Of course, bitmaps produced by PaperBack are also human-readable (with the small help of any decent microscope).

August 14, 2012 7:06 AM

You may ask - why? Why, for heaven's sake, do I need to make paper backups, if there are so many alternative possibilities like CD-R's, DVD±R's, memory sticks, flash cards, hard disks, streamer tapes, ZIP drives, network storages, magnetooptical cartridges, and even 8-inch double-sided floppy disks formatted for DEC PDP-11?
posted by 256 (51 comments total)

Kind of ruined by the first line on the page:

Olly, the author of OllyDbg, presents his new open source joke:

I agree with the idea though. I print hard copies of most everything I produce that I care about.

Also, data that does not exist in more than one place does not exist. Amend that to add, A flash drive or a hard drive in the same building as the primary data doesn't count as a place.
posted by cjorgensen at 7:10 AM on August 14, 2012

1) lol

Once upon a time, my oldest son (he was 15 then) asked me: "Dad, how the huge amounts of data are saved on the small CD?" A brief explanation from my side followed, I took a very sharp pencil and tried to draw as small points and lines as possible, in order to emphasize how dense the data is. Then my son asked: "How much data can you place this way on the single sheet of paper?" My estimation was in the order of 100 K. "Can we make a try?" It took me four or five days to make the proof of concept, and another two weeks to integrate packer, encryption and user interface.

2) Great dad
3) ...but I shudder to think what my son will make me do when he reads this.
posted by DU at 7:11 AM on August 14, 2012 [5 favorites]

Waving a DVD-R in someone's face just doesn't have the same effect.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 7:17 AM on August 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

sheesh...it's like this guy has never heard of fire, or water...me, I'm sticking with clay tablets.
posted by sexyrobot at 7:20 AM on August 14, 2012 [4 favorites]

Fortunately a few enlightened humans encode as much of our knowledge as possible on ceramic plates using this technology before our many stupid mistakes as a young species succeed in klercking ourselves. Because our archivists cleverly used the hole we dug but could never agree to use as a nuclear waste repository, the record of our achievements endures as the seas rise and fall, mountains are built and eroded, and finally after thirty million years the descendants of modern birds evolve into a human scale bipedal animal with hands and quick intelligence. And one day they find the repository.

Their best scholars puzzle over the ceramic tablets for decades, as they separately develop computer technology which suggests the possible purpose of the tablets. Their best cryptographers work out the clues laid out in ancient pictographs and finally, one day, it is announced that the bird-thinkers have discovered the very set of tablets which hold the code for the program that can decode the tablets...

Fortunately, it develops that the tablets make excellent coasters.
posted by localroger at 7:23 AM on August 14, 2012 [3 favorites]

At least this guy is being realistic, unlike a competing format.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 7:24 AM on August 14, 2012

Finally I can put my servants to good use! Eagerly anticipating many wonderful evenings with a cognac and a cigar enjoying recitals of classics such as The Linux Kernel or Gnu Herd in binary. Life is good.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 7:25 AM on August 14, 2012 [7 favorites]

Actually, the man has a point. CD-Rs and DVD-Rs have a lifetime of about 30 years. Magnetic media of any kind will eventually demagnetize. Online storage eventually goes offline or is misplaced. As well, formats change. Data currently stored on 5.25" floppy disks is effectively lost because there are few people with access to working drives.

A printed copy of your data can be stored in a specific place, printed on archival acid-free paper, and kept for centuries.

If you are storing binary data on the page, you had better include a specification of the format in plain English on the first few pages so that a reasonable decoder can be programmed centuries from now when computers are totally different and don't run POSIX C.

But still, this is awesome, though I'm sad it only runs on Windows.
posted by sixohsix at 7:37 AM on August 14, 2012 [3 favorites]

All things move towards their end.
posted by boo_radley at 7:40 AM on August 14, 2012

Not only computer data. Ever try to play a copy of an old Sony open reel videotape? On what? Soon Betamax and VHS will be difficult to play.
posted by Gungho at 7:40 AM on August 14, 2012

You can probably walk into any television studio and find a really nice betamax deck. Only a few years ago it was the format of choice for delivering things between studios.
posted by hellphish at 7:45 AM on August 14, 2012 [2 favorites]

Can those professional betacam decks actually play consumer betamax? I think the tape is a different width.
posted by 256 at 7:53 AM on August 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oh, in my twenty year career as a microfilm specialist, I made these arguments till I was blue in the face, trying desperately to override money-grubbing salesmen, who told clients that "hey, CDs are indestructible!" or "no, these proprietary Wang magneto-optical storage carts will never fail!"

It was eventually so unbearable that I just left the industry altogether and went to work for the most insane museum in America (well, the most insane one after the local Museum of Menstruation closed), using my training in making things last a long time to build a gigantic mosaic that we hope will, in fact, last a long time.

People don't think about these things nearly enough. Me—well, I had a mid-backup disaster back in 1997 in which I lost thirteen months of work on what would have been my best one man show to date and it's become a quasi-spiritual thing for me now. This is why I've hidden backups of my work in a variety of formats in the homes of friends and loved ones all over the country and in Canada. Mind you, I'm not sure who will want to read my rambling narratives or listen to my droning, endless music in the aftermath of some city-destroying catastrophe, but you never know. Maybe there will be a Canticle for Wall one of these days...

Not that I'm grandiose or anything.
posted by sonascope at 7:56 AM on August 14, 2012 [11 favorites]

Digital material is best stored by being used and copied constantly. Don't stick it in a vault, keep it alive like a plant.

sheesh...it's like this guy has never heard of fire, or water...me, I'm sticking with clay tablets.

I don't know about water, but fire is what preserved clay tablets for us - they were originally disposable, but being caught in fires preserved many.
posted by jb at 8:00 AM on August 14, 2012 [3 favorites]

I actually had an idea for something like this a long time ago, but using a self-describing format (including the PNG decode algorithm) which stores high resolution scan data on the back of a physical photograph. That way, data archaeologists of the future could reconstruct the image by analyzing the ink deposits on the back, and implementing the algorithm.

I'm not joking.
posted by hanoixan at 8:03 AM on August 14, 2012

I once interviewed for a job that a friend of a friend told me about. Oh, and completely misrepresented. Anyway, part of the interview process included talking with the software guys I would be working with. They showed me an approximately foot high stack of green bar paper full of Fortran code that was written by scientists and told me it was going to be my job to convert all of that Fortran into C while at the same time fixing bugs and generally cleaning up the work of non-programmers. I declined to pursue the "opportunity".

Looking back, I realize that it probably wasn't all that much code, it was just the way they presented it. Still, I don't regret not taking that job at all.
posted by tommasz at 8:06 AM on August 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

Digital material is best stored by being used and copied constantly.

Wasn't that the failure of the "Encyclopedia Galactica" - only the commonly referenced/looked up stuff was kept in memory banks, while the lesser stuff degraded over time to become no longer available. Lost knowledge.
posted by k5.user at 8:15 AM on August 14, 2012

sheesh...it's like this guy has never heard of fire, or water...me, I'm sticking with clay tablets.

"Go close to the Eanna Temple, the residence of Ishtar,
such as no later king or man ever equaled!
Go up on the wall of Uruk and walk around,
examine its foundation, inspect its brickwork thoroughly.
Ìͥ̿̽̂ͧ̑͏͎̪ş̰̺͈̳͙̱ͨ̉ͩͤ͐̈͘ ͚̲̭̼̘̩̳ͥ̅̔̌̌͋ͦ̏͢n̡̛̮ͧ̈ͩ̇͆̈ọ͖̿̔ͫͧ̍̔̎̕t͐̀͏̱̲̻͖̥̝ ̜̺͙̹͈͎̉̾ͣͫͣ͜(̑́ͫ͐̄҉̸͖̜̱͟e̛̖̻̞̠̙̳̳̜̓ͥ͑ͣ͠v̵̺̰͔̰̇͐̐̏͡ë̴̵̡̦͍͕͎̤̲̺̪̇̓̄̀̐n̟͓͗̚͠ ͓̫̐̍͌͛̽̈́͂̈̾t̷̴̮̭̦͕ͨ̓ͯ̍ͩͩͅh͍͕̱̾́͗͒͊́e͒͆́̓̒ͪ̆̀ͯ҉̨͈̘͈̞ͅ ̗͉̂̑͌̒́͜c̨̠͇̞͎͈̬̀̈́ͧ͛o͇̬͉̞̲̬̩̤̿͊̄ͧ̃́r̶̟͕̄̒ͩ͌ĕ͖ͭ̍͛͐̋ͬ̓͋͟͠ ̼̗͓͉̂̿ͧ̌͢o̾͗̔͏̡͉̥f̴̪̲̝̩͖̫̣͍̒ͯ͆͋͡)̩͎̱̭̞̠̙ͥͩ͐̄͊̐̍̓ͅ ̡̟̜̠̖̪͖͇̼͋̓̃͢t̡̜͕̘̝̫̹ͮͯ̇͂ͫh̗̭ͩ͊ͯ̄ͮ͜e͓̗̲̺̻̺̠ͥ͌ͥͅ ̯͚̃͒̄͒ͮ͒̀͘b̵̞͖̯͔͈̲̟͒͗̃͑͗ͭ̉͟r̫̺ͫ̏̌́̉͐ͭ͘͠i̴̛̺̝̖̼͕̞̙̝̮͆ͤ͛̅̒̓̒̚c̶̷̴̪̳͈̓̃̄ͧͪk̗͓̮̹̩̰͗̅̇ͯ̀͟ͅ ̰̙̠̱̞̮̱̑̄̇ͩ̽ͧ̃͟͝s̛̻͎̤͈̺̳͑́̓̂̇͂ͩ̎ẗ͇͌ͧͮ̓̂̋̈́̇r͖̞̮̋ͯ̈̋ͥ͆͋̚͞u̮̙͙̰̠͈̪͆̀́c͕̖̟̳̯̊̆̆t̶͚̜̞̗̮͔̠͎ͧ̃̊͐ͫ̎͊͑͜u̢͍̯͖̘ͦr̵̔̾̅҉͓̦͔̳͉̞̫̯͠ę̬͚͕̪͙͒̈́ͨ͒̓̚ͅ ̢͙̞͇͈͖͑ͪ̌͡m̴̺͎͔̪̯͕̬͉͆̅̆͜ä͖̣̫̳̲̬̌̇͟d͕̐ͭ̕è̫̠ͣͥ͐͒̓ͩ͢ ̸̀̿̒̑̄͛̀͊̕҉̩̟͖̺ó̦̥̍̎̆͂ͤ̈́f̡̛̪͉̾́͂̈͆̂̿͋̍ ̤̦̳̹̥͔̣ͬͬ̾̐̉̓̍̋̚k̜͈̩͍̍̒̆̿̆̀i͔̬͙͕̗̞̝͓ͦ̋̆͑l̰̠͑͋͞ṋ̡̠͕̹̤̹̝͖̀̀-̷͍̩́͑ͣ̏ͣ̑̀͞f̜͖̻̼ͩͥ̀ͅi̳̠̣̣̯̲̬͖͊̌̒r̦̗͕̣͇̣͐͘͜e̴̢͈̹̲̺̋ͬ͋ͯͦ̂d̬́ͥͬ̏ͦ̚ ̧̙̬͈͙ͫ͋͊̚b͉͕̟̍͂̚r̻̙̱̿̈͑͟i̧̙̰̜͎̎ͩ͘c̰̱̘͇̠̦̈ͭͤͭ͒͊͢͜k̠̼̟̰͇̗̘̇̾̃̄̐̀͊̍̍͞͡,̢ͧͦ͏̨̰̫͖̖
̨̰̯͚̩̣̭͌́̇ͣ̆͒̎̽a̶̺ͤ̓͋̈͠n̫̝̖̹̝̲̗͌ͥ̈̾d̸̛͚̺͕̂̍̍̉͞ ͍̹̣̜̤̦͌̌̍ͩͭ̔̓͛́͘͝d̶̵̦̪̤͇̼̬̯̠̖ͭ̓͌͛̄͠i̧͚ͨ͐̀̄̍̋ͫ͛͝d͚̗͔̙͎̥̼͓̓ͥͯ͒ͅ ̢̤̱̟̱̩ͣ̃̅͐́̉͡n̨̞̩̙̺̜͚̱̯̫̊ͤ̒ͯ̒̆́ơ̬̥̭͖͍̊̚͟ͅt̛͚͓̖̙͔̼̊̃͗̑̀ͭͮ́͟ͅ ̝͇͔̝̑̋̅ͦ̅̿t̢̹̱̻̟̦̯̔͂ͧ̈ͧ̈h̡͕̦͙̭͖̜̝̻́̎ế̲̺͈̔ͫ͢ ̸͕̘̙͙̔͒ͫͥ͑͟͞S̡̮͕̗͇̙͇̏̌̕ė̠̭̅ͣ̊͘v̢̇͊̓ͩ͂ͣͧͨ҉̢͙͙̙ḗ̡̨̦̭̱nͯͮ͏̢̮̝̹̬̗͡ ̗̠̰͉̦̲̈̅̊́̃̽͋͞S̳̯͈̺͈ͥ͛̎ͬ̀́͠a̵̧̟͇̙̼̣͕̅̈́ͨ̒g̨̦̘͉̹͇̀ͥ̐̏ͩ͜e̢̓̓͘͏̲̼̜͓̹̮ͅs̬̞̯ͨ̐̋͆̓͢ ̴̱̲̣̞̺̳͓̤̐̊ͪt̶͚̩͉͙ͤ͌̔ͤ̚͜͡ͅh̟͊ͮ̈̃͟͠ȩ̣̻͖͕̩̻̹̤̾͑͠͞ͅm̴̸͍̯̦̪̽̄́͒s̷̨̛͖̬̥̥̖͔̘̉̔̂ḛ̥͉ͦ̔̅͟ͅl̰̓̐̇̓̾̐v̷͆͊ͤ̾̄̓ͬ̀̇͡͏̫̫̪̝̣͚̟e͐̑͏͔͈̲̺̫͙ͅs̛̳͉̙ͧ̉ ̶̜ͪl̖͉̤͖͓̦̺̹ͩ̌͢ͅa͚ͧ̽̓̇̏͋ȳ̷̖͔͡ ͔́̓ͪͩ̍ͣ̕͞o̸̧͉͈̦͚̤̖͙̻̓̌͊̉̔͞u̷̮̣̰͙̺͉͚̹̎̀̍t̟̽̔̈ͦͦ̊ ̷͈̱͖̗̤̓́i̯̤͚͍̋ͩ͗͌̆͐͗̀͘͝t̸̷̟̯͎̼̺̪̦ͩͭͧ̊͑͐ͅŝ̛͚̹̜͔̹͔͓͇ͭ͆̾͒ͯ͘ ̵̰̝̝̪̼̞̟͎͙́ͦ̃̇̚p̸̮̙̟̠̯̖̮̃ͭͪ͜l̒̚͏͍̦ả̐̌҉̹̱̜̤n̨̙̝̻̘̟ͤ̑̋̓͊̀̚͠s̷̰̮̬̩̙͍̬̣̀̑ͧͥ͆̿̈͠?̶̥ͯͯ̾̿̅͘͞"



Oh God dammit, this version is corrupted
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:15 AM on August 14, 2012 [19 favorites]

Can those professional betacam decks actually play consumer betamax? I think the tape is a different width.
Nope.
Completely different format.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:17 AM on August 14, 2012

Digital material is best stored by being used and copied constantly.

this is not merely missing the point, this is sandblasting the point flat and putting a table on it
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 8:18 AM on August 14, 2012 [7 favorites]

...so that a reasonable decoder can be programmed centuries from now when computers are totally different and don't run POSIX C.

Hahahah. No POSIX C? That is like saying cockroaches and sharks will one day go extinct.
posted by procrastination at 8:20 AM on August 14, 2012 [8 favorites]

This just screams to be combined with the ultimate resolution printing tech.
posted by deo rei at 8:25 AM on August 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

To make sure a computer will be available that can run the decoder, it really should be ported to COBOL.
posted by localroger at 8:28 AM on August 14, 2012

Oh God dammit, this version is corrupted

No, that always happens when you read the ancient inscriptions aloud. Don't worry, tech support will be sliding out of the forgotten angles to provide assistance and soulflaying shortly. Please stay on the line!
posted by FatherDagon at 8:31 AM on August 14, 2012 [3 favorites]

Oh hey, I tried to do this in high school (like 15 years ago). I got ~120 pages of text onto a single sheet of paper, using colored squares to represent bytes. Decoding was a problem....
posted by miyabo at 8:33 AM on August 14, 2012

I had to restore 75GB of data this weekend: master "tapes" for nearly everything I've recorded in the last decade (I lost a lot of pre-2002 stuff in a crash, naturally). At 3MB a page, that's only 5 cases of paper.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:36 AM on August 14, 2012

I developed a 3x5 font and printed the bible on one sheet at 300 DPI in the 80s with my first LaserJet. With a magnifying glass one could just make it out.
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:36 AM on August 14, 2012

I could swear I saw similar tech being advertised in commercial magazines in the early 90s. This was before the Internet really took off; the big sales angle was that you could encode a file to paper and fax it to someone else, who could then scan it back into their computer and reconstruct the file. Magic! A way to send computer files to someone halfway around the world! I remember the big selling point being hey, every business has a fax, so this is going to be the Next Big Thing.
posted by xedrik at 8:38 AM on August 14, 2012

This is why I store all my most precious data in my constantly upgraded neurobiological personal storage device.
posted by spitbull at 8:38 AM on August 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

Of course, mean time between failures is only about 72 years or so.
posted by spitbull at 8:39 AM on August 14, 2012

I've noticed with my laser printer the ink will fade after a few years, stored in a hot attic environment (sort of a compression of time). Probably need to find archival ink along with the acid-free archival paper.
posted by stbalbach at 8:44 AM on August 14, 2012

I got two words for you: oral tradition.
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:47 AM on August 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

Serious question: besides photos and doctoral dissertations and drafts of novels, what are people backing up that's really important?
posted by desjardins at 8:50 AM on August 14, 2012

I got two words for you: oral tradition

Oddly, the Road Dogg has two similar words.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:51 AM on August 14, 2012

I don't backup merely the things that are "really important". I also backup things that would be an inconvenience to lose. Like recipes or my instructions on how to configure my mail server.
posted by DU at 8:53 AM on August 14, 2012

Serious question: besides photos and doctoral dissertations and drafts of novels, what are people backing up that's really important?

When a client calls you up and says: "We lost our only digital copy of that document you created for us five years ago, do you still have it?"

It makes you look good to be able to say: "Yes."
posted by 256 at 9:06 AM on August 14, 2012 [3 favorites]

I have a message from my time traveling neighbor from the year 100,000,000,000. Archeologists from his time react with fear in excavating a new site for fear that they might destroy some random piece of information. Is that paint on the wall, or is some info-dense data substrate where every atom's position is rich in secret significance? When you pick-axed through the wall, did the surface you destroyed contain the only key to understanding the room's contents?

Also, he asks if we could please stop building crushing rolling boulder, launching spear and scything blade traps into all our datacenters, as they provide a substantial occupational hazard to ancient culture research.
posted by JHarris at 9:11 AM on August 14, 2012 [7 favorites]

Oh, wow - I really want to use this as a tool for glitch art.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:17 AM on August 14, 2012

Data currently stored on 5.25" floppy disks is effectively lost because there are few people with access to working drives.

You can buy 5.25 floppy drives on Amazon for $15. You can plug them into just about any desktop PC in place of a 3.5 floppy. All southbridge chips still contain a floppy controller and most motherboards still have a floppy connector. Plug in your 5.25 drive and copy all your files to any format you want. Or if the data is really valuable and you don't want to do it yourself, there are lots of copy services that will do it for you.

This idea of losing valuable data because of obsolescence is silly. You only lose data if it really worthless and not worth the trouble of preserving.
posted by JackFlash at 9:19 AM on August 14, 2012 [2 favorites]

I got two birds for you; floral and transition.

Aside from that, there's also the issue of a calamity affecting enough people that the oral tradition could not be sustained. An example of that is the Irish culture after the Great Famine, as they had an oral history and everything had to be remembered through song and story, were it traditions, history, medicine, etc. "Recreation and leisure ceased. Poetry, music and dancing died. These things were lost and completely forgotten. When life improved in other ways, these pursuits never returned as they had been. The Famine killed everything." Source.
posted by Zack_Replica at 9:20 AM on August 14, 2012

> what are people backing up that's really important?

Serious answer: data. In the pharmaceutical industry, companies want to keep their data (especially QC data on batches of drugs that have been sold) for decades. Because a lawsuit may happen long after the batch has sold out, companies want to be able to prove that the batch met all the standards for purity and efficacy. There still may be long-term side effects that nobody ever anticipated, but at least you can prove you didn't screw up that batch. I'm sure there are other industries that are equally concerned about huge lawsuits which also retain data for decades.

This was a major headache at one job, since they had old data from lab instruments that ran Windows 95. The IT department had to keep a few legacy computers running just in case anybody ever needed to retrieve that data - the companies that made the instruments had folded and there was no updated software that could read the data files on a modern machine. It was such a hassle that Management decreed we would keep as much data ON PAPER as possible. (Paper also avoids some potential problems with data corruption or fraud, although it has problems of its own.)
posted by Quietgal at 9:26 AM on August 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oh, I understand the business case for indefinite backups. I was just wondering what the casual user finds important.

Somewhere, I have floppies with a diary I wrote on whatever word processing software came standard with low end Gateway computers in 1998. It's totally gobbedlygook now when I try to open them in notepad or Word, but I'd like to be able to read them again.
posted by desjardins at 9:43 AM on August 14, 2012 [2 favorites]

Also, he asks if we could please stop building crushing rolling boulder, launching spear and scything blade traps into all our datacenters, as they provide a substantial occupational hazard to ancient culture research.

I blame the intersection of the IT world and the world of adults who once were young men that adventured through S1: Tomb of Horrors.
posted by thanotopsis at 9:49 AM on August 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

desjardins: "Oh, I understand the business case for indefinite backups. I was just wondering what the casual user finds important. "

Tax records. Various medical documents. Job-related documents and files that are a part of my career portfolio. Wills.

Before and after my kids were born, I wrote a lot about my experiences in the moment. Also, quite a lot of pictures. I'd hate to lose that stuff.

After my grandfather passed away, I inherited his writings: Poems, short stories, various analyses, etc. Lots of unpublished stuff that has little value to the outside world. They're currently kept in a couple of large banker's boxes in my closet. Eventually, I'd like to get them all scanned and perhaps bound into a curated volume I can distribute to my extended family.
posted by zarq at 9:56 AM on August 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

I've noticed with my laser printer the ink will fade after a few years

Laser printers don't use ink, they use toner which is basically carbon black, thermally bonded to the paper. Laser printed output does not fade, although the toner particles can in some situations be drawn off onto another piece of paper that's pressed tightly against the print for a long time in a hot environment.

Most black ink also uses carbon black as the pigment, and shouldn't fade. Colors other than black, however, are often organic dyes and will be totally invisible after enough exposure to heat or sunlight.
posted by localroger at 10:03 AM on August 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

If you're curious but don't want to install the software, a PaperBack printout appears to looks like this (ironically served as a JPEG).
posted by rh at 10:12 AM on August 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

I can't tell from the image, but are these blocks QR Codes or maybe Data Matrix? Or just a format of his own invention?

If they're QR codes then he should be able to store one or two kilobytes in a 177x177 matrix with version 40 and medium error correction. Based on his estimate of 500,000 bytes on a letter size sheet at 600-dpi, I'm guessing his format is in the same ballpark.
posted by rh at 10:33 AM on August 14, 2012

I find it an interesting notion because I love postapocalyptic fiction and I'm always thinking about "how do you preserve all that knowledge in an accessible way" kinds of things. But paper is really susceptible to damage from damp and heat, even before you get into "the building floods or burns down" kind of territory, and it can't be read again without a computer, so maybe this won't be how I try to preserve the great works of literature for my future zombie-proof shelter.
posted by gracedissolved at 10:38 AM on August 14, 2012

There is also a version that works with slabs of stone but it requires lots of slaves. An empire of slaves, really.
posted by deo rei at 12:09 PM on August 14, 2012

Their best scholars puzzle over the ceramic tablets for decades, as they separately develop computer technology which suggests the possible purpose of the tablets. Their best cryptographers work out the clues laid out in ancient pictographs and finally, one day, it is announced...

B...e...s...u...r...e...t...o...d...r...i...n...k...y...o...u...r...o...v...a...l...t...i...n...e...?!
posted by infinitywaltz at 2:26 PM on August 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

I love that it doesn't matter what order the pages are in. (Except for the first page that tells you what the file is.) So it's okay if you trip and spill paper all over the floor. Just pick it up and keep feeding it into the scanner.
posted by Kevin Street at 10:20 PM on August 14, 2012