#40 - Blacker Box [Archive]

AtkinsSJ

03-08-2006, 10:56 AM

I've tried everything I can think of. It's just solid black. There's nothing in the code, nothing in the image's name. Please, someone help me! :cry:

tyler.

03-08-2006, 02:04 PM

same here, i can't understand it either. Can someone help or PM me to help me. Please i need it.

jwm

03-08-2006, 07:08 PM

I suggest you google for information about the GIF image format and try to think of somewhere it would be possible to hide a message in the image.

oxygenthief

03-10-2006, 06:20 PM

I suggest you google for information about the GIF image format and try to think of somewhere it would be possible to hide a message in the image.

The only things I know that are special about .gif are transparency, animation, and 256 color/8 bit. I've tried everything I can think of to test these things, including staring at it for 10 minutes waiting for animation.

Need more help please. :cry:

aznboist3v3n6

03-10-2006, 07:59 PM

i finally finished it

smrq

03-10-2006, 10:29 PM

I finally solved it! I don't think there are any more hints that can be given on this one- you've (hopefully) got everything you need at your disposal.

Moebius

03-11-2006, 12:27 PM

I'll admit, this one has me stumped. I know what I'm looking for, but apparently not where I'm looking for it. Tried about every way I could think of to conceal a message, even stego, but no joy.

BigNel

03-11-2006, 07:24 PM

Could someone tell me if I'm on right track considering Steganography or am I getting carried away?

jwm

03-12-2006, 02:36 AM

Could someone tell me if I'm on right track considering Steganography or am I getting carried away?

That's basically the right idea. You just need to consider the possible channels available in the image file.

carpathia

03-12-2006, 05:56 AM

Can someone be more explicit in saying what we actually need to do to see the message in the picture?

Surely this puzzle is not as easy as the other Black Box (which a lot are already finding difficult), and if the previous comment about steGAnography being needed was right... then this is way beyond the powers of most dumb-minded web-hopping folks out there.

Anyway, a long message to a simple request -- more direct help please? :?

MathMan

03-12-2006, 12:25 PM

First of all, to both of you who mentioned steganography, that is precisely what this puzzle is. So was the last one. The definition of steganography is hiding a message so you can't see it. That doesn't make the puzzle easier or harder.

Anyway. If you didn't realise by now, opening the picture in paint probably won't help you.

BigNel

03-13-2006, 12:10 AM

OK so I've worked out MS paint won't help but can anyone tell me if I need a special tool or can I simply use standard windows or office apps?

smrq

03-13-2006, 12:18 AM

I wouldn't want to give too much away for fear of being hexed by jamul, but most people probably do not already have the tool needed.

Trix

03-13-2006, 05:26 AM

Would someone mind telling me just which tool you do need? I've tried everything I can think of in GIMP and even looked at the code itself in notepad. I even downloaded a steganography program that didn't find anything. I'm sure I'm overlooking something obvious, because this really shouldn't be THAT hard. Please help me someone?????

jwm

03-13-2006, 06:21 AM

Would someone mind telling me just which tool you do need? I've tried everything I can think of in GIMP...

Have you examined the image with every available dialog?

oxygenthief

03-14-2006, 08:00 AM

jwm

03-14-2006, 07:30 PM

Would someone mind telling me just which tool you do need? I've tried everything I can think of in GIMP...

Have you examined the image with every available dialog?

...does this hint apply only to GIMP? :?

Yes—I have no experience with any other image editing tools, but I expect most of them should be able to show you the particular information you need (except for Paint, apparently, which does suck, fair to say).

oxygenthief

03-14-2006, 10:15 PM

Does this have anything to do with coughcoughWATERcoughcough? If so, it is invisible and I have no idea how to see it :cry:

smrq

03-14-2006, 11:17 PM

I bet I know how you got that- I thought something similar. Sadly, that's in all GIF files, not just this one. Would have been ingenious.

tyler.

03-15-2006, 02:29 PM

I'm still lost on this puzzle. Can someone please help me.

crassycatz

03-15-2006, 03:36 PM

i think i know what to do but i cant as the only imaging software i have is paint and i cant do what i need to with that!!! any ideas?

carlos del vaca

03-15-2006, 07:37 PM

Just cracked this one, finally. The Wiki article on the GIF format was helpful.

dannawii

03-18-2006, 01:33 PM

This puzzle is driving me crazy!!!! I spent the longest time on it, and unlike other puzzles i was REALLY patient with it but im about to give up on the whole thing!... i have cracked some stuff, and i think i understand everything but i don't know how to reach the answer! can someone who has solved it PM me please! PLEASE! thank u so much!

vozome

03-21-2006, 05:57 AM

it feels so good to beat this one! woohoo!

antifuse

03-23-2006, 03:19 AM

I could definitely use a hint on this one... I've had this image open in Photoshop about 40 times, and no matter how many times I try different things, it always ends up looking the same. Grrr! I just can't seem to get any information out of it!

dannawii

03-23-2006, 06:18 AM

Alrite i have to give some hints for this! coz it was **** for me... even with lots of help!
Photoshop probably wont help u out with this one... it didnt for me! u r better off using the program mentioned earlier in this thread!
On and don't expect the black box to change!... can i say that? :?

cballanti

03-23-2006, 02:09 PM

I'm still confused by this one. I've been able to find a hidden image, but its not text, and all the answers I've entered that could apply to this image are incorrect. Am I missing a step to the solution, or am I just misinterpreting the image?

amolamo

03-23-2006, 03:48 PM

ok I have a "program" but I don't know what to do with it. PM me please! I need help... duh

Moebius

03-23-2006, 07:45 PM

I'd bet this puzzle has a ton of people so frustrated they'd like to place a hex on Jamul for making it. :D

crassycatz

03-24-2006, 02:02 AM

Can someone tell me (or pm me) what program i should be using? i only have paint, so im guessing i need to download something, but i dunno what!!

TheDeviceUnit

03-24-2006, 06:36 PM

gahh this one is hard...i thought #9 was hard...this is harder...

ive tried everything i can think of in terms of hiding a message in a gif without altering the image itself

i think moebius and smrq are both giving subliminal hints...but that was one of the first things i did and found nothing...

programs used so far (including the one hinted at above)

photoshop
gimp
notepad

no luck...

Trix

03-24-2006, 07:08 PM

:shock: I don't believe it, but I FINALLY got it.

And I'm not sure just how much I can say without giving it away, but I will say that the program I mentioned above is how I finally solved it.

TheDeviceUnit

03-25-2006, 01:26 PM

got it thanks to a hint from moebius...apparetly i was trying too hard...lol...flew past the simple stuff and went straight to the complicated stuff...

Rincewind SW

03-26-2006, 12:40 PM

I got the picture, but could somebody please (preferably)email me, MSN me or if you prefer PM me, with a few hints as to what the **** it is? I am stumped here... I've asked my sister and someone on MSN, neither had a clue.

AtkinsSJ

03-26-2006, 11:59 PM

I assume you're actually talking about black box, not blacker box. It does actually say what it is on the image. Maybe you haven't got all the bits.

Rincewind SW

03-27-2006, 12:01 PM

There are more bits? ****. I have something that looks like... an iron... maybe. So I need more. Are these parts related?

dorham

03-27-2006, 12:48 PM

Do I have to use gimp? Cause I can't install it on my computer, can't I just use Photoshop?

Rincewind SW

03-27-2006, 12:51 PM

Photoshop got me my first... shape thingy. Have no idea what it does, but Photoshop will do the trick for all of this :D

Jamul

03-27-2006, 01:27 PM

Photoshop is just fine for the entire wildly popular Black Box series. So is Paintshop Pro (which is what I use) and Gimp. There are probably quite a few others that will work too. MS Paint should work for Black Box, I think (would you believe I don't have it? Or at least can't find where it's installed), but not Blacker Box.

jusme

03-27-2006, 01:56 PM

Can anyone post some additional help to this, or even just PM me? I'm assuming that you need to convert the image to RGB because people are talking about channels. I've tried messing with the color curves, saturation, constrast, brightness, hue, etc etc etc. I'm getting nowhere, it's like the image doesn't have all the information it should or something.

crassycatz

03-27-2006, 02:23 PM

lol, jamul, paint is usually kept - Start > All programs > accessories! Im pretty certain its pre installed on all pcs!!

dorham

03-28-2006, 05:06 AM

I got a bunch of dots, is it right or am I doing it wrong?
I can't make anything out of those dots.

misterpink

03-28-2006, 03:30 PM

this is driving me crazy.

It seems now that the information needed to solve this puzzle can be retrieved from either a graphic editor (as jamul mentioned) or from another type of editor (hinted to multiple times in this thread) This, and other colorful hints, have pretty much made it obvious to me what the information is that is required - which I have gathered...

But now what the **** to do with it? Ive tried everything I can think of for days on end and without a question to lead me in the direction of what kind of answer I should be throwing in ... Im about ready to bust a blood vessel.

ARGH!

Basecamp88

03-30-2006, 04:58 PM

Can someone please PM me on this. I have used the tool mentioned above and found the information I need, but I don't know exactly what to do with that information in order to solve the puzzle.

Basecamp88

03-31-2006, 02:12 PM

*HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF* Thanks to a hint from Twix (thanx!) and the help from many of my coworkers I finally solved this one.

To help those who are still stuck, you need two tools for this one. One you can download on the web (listed earlier in the post) and one comes installed standard on most operating systems.

I must have spent 2 weeks on this thing! Great job thinking this thing up! And good luck to those still trying to decimate this one :!:

lichtenstein

04-01-2006, 01:21 PM

for all those who think theyve been stumped, i tried this puzzle for weeks and i finnaly figured it out. my best advice, look at all the clues. u have a program to use, theres a tool to find somthing hidden. if u wna skip that check out jayisgames.com and look at their comments for dumbthegame. there are some interesting things ull find on blacker box. and just as a reminder to those still trying to decimate this problem, ull get it eventually, so no use trying to put a hex on jamul. good :D luck

muddylemon

04-01-2006, 08:48 PM

oy... that took forever. Finally cracked it. woot!

Jason

04-04-2006, 10:12 PM

Jeez! I finally solved this one. But could the method to solving this one have been any more obscure?! :?

I can't really say I truly solved it myself, more like I did research based on all the clues that were provided by other people.

My advice if you're still completely clueless like I was: I think it's fairly obvious from the preceding messages that you will need an application that most people don't already have on their computers. There is at least one such program that's freely available on the web (it has been mentioned a few times). Assuming you find such a program, reread some of the messages on this board and take note of the dialog, not only is some of it very colorful, but some people have done a good job at mapping out the first steps in solving the problem. Albeit in a less than obvious fashion. :wink:

Good luck!

Rebes

04-07-2006, 07:50 PM

This one took me a long time to solve... I must admit, it was my favorite so far!

Hint: There is something hidden in this picture, but editing the picture won't help you.

Edit: I'd like to add, once you find what's hidden in the picture, it will lead you on a very specific path, however I found that even that path wasn't so easy to follow. References were very obscure.

R!

JGS007

04-09-2006, 11:12 AM

Okay, so I've downloaded GIMP and started fooling around with the dialog menu per the hints provided on jayisgames.com. I'm not sure what I am supposed to convert, as that hint was not as clear as I wish it could be. For those who have solved this I assume you know what I'm talking about. Please set me on the right track...

J

Lep

04-18-2006, 03:48 AM

Oh wow this was a beautiful puzzle

I tried everything I could, using standard PSP I found the variations in the file and tried for weeks to find a hidden image.

Then, in the shower funnily enough, I suddenly had an epiphiny... rushed back to the PC, still dripping, checked some figures... and yes. 105th solve.

I even love the tenuous link with the puzzle answer and the puzzle name.

Well done indeed.

Garf

04-21-2006, 12:02 PM

Feels good to solve this one. After staring at the info for weeks I suddenly opened my eyes and saw the answer.

Zhey

04-28-2006, 04:49 AM

Ah...

I'm kinda lost as to why this is such a "beautiful puzzle" since I did it in a really mechanical way and just googled the answer. I dare say that I was one of the SUPER lucky ones who stumbled on the right webtool to use. So I sort of solved it really fast. Which also equates to me not being able to savour the delightfulness of solving this puzzle.

Anyone can enlighten me as to why this puzzle is so good? A PM perhaps?

Hint for those who are still stuck: The hints on the first page are basically what you need to get started. And as what someone else said in the previous posts, you need to open EVERY SINGLE DIALOGUE and spot something that is a bit off from common knowledge. Then you need to employ another webtool to help. And after that comes googling.

Er.... Hope that helps? xD

PM if you want some more hints.

jdstew218

05-16-2006, 10:03 AM

Could someone PM me with some assistance on this one. I've gotten to the part referenced by the clue about "hexing" someone but don't know what to do with the 9 hexes I have...

eyesofblue227

05-17-2006, 09:13 PM

I think I know which program is needed here...but as to which version and even how to correctly apply the program with the picture completely alludes me. Please, someone kindly have pity on this poor, computer illiterate soul! Thank you in advance.

Masem

05-17-2006, 10:30 PM

The Gimp is a free (GPL) program with photoshop like features. You can get it from http://www.gimp.org/. I know there is one specific dialog in this that will get you started on the puzzle. I'm sure other tools have the same way to get the info needed to run the puzzle, but I do know it's basically one click away on Gimp.

As I mentioned to someone in PM as a clue, this is Blacker Box - the picture is very, but not quite, black. This is for a reason.

eyesofblue227

05-17-2006, 10:39 PM

Thanks Masem...will try it again.
Solved it, finally!!!!!!! That was pretty cool!!!!

senork

05-27-2006, 12:58 AM

Finally got it, and yes, I agree that this is one of the best puzzles.

aerobright

06-07-2006, 02:50 PM

Ok, what if GIMP will not work? I've tried downloading it twice now and it has problems loading a dll file. I have paint shop pro. Will someone walk me through that? PM or whatever. This just isn't fun anymore on this one without the first step.

Futzy

08-06-2006, 08:55 PM

Down to 2 puzzles, but I am stuck on this one, have played with the image file in several different apps, have not been able to discover what I am missing... A PM with a good nudge would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks,
Futzy