3 Jan
2012
3 Jan
'12
3:30 p.m.
Over the break I visited the NSA's museum (just a stone's throw from Ft.
Meade). For those who like crypto machines, it is definitely, definitely
worth a visit. The curators and staff are very enthusiastic (they even
brought out a machine from the back vault) and of course you can buy an NSA
t-shirt if your heart desires. They had a mix-up with the Y-MP processor
board and memory board on display (I told them) but otherwise it's fun just
to see a Cray I up-close-and-personal. They have the tape jukebox being
run from a PC. And the CM is flashing lights, but that's about it. The
modern crypto gear is shown but the commentary is sparse at best. (In case
you're wondering, the boxes are empty -- so I was told). There is little
mention of public key cryptosystems. Or controversial questions like key
length or key escrow.
But worth a detour? Definitely.
3 Jan
3 Jan
4:17 p.m.
On 01/03/2012 03:30 PM, Mark Kahrs wrote:
Over the break I visited the NSA's museum (just a
stone's throw from Ft.
Meade). For those who like crypto machines, it is definitely, definitely
worth a visit. The curators and staff are very enthusiastic (they even
brought out a machine from the back vault) and of course you can buy an NSA
t-shirt if your heart desires. They had a mix-up with the Y-MP processor
board and memory board on display (I told them) but otherwise it's fun just
to see a Cray I up-close-and-personal. They have the tape jukebox being
run from a PC. And the CM is flashing lights, but that's about it. The
modern crypto gear is shown but the commentary is sparse at best. (In case
you're wondering, the boxes are empty -- so I was told). There is little
mention of public key cryptosystems. Or controversial questions like key
length or key escrow.
But worth a detour? Definitely.
I second this wholeheartedly. I used to go there regularly, when I
lived just a few miles from there. I've had many a long talk with the
staffers there.
By far the best part of that place, IMO, is the Enigma exhibit. To
walk up and operate a real Enigma is an awesome experience.
The last time I was there, there was a PDP-11/70 on exhibit. Is it
still there?
Oh, and...I'm sorry to bust your bubble, but about the "Cray
I"...it's not a "Cray I", it's just an SSD (Solid-State Disk)
assembly
that was possibly once attached to a Cray I.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
New Kensington, PA
8:18 p.m.
That's not a cray1 cpu tower there? Or has that been moved? Last I heard
there was a full tower system there
On Jan 3, 2012 4:51 PM, "Dave McGuire" <mcguire at neurotica.com> wrote:
On 01/03/2012 03:30 PM, Mark Kahrs wrote:
Over the break I visited the NSA's museum
(just a stone's throw from Ft.
Meade). For those who like crypto machines, it is definitely, definitely
worth a visit. The curators and staff are very enthusiastic (they even
brought out a machine from the back vault) and of course you can buy an
NSA
t-shirt if your heart desires. They had a mix-up with the Y-MP processor
board and memory board on display (I told them) but otherwise it's fun
just
to see a Cray I up-close-and-personal. They have the tape jukebox being
run from a PC. And the CM is flashing lights, but that's about it. The
modern crypto gear is shown but the commentary is sparse at best. (In
case
you're wondering, the boxes are empty -- so I was told). There is little
mention of public key cryptosystems. Or controversial questions like key
length or key escrow.
But worth a detour? Definitely.
I second this wholeheartedly. I used to go there regularly, when I lived
just a few miles from there. I've had many a long talk with the staffers
there.
By far the best part of that place, IMO, is the Enigma exhibit. To walk
up and operate a real Enigma is an awesome experience.
The last time I was there, there was a PDP-11/70 on exhibit. Is it still
there?
Oh, and...I'm sorry to bust your bubble, but about the "Cray
I"...it's
not a "Cray I", it's just an SSD (Solid-State Disk) assembly that was
possibly once attached to a Cray I.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
New Kensington, PA
4 Jan
4 Jan
6:32 p.m.
Nope...unless they've added one in the past year and a half or so,
which I'd probably have heard about, the one labeled "Cray I" there is
just an SSD.
-Dave
On 01/03/2012 08:18 PM, Gary Sparkes wrote:
That's not a cray1 cpu tower there? Or has that
been moved? Last I heard
there was a full tower system there
On Jan 3, 2012 4:51 PM, "Dave McGuire"<mcguire at neurotica.com> wrote:
> On 01/03/2012 03:30 PM, Mark Kahrs wrote:
>
>> Over the break I visited the NSA's museum (just a stone's throw from Ft.
>> Meade). For those who like crypto machines, it is definitely, definitely
>> worth a visit. The curators and staff are very enthusiastic (they even
>> brought out a machine from the back vault) and of course you can buy an
>> NSA
>> t-shirt if your heart desires. They had a mix-up with the Y-MP processor
>> board and memory board on display (I told them) but otherwise it's fun
>> just
>> to see a Cray I up-close-and-personal. They have the tape jukebox being
>> run from a PC. And the CM is flashing lights, but that's about it. The
>> modern crypto gear is shown but the commentary is sparse at best. (In
>> case
>> you're wondering, the boxes are empty -- so I was told). There is little
>> mention of public key cryptosystems. Or controversial questions like key
>> length or key escrow.
>>
>> But worth a detour? Definitely.
>>
>
> I second this wholeheartedly. I used to go there regularly, when I lived
> just a few miles from there. I've had many a long talk with the staffers
> there.
>
> By far the best part of that place, IMO, is the Enigma exhibit. To walk
> up and operate a real Enigma is an awesome experience.
>
> The last time I was there, there was a PDP-11/70 on exhibit. Is it still
> there?
>
> Oh, and...I'm sorry to bust your bubble, but about the "Cray
I"...it's
> not a "Cray I", it's just an SSD (Solid-State Disk) assembly that was
> possibly once attached to a Cray I.
>
> -Dave
>
> --
> Dave McGuire
> New Kensington, PA
>
--
Dave McGuire
New Kensington, PA
3 Jan
3 Jan
4:24 p.m.
On Tue, 3 Jan 2012, Mark Kahrs wrote:
Over the break I visited the NSA's museum (just a
stone's throw from Ft.
Meade). For those who like crypto machines, it is definitely, definitely
worth a visit. The curators and staff are very enthusiastic (they even
brought out a machine from the back vault) and of course you can buy an NSA
t-shirt if your heart desires. They had a mix-up with the Y-MP processor
board and memory board on display (I told them) but otherwise it's fun just
to see a Cray I up-close-and-personal. They have the tape jukebox being
run from a PC. And the CM is flashing lights, but that's about it. The
modern crypto gear is shown but the commentary is sparse at best. (In case
you're wondering, the boxes are empty -- so I was told). There is little
mention of public key cryptosystems. Or controversial questions like key
length or key escrow.
I went about six years ago and while I was there I asked if I could take
some of the skins off the CM5 and the Cray. The docent relayed my query to
some guy behind a desk who shrugged and went 'Sure'. So I took them apart
while other people wandered through the museum and took pictures of the
insides.
I liked the place.
- JP
6:31 p.m.
On 2012 Jan 3, at 12:30 PM, Mark Kahrs wrote:
Over the break I visited the NSA's museum (just a
stone's throw
from Ft.
Meade). For those who like crypto machines, it is definitely,
definitely
worth a visit. The curators and staff are very enthusiastic (they
even
brought out a machine from the back vault) and of course you can
buy an NSA
t-shirt if your heart desires. They had a mix-up with the Y-MP
processor
board and memory board on display (I told them) but otherwise it's
fun just
to see a Cray I up-close-and-personal. They have the tape jukebox
being
run from a PC. And the CM is flashing lights, but that's about
it. The
modern crypto gear is shown but the commentary is sparse at best.
(In case
you're wondering, the boxes are empty -- so I was told). There is
little
mention of public key cryptosystems. Or controversial questions
like key
length or key escrow.
But worth a detour? Definitely.
Did you see the SIGSALY display (aka "X System")? Haven't been to the
crypto museum myself, but I was reading about SIGSALY recently, and
see they have some of the equipment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
SIGSALY).
Real-time voice cryptography using pulse code modulation and digital
algorithms and technology in WWII:
http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/center_crypt_history/
publications/sigsaly_start_digital.shtml
http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/center_crypt_history/
publications/sigsaly_story.shtml
Reading about it, I could see the technological ability to do it at
the time, but I had no idea until recently it had actually been done
at the time!
Shannon had some involvement in its development, just a couple of
years before his papers on information theory. The historical
connections and influences make for very interesting reading:
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/39429?show=full
(download PDF from there)
The paper by Lars Lundheim 'On Shannon and "Shannon's Formula"'
http://www.iet.ntnu.no/projects/beats/journals.htm
is also interesting for some historical developments leading to
information theory, including the concepts of sampling and digitising
analog data, see mention of Alec Harley Reeves.
5 Jan
5 Jan
3:50 p.m.
Brent,
As it happens I also put in a visit to this museum over the holidays.
The SIGSALY display is a model rather than the real gear. I don't know
how much of the original gear they might have in the vaults, but it's
not what's displayed. They use models in a number of places -- mostly
to good didactic effect. For a hardware connoisseur it would be a bit
disappointing other than to see how it was all racked. I have a photo of
it if you're interested.
On Tue, 2012-01-03 at 15:31 -0800, Brent Hilpert wrote:
On 2012 Jan 3, at 12:30 PM, Mark Kahrs wrote:
-- Colin
Over the break I visited the NSA's museum
(just a stone's throw
from Ft.
Meade). For those who like crypto machines, it is definitely,
definitely
worth a visit. The curators and staff are very enthusiastic (they
even
brought out a machine from the back vault) and of course you can
buy an NSA
t-shirt if your heart desires. They had a mix-up with the Y-MP
processor
board and memory board on display (I told them) but otherwise it's
fun just
to see a Cray I up-close-and-personal. They have the tape jukebox
being
run from a PC. And the CM is flashing lights, but that's about
it. The
modern crypto gear is shown but the commentary is sparse at best.
(In case
you're wondering, the boxes are empty -- so I was told). There is
little
mention of public key cryptosystems. Or controversial questions
like key
length or key escrow.
But worth a detour? Definitely.
Did you see the SIGSALY display (aka "X System")? Haven't been to the
crypto museum myself, but I was reading about SIGSALY recently, and
see they have some of the equipment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
SIGSALY).
Real-time voice cryptography using pulse code modulation and digital
algorithms and technology in WWII:
http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/center_crypt_history/
publications/sigsaly_start_digital.shtml
http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/center_crypt_history/
publications/sigsaly_story.shtml
Reading about it, I could see the technological ability to do it at
the time, but I had no idea until recently it had actually been done
at the time!
Shannon had some involvement in its development, just a couple of
years before his papers on information theory. The historical
connections and influences make for very interesting reading:
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/39429?show=full
(download PDF from there)
The paper by Lars Lundheim 'On Shannon and "Shannon's Formula"'
http://www.iet.ntnu.no/projects/beats/journals.htm
is also interesting for some historical developments leading to
information theory, including the concepts of sampling and digitising
analog data, see mention of Alec Harley Reeves.
6:50 p.m.
New subject: SIGSALY /was Re: Visiting the Cryptologic museum
On 2012 Jan 5, at 12:50 PM, Colin Eby wrote:
Brent,
As it happens I also put in a visit to this museum over the holidays.
The SIGSALY display is a model rather than the real gear. I don't know
how much of the original gear they might have in the vaults, but it's
not what's displayed. They use models in a number of places -- mostly
to good didactic effect. For a hardware connoisseur it would be a bit
disappointing other than to see how it was all racked. I have a
photo of
it if you're interested.
Oh.. well it's quite the mock-up then (there are some pics on the web
site). I think the NSA museum site said what was on display was a
'portion' of one system. For my part, I'm more interested in
technical details and the system design. There is some technical
description at one of the links I mentioned below
(sigsaly_start_digital), but it still left a few questions about the
design and requirements.
On Tue, 2012-01-03 at 15:31 -0800, Brent Hilpert
wrote:
On 2012 Jan 3, at 12:30 PM, Mark Kahrs wrote:
-- Colin Over the break I visited the NSA's museum
(just a stone's throw
from Ft.
Meade). For those who like crypto machines, it is definitely,
definitely
worth a visit. The curators and staff are very enthusiastic (they
even
brought out a machine from the back vault) and of course you can
buy an NSA
t-shirt if your heart desires. They had a mix-up with the Y-MP
processor
board and memory board on display (I told them) but otherwise it's
fun just
to see a Cray I up-close-and-personal. They have the tape jukebox
being
run from a PC. And the CM is flashing lights, but that's about
it. The
modern crypto gear is shown but the commentary is sparse at best.
(In case
you're wondering, the boxes are empty -- so I was told). There is
little
mention of public key cryptosystems. Or controversial questions
like key
length or key escrow.
But worth a detour? Definitely.
Did you see the SIGSALY display (aka "X System")? Haven't been to the
crypto museum myself, but I was reading about SIGSALY recently, and
see they have some of the equipment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
SIGSALY).
Real-time voice cryptography using pulse code modulation and digital
algorithms and technology in WWII:
http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/
center_crypt_history/
publications/sigsaly_start_digital.shtml
http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/
center_crypt_history/
publications/sigsaly_story.shtml
Reading about it, I could see the technological ability to do it at
the time, but I had no idea until recently it had actually been done
at the time!
Shannon had some involvement in its development, just a couple of
years before his papers on information theory. The historical
connections and influences make for very interesting reading:
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/39429?show=full
(download PDF from there)
The paper by Lars Lundheim 'On Shannon and "Shannon's Formula"'
http://www.iet.ntnu.no/projects/beats/journals.htm
is also interesting for some historical developments leading to
information theory, including the concepts of sampling and digitising
analog data, see mention of Alec Harley Reeves.
4582
days inactive
4584
days old
7 comments
6 participants
participants (6)
-
colineby＠isallthat.com -
hilpert＠cs.ubc.ca -
jplist2008＠kiwigeek.com -
mark.kahrs＠gmail.com -
mcguire＠neurotica.com -
mokuba＠gmail.com