# IceCTF 2016 – Matrix
## Problem
>I like to approach problems with a fresh perspective and try to visualize the problem at hand.
## Solution
Import the challenge file as a list of strings.
```mathematicamatrix = Import[  "https://play.icec.tf/problem-static/matrix_adf1a8f010f541cb171910f7afe1f86d41ce1669c51e318bb84c3c2e4397e2f4.txt",  "List"]```
```{"0x00000000", "0xff71fefe", "0x83480082", "0xbb4140ba","0xbb6848ba", "0xbb4a80ba", "0x83213082", "0xff5556fe", "0xff5556fe","0x00582e00", "0x576fb9be", "0x707ef09e", "0xe74b41d6", "0xa82c0f16","0x27a15690", "0x8c643628", "0xbfcbf976", "0x4cd959aa", "0x2f43d73a","0x5462300a", "0x57290106", "0xb02ace5a", "0xef53f7fc", "0xef53f7fc","0x00402e36", "0xff01b6a8", "0x83657e3a", "0xbb3b27fa", "0xbb5eaeac","0xbb1017a0", "0x8362672c", "0xff02a650", "0x00000000"}```
Convert each hex number to a list of binary digits.
```mathematicabinary = IntegerDigits[FromDigits[StringTrim[#, "0x"], 16], 2, 32] & /@ matrix```
```{{0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0},{1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0},{1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0},{1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0},{1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0},{1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0},{1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0},{1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0},{1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0},{0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0},{0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0},{0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0},{1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0},{1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0},{0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0},{1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0},{1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0},{0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0},{0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0},{0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0},{0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0},{1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0},{1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0},{1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0},{0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0},{1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0},{1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0},{1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0},{1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0},{1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0},{1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0},{1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0},{0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0}}```
Attempt to create a QR code from the data. There is some corruption that looks like duplicated rows or columns.
```mathematicaColorNegate@Image@binary```
![corrupted qr code image](qrcode-corrupt.png)
Delete duplicate rows, then transpose the matrix to delete duplicate columns.
```mathematicacleaned = DeleteDuplicates@Transpose@DeleteDuplicates@binary;```
Create an image from the cleaned up data.
```mathematicaimage = ColorNegate@Image[cleaned]```
![qr code image](qrcode.png)
Read the QR code.
```mathematicaBarcodeRecognize[image]```
```IceCTF{1F_y0U_l0oK_c1Os3lY_EV3rY7h1N9_i5_1s_4nD_0s}```