Kryptos, and its alter ego Antipodes

Q: What do you get when you combine copper, lodestone (yes, lodestone), petrified wood, red granite, red and green slate, white quartz?

A: Kryptos. 

Kryptos is a sculpture located outside one of the Central Intelligence Agency’s  buildings.  As the sculpture’s name implies, Kryptos features an encrypted message.  Various people working individually and/or as group(s) have attempted to decrypt the message.  While progress has been made, work continues to make the decrypted text public. There have also been mistakes; who would’ve thought the decrypted text should say ‘XLAYERTWO’ rather than ‘IDBYROWS’?

While seeing Kryptos isn’t on most tourist’s agendas, another work by the artist is a bit more accessible at the Hishhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (part of the Smithsonian Institution). 

Sacagawea bucks and Soda machine poops.

On a totally different topic, Sacagawea Dollars do work in the pop vending machine here at work (Coca-Cola vendor).

Here’s the interesting part; I put my dollar in and it made a satisfying clunk as the machine registered my $1 credit.  Then I decided I had proven my point and wanted to get my dollar coin back, so I pressed “Coin Return”.  The machine pooped out four quarters!  My dollar coin is clearly gone forever, so I shoved the four quarters back into the machine and took my Sprite.

It makes sense, sort of.  I’m thinking if you put in 10 dimes and press coin return it’ll spit out four quarters too.  The designers probably figured they’d wire the coin return to the cash value in the machine rather than hold the exact coins that were inserted.  The cash value computer probably looks at the total amount and returns the largest coins it can, working it’s way down to the amount you put in.

It doesn’t seem to work like a change machine though.  If you put a paper dollar in and press “Coin return” it gives back your paper dollar.

On yet another totally different topic; my spell checker does know the correct spelling of Sacagawea- I didn’t.

Misunderstanding the simplest of rules, or just noise from the peanut gallery?

 The contest was so simple, how could anyone screw it up?  The domain name must be registered to win.  The obvious answer to how someone violate this simple rule is, well, simple.

The ‘contestants’ weren’t even trying.

The official entry vehicle for the contest was a public comments area that Adam controls (I use the term loosely, the casual observer would note that Adam controls barely anything).  Some comments clearly weren’t contest entries, just people talking (typing, same diff).

The deadline – addendum to the rules (sort of) #2.

The contest had a new rule of sorts- a deadline.  The contest would end at the end of the week.  There has been a flurry of activity, some of the names unbelievable and un-registerable judging by there length.

The contest rules – addendum 1.

The contest was loosely defined.  Simply have the best funniest or most interesting (in the mind of the contest judge) domain.  Registering the domain was clear from the beginning. 

The new rule: The domain must resolve to something and that something would be a factor in determining the winner.

Contest rules, addendum 1 has been met, you’re reading all about it.

The contest entry that launched a thousand blog entries (maybe).

The concept was simple; win a video iPod from Adam.  The execution was a bit more complicated.  The reasoning was too twisted to even get into.

I started thinking of domains that would have a chance against the flood of domains that other people were entering into the contest.  Then I stopped.  Then I started.  Then I stopped starting and decided to take a different approach.  The New Plan was to think of a domain that would qualify, but have a hook, something to catch Adam’s eye.

In my head it sounded great.  Offer to take the iPod to various places, then blog / podcast about where the iPod had been.  I wouldn’t really “take ownership” of the iPod, it would still be Adam’s.  Adam’s iPod would become a virtual Travelling Mack.  Everyone would be a winner, Adam gets to keep the iPod (in spirit), everyone who doesn’t get the iPod would get to check in and see that it was being put to good use, and I would get some motivation to go places and blog/podcast about where the iPod had been.  Those voices were enough to pull the trigger and register WheresAdamsIPod.com.  All that was left to do to enter the contest was to post a message officially entering the contest.

Just registered
WheresAdamsIPod.com.

If I win the iPod, I’ll take Adam’s iPod all kinds of places (some interesting, some ordinary, use your imagination) and blog / podcast about where the iPod has been.

Podcasting, power in the hands of the ordinary people.

And with that it was done.  The die had been cast.

The contest that started it all.

The contest was simple enough.  It all started with TroyNeedsAnIPod.com.  That domain, predictably enough, led to INeedAnIPodMoreThanTroy.com.  The combined static between those two caught the attention of Adam, who had the means to create a contest; whoever registered the domain he liked the most would win an iPod.  Pretty loose parameters for a contest, but that’s Adam’s way.

 I thought about it for a while and couldn’t come up with anything funny (being funny seemed important at the time).  So I decided instead that if I won the iPod, I’d take it to various places and blog/podcast about where it had been.

 This is that blog.