Code Crackers Wanted
Posted by Michelle Moquin on December 2nd, 2012
Good morning!
Carrier Pigeon Code From World War 2 Era Stumps English Spy Agency
A carrier pigeon’s last wartime message has baffled the code breakers at Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the spy agency in charge of signals intelligence.
The message consists of 27 handwritten blocks of five letters each, Phys.org reports. The note was attached to a pigeon whose skeletal remains were recently found by retired probation officer David Martin while doing work on his house in Surrey, England.
The code was written on official stationery with the heading “Pigeon Service” and wasdiscovered in a red canister attached to the bird’s leg, Yahoo! reports.
Despite recent advances in cryptography, the simple message may prove indecipherable without the accompanying codebook that presumably would have been in the possession of the message’s intended recipient, which is listed only as “X02″ on the document.
“This means that without access to the relevant codebooks and details of any additional encryption used, it will remain impossible to decrypt,” said a GCHQ spokesman, according to Yahoo!
During World War II, nearly a quarter-million carrier pigeons braved enemy hawk patrols and pot-shooting ground forces to deliver messages from various branches of the British military, including Britain’s Special Operations Executive, according to ABC News.
Stymied so far, the GCHQ has enlisted the Pigeon Museum at Bletchy Park–where mathematician Alan Turing famously helped crack German codes during the war–to trace the pigeon’s identity. It is also seeking help from anyone who has information on the note’s author, which is rendered in the coded message “Sjt W Stot”, or its presumed recipient, ABC reports.
“Unless you get rather more idea than we have of who actually sent this message and who it was sent to we are not going to find out what the underlying code being used was,” GCHQ historian Tony, who asked that only his first name be used, told the BBC.
According to the British news site, the best guess is that the message was sent by a unit in the middle of an operation in Europe that was on the move and unable to stop to use a radio message.
It also could have been a kind of training exercise, the BBC reports, even perhaps for D-Day.
So far, the public has been eager to try to help, according to the Mirror.
“We have had about 50 people getting in touch since our request for help was published yesterday, mainly by email but also some phone calls,” a GCHQ representative told the paper.
“They have been of varying ages, from school kids to people who were alive in the war. There have been men and women, and not just from the UK – from Holland and the USA too. They’re approaching it from different angles, but no one has come through with a solution, saying this is what it definitely means, so the quest continues. It’s still early days,” the rep added.
This is the code in full:
AOAKN HVPKD FNFJW YIDDC
RQXSR DJHFP GOVFN MIAPX
PABUZ WYYNP CMPNW HJRZH
NLXKG MEMKK ONOIB AKEEQ
WAOTA RBQRH DJOFM TPZEH
LKXGH RGGHT JRZCQ FNKTQ
KLDTS FQIRW AOAKN 27 1525/6
*******
Readers: So, any of you code crackers have a clue? Blog it.
Happy Sunday everyone!!
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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December 2nd, 2012 at 11:26 am
Are Your Meds Making You Sick?
Strange Side Effects of Common Drugs
Everyone knows that drugs can cause side effects. But sometimes we don’t recognize that a problem we’re having actually is a side effect of a medication we’re taking. Here, common medications and possible dangers…
MEDICATION: Narcotic painkillers.
Side effect: Intestinal blockage.
Millions of Americans take codeine, oxycodone (OxyContin) or other narcotic analgesics. They are used for post-surgical pain, dental pain, etc. They can cause constipation even at doses that are four times lower than the doses needed for pain relief.
Constipation that continues for more than one or two weeks can result in an intestinal blockage from hardened stools.
All narcotic analgesics slow the intestinal contractions (peristalsis) that move nutrients and wastes through the digestive tract. A study of cancer patients found that 95% of people who used these medications experienced constipation.
My advice: If you need these drugs, ask your doctor to prescribe the lowest possible dose…and ask whether you can use a stool-softening medication such as docusate (Colace) and take a stimulant laxative such as bisacodyl (Ex-Lax, for example) if you’re not having regular bowel movements.
The combination of stool softener and stimulant laxative is more effective than either one used alone.
Also important: Drink a glass of water every few hours, and get regular exercise. Fluids and exercise moisten stools and increase the frequency of bowel movements.
MEDICATION: Metformin (Glucophage, Fortamet, others).
Side effect: Fatigue and muscle pain.
Patients with diabetes often take metformin, an oral medication that decreases the production of glucose in the liver and increases the ability of cells to use insulin.
Metformin has a black-box warning (the most serious warning on medication labels) about lactic acidosis, a rare but dangerous complication that’s fatal in about 50% of cases.
It occurs when a metabolic by-product (lactate) accumulates in the bloodstream. Diabetic patients with kidney disease have the highest risk of getting it. Early warning: Fatigue and severe muscle pain even when you’re sedentary.
My advice: Call your doctor immediately if you’re taking metformin and develop muscle pain. You might need to discontinue the medication.
Patients who take metformin should have blood tests to check serum creatinine every three months—the tests will show if lactate is being removed from your body.
Also important:
Don’t take the heartburn medication cimetidine (Tagamet) if you’re using metformin. The combination increases blood levels of metformin by up to 40%. You can switch to a different heartburn drug, such as famotidine (Pepsid).
MEDICATION: Insulin.
Side effect: Hunger, nervousness, heavy sweating.
Patients who use insulin to lower their blood sugar often forget that it’s an extremely potent drug.
Unless you use it exactly as prescribed, it can lower blood glucose to dangerous levels, causing hypoglycemia. This triggers the hunger, nervousness and heavy sweating.
Hypoglycemia occurs occasionally in every diabetic who uses insulin—it takes time to learn how to use insulin appropriately.
Doctors routinely advise patients to take diabetes-education classes, in which they learn how to recognize the signs of high and low blood sugar…how and when to test blood sugar…and the best times to take medication.
My advice:
If you’re using a fast-acting form of insulin, always have something to eat within 30 minutes. Otherwise, the medication will lower your blood sugar too much.
Also important:
Keep a “quick fix” snack, such as a box of fruit juice or a package of crackers, in your pocket, purse or briefcase. A snack quickly will elevate your blood sugar if you develop symptoms of hypoglycemia.
MEDICATION: Bactrim.
Side effect: Burning rash.
The sulfonamide class of antibiotics (Bactrim is one of the main ones) can trigger an immune reaction called Stevens-Johnson syndrome.
This side effect is rare—it affects only between one and three patients per 100,000—but requires immediate medical attention.
The immune system causes a burning rash that spreads and often gets infected. Sores and blisters in the mouth can spread to the stomach, lungs and colon. Some patients die from it.
Because it’s so serious, everyone should know the warning signs—a cough, headache, fatigue, blisters and joint pain followed by a rash.
My advice: Get to the emergency room immediately. You may be hospitalized and switched to a different medication.
MEDICATION: Metoclopramide (Reglan).
Side effect: Muscle shakes or spasms.
Patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or heartburn sometimes take metoclopramide to reduce discomfort and accelerate the healing of ulcers in the esophagus.
The medication works by blocking the effects of dopamine. Doing this reduces nausea and helps food pass more easily from the stomach through the digestive tract.
In some patients, blocking dopamine also causes uncontrollable muscle shakes or spasms that can persist long after the patient stops taking the drug.
The risk for movement disorders increases the longer the drug is taken and with higher doses. It is up to four times more likely in patients who take this medication than in those who don’t.
Caution:
Patients who combine metoclopramide with prochlorperazine (Compazine), used for some mental disorders as well as nausea, are more likely to have movement disorders because it also blocks the effects of dopamine and causes an additive effect.
My advice: Switch to a different—and newer—heartburn drug. Most patients get good results with medications such as omeprazole (Prilosec) without the risk for movement disorders.
MEDICATION: Simvastatin (Zocor).
Side effect: Muscle pain.
Cholesterol-lowering statins are among the most commonly prescribed drugs in the US. More Americans are prescribed the generic simvastatin than any other statin.
Up to one-third of patients who take simvastatin or other statins experience mild muscle pain.
Large doses of these drugs also can cause a breakdown of muscle cells. This condition, rhabdomyolysis, is extremely painful and could lead to kidney damage.
Statin-related muscle pain almost always goes away when patients discontinue the medication—but this can leave their cholesterol levels dangerously high.
My advice:
Do everything you can to lower cholesterol with natural approaches, including eating more fiber, cutting back on saturated fat and exercising. If you still need a statin, you might be able to use a lower dose.
Lower doses are less likely to cause side effects. Or you can switch to another statin. Even though all of the statins have similar effects, simply changing to another statin can eliminate the pain.
Also important:
The risk for muscle pain is higher when you combine a statin with gemfibrozil (Lopid), another cholesterol-lowering drug. If you need both medications, ask your doctor to prescribe the lowest effective doses.
Source: Robert Steven Gold, RPh, a hospital pharmacist and affiliate instructor of clinical pharmacy at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.
He is author of Are Your Meds Making You Sick? A Pharmacist’s Guide to Avoiding Dangerous Drug Interactions, Reactions and Side Effects (Hunter House), which includes the top 30 types of drug problems that result in hospitalizations. http://www.AreYourMedsMakingYouSick.com
December 2nd, 2012 at 11:29 am
Michelle, I put my computer to it so far no deal.
December 2nd, 2012 at 11:53 am
Thanks the medical post Michelle. I am on 2 of those meds.
December 2nd, 2012 at 12:09 pm
as he was going down, he threw down his bottle of HOPE and CHANGE and said no more of this drug, and he SURVIVED….
December 2nd, 2012 at 12:10 pm
You have your saying Tom, I have this one.
I have never understood the worship of the Confederacy. Let’s face it: they were traitors. This isn’t a case of picking on them out of political correctness. They were traitors; they committed treason. And they lost.
December 2nd, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Did I see this on your blog Michelle?
==========================
Finding a Work-at-Home Job
Most Are Scams, But These 7 Are For Real
A growing number of employers are willing to use home-based employees, assuming those employees have access to a phone, computer and high-speed Internet connection.
That’s good news for people with disabilities or who are caring for children or an elderly relative or who live in an area where jobs are scarce. It’s also good news for people who could find work outside the home but prefer to spend more time with their families and less time sitting in traffic.
The bad news is that there are roughly 60 “work from home” job scams on the Internet for each legitimate opportunity, according to our research.
Here’s how to avoid the scams and land a good work-at-home position…
LANDING WORK-AT-HOME JOBS
Tweak your résumé before you start applying for work-at-home jobs. Stress any work experience that shows that you can work productively without direct supervision or handle projects outside the workplace.
Be sure to mention any experience you have with communications technology, such as videoconferencing tools and tablet computers.
If your work history is light on projects outside the workplace, consider taking a virtual volunteer position and listing this on your résumé.
Example:
The United Nations Volunteers program offers plenty of volunteer-from-home opportunities and looks impressive on a résumé (www.OnlineVolunteering.org).
Interviews for online positions often are conducted via phone or Skype video call. If you are not naturally comfortable speaking on the phone or you lack experience with Skype video calls, practice with friends before the interview.
Helpful:
If the interview is a Skype video call, make sure that the backdrop behind you is uncluttered and looks professional.
HOME-BASED CAREERS HIRING NOW
Among the career opportunities open to the home-based…
1. Customer service agents field calls from their employers’ customers and prospective customers—they do not place telemarketing calls.
Major employers of home-based workers in this field include LiveOps (http://Join.LiveOps.com)…Alpine Access (www.AlpineAccess.com)…and Arise (http://Partner.Arise.com).
Other well-known companies that frequently hire home-based customer service agents include American Express (on http://Careers.AmericanExpress.com, click on “Search
Jobs” and enter “Work At Home” in the keyword search box)…Amazon.com (on http://www.Amazon.com, select “Careers” from the “Get to Know Us” menu near the bottom of the page, then enter “Work At Home” in the keyword box)…
and the Home Shopping Network (on http://www.HSN.com, select “Careers at HSN” from the “About HSN” menu near the bottom of the page, then select “Work At Home” from the “Why HSN” menu).
To find other companies hiring in this field, select the “Call Center & Cust. Service” listing on the left of the home page of my company’s Web site, http://www.RatRaceRebellion.com.
Pay typically is $9 to $12 an hour, though it can reach $20 an hour or more.
2. Internet ad assessors conduct Internet searches and make sure that search results are appropriate for the search terms used. Extensive tech skills are not needed—just basic Internet skills.
Companies hiring home-based workers in this area include Google (on http://www.Google.com/about/jobs, search for the job “Ad Rater”)…Lionbridge (on http://www.Lionbridge.com, select “Jobs,” then “Work-at-Home Opportunities”) and Leapforce (www.LeapforceAtHome.com). Pay is about $10 to $15 per hour.
3. Web site testers visit Web sites and record their impressions of those sites. It’s like being part of a focus group except that you can do it from home.
Employers offering home-based employment in the field include Userlytics (on http://www.Userlytics.com, select “Join Our Tester Panel” near the bottom of the page) and UserTesting.com (on http://www.UserTesting.com, select “We’re Hiring!” near the bottom of the page, click the link under “User Tester”).
Reviews typically take around 10 to 20 minutes apiece and pay perhaps $10 per review. But don’t expect to make a lot of money or make this a full-time career—testers typically get occasional assignments, not regular work.
4. Online moderators oversee Web site communities, Facebook groups and interactive online games, stepping in to remove offensive comments or ban troublemakers.
Employers that hire home-based moderators include LiveWorld.com (www.LiveWorld.com/about/jobs/moderator) and Zynga.com (on http://Company.Zynga.com/about/jobs, click “US Jobs,” select “Community” from the “Category” list, then choose “Super Moderator”).
The job requires tact, interpersonal skills and experience with social media. The pay for this work tends to be toward the lower end of the scale—often $10 an hour.
5. Virtual task freelancers perform chores posted on Web sites such as TaskRabbit.com. Some of the chores require travel and thus are not appropriate for the exclusively home-based—picking up a client’s dry cleaning or assembling new IKEA furniture, for example. But others can be performed from home, such as conducting online research or doing data entry.
Job seekers typically bid on tasks. If their bid is accepted, they are paid directly by the individual or company that needs the work done.
Comparable Web sites include Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (www.MTurk.com) and Clickworker (www.Clickworker.com). Also, the site Fiverr (www.Fiverr.com) lets people post tasks that they’re willing to perform for $5.
6. Transcriptionists type verbatim accounts of board meetings, presentations, conference calls, etc., from audio recordings.
Some of the companies that hire home-based transcriptionists include Tigerfish (www.Tigerfish.com/employment.html)…Ubiqus (on http://www.Ubiqus.com, select “Working For Us”)…and Cambridge Transcriptions (www.CTran.com/employment).
The pay for transcriptionists can vary with typing speed but generally is around $10 per hour.
7. Freelance posters are paid to post content to blogs. Topics vary widely, depending on the theme of the blog.
Pay can range from a few dollars per post to $50 and beyond, and usually is made directly to the poster by the owner of the blog. Short posts on generic themes such as lifestyle and fashion generally pay less, while specialized posts requiring more research (on economic issues, for example) pay more.
These are listed on such Web sites as Problogger.net (click on “Jobs”) and BloggingPro.com (click on “Job Board”)…Postloop (on http://www.Postloop.com, click “Join”)…and Wired Flame (on http://www.WiredFlame.com, select “Writers”).
Source: Michael Haaren, CEO of Staffcentrix, a training and development company with offices in Annandale, Virginia, and Woodstock, Connecticut. Staffcentrix’s clients have included the US Department of State, US Air Force and US Army.
Haaren is coauthor of Work at Home Now: The No-Nonsense Guide to Finding Your Perfect Home-Based Job, Avoiding Scams, and Making a Great Living (Career Press). http://www.RatRaceRebellion.com
December 2nd, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Hamas Photo Fraud the World Media Doesn’t Question.
http://www.israelvideonetwork.com/hamas-photo-fraud-the-world-media-doesnt-question
If you go to this link you will get the REAL story about Palestinians utilizing the News Media with fraudulent photos they show all over the world to gain pity.
If you want your eyes opened, go to the above link.
HOWIE
December 2nd, 2012 at 4:13 pm
I’ve seen plenty of those fake photos. I tend to agree with the Middle Eastern women, if those men can’t be trusted by their own women, why should Israel trust them.
December 2nd, 2012 at 4:15 pm
Thanks for the article about drugs Michelle. I had reactions to the non-active ingredients Provodne and Crosprovodone (iodine) that is used in most medications as a binder. It gave me allergic allergy reactions and shut my airways down. The FDA does not regulate non-active ingredients.
December 3rd, 2012 at 8:32 am
When I heard this -”He/she is in a better place.” This may or may not be true. Again, we have no real way of knowing. We may believe it, but to speak with such authority about something we don’t actually know is arrogant. Plus, focusing on the passing of a loved one minimizes the grief of the people they left behind. – yesterday, I thought of your blog advice Michelle.
I looked at my Uncle and asked, “How do you know for sure, have you been there?”
He looked at me and just walked away. The rest of the funeral I felt so good. I found myself thinking, I could go to a lot more funeral of my relatives to feel this good again. Then it occurred to me that I have a few relatives that I always wished were dead.
That saddened me and I spent the last hour of the funeral thinking about how to kill those relatives I had only wished were dead before. The smile broke back upon my face when I got a few bright ideas.
This is a great blog.
December 3rd, 2012 at 8:34 am
Stashing your cell phone in your bra is hazardous to your health. http://bit.ly/Ryb5no Never Stick This In Your Bra! www.bottomlinepublications.comWhen you don’t have a purse or pocket but still want to stay connected to the world, nestling your cell phone into your cleavage for safekeeping may seem like a great solution. In fact, so many women now do this that there’s even a new type of bra with a pocket to hold a phone.
December 3rd, 2012 at 8:36 am
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