Voynich Manuscript

[lachimba]

Ok well I do see a THS (or for that matter other settings) adventure angle then, people searching for unbreakable codes in THS inventing these types of languages either written or spoken.

Probably in THS they can be directly taught to bioroids as their native language.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by lachimba

Ok well I do see a THS (or for that matter other settings) adventure angle then, people searching for unbreakable codes in THS inventing these types of languages either written or spoken.

They aren't unbreakable given sufficient sample size and context, and absent such context there are much simpler codes that are equally unbreakable. "Run battle plan 14!" is unbreakable until you either steal a planbook or you acquire records showing them using battle plan 14.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by lachimba

Ok well I do see a THS (or for that matter other settings) adventure angle then, people searching for unbreakable codes in THS inventing these types of languages either written or spoken.

Probably in THS they can be directly taught to bioroids as their native language.

No, in TS you'd use efficient real time translation software built into y0our battle co9mms with memory capacity that could hold hundreds of thousands of computer created languages that no organic being would even have to learn.

You'd use Synthlang 001 until there had been enough time for the enemy to compile a useful database for breaking it. When the right time stamp came along the comm gear would switch to synthlang 002 with headers indicating such.

This could still be vulnerable to capture of your comm gear so you treat this as a disposable tool and not a great and mighty secret. Teaching one of these to an organic would be largely a waste of time.

[CraigR]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

You'd use Synthlang 001 until there had been enough time for the enemy to compile a useful database for breaking it. When the right time stamp came along the comm gear would switch to synthlang 002 with headers indicating such.

Actually, with a group of comms synced to each other, they could have a group of timestamps randomly placed, in which all the coms switch from synthlang1 to synthlang47, then to 23, etc., a random progression generated at sync time, making breakiing it all the more difficult.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

No, in TS you'd use efficient real time translation software built into y0our battle co9mms with memory capacity that could hold hundreds of thousands of computer created languages that no organic being would even have to learn.

In the limit where you only ever use each "synthlang" word once, which is probably close to what you need to be convincingly secure, this reduces to having a large set of one time pads. At which point you have to wonder what the point of making these things languages is.

[jeff_wilson]

Originally Posted by malloyd

In the limit where you only ever use each "synthlang" word once, which is probably close to what you need to be convincingly secure, this reduces to having a large set of one time pads. At which point you have to wonder what the point of making these things languages is.

Perhaps some Byzantine Generals scenario where you need to fine tune the encoding and decoding times to detect nodes running under atypical loads.

[Astromancer]

One question no one asks with the Voynich Manuscript, but they should, does this even make sense? Maybe the code is botched, the author could read the text, but only because he knew what was in there.

It's fully possible for the manuscript to be both interesting and ultimately meaningless, like many 1970's films.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by lachimba

Ok well I do see a THS (or for that matter other settings) adventure angle then, people searching for unbreakable codes in THS inventing these types of languages either written or spoken.

Probably in THS they can be directly taught to bioroids as their native language.

Given that canonical THS already has Cryptography several TLs more advanced than Cryptanalysis, I'm not sure it's worth the bother.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

One question no one asks with the Voynich Manuscript, but they should, does this even make sense? Maybe the code is botched, the author could read the text, but only because he knew what was in there.

It's fully possible for the manuscript to be both interesting and ultimately meaningless, like many 1970's films.

Well part of it is definitely a discussion of plants for alchemical/herbalism use. But the drawings aren't high enough quality for botanists to reliably identify.

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Well part of it is definitely a discussion of plants for alchemical/herbalism use. But the drawings aren't high enough quality for botanists to reliably identify.

Thy might be low quality, or a forgery meant to look like a late medieval herbal with unidentifiable herbs in a mysterious language. There was certainly a market for those in the sixteenth century, although this would have been more elaborate than needed. The problem is that it is very hard to prove that something is meaningless, and that doing so requires skill in Linguistics (Computational) and Mathematics (Statistics). Computers are just tools to make that work easier ...