… slowly – with small steps – we are working our way through the thousands of lines of source code. It is always fascinating and admirable to see what Mark has created on his own.
Of course, we would have liked to be faster with the new version. But Google has also caused us additional trouble with updates to the development environment.
But no matter: with the new version 3.4.0, more interesting tools have been incorporated into the GC Wizard. For example

• NEMA – the Swiss counterpart to the German Enigma
• Larrabee – a variant of Vigenere encryption that also allows numbers to be encrypted
• Tupper’s formula – a way of converting images into a number
• Symbol arithmetic – calculating with symbols and letters
  

And of course other symbol tables and a lot of more …

As soon as 3.3.1 was online, we received two calls for help via the Playstore: the app could no longer be started. Baffled, we got in touch.

The first problem was quickly solved. Due to Google’s security requirements, we had to increase the minimum version of Android. As a result, older Android versions were no longer supported. We regret this, but security comes first.

The second error was reproducible, but surprising: when switching to Czech, the app could no longer be started. After an intensive search, we discovered a mismatch in the naming of the language files between our translation platform and the development environment.

Thanks to Ondrej for this sucessful bug hunt.

As expected, it took us some time to delve into the depths of GC Wizard – and we are still a long way from reaching our goal. But we have been successful, as the latest bugfix release shows. The team is growing together and Mike is getting to grips with the challenges with Google and Apple.
Light is slowly appearing at the end of the tunnel and the next version 3.4.0 is also gradually taking shape. We continue to receive not only suggestions, but also positive feedback.

At this point, a big thank you to everyone who continues to believe in us and support us.

… or “Lebbe geht weider”, as Dragoslav “Stepi” Stepanovic once said.

Of course, Mark’s decision was a fact that we had to digest. And of course it meant that we had to delve deeper into the mechanics of the GC Wizards. But your reactions encouraged and motivated us.

So, as expected, things progressed more slowly, but still with increasing steps. We’ve made a start and are looking forward to a new version of the GC Wizard at the beginning of the year with

• a few new encryptions
  • Hill Cipher
  • Major system
  • Rotate and mirror texts
• additional code tables from Johann Tritehmius
• some improvements of tools
  • Coordinate system DCFI grid
  • Loading files for Conway’s Game of Life
  • Higher zoom factor for the map view
• and of course lots of bug fixes.

A brief moment of silence at our GC Wizard Team Meeting – and Henrike’s eyes flashed. With a light laugh, she asked the group why we Germans would grill rabbits when caching?

Astonished faces – and Henrike broke the tension. When she read the word “Hasengrill” for the first time in a hint, she had to search a little bit longer before she knew what it was all about.

An entertaining discussion immediately ensued, with special terms and puzzling clues such as Biltema, Cacherautobahn, Meelhoppertje or olifantenpad.

And immediately an idea for a new tool was born: a lexicon with special terms or country-specific clues from a wide variety of countries.

But that won’t work without support. So let’s go – what special hint have you found that is worth spreading or that poses problems for non-native speakers? Send us your contributions with a picture and/or a short description.

Thank you Mark! Thank you for your dream, thank you for your commitment and your guidance! Thank you for your trust and the courage to let go and listen to your health.

Five years is a damn long time – and keeping the fire burning over this period takes strength. You didn’t let it show – and yet the last few releases have increasingly left you with the feeling that the lightness of the early years is over and the multitude of projects have left their mark.

I’m sure it wasn’t easy for you to talk to Mike and me at the team meeting. And I’m sure you’re finding it hard to let go. But as the incomparable Trude Herr sang, “You never leave completely, something of me stays here” – and a lot of you remains. Above all, the feeling that you are standing by us in the background remains.

And much more importantly – as the many great reactions show – there are still over 50,000 users who continue to drive and motivate us.

We are aware that the change will not be easy. The last four years have been instructive for Mike and me, we have learned a lot and yet there are still shoals that we need to plumb.First of all, we have to ensure that operations continue and provide stability.The innovations will therefore come a little more slowly. But on this solid basis, we can then look to the future.

In Olli, we have gained a reinforcement that can help us move forward, and not just with iOS. Olli has taken on board the experiences from the numerous workshops and has already developed initial ideas for the issue of complexity, how the user experience can be introduced and usability improved.
With Marcia, we have gained a second good soul who, with her experience with WordPress and human-machine interfaces, is an excellent addition to the team.

Basically, the first ideas for GC Wizard 4.0 are starting to emerge.

And in the spirit of you Mark, we will keep your fire alive and carry it in new directions.

Challenge accepted!

We are delighted to welcome Marcia aka Linsty to the team.

With the words “As a thank you for your efforts in making this amazing app, I would be happy to help and translate the manual into the Dutch language“, she immediately threw herself into the work.

Dear Marcia – welcome and thank you for joining us.

Once upon a time … Holy Sepamaria … GC7DCXZ … what have I calculated …

There must be a better way. The banks can do it too.

And once again an adventurous journey to a new function began. The goal was clear: the function should calculate check digits, check numbers for correctness and calculate missing digits.

To better familiarize myself with the topic of check digits, I started with simple numbers: the German tax ID, the UIC, the ISBN and the IMEI. Just numbers, no letters, no special cases. After the first step was successful, I moved on to the next stage: the EAN or GTIN. Again, it was just a simple number, but with different lengths – 8, 12, 13, 14 digits – which had to be recognized and processed. This was also manageable. The next challenge was bold: EURO banknotes and their control number. Here, letters came into play for the first time and two different versions. The first series until 2013 and the second series from 2013, which differ in their structure. But this was also mastered.

So only the final opponent awaited: the IBAN.

Even the first glance at the German and English Wikipedia made me shudder. Standardization my ass. Only the two characters of the country code and the following two check digits were standardized. The rest was left to the nations. And they were inventive:

But SWIFT and the IBAN registry didn’t let me down. The only challenge was

• to harmonize the three sources,
• to develop a data model for the structure of the IBAN,
• to type in what felt like 100 country-specific data and
• to develop an algorithm that would cover all these special cases.

But here, too, the devil is in the detail. Because, of course, every nation has its own rules for the sort code and account number. Even if the IBAN is correct, i.e. the check digit matches the character string, it is by no means necessarily valid.

In Germany, for example, there are over 14,000 bank sort codes, all of which have been created according to different standards. And, of course, each bank has its own system for generating account numbers. It’s a good thing that the Bundesbank exists. Here you will not only find biannually updated information on the valid bank codes, but also on the check digit calculation methods.
This would enable a further step to be taken, at least for Germany: checking whether the correct IBAN also stands for a real bank. Only

• these more than 14,000 bank sort codes need to be entered for the GC Wizard and
• generalize the approximately 100 check digit calculation methods for the account number and
• convert them into algorithms.

Good thing it’s Christmas, the nights are long and the weather makes it easy to stay indoors to see if that works in GC Wizard.

The range of functions is slowly growing and a new feature is slowly appearing on the horizon for the next version of the GC Wizard.