Frank here. Apparently to commemorate the 40th birthday of the Internet, DARPA, or Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the government entity where the Internet was conceived (basically the place where Morgan Freeman tinkers in Batman Begins), is celebrating with a game that draws on the Internet's unique abilities to organize people across geographic barriers.
There will be 10 red weather balloons placed in visible locations across the country, and the first team to provide coordinates for all 10 receives $40,000.
The game kicks off Dec. 5, so if you've got friends placed strategically around the country, you might want to sign up.
There will be 10 red weather balloons placed in visible locations across the country, and the first team to provide coordinates for all 10 receives $40,000.
The game kicks off Dec. 5, so if you've got friends placed strategically around the country, you might want to sign up.
What are the chances of being the first to report a balloon to the group that actually succeeds in winning? The low probability of receiving a smallish cash award isn’t worth the effort. But we're offering a better prize. We feel the best way to get people involved is to share the wealth by investing the money into something we can all share, like building a giant flying cupcake entirely out of balloons.
Yes, I'm completely serious.
If you help Larry Moss win the DARPA Challenge- we'll build a giant (30' tall) flying cupcake entirely out of balloons. Join us! http://bit.ly/4HlenC
Team DeciNena (think of the 80's song about 99 Red Balloons) is one of the best-organized and fastest growing, and we are now incorporating other teams into our web site.
We are offering to share part of the prize money with all particpants who are active on Dec 5th, not JUST the actual balloon finder (who will receive a larger reward).
Join us, and tell all your friends. That's what the whole goal of the challenge is -- to build large teams quickly.
http://decinena.com