from [Margaret Leber] [Permanent Link][Original] > Published on The O'Reilly Network (http://www.oreillynet.com/) > http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/7016 > >Back to the Future - Morse Code and Cellular Phones >by Brian McConnell >Jun. 28, 2005 > >"Tapping" > >Morse Code, or a derivative of it, could be one way to solve this problem. With Morse Code, one could >tap text messages out without looking at the telephone, and without having to fumble with ever smaller keypads. >I'll admit that the idea of resurrecting Morse Code seems improbable, but then it's worth remembering ...
Tapping has a long and interesting history among prisoners. It was used in the "Hanoi Hilton" too: quote We asked him what they were teaching in the prison compound phase of survival school, especially about communicating. Imagine our amazement and consternation when he reported that the instructors had mentioned that we had a secret code which his fellow prisoners would teach him when he arrived there. Secret? It had been public knowledge for centuries. unquote See http://www.geocities.com/talesofseasia/talktome.html The "tap code" (or prisoners code) has been around for a long, long time. In English, by leaving out one letter of the alphabet (the VN prisoners left out K) you could make a 5 by 5 letter matrix of the aplphabet, and send messages with sequences of taps indicating which row and column the letter occupied. The article calls it superior to IMC because IMC requires two different kinds of taps. Some of the prsoners were able to signal using teh rythmn of their sweeping, coudhing, snoring.... and some became so expert that guards thought the prisoner was just tapping to harass his guards. But read the article. How does it look? Well, theletters in ETAONISHRDLU are the most commonly used letters in English. In tap, that's: E . ..... (pause) T .... .... (pause) A . . (pause) O ... .... (pause) N ... ... (pause) I .. .... (pause) S .... ... (pause) H .. ... (pause) R .... .. (pause) D . .... (pause) L ... . (pause) U .... ..... We now return you to your regualrly scheduled priogram. Cortland KA5S _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
