This library was originally written in various separate pieces, to solve problems such as:

- Easily testing the integrity of files with a CRC32 embedded in the filename (e.g., anime fansubs).
- Finding duplicate MP3 files based only on audio data, ignoring ID3 tags.

Realizing that these pieces all fit a common theme — file hashing — the author decided to integrate and open-source them.

The name is a play on "tin foil", as in "tin foil hat" — the classic defense for the paranoid. ;-)