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October 31, 2008

The Skein hash function and Threefish block cipher

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is holding a competition to design a new hash function to replace the current SHA family of functions and become SHA-3. The deadline for submissions was today, and the submissions will be evaluated over the coming years until a final proposed standard is made in 2012. Bruce Schneier posted some information about his team's entry, Skein, and the whole selection process:

NIST is holding a competition to replace the SHA family of hash functions, which have been increasingly under attack. (I wrote about an early NIST hash workshop here.)

Skein is our submission (myself and seven others: Niels Ferguson, Stefan Lucks, Doug Whiting, Mihir Bellare, Tadayoshi Kohno, Jon Callas, and Jesse Walker).

...

The selection process will take around four years. I've previously called this sort of thing a cryptographic demolition derby -- last one left standing wins -- but that's only half true. Certainly all the groups will spend the next couple of years trying to cryptanalyze each other, but in the end there will be a bunch of unbroken algorithms; NIST will select one based on performance and features.

The Skein hash function is based on a the Threefish block cipher, which is also released as part of the submission. Source has been released to the public domain, which you can download from the Skein website.

Schneier on Security: The Skein Hash Function
Skein Submission Paper - Design, Usage, and Preliminary Cryptanalysis (PDF)
The Skein Hash Function Family Website

LED Costume

I give you my pick for geekiest costume I've seen this year: a giant LED costume. Yes, I agree with you that it should have real LEDs on the inside:)

Meet T.W.E.R.P.

From the Make: Flickr Pool comes the T.W.E.R.P., a ThingamaKIT housed in a 10" Mad*L vinyl toy.

Things I've Made

More:

Best of Maker Faire - Maker Shed round up...

Here's a round up of all the items that have a discount which are part of our "Best of Maker Faire - Maker Shed" sale... A lot of folks who weren't in the Austin, TX area last week for Maker Faire Austin 2008 and wanted some of the deals we had at the Maker Shed Store, so - we put the most popular items out here with a nice discount or free shipping depending on what you order... Click read more below to get the big ole' list...

Read full story

Spooky (and free) audio effects

X-Orcism Plugin

CDM points out this free Halloween themed effect for VST/AU compatible audio software. You can download the plugin from Solid State Logic's site (free reg required). Nice to see the neighbors aren't the only ones giving out free treats.

It's basically a pitch-shift + vibrato + wind noise + eco/reverb combo ... which means it's fun -
helpme.mp3

helpme.mp3

Steam Powered reaching pressure

I'm here in Sunnyvale, CA to cover Steam Powered, the first dedicated steampunk convention. Set-up is now underway. The local San Jose freebie, Metro, ran a nice cover piece on the event and steampunk 101. That's Abney Park on the cover. The article emphasized the maker aspects of the genre and the non-serious roleplaying involved. I.e. it's fun to make beautifully-crafted, ornamented retro-futuristic gadgets and to pretend they came from some parallel universe that mashes up appealing aspects of past, present, and future.

Some things I'm looking forward to at the convention are Chris Garcia's talk on the replica of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine, currently on display at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA, presentations from the Weta Workshop folks (see their Moon Hater Death Ray below), learning more about Airship Ventures, and of course, seeing Abney Park perform on Saturday night at the San Jose Civic Auditorium (tickets for this show are still available). Also, MAKE pal and frequent blog-subject Jake von Slatt is delivering the keynote address at the con. Should be a fun weekend.

BTW: If you're at the convention, please look me up. I'm staying at the hotel where the convention is happening (The Domain).

Wired has a piece, Ray-Gun Maestro Zaps Steampunk Convention, on Greg Broadmore of Weta Workshop and his participation at Steam Powered.

More:

Steam Powered - California Steampunk Convention

Water drawing + ink

Here's an method for drawing/painting with water, then quickly rendering your image visible by adding ink - similar to some watercolor techniques. [via Neatorama]

Carving a 900lb pumpkin

Famed Pumpkin Carver Patrick Moser shows the world how to carve the Huge Alantic Giant at Pumpkinville, 2007, with Susan Warren of the Wall Street Journal...

Barrowbench

Here's an easy mod for all you folks who need to move around your heavy benches: the barrowbench by Rogier Martens, via Core77.

Happy Halloween from Make: television

Happy Halloween from Make: television.

Escaped rhino drill

The best part about this video of an "escaped rhino drill" at a Japanese zoo is the fact that they had to construct that rhino costume entirely for the sole purpose of performing escaped-rhino drills. Via BB.

iPhone shirt costume

Make Pt1116
It had to happen... iPhone shirt / costume.

Laser pumpkins

Doug sent in these laser pumpkins made with a laser cutter - he says "Laser Pumpkins (tm): Smell bad, look great!"

"Self-Carving" Pumpkin

Do you have some extra orange vegetables (or are they fruits?) in your yard? Get in the halloween spirit without having to actually carve anything, thanks to the help of peanut butter and squirrels!

HOW TO - Make fake barf!

Erica tipped us off to this video tutorial for creating your own artificial vomit - handy! Though I think adding actual tuna fish to the recipe could incite some genuine regurgitation ... at least nausea.

DIY Halloween : Last Chance People

Hey All,
We hope you have been having an amazing Halloween Season and learning a lot of neat new projects for your Haunted House or Halloween Party here at MAKE. I just wanted to take the chance to wish you all a Happy Halloween and let you know you can still enter our MAKE Halloween Contest.

Here are the deadlines:
ENTRY DEADLINE: Nov 9, 2008
VOTING STARTS: Nov 10, 2008
VOTING ENDS: Nov 16, 2008
JUDGING STARTS: Nov 17, 2008
JUDGING ENDS: Nov 24, 2008

Enjoy!

Dancing hexabot

Fun dancing hexabot via HAD.

Halloween zombie kitty bento

I like cute and I like creepy - I *really* like combined cute-and-creepy. Just Bento made this cute/creepy Halloween bento that's also healthy!

The Best of Maker Faire Austin 2008

Check out all the fun and excitement at this year's Maker Faire in Austin, Texas. People from all over the world came to experience this amazing event. Take a look at some of the highlights and make plans to attend the next Maker Faire.
To download Maker Faire Austin 2008 MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes.

More Weekend Projects are on the way.