There are many ways I have written a guid.

Most recently i've been interacting with Gaksloope.

I used to talk to him over a faulty msn messenger account long ago. Haven't heard from him in decades.

Now he says upfront it's very important that I realise he is unwilling to discuss mathematical dividing lines between randomized anonymous sampling and active surveillance. Apparently in the place where he's from there's been a cyber world war over it. (Perhaps more?)

He further explains once again that he is from a gleaming social-distancing-pod, 5 minutes into the future, on a different timeline.

I've kept his existence mostly quiet but have recently realised that if I disguise stories about him as a work of fiction, i will be able to get the therapeutic benefit of working through my delusions or other worldly contact, and you'll get the benefit of not thinking that this kind of thing actually happens in the world you're living in. So we all win even Gaksloope, especially Gaksloope. And the cartel he reports to.

A curious envelope

I was woken at dawn by a man staring at me through my glass window, my neighbor, a kind grin on his wise though toothless face.

He was brandishing an envelope -- said the mail man had dropped it yesterday during the storm, and it was meant for me.

The night's heavy rain had torn the flimsy envelope and he could now see the message written within.

"Please provide a marvel universe identifier" it said.

"A universal identifier?" I asked. It seemed like a strange gambit to lay on the cross-dimensional character.

I hit him with the question and he didn't know where to look. Eventually he stammered out some confused words about consulting an almanac and a moment later he returned with this answer, confidently delivered: He eventually produced this:

6b09, e75d, 819b, 47f1?
9036, 25fe, a2bf, 8e0a!

He says that in his world guids are written as a question following by an answer, each four words long, separated by commas.

All types are written in formats similar to that, he says. All types. He says.

External references

• github: secretGeek AwesomeGUID

See also

• Gaksloope
• Thus Spake Gaksloope: The future of browse and code
• What does XML look like on other planets?
• AJAX website allows surgeons to work from home