Author
Message
Russell
Unfictologist
Joined: 11 Feb 2005 Posts: 1571 Location: London
Well although NoMan may not have replyed to your suggestion, they have definitely taken it on board as it now appears on
Guessing its only a matter of time before we hear from Jacob if we did provide the right answer
Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2005 5:05 pm
ellipses
Veteran
Joined: 17 Nov 2003 Posts: 138 Location: Location Location
Dr Park has said he will place any new recordings into the public area. This could either be http://www.aresstation.com/files/public which is where he has put his pulsar recording previously. Or it could be http://citizens.aresstation.com/public .
I guess the second of these, since that is where the others are now. We can't browse this directory, so will have to guess the file name. I suspect it will be Wednesday night at 02:47 - so will be 208304130247.mp3 - exactly a week after the last one.
Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2005 7:41 pm
lurker
Boot
Joined: 06 Nov 2003 Posts: 52 Location: uk
New transmission from Jacob Hi all,
I haven't been around since Metacortechs so have been getting up to speed here. Apologies if any of this has been posted already and I haven't found it!
Dr Parks' newest post is about graffitti - the link looks like it should go to a picture but actually goes to Jacob's new transmission
http://citizens.aresstation.com/public/208304130247.mp3
Jacob eventually used the code 27182818 to open the door... and is now in another room. Unfortunately I don't have the time to transcribe at the moment.
27182818 is the mantissa of the transcendental number - 'e' where the exponent is 10 and the base is -7 (I think!)
http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/faq.e.html
Quote:
e is a real number constant that appears in some kinds of mathematics problems. Examples of such problems are those involving growth or decay (including compound interest), the statistical "bell curve," the shape of a hanging cable (or the Gateway Arch in St. Louis), some problems of probability, some counting problems, and even the study of the distribution of prime numbers.
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:58 am
ellipses
Veteran
Joined: 17 Nov 2003 Posts: 138 Location: Location Location
Well, what a weird one. Working on a transcription (just got to type it up). I'll edit this post in a bit.
Quote:
Jacob:
Hello! Guess you're still out there. I'm still transmitting. I got your message - Thank God!. I tried it. I tried it all and just when I thought nothing would work I tried 27182818 and the door opened. You're a life saver. And now I'm, well, I'm in another room.
Robot:
Hello
Jacob:
Hey, yeh - Hi. I'm in a bigger room now. It's still all plastic but it's bigger
Robot:
Hello
Jacob:
Give me a minute! Where was I? This place is bigger than anything I've seen on the station. I guess it could be in the centre column but, I don't think so. Especially now that I've met my little friend here.
Robot:
Hello
Jacob:
That's him. Do you know if anyone was working on a robot that dispenses those gross ration bars they give us when we go out in the ships? Not that I'm complaining, I mean they're gross but I thought I was going to starve! This things amazing! It's just floating there in the air. I don't see any rotors. I don't see anything on it that lets me see how it's staying up. And, as you can hear, It talks! I think it's trying to get me to say something to it - but I'm not sure what it is. Here, take a listen...
Robot:
Repeat! Repeat! Repeat! Say [CODE] the [CODE] ?sentherget? [CODE] wide to the others who could look [CODE] it was a peaceful gesture, but it did not bring peace. It was [CODE] many of them [CODE] stepped through the gate with swords in their hands [CODE] were shocked. The ?Merzkeen? told them no harm would come from their gift. ?Gift? from the [CODE] anger at this [CODE] ?Merzkeen? destroyed ?Therouk? [CODE} and their [CODE] They tried to hide. There was no hiding. The [CODE] visited the warring people and joined them all in brotherhood. All except the ?Merzkeen? [CODE] went to them and asked them [CODE] to ?come in? war [CODE] the [CODE] ?became? angry and cast them out. You have destroyed your [CODE] and will not have [CODE] he told them. I scatter you among the stars. You will not cause us this pain again. he then turned away from them and looked out to the [CODE] on other [CODE].
Jacob:
Yeh, quite a mouthful, huh?
Robot:
WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!
Jacob:
If I say "the" it doesn't give me those warnings right away. Maybe it's trying to get me to translate the rest? I don't know. But it does seem to know when I'm saying the wrong stuff. I, uh, don't suppose you could help me out again? I really appreciate it - I mean, I thought I was gonna die in here! And, uh, even if you can't figure this out, just send a message on Sunday. Means a lot that someone's trying to help me. Jacob Jones signing off.
Most odd - but at least we know the first [CODE] bit begins with "the" I guess!
[EDIT] Thanks to Lurker for correction
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 1:42 pm
Last edited by ellipses on Wed Apr 13, 2005 4:19 pm; edited 2 times in total
Wandering_Angela
Veteran
Joined: 10 Aug 2004 Posts: 108
What the...?
Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice would say.
I wonder if this would spark David's curiosity. It's certainly increased mine.
You see, I decided the other day to try to get David Severn involved to help Hanna out. I sent him an email (I'll spare you the text, it was pretty long) berating him for ignoring her and saying that he now has a chance to live up to his reputation instead of sitting around drinking himself into oblivion.
He didn't go for it (I didn't figure he would at first - just tring to make contact). He replied:
Quote:
Oh yes, you've shown me. Everything's gone to hell and Severn is
going to rise up and save the idiot girl who – without warning I might
add – went and followed him up where he just wanted to be alone.
In case you missed it: I came up here to be alone.
Leave. Me. Alone.
Things are strange up here. So what? I didn't come up here to be
normal. I
came up here for the world to forget about me. She didn't and
that's
her fault. Not mine. I don't think it's any of your
business either
that she's made a mistake and feeling that the world is out to get her
because of it.
Show me some danger beyond miners killing each other and... wait, you
know what?
Don't show me anything. I don't care. I never asked to be anything
to anyone. I'm nothing to you, you're nothing to me, mind your own
business.
Obviously he's right about it not being any of my business, but when did that ever stop an ARGer?
Anyway, I'm trying to decide how to respond. After all, he does say "Show me some danger" before saying "don't show me anything," so I'm going to go with the first - selective listening. I'm just not sure what the best, most convincing evidence is. I'm sure he won't wade through a whole lot of weird spec. It has to be something impressive. Right now, I'm thinking this last transmission might be the thing to get him interested.
Ideas?
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 1:50 pm
lurker
Boot
Joined: 06 Nov 2003 Posts: 52 Location: uk
transmission edit I think this bit:
Quote:
the [CODE] ?king? angry and cast them out
should read
Quote:
the [CODE] ?became? angry and cast them out
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 4:10 pm
ellipses
Veteran
Joined: 17 Nov 2003 Posts: 138 Location: Location Location
Quote:
the [CODE] ?became? angry and cast them out
I agree - I'll edit the transcription with this. Any more corrections?
Also, attached is the very first bit of code. Can anyone make anything of it?
And another thing - I know 27182818 is e (2.7182818) but how were we supposed to get that from what we had! I can't see it all.
Description
First bit of Code in the transmission
Filesize
27.59KB
Viewed
278 Time(s)
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 4:17 pm
OptimusPrime
Boot
Joined: 11 Apr 2005 Posts: 15
It doesn't seem to be morse code. That visual from Ellipses makes me think of the bar codes we've seen play a role in other puzzles.
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 5:02 pm
lurker
Boot
Joined: 06 Nov 2003 Posts: 52 Location: uk
I started with Morse - the first block of CODE is:
STELPOPOLO
the second block is:
FORAKAJ
Is it worth carrying on with Morse?
* EDIT - good point about the barcode. I'll start checking that out too.
*EDIT2
Barcodes - based on the sets of 10 letters (BbSs) the first problem I hit is that in the first block of code there are 48 bits (or 49 if you make the extra wide space into a double bb)
BsBbSsBsBs
SbBsBsBbSs
BsBsSbBsBs
BbSsBsSsSb
BsBsBs
I don't have the software or the know-how to analyse the audio, will have to hand over to someone else for this!
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 5:04 pm
Last edited by lurker on Thu Apr 14, 2005 8:58 am; edited 1 time in total
Wandering_Angela
Veteran
Joined: 10 Aug 2004 Posts: 108
Heh heh... this cracks me up.
The robot speaks Esperanto!
It is morse code... I'm working on the decoding/translation now. For a tantalizing start, the first line is "Stelo popolo," which is Esperanto for "Star people."
The rest to come soon...
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 6:03 pm
OptimusPrime
Boot
Joined: 11 Apr 2005 Posts: 15
It makes sense that a robot would speak the international language, even if the rest of monologue is english.
Oh well. Kudos to figuring that out, I never would have translated the morse code to another language. That's what I get for being new.
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 6:33 pm
ellipses
Veteran
Joined: 17 Nov 2003 Posts: 138 Location: Location Location
Now that *is* funny Would have taken me a looong time to spot that.
Remember to send the translation off to NoMan (as well as to us here) when you're done.
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 6:46 pm
Wandering_Angela
Veteran
Joined: 10 Aug 2004 Posts: 108
Ok, I've got the gist of it, but I need help putting together the best translation.
Here's the Esperanto text for each code block, followed by the translation I got from an online translator:
Quote:
STELO POPOLO (a star a people)
FORA KAJ (distant and)
SUR LA STELO KAJ REVI (On the star and to daydream)
MILITO (a war)
POPOLO (people)
LA STELO KAJ LOKO INTER STELO BRULIGI KAJ ANGELLASI KAJ STELO POPOLO (The star and a place between a star burn and ANGELLASI and star people)
KAJ STELO POPOLO (And star people)
PERFIDO KAJ (A betrayal and)
PORDEGO (door)
HEJMEN (at home)
TRANKVILIGI PAROLANTO (calm speaker)
TRANKVILIGI PAROLANTO (calm speaker)
PRO KIO ONI ESTE BLINDA (On account of what one is blind)
NE RESPONDI AL (Not to respond to)
TRANKVILIGI PAROLANTO (calm speaker)
HEJMEN (at home)
ALIULO (another)
INFANO (a child)
PLANEDO (a planet)
Given the above, here's my best guess at the full text (code translation in CAPS):
Quote:
Say, the STAR PEOPLE set their gaze DISTANT AND wide to the others who could look ON THE STAR AND DAYDREAM. It was a peaceful gesture, but it did not bring peace. It was A WAR. Many of them PEOPLE stepped through the gate with swords in their hands. THE STAR AND THE PLACE BETWEEN STARS BURNED AND ANGELLASI AND THE STAR PEOPLE were shocked. The Merzkeen told them no harm would come from their gift - ?gift from the? AND STAR PEOPLE anger at this BETRAYAL AND Merzkeen destroyed ?their old? PORTAL and their HOME. They tried to hide. There was no hiding. The CALM SPEAKER visited the warring people and joined them all in brotherhood. All except the Merzkeen. The CALM SPEAKER went to them and asked them WHY THEY WERE BLIND to come in war. THEY DID NOT RESPOND. The CALM SPEAKER became angry and cast them out. You have destroyed your HOME and will not have ANOTHER he told them. I scatter you among the stars. You will not cause us this pain again. He then turned away from them and looked out to the CHILD on other PLANETS.
Corrections? Ideas? Anyone have a better understanding of what's said where I have "?" marks?
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 7:17 pm
Wainamoinen
Veteran
Joined: 16 Sep 2004 Posts: 126 Location: On a little planet I like to call Earth...
Wow , this story just kicked into overdrive...
I believe Ohmega is Jacob's new robot friend.
-Wainamoinen
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 11:44 pm
TobyNTucker
Boot
Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 64 Location: South Korea
star people; gates; war?
sounds kinda like stargate
overdrive is right! better buckle the seatbelt hehehe
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 2:26 am
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