
Show HN: Alphabinary Encoding - spb
https://alpha.bi/
======
spb
So, this is an idea I had a while back, inspired by how ideas like [illegal
primes][] are fundamentally irrepressible as free speech, due to the
intrinsically fluid nature of abstract data.

It's not just useful on a free-speech axis, though: in terms of just bare
usability, it opens the door for a simple way to represent arbitrary numbers
(like IP addresses) mnemonically, without having to lug around huge arbitrary
dictionaries that might have proprietary restrictions to them, like the one
what3words uses to encode geo coordinates.

I'm interested in hearing what uses Hacker News readers could come up with for
this, and other thoughts around these kinds of concepts.

[illegal primes]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_prime](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_prime)

~~~
WorldMaker
It's interesting to compare it to an encoding like base65536 [1].

From that respect, alphabinary feels less like an encoding and more like
steganography, especially given how low efficiency the encoding is overall.
Given that steganography of a sort seems at least partially an intended goal,
that's not necessarily a criticism here, just an interesting observation.

If my goal were just to make sure I can encode binary things in a tweet, the
current best bet appears to be base65536 (with the dream of Unicode filling
out enough to support a good base131072), but alphabinary seems like an
interesting idea to keep in mind for possible steganographic uses where one
might want to make it less obvious any encoding was used at all.

[1] [https://github.com/ferno/base65536](https://github.com/ferno/base65536)

~~~
spb
Precisely - calling it an "encoding" here is more of a tongue-in-cheek nod to
how simple the steganographic rule is than an intention to imply that it be
used as a straightforward representation.

Also, "steganography" tends to imply that the intent is to _hide_ the
underlying message, and that's not necessarily the case here, such as when
employing alphabi for mnemonic purposes ("Baywatch hologram lemonade asteroid"
being easier to remember than "52.84.24.108").

Furthermore, the purpose of the "encoding" being so _flexible_ (and,
consequently, low-density) is that it can be used, then, as a _medium of
expression_ \- it's not that the "message" is _hidden_ , it's that, well, [the
medium is the message][], and per Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights linked there (emphasis mine):

> Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion _and expression_ ; this right
> includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive
> and impart information and ideas _through any media_ and regardless of
> frontiers.

[the medium is the message]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_medium_is_the_message](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_medium_is_the_message)

