Cicada 3301

Cicada 3301 – An Enigmatic Organization

Cicada 3301 is a name which is given to an enigmatic organization which on three occasions posted a set of complex puzzles in order to recruit capable public cryptanalysts, the first of which began on January 5, 2012 and went on for around one month.

The January 2012 puzzle comprised of an image which had a message stating that the poster was looking for intelligent people, inviting the users to get a hidden message in the image which would lead them on the road to begin their way across the internet.

This was the first puzzle in the series. The image had been reposted by several other people to other sites and boards which increased the internet interest in the puzzle with many making attempts to solve the puzzles by grouping together on the mibbit as well as the n0v4 IRC networks together with splinter groups making use of private IRC channels, Skype groups and forums.

Another puzzle came up one year later on January 5, 2013 followed by a third on-going following confirmation of fresh clue posted on Twitter on January 2014. It was intended to recruit `intelligent individuals’ through a series of puzzles that were to be solved each in a certain order and find the next and the puzzle was aimed on data security, steganography and cryptography.

Most Elaborate & Mysterious Puzzle 

The image has been known as `the most elaborate and mysterious puzzle of the internet age and has also been listed as one of the `top five most unsolved mysteries of the internet by The Washington Post. Several are speculating that it could be a recruitment tool for the NSA, CIA, M16 or a cyber-mercenary group. There are others who think that it could be an Alternate Reality Game – ARG though no company or individual have taken credit or even tried to monetize it.

Another fact is that those who had solved the puzzle never ever came forward leading some to belief that it does not exist while still others claim that it could be run by bank working on crypto currency. The message gave way to a series of puzzles; each became more complicated from the last.

While a few were solvable by some individual working alone, with little more than mild coding ability and wordplay to get along though other participants got deeper into it and the references got less obvious. There was one clue which involved a poem from a collection of medieval Welsh manuscript while another was a quote from William Gibson book that was released on 3.5 inch floppies.

Highly Complex & Individualized

The final outcome of the three round of series of Cicada 3301 recruiting still seems to be a mystery and the known puzzles were both highly complex as well as individualized as the puzzle unravelled. Anonymous people who claimed to have won, had no verification made from the organization with no forthcoming claims and information made by the individuals.

It was reported that an emails was sent to individuals who had completed the 2012 puzzle, indicating that those who had solved the puzzle successfully would be given a personality assessment and those who crossed that stage would be reportedly admitted in the organization though nothing more was known further than this.

Kasubi Official Royal Burial Site

Credit:traveladventures

Kasubi bordered by Kawaala towards the north, Makerere to the east, Naakulabye to the southeast, with Lusaze towards its southwest area Lubya to the west and Namungoona towards the northwest makes the location of approximately 5,5 km by road and northwest of Kampala’s central business district. Earlier to 1856, Kasubi Hill was called Nabulagala and thereafter, Kabaka Muteesa I Mukaabya faced misfortune at Banda Hill and built his first palace there.

He then relocated to Nabulagala naming the hill Kasubi after the ancestral village of his mother and located in Kyaggwe County which presently is known as Mukono District. Presently the Buganda traditionalists consider the place interchangeable as Kasubi or Nabulagala or Kasubi-Nabulagala. After the death of Kabaka Muteesa I, he was buried at Kasubi and was the first Kabaka to be buried there and ever since Kasubi became the official royal burial site of the Buganda monarchy.

The Kasubi Royal Tombs have now been recognised as a World Heritage Site which is of very high significance in the Buganda culture. The Tombs of Buganda Kings covers a site of 26.8 hectares of Kasubi hillside within the Kampala city and is a major spiritual centre for the Baganda which has been reservedfor traditional as well as cultural practices.

Active Religious Site 

The Kasubi Tombs seems to be the most active religious site in the kingdom for all rituals which are performed frequently and this place has been used for burial grounds for the earlier four kings – Kabakas, qualified as a religious centre for the royal family. This is the place where important rituals related to Buganda culture is practiced by the Kabaka and his representatives.

Moreover, the place also represents a site where communication links is maintained with the spiritual world. The existence of best example of Baganda palace or burial site is seen from the border of the site which has been marked with the traditional bark cloth trees, which lead through the gatehouse, through the main courtyard, culminating in the large thatched building which houses the tombs of the four kings. On the hilltop one will find the main tomb building which has been referred locally as the `Muzibu-Azaala-Mpanga’ that represents a masterpiece of this ensemble which existed since the 13th century.

Main Tomb Building – Example of Architectural Achievements

The former palace of the Kabakas of Baganda which was built in 1882 is the latest building which was converted into the royal burial ground in 1884 and four royal tombs now lie within the Muzibu-Azaala-Mpanga. The main tomb building, a circular and surmounted by a dome is the main example of architectural achievement which was raised utilising vegetal materials comprising of wooden poles, reeds, spear grass and wattle and its unusual scale together with outstanding details are a proof to the creative genius of the Baganda as masterpiece of form and craftsmanship.

Besides, it is an exceptional surviving example of an architectural piece which had been developed by the Buganda Kingdom from the 13th century. The natural elements of the tomb site are charged with historical traditional and spiritual values which are a major spiritual centre and the most active religious place in the kingdom for the Baganda. The site’s main significance is in its values of beliefs, continuity, spirituality as well as the identity of the Baganda people, serving as an important historical as well as cultural symbol for Uganda and East Africa.

Micronations: Freetown Christiania

Freetown Christiania – Car Free and Green Neighbourhood in Copenhagen

Freetown Christiana is a car free and green neighbourhood in Copenhagen and is known for its autonomous inhabitants’ different way of living. It was established in 1971, a city within the city on the site of a military barracks by a group of hippies who had occupied some of the abandoned military barracks on the site and developed their own society rules and was completely independent of the Danish government.

For forty years, Christiania existed under special condition with constant conflicts as well as clashes between the local Christianity and the Danish states and with several years of uncertainty, they reached an agreement in 2011 and on July 1, 2012, a foundation Freetown Christiania was founded.

The foundation now owns the entire part of Christiania located beyond the protected ramparts, leasing buildings and land on the ramparts which continue to be owned by the state. Portion of the funds is raised by selling the symbolic Christiania shares. Besides, Freetown Christiania is a mixture of homemade houses, art galleries, workshops, music venues, with cheap and organic eateries accompanied with beautiful nature and one cannot buy a house in Christiania but will have to apply for it and if successful, one tends to get it. Moreover, the area is open to public with guided tours which are conducted by the local inhabitants.

Signs with `Do’s and Don’ts – Safety Purpose

For safety purpose, tourist are advised not to film or photograph inside this micronation especially in areas in and around Pusher Street due to the hash dealing which is illegal in Denmark. As one enters these areas, one will find signs with `do’s and don’ts’, advising visitors to take these instructions seriously for their own safety. Hundreds of buildings on Christiania are there, most of which are in all sorts of imaginative shapes, colours and sizes from old army building which dates back to the old barrack days and the best way to explore these areas is to stroll down and absorb the atmosphere.

All these buildings have their own unique story to relate. Fredens Ark is one interesting site which is not only the largest building on Christiania but also the largest half-timbered house in Northern Europe. Built in 1837, it was initially the main building of the barracks with sleeping as well as officers’ quarters. Presently around eighty people live in the protected building while the lower levels are home of the Rockmaskinen’ club.

Powerhouse of Cultural Activities

Vilhelms Bastion – Borneengen, Nordomradet is one of the old bastions of fornications where Christiania is built. It has a set of protected buildings while Kommandeorhuset is a yellow half-timbered housed utilised to serve as guard building and the eave towards the eastern area seems extended to permit the soldiers to stay dry during the rainy weather and the same was built and constructed by Italian architect.

Christiania is a powerhouse of cultural life in Copenhagen and one will always find some activity going on there in one of the several club and venues placed around the central area near Pusher Street or in the open air scene on Café Nemoland. Itis a destination worth visiting and exploring

Bernoulli Space

The Bernoulli Space – A Mathematical Concept 

The Bernoulli space, is a mathematical concept for the transition from past to future with due consideration of uncertainty of the future developments. It is at the main focus of Bernoulli stochastic which represents the basis for reliable as well the exact predictions together with measurements.

The Bernoulli space does not seem to presume an ideal world, for instance, the example of physics on the basis of belief in truth and causality where in contrast, the Bernoulli space acknowledges human ignorance and cosmological pattern which could generate uncertainty and as a mathematical model of change, could be regarded as a means of obtaining accurate as well as reliable predictions.

The term `uncertainty’, before the introduction of the model, should be explained since it could have several inconsistent meanings in the daily speech which in everyday speech, uncertainty could be referred to determinate, though unknown facts or to the indeterminate future which is not known since it does not exist so far. The difference is obvious between the facts and future events, a fact which is specified and if considered has a fixed value.The future event on the other hand is indeterminate and hence may or may not take place.

Ignorance Related to True Value – Unknown 

Fact may be unknown though it is fixed while a future even may not be known or unknown since it is subject to randomness which could or not occur. From the point of unique interpretation, uncertainty is explained as the inability to predict the future development accurately and this inability is because of the ignorance related to the past as well as the randomness regarding the future.

The two elements of ignorance and randomness generate uncertainty and while describing uncertainty in a quantitative manner, both the sources need to be taken into consideration. Ignorance relates to the true value which is unknown it is only rarely that the true values of considered attributes are known though in general they are unknown.

Values are what is known but are not the true value and with the knowledge on `what is not’, it is possible to state a set of values which are true though may be unknown. This reflects the knowledge on `what is no’, or the ignorance of `what is’ and the larger the set, the larger would be the ignorance.

Randomness – Future Episodes

Randomness on the other hand refers to future episodes and reflects a natural tendency to take place and could be small or large based on the given situation. Over 300 years back, Jacob Bernoulli, the Swiss theologian as well as a mathematician was successful in quantifying randomness of a future event.

He related the occurrence of natural tendency of a future event with the help of degree of certainty of its occurrence, calling this degree probability and if the occurrence is impossible in a given event, there is no propensity with the degree of certainty, which is the probability that would be 0.

While on the other hand if the occurrence is certain in a given event, the propensity would be at the maximum with the degree of certainty being the value of one.

Belitung Shipwreck

Belitung/Tang/Batu Hitam Shipwreck

The Belitung shipwreck is also known as the Tang shipwreck or Batu Hitam shipwreck which was found by the local fishermen off the Belitung Island, in Indonesia in the year 1998. The Arabian ship probably sailed between Oman and China during the 9th century AD where evidence indicate that it could have travelled on the so called Maritime Silk Route when it transported ceramic and the vessel sank on its return journey.

With regards to this evidence, an interesting thing related to the Belitung shipwreck is its location and it is unknown why the vessel had navigated away from its route through the South China Sea and passed through southern Vietnam, the Singapore Strait into the Straits of Malacca between Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra while Belitung is in the south-east of the Singapore Strait than from this expected route.

Belitung wreck of this age is rare discoveries and the ship was the only 9th century vessel of that origin found till date. The Belitung wreckage has provided two important archaeological findings, like its cargo and its hull and the major part of the recovered cargo of around 60,000 pieces comprising of ceramics most of which are Changsha wares. The cargo also had the largest single collection of Tang Dynasty artefacts which were found in a single location due to which it is called the `Tang Treasure’.

The First Arab Dhow

The Belitung wreck is also the first Arab dhow which has been discovered in the Southeast Asian waters. The dhow is considered to be a traditional sailing vessel which has one or more masts with lateen sails that were used in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea region and it is disputed if this type of vessel were invented by the Arabic or Indian people.

The Arabian dhow has also given new insight in the trade routes between the Middle East and China during that period and the treasure discovered has been kept as one collection. At the time of the excavation, the efforts to maintain the integrity of the site as well as its cargo has given rise to detailed archaeological evidence which has now given more understanding in the construction methods that were used in the shipbuilding. The items and style of artefacts also reveal earlier unknown facts about the trade between the two locations.

Discoveries Vulnerable and Prone to Loot/Damage

The discoveries of Belitung shipwreck was vulnerable and prone to loot and damage and local nor national authorities had the essential resources to explore or protect the site and without any exploration it would have been difficult to assess its importance.

 Moreover, without any action, unique historical data could have been lost. It was the Indonesian government who decided to authorize a commercial enterprise – Seabed Exploration to study the Belitung shipwreck, putting up a series of events which finally led to the sale of the cargo to a nonprofit organization in Singapore and eventually, the exhibition of the shipwreck.

The process of disposition and exploration of the cargo discovered involved complicated actions of government, archaeologist, private business, nonprofit organization as well as with those interested.