It's a totally different ball game though: this isn't about NIST recommending a shady algorithm with mysterious parameters, this is about a well-known standardization process that accept submissions from cryptographers all around the world where anyone can review the proposals and make comments.
I don't care what they end up selecting as the winner (and to be honest, I'm so ridiculously paranoid that I don't trust Keccak, for instance), I just think that having a competition where everyone is spending all their energy into looking for flaws on the others candidates is a great thing.
Next year China will announce a similar standardization process. Do I trust China? of course not, but I really welcome this initiative anyways.
I don't care what they end up selecting as the winner (and to be honest, I'm so ridiculously paranoid that I don't trust Keccak, for instance), I just think that having a competition where everyone is spending all their energy into looking for flaws on the others candidates is a great thing.
Next year China will announce a similar standardization process. Do I trust China? of course not, but I really welcome this initiative anyways.