Fergie's Tech Blog

Off Beat: Coders Crack Secret of 'San Jose Semaphore' on Adobe Building - UPDATE

Sal Pizarro writes on The Mercury News:

San Jose scientists Bob Mayo and Mark Snesrud have been revealed as the two best cyber-sleuths in Silicon Valley. The pair each cracked the code of the San Jose Semaphore, which has been perplexing commuters and downtown visitors since its bright yellow wheels started spinning atop the Adobe building last August.

Mayo and Snesrud are being honored at a news conference this afternoon at San Jose City Hall. At the event, Mayor Chuck Reed and City Councilman Sam Liccardo will reveal what the code says.

Perhaps another secret will be revealed, too: Just how much time did Mayo and Snesrud spend obsessing over the art project's spinning disks and just what do they do that gives them that much free time?

More here.

Note: Watch this space. When I find out what it means, I'll post a link. - ferg

UPDATE: 18:13 PDT: "The four, 10-foot-wide illuminated amber circles were revealing text from the 1960's book, "The Crying of Lot 49" by Thomas Pynchon." Details here.

posted by Fergie @ 8/14/2007 01:52:00 PM