Decrypting Kryptos 235
angkor writes "Kryptos is a sculpture located on the grounds of CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Installed in 1990, its thousands of characters contain encrypted messages, of which three have been solved (so far). There is still a fourth section at the bottom consisting of 97 or 98 characters which remains uncracked."
Crack? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Crack? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Crack? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Crack? (Score:2)
Things that are not to be shot have to be comprehensible to the players, or else they won't figure out what to do with it.
Re:Crack? (Score:5, Funny)
Now, now. The full saying to the shmup motto is, IIRC:
"If it moves, kill it. If it doesn't move, shoot it until it does. Then kill it."
Unfortunately I can't find a source --- anyone?
Re:Crack? (Score:2)
* If its wet, drink it.
* If its green, smoke it.
* If it moves, fuck it.
* If it doesn't move, throw it in the back of the truck.
Re:Crack? (Score:2)
The way I heard it (for old RPG's) was, "If it moves, shoot it. If it doesn't move, shoot it. If it's still there, pick it up."
Re:Crack? (Score:2)
I'll bet it says... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I'll bet it says... (Score:3, Funny)
"He who is valiant and pure of spirit may find the
Holy Grail in the Castle of uuggggggh"
Re:I'll bet it says... (Score:2)
Anyway, he wouldn't write "Arrrrggggghhhhh", he would just say it.
Maybe he was dictating...
Re:I'll bet it says... (Score:2)
Oh yeah I saw that once (Score:1, Funny)
Mercury Rising anyone?
El Saladhead
I have always been curious (Score:1)
Re:I have always been curious (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I have always been curious (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:I have always been curious (Score:2)
Re:I have always been curious (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:I have always been curious (Score:2, Funny)
What makes you think it isn't?
Re:I have always been curious (Score:3, Informative)
There's a classic book on the history of codes and codebreaking called The Codebreakers, by David Kahn [david-kahn.com]. A revised edition came out recently. There is even a Wikipedia article [wikipedia.org] about him.
Re:I have always been curious (Score:5, Interesting)
Maybe the boys at Langley are being too literal at trying to solve it.
Re:I have always been curious (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I have always been curious (Score:2)
Re:I have always been curious (Score:2)
Re:I have always been curious (Score:2)
Re:I have always been curious (Score:2)
Kryptos? (Score:5, Funny)
Is there a solution? (Score:5, Interesting)
Forgive me for being cynical, but how can we be sure that this final piece is actually crackable? I mean, it would be a cruel joke by Jim Sanborn (the structure's creator) to just include a load of junk, but who's to say he didn't? The fact that the other parts have been deciphered suggests that this last part will give way eventually, but maybe that's just to make the final joke even crueler?
I hope I'm wrong because that would make this story a lot less interesting, but I just thought it should be mentioned.
Re:Is there a solution? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Is there a solution? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Is there a solution? (Score:2, Informative)
However, the Riemann Zeta Function is part of a family of functions called Dirichlet L-series.
Re:Is there a solution? (Score:2)
Re:Is there a solution? (Score:3, Funny)
If so, he'll get what's coming to him in the geek afterlife: An eternity of this [neowin.net].
Re:Is there a solution? (Score:4, Interesting)
If the end of the text is part 4, there's probably at least a part 5, because there's a bunch of other stuff in the installation not yet used in any solutions (including, for example, a compass that points the wrong way).
I wouldn't be surprised, from the known decryptions, if you had to stand with a candle at a certain point and notices the letters cut in the shadow cast by the sculpture at particular points. It seems to me like the bottom rows would be most likely as the letters for this, so it may be that some of the letters are important, but that there's no way to solve it by just looking at a transcript.
Just to be picky. (Score:2)
Re:Is there a solution? (Score:2)
Re:Is there a solution? (Score:3, Informative)
Q: Are you sure that Kryptos part 4 is solvable?
Yes. Both Jim Sanborn and Ed Scheidt have repeated over and over that it's solvable. Sanborn has also been quoted in interviews as saying he was surprised that it hadn't been solved yet. And when Elonka Dunin, co-moderator of the Kryptos group, asked him flat out in mid-2003 whether or not part 4 was solvable, his answer was: "Yes. It ain't easy, but it's solvable!"
97 or 98? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:97 or 98? (Score:5, Informative)
All of the characters on the ciphertext side of Kryptos have been solved, except for 97 characters at the very bottom. There is also a question mark between parts 3 and 4. Some say the question mark is part of part 3 (since it ends with the question, "Can you see anything q"). However, it's possible that the question mark is part of part 4.
So, there you go. Having a question mark at the beginning is a little odd, unless it's a hint that you are meant to read it backwards like some of the other Kryptos puzzles.
Re:97 or 98? (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe it's in Spanish...
Re:97 or 98? (Score:1)
Someone please mod that up, although I personally hope said character's Lindsay Lohan [llrocks.com] and neither of those two horrors.
Keys... (Score:2)
Re:Keys... (Score:2)
I think I got it.. (Score:3, Funny)
"We are"..."
There's more! "s", "o", "r", "r", "y"
"We are sorry"...We knew this!
"f", "p", "r" - "We are sorry for" - "t", "h", "e", - "We are sorry for the what!?!
"i", "n", "c", "o", "n", "v", "e", - almost got it - "n", "i", "e", "n", "c" "e".
"We are sorry for the inconvenience"? You bastard!!
*Apologies to DNA, who orignially used this idea as God's final message to the univers.
Re:I think I got it.. (Score:2)
Re:I think I got it.. (Score:1)
I sincerely hope this Kyrptos thing doesn't have a typo, otherwise it'll take another 2000 years to crack.
Re:I think I got it.. (Score:1)
Re:I think I got it.. (Score:3, Informative)
The encrypted sections include spelling errors, which Sanborn said were intentional, possibly to throw off sleuths, and misaligned characters set higher on a line of text than characters around them.
So who knows. :)
Re:I think I got it.. (Score:1, Redundant)
God I feel like a geek right now.
Re:I think I got it.. (Score:4, Funny)
damn (Score:3, Funny)
I got it !! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I got it !! (Score:2)
Re:I got it !! (Score:2)
Good thing the CIA isn't about code breaking (Score:2)
They probably have, long ago, and just don't tell anybody. They're probably chuckling about it right now.
E*A*T*Y*O*U*R*O*V*A*L*T*I*N*E (Score:1, Funny)
The solution: (Score:1)
Re:The solution: (Score:2)
Re:The solution: (Score:2)
Curious Images... (Score:2)
Here is the image [akamai.net]
Re:Curious Images... (Score:2)
~X~
Re:Curious Images... (Score:2)
Re:Curious Images... (Score:2)
Re:Curious Images... (Score:2)
Re:Curious Images... (Score:2, Informative)
Elonka
I have seen a pattern in the information... (Score:4, Funny)
>
Re:I have seen a pattern in the information... (Score:2)
It's a trap! (Score:5, Funny)
The people who solved the first 3 are currently in jail for DCMA violations. ;^)
Re:It's a trap! (Score:2)
Re:It's a trap! (Score:2)
No, they're actually enjoying the Good Life on a year-long world cruise. Haven't you seen the commercial on TV before "Hockey Night USA" on TechTV?
We just need someone to bust into the CIA to find the cells where these three have since become mummified husks, chained to their cell beds...
Another option... (Score:4, Funny)
metaphorically solved section 4 (Score:5, Interesting)
http://members.aol.com/scirealm/KryptosPart4.ht
Re:metaphorically solved section 4 (Score:2)
Re:metaphorically solved section 4 (Score:4, Funny)
I swear, I was half expecting a "See you at Time Cube Con '05" at the bottom the page.
Re:metaphorically solved section 4 (Score:2)
Here be treasure... (Score:2)
GlobeXplorer [globexplorer.com] shows some parkland adjacent to a collection of buildings (presumably CIA HQ), but no "X".
It's probably only a cache of Iraqi WMD, or an alien spacecraft... Move along, nothing to see here.
Re:Here be treasure... (Score:3, Informative)
-77.1455555555555555 lon
38.95180555555555555 lat
which is a courtyard right smack in the middle of CIA headquarters.
Re:Here be treasure... (Score:2)
Zooming out a bit, and overlaying the 1984 topographic map on top of the 1988 B/W USGS photo, I get this view [ofdoom.com] which looks like that point used to be in a field next to the building, but when it was expanded (sometime between 1984 and 1988) that location was enclosed in a court yard.
The nearest benchmark is HV4826 [noaa.gov] which is reported as being destroyed in 1984 - probably during the expansion of the building, so I would say it happened early in that timerange.
T
To Serve Man (Score:3, Funny)
Re:To Serve Man (Score:2, Funny)
Bravo (Score:2)
Outstanding reference. Really cracked me up.
Plagiarism (Score:5, Informative)
From the Slashdot summary:
And from the actual page: So, unless angkor is the author of the page over at elonka.com, he's plagiarised the article for his summary. Now, I understand that this can be a difficult call to make, since the article is clearly cited. However, the language of the summary ("angkor writesSadly, this is not the first time this has ever happened on Slashdot (in fact, it happens in nearly every posted article). Come on, people. If you're going to submit a story, either summarize the article in your own words or attribute your summary text to the article. And editors, pull your thumbs out of your asses and actually edit your site once in a while. In a case like this, it's pretty damned obvious that the article summary is just part of the first paragraph of TFA, and so rather than attributing the summary to the article submitter ("angkor writes ..."), use other language that makes clear the quoting ("angkor quotes from the article ...").
Re:Plagiarism (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Plagiarism (Score:2)
Better still, (no, please, don't laugh, just hear me out...) Slashdot should be setting an example - raising the bar of properly accredited journalism.
Okay, you can laugh now. I know you've been holding it
NOT Fair Use (Score:3, Interesting)
In the UK at least, an author has stautory provision against false attribution. Fair use itself does not usually take consideration of the effect or intent. No new work was created in which a fair use rule can be applied. The effect is redistribution in a database, for which there is a ton of case law saying the incident is actionable.
Although to go into the grey area here would take too long, the person who "writes" is attributing material to themselves.
Ah, but it's Slashdot who writes "writes". S
Re:Plagiarism (Score:2)
/. ings (Score:2, Funny)
Dupe (Score:3, Funny)
Translation In Full (Score:3, Funny)
George Smiley,
Asst. Attorney to
Director, National Security Agency
Chief, Central Security Service
(NSA Information Assurance Department)
Date As Decrypt Key
Re: Unauthorized Use and Disclosure of Intellectual Property
VIA FEDERAL EXPRESS
Dear Cryptanalyst,
I serve as legal counsel to the NSA Information Assurance Department, owner of extensive intellectual property rights and trademarks pertaining to the use, distribution and deployment of intelligence worldwide. In fact you may have heard of us. To make you fully understand our concern and the reach of our recognised brands throughout the world, let me put it this way, we do what RIAA only dreams they could.
It has recently come to our attention that John Doe, in personam, i.e. youself, the only possible recipient of this message has sought to circumvent our intentional copy protection of classified communications, thereby exposing our proprietary materials, name, marks, trade dress, intellectual property and good will to possible illegal misuses including but not limited to commercial exploitation or karma whoring on Slashdot.
By reading this message you have violated federal laws, including (among others) the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Economic Espionage Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Wiretap Act, the Legal Lobbyist Retirement Protection Act, and the Consumer Fraud and Abuse Act, as well as State of Wisconsin Natalie Portman 3D Redistribution Act (HP Amendment). (We're the NSA, we know about that one too.)
Therefore we require that you immediately CEASE AND DESIST from any and all activities causing, leading to or which might be construed to result in the actual or potential dissemination of the proprietary information and excellent legal drafting contained herin. Under the terms of the DMCA, inter alia, we inform you that henceforth your knowledge of this text will be deemed to be a Circumvention Device, and as such we are required to place restrictions on your person. Kindly call me on the number below and await instructions. Do not move, do not try to escape, do not pass go and do not collect $200 (that's all we have left after spending $20Bln on the Great Monument to ourselves you see before you.)
Failure to comply with these requests may expose you or your organization to an action for injunctive relief or monetary damages, and any other relief permitted under state and federal law, including court costs and attorneys' fees. You may also wish to consider and examine the potential criminal consequences, under theories of aiding and abetting and conspiracy to denigrate the agencies elite avant-garde sculptural skills.
If you fail to comply with these requests we will have to invoke recourse under the Homeland Bitchslap Act of 2001.
Sincerely,
George "W" Smiley.
P.S. Son, you should have just applied through personnel. Way back when I was a junior we dreamed up this sucker distract the Russians who'd waste all their time drinking vodka and analysing it just to get one over us. Don't worry, I'll tell your Ma it was friendly fire.
Let me help. (Score:2)
It's obviously written in the standard galactic alphabet...
Been working on this awhile :) (Score:3, Interesting)
I cant tell you how much time i've spent in the middle of the night arranging the letters in x,y grids... and even more bizzare.
I reconstructed the statue in 3D Studio Max so that i could tinker with the idea of folding the statue on itself, etc. One of the vigenere keywords in an earlier section hints at the reuse of the message, so its just an angle i've been tinkering with.
http://www.storm-seeker.com/kryptos.jpg [storm-seeker.com]
If anyone would like a copy of the max files to tinker with, shoot me an email at storPIZZAmseeker@gmail.com minus food
I have found a remarkable solution to this puzzle (Score:2)
- Jim
Re:Is this news? or a wikipedia entry? (Score:1)
And from what I can tell, cryptography isn't exactly common sense. It can be classified as a science, or branch of mathematics. Those both sound like nerdy subjects to me.
Re:Is this news? or a wikipedia entry? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Is this news? or a wikipedia entry? (Score:2)
However, this article has been posted on Wired since Friday. So I thought it was a dupe at first, the realized that It's just that I had RTFA already.
Re:Ahh noooO! (Score:3, Funny)
Oooh, I just figured it out using my calculator (Score:5, Funny)
I don't get it though.
Re:Fark (Score:2)
Edwin
And so? (Score:2)
Re:no wonder its so tough to crack (Score:2)
Why would the CIA allow something that would be easy to crack on their property?!
Because it says "all of your earth are belong to US!"
And I'm not going to clarify whether there is a "the" in that sentence.