UCLA floor tiles decoded, pay homage to first internet message (2013)

The original link of this article about it posted at UCLA, 10 years on, a lovely 404, with no redirect. :\ Depressing especially given the context of the homage.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;today.ucla.edu&#x2F;portal&#x2F;ut&#x2F;a-coded-message-hidden-in-floor-247232.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;today.ucla.edu&#x2F;portal&#x2F;ut&#x2F;a-coded-message-hidden-in-fl...</a>

The Werner Herzog documentary ‘Lo and Behold’ opens with a great telling of this story.<p>Generally a great documentary about facets and characters of the internet.

In case anyone else went to verify, note that the first character in the floor (01101100) is lowercase “l”, not the uppercase “L” (01001100) which was actually transmitted.

I wonder how people have missed those obvious 011xxxxx and 010xxxxx patterns before. Once you&#x27;ve solved your first binary-to-ASCII puzzle you&#x27;ll be guaranteed to spot that repeating prefix anywhere.

At the Case Western campus, there&#x27;s a &quot;binary walkway,&quot; which is decorated with paving stones which form 1s and 0s. It&#x27;s commonly accepted that there&#x27;s no message to them, but it&#x27;s fun to think that it just hasn&#x27;t been decoded yet.

Probably the only redeeming feature architecturally about Boelter Hall.<p>- alum

Something about the story doesn’t add up. Plenty of places use single-color vinyl tiles. Why did the contractor so urgently need a pattern to put on the floor?

U C L A Sucks <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;wSTc2h0i-lY" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;wSTc2h0i-lY</a>

403 forbidden :(

&gt; “We succeeded in transmitting the ‘L’ … and the ‘O’ — and then the system crashed,” Kleinrock said. “Hence, the first message on the Internet was ‘LO’ — as in ‘Lo and behold!’ We didn’t plan it, but we couldn’t have come up with a better message: short and prophetic.”<p>I like to take this story one step further. After doing some work, the two tried again. And, of course, they tried to log in. So the first three letters typed across the internet were &quot;LOL&quot;.

Worth noting that article is from 2013, the year the pattern was decoded, which was two years after the building was finished.