The ACA


The American Cryptogram Association (ACA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the hobby and art of cryptanalysis -- that is, learning to break ciphers.

Join Us!

Now is an ideal time to join the ACA. While supplies last, new members will receive a CD-ROM containing the contents of The Cryptogram from 1932 to 2009. For information on membership benefits and details on how to join see Membership.

    

News

Free Web App.

The ACA's "Solve a Cipher!" program is now available as a free web app for users of Google's Chrome web browser. To get it, click HERE, or go to the Chrome Web Store and search on "ciphers".

New Expanded Free Sample Issue

The free sample issue of The Cryptogram available for download has been expanded with more explanations and many more ciphers to solve. Read about it and download it on the Sample Issue page under About the ACA .

2nd Edition PHOENIX Memorial CDROM

A member reported that the links on the index page of the 2nd Edition PHOENIX Memorial CDROM did not work with Acrobat Reader v9. It turned out to be caused by the default value of a preference option. Here is how it was corrected:

Edit->Preferences

Documents->View Documents in PDF/A mode: NEVER

From the Edit menu, select "Preferences", then choose to look under Category "Documents".

The option "View Documents in PDF/A mode" should be changed to "Never".

FBI Code Breaking Challenge.

The FBI has a website with a code breaking challenge. Check it out.

Member area of this website.

The member area is now password protected. The username is ACA and the password is the first 7 CIPHER TEXT characters of the A1 cipher text found in the latest issue of The Cryptogram. As an alternate method of entry, you may use the username ACAPREV along with the corresponding first seven characters of the A1 CIPHER TEXT from the previous issue of The Cryptogram. Please enter the passwords in lower case without spaces or punctuation.

THE RAT has made available for ACA members a program called Conmaker. It is designed for Windows users to easily create and submit cons to the ACA column editors. If interested, go to the Members Area / Downloads and get your copy.

   

Events

2012 ACA Annual Convention

There is no information for the 2012 ACA Annual convention at this time.

2012 NORTHEAST MINI-CON

Come and have a wonderful time at the Mini-con!

It will be in Lake George, New York, during the weekend of May 4 - 6, at the Wingate Hotel, 4054 State Route 9L, Lake George. Hotel phone number is 1-518-668-4884, and the toll-free number is 1-800-965-2203. The rate per night for the Friday and Saturday nights is $92 (plus 11% tax) per room, including a free breakfast buffet and free parking. Your stay can be extended by three days before and/or after the convention at $85 per room-night. These rates and availability are guaranteed to all members who make their reservations by April 2nd. You should reference the American Cryptogram Association to get these rates.

Activities: for early birds arriving by Thursday night: dinner at local restaurant; Friday night: pizza night in the Hospitality/Meeting Room at the hotel, with cipher fun and socializing; Saturday: seminars and presentations (activities are planned for the spouses), and dinner at a local restaurant; for those still in Lake George on Sunday, lunch and group outing. And lots of fun in a spectacular setting!

If you would like to give a presentation, please contact MSCREP at: mscrep@aol.com , or if you would like any other information, contact CONFUOCO at: valerieconfuoco@yahoo.ca

Area Attractions: balloon rides, boat cruises, galleries, historic sites, horseback riding, markets museums, outlet shopping, scenic train rides, and much more!

ACA Annual Convention and Business Meeting in 2013(?)

2013 marks the tenth anniversary of ACA’s first venture into ‘foreign parts’: in 2003 we held the Annual Convention at Bletchley Park [BP] in the UK, the first time our annual gathering had been held outside of north America. BP, famous for its role in the great allied codebreaking efforts of World War Two and subsequently in the beginnings of the computer age, is now a leading museum of cryptology. It shares its site with the National Museum of Computing [NMoC], which houses the rebuilt Colossus: the world’s first programmable digital computer.

I would like to achieve a number of things with this preliminary note…

  • 1) To ask ACA members to respond by expressing their collective interest – or non-interest – in another overseas meeting.
  • 2) To solicit suggestions for an alternative location in the event there is a significant number of those who do not wish to return to BP.
  • 3) To form a small team of local ACA members willing to volunteer for the organizational chores.
  • 4) To solicit all and any other helpful comments you may have – both pro and con.

The proposed target dates are the Thu-Sat preceding the annual Enigma Weekend at BP – not yet on the calendar for 2013 but typically the first weekend in September.

A proposed general outline for the agenda is similar to the successful formula used in 2003:

Thursday – members arrive at hotel [Moore Place?].
Friday – program speakers, crypto contest, etc. in the BP mansion library.
Friday evening – formal dinner in the BP mansion’s ballroom [with adjacent cash bar].
Saturday morning – brief business meeting [early].
Saturday – 10:00–16:00 first day of the Enigma weekend *.
Sunday – 10:00–16:00 Enigma veterans’ reunion *. Monday – depart.

* With alternative activities offered for those wishing not to spend the days at BP. These could include trips to Blenheim Palace [Winston Churchill’s birthplace], the Woburn Abbey Safari Park and others.

Please contact me via email at daedalus@cryptogram.org or via my mailing address or telephone number, which are listed in the current membership directory.

DAEDALUS/David Hamer