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  • Subject: The Mail Sack is here to save the day!
Subject: The Mail Sack is here to save the day!
  • gamertag: ALI217
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I'm gonna finish it. Just like Jigga did to the pyramid.


Posted by: TheMisssingLink

Posted by: kirish
I believe I have found our missing steps (or link, as it were). I am going to post the entire process here, with steps 2-6 being what I believe are the new unposted goodness.

The visual work I did I put into this solution image. References to this image are in {curly braces}.

1) Map the images to numbers {numbers}. The images are perverted representations of Bungie's seven steps to world domination.
1: Start independent gaming software company. - Bungee jumper = Bungie
2: Dominate Mac platform: Launch assault on Windows platform. - Apple = Macintosh
3: Announce killer gaming title. - Angel = Halo
4: Acquire strangely addictive Chinese food company. - General + So = General Tso's chicken
5: Recover Ling Ling's head. - Banana Phone = Ling ling ling ling ling ling ling...
6: Stage bloody coup of new parent company. = Half cuckoo clock = coup (d'etat)
7: Take over world, shoot enemies into the sun with giant slingshot. - sun (that happens to have a heptagon and a four in it)


2) Walk the maze {red line}. The file name of the puzzle image is itallbeginswithyou.jpg. The background of the puzzle is the Seventh Column symbol, and we, as fans, are the seventh (unique) column in that symbol, so we use it as a starting point. As it is the number 4, we draw a line to the point we marked as 4, but we stop as soon as we cross another number. We hit 3, so we draw toward 3 until we hit 1, and so on. Continue this drawing until we finally draw a line the doesn't intercept any more numbers.

3) Write out all the letters we crossed in this process. We end up with the string "MIRROR ME DQDJUDPOHIWRYHUOHWWHUV".

4) With this "mirror me" clue, we take the path we drew in step 2, and flip it horizontally (which happens to be the line of symmetry for the seventh column symbol) {black line}.

5) Write out the letters crossed by this line. We get "DECRYPT WITH SALAD DRESSING" (though I would argue that it looks like "SFALAD"). The only salad dressing I personally use to pass secret messages is Caesar salad.

6) We plug our weird-looking DQDJUDPOHIWRYHUOHWWHUV into a caesar-cipher-decrypter and get "ANAGRAM LEFT OVER LETTERS".

7) We take what is left over {blue boxes}, reassemble the letters, and finally we can see "PER AUDACIA AD ASTRA", the little motto Bungie has been teasing us with for a while :-).

I do believe the inclusion of the "F" in the puzzle was a mistake though, as none of the messages include it, and it was the one "iffy" line-letter interaction.

( I apologize for all the edits, I learned from my mistake last week of trying to explain my work before posting the solution ;-) )


This is our winner. :)


congratulations.

  • 09.16.2012 7:42 AM PDT
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A full walkthrough of the solution:

Step 1 (and instructions to Step 2)
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4

  • 09.16.2012 7:51 AM PDT


Posted by: TheMisssingLink



Mind telling us where you get the idea for these challenges? They're pretty good.

  • 09.16.2012 7:54 AM PDT

"Dad, your drunk again. Stop posting on the forum, or i'll ban you, and it'll ruin Christmas." -Deej

Holy crap, Deej, if you thought that this was easier, then your brain must of thought in Valve time! (I know, i know, mentioning VALVE on BUNGIE forums, get over it. Their almost neighbors). This one required a metric -blam!-ton more work than the other one. And on the other one, you atleast gave us a starting point with the image, this one gave us no starting point! Can't wait for next weeks challenge, WAIT, LETS US (The community) give you (Bungie staff) a challenge! If you win, well, you get some pretty epic pats on the backs!

  • 09.16.2012 7:57 AM PDT
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I came for Halo, but I heard the Tru7h, fought thru Carnage, and stayed for Bungie.

No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.--Teddy Roosevelt

finally

  • 09.16.2012 7:58 AM PDT

Posted by: AngryBrute1
Oh yeah, since somebody does not believe what YOU believe; that makes us vapid...
I cannot grasp that what you call "Something happened to nothing, and that nothing became something, and it was smaller than than a period."

Congratulations.

  • 09.16.2012 8:11 AM PDT
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Posted by: Mythical Wolf

Mind telling us where you get the idea for these challenges? They're pretty good.


This is actually related to the Mail Sack!

One of the questions this week was about the favorite classes that we've taken in school. DeeJ snipped my answer a little bit (though he was more than welcome to do so!), but I had mentioned that, within computer science, cryptography was one of my favorite classes.

While a lot of it did have to do with modern techniques (the truly mathy cryptographic stuff that we use today), we did start out doing simple things like Caesar, Vigenère, and Substitution ciphers (not to mention how easy they are to break!).

Our first project was to find about 800 characters of source material, remove all spaces and convert all letters to capitals, and encrypt it with a substitution cipher. Our second project was that we got someone else's submission, and we had to decode it. (The one I got was nearly impossible because it was song lyrics, which broke many of the assumptions of English because they weren't necessarily complete sentences [i.e., A was more common than E, and IMA was much more common than THE]).

I was already kind of intrigued by the idea of passing encrypted messages to friends in class (since one or two of my messages got intercepted and read once). Taking the class was a huge boon. And one of my favorite times of year is competing in the various Puzzle Hunts that they have in the area. That gives me fodder for all sorts of ideas.

  • 09.16.2012 8:20 AM PDT
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I'm gonna finish it. Just like Jigga did to the pyramid.


Posted by: TheMisssingLink

Posted by: Mythical Wolf

Mind telling us where you get the idea for these challenges? They're pretty good.


This is actually related to the Mail Sack!

One of the questions this week was about the favorite classes that we've taken in school. DeeJ snipped my answer a little bit (though he was more than welcome to do so!), but I had mentioned that, within computer science, cryptography was one of my favorite classes.

While a lot of it did have to do with modern techniques (the truly mathy cryptographic stuff that we use today), we did start out doing simple things like Caesar, Vigenère, and Substitution ciphers (not to mention how easy they are to break!).

Our first project was to find about 800 characters of source material, remove all spaces and convert all letters to capitals, and encrypt it with a substitution cipher. Our second project was that we got someone else's submission, and we had to decode it. (The one I got was nearly impossible because it was song lyrics, which broke many of the assumptions of English because they weren't necessarily complete sentences [i.e., A was more common than E, and IMA was much more common than THE]).

I was already kind of intrigued by the idea of passing encrypted messages to friends in class (since one or two of my messages got intercepted and read once). Taking the class was a huge boon. And one of my favorite times of year is competing in the various Puzzle Hunts that they have in the area. That gives me fodder for all sorts of ideas.


wow.

  • 09.16.2012 8:39 AM PDT

Posted by: Enormous Corgi
Posted by: Unanimate Objec
There's no way Nate Hawbaker's favorite hero is Alan Stuart


ALAN IS A BEAUTIFUL MAN!

So now what? Are we waiting for DeeJ, or we just chilling? Also, Link , is there a degree in cryptography, and if so, did you major or minor in it?

  • 09.16.2012 9:04 AM PDT

For the record: I've pretty much guessed right twice in a row. Just saying. That's pretty impressive.
:P

Awesome puzzle! Still confuses me, but yeah. Best give this man a fancy pants prize considering how hard this was, hah.

  • 09.16.2012 9:11 AM PDT

Posted by: Enormous Corgi
Posted by: Unanimate Objec
There's no way Nate Hawbaker's favorite hero is Alan Stuart


ALAN IS A BEAUTIFUL MAN!


Posted by: burritosenior
For the record: I've pretty much guessed right twice in a row. Just saying. That's pretty impressive.
:P

Awesome puzzle! Still confuses me, but yeah. Best give this man a fancy pants prize considering how hard this was, hah.


The wierd thing is that it isnt so difficult when thinking outside the box. Although, the puzzle was rather abstract, which makes the outside of the box pretty complex to begin with.

[Edited on 09.16.2012 9:16 AM PDT]

  • 09.16.2012 9:15 AM PDT
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Twitter.
WyIdfyre: 'lol, who the hell would even wear those?'
AuSam: 'lol, who the hell would even have sex with dogs?'

-K-

Posted by: Unanimate Objec

Posted by: burritosenior
For the record: I've pretty much guessed right twice in a row. Just saying. That's pretty impressive.
:P

Awesome puzzle! Still confuses me, but yeah. Best give this man a fancy pants prize considering how hard this was, hah.


The wierd thing is that it isnt so difficult when thinking outside the box. Although, the puzzle was rather abstract.
I get what you mean. I find it kinda funny how I tried to pass off the whole 'join the dots' theory, with the belief that if we ordered the pictures right it would lead us to how to decode the answer.
Turns out both ideas were right!

  • 09.16.2012 9:17 AM PDT

Posted by: Enormous Corgi
Posted by: Unanimate Objec
There's no way Nate Hawbaker's favorite hero is Alan Stuart


ALAN IS A BEAUTIFUL MAN!


Posted by: Kalriq
Posted by: Unanimate Objec

Posted by: burritosenior
For the record: I've pretty much guessed right twice in a row. Just saying. That's pretty impressive.
:P

Awesome puzzle! Still confuses me, but yeah. Best give this man a fancy pants prize considering how hard this was, hah.


The wierd thing is that it isnt so difficult when thinking outside the box. Although, the puzzle was rather abstract.
I get what you mean. I find it kinda funny how I tried to pass off the whole 'join the dots' theory, with the belief that if we ordered the pictures right it would lead us to how to decode the answer.
Turns out both ideas were right!


Cake for everyone! It'd be interesting to see a mailsack challenge where its Community wide and solving it grants all major participants a reward, online or otherwise.

[Edited on 09.16.2012 9:27 AM PDT]

  • 09.16.2012 9:26 AM PDT
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Exalted Unexplainable Member

Posted by: Unanimate Objec
Posted by: MURDUR 587
Posted by: Izak609
Posted by: TheMisssingLink
I need beta testers.
I volunteer myself. :D
I could also join in and rage disproportionate amounts.
Seems legit. Count me in.
Haha...

TheMisssingLink, it seems you already have a small crackteam of volunteers at your disposal. :D

  • 09.16.2012 9:30 AM PDT

Posted by: Enormous Corgi
Posted by: Unanimate Objec
There's no way Nate Hawbaker's favorite hero is Alan Stuart


ALAN IS A BEAUTIFUL MAN!


Posted by: Izak609
Posted by: Unanimate Objec
Posted by: MURDUR 587
Posted by: Izak609
Posted by: TheMisssingLink
I need beta testers.
I volunteer myself. :D
I could also join in and rage disproportionate amounts.
Seems legit. Count me in.
Haha...

TheMisssingLink, it seems you already have a small crackteam of volunteers at your disposal. :D


It could work via privatr group where we set the clock and mimic the Community and bounce ideas off each other, then when the finish lines in sight , we break off and race to the finish line.

The only drawback? We wouldn't be allowed to participate in the real challenge, but could point them the right direction at missing links discretion.

It'd be fun. It'd be pretty cool to get a sneek peek at the challenge.

  • 09.16.2012 9:40 AM PDT
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Posted by: Unanimate Objec
Posted by: Izak609
TheMisssingLink, it seems you already have a small crackteam of volunteers at your disposal. :D

It could work via privatr group where we set the clock and mimic the Community and bounce ideas off each other, then when the finish lines in sight , we break off and race to the finish line.

The only drawback? We wouldn't be allowed to participate in the real challenge, but could point them the right direction at missing links discretion.

It'd be fun. It'd be pretty cool to get a sneek peek at the challenge.

If TheMisssingLink were to beta test through Bungie.net users, a group would basically be the only way to go, and participants shouldn't be allowed to win or help with the challenges. But, there's another, very key drawback. Participants could help other users cheat, or perhaps, even themselves, very easily. TheMisssingLink needs people he can trust; I don't think we really fit that description.

[Edited on 09.16.2012 10:01 AM PDT]

  • 09.16.2012 9:55 AM PDT
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"Better a little which is well done, than a great deal imperfectly." - Plato

Well, this was fun. Congrats to the winner! Looking back, all that I said was just wrong. Haha! Thanks for the puzzle, MisssingLink!

  • 09.16.2012 10:07 AM PDT

Posted by: Enormous Corgi
Posted by: Unanimate Objec
There's no way Nate Hawbaker's favorite hero is Alan Stuart


ALAN IS A BEAUTIFUL MAN!


Posted by: Izak609
Posted by: Unanimate Objec
Posted by: Izak609
TheMisssingLink, it seems you already have a small crackteam of volunteers at your disposal. :D

It could work via privatr group where we set the clock and mimic the Community and bounce ideas off each other, then when the finish lines in sight , we break off and race to the finish line.

The only drawback? We wouldn't be allowed to participate in the real challenge, but could point them the right direction at missing links discretion.

It'd be fun. It'd be pretty cool to get a sneek peek at the challenge.

If TheMisssingLink were to beta test through Bungie.net users, a group would basically be the only way to go, and participants shouldn't be allowed to win or help with the challenges. But, there's another, very key drawback. Participants could help other users cheat, or perhaps, even themselves, very easily. TheMisssingLink needs people he can trust; I don't think we really fit that description.



There could be a trust system/ game he could implement.

  • 09.16.2012 10:44 AM PDT
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Whoo.

He could just not post the official challenge but a variation or just post cyphers and time us.

Under those conditions technically our experience won't exceed that of simply googling "Cryptography", even if the testing results will be slightly less conclusive.

[Edited on 09.16.2012 11:11 AM PDT]

  • 09.16.2012 11:10 AM PDT
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Exalted Unexplainable Member

Posted by: Unanimate Objec
Posted by: Izak609
Posted by: Unanimate Objec
Posted by: Izak609
TheMisssingLink, it seems you already have a small crackteam of volunteers at your disposal. :D

It could work via privatr group where we set the clock and mimic the Community and bounce ideas off each other, then when the finish lines in sight , we break off and race to the finish line.

The only drawback? We wouldn't be allowed to participate in the real challenge, but could point them the right direction at missing links discretion.

It'd be fun. It'd be pretty cool to get a sneek peek at the challenge.

If TheMisssingLink were to beta test through Bungie.net users, a group would basically be the only way to go, and participants shouldn't be allowed to win or help with the challenges. But, there's another, very key drawback. Participants could help other users cheat, or perhaps, even themselves, very easily. TheMisssingLink needs people he can trust; I don't think we really fit that description.

There could be a trust system/ game he could implement.

I wouldn't leave the question of trust to an automated system, if that's what you mean. The way I see it, the only people that could be deserving of such trust would be Forum Ninjas (as they've earned their title with some degree of trustability), Bungie employees, and a few hand selected people or perhaps even users, if he really thinks he could trust any of us yet.

But I think TheMisssingLink was mostly joking about the beta team, anyway. :D

  • 09.16.2012 11:11 AM PDT

I acknowledge my user name is stupid. However, I promise I'm not.

Disclaimer: The latter is a lie.

Well done, winrar.

  • 09.16.2012 11:12 AM PDT
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Posted by: TheMisssingLink

Posted by: Mythical Wolf

Mind telling us where you get the idea for these challenges? They're pretty good.


This is actually related to the Mail Sack!

One of the questions this week was about the favorite classes that we've taken in school. DeeJ snipped my answer a little bit (though he was more than welcome to do so!), but I had mentioned that, within computer science, cryptography was one of my favorite classes.

While a lot of it did have to do with modern techniques (the truly mathy cryptographic stuff that we use today), we did start out doing simple things like Caesar, Vigenère, and Substitution ciphers (not to mention how easy they are to break!).

Our first project was to find about 800 characters of source material, remove all spaces and convert all letters to capitals, and encrypt it with a substitution cipher. Our second project was that we got someone else's submission, and we had to decode it. (The one I got was nearly impossible because it was song lyrics, which broke many of the assumptions of English because they weren't necessarily complete sentences [i.e., A was more common than E, and IMA was much more common than THE]).

I was already kind of intrigued by the idea of passing encrypted messages to friends in class (since one or two of my messages got intercepted and read once). Taking the class was a huge boon. And one of my favorite times of year is competing in the various Puzzle Hunts that they have in the area. That gives me fodder for all sorts of ideas.


Well I think you should go back to using more computer science stuff as that stuff is more fun :P I mean who doesn't like mucking around with binary, ascii, stenography and other awesome stuff? ie. a challenge which involves looking at the actual source of the image to find the hidden message or things which don't involve visual annoyingness :P

  • 09.16.2012 11:15 AM PDT
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Posted by: MURDUR 587
He could just not post the official challenge but a variation or just post cyphers and time us.
But then, volunteers would still have an advantage. They'd have a good idea, and practice, on how to solve the challenge, beforehand. It's just a matter of finding out which step to take.

Under those conditions technically our experience won't exceed that of simply googling "Cryptography", even if the testing results will be slightly less conclusive.I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Could you please explain?

  • 09.16.2012 11:17 AM PDT
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Whoo.

Posted by: Izak609
I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Could you please explain?
I mean if I googled cryptography and saw the cesear cipher it would have helped me figure out the puzzle faster than normal, so having it presented to me before hand isn't necessarily more advantageous than simply looking for ciphers.

Although if you put the puzzles in a different context or simply post ciphers then the results will vary. Then again either way a group might be seen as a liability, MissingLink meant it in jest anyway.

[Edited on 09.16.2012 11:26 AM PDT]

  • 09.16.2012 11:25 AM PDT
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Posted by: MURDUR 587
Posted by: Izak609
I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Could you please explain?
I mean if I googled cryptography and saw the cesear cipher it would have helped me figure out the puzzle faster than normal, so having it presented to me before hand isn't necessarily more advantageous than simply looking for ciphers.
Oh, so you're saying that if TheMisssingLink just made a lot of miniature puzzles, enough that we would have troubles discerning which one will actually be used for the challenge, it would make little difference? That makes sense. Although, it sounds like it might require some additional effort on his part; but it seems like he enjoys making these puzzles. :D

Although if you put the puzzles in a different context or simply post ciphers then the results will vary. Then again either way a group might be seen as a liability, MissingLink meant it in jest anyway.Yeah, but I still hope TheMisssingLink actually wants beta testers. It sounds like fun, and I don't really need another Mailsack shirt, especially when it could go to someone with no Bungie Swag, or at least, someone who hasn't won, yet.

  • 09.16.2012 11:36 AM PDT