Category Archives: crypto

Rebuilding The First Vocal Encryption System

Posted on January 27, 2019 by Fernando Gomes

Back in the early days of radio, it was quickly apparent that the technology would revolutionize warfare, but only if some way could be found to prevent enemies from hearing what was said. During World War II, the Allies put a considerable amount of effort into securing vocal transmissions, resulting in a system called SIGSALY – 50 tons of gear developed by Bell Laboratories with the help of Alan Turing that successfully secured communications between the likes of Churchill and Roosevelt during the war.

Now, a small piece of the SIGSALY system lives again, in the form of a period-faithful …read more

Continue reading →

Posted in adc, classic hacks, crypto, encryption, quantizer, SIGSALY, thyratron, vacuum tube, vocoder | Leave a comment

This Year, Badges Get Blockchains

Posted on June 28, 2018 by Fernando Gomes

This year’s hottest new advance in electronics comes through wearable badges. You can’t have failed to notice another technology that’s getting really hot. It’s the blockchain. What is a blockchain? It’s a linked list where every item in the list contains a cryptographic hash of the previous item in the list. What is a blockchain in English? It’s the most revolutionary technology that’s going to solve every problem on the planet, somehow. It’s the basis for crypto (no not that one, the other one). The blockchain is how you add more Lamborghinis to your Lamborghini account. Even though we’re …read more

Continue reading →

Posted in badge, badgelife, blockchain, crypto, hardware | Leave a comment