The story played out across the East Midlands and as part of the GameCity7 festival. With over 500 live events and interventions taking place in Nottingham, Leicester, Derby and Sleaford.

The game started with the first live event “Whose Holy Grail? – A lecture by Dr Solomon Baxter” on the 15th October. Halfway through the lecture, 3 armed men burst in assaulted and then abducted Dr Solomon in front of an unsuspecting live audience.

Dr Solomon’s estranged daughter, Rachel Baxter, was also in the audience and makes herself known by having a row with our other main character, Alex Bailey, in full view of the audience. She reveals that her farther left her an envelope containing a number of clues before his sudden abduction. At this point the audience members are all given an envelope identical to Rachel’s and encouraged to join AMBER and the game begins…

http://www.malthusianparadox.com/
http://www.weareamber.com/

The Malthusian Paradox is a joint Covernomics, Urban Angel and Mixed Reality Lab production. The project was also supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. A big thank you goes to all the organisations and venues who have partnered with us and supported the project from the very beginning. We couldn’t have done it without you.

GameCity7

Nottingham Contemporary

Phoenix Square

Derby QUAD

The National Centre for Craft and Design

Montana Shop Nottingham

The CGP is a Covernomics created device that prints onto any surface using 7 Arduino controlled spray cans. Combining dot matrix-inspired technology with specialist mtn 360 industrial markers the CGP is able to operate at any angle enabling you to write equally well on walls, floors and even ceilings.

A custom application created in Processing translates your desired message into a series of on/off signals for each of the cans, this is then uploaded to the Arduino and triggered with the simple push of a button.

You can see more images of the CGP and its work on Flickr.

Prior art and inspiration:
StreetWriter
Bikes Against Bush
Near Tag Quality

People of all ages and abilities can take part together in 5 minute doubles or singles matches. The table is completely white and the balls used are dipped in a small amount of water-based paint before each serve.  And as the participants play, they contribute to the creation of a Jackson Pollock style masterpiece on the tabletop.

A HD digital camera is hung above the table to record the days events. Still images of the tabletop are automatically taken before, during and after each match and uploaded directly to twitter and the Ping Pong Pollock flickr gallery to show the gradual build up of the final painting and make the images instantly accessible and easily sharable by participants via social media.

For more information or if you would like to have Ping Pong Pollock at your event/gallery please contact us.

View the Flickr gallery.

Building on these ideas and the work of The F.A.T. Lab we have created our own set of QR code stencils for Agent and public use. Covernomics specific, the QR stencils are designed to act as a covert signposting and information sharing mechanism, ideally suited to urban environments, they are able to provide useful information and guidance to our Agents, urban survivalists and hobos alike.

anonymous png | stencil	access restricted png | stencil	always open png | stencil	beware CCTV png | stencil
beware of dog png | stencil	beware of gangs png | stencil	beware of hoodies png | stencil	bikes stolen png | stencil
broken CCTV png | stencil	cars stolen png | stencil	closed WiFi png | stencil	covernomics png | stencil
danger png | stencil	dead end png | stencil	destroy png | stencil	deep water png | stencil
do not drink png | stencil	epic fail png | stencil	fast WiFi png | stencil	for the lulz png | stencil
free parking png | stencil	free plug sockets png | stencil	free WiFi png | stencil	friendly dog png | stencil
game over man png | stencil	graffiti zone png | stencil	good tea png | stencil	GPS is wrong png | stencil
hackers welcome png | stencil	hidden entrance png | stencil	high security png | stencil	look down png | stencil
look up png | stencil	lulz png | stencil	leave this place png | stencil	no escape png | stencil
no retreat png | stencil	no surrender png | stencil	no security guard png | stencil	not real png | stencil
not safe png | stencil	not secure png | stencil	occupy png | stencil	open WiFi png | stencil
protest site png | stencil	pm2012 png | stencil	police active png | stencil	police inactive png | stencil
polluted png | stencil	pwned png | stencil	recyclable png | stencil	safe png | stencil
security patrols png | stencil	tango down png | stencil	underground png | stencil	working png | stencil

All stencils have been created using QR_STENCILER created by FFFFF.AT

Last mouth a curious cryptographic website appeared called canyoucrackit.co.uk.

At first, not much was known about the purpose or origin on the website and the cryptographic challenge it showed.

We noticed the site being posted around Twitter and our curiosity got the better of us and we decided to have a go at cracking the code and discovering the keyword.

Well, it turns out that the website is hosted by GCHQ. The United Kingdom’s spy agency. After we completed the challenge and entered the keyword, it redirected us to a website where you can apply for a job with MI5 as a ‘Cyber Security Specialist’.

Stage 1 Solution:

http://canyoucrackit.co.uk/15b436de1f9107f3778aad525e5d0b20.js
Hint: Go to canyoucrackit.co.uk and save the image file (cyber.png)

Stage 2 Solution:

http://canyoucrackit.co.uk/da75370fe15c4148bd4ceec861fbdaa5.exe
Hint: The js file from Stage 1 contains VM information that you need to emulate, then dump the memory while emulating to find the next clue.

Stage 3 Solution:

http://canyoucrackit.co.uk/hqDTK7b8K2rvw/a3bfc2af/d2ab1f05/da13f110/key.txt
Hint: Rename the .exe to ‘keygen.exe’.

And the keyword is:

Pr0t3ct!on#cyber_security@12*12.2011+

We are using our Drawnomic machine to explore human-computer interactions, where virtual actions in the digital word can influence and create physical change in the real word.

Drawnomic is capable of working in two distinct modes of operation: passive and reactive. In passive mode it simply recreates an existing image.

When in reactive mode Drawnomic can accept instruction and input directly, or indirectly from anywhere in the world via RSS and other data feeds. These instructions and inputs are then combined and interpreted by our unique software, the Drawnomic machine than takes a pen (a physical human tool) and uses it to draw the result.

The reactive mode translates the design process into a world-wide collaboration by utilising live data streams as a base for pattern generation. Due to the dynamic nature of these live data streams, the system generates patterns with unpredictable visuality. Live news feeds from the Internet are analysed, filtered and converted into a unique visual pattern that is then drawn by the machine. Because of this each drawing is completely unique and a direct result and representation of a specific day or time period.

You can see more images created by Drawnomic on Flickr.

Drawnomic prior art and inspiration:
Hektor
Der Kritzler
AS220 Drawbot
Polargraph
NewsKnitter

Drawnomic was created using Processing and Arduino.

Triggers can be quite diverse, appearing in the form of individual people, images, Logos, symbols, places, noises, smells, tastes, emotions, animals, films, weather conditions, time factors, or combinations thereof. Memory triggers can be subtle and difficult to anticipate, and can sometimes exacerbate post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition in which trauma survivors cannot control the recurrence of emotional or physical symptoms, or of repressed memory.

Film and other visual media represent an especially powerful form of memory trigger. Because of the realistic portrayal of graphic violence in visual media, trauma survivors may encounter life-like trauma triggers while watching movies or television. Because trigger scenes can be difficult to anticipate they can be difficult for a trauma survivor to avoid; by the time the viewer is aware of the content of the scene, a traumatic memory may already be triggered.

The attack, discovered by Covernomic researchers, exploits a vulnerability in Windows’ TrueType font engine. A full fix for the problem is still pending, and will not be part of Microsoft’s “Patch Tuesday” fixes for November.

The attack exploits the TrueType vulnerability, allowing us to gain access to the Windows kernel and run shell code, install programs, view, change, or delete data and create new accounts with full user rights.

As a temporary workaround, Microsoft ‘recommends’ shutting off access to T2EMBED.DLL, the dynamic link library that allows applications to display TrueType fonts. While the fix will prevent attacks, it will probably not be done by the vast majority of users.

The supercomputer “EPICAC” consists of 864 racks, comprising a total of 88,128 interconnected CPUs and has a theoretical calculation speed of 11.28 petaflops.

When the LINPACK benchmark program measured the EPICAC computer in its latest configuration, our supercomputer system achieved a speed of 10.51 petaflops exceeding its previous top speed of 8.162 petaflops.

So what kind of applications are we using EPICAC for?

Analysing the behaviour of nano-materials through simulations and contributing to the early development of such next-generation semiconductor materials, particularly nano-wires and carbon nanotubes, that are expected to lead to future fast-response, low-power devices.

Predicting which compounds, from among a massive number of drug candidate molecules, will prevent illnesses by binding with active regions on the proteins that cause illnesses, as a way to reduce drug development times and costs (pharmaceutical applications).

Simulating the actions of atoms and electrons in dye-sensitised solar cells to contribute to the development of solar cells with higher energy-conversion efficiency.

Simulating seismic wave propagation, strong motion, and tsunamis to predict the effects they will have on human-made structures; predicting the extent of earthquake-impact zones for disaster prevention purposes; and contributing to the design of quake-resistant structures.

Conducting high-resolution (400-m) simulations of atmospheric circulation models to provide detailed predictions of weather phenomena that elucidate localised effects, such as cloudbursts.

Covernomics researchers have been developing the EPICAC computer, as part our High-Performance Computing Infrastructure program.