[LRUG] [COURSES] Cryptopals Study Group

[Najaf Ali]

Hi again everyone,

This seems to have gone well so we're doing another one this Tuesday
evening. If you couldn't make it last time please feel free to join in
tomorrow.

This is the last time I'll be mentioning it on the list so if you'd like to
attend but can't make it tomorrow night, let me know and I'll add you to
the notification list.

Here's the eventbrite link:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cryptopals-study-group-tickets-12780491795

Cheers,

-Ali




On Wed, Aug 13, 2014 at 1:13 PM, Najaf Ali <ali at happybearsoftware.com>
wrote:

> Hi Rubyistas,
>
> If you don't already know the Matasano Crypto Challenges
> <http://cryptopals.com/> are now publicly available online. Do them and I
> guarantee you'll be as miserable about applied cryptography as I am by the
> end of set three!
>
> If you're a fairly new programmer or just can't manage to set aside time
> to work on the challenges it can be difficult to make progress on them. I
> think it would be fun to do a semi-regular study group to work through them
> together.
>
> Here's what I have in mind:
>
> *Time*
>
> First one next Wednesday 20th from 19:00 - 22:00 (though you're free to
> turn up earlier/leave later). Depending on turnout I'm thinking of doing
> them every two weeks after that.
>
> *Venue*
>
>  Online. We just jump into a gitchat room and work through the challenges.
>
> *Format*
>
> I don't think there's any reason for all of us to be in lockstep, working
> through them at your own pace is fine. The chat room will be there so you
> can compare notes, give each other hints, commiserate when ideas you had
> fail and celebrate when they go well. I'm limiting it to twenty so it's not
> too crowded, but if demand goes over that we can split into a few groups
> next time.
>
> I'm going to be starting the challenges from scratch in Golang (just
> because I've forgotten some of the details of how the attacks work and need
> to recap before I can continue, and I want to learn a bit of Golang).
> You're free to do them in whatever language you like, the challenges are
> totally language-agnostic. Be warned though that I come out with a massive
> rash whenever there's a JVM running in my mental vicinity.
>
> *Who's it for?*
>
>  Anyone who'd like a little camaraderie while working through the crypto
> challenges is welcome to attend. *If you're a relatively new developer
> who isn't sure where to even begin with crypto or worried that you may not
> have enough knowledge to do the challenges, I would like you in particular
> to attend.* If no one else does, I will personally walk you through all
> the tricksy byte-level manipulations that you'll need to clear the first
> few sets.
>
> *Fee*
>
>  I'm charging a £5 fee just to get a firm commitment from people that
> they'll actually show up to the session. I will match it, round up to the
> next hundred and donate the result to Eaves
> <http://www.eavesforwomen.org.uk/>.
>
> *Registration*
>
>  Click here to register
> <https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cryptopals-study-group-tickets-12633441965>
>
> I've checked with one of the authors (tptacek) on twitter and seem to
> have his blessing <https://twitter.com/tqbf/status/499294599970840576> to
> run this. As mentioned before, if there's demand and the sessions are
> actually useful I'd be happy to run this regularly, so if you can't make
> this particular date then email me to register interest.
>
> Cheers,
>
> -Ali
>
> *P.S. Can't make it or find the the £5 fee a little too steep? Do the
> challenges anyway <http://cryptopals.com/>. They will teach you tons about
> operations on binary data, encodings and number theory, even a bit of
> crypto too. They're the type of puzzles you get stuck on for hours, only to
> have the solution come together in your head three days later while walking
> the dog. "About the most fun I've ever had with a computer" is common
> feedback.*
>
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