Google Fact

MSN Conspiracy Game Solution: 9

Now Incy Wincy spider went up the spout again
To the land where the Bong tree grows
Hickory Dickory Dock

1. Click the verse.
• Anne says, "Hey, each line is from a different nursery rhyme.  There must be a reason.  Professor Whitehead highlighted the initial letters of each line.  What do they have in common?"
• The rhymes are Incy Wincy Spider = Itsy Bitsy Spider, The Owl and the Pussycat, and Hickory Dickory Dock
• To be honest, at first, second and even third blush these rhymes have nothing to do with one another.  Let's take a hint from other objects on the page--as in other pages we see that "many roads lead to Rome."  There is a [circular] pie chart with the first digits of pi, there are circular oil drums, and there are allusions to infinity.  It seems like it might have something to do with circles.  Also, the spider goes down the drain, the owl and the pussycat need a ring, and the mouse runs up the clock.  All of these objects are, well, circular.
• Suggest "circle"
• Anne agrees, "I'll buy that, especially as there are other circles here, in the photograph and the chart, for instance.  Let's took at the comment.  What starts of small but goes on forever?"
2. Irrational numbers like e and pi start small, yet seem to go on forever!
• Suggest "pi"
• Anne says, "Oh yes!  A transcendental number.  It is a small value in the ultimate scheme of things and yet if goes on forever.  Perhaps there's a clue in the number itself.  Do you know the value?"
3. You can read about pi here.  While it's not clear how many significant figures to report, 5 seems to work well.
   
• Suggest "3.1415"
• Anne replies, "That's interesting.  The pie chart uses the digits of Pi.  Now the professor's highlight of the initial letters of the rhyme makes sense. 'Nth'  Just one of those digits will get us our symbol.  But which one?"
4. It seems that "nth" is similar to ninth.
• Suggest "5"
• Anne responds, "I agree. With hindsight, it's obvious that our puzzle creator would have used the Infinicorp logo as a clue. Okay, find the corresponding symbol and we're done here..."
• Click on the symbol associated with the 5 in the upper left corner of the pie chart and collect your final symbol.

Posted: Saturday, June 17, 2006 11:32 PM by meg with 1 comment(s)

MSN Conspiracy Game Solution: 8

1. Click on the ear.
• Anne says, "It seems odd to depict an ear next to some photographs of starry skies.  What do you think it means?"
• Suggest "Big Ear"
• Anne responds, "Okay.  If it's a reference to a radio telescope called Big Ear, that makes sense.  But what does the word 'Wow' refer to?
2. Anyone embarked upon the SETI would know it refers to the Wow! signal
• Suggest "Wow signal"
• Anne replies, "That's fascinating.  This Wow signal must have something in common with one of these photographs.  See if there's another clue hidden somewhere.
3. Hidden clues?  Once again, break out the blacklight.  [Same drill, go to the desk, turn off the lamp, return to the puzzle, get out the blacklight and see the hidden clue.]
• You'll see the cryptic message "Wh0 54w h1m d13?" "1," 541d 7h3 F|y, "W17h my |177|3 3y3, 1 54w h1m d13."  We can translate this as "Who saw him die?" "I," said the Fly, "With my little eye, I saw him die."  These are lines from Who Killed *** Robin.
• Put away the light.  Anne asks, "Ah Something in the rhyme must give us an idea of which constellation contains the right symbol.  But what is it?"
• In the first couplet of the poem we read that the Sparrow killed *** Robin with his Bow and Arrow. 
  
• Suggest "Bow and Arrow"
• Anne responds, "The archer--Sagittarius.  I get it!  We almost have our symbol.  The question now becomes, which of these photographs depicts the constellation Sagittarius.
4. Sagittarius, the archer, is shown in the upper left hand corner.
• Click on the image and collect your penultimate symbol
  

Posted: Saturday, June 17, 2006 11:08 PM by meg with no comments

MSN Conspiracy Game Solution: 7

Half a pound of manganese
Half a pound of nodules
That's the way the cold war goes
Pop goes the cover story

1. Click on the line drawing of the Americas with the acronym SOSUS. 
   
• Anne asks, "The map strikes me as all wrong.  The US is the only labelled country and the scale is inappropriate for pinpointing a vessel in distress. I think the letters have another meaning.  Do you know what it could be??"
• Suggest "Sound Surveillance System" which you can read about here.
• Anne responds, "So it's some kind of underwater listening system used by the US military.  Spooky.  The verse refers to a cover story.  Whose cover story?
2. In the midst of the cold war, with the bankroll of Howard Hughes, whose cover up was this?
• Suggest "CIA"
• Anne says, "I see now.  They wanted to sunken Soviet submarine and keep it a secret.  That explains the connection with Hawaii and the 'HH' in the telegram is Howard Hughes, I suppose.  But what's the connection with a fleet of yachts.
3. Reading through the list of yacht names, we see one that looks familiar
1. Suggest "Jennifer"
2. Anne says, "Yes, that's it!  Each yacht listing in the brochure is missing a different symbol. That's what the 'it's not what you see' remark must be about.  I think the symbol we need is the one that 'Jennifer' doesn't have.
3. Click to receive the seventh symbol.
   

Posted: Saturday, June 17, 2006 5:56 PM by meg with no comments

MSN Conspiracy Game Solution: 6

The king was in his counting house
Counting out his money
The queen was in the the parlour
Eating bread and honey

April 20
Checkmate

A colleague who shares my love of chess kindly sent me this link.  It has an impressive database of great chess games.  One can call up just about any gmae of note from the past hundred years and analyse it move by move.  I can't recommend it highly enough, so I've added the address to my links, for the benefit of any reader with an interest in the subject.  I've found it particularly illuminating of my study of Tal's 1960 game against Botvinnik in which he triumphed in 72 moves.  Tal, playing white, lead with a Reti opening... inspired!

1. Click on the verse.
• Anne asks, "The nursery rhyme mentions a king, and so does the headline of the newspaper clipping.  But there's more to this rhyme that we have ehre.  I wonder... Could it relate to another clue as well?"
• The second line of the nursery rhyme is
  
• Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.
• Suggest "blackbird"
• Anne says "Right. 'Four and twenty blackbirds,' goes the rhyme, and here we have an illustration of a blackbird.  Take a closer look and try to find a four and twenty.
2. Take out the magnifying glass and look at the map.  Notice there are coordinates along the left and bottom edges. 
   
• Anne praises, "Good idea.  Now we're looking for a four and a twenty, so where are they.
• The coordinates lead to the transliterated city Ekaterinburg, suggest "Ekaterinburg"
• Anne agrees, "They are map coordinates!  And there's a town on the map at X20, Y4.  That must be why the professor translated its name.  There must be something significant about Ekaterinburg.  Maybe one of the other clues will help us find it.  What is it?
3. The cryptic phrase "You also won" may help you come to the next answer.  The event in Ekaterinburg was the shooting down of a U2 plane--get it, you also = U2?
• Suggest "U2"
• Never one to miss a pun, Anne answers, "That makes sense, because--look--U2... `You also...'  More of the puzzle creator's dreadful humour.  Let's see.  The professor's highlighted 'game eleven' right next to another referencce to 'king.'  Wasn't there something on the professor's blog about a chess database?  I think we should check it out.  Maybe we need to find out where Tal's king ended up when he won the game?
4. Remember the link to the chess site.  Type in the information about the chess game described in the article to find the play-by-play of the eleventh game between the great Mikhails!
• Click on the seventy second move to find where the white king won the match, F6.
• Click on the symbol in a position most similar to that of the white king: third row, sixth column.

Posted: Saturday, June 17, 2006 5:01 PM by meg with no comments

MSN Conspiracy Game Solution: 5

Never its mysteries are exposed
To the weak human eye unclosed

Some of the sailors dreamed that a spirit, nine fathoms deep, followed them beneath the ship from the land of mist and snow. The sailors blamed the Mariner for their plight and hung the corpse of the Albatross around his neck like a cross.

1. Click on the verse
• Anne says, "It appears to be an excerpt from a poem called 'Nine Fathoms Deep.'  The letters are probably the poet's initials.  Do you know who they refer to?"
• Suggest "Edgar Allan Poe"
• Anne retorts, "Poe, eh?  But I seem to remember that peom's called 'Dreamland,' not 'Nine Fathoms Deep.'  The remark suggests we need to look deeper--deeper that nine fathoms?  Maybe we need to find the deepest point in the ocean.  Any ideas?
2. The deepest point in the ocean is the Mariana Trench.
• Suggest "Mariana Trench"
• Anne says, "Okay, let's bear that in mind.  What bothers me know is the use of the word 'mire.'  I thought that meant 'swampy.'  The whole thing sounds like a crossword clue.  Could it be an anagram?"
3. Since I don't think she has Nobel Prize winner Imre Kertesz in mind, I would guess the anagram is rime (as in the ancient mariner?)
• Suggests "rime"
• Anne responds, "Rime! Of course!  And that brings us back to our rhyme, the one with the wrong title.  Perhaps the title relates to another 'rime.'  Any ideas?
4. Well, we have maraina and rime and something about nine fathoms deep --- this seems to all allude to the Coleridge poem.
• Suggest "Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
• Anne replies, "So we've got Rime... Mariana... 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'... whoever created these puzzles has a terrible sense of humour.  The poem has seven parts doesn't it?  And look---there are seven labels on the submarine diagram!  Is one of the labels associated with the fragment of the poem we already have?"
5. Here's the text to the Rime of the Ancient Mariner.  Notice in part V, the stanza

• Under the keel nine fathom deep
  From the land of mist and snow
  The spirit slid: and it was He
  That made the Ship to go.
  The sails at noon left off their tune
  And the Ship stood still also.

• Suggest "keel"
• Anne agrees, "I see it now: `Under the keel, nine fathoms deep,' in the fifth part of the poem.  That gives us our symbol.
• Click on the symbol in section V, over the word keel to collect your symbol.
  

Posted: Saturday, June 17, 2006 4:31 PM by meg with no comments

MSN Conspiracy Game Solution: 4

When midnight mists are creeping
And all the land is sleeping
Around me tread the mighty dead
And slowly pass away

1. Click on the verse.
• Anne says "An eerie verse.  I wonder what it's taken from.  Do you know?"
• Suggest "Dreamland"
• Anne replies "Hmm, I wish I knew how that helps.  I think [what?] we should look at are those directions next.  We haven't got any streets to compare with this time, but lakes?  Ranges?  It'd be great if we could look at aerial views of the ground.  But let's start by trying to find Sundown on a map."
2. Let's decipher the prof's note.
• Anne says "There may be more than one place called Sundown.  Look for another clue.  Does on of them help narrow down the location.
• Remember the photo of Lincoln?  Suggest "Lincoln"
• Anne says "Ah, Sundown, Lincoln, Nevada.  Follow the directions.  You should find a lake, although Nevada's mostly desert, so it may be a dried out lake.  Does the lake have a name or is there a name nearby?"
3. The professor said "South at Sundown, Over the range, Stop at the lake."  Looking at the map (Sundown is just a touch west of Rachel, NV (see here)) we can go South over the Nellis Air Force Range and we'll find Area 51 and Groom Lake.
• Suggest "Groom Lake"
• Anne encourages "That sounds plausible.  There must be a connection between that place, the name of the poem, and one of the numbers.  Find that connection and we find our symbol.
• The connection is Area 51.  [Suddenly the reference to an aria makes sense!] Click on the symbol in the same spot in the right-hand grid as 51 is in the left-hand grid.  Collect your symbol.

Posted: Saturday, June 17, 2006 3:46 PM by meg with no comments

MSN Conspiracy Game Solution: 3

The lion and the unicorn were fighting for the crown
The lion beat the unicorn all around the twon
Some gave them white bread some gave them brown
Some gave them plum-cake and durimmed the out of town

1. Click on the verse.
• Anne says "This is a promising start.  It seems to prof thought so too.  He's highlighted some of the words.  Could they indicate a place?"
• We're still discussing the lion and the unicorn (England and Scotland) and need to find a crown town: Suggest "London"
• Anne says "I agree.  Ultimately, I think we're looking for somewhere in London but we need to narrow down the search.  This piece of paper is burned.  What could have burned a piece of paper in London?
2. Hmmm.... a big fire, in London?
• Suggest "Great Fire of London"
• Anne says "All right then.  What about this sketch?  To me, it looks like some kind of pillar.  Can you recall a similar image anywhere in London. 
  
3. Within the wiki, search for 202.
• Suggest "Monument"
• I enjoyed the story behind some features of the monument, and the rationale
  behind the placement and height of the monument, and an analagous monolith in Cairo. 
• Anyway, Anne says "I see!  We're looking forthe location of the London Monument.  But we don't have enough clues.  Could there be a hidden clue somewhere?"
4. Hidden clue!  We must need to use the blacklight.  To see any hidden messages we'll have to go back to the view of the desk, turn off the lamp (click it), reopen the book, shine the blacklight on the page to see anything hidden.
• Anne says "Aha!  That looks like a street map and a grid.  No street names though.  We need to find a London street map. Put the pen away while we find one and let's come back to this when we have a proper map to compare with it."
• Return the blacklight to your inventory and you can use the Windows Live Local search as described or follow this link to find a map of London.
• Anne says "Great.  See if you can find Monument, London, England and then match the area around the London Monument with the street pattern on the puzzle.  I guess we'll need to use the map grid to find the corresponding symbol in the puzzle."
• Here's a map.  Not great, but the monument is at the "camp fire icon" and it is one block north and one block west of the street that crosses the Thames.  The corresponding spot in our puzzle is the third row, third column.
• Return to the professor's desk, turn on the lamp, and return to the puzzle. 
  
5. With the lights on, let's collect our final symbol in this first round of puzzles.
• Anne says "Great.  See if you can find Monument, London, England and then match the area around the London Monument with the street pattern on the puzzle.  I guess we'll need to use the map grid to find the corresponding symbol in the puzzle."
• Click on the symbol in the third row, third column and collect your symbol.

April 26
No head for numbers

Historians are supposed to be concerned with dates, but I must admit that I've always been unable to remember strings of numbers.  I overcome this handicap by finding ways of displaying numbers in my environment.  For example, to remind myself of the combination to my briefcase, I have arranged the right-hand bookcase opposite my desk, so that the number of green volumes on each shelf corresponds to one of the digits in the combintaion.  Now, when I want to open the case, all I need do is look straight ahead of me and there's the combination sequence, hidden in plain sight.

Posted: Saturday, June 17, 2006 2:51 PM by meg with no comments

MSN Conspiracy Game Solution: 2

1. Click on the question "Which does the winner's destiny involve?"
• Anne says "Interesting question, I'm not sure what to make of it.  Perhaps we should try and find out what these fabulous monsters are the proferssor underlined.  Any suggestions?"
• Suggest "lion and unicorn"
• Anne agrees, and adds "The lion and the unicorn were fighting for the crown in the nursery rhyme, but how does this tie in with the question?  Which one of the other objects has something to do with destiny?"


2. As allegories for Scotland and England, the lion and unicorn are fighting not only for the crown but also the Stone of Scone.
• Click on the stone
• Anne says "So the stone of destiny was used at coronation ceremonies.  The English took it from the Scots.  The lion represents England, the unicorn Scotland.  I see.  Let's see if the corresponding symbol works.
• Click, and collect, the corresponding symbol from the grid of card suits.
  

Posted: Saturday, June 17, 2006 2:35 PM by meg with no comments

MSN Conspiracy Game Solution: 1

Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot
We see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot

1. Click "Where is he?"
• Anne says "It's an interesting question but never mind where he is.  We need to know who 'he' is.  Surely is must be somebody associated with the poem
• Suggest  "Guy Fawkes"
• Hooray!  Annes says "So we're looking for Guy Fawkes.  His name must be hidden somewhere.  Take a closer look.
2. Use the magnifying glass to enlarge the portcullis (grid) and find the names (and pseudonyms) of several of the men involved in the plot.
   
• Anne says "Well you've found some names.  Now which is Guy Fawkes?"
• Guy Fawkes went by a pseudonym, suggest [John] "Johnson"
• Anne says "Ah, I see, when Guy Fawkes was caught, he pretended to be someone called Johnson.  We've found him!  Now we need to find where his name appears in the grid and match the position with the corresponding symbol.
3. The portcullis has the same pattern as the grid of card suits.  Using the magnifying glass you found Johnson in the lower left hand corner.
• Click on the symbol in the lower left and it will be added to your inventory.
  

Posted: Saturday, June 17, 2006 2:08 PM by meg with no comments

MSN Conspiracy Game Introduction

Conspiracy -- can you solve the mystery?

It all begins with a phone call in the dead of night.

What unfolds will challenge the most perceptive of minds.  Fortunately, you'll have the new Windows Live Search [whatever, everyone uses Google!] at your disposal to help unravel the nefarious plot.  Pick up clues, follow the trail and see if you can expose the truth at the heart of the Conspiracy.

Your old friend Professor Adam Whitehead says he needs to see you. Urgently.  There's just one problem: when you get to his house, he has vanished. All you can find is an old puzzle box and some cryptic manuscripts.  The challenge is clear. Can you reveal the sinister trail that leads to the professor?

You'll have to solve riddles and open the puzzle box to find him and crack the conspiracy. At your disposal is Windows Live Search [Google!], which will prove invaluable as you probe more deeply into the mystery.

You'll need to be smart. You'll need to be cunning.

Have you got the wits to penetrate to the heart of Conspiracy?

Posted: Saturday, June 17, 2006 1:53 PM by meg with no comments

Google + Geocoding = Halleluiah

Posted: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 3:15 PM by Google Fact with no comments

More Google Fact Eurostar Winners

I was quickly informed that Darth Nuts was not the only GF reader to win a phase of the Eurostar quest. 

So congratulations to Lainie who said,

"I won as well. I got the PS2 Davinci Code game for the first level prize puzzle. Two attempts - 14 seconds (dumb luck)." 

And also congratulations to Cpuuri who said,

"I won, too. I got a free DaVinci Code Soundtrack, which I believe was level one of the contest. I was lucky enough to get that cryptex on 2 tries and 32 seconds. I don't even recall the soundtrack from the DaVinci Code but hopefully it is better than the movie was. Now that I have the Cryptex and the DaVinci Code Soundtrack, I may have to start a little puzzle solving display in my office ; - ) "

If you are a Eurostar Quest Winner, feel free to drop me a line and I'll update my list so that you get your due recognition.  Send a picture of your prize (with or without you in the picture) when you receive it and I'll post that as well.  Congratulations guys and gals.

Posted: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 2:53 PM by Google Fact with no comments

Darth Nuts Hath Won The Eurostar Quest

I just wanted to say congratulations to Darth Nuts who won a phase of the Eurostar quest.  See the comments to this post for more details.  Had I posted solutions to the Eurostar quest I could have claimed that he only won because of my posted hints and tips (maybe Sagron can claim right to the PS2 game). 

Congratulations Darth Nuts!!

Can you win the Treasure Hunter Prize also so I can claim a percentage of that prize?

Posted: Monday, June 12, 2006 12:16 AM by Google Fact with 1 comment(s)

Google minesweeper launch

Continuing it's attack against the entrenched Microsoft application monopolies, Google Labs today launched a new Ajax version of the venerable Minesweeper application. The application is not open to the public yet, but I was able to secure a screenshot which you can see below.

Coming on the heels of the Writely acquisition and launch of Google Spreadsheet, the addition of Minesweeper looks like it may finally end the MS monopoly on the desktop.

Google Minesweeper includes a number of impressive innovations including:

• Online collaboration - cooperate with co-workers to uncover mines
• Online game storage. Now you can finish that game at home.
• Integrated GTalk for real-time trash talking.

Posted: Friday, June 09, 2006 3:44 PM by simpleio with no comments

Google worldcup fever

Google Search includes news about the football matches at FIFA World Cup 2006. If you search for [Germany Costa Rica], which is the opening match, you'll see the date of the game. Google will show real time results and other interesting data, including videos. Other queries to try: [Brazil football], [US soccer], [Poland FIFA], [Japan World Cup], [World Cup].

Google Personalized Homepage: google worldcup widget

There's also the older and well known tools like Google SMS and Google Alerts which have been updated to contain data on the World Cup.  And of course, there is the new Google World Cup Logo Designs, one of which is attached.

Sources:
Google unofficial weblog
Google Blogoscoped [2]
Google official blog

Posted: Friday, June 09, 2006 4:07 PM by simpleio with no comments