Sep 11Simple End-to-End EncryptionUntil WhatsApp had incorporated the Signal protocol, wide scale adoption of end-to-end encryption was nil. Yet, WhatsApp left the burden of authentication on the unsuspecting users (link). A new end-to-end encryption mobile app Crosspass incorporates authentication in a natural flow, such that it is always performed by users. Crosspass positions…Encryption2 min readEncryption2 min read
Jan 14, 2022Seasteading is DefenselessThe term seasteading is the analog of homesteading for the oceans: the idea that houses can be built in the open seas. The only “game in town,” it seems, is the Seasteading Institute which aims to create the tools to form new countries on the ocean. Along with innovative technological…Seasteading3 min readSeasteading3 min read
Nov 30, 2021Composing a TuneOver the years I came up with several melodies and recorded them in audio on my iPhone. It was easy to stumble upon a melody while improvising, but it was another matter to turn it into a complete tune. Trying out different variations, I have accumulated an unmanageable amount of…Composing Music4 min readComposing Music4 min read
Published inCantor’s Paradise·Aug 1, 2021Triangular NumbersToday I gave a math lesson to my five-year-old son and stumbled upon a mathematical property that I did not know of. It turns out that any square number is a sum of two triangular numbers. My experience illustrates that the best way to form abstract ideas is to start…Math5 min readMath5 min read
Published inCantor’s Paradise·Jul 8, 2021Problems with Ancient Musical ScalesOne-sentence summary: I explain why an exponential scale was invented, and how it compares with the older scales based on ratios of integers. — It is the continuation of the article on the mathematical nature of musical scales. In that article, we have used ratios to come up with a division of an octave. …Music Theory20 min readMusic Theory20 min read
Published inExCommunications·Jun 26, 2021Rejecting the Pascal’s WagerHere is the story of how I became an atheist and stopped fearing God. My transformation occurred through exposure to three philosophical ideas over several years. The first idea was that I could rely on my mind rather than on a say-so of experts. The second idea was that arbitrary…Atheism8 min readAtheism8 min read
Published inatheism101·May 15, 2021The Shortcomings of “Raised by Wolves”Raised by Wolves is a science fiction TV series directed by Ridley Scott, the same man who directed Blade Runner. The setting is a devastating war between Mythraics versus atheists. …Atheism5 min readAtheism5 min read
Published inInfoSec Write-ups·May 12, 2021Towards Shorter Encryption KeysThis article goes into technical details concerning Elliptic Curve encryption. Public and private key cryptography is a recent invention from the late seventies that did not occur to our creative predecessors. Instead, they relied on symmetric encryption schemes which requires both sides to know the encryption key. The earliest of…Security11 min readSecurity11 min read
Published inAWS in Plain English·May 12, 2021AWS Site-to-Site VPN with NATAt my company, we use the Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure. We help organizations improve the efficiency of parking lots, and to do that we need to communicate with their computing systems. However, these organizations, which include hospitals and universities, often run closed private networks. Outside vendors like us may…AWS10 min readAWS10 min read
Published inatheism101·May 12, 2021Religion as a Ponzi SchemeReligion is a Ponzi scheme, whose currency is faith. And, I am not talking about money. Although money is a key factor driving religion, I want to focus on faith alone. There are two levels to my claim. The first level is individual. The longer a person stays within the…Religion3 min readReligion3 min read
