Hey guys I'm brand new here but I've read TRST twice now cover to cover in one day both times :D
I am absolutely entranced by this book, it's completely unlike anything I've ever read. It transcends the bounds of literature and convention. But enough about that.
I think I made a discovery.
When you go to
http://steven-hall.org , you get the fish picture, and you can navigate to the "Links" page. The page that opens, however, appears at first glance to be blank.
I found this interesting. So I got curious, and took a look at the page source (you can do this in Firefox by right-clicking and selecting "view source."
I got the usual jumble of code, and also something VERRRY interesting. Mixed in with the mumbo-jumbo html code, there's an inserted comment, something that doesn't show up on the actual page. I have pasted it below:
</title><meta name="lkj" content="So you found the interesting characters on the site but now they are gone... where can they be? We control the horizontal. We control the vertical. ;) - WFC w/; lkj" /><meta name="author" content="Steven Hall"
No clue what it means, but i found it interesting. Any ideas??
Update: just went and checked the source code for some other pages on the steven-hall.org site. There are some interesting anomalies that I haven't been able to figure out. For example, on his biography page, there's a whole bunch of code that references something called "fosecret":
<script type='text/javascript' >var ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_foSecretlblSecret;function initctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_foSecretlblSecret(attempt){try{ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_foSecretlblSecret=new Flyout2('ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_foSecretlblSecret','ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_lblSecret','','ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_foSecret_content','BOTTOM_CENTER','MIDDLE','ONMOUSEOVER','ONMOUSEOUT',200,200,200,10,0,0,100,0,true,true,false,'#DDDDDD',25);if (ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_foSecretlblSecret.removeOCB!=null){ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_foSecretlblSecret.registerOpenEffect(new FlyingEffect('MIDDLE_CENTER'));ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_foSecretlblSecret.registerCloseEffect(new FlyingEffect('MIDDLE_CENTER'));}}catch(e){alert("Failed to initialize [foSecret] \n.Error:"+ e+ "\nPlease contact
support@obout.com for support.");}}oldctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_foSecretlblSecretload = window.onload;window.onload=function(evt){if (oldctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_foSecretlblSecretload!=null) oldctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_foSecretlblSecretload();initctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_foSecretlblSecret(0);};</script> </form>
Anybody with html knowledge know what this is about?
Update: another breakthrough. Go to the Steven Hall website's welcome page (http://steven-hall.org/welcome/) and click on the word "deleted", right between the first 'e' and the 'l' in the second paragraph. You should get a tan box that pops out, with gibbrish text, pasted below:
w;leq;e e qwelqj lekj l;ekj ;kqle lkqwjelqkwj elkqwj elkq elk qwlk eqwlk e;lqk e;lk ql;ekj qwlkej qwlk eqwlk elk qel kqwlk we
qwkejqekljqwlkejwqlkejql ke;jq;lkejqwk ;lejqwl;kejqlkjeklqwje;lkqwjeqlk lel qe qwlk jeqlwk e;k qwel;k qwk qwlk jelwqk
Don't know why that's there or what it means, but it was definitely deliberately hidden. I wouldn't have found it without going into the source code.
I know this sounds weird, but try it for yourself. And be amazed. Or at least confused.
This is definitely a deliberate insertion, especially given the seemingly-simplistic design of his website. I keep half expecting to click somewhere and a flash or java movie will play and the shark will swim out of the text at me :D
Anyway, I'll keep looking. And again, anybody with HTML knowledge who wants to put in their two cents would be helpful and appreciated.
Update: i think the flyout code refers to the animation of the shark that is found in the "work" page of the steven-hall.org site. It would make sense. But that's just a guess.
