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February 2017 Volume 28, Issue 2 $2.00
Next Event:Tuesday, February 7,7:30 PM
Online Marketing:Five Mistakes to Avoid
on Your Website
2 • Feb 2017 http://www.dacs.org
DACS, its officers and directors as-sume no liability for damages arisingout of the publication or non-publica-tion of any article, advertisement, orother item in this newsletter. The editors welcome submissionsfrom DACS members. Contact RichardTeasdale ([email protected]). Ad-vertisers, contact Charles Bovaird at(203) 792-7881 ([email protected])
Nonprofit groups may request permission
to reprint articles from dacs.doc orhttp://www.dacs.org by sending e-mail to [email protected]. Re-printed articles shall credit thecopyright holder and a copy of thefinal publication shall be mailed to:
Danbury Area Computer Society, Inc.65 Legion Rd,New Milford, CT 06776
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dacs.doc, ISSN 1084-6573, is publishedmonthly by the Danbury Area ComputerSociety, 65 Legion Rd, New Milford, CT06776. Annual subscription rates: $60to regular members, $40 electronic ac-cess (included in dues).
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Editorial CommitteeEditorial CommitteeEditorial CommitteeEditorial CommitteeEditorial CommitteeManaging Editor: Richard TeasdaleProduction Editor: Allan Ostergren
Dick Gingras APCUG [email protected]
CopyrightCopyrightCopyrightCopyrightCopyright
ContributorsContributorsContributorsContributorsContributorsCharles Bovaird Richard CorzoDrew Kwashnak Lisa LeifelsDave Mawdsley Bruce PrestonJim Scheef Annette van Ommeren Andy Woodruff
IN THIS ISSUE
DIRECTORS’ NOTES 2
HELPLINE 3
REVIEW: MICROSOFT HOLOLENS 4
PREVIEW: ONLINE MARKETING 5
READ THE BLOG ON DACS.ORG 5
Workshop News & Notes 6
FEBRUARY CALENDAR 7
CRYPTO SIMULATION 8
DACS CAPITAL CAMPAIGN 11
FUTURE EVENTS 12
IN THIS ISSUE
Directors’ Notes
Danbury Area ComputerSociety (DACS)
Board Meeting MinutesWednesday, January 4, 2017
The meeting was called to order at7:07pm by the DACS President, DaveGreen.
In attendance were board members Ri-chard Corzo, Bert Goff (Secretary & Trea-surer), Dave Green (President), Jim Scheef,and Andy Woodruff. Dick Gingras was notpresent. The minutes were taken by Rich-ard Teasdale.
(Names in italics denote responsibili-ties for actions.) • The Minutes of the 12/7/2016 BoardMeeting were accepted.
Reports • The Treasurer's report for Decemberwas discussed. Bert reported that duesreceipts for the year 2016 were signifi-cantly less than in 2015, however ex-penses were also less than the prior year,making for a net loss in 2016 of under$200. (Bert noted that two Decemberdues receipts were accidentally omittedand so an amended report will be issued.)The init ial response to theResource Center Capital Campaign hasbeen encouraging. • Membership committee:
o Jim reported 90 paid-up members(including 1 new), and 8 in-grace, for atotal of 98. (The Membership report willalso be amended.)
o 31 people attended the January 3General Meeting, 10 of whom were visitors,including several first-time visitors.
• Press Coverage:o Dave reported that press releases
for the January general meeting were sentout on December 22. One recipient (HamletHub) acknowledged the release. • Website:
o Richard reported that anotherinstance of compromised files wasdetected by Wordfence. The compromisedfiles were restored by Annette.
o Jim reported that he will install a newrelease of CiviCRM in the near future.
o Access to the DACS website is stillblocked from WCSU's campus network byMcAfee Site Advisor, due to the recenthacking. Two requests for review have beenfiled with McAfee by WCSU, withoutresult.
Old Business • Programs:
o David Fischer will speak at theFebruary general meeting on the subjectof “5 Mistakes to Avoid on Your Website”.Richard will write the Preview, and Andywill write the Review.
o Dave will speak to the manager ofBest Buy about a possible speaker for thetopic of Wearable Devices.
o Two potential topics were sug-gested by Steve Harkness at the Janu-ary general meeting: (1) drones, and (2)a new hackerspace planned for NewMilford. It was agreed that both of thesewould be good general meeting topics,if suitable speakers can be found. Bertwill follow up on either or both.
• Renovation of the Resource Center(RC):
o It was agreed that it would be desir-able to approach businesses as well asindividuals for donations. Jim and Bert wereappointed to a committee for that purpose.
o Andy reported on the status of hisdealings with Meadow Ridge for acquiringa donation of used carpet.
• Jim announced his retirement from theDACS Board of Directors. He pointed outthe need for a second person to havein-depth knowledge of CiviCRM.
• Potential new directors were discussed.Andy pointed out that people who live faraway can attend meetings via Skype, andtherefore should not be discounted for thatreason alone.
• Slack: Experience with Slack was dis-cussed further. Richard reported that theLinux workshop is not interested in us-ing it.
• Richard Teasdale has volunteered tocontinue Jim's work on a survey of themembership to determine the level of in-terest in a NAS workshop, using the
http://www.dacs.org Feb 2017 • 3
DACS GENERAL NUMBER: (203) 744-9198PRESIDENT: David Green [email protected]
VICE PRESIDENT PROGRAMS: [email protected]: Bert Goff • TREASURER: Bert Goff
Officers
HelpLineHelpLineHelpLineHelpLineHelpLine
Richard Corzo (203) 797-1518 [email protected]
Richard Gingras (203) 426-1780 [email protected]
Bert Goff (860) 355-8895 [email protected]
David Green (203) 797-8682 [email protected]
Andy Woodruff (203) 744-9588 [email protected]
CommitteesNEWSLETTER: Richard Teasdale: [email protected],
PROGRAM: [email protected]
WEB MASTERS: Richard Corzo ([email protected]), (203) 797-1518
Annette van Ommeren ([email protected]), (914) 232-0149
PRESS RELEASES: Dave Green ([email protected])
APCUG LIAISON: Dick Gingras ([email protected])
MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR: Jim Scheef ([email protected])
RESOURCE CENTER: (203) 748-4330 • WEB SITE: http://www.dacs.org
Our former telephone HelpLine has been replaced by our web-based DACS Com-munity Forum at http://forum.dacs.org. We have topic-specific forums where DACSmembers can post questions. Questions may be answered by Workshop leaders orother DACS members. If none of the categories fit your question, just post it to theAsk DACS forum.
Topic Forum
Linux Linux Workshop
Desktop publishing and website design Web Site Design Workshop
Mac and iPhone/iPad/iPod touch Apple Workshop
Online/small business Online Business
Single board computers Single Board Computers
Smartphones & Tablets Mobile Devices Workshop
Social media Social Media
Video capture/processing Video
Windows Windows Workshop
SurveyMonkey account created by Jim.Other options for eliciting feedback fromthe membership were discussed. Thedesirability of a survey about a singletopic, i.e. NAS, was questioned. Rich-ard T will initiate a discussion with boardmembers via Slack to determine if andhow to proceed.
New Business• Snacks for general meetings:
o Richard (drinks) and Lisa (snacks)will make the arrangements in February.
o It was agreed that non-boardmembers should have the opportunity toprovide snacks.
• Parking options at the Resource Centerwere discussed.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 pm
—Richard Teasdale
Shop atAmazon Smile
and Amazon willmake a donation tothe Danbury Area
Computer Society, Inc.
Uncle DACS Wants YOU!We rely on volunteers for all ouractivities. Current positionsinclude:
Vice President: Help the presidentand eventually become newpresident.Social Media: Help DACS postinteresting technical contentPainters: Help with the renova-tion of our resource center.Workshop Leaders: Organize agroup, or join an existing one.
4 • Feb 2017 http://www.dacs.org
January Meeting Review
Jay Ferron on Microsoft HoloLensBy Angel Cortez
HOLOLENS, Microsoft'saugmented reality (AR)smart glass, provides a
glimpse into the future of computing.HoloLens is the first cordless, self-con-tained augmented reality computer runningon Windows 10. The HoloLens is similar toGoogle Glass, which uses AR technologyas well.
Microsoft HoloLens is made up of spe-cialized components which, assembled, en-able Holographic Computing. The internalHPU of the HoloLens (Holographic Pro-cessing Unit) allows for processing of largeamounts of data per second (terabytes ofdata [1]). All these components come to-gether to allow for a freer and more interac-tive experience with Holograms.
So what is the difference between aug-mented and virtual reality (AR vs VR)? Vir-tual reality immerses the user by makingthem feel like they are experiencing thesimulated reality firsthand, by stimulatingtheir vision and hearing. An example of avirtual reality device would be Facebook'sOculus. Augmented reality differs becauseit adds an extra dimension over virtual real-ity by showing the real world around the
user with a Hologram overlaid. AR can alsototally immerse the user, just like VR, bysimply displaying pixels everywhere withtransparency to the real world. In the vir-tual world, users are advised to stay sta-tionary to avoid harm from the physicalworld they cannot see.
Unlike its competitors, HoloLens is notjust a visor connected to a computer;HoloLens is a standalone computer.HoloLens contains an Intel Airmont (14nm)processor with four logical processors andis 64-bit capable, a 16,500 mWh battery, aGPU with 114 MB of memory, 918 MB ofRAM, and a first of its kind HPU. With 18sensors built-in that help flood the 14 nmIntel Airmont processor with terabytes ofinformation to process, it is impressive, tosay the least.
One of these sensors includes a depthcamera that has a field of vision whichspans 120 by 120 degrees. The depth offield allows for the HoloLens to sense whatyour hands are doing even when they areout of direct field of view. Another sensortracks where the wearer is looking, so thatit may adjust the Holograms accordingly.Yet another sensor detects the wearer'smovements. These sensors help track thehands, so the hands can act as an input
system. In addition, the user can interactwith physical or virtual objects, which aredetected by the camera sensor. These sen-sors also allow for the detection of pre-programmed gestures, which enables thetracking of user movements.
Microsoft HoloLens has a User Inter-face so that it can process voice, gaze, andgestures as input commands. The proces-sor then takes these modes of input andcomputes accordingly.
Projection of the Holograms is doneusing the HUD (head-up display)method. This is done using two indi-vidual Nano projectors located at eachside of the head unit and the semitrans-parent visor, which then reflect the im-age as light on the user's eyes. Addi-tionally, HoloLens has two displays.These two displays are transparent sothat the wearer can see the real worldbehind the virtual object. To create a pro-jected HoloLens image, light particlesbounce around millions of times in theso called light engine of the device.
With the development of Windows 10,Microsoft revealed that it is the first plat-form to support Holographic Computing,with APIs that enable gaze, gesture, voice,and environmental understanding on anuntethered device.
The Microsoft HoloLens is packed withSci-fi like features. HoloLens brings high-definition holograms to life in the worldaround you, where they integrate with yourphysical places, spaces, and things. Yourdigital content and creations will be moreimmersive when they come to life in thesurrounding world, and you can interactwith them via HoloLens.
Microsoft HoloLens is more than asimple heads-up display, and its transpar-ency means you bring the digital world intothe real world around you. High-definitionholograms integrated with the physicalworld will unlock new ways to create, com-municate, work, and play.
HoloLens creates all-new ways to teachand learn. Most us would agree it's easierto show than to tell, but why not do both?With Microsoft HoloLens, friends and col-leagues can help you with difficult tasksusing HoloNotes in Skype. It's almost likehaving your help be right there in the roomwith you.
HoloLens will revolutionize how youdesign and develop the future. As holo-grams, your digital content will be as realas physical objects in the room. For thefirst time, holograms can become practi-cal tools of daily life. Imagine, instead ofgoing into a store to try on a new dressyou could have the dress appear right infront of you. Or imagine, designing home
http://www.dacs.org Feb 2017 • 5
February Meeting Preview
Online MarketingBy Richard Corzo
Date: Tuesday, February 7, 7:30 p.m.Location: Danbury Hospital AuditoriumPresenter: David Fischer
renovations without every needing toleave the comfort of your home.
HoloLens will change the way wetravel. With Microsoft HoloLens we willbe able to explore the rainforests of theAmazon, the surface of Mars, or the deep-est depths of our planets oceans withoutever having to risk bodily harm.
With the power of HoloLens, we willbe able to visualize what our designs willlook like in the physical world, whether it'sa new pool for your home, a toy for yourchildren, or a new creation for work.
Some of the advantages of MicrosoftHoloLens include: ease of use and wear,sensitivity and responsiveness to the pre-science of people, and practical applica-tions from battlefield to the drawing board.The Microsoft HoloLens is more than use-ful technology for designing and facilitat-ing future innovation.
Many people attempt to draw com-parisons between the MicrosoftHoloLens and the Google Glass, butthere are apparent and significant dif-ferences between the two products. Forexample, Google Glass was designed toperform similar functions to those of amodern Smartphone. Like a Smartphoneit supports Apps, takes photos andvideo. In the end, Google Glass is anexpensive version of a handheld device.In addition, Google Glass supports vir-tual reality where users disconnect fromthe real world, but HoloLens users seeand immerse themselves in both the digi-tal and physical world in front of them.HoloLens users can walk around andtalk to others without worrying aboutbumping into walls or any eye strain.
However, there are some clear draw-backs to the Microsoft HoloLens. First,it can easily be damaged or broken dueto all the sensitive sensors (18 sensors).Second, using the device while drivingis not recommended (may lead to caraccidents). Third, there are some privacyconcerns due to the onboard camera ofthe HoloLens. Finally, the price of thedevice ($3,000 for the developer Editionand $5,000 for the Commercial Suite).
All in all, the Microsoft HoloLensbrings a whole new realm of possibilitiesto both the digital world and the physicalworld. The era of holographic computingis here to stay. Microsoft is helping shiftthe digital spectacle from your pocket toyour eyes.
Sources1.http://news.microsoft.com/speeches/satya-nadella-terry-myerson-joe-belfiore-and-phil-spencer-windows-10-briefing/
AT OUR FEBRUARY MEETINGindependent consultant DavidFischer will give his presentation
"Online Marketing - Strategies and Toolsfor an Effective Online Presence." Leverag-ing what he learned in the corporate world,he left to found Solutions for Growth LLC,which helps small businesses, non-profits,and professional practices to market them-selves.
Attend this information-packed semi-nar and learn the strategies behind hav-ing an online presence, the many avail-able channels and specifics of "how-to."
This practical seminar will provide aconcise and comprehensive overview ofonline marketing best practices and eas-ily avoidable mistakes.
You'll discover which online tools area "must," which are best for customer ac-quisition and which are ideal for devel-opment of customer loyalty and repeatbusiness.
The presentation will cover:
• Websites
• Online Marketing
• Search Engine Optimization
• Google AdWords
• Social Media
• Email Marketing
You'll have plenty of time to ask ques-tions, share experiences and networkwith peers. You'll leave with real-worldinsights and knowledge that you can putto work immediately to help yourbusiness succeed.
David Fischer founded Solutions forGrowth to help small businesses increasesales and grow.He brings over25 years of mar-keting experienceacross a range ofindustries. Hiscorporate experi-ence allowed himto identify themarketing tech-niques that canbe successfullyapplied to non-profits, smallbusinesses and professional practices.
Solutions for Growth counts clientslocally and in nearly 40 states.
Solutions for Growth helps increasesales through proven, practical andachievable marketing tools that haveallowed businesses to flourish. Throughvaluable and smart solutions, Davidshares marketing knowledge and experi-ence that enable his clients to grow.
Read the Blog on dacs.org For the past several months, Jim Scheef has been posting to a blogon the club's website. You can read these posts at https://dacs.org/category/news/. We are looking for a few volunteers to help contrib-ute to this blog. To qualify, you must be a member in good standingand be willing to post regularly, meaning one or more posts weekly.You will receive training in how to enter and format the blog posts (alittle HTML can be helpful). Content must be related to the club's mission of learning and shar-ing information about computers and how we use them. There is tonsof interesting and valuable information to share and one personcannot find and post it all.
If you're interested, email the webmasters.
6 • Feb 2017 http://www.dacs.org
Workshops
WWWWWorororororkshop NOkshop NOkshop NOkshop NOkshop NOTES:TES:TES:TES:TES: F F F F Feeeeebrbrbrbrbruaruaruaruaruary 2017y 2017y 2017y 2017y 2017Apple. Focuses on all aspects of the Mac and iPhone
operating systems.
Contact: Richard Corzo ([email protected]). Meets 2nd Tuesday, 7 p.m. at DACS Resource Center. Next Meeting: Feb 14
Jobs. Networking and jobs search
Contact: Charles Bovaird, 203-792-7881 ([email protected]). Go to DACS Community Forum (http://forum.dacs.org for job listings.
Linux. Helps in installing and maintaining the Linuxoperating system. Also of interest to Apple ownersusing OS X.Contact: Dave Mawdsley, [email protected]
Meets 3rd Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. at the DACSResource Center.Next Meeting: Feb 15
PC Maintenance. Review of PC hardware and OpSysmaintenance and use.Contact: Charles Bovaird, 203-792-7881 ([email protected]).Go to DACS Community Forum (http://forum.dacs.org).
Online Business Workshop. Informal member gatheringsharing ideas on creating an online source of income.Contact: Steve Harkness ([email protected])Meets second Monday in Brookfield, or by Webinar.Next Meeting: Check dacs.org.
Single Board Computers Workshop. Explores smallcheap computers like Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Netduino,Beaglebone, and more. Meets at 7:30 p.m on the 3rd
Thursday at the DACS Resource Center.Contact: Jim Scheef (860-355-0034)Next Meeting: Feb 16
Video Production. The Video Workshop explores allaspects of video capture and production, including bothinexpensive and professional choices for cameras andediting software.
Meets on the 4th Thursday of certain months, typically at7:00 pm at the Resource Center. Check the Calendar fordetails.Contact: Andy Woodruff ([email protected])Next meeting: Check dacs.org
Web Development/Design This workshop is on tempo-rary hiatus. Would you like to take on the role ofworkshop leader? It's a great way to share information,learn new techniques, promote your business, andinteract with like-minded people. Extensive web knowl-edge is not required, but a willingness to open a topicfor discussion and enjoy the contributions and feedbackfrom the attendees. Contact Annette for more informa-tion. Next meeting: Tentative start up again in April2017.Contact: Annette Van Ommeren ([email protected])Next meeting: Check dacs.org
Let’s join heads!ering with others like you.
Just send an e-mail todacsprez@ dacs.org,
or talk to one of ourofficers at the nextmeeting, and saysomething like “Iwant to start aworkshop!” or“Wouldn’t it benice if we had aworkshop on . . .?”
Do you have a special tech-nology interest you would liketo share or learn moreabout? Join a DACSworkshop or startone. You don’t haveto be a nerd or aguru—just have acuriosity forwhat’s out thereand an interest insharing or discov-
. • °
http://www.dacs.org Feb 2017 • 7
Single BoardComputers Workshop
Jim Scheef860-355-0034
Board ofDirectors7:00 PM
Linux7:30 PM
Dave [email protected]
Apple 7:00 PMRichard Corzo
MembershipCommittee
7:00 PMJim Scheef
860-355-0034General Meeting7:30 PM
Web Developmentand Design
Annettevan Ommeren7:00 - 9:00 PM
[email protected] On Hiatus
DACS.DOCDeadline
February 2017Danbury Area Computer Society
8 • Feb 2017 http://www.dacs.org
MOST CHILDREN ARE fascinatedby encryption; certainly, I was. Istill remember having to ask my
dad for help in learning to use my CaptainMidnight Code-O-Graph, which encodedmessages by replacing letters with numbers.Given the popularity of documentaries andmovies about the British efforts to decodeGerman Enigma messages during World WarII, many adults, including me, retain this in-terest. Understanding modern encryptionrequires a sophisticated math background,and slogging through a description can betruly tedious. The simple mechanical devicesused during World War II are more approach-able and have much historical interest. A fas-cinating way to learn about them is to runsimulations on your PC. You can follow thesame procedures and tap the same keys thatWWII German and American soldiers did,and by doing so obtain a much better under-standing of the processes than by watchinga movie or reading a book.
The Enigma is probably the most famouscryptographic device ever. Not only was iteffective at the time, but it also significantlyinfluenced World War II. Thousands diedas a result of the successes and failures ofattempts to decrypt messages encoded byit. The best way to learn about Enigma is touse one. While actual units are available,they are expensive. Instead, you can down-load an excellent free simulator from http://users.telenet.be/d.rijmenants/index.htm, asite in Belgium maintained by DirkRijmenants. Here you can find simulators forseveral historic crypto machines, instruc-tions for using them, and their histories.These are Windows programs, but OS Xusers can run them using Crossover andLinux users with Wine. Like all similar de-vices of that era, the Enigma is a mechanicaldevice, which used a set of disks to scramblethe connections between the 26 letter keysof a keyboard and 26 lamps. At least onedisk moved at each key press, so that press-ing the same key twice produced two differ-ent output letters. A battery was needed onlyto illuminate the lamps. Mechanical connec-tions between the keys and the rotors movedthe latter.
Screen 1 shows the keyboard, the (unlit)output indicator lamps, the edges of thethree rotors, the power switch, and the ter-minals for external power. There are somecomplications, but basically the operatorselected three (of the five available) rotorsand inserted them in the correct order. Then
Encryption Technology
Crypto Simulation
he rotated them to a given starting positionand began typing. The indicator lamps re-mained lit only while the key was pressed,and a second operator was needed to recordthe output.
Screen 2 shows the same machine withits cover lifted. The three installed rotorsare at the top and the two unused ones in arack at the bottom. The unused rotors werestored in a separate box, which the simula-tor shows sitting on top of the keyboardmechanism. The empty space to the rightof the rotors is for the battery.
A further complication was provided bya plugboard, Screen 3, that scrambled theconnections between the keyboard and ro-
By Dick Maybach
Screen 1. Enigma Panel.
Screen 2. Enigma Interior.
tors. The simulator also includes this fea-ture to allow setting the Enigma up exactlyas it was used.
.Enigma was really a family of devices.Screen 4 shows a model used by the Germannavy. It had no internal battery, and used aplug instead of screw terminals for power.
Screen 3. Enigma Plugboard
Screen 4. Enigma Model Used by theGerman Navy. With four rotors instead
of three, this was more secure.
Screen 5. Interior of the Navy Enigma.
http://www.dacs.org Feb 2017 • 9
As shown in Screen 5, navy operatorshad more rotors to choose from, althoughonly the Beta and Gamma units (those withred letters) could be used in the fourth slot.
To see how the Enigma was used, let'swork through an example. The first stepis to consult a codebook, Screen 6, forthe machine settings of the day. Therewas a separate page for each month, witha line for each day (Tag in German). Us-ing the sample, we see that for the 30thof this month we are to use rotors I, V,and VI, with offsets of 13, 23, and 02,respectively. The offset is how much therotor should be rotated with respect toits outer numbered shell. (If you down-load the Enigma simulator, be sure alsoto get the Enigma Code Book Tool, whichgenerated this example.)
Screen 7 shows a rotor I removedfrom the case (by right-clicking on it) andoffset by 13 (with repeated clicks on theupper part of the rotor). We'll put it backin the case by right-clicking on the emptyposition and then set rotors V and IVsimilarly.
The Steckerverbindungen columnshows the plugboard connections. It tellsus to swap A with Z, B with S, and so on.On the simulator, click on the lower edge ofthe keyboard to show the panel, Screen 8.(Note that the jacks are arranged like aQWERTY keyboard.) On the actual ma-
chine, A and Z would be swapped by con-necting the A and the Z jacks with a cord;on the simulator, just click first on A thenon Z. The screen-shot shows the panelset-up complete. Note that the A-jack pairis covered with a black shape labeled Zand that the Z pair has a shape labeled A.This is true for all 10 swaps called for inthe codebook.
The simulator provides a check of thesetup -- shown in Screen 9. It shows we'veused a B reflector (the cylinder to the leftof the rotors and the only one availablefor this model), the arrangement of therotors, their offsets, and the plug settings.It also allows us to save the settings forlater use.
While the settings from thecodebook were typically used for oneday, each message has its own key. Tosend a message, the sender first chosetwo three-letter keys, for example XPHand FWT and used the first to encodethe second. In effect, XPH is the keyfor a three-letter message. For Enigma,a key is the initial setting of the threerotors. Although the keys are specifiedas letters, the rotors are labeled by num-bers, so there was a table attached toEnigma relating the two. The simulatorcan display this, as shown in Screen 10.The window at the bottom shows the in-
put and output, where we see that FWThas been encoded as WRC. The senderthen composes a message header, such asthe one shown below.
F7Z DE WN 1340 = 38 = XPH WRC =
The sending station is WN; the re-ceiver is F7Z, the time is 1340, and thereare 38 characters in the message. Only ifthe receiving Enigma is set up exactlythe same as the transmitting one, will itproduce the correct message key, andbecause only three characters are coded,breaking it is nearly impossible. (Al-though some lazy operators reused keys,and the British made use of this.) Thetransmitter now resets the rotors to FWTand encodes the message, in this case,"Preserve wildlife. Pickle a squirrel."Note that there are no number, punctua-tion, or space keys. Words will be runtogether, and we'll use X to end sen-tences, as did the Germans. If there weredigits, we would have to spell them. Acomplete encrypted message appearsbelow. As is customary the letters shownas five-letter code groups, and they weresent this way via Morse code.
F7Z DE WN 1340 = 49 = XPH WRC =RTXXF GXBZV GNOVX VFMKKGIXMT SEFLM IVUFW IMG.
Screen 6. Enigma Codebook Sample.
Screen 7. Enigma Being Configured.
Screen 8. Configured Plugboard.
Screen 9. Enigma Simulator Check Screen.
Screen 10. Enigma Simulator in Use.
Crypto Simulation, Cont. on page 10
10 • Feb 2017 http://www.dacs.org
The first code group shows whichcodebook setting was used. (Note thecolumn "Kenngruppen" in Screen 6.) Theoperator chooses one of the entries forthat day and prepends two random let-ters to make a five-letter code group.Although this group is included in theword count, the receiver doesn't enter it.It sets the rotors to FWT and enters thecoded message to produce the result,“PRESERVEWILDLIFEXPICKLEASQUIRRELX”. Some punctuationcould be represented as letter groups,but we'll skip over that in this quickintroduction.
Hopefully, this brief discussion hasgiven you some idea of what the Enigmareally did. A few experiments with thesimulator will make things much clearer,as will a few minutes spent exploring theWebsite.
Fortunately for the Allies, theGermans greatly overestimated thestrength of their machines. Their primaryerror was in thinking that its construc-tion was secret, when in fact the alliesobtained working Enigma replicasfrom the Poles in 1939 and capturedseveral during the war. In addition, someoperators, especially in the Luftwaffe,were careless or poorly trained, andthis allowed the British in particularto deduce codebook settings andchanges in the equipment. Finally, manyservices used the same codebooks, andsome, such as trawlers who wereproviding weather information inthe North Atlantic, were vulnerable tocapture.
The U.S. rough equivalent of theEnigma was the m-209—although it wasknown to be much weaker, as theGermans could decode its messagesin about four hours. It was thus usedonly for tactical communications; stra-tegic information was encrypted usingother means. The m-209 was smaller(about 3 x 5 x 7 inches) than the Enigma,did not need a battery, and printedits output on paper tape, makingit usable by only one operator. Besidesbeing cryptographically weak, it wastedious to configure and slow touse. Despite these drawbacks, it wasused through the Korean War and wellinto the 50s. Like the Enigma, youcan buy models of the m-209, but abetter approach is to experiment with asimulator from the same Website thathas the Enigma simulator. Screen 11shows the simulator view that anoperator would see while using it.
Crypto Simulation, Cont. from page 9
Characters are entered by twisting theknob at lower left until the desired letteris opposite the index (A in this case).Then the black lever on the right ispressed. This advances the six rotors(visible at the bottom) and prints theoutput letter on paper tape (to the rightof the input wheel). The simulator dis-plays two tapes at the top; the upperone is a record of the input characters,and the lower one the output. The cur-
rent output character is also visible justto the right of the input wheel (Z in thiscase). There is also a character counter(here showing 0000), and a round buttonto reset the machine. Finally, just abovethe input wheel is a tab marked C, showingthe machine is in encrypt mode. This mustbe flipped to D for decoding.
You can get a hint of how tedious it isto set up the m-209 from its internal view,Screen 12 (above).
Screen 11. m-209 Crypto Machine Screen 12. m-209 Crypto Machine Interior
Screen 13. m-209 Configuration Table.
http://www.dacs.org Feb 2017 • 11
If you look carefully at the rotors, youcan see small pins in the A row. Think ofa pin to the right as a one and a pin tothe left as a zero. The A row thus is setto 111001. However, setting the rotor pinsis only part of the configuration. Thereare also 27 bars, each with two slidersthat must be set. Here Bar #1 has beenset to 36. Screen 13 shows a completesetup, typically used for one day.
If a letter appears, the pin in that rowshould be to the right (or set to 1); a dashindicates that the pin should be to the left(or set to 0). Note that rotor 1 has 26 letters,rotor 2 has 25, rotor 3 has 23, rotor 4 has 21,rotor 5 has 19, and rotor 6 has 17. The LUGScolumn shows the slider positions on eachbar, and the table on the right also showsthis, but in a different form. It's a real creditto our soldiers that they were able toperform this intricate configuration undercombat conditions. I need several tries todo it at home, in an easy chair, with softmusic and a cup of coffee.
When complete, the operator would setthe rotors to AAAAAA and encode 26 As.If correctly set up, the result should be the26-letter sequence below the tables. Everyconfiguration was assigned an indicator(XA for this one) that was attached to theencrypted messages, and the receiversused this to be sure that had their equip-ment properly configured.
Because it's so tedious and repeti-tive, I won't go through a configuration.Download and run the simulator if youwant to experience this. I do think it willbe helpful to run through encoding anddecoding a message. For this, assumethe machine is configured as describedabove. Like his German counterpart, theAmerican soldier had to generate mes-sage key, and he used a similar proce-dure, encrypt the message and includean encrypted version of it with the mes-sage. Only if the receiver has anm-209 with the identical configurationcan he recover the key to decrypt themessage.
Again, we'll send the message,"Preserve wildlife. Pickle a squirrel." Wechoose CVQIMK, set the rotors to it andencode SSSSSSSSSSSS to produce IDJWEPNWFW XU, which will be our key. Ourmessage will include both CVQIMK andSS, so the receiver can generate the samemessage key. Why 12 characters when weneed only six? Recall that most of therotors have fewer than 26 characters. Inthis case, when we go to set the machine,we'll find there is no W on rotor 4, so we'lljust skip that letter. As a result, the actualkey will be IDJEPN. The Americans re-placed every space with a Z, but had no
standard for punctuation. (If everysentence ended with "PERIOD," it wouldaid those trying to break into the mes-sages.) We'll just eliminate the periods inthis simple example. Our input becomesP R E S E R V E Z W I L D L I F E ZPICKLEZAZSQUIRREL, and producesFFBAE CPDXI ALQEG FGYEM MTCBRAMUDJ RQTNC. However, we have to addSS CVQIMK XA, where SS shows theletter we used to produce the key, CVQIMKis the setting to produce the key, and XAis the setup. We'll regroup these 10 lettersto SSCVQ IMKXA, because encryptedmessages always appear as five-letter codegroups. We'll also repeat this importantinformation at the end of the message.Thus, the complete message becomes thefollowing.
SSCVQ IMKXA FFBAE CPDXI ALQEGFGYEM MTCBR AMUDJ RQTNC SSCVQIMKXA
The receiver uses an identical proce-dure to develop the message key. That is,he sets his rotors to CVQIMK and encodesSSSSSSSSSSSS to produce the messagekey. He too has to discard a W. He thenflips the code/decode tab to D and entersthe encrypted message. Screen 14 showsthe result.
Screen 14. m-209 Simulator in Use.
Note that the m-209 has replaced Zswith spaces. They would also be replacedin such words as "zero," but this would beevident from the content.
A little experimenting with thesesimulators will reward you with a betterunderstanding of the difficulties ofcommunicating securely before thecomputer age.
DICK MAYBACH is a member, BrookdaleComputer Users' Group, NJ (www.bcug.com;n2nd (at) att.net)
This article appeared in the September2016 issue, BUG Bytes, and is distributedfor reprint by APCUG member groups
Capital Campaign toRenovate
the Resource Center
We are lucky to have this commu-nity of people who are interested andskilled at computers and technology.Only a few cities in the United Stateshave an award-winning computer so-ciety as active as DACS! Thank-youto the many people who freely givetheir time to present at our GeneralMeetings, teach at our SIG Meetings,serve on our Board, and help organizeevents. We are an all-volunteer orga-nization.
We are launching a capital cam-paign to renovate our Resource Cen-ter, where we hold SIG meetings andother events. We are fortunate that thecity of Danbury has for 20 years pro-vided this space for us at no cost in acity-owned building. However, thespace needs renovations, includingrug replacement, paint, moldings, andnew chairs. We cannot afford new rug,but we already have a promised gift oflightly used rug from Meadow Ridge,a retirement community to Redding.We have also lined up skilled volun-teers to install the rug, paint, and doother renovations. All we need is somemoney for materials.
Our goal is $1,500. Please considera gift to DACS! We are a 501(c)(3) or-ganization, and your contribution istax-deductible.
You can make an online donationat our website www.dacs.org or mail acheck to:
DACS, Inc.c/o Bert Goff, Treasurer65 Legion Rd.New Milford, CT 06776
Future Events:
dacs.docDanbury Area Computer Society65 Legion RdNew Milford, CT 06776
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