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Post by Todd on Sept 7, 2017 14:58:32 GMT -5
For me, even ignoring the misplaced and extra vowels and working just with the consonants, the symbols aren't really decoding as Pitman shorthand. For example, the first line on the Forfeiture Notice would decode to the following sounds B K J D B K K K Z S B G CH G G CH I'd be interested to know which note your showed the secretary, phill. That might help me see what he or she saw. |
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Post by thegenii on Sept 7, 2017 17:09:56 GMT -5
Yay! Received my first package in the mail today. Very pleased with the amount of material. The printed aging doesn't bother me much--the crinkles aren't printed--those have still been done by hand, which is a plus. Digging in tonight.  |
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Post by distantsmoke on Sept 7, 2017 18:44:34 GMT -5
Cool! Thanks for explaining that. The extra digit was driving me nuts. It's worth noting that, since all three of these letters are from the same person, it seems odd that they're be mailed from three different Post Offices. True, they were mailed over a 7 year span, so it's possible that the person moved residence or office within that time. It's also possible that one letter was mailed from a box near home and another from a box near work, or directly at the place where they purchased stamps. But it's also possible that there is another reason those three digits are different. Another odd note, on my envelopes at least: The first two envelopes, while five years apart, have the exact same stamp. Perhaps this was common back in the 1800's, but I would be very surprised if two envelopes mailed five years apart in modern times had the same stamp. It almost seems if the letters were written at the same time, then mailed separately. Which would be very weird indeed. |
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Post by raggedrobin on Sept 8, 2017 9:43:11 GMT -5
Something most peculiar about the letters in my package, and I don't know whether it's by happenstance or design so I thought to perhaps enquire here: Two of my letters came with the seals broken, but the seal on the third and final letter was intact. If this was by happenstance then it has no meaning, but if by design, then perhaps there's significance in our Poor Mr Griggs never having seen its contents? |
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Post by distantsmoke on Sept 8, 2017 9:49:42 GMT -5
Something most peculiar about the letters in my package, and I don't know whether it's by happenstance or design so I thought to perhaps enquire here: Two of my letters came with the seals broken, but the seal on the third and final letter was intact. If this was by happenstance then it has no meaning, but if by design, then perhaps there's significance in our Poor Mr Griggs never having seen its contents? My third and final letter was also sealed. I think it was meant that way. |
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Post by Todd on Sept 8, 2017 9:50:50 GMT -5
I'd imagine that those of us who are receiving the Experience ourselves will be expecting a tactile story, and will be more forgiving of the printed antiquing. Those receiving it as a surprise, however, will most likely pick up on the artificial aging immediately, which may affect their suspension of disbelief.
To me, this looks like 100% ink coverage from a digital press. This gives the finished piece a waxy texture. This effect could have been minimized if they used off-white, yellow, or brown paper and only printed the non-background colors.
Coming from both a printing background and a theatrical background that includes prop-making, it's very likely that I'm more sensitive to this than most, though. If you're grooving on it don't let me harsh your buzz.
The story is compelling and I'm engaged to watch it unfold.
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Post by Todd on Sept 8, 2017 9:59:26 GMT -5
Something most peculiar about the letters in my package, and I don't know whether it's by happenstance or design so I thought to perhaps enquire here: Two of my letters came with the seals broken, but the seal on the third and final letter was intact. If this was by happenstance then it has no meaning, but if by design, then perhaps there's significance in our Poor Mr Griggs never having seen its contents? My third and final letter was also sealed. I think it was meant that way. I agree. It seems likely Mr. Griggs was not alive to receive the third letter. |
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Post by Beckett on Sept 8, 2017 11:08:52 GMT -5
To me, this looks like 100% ink coverage from a digital press. This gives the finished piece a waxy texture. This effect could have been minimized if they used off-white, yellow, or brown paper and only printed the non-background colors. Coming from both a printing background and a theatrical background that includes prop-making, it's very likely that I'm more sensitive to this than most, though. If you're grooving on it don't let me kill your buzz. It is a bit of a shame because we know they can do better. I am about to get my hands on the documents in a couple of minutes! Here we go! |
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Post by thegenii on Sept 9, 2017 20:29:29 GMT -5
There are other types of shorthand . |
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Post by The Mad Mermaid on Sept 9, 2017 22:49:17 GMT -5
There are other types of shorthand . You sure aren't kidding there! I was leaning toward The Gregg Shorthand system, but the "dots" are throwing me. I'm by no means an expert on the subject, but it's almost like some sort of Gregg/Morse Code hybrid. I've pondered Elian Script, Braille and even Voynich Script, but I'm still stumped, damn and blast!! |
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Post by phill on Sept 10, 2017 12:45:00 GMT -5
For me, even ignoring the misplaced and extra vowels and working just with the consonants, the symbols aren't really decoding as Pitman shorthand. For example, the first line on the Forfeiture Notice would decode to the following sounds B K J D B K K K Z S B G CH G G CH I'd be interested to know which note your showed the secretary, phill . That might help me see what he or she saw. Hi Todd, I dont have it all in front of me at the moment but I believe it was the forfeiture or bankruptcy letter - the one with the company name at the top. Was quite odd, she immediately said one word was 'possessed', translated another word, but then said it wasnt shorthand and changed her mind.
I wondered whether it was a cypher based around the hands of a clock, with the dots delineating the minute and hour hands, and the arcs describing some kind of shift, but I couldnt get that to work. |
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Post by ariock on Sept 11, 2017 15:38:40 GMT -5
Regarding the strange symbols, Based on the characters so far, there are theoretically a total of 24 distinct symbols (though not all are used). All symbols have one or two dots, and a line that that is either in the 8 main compass directions or curved in one of four ways. Curves start either left or right (E or W) and then curve either up or down (N or S).
My first pass was to convert the 24 symbols to alphabetic characters and then try standard substitution decryption.
There tends to be a lack of obvious spacing in the texts, except for the second line of one of the documents. (Could one of the symbols be a space?)
I've attacked the puzzle using frequency analysis, and not gotten anywhere. There are a LOT of doubled characters that are confounding me.
I was hopeful to hear about the shorthand idea, but it sounds like that might be a dead end? I'm hoping there will be more clues in the next mailing, which is theoretically on the way right now. |
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Post by Todd on Sept 11, 2017 15:41:19 GMT -5
Did you notice that there does appear to be lighter and darker symbols, and sometimes part of symbols. This may not be anything, of course. |
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Post by thegenii on Sept 11, 2017 17:54:34 GMT -5
Yes, it sounds like the decoder will come in a future mailing. |
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Post by distantsmoke on Sept 11, 2017 18:11:21 GMT -5
But what a feather in the cap if someone managed to break the code before we are given means to decipher it! I can't manage it, I know, but surely one of the more clever folks here..............
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