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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: The Lost Experience » TLE: META, OT, and Social Interactions
[OoG][SPEC] Sphynxian?
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Lucent
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Joined: 07 Nov 2003
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 		[OoG][SPEC] Sphynxian?
I was just checking the responses over at stophanso.rachelblake.com and I noticed one comment that kinda popped out at me. Right before the garthazoid comment is one by a "sphynxian" who uses a picture of Oedipus and the Sphinx as his icon. The Greek reference kinda nabbed me, as did the suspicious post so I went over to the link provided: http://sphynxian.blogspot.com/

There was only one post, and a kind've odd image. I haven't tested it for stegging yet, but considering how unlikely that's been over the course of the entire ARG I'm hesitant to even bother. It does look in-game, but I really can't tell, there's so much stuff clogging up the tubes, as it were lately, espescially with sites like defendinghanso and all that.

Thoughts?

PostPosted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 3:03 am
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Lucent
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 		Okay, I'm getting possible for that image being stegged. Way too tired to do anything else right now.

Yeargh.

PostPosted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 6:18 am
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Lucent
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 		Looks like it updated with a new message and picture. Still trying to figure out what to do with what's here, but I'm noticing Sphynxian posting on Rachel's blog often now.

PostPosted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 7:25 pm
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catherwood
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Joined: 25 Sep 2002
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 		People can post anything they want in blog comments, including their personal website URLs. I saw nothing related to our game at hand, so I have moved it to the off-topic area. If future developments prove otherwise, it can be moved back.

PostPosted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 9:17 pm
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Lucent
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 		Good point, espescially with the flood of sites like defendinghanso, that one blog that got mentioned and has been posting videos, it all seems a little suspect Mad
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:10 pm
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theShaggy
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 		I went back to defendinghanso and saw no videos... also, Defendinghanso.org originated from users on this board, if I remember correctly, as a way to interact with the PMs in an In-Game level, much like Matt and Vexing are doing with the Valenzetti blog.

...

Yeah, that wasn't a really necessary post, but I felt I had to defend Defending Hanso.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:17 pm
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Lucent
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 		Ahh, I thought it was another attempt at muddying the waters with more official looking material.

I was talking more about Dick Cheever's Blog which has been apparently using videos (though I've not watched them). As long as Defendinghanso is about promoting interaction between the PMs and players, that's cool. Totally different than an ARGjack.

Edit: Kind've off-topic, but have any of the attempts at garnering interaction with the PMs worked? Aside from pre-planned IM conversations and stuff, I mean the Valenzetti blog and Defending Hanso--it seems like a solid idea, and I remember doing a little of that back in the Metacortechs Scandal ARG. It would be real nice if it actually panned out.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 11:09 pm
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theShaggy
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 		Lucent, I couldn't agree more.

This Dick Cheever blog is playing it as if it is part of the In-Game experience, using videos and actually trying to tie in to game continuity. All that Defending Hanso is doing is saying "Okay, so we're trying to react to what we're seeing." Heck, the whole "Amy Jensen" thing is a sly nod to the casting sheet Smile

But Cheever is deliberately trying to steer us wrong, if it is OOG. That's just not cool, and there is way too much of it.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 04, 2006 11:28 pm
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Lucent
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 		Some people over at thelostexperience.blogspot.com cracked the code on the first image, it was stegged. Inside was a single .txt file

The password ended up being "mysterious" the one word missing from the quote, which apparently was from Albert Einstein.

Quoted below, .txt file is also attached. I'm curious if this is an attempt to contact the PMs or ARGJack...

Quote:

P,

I don't know what you've gotten me into, but I think I was followed home a few days ago. I'm elsewheres for the time being but will remain in contact. This is the safest way I could think to get a message to you without it being readily seen, I doubt Hanso has to time to track down potentially 'stegged images across the internet and with the amount of static people are creating towards reliable information I think flying as low under the radar as possible is best.

Regardless, I've tracked down a bit of information on that blurry camera shot you sent me. As far as I was able to glean from the records, there is no island on the equator (or within several degrees of it) that match the description I was able to clean out of the photograph. Whatever they're looking at isn't on conventional maps, or you really need to work on your spy skills.



I kid.



Noticed Hanso is down for the count on the internet, it's locked up tighter than I can handle getting through and it looks like they're doing their best to cover up your last discovery there. Sorry I'm so out of the loop, P, things have just been dangerous.


Still trying to dig out a few more bits of info on this Valenzetti guy for you, but from what it looks like there's been a bit of mud thrown in the water about his origins. Good ole' Val looks to have been more of fabrication that I first imagined. I'm still trying to get to discern whether the lead I'm following is legitimate, but if it's leading the way it looks to be, Valenzetti may not have been what we thought he was...

But, I really can't throw anything else at you until I get in touch with C again.

Just initiating contact here, P. Keep a sharp eye out on things, and don't let R get in too much trouble.


-S



Confused
mystery.txt
Description  Inside stegged snow_globe.jpg
 txt

 Download 
Filename  mystery.txt 
Filesize  1.73KB 
Downloaded  438 Time(s) 
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 3:31 am
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vexingmodstwo
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theShaggy wrote:
I went back to defendinghanso and saw no videos... also, Defendinghanso.org originated from users on this board, if I remember correctly, as a way to interact with the PMs in an In-Game level, much like Matt and Vexing are doing with the Valenzetti blog.

...

Yeah, that wasn't a really necessary post, but I felt I had to defend Defending Hanso.


Thanks for the plug!

That Sphynxian guy also posted a cryptic message on my blog.
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[URL=http://findvalenzetti.blogspot.com]Finding the Valenzetti Equation... My "in-character" blog.[/URL]

PostPosted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:42 pm
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guymiller69
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Joined: 17 Jun 2006
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 		The Sphynxian Experience
Its funny that everyone is becoming disenchanted with the way the Racel Blog is being played out, when over at the Nay Sphynx blog I am having great fun with the way it is playing out. It doesn't seem to be an ARGjack, more playing along with the game. The problem is its waaaay more fun at the moment than the rachel/persephone/who the? side of the game.

PostPosted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 6:05 am
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vexingmodstwo
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Lucent wrote:
Some people over at thelostexperience.blogspot.com cracked the code on the first image, it was stegged. Inside was a single .txt file

The password ended up being "mysterious" the one word missing from the quote, which apparently was from Albert Einstein.

Quoted below, .txt file is also attached. I'm curious if this is an attempt to contact the PMs or ARGJack...

Quote:

P,

I don't know what you've gotten me into, but I think I was followed home a few days ago. I'm elsewheres for the time being but will remain in contact. This is the safest way I could think to get a message to you without it being readily seen, I doubt Hanso has to time to track down potentially 'stegged images across the internet and with the amount of static people are creating towards reliable information I think flying as low under the radar as possible is best.

Regardless, I've tracked down a bit of information on that blurry camera shot you sent me. As far as I was able to glean from the records, there is no island on the equator (or within several degrees of it) that match the description I was able to clean out of the photograph. Whatever they're looking at isn't on conventional maps, or you really need to work on your spy skills.



I kid.



Noticed Hanso is down for the count on the internet, it's locked up tighter than I can handle getting through and it looks like they're doing their best to cover up your last discovery there. Sorry I'm so out of the loop, P, things have just been dangerous.


Still trying to dig out a few more bits of info on this Valenzetti guy for you, but from what it looks like there's been a bit of mud thrown in the water about his origins. Good ole' Val looks to have been more of fabrication that I first imagined. I'm still trying to get to discern whether the lead I'm following is legitimate, but if it's leading the way it looks to be, Valenzetti may not have been what we thought he was...

But, I really can't throw anything else at you until I get in touch with C again.

Just initiating contact here, P. Keep a sharp eye out on things, and don't let R get in too much trouble.


-S



Confused


Lucent, do you know what steg program they used to get this?

If you could just point to the link on TLEC that would be good too.
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[URL=http://findvalenzetti.blogspot.com]Finding the Valenzetti Equation... My "in-character" blog.[/URL]

PostPosted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 11:17 am
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guymiller69
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 		Lucent already posted a link for this over at


http://www.drkdesign.com/cluesmb/viewtopic.php?t=445&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

PostPosted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 12:17 pm
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vexingmodstwo
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guymiller69 wrote:
Lucent already posted a link for this over at


http://www.drkdesign.com/cluesmb/viewtopic.php?t=445&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0


THANKS!
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[URL=http://findvalenzetti.blogspot.com]Finding the Valenzetti Equation... My "in-character" blog.[/URL]

PostPosted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 12:30 pm
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Lucent
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 		Yeah, the Nay, PShynx stuff has been kinda fun. It's putting our noggins to the test.

The people over at thelostexperienceclues are a lot further along than this thread, so I'm going to quote the work of the cunning guys and gals who snagged up the latest Sphynxian posts here, for ocmpleteness' sake.

For the "Fled From Eden" image:
Timmy C AUS wrote:

P,

...is for Payday. I found it, the image you're seeing enclosed is without a singular doubt the same island that you pointed out to me. With the major movers and shakers away from the office I've had an easier time getting into places I shouldn't, espescially in relation to the web servers. There's nothing going on there as of yet, and your hidden message is still tucked away.

There's no sign of what the island's primary activity is for, or its exact coordinates, but the picture itself is proof enough. The comparison is pretty exact, and there were about six more shots (this was th emost detailed one I could find) in the main archives.

Here's the eerie part though--This satellite photo was taken back in 1987. In fact, all of the photos I found here are the same way. They're all at least two decades old, but it seems like an important enough site that there would be more up to date satellite records.

Now, I did a little spinning on web for likenesses to this island on satellite maps and I couldn't find a thing. Espescially not on the equator. So whatever we're looking at either doesn't exist anymore, or all record of it has been snuffed out.

I'm beginning to wonder after all of this, P, if the Dharma Initiative as never heard from again because of this? The documents I skimmed over here talked about juxtopositional eugenics, behavior control, all sorts of crazy mind-influencing experiments that harken back to the old Cold War era psychic projection testing that several major nations performed.

I'm getting worried, real worried.

I think you're in over your head, P. Cover is good and all, but the little spiders out there are beginning to draw some conclusions they shouldn't, and the static they're making in the web isn't as strong as it used to be.

Please, P, be careful--espescially with this Valenzetti business. His name comes up in almost all of these files, or at least a reference to his equation and more often than not Dharma was in the same sentence as Valenzetti.

What've you gotten me into, P?


From the Blind Justice image.
Smokey2271 wrote:

P,

I just got a call on my cell phone from my neighbor, they said my house burned to the ground earlier today. My house, P, with everything inside. Firemen were able to put out the blaze, but I've lost everything. I'm fortunate I'm a little bit "away" from my usual stomping grounds right now or I probably would've gone up in the smoke.

This can't be a coincidence P, my neighbor was terrified. He was asking me if I was okay, where I was. I just hung up on him before he could even tell me how much of my place was left. Did you know I was over halfway through with my mortgage payments?

I'm not blaming you, P, it's these _monsters_ you've got me prodding with sharp sticks. I think they've figured out that I found the map. Things are looking bad, really bad. I just don't have the disposable income to go galavanting off into the wild blue yonder like you do, I'm limited. I'm scared. I think they're after me, P, and I think I know why too.

It's about Valenzetti, about the equation. The last time I went digging in the files, the last time I was in the building, I saw records about the buyout of that hokey author's Valenzetti book, about how it was all just one big hand-waving distraction to keep people looking away from the real issue, the real secret behind Valenzetti.

I don't think he's dead, P. I really don't. There are correspondances that talk about him in present tense, whether that's out of habit or out of fact I can't be certain. But there's no way for me to find out more immediately, they're looking for me and I can't go back to dig into the files anymore; it's just too risky.

P, I need something with a little less potential death to handle. Something that doesn't have me digging around in person. Maybe you can get your spiders to go crawl around and figure out a lead for me to persue, something substantial that I can dig my teeth into. They've been crawling around my blog enough as it is, I think you've really got them stirred into a frenzy.

It's time you give them something to spin their own webs on, maybe a juicy fly they can snatch up.

Please, P.

I think I need help in this.


and from the most recent one, which is a backwards filename I can't remember off of the top of my head:
guymiller69 wrote:

P,

Yes, I'm alive.

I pulled up all the information I could on that boat from the harbor registry. I wasn't able to obtain a copy of the manifest, but I did nab you one better. The boat arrived last week in that port from Seoul, South Korea and carried no cargo. Whatever they're moving from Sanremo was stocked here and probably came from the hospital you visited, but what could they be carrying?


Dwelling on that idea is making me sick.


I still haven't returned home to see what remains of my house, I tossed my cell phone yesterday--I was getting paranoid about being tracked while even carrying it. I haven't stayed in one place for too long, not getting enough sleep, drinking too much coffee, not eating all of my vegetables, yadda yadda.

I think the lack of sleep is starting to affect my work though. Looks like the man is winning after all. I have to warn you though, your spiders comprimised these messages and though I trust them to some degree (they have to see the insidiousness of Hanso after all the work you did uncovering it to them) I'm worried that the wrong hands will be reading our correspondances. As such, I'm going to change formats (just like an old radio station) for our next communique; not that it would stop the spiders much.

As for where you should be heading next, your guess is as good as mine. The island I found, well, it isn't revealing its secrets to anyone anymore, espescially not with its last photograph being from almost two decades ago. Hopefully the spiders will pull something together for you, but even I'm having a hard time finding anything worthwhile. The Hans are covering their tracks with expert discrecion.

Keep me informed, P. Usual channels, I'll try to help out as best as I can.

-S



That brings us up to date.
found.jpg
 Description   Image with the "Fled From Eden" file.
 Filesize   8.54KB
 Viewed   1003 Time(s)

found.jpg
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 5:09 pm
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