Find 815 clues/January 21

Video - Recap

This video summarizes events that have occurred so far in the game.

Video - Activity Intro

“

[Sam is at the wheel of the Christiane I while Ockham is looking at the chart plotter. Sam looks at the coordinates that he has previously figured out from the anonymous emails: -11.1784 and 112.2363. Ockham momentarily leaves, and Sam quickly cuts an electrical wire to the chart plotter, leaving it to look damaged. Ockham comes back and is slightly confused. SAM: Everything ok? OCKHAM: Ah yeah, great. Time for you to start earning your keep. SAM: Why, what's the problem? OCKHAM: That's for you to find out. [Sam goes to the chart plotter] I better tell Lord Talbot. [Ockham leaves. Sam reconnects the wire for the chart plotter and hooks up his hacking software.]

”

Activity - Hack the Chart Plotter

a screenshot of the activity

The player must attempt to break the chart plotter encryption by using special code combinations. The activity is based on Mastermind, a board game where one player attempts to break a code made up of a combination of colors. The particular letters and numbers that are given each time are random, and there is no algorithm for determining the solution from the given setup.

“

Sam wants to know the exact position of the coordinates. He must hack the chart plotter before Ockham and Talbot return. Instructions: The password for the chart plotter is a particular combination of 5 unique letters and numbers. No letter or number is repeated. Sam's hacking software has narrowed the likely password letters and numbers down to 8 possibilities. It cannot, however, determine the combination. Choose 5 possibilities and enter a combination into the spaces provided. Then click 'enter'. The dots to the left indicate which entries are correct. Red dot = correct choice and position White dot = correct choice but incorrect position Black dot = incorrect choice and position You only have 10 attempts before a security breach will be detected. To make matters worse, Ockham will return with Talbot very soon (in 3 minutes to be precise).

”

Tips

Example of work-flow (filled row is the solution)

Start by narrowing down which of the eight possibilities are in the collection of five by testing two at a time. If at any time one is determined to be in the correct position (red), keep entering it there on each subsequent row and test pairs in another position. When a collection of five is determined (all white or a mixture of red and white), narrow down the whites to the correct position one by one, trying them in various positions that they haven't been tried in already.

Additional tips:

• For determining the group of five by testing pairs:
  • If the result is two white dots, they are both in the code but in the wrong position. Move on and test the next pair, remembering that those two are in the puzzle.
  • If the result is two black dots, neither is in the puzzle. Move on to test the next pair.
  • If the result is one white dot, use the next row and enter only one of them in another position. It is either in the puzzle, or the other one is. Move on with another pair.
  • If testing the last pair to determine which is in the puzzle, just enter one of them; the result is either that it is in the puzzle, or the other one is.
  • If the result is one white and one red, enter one of them in the next row; either that is the red or the other one is.
• For narrowing down whites to reds:
  • Start with the one that has been eliminated from the most positions.
    • If a letter/number has been white in four positions, it will be red in the remaining one; don't test it, just enter it in there and test the next white.

Video - if you lose

As an automated alert appears on the screen and a beeping noise is heard, Sam looks helplessly at Talbot and Ockham as they walk in, catching him in the act.

Video - if you win

The coordinates entered into the hacked chart plotter

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[After having looked at the location of the coordinates on the chart plotter, Sam hears Ockham and Talbot coming and quickly gets back behind the wheel.] OCKHAM: Well put it this way, it's the first malfunction we've had, so consider us lucky. [He checks the chart plotter] Hey! [To Sam] So what was the problem? SAM: Oh, just a loose display cable, that's all. It's fine now. OCKHAM: Right. Well let's hope it stays that way. You can sleep. SAM: Great. OCKHAM: But you're on call 24/7 'til we're out of this place. [Sam goes back to his room, where Talbot is waiting.] TALBOT: You weren't telling the truth, were you Sam? SAM: What do you mean? TALBOT: The chart plotter. It wasn't broken, was it? SAM: Yes it was. I just fixed it. TALBOT: Then why did you have this? [Talbot shows Sam the coordinates he had written down] SAM: What are they, your lotto numbers? Never picked you as a gambler. TALBOT: You know what they are. They're coordinates. SAM: Oh, is that what they are? See I wouldn't know. TALBOT: What are the coordinates for? [Sam doesn't respond] You have no idea what you're involved in, do you? You don't know who you're dealing with. SAM: Maxwell. The Maxwell Group gave me these coordinates. Your employer told me to come here. TALBOT: Like I said, you don't know who you're dealing with. Stay away from those coordinates. You won't find what you're looking for. [Talbot walks away]

”

Stegosaurus code

The braille in Sam's Video.

The image of number signs and arrows that led to the password being solved

The password for the OPENSTEGO stegosaurus picture from January 17 was discovered. After the video where the chart plotter was successfully hacked, an image of arrows and number signs briefly appears, which can be used in conjunction with the braille message from January 18. The number signs signify the braille equivalent of numbers, and the arrows can be used to determine letter case, resulting in the password X4x98adf09 (using Braille AOE Font at dafont.com). When extracting the stegosaurus file with the OpenStego software and entering the password, the following binary file results:

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00110101 00110110 00100000 00110011 00110010 00100000 00110110 00111000 00100000 00110110 01100011 00100000 00110110 00110010 00100000 00110110 00111001 00100000 00110100 00110010 00100000 00110100 01100001 00100000 00110100 00111001 00100000 00110100 00110101 00100000 00110110 00111000 00100000 00110110 01100011 00100000 00110101 00111001 00100000 00110101 00111000 00100000 00110100 01100001 00100000 00110110 01100010 00100000 00110100 00111001 00100000 00110100 00110110 00100000 00110101 00110010 00100000 00110110 01100110 00100000 00110101 01100001 00100000 00110101 00110011 00100000 00110100 00110010 00100000 00110100 01100100 00100000 00110101 01100001 00100000 00110101 00110111 00100000 00110100 00110110 00100000 00110111 00111001 00100000 00110110 00110010 00100000 00110110 00111001 00100000 00110110 00110100 00100000 00110110 01100010 00100000 00110100 00111001 00100000 00110100 00110101 00100000 00110100 00110110 00100000 00110111 01100001 00100000 00110110 00110100 00100000 00110100 00111000 00100000 00110100 01100001 00100000 00110111 00110110 00100000 00110110 00110010 00100000 00110110 01100100 00100000 00110011 00111001 00100000 00110111 00110100 00100000 00110101 01100001 00100000 00110101 00111000 00100000 00110100 00111001 00100000 00110011 01100100

”

The binary translates to a string of hexadecimal code:

“

56 32 68 6c 62 69 42 4a 49 45 68 6c 59 58 4a 6b 49 46 52 6f 5a 53 42 4d 5a 57 46 79 62 69 64 6b 49 45 46 7a 64 48 4a 76 62 6d 39 74 5a 58 49 3d

”

The hexadecimal code translates to a string of Base64 code:

“

V2hlbiBJIEhlYXJkIFRoZSBMZWFybidkIEFzdHJvbm9tZXI=

”

The Base64 code translates to:

“

When I Heard The Learn'd Astronomer

”

It is the title of a Walt Whitman poem, When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer:

“

When I heard the learn’d astronomer When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick Till rising and gliding out, I wander’d off by myself, In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars

”