Ask HN: What is a cable?
I've been reading incessantly about WikiLeaks obtaining and release "cables".
Are they just emails or is their some super secret cryptographic device in every government office?
Are they just emails or is their some super secret cryptographic device in every government office?
"A diplomatic cable, also known as a diplomatic telegram or embassy cable, is the term given to a confidential text message exchanged between a diplomatic mission, like an embassy or a consulate, and the foreign ministry of its parent country.
The term cable derives from the time when the medium for such communications was international submarine communications cables. The term cablegram is also sometimes used."