“I enjoyed becoming analytical of the puzzle and adding rule sets to the code to attack [it].”
- Paul Tarter, Undergraduate Student, CMIT Program
Winner, Microsoft Scripting Guys TechEd Challenge
MyUMUC Story:
UMUC Student Paul Tarter Wins Microsoft Scripting Challenge
By Julie S. Epstein
UMUC student Paul Tarter knows numbers. However, one number holds particular meaning: 39,614,081,257,132,168,796,771,975,168. This is the number of possibilities in a word puzzle that he successfully solved in Microsoft’s Scripting Guys TechEd Challenge contest.
One of only nine contestants to receive a perfect score, Tarter learned of the competition just seventeen days before the deadline. With little time to spare, Tarter sacrificed sleep and, fueled by the excitement of the challenge and his passion for coding, submitted his solution on time.
While tackling the puzzle, Tarter found his UMUC classes in ethical hacking and Perl programming useful, particularly the coursework focused on Brute Force and Automated Random Guess password cracking and programming. Tarter created a functional Distributive Processing Brute Force Code that allows him to diversify any length of password or strings involved in an equation.
Tarter’s classroom learning translated into real-world application when he used what he learned to solve the puzzle. The puzzle also served as a topic for his term paper in his CMIT class at UMUC. Tarter was excited to build on what he had created in the classroom. “I enjoyed becoming analytical of the puzzle and adding rule sets to attack the puzzle.”
His schoolwork trickles into his personal and professional life as well. Tarter can be found deciphering code at home or at work. “At work you can always find me scripting away at my computer, trying to find a new way to make life easier.”
Winning the scripting challenge is just one of the many things that Tarter has to be proud of. Currently, Tarter serves in the U.S. Army working with Information Security. His girlfriend, also in the military, is currently deployed to Bahrain. His educational goal is to go on to earn his Master of Science in information assurance.
To honor his achievement and as part of his prize, Microsoft will rename its Script Center after Tarter for one day on August 17, 2007. The solution that Tarter came up with will also be posted on the Script Center Web page on this date.
Can you solve the puzzle? The contest is over, but you can still view Microsoft’s TechEd Challenge!
