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Ciphers, codes, shorthand, etc.

post #1 of 13
2/21/10 at 1:59pm
Thread Starter 
I kinda want to start carrying a small notebook with me to jot down ideas and stuff. But I really don't want anyone else to be able to read it if I should happen to lose it.

I was thinking about using some sort of cipher or possibly even shorthand (since most people aren't likely to be able to read shorthand these days). The other idea I had was to just invent my own alternate alphabet. Anyone have any suggestions?
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post #2 of 13
2/21/10 at 2:06pm
write like leonardo da vinci ..
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post #3 of 13
2/21/10 at 2:25pm
An enigma machine (http://www.enigmahistory.org/enigma.html) or hiring a Windtalker (http://www.thenaturalamerican.com/wind_talkers.htm) is where I started last time I did this. It is also possible to find a cipher but you will need a decoder ring to remember it (http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/secret/secret.html), or you could just learn a rarely spoken language like Gullah (http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/n...jsp?id=h-1063). Good luck in your sub-rosa endeavors.
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post #4 of 13
2/21/10 at 2:34pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hossoso View Post
An enigma machine (http://www.enigmahistory.org/enigma.html) or hiring a Windtalker (http://www.thenaturalamerican.com/wind_talkers.htm) is where I started last time I did this. It is also possible to find a cipher but you will need a decoder ring to remember it (http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/secret/secret.html), or you could just learn a rarely spoken language like Gullah (http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/n...jsp?id=h-1063). Good luck in your sub-rosa endeavors.
I'm serious. Also, three of your links are broken.
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post #5 of 13
2/21/10 at 2:40pm
Strange, I just found them and posted them immediately. I just tested these and they all seem to work. Also, the only thing you need to be serious about is my advice. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/n....jsp?id=h-1063 http://www.thenaturalamerican.com/wind_talkers.htm http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/n....jsp?id=h-1063
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post #6 of 13
2/21/10 at 2:53pm
Just learn shorthand. At least you'll have a skill worth something that way.

Ciphering is pretty complex, and best for use with computers involved.
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post #7 of 13
2/21/10 at 2:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Milpool View Post
Ciphering is pretty complex, and best for use with computers involved.

But... decoder rings.
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post #8 of 13
2/21/10 at 2:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Milpool View Post
Ciphering is pretty complex, and best for use with computers involved.
Well...I was just thinking of a simple substitution cipher. Doesn't seem like it would be that hard to memorize.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hossoso View Post
But... decoder rings.
This might actually be kind of cool. I'd be afraid of people chopping my finger off to get the ring though.
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post #9 of 13
2/21/10 at 3:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jekyll View Post
Well...I was just thinking of a simple substitution cipher. Doesn't seem like it would be that hard to memorize. This might actually be kind of cool. I'd be afraid of people chopping my finger off to get the ring though.
Just realized I still didn't get the right link up. http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/secret/secret.html Hope that works, it really is interesting. I may cipher my will, which will lead to a map, which will lead to a false door with runes carved in backwards, which will give directions to a brothel in Buenos Aires where my loved ones will find a garbage can with my body inside.
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post #10 of 13
2/21/10 at 3:07pm
Stenographer. . .
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post #11 of 13
2/21/10 at 3:13pm
Or just put a Label on the front of your notebook saying "Notes on an alternative method of cataloguing newly discovered flowers in the south-eastern region of Sweden" No one on earth would read what you're writing.
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post #12 of 13
2/21/10 at 5:59pm
I actually do this. Usually, I only need to preserve a fragment of what I was considering to be able to recall it, and a sufficiently personalized set of abbreviations and complicated words is usually sufficient for my purposes, and arguably (because it depends on personal idiom) more complicated to break than a mere substitution cipher. Now, if only I could run TrueCrypt on my Palm I'd be set! ~ H
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post #13 of 13
2/22/10 at 7:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jekyll View Post
Well...I was just thinking of a simple substitution cipher. Doesn't seem like it would be that hard to memorize.
Back when I was in high school I memorized Tolkien's dwarf runes : They're also used in the old Ultima computer RPG series.
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