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Any code breakers in TL? - Page 7

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Jum
Profile Joined March 2011
United States3 Posts
March 31 2011 02:28 GMT
#121
Look at some of the letters on the first page. Some of the letters don't look like mistakes. Letters are scratched out and written over with another letter. Mistake or is this a pattern as well?

I have a link to the photos here:

Note 1

Note 2

I don't know if the notes are connected. They could be separate codes. Why does one have circles around paragraphs, the other doesn't.
Send a maniac to catch one...
Latrommi
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States222 Posts
March 31 2011 02:43 GMT
#122
Seriously, can we come back to the actual point of this thread, which is the actual code breaking?

On March 30 2011 13:14 Caller wrote:
i think an interesting point to start is that there is no z in any of these notes. None whatsoever. If this was a straight-up substitution then we should be seeing a letter that isn't z missing. But instead z, one of the least common letters, is missing. Instead, there are numbers.

Secondly is the use of parantheses in weird places. This is a person who has been writing encrypted notes to himself for 40 years. He would need to be able to read these notes very quickly if he in fact did intend to read them. The fact that every set of parantheses is closed says something.

You should also note that he uses periods, but no commas, parantheses, but no brackets or ampersands or exclamation points and question marks: also no colons. So why would he use plus signs and dashes?

Another thing to look at is his overuse of the letter e. I think the letter e is supposed to signify a space/stop to the line, rather than have any intrinsic meaning in itself.

~just some thoughts


Maybe the words in parentheses are the ones that mattered/the rest of them are unintelligible and gibberish to throw the codebreaker off?

Also, Another point to consider would be the number of characters in each line. One thing that you can see, is that the parentheses are always in one line, never straying over to two lines.

+ Show Spoiler +
Note 1(Characters only, not including punctuation)
L1: 23
L2: 31
L3: 36
L4: 38
L5: 38
L6: 38
L7: 36
L8: 23
L9: 19
L10: 20
L11: 21
L12: 35
L13: 16
Possibly the best thread ever http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=232912&currentpage=All
Jum
Profile Joined March 2011
United States3 Posts
March 31 2011 02:49 GMT
#123
Yes, I noticed this. You could be on to something. Also look at the first note at the end of the first line. Does that say PRSE INC or is that PRSE 1NC. I ask this because the guy wrote the letter I in two different formats.
Send a maniac to catch one...
GypsyBeast
Profile Joined December 2010
Canada630 Posts
March 31 2011 02:54 GMT
#124
ya i bet this letter is gibberish but cool thing to waste some time on. GL
Ya? Well ill BM you harder! Another win in 10 seconds flat! -Rainbow Dash playing SC2.
Kinky
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
United States4126 Posts
March 31 2011 03:02 GMT
#125
I found this link through Wikipedia, apparently someone claimed they decoded the first letter.
http://www.mldragon.com/2011_0330_FBI_McCormick_DePsycho.pdf
Serejai
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
6007 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-31 03:14:44
March 31 2011 03:12 GMT
#126
Replacing the "E"s with spaces just for shits and giggles.

+ Show Spoiler +
L01: (MNDMXN MRS .N.S.M.KNAR ) (ALSM)
L02: TFRN NPtNS NPBS RCBRNS NPRS INC
L03: PRS NMRS DPR HLDWLDNCB (TFXLFTCXLNCB )
L04: AL-PRPPITXLYPRIYNCB MGKS WCDRCBRNS PRS
L05: WLDRCBRNS NTSBN NTX .CRSL .CLTRS WLDNCB
L06: ALWCDNCB TSM LRS RLS URGLSN ASNWLDNCB
L07: (NOPFS NLSR NCB )NT GDDMNS NCUR RCBRN
L08: (T N TFRN NCBPTS NCB lNQ)
L09: (FLRS PQS OND 71NCB )
L10: (CDNS PQS ONSD 74NCB )
L11: (PQtS PRS ONR D 7SNCB )
L12: (TFNQCMSPSOL MRD LUS TOT WCDNWLDNCB )
L13: (194WLD'SNCB )(TRFXL)

ALPNT GLS -S R+
VLS MTS -CTS -WS -FRTS
PNTRTRS ONPRS WLDNCB
NWLDXLRCMSPN WLDSTSM XL
DVLMT6TUNS NCB C

(MUNSAIST NMUNARS )
KLS -LRST -TRS -TRS -MKS N-MRS
(SA 6NS S NMBS )

NMNRCBRNS P+ 2PT WSRCBRNS
26MLS 74SPRKS 29K NOSOL 173R7RS
356L CLGS UUNUTR DKRS PS SHL
6S1MTCS HTLS NCUTCTRSNMR
99.84.B2UN PLS NCRS AOLTS NSKS NRS
NSR OUS PUTS WLDUCB (3XORL)

DNMS NRS IN2NTRL RCBRNS NTSRCRBN
LSPNS NGSPS MKS RBS NCB AVXLR
HMCR NMR SCB 1/2MUNDDLS


Note this area in particular

NMNRCBRNS P+ 2PT WSRCBRNS
26MLS 74SPRKS 29K NOSOL 173R7RS
356L CLGS UUNUTR DKRS PS SHL
6S1MTCS HTLS NCUTCTRSNMR
99.84.B2UN PLS NCRS AOLTS NSKS NRS
NSR OUS PUTS WLDUCB (3XORL)

All of the bolded parts seem like measurements of some sort to me.

That's all I came up with. I tried.
I HAVE 5 TOAST POINTS
sureshot_
Profile Joined August 2010
United States257 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-31 04:44:31
March 31 2011 04:43 GMT
#127
On March 31 2011 12:02 Kinky wrote:
I found this link through Wikipedia, apparently someone claimed they decoded the first letter.
http://www.mldragon.com/2011_0330_FBI_McCormick_DePsycho.pdf


If this guy's deciphering proves true, this McCormick must have had some serious case of schizophrenia I would imagine.
Ym1r
Profile Joined May 2009
United States1164 Posts
March 31 2011 06:28 GMT
#128
Why, on the first note are the letters arranged nicely, yet on the second note placement is sloppy as hell?
im ji geum - ellin - eunji - spica - a pink - naeun - sojinyura - HAERYUNG<3 - Red Velvet
RickOrShay
Profile Joined August 2010
New Zealand132 Posts
March 31 2011 06:44 GMT
#129
would be pretty cool if someone deciphered this and it helped solve the case.
Mimic
Profile Joined June 2010
Russian Federation76 Posts
March 31 2011 06:58 GMT
#130
FYI i know nothing of cryptology

1. he has been making these codes since he was a child. he wasent making em to keep Russians out of his HW he was doing it for fun. just like some people draw or read im sure. this was a way he even thought maybe or kept things organized. over years of keeping info i think it would progresivly get more and more complex.

2 i dont think he made the code unsolvable but i also belive he never made the code to be solved by others. unless he was an avid public code cracker he kept these things to himself. thus he didnt really discuse these things with other.

3. i think this is a very simplified code or "cut short" code. i think over decades he has made alot of acronyms for keys and oterh neccecary mechanics of his cyphers. maybe things are a "given" to him. EX:he got tired of writing 1996 for year so he wrote 96 but in a more complexe coded form.

i dont wana discourage people from trying to solve this. i wana know how its made and what it means. just my non beneficial input
Only The Dead See The End Of War
goswser
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
United States3548 Posts
March 31 2011 07:05 GMT
#131
Hes been writing encrypted notes for 40 years and no one besides him can de-encrypt them? I find that hard to believe.
say you were born into a jungle indian tribe where food was scarce...would you run around from teepee to teepee stealing meat scraps after a day lazying around doing nothing except warming urself by a fire that you didn't even make yourself? -rekrul
Blasts
Profile Joined September 2010
Netherlands99 Posts
March 31 2011 07:46 GMT
#132
Interesting pattern.

Follow me on this:
If the FBI wanted to know what the note says, they would have been smart enough to search his house for any encryption devices. Makes sense. Considering they haven't decoded it yet, they didn't find any.

This can mean either a. He encrypted it out of his head, or b. He hid a encrypting machine somewhere and nobody has found it. Considering that he has been encrypting for a long time, option a seems the most likely. But what kind of encryption can you do out of your head and isn't crackable with computers?

I'd say he had a list inside his head, with combinations of letters and their meaning.
For example: F42DE32 could mean ' the' . With such a list, he could use the most random stuff ever, and nobody would realize. In that case, finding patterns in the letters itsself would be pointless.
Because he knows the list, he sees all the words as they should be and he knows where there should be spaces. He doesn't need to write them down, as he knows where every word starts and ends. Such a code can be chewed on forever by computers, because there is no logical pattern to find in it.

I strongly suspect the person that encrypted the message used a system described as above. Witch means that now that the person who know the 'list' is dead, nobody will ever get to know the message, unless somebody is smart enough to figure out what combinations of letters and numbers he would use for certain words. But if he's really good with that stuff, it isn't that hard to for example shift all letters 1 place. And a computer wouldn't realize that, neither does a human, because it's still rubbish without a logical pattern in it. And I say shifting one place, but there's of course tons of possibilities, like shifting one letter up, next one down, next one up, next one down being one of the simple ones. If I had to encrypt something without a computer near me, I'd take my birthdate to shift the letters after encrypting it with my 'list'.

Long story short: I'd say this isn't gonna be cracked. Ever. Unless some genius with some real good insight in the killed man is good enough to figure out the code.
My worst MU is me vs my cat. I always try to 2 rax him, but he 4 claws me :(
cha0
Profile Joined March 2010
Canada507 Posts
March 31 2011 08:01 GMT
#133
If this guy really was crazy and always making encryptions that only he could decode then he could have been simply using an OTP encryption therefore making it impossible to decrypt his notes. I'm curious as to why the FBI seems to have such interest in this case.
Crying
Profile Joined February 2011
Bulgaria778 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-31 08:33:17
March 31 2011 08:31 GMT
#134
April Fools Maybe???

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac_Killer

Look at this guy's letters,he was a serial killer and he made some really scary letters

http://www.zodiologists.com/z408_cipher_key.html thats the decipher

the deciphrated version -> http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Zodiac_cipher.png/250px-Zodiac_cipher.png
Determination~ Hard Work Surpass NATURAL GENIUS!
DND_Enkil
Profile Joined September 2010
Sweden598 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-31 08:50:22
March 31 2011 08:44 GMT
#135
On March 30 2011 11:02 GambleVII wrote:
(TENETFRNENCBRTSENCBEINC)
(FLRSEPRSEONDE71NCBE)
(CDNSEPRSEONSFE74NCBE)
(PR+SEPRSEONREDE75NCBE

If you look at those sentences

there almost identical look at
NCBE with its variations
NCBEINC
71NCBE, 74NCBE, 75NCBE. its like they are a modifier to show case what NCBE stands for.

Same with SERPRSE with modifiers on the front and back of the word to showcase what the real word is. Now for NCBE if he doesnt utilize modifiers then it would mean what i pasted is near identical sentance posted 4 times.

Good info woudl be to knwo if he was into any kind of movies as a kid that utilized cyphers maybee influencing him to make his own.


I have zero experience with this kind of stuff but to me it looks more like each line represents a word not a whole sentence...

Edit:

On March 30 2011 13:01 Cite wrote:
I think they are more interested with this line

"“Even if we found out that he was writing a grocery list or a love letter,” Olson said, “we would still want to see how the code is solved. This is a cipher system we know nothing about."

rather than the results as well they probably very well know it is nothing related to his murder.


Yeah this makes more sence why they would make this public considering it is not really a "high profile" case at all.

would be interesting to see if any genius out there could break this.
"If you write about a sewing needle there is always some one-eyed bastard that gets offended" - Fritiof The Pirate Nilsson
rebuffering
Profile Joined December 2010
Canada2436 Posts
March 31 2011 08:51 GMT
#136
that zodiac letter is pretty insane i must say.
http://www.twitch.tv/rebufferingg
HyAjO
Profile Joined October 2010
United States51 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-31 08:55:30
March 31 2011 08:52 GMT
#137
EDIT: REMOVED
adso
Profile Joined March 2011
718 Posts
March 31 2011 09:47 GMT
#138
on topic: good luck to all crazies stalking the crazies...

Having key words to look for would help, but i suppose if they aren't any "obvious" that door's shut.
("+ Show Spoiler +
To move the case forward, examiners need another sample of murder-victim Ricky McCormick’s coded system—or a similar one—that might offer context to the mystery notes or allow comparisons to be made.
" <= it is written on the fbi webpage, directly underneath the pictures of the "coded" messages. This is a web page dedicated to finding other messages AND forwarding the information that they do have... well some of it ??).

Looking out for the letters that are not "used" might lead up to quicker results?

Slang words (McCormick's own brand of course) should be considered "more" than "usual" english everyday words (not to mention the "all words abbreviated" technique).

Geographical sites' names are usually more difficult to "hide" in a message (since the general area one lives in is usually obvious), so maybe focusing on the names available around the area where he was found or he used to go to would help?.
Compiling a list of names and seeing if anything comes up when cross referencing the "unknown" words you do get after some "trial decoding" has been done.
(focusing solely on sites names with possibly their own McCormick "local slang twist" or "misspelled version").

I too think each line is a code (or a word) in itself... but that does not mean you can't make a new word (or get a new meaning) when you put them all together (like a limerick: my first is a "T", my second is a "K", third is an "A", and the sum makes a cat (just an example with a spelling mistake he could consistently do ?).

Here's hoping no code is ever unbreakable, it would help me sleep at night

off topic:+ Show Spoiler +

How is it that so many people keep arguing about other stuff then the op (are we on tl?)?

Humbly, i will refrain from citing the odds. i'm however amazed at how many people have "said" that this "exercise" is useless or that their own "secret coding" would be unbreakable...
it feels like "versus posts" in a fan club thread...

FBI add recruitment or unhealthy trolling, who's killer and who's the victim, reddit is beating tl, hope this gives tl publicity.. where is the world going ?
rebuffering
Profile Joined December 2010
Canada2436 Posts
March 31 2011 17:26 GMT
#139
this kept me up all night. fascinating. hope more TL'rs and regular folk keep looking at this!
http://www.twitch.tv/rebufferingg
SichuanPanda
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
Canada1542 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-31 17:57:40
March 31 2011 17:56 GMT
#140
On March 30 2011 11:29 tyCe wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 30 2011 08:52 Disregard wrote:
On March 30 2011 08:48 Jaso wrote:
On March 30 2011 08:47 MisterD wrote:
On March 30 2011 08:43 Bigpet wrote:
this seems to be written in latin characters only. So is anybody up for typing this and posting it here. That would make trying out algorithms easier. Like trying to find out the most common letter but I guess simple rotations are out of the question if the FBI has problems with it.



its not latin only, there's · dots in it. These can be "typed" as well though.


I haven't taken Latin, and have no clue what Latin characters look like, but that looks a lot like the English alphabet..


Uhh... English is Latin-based.

Chinese guy teaching US guy English


English uses the Latin alphabet, the Arabic numeral system, and is primarily Germanic based in speaking origins. Therefore English is most certainly not 'Latin-based' because the flow of the language is nothing like Latin. On regards to the note, I would suggest that - regardless of whether FBI did or didn't already do so, that someone runs a some decryption software on it. Perhaps it could manage to come up with one or two lines, or even just a couple words to help guide the manual deciphering procedure.
i-bonjwa
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