16.1, due december 2

i got a little lost in the math of this section. it probably doesn’t help that i’m not very comfortable with ellipses. but i was also a little confused as to how this will be useful in cryptography. with other sections that are all about math, i’ve been able to see how the math in those sections might be used for encrypting messages. but i have no idea with this stuff. it will be interesting to see how it relates.

i thought it was really interesting that we use infinity as a value. most of the time, i just ignore it or avoid it because it is so big and you can’t really do anything with it. i was surprised to see how often that point is referred to and used. that will take some getting used to, honestly. but the context that it will be used makes perfect sense. i was a little surprised that it is even defined or placed on the axes.

18.1 and 18.2, due november 26

i was a little confused by the parity check and two-dimensional parity code examples. i guess i am confused because parity means positive or negative, but i can’t see how that applies to either example. i felt like those examples were making sure the message was odd or even so that it would be easy to detect an error. maybe there’s another meaning of parity there that i’m not getting. that was a little confusing for me. i think i followed everything else pretty well though.

the error correcting codes were super interesting to me. it was cool to think about how we can change a vector into a codeword by changing the fewest places possible and that will allow us to detect errors. so far we have just learned about different encrypting methods, but we haven’t focused on how to protect against or anticipate errors in the coding. i think that’s an important thing to consider and i haven’t even thought about that.

2.12, due november 25

i think i kind of understood this section. of course, as soon as we talk about it in class i’ll probably be totally lost. i am a little confused as to how this method works, as in exactly how the rotations and steps encrypt messages. i got a little lost when the section described the encryption process itself, but i think it will be helpful to hear the teacher explain this method. but i really do think i kind of understand this enigma stuff.

if i understood this stuff right, i think this is a really interesting idea. it was also interesting to read about the attack on the enigma. it seems like it would take a really long time to decrypt a message, but to me it seems like using this enigma method is pretty secure.

Shor’s algorithm explanation and 19.3, due november 22

so i didn’t really understand the explanation in the book when i read it. it was very mathematical and i kept getting confused and lost. i wasn’t sure what shor’s algorithm was or what it would help us find. i realized it can help us factor, but i had no idea how to use it. after reading the nonmathematical explanation, i had a better understanding of it. i realize now that i probably should have read the explanation first, but i have a better grasp on it…i think. it will really help to work through examples that use this algorithm so that i can really understand it.

i loved reading about the periodic sequences, and i think that the powers of 2 mod 15 is my new favorite sequence of integers. i think that math is so cool, and i’ve really come to love modular arithmetic because it helps to bring out some interesting and important relationships that would be hard to see otherwise. i also thought the method for predicting the period was pretty interesting. (i was probably most intrigued by this stuff because i really understood it!) gotta love math.

19.1 and 19.2, due november 20

i got pretty lost in the quantum mechanics. science and i do not agree, and i didn’t really understand any of it. because of that, it was hard for me to understand how it related to math/cryptography. for me, quantum mechanics is the equivalent of rocket science. i tried really hard to follow the quantum key distribution section, but it was pretty hard.

even though i barely understood any of it, it was pretty interesting to see how math and quantum mechanics are related. it was interesting to see how something so complicated as quantum mechanics could be used with cryptography. hopefully it won’t be as confusing for me once i start working with it.

14.1 and 14.2, due november 18

i was able to follow this reading fairly well, and i think it has a lot to do with the example with peggy, victor, and the door—i read that first, and it helped me solidify my understanding of the method. i still got a little lost in the mathematics of actually carrying out this method. as with all other methods, i need to actually work through an example, and then i’m sure it will make more sense. i just forget where i am and which calculations i’m doing. doing an example that has real numbers is pretty valuable to me.

i think this method was pretty interesting. it has increased security because even if someone eavesdrops on the conversation, they won’t be able to use any of the information they hear. i think it would help the communicators be at ease because they won’t always be worried about eavesdroppers—they’ll know that regardless of if that happens, their message is still secure. whenever i learn about a new method, i can’t help but think about how complicated it is (for me at least), so it must be pretty secure. then i read the next reading about how there’s another method that is more secure. it’s just cool.

questions, due november 15

i’m hoping that the questions on the test are similar to the questions we’ve done for homework. it would be nice to just be tested on the vocabulary and how secure a certain method is, but i think we need to be tested on our ability to carry out the methods. and that is what i will probably focus on: practicing the methods and making sure i know how to do them. we’ve done so many that i forget the little details, sometimes the whole method. i will probably put most of my focus into the “Examples of problems you should be able to do” part of the study guide. i really enjoy carrying out these methods to decrypt a message. i think it’s cool and pretty fun.

12.1 and 12.2, due november 13

i think i was able to follow the explanations fairly well, but i got lost in all the math and explanations and pretty big numbers. it will be very helpful to see an example of this threshold scheme, and as i work through problems that deal with this, i’ll understand it better. that’s usually how these things go.

i think this sharing a message between multiple people idea is so interesting. i hadn’t really ever considered that before, but it makes so much sense. it just makes messages that much more secure and could help with big and important decisions and stuff. as i was reading, i realized that i’ve seen examples of this in movies, but i never really linked it with cryptography.

9.1-9.4, due november 11

it helped that the last homework had me practice working with signatures and creating two messages that are congruent with modular arithmetic. because of that, i was able to follow the reading fairly well. although i did get a little lost with the elgamal signature scheme explanation. the numbers and variables throw me off and it helps if i can work through an example myself. also i was wondering how it’s helpful that alice can choose a random k and keeps it to herself. i think it helps her compute the other variables, but that has always been a little confusing for me.

so i really like this electronic signature stuff. i like thinking about it, and i really enjoyed that last homework we did. i also love modular arithmetic (probably because it took me so long to get it and now i understand it and it’s awesome). i just think it’s so amazing to think about all the security that goes into cryptography. so much work, so much trust in those that do it for a living.

8.4-8.5 and 8.7, due november 8

i was a little confused when reading the multicollisions section. ok i was pretty confused. to be honest, i’m not quite sure how to explain my confusion. i didn’t really get any of it. i just got lost (again) in the explanation of the method. all the variables confused me too. i need to see an actual example and then i’ll probably understand it.

so when i first got this book, i was flipping through the book, and i saw “BIRTHDAY ATTACKS” on the top of one of the pages. i thought that was so random, and i was pretty excited to get to that point in the book. i had completely forgotten about that, but i was instantly reminded when i opened to these sections. also i loved that attack, partially because i understood it and partially because i love birthdays.

8.1-8.1, due november 6

i got a little lost in the explanation of the different has examples. it’s easier for me to work through examples with real numbers. i guess i could actually write down the examples in the book and work through them, but i just try to read through them and then i get confused. i think i’m also a little confused about what a hash function is. i probably just need to see an example and it will make sense.

so i was a little lost in the reading, so i hope what i’m saying is right. whenever we have learned about these different systems, we’ve always been working with modular arithmetic, and i’ve always wondered how we would account for two distinct digits that produce answers that are equivalent modulo a number n. i feel like this is the first time the book has addressed this idea that there should only be one right answer. i just find that interesting.

7.3-7.5, due november 4

i was a little confused about the computational and decision diffie-hellman problems. i think i understand what they are and what the differences are. i’m just a little confused as to how we can use them and how they can be helpful. it may have been in the reading, and maybe i just missed it. i’m just confused as to how they can be helpful with encrypting/decrypting messages.

i think it’s really interesting that there are so many options for encrypting/decrypting messages. i like reading about the methods in terms of alice and bob because it really helps me see how the method will work. it’s crazy that there have been so many of them throughout the book, and they all have different pros and cons.