In the source code of jackblack.info there is a base64 code that translate to "My desolation does begin to make A better life". This looks like viral marketing but really it would be of very poor taste for the Telegraph to do such a thing. I don't know what to think of this, I feel like such a tinfoil hatter.

That's from "Antony and Cleopatra" (Shakespeare), by the way, capital 'A' included. Not sure what it means:

Cleo. My desolation does begin to make
A better life. 'Tis paltry to be Caesar;
Not being Fortune, he's but Fortune's knave,
A minister of her will: and it is great
To do that thing that ends all other deeds;
Which shackles accidents and bolts up change;
Which sleeps, and never palates more the dug,
The beggar's nurse and Caesar's.

Here's the line before it:

Caes. Let him alone, for I remember now
How he's employ'd: he shall in time be ready.
Go with me to my tent; where you shall see
How hardly I was drawn into this war;
How calm and gentle I proceeded still
In all my writings: go with me, and see
What I can show in this.

The first timer on jackblack12.info points to 6/22/2009 3:00 AM (EDT) The second timer points to 7:46 AM on 9/11/2009. Note that the first of the twin towers was struck at 8:46 AM on 9/11/2001.

I'm probably missing something with the EDT/EST daylight savings time system, but I'm pretty sure the second timer is intended to correspond with the first tower impact.

If this is a joke, it's in pretty poor taste...

We will see what happens in three days.

the now missing 17th slide

Hex to Ascii converter

If you leave the linebreaks in the input, you get question?marks in the output. I retyped it. Here's the input (sorry for scrollbarring):

54:68:69:73:20:69:73:20:74:68:65:20:66:69:6e:61:6c:20:77:61:72:6e:69:6e:67:20:6f:6e:20:74:68:69:73:20:73:69:74:65:20:2d:20:61:6c:6c:20:66:75:72:74:68:65:72:20:77:61:72:6e:69:6e:67:73:20:77:69:6c:6c:20:62:65:20:67:69:76:65:6e:20:6f:6e:20:6a:61:63:6b:62:6c:61:63:6b:31:32:2e:69:6e:66:6f:2e:20:42:65:77:61:72:65:20:41:72:64:65:6e:74:20:53:65:6e:74:72:79:2e:20:42:65:20:61:6c:65:72:74:20:66:6f:72:20:53:65:6d:69:73:20:62:65:61:72:69:6e:67:20:74:68:65:20:73:75:6e:20:69:63:6f:6e:2e:20:4e:6f:74:20:61:6c:6c:20:66:65:64:65:72:61:6c:20:61:75:74:68:6f:72:69:74:69:65:73:20:61:72:65:20:69:6e:76:6f:6c:76:65:64:2e:20:59:48:42:54:2e:20:4d:49:46:49:56:45:44:49:44:49:54

output:

This is the final warning on this site - all further warnings will be given on jackblack12.info. Beware Ardent Sentry. Be alert for Semis bearing the sun icon. Not all federal authorities are involved

Ardent Sentry is apparently a Northcom exercise about the very matters exposed in the Telegraph's diaporama, taking place between June 18 and June 22.

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=326275&mesg_id=326288

Any verification that this was ever actually part of the Blackjack piece? It looks different, and too obviously a code, as opposed to the short strings hidden elsewhere in the story.

as far as i can tell (and i didnt look much into it) there was never a slide 17. it was something introduced much later.

pretty unusual. i am sure someone could follow it back to youtube or somewhere and discover its origins.

I watched a couple of the youtube videos, and they showed the guy who supposedly first found this encoded string on the site with the page showing, but it would be trivial to mock up such a page. I don't really buy it. Plus, nothing happened today.

i saw that same video when i first posted this and did not give it much thought. it added a reality with the ardent sentry connection. i consider the whole thing rather devious and think it was a tool to measure the flow of and response to information of that nature.

I think it was viral marketing in the culture section of the telegraph, and 17 was added by someone trying to further their own agenda.

viral marketing

perhaps... alternate reality gaming?

As much as I despise conspiracism and conspiracy theories, I must admit this is rather interesting. Also, I like playing games. Apparently, there's a site called jackblack14 as well, though I was only able to see a Nostradamus quote on it before my browser froze.

Google displays this for jackblack12.info:

Game over Game over. Final score: T'seekers 2 - 0 JW. www.jackblack12.info/ - Cached - Similar

T'seekers are Truth Seekers. Apparently you won. Congratulations.

EDIT:

I sent an e-mail to DT asking them, politely, of course, of the reason for this. I highly doubt the conspiracy explanations and see it more reminiscent of What's In The Box?, a video which eventually leads into an elaborate government-corporatist conspiracy encompassing many lines of cryptic messages located on numerous well-designed, and seemingly real, websites.

very entertaining. What does the journalist license in part 5 say?

those were not there and have been changing in the past couple hours. apparently it is rotating quotes from shakespeare.

"Hath Cadwal now to give it motion?"

"When sorrow come, they come not single spies, But in batallions"

"Sorrow concealed, like an oven stopp'd, Doth burn the heart to cinders where it is"

"Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it"

"My desolation does begin to make A better life"

depending when you look it could be any one of these.

also, someone called the MI5 to express concern. apparently @ 6:30 there is an extra voice saying "ok"

this shit is weird.

Fuckin' hell. MI5 would be on my list of Top 10 Places Not To Call About This.

"Not all Federal Authorities are involved"? Let's hope the rest only know EBCDIC.

http://www.jackblack12.info/Antony.html 010000010110111001110100011011110110111001111001.jpg Hex 416E746F6E79 ->ASC = Antony DEC 71942655667833

http://jackblack12.info/ is now down.