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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: General » Old News & Rumors
[BOOK] Cathy's Book - Sean Stewart and Jordan Weisman
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jamesi
Sentient Being


Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 2195
Location: Canadia

 		One of the local chains, Coles, has it on hold for me as it has not come in yet. Also, if you are an educator, chances are you can get a discount on it, if you plan on using it in the classroom.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 8:25 pm
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Mountain Girl
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Joined: 16 Sep 2005
Posts: 650

 		On the Webtalk Wireless page,
the riddle for entrance to Emma's private site via a login is " What's 600K in a frame?"

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
According to the book, a painting by Chagall (Vase of Flowers) sold at auction for $610,000.

However, when I tried to input the answer in it still says "Feature Not Yet Available"



Has anyone had any luck with this? Does it lead somewhere besides Cathy's MySpace?
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 9:36 am
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rowan
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Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 1966
Mountain Girl wrote:
Has anyone had any luck with this? Does it lead somewhere besides Cathy's MySpace?
It leads to an archive where you can see all of the stuff from the evidence packet, as well as some new information that Emma found.

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
As Emma is the one that setup the site, the answer is the name of the painting that she believes is worth $600k, which is the same as the name of the painting that is hanging on Victor's wall.

I'm not giving the exact name to force everyone who hasn't picked up the book yet to go buy it. You won't be disappointed Very Happy

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PostPosted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:41 am
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Mountain Girl
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Joined: 16 Sep 2005
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 		Hmmm. It tried that.


*EDIT* Nevermind. It would help if I learned to spell............ Rolling Eyes

PostPosted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 1:03 pm
Last edited by Mountain Girl on Sun Oct 08, 2006 1:05 pm; edited 1 time in total
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ScarpeGrosse
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Joined: 30 Nov 2002
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Location: The Shiny Castle in the Sky, Full of Cotton Candy and Hazelnut Lattes

 		Make sure you're spelling the word correctly...
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 1:04 pm
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Mountain Girl
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Joined: 16 Sep 2005
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 		Now that's what I'm talking about ("New Finds" section)! Very Happy
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 1:07 pm
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rose
...and then Magic happens


Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Posts: 4117

 		Got my copy!
Today
I finally got my pre-ordered copy today. I got it on a Sunday because the package room in my building signed for it yesterday while I was out. Can't look at it just yet..... But hopefully early next week. ( FYI I hear some rumours about a few autographed copies possibly being available. I think you will be hearing more about that soon. )
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 7:05 pm
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toenolla
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Joined: 22 Aug 2004
Posts: 51

 		Handy Tip
Just picked up my copy of Cathys Book from Borders - they have it stashed away in the Young Adult section. I haven't gotten very far in it; just opened the evidence packet and good damn, there is a lot of stuff there!

Here's where I get all Martha Stewart-ey. The evidence packet is closed with a sticker and a strip of adhesive, to keep people from messing with it in the book store. This is great for secuirty, but the downside is that, when you're finished sifting through the memories and you want to actually but your stuff back in the pouch, *something* will stick and possibly get scratched or torn - especially if you're so foolish as to leave that napkin on the bottom of the stack. So I took a piece of clear tape and taped it over the adhesive on the flap of the pouch, so now its closed tight with the sticker but it's infinitely more manageable.

I have to admit, with the mentioned ties to Cover Girl I had my doubts, but this is turning into an excellent read. I'm hoping to keep all the clues together so I can share it with friends, too. Smile

PostPosted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 9:46 pm
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Arana
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Joined: 20 Aug 2004
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 		Re: Handy Tip
toenolla wrote:
...when you're finished sifting through the memories and you want to actually but your stuff back in the pouch, *something* will stick and possibly get scratched or torn - especially if you're so foolish as to leave that napkin on the bottom of the stack.


Exactly what happened to us today! Thanks for the tip. And so far as I know there is no familial relationshib between Sean and Martha Smile .

So my copy arrived yesterday when I was out of town. My daughter started reading it today. We did some calls and also went to the Cathy's Book web site. From there we went to the Doubletalk wireless forum where my daughter signed up.

She then got an e-mail that gives instruction on activating her account. Has a form that must be signed and dated by parent (I like this attempt at security) and the it says "Fax or mail it to:" and there is NO FAX number of mail address!!! As a result, my daughter can't get on the chat. The site still says "under construction" so maybe it is just not ready yet.

If anyone has figured out a workaround please post here!

Thanks!
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 1:49 am
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toenolla
Boot


Joined: 22 Aug 2004
Posts: 51

 		The quickest thing I can think of is to make a new account clicking the "I'm a growed-up" link - that puts you straight through to the forum.

BTW, I didn't see a mention of this anywhere else, so I'll go ahead and say it...

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Dial the number at the bottom of Cathy's comic and you get a message from Bianca. Those of you that read the book know what this probably means.


Also, there appear to be two pieces of evidence on cathysbook.com that aren't in the packet. Hmm...

PostPosted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 2:52 am
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rose
...and then Magic happens


Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Posts: 4117

 		I haven't followed the clues along yet. Is the plan that we spoil anything we find here? Are we documenting every clue as in a regular ARG, or just answering questions that people have?
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 2:48 pm
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Silverkun
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Joined: 22 Feb 2005
Posts: 266
Location: San Francisco Bay Area, CA

 		On one hand, I want the hive-mind effect to help us out for the rather intenstive amount of stuff we get with these books.

On the other hand, however, I don't want to take money out of the pockets of those who are publishing this. I mean, knowing one specific answer basically releases all the proof-packet stuff to the general public.

I can't help but believe that the people who put this together planned for a full-release contingency, but I can't confirm it, sooooo...

Let's stick with questions answered and advance to full blown ARG mode in a preset amount of time? Like November 1st or something?

-R
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 3:34 pm
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dontpanic42
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Joined: 22 Jun 2006
Posts: 147
Location: naples, florida

 		i just picked up my copy! i'm going to go start reading now.[/b]
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 8:21 pm
Last edited by dontpanic42 on Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:11 am; edited 1 time in total
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vortech
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Joined: 22 Aug 2004
Posts: 465
Location: Atlanta, GA

 		First, I recognize I'm dredging here, but I already wrote this tonight, and I feel like talking about this in a better forum while it's still in the brain buffer
HaxanMike wrote:
Max Steele wrote:

Thank goodness we have groups like 'Commercial Alert' so parents don't have to monitor what their young children are reading! [/sarcasm]


That's an entirely different issue than what is being discussed, of course, but their actions could be seen as raising awareness so parents understand what the book is, thus enabling them to monitor what their children are reading.

Calling for a moratorium on reviews is (by definition) not attempting to raise awareness.

impboy wrote:
Hey, kids. So after a longish period of lurking, I feel it's time I weighed in here regarding the product placement controversy.

It's quite distressing to me to see that most of you really can't be bothered with concern over our kids, and how there's virtually no place left for them to go anymore where they aren't barraged with messages telling them to buybuybuy. I am very entranced with the notion of ARGs, but not with the fact that most of them are glorified commercials. I'm sorry, Sean Stewart, but a commercial is not an "art form," unless consumerism is the only thing that defines our lives.

I have a stepfather who runs a bookstore in Western Massachusetts, and while he was unaware of this book, he himself had problems with the notion of product placement in a book geared towards young adults. (think about it: would you have trusted Judy Blume as much if Sheila The Great was little more than a fictional spokesperson for Pepsi?) It's also telling that it's two MALES in their 30s-40s are pushing cosmetics, and by extension beauty standards, on young teenage girls. It starts to sound vaguely predatory to me, especially considering the condescending way the book addresses its potential audience on the 42 site. ("Cathy's Book speaks teen (omg!)") The fact that a 42 member is a former branding staffer for Procter & Gamble is also telling as well.

I'd refer you to the excellent PBS Frontline series "The Merchants Of Cool" or Alissa Quart's "Branded" for a deeper analysis on the issues. If you're a youth marketing or advertising type, this sort of argument is basically the enemy. But I think it spells out a code of ethics that I feel are sorely lacking in the ARG world and the machinations of its pioneers.
You know, part of what makes that (and most) frontline episodes "excellent" is that it does not spell out a code of ethics. I mention it only because critical media consumption seems to be the core issue here. I was fairly acerbic in the amazon post linked above. Partly that is because I find giving out shoebeatings fun, but mostly because the idea of shielding the children is so upsetting. If the part I quote below seems like an attack, remember it was written at someone else. That's why I'm putting it in a quote box in addition to editing it. To quote myself in relevant part:
Quote:
Turns out that each type of media has a range of content, commercialism, and quality and books do not have an exclusive market on knowledge (Nor are all books fungible - an idea that might lead one to educate a child on how to distinguish on their own). … It seems very likely to me that you are only creating a man-child so inexperienced in commercial-speech that by the time they venture into the ad-saturated world they will not be able to cope without a concerned parent to shield them from reality. To say nothing of their ability to fit into the society from which you spent so long segregating them.
…
You asked "is nothing sacred?" I was never aware that commercial fictional literature had any sort of sanctity. From the time of government-authorized literature to patronage to autobiographies authors have been using other people's money and conditions to distribute their work. How is paying money for the book so much worse than having the book subsidized by name-checks? If you want a book that's sacred, I recommend scripture.


Advertising is here for the foreseeable future. And personally, I have a hard time understanding why allowing other people to pay for my stuff is a universally and inherently bad thing. (Given your previous notation of vocation I may as well disclose that as a Trademark lawyer I partly make my living off of trademarks, advertising, and brand awareness.) I don't think I could afford all of the media I like if we had a patronage system.

If you take the time to be a parent, and teach your children how to properly deal with encountering a brand name there is no harm. Wether it is a different issue or not, it's one worth discussing. Not only is trying to shield your children from advertising a fool's errand it is a mistake in and of itself. Corporations make a great deal of profit. So much that they will funnel it back into producing free or subsidized products for me to consume. Because I do not have a pavlovian response to product placement I am not harmed by seeing a Q7 in The Closer, it's just that a piece of my TT's price included a great character-driven police drama.

I'm just saying, if you take advertisement as a given, you have to choose between taking advantage of the corporations who want to fund culture and significantly depriving yourself of culture. If it is not a given, then you introduce the option of reducing the bandwidth available to authors - significantly depriving other people of culture.
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 4:20 am
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dillonlover
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 		Codes
What are all the phone numbers in the book......pls tell me....somebody pls

PostPosted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 7:26 pm
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