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

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

The 2010 Northeast Mini-con

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

It will be in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, during the weekend of April 30, May 1, and May 2, at the Holiday Inn Express Harrisburg East, at 4021 Union Deposit Road. Hotel phone number is 1-717-561-8100, and the toll-free number is 1-877-660-8550. The rate per night is $99 (plus 11% tax) per room, including a free breakfast buffet and free parking. Your stay can be extended three days before and after the convention at the same rate. This rate and availability is guaranteed to all members who make their reservations by March 30th. Ask for the American Cryptogram Association group rate.

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, and dinner at a local restaurant; for those still in Harrisburg on Sunday, lunch and group outing to the National Civil War Museum. And lots of fun!

If you would like to give a presentation or would like any other information, contact your hostess CONFUOCO at valerieconfuoco(at)yahoo(dot)ca

Area Attractions: Pennsylvania State Capitol, Antique Auto Museum at Hershey (right next to Harrisburg), Fort Hunter Mansion and Park, Hershey Chocolate World, Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, and much, much more!