Annual Solar Output (was: VPN Glossary)

[Rick Smith <rick_smith () securecomputing com>]

I just dug through some archived e-mail in which someone disputed the
notion of equating physical entropy with information entropy. I don't have
any good physics books handy (lots of stuff is in storage while we struggle
through a home restoration project) so I can't vouch for the argument.
However, it sounds like it has some merit and seems consistent with my own
dusty recollections of modern physics.

So, we should probably add the following to the glossary entry:

Some physicists dispute this concept, arguing that physical entropy
provides at best an "analogy" for information entropy. While it is true
that both are defined in terms of fundamental states, physical entropy is
also defined in terms of the probability space of each state.

But I'm still contemplating whether it might be interesting to quantify
brute force attacks in terms of megawatt-hours or solar-power-years or (by
converting energy terms to mass) as tons of anti-matter. If we ever break
the barrier, it gives us a new sort of Mach number, I guess. (a "Shannon" ??)


Rick.
smith () securecomputing com
"Internet Cryptography" at http://www.visi.com/crypto/