65 votes

The secret inside One Million Checkboxes

8 comments

  1. MimicSquid
    Link
    What a sweet and inspiring story. That's really lovely.

    What a sweet and inspiring story. That's really lovely.

    14 votes
  2. [3]
    kfwyre
    Link
    This was awesome! I'll put the rest of my comment in spoilers, because I think it's way better if people read the article or watch the video first. Spoilers This felt like a human version of a...

    This was awesome!

    I'll put the rest of my comment in spoilers, because I think it's way better if people read the article or watch the video first.

    Spoilers

    This felt like a human version of a SETI discovery.

    Also it's always inspiring to see kids toying around with their knowledge. Getting to see them put it to use in new, experimental ways is always so cool.

    12 votes
    1. balooga
      Link Parent
      Well put, that's the perfect analogy. He could've replaced the "WTF am I HACKED" text in that one image with a simple, hand-written "Wow!" The ways clever people devise to hide signals in noise...

      Well put, that's the perfect analogy. He could've replaced the "WTF am I HACKED" text in that one image with a simple, hand-written "Wow!"

      The ways clever people devise to hide signals in noise never cease to amaze me. Ever since I learned about steganography I've wondered how many secrets are hidden in plain sight around the web.

      5 votes
    2. redbearsam
      Link Parent
      Appropriate use of hyperbole. Five stars.

      Appropriate use of hyperbole. Five stars.

      2 votes
  3. first-must-burn
    Link
    Thanks for posting this. It was really lovely and inspiring. I was one million check boxes and was initially expecting a huge technical challenge implementing it, but it was much simpler in...

    Thanks for posting this. It was really lovely and inspiring. I was one million check boxes and was initially expecting a huge technical challenge implementing it, but it was much simpler in practice. Not surprising, really (I was thinking about it somewhat superficially) but a million bits just isn't that much.

    I wonder if he had any additional error detection codes? The 802.3 CRC is Hamming Distance three or four at that length, so you would probably see some undetected errors.

    Edit: after I posted this I realized I had unintentionally mimicked @MimicSquid

    11 votes
  4. creesch
    Link
    This article has a lot of things I really like. A fun nonsensical online collaborative project, people messing around with said project, a bunch of teenagers finding very creative ways to actually...

    This article has a lot of things I really like. A fun nonsensical online collaborative project, people messing around with said project, a bunch of teenagers finding very creative ways to actually encode messages in it, the author engaging with those teenagers in a fun way.

    Well worth the read in my opinion!

    9 votes
  5. [2]
    Halfloaf
    Link
    I didn’t expect Spoilers! a Jet Lag reference!

    I didn’t expect

    Spoilers!

    a Jet Lag reference!

    2 votes
    1. balooga
      Link Parent
      We are so freaking back.

      We are so freaking back.

      1 vote