# What does this sign mean? Riddle? Code? (Warning: possible 14 K) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 9, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sign-mean-riddle-code-warning-possible-14-k/509442 "2009-09-09T17:08:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sign-mean-riddle-code-warning-possible-14-k/509442/1 "2009-09-09T17:08:30Z")
WARNING: I know nothing about this, its origin, or any possible solution. I have no idea if there is anything more than a **14 k of g in a f p g** -style death ray. The Web site I saw it on is [i-am-bored.com](http://i-am-bored.com), not known for deep digging. I have trouble with Jumbles (in the kid’s section), so other than curiosity and a link, I can’t add much. I have no solution. Read on at your own peril. Is there meaning to the number blocks in [this](http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=43445) sign? The pattern of the blocks looks familiar (hex?), but it could just be a few blocks of 4-items each. Viral campaign? Google-style help wanted ad? Cruel hoax on cryptofans? ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sign-mean-riddle-code-warning-possible-14-k/509442/2 "2009-09-09T17:30:07Z")
It’s an MD5 hash of a URL for a job ad. ```auto $ echo -n http://pbwiki.com/content/jobs | md5sum 986f64b93005e03efc42a41ebd573179 *- ``` I am not sure how the candidates were expected to solve that though. I just googled for it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sign-mean-riddle-code-warning-possible-14-k/509442/3 "2009-09-09T17:33:44Z")
It’s an MD5 hash that reverses to: [http://pbwiki.com/content/jobs](http://pbwiki.com/content/jobs) [Type the string in here](http://tools.benramsey.com/md5/) to see for yourself. edit: Damn, partially beaten to it, but I supplied the MD5 reverse look-up that candidates could use to solve it. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sign-mean-riddle-code-warning-possible-14-k/509442/4 "2009-09-09T18:02:09Z")
Cool, thanks. I Googled individual blocks, but not the whole thing. Oops. So much for my getting a job there. MD5 hashes can be reversed? My only connection with them was with SHNs and other (free) sound files. Never thought that there would be some information behind them. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sign-mean-riddle-code-warning-possible-14-k/509442/5 "2009-09-09T18:09:11Z")
> [@groman](#): > > I am not sure how the candidates were expected to solve that though. I just googled for it. Congratulations, you solved it; you get the job. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sign-mean-riddle-code-warning-possible-14-k/509442/6 "2009-09-09T18:17:10Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > MD5 hashes can be reversed? My only connection with them was with SHNs and other (free) sound files. Never thought that there would be some information behind them. To be honest, I’m not very technical about these things, but unless the decoded hash was already included in some sort of database to look up the hashed value against, I don’t see how it would be reversible. In other words, I think you would already need a database that contained that URL as a possible decrypted value to figure out what the hash decrypts to. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-sign-mean-riddle-code-warning-possible-14-k/509442/7 "2009-09-09T18:56:09Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Cool, thanks. I Googled individual blocks, but not the whole thing. Oops. So much for my getting a job there. > > MD5 hashes can be reversed? My only connection with them was with SHNs and other (free) sound files. Never thought that there would be some information behind them. Not really. See what **pulykamell** said. MD5 is considered pretty weak not only because of the lookup tables (databases of pre-hashed values) but also because of collisions, occasionally even targeted ones (meaning people have been able to find identical MD5 hashes for things and used them in security exploits; see the [Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MD5#Vulnerability) for more). But for cases where security isn’t important (such as making sure a download came through ok), MD5 is still ok because it’s good _enough_ and fast.