Certificate of deposit and sample

REVIEWS AND THINGS CRYPTOLOGIC ARABIC ORIGINS OF CRYPTOLOGY - VOLUME II Mohamad Mrayati, Yahya Meer Alain, and M. Hassan al-Tayyan, Eds. Ibn Adlan's Treatise: A Manual on Cryptanalysis written for King alAsraf. Volume Two of Series, Arabic Origins of Cryptology. King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, P. O. Box 51049, Riyadh 11543, SAUDI ARABIA. 2003. 113 pp. $15.00.

This second book in the series is divided into two chapters. First is an analytical study of the edited treatise of ibn Adlan to explain difficult or vague aspects, point out particular features and, more importantly, highlight aspects of originality arid innovation. There are four sections and the first is ibn Adlan's biography. The second section of chapter one is a complete study and analysis of his treatise, which has three sections. First is its Preface with three topics: Cryptanalyst's tools, Examples of encipherment by simple substitution, and A study in letter combination; second, Rules in Cryptanalysis, which consists of 20 rules grouped into the following nine topics: 1) Analytical method for cryptanalysis (Rules 1, 2, 3); 2) Extracting the "space" (Rule 4); 3) Cryptanalyzing the definite article and adjacent letters (Rules 5, 6, 7); 4) The probable word (Rule 8); 5) The utilization of initial and final letters of words (Rules 9, 10); 6) The use of double letters or double bigrams (Rules 11, 13, 14, 15); 7) Cryptanalyzing no-word-spacer cryptograms (Rule 12); 8) Cryptanalyzing enciphered poetry (Rules 16, 17); 9) Summary and helpful tips (rules 18, 19, 20).

Probably to highlight Adlan's originality, the editors note on page 24 that he published "a detailed description of how to solve a monoalphabetic cipher with no space or word divisions, three centuries before G. B. Porta (AD 1563)" with a footnote, "See David Kahn's The Codebreakers, 138." Here Kahn described some of Porta's achievements that had been accomplished earlier by Adlan.

The second chapter includes Editing methodology, Description of the manuscript, and the major part of the book, the complete edited ibn Adlan's treatise. It includes a preface, twenty rules and a conclusion, all with the English translation and the original Arabic text on facing pages. Adlan's twenty rules concerning cryptanalysis are: 1. On the Order of Letter Frequency of Occurrence, 2. On the Frequency of Two-Letter Words, 3. On the Length of Cryptanalyzed Message, 4. On Spacers, 5. On the cryptanalysis of the Letters (?) & (?), 6. On the Quantitative Identification of Every Word with Definite Article, 7. On the Four Letters Preceding the Definite Article, 8. On Introductory Expressions and Honorary Titles, 9. On Letters Occurring Initially in Words, 10. On Letters Occurring Terminally [in words], 11. On Compound Words of the Same Order, 12. On Cryptanalyzing No-Word-Spacer Cryptograms, 13. On a Word's Initial Letter Repeated Twice, 14. On a Word's Terminal Letter Repeated Twice, 15. On Identical Vocables, 16. On Cryptanalyzing Poetry, 17. On Rhyme, 18. Preliminaries to Cryptanalysis, 19. On the Letter "y" at the End of Word, 20. General. Each Rule is fully described with examples where needed. The last chapter is appropriately devoted to, Practice and Exercise, with examples.

This book is another major contribution to the history of cryptology and is highly recommended.

ARABIC ORIGINS OF CRYPTOLOGY - VOLUME III

Mohamad Mrayati, Yahya Meer Alam, and at-Tayyan, eds. Ibn ad-Durayhim's Treatise on Cryptanalysis. Volume Three. King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies. P.O. Box 51049, Riyadh 11543 SAUDI ARABIA. 2004. 127 pp. $15.00.

This third book in The Arabic Origins of Cryptology is divided into two chapters. The first chapter provides an analytical study of the edited treatise of ibn ad-Durayhim. Its purpose is to explain difficult or vague points, recognizing particular features and more importantly, highlighting aspects of originality and innovation in the treatise. It is divided into four sections with the first one providing a brief biography of ibn ad-Durayhim. The second section is a full study and analysis of the treatise, while the third delineates its structure, which includes: Essentials for those practicing cryptanalysis, Types of encipherment including transposition, substitution, cipher devices (examples of ingenuity in the 14th century), encipherment of letters by numbers, words, generic names, invented symbols, and more. Also discussed are: an Algorithm for cryptanalysis, Two practical examples of cryptanalysis, and much more. The fourth section discusses the Originality of ibn ad-Durayhim.

The second chapter, with three sections, comprises a translation of the original text of the edited treatise of ibn ad-Durayhim. Section one discusses the editing methodology adopted, which basically conforms to what is commonly used by the scientific community. Section two contains a brief description of the manuscript followed by sample photocopies of pages from the original. Section three contains the treatise itself (in Arabic) together with its English translation on the left-hand pages and the original Arabic text on the right-hand pages.

The task of editing the manuscript text was a genuine challenge and no effort has been spared correcting the mistakes and resolving the ambiguous. Wherever appropriate, lead-in headings have been added to designate the different divisions of the treatise itself.

Kudos to the editors and the talented support staff for a difficult project completed successfully. This volume is another major contribution to the history of cryptology and it belongs in the personal library of everyone interested in the subject.

BURIED TREASURE GAME

Sloan, Martin. The Buried Treasure Game: Anyone Can Win $50,000. Serendipity Press, 10 Tower Office Park, Suite 310, Woburn MA 01801 USA. 2004. 96 pp. $19.95.

This book is about The Buried Treasure Game that readers invited to join. After recounting the Captain Kidd legend, Sloan reminds readers of the many treasure hunt games that started in the 1980s and recalls the book Masquerade that started it with a buried jewel-laden "golden hare" in Great Britain that had a value of $20,000.

This treasure game has $50,000 waiting for you in a small wooden treasure chest buried somewhere in the continental United States, where it can be easily reached 24 hours a day. Inside the chest is the box number of a safe deposit box in a nearby bank. Inside the box is a certificate redeemable for $50,000. No key is needed to open the chest. A second chest, a third chest, etc., will be buried in the event that the first one is found and the prize is claimed.

There are two parts to the game, questions and clues. The first phase has 100 questions starting in Chapter Twelve. The second phase consists of 25 clues that begin in Chapter 23. A registration form is included in the book along with much more information. The game starts on March 1, 2004 and continues until March 2006.

WORD GAMES BOOK

Golden Books Staff. Things in Full Swing. Golden Books, 1745 Broadway, New York NY 10019 USA. 2003. 32 pp. $3.95.

Dr. Seuss and the Cat in the Hat make words fun. And with more than 25 magnetic words blister-packed to the cover of this book, kids can join in the silliness and let their imaginations run wild. The coloring pages and puzzles inside add to the excitement. There is a cutout Cat Crate on the back cover to hold the magnets and inspire endless word games.

This is an excellent book with word and puzzle games to get children interested in reading and solving puzzles. (Perhaps cryptograms are next.) Designed for youngsters ages 4 and up.

CRYPTOLOG

CRYPTOLOG, publication of U. S. Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association Vol. 25 No. 1, Pensacola FL. Winter.2004 . 24 pp. Editor. Robert R. Payne, 104 Ridgmar Road, Leander TX 78641-9794 USA.

The U. S. Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association (NVCA) was founded in Denver, Colorado in July 1978. It is a non-profit fraternal organization whose functions include: Conducting an annual reunion, Providing fraternal, social and recreational activities for members and guest, Encouraging and supporting the preservation of the history of cryptology by members of the association and appropriate Federal Agencies. A newspaper was established in 1979.

With the retirement of longtime former editor Graydon (Grady) Lewis, the format of this 25 year old publication has changed from a tabloid newspaper (12" ?? 14") to an 8 "??11" digitally produced glossy magazine. All NCVA members, currently 3,919, receive Cryptolog, which is published quarterly but often produces one or two additional issues a year. Each issue includes association related items, naval matters, book reviews, recollections of wartime experiences, which makes the publication important for historians, and much more. Due to the interest of non-members in Cryptolog, it is available on a subscription basis: $20.00 US. Overseas $25.00 US, 1st class mail