Iver P. Cooper
Iver P. Cooper, an intellectual property law attorney, lives in Arlington, Virginia with his wife and two children. Two cats and a chinchilla rule the household with iron paws. Iver has received legal writing awards from the American Patent Law Association, the U.S. Trademark Association, and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and is the sole author of Biotechnology and the Law, now in its twenty-something edition. He has frequently contributed both fiction and nonfiction to The Grantville Gazette.
When not writing (or trying to get an "orange blob" off his chair so he can start writing), he has been known to teach swing dancing and folk dancing, or to compete in local photo club competitions. Iver adds, "I can't get my wife to read my fiction, but she has no trouble cashing the checks."
Iver's story "The Chase" is in Ring of Fire II
The Art of Secret Communication: Part 3, the One-Time Pad and the Generation of Random and Pseudorandom Numbers
The only cryptographic system that is perfectly secure is the one-time pad (OTP): in essence, a system in which every plaintext message is encrypted in a different, truly random key whose length is equal to the length of the message, and which is never reused. In...
The Art of Secret Communication in the 1632 Universe: Part 2, Machine Cryptosystems
More complex (and hopefully more effective) encryption is possible with the aid of machines: dedicated mechanical and electromechanical devices, mechanical, electronic (and fluidic) calculators; and programmed electronic (and fluidic) computers. Mechanical...
The Art of Secret Communication in the 1632 Universe: Part 1, Classical (Manual) Cryptology
Everyone has secrets. Sometimes, those secrets have to be communicated to someone else, but there is a risk of the communication coming into the hands of an unintended third party. Secret communication has three aspects. One is physically protecting the communication...
Escape From Nagasaki
Nagasaki, Japan Kan'ei 10, Eleventh Month, Day 25 (December 25, 1633) Manoel Lagoa, chief diver of Macau's Japan Fleet, had his hand cupped by his ear. At last he heard the sound he had been waiting for: Dong. . . Dong. . . Dong. . . Dong. . . Dong. . . Dong. . ....
True Blue: Blue Pigments and Dyes in the 1632 Universe
Blue pigments and dyes are rare in nature and consequently blue colorants are precious commodities in the pre-RoF world. Some are minerals, some are plant or animal extracts, and a few are synthetic in nature. A colorant must be incorporatable into the intended...
The Wind Is the Enemy: Part 2, Airship Mooring and Special Ground Handling Topics
Just as a watership may be anchored rather than brought into a shed, an airship may be moored rather than brought into a hangar. However, the mooring system must be such that the airship can be easily moored and unmoored, and it must be able to hold the airship even...
Con Air
Magdeburg As USE Air Force Colonel Jesse Wood walked down the street, a boy standing in front of a shop started shouting at him. "Colonel, please, Sir! Colonel!" Wood turned his head. From his height, boyish features, and dress, Wood guessed that the boy was...
The Wind Is the Enemy: Part 1, Airship Takeoff, Landing, Hangaring, and Ground Handling
The ground handling of airships is complicated as a result of the fragility of the airship structure, its continual variation in buoyancy (internal temperature lags behind ambient), and the large surface it presents to the wind (Camplin 167ff). All airship operations...
Resources
1632.org hosts everything ELSE about the 1632 series.
