New numbers to consider DI 9FFTR731

[lostincyberspace]

Did watch the show however my DVD recorder quit after 8 minutes of taping, so I don't have a copy to review! I just reviewed the 21 pages in S2E2 and these topics were not mentioned/asked, I didn't want them to get "lost".

PICTURE LINK (http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/8560/foodlocker4kr.jpg)

Here is the numbers/letters sequence on the pantry food items. Thanks to someone who posted this capture first, I just lightened it up a bit. It must be significant? DI 9FFTR731
Anyone have any suggestions?

also
Need some things answered
1) did Locke break the mirror when he went down the hatch?
2) the dart board, any darts in any specific numbers?
3) about how much time elapsed when the countdown audio signal went off until we saw the 2:37 clock? Meaning when does the warning alarm go off?

*edited for picture size*

[Lost Dog 4815162342]

I've been waiting for this to be brought up today. Good eye!!

[sliczny]

I've been waiting for someone to bring up these new numbers (and letters) that are on all of the food. It is interesting that it is the same code on all of the food and that there are new numbers involved i.e. 7 & 9.

As for the questions:
1. I don't think he broke the mirror. He just splashes in the puddle.
2. Never saw a dart board
3. Not much time went by. I didn't keep track but I would guess that maybe it was at the 3 minute mark when the alarm went off. So if it was at 2:37 when it was shown I would assume it had been about 23 seconds which was about what it took on the show. Also, this would seem to imply that it must be reset every 108 minutes or 1 hour and 48 minutes. So Desmond couldn't get any more that that amount of sleep at any given time. I would be frazzled.

[DiamondDuste]

There was a dartboard in the hatch, and I immediately thought - look for the numbers. It was too quick of a shot, though, to see anything.

As for 108... that's what's making Desmond look the way he does. When we see him in the stadium, he is in great shape. However, he's been down in that hatch for a good while, having to make sure he prevents the countdown from reaching zero. It's definitely wearing on him... and anyone who has to watch the countdown.

When you think about it, the hatch has become a personal hell for Desmond... or better yet, a Tartarus(Greek mythology - section of the Underworld where people got punished).

In Tartarus, people were punished by doing deeds over and over again. Best example - Sisyphus(I think I spelled that wrong) being forced to roll the boulder up the hill each day, only to have it fall right back down to the bottom once he completes the task.

[GRYDE001]

I really don't think Desmond is being punished just by having to push the numbers in every 108 minutes or hours or whatever it is. It's way too easy, I punch stupid numbers in a computer all day at work, doesn't mean I'm being punished for anything(except the wrong career choice).

Maybe he thinks there are more bunkers(hatches), and perhaps he is the only one that has survived. Maybe there was a whole network of hatches at once, and communication was cut off making him think the worst. Maybe he was supposed to let the countdown go a long time ago, but could not b/c of self preservation or whatever, and he thinks the rest of the world is gone except for him. He really thinks he is the last one on earth, just waiting for the day he can't doesn't press in the combination.
Or maybe the numbers keep the latest Ashlee Simpson song from playing. I'd keep pressing the numbers to prevent that from happening.

[mfglost]

yeah, i ve postet this screensap in the symol thread (shark) and i was also interested in the code and why it is always the same, no matter on which box ...

... ut totally forgot to ask that ... thanks bro, lets see how interesting that gets !

[Jesilu]

Is it at all possible that DI are Desmond's initials? That would make the food stored specifically for him.

But actually, I kind of doubt this now, since he's expecting a replacement, but probably not expecting all the stores to be replaced.

Maybe they only hire people whose initials are DI! :b

~Jesilu

[DutchmansGold]

Makes more sense that its 10800 seconds, rather than 108.00 minutes. 10800 seconds = 3 hours even. If the alarm came on at 240 seconds, which is feasible, that would make it 4 minutes even that Desmond would have in order to reset the clock.

This might also give us a clue as to how big the hatch is...so that no matter where he is inside of it, he can get to the computer and reset the numbers within 4 minutes.

[Leafy]

The computer entries might be like a dead man's switch, where you have to keep doing something in order for things to keep working. I have read about a railroad line in Australia that runs across the Nullarbor Plain. The engineer has to press the dead man's switch every 90 seconds, or the train will stop and a distress call will be generated. It is such a long straight stretch that it is easy to fall asleep. (Anybody know more about this?)

If Desmond doesn't keep doing the computer thing every 108 whatevers, who knows what might happen. The whole electrical system might shut down, or something might collapse, or the outside people who supply him might assume he was dead and quit bringing him food.

H

[Mattie]

I really don't think Desmond is being punished just by having to push the numbers in every 108 minutes or hours or whatever it is. It's way too easy, I punch stupid numbers in a computer all day at work, doesn't mean I'm being punished for anything(except the wrong career choice).

Yeah but you get to go home after work. He has to stay there...and wake up from sleep every hour and 48 minutes or presumably something bad will happen. I don't know if he's down there because he's being punished...but having that duty of living down there on an island by yourself and going mad is definitely a punishment.

[Hodgepodge]

You guys maybe right about the additional numbers, but I don't think so! That would be just to many numbers to keep account of. JMO

It's obvious Desmond's been left on the island. Or better yet, abandoned. Were all of his fellow compatriots killed by the sickness? I assume so! But why, or better yet, how did he survive. Can we assume the shelter has kept him alive all these years. Now that's a good question. Any screenshots of his calendar wall? I'd sure like to count up all those fives!

Getting to his daily/weekly/annual chore. I got a sneaking suspicion just from his antics, that if he doesn't recalibrate the "whatever", there's going to be a major catastrophe. Like nuclear! Didn't you get that feeling? BTW--I think we're dealing with 108 minutes as opposed to hours.

[Drovvningman]

37 seconds elapsed from the time the alarm started until we see the countdown at 238

so it either came on at 3 minutes and 5 seconds, or 275 seconds depending on your interpretation of the timer.

[catbertz]

Like everyone, I googled the food label #'s, with no luck.

I'll bet a dollar that they are useful once cracked.

[snowtires]

you know, if it was three hours, that would make sense. i think it was da vinci who discovered that humans really only need 15 minutes of sleep, every three hours. apparently he tested his theory and went nuts from all of the free time.

so, maybe there's something related to that here, desmond has to punch in the code every three hours, he does some stuff, cleans some bowls, whatever, takes a 15 minute nap and then does it all again.

[Dharma108]

Perhaps he's releasing whatever chemical experiment it is onto the island every 10800 seconds...

[fpc95]

I checked into the Dart Board thing and i captured the frame and zoomed in as close as i could and there appear to be darts but nothing in any order or of any significance that I could determine.

[AspenUSMC]

I kind of doubt this now, since he's expecting a replacement,

See...I think that's our problem. Many of us begin by assuming that Desmond expects a replacement. I don't think that's it at all.

I think he expects that IF whatever project he's down there serving is successful, some designated person will come down there to tell him that he's finished...that it's over.

Not that he's waiting to be relieved.

Desmond is under the impression that the world isn't out there anymore. He thinks something has gone terribly awry.

So...I think "him" is someone to tell him that it's all over...not a change of the guard, so to speak. I further think that speculating about Desmond's intentions/motivations will materially change with that perspective added.

Desmond is down that hatch...and I believe he's the ONLY one (well..he and his bunkmate that hasn't appeared, yet) that is ever intended to be down there.

Speaking of the bunkmate...I think the only other possibility for a "him" would be someone that was supposed to join him -- someone to take up that 2nd bunk there and go on rotating shifts. Someone to serve WITH him...not replace him...and apparently, that dude never showed up.

[mfglost]

you know, if it was three hours, that would make sense. i think it was da vinci who discovered that humans really only need 15 minutes of sleep, every three hours. apparently he tested his theory and went nuts from all of the free time.

so, maybe there's something related to that here, desmond has to punch in the code every three hours, he does some stuff, cleans some bowls, whatever, takes a 15 minute nap and then does it all again.

i really like that idea!

did you guys notice, that desmond woke up just a few minutes before the hatch was opened!? so he woke up in the middle of the night! think about that!

[ortiz34]

Perhaps Desmonds just going insane via the numbers and the computer beeping and him entering the numbers has no effect at all, except to drive him mad...

[mfglost]

possible ... i guess we'll find that out soon!

too bad that the 2nd episode did not get us any further in time. it just ended with the same "you?" ... it just filled some of the missing time ... grrr i hat those people :D but i also like them and how good they tell us this story!

[Lost Dog 4815162342]

The guy hurley sees in the asylum was definitley there sometime before Desmond.

[FargoNorth]

Well, if I was spending the rest of my life (as far as I knew) alone in a hatch underground, I would use all that free time without a TV to finagle some sort of primitive machine to type the stupid numbers in every three hours.

[Jazzbassman23]

If I recall correctly, 731 was on the top of the train car in which alien/human hybrid experiments were being conducted in an X-Files episode.

[Lostapalooza]

That's a good point on the Sysiphus analogy.

Locke said "Everyone gets to start over" on the island. Starting over isn't always a good thing, especially if you have to do the same damned thing over and over.

[Mattie]

Take the letters out of DI 9FFTR731 and google 9731 and you get this:

www.bartleby.com/100/773.23.html (http://www.bartleby.com/100/773.23.html)

John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp
&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp
NUMBER:&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 9731&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp
AUTHOR:&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Old Testament &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp
QUOTATION:&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp I have been a stranger in a strange land.&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp
ATTRIBUTION:&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Exodus ii. 22. [text]&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp
BIOGRAPHY:&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Columbia Encyclopedia

[kiwipat]

DI = Dharma Industries?

[kyeo138]

Just wondering if anyone's got a screen cap of the numbers on the Dharma goodies, when Rose and Bernard were stocking their kitchen.

Who knows if they mean anything, but I think they were all numbered the same. Something like 9F11000117

I'm speculating that the next drop might be numbered 9F11000118, and the next 119,etc... Makes sense that if you're dropping food on an island for years and years, you'd have them all prepared well ahead of time, and labeled with the right serial numbers.

[curlycowgirl]

No screen cap ... but I wrote down the number I saw on one of their items - D19FFTR731. I also wondered about the significance, if any...

[equinox]

It's the same old number that was on the food already in the pantry in the second episode of the season.
http://www.losttv-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7100

[LostInWilderness]

Merged.

[lacenaire]

DI 9FFTR731
DI FFT ER IA

[Madalynn]

DI9FFTR731

-

4--=( D = 4)=--
8--=( I = 8)=--
15--=( 9 + F = 15)=--
16--=( 9 + F + = 16)=--
23--=( T + 3 = 23)=--
42--=( F x 7 = 42)==-

D(4)/I(8)/9/F(6)/F(6)/T(20/R(18)/7/3/1

[equinox]

Maybe it's Dharma's phone number, if someone has a complaint about the food or wants to order a new shipment:
(DI9) FFT-R731
(349) 338-7731

[jetmangd]

http://www.losttv-forum.com/forum/showthread.php? p=245214#post245214



See 12/13/05 # 1 post on the #s.


http://www.losttv-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=242484#post242484

see 12/12/05 # 454. Thats where I saw the same #s back then.


Jet...............................

[lostmio]

It has a program language look to me. F is 1111 or hex 15, FF is 1111 1111 (255?, it's been a while).

I'm remembering some DIx stuff too in relays or gates or something to do with interrupting circuits.

Somehow I keep wanting to put this together with the ...---... that sos stands for and with the bagua trigrams in the dharma symbol.
I posted about this before the epiosde, when we had a spoiler on the episode name.

Maybe it'll strike a chord with someone who's currently knowledgable, it was 19 years ago when I was a sys admin.

[kyeo138]

Thanks for merging, so the numbers are the same, not incrementing.

Now my guess is that the DI in DI 9FFTR731 stands for Dharma Initiative. Whoever is dropping the supplies probably has a big warehouse in the phillipines or something. Who knows what 9FFTR731 means....

[cautiousguyonlost]

What does those numbers means?

[equinox]

In addition to the big numbers and letters, which are the same, there are also smaller numbers and letters, which might be identification codes for the different products. On this picture of the dharmalars box, at the bootom of the label we can see "960VKKS" and "PL390". Are there pictures of other food where small numbers and letters are visible for comparison?
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5047/2681/1600/Dharmalars.jpg

[LostWriter]

DI9 - Damage Interval 9 (human genome) (related to strain of bovine viral diarrhoea virus)

FFTR - Fire Fighter
[stretch but topical... Fast Fourier Transformation Routine (http://cars9.uchicago.edu/ifeffit/tutorial/node7.html)(used to analyze XAFS X-ray Absorption Fine-Structure results) ]

731 - Unit 731 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731)
Unit 731: Infected food supplies and clothing were dropped by planes in areas of China not occupied by Japanese forces.

[iwantkate]

Thanks for merging, so the numbers are the same, not incrementing.

Now my guess is that the DI in DI 9FFTR731 stands for Dharma Initiative. Whoever is dropping the supplies probably has a big warehouse in the phillipines or something. Who knows what 9FFTR731 means....

I agree that DI stands for Dharma Initiative - as Freud said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." Was the 9FFTR731 on the first batch of food they had? If not, maybe it's just a lot/shipment number.

[lostchild]

Perhaps DI 9FFTR731 is encrypted

[LostWriter]

If you convert each of the letters DI9FFTR731 into the decimal equivalent of their base36 counter part you get the following:

13 18 9 15 15 29 27 7 3 1

Which adds up to 137 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/137_%28number%29).

The Gematria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gematria) (i.e. Hebrew (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language) numerology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerology)) 137 is the value of the word "Kabbalah (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah)", which is of special significance to Jewish (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish) mystics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystics).

If you leave off D and I (13 and 18) it adds up to 106 which is the Australian national text emergency number (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/106_emergency)

I also found a Fantastic Four (FF?) comic book for sale on Ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6621625411&category=33813&fkxs=1). Issue #106 for 15 cents with the R731 designation in the title (odd...). The title? "Exposed at Last! The Monster's Secret!"

Leaving out T (29) it adds up to 108 (the lost number) which might mark T as a dividing point between DI9FF and R731.

I love finding useless info... :)

[Jamboni]

If you convert each of the letters DI9FFTR731 into the decimal equivalent of their base36 counter part you get the following:

13 18 9 15 15 29 27 7 3 1

Which adds up to 137 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/137_%28number%29).

The Gematria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gematria) (i.e. Hebrew (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language) numerology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerology)) 137 is the value of the word "Kabbalah (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah)", which is of special significance to Jewish (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish) mystics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystics).

If you leave off D and I (13 and 18) it adds up to 106 which is the Australian national text emergency number (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/106_emergency)

I also found a Fantastic Four (FF?) comic book for sale on Ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6621625411&category=33813&fkxs=1). Issue #106 for 15 cents with the R731 designation in the title (odd...). The title? "Exposed at Last! The Monster's Secret!"

Leaving out T (29) it adds up to 108 (the lost number) which might mark T as a dividing point between DI9FF and R731.

I love finding useless info... :)

wow, very impressed and very useful

how do u guys find the time 2 find links in these things? i dont even kno where to start sometimes lol

[IMLOSTRU?]

Makes more sense that its 10800 seconds, rather than 108.00 minutes. 10800 seconds = 3 hours even. If the alarm came on at 240 seconds, which is feasible, that would make it 4 minutes even that Desmond would have in order to reset the clock.

This might also give us a clue as to how big the hatch is...so that no matter where he is inside of it, he can get to the computer and reset the numbers within 4 minutes.

How was Kelvin able to get from the hatch to the beach and convince Desmond to come with him and re-enter the numbers as Desmond said in that short amount of time, unless he let the clock run out?

[IMLOSTRU?]

I also found a Fantastic Four (FF?) comic book for sale on Ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6621625411&category=33813&fkxs=1). Issue #106 for 15 cents with the R731 designation in the title (odd...). The title? "Exposed at Last! The Monster's Secret!"
. :)


That may be the most creative find I have ever seen on these boards.

[Budman]

How was Kelvin able to get from the hatch to the beach and convince Desmond to come with him and re-enter the numbers as Desmond said in that short amount of time, unless he let the clock run out?

If a man is hungry, how much time does he need to be convinced to go eat something? If Desmond was hungry, stranded and alone he may have easily gone back to the hatch.

There is also the possibility that Kelvin convinced Desmond of the virus/contamination/sickness threat, so too Desmond willingly went back.

Nevertheless, he has over an hour and a half, that's a lot of time on an island.

Oddly, Desmond says Kelvin died, but not how. Also, why was Kelvin out of the hatch if the island was quarantined?

[OMG its LFG]

Did the bottles of stuff that Desmond injected himself with have any of these numbers on them???

[IMLOSTRU?]

If a man is hungry, how much time does he need to be convinced to go eat something? If Desmond was hungry, stranded and alone he may have easily gone back to the hatch.
Ok I buy that.

[/quote] There is also the possibility that Kelvin convinced Desmond of the virus/contamination/sickness threat, so too Desmond willingly went back.[/quote]

Ok I buy that.

[/quote] Nevertheless, he has over an hour and a half, that's a lot of time on an island.[/quote]

Assuming he had just entered the numbers, somehow knew a boat crashed on the beach, ran all the way down to the beach, saved Desmond (as Desmond says) got around to convincing him to come, got all the way back to the hatch, and entered the numbers...seems like a timeline issue here.

[:spoiler:]I assume since Desmond returns we will know that.[:spoiler:]



[/quote] Oddly, Desmond says Kelvin died, but not how. Also, why was Kelvin out of the hatch if the island was quarantined?[/quote]

This is the most important point, are the vials a cure for the sickness (assuming there is one) or are they a vaccine? Because why would Kelvin have died if he had access to the same medicine?

[I Like Freckles]

This is the most important point, are the vials a cure for the sickness (assuming there is one) or are they a vaccine? Because why would Kelvin have died if he had access to the same medicine?

Um... Well... There have been plenty of other deaths on the island that I doubt access to the vaccine could have prevented.

Maybe Kelvin was lured into a precariously situated plane crash by a recently ambulatory paraplegic.

Or perhaps he was mistaken for an other and shot by an unstable former policewoman whose character is nearly universally loathed amongst these parts.

Or maybe he tried swimming in the ocean and was not saved by either a former lifeguard or a doctor with a hero complex, Daddy issues, and a predilection to sob uncontrallably once every three episodes.

Or perchance every bone is his body was broken mysteriously while he stood guard near the ocean and Desmond can't remember if his name was Kelvin or Carl.

:p

[yung23]

DI9 - Damage Interval 9 (human genome) (related to strain of bovine viral diarrhoea virus)

FFTR - Fire Fighter
[stretch but topical... Fast Fourier Transformation Routine (http://cars9.uchicago.edu/ifeffit/tutorial/node7.html)(used to analyze XAFS X-ray Absorption Fine-Structure results) ]

731 - Unit 731 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731)
Unit 731: Infected food supplies and clothing were dropped by planes in areas of China not occupied by Japanese forces.



you might have something there.

it comes up all the time in quantum computing.

FFT does anyway

[JacksGirlfriend]

I saw "Lostincyberspace" and had a flashback.

[ISIS]

The 731 part is chilling. I had read this some time ago and had likened it unto the experiments done by the others. Somehow, I had further found out that LOST was a name that was given to mustard gas experiments by the Nazis.

*At various times between September 1939 and April 1945 experiments were Conducted at Sachsenhausen, Natzweiler, and other concentration camps for the benefit of the German Armed Forces to investigate the most effective treatment of wounds caused by LOST gas. LOST is a poison gas which is commonly known as mustard gas.

Why was Kelvin leaving and taking the key with him? He had said that the key would make this all go away. He, himself had looked tempted to use the key when he was drunk. What's more where did he get the key?