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2008-12-05T20:11:45Z

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{{Self-published|date=November 2008}}
{{Like-resume|date=November 2008}}
{{Infobox Celebrity
| name = Elonka Dunin
| image = Elonka 6653.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| caption = Elonka Dunin, 2006
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1958|12|29}}
| birth_place = [[Santa Monica, California|Santa Monica]], [[California]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = [[Video game developer]]
| salary =
| networth =
| spouse =
| children =
| website = [http://www.elonka.com www.elonka.com]
| footnotes =
}}
'''Elonka Dunin''' ({{pronEng|ɪˈlɔŋkə 'dʌnɨn}}); (b. 29 December 1958) is a game developer<ref name="nyt"/> at [[Simutronics Corp.]] in [[St. Louis, Missouri]]. She is one of the founders of the [[International Game Developers Association]]'s [[Online Games]] group, and was editor in chief on IGDA State of the Industry [[White paper#Commercial white papers|white papers]].

Dunin has published a book of exercises on [[classical cryptography]] in two editions, and she maintains a web-site on the ''[[Kryptos]]'' sculptural [[cryptogram]], located at the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] headquarters in [[Langley, Virginia|Langley]], [[Virginia]]. Although she practices cryptography as an amateur,<ref name="Science Now"/><ref name=NPR/><ref name="Science"/> she is referred to as a [[cryptanalyst]] in several media reports on the ''[[Kryptos]]'' sculpture.<ref>{{Citenews|title=London Lawyers Turn Into Code-Breakers|publisher=''[[The Washington Post]]''|date=2006-04-27|url= http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/27/AR2006042701765.html}}</ref><ref name=NPR>[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5356012 "Enigmatic CIA Puzzle ''Kryptos'' May Be Flawed"] [[NPR]] All Things Considered, April 21, 2006</ref><ref name="nyt">{{citenews|title=A Break for Code Breakers on a C.I.A. Mystery |author=Kenneth Chang||date=2006-04-22|publisher=''[[The New York Times]]''|url= http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980CE5DA153FF931A15757C0A9609C8B63}}</ref> She has given several lectures on the topic,<ref name=nsa>{{cite web|url=http://kryptos.yak.net/50|title=NSA Cryptologic History Symposium in 2005 |publisher=kryptos.yak.net|accessdate=2008-11-13}}</ref><ref name=defcon>[http://althing.cs.dartmouth.edu/secref/resources/defcon12/dc-12-speakers.html#dunin Defcon 12: Kryptos and the Cracking of the Cyrillic Projector Cipher]</ref> and according to the [[PBS]] series ''[[NOVA scienceNOW]]'' she is "generally considered the leading ''Kryptos'' expert in the world."<ref name="PBS">{{cite news|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/video/3411/q03-220.html |publisher=''[[NOVA scienceNOW]]''|date=July 2007|title=''Kryptos''|accessdate=2007-10-13}}</ref>

==Biography==
Dunin graduated in 1976 from [[University High School (Los Angeles, California)|University High School]]. She was enrolled as an undergraduate at [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]], majoring in [[astronomy]]{{Fact|date=November 2008}}, for roughly one year, after which she joined the [[United States Air Force]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://elonka.com/articles/tommarello.html|title=Tommarello Interview with Elonka Dunin|publisher=elonka.com|accessdate=2008-11-13|quote=Elonka does not have a college degree, but has a wide breadth of practical experience to draw upon. After dropping out of college, she spent six years in the Air Force as an Avionics Instruments System Specialist.}}</ref> working as an [[avionics]] technician at [[RAF Mildenhall]] in the United Kingdom and [[Beale Air Force Base]] in California.<ref name=stccbr/>

==Online games==
In 1990, Dunin moved to [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]] and began working for the online game company [[Simutronics]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Games People Play |work=St. Charles Journal |date=January 9, 1994}}</ref><ref name=stccbr>{{cite news | title=Elonka Dunin's ability to crack codes is stuff books are made of | work=St. Charles County Business Record | date= August 28, 2006 | author=Stage, Wm.}}</ref>Simutronics launched its own website, play.net, in 1997 with Dunin as Supervisor of Online Games.<ref>{{cite news |title=Trends: Nice Work If You Can Master It |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |first=Jennifer |last=Pendleton |page=6 |date=1997-08-18}}</ref> In 1999, she held the position of general manager of Simutronics' on-line community.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Pure Internet play. Simutronics' online games. |journal=[[Inc. (magazine)|Inc]] |first=Nancy K |last=Austin |volume=21 |issue=15 |pages=p. 75 |date=October 19, 1999}}</ref> Dunin was the product manager for ''[[GemStone III]]'', executive producer for the ''[[Hercules (TV show)|Hercules]]'' and ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]''-based multiplayer game ''Alliance of Heroes'', and worked on the development of most of Simutronics' other products, including ''[[CyberStrike 2|CyberStrike]]'', ''Modus Operandi'', ''[[DragonRealms]]'' and the upcoming ''[[Hero's Journey (computer game)|Hero's Journey]]''. She currently is the "General Manager of Online Community". She is a founding member of the [[International Game Developers Association]]'s [[Online game|Online Games]] [[Special Interest Group|SIG]] and senior editor of two of their annual White Papers on various aspects of the online game industry: "Web and Downloadable Games" and "Persistent Worlds."{{Fact|date=November 2008}}

== Cryptanalysis ==

In interviews with GIGnews.com, Dunin said that in the year 2000 she cracked the [[PhreakNIC]] v3.0 Code, an amateur cryptographic puzzle created by a [[Hacker (computer security)|hacker group]].<ref name="GIGnews">{{cite web |url=http://www.gignews.com/goddess/dunin.htm |title=A Chat with Elonka Dunin |work=GIGnews.com |first=Melanie |last=Cambron |month=May |year=2002 |accessdate=2008-10-31}}</ref>{{Verify credibility|date=November 2008}}<ref name="pn6">[http://phreaknic.info/pn6/schedule.html PhreakNIC 6 schedule]</ref>

According to the ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]'', in 2003 Dunin was "leading the charge" to decode a ''Kryptos'' sister sculpture, the ''[[Cyrillic Projector]]''.<ref name="Post-Dispatch">{{cite news |url=http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/92251953766AB8FE86256DBA00139A45?OpenDocument |title=Woman sets sights on code on CIA sculpture |work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] |first=Eli |last=Kintisch |date=2003-10-08 |archiveurl=http://www.elonka.com/mirrors/STL/sights.html |archivedate=2004-03-11}}</ref> An article in the periodical ''[[Science Now]]'', followed by another in the journal ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'', reported that Mike Bales, a computer programmer in Michigan and Frank Corr, a computer programmer in North Carolina had decrypted the [[ciphertext]] in September 2003, and that Dunin performed the final translation of the [[plaintext]] from [[Russian language|Russian]] — a language that neither Bales or Corr knew.<ref name="Science Now">{{cite journal |url=http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2003/1007/3 |title=Cryptic Sculpture Cracked |journal=[[Science Now]] |first=Charles |last=Seife |date=October 7, 2003 |archiveurl=http://elonka.com/kryptos/mirrors/ScienceMagazine.html |archivedate=2004-03-11}}</ref><ref name="Science">[http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol302/issue5643/r-samples.dtl Cyrillic Riddle Solved] ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'', vol 302, 10 Oct. 2003, page 224</ref> The article in the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' details that Bales was "on Dunin's team."<ref name="Post-Dispatch"/>

Dunin and Chris Hanson are co-moderators of a Yahoo group that attempts to decipher the ''[[Kryptos]]'' sculptural cryptogram, and she also maintains a comprehensive website about the sculpture.<ref name="nyt"/><ref name=wired06>{{cite news|title=Typo Confounds Kryptos Sleuths|author=Kim Zetter|date=[[2006-04-20]]|publisher=[[Wired News]]. CondéNet, Inc.|url=http://wired.com./science/discoveries/news/2006/04/70701|}}</ref> Because of its location on [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] grounds, physical access to ''Kryptos'' is restricted. According to [[Wired News]], in 2002, she give a presentation to CIA analysts about [[steganography]] and [[al-Qaida]].<ref name="wired05">{{cite news |url=http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2005/01/66334 |title=Solving the Enigma of Kryptos |publisher=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired.com]] |first=Kim |last=Zetter |date=2005-01-21 |accessdate=2008-10-31}}</ref> According to the same source, "[i]n 2002, Dunin was one of the lucky few who saw the works in person", and "she also made [[rubbing]]s of the text". During her visit, "[a]lthough she wasn't allowed to snap photos of ''Kryptos'' while there, her CIA guides arranged to have an official photographer take pictures of her standing next to it."

The plaintext of the first three out of four sections of the message engraved on ''Kryptos'' has been publicly revealed in 1999 by
California computer scientist [[Jim Gillogly]]. According to an article in ''[[The New York Times]]'', in 2006 [[James Sanborn]], the artist who created the ''Kryptos'' sculpture, contacted Dunin to point out an error in the decryption.<ref name="nyt"/> The error was caused by a missing letter ''x'' in the ciphertext, which was intentionally omitted by Sanborn "for aesthetic reasons, to keep the sculpture visually balanced."<ref name=wired06/> Sanborn later confirmed to Dunin the correct plaintext.<ref name="nyt"/> Despite this progress, the last section of ''Kryptos'' remains undeciphered.

In 2006, Dunin published a book of 600 exercises in [[classical cryptography]], ''The Mammoth Book of Secret Code Puzzles''. An abridged version (400 exercises) was simultaneously published in the UK. The book includes a few details about Kryptos.<ref name=wired06/> In July 2007 she appeared on the [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] program ''[[NOVA scienceNOW]]'', as an expert on ''Kryptos''.

==Public speaking==

Dunin gave talks on ''Kryptos'' and the ''Cyrillic Projector'' at [[NSA Cryptologic History Symposium]],<ref name=nsa/> [[Def Con]] 12,<ref name=defcon/> [[Shmoocon]] 2006,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shmoocon.org/2006/presentations.html|title=ShmooCon |publisher=www.shmoocon.org|accessdate=2008-11-13}}</ref> and [[Notacon]] 3,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.notacon.org/archive/2006/speakers.html|title=NOTACON |publisher=www.notacon.org|accessdate=2008-11-13}}</ref> and a talk on [[steganography]] at [[PhreakNIC]] 6.<ref name="pn6"/> She also gave lectures at [[Dragon*Con]],{{Fact|date=November 2008}}, and the [[GDC|International Game Developers Conference]].<ref name="dragoncon">{{cite web |url=http://www.dragoncon.org/people/dunine.html |title=Dragon*Con Biography: Elonka Dunin |work=Dragoncon.org |year=2000 |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20010308165958/http://www.dragoncon.org/people/dunine.html |archivedate=2001-03-08}}</ref><ref name="cmpevents">{{cite web |url=https://www.cmpevents.com/GD08/a.asp?option=G&V=3&id=92209 |title=Game Developers Conference 2008 Speakers: Elonka Dunin |work=CMPEvents.com |accessdate=2008-10-31}}</ref> She has been invited to be a co-host on the [[Binary Revolution]] webcast three times.<ref name="binrev">[http://www.binrev.com/radio/archive.php Episodes #78, #99 and #156], ''Binary Revolution'', interviews by David Blake.</ref>

== Books ==
* {{cite book |title=The Mammoth Book of Secret Codes and Cryptograms |publisher=Carroll & Graf |location=New York, United States |author=Dunin, Elonka |date=April 2006 |isbn=0-7867-1726-2}}
* (abridged edition) {{cite book |title=The Mammoth Book of Secret Code Puzzles |publisher=Constable & Robinson |location=London, United Kingdom |author=Dunin, Elonka |date=April 2006 |isbn=1-84529-325-8}}

== Co-authored chapters in white papers ==

* IGDA Online Games White Paper, 2002. [http://igda.org/online/IGDA_Online_Games_Whitepaper_2002.pdf PDF]
* IGDA Online Games White Paper, 2003. [http://www.igda.org/online/IGDA_Online_Games_Whitepaper_2003.pdf PDF]
* IGDA Web & Downloadable Games White Paper, 2004. [http://igda.org/online/IGDA_WebDL_Whitepaper_2004.pdf PDF]
* IGDA Persistent Worlds White Paper, 2004. [http://igda.org/online/IGDA_PSW_Whitepaper_2004.pdf PDF]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* [http://www.elonka.com Elonka Dunin's website]
* [http://www.unfiction.com/compendium/2003/01/02/on-pixels-and-puzzles-and-pi/ January 2003 Unfiction interview with Elonka Dunin]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunin, Elonka}}
[[Category:1958 births]]
[[Category:Alumni of University High School (Los Angeles, California)]]
[[Category:American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Recreational cryptographers]]
[[Category:People from Santa Monica, California]]
[[Category:Puzzle designers]]
[[Category:United States Air Force personnel]]
[[Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni]]
[[Category:American video game designers]]

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Worst of Wikipedia/Elonka Dunin - Revision history

Zimm2: /* External links */

Cedric: New page (copied from en.wikipedia.org)