6 ms·

Color me skeptical, but it seems like bullshit to me. The newspaper article has basically one source. The Wikipedia article dates from the day the newspaper a

by JackFr 13y ago

Color me skeptical, but it seems like bullshit to me. The newspaper article has basically one source. The Wikipedia article dates from the day the newspaper article was published, and only has the article (and a reprint) as its sources. http://uncovering-cicada.wikia.com http://uncovering-cicada.wikia.com doesn't seem to have any activity from more than 6 days ago. I'm really not a cyber-sleuth like the guy in the story, but the first two pages of Google didn't show anything from before 11/26/2013. I'm sure the puzzles are engaging, but this looks like fake buzz.

JoblessWonder 13y ago
Here[0] is a reference from 2 years ago. I found a few more from the past. [0] https://github.com/bibanon/bibanon/wiki/Cicada-3301-wiki https://github.com/bibanon/bibanon/wiki/Cicada-3301-wiki
- krazydad 13y ago
  The "original image" linked to on this site also does not contain the plain-text "TIBERIVS CLAVDIVS CAESAR" etc. described, according to my hex editor.
TrainedMonkey 13y ago
There are claims of few reddit messages from 2012 on that wikia site. Can anyone confirm that?
- RivieraKid 13y ago
  Offtopic - do you have an account on abclinuxu.cz or is it just a coincidence of usernames?
  - TrainedMonkey 13y ago
    Second one.
hkolek 13y ago
Interesting. I think you're on to something here. The wikia stuff seems to have been created in August 2013. The subreddit /r/cicada appears to be 11 month old, but the article implies that Eriksson discovered it in the beginning of 2012. And it's virtually empty. Hmmm... Edit: oh well, nevermind. A google search between 1/1/2010 and 1/1/2012 returns plenty of stuff, for example a discussion [1] on the xkcd forums from January 2012. [1] http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=79579 http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=79579
krazydad 13y ago
This mental floss article is a year old. http://mentalfloss.com/article/31932/chasing-cicada-exploring-darkest-corridors-internet http://mentalfloss.com/article/31932/chasing-cicada-explorin...
- krazydad 13y ago
  However, the "original" PNG image linked in the article does not contain the plain-text described in the article (at least, not visible in my hex editor). The pixels do contain some artifacts in the lower bits, though.
  - lurker69 13y ago
    original was jpg, can be found here: http://static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130930064922/uncovering-cicada/images/7/70/6642402029_62545f1035_z.jpg http://static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130930064922/uncover...
Zimahl 13y ago
BESU RETO DRIN KYOU ROVA LTIN E
- laxatives 13y ago
  Finally, a confirmed release date for Half Life 3.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
owarida 13y ago
It doesn't take much digging to find sources older than that, really. ;) For instance, you can check out my own post about it at http://www.clevcode.org/cicada-3301/ http://www.clevcode.org/cicada-3301/, originally written mid-January 2012. The oldest comment on the post is from 2012-01-14. There were articles written about this back in 2012 as well btw. PS. I'm the Joel Eriksson that was interviewed for the article in question.

by JackFr 13y ago

JoblessWonder 13y ago

Here[0] is a reference from 2 years ago. I found a few more from the past. [0] https://github.com/bibanon/bibanon/wiki/Cicada-3301-wiki https://github.com/bibanon/bibanon/wiki/Cicada-3301-wiki

krazydad 13y ago
The "original image" linked to on this site also does not contain the plain-text "TIBERIVS CLAVDIVS CAESAR" etc. described, according to my hex editor.

TrainedMonkey 13y ago

There are claims of few reddit messages from 2012 on that wikia site. Can anyone confirm that?

RivieraKid 13y ago
Offtopic - do you have an account on abclinuxu.cz or is it just a coincidence of usernames?
- TrainedMonkey 13y ago
  Second one.

hkolek 13y ago

Interesting. I think you're on to something here. The wikia stuff seems to have been created in August 2013. The subreddit /r/cicada appears to be 11 month old, but the article implies that Eriksson discovered it in the beginning of 2012. And it's virtually empty. Hmmm... Edit: oh well, nevermind. A google search between 1/1/2010 and 1/1/2012 returns plenty of stuff, for example a discussion [1] on the xkcd forums from January 2012. [1] http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=79579 http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=79579

krazydad 13y ago

This mental floss article is a year old. http://mentalfloss.com/article/31932/chasing-cicada-exploring-darkest-corridors-internet http://mentalfloss.com/article/31932/chasing-cicada-explorin...

krazydad 13y ago
However, the "original" PNG image linked in the article does not contain the plain-text described in the article (at least, not visible in my hex editor). The pixels do contain some artifacts in the lower bits, though.
- lurker69 13y ago
  original was jpg, can be found here: http://static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130930064922/uncovering-cicada/images/7/70/6642402029_62545f1035_z.jpg http://static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130930064922/uncover...

Zimahl 13y ago

BESU RETO DRIN KYOU ROVA LTIN E

laxatives 13y ago
Finally, a confirmed release date for Half Life 3.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

owarida 13y ago

It doesn't take much digging to find sources older than that, really. ;) For instance, you can check out my own post about it at http://www.clevcode.org/cicada-3301/ http://www.clevcode.org/cicada-3301/, originally written mid-January 2012. The oldest comment on the post is from 2012-01-14. There were articles written about this back in 2012 as well btw. PS. I'm the Joel Eriksson that was interviewed for the article in question.