Inspired yet again by Russ’s ingenuity, I have a contest for you all to participate in. The winner gets bragging rights. I’d offer a gmail account, but I heard they’ve gone public, so who cares. The other day, I posted about the possibility that Russ could have actually created an app to convert an mp3 file to a viewable image which could in turn be converted back into an mp3. Well, he’s already on version 2 of that app and has added the ability to use a jpeg to “hide the file in” when converting to a bmp. Confused? So was Amy when I tried to explain it to her this morning when we woke up. I’ll try to break it down:

  • You have a secret digital file (movie, audio, etc.) you want to send someone, but are worried about that file getting intercepted.
  • You want to convert that file into a bitmap image to confuse anyone who might intercept your file.
  • You choose a jpeg or gif that you would like to make the file look like.
  • You use the conversion utility to turn your secret file into a bitmap, using your jpeg or gif image so that the image doesn’t just look like static.
  • You transfer your secret file to your friend.
  • Your friend (who has the conversion utility) can then “unhide” your file from the bitmap image.
Mystery Image

Now for the contest. Click the image above to download a zip file called mysterysong.zip. Inside that zip file will be two files: mysterysong.bmp and bmp.exe. Your goal is to get an mp3 file from the bitmap and tell me what song it is. You will have to run bmp.exe from within a command window followed by a question mark to get the help text. Then you will want to convert file.mp3 using the “unhidefrom” command. Using the “mysterysong.bmp to file.mp3” command will create an mp3 file of the right size, but it will not play - so be sure to use the “unhidefrom” command. The jpeg above is what the bmp in your zip file should look like. Acceleration programmers are prohibited from giving away the answer. :) Good Luck!