Blog
RSSLonger guides that don't fit neatly into a single reference page or per-character entry: how to actually learn a system rather than just look it up, where these codes show up in real life today, and deep dives that connect several systems at once. Start with the Complete Guide to Codes and Alphabets if you want the full map of everything this site covers and how the pieces fit together.
What's Here
A mix of practical how-to guides (learning Morse code fast, teaching kids a secret-code project, building an escape-room cipher that actually works) and history-adjacent pieces that go deeper than a single reference page allows (how ham radio kept Morse alive after it was retired commercially, how braille technology has evolved since Louis Braille's original slate).
How This Differs From the Reference Pages
The Reference and per-character pages elsewhere on this site are built to answer a specific, narrow question quickly — what's the code for this letter, what does this word mean. The blog is the opposite: longer pieces meant to be read start to finish, connecting several systems, decisions, and historical threads together in a way a single reference entry can't. If you want the fast answer, use Reference or the per-character pages; if you want the fuller picture, start here.
New Posts
New guides are added on an ongoing basis, generally prioritized around whatever question comes up most often through the site's search traffic and the Contact page — if there's a specific topic you'd like covered, that page is the right place to say so. Every post here follows the same sourcing standard described on the Methodology page, whether it's a short practical guide or a long historical deep-dive, so read the Methodology page first if you want to know how a specific claim was checked.
The Complete Guide to Codes and Alphabets Complete Guide
A full map of Morse code, the NATO phonetic alphabet, braille, binary and the classic ciphers — what each system is for, where it came from, and where to go deeper.
How to Learn Morse Code Fast
A 30-day plan built on the Koch method: start at full target speed with two characters, add one at a time, and never look at a dot-dash chart.
Morse Code for Scouts: A Badge Guide
What Scouting America's Signs, Signals, and Codes merit badge actually requires for Morse code today, how it differs from the old Signaling badge, and how to prepare for it.
The Best Books About Codes and Ciphers
Real, specific book recommendations for readers curious about codes and ciphers, from Poe's original fictional cryptanalyst to a wartime memoir about codes printed on silk.
Escape Room Cipher Ideas That Actually Work
Practical, tested puzzle designs for building Morse, NATO, braille, Caesar and pigpen ciphers into a home or classroom escape room, and the mistakes that make a puzzle unfair instead of hard.
How Pilots Use the Phonetic Alphabet
The NATO phonetic alphabet in real cockpit and air traffic control use — tail numbers, taxiway names, readback procedure, and why pilots say Zulu instead of a local time.
Morse Code in Pop Culture
Real, verifiable Morse code appearances in film, music and games, from Rush's YYZ to a wrench-tapped message in U-571, and how accurately each one actually uses the code.
Teaching Kids Secret Codes: Project Ideas
Hands-on secret code projects for kids by age group, from a lemon-juice invisible ink experiment to a pigpen cipher wheel, with the reasons each one actually works with real children.
A Ham Radio Beginner's Guide to Morse
Why amateur radio operators still choose to learn Morse code (CW) even though the FCC dropped the requirement in 2007, and the real vocabulary a new ham needs to get started.
A History of Secret Codes: Timeline
A cipher-focused timeline from Julius Caesar's shift cipher to RSA public-key encryption, including the misattributed Vigenère cipher and the two-century-unbroken Great Cipher of Louis XIV.
How Braille Technology Has Evolved
From the hand-punched slate and stylus to refreshable braille displays and a multi-line e-reader called Canute, how the tools for writing and reading braille have changed.
Why Learn Morse Code in 2026?
Real, current reasons to learn Morse code today, from an assistive-tech app that turns phone vibrations into dots and dashes to why the skill has outlived the exam that used to require it.