[DamienC]

Registration for the DARPA network challenge is open today:

http://networkchallenge.darpa.mil/

To mark the 40th anniversary of the Internet, DARPA has announced the DARPA Network Challenge, a competition that will explore the roles the Internet and social networking play in the timely communication, wide-area team-building, and urgent mobilization required to solve broad-scope, time-critical problems.

The challenge is to be the first to submit the locations of 10 moored, 8-foot, red, weather balloons at 10 fixed locations in the continental United States. The balloons will be in readily accessible locations and visible from nearby roads.

I am ineligible to participate but someone here on RM should register and organize a team. You could take advantage of the broad geographic distribution of RM members. $40,000 up for grabs.

 

[Pesqueeb]

Sounds like fun, I'm willing to participate.

 

[BadDNA]

Registered on the site. Let's see what we can do. The balloons will be launched 12/5, if you spot one post in this thread.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Stuck.

 

[pigboy]

Stuck.

Stack

 

[IH8Rice]

id be up for forming a RM team

 

[sneakysnake]

I'm in.

 

[CrabJoe StretchPants]

Look for a balloon flying through the air and plaster it all over the internet? I think I know what really inspired this contest:

 

[IH8Rice]

should be pretty damn hard to find the people with baloons....but then again, its for $40k

 

[johnbryanpeters]

The best part of winning would be the fight over distribution of spoils.

 

[Arkayne]

I registered.

 

[Arkayne]

I'm going to buy a bunch of red balloons and put them all over San Diego.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Ooo - now we have the BadDNA team and the Arkayne team. Let the chaos begin!

 

[Arkayne]

Ohhh, I just realized that I didn't have to register to play. I'm still down for the RM team. All report to DNA!

 

[Sandwich]

didn't they already try this, and it ended poorly? or since they're 89 short, they think they'll be ok?

 

[CrabJoe StretchPants]

I'm so finding a giant ass red balloon and launching it that day.

 

[jonKranked]

I'm so finding a giant red ass baboon and launching it that day.

 

[Arkayne]

I'm so finding a giant ass red baboon and haunching it that day.

 

[pigboy]

this idle chit-chat about launching fake balloons makes me wonder what measures, if any, the DARPA fellers have taken to deal with such a meme.

eg. if they tether 10 balloons randomly around the US and gangs of punks independently tether 100 ballons that look close enough to fool people then the odds of anyone posting a correct answer to the DARPA site begins to look fairly thin.

 

[IH8Rice]

this idle chit-chat about launching fake balloons makes me wonder what measures, if any, the DARPA fellers have taken to deal with such a meme.

eg. if they tether 10 balloons randomly around the US and gangs of punks independently tether 100 ballons that look close enough to fool people then the odds of anyone posting a correct answer to the DARPA site begins to look fairly thin.

their site says there will be more info posted soon about this exact problem:

How can I distinguish an authentic DARPA balloon from an imposter?
More information will be released closer to the balloon launch date to address the possibility that non-DARPA balloons may create confusion. The DARPA officials accompanying the balloon will have credentials to verify their identities

.

 

[jonKranked]

this idle chit-chat about launching fake balloons makes me wonder what measures, if any, the DARPA fellers have taken to deal with such a meme.

eg. if they tether 10 balloons randomly around the US and gangs of punks independently tether 100 ballons that look close enough to fool people then the odds of anyone posting a correct answer to the DARPA site begins to look fairly thin.

Dude, its DARPA. D A R P A. Don't you think they'll know where their 10 balloons are, so that even if some youths decide to go rogue with impostor balloons, they'd be able to tell the difference?

 

[BadDNA]

Balloons will launch tomorrow 12/5, keep your eyes open, post locations here.


All balloons will be visible from public roadways, so remember to drive carefully! Please do not engage in activities that endanger yourself or others, such as pulling over unsafely, texting while driving, or rubbernecking. In addition, safe online practices should be used, including updating virus software, exercising caution when opening email attachments, and monitoring of younger participants. Please relay these cautions to everyone with whom you are collaborating to assure a safe and fun event.

 

[IH8Rice]

got my email today

Dear Entrant:

Thank you for registering to participate in the DARPA Network Challenge. This promises to be a tremendously interesting experiment and will demonstrate the power of one of the Internet's most intriguing aspects, social networking. When the Challenge is completed, we look forward to hearing about your experiences and the approach your team took to piecing together a winning solution.

All balloons will be visible from public roadways, so remember to drive carefully! Please do not engage in activities that endanger yourself or others, such as pulling over unsafely, texting while driving, or rubbernecking. In addition, safe online practices should be used, including updating virus software, exercising caution when opening email attachments, and monitoring of younger participants. Please relay these cautions to everyone with whom you are collaborating to assure a safe and fun event.

Plan on entering all answers through the DARPA Network Challenge website - the link will be active when the balloons launch on Saturday, December 5. Email submission is reserved for backup only. Your registration entitles you to 25 submissions, so you are welcome to submit balloon locations as you find them. Also, do not leave the submission page open for long periods of time as you search for answers - the page will time-out after 30 minutes and data that hasn't been submitted will be lost.

After you submit what you believe is a winning entry, please be patient. It will take time to verify results, so there may be a delay before you are contacted and the results announced.

Good Luck!

Norm Whitaker
DARPA Network Challenge

 

[Pesqueeb]

Anybody see one?

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/05/how-to-find-those-red-balloons/

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Haven't seen any, but I have been in the front yard cutting and splitting butternut all day...

 

[henrymiller]

MIT = 1 Ridemonkey = 0

https://networkchallenge.darpa.mil/default.aspx?thanks

 

[IH8Rice]

that was anti-climatic

 

[johnbryanpeters]

MIT = 1 Ridemonkey = 0

https://networkchallenge.darpa.mil/default.aspx?thanks

N.Y. Times:

"The winning group, a small team at the M.I.T. Media Laboratory Human Dynamics Group led by a physicist, Riley Crane, took just eight hours and 56 minutes to complete the challenge.

The balloons, which were 8 feet in diameter, were arrayed around the country. Some were in highly trafficked locations like Union Square in San Francisco; others were in more obscure places, like Katy Park, a baseball field in the Houston suburbs.

The winning researchers, who specialize in studying human interactions that emerge from computer networks, set up a Web site asking people to join their team. They relied on visitors to the Web site to invite their friends. They also sent e-mail messages inviting people to participate and sent a small number of advertisements to mobile phones.

They said that they would dole out the prize money both to chains of individuals who referred people who had correct information on the balloons’ locations and to charities. They described their method as a “recursive incentive structure.”

The approach “rewards people who make real contributions,” said Dr. Crane, whose research has recently focused on how information spreads in computer networks, like YouTube."

 

[IH8Rice]

so are they going to split the $40k to all those who submitted locations?

 

[jonKranked]

so are they going to split the $40k to all those who submitted locations?

Man they are gonna be sending out a lot of checks for $0.14

 

[IH8Rice]

Man they are gonna be sending out a lot of checks for $0.14

im thinking of this movie

 

[johnbryanpeters]

so are they going to split the $40k to all those who submitted locations?

Progressive reward system, something like

$2K for spotter
$1K for referrer
$500 for next referrer

You have to plow through their scheme for details.