Posted by
cal_DUPE1, around 8th December 2005:
we tend to like this sort of thing, right?
www.relpats-eht.com
:D oh yes we sure do.
Until we become the number one hit for it on google.
Then we hate it.
Posted by
cal_DUPE1, around 8th December 2005:
i've solved the first three. stuck on the fourth directory. do we want to post answers here or all work separately?
Posted by
ellipse, around 8th December 2005:
awww fuck i can't get past the first
i shall blame this on being desperately hungover
Trouble with posting them here is that they will be googletastic in a few days. Any chance of adding a "Get lost Google Spiders" tag to this page?
On Page 2.
Damn I have too much to do, to be doing this damned thing.
Posted by
cal_DUPE1, around 8th December 2005:
now hidden from the google
pages that are hidden have a line of text under the nav saying so
Posted by
Grim..., around 8th December 2005:
<meta name="robots" content="noindex,follow" />
Doesn't Google pay, like, zero attention to that?
Posted by
Grim..., around 8th December 2005:
Are we posting answers, then?
Nah, I guess we should post hints, but only after other iamcal people beg for each one.
(I'm awaiting the first person to say "What's the answer to 2.21???")
Posted by
Grim..., around 8th December 2005:
Well, give a hint for the first one for people that don't have a clue =]
Posted by
Grim..., around 8th December 2005:
I'm awaiting that closing bracket
Page 1. How many days, hours, minutes, seconds? The guy has a point.
Oh and for the people in this thread so far, you both have a disk in the post :)
Posted by
Grim..., around 8th December 2005:
WAHEY =]
Posted by
Grim..., around 8th December 2005:
Four is tricky.
I'm guessing it has something to do with his spelling mistakes, which are:
shal
yoo
hiden
qit
coon
The missing / incorrect letters are l u d u s, but /ludus doesn't work =[
Posted by
Grim..., around 8th December 2005:
But now I must go to bed =[
Night all.
Posted by
Grim..., around 8th December 2005:
Cal - can't you hack his server so we can win?
I'm sure we can reverse-engineer our solutions =]
Posted by
Grim..., around 8th December 2005:
I want to send him an email to tell him he's got a redundant </td> on each page =/
God damnit I need to go to bed!
Posted by
Grim..., around 8th December 2005:
Aw, I wanted clues for page 4 =[
Clue for page 4 is the one for page 3.
Posted by
Grim..., around 8th December 2005:
So it is.
Bedtime now.
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 8th December 2005:
On 5
continue on the morrow
Posted by
cal_DUPE1, around 8th December 2005:
i assumed it was, but ludus matches the clue. i tried all the similar words i could find :(
Posted by
syl_DUPE1, around 8th December 2005:
I haven't got the faintest idea what to do. :(
Can someone give me a little clue?
Posted by
ellipse, around 8th December 2005:
do i really have a disk in in the mail alife?
;)
Posted by
ellipse, around 8th December 2005:
syl - i'm guessing alfie gave a clue
"Page 1. How many days, hours, minutes, seconds? The guy has a point"
but it's all beyond me, i'm sure when someone spills the answer i'll kick myself on the head for being totally dense
Posted by
syl_DUPE1, around 8th December 2005:
Oh. I thought it had something to do with the heading which is "the-stapler" written backwards. I tried that and it took me to a stapler website...hahahahaha!
Posted by
Grim..., around 8th December 2005:
Just in case - 314159...
Anyone got 5?
(Cal - translate ludus with the answer to question 3)
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 8th December 2005:
Nope. I'm struggling over that one.
Posted by
Grim..., around 8th December 2005:
A Quake model is a .mdl, but that doesn't work. I'm guessing it's something to do with 3D art, and that's how Alfie knew.
Bring on the clues, Chayster!
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
Hmm - Quake Model is also an .md2, and md5 is a form of encryption, but encrypting 'quake' or 'model' with it doesn't help :(
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 9th December 2005:
Do you get apostrophes on that page or is it just me?
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
Yeah, I get apostrophes.
So you know Latin? Big deal, a lot of people know Latin. That's another thing I'm tired of, why do I keep giving you simple words like quake and model as directory names, I think it's time to get a bit more cryptic on page 5.
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 9th December 2005:
Weird - some unicodeythingy problem. Fixed. Ta.
Posted by
WarHead, around 9th December 2005:
.....I shall also note that while this contest is not for the weak of mind, it could be completed by anyone of any age, assuming they have at least the intelligence of the average high school student.
I think this is not strictly true.
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
www.yellowpipe.com/yis/tool...
^^
MD5 Encrypter
Not that it's helped me =[
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 9th December 2005:
I think you may be going down the wrong route. If the last sentence were a cryptic crossword clue I'd say "bait" which is "a bit" cryptic.
But it's not :)
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
Where's that bloody Alfie?
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 9th December 2005:
You were on the right lines - read carefully to know what to encrypt.
6 :)
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
Something to do with bit's?
=[
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 9th December 2005:
nope - it's all in the last sentence
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
You sure? The last sentence is very long =/
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
Fuck it, I can't do it - email me the answer: grim...
isaloser@hsmx.com
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 9th December 2005:
Whoops my bad - I meant the section after the last comma.
Email on way
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
Fuck, I swear I tried that before =[
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
Six is
easy =]
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
And 7.
Posted by
ellipse, around 9th December 2005:
nah 11 is the easiest by far
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 9th December 2005:
Not getting 7 easily
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
Fuck, I'm flying through them now.
I'm on the last one...
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 9th December 2005:
clue for 7 please
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
No, the universe one is easiest =]
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
Clue for 7: 'words'
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
The last one is a big bunch of Hex values... Could be colours...
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
Anyone else there yet?
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 9th December 2005:
bloody hell that was crap
right im up to Here is the riddle. god knows what page that is.
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
I found that easy - think programming (SQL inparticular).
SQL, database, serverside, table. aghhhhh :'(
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 9th December 2005:
.? dot? period?
its a : at the end. but i dont know what a : means in code
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
www.metrokc.gov/gis/kb/Cont...
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 9th December 2005:
at the end now
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
Yeah. I'm guessing you put the colours together to make an image, but I haven't got time to code something that does that ATM =[
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 9th December 2005:
I've knocked something up but for the life of me cant see any picture in it. PLaying around with lengths and stuff.
Posted by
Brock, around 9th December 2005:
*snigger*
It's colour codes. But what they make is anyone's guess.
Making my eyes hurt.
Perhaps I should get someone to convert them to actual colours, rather than trying to look into the codes, matrix style.
Posted by
Grim..., around 9th December 2005:
They could be coded colour codes...
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 9th December 2005:
Well if you place a green filter over the colours it seems to make a lot difference. Probably going down completely wrong path.
conclusive proof that I'm thick: been stuck on six for a good hour now. realised what the numbers are and possibly the fact that they're backwards is significant but seem to have hit a wall..
/slaps forehead
I *swear* I'd tried that.
hmm... It could be color codes since the data seems to be in HEX and is displayed in groups of 6. This leads me to believe that it is meant to be used as RGB codes with 16 bits for each color.
Has anyone here solved it yet? (I haven't)
color codes
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 10th December 2005:
Well this is one of the possible rectangles using the codes:
I've been through loads of sizes - my maths is a bad as I cant remember the easiest way to work out all the integer rectangles (if you get what I mean, I'm sure that's not the correct term) from the area. I think I have eight different ones though. None make a picture though see this to see what I mean by passing a green filter over.
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 10th December 2005:
I'm probably barking up the wrong tree but with a R or B filter you get a more random image than that. By which I mean more dark spots.
I did fuck up an input and get a stripe pattern at one point going fucking mental thinking I stumbled across something but it turned out my cut and paste from notepad was for some reason inserting LFs from the the wrapping meaning that my colours were turning to block colours every 20 or so pixels. Doh :)
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 10th December 2005:
I have got a simple browser-based method of resizing the block image (thanks to Alfie's on-the-fly resizing idea) if someone wants to hook me up with about a meg of hosting (basic HTML + images). Not the most elegant method of doing it but it does have 4 different pixel sizes!!!!!!1111 (which I quickly realised could've been variable alot more easier but they're there now)
Not that I think it'll help all that much, by the way.
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 10th December 2005:
Still...
The green filter!!!
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 10th December 2005:
Talking to myself some more:
There is the possibility that the codes run in a different manner. Too pissed now but I suppose we could run it backwards. Sober folk - would this just mirror/flip it?
This is madness. How are we supposed to know how large the "sides" should be. I see you chose a nice looking rectange, but maybe it is supposed to be square?
Can you try making the height and width the same to make a square?
I'm going to try to do something programatic when I get home...
This is making me nuts!!!
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 10th December 2005:
The square root isnt an integer :/
i got to stage 1 by suddenly realising it was all laid out as a semi-math/geek cryptic crossword and retired shuddering at that point
i am way tired now but strangely less braindead than i was this morning, and it occurred to me on looking at the last few posts here: if you're looking at creating a rectangle from something and its dimensions are your call, in the context of shared-knowledge clues, have you considered a rectangle using the Golden Ratio?
You might be on to something there saltation.
I gotta get me some pi and plug in some numbers..
I've been through loads of sizes - my maths is a bad as I cant remember the easiest way to work out all the integer rectangles (if you get what I mean, I'm sure that's not the correct term) from the area
These are the integers that divide evenly.
1,2296
2,1148
4,574
7.328
8,287
14,164
28,82
41,56
I see that your rectangle is 28 by 82.
Well thanks to the help of a kind friend I am now on page 3. Wooop!
Posted by
cal_DUPE1, around 10th December 2005:
gah, stuck on 7. though by 'stuck' i mean 'lazy'
Every one of those hex sequences is unique. There are no duplicates in the list.
I'm no closer than I was yesterday *sigh*
Posted by
Grim..., around 11th December 2005:
gah, stuck on 7. though by 'stuck' i mean 'lazy'
See
bloggy goodness for hints and stuff =]
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 11th December 2005:
Perhaps I'm bitter, perhaps I'm a little jealous - but I very much doubt that a man who couldnt score 1 would storm through like that.
I was riffing with alfie to get as far as I did.
How was it you got so far, Cheaty McLiar?
Posted by
Grim..., around 11th December 2005:
Er, same way you did - we pretty much worked on it together.
Are you drunk, Sul?
Posted by
Grim..., around 11th December 2005:
Are those dots a steriogram?
If it is a
stereogram, I don't see anything yet..
Posted by
WarHead, around 11th December 2005:
Page 1. How many days, hours, minutes, seconds? The guy has a point.
Nope, still don't get it. I thought maybe it was an IP address, but apparently not.
/me sits in the dummy corner.
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 11th December 2005:
Grim...: I'm playing but I admire your sensitivity :)
Alfie, when he gets back, was going for the stereogram angle. I'm unconvinced.
I'm gonna see what numbers and letters I can make from from the hex.
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 11th December 2005:
how about if it sounded like this?
three days, fourteen hours, fifteen minutes, and nine
There's a point there somewhere.
Posted by
ellipse, around 11th December 2005:
i know a relly cool band called steriogram
Posted by
cal_DUPE1, around 11th December 2005:
i'm still stuck on the raster one :(
I know there's not much point continuing if I can't even get page 3, but will somebody please help me with it? thankyou kindly.
Posted by
ellipse, around 11th December 2005:
have you checked out grim's blog
it's rather helpful
Posted by
Grim..., around 11th December 2005:
Yay me.
Sul: I figured you were 'yanking my chain', but I still reckon you were drunk =]
Posted by
Grim..., around 11th December 2005:
Warhead: Number 1? It's as easy as
pie =]
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 11th December 2005:
/was indeed drunk :)
Done shamefully at the music quiz - 5th out of 6 teams, we haven't done that bad in years - and I decided to drown my sorrows.
I would
love to see you drunk, Sul.
Posted by
WarHead, around 11th December 2005:
each page will provide a clue as to the directory of the next
It would help if I
read the fucking instructions, wouldn't it?
I have a problem with puzzles. For one thing, I am one of those people who doesn't really enjoy them, and isn't much good at them either. For another, it drives me nuts when I have a go and can't do them. And then it drives me even more nuts when someone assists me with the answer and I see how laughably easy it was, if only I had the kind of grey matter that thought laterally.
You shouldn't judge your cleverness on things like that. You have to be pretty bright to do your job.
Posted by
WarHead, around 11th December 2005:
Oh, I know I'm clever, but not in that way. If I wasn't they'd have found me out by now and I wouldn't still be doing this job.
There you go then. Lots of people don't like puzzles.
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 11th December 2005:
Arent you in management? If so, they found you out a while ago :)
Posted by
WarHead, around 11th December 2005:
Loosely speaking, yes. But only for the extra dosh. It's not as much fun as being Sys Admin but I have to be practical, what with my little warheads to support.
meh I usually like these things but I can't muster the motivation starting on it while everyone else has finished (or rather is stuck at an annoying last one)
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 13th December 2005:
Well jeffld is a bit of a genius - he took out all R&B which left just the green codes and and came up with this:
Rd~+`ed|'+B+cj}n+dmne+inne+jx`no+?cj?x+cn+cbxdyr+incbeo+rd~y+ebh`4?+_d+cn+jx`nyx+B+cj}n+jg|jrx+ynx{deono+j+gdel+jex|ny+dm+~ny+oyb}ng%+_dojr+|bgg+in+ed+obmmnyne'+mdy+cn+y~n+jex|ny+bx+~e`ed|e+d+fn'+jx+mjy+jx+rd~+`ed|%+B'+yng{jxTnc'+jf+ed+obmmnyne+mydf+jerden+ngxn%+ngg'+{nycj{x+j+ib+obmmnyne'+j+ib+dmm'+bm+rd~+|bgg%+Fdx+{nd{gn+cj}n+c~x+hdfn+jixne+fbeonogr+d+cn+hdehg~xbde+cj+B+jf+a~x+cj+gbgn+ib+obmmnyne+mydf+cn+ynx+dm+xdhbnr+inhj~xn+dm+|cj+cnr+ingbn}n+d+in+jid}n+j}nyjln+benggblnehn'+onx{bn+mynz~ne+yndyx+d+cnxn+hgjbfx%+B+jf+yng{jxTnc'+enbcny+xfjyny+edy+o~finy+cje+jerden+ngxn%+_cn+degr+y~n+obx{jybr+bx+cj+B+cj}ne?+cn+xfjggnx+be`gbel+dm+jercbel+|cbhc+hd~go+in+hdexbonyno+j+gbmn%+Z~bn+myje`gr'+B+od+ed+n}ne+`ed|+|cj+cj+fnjex%+Ed|'+bm+rd~+|nyn+d+f~gg+d}ny+cj+xjnfne+mdy+j+xnhdeo'+rd~+fjr+cj}n+j+cbe+jx+d+cn+dyblbe+dm+fr+ebh`%+Ed|+cne'+be+cn+bfn+b+cjx+j`ne+mdy+rd~y+|d+yno+nrnx+d+x`b{+d}ny+cn+mn|+{bsngx+xn{jyjbel+cbx+xnenehn'+jx+|ngg+jx+ynjobel+cbx+xnenehn'+B+ns{nh+rd~+f~x+cj}n+mbl~yno+b+d~%+_cn+ynjxde+fr+ebh`+bx+yng{jxTnc+bx+inhj~xn+B+|jx+idyno%+_cnyn+bx+ed+ynjxde'+cbxdyr+dy+fnjebel+incbeo+b%+B+odnx+ed+cj}n+jercbel+d+od+|bc+xj{gnyx'+cn+mjh+cj+|cne+ynjo+ijh`|jyox+b+odnx+xjr+x~hc+bx+xybhgr+hdbehbonehn%+B+bx+fnyngr+j+yjeodf+hdfibejbde+dm+gnnyx+fr+mbelnyx+cj{{neno+d+mjgg+de+jx+B+r{no%+Ed+fdyn'+ed+gnxx%+cne+rd~+cj}n+jx+gbgn+dm+gbmn+jx+B+cj}n'+de+dhhjxbde+rd~+fjr+mbeo+rd~yxngm+yjeodfgr+r{bel+j+cn+`nridjyo%+Ed+r{bel+|dyox'+degr+gnnyx+jhhdyobelgr+d+`bgg+bfn'+jeo+byn+rd~y+mbelnyx+d~%+B+xd+cj{{nex+cj+den+ojr+|cj+B+md~eo+jfdel+cn+irnx+dm+{dbegnxx+yjfigbelx+cj+cn+xnz~nehn+dm+gnnyx+y+n+g+{+j++x+T+n+c++cj{{neno+d+nfnyln+fdyn+cje+dehn%+Inhj~xn+cbx+xybel+dm+gnnyx+|jx+jfdel+cn+mn|+{yded~ehnjign+cbelx+cj+cjo+n}ny+mjggne+mydf+fr+mbelnyx'+jeo+cn+degr+{yded~ehnjign+cbel+d+j{{njy+fdyn+cje+dehn+de+cn+xjfn+{jln'+b+|jx+hcdxne+jx+fr+ebh`%+Je+jeb&hgbfjhbh+xdyr'+B+jf+x~yn'+i~+od+ed+|dyyr'+cnby+|jxe?+f~hc+ybxbel+jhbde'+xd+rd~+|de+mjgg+dd+mjy+ijh`+od|e+cn+hdehg~xbde%+_cbx'+dm+hd~yxn+inbel+j+hdehg~xbde+d+xdfncbel+B+cj}n+|ybne'+|bgg+fj`n+ed+cn+xfjggnx+ib+dm+xnexn%+Cj}n+m~e+mbeobel+cn+gjx+jex|ny0+cnyn+bx+edcbel+yjeodf+jid~+b%
and correctly guessed it was a cryptoquote.
I'll let everyone have a play with that for now but it decrypts to a strangely written story about how he got his name.
Still not solved it though.
I'm not really a genius.
googling helped a lot as did putting the data into a Excel spreadsheet and noticing that the red and blue values went from 00 to FF, but the green only appears to be in the lower range of HEX values.
Posted by
Sul_DUPE1, around 13th December 2005:
I said "a bit of a genius" - I could be talking about Einstein's middle finger for all you know ;)
oh well. It could be a worse body part I suppose.
The fact that the "story" is written so oddly (bizarre sentence structure, repetition and he even uses "Their" when he means "there" which isn't something the guy would do by mistake, must have something to do with this last section.
Anyone got anywhere?
Posted by
WarHead, around 13th December 2005:
Nope, and I give up.
Has anyone solved this yet?