How Credit Card Numbers Are Created?

If you thought the sprawl of 16 numbers across the front of your credit was randomly generated, think again: like any good string of numbers, an algorithm was involved in its creation.

In fact, the first couple of numbers relate to the kind of card it is: Visas start with a 4, Mastercards a 5, Amex a 34 or 37. But there's far more to it than that. In fact, we have a chap called Hans Peter Luhn to thank. Data Genetics explains:

You don’t select this last digit, it is deterministic. The exact mathematic formula for its generation was invented by Hans Peter Luhn, an engineer at IBM in 1954. Originally patented, the algorithm is now in the public domain and a Worldwide standard ISO/IEC 7812-1

Obviously, with just a single check digit, not all errors can be detected (there’s a one in ten chance of a random number having the correct check digit), but the Luhn algorithm is clever in that it detects any single error (getting a single digit wrong), such as swapping the 9 with a 6 in the above example. It also detects almost all* pair-wise switching of two adjacent numbers. These errors are typical common errors people make when transcribing card numbers, so the check digit does a good thing.

An added side benefit is that, as discussed above, there is only a one in ten chance that a randomly generated number has the correct check digit. This provides a small amount of protection from hackers or poorly educated crooks who might attempt to randomly generate and guess credit card numbers.

So there you have it: more thought went into your credit card number than you probably ever imagined. If you want more detail, read the Data Genetics article; it makes for interesting reading. [Data Genetics via Neatorama]

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Syria :: Who is supplying whom, what?

One of the key issues in the Syrian conflict over the past two years has been the supply of weaponry to both sides, which has kept the fighting going.

The government has been able to rely on a steady flow of arms from its foreign allies, while the rebels have received weapons and non-lethal aid in a more clandestine way. Here is a look at where the military support is coming from.

Here is a look at where the military support is coming from.

Why Do These Women Stretch Their Necks?

Published on 29 May 2013 : Starting at an early age, women of the Padaung tribe wear a coil of brass rings around their necks. This collar, and the elongated appearance it gives their necks over time, are Padaung symbols they wear proudly. In their native Myanmar, Padaung people often faced persecution over these visible tribal symbols. Now, having relocated to a Thailand refugee camp, these Padaung women continue this centuries-old custom, memorializing the struggles of the past and maintaining a link to their tribe's history.

Food for thought! Muhammad from the view of an agnostic Jew?

Lesley Hazleton: The doubt essential to faith.

Published on 24 Jun 2013 : When Lesley Hazleton was writing a biography of Muhammad, she was struck by something: The night he received the revelation of the Koran, according to early accounts, his first reaction was doubt, awe, even fear. And yet this experience became the bedrock of his belief. Hazleton calls for a new appreciation of doubt and questioning as the foundation of faith -- and an end to fundamentalism of all kinds.

British human rights activist sued for 10 million dollars in Thailand

Migrants work in poor conditions in Thailand

Published on 24 Jun 2013 : British human rights activist Andy Hall has worked to help improve conditions for migrant workers in Thailand for years.

Now, he is being sued for 10 million dollars by a fruit processing company in the outskirts of capital Bangkok, after he contributed to an NGO report accusing the company of several rights violations including using child labour.

Hall says that migrants work for below the legal minimum wage, their passports get confiscated and there are reports of forced overtime work. There is a lot of evidence displaying that Thailand has a big problem when it comes to the treatment of migrant workers. Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay reports from Bangkok.

the meaning of "general personality disorder"?

Terry Holdbrooks, now named Mustafa Abdullah. Photograph: Graeme Robertson

Terry Holdbrooks arrived at Guantánamo detention camp in the summer of 2003 as a godless 19-year-old with a love of drinking, hard rock music and tattoos. By the time he left Cuba the following year, he had alienated his army colleagues, won the respect of the detainees and, most astonishingly, converted to Islam in a midnight ceremony in the presence of one of the detainees, who had become his mentor.

When I meet Holdbrooks, now 26 and named Mustafa Abdullah, he is wearing a black Muslim cap, a thick beard and long-sleeved traditional robes that almost obscure the tattoo on his right arm that reads "by demons be driven".

Holdbrooks grew up in Arizona, the only son of junkie parents who split up when he was seven years old. He was raised by his ex-hippie grandparents. Tired of being poor, determined not to follow in his parents' footsteps and keen to see the world, Holdbrooks signed up for the military. He was stationed with the 253rd Military Police Company, mostly doing administrative support work, when he was told he was to be deployed to Guantánamo.

Bilderberg 2013 - Your guide to 'The Bilderberg Group'

Published on May 30, 2013 : HELLO! We are Truthloader, and this week we are LIVE from the Bilderberg conference at the Grove Hotel in Watford. Check out our playlists, and subscribe so you don't miss out!

Bilderberg 2013 will be held at the Grove Hotel in Hertfordshire, England. It's a gathering of some of the world's most powerful and influential people. As such, Truthloader will be attending - sort of. We'll be at the new 'press area' away from the actual conference with the rest of the journalists and activists interested in what takes place there.

We wanted to make a video about who the Bilderberg are, some of the theories that surround them, and what we THINK goes on there.

After less than 40 hours of rain!

Floods wash away homes in India

Published on Jun 17, 2013 : Monsoon flooding has caused the river Ganga in Northern India to burst its banks, washing entire buildings away in the pilgrimage town of Uttarkashi. India's monsoon season causes devastating floods every year - but is also essential to the national economy.

Since this report, flooding in other parts of Northern India has killed at least 23 people, and left 50 missing.

CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou: Torture was official US policy

Published on 31 Jan 2013 : Former CIA agent John Kiriakou was sentenced to 30 months in prison for revealing the identity of a covert officer to a reporter. But originally he was pending charges on the violating the espionage act. Kiriakou is the first CIA official to publicly confirm the use of waterboarding and other tactics he describes as torture under the Bush administration. His supporters believe he has been unfairly targeted and punished. John Kiriakou and his attorney Jesselyn Radack join us for the details.

Beirut Bounces Back

Published on 11 Jan 2013 : Fifteen years of civil war left Lebanon's capital, Beirut, a bombed out, pock-marked city in the early 1990s, but some 20 years later, Beirut is back. VOA Moscow Correspondent James Brooke traveled to the city and talks with On Assignment's Doug Bernard about its renaissance.

British Guantanamo detainee to sue UK MI6 for defamation

Published on 14 Dec 2012 : The last British resident held in Guantanamo Bay detention centre is suing the UK intelligence services for defamation. Shaker Aamer has been held without charge or trial for nearly eleven years. He has been cleared for release by the U.S. administration but remains in prison.

Much easier to hide corruption in an autocratic state?

China's 'Princelings' Create a Name for Nepotism.

Published on 14 Dec 2012 : China's booming economy has some experts predicting it could surpass the U.S. economy as the world's largest by 2030. Many people have become recently rich in China, but none have become as fabulously wealthy as the so-called "princelings" -- the children of high party officials.

Climate Financing ?

UN head says world is in a race against time.

Published on 5 Dec 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish : Ban Ki-Moon, the secretary-general of the United Nations has stated that the world is in a race against time against climate change. The COP18 UN Summit in Doha will conclude on Friday, giving the delegates two more days to agree on targets for cutting carbon emissions. The UN says climate change will cost developing countries up to $67 billion each year by 2030. Tarek Bazley reports from Doha, Qatar.