if-comp: Project to make Fact true (fwd)

This is something I got off the Idea Futures computers list.
(The Fact claim is that a 512 bit number will be factored by '97)
I don't know if the following address has been posted here before. 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 95 13:45:40 PDT
From: Robin Hanson <hanson@hss.caltech.edu>
To: if-comp@merak.com
Subject: if-comp: Project to make Fact true


A team at Bellcore seems to be planning to try and make the claim Fact true.
See this web page, and the forward in particular:

   http://kayak.npac.syr.edu:2008/ 

They plan to use the web to allow lots of machines to easily participate.
They will start with a 130-digit number and work their way up to the
155-digit number required to satisfy the claim.

Will they succeed by the end of '97?  A crypto expert friend of mine
claims their chances are 90%.  I have bet accordingly.

Robin Hanson  hanson@hss.caltech.edu  http://www.hss.caltech.edu/~hanson/
818-683-9153  2433 Oswego St., Pasadena, CA  91107   FAX: 818-405-9841
818-395-4289  Div. Hum. & Soc. Sci. 228-77 Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125

This is the exact wording of the claim from my previous post (there are 
also a few other crypto claims being traded).

   Fact [comp]
   512 Bit number factored by '97
   
   Before 1997 GMT a number of the following form will have been
   factored. The number must be at least 512 bits long, and be the
   product of two primes, each at least 200 bits long. The factoring
   method must not rely on any special properties of the number (except
   the fact that there are only two factors). In particular, if the
   factors were chosen by the group doing the factoring, then the
   technique must not have used any information about the particular
   factors chosen. The result must be published in a reputable journal.
   The paper must include a description of how the factoring was
   accomplished. The result must be reproducible, at least in theory (it
   need not have been reproduced). To be judged one year later to allow
   time for publication. Note: 512 bit number means number >= 2^511 A
   project to factor 512 bit number might not qualify because the factors
   are too small or there are 3 factors. They will know before you. 
   
   Owner: loki@nately.ucsd.edu, Wording changes allowed by Owner
   
   Posted to: sci.crypt, Interval: monthly
   
   Judge by: TBD on 98/1/1
   
   Plot price data as GIF or ASCII  
     _________________________________________________________________ 
   
   Go to the list of claims.
   Go to the introductory page.  
     _________________________________________________________________ 
   
   Meta Disclaimer: this is not real money (all other disclaimers are
   superfluous)...
   Mark James (jamesm@skyler.arc.ab.ca)
   Last update Monday, 16-Oct-95 03:01:27