sweet noise

[Major Variola (ret)]

If you've ever developed crypto hardware or software, you get to the
point where you memorize the hex for a key & block, and when you
see it computed correctly (even as you tweak the code or RTL)
its a joy.

One can also look at the entropic  properties as you feed test
vectors (eg 1,2,3,4...) into it (emulating a PRNG), and when
you pass Marsaglia's Diehard or otherwise measure 1 bit/symbol,
you know things are cool.

See, you write test progs to encrypt, decrypt, and check
that things D(E(x))=x; you also use published test vectors
as "gold standards".   But I've only got half the protocol
coded, so I could only assure that highly redundant
input gets turned into noise.  Noise, sweet noise, even
if its just eyeballing the hex.

Of course, lots of error handling and input checking to
assure that one has covered all the bases (and corner
cases); but before that tedium there's the joy of making
munitions by typing.

Cypherpunks *do* write code.  Or copy others', wrap it
in a class, and put it together in useful ways.

Under the cold, shaded eyes of a poster of lots of Agent Smiths.

When I was unemployed for a year, which might recur in a month
or so, I was worried about outsourcing, albeit as a lib that bothered
me.  Recently I realized that the kiretsu has outsourced software
to the US, refilling my checking account, even better, saving my
self-esteem.

--------
Additional case studies are needed, however, to determine which traits
of
chemical and biological terrorists might help identify them
because charisma, paranoia, and grandiosity are alo found to varying
degreees among, for example, leaders of political parties, large
corporations, and academic depts. --John T Finn, _Science_ v 289 1
sept 2000