Wait a Minute, There's a Big Viral Game for Star Trek, Too?

April 11, 2009
Source: TrekMovie.com
by Alex Billington

I'm a big viral nut, and I usually stay on top of every last viral, even weird YouTube videos like this one. However, for J.J. Abrams' upcoming Star Trek, the only viral marketing I've seen has been in relation to the wild hipster dance parties that Paramount has been putting on (go here for more details). I didn't think much about them, they sounded super cheesy, and hipsters suck, so I forgot about it. But apparently someone noticed something interesting in a few photos - there are URLs hidden in the background. After an extensive amount of research on TrekMovie, it looks like they may have figured it all out a bit early.

So the story goes that in some of the photos (see an example below) a URL is hidden in the background on a wall. Upon closer inspection, it would seem that these URLs looked like they were added in Photoshop after the photo was taken - and not actually written on the walls at the party. You can see more of these hipster party photos at thecobrasnake.com - where everything was discovered. The URLs are binary codes, which have been deciphered numerous ways, and for the sake of solving this viral game, it seems they stand for various elements - like Fe, Ca, Si, and Al. Apparently five different sites were discovered in total.

The primary site is located at 01001111.com. Here's where we get all of our big clues. If you visit that site, you'll find a static flash video that flashes various images and occasionally some text. Hidden within that static is the date 04/17/09 (next Friday), the listing of the elements Fe, Ca, Si, Al, and a block of code: [*^].[#%].[*#@].[*^@]. That code stands for an IP address, but that comes later. There are also some flashes of black, which is where that spaceship photo at the top comes from (when the images are all combined). Looks a bit like the Romulan ship called the Narada that we've seen in the trailers, doesn't it?

So basically, if you apply the four element names to four new domains, you get more static, and hidden there are four more numbers. If you use a key on those, and plug the correct numbers into the IP code above, you'll get a "working" IP address. That may be a bit confusing, so if you're looking for more explanation on how this was solved, head over to TrekMovie. What you need to know is that this working IP address was discovered: http://97.74.158.186/. Unfortunately nothing is there yet, but it was also confirmed that the first site above is located at 97.74.158.184, which is the exact same IP as before, just two numbers lower.

As far as we know, this will all kick off on Friday, April 17th. And if they figured out that IP correctly, something should pop up on 97.74.158.186 at that time. I'm actually very excited to see if this does lead somewhere, because I'm looking forward to Star Trek a whole lot. Although it's a bit late in the game and this hits theaters in under a month, so this viral campaign better hit hard very soon or it'll be a waste.

Discover More: Hype, Rumors, Viral Marketing

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