Fermilab Calls For Code Crackers

atrocious cowpat passes along a call for help from symmetry magazine, the joint publication of Fermilab and SLAC, noting: "Could be just plain gibberish, it could be something like those wonderfully weird letters to the Mount Wilson observatory, or it could be a message from aliens who just happened to have gotten their hands (tentacles/exoskeleton) on a fax machine." "A little over a year ago, the Fermilab Office of Public Affairs received a curious letter in code (4.4-MB image here). It has been sitting in our files all that time and we haven't had much of a chance to look into breaking the code, nor are we particularly expert at this!"

Clearly..

[by Anonymous Coward]

It's Dr. Emma Russells formula for cold fusion.

Context?

[Z00L00K (682162)]

To be able to decrypt a message it is usually necessary to know the context to where it belongs. Without context it's hard.

And is it really a message, it can be other things too:

1. A data sampling done by hand with two samplings, the first has three alternatives the second has two. The code in the middle is just thrown in for good measure by a joker.
2. It's someone's way to compose music. The first part is for a simple instrument with three tones, the last part is another instrument with two alternatives (bongo drums?). The middle part is just markers used to remind the performers about what to sing.
3. Someone's idea of a prank to pull.

Re:Context?

[Garridan (597129)]

All this reminds me of my algebra prof's (apparently) favorite poem: "One-one was a racehorse, and One-two was one too. One-one won one race, and One-two won one too."

Re:Clearly..

[CrazedWalrus (901897)]

I think it's Digital Fortress.

Fortunately, the Slashdot Hive Mind has a safety shutdown when the story rolls off the front page.

Well obviously...

[clonan (64380)]

The Roswel aliens that were stranded on earth brainwashed some NEC employees who planted the code in all fax machines to send the fax to fermilabs who then posts it on the internet (which would be invented in 40 years) and thereby transmitted to mars...

Makes perfect sense!

I'm not positive about my translation

[Eevee (535658)]

But it seems he's from Nigeria and wants help tranferring money out of the country.

Re:

[by Anonymous Coward]

And he wants you to "Drink More Ovaltine"

Re:I'm not positive about my translation

[Hinhule (811436)]

Really?
I got an "ASCII" version of goatse :-/

Re:I'm not positive about my translation

[spazdor (902907)]

me too! And apparently we suxor?

Well, obvious stuff:

[morgan_greywolf (835522)]

Three "stanzas" maybe.

Starting with the "middle" stanza, that appears to be some sort of "key" perhaps. Each of the different symbols correspond to a different hexadecimal digit.

In the first stanza, each grouping of lines has 1, 2 or 3 lines.

In the last stanza, each group of lines is only 1 or 2 lines.

Maybe the last stanza is binary?

And maybe the first stanza is base 3?

Anyone else care to wager a guess?

Re:Well, obvious stuff:

[spydum (828400)]

Agreed, first grouping is probably base-3, 2nd is key with the index being hex, and 3rd grouping is base-2.. and if I convert it out.. it ends up drawing an image of the goatse.cx guy... damnit!

Re:Well, obvious stuff:

[azzuth (1177007)]

That's funny, when i converted it and then etch it onto a vinyl i got Rick Roll'd

Re:Well, obvious stuff:

[moderatorrater (1095745)]

Another possibility: a blank represents a 0, a mark indicates a 1, giving us binary. This fits better with the hex in the middle of the page, since three binary go into one hex. The symbols don't make any sense, however, so if that's a key, then it's going to just translate it into another code.

If I weren't at work, I would try translating the hash marks into their hex equivalent, storing that, then translating the hex to the symbols that were given and storing that separately. The symbols may mean something to someone other than me (some of them look hebrew, but some of them definitely aren't; perhaps astrology symbols or something else?), or it may be that the key in the middle is a red herring and that the hex itself codes for something (ascii being the most likely generally, although a quick glance seems to indicate that some of them would code for non-display characters).

Most likely a hoax all things considered. A (accidentally?) clever hoax, considering the hex in the middle and the many interpretations of the vertical lines, but most likely a hoax nonetheless.

Re:Well, obvious stuff:

[baffled (1034554)]

You're thinking waaay too deep.

Turn the page 90 degrees clockwise.

It says 'Hi'

Re:Well, obvious stuff:

[morgan_greywolf (835522)]

Mirror here [googlepages.com]. I think Google's servers can probably handle the traffic. ;)

Real problem solvers comment here

[Jhan (542783)]

(trying to move the interesting stuff to the top) The top and bottom part of the code code the same data. The little indentation at the beginning of the line is important and means that the previous line continues. The indentation in the bottom bottom part is of, perhaps because of writing conditions. The top part consists of five trinary numbers of lengths 29, 46, 14, 14, 8 digits. The bottom part consists of five binary numbers of lengths 75, 110, 37, 36, 8 digits. My best transcription, probably with errors:

char trinary[8][40]={
"323233331112132", // 15
"33323132212331", // 14 29
"2111331132312233", // 16
"333212123213113", // 15
"311333313331111", // 15 46
"211333323232211", // 14 14
"232313331121231", // 14 14
"33231312"}; // 8 8
char binary[8][40]={
"111010110101010101101010101110101101", // 36
"1101101101011101011011101011011101111", // 37 75
"1111010101101101011101010101110111011", // 37
"0111010110110111011101110111011101110", // 37
"111011011101110101101110100011101011", // 36 110
// Should have been more clearly to the left?
"1010110111011101110110111010101110111", // 37 37
// Should have been two steps to the left?
"011011011101101110110111010110111010", // 36
"110101011"};

Re:Real problem solvers comment here

[bodan (619290)]

Not a critique as such and only vaguely on topic: Does anyone else find it interesting that parent found it natural to represent ternary using 1-2-3 and binary using 0-1?

That was actually my first instinct too when I was "reading" the thing...

Re:Real problem solvers comment here

[ThreeGigs (239452)]

The first and last parts *DO NOT* look like terniary and binary to me.

Instead, they look like an RLL encoded pattern, similar to what you'd see on a hard drive. Maybe NRZI.

In fact, the first looks surprisingly like (1,3) MFM RLL.
Also reminds me of the old Apple Floppy drive "between any two ones there can only be a maximum of one zero" data writing rule.

Re:Real problem solvers comment here

[wirelessbuzzers (552513)]

We've mostly solved it further down the thread. The top section is in ternary (with 0 replaced by |||), 000-space, 001->a, 002->b, etc. It's strangely wrapped: the spaces and non-spaces at the beginnings and ends of lines count. It says "FRANK SHOEMAKER WOULD CALL THIS NOISE".

The second part we haven't deciphered yet. It's possible that we'd need a Fermilab insider for this.

The third part is RLL. Once you decode the RLL (number of | between consecutive ||), you get the same code as part one, which says "EMPLOYEE NUMBER BASSE SIXTEEN", or so I've been told. This suggests that at least one part of the puzzle requires help from Fermilab people.

My uninformed guess is that once we solve the middle section, we'll get someone's name. His or her employee number at Fermilab spells something out in base 16, a coincidence which Frank Shoemaker would call "noise". Another possibility is that the middle section is hex-encoded employee ID numbers, which would mean that we can't solve it.

Re:Well, obvious stuff:

[funaho (42567)]

The world's first rickroll-by-fax?

The dots

[personalo (1272724)]

My question is: Are the tiny dots in the background a dirty fax or photocopier artifact or are they, in fact, the code.

Google recruiting?

[spydum (828400)]

Perhaps Google is targeting Fermilab scientists for hiring.. Don't they have a history of using strange riddles and puzzles for hiring purposes?

Re:Google recruiting?

[BigJClark (1226554)]

EA posted billboards all over Vancouver, BC awhile, that had char *msg[] = { "10", "43", "14" } (not real values) and essentially it was the ascii decimal equivilant of "Now Hiring".

I thought that was pretty trick.

Re:Google recruiting?

[snaFu07 (1111263)]

Picture here: http://images.fastcompany.com/blog/121503billboard.jpg [fastcompany.com]

Hmmm...

[Omicron32 (646469)]

4.4MB image link on the front page of Slashdot? I sense a great disturbance in the force...

Re:Hmmm...

[mapkinase (958129)]

Well, right now I do not sense no nothing except "Loading..."

Interesting...

[wile_e_wonka (934864)]

Very odd indeed! I received this cryptic message (which it seems I've seen before):

Error!
Could not connect to remote server

You tried to access the address http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/breaking/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/fnalcodeletter.jpg [symmetrymagazine.org], which is currently unavailable. Please make sure that the Web address (URL) is correctly spelled and punctuated, then try reloading the page.

Mathamatically speaking....

[hengdi (1202709)]

There are 113 symbols, each of which is either 1, 2 or 3 strokes. So it is essentially a 113 digit base 3 number.

This limits the amount of information that the message is trying to pass.

For example, using base 26 - all the letters - means we could convey the same information in ??? digits.

Oh damn it. I'm too drunk and Google ain't working for me. Perhaps someone could give a value for ???

But I'm betting it won't be very many digits. I.e. this message is very short.

Re:Mathamatically speaking....

[mr_mischief (456295)]

Jose Cuervo Especial, 750 ml, 12-pack case.

Mystery solved! [wvabca.com]

Damn, Google has us spoiled.

It's a trap!

[Mortiss (812218)]

Crackers do not fall for this trap. It is an obvious attempt to spread the Snow Crash!

Strange...

[BlueStrat (756137)]

It seems to be some sort of construction/zoning notice. Something about a hyperspace-bypass being put in...

Cheers!

Strat

Re:Not Cheere..

[arthurpaliden (939626)]

But rather, "So long and thanks for all the fish".

Okay, let's do this!

[The Insane One (25793)]

Just let me get a pencil and some paper.

"All your base are belo"

Oh crap.

B E S...

[mcmonkey (96054)]

U R E T O D R I N K Y O U R O V A L T I N E

--
"Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!"

Everyone's a critic.

I've seen this before

[Crash McBang (551190)]

The translation comes out as:

My name is Kosh Naranek.

I am writing this brief letter to bring to your attention a business offer which we believe you might find attractive.
Mrs Maria Garibaldi; wife of one a wealthy Martian executive (Late Mr. Michael Garibaldi) seeks a business assistance from a reliable and reputable businessman to invest and manage funds to the tune of 15 Million Credits...

Source?

[aleph42 (1082389)]

Any hint on the source, or at least why they consider it important?

Not to be harsh, but if I send some random code letter to some lab, I guess (hope) it won't make the news, even on slashdot.

Mirrored Copy

[LaptopZZ (88619)]

I mirrored it on my server as well as made a scaled down version which is just as readable as the original (unless you're making a poster).

http://www.pixabug.com/aliens/fnalcodeletter.jpg

http://www.pixabug.com/aliens/fnalcodeletter_sanesize.jpg

Happy Cracking

I've managed to decipher the final section...

[DirtySouthAfrican (984664)]

It reads "Use only Genuine Interocitor Parts". Seems gibberish to me.

I've seen this before....

[by Anonymous Coward]

It's obviously Woodstock. He's telling Snoopy about encryption.

I think it says...

[Uncle Focker (1277658)]

'PC Load Letter'? What the fuck does that mean?

the strokes are music (?)

[Ralph Spoilsport (673134)]

To me, the strokes look like a clapping pattern. I sat and clapped it out at my desk here, and if done at a fairly brisk pace, the top section is an interesting and often asymmetric rhythm.

Parts of it clap out to sound like "apocalypse in 9/8, (co-starring the delicious talents of Gabble Ratchet)" by Genesis from Foxtrot [wikipedia.org]

But the whole thing is scattered enough that it comes out like more of a one handed improv or approximation of Steve Reich's "Clapping Music". [youtube.com]

The bottom section is less rhythmically active, but sounds more "even", kind of "rock and roll" ish.

The middle part is a dull cipher, similar to Nugsoth. [fontstock.net]

That's all I've got.

RS

I'm pretty sure it's for my broken office light

[SomeoneGotMyNick (200685)]

It's a tempo guide for the person who's messing with the fluorescent ceiling light in the corner of my office. I swear the light is flickering to the same cadence as the tick marks on the page.

DNA sequence?

[fahrbot-bot (874524)]

1. Four DNA characters: A, C, G, T
2. Four character sequences: |, ||, |||, (space)
3. Determine character mapping.
4. ...
5. Velociraptor.

Digitized

[panthro (552708)]

323233331112132
33323132212331
2111331132312233
333212123213113
311333313331111
211333323232211
232313331121231
33231312

f0be58f2fd63
6c79d2e493e6

S f c

111212112121212121121212121112121121
1121121121211121211211121211211121111
1111212121121121211121212121112111211
2111212112112111211121112111211121112
111211211121112121121112122211121211
1212112111211121112112111212121112111
211211211121121112112111212112111212
112121211

FRANK SHOEMAKER WOULD CALL THIS NOISE

[wirelessbuzzers (552513)]

The first part is ternary, with 3 substituted for 0. It's somewhat miswrapped, but it appears to say "FRANK SHOEMAKER WOULD CALL THIS NOISE".

Re:FRANK SHOEMAKER WOULD CALL THIS NOISE

[by Anonymous Coward]

It's true:
remove the linebreaks from the first block, interpret # of lines as trinary digits 0,1,2 (|->0, ||->1, |||->2) and you get

212 122 220 001 021
222 120 211 012 201
000 220 021 201 122
222 101 012 102 002
200 222 202 220 002
002 222 121 211 022
120 222 001 012 022
120 201

Converting to alphabet by 000->a, 001->b, ... , 221->z, 222->' ', we get:

xrybh pwftayhtr kflcs uycc qwip bfipt

Write a script to check possible letter substituions against a dictionary, and you find that the substitution cipher
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
nl  o ki wu   strdec hfa

converts this to "frank shoemaker would call this noise"; maybe a coincidence, but looking likely.

Re:FRANK SHOEMAKER WOULD CALL THIS NOISE

[femtobyte (710429)]

Last stanza:
consider the || separators between trinary digits |, | |, | | |; decode as for first stanza, gives:
tadcfmtt blaztr zyppt pioqttb ->
"employee number basse sixteen"

thus, the central numbers are probably the employee # of the prank letter writer. Someone at Fermilab could probably check this (maybe Frank Shoemaker?)

I think we've solved it!

Re:WTF slashdot?

[by Anonymous Coward]

I clicked on this article and a popup advertisement came up. What the hell??

Means you started Internet Explorer instead of your usual browser. WTF were you thinking?

Re:

[by Anonymous Coward]

Try this link:

http://filebin.ca/skpzc/fnalcodeletter.jpg

Re:The raw numbers

[I_am_the_cheese (1264298)]

If I change the 1s to 0 and the 2s to 1, I get some interesting bits.
"J)IEQ)"""$curren;\QHquot;$)T