unforum

[starlajo]

Yep, all that information (name, birth place) is on my site. I've signed up for notification of ARGs in several places.
The URL is a separate domain name - I imagine they bought a whole bunch and that is the reason they were so keen to get me to participate or quit, so they can contact someone else. Just a guess.

It's registered to:
agen provacean
agen provacean (aprovaceanSPLATgmail.com)
102 Laural Terrace
NewYork
New York,18704
US
Tel. +1.55423134

[Phaedra]

[Ozy_y2k]

What if, like me, your first name is Napoleonmonkeyboy, and you were born in Wakawakajibouti, North Ubertania??

I am just a little worried that I might be easily identifiable. But I am probably just being paranoid.

[starlajo]

Welcome to day 2, (my name).
Today we explore binary numbers, essential to computing and many forms of encryption such as the one we are using in our training.

The binary numeral system or base 2, consists of only the (2, hence 'base 2') numbers 1 and 0 as opposed to the most commonly employed human readable counting system, decimal or base 10 which uses the numbers 0 to 9. In binary you can represent any number you can in decimal, but more characters will be used.

For example the binary values of our example code which we gave yesterday: 7, 28, 14, 31, 13, 18, 83, 24, 14, 4, 9, 18, 83, 30, 14, 82, 10, 14, 1, 17, 23, 23 30 convert to the following decimal values: 111, 11100, 1110, 11111, 1101, 10010, 1010011, 11000, 1110, 100, 1001, 10010, 1010011, 11110, 1110, 1010010, 1010, 1110, 1, 10001, 10111, 10111, 11110

How do we convert between the two? It's a matter of understanding how any base system, indeed decimal/base 10 works. The decimal number system that people use every day contains ten digits, 0 through 9. Start counting in decimal: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Oops! There are no more digits left. How do we continue counting with only ten digits? We add a second column of digits, worth ten times the value of the first column. Start counting again: 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 (Note that the right column goes back to zero here.), 21, 22, 23, ... , 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, Oops! Once again, there are no more digits left. The only way to continue counting is to add yet another column worth ten times as much as the one before. Continue counting: 100, 101, 102, ... 997, 998, 999, 1000, 1001, 1002, .... You should get the picture at this point.

Another way to make this clear is to write decimal numbers in expanded notation. 365, for example, is equal to 3×100 + 6×10 + 5×1. 1032 is equal to 1×1000 + 0×100 + 3×10 + 2×1. By writing numbers in this form, the value of each column becomes clear.

The binary number system works in the exact same way as the decimal system, except that it contains only two digits, 0 and 1. Start counting in binary: 0, 1, Oops! There are no more binary digits. In order to keep counting, we need to add a second column worth twice the value of the column before. We continue counting again: 10, 11, Oops! It is time to add another column again. Counting further: 100, 101, 110, 111, 1000, 1001, 1010, 1011, 1100, 1101, 1110, 1111.... Watch the pattern of 1's and 0's. You will see that binary works the same way decimal does, but with fewer digits.

Binary uses two digits, so each column is worth twice the one before. This fact, coupled with expanded notation, can be used convert between from binary to decimal. In the binary system, the columns are worth 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, etc. To convert a number from binary to decimal, simply write it in expanded notation. For example, the binary number 101101 can be rewritten in expanded notation as 1×32 + 0×16 + 1×8 + 1×4 + 0×2 + 1×1. By simplifying this expression, you can see that the binary number 101101 is equal to the decimal number 45.

Converting to binary from decimal can be laborious, thankfully many websites have online tool to do the job and programs like the built-in windows calculator (in scientific mode) do the trick also. You can also, as always, find more information on binary online.


Today's comprehension test to move onto the next stage is to translate the decimal ASCII for the word "starla" that you worked out yesterday (115,116,97,114,108,97) into binary ASCII values. Just convert each decimal value into binary anyway you see fit. Enter them below with a comma between each value (no spaces).

115,116,97,114,108,97 in binary: (box to enter answer)

Then:

Correct. Congratulations (my name), you have completed Day 2 of training and are mid way to deciphering our training code.

edit: added spaces to prevent scrolling - rowan

[rose]

Is there any chance this could be related to the Route 66 ARG from the book Beyond Reality? I think that was supposed to start the same day (August 8th) on which you received the first email.

[starlajo]

[rowan]

[strife777]

I'll just wait patiently for the inevitable kidnapping and car explosion.

[chippy]

most of the binary tutorial comes from this page

[darkphan]

the name agen provacean smells like an anagram to me...

[starlajo]

[starlajo]

day 3...

[chippy]

thanks for that. shouldnt this thread be moved to Player Tutorial forum?

[Stormalong]

[starlajo]

It would appear that it's probably someone I know, as I've just received something to do with it (haven't opened it yet!) in my WORK MAIL!