Among the collection of small collections that I’ve accumulated willy-nilly over the years is a group of ancient Roman brooches.

Distinguishing authentic artifacts from forged or misattributed ones is an essential challenge for archaeologists and art historians. Scientific tests, though, often prove incomplete or inconclusive (or simply misleading). In such cases, the best line of defense against forged artifacts is an expert with a finely honed intuitive sense for authenticity—sometimes called a fakebuster. (In Tetraktys, [...]

When I hear the word “brainstorm,” my free-association is “tempest in a teapot.” To me, “brainstorming” is corporatespeak for a widely familiar, disheartening situation. A group of people gathers in a conference room to conjure uncharacteristic mental powers by magic. In a reckless sacrifice, they burn the meeting agenda. They wipe down the whiteboard. They [...]

Distinguishing authentic artifacts from forged or misattributed ones is an essential challenge for archaeologists and art historians. Scientific tests, though, often prove incomplete or inconclusive (or simply misleading). In such cases, the best line of defense against forged artifacts is an expert with a finely honed intuitive sense for authenticity—sometimes called a fakebuster. (In Tetraktys, [...]

There are some who perceive a double Tetraktys in the thirteen stars of the Great Seal of the United States. Here it is, on the reverse side of the dollar bill. Each triangle (my overlay) frames the symbol’s ten points.

Cryptography has had a long affiliation with magic and the occult, as in Tetraktys. But there’s a more natural affinity between magic and what’s called steganography. Cryptography is the science of hiding the meaning of a message; steganography is the science of hiding the existence of a message within a document.
Steganography’s operating principle is diversion [...]