[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Verachi [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] sacktapped [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Verachi I just read through this thread again and all I can think of is.. [url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=10229352&postRepeater1-p=1#10229385][quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Frankie Shut up nerds![/quote][/url] I really want to help but I can't. I've tried messing with the numbers and everything but I don't go anywhere. I feel like this whole hex/binary/acsII are different languages that I've never heard of before. Can anybody link me up to articles so I can familiarize myself with it? Did most of you learn this stuff in High School or College? I'm guessing you learned this in College.[/quote] I've been learning Binary and Hex in my computer and engineering classes in college. I've used [url=http://home.paulschou.net/tools/xlate/]this[/url] in the past to kinda teach myself a little binary and whatnot. Regular words go in the box to the left, hit decode and it'll turn what you want into hex or binary or base 64.[/quote] Thanks, Beon also gave a link to that website and I've been using it but none of that stuff makes any sense to me. I still have no idea how you guys decoded this..... [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] DesertStormer27 Alright, got it! After getting the RGB data from the colors on the bottom right, it adds up to be 466972 737420 636f6e 766572 742074 686520 And those are ASCII, a converstion of those brings us to this, "First convert the hexadecimal to binary. Then, regroup the bits into chunks equal to our favorite number. Finally, read as ASCII". That leads to this Most engineers who practive computer science pragmatically repeatedly go with the common practive and leverage ones and zeroes to pen their programs. Generating code like this generally is a pretty well-founded pattern to employ. On the flip side, Bungie is not your typical engineering group. We write programs without ones. Our people do not like the number. Why? Well, there are greater, grander numbers to apply for our wily craft. Mayhapy you disagre, perchance you agree. What matters is that seven is more awesome than one will ever imagine itself to be. And so, we code with ample sevens, not ones. Fact: programs.[/quote] ....how in the hell did he get that? I know he explained it on his post but I still have no idea. If you want to explain it then I'll appreciate it but if not then meh it's not a big deal. I'm going to bed I'll check this thread tomorrow. [/quote] I'm not going to lie....I have no idea. I don't know anything about RGB data and how they got all that. I've only been checking this thread out periodically throughout the day. I'll try to read up on it and see what I come up with. Someone solve this already! I have a wedding to attend tomorrow and need my man-beauty rest!

beorn - thought I would try to take the first digits as either 7 = 1 or not 7 = 0. And didn't get anything - might have done it wrong though, my coding is probably getting a bit sloppy it being 3:30 and all. Not sure if this might help you see it another way though.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] sacktapped [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Verachi I just read through this thread again and all I can think of is.. [url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=10229352&postRepeater1-p=1#10229385][quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Frankie Shut up nerds![/quote][/url] I really want to help but I can't. I've tried messing with the numbers and everything but I don't go anywhere. I feel like this whole hex/binary/acsII are different languages that I've never heard of before. Can anybody link me up to articles so I can familiarize myself with it? Did most of you learn this stuff in High School or College? I'm guessing you learned this in College.[/quote] I've been learning Binary and Hex in my computer and engineering classes in college. I've used [url=http://home.paulschou.net/tools/xlate/]this[/url] in the past to kinda teach myself a little binary and whatnot. Regular words go in the box to the left, hit decode and it'll turn what you want into hex or binary or base 64.[/quote] Thanks, Beon also gave a link to that website and I've been using it but none of that stuff makes any sense to me. I still have no idea how you guys decoded this..... [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] DesertStormer27 Alright, got it! After getting the RGB data from the colors on the bottom right, it adds up to be 466972 737420 636f6e 766572 742074 686520 And those are ASCII, a converstion of those brings us to this, "First convert the hexadecimal to binary. Then, regroup the bits into chunks equal to our favorite number. Finally, read as ASCII". That leads to this Most engineers who practive computer science pragmatically repeatedly go with the common practive and leverage ones and zeroes to pen their programs. Generating code like this generally is a pretty well-founded pattern to employ. On the flip side, Bungie is not your typical engineering group. We write programs without ones. Our people do not like the number. Why? Well, there are greater, grander numbers to apply for our wily craft. Mayhapy you disagre, perchance you agree. What matters is that seven is more awesome than one will ever imagine itself to be. And so, we code with ample sevens, not ones. Fact: programs.[/quote] ....how in the hell did he get that? I know he explained it on his post but I still have no idea. If you want to explain it then I'll appreciate it but if not then meh it's not a big deal. I'm going to bed I'll check this thread tomorrow.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Verachi I just read through this thread again and all I can think of is.. [url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=10229352&postRepeater1-p=1#10229385][quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Frankie Shut up nerds![/quote][/url] I really want to help but I can't. I've tried messing with the numbers and everything but I don't go anywhere. I feel like this whole hex/binary/acsII are different languages that I've never heard of before. Can anybody link me up to articles so I can familiarize myself with it? Did most of you learn this stuff in High School or College? I'm guessing you learned this in College.[/quote] I've been learning Binary and Hex in my computer and engineering classes in college. I've used [url=http://home.paulschou.net/tools/xlate/]this[/url] in the past to kinda teach myself a little binary and whatnot. Regular words go in the box to the left, hit decode and it'll turn what you want into hex or binary or base 64. [Edited on 09.08.2012 12:17 AM PDT]

I just read through this thread again and all I can think of is.. [url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=10229352&postRepeater1-p=1#10229385][quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Frankie Shut up nerds![/quote][/url] I really want to help but I can't. I've tried messing with the numbers and everything but I don't go anywhere. I feel like this whole hex/binary/acsII are different languages that I've never heard of before. Can anybody link me up to articles so I can familiarize myself with it? Did most of you learn this stuff in High School or College? I'm guessing you learned this in College.

I can n07 wai7 p7h0r 7he answer; whoever wins this Mailsack, really deserves the prize. This has already set records for challenge longevity. :D

I think I've been looking at this too long... The only way I'm seeing "7" or "0" in the text is if I look at the ASCII-encoded version: [quote]77 79 83 84 69 78 71 73 78 69 69 82 83 87 72 79 80 82 65 67 84 73 67 69 67 79 77 80 85 84 69 82 83 67 73 69 78 67 69 80 82 65 71 77 65 84 73 67 65 76 76 89 82 69 80 69 65 84 69 68 76 89 71 79 87 73 84 72 84 72 69 67 79 77 77 79 78 80 82 65 67 84 73 67 69 65 78 68 76 69 86 69 82 65 71 69 79 78 69 83 65 78 68 90 69 82 79 69 83 84 79 80 69 78 84 72 69 73 82 80 82 79 71 82 65 77 83 46 71 69 78 69 82 65 84 73 78 71 67 79 68 69 76 73 75 69 84 72 73 83 71 69 78 69 82 65 76 76 89 73 83 65 80 82 69 84 84 89 87 69 76 76 45 70 79 85 78 68 69 68 80 65 84 84 69 82 78 84 79 69 77 80 76 79 89 46 79 78 84 72 69 70 76 73 80 83 73 68 69 44 66 85 78 71 73 69 73 83 78 79 84 89 79 85 82 84 89 80 73 67 65 76 69 78 71 73 78 69 69 82 73 78 71 71 82 79 85 80 46 87 69 87 82 73 84 69 80 82 79 71 82 65 77 83 87 73 84 72 79 85 84 79 78 69 83 46 79 85 82 80 69 79 80 76 69 68 79 78 79 84 76 73 75 69 84 72 69 78 85 77 66 69 82 46 87 72 89 63 87 69 76 76 44 84 72 69 82 69 65 82 69 71 82 69 65 84 69 82 44 71 82 65 78 68 69 82 78 85 77 66 69 82 83 84 79 65 80 80 76 89 70 79 82 79 85 82 87 73 76 89 67 82 65 70 84 46 77 65 89 72 65 80 89 79 85 68 73 83 65 71 82 69 69 44 80 69 82 67 72 65 78 67 69 89 79 85 65 71 82 69 69 46 87 72 65 84 77 65 84 84 69 82 83 73 83 84 72 65 84 83 69 86 69 78 73 83 77 79 82 69 65 87 69 83 79 77 69 84 72 65 78 79 78 69 87 73 76 76 69 86 69 82 73 77 65 71 73 78 69 73 84 83 69 76 70 84 79 66 69 46 65 78 68 83 79 44 87 69 67 79 68 69 87 73 84 72 65 77 80 76 69 83 69 86 69 78 83 44 78 79 84 79 78 69 83 46 70 65 67 84 58 80 82 79 71 82 65 77 83 80 65 67 75 69 68 87 73 84 72 83 69 86 69 78 83 65 82 69 77 79 82 69 65 87 69 83 79 77 69 84 72 65 78 80 73 84 72 89 80 82 79 71 82 65 77 83 84 72 65 84 65 80 80 76 89 79 78 69 83 46 90 69 82 79 69 83 63 87 69 76 76 44 87 69 83 84 73 76 76 84 72 73 78 75 84 72 69 89 39 82 69 71 79 79 68 46 80 82 69 84 84 89 80 65 76 65 84 65 66 76 69 46 87 69 71 82 65 80 80 76 69 87 73 84 72 90 69 82 79 69 83 65 76 76 84 72 69 84 73 77 69 46 69 86 69 78 78 79 87 46 89 69 83 46 72 69 82 69 46 67 65 78 89 79 85 80 69 79 80 76 69 83 69 69 84 72 69 77 63 82 73 71 72 84 72 69 82 69 73 78 84 72 73 83 76 79 78 71 84 69 88 84 63 80 65 85 83 69 84 79 84 65 75 69 65 76 79 78 71 76 79 79 75 46 80 69 82 67 72 65 78 67 69 84 72 73 83 72 65 83 66 69 69 78 65 87 73 76 89 71 65 77 66 73 84 65 76 76 84 72 73 83 84 73 77 69 63 87 69 76 76 44 80 79 76 73 83 72 84 72 79 83 69 84 72 73 78 75 73 78 71 67 65 80 83 46 89 79 85 72 65 86 69 65 77 80 76 69 78 85 77 66 69 82 83 84 79 70 73 78 68 46 72 65 86 69 83 79 77 69 70 85 78 33 83 84 65 89 72 65 80 80 89 46[/quote] Removing numbers without (or with) 7s or 0s just produces gibberish, so I don't think this is the right path. I was hoping the two-digit nature of these numbers explained significance of the passage being in ALL CAPS (since lowercase letters have higher ASCII codes in the 100s). [Edited on 09.08.2012 12:10 AM PDT]

I just woke up and my tired brain cant make sense of anything Wat

I don't think they're looking for just some number. Last week the "red herring" sentence just gave way to another short question and the answer to that question was the correct solution. I would imagine when you stumble across the correct trick you'll find either a phrase or a short question related to Bungie.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] TheMisssingLink This is actually a very interesting observation.[/quote] Well now, that was unexpected...

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] SpecOps11 [quote]That lead me to believe we're just meant to be looking at the last 4 bits of each byte. So finally, with 7 being 1011 in binary, I checked the last 4 bits of each and every character (of the "long text") and it turns out there are 7 that end with 1011.[/quote] 7 is 111 or 0111[/quote]I must kill myself now. So is the answer 51 instead?! [Edited on 09.07.2012 11:45 PM PDT]

[quote]That lead me to believe we're just meant to be looking at the last 4 bits of each byte. So finally, with 7 being 1011 in binary, I checked the last 4 bits of each and every character (of the "long text") and it turns out there are 7 that end with 1011.[/quote] 7 is 111 or 0111

Also tried to do a binary creation from P's and Spaces (where they would have been) both in groups of 7 and 8 and also came up with nothing.

There are 51 ample numbers. Is that the answer? I think the question we're meant to be answering is "How many ample numbers are there?" because of the statement "YOU HAVE AMPLE NUMBERS TO FIND." We know that 7 is the ample number we're looking for ("AMPLE SEVENS"). As some of you have pointed out, a lot of P-words are used in the paragraph. What's special about P? Well, in binary P is 01010000. Why does that matter? Take another look at these sentences: "WE GRAPPLE WITH ZEROES ALL THE TIME. EVEN NOW. YES. HERE. CAN YOU PEOPLE SEE THEM? RIGHT HERE IN THIS LONG TEXT? PAUSE TO TAKE A LONG LOOK." That lead me to believe we're just meant to be looking at the last 4 bits of each byte. So finally, with 7 being 0111 in binary, I checked the last 4 bits of each and every character (of the "long text") and it turns out there are 51 that end with 0111. amirite? [Edited on 09.07.2012 11:46 PM PDT]

I'm glad I decided not to pursue this week's challenge. I've read through every post on every page, and I still don't know what the heck is going on.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] beorn And this is probably completely off the mark, but does anybody else feel like the letter "P" appears more often than normal in the decoded paragraph? I get the sense that sentences were structured to maximize the occurrence of "P".[/quote] This is actually a very interesting observation.

I had noticed that and tried playing around with all combinations of P and other letters forming a new binary text. I didn't perform the regrouping as seen previously so maybe that will get something. But my method doesn't do anything with the lack of spaces.... Edit: just reran the combos with the added 0's before every 7 bits and still all gibberish [Edited on 09.07.2012 11:16 PM PDT]

Cool sack.

Some helpful conversion links if folks are wanting to play with the text: [url=http://home.paulschou.net/tools/xlate/]Binary/Hex/ASCII/Base64 Converter[/url] [url=http://mothereff.in/binary-ascii]Binary-ASCII Converter[/url] And this is probably completely off the mark, but does anybody else feel like the letter "P" appears more often than normal in the decoded paragraph? I get the sense that sentences were structured to maximize the occurrence of "P".

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] T1B3R7uMB0YXVI That wasn't very nice, in fact, you should be nice to him since you can have some chances to figuring out the puzzle yourself without having someone answered quickly from google! [/quote] Don't worry. I'm not taking offense. Well, I am feeling [i]slightly[/i] guilty about making you guys suffer, but Deej gave me full permission to imbue a little torture on you guys, so when all else fails, I blame Stosh. As far as hints, I haven't given much in the way of hints in the last few hours because I've been out and about enjoying dinner elsewhere. But if hints are desired, I can spread a little bit of joy to help you through this rough spot. This is admittedly the difficult part of the clue because it's not entirely clear how to proceed, but when you read the long passage, you might realize (or might not, but hopefully it's clear) that it's a little awkwardly worded. That should fire off klaxons and sirens to you. It means that I'm avoiding using words that would normally appear in casual speech. Other things to consider: * There are no spaces is the source text. This is significant. * The letters are also capitalized. This too is significant. * You're looking for sevens and zeroes. But there aren't any to be found. Yet the passage suggests that you're actually reading them in the passage. Some food for thought. [Edited on 09.07.2012 10:57 PM PDT]

No, im not really mad, its just that where I am its almost 1:30AM and I don't normally stay up this late, let alone solve problems that NASA couldn't even do.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Verachi [url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=70170660&postRepeater1-p=1#70178138]?????[/url][/quote]You are officially the person I'm going to first for quotes or posts from employees/mods.

The video that David Candland showed is awesome. My friend showed it to me yesterday and it made so hungry. I've been craving five guys since then. [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] DesertStormer27 HEY MISSING LINK! THE MAIL SACK SAYS YOUR SUPPOSED TO HELP US AND SO FAR YOU HAVE DONE JACK -blam!-, WHAT THE HELL MAN?[/quote] You joking bro or [url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=70170660&postRepeater1-p=1#70178138]?????[/url] [Edited on 09.07.2012 10:17 PM PDT]

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] path to victory! HEY MISSING LINK! THE MAIL SACK SAYS YOUR SUPPOSED TO HELP US AND SO FAR YOU HAVE DONE JACK -blam!-, WHAT THE HELL MAN?[/quote] think its "the misssing link", (3 s's), not sure if it's relevant or not though. And perhaps the faction gamer pic has a role in it. 3 sss's, 3 bars on the pic, who knows, just two cents in the jar. Good luck! [Edited on 09.07.2012 10:09 PM PDT]

Deej, so far not yet, me and a couple other users have been skyping for the past couple hours trying to get an answer, and so far we are not far beyond the paragraph. Any chance we can get a hint? Considering missinglink did almost nothing to help with the actual problem when the mail sack said he should.

The Code Breakers will be retiring for the night, in hopes that waking up tomorrow bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with "nutritious" food in our stomachs will lead us to a possible answer. We will return tomorrow and continue on our path to victory! Until then, HEY MISSING LINK! THE MAIL SACK SAYS YOUR SUPPOSED TO HELP US AND SO FAR YOU HAVE DONE JACK -blam!-, WHAT THE HELL MAN?