Neill emailed me back some technical questions about Purdy Polynomial, the algorithm used to encrypt VMS passwords. He had spent months, maybe even years, trying to defeat the encryption algorithm—or rather, optimizing his code to crack VMS passwords. One of his queries was a yes/no question about the mathematics behind the Purdy algorithm. Rather than research it, I just guessed the answer—why not? I had a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right. Unfortunately, I guessed wrong. My own laziness resulted in revealing the con.