Binary puzzle

[DannyHamilton]

I saw the following on a T-Shirt recently.  Anybody have any idea what the binary code is meant to represent?

Code:

00101011010011
10111110001100
01101010110011
00101111100001

It was in 4 rows of 14 digits per row, just like that.

I tried combining the 4 rows together and breaking it into 8 bit bytes.  It breaks into an even 7 bytes, and I get the following:

Code:

  Binary      Hex
00101011    2B
01001110    4E
11111000    F8
11000110    C6
10101100    AC
11001011    CB
11100001    E1

Most of those don't translate to alphanumeric ascii characters.

With that hex written horizontally it looks like this:

Code:

2B4EF8C6ACCBE1

I tried looking at each column of 4 digits as a half byte with the lease significant bit at the bottom, and converted to hex.  I get the following 14 hex digits:

Code:

Binary  Hex
 0100   4
 0010   2
 1111   F
 0100   4
 1111   F
 0101   5
 1111   F
 1001   9
 0011   3
 1010   6
 0100   4
 0100   4
 1010   A
 1011   B

With that hex written horizontally it looks like this:

Code:

42F4F5F93644AB

I thought it might be a bitmap image, so I changed the 1's to X's and removed the 0's to see if I could see an image:

Code:

  X X XX X  XX
X XXXXX   XX  
 XX X X XX  XX
  X XXXXX    X

Doesn't look like anything to me.

Does anybody have any other ideas on what the binary on the T-Shirt might represent?

[1714851881]

1714851881

[1714851881]

1714851881

[KenJackson]

If I had seen the shirt, I probably would have done exactly what you did.  I can only add two observation:

• The number of 1-bits per line is  7, 8, 8, 7, and
• It's way too small to be an illegal prime number.
  

My guess is the artist just wanted to make a very vague, general statement to represent the digital world.  Maybe he just knew enough to know there would be people interested in buying it.

[DannyHamilton]

If I had seen the shirt, I probably would have done exactly what you did.  I can only add two observation:

• The number of 1-bits per line is  7, 8, 8, 7, and
• It's way too small to be an illegal prime number.
  

An observation that stood out to me was the fact that the 3rd, 5th, and 7th positions have a '1' in every row.

My guess is the artist just wanted to make a very vague, general statement to represent the digital world.  Maybe he just knew enough to know there would be people interested in buying it.

Since there are 16 possible configurations of 1's and 0's in a column, if the distribution of 1's and 0's were completely random, there should be a 1 in 16 chance that an entire column is 1's.  It seems surprising then for it to happen 3 times in 14 columns unless the binary has some non-random meaning.  Of the 14 columns, half of them end up being one of two different arrangements (three columns with 1111, and four columns with 0100).  It certainly is possible for such an occurrence with a random distribution of digits, but it "feels like" the more likely explanation is that there is some meaning in there somewhere.

[KenJackson]

..., if the distribution of 1's and 0's were completely random, there should be a 1 in 16 chance that an entire column is 1's.  It seems surprising then for it to happen 3 times in 14 columns unless the binary has some non-random meaning...., but it "feels like" the more likely explanation is that there is some meaning in there somewhere.

This is good logic if we're considering the output of a random number generator, or a pseudo RNG, with a uniform distribution.

But we're talking about a tee shirt which may have been made by someone who doesn't know anything about random numbers and is only interested in getting technical/math/IT people to part with some cash.  I wonder if it was generated by a source any more uniform than the artist's mind.

But you've got me curious, so I hope someone posts a more pleasing solution.

[Gleb Gamow]

I saw the following on a T-Shirt recently.

Ergo, you memorized the exact sequence, or you stopped the person long enough to scribe the code but forgot to ask the donner its significance.

2771     17   8
12172   13   4
6835     22   4
3041      8    8

00101011010011  7
10111110001100  8
01101010110011  8
00101111100001  7

XX X X  X XXX
 X     XXX  XXX
X  X X X  XX
XX X     XXXX

^^^I see a cat! 

[DannyHamilton]

I saw the following on a T-Shirt recently.

Ergo, you memorized the exact sequence, or you stopped the person long enough to scribe the code but forgot to ask the donner its significance.

T-Shirt was on a character on a T.V. show.

I paused the show with my DVR, and then copied the sequence.

2771     17   8
12172   13   4
6835     22   4
3041      8    8

00101011010011  7
10111110001100  8
01101010110011  8
00101111100001  7

XX X X  X XXX
 X     XXX  XXX
X  X X X  XX
XX X     XXXX

^^^I see a cat! 

A cat?  I don't see it.

[csharp11]

Converted to decimal its:

13012 - 11001011010100
12172 - 10111110001100
13142 - 11001101010110
8692 - 10000111110100

Otherwise binaries would be:

101011010011 - 2771
10111110001100 - 12172
1101010110011 - 6835
101111100001 - 3041

I know that when there are zeros as first digits in binaries you have to turn them backwards. Basically every 1 represets an exponent of 2.

so 1001 is 1*2^1 + 1*0^2+ 1*0^3 + 1*2^4  = 9.

[Remember remember the 5th of November]

The human brain is really good at finding patterns, sometimes too good for it's own sake. I'm afraid you are seeing patterns where there are none and this is just a random sequence with no meaning.

[DannyHamilton]

The human brain is really good at finding patterns, sometimes too good for it's own sake. I'm afraid you are seeing patterns where there are none and this is just a random sequence with no meaning.

I've already acknowledged that as a distinct possibility. However, since someone went to the effort to put it on a shirt, and a costume designer chose to put that shirt on an actor for a TV show, there's a good possibility that you are jumping to conclusions.

I'm not yet ready to give up on the idea that there may be some meaning in the sequence. 

[Remember remember the 5th of November]

When it comes to TV shows, they know much less than you and me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkDD03yeLnU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2rGTXHvPCQ

http://www.cracked.com/article_19160_8-scenes-that-prove-hollywood-doesnt-get-technology_p2.html

[Gleb Gamow]

I saw the following on a T-Shirt recently.

Ergo, you memorized the exact sequence, or you stopped the person long enough to scribe the code but forgot to ask the donner its significance.

2771     17   8
12172   13   4
6835     22   4
3041      8    8

00101011010011  7
10111110001100  8
01101010110011  8
00101111100001  7

XX X X  X XXX
 X     XXX  XXX
X  X X X  XX
XX X     XXXX

^^^I see a cat! 

2771: 2771 Polzunov (1978 SP7) is a main-belt asteroid discovered on September 26, 1978 by L. Zhuravleva at Nauchnyj.

12172: 12172 Niekdekort (provisional designation: 2390 T-3) is a main-belt minor planet. It was discovered by Cornelis Johannes van Houten, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld, and Tom Gehrels at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, on October 16, 1977. It is named after Niek De Kort, an astronomy author and enthusiast.

6835: 6835 Molfino (1994 HT1) is a main-belt asteroid discovered on April 30, 1994 by A. Vagnozzi at Stroncone.

3041: 3041 Webb (1980 GD) is a main-belt asteroid discovered on April 15, 1980 by E. Bowell at Flagstaff (AM).