it's way too late again

[darkoshi]

Why did I have to spend the last 2 or 3 hours reading about how the German Enigma encryption machines worked, and how the messages were deciphered? Why doesn't the part of my brain which is engrossed in something like that ever pay attention to the other part of my brain that is saying I better stop and get ready for bed?

Comments

[artkouros.livejournal.com]

Because they are fascinating? If you've never read Alan Turing: The Enigma, it has a decent explanation of the workings, and the mix of English cleverness and German mistakes that allowed the codes to be broken.

[darkoshi]

Yep, they are fascinating. I was originally under the impression that the difficulty was in determining how the encryption was being done - I didn't realize that it was both that, plus determining what settings/keys were being used for encrypting each message. It's staggering to consider just how many encrypted messages were being sent and intercepted in order to manage decrypting them. I think I would have enjoyed working on that had I been around back then, though I wouldn't have enjoyed the stress.

[artkouros.livejournal.com]

Or the accommodations, either.

http://www.mkweb.co.uk/pictures/8203-BLETCHLEY-PARK-Alan-Turing-s-notes-used-roof/pictures-25966005-detail/pictures.html#77HPMXAPIUBo4bAW.01

[darkoshi]

That was the page I started from yesterday. :-)
I missed seeing the photos though. The main building looks quite nice, architecturally. The huts don't.

I now also found this page, which gives a good explanation of what the Banbury sheets were used for. Definitely fascinating.