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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Dear FOB, Indeed, transpositions and bad spelling often caused problems for code-breakers especially with the spies sending messages under the duress of combat conditions encountered in WWII. Again, I plug "From Silk To Cyanide" where this discussed in depth with personal experience by author Marks (who was a mere stripling at the time.). ALERT: this is not yet another book about the Enigma machine at Bletchley (sp?) but a different, English, operation. The code-breakers Marks worked with were all women, for one thing! 'Nuff said.
wow
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
coincidentally, today's M-W word-of-the-day is cryptography. is somebody spying on us?!
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094 |
p.s. why does AEnigma interpret qwerty as rabbit?
Apparently, AEnigma has an alphabetical list of all the words that it thinks are acceptable. If it finds a word that it doesn't recognize it just goes to the next word on the list. (This board isn't written in the most complex of computer languages, so the spell check was obviously kept simple.)
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
>to the next word on the list
In which case, the first "r" word must be rabbit. Or maybe Aenigma is recognising that it is the first day of the month.
Assuming the first version is true - Can anyone, without resorting to a dictionary, on-line or otherwise help Aenigma out with the missing words?
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
if you did resort to something like the OED there are probably lots, but the only significant ones I can think of are Ra and rabbi (plus rabbinical etc.)
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094 |
Assuming the first version is true - Can anyone, without resorting to a dictionary, on-line or otherwise help Aenigma out with the missing words?
There is no way for us as board users to add more words to Aenigma's lexicon. The only people that could do that are those who wrote the code for the board's amazing spell check feature.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
>There is no way for us as board users to add more words to Aenigma's lexicon
I wasn't thinking of adding them, just wondering what Aenigma was missing out on. Sounds like rabbi postings are a bit of a no no.
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
Actually, etaoin shrdlu is simply the order of the letters on the first two vertical rows on the left hand side of the linotype keyboard. The reason that it became so well known is also simple - bad proofreading. Often, if a linotype operator made a typing mistake, rather than being bothered to fix it s/he would simply run a finger down the first two rows of the keyboard to justify the line, with a couple of spacebands to take up the slack, then cast the line anyway. If the operator didn't diss it or the proofreaders didn't spot it, it wound up in print.
So yes, it was a cipher - but for "I screwed up", not anything more sinister!
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
is somebody spying on us?!"Just because you're paranaoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you." 
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