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[zax123]

��im just glad you are alive. you right that scumbag biker would ask for so much more but still, 85 or 9 is still a tall order for a color. stupid mechakons. i know you can handle it sporT! i'm at the coast now looking for the ideal site to place what's left of my transmitter but you need to stop messing around and get your butt on the road or you will never make it in time!

if you dont mine keep going a bit to check some of the odd words I have like mechakons ... i might have just mistyped it.

I got up to coast too. And I double-checked mechakons, it's right. Google shows no results for that word. No idea what it means.

 

[Grendal]

I got up to coast too. And I double-checked mechakons, it's right. Google shows no results for that word. No idea what it means.

It was specifically pointed out that mechakons is a misspelling. Just like the word "mine" in that sentence. That seems an intentional misspelling and the correct word is "mind."

 

[jerry33]

It was specifically pointed out that mechakons is a misspelling. Just like the word "mine" in that sentence. That seems an intentional misspelling and the correct word is "mind."

MechaCon is an anime convention.

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I noticed that if you mess with the settings enough, some lines become much brighter than the others. Perhaps you're only supposed to use those lines.

 

[Grendal]

��im just glad you are alive. you right that scumbag biker would ask for so much more but still, 85 or 9 is still a tall order for a color. stupid mechakons. i know you can handle it sporT! i'm at the coast now looking for the ideal site to place what's left of my transmitter but you need to stop messing around and get your butt on the road or you will never make it in time!

if you dont mine keep going a bit to check some of the odd words I have like mechakons ... i might have just mistyped it.

Breaking it down line by line:

��im just glad you are alive.

This fits the overall "story" the person is trying to impart. He/she is talking/transmitting to us. Sort of James Bond-ish.

you right that scumbag biker would ask for so much more but still, 85 or 9 is still a tall order for a color. stupid mechakons.

The first indication of misspellings which fits with the clear clue we are given at the end. We're getting hints based on what has been read and posted here. "85 or 9 is still a tall order for a color" clearly builds on the previous clue. Mechakons = mechanics?

i know you can handle it sporT!

Subtle hint of some sort but mostly a "keep going" sentence. Sport might be a reference to Roadster Sport.

i'm at the coast now looking for the ideal site to place what's left of my transmitter but you need to stop messing around and get your butt on the road or you will never make it in time!

This implies that someone needs to go somewhere (the coast?) to solve the puzzle. Take a Model S somewhere as proof?

if you dont mine keep going a bit to check some of the odd words I have like mechakons ... i might have just mistyped it.

Helpful hint about where we've gone wrong in our puzzle solving.

 

[zax123]

Breaking it down line by line:

��im just glad you are alive.

This fits the overall "story" the person is trying to impart. He/she is talking/transmitting to us. Sort of James Bond-ish.

you right that scumbag biker would ask for so much more but still, 85 or 9 is still a tall order for a color. stupid mechakons.

The first indication of misspellings which fits with the clear clue we are given at the end. We're getting hints based on what has been read and posted here. "85 or 9 is still a tall order for a color" clearly builds on the previous clue. Mechakons = mechanics?

i know you can handle it sporT!

Subtle hint of some sort but mostly a "keep going" sentence. Sport might be a reference to Roadster Sport.

i'm at the coast now looking for the ideal site to place what's left of my transmitter but you need to stop messing around and get your butt on the road or you will never make it in time!

This implies that someone needs to go somewhere (the coast?) to solve the puzzle. Take a Model S somewhere as proof?

if you dont mine keep going a bit to check some of the odd words I have like mechakons ... i might have just mistyped it.

Helpful hint about where we've gone wrong in our puzzle solving.

I think raptor wrote the last line, it wasn't part of the message...

 

[Grendal]

I think raptor wrote the last line, it wasn't part of the message...

Well that's very different. Nevermind.

 

[raptorweb]

Yeah sorry I should have put it all in quotes... I'll fix it.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[TEG]

That's a current meter, I believe the text is "AMMETER" across the bottom.

I went looking at gobs of pictures of ammeters, and the closest match I found were semi-antique Weston brand...

Are the colored splotches some kind of encoded message?

The A in AMMETER seems to have a leg that drops down in a similar way like this:

Thinking this might have something to do with references to a (radio) transmitter.

 

[Johan]

Mechakon - Ingenieure für Mechanik und Konstruktion

One other wierd thing: when I do a Google search for "tall order for a color" the first hit is a discussion board post on Y combinator (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4678723). Remeber YC and "YC toadie" could somehow refer to Y combinator. The posts were made 64 says ago though, and it all seems very unrelated...

 

[PureAmps]

I went looking at gobs of pictures of ammeters, and the closest match I found were semi-antique Weston brand...

Are the colored splotches some kind of encoded message?

I don't think the color splotches mean anything. It seems like they took a very under exposed photo, or did a quick adjustment in photoshop.

Curiously, the photo does have more red in it than blue/green. But I think that is because this is probably an antique ammeter made of copper. I tried playing with the red channel and nothing jumped out of me as an obvious clue, but I didn't spend a lot of time on it.

I do wonder if the picture is a hint to a place. Maybe this is located in some museum?

 

[TEG]

Probably nothing, but living in the SF bay area, the references to 9 & 85 made me think Saratoga...

(nice scenic way to head to the coast too.)

 

[PureAmps]

A few more thoughts from the braille message today.

The URL in the braille message had extra letters at the beginning and end. It started with either "l+" or "_+" and ended with either "l:" or _:". The use of an l (el) or an underscore (_) is open to interoperation based on the spacing, but I think (_) underscore is more likely. I used Braille ASCII - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia to decode.

The flickr user account is named "Juliet's Team" but has the username of "91461024@N06". So maybe those are clues as well.

 

[Grendal]

"Juliet's Team"

The Capulet's?

 

[JRP3]

i'm at the coast now looking for the ideal site to place what's left of my transmitter but you need to stop messing around and get your butt on the road or you will never make it in time!

This implies that someone needs to go somewhere (the coast?) to solve the puzzle. Take a Model S somewhere as proof?

Or it means we have limited time to solve the puzzle.

 

[PattyChuck]

I have a feeling the amount of work ya'll are doing for this puzzle will far outweigh the payoff.

Since it's Christmas, I'll just leave this here.

Be sure to drink your Ovaltine - YouTube

 

[bonnie]

I have a feeling the amount of work ya'll are doing for this puzzle will far outweigh the payoff.

Sometimes solving a puzzle is enough satisfaction. Just have to wonder where this is all leading.

 

[KBF]

You know what would be hilarious, if TEG or one of the amazing keeners here was "playing for the other side" and giving us false clues or leads. I certainly don't have time to "play" right now, but it's very fascinating to occasionally drop in on! Doug certainly has too much time on his hands (or whoever is directing this).

 

[fengshui]

Thinking about the last clue, and the missing numbers, are there any cars with the multi-coat red that have been produced? Maybe that red is the missing 9.

Still pondering other ideas. This certainly is a challenging game.

 

[TEG]

You know what would be hilarious, if TEG or one of the amazing keeners here was "playing for the other side" and giving us false clues or leads.

Nope, fumbling about like the rest of the group here. Not (intentionally) trying to provide any false clues. But follow my observations at your own risk as I could be making wrong assumptions here and there.

I am amazed at how quickly some of you were able to decode the hidden URL clues.

 

[TEG]

The morse code clue, transmitter parts clue, and ammeter clue make me think antique shortwave portable transmitter something like this:



Other somewhat similar ones:
Showcase: Homemade 1930s-Style AM Radio Transmitter s Blog
http://www.antiquewireless.org/images/29tnt40-01.jpg

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Funny comparison! :redface:

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Random search result:
http://www.justin.tv/mechakon