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Dunin was born in ] on ], ], the older of two children to ], a ]-American ], and ], a ]-American ] and dance ] at ]. Dunin was born in ] on ], ], the older of two children to ], a ]-American ], and ], a ]-American ] and dance ] at ].


Dunin's interest in computers started as a child when her father, who worked at companies such as the Space Systems Division of ], took her to his office in the 1960s. There Dunin played with large ]s such as the ] and ]. She learned her first programming language, ], while still in elementary school. Dunin graduated in 1976 from ] and went on to study Astronomy at ]. Then she joined the ], where she worked as an ] technician at ] in the United Kingdom, and ] in California, maintaining ] cargo planes, and ] and ] reconnaissance aircraft. After the USAF, she traveled the world working at a variety of jobs, ranging from a ] in ] to an ] in ].

In the 1980s, Dunin became involved with the growing ] culture, and in 1989, while working as a temporary legal secretary in ], this overlapped into the early ] games such as ] on ] and ]' ] on ]. In 1990, she moved to ] and began working for Simutronics.

Dunin speaks several languages, and has traveled to every continent including ], which she visited in 1999 with an expedition organized by Dr. ] of the ].

== Game developer ==
Since 1990, Dunin has worked at ] in ], in game development. Since 1990, Dunin has worked at ] in ], in game development.
In 1993, their game '']'' won the first ever "Online Game of the Year" award from '']'' magazine, and contracts soon followed with ], ] and ]. In 1997, Simutronics launched its own website, . In 1993, their game '']'' won the first ever "Online Game of the Year" award from '']'' magazine.


Dunin was the product manager for '']'', executive producer for the ] and ]-based multiplayer game ''Alliance of Heroes'', and worked on the development of most of Simutronics' other products, including '']'', '']'', '']'', and the upcoming '']''. Her current title is "General Manager of Online Community." Dunin was the product manager for '']'', executive producer for the ] and ]-based multiplayer game ''Alliance of Heroes'', and worked on the development of most of Simutronics' other products, including '']'', '']'', '']'', and the upcoming '']''. Her current title is "General Manager of Online Community."
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== Cryptographer == == Cryptographer ==


Dunin began achieving public recognition for her cryptography hobby in 2000, when she was awarded a prize for cracking the ] v3.0 Code, designed by ]. In 2002, she was invited to speak at ] headquarters regarding ] and ] codes. During this visit she began a closer study of the Agency's '']'' sculpture. She started a small personal website with her notes, and early in 2003 published a new type of solution technique for part 3 that supplied a possible "pencil and paper" method for solving it -- all previous published solutions had involved complicated mathematical formulae. Dunin then began to build a website compiling all of the works of the ''Kryptos'' sculptor, ]. Also in 2003, Dunin organized an effort to solve the code on a ''Kryptos'' sister sculpture, the '']'', which succeeded in September 2003 after the cryptographic portion was cracked by Frank Corr of North Carolina. Dunin was awarded a prize for cracking the ] v3.0 Code, designed by ]. In 2002, she was invited to speak at ] headquarters regarding ] and ] codes . During this visit she began a closer study of the Agency's '']'' sculpture and early in 2003 published a new type of solution technique for part 3 that supplied a possible "pencil and paper" method for solving it. Dunin then began to build a website compiling all of the works of the ''Kryptos'' sculptor, ].


Dunin has compiled ''The Mammoth Book of Secret Code Puzzles'', 2006.
These events, plus hints referring to ''Kryptos'' on the bookjacket of ]'s 2003 bestseller '']'', steadily increased the visibility of Dunin's growing website, which became the most-used source for information about the CIA sculpture, even more popular than the CIA's own website.


In late 2003, Dunin published a webpage entitled "Elonka's list of Famous Unsolved Codes and Ciphers", which ranked the most famous ciphers in the world such as the ], the ], the ], ''Kryptos'', and others.

In January 2005, a high-profile article appeared in ] about ''Kryptos'', and more major media attention followed, including segments by ], ], UK's ], France's ], and many others. As of February 2006, Dunin's websites have had hundreds of thousands of visitors, and over 1.5 million page views.

In mid-2005, Dunin was approached by the British publisher ] about compiling ''The Mammoth Book of Secret Code Puzzles'', which was released in both the United States (with publisher ]) and United Kingdom in March 2006.

== Public speaker ==
Dunin is a member of the ] and the ]. Along with speaking to government agencies such as the ], ], and ], Dunin is a frequent speaker on cryptography and online games at conferences such as ], ], ], ], ], and the ], and has twice been invited to be a co-host on the ] webcast.


== Works == == Works ==
* ''The Mammoth Book of Secret Codes and Cryptograms'', US ISBN 0786717262, scheduled for release April 2006. * ''The Mammoth Book of Secret Codes and Cryptograms'', US ISBN 0786717262.
:: The UK title of the book is: ''The Mammoth Book of Secret Code Puzzles'', UK ISBN 1845293258 :: The UK title of the book is: ''The Mammoth Book of Secret Code Puzzles'', UK ISBN 1845293258
* (editor) IGDA Online Games White Paper, 2002 * (editor) IGDA Online Games White Paper, 2002
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* (senior editor) IGDA Web & Downloadable Games White Paper, 2004 * (senior editor) IGDA Web & Downloadable Games White Paper, 2004
* (senior editor) IGDA Persistent Worlds White Paper, 2004 * (senior editor) IGDA Persistent Worlds White Paper, 2004

=== Games ===
* Orb Wars - Product Manager
* ] (Classic) - Developer, and voice talent
* ] - Product Manager
* ]
* ]
* Hercules & Xena: Alliance of Heroes - Executive producer
* ] - Developer, and voice talent
* ] (upcoming)

=== Contributor/Consultant ===
Dunin is quoted or thanked for contributions in the following books:
* ]'s ''Community Building on the Web : Secret Strategies for Successful Online Communities'', 2000, Peachpit Press. ISBN 0201874849
* ]'s ''Character Development and Storytelling for Games (Game Development Series)'', 2004, Course Technology PTR. ISBN 1592003532

=== Major websites ===
Selected websites which Dunin created and maintains:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

== Trivia ==
Dunin has several notable relatives, including:
* 19th century
** Saint ] (great-great-granduncle)
** ] (great-great-granduncle), Polish-German botanist
** ] (great-great-great-grandmother), Polish playwright, contemporary of ]
* early 20th century
** ] (great-grandfather), Polish vice-Minister of Finance
** ] (great-grandfather), Polish ]
** ] (great-uncle), ] author and politician
* modern
** ] (father), ] who helped launch the world's first ] ]
** ] (mother), full ] at UCLA, researcher, author and ]
** ] (cousin), ]
** ] (cousin), ]-winning author of '']''


== References == == References ==
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== External links == == External links ==
* *
*
*


] ]
]
] ]
] ]
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] ]
] ]
]
]
] ]


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Elonka Dunin

Elonka Dunin is an American game developer, writer, and amateur cryptographer who is an expert on the Kryptos sculpture/cipher at the CIA's headquarters.

Biography

Dunin was born in Santa Monica, California on December 29, 1958, the older of two children to Stanley Dunin, a Polish-American mathematician, and Elsie Ivancich, a Croatian-American dancer and dance ethnologist at UCLA.

Since 1990, Dunin has worked at Simutronics in St. Louis, Missouri, in game development. In 1993, their game CyberStrike won the first ever "Online Game of the Year" award from Computer Gaming World magazine.

Dunin was the product manager for GemStone III, executive producer for the Hercules and Xena-based multiplayer game Alliance of Heroes, and worked on the development of most of Simutronics' other products, including CyberStrike, Modus Operandi, DragonRealms, and the upcoming Hero's Journey. Her current title is "General Manager of Online Community."

She is also a founding member of the International Game Developers Association's Online Games SIG, and senior editor of some of their annual White Papers on various aspects of the online game industry.

Cryptographer

Dunin was awarded a prize for cracking the PhreakNIC v3.0 Code, designed by se2600. In 2002, she was invited to speak at CIA headquarters regarding steganography and Al-Qaeda codes . During this visit she began a closer study of the Agency's Kryptos sculpture and early in 2003 published a new type of solution technique for part 3 that supplied a possible "pencil and paper" method for solving it. Dunin then began to build a website compiling all of the works of the Kryptos sculptor, James Sanborn.

Dunin has compiled The Mammoth Book of Secret Code Puzzles, 2006.


Works

  • The Mammoth Book of Secret Codes and Cryptograms, US ISBN 0786717262.
The UK title of the book is: The Mammoth Book of Secret Code Puzzles, UK ISBN 1845293258
  • (editor) IGDA Online Games White Paper, 2002 PDF
  • (editor) IGDA Online Games White Paper, 2003. PDF
  • (senior editor) IGDA Web & Downloadable Games White Paper, 2004 PDF
  • (senior editor) IGDA Persistent Worlds White Paper, 2004 PDF

References

External links

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