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December 28, 2004 10:26 AM

Flash and Java Enigma machines. And, if you're burdened with free time, an excellent text adventure in which Enigma-deciphering plays a crucial role.
posted by Wolfdog (12 comments total)

From the flash site you can also get to another very interesting, but annoying-designed site, www.enigma-replica.com, if hardware rather than software is your thing.
posted by Wolfdog at 10:32 AM on December 28, 2004

[ZPJJ SV MLFM]
posted by neckro23 at 10:43 AM on December 28, 2004

ZSZNB DTEXF QMGCK XVFCI
posted by esch at 10:50 AM on December 28, 2004

PMQN TLBGD SR HXLNZJ GKDA!!
posted by yossarian1 at 12:16 PM on December 28, 2004

PMQN TLBGD SR HXLNZJ GKDA!!

I couldn't agree more.
posted by esch at 12:38 PM on December 28, 2004

What is it with this 70yr old technology that has people captivated to-day? Any implementation of PGP will blow the doors off of Enigma. It's not that it isn't historical interesting, but is it worth all the emulators that are out there? The real significance of Enigma was in the breaking of it, not it's use.
posted by DV8 2XL at 12:41 PM on December 28, 2004

Maybe these emulators are a testament to the genius of the Germans in devising it, but even more, to the Polish mathematicians who broke it without a single computer before WWII even began. It's not history, it's architecture!
posted by nj_subgenius at 1:02 PM on December 28, 2004

The Brits Thank the Poles
posted by nj_subgenius at 1:03 PM on December 28, 2004

My encounter with the baby Enigma in Jigsaw (the text adventure I've linked) was the first time I truly appreciated what it meant to break this code. It made me sweat, even though it was “just a game.” To me, that's the value of the simulations — when you can play with it yourself, the codebreakers' accomplishment becomes much more concrete.
posted by Wolfdog at 1:11 PM on December 28, 2004

What is it with this 70yr old technology that has people captivated to-day? Any implementation of PGP will blow the doors off of Enigma.

Partially its like the lunar landing - amazement at what our genius predecessors were able to do with what they had. Also, it's marketing: 1) Spies and a world at war 2) "Enigma" is so much cooler than "Pretty Good Privacy," you must admit.
posted by vacapinta at 1:42 PM on December 28, 2004

Just a quick note, the Flash-based site did crash my browser, firefox 1.0 on OSX 10.3.

Great links, though. I'll be trying it again with a different browser.
posted by odinsdream at 2:06 PM on December 28, 2004

Just a quick note, the Flash-based site did crash my browser, firefox 1.0 on OSX 10.3.

Great links, though. I'll be trying it again with a different browser.

Maybe you need a newer Flash player plugin.
posted by ae4rv at 7:14 AM on December 29, 2004