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STEM Tuesday– Cryptography (Math)/Spy Science– Writing Tips & Resources

By on December 17, 2024   /   Cryptography/Spy Science, STEM Tuesday  

 

noun: cryptology

  1. the study of codes, or the art of writing and solving them.

As an advocate for STE(A)M, I want to connect cryptology to the arts. It may seem an unlikely connection, but there are many examples of hidden messages in literature, music, and visual art. I give examples below and include an art activity and a link to an article that gives examples of contemporary hidden messages.

Literature

For older readers, there is the classic THE DAVINCI CODE by Dan Brown. Many of you may have wondered (I sure did) how much was real and how much made up. But this post isn’t about the novel but using it as an example of code in literature. Middle grade writers like Blue Balliett and Ellen Raskin incorporate puzzles to solve and provide clues for an alert reader. I enjoy stories about secret messages and clues and it adds another level of mental activity to the reading.

Music

Music has provided opportunities as well for secret meanings. I’ve included classical examples here. And one of my favorite musical examples is in the Alfred Hitchcock film “The Lady Vanishes.” Miss Froy disappears but not before she entrusts Iris and Gilbert with a musical phrase that passes a secret message to the Foreign Office.

From the online article Musical Cryptography: Hiding Messages in the Music! (link below) from PuzzleNation Blog.

 This sort of musical wordplay appears in compositions by Ravel, Debussy, and Shostakovich among others. Johann Sebastian Bach did this often enough that the succession of notes B-A-C-H is now called a Bach motif.

The composer Dmitri Shostakovich lived under a very repressive regime in Russia. He included passages in his compositions that “critiqued” the government. However the members of the government didn’t know enough about music to see that. This was dangerous because penalties for speaking against the government were severe.

Visual art/graphic design

For an activity this month, I am looking at Secret Messages in a way we see every day. The opportunities to be a spy are few these days, but knowing how to spot messages coming to you is a good skill. According to John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, Cryptology is the study of the codes and ciphers used to create secret writing. We usually think of spies and stories, but there is “secret writing” all over.

For instance, in the article 36 Hidden Messages in Company Logos You See All the Time, by Kelly Kuehn (link below) you can see how people are influenced without even realizing they are being influenced. Check out the article for other examples.

You may have thought the dot over the “i” was used to give the logo a pop of color, but it’s actually part of a hidden—and creative—message. The red dot is actually a bowl of salsa. The two T’s are people, and the yellow triangle in between them is a chip. It’s supposed to represent people coming together to share a tasty snack of chips and salsa.

Once you know that this is common, you can find examples of hidden messages all over.

When I was teaching graphic design in at university, I had the students make 50 (yes, 50) small logo sketches, known as thumbnails, with their initials. We used tracing paper and pencil and it was about ideas, not perfection. Then we could discuss the merits of some of the individual ideas and use them to move on to a more polished design. You can, of course, make fewer sketches – how many you need to get the idea you like.

There are two aspects to consider. One is the visual part. Is it attractive? Colorful? Compact? Attention getting?

The second aspect is the underlying meaning. Does it respond to the personality of the designer? And – does it say more than an initial quick glance would reveal? Here is where the hidden meaning comes in. This requires higher level thinking to manipulate the space to include a secret message.

It helps to have a plan.

  1. What is the overall spirit of the logo? Some possible answers are serious, playful, sporty, mysterious. Write it down to remind yourself.
  2. What is the secret message? Your answer to #1 might be sporty so somewhere there could be the shape of say, a soccer ball or a running shoe. Can you incorporate it into the design so that it isn’t immediately apparent, but is easily recognizable? There are many books on logo design, both how-to and the best-of.
  3. Try to make the final drawing clean and in black and white.

Yes, a challenge. Sometimes it helps to work with a partner or a team, the way a professional design studio would work.

After settling on an idea, then make a Very Clean drawing.  The drawings can be scanned (at 300dpi) as jpgs or pngs, for use on such documents as school assignments. For younger grades, a rubber stamp or stickers are fun for embellishments.

Have fun with your secret message logo!

 

Margo Lemieux is professor emerita at Lasell University and spent time in October doing plein air painting in cranberry bogs.

 

Hiding Messages in Music

Musical Cryptography: Hiding Messages in the Music!

 

More musical messages

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/musical-cryptography-codes?mc_cid=82ccbfcf25&mc_eid=d3196740af

 

Cryptology definition

https://cty.jhu.edu/programs/on-campus/courses/cryptology-code

 

Company Logos You See All the Time, by Kelly Kuehn

https://www.rd.com/list/secret-messages-company-logos/

 

 

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Bluesky Brightens the Social Media Landscape

By on December 16, 2024   /   Oh MG News  
Blue butterfly on white background

Have you jumped on the Bluesky bandwagon? Many authors, agents, librarians, and teachers are finding this platform to be a welcome alternative to X, formerly known as Twitter.

In many ways, the two platforms are similar. Posts are kept brief with a limit of 300 characters. You can like, reply, follow, block, and repost. You can even send direct messages to other users. There’s enough familiarity to make Bluesky comfortable for converts. 

 

Bluesky Bonuses

Bluesky definitely has some attractive advantages. For example, Bluesky users have more control over their online presence. There is no baseline algorithm on Bluesky. Do you want to browse posts in chronological order? You can do that! Want to curate your own feed? You can do that, too!

Bluesky isn’t controlled by a single person or entity. According to Vox, “Bluesky’s open source, decentralized framework gives you a lot more control over how your feed works than X or even Threads.” The issue of control has brought a lot of users to Bluesky.

 

Bluesky Tips

A recent issue of School Library Journal is filled with great Bluesky user tips. Debbie Ridpath Ohi offers lots of information, which I encourage you to check out. But if you’re looking for a quick run-down of the highlights, here they are:

  • Create your profile and make a post to get started. You probably want to choose the same username across profiles so you’re easy to find.
  • Decide what kinds of posts you want to see (and what kind you’d prefer NOT to see), and adjust your Settings and Moderation options accordingly.
  • Hashtags are helpful in curating your content. You might find that #BlueSkyTips is a good resource!
  • If you find the account of an agent, editor, publisher, or author you want to follow, see if they have a Starter Pack. (Hint: Debbie Ridpath Ohi has one.) This Starter Pack gives you a quick list of related accounts you might want to follow.
  • Find your people and make the first move. Go ahead and engage with posts that vibe with your interests.

 

Bluesky Resources

To learn more, check out any of the following resources:

You may be a Bluesky expert at this point, you might be mulling over the move, or you may be somewhere in between. So far, I’ve set up my profile, I’ve followed some accounts, and I’ve liked some posts. Now it’s time for a deep breath and a deep dive (or maybe a skydive?). On today’s agenda, I plan to make my first post. See you on Bluesky!

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Middle Grade Predictions for 2025

By on December 16, 2024   /   Articles, For Writers  

As we gear up to move into the new year, it’s always an interesting time to reflect back on the current state of middle grade, and see if there are clues to what might be in store for middle grade in the future. The last few years have definitely proved to be interesting ones for middle grade, with changes at major publishers and to the children’s section at Barnes and Noble, our last big book chain, bringing about a lot of upheaval and unknowns. 

 

Even so, let’s gaze into the crystal ball and see if there are any hints at what might be in store for middle grade in 2025.

 

  1. Graphic novels domination will expand. A couple years ago, graphic novels accounted for a full quarter of all middle grade sales, and that number seems to only be expanding. Graphic novels continue to dominate the children’s bestsellers lists and keep young readers’ attention. With the reading joy and all the benefits that can come from reading these books, we say long live graphic novels!

 

  1. More middle grade authors will move to…LinkedIn? Yeah, as weird as that sounds, with all the instability that has plagued platforms like X and Instagram and TikTok in the last few years, LinkedIn has emerged as a place of calm and interesting dialog. In one survey, LinkedIn came in second (after Instagram) as the place authors where authors plan to focus their platform efforts in coming days. This may even trickle into the middle grade community.

 

  1. Less doom, more laughter. According to an informal survey of librarians across the country, the kids are looking for funny. “Since the pandemic, it’s been a lot of doom and gloom for these kids. There’s so much heaviness they’re coping with. They just want to laugh.” Perhaps in every genre from contemporary to fantasy, we’ll see a higher proportion of jokes on the page. And who can be sad about that?

 

  1. Fewer authors on tour, but more bookstore events. Things are getting local. Gone are the days when sending an author to cities around the country was a viable marketing strategy. One author who recently did one of these tours reports on actual numbers (including a no-show). However, bookstores, especially indie stores, are becoming more creative and resourceful than ever when it comes to bringing the community together to promote reading and children’s literature. We certainly hope to see more of this trend in 2025!

 

  1. Veering shorter. Only recently, big doorstopper middle grade fantasy series (think Shannon Messenger) were big hits. But reports from booksellers and librarians around the country are that reading attention spans are getting shorter. Blame our digital world, blame the pandemic. According to one bookseller, “They may be less likely to read a 400-plus-page book, so I think it’s important for a bookstore to have a variety of titles for this age group in terms of both page length and format.” So we may likely see middle grade books veering younger and shorter, with more play in the form too. This could be a very intriguing trend!

 

What predictions do you have for the state of middle grade in 2025?

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