Letter #6: Decoding the Message.
Letters from an Internet Traveler
November 9, 2015
Dear reader,
I know it’s been a little while, but I’ve been focusing all my attention on something that I’ve had on the back burner for a while now. To keep this letter on topic, letter #6.5 has all the details of my newest venture. Go check it out after this.
On with the show!
In this installment, discover something strange, something cryptic, and something mysterious.
-CJd.
[Video/Article] Something strange.
Hacking has become a household term in today’s age and is widely associated with digital terrorism, blackmail, and anarchy. But let’s go back to before hacking was something governments were required to defend against. Back to times when very few of us were aware of the backdoors in technology, left open for the wrong people to find them — when a social hobby could haunt a generation. In 1987, a local Chicago television station signal was hijacked and replaced with a ghoulish Max Headroom impersonator — not for terrorism, blackmail, or mass hysteria, but just for the hell of it. Because they could. Luckily, people who were recording their nightly programs on VHS tapes (cringe), were able to capture the incident, which was later uploaded to the Internet where it would live in eternal infamy. Watching the hack made me feel considerably uneasy, and I’m not really sure why. It wasn’t a malicious or threatening hack, like the ones we experience today. I guess what throws me off about it is the notion that, as far as we’ve come with technology, we’re still just as unsuspecting as we were when we started, and we’re not as in control of it as we believe ourselves to be. Not to mention that the whole incident is still a mystery; no one knows for sure who did it, or what their motive were. It’s pretty clear though that the unfamiliar weirds us out. Or maybe there’s just something about older technology that weirds me out. Very millennial, I know. Anyway, watch the video below and let me know how you feel about it.
[Article/Video/Audio] Something cryptic.
There’s this crypto-puzzle that’s been going around the Internet for the past month or so, and it’s creepy as all hell. Yes, more unsettling than the Max Headroom hack descibed above. Also, probably NSFW so proceed with caution. The puzzle was sent in DVD format, by mail, from Poland, to one Johny, from Gadgetzz.com. The video depicts someone standing in black garb and an elongated mask in an abandoned brick building, making gestures and looking around, all while a screeching soundtrack plays in the background. The whole video has been determined to contain hidden information using a technique called steganography. It goes so deep that there’s a dedicated reddit thread of 6000+ comments from redditors using a variety of forensic techniques to evaluate every aspect of the video. For real though, this thing is crazy, and so far, no one has solved it. There’s so many embedded clues in this video that it’s hard to string it all together. Though, it’s clear that there was a lot of effort put into the making of this video, so it can’t just be for shits and giggles. The creator even took the time to encode the soundtrack frequency with hidden sinister messages like “you are already dead” and NSFW images of a woman being tortured. It has to have some sort of overall message. There’s a whole list of possible theories that people have already come up with. If you’re up for it, dive in and try to decipher the puzzle that’s shaking the Internet.
[Audio] Something mysterious.
I’ve been listening to a new podcast lately called The Message. It’s a narrative podcast (which fooled me, considering the quality of the voice acting) that follows podcaster Nicky Tomalin and a team of cryptographers called Cypher as they try to decipher an alien radio transmission that the government has been keeping from the public for over 70 years. But of course things go wrong. Call me corny, but I like this kind of stuff. I love getting lost in these narratives. If you like Limetown, a podcast I recommended to you guys a few letters back, it’s actually pretty similar to that — a little less dramatic and a bit more candid, but similar nonetheless. The production quality is top-notch, and so far, the story is pretty gripping. Highly recommend this on if you’re into narrative podcasts. Can’t wait to see where it goes. To make the experience even more immersive, visit Cypher’s website and Nicky’s blog.
This is an adaptation of Letters from an Internet Traveler, the irregularly scheduled newsletter from an overactive cybernaut — sending you thought-provoking tidbits and internet obscurities you’ve probably overlooked, one digestible chunk at a time. You can also follow the Medium publication.
