generated ones.
You needn't wonder. These are not one time pads. Read any opening chapter of any book on crypto to see why.
this was proposed a couple months ago by a Robert Shueey, he first posted asking if "Irrational=Random". not sure if he got any responses.
"The Broken Dice" by Ivar Ekeland has a chapter that discusses Shannon, Kolmogorov, what is random and what isn't. Interesting, readable, non-technical.