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Unbelievably Unencoded E-Coordinates (ODS) Mystery Cache

This cache has been archived.

shrike868: I think this cache got all the traffic it could possibly get this last summer! Thanks again, all, for paying it a visit. Time to give other cachers some room.

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Hidden : 11/18/2006
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

This cache is not at the posted coordinates. To find the real coordinates, you'll have to do a little unencoding ... but once you do, this one is a park-and-grab.

This cache was hidden as part of the One Degree of Separation Geocaching Project. This is a seed that came from GCWGW8.


The coordinates you're looking for are contained in the gibberish at the bottom of this puzzle description. If you recognize what it is, you know what to do, so you can stop reading. However, if you're part of the great majority who doesn't recognize it (although that ".jpg" thing might kind of ring a bell), don't fret. It might look difficult or scary, but obtaining coordinates from the gibberish is easier than you think!

Chances are, you already have the tools you need to unencode the coordinates for this cache somewhere on your computer. By this, I don't mean Internet access -- although free tools which can do the decoding certainly can be found by Googling. Odds are, however, that you won't have to Google very far.

Many software tools that you use every day -- for example, e-mail and news readers, or data compression tools -- already do understand all that gibberish. For many years now, data such as pictures, graphics, audio, and even executable software has been transmitted between computers in this encoded format. As a result, software tools made for such uses have built-in ways to handle this data -- often automatically.

A few hints about ways to make that happen ...

You'll want to copy the gibberish from this cache description and save it as a file, in plain text format. To do this easily on a PC running Windows, copy and paste the gibberish into the 'Notepad' editor, and then save it. (Sometimes what you name the file can affect how your tools handle it, but first things first -- save it to disk.) After that, try some of the following, with and without the tweak given in the file naming hint below:

(1) Attach the file to an e-mail message, and email it to yourself. Getting the information might be as simple as reading the email message. Various e-mail software packages will handle it differently, so if this doesn't work with your e-mail software, it just might work with an acquaintance's -- so you might also try e-mailing it to others to see if it works on their end.

(2) Try opening the file using some compression software. It's fairly common to have this kind of software installed on your computer. WinZip is one package that is pretty well-known; I've heard of others called Wincode and Stuffit Expander, and no doubt there are many more.

(3) If you have some other kind of software that you think will decode this, open the file using that software.

(4) If your attempts up until now haven't worked, take a look at the note about file naming below. Changing your file extension might make a difference ... but if it still doesn't, there's always web-searching. Try looking for the proper 3-letter file extension (again, see hint below), the words "encode" or "decode", and perhaps 'begin 644' (all files encoded like this begin with something similar). You should be able to find a free utility to decode the file.

A note about file naming ... and another hint! When you save the copied-and-pasted gibberish as a file, you might have to give it the correct 3-letter filename extension in order for your tools to properly deal with it. I won't tell you outright what that is, but ... (a) It isn't ".txt". (b) The title of this cache gives you a very good hint. (c) It isn't ".ods".

Good luck!




begin 644 coords.jpg
M_]C_X``02D9)1@`!`0$`8`!@``#_VP!#``@&!@<&!0@'!P<)"0@*#!0-#`L+
M#!D2$P\4'1H?'AT:'!P@)"XG("(L(QP<*#<I+#`Q-#0T'R<Y/3@R/"XS-#+_
MVP!#`0D)"0P+#!@-#1@R(1PA,C(R,C(R,C(R,C(R,C(R,C(R,C(R,C(R,C(R
M,C(R,C(R,C(R,C(R,C(R,C(R,C(R,C+_P``1"``1`(@#`2(``A$!`Q$!_\0`
M'P```04!`0$!`0$```````````$"`P0%!@<("0H+_\0`M1```@$#`P($`P4%
M!`0```%]`0(#``01!1(A,4$&$U%A!R)Q%#*!D:$((T*QP152T?`D,V)R@@D*
M%A<8&1HE)B<H*2HT-38W.#DZ0T1%1D=(24I35%565UA96F-D969G:&EJ<W1U
M=G=X>7J#A(6&AXB)BI*3E)66EYB9FJ*CI*6FIZBIJK*SM+6VM[BYNL+#Q,7&
MQ\C)RM+3U-76U]C9VN'BX^3EYN?HZ>KQ\O/T]?;W^/GZ_\0`'P$``P$!`0$!
M`0$!`0````````$"`P0%!@<("0H+_\0`M1$``@$"!`0#!`<%!`0``0)W``$"
M`Q$$!2$Q!A)!40=A<1,B,H$(%$*1H;'!"2,S4O`58G+1"A8D-.$E\1<8&1HF
M)R@I*C4V-S@Y.D-$149'2$E*4U155E=865IC9&5F9VAI:G-T=79W>'EZ@H.$
MA8:'B(F*DI.4E9:7F)F:HJ.DI::GJ*FJLK.TM;:WN+FZPL/$Q<;'R,G*TM/4
MU=;7V-G:XN/DY>;GZ.GJ\O/T]?;W^/GZ_]H`#`,!``(1`Q$`/P#U.^\<0V,O
MB:![&3S]&MY;B(&0;;M8X(I7`(!*$&>-3D?Q`C/S!=3Q#J]QHUF+F*&Q\E>9
MKG4+X6D$0R``7VN=S%A@;<<')!VALO6_`\.MZ?KMO)?20RZE<-<0S)&";9FM
M%M2,$X<%`X.<<.<8(##<U.VU2;RGTK48+21<AUN;7SXW!QS@.C!AC@AL8+9!
M."H!ER>);Z-+*^DT22WTNX>VB9KF;9=(\[(JCR0I&%:15;<ZD%7PIPNZ3Q)X
MBN-`\N46,$MKP&:6[$4D[G)$-O&%8RS$*<(2F25`)RVVG9^%-2TZ_P!*%MJU
MH^EZ7;PVUK:W5BTDD:JFQW$BRJOFLN5WE/E!(`&Y]^AXAT6^UNWGL8]3C@T^
M\MVMKN%[;S&*,"&,3AEV.58C+!QPI"C#;@"GI'C!-9\0W.FVR6+QP2S0NJ:@
MK7<1B<HSR08&V,LN`P9B=\9*@,=MR_\`$L-EXGTS0DMY)I[Q\2R`A5MU,<SH
M3GEBQMY``.FTDD?*&KVOA>:WU2WD:_C?3[2]N-0MH!;D2B:;S=^^3>0R?OY<
M`(I'R98X.Z.?P5:W6M:=K,MS.E_!=I>71@GGCAN9%@,.1%YA5/X/4E5VDD,:
M`*=UXTU+2TUJ35M*TV"+3;>-O-AU-G1[B5ML<#,T*",_<+,QPHDC8\'(Z#0-
M3FUC2UO9?[-*2.1$^G7QNXG4<9W[$YW!@0`<8Z]A';:-<66F7D-MJ&R^N+N6
MZ^UM"&)+2%D5P3\RJFR+J#L0!2F!MKV.G:II5S'('@O)M1U`S:I,D7E)&@MB
MBF-"Y(YB@!RS?>8\#[H!3U3QQ#I&FW5S<V,GGVM[-:S0)(#M6.)[C?NQ@EK=
M`X4?Q.J$K\S+H7?B6&S&OSR6\CV>B6XEGEC(+-((S*\84XY$9B;.<'S,9!4U
M);^'K>V\47>N*V9+B(($P?E<A1(^<\[EAMQC''E9'+-FG9>#+&S\*ZEH'F2?
M9[])89'C^5EB9!%&HW%N4A6-,]]FXC)-`%>3Q7J5O?KH]QI-H-:E>(011WS-
M;LKI.X+2F(,IQ;3<"-N=G/S$K'<>+-8^PVEU8Z+8S^==FP:*747CD^T+,T4@
M0"%M\:[&?=P=BLQ48(J2Y\)WVH)>S:AJ&FW-Y=)!"Z2:7NM'BB:1E5X7D9F.
MZ5FR)%Y5.,!@UC1O",.CG2A'-&8+!+IA;I`$B$T\@<O&N<1A`944<D)(1NZ[
M@"YJVK7EKJ-IINFV4%U?7,4MP!<W)@C6.,QJWS*CG=F5,#;C&[D8`.7#XKU*
M]NM">QTFTDT_642:%Y+YEN(H3$)'D>(1,`%R$X<C<Z`D;N-35M)O+K4;34M-
MO8+6^MHI;<&YMC/&T<AC9OE5T.[,28.[&-W!R"(]&\-0Z+<6[17$DT%KIEOI
MUJDP!:)8RVYMW3+CRMV`,^4O7`P`2:CKWV#7M)TH64\OV^5HVN,;8X<12R#D
M_>8^4PVCH.6(RH:G:^*)KC5+>-K"--/N[VXT^VG%P3*9H?-W[X]@"I^XEP0[
M$_)E1D[="ZTJ:]NM*N)[F/?I][)=`)$0'5HIHE3EC@A902W<J>!G`QY/!*W;
MM:7UW'/HHN+JY2T$+)*7N%E60/*'P4Q<2X"JI'R?,=IW`&AX9\2P^)X;ZXMK
M>2*W@N%BA=R,SQM#%*LF/X0RR@@'G&,@'*@J30?#\6@-J8AN)YH[V[%R!/*\
MKI^ZCCVEW9F;_5YR3QG'044`;%%%%`!1110`4444`%%%%`!1110`4444`%%%
,%`!1110`4444`?_9
`
end



Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Zvqqyr gerr

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)