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Post by TheCoyWonder on Sept 9, 2019 22:36:40 GMT -5
I like the hunt just as it is, a worthy, challenging puzzle to solve. I love the hint structure, too. Not too much, but at least something once a month to help direct the hunters. I'd wager it will be solved in the next couple months.
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Post by susb8383 on Sept 9, 2019 22:53:57 GMT -5
Could be!
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Post by goldenchild on Sept 25, 2019 23:44:06 GMT -5
This isn’t directly related to this hunt so please feel free to remove this if you want Jenny. I found this YouTube video about Cicadia 3301 very interesting. It was an internet based cryptic cypher that ran for years that many thought to be a recruitment tool to find the best cryptographers. It utilized coded text in an image that eventually led to a hidden phone number that led to an answering machine with further clues that led to websites, subreddits, fake social media accounts, hidden TOR chat rooms etc. A lot of the general ideas that have been thrown out here on this forum about DBT were utilized in that hunt...? Or whatever you could call it. Just thought I’d share it in case someone else finds it helpful towards this hunt as I did. youtu.be/I2O7blSSzpI
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brosk
New Member
Posts: 20
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Post by brosk on Sept 26, 2019 8:30:20 GMT -5
This isn’t directly related to this hunt so please feel free to remove this if you want Jenny. I found this YouTube video about Cicadia 3301 very interesting. It was an internet based cryptic cypher that ran for years that many thought to be a recruitment tool to find the best cryptographers. It utilized coded text in an image that eventually led to a hidden phone number that led to an answering machine with further clues that led to websites, subreddits, fake social media accounts, hidden TOR chat rooms etc. A lot of the general ideas that have been thrown out here on this forum about DBT were utilized in that hunt...? Or whatever you could call it. Just thought I’d share it in case someone else finds it helpful towards this hunt as I did. youtu.be/I2O7blSSzpIFascinating!
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Post by efanton on Sept 26, 2019 10:45:28 GMT -5
A bit more than fascinating youtu.be/I2O7blSSzpI?t=172Listen that that part of the video closely "it was now up to participants rise from their comfortable armchairs and venture outside" sounds very similar to "You need not rise up from your chair" My second point but probably more relevant, and this is something we have not considered, is maybe it its a website as we first thought but not a website with a traditional URL or a IP address but a website on the DARK NET. Dark Net websites can have a webaddress usually in the form of a alphanumeric followed by .ONION (a1b2c3d4.ONION for example) Suddenly those Hexadecimal numbers from stanza 5 might now have real meaning
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Post by goldenchild on Sept 26, 2019 11:21:00 GMT -5
A bit more than fascinating youtu.be/I2O7blSSzpI?t=172Listen that that part of the video closely "it was now up to participants rise from their comfortable armchairs and venture outside" sounds very similar to "You need not rise up from your chair" My second point but probably more relevant, and this is something we have not considered, is maybe it its a website as we first thought but not a website with a traditional URL or a IP address but a website on the DARK NET. Dark Net websites can have a webaddress usually in the form of a alphanumeric followed by .ONION (a1b2c3d4.ONION for example) Suddenly those Hexadecimal numbers from stanza 5 might now have real meaning the only issue with this theory of it being on the dark web is that you would first need an onion browser downloaded on your phone or computer. Which we know “no downloads are required” from one of his comments. So you can not access any onion sites without a download first which might eliminate the possibility.
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Post by efanton on Sept 26, 2019 11:33:32 GMT -5
A bit more than fascinating youtu.be/I2O7blSSzpI?t=172Listen that that part of the video closely "it was now up to participants rise from their comfortable armchairs and venture outside" sounds very similar to "You need not rise up from your chair" My second point but probably more relevant, and this is something we have not considered, is maybe it its a website as we first thought but not a website with a traditional URL or a IP address but a website on the DARK NET. Dark Net websites can have a webaddress usually in the form of a alphanumeric followed by .ONION (a1b2c3d4.ONION for example) Suddenly those Hexadecimal numbers from stanza 5 might now have real meaning the only issue with this theory of it being on the dark web is that you would first need an onion browser downloaded on your phone or computer. Which we know “no downloads are required” from one of his comments. So you can not access any onion sites without a download first which might eliminate the possibility. I disagree. Do you use the browser that came with you PC or mobile? Most dont. Also some devices come with no browser installed. I think it can be safely assumed that a browser does not 'qualify' as a download with regards to this puzzle. It is assumed we need a browser otherwise how could we have started out on the hunt in the first place. that doesnt mean that the website or destination of this hunt must exist on the dark web, but it is something that we really do need to consider and try out before we dismiss it. Besides, unless some are keeping things to themselves, it safe to say most have hit a brick wall and are just looking for new ideas or things to try. What else is there to do but give it a shot? I am out of ideas at the moment and making no progress whatsoever. BTW thanks for posting the video, I for one appreciate it. At the very least the video has given us a few ideas, and the YouTube Chanel mentioned has some very cool walkthroughs as to how the Cicada hunt was solved www.youtube.com/channel/UCG_-mmW9eZJwICp_wImMdsA
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Post by mrpoirot on Sept 26, 2019 15:07:11 GMT -5
Great ideas! But I am sorry to rain on the parade with regards to the dark web as Lukas has said that the dark web is not part of this hunt. See a question on the main video from YouTube user "I Like" from about four months ago.
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Post by efanton on Sept 26, 2019 18:30:28 GMT -5
Great ideas! But I am sorry to rain on the parade with regards to the dark web as Lukas has said that the dark web is not part of this hunt. See a question on the main video from YouTube user "I Like" from about four months ago. Well that's sort of disappointing and not disappointing at the same time Was glad to see another good idea posted that we could work on, but equally glad now it doesn't involved the dark web which I know very little about and have hardly ever used.
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Post by mrpoirot on Sept 27, 2019 15:57:07 GMT -5
I know he'll give a Y/N answer every month but...if everyone is going in the wrong direction, the questions asked are not going to be helpful. You don't know what you don't know, so unless someone accidentally stumbles upon a question that actually turns us in the right direction, we could go years with asking a question every month. Yes, it all comes down to how these questions are asked. This is starting to resemble the classical game "20 questions": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty_QuestionsHere is a great quote from Charles Sanders Peirce with regards to this: Something to think about before asking questions each month!
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Post by efanton on Sept 27, 2019 16:46:00 GMT -5
Personally I think we need a nudge in the right direction for stanza 5 or stanza 7
How to ask how we can make sense of C4 F5 C6 E6 will be difficult given that we will only get a YES or NO
Similarly without understanding what 'black flame' is or could be, it will be hard to word a question for stanza 7 that will allow us to make real progress.
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Post by elysethecat on Sept 27, 2019 19:12:12 GMT -5
I know the first Y/N question was "do you have to make a call," but I think it would be worthwhile to visit this angle and I believe it could narrow things down a bunch if the next question was simply, "Is the first key a phone number?"
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Post by catherwood on Sept 27, 2019 19:43:12 GMT -5
Be careful what you wish/ask for? "Is the first key a phone number?" could also be a trap, in that (almost) any string of the right number of digits COULD be a phone number. Getting a "yes" response might not mean what you think it means. What you seem to be asking is whether or not it was *intended* to be a phone number -- but it seems like you already have that answer. If you don't need to call it, does it matter if it is a properly-formatted string which could also be a working phone number? Sure, you could eliminate a bunch of invalid area codes, but only if you are trying to brute-force an answer. I wish I could offer better advice, but these kinds of clues have me stumped; my mind just doesn't operate that way.
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Post by goldenchild on Sept 27, 2019 19:54:22 GMT -5
I know the first Y/N question was "do you have to make a call," but I think it would be worthwhile to visit this angle and I believe it could narrow things down a bunch if the next question was simply, "Is the first key a phone number?" i agree. Trying to figure what the first key consist of would be a big help. I think asking if the first key is comprised of ten numbers with no letters would help eliminate or potentially validate a phone number also, but also cover the chance it’s a ten digit string of numbers that isn’t a phone number. Best case scenario we get a yes and it helps narrow it down greatly. We would then know we’re not looking for X’s or any letters or anything else besides generating numbers from the riddle. If we ask specifically if it’s a phone number and he says “no”, we still won’t know if we’re looking for a string of numbers, or letters and not be much better off than we are right now.
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Post by efanton on Sept 28, 2019 6:47:39 GMT -5
I know the first Y/N question was "do you have to make a call," but I think it would be worthwhile to visit this angle and I believe it could narrow things down a bunch if the next question was simply, "Is the first key a phone number?" i agree. Trying to figure what the first key consist of would be a big help. I think asking if the first key is comprised of ten numbers with no letters would help eliminate or potentially validate a phone number also, but also cover the chance it’s a ten digit string of numbers that isn’t a phone number. Best case scenario we get a yes and it helps narrow it down greatly. We would then know we’re not looking for X’s or any letters or anything else besides generating numbers from the riddle. If we ask specifically if it’s a phone number and he says “no”, we still won’t know if we’re looking for a string of numbers, or letters and not be much better off than we are right now. Totally agree. Keep it simple, but in a way that allows us to eliminate possibilities. asking if the first key is comprised of ten numbers with no letters would be a perfect question to get a general idea of what the first key would look like and at the same time eliminate, or reinforce, some of the theories so far put forward That single question with a YES or NO answer could answer two or three questions or possibilities in one go.
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