Spiegel surfs the web: welcome to the cia's electronic reading room

------------------------- * * X.com * Facebook * E-Mail * * * X.com * Facebook * E-Mail * Messenger * WhatsApp * Dieser Beitrag stammt aus dem SPIEGEL-Archiv. Warum ist das wichtig? The

online CIA Reading Room  of newly-released secret documents covers wide ground, and is bound to become a Mecca of sorts for both academics and arm-chair conspiracy theorists. The searchable

database lets X-Files fanatics comb for information on what the CIA _really_ knows about UFOs . Serious-minded academics, meanwhile, can look up CIA gaffes -- like a 1993 report  predicting

that Castro's government would fall within a few years -- or good old spy information, like an archive of reconnaissance flights  over the Soviet Union. Or you can just see what

everyone else has been snooping around for in the 25 top monthly searches . PERPLEX CITY? PERPLEXITY? PERPLEXED? SO ARE WE... In the Chinese calendar, 2005 is the "year of the

rooster". The British government meanwhile has decreed 2005 "the year of the volunteer". But to anyone with half an ear on the popular pulse, 2005 is most definitely the

"year of the mystery". With the runaway success of Dan Brown's thriller 'The Da Vinci Code", puzzling and mystery-solving have become de rigeur for the 21st century

generation. Take the explosion in popularity of Su Doku , a numerical problem-solving game, featured previously in this column. Alternative Reality Games (ARGs) are the latest gimmick to tap

into the modern Sherlock Holmes mentality. These games are run in cyberspace and quickly capture a dedicated following through an intricate array of websites, encoded advertisements, phone

calls and the like. The latest offering, Perplex City , the brainchild of London-based Adrian Hon, has quickly transformed into a media and game-playing phenomenon. $200,000 awaits the

devoted player who pieces together a myriad of clues to solve the mystery of the stolen Cube. But this ARG is more than just a glorified treasure hunt. Perplex City lives! It has its own

newspaper , university , blogs  and a plethora of characters, which players must get to know in order to solve the puzzle. Hype and tantalising mystery is essential to the games success.

Many readers of _Marketing Week_, which featured an encrypted advertisement plugging the game, apparently thought they had stumbled on a recruiting tool for MI5 (the British secret

intelligence service). Crucially, much of the action takes place not online, but in the real world. Scores of people turned up simultaneously at the famous level crossing at Abbey Road in

London to open an envelope revealing the next clue in the mystery. Players are encouraged to work together, and communicate online to discuss the meaning of the latest enigma or allusion.

The trail is now hotting up, with the release of a series of puzzle cards, which contain clues about the theft of the Cube and more information about the imaginary city from which it was

stolen. The makers insist it is not a marketing stunt for a product, as previous ARGs have turned out to be. Adrian Hon believes very soon, we'll all be playing them. Kiss good by to

that paperback, and put off going to the cinema. ARGs are here to stay.