Or easier to concentrate on, like you suggested. Most fluent speakers don't tend to think very deliberately about the words they're choosing; maybe a beginning student of a language would actually stand a better chance of maintaining it here, if only because he or she would have to think more about it as it was said.
[Eee, Da Vinci.]
Ah, his mirror writing. Simple, yet surprisingly effective. Though some think he wrote that way out of simple practicality because he was left-handed, and so writing right to left kept the ink from smearing.
Mirror writing was Da Vinci's "code" of choice. The words were written backwards, so they could only be read when reflected in a mirror.
[The more you know.]
Did he? Pigpen is what's called a "cypher". Codes traditionally involve the exchange of one word or concept for another — for example, you and I might decide to have a secret code in which we always refer to Albert as "duck". A cypher, on the other hand, is an alphabetical substitution, like Pigpen — each symbol represents one letter. And they both have their uses; the benefit of a cypher is that you can spell any word in the world, whether you have a pre-agreed "code word" for it or not. But the downside is that substitution cyphers are much easier to break.
Hmmn... [He's quiet for a moment as he tests out writing backwards in the margins of one of his design papers. Definitely didn't feel natural, but, as Carmen had mentioned, it did have its benefits.] Interesting... Wonder how long it takes before it stops feeling weird.
Why "duck"? [Personally, Hiccup would be more partial to calling him "Hen", but that would be pretty obvious.] Anyway, it's really just for fun. Not like my notes are particularly interesting, whether they're in code or not.
Why not? It's as good a word as any, and if you make it a word that's naturally associated with him in some way, it makes the code easier to break. If you and Astrid set up a code that always identified me as "Red", it'd be much less secure than if you decided to dub me "Footstool".
[Not that she particularly wants to be dubbed "Footstool", mind, but hey. An example's an example.]
And it doesn't matter what's in the notes. What matters is they're yours. Which means you also have a right to have people not read them.
Where we're from, innovation is valuable. People who come up with new ideas and technology have the right to sell it and profit off their creativity. So there's a certain personal interest in keeping some things secret — so someone else doesn't take what's yours and profit off it in your place.
But that's a perception that comes with our experiences. My guess is, yours has been different.
[Selling actual inventions wasn't anything new, even if the majority of Hiccup's contraptions were widely ignored, but an idea? Most vikings weren't too keen on taking the time to read design instructions, even if they had the proper skillset to put the thing together.]
Your guess is right. That sort of thing can happen back on Berk, but it's not exactly likely.
I'd imagine it's probably not that likely here, either — there isn't that same sort of intellectual marketplace of ideas that he and I are used to. So if you choose not to write your secrets in code, simply not sharing your notes will probably suffice to keep them safe.
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audio; | cianwood city | october 21
[Eee, Da Vinci.]
Ah, his mirror writing. Simple, yet surprisingly effective. Though some think he wrote that way out of simple practicality because he was left-handed, and so writing right to left kept the ink from smearing.
audio; | cianwood city | october 21
[Although that does make him wonder if he should adjust how he writes. Smear-free notes sound nice.]
Albert taught me something called Pigpen, since we had been joking about barn animals.
audio; | cianwood city | october 21
[The more you know.]
Did he? Pigpen is what's called a "cypher". Codes traditionally involve the exchange of one word or concept for another — for example, you and I might decide to have a secret code in which we always refer to Albert as "duck". A cypher, on the other hand, is an alphabetical substitution, like Pigpen — each symbol represents one letter. And they both have their uses; the benefit of a cypher is that you can spell any word in the world, whether you have a pre-agreed "code word" for it or not. But the downside is that substitution cyphers are much easier to break.
audio; | cianwood city | october 21
Why "duck"? [Personally, Hiccup would be more partial to calling him "Hen", but that would be pretty obvious.] Anyway, it's really just for fun. Not like my notes are particularly interesting, whether they're in code or not.
audio; | cianwood city | october 21
[Not that she particularly wants to be dubbed "Footstool", mind, but hey. An example's an example.]
And it doesn't matter what's in the notes. What matters is they're yours. Which means you also have a right to have people not read them.
audio; | cianwood city | october 21
[Where are you getting all these words.]
Yeah, I guess. I just can't imagine anyone being actually interested enough to try to read them--except you, and I guess Albert.
audio; | cianwood city | october 21
Where we're from, innovation is valuable. People who come up with new ideas and technology have the right to sell it and profit off their creativity. So there's a certain personal interest in keeping some things secret — so someone else doesn't take what's yours and profit off it in your place.
But that's a perception that comes with our experiences. My guess is, yours has been different.
audio; | cianwood city | october 21
Your guess is right. That sort of thing can happen back on Berk, but it's not exactly likely.
audio; | cianwood city | october 21