Answer: Binary Secret #331

The secret message is:

Beep boop

The decoded message: Beep boop
Every row decoded.

Row by row

RowBulbsAdd the ‘on’ numbersCharacter
10100001064 + 2 = 66B
20110010164 + 32 + 4 + 1 = 101e
30110010164 + 32 + 4 + 1 = 101e
40111000064 + 32 + 16 = 112p
50010000032 = 32a space
60110001064 + 32 + 2 = 98b
70110111164 + 32 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 111o
80110111164 + 32 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 111o
90111000064 + 32 + 16 = 112p

Crack it with Python

Python can do the adding for you. int(code, 2) reads a string of 1s and 0s as a binary number. Then chr() turns the number into its character.

secret = [
    "01000010",
    "01100101",
    "01100101",
    "01110000",
    "00100000",
    "01100010",
    "01101111",
    "01101111",
    "01110000",
]
message = ""
for code in secret:
    number = int(code, 2)
    message = message + chr(number)
print(message)

When you run it, it prints:

Beep boop

<strong>Beep says:</strong> Want to write your own secret message? Turn it around: ord() turns a character into its number, and format(number, “08b”) writes the number as 8 binary digits. Beep boop!