16.5 due on December 8

1. I think I understood most things which scares me, because I normally don't. I am still not comfortable with adding points and multiplying points with an integer. The the notation for the key exchange is not sitting well with me. I don't understand what the N_A or N_B means. They didn't really explain that.
2. It blows my mind how similar elliptic curves are to discrete logs. From the reading it sounds like a superior system. We probably aren't going to go over weakness, but there has to be some weaknesses of elliptic curves. I am curious because they seem quite useful in many ways.

16.4 due on December 6

1. It must have been a long weekend because I thought I was understanding elliptic curves, but after reading this section, I no longer feel like that. I think the confusion comes from the equation E: y^2+a_1*x*y+a_3*y=x^3+a_2*x^2+a_4*x+a_6. I understand that taking the derivative of the normal form in mod 2 would cause problems, so there needs to be this other form. I just don't under stand how to solve for the points and such. This carried over to the finite fields.
2. I am curious to see how elliptic curves play into the cryptosystems. I guess that is the next section, so I won't have to wait much longer for my curiosity to be soon satisfied. I am always curious how things come about, the historical background of things.

16.3 due December 3

1. I had some difficulty understanding the whole of section 16.3.1; I just couldn't really figure out what the author trying to convey. I also had some trouble understanding the example in 16.3 where factorials where introduced. I also didn't see how that related to the p-1 method and smooth factors and elliptic curves.
2. I did understand and found it cool the part where the reading noted that using elliptic curves to factor a composite number succeeds much more often than the p-1 method. I also just think is really cool that elliptic curves can be used to factor composite numbers. I wonder if it was a purposeful exploration of elliptic curves, or if one just happened to stumble on the fact that elliptic curves are effective in factoring numbers.