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The Binary Code In Canada's Gov-Gen Coat of Arms

Lev13than writes "Dr. David Johnston, formerly the president of the University of Waterloo, was installed as Canada's new Governor-General on Friday. As de facto head of state and the Queen's representative in Canada he is required to design a personal coat of arms. One modern detail has attracted particular attention - a 33-digit palindromic binary stream at the base. Efforts to decode the meaning of the number using ASCII, Morse, grouping by 3/11 and other theories has so far come up empty (right now it's a toss up between random, the phone number 683-077-0643 and Morse code for 'send help - trapped in a coat of arms factory.') Is 110010111001001010100100111010011 the combination to his luggage, or just a random stream of digits?"

53 of 486 comments (clear)

  1. EH by JustOK · · Score: 4, Funny

    all it says is EH

    --
    rewriting history since 2109
    1. Re:EH by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 4, Funny

      Has anyone considered that the guy is Canadian and maybe, just maybe, inserted an extra '0' in there while sounding it out?

    2. Re:EH by DFurno2003 · · Score: 4, Funny

      It says "Don't forget to drink your ovaltine, eh"

    3. Re:EH by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 3, Funny

      They spelled me wrong. I'll have to get in contact with them and figure out who transcribed 0100010001010011 wrong.

  2. Re:Can't we just ask? by mayberry42 · · Score: 5, Funny

    yeah, but where's the fun in that? :)

  3. 110010111001001010100100111010011? by Pharmboy · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think that translates into: CNUS, Canada's Not the United States.

    --
    Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
    1. Re:110010111001001010100100111010011? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      And here I thought it stood for "Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen"

  4. Not necessarily binary by AliasMarlowe · · Score: 5, Funny

    110010111001001010100100111010011 is 33 successive digits of pi (in decimal/binary/ternary/etc.). Cunningly, he did not choose the first 33 digits, of course.

    --
    Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
    1. Re:Not necessarily binary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Neither the 33 last. I can tell because I just checked it.

      Posted as AC for obvious reasons.

    2. Re:Not necessarily binary by philgp · · Score: 3, Funny

      It's the part just after the encoded 2D bitmap of a circle.

    3. Re:Not necessarily binary by jimwelch · · Score: 2, Funny

      How much the stock market lost, worldwide in the last 2 years?

      --
      Never trust a man wearing a coat and tie!
    4. Re:Not necessarily binary by turing_m · · Score: 2, Funny

      Is that actual pi or christian fundmentalist pi?

      More likely, it's just pi in the sky.

      --
      If I have seen further it is by stealing the Intellectual Property of giants.
    5. Re:Not necessarily binary by IBitOBear · · Score: 3, Funny

      I've been using the last four digits of PI as my pin for years, now I'm gonna have to change it.

      --
      Innocent people shouldn't be forced to pay for inferior software development.
      --"Code Complete" Microsoft Press
    6. Re:Not necessarily binary by statusbar · · Score: 4, Funny

      No! Please don't change PI. If you do I will have to redraw all these circles I have and also recalibrate my compass!

      --jeffk++

      --
      ipv6 is my vpn
  5. Tough one by nfk · · Score: 5, Funny

    If he were from New Zealand I would say it's a binary solo, but being from Canada I'm not sure.

  6. Re:Palindrome by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    And after reading the article, it seems they noticed the same thing!

    Wonder why that option was left out of the summary, as it seems the most likely. Silly editors

    You mean the link you clicked on to read the article that has the text "33-digit palindromic binary stream"? That link?

  7. This sounds like a job for... by bhunachchicken · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... Robert Langdon!!! I'm sure that buried somewhere in that seemingly random sequence of 1s and 0s is a code that will shake the very foundations of the human race and expose a truth that has long been hidden!

    I can already hear Dan Brown feverishly scratching away at his notepad, as he begins researching and stringing together a load geographically accurate, but ultimately randomly contrived pile of nonsense for his next magnum opus, "The Canada Complex"

  8. Re:Palindrome by srussia · · Score: 4, Funny

    The first thing I notice is the binary string is a palindrome, the same forwards or backwards.

    This is to prevent Soviet Russia jokes from working in Soviet Canada.

    --
    Set your phasers on "funky"!
  9. Re:Palindrome by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    The first thing I notice is the binary string is a palindrome, the same forwards or backwards.

    This is to prevent Soviet Russia jokes from working in Soviet Canada.

    He's the Governor General. It reads: "In Soviet Canada, the taxes pay YOU"

  10. DRM by orange47 · · Score: 3, Funny

    its the master key for the upcoming DRM, already broken ..

  11. base64? by hitmark · · Score: 2, Funny

    The base64 result, y5Kk6QE=, reminds me of something a url shortener would spit out. But i am unsure which it would be.

    --
    comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
    1. Re:base64? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      You are saying "This random number looks like other random numbers I have seen". I don't think you have thought this through.

  12. Simple by antifoidulus · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's meaning is "I bet I can get a bunch of geeks to waste a lot of time trying to decipher this meaningless message!"

  13. Re:The numbers are wrong (wild guess) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That OTAN is NATO backwards is incidental, mirroring is not the reason for it. The reason is that France succeeded in demanding French as an official Nato language. OTAN = Organisation du Traité de l'Atlantique Nord.

    There is no use for mirrored writing on airplanes, they fly too fast for your cars rear-view mirror, and planes that do have rear view mirror wouldn't wait 'till the bogey is a couple of yards behind them to find out who he is.

  14. Re:The number is a Palindromic Prime in base 2. by sco08y · · Score: 4, Funny

    In base 2, every number is prime.

    They fixed that in base 2.0.1.

  15. it says "OMG! Canada haz teh internetz" by v3ctor · · Score: 3, Funny

    it says "OMG! Canada haz teh internetz"

  16. Re:Possibly you're right by cp.tar · · Score: 2, Funny

    Nothing at all? In katakana?
    Maybe it was his name.

    --
    Ignore this signature. By order.
  17. Re:Can get even worse by Moraelin · · Score: 5, Funny

    CRYMPH is Welsh, surely?

    It has a vowel too many to be Welsh ;)

    --
    A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
  18. Re:Can't we just ask? by The_mad_linguist · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes, but it's traditional to offer him a barometer.

  19. Re:The numbers are wrong (wild guess) by ThePromenader · · Score: 5, Funny

    Canadian planes should have 'NATOTAN' written on them to please the speakers of both languages ('NATO' 'stylishly' mirrored around the 'O'). Of course, for the Japanese, that acronym would read 'achieving a darker skin tone by slathering yourself in fermented beans'.

    --

    No, no sig. Really.

    ThePromenader
  20. Re:Can't we just ask? by geminidomino · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...signifying nothing.

    A coat-of-arms inscribed by an idiot?

  21. Re:Can get even worse by Mantrid · · Score: 4, Funny

    I got this tattoo on my forehead that says "poor impulse control"

  22. Re:The number is a Palindromic Prime in base 2. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    What!? Your example is flawed: you didn't divide by binary number. You have to convert both the divisor and the divided to binary!

    1) A prime is a number that is only divisible (integer division) by one and the number itself. By definition zero is not a prime. (see any math textbook).

    2) A binary number consists of ones and/or zero's.

    3) If, without loss of generality, we get rid of leading zeroes, every binary number contains at least one one.

    4) Every number (prime or not) is divisible by itself.

    So, from 3 follows that any binary number is divisible by one, and from 4 follows that it is divisible by itself. Both are necessary for being prime.
    From 2 follows that there are no other divisors than one and zero, so the above holds. Dividing by one is trivial, and division by zero is absurd.

    So, every binary number is prime. QED.

  23. Re:Can get even worse by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I work with a young lady who has a tattoo which is supposed to mean "One who enjoys herself" in Japanese.

    I discovered, much to my amusement, that the word for "enjoys" can also mean "pleases".

    --
    Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
  24. Re:Palindrome by Legion303 · · Score: 4, Funny

    "The first thing I notice is the binary string is a palindrome"

    I noticed that too, from reading the summary.

  25. Re:Can get even worse by qengho · · Score: 4, Funny

    On some old sitcom, a customer is displaying his Chinese-character tattoo to the Chinese proprietor:

    Customer (proudly): It means "fiery strength!"
    Proprietor (horrified): No! It means of two men who love each other, you are the one who plays the woman!

  26. Re:Possibly you're right by vslashg · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've actually seen phtotos of a guy who thought he had some bitching Viking runes tatooed, and they were horribly mispelled (I will not divulge the nature of the error...

    That's okay, the mere fact that you have an interesting anecdote adds volumes to this conversation. No need to share it, that would just be overkill.

  27. Re:Random? by TheCycoONE · · Score: 4, Funny

    So you analyzed the code, now you may look up "palindrome"

  28. Re:Possibly you're right by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 4, Funny

    I shop often in an Asian part of town. Bought my daughter a lovely pink kitten-infested shoulder bag with "Sing Sing Death House" neatly embroidered on it. With little fluffy sheep dancing about.

    --
    Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
  29. Re:Possibly you're right by rjstanford · · Score: 5, Funny

    Then you get the generation gap. I remember walking through Dresden a few years ago when I saw a young girl (14 or so) wearing a cute shirt, also with a rabbit on it, with "Squirmy Fuck Bunny" in poofy letters. I'm pretty sure that she knew what it meant but that her older, conservative looking mom had no idea.

    --
    You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
  30. Re:Random? by gambit3 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Because this is Slashdot. Your mistake is assuming that GOOD submissions get posted.

  31. Re:I still can't believe by j00r0m4nc3r · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think he's gunning for Admiral

  32. Re:Random? by delinear · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe I'm just cynical, but I assumed all links here since about 2001 went to goatse. On a side note, it's also why I never RTFA...

  33. Re:Can get even worse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's a verb. It's what you do when you fill up your Cadilliac.

  34. Re:Can get even worse by operagost · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah, but it's a Y. Wyelsh pyeople llyove thyeyr Ys.

    --

    Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
  35. Re:Seeing patterns in the random by IICV · · Score: 4, Funny

    Then an intern mashed out half of it. Geez, do I have to do all the work around here?

  36. Re:Can't we just ask? by scourfish · · Score: 2, Funny

    Not for long. The shadow government/freemasons must silence him before he reveals the hidden message. Check out www.911vaccinemoonlandingtruth.org for more info. Fight the power.

  37. isn't it obvious? by jd2112 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Drink more ovaltine, eh.

    --
    Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
  38. Re:Can get even worse by Antisyzygy · · Score: 4, Funny

    The 'pleases" part probably has some underlining context to it such as "selfishly pleases" or "amusingly pleases" which would not be translated with the same underlying sexual interpretation. I remember in Japanese class one time I thought I said "I like to eat sushi because it is healthy", but I used the word "Genki" which actually translated what I said into something like "I enjoy eating sushi that is energetic and alive". My japanese teacher laughed at me and pretended to be a maki roll bouncing around the room.

    --
    That brings me to an interesting point, / . is just "the ramblings of socially-inept, technology-literate news-mongers".
  39. Re:Seeing patterns in the random by Yvan256 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yes you do.

    Here, type my reply for me on the lines below:
                ________________________________________________________________
            ________________________________________________________________
        ________________________________________________________________
      ________________________________________________________________

  40. Re:Can get even worse by Moraelin · · Score: 2, Funny

    Though, come to think of it, it would be funny if someone did get a runic inscription that was readable as some crap omen.

    I mean, I can see it. "Mr Svensson, if I read your tattoo right, feh is the rune for wealth or cattle, but its being inverted would indicate or foretell a loss of such. To make it worse, the rest of it puts it in the context of a disastrous overseas travel. So... can you explain why should we hire you to program our traveling agency's booking and financial software?" ;)

    --
    A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
  41. Re:Can't we just ask? by atrocious+cowpat · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...signifying nothing.

    A coat-of-arms inscribed by an idiot?

    And a /. discussion full of sound and fury.

    --
    sig? Oh, that sig...
  42. Re:Possibly you're right by Guspaz · · Score: 3, Funny

    We have always been allied with Eurasia.