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Code that helped end Apartheid

(www.wired.com)
358 points impish9208 | 32 comments | 18 Oct 24 13:05 UTC | HN request time: 0.64s | source | bottom
1. jgrahamc ◴[18 Oct 24 13:35 UTC] No.41879323[source]▶
So when he DM’d me to say that he had “a hell of a story”—promising “one-time pads! 8-bit computers! Flight attendants smuggling floppies full of random numbers into South Africa!”—I responded.

Ha ha ha. Yes, that was literally my very short pitch to Steven about Tim Jenkin's story!

The actual DM: "I think this has the makings of a hell of a story: https://blog.jgc.org/2024/09/cracking-old-zip-file-to-help-o... If you want I can connect you with Tim Jenkin. One time pads! 8-bit computers! Flights attendants smuggling floppies full of random numbers into South Africa!"

replies(7): >>41879480 #>>41879695 #>>41880079 #>>41880391 #>>41883112 #>>41884701 #>>41885135 #
2. jefb ◴[18 Oct 24 13:52 UTC] No.41879480[source]▶
Did you end up discovering the original password to the zip file? (was it, as I'd hope, `TIMBOBIMBO` ?)
replies(1): >>41879498 #
3. jgrahamc ◴[18 Oct 24 13:54 UTC] No.41879498[source]▶
No, I did not. I threw quite a lot of compute power at it using bkcrack (CPU) and hashcat (GPU) but never found out what it was. It was definitely not TIMBOBIMBO, sadly!

I also ended up sponsoring the bkcrack project because the maintainer added a new option for me: https://github.com/kimci86/bkcrack/pull/126

replies(1): >>41880027 #
4. rsynnott ◴[18 Oct 24 14:16 UTC] No.41879695[source]▶
Though, you could argue it was a 16 bit computer, of course :)

(It was an 8088, essentially an 8086 with an 8 bit data bus, but 16bit registers and 20bit address bus).

replies(1): >>41881380 #
5. latchkey ◴[18 Oct 24 14:57 UTC] No.41880027{3}[source]▶
How much was "quite a lot"?
replies(1): >>41880186 #
6. soulofmischief ◴[18 Oct 24 15:04 UTC] No.41880079[source]▶
This was a great read, thank you for inspiring it! I also did not realize it was you who led the petition for the UK to apologize to Turing, what an achievement.

You're quoted at the end as saying, "The code itself is a historical document". That sort of electrified me as I began thinking about what other historical code is out there in need of preservation. I'm fascinated with stuff like this, toolkits meant to be used in the field with little room for incremental development. Tracking this kind of stuff down seems like a fun hobby.

7. 1970-01-01 ◴[18 Oct 24 15:14 UTC] No.41880186{4}[source]▶
I did a pass with bkcrack. The password is over 13 char.

bkcrack.exe -k 98e0f009 48a0b11a c70f8499 -r 1..18 ?p bkcrack 1.7.0 - 2024-05-26 [11:07:33] Recovering password length 0-6... length 7... length 8... length 9... length 10... length 11... length 12... length 13...

replies(2): >>41880384 #>>41880416 #
8. jgrahamc ◴[18 Oct 24 15:36 UTC] No.41880384{5}[source]▶
I can tell you it's over 14 ?p, and over 16 ?u?d, and over 17 ?u.
replies(1): >>41884378 #
9. kwar13 ◴[18 Oct 24 15:37 UTC] No.41880391[source]▶
I didn't know it was you who led the charge for the apology to Turing. Thank you!
10. ◴[18 Oct 24 15:38 UTC] No.41880416{5}[source]▶
11. philistine ◴[18 Oct 24 17:09 UTC] No.41881380[source]▶
At this point in time (meaning 2024) bits for computers are a word to indicate a culture rather than the technical merits of a computer.
replies(1): >>41883446 #
12. aanet ◴[18 Oct 24 20:21 UTC] No.41883112[source]▶
This is such a fabulous story!! Thank you, good Sir, for bringing it to light!! <3

The story reads like _The Cuckoo's Egg_ in a way. Spies, intrigue, covert comms, action, revolution!

I loved that the code is still around, and works.

Kudos!!

13. rsynnott ◴[18 Oct 24 21:00 UTC] No.41883446{3}[source]▶
In which case it’s definitely a 16 bit computer; it was just a cheap 8086 (the cheapness achieved through the memory bus), and it was part of the start of the 16 bit era. From the _user’s_ point of view it was basically a 16 bit computer.
14. SG- ◴[18 Oct 24 23:24 UTC] No.41884378{6}[source]▶
where's the original encrypted zip for this?
replies(1): >>41886428 #
15. neo1250 ◴[19 Oct 24 04:25 UTC] No.41885623[source]▶
agree 100% , that would be great!
16. ◴[19 Oct 24 07:00 UTC] No.41886163[source]▶
17. jgrahamc ◴[19 Oct 24 08:14 UTC] No.41886428{7}[source]▶
If you want to try to crack the password you don't need the ZIP file. Just the key (which you can see in the bkcrack command above).
18. fldskfjdslkfj ◴[19 Oct 24 08:22 UTC] No.41886463[source]▶
The jewish people have a 2000 year old history and presence in the region, if that's consider colonialism then might as well just declare earth a settler-colonialist project and get it over with.
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19. anthk ◴[19 Oct 24 08:34 UTC] No.41886513{3}[source]▶
So did the Italians, and I'm not sure if I would like Meloni ruling either Madrid or Barcelona... or the whole Mediterranean Europe and a chunk of Asia.
replies(1): >>41886965 #
20. psd1 ◴[19 Oct 24 10:29 UTC] No.41886965{4}[source]▶
user fldsk means to say 6000 year history, of course. But I'm willing to come down on that, since Genesis is a bit of a chronological hand-wave.

I'm relying on whatever Synod counted the ages of people in the talks and arrived at a creation date of 4004 BC, of course

If we grant that Italy is Rome, which is a separate conversation, then we're still left with Roman conquest, which we don't consider legitimate today, and a long period of documented Jewish inhabitation.

I don't take a position on the legitimacy or otherwise of Israel, because there are already plenty of indignant westerners with insufficient information. But I will say: that written history is weighty evidence.

replies(2): >>41887435 #>>41888094 #
21. andrepd ◴[19 Oct 24 10:55 UTC] No.41887086{3}[source]▶
That's a rather odd argument, don't you think? Romans have been in my country even before that, Greeks have been in present-day Turkey, Egypt, etc. Normans have invaded and colonised England 1000 years ago. Should the corollary be that these peoples are somehow entitled to expel the current dwellers of those lands because of some sort of historical right?
replies(1): >>41890835 #
22. anthk ◴[19 Oct 24 12:30 UTC] No.41887435{5}[source]▶
The Bible is not a valid source, neither is the Talmud. I would trust the Egyptians far more as they wrote down everything.
replies(1): >>41900189 #
23. andrepd ◴[19 Oct 24 14:51 UTC] No.41888094{5}[source]▶
> Genesis is a bit of a chronological hand-wave

What do you mean? Genesis is not remotely a historically accurate narrative at all

replies(1): >>41900214 #
24. cutler ◴[19 Oct 24 19:20 UTC] No.41889999{3}[source]▶
That's assuming you can prove direct lineage over 2000 years. The Kazar theory of 8th century Ashkenazi conversion hasn't been completely debunked.
25. cutler ◴[19 Oct 24 19:34 UTC] No.41890118{3}[source]▶
There's a saying "God doesn't exist but he gave us the land" which refers to the hypocrisy behind Zionism's biblical claims to the land of Palestine given that its founding fathers were all atheists.
replies(1): >>41890828 #
26. fldskfjdslkfj ◴[19 Oct 24 21:14 UTC] No.41890828{4}[source]▶
Feel free to educate yourself on the history of jews in the region: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_and_Judais...

"God gave us the land" has nothing to do with the jewish connection to the land.

replies(1): >>41892270 #
27. fldskfjdslkfj ◴[19 Oct 24 21:15 UTC] No.41890835{4}[source]▶
It's a pretty simple argument - how can one colonize a region in which they are native to?

You could argue there's unfairness in the events, but saying israel is a colony is just odd, jews have come from the region.

28. cutler ◴[20 Oct 24 01:47 UTC] No.41892270{5}[source]▶
My point stands. An atheist claiming God gave him exclusive rights to anything is rank hypocrisy.
replies(1): >>41893702 #
29. fldskfjdslkfj ◴[20 Oct 24 07:48 UTC] No.41893702{6}[source]▶
I think you missed the point. The claim is based on being native to the lands, has nothing to do with god.
replies(1): >>41899717 #
30. cutler ◴[21 Oct 24 00:40 UTC] No.41899717{7}[source]▶
Ask any settler out in the Negev and I think you'll hear a different view.
31. psd1 ◴[21 Oct 24 02:30 UTC] No.41900189{6}[source]▶
It's perfectly valid. The word you're looking for is "reliable".

If we were discussing the virgin birth, I wouldn't put any stock in the Bible. The gospels were written after the fact, by people who weren't there and had a strong motivation to make shit up. We conclude that it is _unreliable_ on the topic of the Virgin birth. (It's a reliable source on the topic of Christian beliefs in Nicaea in 300AD, however.)

But the Talmud describes Jews living in Judea at _great length_, which, I'll remind you, implies many hours spent reciting oral history or copying text by hand. It's supported by the existence of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The conspiracy that you suppose is of a flat-earth scale.

I won't discuss the middle east any further. Cunningham's Law got me. if you do want to learn more, try books.

32. psd1 ◴[21 Oct 24 02:35 UTC] No.41900214{6}[source]▶
Irony. Consensus today is that the earth is 4 billion years old.