Capricious Me

I was watching a documentary on the Franks (part of a Barbarians! series) and they describe how Childeric had to flee for his own safety. He split a gold coin in two, kept one piece, and gave the other to someone he trusted. The point was that when it was safe for Childeric to return, the trusted party would send him a message with half of that coin.

My first thought: primitive public key crypto applied towards signatures! It’s smart, because the cut was done by hand and unlikely to be replicated with great accuracy (esp. if the coins produced in the casting process aren’t identical) with the technology of that time. However, assuming that the half piece of coin cannot be forged (which is a rather big assumption), this scheme is still very much susceptible to the man in the middle attack… in which a 3rd untrusted party intercepts the coin and uses it to pass along whatever message he chooses. Hmm… but there’s no actual distinction between the two coin pieces, so perhaps it’s more comparable to a one time pad?

Lyra, originally uploaded by pokester.

Lyra’s a lot more adventurous and loud than Derek. She’s the more aggressive and energetic of the two. Last night she did a ninja wall jump against the door while chasing a wand with a feather attached. Her acrobatic skills are impressive, though Derek’s also mastered the art of scaling the scratching post with one leap.

Derek, originally uploaded by pokester.

We got the kittens home last night. They’re currently exploring Chad’s room and bathroom. Derek is pretty mellow and… well, I don’t want to judge, but Lyra seems to be braver and smarter. And louder.

But how do you resist a shy little kitten with curled ears? Especially when he sits so sweetly in your lap?

Mike made creme brulee from scratch. Why? Because he wanted a butane torch. Pics below… I had him wait till I got there to torch it. :)

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According to Daviswiki, there will be a Mikuni’s occupying the space where Fuzio used to be. Humina humina. Lest you brush this off as undue excitement, I leave you with some images of a very satisfying meal at Mikuni’s.