The Cryptic Direction

by Cecile Cinco

A few days ago, again while riding a jeepney towards a destination, I took out my notebook and tried to formulate another code that is quite hard to decipher yet easy to write. When you know the concept, decrypting is very possible even without having an extra pen and paper on hand. It will just need your constant practice to be good at it.

I call it, The Cryptic Direction. It has somehow derived its emergence from the snake I imagined previously. Each "snake" is a word. Do you think you can figure it out? Somehow this gives a clue to the DUSCAT Code. :)

DUSCAT Code

As I was on my way to pick up the tarpaulin banner, I took out my pen and notebook to get ready for something. I did not know what I would be writing or scribbling. I just let my thoughts wander for awhile until the wind blowing my face almost lulled me to sleep. Then I was daydreaming about a snake slithering, sending a coded message...

DUSCAT Code was born. It looks nothing like a slithering snake, though. I just told the story about what happened. Below is the sample:

DDCASSSS TSSC SSDADTU DTSDCCCSSCDT DCDDCDCCTT

The reason it's named DUSCAT is because those are the only letters you can and will use. When you understand the concept, you won't even need a cheat sheet. When deciphering, though, you'll need some logic applied. It's decipherable. As I have always insisted, the codes I create must be usable without having to use any cheat sheet. It must follow some logic so you can get it in your head. Yet to someone who has no idea, the message is hidden.

This is good for situations where you are in public and wanted to write something but definitely would not want anyone else to read. Or, a note passed from one person to another but the people in between should not know save the target.

Do you think you can decipher this?

What Makes Codes Good?

It's been exactly two years since I last posted! That's a record! Bad, though. :( I just found out that it's exactly two years just before typing the first words of this blog post. Earlier today, though, as I was on a ride to some place, I took the time to think about this blog, what I should add, how often should I add to it, etc. It should be more often than once in two years, I know! :D

Good thing I had my pen with me and some index cards in my pocket so I got to jot down some ideas, actually. It used to be that I ALWAYS had a pen and paper... then I always had something to take note of. When oblivion sets in, whatever I think about while having no pen is just something that might just come back later.

While traveling, I was trying to develop some new codes. While thinking, my mind detoured to the idea of what actually makes a good code. This is my personal opinion. For me, what makes a good code is not being able to actually think that it IS ACTUALLY a code. So when a coded message on a piece of paper crosses from one eye to another, those unconcerned will never suspect that it is a coded message that they would even take interest to decipher.

Human beings have the natural tendency to find out more, especially when there is some mystery attached. If there is a coded message on a piece of paper lying down on the table, the onlooker will tend to look and even think further and deeper! If it doesn't look like a code, then it just lays there not getting any attention at all... unless the intended recipient gets hold of it.

Another aspect of what makes a good code is, according to my personal opinion, it should be decipherable without having to get a pen and paper. It should be pure mental wit and skill. That way, the person reading will just be seen as a person reading what is obvious.

The third aspect is, the writer must be able to write the code mentally too.

Maybe that's why it takes some time for me to develop new codes... I don't want to depend on memory as we know that as we grow older, the better we forget! :D As long as it's decipherable (using mere common sense and intelligence) then oblivion is not much of a problem.

In conclusion, what makes a code good (in my opinion)?
1. It must not look like a code.
2. It must be decipherable mentally.
3. It must be coded mentally.