Steganography
In this romantic idea, we're going to learn, in addition to a new way to win over someone special, a little bit of culture about the art of transmitting hidden messages: cryptology. Steganography is a branch of cryptology whose purpose is the sending of a hidden message, so that only the sender and receiver know of its existence.
Let's see some applications of the art of steganography to the art of love:
- Give that special person a paper written with invisible ink. This is as simple as writing on a blank sheet with a pen dipped in lemon juice. To reveal the message, just hold a candle under the sheet so that the written message becomes visible.
- Write a message on the bathroom mirror that will only be revealed when the steam fogs it up (ideal for giving your partner a pleasant surprise when they step out of the shower).
- Use some steganography software. A search on the web will lead you to programs that allow you to hide text files inside image files (for example: 'Camouflage'). To retrieve the hidden file in the photo, you'll need to know the key used to hide it (you can challenge your partner to guess it and access the hidden message...).
Surely you can come up with more ways to surprise with hidden messages. Few ideas bring such gratifying sensations as writing messages that will be messages only for the eyes of the loved one, because others, even if they had them right in front of them, would see absolutely nothing different. In a way, this is the very nature of being in love, isn't it? :)