They where clues. I made a summary of them here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=661781.msg7552956#msg7552956the only part I missed IIRC was the "SOCLOSE" hint. I believe they all hinted at binary. "SOCLOSE" was meant to make us backtrack, same as the reverse counting. Not sure why OP left some oft the numbers out. Maybe there is a reference with the post numbers where binary was mentioned.
I missed all of the blockchain.info transaction comment hints. So many people seem to think that the "notes" on their website are part of Bitcoin due to the way blockchain.info labels them, but they're totally not. Nobody but users of that website can see them. Until I looked back at comments here I don't even know the OP thought the same.