HJ! BI....BI....BI...Hotshot!

August 31, 2014 11:51 AM

Crypto machines.
posted by pjern (9 comments total)

Site seems to be down. Anyone got a cache?
posted by xcasex at 1:06 PM on August 31, 2014

A bit hard to get over the web design, but here's the actual list of machines.
posted by o0o0o at 1:46 PM on August 31, 2014

The humor section is a bit dry, but I can totally see some of these crypto-nerds peeing their pants.
posted by schyler523 at 4:03 PM on August 31, 2014

I don't understand the title of this post. Cool machines, though.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 4:25 PM on August 31, 2014

Like at least one reviewer here, I found that the Enigma episode in the game Jigsaw made the machinery and the decoding process real to me in a way that even seeing the real machine in a crypto museum wouldn't do. Strange, but I remember that tense, sweating feeling even 15-odd years later, something very unusual in a text game.
posted by Wolfdog at 6:23 PM on August 31, 2014

Neat, I've used a couple of the machines listed there.
posted by smcniven at 6:31 PM on August 31, 2014

Jesus Christ, these are like the worst jokes on the planet. I am impressed. The humor is uh, encrypted.
posted by oceanjesse at 7:12 PM on August 31, 2014

I bet they'd be more funny if I knew the fellas involved.
posted by oceanjesse at 7:13 PM on August 31, 2014

The title of the post comes from the sequencing needed to sync up 1960s and 70s crypto gear to get it ready to pass traffic:

HJ was the "New Day" time when the crypto for a circuit was to start a new key set.

BI was a pulse sent along the circuit that was seen on the receiving end on a small ammeter.

"Hotshot!" was the cry shouted when we forced a sync on the receive end after seeing a 'BI" pulse. It sometimes ended with all the gear in sync, but more often just ended in tears and a new card in the machine.

I bet they'd be more funny if I knew the fellas involved

Well, now you know at least one of them.
posted by pjern at 8:23 PM on August 31, 2014 [4 favorites]