Looks to me like there's at least one person at Juno who's interested in serious crypto. This message just appeared on the list, but I'm forwarding it in case anyone's actually killfiled the site. ---begin forward---
I apologize for any behavior on behalf of my domain name.
(A little background:)
I am a cryptographer hopeful. I was interested in such things as the Caesar Cypher and the Enigma machine and the Roman encryption "padlock" when other kids were more interested in how the water fountain shot water straight up. After some thought and a little writing, I developed an encryption program using Mallard Basic on an old Amstrad (which I still grudgingly keep) with programming skills I taught myself.
I know most of the basics regarding RSA, PGP, and assorted single pass (?) cyphers. One thing I do not understand has to do with how RSA sieves large primes, etc. That is one of the few things that I do not understand about RSA. Another aspect of RSA I do not understand is the usage of primes (or any number) in the actual encryption process. Does the program add numbers from the key to the plaintext to create the cyphertext, or does it use some other process.
I am sorry if any of these questions seem redundant and/or stupid, but at this point in time, I can't get my hands on any actual explanation for how it works. (I would get a copy of "Applied Cryptography," but I do not have any source of income, which also explains Juno.) Aiieee!!! the dreaded "J" word!
Once again, I apologize if any of this caused annoyance or sickness.