fwPack/fwUnpack in php?

[Richard Gaskin]

Brian Yennie wrote:

>> While I'm intrugued by the contest nature of that, you could perhaps 
>> more easily just use the functions in a stack with one field and one 
>> button. :)
>
> Yeah, I guess I'm functioning in lazy mode today. I'll probably grab the 
> stack sometime later, "real" work calls =).

It's even easier than that:  there is no stack to download.

It's ultra-easy to make one. All you need is to copy the functions from 
<http://www.revjournal.com/comments.php?id=P65_0_1_0>, paste 'em into a 
stack script, add a field with some test data and a button to test it:

  on mouseUp
   put fwPack(fld 1, "password")
  end mouseUp

Chipp's made a nifty shell for playing with fwPack/fwUnpack, but I
can't find it on his download page.  Chipp, did you move it, or am I 
misremembering?

>> If you need a challenge I should send you a GIF file with an embedded 
>> steganographic message (alas, my "Stegasaur" app was days from 
>> shipping before 9/11 and people started getting all weird about 
>> steganography).
> 
> Steganography actually has a very interesting application that nobody 
> has really capitalized on, and that's in the card-based gaming business. 
> All of the major players have "online" games (i.e. Magic Online), and 
> are struggling badly to create a solution by which they can distribute 
> digital versions of their cards while maintaining ownership of the 
> files, allowing for trading and selling, use in games, etc. I've gotten 
> more than one serious comment that whoever grabs that segment of online 
> gaming and digital ownership will be a very wealthy individual (or 
> company).

There are some really strong steganography packages out there -- what's 
preventing the card-game folks from using them?

> So... I can confirm steganography isn't just for terrorists =).

The biggest irony is that even the stupidest steganography mechanism 
will completely thwart Carnivore, the FBI's port-sniffer box that has 
since been renamed to something friendlier.

Given how useless Carnivore is for its stated objective, tech-savvy 
folks have been asking questions about what it might actually be useful 
for, which Cringely ponders here:

<http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20000713.html>

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Media Corporation
  ___________________________________________________________
  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com       http://www.FourthWorld.com