Fermilab Calls For Code Crackers 392
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.. (Score:5, Funny)
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All your base... (Score:3, Funny)
Even I can see that.
Obviously, these Fermilab folks don't get to go outside at all.
Context? (Score:4, Insightful)
And is it really a message, it can be other things too:
Re:Context? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Clearly.. (Score:4, Funny)
Fortunately, the Slashdot Hive Mind has a safety shutdown when the story rolls off the front page.
Well obviously... (Score:5, Funny)
Makes perfect sense!
I'm not positive about my translation (Score:5, Funny)
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Because it is made from eggs.
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Re:I'm not positive about my translation (Score:4, Funny)
I got an "ASCII" version of goatse
Re:I'm not positive about my translation (Score:4, Funny)
Well, obvious stuff: (Score:5, Interesting)
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?
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(Really. Direct linking to a 4MB
Re:Well, obvious stuff: (Score:5, Informative)
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Coral cache (Score:3, Informative)
Real problem solvers comment here (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Real problem solvers comment here (Score:4, Interesting)
That was actually my first instinct too when I was "reading" the thing...
If you break this up into tuples of 4... (Score:3, Interesting)
-- Terry
Re:Real problem solvers comment here (Score:4, Interesting)
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 (Score:4, Interesting)
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: (Score:4, Funny)
So (Score:3, Funny)
other than being a freak or having a pet spider to help you out?
Re:Well, obvious stuff: (Score:5, Funny)
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The Binary can then be converted to Hex and then perhaps deciphered...
Working on it atm..
Re:Well, obvious stuff: (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
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So || | | || is "2" with a separation marker on each end.
This would put an anomaly at the end of the second line which could be interpreted as the || being broken across the two lines (so the second line would end with 3 and the third line would start with 3).
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32323333 1112132
33323132 212331
21113311 32312233
33321212 3213113
31133331 3331111
21133332 3232211
23231333 1121231
33231312
My transcription of the second block:
11121211 21212121 21121212 12111212 1121
11211211 21211121 21121112 12112111 21111
11112121 21121121 21112121 21211121 11211
21112121 12112111 21112111 21112111 21112
11121121 11211121 21121112 12221112 1211
12121121 11211121 11211211 12121211 12111
21121121 11211211 12112111 21211211 1212
11212121 1
Any see errors in this (p
Re:4th stanza (Score:3, Funny)
Sorry, had to do it.
Re:Well, obvious stuff: (Score:5, Funny)
Turn the page 90 degrees clockwise.
It says 'Hi'
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The frequency of 3's in the first stanza is disproportionately high.
The pattern '1,1,1,2,1' appears several times in the third stanza.
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However, if Section 1 is trinary, its information content is equal to 180 bits (113 symbols times log2(3) bits per symbol). The second section, in hex, has 96 bits, and the third, if in binary, has 266 bits. Unless one symbol set has a huge amount of redundancy, they're not the same length.
----------
A casual glance at the "binary" third section suggests it's unlikely to be any sort of ASCII-like binary substitution cipher, and possibly not
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Below the hex area are three symbols, the last two match the F and C of the hex key. But the 'S' isn't see anywhere else on the page.
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I just have a weird feeling about it.
Then I just got another Idea that's too good!
It's the intro to statistical analysis. Imagine (P.S. I have no effing Idea what the center part is) that this is a guy counting something. Maybe something like how many buffalo show up to the lake at a given day day one, he sees 3, 2, 3, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 1 1, 1, 2, 1,
Re:Well, obvious stuff: (Score:5, Funny)
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The dots (Score:4, Interesting)
Google recruiting? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Google recruiting? (Score:4, Interesting)
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? (Score:4, Informative)
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J O H N T I T O R
Hmmm... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Hmmm... (Score:5, Funny)
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Might be deliberate ... (Score:2)
Interesting... (Score:5, Funny)
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.... (Score:5, Funny)
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.
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Part of it bears a striking resemblance to UPC code for "8200019288".
Re:Mathamatically speaking.... (Score:5, Funny)
Mystery solved! [wvabca.com]
Damn, Google has us spoiled.
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By the way, this is apparently some kind of "unary" notation, though what zero it is remains to be seen. Similarly, the bottom set, having no more than two | in a row, might be another unary notation of something in a base 2.
As for the little dots, some, like the symbol for E, are repeated, so it's safe to a
Analysis! (Score:3, Interesting)
Someone is counting the number of something. Day one, it was 3. Day 2, 2. on day 4, 2 show up. Probably animals at a watering hole. Then one of them dies... or maybe the hunter kills it.
Then he starts analysis again, to see how long it takes for a 3rd to show again.
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Line 1) 1110110111
It's a trap! (Score:4, Funny)
Strange... (Score:5, Funny)
Cheers!
Strat
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Re:Not Cheere.. (Score:4, Funny)
Okay, let's do this! (Score:5, Funny)
"All your base are belo"
Oh crap.
B E S... (Score:5, Funny)
--
"Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!"
Everyone's a critic.
I've seen this before (Score:5, Funny)
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...
Oh, that's..... (Score:2)
Thanks!
Source? (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
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Cheers.
It says "Welcome to the Slashdot effect." (Score:2)
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http://filebin.ca/skpzc/fnalcodeletter.jpg
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It's a resumé (Score:2)
Mirrored Copy (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.pixabug.com/aliens/fnalcodeletter.jpg
http://www.pixabug.com/aliens/fnalcodeletter_sanesize.jpg
Happy Cracking
Ob. futurama... (Score:2)
I've managed to decipher the final section... (Score:5, Funny)
Myst - Riven (Score:2, Funny)
I'll go ahead and do this (Score:2)
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Their lucky day! (Score:2)
I've seen this before.... (Score:5, Funny)
I think it says... (Score:5, Funny)
the strokes are music (?) (Score:4, Funny)
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 (Score:4, Funny)
DNA sequence? (Score:5, Funny)
I'm pretty sure that's a stargate address... (Score:3, Interesting)
Digitized (Score:4, Informative)
33323132212331
2111331132312233
333212123213113
311333313331111
211333323232211
232313331121231
33231312
f0be58f2fd63
6c79d2e493e6
S f c
111212112121212121121212121112121121
1121121121211121211211121211211121111
1111212121121121211121212121112111211
2111212112112111211121112111211121112
111211211121112121121112122211121211
1212112111211121112112111212121112111
211211211121121112112111212112111212
112121211
It's a receipt (Score:3, Funny)
See those three symbols on their own? An S, followed by a triangle, followed by a three-pronged character? Well if you look in the table directly above those three characters, you'll see that the triangle translates to F and the three-pronged character translates to C, giving S.F.C. altogether.
Clearly the Roswell Greys were on their way home from picking up a Spacetucky-Fried Chicken takeaway when they crashed here.
writing tendencies and charset (Score:3, Interesting)
secondly, i assume the author is writing with a felt tip pen and is transcribing this from another source. notice how some bars will have a larger dot at one end or the other. i postulate that the author has set down his pen and is checking another sheet to determine what to write, while his felt pen bleeds a little too much ink onto the paper. this, however, doesn't happen with a ball point pen. perhaps this will be of assistance in determining the order strokes were written in, giving us some insight into the author's intent.
thirdly, notice that the author writes the number 0 with a slash through it, but not the number 7 with a dash through it. i'm not an expert on handwriting identification, but certain groups will often be more keen on the selection of particular stylistic numbers, so this may help us to understand something of the author's background.
finally, note that many of the chars used in the second section are letters from other char sets. the letter i is obvious to the english readers, but less apparent is the instance of one that looks suspiciously like a greek capital phi. also, several bear a striking resemblance to chars that appear in a masonic cypher alphabet. http://www.odr.org/anonymous/fam-code.htm [odr.org] can the other chars be identified as belonging to specific alphabets?
FRANK SHOEMAKER WOULD CALL THIS NOISE (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:FRANK SHOEMAKER WOULD CALL THIS NOISE (Score:4, Informative)
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,
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.
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I'm not getting anywhere with the 3rd stanza, though :) e.g. quadruplets for hex codes?
Re:FRANK SHOEMAKER WOULD CALL THIS NOISE (Score:5, Insightful)
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!
Oh NO! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:WTF slashdot? (Score:4, Funny)
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The real title is "How to Cook For Humans"
*sigh of relief*
Re:The raw numbers (Score:4, Interesting)
"J)IEQ)"""$curren;\QHquot;$)T
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