18 pointsby ortusdux7 hours ago7 comments
  • cantaloupe6 hours ago
    The original blog post of the person who orchestrated the attempt:

    https://carter.church/writeups/the-letter-to-marmont/

  • ortusdux6 hours ago
    Link to X thread: https://x.com/CarterWChurch/status/2105167567706816690?ref_s...

    "What makes this impressive isn't actually the codebreaking, but that Astra completed the entire multi-modal workflow in ~6 hours from a single image and goal."

    • Isamu4 hours ago
      It’s an image of ink-on-paper cursive handwriting, with what looks like markings added during the original decryption to keep track of where they were in the process.

      So image to text, then a brute force attack on a Napoleonic era cypher.

    • ThePowerOfFuet35 minutes ago
      That link just gave me cancer from simply looking at it.

      At least cut everything from the ? onwards.

  • breakingcups4 hours ago
    Wonder when Astra is going to definitively "solve" the Voynich Manuscript.
  • z3ratul1630715 hours ago
    amazing. can it also not butcher my medium size code base every time i give it a task?
  • spdustin4 hours ago
    No, I will not un-block html-load (dot) com.

    Glad the original blog post was linked in the comments here.

  • antesaj4 hours ago
    Did it search for existing research and documented attempts at the problem before starting on the solution?
  • hansonkd6 hours ago
    I mean is this good? How do we measure how "unsolvable" these codes are vs just unsolved because they are esoteric, uninteresting, and useless?
    • withinboredom4 hours ago
      Yeah -- if you want to do something better; set it on the Beale Ciphers.