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thewayneThe purpose is to generate encryption keys with a high level of entropy. Specifically, it's a kit of 25 dice that get locked in to a 5x5 grid. For each die, the die is individually numbered, each face is individually numbered, and the rotation is individually numbered! Because of this, the entropy possible is 2^196, or 124,127,134,662,179,891,202,329,100,571,859,806,502,566,406,865,813,504,000,000! That's a bloody huge number!
Here's what it looks like after you shake the dice in the provided bag, roll them into the provided plastic cage and lock them down:
After you roll the dice and lock it down, you use a smartphone app to capture the dice and an app generates the key, which you can use within your phone or copy into a USB key. The best thing is that the software that generates the key is open source, so if the company disappears, as long as you still have your dice or a picture of it, you can still regenerate your key! And the case design is such that if you drop it (or a toddler accident), it won't accidentally pop open and spill the dice all over the place.
Bruce Schneier, noted encryption expert, is a consultant on the project.
I ordered two of them, I think they're pretty cool. And at $25 for the basic kit, they're not too expensive. Honestly, I don't know if I'll ever use it, but the potential utility is quite good. And since they've already built 900 kits and sent them to the fulfillment center, there's zero chance that the project will not succeed.
https://www.crowdsupply.com/dicekeys/dicekeys
Here's what it looks like after you shake the dice in the provided bag, roll them into the provided plastic cage and lock them down:
After you roll the dice and lock it down, you use a smartphone app to capture the dice and an app generates the key, which you can use within your phone or copy into a USB key. The best thing is that the software that generates the key is open source, so if the company disappears, as long as you still have your dice or a picture of it, you can still regenerate your key! And the case design is such that if you drop it (or a toddler accident), it won't accidentally pop open and spill the dice all over the place.
Bruce Schneier, noted encryption expert, is a consultant on the project.
I ordered two of them, I think they're pretty cool. And at $25 for the basic kit, they're not too expensive. Honestly, I don't know if I'll ever use it, but the potential utility is quite good. And since they've already built 900 kits and sent them to the fulfillment center, there's zero chance that the project will not succeed.
https://www.crowdsupply.com/dicekeys/dicekeys
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Date: 2020-08-22 08:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-22 08:55 pm (UTC)Very interesting project. Crazy huge amount of entropy, and open source!
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Date: 2020-08-23 11:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-23 11:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-23 02:02 pm (UTC)I had the original three D&D books (folded 8.5x11 paper) in a white box. I still have two of the three books, somewhere. I'd have quite a valuable property if I had the third book and the box! I do have the original white box Nuclear War card game, but not the original cards. I worked for Flying Buffalo back in the early '80s for a couple of years. I aint'nt a youngun! The first car of my dad's that I remember, '69 Chevy Impala, having an 8-track, and my first two cars being shoulder-belt optional. No, the first polyhedral dice that I bought: you had to color or paint in the values yourself.
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Date: 2020-08-23 02:06 pm (UTC)“Young’un” is a relative term (actually, wasn’t specifically referring to you, but a generic “young’un” out there). I do remember when those new fangled 8-tracks came in. (Now that was an idea better in theory than practice.) My first car, if you wanted music, you had to hire a band to sit in the back seat and play...
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Date: 2020-08-23 02:12 pm (UTC)Just so we were clear! I spent a LOT of hours playing tabletop role-playing games, having worked at a company that made said games. I have alpha test credit in one. I have writer's credit in some. And for a variety of reasons, I never cared much for the early versions of D&D. I understand the new versions are much better, but I don't like the idea of having to spend the amount of money that they want for multiple source books to play the game effectively and then rules lawyer this and that point for an evening. It ruins the story-telling and the fun. Much easier having a single rulebook that covers the basics well and gives the game master flexibility in telling the story they want to tell, along with players who are willing to go with the flow.
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Date: 2020-08-23 02:17 pm (UTC)I agree. Part of the joy of the original was using your imagination.
However, adding rulebooks, character books, and other add-ons makes them money.
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Date: 2020-08-23 02:59 pm (UTC)The books add details that add complications and for me, unless the GM can memorize it all - which is usually me - really slows down the game. It ruins the flow. I run a really loose game to keep the story flowing as smooth and fast as possible, so I don't want numerous volumes of details. I want the details to be color in everyone's heads, in the settings. And I got a lot of compliments on the games that I ran.
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Date: 2020-08-28 07:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-28 12:53 pm (UTC)The application is going to be released for open source, so you don't need an app! :-)
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Date: 2020-08-28 02:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-28 02:21 pm (UTC)Gotcha. Yeah, it's a case of "I don't need it now, but if I get back in to IT, it could come in handy to have." I consider myself semi-retired from IT (and happily so!). If an absolutely amazing offer comes up post-COVID, it might merit re-evaluation, but I'm not making much of an effort to maintain my skills. My knowledge of relational database design will not decay, but my knowledge of the SQL Server GUI will become increasingly stale-dated as they come out with new editions.