Secrecy by JJason Recognition
November 26th, 2007 1:00 PMInstructions: Just take a piece of chalk or maybe some charcoal and draw one of the following symbols on a road or wall in the appropriate place. Then when other SFO players come by, they'll be able to read them and receive your message. I have included a quick lexicon of all the symbols I created for reference as well as examples of the signs in use.
While putting up the symbols, I came to realize a few things. First, chalking walls is way cooler than chalking the ground. Nobody notices things on the ground, but lots of people notice walls. Second, I really like chalk. It's like being able to annotate the world around you.
Two disclaimers - First, not all of the places that I put up symbols exactly correspond with the message they're sending. This is to confuse RoboNapolean and my other enemies. Second, I "borrowed" some of these symbols from other places, the sources of which are shown in the individual pictures.
Bibliography:
Hobo Signs
War Chalking
Jonathon Hodgman and the Hobo Wars
SF0.JPG
An SF0 player lives here.
Humanitarian.JPG
A member of humanitarian crisis is nearby.
biome.JPG
Biome player
EquilavenZ.JPG
EquilavenZ player near here.
UofA.JPG
A member of the University of Aesthematics lives near here.
BartPA.JPG
BartPA player near here.
praxis.JPG
A task was completed here.
leftbehind.JPG
Things left behind by a task nearby. The arrow should be point towards in the general direction of the things left behind, like how this arrow is pointing into the building where I labeled the soda machine.
safe for tasking.JPG
People here are accepting of odd behavior. Or, to put it another way, this place is safe for tasking. This symbol and it's twin really need to be put on a wall instead on the ground.
notfriendly.JPG
This area is not friendly to tasking. Or, to put it another way, people around here will accept crazy behavior. Sorry about the bad picture but for some reason I've found it nearly impossible to photograph this. This symbol and it's twin are both adaptions of real hobo signs. If you're having trouble remembering which stands for safety and which stands for not safety, use this simple method: the half circle represents the forces stopping you from tasking, the dot represents you. When the circle's down, it's trapping you in and keeping you from escaping. When it's up it's letting you free.
crisis.JPG
Agents of the Crisis at work nearby.
Chrono.JPG
Chrononautic Exxon sympathizer nearby.
LEWL.JPG
LEWL sympathizer nearby.
Snide.JPG
SNIDE sympathizer nearby.
collaborator.JPG
Willing collaborator lives nearby
unobserved.JPG
Unobserved public space.
meat.JPG
Meat will may be used for money here. Chalked outside of the tea garden where Peter Harmon completed Meat is Money.
openwifi.JPG
Open WIFI network. I stole this sign from warchalking
snakesJPG
Oh shit! Snakes! Run away!
secrets.JPG
Horrifying secrets hidden nearby.
thetime.jpg
The time has come for SF0 players to take over the US government. Adapted from the work of John Hodgman
combine.JPG
Symbols can be combined too! For example, the above means that a biome player left something behind when completing a task nearby.
triangle.JPG
The triangle is there for emphasis. So this means "Many SF0 players live here."
circle.JPG
A circle is the opposite of a triangle. This combination would mean "this location is slightly unfriendly to tasking."
superemphasis.JPG
You can add multiple triangles or circles for further emphasis. For example, this means "this place is super special awesome safe for tasking."
signs.jpg
A basic glossary of SF0 signs. Maybe you could print it out and put it in your wallet for easy reference!
26 vote(s)
- Tøm
- Quincy Potts
- Magpie
- Meta tron
- help im a bear
- Spidere
- teucer
- Flitworth
- Loki
- Duck Monster
- susy derkins
- Cameron
- Charlie Fish
- Ben Yamiin
- Keight Dee
- Lank
- The Revolutionary
- Shea Wolfe
- Burn Unit
- Iaman
- Jellybean of Thark
- rongo rongo
- Lincøln
- Optical Dave
- Darkaardvark
- zer0gee
Favorite of:
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(none yet)15 comment(s)
I had the privilege of seeing these signs described before they were uploaded and have already marked my residence.
And yes, I intend to continue using them. They are useful.
Also, looking over the pictures, that's totally my window. Heh.
Cause you're EquivalenZ. That's not one of the hobo signs that's a fake. The LEWL sympathizer is also in front of your window.
I would be utterly pleased to see other players implement these in their tasking! Please encourage their use!
Happy to see someone complete the first option.
I shall attempt to incorporate these signs into my future tasking.
I marked Mudlock's and my abode with "SF0 player," "Biome," "Humanitarian Crisis," and "People here are accepting of crazy behavior." I'll take a picture when it's light out.
I added the picture! 
This is some creative tasking. Looks like you had fun.
I must try and remember to incorporate the symbols in my future documentation...
"...draw one of the following symbols on a road or wall in the appropriate place. Then when other SFO players come by, they'll be able to read them and receive your message."
I love this! Reminds me a lot of the lambda symbols sprinkled throughout Half-L ife1 & 2 that help you find your way through the game. Great completion.
Revolutionaries and our sympathizers should, of course, take note of the new symbols, not part of JJason's basic code but useful for political purposes.
My only problem with this is that the distinction between people are accepting and people are not accepting is clear to see when it is on a vertical surface but not on a horizontal one. Perhaps the circle should be placed on the other side of the curve instead?
Good idea, now we'll all have to carry around chalk.
I'll be sure to mark out Great Yarmouth!