Alan Turing Papers On Code Breaking Released By GCHQ 78
peetm writes "Two 70-year-old papers by Alan Turing on the theory of code breaking have been released by the government's communications headquarters, GCHQ. It is believed Turing wrote the papers while at Bletchley Park working on breaking German Enigma codes. A GCHQ mathematician said the fact that the contents had been restricted 'shows what a tremendous importance it has in the foundations of our subject.'"
No direct links in the TFA (Score:1)
I can't find any links to the "released" papers. No fanfare on http://www.gchq.gov.uk/ [gchq.gov.uk].
Anyone?
Re:No direct links in the TFA (Score:5, Informative)
Via ZDNet:
Paper on statistics of repetitions [nationalarchives.gov.uk]
Report on the applications of probability to cryptography [nationalarchives.gov.uk]
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The two papers are now available to view at the National Archives at Kew, west London.
Published is a very broad term.
Paper on statistics of repetitions by A M Turing [nationalarchives.gov.uk]
Report on the applications of probability to cryptography by A M Turing [nationalarchives.gov.uk]
Re:No direct links in the TFA (Score:4, Informative)
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Re:No direct links in the TFA (Score:4, Informative)
Medium option: Paper copies
Why didn't you order the digital, downloadable option? I did, and they estimate came back to 0 (i.e. free).
That said, I still don't have a link for the download.
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Why didn't you order the digital, downloadable option? I did, and they estimate came back to 0 (i.e. free).
That said, I still don't have a link for the download.
Odd. I requested digital, downloadable versions of both docs yesterday, and today received an estimate of 25.20 pounds for one doc and 126.20 pounds for the other. Which I'm certainly not going to pay. I assume they'll just put it online at some point.
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Odd. I requested digital, downloadable versions of both docs yesterday, and today received an estimate of 25.20 pounds for one doc
Right, and this is a good place to correct myself: I finally got an e-mail from the with the same estimate. I swear that, while making the order on their website, the estimate was 0.
Anyhow, I stand utterly and miserably corrected.
Fuck.
Alan Turing's Work (Score:5, Insightful)
Alan Turing's work continues to demonstrate "what a tremendous importance it has in the foundations" of computing technology in general, not just crypto.
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Even if he was, it wouldn't be of any note. It doesn't fucking matter.
Re:Alan Turing's Work (Score:5, Insightful)
yes, noteworthy in that he showed it's possible to be gay, be persecuted by neanderthals and still be one of the most influential thinkers of our time.
thankfully he's wasn't also a stupid fucking slashdot troll, or we might all be Nazis right now.
Re:Alan Turing's Work (Score:5, Funny)
Oh, I'm so hurt because a fag defender cried about my post. The dude was a fudge packing pervert. Get over it
Given all the evidence about the negative health effects of smoking, I can't see how anybody can defend fags these days.
Especially by, of all people, those who work in food/confection preparation and service jobs.
Re:Alan Turing's Work (Score:5, Insightful)
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A study [nih.gov] measured arousal (by measuring penile circumference) in exclusively heterosexual men in response to various kinds of pornographic image. They found a clear correlation between homophobia and homosexual arousal.
So yes, other AC is a fag.
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If someone is subjected to videos that provokes extreme feelings of disgust or anger, it's probably reasonable to assume that all sorts of hormones and chemicals get released into the blood. Some of these could be responsible for the increase in [penile] girth.
Sounds like you've got the theme for some prize-winning research right there! Admittedly, it'd probably be the Ig Nobel Prize but it'd still be something...
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So what you are saying is when you watch gay porn you get all ... hormonal and erect?
Hm.
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When I hear code breaking, computer science, and cutting edge math, I think gay sex.
But I'm odd that way, I guess.
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Also, FYI: Not all homosexuals pack fudge. Many of them never do.
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The Soviets were using Enigma for their codes (they didn't know it was broken and it was better than what they w
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Really interesting program, worth tracking down and watching.
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I fully agree with your post, but it was all so stupid. Turing was a super-high value espionage target even after his security clearance was revoked.
And his sexual tendencies didn't get in the way of Turing's assistance in a real, shooting, war--where the very existence of GB was at stake.
When the WWII ended and the obligatory continuing war was just a "cold" war, the elite figured they could dispense with him, and they did.
Re:Alan Turing's Work (Score:5, Insightful)
I think 30 million dead Russians had something to (Score:2, Insightful)
I think 30 million dead Russians had something to do with that as well. Not to diminish Turing's contribution, but how much did it matter compared to that?
Re:I think 30 million dead Russians had something (Score:5, Insightful)
He, along with others, shortened the length of the war. So you had 30 million dead Russian instead of 60, 90, or god knows how many million dead Russians. And dead various other nationalities come to that. I'd say they both mattered, one shortened the war, one ensured it wasn't lost in the mean time.
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Oh, please, like the Nazi party could do worse than the USA currently does?
Yes he was a fudge packer (Score:2)
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It's interesting this thread is 2 away from the Neal Stehpenson thread. Go read Cryptonomicon for a fictionalized account of Turing's efforts in WWII.
what else is there ? (Score:2)
one wonders what else is there if they are only releasing these now ?
regards
John Jones
British Governments Crime (Score:4, Insightful)
I love how Turing articles never mention what the British did to him. Still makes me sick every time I think about it.
This is how humans treat their best and brightest.
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Most people? You must be new here.
Re:British Governments Crime (Score:5, Informative)
I'm British and I didn't do anything to him. I repeatedly point out what the British government of the time did to him - I don't care if he technically took his own life, the government killed him after all they did to him.
It should be noted it wasn't just him they did it to, they did the same thing to lots of homosexual men. People just care/notice more about it with him because he did such high profile war work. I'm sure you can find examples of anonymous homosexual men who received similar treatment and served during the war in more routine capacities.
Genius recognition (Score:5, Insightful)
"Alan Turing just had brilliant ideas way ahead of their time which were terribly important to the future of the world if you like," Mr Harper said.
I kinda wish geniuses like Turing were rewarded as well as a second string shortstop or bench warming basketball player.
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Curly Joe can slam dunk and is one of the finest scientific minds in the universe, according to Professor Farnsworth.
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...then you probably won't want to hear about how he WAS treated.
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It's almost a moral obligation to pirate these.
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The first mistake of capitalism is to assume that the brightest people do it for money.
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I kinda wish geniuses like Turing were rewarded as well as a second string shortstop or bench warming basketball player.
Scary that I've hear this twice today in a dozen hours: I finally got to read my dead-tree copy of a two-month old Wired [wired.com] article. Near the last paragraph, it similarly states that the only genius still strongly encouraged in the USA is that of athletes. In salaries, willingness of the masters / trainers to routinely take risks to trade or acquire good and bad players / rookies... and finally, public sway. Because you can usually pick one or two of those pluses in real-life decisions like picking a career..
TPB (Score:4, Informative)
I am going to The Pirate Bay now. If the papers are not there, I shall be sorely disappointed.
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Bother!
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How would other countries, new, large, small, friendly, neutral view the news?- would they all take on the effort for extreme generational crypto security and make the job of a less well funded GCHQ not so easy?
The UK also had a few hundred years practice in blackmail and felt Turing going on some European holiday was a security risk.
Who would he meet, who would seduce him, what might maths, machine and
So where are the papers? (Score:2)
I see a story but it's devoid of links. Does anybody know where the papers can be downloaded?
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They aren't, you have to request hard copies from the National Archives. I dare say they'll end up making it available on-line at some point, they're bound to get inundated with requests for hard copies and it will end up being easier for them.
I've no idea what their general policy with regards to digitizing old papers is - I wouldn't be surprised if there's an on-going project to digitize them, but I suspect some papers have higher priorities than others. It's also 6am and I'm still too asleep to look on
It wasn't the importance (Score:5, Funny)
They had to wait for the statue of limitations to run out otherwise he could have been posthumously deported to US for DMCA violations.