[Dutch]

Has anyone thought of braille as a type of secret code?  Braille was invented by Louis Braille in the early 1800's.  He became blind at an early age.  Because those who are without physical sight cannot read the books that we take for granted each day, he devised the braille system using raised dots in order for those who are blind to be able to read and write.  What he produced was a work of genius.

Braille is classified in three grades.  Grade 1 is the alphabet, numbers, and puctuation.  Grade 2 incudes all that is in grade 1 as well as contracted forms and abbreviations for common words.  This is the form you will see in public use on menus, elevators, and signs.  Grade 3 is only used in diarys, personal letters, and notes.  It is not used ordinarily for public use.

Even though sight impaired people use braille as a means of reading and writing, it is also interesting as most sighted people cannot read it at all.  I have begun the study of this subject as I find it quite interesting.  I have almost mastered grade 1 and will soon move on to grade 2.

Dutch 

[Aaron]

Hmmm... imagine using a sound version of grade 3...

To the innocent ear, it would sound like elevator muzak, but a trained ear would be able to pick up the patterns...

[Stun90]

I partially disagree because as soon as someone sees it they will know what it is. In my opinion, it would be the same as just translating the message to another language besides Braille, like Spanish, Italian, or French for example. Using Braille I think would be at a disadvantgage because it is so much more easily recognizable though less people can understand it. Present day with the internet would allow for immediate translation. But I somewhat agree with this theory. Forgive me. I am not familiar with terminology of Braille so please go along with me here. It is with a lack of knowledge that I speak of Braille. So forgive the lack of knowing the Braille terminolgy please? Mere translation into the method is not crypting. Like I said before, it is easily recognizable and perhaps at a disadvantage pertaining to codes because of it being so recognized. Not understood, just recognizable. I believe each character's cell consist of six dot positions. What if, using Braille you would crypt each of those positions? Now either there is a dot or there is not in each position, similar to a binary code if you will(either open or closed), is that correct? So that would allow for polyalphabetic substitution possiblilities for each position of each letter. As long as the receiver of the coded message would know what the substitutions are, it would be ok. Now there would be no dots. These dots would be translated into alphanumeric coding once again. Anyone seeing this coded message would not know that there would be six characters for each letter cell because of the Braille system. Six dots, two possiblities for each(off or on) that is twelve possibilities for each letter not considering half of all the printable character substitutions for each. Too numerous possibliities. Take this newly formed code and encypher it into one of the other many known types. I wonder if that would be a worthy possibility. Remember this is just my opinion.

[Aaron]

Heck, mix the dots around in a pre-agreed upon configuration. For instance, switch the top halves of different letters around.

[redroseviking]

The only catch here is that people can learn it.
Are you saying make a code using braille but not the braille alphabet?
Any code can be broken, even the most random. Heck, some people have decoded Shakespeare. Some of those speeches are unintelligible unless you know the meanings of what the words meant THEN and also the cultural mind-set of the times.

[Stun90]

It is true that any crypt can be solved. But as amateurs this is part of the fun, the excitement, either trying to solve it or trying to stop someone from solving it. switching letters around is a possibility or allow 6 characters as in braille for each letter then reverse or something. Many possibilities but the problem here is once it has been discovered that braille is the language being used, then the quest for being unsolvable is lost. Still many possibilities.

[Aaron]

Yeah, I'm sure just about any code is crackable given enough time, the trick is to find a code that slows down the (unwanted) decoder considerably. Besides, there are plenty of codes that computers have been unable to satisfactorily solve.

[Leilani]

Aloha all,
It seems possible to me that Braille may be adopted to the vocal chords in a way that would not be easily learned, such as the African tribe that speaks in "clicks" of their tongues.
Aloha, Leilani
Mensa in Las Vegas, Nevada

[Aaron]

True, it could be spoken as a sort of complicated Morse code...

Oh, and welcome to the forum!