Transcription
This is the strongest paper shredder on Earth. It can shred any document completely.
On the other side are top programmers from the United States. They claim they can restore all shredded documents to their original state. So, when they go up against each other, can the programmers restore the files shredded by the machine?
First is Flo. When he was only 7 years old, he developed a computer game on his own. That made him famous across Florida. So far, he has created more than 1,000 software programs. His most popular one is this translation app. Just take a picture and it will translate everything instantly.
Walker is also an extremely skilled programmer. He wrote a program in C language that tests satellite fuel. It was directly used by NASA on spacecraft. The third member, Luke, is also very capable. He specializes in using code to solve all kinds of difficult problems. They believe every problem in the world can be solved with code.
This is the automatic puzzle assembly software made by their team. Just scan the shredded paper into the computer with a scanner. The software will automatically identify and piece the scraps together until the entire document is fully restored.
Today, their challenge is against Master Neizhong. The paper shredder developed by Neizhong is said to turn documents into fine dust. Anyone trying to steal information by restoring the files will find it completely impossible.
The machine was inspired by a noodle press. This old-style paper cutter is fast, but it has clear weaknesses. It offers no confidentiality for documents at all. Even a 3-year-old child can put them back together. Yet, the US purchased large quantities of these machines back then, which led to a massive leak of classified documents during the 1979 Iran embassy hostage crisis, causing immeasurable damage to the United States.
After that tragic lesson, Neizhong devoted himself to research and finally created this strongest paper shredder on Earth. Just insert a sheet of paper, wait for 2 seconds, and you get paper scraps smaller than grains of rice. At this level, no one can restore the paper. The key to the machine is two rollers covered with dense sharp teeth with very tight gaps between the teeth. It instantly grinds paper into scraps smaller than rice grains.
So, can the programmers restore such finely shredded paper? Let's wait and see. The production team puts the shredder manual into the machine. The programmers win if they restore it within 3 days. Otherwise, Ne Jon will be the winner.
Before the competition began, Flo claimed he would defeat the shredder with his code, but he was stunned when he saw the shredded pieces. Can a machine really produce such tiny scraps? He had to handle them extremely carefully. Otherwise, they would fall on the floor and be impossible to see. It took great effort to collect all the scraps.
The scanning process was also exhausting. They had to arrange every scrap neatly one by one. This step alone took an entire day. Next came the assembly stage, but surprisingly, the so-called software assembly meant manual piecing on the program. It took a full 3 hours just to put together one letter S.
Ne Jon could not stop laughing. He advised the three to give up, but the three grew more determined as they kept trying. When only 1 day remained, the three still had not succeeded. Then Flo noticed the pattern on the back of the paper was simpler. Assembling from the back would be much easier. The three flipped all the scraps over and also optimized their code. This time, the assembly speed was indeed much faster than before.
Even though time was running out, Flo looked visibly worn out, but he still confidently said they would succeed. After the competition, Flo needed to send the assembled image to Ne Jon via a fax machine. Did he manage to put it together successfully?