The Flying Ks

Dog and Master hunting - fav hands down

I have one of these!

"To Serve Man" is a cookbook.

Quite honestly most of the time I figure these things out the hard way using really weird methods that are way more difficult than they should be. I'm just more stubbourn than mentally gifted... so it works for me.

Tyler Durden doesn't exist. Oh - okay I remember that video The Buggles made... loved it way back when. I also used to play Duke "Shake it Baby" Nukem 3-D. MAN I'm old! HH

Haha - it was all light brown and dried up. I don't know... but my brain registered "oatmeal" before I saw the stem and smelled it.

I solved it using the program for a one-time pad at rumkin.com. Obviously the CO was not a code purist as I repeated the key to solve... i.e. pumpernickelpumpernickelpumpernickelpumpernickelpumpernickelpumpernickelpumpernickel. I had already tried the Vigenere cipher (amongst others) and came up dry. I read the directions more carefully which eluded to the perfection in security of the code. So I searched "perfect security" and code to come up with One-Time Pad. I also figured out the key as the cache name. I emailed the CO with the key and the "One-Time Pad" suggestion and he said I was on the right track. SO glad this is solved. My first REAL puzzle cache solved. However, the find is also going to be a challenge apparently. Phew. I will sign this log with a great deal of satisfaction.

So I went to a stash er... cache on my own a couple of weeks ago between errands. A rare moment without the kiddos. Thankfully! I didn't log this puppy, didn't sign the log... nothing. I opened it and found a baggie of what I thought to be oatmeal. Only it wasn't. It was dried up pot. Called the Sheriff, took it to the station... funny thing is I hadn't read the logs before I found it. When I read the logs it was like, "ohhhh... hidden meanings..." There was even a former customs officer visiting the cache. The police took it, but they have way bigger fish to fry. Seemed every one that passed by asked me about geocaching... for some reason they were all interested in geocaching when they found out what I found.

Ah - okay this is VERY helpful... and yes I did 133 letters in the code this way (by hand) with both MOD 10 and MOD 26. I just tried the program through rumkin with a snippet of the code and I think it may work. Is it sick that I still want to figure this out by hand? What is WRONG with me? I'm a musician/artist type... what has geocaching done to me? I tend to do things the hard way. HH

Yes, that makes sense... but I used both the 10 and the 26 when a negative number came out of the process... and nothing. Let's say the key is "PUMPERNICKEL" does the number of letters (12) get involved in a one-time pad? Or is "pumpernickel" the only key. So let's say the coded letters (random... just hitting the keyboard...) TWXWU WXAUR NI Then, would the formula be: T(20) - P(16) MOD 10 or 26?= 4 D W(23) - U(21) MOD 10 or 26?= 1 A X(24) - M(13) MOD 10 or 26?= 11 K W(23) - P(16) MOD 10 or 26?= 7 G U(21) - E(05) MOD 10 or 26?= 16 P W(23) - R(18) MOD 10 or 26?= 5 E X(24) - N(14) MOD 10 or 26?= 10 J A(01) - I(09) MOD 10 or 26?= 1 - 9 = -8+10 or 26? U(21) - C(03) MOD 10 or 26?= 18 R R(18) - K(11) MOD 10 or 26?= 7 G N(14) - E(05) MOD 10 or 26?= 9 I I(09) - L(12) MOD 10 or 26?= 9 - 12 = -3+10 or 26? So my PRE-CODED message would be (if it made sense) - DAKGPEJ?RGI? and so on with my key "pumpernickel" matching up to my given code? Sigh - seriously need a one-time pad for those of us that are a little less gifted in other hemisperes of our brains... but with enough stubborness to not give up! Am I close to understanding how to do this? Am I way off in this formula? Again, this is in no way trying to violate terms of service... but I just want to know how to solve a one-time pad. HH

Hmm - Okay the ROT13 is what geocaching.com uses as it's variant, yes? I am not thinking it shifts, to be honest. Where I think my breakdown is: One of the OTP tutorials suggests "One-Time Pad decryption uses a non-standard type of subtraction. Carefully note how the subtraction was done. When a larger number is subtracted from a smaller number, the smaller number is actually "10 + that number". Therefore, 1-9=2, because 1+10-9=2. and: 6-7=9, because 6+10-7=9." - thus, the magic number is 10... However, another tutorial suggests that the magic number variant when using negative numbers is 26. I'm unsure if there is a OTP standard number, or the magic number variant can be changed. I think this is where I am missing the mark. Does that make sense?

niraD, yes - I read some articles posted when I searched for puzzle caches in general (from here - think they were yours?). I then went to the wikipedia article. I read that - thought I understood... then did a tutorial here: http://s13.zetaboards.com/Crypto/topic/123779/1/ and... I've also looked at examples at various websites. Tried to decrypt and I am for sure missing something.

Not asking for the solution to a puzzle or how to solve it... but if anyone could point me to a ONE-TIME PAD FOR DUMMIES type of site - that would be great. I have the key and I've gone through what I thought to be the formula but it came out <sigh> nonsense . CO hasn't gotten back to me when I sent in what I thought to be the way to solve it... but did confirm I had the correct key... so my breakdown is on the formula mechanica. Again, not looking for help with the puzzle - just help with one-time pads in general. Trying to get help without violating TOS. Thank you! HH

Wow - that is REALLY creative!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! Rosebud is a sled.

What do you think? It was in a muggle zone, so I never worked up the courage to go for it, and it's since been archived. Maybe some underwear fetishist took it... Was this a log only cache? BTW could you provide a link? Wow - Sword Fern... thinking of doing this? Very creative, though. LOVE the ideas. I'm putting a T-Shirt in mine with a sharpie and a "Special" box for FTF. It was my 14 y.o. daughter's idea FUN! HH That does sound fun! I will run that one by my daughter and see how she likes it if it is OK with you and your daughter! If we do it I will give you credit for the Idea! I will also try to send you a link if we do it and it works out! If you are anywhere near my area we wont do it but I don't think you are. What about adding in a few different color sharpies so the cachers finding it can make the shirt pop! -WarNinjas Thanks! I'll let my girls know - they'll get a kick out of that. We already planned on red and black - but other colors will be fun, too! I'm putting them all in a baggie marked LOG and not telling anyone on the cache page I want it to be a surprize! We are between Tahoe and Sacramento in California - so probably okay on the locale ... much more "family friendly" than undies! Plus, when it is full - we have a one of a kind souvenir! HH

What do you think? It was in a muggle zone, so I never worked up the courage to go for it, and it's since been archived. Maybe some underwear fetishist took it... Was this a log only cache? BTW could you provide a link? Wow - Sword Fern... thinking of doing this? Very creative, though. LOVE the ideas. I'm putting a T-Shirt in mine with a sharpie and a "Special" box for FTF. It was my 14 y.o. daughter's idea FUN! HH

Not WHAT is written, but what it was written on. So far I've seen softball logs in caches, and I am working on a hide that uses something really cool as the log. So, what is the most interesting thing inside a cache that you've signed? Sorry if this has been posted before - I couldn't find it when I searched.

Super excited! Thank you for contacting me! Had to lower my difficulty level - hope that doesn't change anything. Still a premium cache, though So happy for you and your newest little cacher! Blessings, HH

Congrats! Beautiful coin!

Okay... geek for life here... My first geeky experience? I played Pong. Then, when REAL video games came out I had a table-top Pac-Man (Coleco - I still have it!) that I figured out the pattern to so I could win again and again. Then, I would turn in my parent's Pepsi bottles for quarters to get Sweet-Tart candy and play Mrs. Pac Man at the corner 7-11. I used to make jokes for my friends in Basic (on my Tandy 1000)... In High school I was in Drama, Choir, AND Marching Band. I was also a dancing California Raisin. I play video games, LOVE Star Wars AND Star Trek, LOVE comic books! A few years back I played the Star Wars Galaxies online game and the hubs and I made money selling credits on Ebay! I even BREED geeks (my child made a hat out of Legos yesterday. For halloween I made costumes for my entire family to go as the Wizard of Oz... and I love geocaching! People that don't know me would NEVER know I am a geek in disguise

I would say put on some rubber gloves if you don't want to touch the tick (that's what I do). Clockwise/counter - doesn't matter... takes about a minute in a circular motion with light pressure. It works easy... I promise you.

Just met an old timer at a flea market... he had ALL KINDS of metal things painted... told us that he coats it all with vinegar before painting and no need to prime it. Going to try it on a thrift store find I had recently. Good luck to you - sounds fun!

see post #86 - sorry

oops - past deadline HAHA!