unforum

[babbler]

It's suggestive, but yeah, not compelling enough to constitute a solution. (But it does match up very well....)

We can assume that when we find a solution, we'll know it, even if we don't know how we'll know (a nice epistemological puzzle, that). So far, this is too open to interpretation for me to accept in and of itself, but it's surely worth keeping in mind as a possible key.

And I'm still bothered by Texas' absence....

[Grout]

ok cheese, I'm going to take your word for it. There are some points that point to deserted locations where there could be no computer.

Therefore... My theory AND the internet backbone theory are both ruled out.

Now we can move on. Scientific method.

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that most, if not all, of these points are on STREETS. This would lead me to believe that these GPS coordinates were originally pulled from ADDRESSES. It's what originally led me to my IP theory... But if the PMs made this list from addresses, then I'd think what is at these locations should probably be our main focus at this point. Too bad they seem to have nothing in common. Grouping?

[sherpa]

Righto. In the 'scientific method' camp, here's an Excel sheet (sorry, I can't wait to get home and bang some of this stuff through Perl scripts) which has the co-ords, distances, pairings and addresses in it. No conclusions as yet - it's meant to be a tool to help people experiment, rather than have to dig through 30 pages and several websites to get the data.

Enjoy.

[ilovecheese]

[jbd]

[Samari]

if we want to use scientific method i suggest we start using it from the beginging rather than take a look at a few points, start making half-cocked theories then bickering over whether they make sense.

lets think about what we know so far

*the points tend to cluster around major population centers, there is probaly a reason for this.

*they are also given to us in pairs of points, which doesn't seem like it was accidental.

*they are also located on the same page that talks about axons, how do they relate to axons?

*from the points that have been examined so far, there is no obvious similarities among all the points, although there are some groups of locations with similar landmarks.

*none of the points are outside the contiguous US. what makes the US so special? [meta] if something at the physical locations is important, it makes the game less enjoyable for foriegn players (and texan players for that matter) or it is a puzzle designed to require massive teamwork.

*which begs the question, texas has major population centers but no points, why?

*this has something to do with an AI trapped on a clunky computer in California

that's all the points i can come up with for now but i'm sure there are more important pieces. any good theory will at least attepmt to address these points and address them simply and elegantly. I don't have any answers really but sometimes it helps to break down the question into smaller bits.

[Speaker]

http://bees.netninja.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:GPS_Locations#Row-017_Col-001

Check that out... it might be a solid lead. Discussing in the Obvious Coordinates Conclusion thread

http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5552

[jbd]

If there's a commonality between locations, I'm guessing it's a *grouped* commonality. That is, these 10 places are near a Denny's, these 10 are near a Borders, these 10 are in the woods, but of course if you pick a random small set they'll all probably be different.

I know we've been focused on pairs, but it's entirely possible the double-column thing is just formatting and the left-right connection is meaningless.

To extrapolate from the capabilities of the AI, imagine it looking up various business and historical sites and location names and the using reverse GPS lookup to extrapolate the GPS numbers. This would result in a bit of innacuracy and a lot of things showing up at intersections (because from looking on the Internet, you don't know the closest Borders if five blocks down to the north, just that it's at 1st and 22nd or whatever).

[floorneyne]

[firefox]

ok lets see

wide awake-

rebuilding of all memory, more computer space/ power

does she need to tap into like a big electrical source? are the points on the map connected in a way to electrical outlets: power stations, or transformer boxes or something.

any connection to the earth's fault lines? earth energy (wild spec)

physical-

she can move around, network to network, or create a physical body presence (is building a voice step one? body next? )

also digital_nihil mentioned looking to the stars, can they be sky co-ordinates?

[MrToasty]

[Astald]

I think the two columns must be somewhat related. Look at row 19, column one and two are not only in the same state, the same city, but even ON THE SAME ROAD! There has got to be something there on that road in Rootstown, OH. And other than that, those two places are next to nothing, just on a big road. Although I personally haven't checked that site, just the impression I got from mapquest.

[jbd]

[Grout]

not all of them though jbd - for example 4 of the chicago sites are grouped together on the list but one is way out for some reason

...or for no reason

[jbd]

I've noted the 'one separate from the rest thing' too. That suggests whoever it was took a break and came back later after other entries already came in.

For more support that it isn't just left-right relations, note how Row 2 Column 2 (between Jefferson Memorial and East Potomoc Park) and Row 3 Column 1 (near the Smithsonian Institution Building, Castle Visitor Information Center, Arts and Industries Building, and The Mall) are awful close to each other.