Republican Vice-Presidential candiate Sarah Palin's private Yahoo e-mail account was hacked into early yesterday morning. The federal government is already looking for suspects and gathering evidence.
The perpetrators were from the forum known simply as “/b/” on 4chan.org, the same board and forum that popularized LOLCats and Rickrolling as internet memes. At this writing, no political motivation for the hacking can be substantiated. On the other hand, not a single democratic candidate nor any other democratic office-holder has publicly condemned this crime, at this writing.
The best description of how the hacking happened, and exactly what transpired yesterday can be found in this column. There was even one “white knight” on the board who went in to help clear things up, and even notify people on Sarah Palin's e-mail list that there was a problem!
Once the information was out there, the problem was compounded by the posting of the details on gossip site Gawker Media. Interestingly, many mainstream media outlets have focused on the fact that Palin was alleged to have used this private e-mail account for government business, instead of focusing on the criminal nature of the act itself. This is despite the fact that the original hacker clearly stated that nothing politically embarrassing was found.
Not only has the Huffington Post claimed that this act gives Sarah Palin cover to delete e-mails to protect herself, but the Associated Press has actually refused Secret Service requests for copies of the leaked e-mails!
While this crime is being investigated, see if you can help Sarah Palin get her e-mail under lock and key. Below is a maze in the shape of a portrait of Sarah Palin's, based on this picture (If you stand back from your monitor, the resemblance may be easier to see). The object is to move the envelope with the mail in it, at the top of the maze, so that it's safely and securely behind the lock, at the bottom of the maze.
Update: If you'd like to try a life-size Sarah Palin corn maze (maize maze?), Ohio farmer Duke Wheeler has just what you're looking for!
Click here to see the rules for this puzzle.
The object of the game is to find a path through the maze and reach the goal as quickly as you can, and with as little backtracking and as few hints as possible.
To begin, click anywhere in the maze area. Anytime you click outside of the maze, you must click in it again to resume playing or use any of the functions described here, although the timer will continue running.
You can then move through the maze by using the I key to move up, K to move down, J to move left, and L to move right. As you move, you'll leave a blue trail through the maze.
The timer starts when you make your first move through the maze. You may pause the timer by pressing the P key, and the timer will automatically resume when you make your next move.
You may backtrack, but the computer will keep track of how many steps you backtracked, and those steps will be marked with a trail that's a lighter blue that your regular trail.
You can get a hint concerning which way to go by pressing the H key (marked in red), and get the full solution by pressing the S key (also marked in red). You can get a completely new maze, in the same shape, by reloading it with the R key.
When you reach the goal, you'll be notified of your time, how many steps you took, how many steps you backtracked, and how many hints you required. If you like, reload the maze, and try and beat your own best time!
Let everyone know how you did in the comments!
(The picture used as the basis for the maze originated here. The mail and lock icons are from Free Favicon.com.)
