• YourMum (unregistered)

    For a moment I thought one of those candy bars was called ButtFinger...

  • (cs)

    I guess my package missed the cutoff date :P

  • (cs)

    The postcard looks like it contains a PGP block, and then the whole thing was ROT13d.

  • Sigbert (unregistered) in reply to Maurits

    The post stamp says it's from Vienna.

  • (cs)

    Yup.

    Hello Al x! <-- e was missing I couldn t find your public GPG key <-- ' was missing (you do have one, don't you), so I had to encrypt that with password "beep". -----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux)

    jA0EAwMCnVTiNm92Hlpgybf9FM6kGcogDenHbF /dQlbU4HFht8ZhqFdn+gNwuB7m/nmuwncmDbw4 gp8G83xousATL0HkqLZZKhw+qO7RINLrMbuvCR UvjMzUaW+VOesKNEsBw8JhMpHWVUtTkXT2xf4l cZTAQoxbnOHeCKyDA17hBrX/u9TIQlU4sYqhvM d3wlIt6RoUOFLbxmjZVP8rMQZOtVvRUNSYTqNT Q==7kVE -----END PGP MESSAGE------

  • Information Superhighway Patrol (unregistered) in reply to Maurits
    Maurits:
    The postcard looks like it contains a PGP block, and then the whole thing was ROT13d.
    But that's speculation, and it always will, because IT'S AGAINST THE LAW TO DEFEAT A CRYPTOGRAPHIC COPYRIGHT PROTECTION MUWHAHAHAHahaha!

    We're watching you, Citizen.

  • whocares (unregistered)

    Wait you do realize the CAD is worth more then the USD right? Just making sure.

  • Post Master General (unregistered)

    I'm sure it is in Canada, but it doesn't matter what a currency is theoretically worth when you can't spend it, and it has no collectors value.

  • Rosuav (unregistered)

    Ha, some OS/2 boxes! Everyone thinks it's dead, but it's not as bad as Simon BOFH would have us believe. Our network here consists of a mix of Linux and OS/2, with a couple of Windows boxes for completeness; our database server, file server, and half of our clients, all run OS/2 exclusively.

    And it majorly outdoes Windows XP in the uptime statistics (can never seem to get Windows past 1-2 months without a reboot).

  • Patagonicus (unregistered)

    Original message:

    Uryyb Nyrk!
    V pbhyqa'g svaq lbhe choyvp TCT xrl
    (lbh qb unir bar, qba'g lbh), fb V unq 
    gb rapelcg gung jvgu cnffjbeq "orrc". 
    -----ORTVA CTC ZRFFNTR-----
    Irefvba: TahCT i1.4.11 (TAH/Yvahk)
    wN0RNjZPaIGvAz92Uyctlos9SZ6xTpbtQraUoS
    /qDyoH4USug8MudSqa+tAjhO7z/azhjapzQoj4
    tc8T83kbhfNGY0UxdYMMXuj+dB7EVAYeZohiPE
    HiwZmHnJ+IBrfXARfOj8WuZcUJIHgGxKG2ks4y
    IiHPOm3xARxrjcmkbTDNrhc+KC9DXTe6uQF4BH
    pMGNDbkoaBUrPXlQN17uOeK/h9GVDyH4fLduiZ
    q3jyVg6EbHBsYokzwMIC8eZDMBgIiEHAFLGdAG
    D==7xIR
    -----RAQ CTC ZRFFNTR-----
    

    After ROT13

    Hello Alex!
    I couldn't find your public GPG key
    (you do have one, don't you), so I had 
    to encrypt that with password "beep". 
    -----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE-----
    Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux)
    jA0EAwMCnVTiNm92Hlpgybf9FM6kGcogDenHbF
    /dQlbU4HFht8ZhqFdn+gNwuB7m/nmuwncmDbw4
    gp8G83xousATL0HkqLZZKhw+qO7RINLrMbuvCR
    UvjMzUaW+VOesKNEsBw8JhMpHWVUtTkXT2xf4l
    VvUCBz3kNEkewpzxoGQAeup+XP9QKGr6hDS4OU
    cZTAQoxbnOHeCKyDA17hBrX/u9TIQlU4sYqhvM
    d3wlIt6RoUOfLbxmjZVP8rMQZOtVvRUNSYTqNT
    Q==7kVE
    -----END PGP MESSAGE-----
    

    PGP Message decrypted with password beep:

    
    Hello Alex!
    
    Thank you very much for the informative articles, nice features and interesting WTFs.
    Please keep up the good work!
    
    
    Best regards,
    
    e21b81e7a47c5d3c26a3560be040aedeb18cb9b4
    

    Nice idea, e21b81e7a47c5d3c26a3560be040aedeb18cb9b4, was fun to "crack" this encryption :)

  • Blue neck (unregistered)

    You might not have realized but our loony money (Canadian dollar) is actually worth more than your Yankee money... put that down your pipe and smoke it.

  • benjymous (unregistered)

    I've been trying to get the text to decode - here's the OCR'd and manually fixed version:

    Uryyb Nyrk! V pbhyqa g svaq lbhe choyvp TCT xrl (lbh qb unir bar, qba'g lbh), fb V unq gb rapelcg gung jvgu cnffjbeq "orrc". -----ORTVA CTC ZRFFNTR----- Irefvba: TahCT i1.4.11 (TAH/Yvahk) wN0RNjZPaIGvAz92Uyctlos9SZ6xTpbtQraUoS /qDyoH4USug8MudSqa+tAjhO7z/azhjapzQoj4 tc8T83kbhfNGY0UxdYMMXuj+dB7EVAYeZohiPE HiwZmHnJ+IBrfXARf0j8WuZcUJIHgGxKG2ks4y IiHPOm3xARxrjcmkbTDNrhc+KC9DXTe6uQF4BH pMGNDbkoaBUrPXlQN17uOeK/h9GVDyH4fLduiZ q3jyVg6EbHBsYokzwMIC8eZDMBgIiEHAFLGdAG D==7xIR
    -----RAQ CTC ZRFFNTR-----

    which rot13s to:

    Hello Alex! I couldn t find your public GPG key (you do have one, don't you), so I had to encrypt that with password "beep". -----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux) jA0EAwMCnVTiNm92Hlpgybf9FM6kGcogDenHbF /dQlbU4HFht8ZhqFdn+gNwuB7m/nmuwncmDbw4 gp8G83xousATL0HkqLZZKhw+qO7RINLrMbuvCR UvjMzUaW+VOesKNEs0w8JhMpHWVUtTkXT2xf4l VvUCBz3kNEkewpzxoGQAeup+XP9QKGr6hDS4OU cZTAQoxbnOHeCKyDA17hBrX/u9TIQlU4sYqhvM d3wlIt6RoUOfLbxmjZVP8rMQZOtVvRUNSYTqNT Q==7kVE
    -----END PGP MESSAGE-----

    But the PGP chunk fails the CRC check - presumably there are typos I've missed :-\

    Can anyone finish the job?

  • benjymous (unregistered) in reply to benjymous

    Ahh, never mind, been beaten to it :)

  • Mez (unregistered) in reply to Patagonicus

    e21b81e7a47c5d3c26a3560be040aedeb18cb9b4

    I'd take a good speculation that this is a sha1 hash :D

  • markj (unregistered) in reply to Patagonicus

    Another illustration of the true power of ROT13 security!

  • Bob (unregistered)

    Neither ButterFinger nor Twix are American...

  • Glenn (unregistered) in reply to Blue neck

    "there are things even more worthless than Canadian money" -- indeed: American money

    http://finance.yahoo.com/currency-converter/#from=CAD;to=USD;amt=1

  • Nick (unregistered)

    That os/2 Warp is cool, but just a few weeks ago at my in-law's house, I had my hands on a new still-shrink-wrapped copy of Windows. Not Windows x.x.. it was just WINDOWS.... as in the first one. Still in the shrink wrap.

    Oh yes, and OS/2 2.0 in shrink wrap.

  • (cs) in reply to Patagonicus
    Patagonicus:
    Original message:
    Uryyb Nyrk!
    V pbhyqa'g svaq lbhe choyvp TCT xrl
    (lbh qb unir bar, qba'g lbh), fb V unq 
    gb rapelcg gung jvgu cnffjbeq "orrc". 
    -----ORTVA CTC ZRFFNTR-----
    Irefvba: TahCT i1.4.11 (TAH/Yvahk)
    wN0RNjZPaIGvAz92Uyctlos9SZ6xTpbtQraUoS
    /qDyoH4USug8MudSqa+tAjhO7z/azhjapzQoj4
    tc8T83kbhfNGY0UxdYMMXuj+dB7EVAYeZohiPE
    HiwZmHnJ+IBrfXARfOj8WuZcUJIHgGxKG2ks4y
    IiHPOm3xARxrjcmkbTDNrhc+KC9DXTe6uQF4BH
    pMGNDbkoaBUrPXlQN17uOeK/h9GVDyH4fLduiZ
    q3jyVg6EbHBsYokzwMIC8eZDMBgIiEHAFLGdAG
    D==7xIR
    -----RAQ CTC ZRFFNTR-----
    
    After ROT13
    Hello Alex!
    I couldn't find your public GPG key
    (you do have one, don't you), so I had 
    to encrypt that with password "beep". 
    -----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE-----
    Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux)
    jA0EAwMCnVTiNm92Hlpgybf9FM6kGcogDenHbF
    /dQlbU4HFht8ZhqFdn+gNwuB7m/nmuwncmDbw4
    gp8G83xousATL0HkqLZZKhw+qO7RINLrMbuvCR
    UvjMzUaW+VOesKNEsBw8JhMpHWVUtTkXT2xf4l
    VvUCBz3kNEkewpzxoGQAeup+XP9QKGr6hDS4OU
    cZTAQoxbnOHeCKyDA17hBrX/u9TIQlU4sYqhvM
    d3wlIt6RoUOfLbxmjZVP8rMQZOtVvRUNSYTqNT
    Q==7kVE
    -----END PGP MESSAGE-----
    
    PGP Message decrypted with password beep:

    Hello Alex!

    Thank you very much for the informative articles, nice features and interesting WTFs. Please keep up the good work!

    Best regards,

    e21b81e7a47c5d3c26a3560be040aedeb18cb9b4

    Nice idea, e21b81e7a47c5d3c26a3560be040aedeb18cb9b4, was fun to "crack" this encryption :)

    e21b81e7a47c5d3c26a3560be040aedeb18cb9b4 looks like the hash of something... Paula Bean, perhaps? Anybody have rainbow tables handy?

  • Some damn Yank (unregistered) in reply to Blue neck
    Blue neck:
    You might not have realized but our loony money (Canadian dollar) is actually worth more than your Yankee money... put that down your pipe and smoke it.
    Hey, we Yanks are up for smoking just about anything, but Loonies are COINS, not BILLS, so they don't burn well (and my pipe doesn't get hot enough to melt them, either :-)
  • (cs) in reply to Some damn Yank

    IBM missed its chance, they should have brought OS/2 back when vista hit.

  • Don (unregistered) in reply to Blue neck
    Blue neck:
    You might not have realized but our loony money (Canadian dollar) is actually worth more than your Yankee money... put that down your pipe and smoke it.
    I'll buy that for a (US) Dollar! Wait, how much is that in real money, 0.02 Canadian?
  • (cs) in reply to Rosuav
    Rosuav:
    Ha, some OS/2 boxes! Everyone thinks it's dead, but it's not as bad as Simon BOFH would have us believe. Our network here consists of a mix of Linux and OS/2, with a couple of Windows boxes for completeness; our database server, file server, and half of our clients, all run OS/2 exclusively.

    And it majorly outdoes Windows XP in the uptime statistics (can never seem to get Windows past 1-2 months without a reboot).

    What? No Netware?

  • (cs) in reply to Don
    Don:
    Blue neck:
    You might not have realized but our loony money (Canadian dollar) is actually worth more than your Yankee money... put that down your pipe and smoke it.
    I'll buy that for a (US) Dollar! Wait, how much is that in real money, 0.02 Canadian?
    Your trolling attempt was both poorly executed and late.

    I'll give you a 2.3 out of 10... (pad that with 2 points if this was your first attempt)

  • MrBester (unregistered) in reply to Bob
    Bob:
    Neither ButterFinger nor Twix are American...
    Or, indeed, Snickers (previously known as Marathon)
  • Dereleased-work (unregistered) in reply to Blue neck

    Man, you don't have to have something for long before you're ready to throw it in everyone's face, do you? Since everyone likes to tell us about history, here, I got some for you:

    http://www.google.com//finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&chvs=Linear&chdeh=0&chfdeh=0&chdet=1311354091006&chddm=2738523&q=CURRENCY:CADUSD&ntsp=0

  • Jack (unregistered)

    Back in 1994 we had OS/2 driving a bank of outgoing modems (for data transfer to retail locations nationwide) 7*24 with rarely a glitch. I still wouldn't count on Windows for that kind of multitasking or reliability.

    But why oh why did IB/M have to put a sl/ash in ev/ry/thing? It's like someone at IBM thought slashes were sexier than naked chicks!

  • Anonymous Coward (unregistered) in reply to Patagonicus
    Patagonicus:
    Nice idea, e21b81e7a47c5d3c26a3560be040aedeb18cb9b4, was fun to "crack" this encryption :)
    I bet the most fun part is typing the message. Now someone need to lookup that sha1 hash.
  • Turcogj (unregistered) in reply to Blue neck

    I was about to say our money is worth more now and soon will last a lot longer than american paper currency.

    CAPTCHA: OPTO - I opto for CAD vs US currency

  • SysKoll (unregistered) in reply to Blue neck

    Wait, you mean Canada is allowed to print its own money? scoff What's next? Why can't my coffee shop start printing its own currency then?

    All of the 57 states have to use the US dollar.

  • Dereleased-work (unregistered) in reply to Post Master General
    Post Master General:
    I'm sure it is in Canada, but it doesn't matter what a currency is theoretically worth when you can't spend it, and it has no collectors value.

    This.

    MrBester:
    Bob:
    Neither ButterFinger nor Twix are American...
    Or, indeed, Snickers (previously known as Marathon)

    For pete's sake people, it's freaking candy. The packaging is the only thing unique about it.

  • Rawr (unregistered) in reply to Turcogj
    Turcogj:
    I was about to say our money is worth more now and soon will last a lot longer than american paper currency.

    You were about to say 'our money is worth more now and soon will last a lot longer than american paper currency', but then you decided to just say 'our money is worth more now and soon will last a lot longer than american paper currency'?

  • trtrwtf (unregistered) in reply to Jack
    Jack:
    Back in 1994 we had OS/2 driving a bank of outgoing modems (for data transfer to retail locations nationwide) 7*24 with rarely a glitch. I still wouldn't count on Windows for that kind of multitasking or reliability.

    But why oh why did IB/M have to put a sl/ash in ev/ry/thing? It's like someone at IBM thought slashes were sexier than naked chicks!

    OS/2: Half an operating system for half a computer.

  • ChaudronSale (unregistered) in reply to Blue neck

    Hahah well said!

  • (cs) in reply to SysKoll
    SysKoll:
    Wait, you mean Canada is allowed to print its own money? *scoff* What's next? Why can't my coffee shop start printing its own currency then?

    All of the 57 states have to use the US dollar.

    It hardly matters; soon enough, China will purchase the USA. They already own a large chunk of it. Canada too.

  • (cs) in reply to Blue neck
    Blue neck:
    You might not have realized but our loony money (Canadian dollar) is actually worth more than your Yankee money... put that down your pipe and smoke it.
    Any currency that can't buy medical care is arguably not a real currency.
  • (cs) in reply to hoodaticus
    hoodaticus:
    Blue neck:
    You might not have realized but our loony money (Canadian dollar) is actually worth more than your Yankee money... put that down your pipe and smoke it.
    Any currency that won't be worth it's own weigth tomorrow is arguably not a real currency.
    FTFY
  • (cs) in reply to hoodaticus

    Define medical care. I'm sure you could buy an exacto knife, some crazy glue, and a roll of ductape at Canadian Tire.

  • anon (unregistered) in reply to MrBester
    MrBester:
    Bob:
    Neither ButterFinger nor Twix are American...
    Or, indeed, Snickers (previously known as Marathon)

    Is Chicago not part of America anymore? Because Butterfinger and Snickers were both invented there. The Butterfinger by the Curtiss Candy Company, Snickers by Mars. And it was not "previously known as Marathon". It was the Snickers first, when Mars opened up their UK branch they sold the Snickers as the Marathon there, I've be told because they though Snickers sounded too much like knickers, but that's probably apocryphal.

  • PseudoBovine (unregistered) in reply to Blue neck
    Blue neck:
    You might not have realized but our loony money (Canadian dollar) is actually worth more than your Yankee money.

    Yeah, but most of the US/Canada sticker price differential is still based on a 1:0.7 exchange rate, so who's the laughing now, Mr. "I have to pay CDN$13 for a US$9 book"

  • Procedural (unregistered) in reply to Blue neck
    Blue neck:
    You might not have realized but our loony money (Canadian dollar) is actually worth more than your Yankee money... put that down your pipe and smoke it.

    Yup. I always get confused with the CAD to USD conversion though. How many Yuans is a US Dollar worth nowadays ?

  • Tuxinator (unregistered) in reply to Blue neck

    ... And you can buy almost anything with Canadian Tire money.

  • Paul (unregistered)
    Anonymous Coward:
    When the debt ceiling doesn't get raised then its America which will be history
    1. They're lying by saying USA will go into default without a higher debt ceiling. Debt is an obligation, you have to pay it back. Sprinkling helicopter loads of cash over your congressional district is optional, and that's what would have to stop.
    1. Or, like anyone low on funds, they could start selling some of their ridiculous collection of assets. Like approximately half the real estate west of the Mississippi.

    So, the whole default on debt scenario is just scaremongering designed to squeeze your pockets... as usual.

    *** REPOSTING DELETED COMMENT *** what, was this more trollish or off topic than everything else around here?

  • Anon (unregistered)

    Isnt health care free in canada? (Maybe that was the joke?)

    So technically the money doesn't need to be able to buy health care...?!

    captcha: similis - similar to real money.

  • Abso (unregistered) in reply to Anon
    Anon:
    Isnt health care free in canada? (Maybe that was the joke?)

    So technically the money doesn't need to be able to buy health care...?!

    captcha: similis - similar to real money.

    Most of it. And yes, that was the joke.

  • anon y mouse (unregistered) in reply to Bob
    Bob:
    Neither ButterFinger nor Twix are American...

    Butterfinger was invented by the Curtiss Candy Company of Chicago, Illinois, in 1923

  • moz (unregistered) in reply to Paul
    Paul:
    1. They're lying by saying USA will go into default without a higher debt ceiling. Debt is an obligation, you have to pay it back.
    You have to pay it back, or someone is likely to attempt to separate you from some of your assets without your consent (or maybe some of your family members or body parts; it all depends who you owe the debt to).

    Governments have had something similar happen to them (such as Haiti to pay for all those slaves they took), but no-one's going to tow Hawaii away if the USA stops paying them.

  • (cs) in reply to moz
    moz:
    Governments have had something similar happen to them (such as Haiti to pay for all those slaves they took), but no-one's going to tow Hawaii away if the USA stops paying them.
    I don't know about that one... China has some deep pockets which could buy a really nice tugboat.
  • upset (unregistered) in reply to Blue neck
    Blue neck:
    You might not have realized but our loony money (Canadian dollar) is actually worth more than your Yankee money... put that down your pipe and smoke it.

    It is sad to say as an Australian being paid in USD, that our money is also worth more than the USA. I guess the US is not setting a very high bar to step over right now...

  • xoonyzyz (unregistered) in reply to YourMum
    My Mum:
    For a moment I thought one of those candy bars was called ButtFinger... and got wet

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