function bits = message_to_bits(message)
    bits = zeros(length(message) * 8, 1);
    k = 1;
    for i = 1:length(message)
        mask = 1;
        for j = 1:8
            bits(k) = 1;
            if (bitand(message(i), mask) == 0)
                bits(k) = 0;
            else
                bits(k) = 1;
            end
            k = k + 1;
            mask = mask * 2;
        end
    end