Taking the Red Bull by the Horns — Achievement Unlocked!

Four days, a dozen Easter eggs, and one fun challenge completed! On Friday, after the first package was lost and the second one delayed, i3Detroit’s Red Bull Creation puzzle box arrived. An impromptu team assembled itself, and over the next few evenings, revealed all the secrets contained within.

The contents of the package, a circuit board with many strange functions and features, kept us guessing and laughing. From the Konami Code to a hidden image of Rick Astley, many of the puzzles made reference to internet memes, and two gave credits to the board’s creators. Exploring the circuitry and decoding the clues tested our creativity and took a wide variety of skills and equipment, not to mention bravery!  More than once, we decided to pursue avenues that could’ve smoked the board — and our chances of success — if we botched them. Ultimately, that approach paid off, and it was in the clutches of an SOIC-8 ZIF socket (pictured) that the SPI Flash chip finally divulged its last secret.

Kudos to Red Bull (and the folks behind the scenes) for coming up with such a fun challenge, and it’s just the beginning! It appears that the ballsy bovines have developed a fascination with hackerspaces, in addition to their wiiiiiings. Next up is an online challenge, after which contestants will be chosen to make their way to New York City for the final competition in July. Will i3Detroit members be among them? Stay tuned…

(And of course, stop by Saturday’s party! We’ll be celebrating our first year in Ferndale, giving tours and demos, and serving a certain energy drink…)