Da Vinci Code Decision Code: A Lame Waste of Time
I am sorry I wasted all of your time with this Da Vinci Code decision code nonsense.
It turns out that the solution was lame. The final message, “Jackie Fisher who are you Dreadnought,” had fully two typos in the space of only 31 letters, so that it actually read: “Jackie Fister who are you Dreadnough.” Even spelled correctly, who cares? What kind of stupid message is that?
Worst of all, the solution is, at the very least, inelegant: a substitution cipher based on the Fibonacci number sequence, with an unexplained deviation at the very third letter. If the judge hadn’t handed the London Times the solution on a silver platter, nobody ever would have gotten it, because it went off the tracks at the very beginning.
All details here.
All in all, as poorly conceived and proofread as the opinion itself — which at least got the result right, but with extremely poor writing.
Again, my apologies.
UPDATE: I have embedded my own message in this post, in honor of the judge.
So is the guy lame-o or what ??
Comment by Vermont Neighbor (a9ae2c) — 4/27/2006 @ 8:24 pm
This stunt calls attention to his body of work. And his credibility. I’ll take the legal opinion, if you say this guy isn’t a chucklehead, then okay. And were all the authors with Random House? With him handing it off to the London Times, it’s really crazy.
What a message. At least ‘Paul Is Dead’ had some meaning to Americans.
Comment by Vermont Neighbor (a9ae2c) — 4/27/2006 @ 8:31 pm
Drink more Ovaltine.
Comment by Jal (71415b) — 4/27/2006 @ 8:56 pm
Yikes, evidently His Honor skipped his English classes. An ignoble effort, sir!
Comment by Jim Treacher (f69e1b) — 4/27/2006 @ 9:58 pm
I was hoping it would spell out “DANBROWNISASHITTYWRITER”
Comment by The Angry Clam (a7c6b1) — 4/27/2006 @ 10:05 pm
Treacher has it right.
Comment by Patterico (156eed) — 4/27/2006 @ 10:37 pm
Patterico,
I suspect that the key to the code in this post is related to the use of italicization! I am going to fish out the letters you have italicized, and then see if there is a message there to be deciphered. It’s an imposing challenge, but, if readers work together, we can surmount it. Based on the strength of his comment, perhaps Jim Treacher will join in this effort.
Comment by AMac (bd8d7a) — 4/28/2006 @ 4:31 am
I think I’ve solved Pattericos code, After working all night I thinks it’s:
DEITIES HATING JUDO
Which of course, we all know is true!
Comment by sherlock (f49111) — 4/28/2006 @ 6:18 am
Thanks for the laughs. And boy, they sure had that coordinating Web site up in a hurry! DVC games and a few promotional links… I guess we have to see this movie opening weekend or else! $
Comment by Vermont Neighbor (a9ae2c) — 4/28/2006 @ 10:30 am
In the poor judge’s defense. “He inserted the code into the judgment for his own amusement. “I never expected anybody to notice it. It was for my own pleasure. The answer is nothing to do with the case.” ” (Ref.: Guardian link in post above.)
Comment by nk (2ab789) — 4/28/2006 @ 12:32 pm
He inserted the code where? We shouldn’t have to ear how the judge pleasures himself.
Comment by Vermont Neighbor (a9ae2c) — 4/28/2006 @ 1:43 pm
> The final message, … had fully two typos in the space of only 31 letters, …
That touch of realism adds to the spice! Code Clerks make mistakes all the time. Cryptanalysts are expected to solve ciphers that have mistakes in them.
Comment by Arthur (bccb3b) — 4/28/2006 @ 7:06 pm
My thoughts can be found here.
Comment by Pejman Yousefzadeh (3a4e84) — 4/28/2006 @ 9:43 pm
Heh. One thing is for certain: there is no stopping Pejman. And I, for one, welcome our new Pejmanesque overlord. I’d like to remind him that as a trusted conservative blogger, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in his underground Internet caves.
Comment by Patterico (156eed) — 4/28/2006 @ 9:48 pm
This stunt calls attention to his body of work. And his credibility. I’ll take the legal opinion, if you say this guy isn’t a chucklehead, then okay. And were all the authors with Random House? With him handing it off to the London Times, it’s really crazy.
What a message. At least ‘Paul Is Dead’ had some meaning to Americans.
Comment by Diana (05fc4a) — 5/5/2006 @ 7:37 pm
Nice site I found … Plan on coming back later to spend a little time there.
Comment by Acne Laser (bf6b99) — 10/11/2006 @ 12:56 am
Good site I found … Plan on coming back later.
Comment by Pueraria Mirifica (341b46) — 10/18/2006 @ 9:35 pm
Hello, I am creating a website. Can you tell me where to get the blog software you have?
Comment by Eva (cd2997) — 11/29/2006 @ 4:19 am
omniregency cribble jobbernowlism geode koltunnor defensorship circumscriptive claudius
Vine Farm
http://www.nwvhfh.org/
Comment by Abby Garner (0b8ffe) — 12/21/2007 @ 11:15 am