Post on 21-Dec-2015
How to Ask Someone Out
Eric Price
Just Do It
Just Do It
Get her alone
Just Do It
Get her alone Ask her out
That was Easy!
What if she says no? Depressing Awkward
That was Scary!
What if she says no? Depressing Awkward
Hard to pluck up your courage Especially if you're shy
How to Ask Someone Out
If You're Shy
Eric Price
How to Ask Someone Out
If You're Shyand a Cryptographer
Eric Price
Goal
Never get rejected Only ask her out if she would say yes
Goal
Never get rejected Only ask her out if she would say yes
Unfair She only knows that you asked her out if she would
say yes
Goal
Never get rejected Only ask her out if she would say yes
Unfair She only knows that you asked her out if she would
say yes Not progressive, asymmetric
She only knows that you're asking her out if she's asking you out
How?
“Covert Two-Party Computation” Luis von Ahn, Nickolas J. Hopper, John Langford
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
Talk to her, without her knowing unless she wants to participate. Encryption and Steganography
Decide whether you both want to date Secure Computation
Reveal the result Both parties know, or neither
Talking to her
+ =
Decide whether both want to date
Alice BobGX
GY
GXY
GYX
RandomX
RandomY
Decide whether both want to date
Alice BobGX
GY
GXY
GYX
RandomX
RandomY
What went wrong
Fine if both parties are honest Bob can participate, but pretend he didn't.
Unfair Building block for fair protocol
Decide whether both want to date
Alice BobGXY[0]Random
XRandom
YGXY[1]
GXY[2]
GXY[3]
Asking her out
Post pictures to Facebook, hiding messages in the low bits.
Assume her messages mean something See if they continue to make sense
Other Uses
Cheating at cards Cheating on spouses Planning a coup
She only knows that you're asking her out if she's asking you out
Revealing result
We want either both parties or neither to know the answer Otherwise, unfair and one party could embarrass
the other. But the protocol works by each side “speaking”
in turn Inherently one-sided
Reveal only one bit at a time Only twice as much work for one side as the other
Other Uses
Cheating at cards “Would you like me to slip you an ace?”
She only knows that you're asking her out if she's asking you out
(and vice versa)
Other Uses
Cheating at cards Cheating on spouses
She only knows that you're asking her out if she's asking you out
Other Uses
Cheating at cards Cheating on spouses Planning a coup
“Would you like to kill Kim Jong-Il with me?”
She only knows that you're asking her out if she's asking you out