Download of the month (PD.Net section)

By David Stroud

NAME: Myzar
TYPE: RC5 client GUI
FROM: http://pratesi.it/~patriot/Myzar/Myzar.lha
SIZE: 36k
REQUIREMENTS: MUI, RC5-DES client (680x0 or PPC, version 2.7100.413 - available from: www.cistron.nl/~ttavoly/rc5)

If you've picked up any passing information about "RC5" or "DES" contests, you could be forgiven for thinking that it's very technical. It doesn't have to be. RC5 and DES are merely encryption algorithms, used to encode data with a key (in this case, a 56-bit key) which, in theory, would take an insanely long time to crack. Distributed.net (www.distributed.net) are organising the challenge to crack the code and find the key, legitimately, to an encoded message. By running a client for their machine, computer users all over the world are putting the spare cycles of their CPU to good use in an attempt to break the code in as little time as possible.

If you haven't already joined in the challenge, now is an ideal time. The Amiga team is currently in a very admirable seventh position overall (having enjoyed a short spell at sixth before being overtaken by the "slashdot" team) and all of the information about the RC5 contest (what it is, why you should join in, and how to participate) is available from the Amiga RC5 effort homepage at www.cistron.nl/~ttavoly/rc5. From these pages, you'll be able to download Myzar, the GUI which makes running the client a piece of cake.

Myzar does away with the need to use the CLI to configure the client. It can be launched from the Workbench screen, or dropped into your WBstartup drawer. It can be iconified so that it operates as unobtrusively as possible, or it can open either of two windows - a large one for displaying what would normally be output to the CLI by the client, and a small configurable one, displaying the information in the form of progress bars.

If you have a 'net connection, and you're not yet contributing to the Amiga RC5 team effort, you no longer have any excuses. PPC owners can control the PPC and 68k clients by launching two copies of Myzar, although there are plans to support both in one executable at a later date. The Amiga RC5 team effort needs you, so what are you waiting for? Get cracking!

SCORE: [5/5]

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