vy2ms
the project
vy2ms gives the NSA, the GCHQ, customs officers, secret agencies and police forces new work. it generates documents that can be read, searched and deciphered by otherwise underemployed personal. it challenges them with enigmatic language and mysterious images and diagrams. the text and images are not completely random but rather follow a pseudosemantic set of rules. this makes it hard to easily discard it as random. more fun for the governmental code-crackers!
(the generation of the document might take some time...)
each document is unique and has it's own serial number. however you may rest assured that NO access data associated with your download will be stored.
you can print the document, send it to somebody or store it on your laptop, mp3-player, digital camera, usb-stick, arduino...
beware:
vy2ms might also provoke interesting discussions with officials about artificial linguistics, art and language in general!
background information (updated)
on july 16th, 2008 the US department of homeland security disclosed policies regarding border search of information:
officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation,
data decryption or other reasons [...] The policies cover "any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form," including hard drives, flash drives, cellphones, iPods, pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes. They also cover "all papers and other written documentation," including books, pamphlets and "written materials commonly referred to as 'pocket trash' or 'pocket litter.' " (washington post, august 1st, 2008)
there's little doubt that other countries or unions of countries would like to adopt similar policies in the future. the european union is currently (secretly) negotiating the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) that also would enable customs staff to search computers and all kinds of storage media.
update (2013): Edward Snowden's revelations of mass surveillance programs run by the NSA and the GCHQ prompted me to reactivate the project (that has been broken because of server-side issues). now you can send your favourite NSA-agent some cryptic documents again!
license
these documents are machine generated and are free of any restrictions regarding use. you can copy, print, publish, remix, turn them into songs, whatever...
at the same time these documents come without any warranty at all. you are responsible for all problems caused by the use of these documents.
inspiration
vy2ms was heavily inspired by the
voynich manuscript a historic book (written in the early 15th century) with drawings, diagrams and undecipherable text.