[11792] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: Optical analog computing?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Greg Rose)
Wed Oct 2 13:37:05 2002
Date: Thu, 03 Oct 2002 03:21:05 +1000
To: "John S. Denker" <jsd@monmouth.com>
From: Greg Rose <ggr@qualcomm.com>
Cc: "R. A. Hettinga" <rah@shipwright.com>,
Digital Bearer Settlement List <dbs@philodox.com>,
cryptography@wasabisystems.com
In-Reply-To: <3D9A8470.BD407C47@monmouth.com>
At 01:30 AM 10/2/2002 -0400, John S. Denker wrote:
>"R. A. Hettinga" wrote:
>...
> > "the first computer to crack enigma was optical"
>1) Bletchley Park used optical sensors, which were (and
>still are) the best way to read paper tape at high speed.
>You can read about it in the standard accounts, e.g.
> http://www.picotech.com/applications/colossus.html
But Colossus was not for Enigma. The bombes used for Enigma were
electro-mechanical. I'm not aware of any application of optical techniques
to Enigma, unless they were done in the US and are still classified. And
clearly, the first bulk breaks of Enigma were done by the bombes, so I
guess it depends whether you count bombes as computers or not, whether this
statement has any credibility at all.
Greg.
Williams/Zenon 2004 campaign page: http://www.ben4prez.org
Greg Rose INTERNET: ggr@qualcomm.com
Qualcomm Australia VOICE: +61-2-9817 4188 FAX: +61-2-9817 5199
Level 3, 230 Victoria Road, http://people.qualcomm.com/ggr/
Gladesville NSW 2111 232B EC8F 44C6 C853 D68F E107 E6BF CD2F 1081 A37C
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