Cryptanalysis

Some of my friends portray me as some kind of Rain Man/Beautiful Mind/Sheldon Cooper weirdo. It's not true, but there are hints of accuracy in it. I certainly struggle with things like knowing whether people are taking the piss, and when I shouldn't tell people the unvarnished truth. I also like understanding systems and finding patterns.

When I went on Holiday to Porto, as well as the food, drink, history and sights I particularly enjoyed the (Portuguese-only) ticket machine at the metro station. By the end of the holiday I knew how to use most of the transport system and managed to add all-day-metro-travel and a one way trip on the funicular to an existing ticket. My friend said it was like going on holiday to Bletchley Park with Alan Turing.

At the weekend I found myself in a very busy KFC waiting for order number 2203. I had heard about half a dozen previous numbers and when order 8380 was called my friend asked "Do you think the order numbers are random?". To me they seemed anything but random. "No, they are a two digit operator code followed by a two digit sequence id. The bloke is operator 83, she's 40 and the girl with the glasses is 22. We're her third order since she came on shift. That couple will have just got order number 2204. The next one they call will be 2202, 8381, or 40-something.

Richard "I didn't even know Kentucky had its own football club" B