Raiders of the Lost Artifacts

[Josh]

Hi, my name's Josh, I'm the one who went with my dad to CA to uncover the first treasure. I've made decent progress towards solving the other two as well...but I have to admit, the codes are much harder to crack than the first one was. And while I'm not against collaboration, exactly, it would be rather difficult to find a fair way of splitting the reward. Personally, I'd keep the buried artifacts over the cash, but I'm sure many of you probably would do the same. Anyway, I'm glad there is now a major forum for discussion up, it would have been nice to have earlier on; while I don't consider myself a riddle expert by any means, and though we're all technically competing against each other, I would be glad to help anyone if I can. And conversely, there is still quite a bit that I could use some help with, especially with the codes. Don't worry, though, I won't be giving away all the answers I have so far...there's still the grand prize up for grabs, after all. But if anyone would like to work together on cracking these last two codes, as well as trying for the grand prize, I'm up for it, if you can think of a good way to split the reward.

[smfadmin]

Josh,

We're honored to have you.  Everyone:  you can read about Josh and his adventures here [url]http://www.trumalia.net/seriesB.shtml[/url].  Josh and his father blew my mind when they told me about their one-day journey from Texas to the California desert and back.  Talk about a busy day!   

[Firefly]

well done, josh!  you have a lot to be proud of.  i, for one, am no good at riddles.  my skills seem to be limited to art identification, which has earned me quite a few points, but will not help me with the enigmas. 

[Magnus]

The infamous Josh!

I hope that when you find your next buried treasure you allow more than one day for the trip!

[Josh]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I have to say, rumors of my fame are greatly exaggerated, but thanks nonetheless  As for finding another buried treasure, well, with school starting back up again I'm not sure I'll have the free time. But I was more than happy to get the chance to go treasure hunting back in June, so I wish everyone else here the best of luck.

[Maximus]

You may have felt your ears (or would that be eyes?) tingling as I wrote about you earlier.  No modesty allowed here.  You are the reigning champion.   

[MotherEarth]

Josh and other members!

When the time is right...will you share a picture of the shield, and how you solved the codes
of Series B?

We are most interested of how a Texas Aggie wrestled with that!
Congrats to you and Dad.

Regards,
MotherEarth

[Josh]

Sure will. There's a picture of the shield on the Trumalia website, along with my dad and me, but I'll try and find a closer view of it specifically. As for how I solved the code, it was basically a lot of trial and error that kept me up till 2 in the morning one night, when I finally cracked it. I have to say, there's nothing like knowing you just cracked a code worth $1000 at two o'clock in the morning. Needless to say I couldn't sleep afterwards. But more details on the specific code later.

-Josh

[Magnus]

I have to say, there's nothing like knowing you just cracked a code worth $1000 at two o'clock in the morning. Needless to say I couldn't sleep afterwards. But more details on the specific code later.

-Josh

That's so cool! I better get crackin' on the other enigmas.

I'm also trying to spread the word about the website. I like that you can earn points and prizes just for solving random trivia questions inserted into the search results. This should make the site appeal to a broader base of people... who will hopefully then click on more ads and generate a big jackpot for the person to solve all 4 enigmas.

Imagine cracking a code at 2am worth $40,000?

[Magnus]

But more details on the specific code later.

-Josh

Not that I don't want you to share how you cracked the code... but you do realise that it will give your competitors a heads up on you? Whoever solves all four enigmas will have to solve the code you already cracked. By explaining the code you'll make it all that much easier for everyone else. But hey... you're welcome to share if you want! I'd like to know!

[Josh]

Yep, I thought about that, too. So by "later" I meant after this set of enigmas are done and someone has won the grand prize. Of course, by then I won't be the only one to have solved the code, so it might not be as exciting to learn how the eventual winner of the grand prize cracked the puzzle of the roman numerals, for instance. Which I honestly have no clue how those work. But yes, after all is said and done, I'd be glad to share how sleep deprivation and probably unhealthy amounts of caffeine (in the form of Mountain Dew) allowed me to crack one of the Enigma codes.

[EmTotz]

But yes, after all is said and done, I'd be glad to share how sleep deprivation and probably unhealthy amounts of caffeine (in the form of Mountain Dew) allowed me to crack one of the Enigma codes.

Amazzinng.. Congrats by the way hun.. I would love to spend $1000 on mountain dew and shipping over here... *drools* I love that stuff but it hasn't been over here since i was about 6! Haha.. So basically... i've got to stay up for three days, drink a few hundred pots of coffee... and i should be able to crack one... not to mention flying across the world to find it... i'll tell you what... i manage to crack one... I'll let you get it!!!

xx Em xx