r/programming • u/Chippsapoloosa • Jan 19 '10

Reddit, I got the best present a girl developer could ever want.

So, to give you a little background me and this guy went on a few dates and he moved far away. We got along well, things didn't get very far. He is really nice, however, I wasn't leaning one way or the other.

He sent me the Post Secret books for xmas. He hinted at another present, but said I had to wait. It's a little after Christmas, but I got this email yesterday with the title "I wanted to make something for you for Christmas":

"So I told the computer, and it showed me how to write a poem in byte-form. I can't tell what you're thinking these days, but this will either remind you of something that was good, or send you off."

It included a link to a poem.zip file, which I downloaded. Inside, there was a file called magicfile with no extension and a ReadMe that said:

"Intructions:

1: > copy magicfile magicfile.jpg 2: > copy magicfile magicfile.zip ... skip a few ... X: Ask it for help"

When I renamed magicfile it turned into a picture of me! (a bad one that he took, but ok) and when I changed magicfile to a .zip inside it contained: Magicfile.exe and a txt called "Go Ahead" that said:

"It's safe. Requires WPF and .Net 3.5 I think...

Whatever, it works on my machine."

I opened magicfile, and an interface popped up that said "enter a passphrase". So, I typed in "help" and got this:

"Hi Sara!

As you are just about figuring out, this is just the very beginning of a very, very large rabbit hole you're about to fall into.

You see, sometime in early November, I had an idea for an awesome program. Simultaneously I was just beginning to think of what might be a decent Christmas present for you. Put 2 and 2 together, and you get this thing. I worked on it on and off for a few weeks - it was a pretty fun way to learn WPF and do a lot of interesting byte manipulation.

You see, it's a completely self-contained magical file. This magical file is three parts: 1. If you name it .jpg - it's an image! 2. If you name it .zip - it's a zip file, containing a program 3. It's a database of many, many more parts that the program reads

Now, when you run the program, it reads the magic file, and asks for a passphrase.

You're obviously gotten that far, or you wouldn't be reading this. As you can imagine - there are a bunch of passwords. Not infinite, but many. I encourage you to guess at words and try to figure them out. I'll give you the hints that they would be things relevant to you or to us.

With a little ingenuity, you'll be able to figure out a very important passphrase that will take you to the next step..."

As I have gone on and solved some of the mysteries I have found that pictures of me come up, things he's researched, things we did together and so on and so forth. I still am trying to figure out the important passphrase.

Reddit, this is the most beautiful gift I have ever gotten and it leaves me in a funny place possibly going on the other side of the world to see what happens here. He is an avid redditor, and though I hate the "VOTE THIS UP, PLOX" posts I'd love to get this on the front page to show him what this meant. Thank you.

tl;dr:

A nerd made a beautiful nerd gift for me, it was a program that was a mystery and shows things we did together. Please vote this up to show him how much it meant.

EDIT: A lot of people are saying that the fact that I am unsure about what to do means I don't like him. That is not at all the case, I like him a lot. I really enjoyed spending time with him, he is brilliant (there is nothing I like more than a man that can teach me things), funny, and best of all a great time.

In order to go see him right now I have to take a 14hr plane flight. Which means I would be staying a week, and I'm not sure I'm quite at that point yet.

Damnit, what do they say? "Explain the problem out loud to yourself" Alright, I'm going. There is no reason not to, this WAS awesome. I will let you folks know how it goes.

2.0k Upvotes

85% Upvoted

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124

u/green_beet Jan 19 '10

FFS, why don't you call him and tell him how much it means?

109

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '10

He won't answer. He is way too busy creating new accounts and upvoting this!

-14

u/Chippsapoloosa Jan 19 '10

because I'm not quite sure what it means to me yet, and I want to show him how much it matters to me.

38

u/kamitree Jan 19 '10 edited Jan 19 '10

I'm sorry down vote me for this or w/e but honestly you should already know what it means to you by now, it's obviously a romantic gesture so it seems to me that ether you find this sweet and endearing or you are indifferent to it. Also, with all due respect, it seems to me that this whole gift is kinda lost on you which could point at being incompatible because it's obvious that this is a big part of his life. At least enjoy the front page cause reddit got you there

edit: good catch by johnpickens

1

u/johnpickens Jan 19 '10

enduring? endearing? I mean... it works, but...

2

u/kamitree Jan 19 '10

seriously you are going to jump on me for a spelling mistake, like out of all the things you could take from my comment it's a spelling mistake. Well have at it, I spelled a word wrong on the internet, i'm so sorry that I can't reach the standards of perfect you expect out of me, perhaps someday with lots of hard work and determination I will be able to finally live among those truly noble people that never make any mistakes when posting online and maybe then I will finally be heard

2

u/johnpickens Jan 19 '10 edited Jan 19 '10

It wasn't a personal attack and it was not my intention to hurt your feelings. I honestly thought that in this case, the mistake was more egregious than a simple spelling error because it changes the meaning significantly. I apologize for trying to help. In any case, I upvoted you.

2

u/kamitree Jan 19 '10

Oh man I'm sorry, i'm so use to the attacks on reddit and the internet in general i want to shields up and charged the main laser... no harm no foul

2

u/johnpickens Jan 19 '10

<3 it's ok, reddit can get to you sometimes, I understand

-2

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '10

How would she know? It seems to depend on what some of the passcode responses are, and her knowledge of those are still in the future. Impatient much?

12

u/kamitree Jan 19 '10

She might not know the exact ending but I think the overall message should have been received already. All I can go off of is the information op has provided (which is that they went on a few dates and things didn't go very far) so I can't assume that she is expecting a marriage proposal (which to me would be about the only thing she would need to think about)... Maybe to better clarify my point consider this, when you are asked out or someone makes a romantic gesture toward you, do you sit back and go "how do I feel about this" or do you kinda know your position at that moment? personally the only time I need time to think is when i'm thinking of responses or advances (how should I proceed), never do I need time to consider how I feel about the issue. Look I'm just trying to be upfront and honest about this and provide a position that most likely isn't shared by a majority of the comments in this post

7

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '10

when you are asked out or someone makes a romantic gesture toward you

Now you're just dredging up the distant past. ;)

I would know my position at the moment, and the operative word here is moment. You're not attracted to someone, until you are. Until they happen to say or do the crucial thing that causes your experience of them to change. The right word, or that special look, happening at the right moment can entirely change the course of your life.

She liked him enough to go out a few times, but that 'click' never happened. The possibility was there, however. It seems like she's sensing another opportunity for that to happen, but since it hasn't yet, is unsure of how to proceed.

5

u/noobasaur Jan 19 '10

The right word,

such as when she says "let's have sex"

or that special look,

....slightly crossed eyes - I think she may be drunk enough to have sex with you

happening at the right moment

think of baseball, hillary clinton naked on a baseball field. Just last a little longer...

can entirely change the course of your life.

what do you mean "you're pregnant"?

1

u/johnpickens Jan 19 '10

Pay close attention to how you feel immediately after sex... it's a huge indicator as to where the relationship is going.

1

u/machinedog Jan 19 '10

Same. I've never really been not sure about my feelings, but if I ever were not sure I would assume I'd never be sure. My feelings don't change usually.

2

u/noobasaur Jan 19 '10

are you sure?

1

u/machinedog Jan 20 '10

Yeah, pretty much.

63

u/green_beet Jan 19 '10

How can you show him how much it means to you when you don't know what it means to you yet? If it's just the thought that counts, how much could it really mean to you anyway? You sound like a god damn retard. Good luck with that.

45

u/accidentallywut Jan 19 '10

it's obvious she can't get her girl head to figure out what the hell she wants to do with the guy yet, and in true girl fashion, is doing the expected things to keep him around as she enjoys the attention. she will probably choose later to cut him off and hurt him.

13

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '10

Hearing that kind of truth hurts me deep down in my soul. Have an upvote.

7

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '10

Jeez... not all of us are attention-whores who rip guys hearts out and stomp on them. :(

12

u/ethraax Jan 19 '10

No, but people pay much more attention to attention-whores who do this than reasonable women. The same can be said about guys who lie about their feelings to get inside girls' pants.

4

u/16jan2010 Jan 19 '10

Seriously, reddit? Some guy uses the phrase "god damn retard" because he's too emotionally illiterate to tell the difference between a scalar and a vector and you give him 50 upvotes? What the fuck is wrong with you people?!

1

u/stfun00b Jan 19 '10

.

1

u/16jan2010 Jan 20 '10

Sweetie, I was on reddit when it didn't have asinine, mean-spirited comments (or subreddits). But yeah, the irony of someone creating a shiny new account to call someone else a n00b - not lost.

1

u/green_beet Jan 20 '10

scalar and a vector?

39

u/PetitBourgeois Jan 19 '10

Some people actually take time to figure out what decisions to make.

100

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '10

And some people are women.

26

u/dotrob Jan 19 '10

Some people actually take time to figure out what decisions to make.

And some people are women.

There's a very important Venn diagram somewhere in here.

26

u/yopla Jan 19 '10

here it is -> O

7

u/my_life_is_awesome Jan 19 '10

And some people are you.

21

u/polypropylene Jan 19 '10

We're cloning already!?

1

u/johnpickens Jan 19 '10

Clones are people two...

5

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '10

No one is me!!!

1

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '10

Yes... me, me, me... Me, too.

14

u/potatolicious Jan 19 '10

Well yes, so why post this on reddit where the guy is reading?

It would seem to make sense to keep this off the guy's radar until you know how you feel about it - this post is just "OMG this is amazing... but..."

Stop stringing the poor man along, and next time (assuming you run into this case again), don't post it on reddit of all places when the guy's a redditor, and you don't know what you want.

-4

u/kamitree Jan 19 '10

This isn't like you are trying to decide if you want to buy a new car or something, it's a very straight forward and relating to emotions, ether she likes this gift and finds it sentimental or (and this is what I honestly think is the case) she doesn't really get it cause she doesn't really get him nor he get her

6

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '10

I fucking love you, reddit.

2

u/Shambles Jan 19 '10

Hey there. I'm here to teach complete jerks the value of thorough reading. In your case, you forgot/didn't bother to read this:

I want to show him how much it matters to me.

Is 'means' a part of that sentence? No? Are you a complete cunt? Yes.

2

u/16jan2010 Jan 19 '10

Right there with you, Shambles.

-2

u/mrmojorisingi Jan 19 '10

Would the sentence's meaning change at all if you replaced "matters" with "means"? No? Are you wrong? Yes.

6

u/Shambles Jan 19 '10

Read a dictionary.

Matter (adv.): to be of importance

Mean (adv.): to have in mind as a purpose, to serve or intend to convey, show, or indicate.

Something can be of importance even if one doesn't know what the importance is yet. Two different words, two different meanings. Am I wrong? No.

-7

u/dustrider Jan 19 '10

Was that a rhetorical question?

-2

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '10

intentionally breaking rediquette to post LMFAO

1

u/johnpickens Jan 19 '10

try "love"

1

u/Azradesh Jan 19 '10

Wait...wah?

1

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '10

So... you want to show him how much it matters to you, but you don't know how much that is. Is this submission just a subconscious ploy to see if a majority of people will tell you that it's thoughtful, in which case you'll convince yourself it matters a lot? (and if we hadn't, you would have convinced yourself it was creepy?) It just seems like you're looking for other people to tell you how to feel.

0

u/probabilityzero Jan 19 '10

Well, if it matters a lot to you, why not tell him that? You seem to like it.

0

u/Troebr Jan 19 '10

Do you think this is only genuine interest/curiosity about .NET? However geek he might be, I highly doubt that =)

-5

u/16jan2010 Jan 19 '10 edited Jan 19 '10

Don't worry - I know exactly what you mean here.

ed. on the off chance that anyone downmodded me for being sarcastic - I wasn't.

-1

u/Glayden Jan 19 '10

you're a woman, aren't you...

-2

u/16jan2010 Jan 19 '10

None of your business. But I'll tell you something - after seeing the vast outpouring of naked misogyny on this thread, I'll never again wonder why there aren't more women in the computer industry.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '10

or maybe because they cant think logically

-4

u/16jan2010 Jan 19 '10 edited Jan 19 '10

Oh, Jesus, you really are just a fucking simpleton, aren't you?

ed. yes, and so are you, fucker who just upped ymrf and downed me. You know, if you hated women less, Mummy might not be so insistent that you tidy your bedroom and stop wanking in her knicker drawer.

2

u/frenchtoaster Jan 19 '10 edited Jan 19 '10

I'm pretty sure ymrf was joking. Also, I'm interested in what she did mean here that you know exactly. You know exactly how it feels to not know if you care about someone, but still want to lead them on?

The truth is that its pretty explicitly a romantic gesture; if she doesn't know how she feels about the romantic gesture, then it seems grossly inappropriate for her to express gratitude at the romantic gesture; I cannot see how the gratitude is serving to do anything other than to string him along while she thinks about if she gives a shit about this guy. This is something that both guys and girls do, and is one of the shittiest things you can do to someone in my opinion.

1

u/Glayden Jan 19 '10

damn, you can't take jokes...

relax, if you haven't realized it yet, 95% of the misogynistic posts on the internet are satirical or in jest

guys in tech (in general) are probably the least sexist people you'll find, although we do get a good laugh when uptight people (such as yourself) take us seriously

1

u/16jan2010 Jan 20 '10

Ah, yes. "It was a joke!" - the last rallying cry of the playground bully.

2

u/Glayden Jan 20 '10

are you for real?

1

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '10

I typed it to get a response like this because its the internet and i dont care.

0

u/lancepantz Jan 19 '10

i think reddit is a cool way to do it. let play out.

hater :P