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Originally Posted by KenWittlief
wouldnt it be great if the manual was encoded in such a way that, there were more than one keys that would give you readable output [but] only one would give you the correct output
so a team might hack the manual and THINK they can read it - but what they are reading is all wrong?
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LOL! Funny idea!
Gee... IMHO, this close to the contest it
really doesn't matter. Even if someone DID crack it, you can't do much with only an extra 24 hours of "advance notice", and most people (at least those of us with a life!) wish to go out and have a nice Friday night!
Seriously though, any password will either generate garbage, or the real output. But it IS true that many DIFFERENT combinations of characters CAN potentially unlock it, and most analysis software simply generates the very first key it finds that does the job. Therefore, if someone DOES manage to open it that way, go ahead and PROVE you did it (
AFTER the manual has been officially released) by posting an ALTERNATIVE key to unlock it. That would be a good wakeup call. BTW, commercial services charge big bucks and may take up to 25-30 days to return your opened PDF file, so if you want to wait until the middle of the build for it, go ahead!
Personally, I think it's a tactical mistake to release the manual over one day in advance. After all, you've sponsors from EVERY industry, and many have some SERIOUS supercomputers at their disposal for things like finite element analysis work. For example, I used to work in the building at an automotive supplier, with an ARRAY of supercomputers at my disposal for just that. I don't THINK they had "forgotten password" software loaded on it, but I never checked. There ARE legit uses for that, such as opening vital internal company documents to keep your own business in operation when an employee quits or suddenly dies. Given the right sponsor in the right position with the right computers at their disposal, it may be able to be opened VERY quickly. Therefore, if *I* were in FIRST's position, I'd simply make it a policy of releasing the encoded version no more than 24 hours before the true unveiling.
- Keith