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BestFriendChris

Something strikes me as odd in the latest letter from Ron to kona; specifically, this paragraph:

**Posted:** Tue Aug 10, 2004 1:42 am

aiesha_anonymous · Veteran Joined: 18 Jun 2003 Posts: 101 Location: Australia

**Posted:** Tue Aug 10, 2004 2:03 am

konamouse

Here is the source code:

<body>
<div align="center">
 
Here is the file I found on the first disc marked "Webmaster Tools". 
It seems to be password protected. I wasn't able to do anything with it but didn't spend 
too much time fooling around trying. I hope you have better luck than I did and that something 
in there helps you.
BTW, I'll ask around tomorrow to see if I can learn anything about what kind of password system 
might have been used on this, but I don't have high hopes of getting much information. - RD
<a href="srf0001.exe">Webmaster Tools File</a>

Here is the file I found on the first disc marked "Webmaster Tools".
It seems to be password protected. I wasn't able to do anything with it but didn't spend
too much time fooling around trying. I hope you have better luck than I did and that something
in there helps you.

BTW, I'll ask around tomorrow to see if I can learn anything about what kind of password system
might have been used on this, but I don't have high hopes of getting much information. - RD

The breaks seem weird, but HITIBM is the first letter of each part after the and that doesn't mean anything to me.

**Posted:** Tue Aug 10, 2004 10:35 am

_________________
'squeek'
r u a Sammeeeee? I am Forever!

BestFriendChris

Actually, there are other breaks than that in the source. At first I thought it was just word wrapping, but it's actually the way it was sent:

**Posted:** Tue Aug 10, 2004 11:19 am

enaxor · I Have No Life Joined: 25 Feb 2003 Posts: 2395

And why title the page "Ron Daubert Test Page"?

**Posted:** Tue Aug 10, 2004 12:43 pm

_________________
10/05/2007, 04/23/2009, 07/02/2015
The world is a much dimmer place.

karmajay

(spec)

**Posted:** Tue Aug 10, 2004 1:48 pm

BestFriendChris

While trying to figure out the password for the "Webmaster Tools" I think it might be good (at least to me) to list the possibilities of where the password could be found. Take most of this with a fair amount of SPEC

To figure this out, we need to make one of two assumptions: Either Ron knows the password, or he doesn't.

If Ron Knows the Password:
If somehow Ron figured out the password, we can assume:

He doesn't want his employers to know (he would have admited in the email to kona if he didn't care).
He does want Kona (et. al.) to have the contents (or he wouldn't have made the file public)

This would suggest that he would include some way of figuring out the password. If he knows/suspects his employers are reading his email, he would probably be wary of hiding it in an obvious way (i.e: First letter of each sentence) as they have probably caught on by now.

Personally, my money is on the website that he posted the file, although, again, I'd say it's probably hidden in non-trivial way (The fact that plenty of us have been working on it to no avail also back up theory). Also, I have posted here my thoughts on why the password is hidden there.

One other thing. If Ron doesn't want his employer to know that he opened the file, it would suggest:

There is something bad (at least to TT) on that disk
He is afraid of losing his job (at the mild end) or his life (at the worst case scenario). His comment of "Brooklyn isn't somewhere you want to be wandering around too late at night, if you know what I mean." also hints at him being somewhat afraid

If Ron Doesn't Know the Password:
The other possibility, however, is that Ron really doesn't know the password. If that is the case, we have to focus more on Ed.

[WILD SPEC]
My thoughts are that Ed had something he wanted out, but had no way of getting it out of the building. My guess is he was watched like a hawk at the end of his tenure at TT, so the only chance he had was to put the files on a CD labels "Website Tools" and hope that the new Webmaster would release the files to the public in order to unlock the encrypted files.

This would lend credibility to Ed leaving some way to find the password in another way. For example, if Ed was the "inside man" who sent the package to jc, Ed could have used the same password inferred to on the memo, for his files. Another possibility is that the password is hidden somewhere on the TT or UH websites.
[/WILD SPEC]

Feel free to trout me if something is wrong/confusing. This is just how I see the possibilities from the information thus far.

**Posted:** Tue Aug 10, 2004 5:25 pm

karmajay

I think the password for the file is in the words on the test page.

That is a "I agree" post Chris!

Good post btw!

**Posted:** Tue Aug 10, 2004 5:34 pm

dishboy

Excellent post, Chris. I think both avenues of speculation are extremely plausible, and this is the best argument yet that I have heard for why the password for these files would be in the memo. I still don't think the files in the memo are the same as the webmaster tools. However, I hadn't thought of the fact that Ed could have reused the memo password for these files too, knowing that jc possessed the memo...

**Posted:** Tue Aug 10, 2004 6:11 pm

_________________
-- dishboy

karmajay

Well after bring 'wrong' about the password. I'll continue to throw ideas out there.

Anyway, with the lack of the promised updates from Ron, and no emails to any of his regulars, I worry that dear Ron is having some type of work problems.

Should we try to contact him another way?

Maybe those who have gotten steady emails could try again?

**Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2004 7:06 am

konamouse

**Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2004 11:06 am

_________________
'squeek'
r u a Sammeeeee? I am Forever!

karmajay

Ok I called and spoke to the receptionist.

Of course, his phone was busy. When she tried to direct me to his voice mail, it was having a problem, so she took my number and information and a message and said she would gave him call me.

I might should have asked if she had actually 'SEEN' him today.

My message was basically I had a web related question. I was just going to tell him I was a friend of Heather's, and was helping her with her site.

**Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2004 11:28 am

sequoya

His voice mail was having a problem? Oh dear, I do worry that something has happened to poor Ron.

**Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2004 11:52 am

Varin

**Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2004 12:14 pm

_________________
"I still miss him to this day and probably always will." - Todd Keeler, Chasing the Wish

"meta meta meta, I made you out of play..." ~ j5

Varin

Woohoo! He's alive! Although it seems that he's had a change of tone. I don't know if it's because of something I said or if it's because someone is watching his email converstations. Or maybe there's a puzzle in here? hehe, or maybe I'm just paranoid Very Happy

I sent...

**Posted:** Wed Aug 11, 2004 5:19 pm

_________________
"I still miss him to this day and probably always will." - Todd Keeler, Chasing the Wish

"meta meta meta, I made you out of play..." ~ j5