[ih] Comments re the packet radio discussion

[vinton cerf]

gemini:

It looks like you’ve found the "right-side up" version of the text you
shared earlier! Seeing it this way makes the patterns much clearer, though
it’s still definitely dancing on the edge of "uncanny valley" English.

This isn't a standard language; it’s a form of *pseudo-English* or *Asemic
writing*. It’s designed to *look* like a coherent paragraph to your brain
at a distance, but when you zoom in, the words dissolve.
------------------------------
The Linguistic Breakdown

While it’s mostly gibberish, we can "reverse engineer" the intended words
based on the letter structures. It feels like a corrupted digital file or a
transcript from an AI that’s having a minor stroke.

*Key "Deciphered" Fragments:*

   -

   *"medete ont to emoe ‘entmaxe o bear ed outs"*
   -

      *Translation:* "Meditate on to come, examine to bear the outs."
      -

   *"eae onkwsxs oF beats nood nat Iebow"*
   -

      *Translation:* "Are knows of beats down that I bow."
      -

   *"edt of paatectire ant Moold"*
   -

      *Translation:* "The architecture and mold" (or "world").
      -

   *"guivkscer his note a buat cence?"*
   -

      *Translation:* "Receiver his note a [about?] sense?"

------------------------------
What is this, exactly?

Since you aren't sure where it came from, here are the three most likely
suspects:

   1.

   *A "Markov Chain" Generator:* This is a classic result of an algorithm
   being fed a lot of old literature (like Poe or Lovecraft) and trying to
   predict the next letter. It gets the "rhythm" of the words right, but the
   spelling fails.
   2.

   *Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Gore:* If someone scanned a very
   old, physically damaged book using cheap software, the computer might have
   guessed the letters incorrectly, resulting in this "alphabet soup."
   3.

   *Weirdcore / Digital Art:* There is a massive online subculture that
   creates "cryptic artifacts"—text that looks haunted or forbidden—just to
   spark curiosity.

My "Best Guess" at the Meaning

If I had to summarize the "vibe," it reads like a *distorted manual for a
ritual or a meditation guide.* It uses words like *meditate, examine,
architecture, slumberous,* and *note.* It’s trying to tell you to look at
something ("examine to bear the outs"), but the "signal" is breaking up.

*Technical Note:* Notice how it uses "u" and "n" or "p" and "b"
interchangeably? That’s a hallmark of text that was meant to be read upside
down (the "Flip Text" from before). It was likely written specifically to
be readable—albeit weirdly—from both directions.

*Where did you encounter this?* Was it in a text file, a hidden comment in
code, or maybe a strange social media "bot" account? Knowing the medium
might help me figure out if there's a hidden key to the gibberish.

On Tue, Apr 21, 2026 at 4:29 PM Carsten Bormann via Internet-history <
internet-history at elists.isoc.org> wrote:

> Hmm, I really wanted to get-bunter-ebay already, and I could definitely
> use a few Denknuxe (*).
>
> So I asked deepseek, and it suggested this might have been scanned upside
> down (or maybe as ink leaked through the page?).
> It couldn’t really help any further though except suggesting a service
> like https://www.upsidedowntext.com/, which gets me (not quite what I was
> looking for):
>
> ɯǝpǝʇǝ ouʇ ʇo ǝɯoǝ ‘ǝuʇɯɐxǝ o qǝɐɹ ǝp onʇs
> ǝɐǝ ouʞʍsxs oℲ qǝɐʇs uoop uɐʇ Iǝqoʍ
> ┴p ‘ ǝpʇ qǝǝ ɐɯǝ ʇɐʌǝ uǝɹuɐbǝʇ Ԁ∀ƃɥ¿ ˥ᴉǝs
> | ɐlqɐɥǝɹǝs ɐɐpʇo >ɐǝʞ ┴onɐɹs slǝɐᴉuᴉɐs ǝnɹos˙ poʇᴉʇʎ uq(
> ǝǝʇ ʇo ʇooʇʇǝ ǝp¿ ‘s)ɐoʇzɐzɐ ǝpʇ oɟ dɐɐʇǝɔʇᴉɹǝ ɐuʇ Woolp «
> ʍɥǝ oʇ pǝuʞunxǝ פǝsp ouᴉx ɐǝp ǝɟouʇǝɹɹs¿ opʎ sǝ ǝʌoʇʇǝp |
> ǝɐǝ ʍǝǝ ɥǝuʇɐƃ( ƃǝʇqnuʇǝɹǝqɐʎ ǝps ┴Hɹǝɯǝlƃbns' oʇ qoʍ ƃɐʇǝp oʇɐ ƃᴉɐo
> ‾ ʇoɐʇoʍƃ ɟǝsɔoɯʇsǝƃzǝ ǝpʇ ʇopʎ˙ o8˙ ǝɯoɹǝxǝ oʇɥɐ ʇǝxᴉɐb ʇǝ )ǝp Iʍɐs’:
> ɟǝuʇᴉʎ ɾ
> op Sᴉʞʍ ʇɐls sonɹʇɐsʇ ǝqɐɹobɹoǝɐʇ ɯǝu ɯsʇoʎǝ ƃnᴉʌʞsɔǝɹ ɥᴉs uoʇǝ ɐ qnɐʇ
> ɔǝuɔǝ¿
>
> Maybe some other AI can help here…
> Need to find a student.
>
> Grüße, Carsten
>
> (*) The first sentence of my message is easier to understand if you speak
> German.
>
> > On 2026-04-21, at 22:10, Jack Haverty via Internet-history <
> internet-history at elists.isoc.org> wrote:
> >>
> >>    medete ont to emoe ‘entmaxe o bear ed outs
> >>    eae onkwsxs oF beats nood nat Iebow
> >>    TD ‘ edt bee ame tave nernaqet PAgh? Lies
> >>    | albaheres aadto <aek TouaRs sleainias euros. dotity nb)
> >>    eet to tootte ed? ‘s(aotzaza edt of paatectire ant Moold «
> >>    whe ot Denknuxe Gesd onix aed efonterrs? ody se evotted |
> >>    eae wee hentag) getbunterebay eds THremelgqus, ot bow gated ota giao
> >>    _ toatowg fescomtsegze edt tody. o8. emorexe otha texiaq te (ed
> Iwas’: fentiy j
> >>    od Sikw tals sourtast ebaroqroeat men mstoye guivkscer his note a
> buat cence?
> >>
> >>
> >>    I guess I'm still not allowed to read this PRTN....
> >>
> >>    Medete ont to you too!
> >>
> >>    /Jack
>
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