If the CIA wants to get into your shit, they will. I mean say you created a codec, or an entire programming language. I mean in the end it can still be mucked with by a hex editor and ultimately goes back to 010101010. I am not enough of an Uber Geek to be able to understand things that are broken down into this data but believe me, there are people who are.

If you still want to make a codec despite knowing that somebody else could still use it (and knowing what a pain in the ass it would be to convert all your shit to it) then you can just pick up on some open source codec and edit it from there. For video I think DivX used to be, I am not sure if XviD still is. I think X.264 has source code somewhere… though that one might not be legal, not sure if that matters, currently it’s the best…

Back in the day when DivX was being made people mucked with it and made stuff like “Angel Potion” which people started using even though it was just a crappy broken version of DivX. But it’s like anything else. Find some source code, muck with it, compile it, install it, walah your own codec.

—-Note, I really went off on an unrelated tangent below, don’t read this next part as I am not responsible for you or your actions if you do—

What you should really do if you are paranoid is create a Thermite Box with a switch. I mean the only data they can’t do decode is data that no longer exists. I actually made this once. It’s a really simple design. Thermite is a hardcore fire accelerant that will INSTANTLY heat things to a couple thousand degrees. It does this so fast that some magicians have used this to create a hold in the bottom of floors and objects to escape inescapable situations, yet unless you start it on fire it’s pretty much harmless. To make it you can break your Etch-a-Sketch or go to a machine shop and ask to sweep their floor…. : ) Either way will give you the Aluminum. Then you just need Iron Oxide (um… it’s rust. that’s it) Lots of ways to get rust, but if you are in a hurry just go to a paint store and ask for iron oxide (it’s used to give pigment to paint). Mix 8 grams rust and 3 grams aluminum.

Once the thermite exists you can (not joking) mix 4 parts thermite with one part Play-Doh… This will make it moldable thermite. Then you just find a box big enough to hold your external hard drives (you could use your entire computer, but airflow would be a bitch… ) and mold your super play-doh to the inside of the case.

Now Thermite needs a lot of heat to light, so get some magnesium ribbon or an old sparkler that is laying around the garage and run that outside of the case. If it’s a sparkler or something just stick it outside the case and have a torch nearby to light it. You could fashion a basic switch onto your case with the magnesium ribbon if you want it to look nice…

Basically if you ever need to destroy all your evidence in a matter of SECONDS this will do it. I came up with this idea myself when I was having fun playing with thermite a few years ago. Then Kevin Rose did it on the Screen Savers to burn up a PC. Honestly you probably don’t need the box to be ready at all as I said thermite is fairly safe so long as you don’t have it somewhere it might ignite. Just keep your thermite / play-doh inside of the play-doh container and have a butane lighter and a sparkler laying around if you ever need to start this on fire. It will burn so quickly that there will probably be a hole in your floor, but it’s fairly controlled. I mean a fire extinguisher isn’t a bad idea either to put out sparks that come off of it…

Shit, I shoulda just wrote that as a Smartass Education article since you didn’t even ask how to do this… Maybe I’ll convert it to one later… hahaha. To think I got to this from you asking about a codec!