https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=199.27.128.119&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T12:39:45ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=263:_Certainty&diff=100055263: Certainty2015-08-23T07:43:42Z<p>199.27.128.119: /* Explanation */ fixed link</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 263<br />
| date = May 18, 2007<br />
| title = Certainty<br />
| image = certainty.png<br />
| titletext = a(b+c)=(ab)+(ac). Politicize that, bitches.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are teachers at this comic, talking about their students and the political discussions with them. They outline that it's not possible to find the real truth. But then Cueball, interrupted by a harrumph of the mathematics teacher [[Miss Lenhart]], states that Mathematics is an exception (because math can actually be ''proved'', conclusively). [[Randall]] likes mathematics because their discussions as in politics are not possible.<br />
<br />
The title text shows a simple valid mathematical equation, the {{w|Distributive_law|left distributive law}}, and Randall is daring one to politicize it. Though this happened years after the comic was published, [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/11/1178129/-Schools-spreading-socialism-by-teaching-the-distributive-property|people have politicized the distributive property], claiming it promoted socialism.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A door seen from a hallway, with "Teachers' Lounge" on the glass, next to the door is a sign reading "Award". Inside the door are two teachers talking.]<br />
:Megan: My students drew me into another political argument.<br />
:Cueball: Eh; it happens.<br />
:Megan: Lately, political debates bother me. They just show how good smart people are at rationalizing.<br />
:[The two teachers continue talking. A third one is seen reading a book on a sofa.]<br />
:Megan: The world is so complicated - the more I learn, the less clear anything gets. There are too many ideas and arguments to pick and choose from. How can I trust myself to know the truth about anything? And if everything I know is so shaky, what on Earth am I doing teaching?<br />
:Cueball: I guess you just do your best. No one can impart perfect universal truths to their students.<br />
:Miss Lenhart: *ahem*<br />
:Cueball: ...Except math teachers.<br />
:Miss Lenhart: Thank you.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>199.27.128.119https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=263:_Certainty&diff=100054263: Certainty2015-08-23T07:43:05Z<p>199.27.128.119: /* Explanation */ added a link to this actually being politicized</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 263<br />
| date = May 18, 2007<br />
| title = Certainty<br />
| image = certainty.png<br />
| titletext = a(b+c)=(ab)+(ac). Politicize that, bitches.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are teachers at this comic, talking about their students and the political discussions with them. They outline that it's not possible to find the real truth. But then Cueball, interrupted by a harrumph of the mathematics teacher [[Miss Lenhart]], states that Mathematics is an exception (because math can actually be ''proved'', conclusively). [[Randall]] likes mathematics because their discussions as in politics are not possible.<br />
<br />
The title text shows a simple valid mathematical equation, the {{w|Distributive_law|left distributive law}}, and Randall is daring one to politicize it. Though this happened years after the comic was published, [[http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/11/1178129/-Schools-spreading-socialism-by-teaching-the-distributive-property|people have politicized the distributive property]], claiming it promoted socialism.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A door seen from a hallway, with "Teachers' Lounge" on the glass, next to the door is a sign reading "Award". Inside the door are two teachers talking.]<br />
:Megan: My students drew me into another political argument.<br />
:Cueball: Eh; it happens.<br />
:Megan: Lately, political debates bother me. They just show how good smart people are at rationalizing.<br />
:[The two teachers continue talking. A third one is seen reading a book on a sofa.]<br />
:Megan: The world is so complicated - the more I learn, the less clear anything gets. There are too many ideas and arguments to pick and choose from. How can I trust myself to know the truth about anything? And if everything I know is so shaky, what on Earth am I doing teaching?<br />
:Cueball: I guess you just do your best. No one can impart perfect universal truths to their students.<br />
:Miss Lenhart: *ahem*<br />
:Cueball: ...Except math teachers.<br />
:Miss Lenhart: Thank you.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>199.27.128.119https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=409:_Electric_Skateboard_(Double_Comic)&diff=99947409: Electric Skateboard (Double Comic)2015-08-21T12:42:47Z<p>199.27.128.119: /* Explanation */ Added link to 529</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 409<br />
| date = April 11, 2008<br />
| title = Electric Skateboard (Double Comic)<br />
| image = electric_skateboard_double_comic.png<br />
| titletext = Unsafe vehicles, hills, and philosophy go hand in hand.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic is an affectionate parody of ''{{w|Calvin and Hobbes}}'', a newspaper comic drawn by {{w|Bill Watterson}} that ran for ten years from November 1985 to December 1995. Calvin and Hobbes follows the daily life of a rambunctious, precocious six-year-old named Calvin and his sarcastic stuffed tiger Hobbes. Sunday strips (for both Calvin and Hobbes and many other print comics) often consisted of two comics strung together, the first one often lasting one or two panels and the second one being more elaborate. This comic follows the Sunday strip pattern, hence the "Double Comic" in the title. The artwork in the second strip is distinctly Wattersonian as well.<br />
<br />
Calvin and Hobbes is also referenced in [[529|529: Sledding Discussion]].<br />
<br />
[[Randall]] has a special fascination with motorized {{w|skateboard}}s. A {{w|Longboard (skateboard)|longboard}} is a skateboard that is longer, and is used for downhill races, and skating through less urban areas (college campuses, for example).<br />
<br />
{{w|Mario Kart}} is a game for {{w|Nintendo}} game consoles that allows four players to race each other while having good spirited fun like at [[290: Fucking Blue Shells]] while throwing items at each other. The objects in the fourth panel are Koopa Troopa shells, items in the game. They can be thrown like projectiles to crash into foes.<br />
<br />
Calvin and Hobbes frequently involves heavy philosophical discussions. In one recurring theme, they ride down a dangerous hill in a red wagon or tobbogan while discussing the nature of morality, usually ending in a crash (examples [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2013/04/21] [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2012/05/20] [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1987/01/11]). This comic inverts that by having [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] go uphill while discussing philosophy. Naturally, they collide with Calvin and Hobbes' wagon - which prompts the title text.<br />
<br />
Cueball uses the {{w|C (programming language)|C}} and {{w|Python (programming language)|Python}} programming languages as analogies for their ride. In general, Python is easier than C, and abstracts a lot of C's hairier features ("boring parts," as Randall calls them). Moving from C to Python is quite a [[353|freeing experience]]; programmers no longer have to worry about pointers, and memory allocation, and just lets the code flow through the programmer until they are one with the Force. Erm, computer. Although it seems - before the crash - that the idea that, programming in C (and skating without electricity) builds character, is about to be explored philosophically (building character is also a recurring theme in Calvin and Hobbes, as documented delightfully in the [http://www.calvinandhobbes.wikia.com/wiki/Building_character Calvin and Hobbes wiki]).<br />
<br />
Electric skateboards have been the subject of several other comics like [[139: I Have Owned Two Electric Skateboards]], a panel in [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]] and the entire [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:The_Race The Race] five part comic series.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball showing off electric skateboard to girl reading something.]<br />
:Cueball: Check it out! An electric longboard!<br />
:Megan: Sweet!<br />
<br />
:[Cueball riding longboard with Megan sitting onboard — people in background.]<br />
:Longboard: ''RRRR''<br />
<br />
:[Megan turned around on longboard.]<br />
:Megan: I feel like we're missing something...<br />
:Cueball: Yeah...<br />
<br />
:[Cueball throwing 3 green Koopa Troopa shells; Megan throwing 1 red Koopa Troopa shell - like Mario Kart.]<br />
:''Music Playing''<br />
:Longboard: ''RRRR''<br />
<br />
<br />
:[Cueball and Megan still on longboard, going up an incline.]<br />
:Cueball: Skating uphill like this is amazing. Years of gliding downhill and pushing uphill, and now suddenly it's gliding both ways.<br />
:Longboard: ''RRRRRRR''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball and Megan after passing an S-curve and boulder.]<br />
:Cueball: It's like going from C to Python. You don't realize how much time you were spending on the boring parts until you don't have to do them anymore.<br />
:Megan: But coding C or assembly makes you a better programmer. Maybe the boring parts build character.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball and Megan on longboard.]<br />
:Cueball: Yeah... but it depends how you want to spend your life. See, my philosophy is-<br />
:[Longboard gets into an accident.]<br />
:'''WHAM'''<br />
<br />
:[Calvin and Hobbes laying down in the grass near the Cueball and Megan laying down on the grass - Calvin and Hobbes's wagon is on the path, as is the longboard - all characters seeing stars.]<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Electric skateboard]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]<br />
[[Category:Calvin and Hobbes]]<br />
[[Category:Video games]]<br />
[[Category:Mario Kart]]</div>199.27.128.119https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=529:_Sledding_Discussion&diff=99946529: Sledding Discussion2015-08-21T12:41:39Z<p>199.27.128.119: /* Explanation */ Renamed link</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 529<br />
| date = January 12, 2009<br />
| title = Sledding Discussion<br />
| image = sledding_discussion.png<br />
| titletext = If you get your hands on that one, it's the worst place to have a breaking-up conversation.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] have a perfectly normal sled ride down a perfectly normal hill (engaging in what's traditionally a children's pastime) while Cueball is complaining that he has grown too old for certain things - like learning another language fluently (but not for taking a sleigh ride - although he does not really seem to enjoy it though). There is a theory, called {{w|Critical period hypothesis}}, that you can only learn a language fluently before a certain age. <br />
<br />
Cueball hates that ''options are closed'' to him and feels like he has ''given up a life that was once possible''. The joke is that this reminds Megan about their anniversary coming up. This means that she feels that she has given up a life that was once possible by staying so long with Cueball. Actually this may be the time when they are going to break up.<br />
<br />
The reader would thus have expected something ironic to happen at the end of the trip but instead, the only humor in the last frame arises from their commentary on the {{w|meta humor|''lack'' of humor}}.<br />
<br />
Calvin and Hobbes is an acclaimed newspaper comic strip that ran from 1985 to 1995. Calvin is a six-year-old child with an active imagination, and Hobbes is his stuffed tiger who Calvin perceives to be alive through his imagination. The two frequently had philosophical conversations, [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2012/12/30 often while sledding]. Calvin sledded on densely-wooded hills near where he lived, and the ride would often serve as a perfect parallel to the conversation they were having; for example, in one strip, Calvin talks about how seemingly mundane decisions can nonetheless have lasting consequences, by pointing out how all of the things they see as they continue down the hill (and eventually crash into a ravine) are a direct result of him having taken a particular fork early on.<br />
<br />
The title text notes that if you did have Calvin and Hobbes toboggan it would be the worst place to have a breaking-up conversation, because then the sled itself would literally ''break-up'' during the journey, with potentially dangerous consequences. This is also the clue to the fact that the comic is in fact about a break-up situation.<br />
<br />
Calvin and Hobbes is also referenced in [[409|409: Electric Skateboard (Double Comic)]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan looks out window through blinds.]<br />
:Megan: It's snowing!<br />
:Cueball: [from off-screen] Sled time!<br />
<br />
:[Megan and Cueball outside with sled, at the top of a hill.]<br />
:Cueball: It depresses me that I'm too old to learn another language fluently. My brain's solidified.<br />
<br />
:[Megan and Cueball sledding down the hill.]<br />
:Megan: Is there one you wish you knew?<br />
:Cueball: No, I just hate having options closed to me. Like I've given up a life that was once possible.<br />
<br />
:[At the bottom of the hill, sled has stopped.]<br />
:Megan: Yeah. Which reminds me - our anniversary is coming up.<br />
<br />
:Megan: Man, that ride failed to be a metaphor for our conversation.<br />
:Cueball: Guess this isn't the Calvin & Hobbes-model toboggan.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] <br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:Philosophy]]<br />
[[Category:Calvin and Hobbes]]</div>199.27.128.119https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=529:_Sledding_Discussion&diff=99944529: Sledding Discussion2015-08-21T12:40:28Z<p>199.27.128.119: /* Explanation */ Now I really think I fixed the link</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 529<br />
| date = January 12, 2009<br />
| title = Sledding Discussion<br />
| image = sledding_discussion.png<br />
| titletext = If you get your hands on that one, it's the worst place to have a breaking-up conversation.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] have a perfectly normal sled ride down a perfectly normal hill (engaging in what's traditionally a children's pastime) while Cueball is complaining that he has grown too old for certain things - like learning another language fluently (but not for taking a sleigh ride - although he does not really seem to enjoy it though). There is a theory, called {{w|Critical period hypothesis}}, that you can only learn a language fluently before a certain age. <br />
<br />
Cueball hates that ''options are closed'' to him and feels like he has ''given up a life that was once possible''. The joke is that this reminds Megan about their anniversary coming up. This means that she feels that she has given up a life that was once possible by staying so long with Cueball. Actually this may be the time when they are going to break up.<br />
<br />
The reader would thus have expected something ironic to happen at the end of the trip but instead, the only humor in the last frame arises from their commentary on the {{w|meta humor|''lack'' of humor}}.<br />
<br />
Calvin and Hobbes is an acclaimed newspaper comic strip that ran from 1985 to 1995. Calvin is a six-year-old child with an active imagination, and Hobbes is his stuffed tiger who Calvin perceives to be alive through his imagination. The two frequently had philosophical conversations, [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2012/12/30 often while sledding]. Calvin sledded on densely-wooded hills near where he lived, and the ride would often serve as a perfect parallel to the conversation they were having; for example, in one strip, Calvin talks about how seemingly mundane decisions can nonetheless have lasting consequences, by pointing out how all of the things they see as they continue down the hill (and eventually crash into a ravine) are a direct result of him having taken a particular fork early on.<br />
<br />
The title text notes that if you did have Calvin and Hobbes toboggan it would be the worst place to have a breaking-up conversation, because then the sled itself would literally ''break-up'' during the journey, with potentially dangerous consequences. This is also the clue to the fact that the comic is in fact about a break-up situation.<br />
<br />
Calvin and Hobbes is also referenced in [[409|Comic 409]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan looks out window through blinds.]<br />
:Megan: It's snowing!<br />
:Cueball: [from off-screen] Sled time!<br />
<br />
:[Megan and Cueball outside with sled, at the top of a hill.]<br />
:Cueball: It depresses me that I'm too old to learn another language fluently. My brain's solidified.<br />
<br />
:[Megan and Cueball sledding down the hill.]<br />
:Megan: Is there one you wish you knew?<br />
:Cueball: No, I just hate having options closed to me. Like I've given up a life that was once possible.<br />
<br />
:[At the bottom of the hill, sled has stopped.]<br />
:Megan: Yeah. Which reminds me - our anniversary is coming up.<br />
<br />
:Megan: Man, that ride failed to be a metaphor for our conversation.<br />
:Cueball: Guess this isn't the Calvin & Hobbes-model toboggan.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] <br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:Philosophy]]<br />
[[Category:Calvin and Hobbes]]</div>199.27.128.119https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=529:_Sledding_Discussion&diff=99943529: Sledding Discussion2015-08-21T12:39:49Z<p>199.27.128.119: /* Explanation */ fixed link</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 529<br />
| date = January 12, 2009<br />
| title = Sledding Discussion<br />
| image = sledding_discussion.png<br />
| titletext = If you get your hands on that one, it's the worst place to have a breaking-up conversation.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] have a perfectly normal sled ride down a perfectly normal hill (engaging in what's traditionally a children's pastime) while Cueball is complaining that he has grown too old for certain things - like learning another language fluently (but not for taking a sleigh ride - although he does not really seem to enjoy it though). There is a theory, called {{w|Critical period hypothesis}}, that you can only learn a language fluently before a certain age. <br />
<br />
Cueball hates that ''options are closed'' to him and feels like he has ''given up a life that was once possible''. The joke is that this reminds Megan about their anniversary coming up. This means that she feels that she has given up a life that was once possible by staying so long with Cueball. Actually this may be the time when they are going to break up.<br />
<br />
The reader would thus have expected something ironic to happen at the end of the trip but instead, the only humor in the last frame arises from their commentary on the {{w|meta humor|''lack'' of humor}}.<br />
<br />
Calvin and Hobbes is an acclaimed newspaper comic strip that ran from 1985 to 1995. Calvin is a six-year-old child with an active imagination, and Hobbes is his stuffed tiger who Calvin perceives to be alive through his imagination. The two frequently had philosophical conversations, [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2012/12/30 often while sledding]. Calvin sledded on densely-wooded hills near where he lived, and the ride would often serve as a perfect parallel to the conversation they were having; for example, in one strip, Calvin talks about how seemingly mundane decisions can nonetheless have lasting consequences, by pointing out how all of the things they see as they continue down the hill (and eventually crash into a ravine) are a direct result of him having taken a particular fork early on.<br />
<br />
The title text notes that if you did have Calvin and Hobbes toboggan it would be the worst place to have a breaking-up conversation, because then the sled itself would literally ''break-up'' during the journey, with potentially dangerous consequences. This is also the clue to the fact that the comic is in fact about a break-up situation.<br />
<br />
Calvin and Hobbes is also referenced in [[Comic 409|409]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan looks out window through blinds.]<br />
:Megan: It's snowing!<br />
:Cueball: [from off-screen] Sled time!<br />
<br />
:[Megan and Cueball outside with sled, at the top of a hill.]<br />
:Cueball: It depresses me that I'm too old to learn another language fluently. My brain's solidified.<br />
<br />
:[Megan and Cueball sledding down the hill.]<br />
:Megan: Is there one you wish you knew?<br />
:Cueball: No, I just hate having options closed to me. Like I've given up a life that was once possible.<br />
<br />
:[At the bottom of the hill, sled has stopped.]<br />
:Megan: Yeah. Which reminds me - our anniversary is coming up.<br />
<br />
:Megan: Man, that ride failed to be a metaphor for our conversation.<br />
:Cueball: Guess this isn't the Calvin & Hobbes-model toboggan.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] <br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:Philosophy]]<br />
[[Category:Calvin and Hobbes]]</div>199.27.128.119https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=529:_Sledding_Discussion&diff=99942529: Sledding Discussion2015-08-21T12:38:57Z<p>199.27.128.119: /* Explanation */ added link to 409</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 529<br />
| date = January 12, 2009<br />
| title = Sledding Discussion<br />
| image = sledding_discussion.png<br />
| titletext = If you get your hands on that one, it's the worst place to have a breaking-up conversation.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] have a perfectly normal sled ride down a perfectly normal hill (engaging in what's traditionally a children's pastime) while Cueball is complaining that he has grown too old for certain things - like learning another language fluently (but not for taking a sleigh ride - although he does not really seem to enjoy it though). There is a theory, called {{w|Critical period hypothesis}}, that you can only learn a language fluently before a certain age. <br />
<br />
Cueball hates that ''options are closed'' to him and feels like he has ''given up a life that was once possible''. The joke is that this reminds Megan about their anniversary coming up. This means that she feels that she has given up a life that was once possible by staying so long with Cueball. Actually this may be the time when they are going to break up.<br />
<br />
The reader would thus have expected something ironic to happen at the end of the trip but instead, the only humor in the last frame arises from their commentary on the {{w|meta humor|''lack'' of humor}}.<br />
<br />
Calvin and Hobbes is an acclaimed newspaper comic strip that ran from 1985 to 1995. Calvin is a six-year-old child with an active imagination, and Hobbes is his stuffed tiger who Calvin perceives to be alive through his imagination. The two frequently had philosophical conversations, [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2012/12/30 often while sledding]. Calvin sledded on densely-wooded hills near where he lived, and the ride would often serve as a perfect parallel to the conversation they were having; for example, in one strip, Calvin talks about how seemingly mundane decisions can nonetheless have lasting consequences, by pointing out how all of the things they see as they continue down the hill (and eventually crash into a ravine) are a direct result of him having taken a particular fork early on.<br />
<br />
The title text notes that if you did have Calvin and Hobbes toboggan it would be the worst place to have a breaking-up conversation, because then the sled itself would literally ''break-up'' during the journey, with potentially dangerous consequences. This is also the clue to the fact that the comic is in fact about a break-up situation.<br />
<br />
Calvin and Hobbes is also referenced in Comic 409 [[409]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan looks out window through blinds.]<br />
:Megan: It's snowing!<br />
:Cueball: [from off-screen] Sled time!<br />
<br />
:[Megan and Cueball outside with sled, at the top of a hill.]<br />
:Cueball: It depresses me that I'm too old to learn another language fluently. My brain's solidified.<br />
<br />
:[Megan and Cueball sledding down the hill.]<br />
:Megan: Is there one you wish you knew?<br />
:Cueball: No, I just hate having options closed to me. Like I've given up a life that was once possible.<br />
<br />
:[At the bottom of the hill, sled has stopped.]<br />
:Megan: Yeah. Which reminds me - our anniversary is coming up.<br />
<br />
:Megan: Man, that ride failed to be a metaphor for our conversation.<br />
:Cueball: Guess this isn't the Calvin & Hobbes-model toboggan.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] <br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:Philosophy]]<br />
[[Category:Calvin and Hobbes]]</div>199.27.128.119https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1435:_Presidential_Alert&diff=77457Talk:1435: Presidential Alert2014-10-17T23:44:24Z<p>199.27.128.119: </p>
<hr />
<div>Do you think this has to do with the Floss joke on Reddit at all? [[User:Kllrshrk|Kllrshrk]] ([[User talk:Kllrshrk|talk]]) 04:11, 17 October 2014 (UTC) Kllrshrk<br />
:I don't know about floss joke on reddit, tell me more [[Special:Contributions/103.31.5.112|103.31.5.112]] 04:32, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::http://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/2j6pxs/whats_the_joke_with_then_floss/ [[User:Cheeselover724|Cheeselover724]] ([[User talk:Cheeselover724|talk]]) 04:38, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Randall knows reddit; this is most likely a reference.[[User:Cheeselover724|Cheeselover724]] ([[User talk:Cheeselover724|talk]]) 04:34, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I was thinking that it had something to do with the broadcast he did yesterday (Thursday Oct 16) on the subject of Ebola -- where he really said nothing, other than pamper a bit to the Fox News people, promising an Ebola-czar if he felt it would help [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 08:01, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'm going to suggest that the hover text is based on a faked misunderstanding of First Amendment law... the President, as part of the government, can't suggest a preference for one religion over others, including when he's talking to his own children. {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.119}}<br />
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: Disagree: Mentioning "God" does not signal any preference of any particular religion -- there is (at least one) god in them all, albeit in religions with more than one god they have individual names where in religions with only one god they may not have a name at all [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 08:01, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
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:: First off, I said it was a FAKED misunderstanding. Second, no, not all religions have a god in them, capitalized or not.<br />
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:: There are arguments regarding talking about your capital-G God ((one) proper name of the generic christian god) as opposed to talking about your small-g god (who might have a specific name, whether Jehova, Allah, Osiris, Odin, Quetzovercoatl or, indeed, God). But that's for etymologists to discuss, probably. Or entomologists, when they're fed up talking about whether Bugs are bugs and are trying to relax by not talking shop. HTH, HAND. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.118|141.101.99.118]] 10:19, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
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I read the comic a bit differently: supposing the President accidentally pressed "The Button" (started nuclear war), he would appear on television to tell the country about the impending catastrophe. However, once on TV he can't bring himself to tell everyone that he started a nuclear war by mistake, so he opts for something rather lame and exits -- it will all be over soon anyway.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.191|141.101.104.191]] 07:53, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
: Feeling a bit down today? --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 08:05, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
:: I had the exact same idea - that he meant to tell them: "you're all gonna die soon" or something similar but decided not to and was desperately trying to find something else to say. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.98|108.162.254.98]] 18:33, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Where does the "President Cueball" come from? I assumed it was Obama. --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 08:07, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
: Also the fact that the title text is definitely about Obama implies that the comic features Obama. --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 12:03, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
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The alt-text seems like an unnecessary swipe at President Obama. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.80|108.162.216.80]] 09:03, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
: Everything that occurs here is necessary. [[User:Robert|Robert]] ([[User talk:Robert|talk]]) 09:35, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
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An phone app called Pushbullet recently began pushing xkcds to my phone, and Dashclock places the titles of pushes to my lock screen. Where I'm going with this, if you haven't guessed, is that I found my phone in my bed after 3 AM and blearily woke it to be greeted with a red lock screen reading '''Presidential Alert''' <br />
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A big thank-you to everyone to made my 4 AM wakefulness possible. – [[User:Robert|Robert]] ([[User talk:Robert|talk]]) 09:35, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Anybody else old enough to remember this Spitting Image/Genesis video (http://youtu.be/1pkVLqSaahk)? [[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 14:09, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Regarding the title text, I don't think the joke is that the president would confuse "good night" and "God bless America." It is very common for the United States President to conclude evening speeches with something like "Good night. May God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America." For a similar example, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqMzidfyxrI (which I just found as a random example). [[User:S|S]] ([[User talk:S|talk]]) 22:25, 17 October 2014 (UTC)</div>199.27.128.119https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1435:_Presidential_Alert&diff=77416Talk:1435: Presidential Alert2014-10-17T06:51:14Z<p>199.27.128.119: </p>
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<div>Do you think this has to do with the Floss joke on Reddit at all? [[User:Kllrshrk|Kllrshrk]] ([[User talk:Kllrshrk|talk]]) 04:11, 17 October 2014 (UTC) Kllrshrk<br />
:I don't know about floss joke on reddit, tell me more [[Special:Contributions/103.31.5.112|103.31.5.112]] 04:32, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
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::http://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/2j6pxs/whats_the_joke_with_then_floss/ [[User:Cheeselover724|Cheeselover724]] ([[User talk:Cheeselover724|talk]]) 04:38, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
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:Randall knows reddit; this is most likely a reference.[[User:Cheeselover724|Cheeselover724]] ([[User talk:Cheeselover724|talk]]) 04:34, 17 October 2014 (UTC)<br />
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I'm going to suggest that the hover text is based on a faked misunderstanding of First Amendment law... the President, as part of the government, can't suggest a preference for one erligion over others, including when he's talking to his own children.</div>199.27.128.119https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1305:_Undocumented_Feature&diff=55572Talk:1305: Undocumented Feature2013-12-19T17:29:42Z<p>199.27.128.119: </p>
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:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20&#58;53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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This sound pretty cool... Anyone know if it's real or which tool it's in? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.222|173.245.55.222]] 05:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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* its real, there are 8 other users, but must stay a secret. {{unsigned ip|108.162.231.233}}<br />
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* There is no secret chat room, stop looking for it. It doesn't exist. Look for your own island on the interweb, don't come spoil ours. [[User:scr_admin|scr_admin]]<br />
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Okay, let's be honest: how many of us, upon seeing today's comic, immediately went here to see if it was real or not? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.4|108.162.245.4]] 07:47, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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* I honestly did just that. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.137|173.245.53.137]] 08:06, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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* I also just did that... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.206|108.162.231.206]] 08:07, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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* I didn't start up my VM to test it, but I came here to see if was real >.< [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.56|108.162.216.56]] 09:47, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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* I also did that. But I take that, if it is real and someone uncovers it, it may destroy that community... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.123|173.245.53.123]] 10:28, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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* Same here. If it is real, I sincerely hope Randall has a) wiresharked it to find out where this chat room resides so he can prod the admin if it ever goes down b) has a backup plan to migrate himself and his friends to some other private chat room. It won't have the same mystery surrounding it, but at least it's something. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.222|108.162.231.222]] 10:51, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20&#58;53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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It's not about Youtube, but Facebook, which just launched AUTOPLAYING video ads. Look at the title text, it's about Facebook's real name policy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.232|108.162.231.232]] 08:11, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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* I wouldn't limit the scope of this commentary just to Facebook; YouTube's been doing autoplaying video ads for years. YouTube's also been asking for real names recently. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.200|108.162.212.200]] 14:26, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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* The video ads thing is definitely related to Facebook, but the title text is probably a reference to Youtube recently asking continuously to switch to the real name of google plus account and not the nickname many used on YouTube. Edited the explanation accordingly, since there was no reference to the title text. Spesknight [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.216|108.162.231.216]] 09:08, 19 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I just searched after reading - and found this site! -- {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.247}}<br />
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* The real secret place is here! {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.75}}<br />
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* So THIS is the secret chat [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.7|108.162.229.7]] 09:50, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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* One day this place will be forgotten and so will we. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.197|108.162.231.197]] 09:52, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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anyone else recognizes the wonderful tcp-ip explanation movie of Ericsson [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hymzoUpM0K0 Dawn of the net] in frames 6 till 10? [User:Tesshavon|Tesshavon]] ([[User talk:Tesshavon|talk]])<br />
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* Tesshavon you're in my mind ! Also, the 6th frame is comes from one of the most common Friends posters (see e.g. here : [http://www.infinitydish.com/tvblog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Friends-friends-69087_1024_768.jpg Friends] ) [[User:dandraka|dandraka]]<br />
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It's true. Small online communities offer a more folksy experience than the online giants. Some of the best places to hang out are BBS's that made it onto the Internet and have been there for 25+ years. {{unsigned ip|216.150.130.111}}<br />
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Well there's always IRC... {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.30}}<br />
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:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20&#58;53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I've rewritten all the explanation.<br />
As far as I'm concerned, I'd remove the incomplete box.<br />
I just keep it because it's likely that someone else will feel something is missing.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.180|173.245.53.180]] 15:27, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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If you're interested in a tightknit community out on the fringes of the Net, go join a MUD. Some are combat oriented, some are roleplay and chat oriented, all are text-based, and many have largely the same exact userbase as they had twenty years ago. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.228|108.162.212.228]] 15:48, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Hmm i think randall also wants to share his believs in the subcontext of the comic, the reason why we live on erth as a random error, the sysadmin who probably sees it all(=god), the question what will happen after all that is gone (his opinion, that our lives are compelty senseless)..etc. {{unsigned ip|108.162.254.161}}<br />
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* Anyone else think of comic 37 when reading the last panel (due to the ambiguity of whether he is talking about fucking "video ads" or "fucking video" ads)? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.227|173.245.50.227]] 18:31, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Yes, of COURSE I came here to see if it really exists! I don't know if there's actually a chatroom as described, but Usenet has become much smaller, has no ads, and doesn't require you to know the secret application to get in. IIf a text experience with no ads appeals, dump FB, come back to Usenet! Tell 'em Sea Wasp sent you! :) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.186|108.162.219.186]] 19:15, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20&#58;53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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It's obviously about life and religion. The sysadmin who never writes anything must be there to keep everything running, because else the chat would stop to exist. Like most religions contribute to a god who is never seen or heard. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.232|108.162.231.232]] 08:03, 19 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I'm wondering if he got this idea from Starship Titanic. They had a very similar thing happen. [http://www.metafilter.com/98848/The-Post-That-Cannot-Possibly-Go-Wrong#3435156 See this epic MeFi comment from the self-described "main web hacker" behind Starship Titanic's web site.] [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.119|199.27.128.119]] 17:29, 19 December 2013 (UTC)</div>199.27.128.119https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1286:_Encryptic&diff=52199Talk:1286: Encryptic2013-11-07T09:45:05Z<p>199.27.128.119: </p>
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<div>The answer to the weathervane sword/ favorite apostle hint has got to be Matthias. It is 8 characters long, Matthias was the apostle chosen to replace Judas and in the Redwall series Matthias is one of the wielders of the Sword of Martin a sword that was hung on a weathervane.<br />
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It is unclear to me if these are actual hashes from Adobe file? That would be very cool... but actual file seems to have passwords in slightly different format. http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/11/how-an-epic-blunder-by-adobe-could-strengthen-hand-of-password-crackers/ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.211|108.162.229.211]] 09:05, 4 November 2013 (UTC) pavel<br />
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:I wouldn't call 3DES secure ... but yes, in this situation the real problem is not using per-user salt. Note that I would expect that at least some of those examples would be solvable ...any idea? Hmmm ... sword of weather vane and one of apostles might be Martin ([http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/Sword_of_Martin]) ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:00, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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::It's Jonathon (for John). Not sure what it has to do with weather vane swords though... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.18|108.162.240.18]] 12:42, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:Umm. "Peter" does not seem to have 8 characters, does it? Encryption method suggests it should be 8 characters, as do 8 character boxes on the right... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.211|108.162.229.211]] 10:43, 4 November 2013 (UTC) pavel<br />
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::I'd say "weather vane sword", "name1" and "favorite of 12 apostles" is (Saint) Peter. "Weather vane" as symbol for the rooster in the denial, and the sword Peter used when Jesus was arrested. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.177|108.162.254.177]] 10:25, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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::: ... interesting that google search didn't mentioned it :-) Seems bible have too low pagerank. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:32, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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::: The 'favourite' apostle was John the Evangelist though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disciple_whom_Jesus_loved . The other biblical clue here is 'with your own hand you have done all this' - Judith 15:10. If that's Judith1510 then the 'name and shirt number' is 'Judith15'. The TOS/earlobes clue seems to be "Spock's brain" and "Spock's (ears?)". And the Michael Jackson one is (obviously) ABC123. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.214|141.101.99.214]] 11:14, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::: Perhaps "favorite" in this case refer's to the user's favorite, not Jesus's. [[User:Yomikoma|Yomikoma]] ([[User talk:Yomikoma|talk]]) 16:13, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::: The Michael Jackson password should just be "ABC". (The other clue refers only to letters, and the proper song title also has only letters.) —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 20:57, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::: Given that name1 is two blocks long, I would guess that the apostle's name is going to be eight characters long, with the second hash block being 1+seven spaces (or nulls if Adobe pads it with nulls and not spaces). But then again, as the only disciple with a name eight letters long is Thaddeus maybe not {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.214}}<br />
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:::: "St.Peter" is 8 characters, and having a "special" character (the period) makes it a good choice for passwords that might require 1 non-alphanumeric character (and ban spaces). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.223|141.101.99.223]] 11:47, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:::: I think it is obvious that Name1 refers to {The user's name} + 1. I wonder though if we should be referring to one of the other 12 apostles in a different context? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Apostles_%28disambiguation%29 - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.11|108.162.242.11]] 18:02, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::: Is the "weathervane sword" referring to Redwall? I haven't read the book myself, but would it be referring to the "Sword of Martin"? [http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/Sword_of_Martin] --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:17, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Another article about using passwords hints from multiple users to find the passwords from the breach. http://7habitsofhighlyeffectivehackers.blogspot.com/2013/11/can-someone-be-targeted-using-adobe.html [[User:Bugefun|Bugefun]] ([[User talk:Bugefun|talk]]) 11:06, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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"Sexy earlobes" makes me think of [http://misswiu.livejournal.com/5385.html "The ABC of Aerobics"], but that would make that Shirley Clarke, and nothing in Star Trek has anything to do with Shirley that I am aware of, except possible [http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Ruth Shirley Bonne as Ruth]. I skimmed a list of episode titles, but nothing jumps out at me as particularly earlobish. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.187|108.162.219.187]] 11:20, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:Sexy earlobes might have something to do with Ferengi, but they didn't appeared in TOS. 141.101.99.214's idea is better. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:42, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:OK, we know that "sexy earlobes" and "best TOS Episode" are the same for the first eight character, but differ after that, while "best TOS" and "sugarland" are the same after the first 8 characters. So, my guesses are : Best TOS episode: "Charlie X"; "Sexy Earlobes": Someone with the first name of "Charlie"; "Sugarland": some city in Texas (perhaps "HoustonTX") [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 16:51, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Note that you should not ever use cipher in {{w|Block_cipher_mode_of_operation#Electronic_codebook_.28ECB.29|ECB (electronic codebook)}} mode, i.e. encrypt each block separately and independently, but use chaining. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 12:15, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: And for passwords you shouldn't be using a cipher at all, but rather a hash function. (Or a cipher in one of the approved hash constructions, if you must.) And really you shouldn't be using a standard hash function, but be following best practices for passwords instead: salting the hash, using a *slow* hash function, etc. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 20:22, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Hmm, i'm rather confused about the last few on the list though. Assumedly the password for "he did the mash, he did the" would be "monster mash", but that would leave "purloined" with a password of either "monsterm" or "monster ". which doesn't make much sense. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.18|108.162.240.18]] 13:47, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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(charlie sheen) a1f9b2b6299e7a2b eadec1e6ab797397 sexy earlobes - He did a 2 and a half men episode on sexy earlobes<br />
:(charlie x) a1f9b2b6299e7a2b 617ab0277727ad85 best tos episode - Star Trek has so many good episodes...<br />
::(houstontx) 39738b7adb0b8af7 617ab0277727ad85 sugarland - Sugarland is in Houston, TX<br />
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I don't know about anyone else, but the "hints" column incidentally reminded me of {{w|Darwinian poetry|Darwinian Poetry}}... Not intentionally, I'm sure. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.214|141.101.98.214]] 14:46, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Somehow I've missed out on this issue until this comic alerted me to it, but: once a few passwords are correctly guessed, does that make it straightforward to recover the encryption key, and then be able to decrypt '''all''' of them? —[[User:Scs|scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 14:50, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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: Answering my own question: not really straightforward, no. 3DES is still pretty strong, and what knowing a few passwords gives you is a known-plaintext attack, which helps a little, but is by no means a giveaway. —[[User:Scs|scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 15:00, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:: Note that if blackhat used this service, he would know at least one plaintext - his own password--[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 15:05, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:No, for calculating the encryption key of Triple DES, there is no real benefit in knowing million passwords, you would still need to brute force it. You would need to know at least 2<sup>32</sup> different passwords to make it easier but you can't do that with the leaked file (there are about 30 times less of them and moreover many of them are not unique). [[User:Sten|'''S<small>TEN</small>''']] <small>([[User talk:Sten|talk]])</small> 16:08, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Okay, so the first column is the encrypted password, the second one is the hint chosen by user. What do rectangles mean? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.151|173.245.53.151]] 15:28, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:That are the fields to fill the characters in just as you do in a crossword puzzle. There are small fields at the beginning that take one character each and one large field at the end that takes one to eight characters. [[User:Sten|'''S<small>TEN</small>''']] <small>([[User talk:Sten|talk]])</small> 15:32, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Water 3 is an egg group: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Water_3_(Egg_Group) . Given the length of the key, it will probably be 9-16 characters. (Crawdaunt, tentacool, and tentacruel are most likely) [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.139|199.27.128.139]] 15:43, 4 November 2013 (UTC) <br />
:-- which means 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 is either L, EL, or T, but I can't find a way for that to match up with any variation of "monster mash." [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.209|173.245.55.209]] 16:15, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: Same problem here... Monster mash must not be correct, but it is one of the easier ones, I can't give up on it. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:35, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::: Maybe, he did the MASH is about the book, movie or TV Show M*A*S*H instead? --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:49, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: Monster Mash was written by Bobby Pickett, maybe it has something to do with him? [[User:Sten|'''S<small>TEN</small>''']] <small>([[User talk:Sten|talk]])</small> 18:38, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::: Maybe it's not "monster mash" but just "monster". This would allow the Water-3 Pokemon to be "Cloyster". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.5|108.162.237.5]] 19:17, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::: You are having trouble counting to eight. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 20:22, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::: You are forgetting the space. Assuming space is stored as a null character, this might actually work.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.29|173.245.54.29]] 01:43, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::: Nobody in their right mind would encode spaces as nulls. For us to suppose that they did, we'd need to have some specific clue to that effect. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.5|108.162.238.5]] 09:08, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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It seems to me there are two puzzles here, if folks are right that this is not actual data from the hack. 1) Figure out Adobe's master 3DES encryption password, for the big prize. 2) figure out Randall's 3DES encryption password for this puzzle based on these hints, and knowing it will be something clever. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 16:12, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Trying to decode the passwords (As Randall obviously wants us to)<br />
"with your own hand you have done all this" is from the book of Judith.<br />
Working on decoding the others. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:13, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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8babb6299e06eb6d = password<br />
a0a2876eb1ea1fea = 1<br />
85e9da81a8a78adc = 57<br />
--[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:10, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Weather Vane Sword may be a reference to Game of Thrones Ascent. The "Sworn Sword", I believe is "Rona" which is also a name. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.216|173.245.55.216]] 18:27, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: It needs to be a name of an apostle (as per line 7) and have 7 or 8 characters (as line 3 needs a continuation) so this leaves Matthew, Thaddeus and (Judas) Iscariot. [[User:Sten|'''S<small>TEN</small>''']] <small>([[User talk:Sten|talk]])</small> 18:57, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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If a password(or 8 character segment) is guessed can it be confirmed? Somebody should take this leaked list and create a website that presents it like in the comment and lets people guess. It can fill in the guessed ones. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 19:17, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I'm putting in Mattias for the sword, name1 and disciple because of Saint Matthias [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Matthias] and Redwall Matthias [http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/Matthias] who held the Weathervane Sword (Also known as the sword of Martin [http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/The_Sword_of_Martin] ) --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:27, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: I've also removed "monster mash" from the list as it can't be right. Doesn't match the pokemon or the purloined clues. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:27, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Based on the Water-3 Pokemon hint, the only possibilities of more than 8 characters are tentacool, tentacruel, barbaracle, crawdaunt, carracosta, clauncher, and clawitzer. This would mean "9dca1d79d4dec6d5" would be l, el, le, t, ta, or r. --[[User:Dvorakmd|Dvorakmd]] ([[User talk:Dvorakmd|talk]]) 19:51, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: This is assuming there are no characters before the actual name of the pokemon. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.209|173.245.55.209]] 20:30, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Assuming Randall has constructed this comic to have a unique answer, it can't end in r because then the clue would be ambiguous (could be clauncher or clawitzer). [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 21:53, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Some of these can be ruled out; it's very unlikely to be a Generation VI Pokémon (Barbaracle, Clauncher and Clawitzer) as this has only just come out and someone would have had to set up their pasword within the last few weeks. And the Pokémon that are also in the Water-1 group are probably more likely to be thought of as Water-1 than Water-3 (Crawdaunt and Carracosta). This only leaves Tentacool and Tentacruel as longer than 8 letter Water-3 only Pokémon that have been known of for a reasonable length of time; and Tentacool is no one's favourite, as the annoying multitude of them that show up whenever you try to Surf anyway makes them as reviled as Zubats in caves, if not moreso. :P Of course, the password need not be simply the Pokémon's name alone. "SexyShellder" "Cloyster1987" "Misty'sStarmie"... Who knows? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.252|141.101.99.252]] 01:03, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I don't know the answer to the end either, but here's a list of people who did the Monster Mash, from Wikipedia:<br />
* Bobby Picket (as Boris Picket)<br />
* Garpax Records (Gary S. Paxton)<br />
* The Misfits<br />
* far, far too many other covers to list<br />
And here's some synonyms for "purloined", from thesaurus.com:<br />
* stole<br />
* pilfered<br />
* filched<br />
* misappropriated<br />
* embezzled<br />
* burglarized<br />
* shoplifted<br />
* poached<br />
* pillaged<br />
* cheated<br />
* pinched<br />
* heisted<br />
* thieved<br />
* plundered<br />
* appropriated<br />
* lifted<br />
* took<br />
* snitched<br />
* defrauded<br />
* swindled<br />
* ripped off<br />
* made off with<br />
Good luck with these!<br />
—[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 20:31, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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What about Purloined referring to "The Purloined Letter?" When choosing hints, people, at least in my experience, tend to use word association rather than synonyms. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.209|173.245.55.209]]<br />
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Purloined could also be a reference to the Monster.com hack (http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/monster-trojan). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.11|108.162.237.11]] 21:00, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Words meaning purloined that can have the listed suffixes could be '''embezzle'''/'''embezzler''' or '''scrounge'''/'''scrounger'''. Not sure if it fits to the mash clue. There was a loan shark character who would acquire things on MASH called Rizzo, it is a stretch though. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 21:01, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I'm still trying to figure out how the solutions go into the spaces on the right -- it may be more obvious once the last couple clues are figured out. I suspect the ordering and numbers of clues have some sort of meaning. Why are there 5 of the 877... passwords, 2 with no clues? Why is one of the 4e18.... passwords separated from the rest? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.28|108.162.221.28]] 21:07, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Could Purloined be a reference to the "Purloined Shadows" book in Elder Scrolls? --[[User:Dvorakmd|Dvorakmd]] ([[User talk:Dvorakmd|talk]]) 21:09, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Or 'The Purloined Payroll', a WoW quest? "Purloined in Petrograd" is also a lyric to a Decemberists song (The Bagman's Gambit). Google n-grams suggests that "Purloined Image", and "purloined documents" are a Thing. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 21:58, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Purloined could be a reference to something that is known as have been stolen like a work of art, or it could be something that was stolen in an XKCD comic. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 21:18, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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'''EdgarPoe'''(author of The Purloined Letter)/'''EdgarPoet''' fits, but again not really anything to do with MASH. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 21:27, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Water-3 pokemon (egg group) are given here: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Water_3_(Egg_Group) ...if I split off the letters of their names after the 8th letter, we see l, el, le, t, ta, and r. So the MASH item ends with one of those suffixes. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.167|199.27.128.167]] 21:31, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Can't end in 'r', because then that clue would be ambiguous. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 21:53, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Speaking of pokemon, could the clue to purloined have something to do with the pokemon Purrloin? http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Purrloin_(Pok%C3%A9mon) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.43|108.162.221.43]] 23:51, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Is there a reason "MASH" is capitalized in the above sections? Given the context, it shouldn't be, and I still haven't given up on the password being a reference to the monster mash. That said, we can't ignore the movie/show MASH.<br />
Also, now that I think about it: pokeMONstermash? I don't know, just throwing ideas out :P [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.209|173.245.55.209]] 22:08, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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On [http://de.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pvwyf/xkcd_encryptic_analysis_at_the_link_below/ reddit] they suggest "Letterman" (which is wrong, too many letters) based on the M*A*S*H episode, "Letters". [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 22:11, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:...on the other hand, I wonder if an answer like "ALANALDA" would work? As in, someone who "did the M*A*S*H"... [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 22:13, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: Sadly, no. Because it needs to be more than 8 characters. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 22:17, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::: No, I mean, "an answer of this form", not ALANALDA exactly. The Edgar Allan / Alan Alda congruence is tasty, but I can't make it work. ALLANPOE works as an answer for "Purloined" but that makes something like ALLANPOET the answer to "he did the MASH" (CRAWDAUNT is then the pokemon). But that's misspelling Alda's name for the MASH clue, doesn't quite work. There's also JAMIEFARR (Cpl Klinger) as a better answer to "he did the MASH" but then that makes JAMIEFAR the answer to "purloined" and I can't plausibly make that work. ALLANARBUS is another M*A*S*H actor, but that doesn't work at all. Can anyone come up with other/better ideas in this vein? [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 22:31, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::: Don't misspell Alda's name; misspell Poe's! —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 02:07, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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In crossword puzzles, a clue ending in -ed (like 'purloined') is most commonly a hint that the answer ends in 'ed'. Cross referencing that with the Pokemon clue, the solution for "he did the MASH" becomes a nine or ten letter answer ending in: -edl, -edel, -edle, -edt, or -edta (excluding -edr due to non-uniqueness), with ......edle looking the most "English-y" to me. My hunch would be something else Robert Altman or Alan Alda "did"... but nothing seems to end in 'edle.' --[[User:Willowy burrito|Willowy burrito]] ([[User talk:Willowy burrito|talk]]) 23:07, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: There is no indication that this is a standard crossword. Most users don't respect crossword conventions when writing password hints. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 23:59, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: Aside from the title. And the text. And the fact these didn't come from users, but were just chosen for a puzzle designed by Randall, who would include just this sort of puzzler hint/in-joke in a comic about puzzles. It's moot, because no synonyms for 'stolen' make any sense with a couple other letters tacked on the end. But still, there've been worse hunches. --[[User:Willowy burrito|Willowy burrito]] ([[User talk:Willowy burrito|talk]]) 00:45, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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For all we know, his favourite Water-3 Pokémon could be Shell Smash Cloyster or Shell Smash Omastar - "OmastarSmash" as a password would fit in with "Monster mash". [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.252|141.101.99.252]] 23:16, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: I like that idea, although it leaves "Monster " (with a trailing space) as the answer to "Purloined", which makes no sense. But interesting idea. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 00:00, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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MonsterMash<br />
MonsterM<br />
TheWiscash {{unsigned|Jcupcake}}<br />
: It's "Whiscash", and it's Water 2 (not 3) and "MonsterM" makes no sense as an answer for the hint "Purloined". But I like the idea of adding "The" in front of the pokemon answer; perhaps we're being too restrictive by looking only at pokemon with length > 8. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 23:59, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Yeah, sorry about the typo - last one would be TheWhiscash. MonsterM absolutely makes sense. http://www.hoax-slayer.com/monster-666.shtml The purloined letter here IS M [[User:Jcupcake|Jcupcake]] ([[User talk:Jcupcake|talk]]) 02:40, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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So somewhere above this someone pointed out that purloined could refer to a monster.com hack...in which case, could the first two passwords be "monster mash" and "monster"? That would allow for another previous suggestion of "OmastarSmash" Also, here's my IP Address and a remarkably not-random timestamp: [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.195|108.162.219.195]] 01:31, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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It could also be that there are modifiers to the base. I always thought of Monster Mash as MonstaMash. This would line up closely with My Corphish written as "mycorphish" My favorite pokemon is my pikachu not just any pikachu, but mine, sort of logic. [[User:Bitassassin|Bitassassin]] ([[User talk:Bitassassin|talk]]) 01:43, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Could "he did the mash" be referring to brewing and/or the Maillard reaction? [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 05:32, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I was just thinking that "MonsterM Ash", "MonsterM", both seem to make sense, and Ash had a few water pokemon in the water 3 egg group, so could it potentially be something along the lines of "Corphish Ash"? That was the only 8 letter water 3 pokemon he had and it fits with the other clues [[User:NewToThis|NewToThis]] ([[User talk:NewToThis|talk]]) 07:25, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Has the idea of pokemon fusion been considered? http://pokemon.alexonsager.net/ referenced by http://kotaku.com/how-the-website-that-lets-you-create-frankenstein-pokem-510517336<br />
--[[User:Oukansz|Oukansz]] ([[User talk:Oukansz|talk]]) 19:25, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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;Fanservice<br />
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Randall must know about this site. This comic doesn't work without people to crack the code. Should we have a fanservice category? :-) --[[User:SurturZ|SurturZ]] ([[User talk:SurturZ|talk]]) 23:32, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I'm beginning to suspect that the wide boxes will have the key in it. Assuming he used regular DES (or DES3, for that matter, but using the same 8-byte key 3 times), it could be plausible. The 5 in the middle could be 'abcde', a lot of the other 'second halves' are numbers, and the likely known one that's not seems to be an 'x' -- which could certainly be involved in writing a hex number... problem is there's 11 of those boxes. Trying to guess what signficance the positioning of those boxes have. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.28|108.162.221.28]] 00:00, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Actually, it looks like the boxes line up perfectly such that the wide bits (for second-half) will only touch the words they apply to. Order will be more or less what they are (I see the wide boxes as, in order, 1, 57, 10, Sheen, and X, with the 8 char boxes as Matthias, Password, Judith15, Charlie, and HoustonT). The next 5 are odd -- I'm not sure if we repeat the alpha/obvious password 5 times, or it's 5 chars long (abcde) and one per box. The last set is still under discussion, of course. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.28|108.162.221.28]] 00:20, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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;MASH capitalized<br />
I'm currently chasing down the idea that MASH refers to [[Wikipedia:MASH-1]]. Haven't seen any name yet that looks like it might satisfy "Purloined". - [[User:BozoTheScary|BozoTheScary]] ([[User talk:BozoTheScary|talk]]) 01:56, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I think MASH is a transcribing error. The comic doesn't have any difference on those letters as far as I can tell. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.222|173.245.50.222]] 03:18, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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The Purloined Letter is a Edgar Alan Poe story starring C. Auguste Dupin. Might help. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.5|108.162.249.5]] 03:08, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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There is also a strong association between the Monster Mash and the Mashed Potato, just throwing another idea into the ring. Also try the name BobbyPickett. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.5|108.162.249.5]] 03:22, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Frankenstein did the Monster Mash in the cartoon for the song. That leads to a Pokemon card ending in 'tein' and 'frankens' for the hint Purloined. I could not find a Pokemon card that ended in 'tein' nor could I link 'frankens' with Purloined. I ran 'frankens' through Google Translate but found nothing. Also, it's the same password for the "monster mash" hint and the entry with no password hint so I think it's an obvious password (something someone can recall without a hint). Frankenstein fits that part but not the other ones. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.222|173.245.50.222]] 03:35, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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My $0.02: "He did the mash..." might allude to the expression "doing the math" only (intentionally) misspelled and something like "numbert" or "numb" could be the answer. --[[User:RagnarDa|RagnarDa]] ([[User talk:RagnarDa|talk]]) 04:01, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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graveyard smash fits for the first clue (though lyrically incorrect). Gives smash as second block, but cannot find association between graveyard and purloined. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.5|108.162.249.5]] 04:08, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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If we take The Monster Mash for the first answer, it could be written as TheMonsterMash or The Monster Mash, giving either TheMonst erMash or The Mons ter Mash as the two blocks. This gives either Themonst or The Mons as Purloined and either ermash or ter Mash for second block of pokemon answer. Suggestions? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.5|108.162.249.5]] 04:15, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Only problem is that the word "the" is the last word of the hint.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.117|108.162.237.117]] 04:51, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I know that the water-3 group is not the same, but it seems like an odd coincidence that another pokemon group is the "monster" group. --[[User:Natnee|Natnee]] ([[User talk:Natnee|talk]]) 04:44, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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There is a Scooby Doo comic book story titled "[The Purloined Poe-M](http://scoobydoo.wikia.com/wiki/The_Purloined_Poe-M)", which has an odd similarity to the "MonsterM" possible password. This would leave the pokemon password ending "ash" who, of course, is a pokemon character ... which makes no sense in that place. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.83|199.27.128.83]] 05:51, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Here's one that fits: <br><br />
facemash4077 (Combination of facemash by zuckerberg and M*A*S*H) <br><br />
facemash (Site made by Zuck in The Social network.) <br><br />
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Maybe facmashklinger.. The eggklinger being a water-3 Pokemon? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.39|108.162.215.39]] 06:14, 5 November 2013 (UTC)rbnm<br />
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[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Orchard John Orchard] played in M*A*S*H and also was in the movie "The Letter" [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.8|108.162.250.8]] 05:02, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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;Working Backwards<br />
I'm attempting to take a different tact, by trying to find the key itself. I'm assuming its something easy to guess. I've tried the top 100 Adobe passwords (you can get them [http://stricture-group.com/files/adobe-top100.txt here]) using the following bash script (testing the word "matthias", as this one seems pretty certain):<br />
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<code><br />
while read p; do echo -n $p\: && echo -n "matthias" | openssl enc -e -des-ede3 -nosalt -nopad -pass pass:$p | xxd -p; done < passwords.txt<br />
</code><br />
<br />
For this to work, I pre-processed the top 100 passwords file with:<br />
<br />
<code><br />
cat adobe-top100.txt | cut -c51- > passwords.txt<br />
</code><br />
<br />
…and then trimmed the cruft with a text editor (leading text paragraph and table headers). So far no luck; perhaps someone with more time on their hands can try some obvious XKCD-related passwords (I've tried XKCD, xkcd, xkcd.com, randall, rmunroe, encryptic, and Encrytic) and see if the encrypted version(s) match up with what we have here. [[User:Yaztromo|Yaztromo]] ([[User talk:Yaztromo|talk]]) 09:27, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:I should mention that I've also tried OpenSSL's des-ede mode and des-ecb, as Im not sure if Randall used one, two, or three key mode. I'm also assuming the key has been generated from the password using OpenSSL's default key generation method, any of with I suppose could be incorrect. [[User:Yaztromo|Yaztromo]] ([[User talk:Yaztromo|talk]]) 09:39, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: Nice work. Note that the puzzle is very specific about using "block mode 3-DES" (usually called "ECB"). DES keys are actually 56 bits; each of the 8 bytes has odd parity (the number of 1 bits is odd). From [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Encryption_Standard wp], "Bits 8, 16,..., 64 are for use in ensuring that each byte is of odd parity." As a wild guess, I'd suggest that, if Randall chose a readable 8-ASCII-character passphrase, he also selected only characters that would make the parity bit zero (so that the result was ASCII). That is, <code><nowiki>[ #%&)*,/12478;=>@CEFIJLOQRTWX[]^abdghkmnpsuvyz|]</nowiki></code>. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 16:34, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::: Uh, hold one. Read the "Explanation" section above. It's clear that the hashes are not real, so brute-forcing the key isn't going to work. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 16:48, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::: Just to note, there are actually three options for keys in TripleDES: having three independent keys (K1, K2, K3), having two independent keys (K1, K2, K1), or using a single key (K1, K1, K1). When run in ECB mode, OpenSSL calls these '''des-ede3''' and '''des-ede''' for options 1 and 2 (option 3 is for backwards compatibility with DES, and can be run using just '''des-ecb'''). See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_DES#Keying_options Triple DES - Keying Options] for details. In addition, the password and the key are two different entities -- typically the password is run through a keying algorithm first (commonly [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBKDF2 PBKDF2] for 3DES), so there is no need to select password characters based on parity patterns. All of which is moot now that we know that the data isn't in fact TripleDES encrypted in the first place. I'm actually disappointed in Randall now :P. [[User:Yaztromo|Yaztromo]] ([[User talk:Yaztromo|talk]]) 19:01, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I Hadn't seen it mentioned yet, but Monster Mash was written by Robert George Pickett (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Pickett), Whose last name goes closely with the second clue, Purloined, which means "stolen". I can't make it work, but I figured it was worth pointing out. (Nov 5th 1:26 pm utc ) [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.24|173.245.56.24]] 13:27, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: It's a good connection. Maybe we should reorganize the discussion and start a list of "interesting ideas we can't quite make work" in the hopes that someone else has an insight. Edgar Allan / Alan Alda, Pickett / "Pick it", Klinger / Kingler, etc. Most of these are just manifestation of the human brain's ability to find patterns even in random coincidence, of course, but one of them might be on the right track. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 16:23, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Just quick thoughts. <br />
I feel like Cpl klinger and the water type kingler is too solid a connection to ignore even though I can't really use it. <br />
Kingler was owned in the series by Ash. <br />
Ash is a three letter word and the last three letters of the phrase monstermash. <br />
Monsterm=8 letters so the first block ash=3 letters in the second block. <br />
Monsterm is about the monster.com thing, therefore purloined. It's a double reference, the .co has been purloined from the purloined website. <br />
Then blastoise -3, or rather blastois3 - 3 (mocking the common password meme of replacing letters with numbers) <br />
So the last password, which is super hard to guess and well chosen even with the clue is, blastoisash? It's a feasibly memorable password that would not be quickly forgotten by a pokemon fan while still being hard to guess. <br />
Can you think of a way to check it? Maybe go into the old command line xkcd and try it as a password? (From a contributor to my talk page) --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 13:52, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: That's really a stretch. ".co is purloined from monster.com?" really? The answer will be far more obviously correct... once we figure it out. Look at the other answers, for example. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 16:23, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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;another quick idea for monster mash<br />
<br />
It could be deflection. Maybe whoever put it in was paranoid. Or just dumb. Or who knows.<br />
<br />
But, there is a pokemon that's in the monster/water(-1) hybrid group called Marshtomp.<br />
<br />
Monster mash, mashed (ie anagrammed) can give us all but the P out of that... which is fine, as it's a 9-letter name.<br />
<br />
Thus we have E, N and S left over (and indeed a further T, H, E), which could become overall, e.g, Marshtomens (...Marshtomethens? Or w/e), which you can split up as you like to represent something which has been stolen (personally). Possibly in german slang or something. It doesn't have to be a direct thesaurus link, it could well be complete misdirection (on Randall's behalf, or that of his notional Adobe user), same as for the pokemon.<br />
<br />
And for the pokemon itself, it could well be "Marshtomp3" ;)<br />
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Also, don't forget about reversed words and so-on.<br />
<br />
Heck, I've used very personal and/or random things (like, maybe two or three people in the world may recognise it in connection with me, and it's not online, at least not anywhere it can be found - basically it's just in my head and dies with me), reversed, with numbers substituting random characters, as passwords before. That covers each individual base in just one PW...<br />
<br />
Now we just have to start feeding the guesses into a hash engine and try to figure out, maybe brute force, what the original key was. Knowing almost all of the other answers already makes this far, far easier for those who may have the facility to run the tests already. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.213|141.101.99.213]] 14:54, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: This is not a real excerpt from the password file, this is a puzzle which Randall made up. Therefore, the answer to the last group will not be random, and it will not be a stretch. It will be obvious (as obvious as the previous ones)... once we figure out the catch. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 16:23, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
FWIW, Eve Online also features a "Purloined Sansha Codebreaker". [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 17:16, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I agree that the solution has to be obvious - especially after its revealed. If this were a crossword puzzle, then the clues like Purloined might be followed by a question mark. Purloined? a cat that is loined - a cat that is covered with cloths? Puss in boots? Or something along those lines... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.34|108.162.215.34]]rbnm<br />
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purloined=phished (Corphish)? {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.227}}<br />
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i wonder if the link between the last three clues is more like a cryptic crossword puzzle---for instance, --purloined= heisted; the other clues reading it as he/is/ted...?--[[User:Wwd|Wwd]] ([[User talk:Wwd|talk]]) 22:40, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I wonder if the pokemon could be the name of an ubuntu release, per "Not Really Into Pokemon" at http://xkcd.com/178/ --[[User:Willowy burrito|Willowy burrito]] ([[User talk:Willowy burrito|talk]]) 22:45, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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You could also abbreviate Robert Pickett's name (the co-writer of Monster Mash) as "Rob Pickett" which goes even more with purloined (the first 8 letters are now "Rob Pick"). [[User:Davheld|Davheld]] ([[User talk:Davheld|talk]]) 06:21, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Beings that "did the mash" according to the song http://www.lyricsondemand.com/onehitwonders/monstermashlyrics.html : my monster, the ghouls, Igor, Igor's baying hounds, the coffin-bangers, "The Crypt-Kicker Five", you. Zombies, Wolf Man, Dracula/Drac, and Boris were also mentioned, but they didn't do the mash. Hope that helps someone (doesn't help me). [[User:DPWally|DPWally]] ([[User talk:DPWally|talk]]) 23:05, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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;Capitalization hints?<br />
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I have no idea who first put the capital letters in "MASH" and "Purloined" in the transcript (and I don't want to check), but now that I've gotten rid of the second (after somebody else got rid of the first), I want to record them here for the record. Possibly Randall put them in and was feeding us clues (so ''MASH'' the book or movie, and ''Purloined'' a title such as Poe's). I consider this unlikely (after all, I removed one of these capitalizations), but the possibility should be recorded. —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 01:17, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I can't be a coincidence that this comes up as the top google news search for 'purloined:' http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/05/adobe_users_purloined_passwords_were_pathetic/ {{unsigned ip|108.162.246.120}}<br />
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"38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 he did the mash, he did the": Ministermash (sounds like monster mash)<br />
"38a7c9279cadeb44 purloined": Minister (based on the character Minister D-, who stole the letter in the Edgar Allen Poe story) <br />
"a8ae5754a2b7af7a 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 fav water-3 pokemon": OmastarSmash (Shell Smash Omastar)<br />
So,38a7c9279cadeb44 = minister, 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 = mash, a8ae5754a2b7af7a = omastars<br />
04:07, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Probably one of the best complete theories I've heard [[User:Davheld|Davheld]] ([[User talk:Davheld|talk]]) 06:26, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I suggest "alligato" (a form of Latin ''alligatus'', perfect passive participle of ''alligo'' "bind up"), and "alligator" (Referencing "Land of 1000 Dances"). [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.62|199.27.128.62]] 05:37, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I think there is a transcribe mistake. <br><br />
Instead of "fav water-3 pokemon" <br><br />
Could it be "fay water-3 pokemon" <br><br />
Look at the Y and V letters in the non-chopped letters above. I think it is a Y and not a V. <br><br />
{{unsigned ip|108.162.215.51}}<br />
*About the Pokemon, is it possible everyone's ignoring a much simpler explanation? Every Pokemon game begins with a choice of one of the three starter Pokemon, each of which have an evolutionary line of three Pokemon. In first gen, if your "favorite [is] water [from the] 3 Pokemon", then you'll be using Squirtle, followed by Wartortle and Blastoise. 2nd gen: Totodile, Croconaw, Feraligatr. 3rd gen: Mudkip, Marshtomp, Swampert. 4th gen: Piplup, Prinplup, Empoleon. Perhaps the answer uses one of these, or some combination of them? --Anon 08:57, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Boris Blacher wrote an opera based on 'The purloined letter' This may fit with Bobby 'Boris' Pickett who sang Monster Mash [[User:YellowYeti|YellowYeti]] ([[User talk:YellowYeti|talk]]) 11:11, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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The "Boris" in "Boris Pickett" is a reference to Boris Karloff. (In his other work, Pickett doesn't use that name.) —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 12:36, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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An alternative tack: how about Barbaracle for the Pokemon, BarbaraC(Jordan) for purloined and Barbara Clark - famous for doing Monster Mash-up novels. Does Barbara Jordan have some purloined link with watergate? {{unsigned ip|108.162.231.16}}<br />
No, because the pokemon has a different starting string as the other two. --[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.119|199.27.128.119]] 13:48, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I think it is not coincidence that it is the last one that you can't solve. It may be an experiment by Randall to see if people can find a solution for a puzzle that doesn't make any sense. That said, if it does have a solution, it should not be "monstermash" since that is too close to the clue. If that was the password, everyone could guess it easily from the clue. It has to be one level "removed" from those words, guided by the clues for the matching passwords. The point of the post was that using unsalted crypt in the passwords allows you to combine clues, right? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.201|108.162.219.201]] 13:42, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Not an answer, but maybe an approach: Look at it from the "what piece of information is Randall trying to tell us?" angle. In the first few puzzles, he teaches us the rules of the game. We disambiguate clues by later ones, which we can only do because of the missing salts. For example, the "name and jersey number" just tells us the format of the answer to the previous clue about Judith 15:10. Otherwise, there would have been no way to guess that exact string without the space and colon. Also, "Charlie X" and "Charlie Sheen" demonstrate that spaces are used in a "fair" way. I would not expect a trailing space on a password, for example. So what about the Pokemon then? The first half of the crypt for the Pokemon isn't used anywhere else. The easiest interpretation I can come up with is that this is just trying to restrict the common second part of the word to letters from the list of Water-3 Pokemon. Let's assume it wasn't made very difficult, so take just 'el', 'le', and 'l' from the Water-3-only group on bulbapedia. Then the puzzle is this:<br />
<br />
something related to 'monster mash': 8 letters plus the ending 'el', 'le', or 'l'<br />
something related to 'purloined' or related to 'letter': the same 8 letters, minus the ending<br />
pokemon: completely unrelated, just chosen to have a well known list of 9 or 10 letter words to restrict search space for first line<br />
<br />
I suck at crosswords, but can someone solve this restated version? There can't be that many 8 letter words that also make a word with 'el', 'le', or 'l' added to them? 15:23, 6 November 2013 (UTC) {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.201}}<br />
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: Not to insult your reasoning, which is entirely correct, but I believe your restatement is *exactly* the puzzle that (reasonable) people have been working on (and failing to solve) since Monday. As a long-time mystery hunter, I'd like to suggest the opposite: the continued failure to find some reasonable solution to the puzzle as stated above implies that *at least one* of the assumptions above is wrong. (For the record, I'd broaden your first to "...related to 'monster mash' or the show/film M*A*S*H", but again, that's the assumption we *have* been making.) So I'm especially interested in ideas *different* from the above, at this point, although not necessarily throwing out the bathtub, baby and all. Probably there's a fundamentally different way to read the first clue, or the second, or the third. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 17:11, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: Not insulted at all, just glad if I summarized it correctly, since I was late to the party. Maybe this helps others bootstrap. As requested, a slightly alternate view for clue 1: the word "mash" may not be part of the answer, since it appears in the clue. This means the direct answer to the clue is "monster" and has nothing to do with the song at all. The password could just be the name of a monster that is formed from something purloined plus an short ending. The endings we're already considering make nice monster names.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.198|108.162.219.198]] 19:54, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:::I appreciate the summary, it helped me come up with my "keyboard mash" proposed solution, which you can see below" [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.16|108.162.221.16]] 21:51, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Looking at some word lists at http://www.litscape.com/words/ending_with/l/9_letter_l_end_words.html , this doesn't seem to be leading anywhere good. Can someone fix my logic? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.201|108.162.219.201]] 15:33, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Not sure if anyone else has pointed out yet, but there is a pokemon named purrloin http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Purrloin_%28Pok%C3%A9mon%29 . That seems like far too much of a coincidence to not be related. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.211|173.245.52.211]] 16:17, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: We'll add it to the long list of suspicious coincidences. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 17:11, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: I don't believe the hints can be related. Note that the Pokemon's name shares zero characters with the answer to the 'purloined' clue, so they are not linked via the same password. Any semantic link is inconsistent with these being password hints from separate (imaginary) users. Maybe Randall subconsciously (or via google) went from purloined to Purrloin to names of Pokemon. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.198|108.162.219.198]] 19:20, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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a stretch.. but maybe a starting point?<br />
bootlegd purloined<br />
bootlegd ash he did the..<br />
???whisc ash fav-3<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.34|108.162.215.34]]rbnm<br />
<br />
;Hash collision<br />
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Maybe the last clues could be intended to be a hash collision? With 64-bit blocks that seems unlikely, but maybe it's a trick?<br />
[[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 21:29, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Finding the probability of a collision amounts to the birthday problem. Assuming the hash function gives all 2^64 hash values with equal probability and there are 153 million unique message blocks (probably right within an order of magnitude), we have:<br />
:<br />
: <pre>Pr[collision] = 1 - exp(-153000000^2/(2*2^64)) = 0.000634</pre><br />
:<br />
: So the probability of a hash collision from different passwords is still quite low, even with such a large number of passwords. So it's worth assuming that all the identical hash blocks are from the same message, and keep looking for the poke-mash password.<br />
: BTW, getting a 50% chance of a collision requires about <tt>sqrt(-2^65*ln(.5))</tt> = 5 billion unique passwords.<br />
:[[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 21:46, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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'''Explanation for the last 3:'''<br />
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He did the mash, he did the "keyboard mash"<br />
ASDFGHJK - L<br />
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purloined "one letter from the home row"<br />
ASDFGHJK<br />
<br />
Then the third one is TENTACOO - L <br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.16|108.162.221.16]] 21:45, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Purloined seems like a stretch. On the other hand, 'asdfghjkl' is the 56th most common password in the real adobe data, so perhaps you're on to something. [[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 22:08, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I don't know, I feel like purloined has got to be a reference to the Poe story. The pun that letter means single character rather than item of correspondence is cute and funny. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.16|108.162.221.16]] 22:30, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:I like this explanation --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 22:28, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Why the restriction on the ending of the Pokemon to el, l, etc? There could be an adjective before (i.e. redkingle), so the Pokemon name could extend more into the second frame. The adjective might be some abreviated synonym for favorite, or whatever fav (or fay) stand for. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.34|108.162.215.34]] 22:07, 6 November 2013 (UTC)rbnm<br />
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;The last clue<br />
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Regarding it being actually Fay water-3 pokemon, have a look at this: http://www.serebii.net/e-reader/battle/08.shtml<br />
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The trainer is named Fay, and has a Starmie, which is a Water-3 Pokemon according to http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Water_3_(Egg_Group)<br />
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However, its only 7 characters. Not sure if it means anything, but just putting it out there.<br />
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EDIT: FayStarmie takes us to 10, leaving 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 meaning 'ie'<br />
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EDIT 2: I believe there is a Fay in Pokemon X and Y, but I can't find any information on her. Also Fay could refer to fairy, which is the new type added in Pokemon X and Y, but there doesn't seem to be any fairy Water-3 Pokemon, or any pokemon that reside in both groups. [[User:Haelbarde|Haelbarde]] ([[User talk:Haelbarde|talk]]) 00:24, 7 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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It's not "FAY", it's "FAV". Check how "FAVORITE" is written in the middle of the picture, and look at the Y's. The vertex is clearly below the mid-point of A, which is where it is in Y. --[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.119|199.27.128.119]] 09:45, 7 November 2013 (UTC)</div>199.27.128.119https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1286:_Encryptic&diff=52109Talk:1286: Encryptic2013-11-06T13:48:32Z<p>199.27.128.119: </p>
<hr />
<div>The answer to the weathervane sword/ favorite apostle hint has got to be Matthias. It is 8 characters long, Matthias was the apostle chosen to replace Judas and in the Redwall series Matthias is one of the wielders of the Sword of Martin a sword that was hung on a weathervane.<br />
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It is unclear to me if these are actual hashes from Adobe file? That would be very cool... but actual file seems to have passwords in slightly different format. http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/11/how-an-epic-blunder-by-adobe-could-strengthen-hand-of-password-crackers/ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.211|108.162.229.211]] 09:05, 4 November 2013 (UTC) pavel<br />
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:I wouldn't call 3DES secure ... but yes, in this situation the real problem is not using per-user salt. Note that I would expect that at least some of those examples would be solvable ...any idea? Hmmm ... sword of weather vane and one of apostles might be Martin ([http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/Sword_of_Martin]) ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:00, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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::It's Jonathon (for John). Not sure what it has to do with weather vane swords though... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.18|108.162.240.18]] 12:42, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:Umm. "Peter" does not seem to have 8 characters, does it? Encryption method suggests it should be 8 characters, as do 8 character boxes on the right... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.211|108.162.229.211]] 10:43, 4 November 2013 (UTC) pavel<br />
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::I'd say "weather vane sword", "name1" and "favorite of 12 apostles" is (Saint) Peter. "Weather vane" as symbol for the rooster in the denial, and the sword Peter used when Jesus was arrested. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.177|108.162.254.177]] 10:25, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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::: ... interesting that google search didn't mentioned it :-) Seems bible have too low pagerank. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:32, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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::: The 'favourite' apostle was John the Evangelist though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disciple_whom_Jesus_loved . The other biblical clue here is 'with your own hand you have done all this' - Judith 15:10. If that's Judith1510 then the 'name and shirt number' is 'Judith15'. The TOS/earlobes clue seems to be "Spock's brain" and "Spock's (ears?)". And the Michael Jackson one is (obviously) ABC123. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.214|141.101.99.214]] 11:14, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::: Perhaps "favorite" in this case refer's to the user's favorite, not Jesus's. [[User:Yomikoma|Yomikoma]] ([[User talk:Yomikoma|talk]]) 16:13, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::: The Michael Jackson password should just be "ABC". (The other clue refers only to letters, and the proper song title also has only letters.) —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 20:57, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::: Given that name1 is two blocks long, I would guess that the apostle's name is going to be eight characters long, with the second hash block being 1+seven spaces (or nulls if Adobe pads it with nulls and not spaces). But then again, as the only disciple with a name eight letters long is Thaddeus maybe not {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.214}}<br />
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:::: "St.Peter" is 8 characters, and having a "special" character (the period) makes it a good choice for passwords that might require 1 non-alphanumeric character (and ban spaces). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.223|141.101.99.223]] 11:47, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:::: I think it is obvious that Name1 refers to {The user's name} + 1. I wonder though if we should be referring to one of the other 12 apostles in a different context? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Apostles_%28disambiguation%29 - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.11|108.162.242.11]] 18:02, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::: Is the "weathervane sword" referring to Redwall? I haven't read the book myself, but would it be referring to the "Sword of Martin"? [http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/Sword_of_Martin] --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:17, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Another article about using passwords hints from multiple users to find the passwords from the breach. http://7habitsofhighlyeffectivehackers.blogspot.com/2013/11/can-someone-be-targeted-using-adobe.html [[User:Bugefun|Bugefun]] ([[User talk:Bugefun|talk]]) 11:06, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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"Sexy earlobes" makes me think of [http://misswiu.livejournal.com/5385.html "The ABC of Aerobics"], but that would make that Shirley Clarke, and nothing in Star Trek has anything to do with Shirley that I am aware of, except possible [http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Ruth Shirley Bonne as Ruth]. I skimmed a list of episode titles, but nothing jumps out at me as particularly earlobish. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.187|108.162.219.187]] 11:20, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:Sexy earlobes might have something to do with Ferengi, but they didn't appeared in TOS. 141.101.99.214's idea is better. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:42, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:OK, we know that "sexy earlobes" and "best TOS Episode" are the same for the first eight character, but differ after that, while "best TOS" and "sugarland" are the same after the first 8 characters. So, my guesses are : Best TOS episode: "Charlie X"; "Sexy Earlobes": Someone with the first name of "Charlie"; "Sugarland": some city in Texas (perhaps "HoustonTX") [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 16:51, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Note that you should not ever use cipher in {{w|Block_cipher_mode_of_operation#Electronic_codebook_.28ECB.29|ECB (electronic codebook)}} mode, i.e. encrypt each block separately and independently, but use chaining. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 12:15, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: And for passwords you shouldn't be using a cipher at all, but rather a hash function. (Or a cipher in one of the approved hash constructions, if you must.) And really you shouldn't be using a standard hash function, but be following best practices for passwords instead: salting the hash, using a *slow* hash function, etc. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 20:22, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Hmm, i'm rather confused about the last few on the list though. Assumedly the password for "he did the mash, he did the" would be "monster mash", but that would leave "purloined" with a password of either "monsterm" or "monster ". which doesn't make much sense. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.18|108.162.240.18]] 13:47, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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(charlie sheen) a1f9b2b6299e7a2b eadec1e6ab797397 sexy earlobes - He did a 2 and a half men episode on sexy earlobes<br />
:(charlie x) a1f9b2b6299e7a2b 617ab0277727ad85 best tos episode - Star Trek has so many good episodes...<br />
::(houstontx) 39738b7adb0b8af7 617ab0277727ad85 sugarland - Sugarland is in Houston, TX<br />
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I don't know about anyone else, but the "hints" column incidentally reminded me of {{w|Darwinian poetry|Darwinian Poetry}}... Not intentionally, I'm sure. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.214|141.101.98.214]] 14:46, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Somehow I've missed out on this issue until this comic alerted me to it, but: once a few passwords are correctly guessed, does that make it straightforward to recover the encryption key, and then be able to decrypt '''all''' of them? —[[User:Scs|scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 14:50, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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: Answering my own question: not really straightforward, no. 3DES is still pretty strong, and what knowing a few passwords gives you is a known-plaintext attack, which helps a little, but is by no means a giveaway. —[[User:Scs|scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 15:00, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: Note that if blackhat used this service, he would know at least one plaintext - his own password--[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 15:05, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:No, for calculating the encryption key of Triple DES, there is no real benefit in knowing million passwords, you would still need to brute force it. You would need to know at least 2<sup>32</sup> different passwords to make it easier but you can't do that with the leaked file (there are about 30 times less of them and moreover many of them are not unique). [[User:Sten|'''S<small>TEN</small>''']] <small>([[User talk:Sten|talk]])</small> 16:08, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Okay, so the first column is the encrypted password, the second one is the hint chosen by user. What do rectangles mean? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.151|173.245.53.151]] 15:28, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:That are the fields to fill the characters in just as you do in a crossword puzzle. There are small fields at the beginning that take one character each and one large field at the end that takes one to eight characters. [[User:Sten|'''S<small>TEN</small>''']] <small>([[User talk:Sten|talk]])</small> 15:32, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Water 3 is an egg group: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Water_3_(Egg_Group) . Given the length of the key, it will probably be 9-16 characters. (Crawdaunt, tentacool, and tentacruel are most likely) [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.139|199.27.128.139]] 15:43, 4 November 2013 (UTC) <br />
:-- which means 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 is either L, EL, or T, but I can't find a way for that to match up with any variation of "monster mash." [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.209|173.245.55.209]] 16:15, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: Same problem here... Monster mash must not be correct, but it is one of the easier ones, I can't give up on it. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:35, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::: Maybe, he did the MASH is about the book, movie or TV Show M*A*S*H instead? --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:49, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: Monster Mash was written by Bobby Pickett, maybe it has something to do with him? [[User:Sten|'''S<small>TEN</small>''']] <small>([[User talk:Sten|talk]])</small> 18:38, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::: Maybe it's not "monster mash" but just "monster". This would allow the Water-3 Pokemon to be "Cloyster". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.5|108.162.237.5]] 19:17, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::: You are having trouble counting to eight. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 20:22, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::: You are forgetting the space. Assuming space is stored as a null character, this might actually work.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.29|173.245.54.29]] 01:43, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::: Nobody in their right mind would encode spaces as nulls. For us to suppose that they did, we'd need to have some specific clue to that effect. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.5|108.162.238.5]] 09:08, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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It seems to me there are two puzzles here, if folks are right that this is not actual data from the hack. 1) Figure out Adobe's master 3DES encryption password, for the big prize. 2) figure out Randall's 3DES encryption password for this puzzle based on these hints, and knowing it will be something clever. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 16:12, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Trying to decode the passwords (As Randall obviously wants us to)<br />
"with your own hand you have done all this" is from the book of Judith.<br />
Working on decoding the others. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:13, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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8babb6299e06eb6d = password<br />
a0a2876eb1ea1fea = 1<br />
85e9da81a8a78adc = 57<br />
--[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:10, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Weather Vane Sword may be a reference to Game of Thrones Ascent. The "Sworn Sword", I believe is "Rona" which is also a name. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.216|173.245.55.216]] 18:27, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: It needs to be a name of an apostle (as per line 7) and have 7 or 8 characters (as line 3 needs a continuation) so this leaves Matthew, Thaddeus and (Judas) Iscariot. [[User:Sten|'''S<small>TEN</small>''']] <small>([[User talk:Sten|talk]])</small> 18:57, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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If a password(or 8 character segment) is guessed can it be confirmed? Somebody should take this leaked list and create a website that presents it like in the comment and lets people guess. It can fill in the guessed ones. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 19:17, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I'm putting in Mattias for the sword, name1 and disciple because of Saint Matthias [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Matthias] and Redwall Matthias [http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/Matthias] who held the Weathervane Sword (Also known as the sword of Martin [http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/The_Sword_of_Martin] ) --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:27, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: I've also removed "monster mash" from the list as it can't be right. Doesn't match the pokemon or the purloined clues. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:27, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Based on the Water-3 Pokemon hint, the only possibilities of more than 8 characters are tentacool, tentacruel, barbaracle, crawdaunt, carracosta, clauncher, and clawitzer. This would mean "9dca1d79d4dec6d5" would be l, el, le, t, ta, or r. --[[User:Dvorakmd|Dvorakmd]] ([[User talk:Dvorakmd|talk]]) 19:51, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: This is assuming there are no characters before the actual name of the pokemon. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.209|173.245.55.209]] 20:30, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Assuming Randall has constructed this comic to have a unique answer, it can't end in r because then the clue would be ambiguous (could be clauncher or clawitzer). [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 21:53, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Some of these can be ruled out; it's very unlikely to be a Generation VI Pokémon (Barbaracle, Clauncher and Clawitzer) as this has only just come out and someone would have had to set up their pasword within the last few weeks. And the Pokémon that are also in the Water-1 group are probably more likely to be thought of as Water-1 than Water-3 (Crawdaunt and Carracosta). This only leaves Tentacool and Tentacruel as longer than 8 letter Water-3 only Pokémon that have been known of for a reasonable length of time; and Tentacool is no one's favourite, as the annoying multitude of them that show up whenever you try to Surf anyway makes them as reviled as Zubats in caves, if not moreso. :P Of course, the password need not be simply the Pokémon's name alone. "SexyShellder" "Cloyster1987" "Misty'sStarmie"... Who knows? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.252|141.101.99.252]] 01:03, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I don't know the answer to the end either, but here's a list of people who did the Monster Mash, from Wikipedia:<br />
* Bobby Picket (as Boris Picket)<br />
* Garpax Records (Gary S. Paxton)<br />
* The Misfits<br />
* far, far too many other covers to list<br />
And here's some synonyms for "purloined", from thesaurus.com:<br />
* stole<br />
* pilfered<br />
* filched<br />
* misappropriated<br />
* embezzled<br />
* burglarized<br />
* shoplifted<br />
* poached<br />
* pillaged<br />
* cheated<br />
* pinched<br />
* heisted<br />
* thieved<br />
* plundered<br />
* appropriated<br />
* lifted<br />
* took<br />
* snitched<br />
* defrauded<br />
* swindled<br />
* ripped off<br />
* made off with<br />
Good luck with these!<br />
—[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 20:31, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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What about Purloined referring to "The Purloined Letter?" When choosing hints, people, at least in my experience, tend to use word association rather than synonyms. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.209|173.245.55.209]]<br />
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Purloined could also be a reference to the Monster.com hack (http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/monster-trojan). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.11|108.162.237.11]] 21:00, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Words meaning purloined that can have the listed suffixes could be '''embezzle'''/'''embezzler''' or '''scrounge'''/'''scrounger'''. Not sure if it fits to the mash clue. There was a loan shark character who would acquire things on MASH called Rizzo, it is a stretch though. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 21:01, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I'm still trying to figure out how the solutions go into the spaces on the right -- it may be more obvious once the last couple clues are figured out. I suspect the ordering and numbers of clues have some sort of meaning. Why are there 5 of the 877... passwords, 2 with no clues? Why is one of the 4e18.... passwords separated from the rest? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.28|108.162.221.28]] 21:07, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Could Purloined be a reference to the "Purloined Shadows" book in Elder Scrolls? --[[User:Dvorakmd|Dvorakmd]] ([[User talk:Dvorakmd|talk]]) 21:09, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Or 'The Purloined Payroll', a WoW quest? "Purloined in Petrograd" is also a lyric to a Decemberists song (The Bagman's Gambit). Google n-grams suggests that "Purloined Image", and "purloined documents" are a Thing. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 21:58, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Purloined could be a reference to something that is known as have been stolen like a work of art, or it could be something that was stolen in an XKCD comic. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 21:18, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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'''EdgarPoe'''(author of The Purloined Letter)/'''EdgarPoet''' fits, but again not really anything to do with MASH. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 21:27, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Water-3 pokemon (egg group) are given here: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Water_3_(Egg_Group) ...if I split off the letters of their names after the 8th letter, we see l, el, le, t, ta, and r. So the MASH item ends with one of those suffixes. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.167|199.27.128.167]] 21:31, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Can't end in 'r', because then that clue would be ambiguous. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 21:53, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Speaking of pokemon, could the clue to purloined have something to do with the pokemon Purrloin? http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Purrloin_(Pok%C3%A9mon) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.43|108.162.221.43]] 23:51, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Is there a reason "MASH" is capitalized in the above sections? Given the context, it shouldn't be, and I still haven't given up on the password being a reference to the monster mash. That said, we can't ignore the movie/show MASH.<br />
Also, now that I think about it: pokeMONstermash? I don't know, just throwing ideas out :P [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.209|173.245.55.209]] 22:08, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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On [http://de.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1pvwyf/xkcd_encryptic_analysis_at_the_link_below/ reddit] they suggest "Letterman" (which is wrong, too many letters) based on the M*A*S*H episode, "Letters". [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 22:11, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:...on the other hand, I wonder if an answer like "ALANALDA" would work? As in, someone who "did the M*A*S*H"... [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 22:13, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: Sadly, no. Because it needs to be more than 8 characters. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 22:17, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::: No, I mean, "an answer of this form", not ALANALDA exactly. The Edgar Allan / Alan Alda congruence is tasty, but I can't make it work. ALLANPOE works as an answer for "Purloined" but that makes something like ALLANPOET the answer to "he did the MASH" (CRAWDAUNT is then the pokemon). But that's misspelling Alda's name for the MASH clue, doesn't quite work. There's also JAMIEFARR (Cpl Klinger) as a better answer to "he did the MASH" but then that makes JAMIEFAR the answer to "purloined" and I can't plausibly make that work. ALLANARBUS is another M*A*S*H actor, but that doesn't work at all. Can anyone come up with other/better ideas in this vein? [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 22:31, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::: Don't misspell Alda's name; misspell Poe's! —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 02:07, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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In crossword puzzles, a clue ending in -ed (like 'purloined') is most commonly a hint that the answer ends in 'ed'. Cross referencing that with the Pokemon clue, the solution for "he did the MASH" becomes a nine or ten letter answer ending in: -edl, -edel, -edle, -edt, or -edta (excluding -edr due to non-uniqueness), with ......edle looking the most "English-y" to me. My hunch would be something else Robert Altman or Alan Alda "did"... but nothing seems to end in 'edle.' --[[User:Willowy burrito|Willowy burrito]] ([[User talk:Willowy burrito|talk]]) 23:07, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: There is no indication that this is a standard crossword. Most users don't respect crossword conventions when writing password hints. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 23:59, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: Aside from the title. And the text. And the fact these didn't come from users, but were just chosen for a puzzle designed by Randall, who would include just this sort of puzzler hint/in-joke in a comic about puzzles. It's moot, because no synonyms for 'stolen' make any sense with a couple other letters tacked on the end. But still, there've been worse hunches. --[[User:Willowy burrito|Willowy burrito]] ([[User talk:Willowy burrito|talk]]) 00:45, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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For all we know, his favourite Water-3 Pokémon could be Shell Smash Cloyster or Shell Smash Omastar - "OmastarSmash" as a password would fit in with "Monster mash". [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.252|141.101.99.252]] 23:16, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: I like that idea, although it leaves "Monster " (with a trailing space) as the answer to "Purloined", which makes no sense. But interesting idea. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 00:00, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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MonsterMash<br />
MonsterM<br />
TheWiscash {{unsigned|Jcupcake}}<br />
: It's "Whiscash", and it's Water 2 (not 3) and "MonsterM" makes no sense as an answer for the hint "Purloined". But I like the idea of adding "The" in front of the pokemon answer; perhaps we're being too restrictive by looking only at pokemon with length > 8. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 23:59, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Yeah, sorry about the typo - last one would be TheWhiscash. MonsterM absolutely makes sense. http://www.hoax-slayer.com/monster-666.shtml The purloined letter here IS M [[User:Jcupcake|Jcupcake]] ([[User talk:Jcupcake|talk]]) 02:40, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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So somewhere above this someone pointed out that purloined could refer to a monster.com hack...in which case, could the first two passwords be "monster mash" and "monster"? That would allow for another previous suggestion of "OmastarSmash" Also, here's my IP Address and a remarkably not-random timestamp: [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.195|108.162.219.195]] 01:31, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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It could also be that there are modifiers to the base. I always thought of Monster Mash as MonstaMash. This would line up closely with My Corphish written as "mycorphish" My favorite pokemon is my pikachu not just any pikachu, but mine, sort of logic. [[User:Bitassassin|Bitassassin]] ([[User talk:Bitassassin|talk]]) 01:43, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Could "he did the mash" be referring to brewing and/or the Maillard reaction? [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 05:32, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I was just thinking that "MonsterM Ash", "MonsterM", both seem to make sense, and Ash had a few water pokemon in the water 3 egg group, so could it potentially be something along the lines of "Corphish Ash"? That was the only 8 letter water 3 pokemon he had and it fits with the other clues [[User:NewToThis|NewToThis]] ([[User talk:NewToThis|talk]]) 07:25, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Has the idea of pokemon fusion been considered? http://pokemon.alexonsager.net/ referenced by http://kotaku.com/how-the-website-that-lets-you-create-frankenstein-pokem-510517336<br />
--[[User:Oukansz|Oukansz]] ([[User talk:Oukansz|talk]]) 19:25, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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;Fanservice<br />
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Randall must know about this site. This comic doesn't work without people to crack the code. Should we have a fanservice category? :-) --[[User:SurturZ|SurturZ]] ([[User talk:SurturZ|talk]]) 23:32, 4 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I'm beginning to suspect that the wide boxes will have the key in it. Assuming he used regular DES (or DES3, for that matter, but using the same 8-byte key 3 times), it could be plausible. The 5 in the middle could be 'abcde', a lot of the other 'second halves' are numbers, and the likely known one that's not seems to be an 'x' -- which could certainly be involved in writing a hex number... problem is there's 11 of those boxes. Trying to guess what signficance the positioning of those boxes have. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.28|108.162.221.28]] 00:00, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Actually, it looks like the boxes line up perfectly such that the wide bits (for second-half) will only touch the words they apply to. Order will be more or less what they are (I see the wide boxes as, in order, 1, 57, 10, Sheen, and X, with the 8 char boxes as Matthias, Password, Judith15, Charlie, and HoustonT). The next 5 are odd -- I'm not sure if we repeat the alpha/obvious password 5 times, or it's 5 chars long (abcde) and one per box. The last set is still under discussion, of course. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.28|108.162.221.28]] 00:20, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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;MASH capitalized<br />
I'm currently chasing down the idea that MASH refers to [[Wikipedia:MASH-1]]. Haven't seen any name yet that looks like it might satisfy "Purloined". - [[User:BozoTheScary|BozoTheScary]] ([[User talk:BozoTheScary|talk]]) 01:56, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I think MASH is a transcribing error. The comic doesn't have any difference on those letters as far as I can tell. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.222|173.245.50.222]] 03:18, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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The Purloined Letter is a Edgar Alan Poe story starring C. Auguste Dupin. Might help. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.5|108.162.249.5]] 03:08, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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There is also a strong association between the Monster Mash and the Mashed Potato, just throwing another idea into the ring. Also try the name BobbyPickett. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.5|108.162.249.5]] 03:22, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Frankenstein did the Monster Mash in the cartoon for the song. That leads to a Pokemon card ending in 'tein' and 'frankens' for the hint Purloined. I could not find a Pokemon card that ended in 'tein' nor could I link 'frankens' with Purloined. I ran 'frankens' through Google Translate but found nothing. Also, it's the same password for the "monster mash" hint and the entry with no password hint so I think it's an obvious password (something someone can recall without a hint). Frankenstein fits that part but not the other ones. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.222|173.245.50.222]] 03:35, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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My $0.02: "He did the mash..." might allude to the expression "doing the math" only (intentionally) misspelled and something like "numbert" or "numb" could be the answer. --[[User:RagnarDa|RagnarDa]] ([[User talk:RagnarDa|talk]]) 04:01, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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graveyard smash fits for the first clue (though lyrically incorrect). Gives smash as second block, but cannot find association between graveyard and purloined. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.5|108.162.249.5]] 04:08, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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If we take The Monster Mash for the first answer, it could be written as TheMonsterMash or The Monster Mash, giving either TheMonst erMash or The Mons ter Mash as the two blocks. This gives either Themonst or The Mons as Purloined and either ermash or ter Mash for second block of pokemon answer. Suggestions? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.5|108.162.249.5]] 04:15, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: Only problem is that the word "the" is the last word of the hint.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.117|108.162.237.117]] 04:51, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I know that the water-3 group is not the same, but it seems like an odd coincidence that another pokemon group is the "monster" group. --[[User:Natnee|Natnee]] ([[User talk:Natnee|talk]]) 04:44, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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There is a Scooby Doo comic book story titled "[The Purloined Poe-M](http://scoobydoo.wikia.com/wiki/The_Purloined_Poe-M)", which has an odd similarity to the "MonsterM" possible password. This would leave the pokemon password ending "ash" who, of course, is a pokemon character ... which makes no sense in that place. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.83|199.27.128.83]] 05:51, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Here's one that fits: <br><br />
facemash4077 (Combination of facemash by zuckerberg and M*A*S*H) <br><br />
facemash (Site made by Zuck in The Social network.) <br><br />
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Maybe facmashklinger.. The eggklinger being a water-3 Pokemon? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.39|108.162.215.39]] 06:14, 5 November 2013 (UTC)rbnm<br />
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[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Orchard John Orchard] played in M*A*S*H and also was in the movie "The Letter" [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.8|108.162.250.8]] 05:02, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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;Working Backwards<br />
I'm attempting to take a different tact, by trying to find the key itself. I'm assuming its something easy to guess. I've tried the top 100 Adobe passwords (you can get them [http://stricture-group.com/files/adobe-top100.txt here]) using the following bash script (testing the word "matthias", as this one seems pretty certain):<br />
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<code><br />
while read p; do echo -n $p\: && echo -n "matthias" | openssl enc -e -des-ede3 -nosalt -nopad -pass pass:$p | xxd -p; done < passwords.txt<br />
</code><br />
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For this to work, I pre-processed the top 100 passwords file with:<br />
<br />
<code><br />
cat adobe-top100.txt | cut -c51- > passwords.txt<br />
</code><br />
<br />
…and then trimmed the cruft with a text editor (leading text paragraph and table headers). So far no luck; perhaps someone with more time on their hands can try some obvious XKCD-related passwords (I've tried XKCD, xkcd, xkcd.com, randall, rmunroe, encryptic, and Encrytic) and see if the encrypted version(s) match up with what we have here. [[User:Yaztromo|Yaztromo]] ([[User talk:Yaztromo|talk]]) 09:27, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:I should mention that I've also tried OpenSSL's des-ede mode and des-ecb, as Im not sure if Randall used one, two, or three key mode. I'm also assuming the key has been generated from the password using OpenSSL's default key generation method, any of with I suppose could be incorrect. [[User:Yaztromo|Yaztromo]] ([[User talk:Yaztromo|talk]]) 09:39, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: Nice work. Note that the puzzle is very specific about using "block mode 3-DES" (usually called "ECB"). DES keys are actually 56 bits; each of the 8 bytes has odd parity (the number of 1 bits is odd). From [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Encryption_Standard wp], "Bits 8, 16,..., 64 are for use in ensuring that each byte is of odd parity." As a wild guess, I'd suggest that, if Randall chose a readable 8-ASCII-character passphrase, he also selected only characters that would make the parity bit zero (so that the result was ASCII). That is, <code><nowiki>[ #%&)*,/12478;=>@CEFIJLOQRTWX[]^abdghkmnpsuvyz|]</nowiki></code>. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 16:34, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::: Uh, hold one. Read the "Explanation" section above. It's clear that the hashes are not real, so brute-forcing the key isn't going to work. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 16:48, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::: Just to note, there are actually three options for keys in TripleDES: having three independent keys (K1, K2, K3), having two independent keys (K1, K2, K1), or using a single key (K1, K1, K1). When run in ECB mode, OpenSSL calls these '''des-ede3''' and '''des-ede''' for options 1 and 2 (option 3 is for backwards compatibility with DES, and can be run using just '''des-ecb'''). See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_DES#Keying_options Triple DES - Keying Options] for details. In addition, the password and the key are two different entities -- typically the password is run through a keying algorithm first (commonly [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBKDF2 PBKDF2] for 3DES), so there is no need to select password characters based on parity patterns. All of which is moot now that we know that the data isn't in fact TripleDES encrypted in the first place. I'm actually disappointed in Randall now :P. [[User:Yaztromo|Yaztromo]] ([[User talk:Yaztromo|talk]]) 19:01, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I Hadn't seen it mentioned yet, but Monster Mash was written by Robert George Pickett (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Pickett), Whose last name goes closely with the second clue, Purloined, which means "stolen". I can't make it work, but I figured it was worth pointing out. (Nov 5th 1:26 pm utc ) [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.24|173.245.56.24]] 13:27, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: It's a good connection. Maybe we should reorganize the discussion and start a list of "interesting ideas we can't quite make work" in the hopes that someone else has an insight. Edgar Allan / Alan Alda, Pickett / "Pick it", Klinger / Kingler, etc. Most of these are just manifestation of the human brain's ability to find patterns even in random coincidence, of course, but one of them might be on the right track. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 16:23, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Just quick thoughts. <br />
I feel like Cpl klinger and the water type kingler is too solid a connection to ignore even though I can't really use it. <br />
Kingler was owned in the series by Ash. <br />
Ash is a three letter word and the last three letters of the phrase monstermash. <br />
Monsterm=8 letters so the first block ash=3 letters in the second block. <br />
Monsterm is about the monster.com thing, therefore purloined. It's a double reference, the .co has been purloined from the purloined website. <br />
Then blastoise -3, or rather blastois3 - 3 (mocking the common password meme of replacing letters with numbers) <br />
So the last password, which is super hard to guess and well chosen even with the clue is, blastoisash? It's a feasibly memorable password that would not be quickly forgotten by a pokemon fan while still being hard to guess. <br />
Can you think of a way to check it? Maybe go into the old command line xkcd and try it as a password? (From a contributor to my talk page) --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 13:52, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: That's really a stretch. ".co is purloined from monster.com?" really? The answer will be far more obviously correct... once we figure it out. Look at the other answers, for example. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 16:23, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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;another quick idea for monster mash<br />
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It could be deflection. Maybe whoever put it in was paranoid. Or just dumb. Or who knows.<br />
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But, there is a pokemon that's in the monster/water(-1) hybrid group called Marshtomp.<br />
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Monster mash, mashed (ie anagrammed) can give us all but the P out of that... which is fine, as it's a 9-letter name.<br />
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Thus we have E, N and S left over (and indeed a further T, H, E), which could become overall, e.g, Marshtomens (...Marshtomethens? Or w/e), which you can split up as you like to represent something which has been stolen (personally). Possibly in german slang or something. It doesn't have to be a direct thesaurus link, it could well be complete misdirection (on Randall's behalf, or that of his notional Adobe user), same as for the pokemon.<br />
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And for the pokemon itself, it could well be "Marshtomp3" ;)<br />
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Also, don't forget about reversed words and so-on.<br />
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Heck, I've used very personal and/or random things (like, maybe two or three people in the world may recognise it in connection with me, and it's not online, at least not anywhere it can be found - basically it's just in my head and dies with me), reversed, with numbers substituting random characters, as passwords before. That covers each individual base in just one PW...<br />
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Now we just have to start feeding the guesses into a hash engine and try to figure out, maybe brute force, what the original key was. Knowing almost all of the other answers already makes this far, far easier for those who may have the facility to run the tests already. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.213|141.101.99.213]] 14:54, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
: This is not a real excerpt from the password file, this is a puzzle which Randall made up. Therefore, the answer to the last group will not be random, and it will not be a stretch. It will be obvious (as obvious as the previous ones)... once we figure out the catch. [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 16:23, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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FWIW, Eve Online also features a "Purloined Sansha Codebreaker". [[User:Cscott|Cscott]] ([[User talk:Cscott|talk]]) 17:16, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I agree that the solution has to be obvious - especially after its revealed. If this were a crossword puzzle, then the clues like Purloined might be followed by a question mark. Purloined? a cat that is loined - a cat that is covered with cloths? Puss in boots? Or something along those lines... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.34|108.162.215.34]]rbnm<br />
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purloined=phished (Corphish)? {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.227}}<br />
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i wonder if the link between the last three clues is more like a cryptic crossword puzzle---for instance, --purloined= heisted; the other clues reading it as he/is/ted...?--[[User:Wwd|Wwd]] ([[User talk:Wwd|talk]]) 22:40, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I wonder if the pokemon could be the name of an ubuntu release, per "Not Really Into Pokemon" at http://xkcd.com/178/ --[[User:Willowy burrito|Willowy burrito]] ([[User talk:Willowy burrito|talk]]) 22:45, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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You could also abbreviate Robert Pickett's name (the co-writer of Monster Mash) as "Rob Pickett" which goes even more with purloined (the first 8 letters are now "Rob Pick"). [[User:Davheld|Davheld]] ([[User talk:Davheld|talk]]) 06:21, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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;Capitalization hints?<br />
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I have no idea who first put the capital letters in "MASH" and "Purloined" in the transcript (and I don't want to check), but now that I've gotten rid of the second (after somebody else got rid of the first), I want to record them here for the record. Possibly Randall put them in and was feeding us clues (so ''MASH'' the book or movie, and ''Purloined'' a title such as Poe's). I consider this unlikely (after all, I removed one of these capitalizations), but the possibility should be recorded. —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 01:17, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I can't be a coincidence that this comes up as the top google news search for 'purloined:' http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/05/adobe_users_purloined_passwords_were_pathetic/ {{unsigned ip|108.162.246.120}}<br />
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"38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 he did the mash, he did the": Ministermash (sounds like monster mash)<br />
"38a7c9279cadeb44 purloined": Minister (based on the character Minister D-, who stole the letter in the Edgar Allen Poe story) <br />
"a8ae5754a2b7af7a 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 fav water-3 pokemon": OmastarSmash (Shell Smash Omastar)<br />
So,38a7c9279cadeb44 = minister, 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 = mash, a8ae5754a2b7af7a = omastars<br />
04:07, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Probably one of the best complete theories I've heard [[User:Davheld|Davheld]] ([[User talk:Davheld|talk]]) 06:26, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I suggest "alligato" (a form of Latin ''alligatus'', perfect passive participle of ''alligo'' "bind up"), and "alligator" (Referencing "Land of 1000 Dances"). [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.62|199.27.128.62]] 05:37, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I think there is a transcribe mistake. <br><br />
Instead of "fav water-3 pokemon" <br><br />
Could it be "fay water-3 pokemon" <br><br />
Look at the Y and V letters in the non-chopped letters above. I think it is a Y and not a V. <br><br />
{{unsigned ip|108.162.215.51}}<br />
*About the Pokemon, is it possible everyone's ignoring a much simpler explanation? Every Pokemon game begins with a choice of one of the three starter Pokemon, each of which have an evolutionary line of three Pokemon. In first gen, if your "favorite [is] water [from the] 3 Pokemon", then you'll be using Squirtle, followed by Wartortle and Blastoise. 2nd gen: Totodile, Croconaw, Feraligatr. 3rd gen: Mudkip, Marshtomp, Swampert. 4th gen: Piplup, Prinplup, Empoleon. Perhaps the answer uses one of these, or some combination of them? --Anon 08:57, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Boris Blacher wrote an opera based on 'The purloined letter' This may fit with Bobby 'Boris' Pickett who sang Monster Mash [[User:YellowYeti|YellowYeti]] ([[User talk:YellowYeti|talk]]) 11:11, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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The "Boris" in "Boris Pickett" is a reference to Boris Karloff. (In his other work, Pickett doesn't use that name.) —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 12:36, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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An alternative tack: how about Barbaracle for the Pokemon, BarbaraC(Jordan) for purloined and Barbara Clark - famous for doing Monster Mash-up novels. Does Barbara Jordan have some purloined link with watergate?<br />
No, because the pokemon has a different starting string as the other two. --[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.119|199.27.128.119]] 13:48, 6 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I think it is not coincidence that it is the last one that you can't solve. It may be an experiment by Randall to see if people can find a solution for a puzzle that doesn't make any sense. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.201|108.162.219.201]] 13:42, 6 November 2013 (UTC)</div>199.27.128.119