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 three CD-ROM set containing the contents of The Cryptogram from 1932 to 2002. For information on membership benefits and details on how to join see Membership.

    

News

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".

100th Anniversary of M15 and M16

November 1-9, 2009, Elderhostel International presents "Celebrate the 100th anniversary of MI5 and MI6 in England." For details click here.

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.

Win a German World War 2 Enigma machine. The details of the contest are in the MA2007 CM page 14. You need the book Can You Crack the Enigma Code , by Richard Belfield. The book is not for sale in the USA. It is available in Canada and can be ordered from Chapters.ca for $23.46 Canadian dollars, (hardcover copy) plus shipping.

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

ACA Convention 2009

The 2009 Convention will be in Canada -- Niagara Falls. The hostess will be CONFUOCO. The convention will be held September 11-13, 2009, at the Quality Hotel in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Reservations can be made until August 11 by calling 800-215-5691. The room rate is CAN $90 per night. For more details, consult The Cryptogram or contact valerieconfuoco@yahoo.ca.

Symposium on Cryptologic History

The Center for Cryptologic History announces a call for papers for its biennial Symposium on Cryptologic History. The Symposium will occur on 15-16 October 2009 in Laurel, Maryland, at the Johns-Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory located in the Baltimore-Washington corridor. The theme for the Symposium will be "Global Perspectives on Cryptologic History." While all proposals relating to any aspect of cryptologic history will be considered, presentations from international scholars are of special interest. The deadline for submission of proposals, to include a minimum two-page topic prospectus, a brief source list, and a biography, is 10 January 2009. Selected presenters will receive notification by 1 March 2009. For further information contact Dr. Kent Sieg, Symposium coordinator, at 301-688-2336 or kgsieg@nsa.gov.

Bletchley Park Reunion and Exhibit

Those of you who attended the successful ACA Annual Meeting and Conference in 2003 will recall the great time we all had at Bletchley Park [BP] and in London. Here is an opportunity for those who were there, and for those who wish they had been there, to attend the 2009 Enigma Weekend at BP to be held during the weekend of 5-6 September. As a principal feature of this year’s event there will be a display of Enigmas and other cipher machines from private and museum collections throughout Europe and elsewhere – some rare and unusual variants are promised. The early 20th century through the cold war will be represented. Many well-known experts, specialists and collectors from the cipher-machine world have already expressed their intent to be there…come and join in...!

On the Sunday the Park will be the venue for a gathering of many of the veterans who worked there during World War Two…this is an opportunity to meet and speak with a unique group of people many of whose names are inscribed in history. In addition all of the regular, fascinating exhibits at BP will be open to visitors. These include Colossus, the Bombe and Jack Darrah’s unique collection of Churchillian memorabilia and artefacts.

For details contact BP via its website at http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/ or send email to Kelsey Griffin at kgriffin@bletchleypark.org.uk