Hum. I thought you might know him. Looks like, from his Twitter feed, he was “working” on the puzzle, although if his site is hosting the final answer, I guess he wasn’t really working on it.
In any case, I assume that he’ll be “the guy wearing an Enigma nametag” who wants to be intoriduced to “the hottest woman in the bar.”
He’s also got a Facebook and Linked-In page, FWIW, if anyone has an account there.
I think that demonetise must be an anagram. All other websites and twitter names before have been, so why not? I haven’t found any anagrams that stand out as being obviously right, but some interesting candidates:
is done. Meet.
it’s me, Ed Eon
I don’t see 'em.
I don’t see me.
End. So, I meet.
I don’t know him. I suspect he either is @3outof4 or a friend of @3outof4’s since one of the original CDs was hidden in Austin. My guess is that, either way, he was acting like a shill* to drum up interest in the puzzle.
More importantly, is anyone here actually going to the bar on the 20th?
*Similar to the “ordinary citizen” who keeps winning at three card monte to convince others the game isn’t fixed.
Hmmm. Whoever shows up could be meeting CECIL ADAMS! Here is an interesting anagram:
See, I’m not Ed.
:dubious:
Sort of joking, but…what if, you know? New York dopers wake up! 
Is anyone going from New York going meet whomever created this puzzle? I’ve got a question I want answered: “Why?”
I thought it was pretty impressive too, but then I dismissed it by figuring he could have already have been scanning Google maps for hours before his initial post. And he’s been on th SDMB since Jan 2008, so it’s quite a coincidence if he was involved in creating the puzzle and just happened to be a doper.
The one who aroused my suspicion is Here Comes Dots. He’s new to the SDMB, and he created the first two threads introducing the puzzle. How did this original Twitter cipher even get his attention? He has made several brilliant breakthroughs, and several of his hunches have led others to make breakthroughs. But what just amazed me was that the same person to introduce us to this puzzle was also the first to pick up a dollar clue:
What a coincidence that a dollar clue was within walking distance from his location!
This has been fascinating to watch, whether someone’s been secretly coaching us or not. Almost like reading a Dan Brown novel, except AFAIK no one was murdered at the beginning.
So, has anyone committed yet to go to the bar tomorrow?
I think we should set a deadline for today, that if we don’t get someone following the thread to agree to go, we create a new thread asking for a Doper (any Doper) to help.
Yep, and his name is also an anagram, by the way (probably a “famous” or notable one?).
Should someone start a thread specifically calling out New York dopers?
Of course! Coed Mesh Store! How did I not notice that earlier?!
I’ll throw in a “yes” vote.
Here Come Dots, The Morse Code.
See, someone should have warned Here Come Dots that unleashing puzzle-solving energy can make things go farther than intended.
For instance, we can look at HCD’s posting history:
[ul]
[li]Starts at the end of March, with a few threads asking questions about guitar chord music, image file processing and some other things. [/li][li]Mentions doing logos for clients, and later looking for image files to use for project for restaurant client. [/li][li]Asks about earplugs available in Manhattan, also posts about dead rats in NYC subway.[/li][li]In this thread, posts that they’re just a few blocks from the Chicago restaurant in the clues, and is able to upload a picture of the clue ‘from my desk’ within an hour, then later asks whether there’s anyone in Manhattan who can go to the location.[/li][/ul]
No location listed, but contact email is: “herecomedots+straightdope@gmail.com”
Have to say, the location confusion is pretty persuasive evidence to me that things are not as they seem (along with the fact that they have an e-mail account created specifically for their username/message board combo and “Here Come Dots” seeming much like an anagram).
So, Dots, are you going to give a good reason for suddenly relocating to Chicago, fess up now, or fess up after the restaurant stunt tomorrow?
[I’m finding it hard to guess about the motivation here: the amount of work made me think it was some ‘viral marketing’ monstrosity, but the way the date was left flexible argues against that. Someone want to start a thread to beg for an independent Doper to check it out?]
If someone does, let us know what forum it’s in, or link to it in this thread.
EDIT: If I don’t see one by 5pm EST, I’ll start one. What forum would be most appropriate?
The former’s not too surprising: Gmail lets you use the + to create multiple versions of your e-mail address, for purposes of signing up for things (that way, if you start getting spam, you know what site gave away your address). And plenty of people create an e-mail using their online name, to keep their online life separate from their offline life.
Posted a thread asking for help in GQ here. Feel free to add to it if you like.
we’ve got an offer
Sweet! Should we ask post some questions in that thread for friedo to ask?
I wasn’t going to post this, but since suspicions have been raised I might as well.
I knew Here Come Dots was involved as soon as I found the http://www.demonetise.com site.
Although it has since been updated, the image link was originally http://bit.ly/14M13n which leads to a server (http://www.anonymousonlineserver.com/Images/) that Here Come Dots has used to host other images, such as the dollar bill image. The bit.ly link can also be used to track when it was accessed, so that must be how it was changed so quickly.
Also, the image name was the same as it is now, June20at8PM.jpg, so the date and time were set before I found the site. Although, the alternate text was added later.
Still fishy. How did you find the Google maps image so fast?
Absolved. Nice work.
From Here Come Dots explanation:
“I was extremely surprised at how easy it was to solve the last puzzle using a method that I wouldn’t even consider bruit force. (I had no idea that Dreamhost provided a easily-accessible list of newly-registered domains.) However, I was stunned when sadrobot determined the location of the final clue so quickly—and apparently without the use of the GPS data embedded in the image.”
ETA: here’s the link to the unraveling: It’s an Enigma: How and Why I Did It. - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board