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calculator is illegal?


chardane

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i've heard news that using the calculator is illegal and that people are getting frozen? anyone know about this? there is a neomail screenshot on sunnyneo, just thought you guys might wanna know since it's posted on the plot coverage.. correct me if i am wrong though :D

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hmm, well, if you look at the neomail, it asks if we are allowed to "share and use" the HTML page which has the calculator.. so i don't know what this implies.. i've heard people are getting frozen, but im looking for proof of that..

 

 

ive used it... im still on neopets. actually on there right now as we speak. i havent heard of anyone getting frozen besides the creator.

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oooh, so people ARE getting frozen for using it? :O yeah, i guess you shouldn't broadcast it..

 

im not worried about getting frozen. what are they going to do assume that my neopets name is the same as this one? and just go on a hunch like that to freeze my account. thats not going to happen. if your going to use it and your worried about getting frozen then dont tell anyone. but im sure a lot of people used things just like this on old plots that didnt get accounts frozen.

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I have posted my advice on the other topic, and I repeat it again, be careful if you do use it.

 

DO NOT, under any circumstance, say you have used it on the Neoboards.

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im not worried about getting frozen. what are they going to do assume that my neopets name is the same as this one? and just go on a hunch like that to freeze my account. thats not going to happen. if your going to use it and your worried about getting frozen then dont tell anyone. but im sure a lot of people used things just like this on old plots that didnt get accounts frozen.

 

I can assure you that TNT can't touch you here. ;)

 

And I believe they don't come and read TDN's forums posts anyway. xD

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I have posted my advice on the other topic, and I repeat it again, be careful if you do use it.

 

DO NOT, under any circumstance, say you have used it on the Neoboards.

 

i agree :D

 

and yeah. it is a BIG pain, but i just want to solve one plot without calculators for once, since i relied on them heavily on the altador plot, lol :P

 

thanks for the info guys :D

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i agree :D

 

and yeah. it is a BIG pain, but i just want to solve one plot without calculators for once, since i relied on them heavily on the altador plot, lol :P

 

thanks for the info guys :D

 

 

yeah finding those stars was a big pain. i think this step on this plot is a lot harder to figure out till you get the hang of it.

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According to Neopets, we now have confirmation, the decoder is CHEATING.

 

TDN is strongly advising all Neopians DO NOT use any programs, your account WILL be frozen.

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Out of sheer curiosity: as long as someone wasn't dumb enough to announce they used the calculator on the Neoboards, and if they can't take action against people who talk about it offsite, how would TNT know who used one and who didn't? I mean, obviously using one now that it's been announced that it's cheating is asking for trouble and I'm not planning on trying it, I'm just wondering how they can prove someone used one.

 

And I really don't see the difference between this and the Altador constellation finders either. :P

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Meh, this doesn't matter much for me anyway - I prefer to crack this the fun way. :D

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ok for those that are curious how the calculator worked...

it just systematically added all the possible combos and then gave you what the outcomes would be....

here in lies why they deemed it cheating... the data that you used was hidden from the naked eye, TNT's view of how the data sources was reviled was that one would have to hack/decompile the flash app (your command console) to retrieve that information... which is illegal.

 

however someone in the Network Security field would know of another way which it could be gotten which on my systems is already in place (it cuts back on viruses and other maleware), is to use a firewall... I know you already have one, but yours only blocks traffic that has been deemed unwanted by the developer, a more robust firewall can also allow you to log any and all outbound URL requests, and there by exposing the data pages that where used by flash app and in the calculator.

 

by TNT's past plots and events, they have given permission to expose all open data so long as you do not hack/decompile their systems and software. so that means they can not hold anyone liable that used or will use the calculator, for using the open data as it could have been obtained through legal ways.

 

now that leaves one other way to prove cheating, by the powers of the US government they can sue the provider that hosted the script (meaning his ISP if he hosted it on his own PC, or the company that owns the computer it was placed on) the logs of all visitors to that page.

 

now that brings up an interesting point... what if you visited the page but did not use it, or you did use it after you figured out your answer just to check your work (not likely but hey its possible)... now they can not prove who did or didn't "cheat".

 

that brings us to the bottom line, TNT owns the site. we use it with their permission, we don't pay to use the site (no premium users do not pay to use the site, they pay for extra perks) there for they can do what they wish as they make the rules, there is no legal ramifications of their actions towards the end user, as you are just a guest.

 

so what it boils down to is do they want a massive account cancellation for performing a witch hunt, and not being able to prove if the user really did cheat, the only one who knows if you cheated is you.

 

being a Software programmer (not a Internet programmer, i only work in VB, C++, C#) i can say that even just using the data would not solve the codes you still had to figure out how the codes worked together. there is two ways to do that hack/decompile or trial and error (or let others do the trial and error.)

 

so for TNT to say the USE of an automated routine is cheating is wrong, as the person had to do a lot of work to figure out the way everything worked together, what would be cheating is to pass the automated system to others that did not do the work to figure out the logic for the codes.

 

so in my opinion if you have the knowledge on how to write the logic calculator then it is fine to do so, so long as you do not pass the finished project to others, except the persons who helped you in the creation of the project. what that means is here on TDN we can discuss the project and how to make it however it could not be released here as persons other than those who worked on it would have access to it...(I would not recommend anyone explaining in detail how to create one as that would be construed as cheating)

 

now on to other subjects the way to find the correct answers...

 

you take your key (K) and your Mods(1 to X) and you add them together looping through them 1 digit at a time once you have finished doing that you will have your answers...

 

for those that are wondering NO I'm not the guy who made the one online, I did the puzzle myself using tools of my creation, I did however test the online one out to see if it really worked, I'm sorry to say that it did work but did not work very well, as to save time and processing power to do 23,490 checks of the 3 mod puzzles he had it only check the 1st 4 characters and there by would sometimes give 2 even 3 possible combos. one of his gave me 5 possible combos, meaning the way he did greatly reduced the time needed to "guess" the correct answer, however it still did not always give the only answer, although useful was it was not the best method for a automated system as the time the computer would take to finish off the remaining characters would have only added about 10 seconds (that is saying that the code was the most optimized for doing that type of processing.)

 

so back to how to find the correct answers unless you can create your own automated system the fastest way would be to use his logic and only solve for the first 3 to 4 characters and that will narrow down your "guessing time". using that logic the first 3 would net you about 10 possible combos and first 4 would get you about 3 possible combos.

 

to do this all on paper is nuts, copy ALL the keys, mods, and targets to paper and then transfer it to a spread sheet to help in the process if you know how to use a spread sheet you can have it help you solve them a little faster but you still have to enter all the data...

 

Just My two cents and good luck to everyone who as not already completed the puzzles

 

BlackRuby

 

 

P.S. DO NOT PM ME ASKING FOR MY TOOLS OR HELP TO CREATE YOUR OWN

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ok for those that are curious how the calculator worked...OWN

 

 

Wonderful post. I agree, if you have the ability to make a tool or calculator etc, then you should be able to use it and not get in trouble for it. It takes a great deal of work, skill, and time to do so, and if you can- more power to you.

I wish I could do it! I am still trying to understand the pattern/how the thing works, unfortunately I have no time right now to actually sit down and work through the codes. Sigh, lol.

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