Is it possible to send a message in Morse code by un-following someone on x.com?
6 pointsby savhascelik4 hours ago8 comments
  • schappim2 minutes ago
    I had the same thought.

    .. ..-. / -.-- --- ..- / -.-. .- -. / .-. . .- -.. / - .... .. ... --..-- / - --- ..- -.-. .... / --. .-. .- ... ...

  • runjake2 hours ago
    No, because the notification timing is not reliable. It can vary a lot depending on the load on that microservice at any given time. Also, how would you handle dits, dahs, and gaps?
    • savhascelik2 hours ago
      Your questions are quite sensible; I suppose I need to think about an asynchronous Morse code algorithm as well :)
  • king_zee3 hours ago
    You only have 1 variable in your control, the time in-between follows. (I say this because there is no notification for "unfollowing" someone)

    You need to represent 2 variables : the dot/dash to represent symbols, and the dit, the time in-between symbols.

    If you want to do this you need some sort of 2nd action, a comment or a twitter like, that way we could represent the dot/dash with either action, and then space them out to time the silence.

    • jojomoddinga minute ago
      Well, you can use tap code: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tap_code

      Or you can use "Morse tap code" where two close knocks represent a dot, and if the gap between them is slightly longer it's a dash. That takes two knocks for one dot/dash but it works and is (was?) used in practice.

    • savhascelik3 hours ago
      It seems it can be done using a few different components, even if not directly by “following”, thank you
  • xg153 hours ago
    Were you blocked?

    More seriously, the events end up in a list, so a recipient would more likely "decode" them by comparing timestamps instead of "live" watching the actual sequence.

    But I suppose if you timed your follows/unfollows really carefully, you could get certain patterns in the timestamps to appear which could be used to distinguish "long" and "short" pulses.

    • savhascelik3 hours ago
      No, actually, I was just wondering if messaging like that is even possible; I suppose I’ve been reading a lot lately about encryption and private messaging in public spaces.
      • xg152 hours ago
        Yeah, was more a joke too :) But the idea is interesting. I think in general there is a lot of metadata that could be used as covert channels.
  • JofArnold3 hours ago
    Let's say you could follow and unfollow once a second and they knew it. Then you could replicate the dots and dashes by the length of time you toggled the status plus the gaps where you weren't toggling at all.

    Eg in the first ten seconds 10 toggles, in the next 10 seconds a 5 second gap then 5 toggles. That would be dash, quiet, dot.

    • savhascelik3 hours ago
      Although not directly by “following”, as king_zee said, it seems it can be done using a few different components; thank you
  • bigyabai4 hours ago
    With just follow/unfollowing, you can't truly encode Morse code. You would have to override a metadata field or agree on an external clock source to overcome the idempotent follow/unfollow action and encode language into the state machine.
    • savhascelik4 hours ago
      I suppose the interval between the two actions would correspond to a letter in the Morse code here
      • bigyabai4 hours ago
        That would require an additional lookup table that doesn't qualify as Morse code, as well as an external clock source.
        • savhascelik3 hours ago
          I suppose I should have gone over how Morse code works again before asking this question. Thank you.
  • ada19814 hours ago
    Do you mean following and unfollowing in some sort of rapid succession?
    • savhascelik4 hours ago
      Yes, I think that’s exactly what I’m talking about; the interval between the two actions would correspond to a letter in Morse code
  • flukkytom3 hours ago
    [dead]