unforum

[zizka]

i tried "rubypebble."

What is NTS?

It is odd that the post is from 07/07/07

[Coffeebean]

That was an email from ?? Probably Tristan? or JJ?

Seems very odd that it talks alot about John Green. Maybe this is our chance to get him to help us? Maybe an email telling JG that Claudia is not happy with his work, he was spotted at the camp grounds, and if he has anything he wants to share with us, now would be a good time?

The notes on the map update were really odd too: who cares how much money they make? I just found it weird, just like everything else that is going on lately.

We still havent been able to access The Forth Protocol at FoF, so while you are working passwords for NTS, see if you can magically produce one for both sites, thanks (lol)

[mortality]

From JJ, I'm assuming

NTS could mean almost anything. Most likely it means: needless to say. Since there's a password box and he titled the post "protected". A quick search of OOG tradecraft specific acronyms didn't pull up anything more likely.

There are two possibilities for this password that seem likely.
A) It follows some format that Royal Thames is aware of. He gives us clues and we can crack it from there. I mean, he did leave the note with the intent that someone else would find it and be able to access the contents without being in direct communication. Either RT or Germain, the two likely recipients of the original cipher, know how to crack the password.
B) The clue about languages is still active and it has something to do with Finnish. I doubt it's related to the raju business card, that would be too obvious. And I don't think it'll be a translation of Osprey, Fractal or anything that easy to guess.

No secrets in the source code. I tried "karianne," the name of the girl that we used as an identifier with Karla. No go. Anagramming rubypebble to "bubble" and "prey" didn't work. Neither did the words from the business card. "Mikethepoet" didn't work. Maybe the numbers from that card are another cypher since they don't seem to work as a phone number?

In Germain's password format, was Monday "1" or Sunday "1"? If the week started on Monday, then Allan's password would've been 67[ctry]7, not 77[ctry]7. But still odd that the post was 7/7/07.

I'm just digging for any connections. There was a 1970s movie called Ruby. Its caption in Finland was "riivaajan rakastettu" (devil beloved).

RT told us not to communicate with Karla anymore, but given the subject matter of their newspaper, wouldn't it be likely that she'd know how to get into secure communication with Allan? Should we try generating a lead with her?

[TwistedLadder53]

PC4 of Collateral Files

[TwistedLadder53]

another mystery solved..kinda

[mortality]

If the password follows Germain's system, I don't think it uses Finland ("fin") as the country. No luck using combinations with it.

Without additional info, "NTS" is immaterial. The partially encrypted letter from Allan said the site wasn't created for himself, so making a note to himself doesn't make sense other than as a way to throw uninvited guests offtrack. It may be a clue to someone he's worked with before as to which password format he used.

I think we need Royal Thames to rejoin the party.

[TwistedLadder53]

ATTENTION: update

[mortality]

Meta

[surfzoned]

=)

[surfzoned]

Twitter this

[mortality]

Did we tell RoyalThames about Germain specifically? That name might not mean anything to RT. And did we ever provide RT with the rest of Allan's effects?

Anyhow, I think RT is telling us that we need to desteg the image. Or otherwise manipulate it, either with software or conceptually, if that makes sense. That, and it seems like we have all the clues we should need for the solve. Which is a common theme dating back to the Purloined Letter references with all the clues being hidden in plain sight.

I'll see what I can do. No promises.

Update: I ran steg detection software and came up with nothing. Altering brightness and contrast on the image didn't show anything interesting. Inverting it didn't give me anything. I'm a complete novice at that, so I highly suggest someone else picks up this thread. Further update: Looks like a complete dead-end. Image is being served from the directory for that WordPress theme.

I'm gonna putter around with some searches on Finland, Hyvinkaa, NTS, and whatever else comes to mind, see if it sparks my noggin.

What did Allan do at SXSW in Austin? Because searching for NTS keeps popping up something called the Nordic Teletraffic Seminar which rotates among the Nordic countries, including Finland.

FYI: Finnish MySpace pages are just as bad as everyone else's. Ugh.

Some translations to play with:
Mist: sumentaa, utu
Fog: huuru
Steam: sumu, usva
Ruby: rubiini
Pebble: pikkukivi
Gem: jalokivi
Stone: kivinen

[surfzoned]

the image

[mortality]

A battle of wits it is, then. Crap.

Don't forget bridges, trees, rubies, stones, numbers, poetry, literature and dates. On a more serious note, I think the digits on the business card might help us here, rather than after cracking the password. It could be a cipher...we should feed that to RoyalThames. I'd like to see what object he next chooses for self-inflicting blunt force head trauma.

I tried looking for landmarks in Finland that could be useful...cafes, bridges, things named mist...bupkus so far. "Cafe mist" is what sent me to a 21 year old Finnish girl's MySpace comments...yeah, best not ask. Did find Cafe Ballerina and Rolls in Hyvinkaa. Nothing helpful, tho.

My last attempt at something that included both the clues and our work product left off at 7/18. I think Coffee's ended around 7/20. I tried working forward from 7/18 incorporating both hints/solves and story...it's a daunting task. Coffee, if you'll compile the clues and solves since we left off, I'll create a separate reference for the story that you can host. I'll probably have something on Wednesday to that effect.

[surfzoned]

The numbers

[mortality]

Not that anyone is looking for the name RoyalThames or any of us yet, but I hope posting blatant clues to Twitter freaks RT out enough to pursue a better medium for communications, secure or otherwise.

That's hoping for too much, I bet. RT did work through the last cipher solution on Twitter.