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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!"
It's Dr. Emma Russells formula for cold fusion.
But it seems he's from Nigeria and wants help tranferring money out of the country.
4.4MB image link on the front page of Slashdot? I sense a great disturbance in the force...
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You tried to access the address http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/breaking/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/fnalcodeletter.jpg, which is currently unavailable. Please make sure that the Web address (URL) is correctly spelled and punctuated, then try reloading the page.
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.
Just let me get a pencil and some paper.
"All your base are belo"
Oh crap.
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...
To put a witty saying into 120 characters, jst rmv ll th vwls.
It reads "Use only Genuine Interocitor Parts". Seems gibberish to me.
It's obviously Woodstock. He's telling Snoopy about encryption.
That's funny, when i converted it and then etch it onto a vinyl i got Rick Roll'd
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
You're thinking waaay too deep.
Turn the page 90 degrees clockwise.
It says 'Hi'