NODE 62d4c975Re: Cypher?????
tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)Sun, 13 Mar 94 11:05:08 PST
> wcs> Cypher gets spelled both ways, but in the cryptography world it's more
> common than cipher, probably.
>
> Hmm.. Perhaps you could point me to a reference, I have NEVER seen it
> (mis)spelled Cypher.
>
> Peace
>
"Cypherpunks" is to "Cyberpunks" as "Cipherpunks" is to "Ciberpunks."
And "cypher" is a perfectly fine alternate spelling of "cipher," used
almost exclusively in Britain, and other Empire colonies. Since much
of modern crypto (I mean, "cripto") derived from British work (Turing,
Colossus, Bletchley Park, Enigma), a kind of homage.
Consult any dictionary before saying you have "NEVER" seen it
"(mis)spelled" that way.
The first reason, the resonance with cyberpunks, was clearly the main
reason Jude Milhon ("St. Jude" of "Mondo 2000") quipped: "You guys are
just a bunch of cypherpunks." The name stuck.
--Tim May
--
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
"National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."
NODE 27d49141Re: Cypher?????
Matthew J Ghio <mg5n+@andrew.cmu.edu>Sun, 13 Mar 94 12:03:46 PST
% telnet chem.ucsd.edu
Trying 132.239.68.1...
Connected to chem.ucsd.edu.
Escape character is '^]'.
Accel UNIX (chem.ucsd.edu)
login: webster
Last login: Sun Mar 13 11:38:36 from 146.122.132.195
Word: cypher
cy-pher chiefly Brit var of
CIPHER
Word: cipher
1ci-pher \'suE-fer\ n, often attrib
[ME, fr. MF cifre, fr. ML cifra, fr. Ar s.ifr empty, cipher, zero]
(14c)
1a: ZERO 1a
1b: one that has no weight, worth, or influence: NONENTITY
2a: a method of transforming a text in order to conceal its meaning -- compare
CODE 3b
2b: a message in code
3: ARABIC NUMERAL
4: a combination of symbolic letters; esp: the interwoven initials of
a name
2cipher vb ci-phered; ci-pher-ing \-f(e-)ri{nj}\ vi
(1530)
:to use figures in a mathematical process
~ vt
1: ENCIPHER
2: to compute arithmetically
Word:
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