http://mschnlnine.vo.llnwd.net/d1/Dev/App_Themes/C9/images/feedimage.pnghttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/Countdown to PDC2008: By Developers, for Developers: Don Box and Chris Anderson http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/en-usWed, 03 Sep 2008 14:07:24 GMTWed, 03 Sep 2008 14:07:24 GMTEvNet (EvNet, Version=1.0.3608.3122, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null)Sorry, didn't realize someone had already solved it:)http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=425329Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:07:24 GMThttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=4253290http://channel9.msdn.com/425329/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0Sorry, didn't realize someone had already solved it:)Sergey Smirnov0http://channel9.msdn.com/425329/Trackback.aspxHow many tables at ask the experts?http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=425326Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:00:09 GMThttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=4253260http://channel9.msdn.com/425326/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0How many tables at ask the experts?Sergey Smirnov0http://channel9.msdn.com/425326/Trackback.aspxWow cool... :) I was also thinking for it being some kind of Base&lt;something&gt; encoding in the end... But really cool how he solved it :)http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=424533Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:21:43 GMThttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=4245330http://channel9.msdn.com/424533/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0Wow cool... :) I was also thinking for it being some kind of Base&lt;something&gt; encoding in the end... But really cool how he solved it :)Christian Liensberger0http://channel9.msdn.com/424533/Trackback.aspxThanks for the link to palotasb's blog, Judah. And great write-up, palotasb! You even recognized the small "clues" at each step...very impressive.<BR><BR>I'm working on this week's Challenge as we speak. It should be another fun one. :-)http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=424528Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:12:49 GMThttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=4245280http://channel9.msdn.com/424528/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0Thanks for the link to palotasb's blog, Judah. And great write-up, palotasb! You even recognized the small "clues" at each step...very impressive.I'm working on this week's Challenge as we speak. It should be another fun one. :-)mswanson0http://channel9.msdn.com/424528/Trackback.aspxSo, I was on the right track with the "chunks of 3" thing. Cool. But I wasn't able to solve it.<br><br>Just finished talking to palotasb (Boldizsar) above who solved it. He posted a discussion of how he solved it at <a href="http://boldizsar.palotas.eu/blog/?p=62">his blog</a>.<br><br>Wow. Nice solve. I'm blown away by his hacking skills. 15 year old, of all things!<br><br>Congrats on the solve!<br>http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=424518Mon, 01 Sep 2008 01:44:11 GMThttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=4245180http://channel9.msdn.com/424518/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0So, I was on the right track with the "chunks of 3" thing. Cool. But I wasn't able to solve it.Just finished talking to palotasb (Boldizsar) above who solved it. He posted a discussion of how he solved it at his blog.Wow. Nice solve. I'm blown away by his hacking skills. 15 year old, of all things!Congrats on the solve!Judah0http://channel9.msdn.com/424518/Trackback.aspxCongratulations, palotsab! You have indeed validated your geek credibility. Great job. Please send us an e-mail at pdccount (at) microsoft.com, and we'll coordinate your very limited edition PDC2008 internal t-shirt. I can't wait to read how you worked through the Challenge. :-)http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=424488Sun, 31 Aug 2008 17:33:19 GMThttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=4244880http://channel9.msdn.com/424488/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0Congratulations, palotsab! You have indeed validated your geek credibility. Great job. Please send us an e-mail at pdccount (at) microsoft.com, and we'll coordinate your very limited edition PDC2008 internal t-shirt. I can't wait to read how you worked through the Challenge. :-)mswanson0http://channel9.msdn.com/424488/Trackback.aspxHow many tables are at ask the experts?<br><br>More than 200.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.microsoftpdc.com/Agenda/UnSessions.aspx#ask-the-experts">http://www.microsoftpdc.com/Agenda/UnSessions.aspx#ask-the-experts</a><br><br>Cheers,<br>A 15-yr old kid from Hungary who now feels cool.<br><br>PS. I will be posting how to solve it in a few hours.http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=424465Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:29:56 GMThttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=4244650http://channel9.msdn.com/424465/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0How many tables are at ask the experts?More than 200.&nbsp;http://www.microsoftpdc.com/Agenda/UnSessions.aspx#ask-the-expertsCheers,A 15-yr old kid from Hungary who now feels cool.PS. I will be posting how to solve it in a few hours.Boldizs&#225;r Palot&#225;s0http://channel9.msdn.com/424465/Trackback.aspxHere are some interesting stats from the cipher they flashed on the screen:<br><br>There are 708 characters in the cipher, excluding new line characters.<br><br>Given a chunk size of 3 characters,<br><ul><li><p>There are 236 chunks.</p></li><li><p>There are 172 duplicates.</p></li><li>All the characters are numbers between 2 and 9.<br><br></li><li><p>The 323 code shows up a whopping total of 29 times!</p></li><li><p>The 333 code shows up 11 times.</p></li><li><p>All other codes show up 7 times or less.</p></li><li><p>35 chunks start with a 2.</p></li><li><p>200 chunks start with a 3. (Interesting!)</p></li><li><p>1 chunk starts with a 4.</p></li><li><p>Despite the cipher containing 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s, 7s, 8s, and 9s, chunks only start with 2 and 3, except the 1 chunk that starts with 4.</p></li><li><p>There are no 0s.</p></li><li><p>There are no 1s.</p></li><li><p>There are 115 2s.</p></li><li><p>There are 293 3s.</p></li><li><p>There are 56 4s.</p></li><li><p>There are 38 5s.</p></li><li><p>There are 49 6s.</p></li><li><p>There are 52 7s.</p></li><li><p>There are 63 8s.</p></li><li><p>There are 42 9s.</p></li></ul><br>The 323 code is very interesting indeed. I'm leaning towards chunk sizes of 3 being involved somehow. We'll see!<br>http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=424377Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:29:39 GMThttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=4243770http://channel9.msdn.com/424377/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0Here are some interesting stats from the cipher they flashed on the screen:There are 708 characters in the cipher, excluding new line characters.Given a chunk size of 3 characters,There are 236 chunks.There are 172 duplicates.All the characters are numbers between 2 and 9.The 323 code shows up a&#8230;Judah0http://channel9.msdn.com/424377/Trackback.aspxThank you :)<BR>http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=424367Sat, 30 Aug 2008 21:15:02 GMThttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=4243670http://channel9.msdn.com/424367/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0Thank you :)oyun oyna0http://channel9.msdn.com/424367/Trackback.aspxLet's see if the geniuses at StackOverflow.com can <a href="http://beta.stackoverflow.com/questions/36296/whats-the-answer-to-this-microsoft-pdc-challenge">help us out</a> with the code deciphering. :)<br>http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=424362Sat, 30 Aug 2008 20:45:39 GMThttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=4243620http://channel9.msdn.com/424362/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0Let's see if the geniuses at StackOverflow.com can help us out with the code deciphering. :)Judah0http://channel9.msdn.com/424362/Trackback.aspxMike, could you post the image as text maybe? You see I am too lazy to type it down or to download some OCR software...<br>http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=424291Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:33:17 GMThttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=4242910http://channel9.msdn.com/424291/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0Mike, could you post the image as text maybe? You see I am too lazy to type it down or to download some OCR software...Boldizs&#225;r Palot&#225;s0http://channel9.msdn.com/424291/Trackback.aspxChris and Don are *always* worth my time. More. More. More!http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=424286Sat, 30 Aug 2008 06:57:30 GMThttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=4242860http://channel9.msdn.com/424286/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0Chris and Don are *always* worth my time. More. More. More!Tom Kirby-Green0http://channel9.msdn.com/424286/Trackback.aspxOrand...we use a kitchen timer to keep the show short and tight. That's what you may have seen Jennifer dial at the beginning of the video. The timer tends to run a bit fast, which is why it went off at 9:24. I suppose we could explain it at the beginning of each show, but we've probably gotten lazy by assuming that everyone has seen our prior shows.http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=424270Sat, 30 Aug 2008 03:18:34 GMThttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=4242700http://channel9.msdn.com/424270/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0Orand...we use a kitchen timer to keep the show short and tight. That's what you may have seen Jennifer dial at the beginning of the video. The timer tends to run a bit fast, which is why it went off at 9:24. I suppose we could explain it at the beginning of each show, but we've probably gotten lazy&#8230;mswanson0http://channel9.msdn.com/424270/Trackback.aspxThe video is incomplete at 9:24.http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=424254Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:57:24 GMThttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=4242540http://channel9.msdn.com/424254/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0The video is incomplete at 9:24.Orand0http://channel9.msdn.com/424254/Trackback.aspxCertainly, littleguru. <A href="http://www.mikeswanson.com/hardhat/Hard%20Hat%20Challenge%204%20Puzzle.png">Here you go</A>.http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=424234Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:28:04 GMThttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=4242340http://channel9.msdn.com/424234/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0Certainly, littleguru. Here you go.mswanson0http://channel9.msdn.com/424234/Trackback.aspxAwesome. Looking forward to the Don and Chris show at PDC! Don't miss it, my friends.<BR>Chttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=424233Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:23:53 GMThttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=4242330http://channel9.msdn.com/424233/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0Awesome. Looking forward to the Don and Chris show at PDC! Don't miss it, my friends.CCharles0http://channel9.msdn.com/424233/Trackback.aspxIs there a way that you can share the picture that you showed in the video in this thread... Thanks.http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=424228Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:09:04 GMThttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=4242280http://channel9.msdn.com/424228/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0Is there a way that you can share the picture that you showed in the video in this thread... Thanks.Christian Liensberger0http://channel9.msdn.com/424228/Trackback.aspxWhat a fun episode to film! While all of our keynotes are sure to be chock full of developer goodness (tm), I think that Chris and Don will be a blast to watch. They have a great sense of humor, and they're true geeks.<BR><A href="http://www.mikeswanson.com/blog/images/Danger%20Hard%20Hat%20Area.gif" rel=lightbox><IMG src="http://www.mikeswanson.com/blog/images/Danger%20Hard%20Hat%20Area.gif" border=0></A><BR>Also, as the description notes,&nbsp;<A href="http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-Pick-Your-Sessions-Build-Your-Agenda-and-Win-a-Trip/">last week's Hard Hat Challenge</A> remains unsolved. I've added a few hints to the comment section if you want to take a stab at it. Good luck!http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=424214Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:12:34 GMThttp://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dan/Countdown-to-PDC2008-By-Developers-for-Developers-Don-Box-and-Chris-Anderson/?CommentID=4242140http://channel9.msdn.com/424214/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0What a fun episode to film! While all of our keynotes are sure to be chock full of developer goodness (tm), I think that Chris and Don will be a blast to watch. They have a great sense of humor, and they're true geeks.Also, as the description notes,&nbsp;last week's Hard Hat Challenge remains&#8230;mswanson0http://channel9.msdn.com/424214/Trackback.aspx