Codes

Any symbol is a code by definition because it represents something other than it is. But for a code to be valid it has to be incorporated into a systematic arrangement of symbols, a pattern that can be consistently translated correctly according to fixed rules of stability and change. In other words, a coded message has to have rules to tell the translator what it means in different configurations, like the same words used in different sentences. If you don't know the code you need a "book" of symbols and rules to figure it out.

Nicole Simpson's analog Swiss Army watch was stopped at 10:03. That time on June (the month in the box next to the stem) 12 (Swiss Army logo position) makes the watch a suitable decoder. The context in which time is referred to is the "rule book" for decoding messages.

The context is what you see in the episode of Rod Serling's Twilight Zone called "To Serve Man" http://smartfellowspress.com/codes_and_decoders.htm  The watch is a 12-hour watch (civilian time), a 24-hour watch (military/police time) and a calendar (the boxed number for the month in the 3 o'clock position). That means a.m. can be read p.m. and hours and minutes can be read as months and days. Remember, 12:00 noon, a key date in "To Serve Man," is represented by the Swiss Army logo in the 12 o'clock position.

Dates when significant events occurred, like birthdays, death days and special calendar dates can also be used to pull up maps of where they occurred. The January 17, 1993 Northridge earthquake is a case in point. It is also a date that draws in a reference to Mark Fuhrman and Acting Commanding Officer of the West L.A. police station Lt. Margaret York on the last day of 1985.  It involves a conflict between them over a defaced flier  honoring Martin Luther King Jr. January 17 (1:05 = 1/17 in Swiss Army watch code), 1994 was Martin Luther King Day. -- Jasper