Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

In Which I Am Falsely Accused of Understanding the Blowfish Algorithm

Posted on August 22, 2010 by Michael Froomkin

I have been cited in the Canadian Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering in an article entitled, Microcontroller Application in Cryptography Techniques, which appears at Vol. 1, No. 4, June 2010 and is by Ali E. Taki El Deen and Noha A. Hikal. Normally it warms the cockles of my heart to be cited by cryptographers. But not this time.

You see, the place where my article, The Metaphor is the Key: Cryptography, the Clipper Chip and the Constitution, 143 U. Penn. L. Rev. 709 (1995), was cited is this one:

The decryption process for Blowfish [8] is almost identical to the encryption process except the P-array values are reversed.

[8] sends you to my article. The problem is, I wasn't aware I knew much about the Blowfish cipher, or that I had ever written about it.

There must be some mistake? A month ago I emailed the authors to ask, but so far no answer.

Posted in Cryptography | 2 Comments

Florida Politics Remains Weird

Posted on August 21, 2010 by Michael Froomkin

Sadly, the height of coverage of the Florida primary election may be this report in the St. Pete Times, A view inside the Florida political circus.

Posted in Politics: 2010 Election | 1 Comment

How Did It Happen?

Posted on August 20, 2010 by Michael Froomkin

A friend who just spent six months abroad concentrating on his work asks in bemused wonderment, “What happened to the US while I was away? How did it lose 15 IQ points and lurch to the right?”

Posted in Politics: US | 3 Comments

Third Day of Classes

Posted on August 20, 2010 by Michael Froomkin

Looks like we'll be doing some Vosberg v. Putney today.

Posted in Law School | 1 Comment

Second Day of Classes

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Michael Froomkin

It's time for Vosberg v. Putney again.

Posted in Law School | 4 Comments

Research Assistants Wanted

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Michael Froomkin

As Director of Faculty Development, I act as a clearinghouse for some other faculty — especially new and visiting faculty — who are looking for research assistants for the coming academic year.

The hours are negotiable, but 10-15 hours per week are most common, with a few professors seeking as much as 20 hours per week. It would be best if you could start soon.

The salary has just been raised to $13/hour as of yesterday, and the work is sometimes interesting.

These jobs are only open to currently enrolled UM Law students. To apply please send me email with subject RESEARCH ASSISTANT. I will forward your information to interested faculty. Include the following in your application:

  • Information on how to contact you;
  • How many hours you would ideally like to work per week;
  • When you are free to start;
  • A copy of your c.v.;
  • A copy of your transcript (need not be official);
  • A writing sample other than anything produced in the LRW process. (A non-legal writing sample is fine if you have something fairly recent.)

I'm also looking for a research assistant of my own. I'd like someone who can write clearly, can do research, and is well-organized. If you happen to have some web or programming skills (some or all of WordPress, HTML, PHP, MySQL, Perl, Debian), that would be a plus but it is not in any way a requirement. Apply as above.

If you submit an application to me for forwarding, you should also feel free to respond to any other ads or requests from other faculty as many faculty hire their own research assistants directly.

Posted in Law School | Comments Off on Research Assistants Wanted