The Mystery of Kryptos

I don't know how many of you are actually interested in cryptosystems and cryptography, but i think it's pretty fascinating. As an artist myself I feel a small connection to the sheer magnitude and tenacity Jim Sanborn has put into his work. Kryptos in particular is pretty amazing. For about 15 years it has stood in the courtyard of the headquarters of the CIA in Washington DC. As of yet, the final 97 characters have not been solved. The sculpture itself is a multi part sculpture that covers several areas at the headquarters. If you want to take a look for yourself, the best place to get information is at http://elonka.com/kryptos/. Once there you will find a wealth of information about not only the sculpture but about cryptography as well.

In the book Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson, a lot of cryptosystems are an integral part of the overall story which takes place in both WWII and modern day. Just so you have another place to look at the 97-98 characters that are unsolved, I have them posted here:

?OBKR
UOXOGHULBSOLIFBBWFLRVQQPRNGKSSO
TWTQSJQSSEKZZWATJKLUDIAWINFBNYP
VTTMZFPKWGDKZXTJCDIGKUHUAUEKCAR

I have used the courier font on purpose for the above code so that the characters line up correctly. If you want to take a stab at this puzzle, you might try starting by reversing the sequence to begin with...I don't know much about cryptography, I just find it interesting.

The full transcript can be found at http://elonka.com/kryptos/transcript.html. As stated by the author, the entire text can be decrypted by transcript alone, but the final meaning has something to do with events that took place during the construction of the piece. My brother has an interesting take on what the final subject may be. You can see his summary at http://www.strangerthanfiction.org .

Anyway I just thought you might want to take a look, it's all very fascinating.

-J

The Force is strong in me

So as you all know, I am an avid Star Wars Galaxies player. I have been playing the game for over 2 years now, which is pretty incredible when you consider the sheer lack of deep content this game has. However, I have finally managed to become "force sensitive". For those that don't know what this means...simply put, I can now work on becomming a jedi. It's a pain and a half but it can be done.

You will also notice I have placed google ads on my site. What I want to do is give any revenue to the host of this server. I have had this account for the last 12 years and I am grateful for it. Any revenue gained through the google ads is going straight to the owner of the server. It helps me by having a personal space on the web, and it will help the owner offset bandwidth costs.

In other news, I just saw Brian Regan last night at Cobb's Comedy Club in San Francisco and it was amazing. His opener was Clinton Jackson who was really very funny, and you could tell he really loved being up on stage. I have to say the MC (as usual for comedy clubs) was sub-par...self referenced as either "the Greatest American Hero" or "Shaggy" from Scooby Doo...he was loud, annoying and pretty unfunny. He started the night by insulting the town I live in (and then not really giving any reasons for it...even funny ones). And he continued to be self-deprecating and obnoxious throughout his act...I will just say he has a lot to learn if he is going to be a comic for a living.

Brian Regan was top notch as usual, with his quirky, funny observations about people and places. He also gave a really nice touching homage to Johnny Carson who passed away this weekend. Johnny gave Brian his first television appearance and the story he related to us was funny and endearing. I hope you all have a chance to see his show in person, his CD is amazing, but his manerisms just don't come across...it's a performance not to be missed.

This weekend I am going to my first Supercross race ever. It's going to be a redneck fest and I am going to love every minute of it. I'll tell you all about it after next weekend. Hope you are all doing well, ciao.

-J

Middle of January update

Well, it's the middle of January and believe it or not, it's sunny and warm today. I bowled in the local BVL roll off tournament today and unfortunately it kind of sucked. I bought a new ball a couple weeks ago and just recently had it drilled...then used it for the first time yesterday. It's a really nice ball but it's going to take some time to learn and get used to.

In the tournament today I bowled a 496 series...not too great, but my first game was a 185 so at least I know my problems this season aren't completly me...the new ball is going to help a lot.

I am still playing Star Wars Galaxies a lot, I have decided to try doing Swordsman and so far it's a lot of fun. The funny thing is now, after two years of playing there are a ton of Jedi running around out in the open. It's become the game the developers didn't want it to be, but they didn't realize when they started that Jedi should have been a playable class...it's what everyone wants to play anyway.

Anyhow, I am off to a birthday party for a friend's son.

later.