[hashcash] Re: libfastmint update 20040915

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA256

On Thu, 16 Sep 2004, Jonathan Morton wrote:

The padding places the "tail" of the count field at byte 32 or 52 (mod 64), which are the two most efficient places to calculate changes in SHA-1 for. Most practical e-mail addresses will end up as 96-byte tokens (32+64), though particularly short ones can be 52 bytes. If the extension field gets substantial use, 116-byte tokens may also become common. 
==============

there seems to be "dead spots" where some stamps are generated without a counter. these are tested using resources from 0-200 bytes with a 6 byte date and no extension. the file shows stamps that do not have a counter and the size of the resources used to create the stamps.
MD5 (stamps.gz) = c2e35a10d4b09c73cab049c631013df0


thoughts (after i should be in bed) about getting rid of the padding...

hhmmm... what if the padding was done internally? instead of padding the stamp that's output, a minting application would create a stamp _as_if_ it were padded and a verifying application would internally add appropriate padding before calculating the hash.

ok, this would break compatibility, and no one wants to rush and create a v2 stamp format... but an extension could exist for specifying the ~type~ of padding used (pad=x). this would still create a backwards compatibility issue, but if time passes before that behavior is turned on by default it shouldn't cause too many problems.

i'm going to bed soon... i promise.


        ...atom

 _________________________________________
 PGP key - http://atom.smasher.org/pgp.txt
 762A 3B98 A3C3 96C9 C6B7 582A B88D 52E4 D9F5 7808
 -------------------------------------------------

        "States of war are also understood to require the opposition
         in the legislature to moderate its otherwise essential
         functions of criticism.  Calls are issued to stand behind
         the political leadership and to display unity, with the
         implication that the enemy is watching and that failure to
         unite is tantamount to treason.  These are not healthy
         conditions for a democracy; indeed, they are the opposite of
         democracy."
                -- Philip E. Agre, Department of Information Studies,
                University of California, Los Angeles
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.3.6 (FreeBSD)
Comment: What is this gibberish?
Comment: http://atom.smasher.org/links/#digital_signatures

iQEcBAEBCAAGBQJBSU5aAAoJEAx/d+cTpVciiXIH/3xdRrowCtu/Qi8WPej1jwbY
MvJpY0qg3vIYqe2OJBQW2Ju+0c9Jxm65PgBpstZufU5Ks0Vx3FA0Ii6fp5AfOdqT
yfzJVLuB4MHmv4YZIqRWxiybTuOmzz0Eg1JNsfgnRntMu1oMVHydX/60o4BBWtAL
Kp1/1aFNyJERvHV+8VxZ8FB2ucO1IXo3NqxPT9j5RAZlQG/58IagkorPj/zE9qxA
psqxhlgNNAj7yGE0obzMHL45b38PyjnTTJuLOW6unACi1qcm7jdWkE/05SP5y3Gv
1+395zaxRX7pwnbErswuDup+5JlIbtGyvU7u/U/HPtczKm5Hbvivxkf4Ao3ANAE=
=aMUt
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Other related posts: