Oh, goodness, I think that I got a little too involved in the DARPA challenge today. :-D Well, I was alone most of the day, and it was a fun diversion.
Groundspeak decided to get Geocachers involved in the DARPA balloon contest. DARPA put up 10 red balloons randomly around the U.S. for one day, and the first person who could submit the location of all 10 balloons won $40,000. Groundspeak thought it would be a fun way to see if we could rally Geocachers around the country and find all the balloons. Groundspeak pledged to use the money, plus $10,000 of their own, to give to DonorsChoose.org. The money would go towards GPS equipment for schools.
I had a great time refreshing Groundspeak's balloon blog, and the forum thread, to see when new balloons popped up. They had a drawing of Signal on the blog, with 10 clear balloons. Every time a confirmed sighting came in, a balloon would be coloured red. I would get excited whenever balloons turned red. I am so easily amused. *rolls eyes*
In the end, MIT won. Groundspeak found 8 balloons, MIT found 10. They advertised that they would pay people something like $2,000 per balloon found. Groundspeak chose not to give incentives, like a free membership or something, because they wanted to win fair and square, without any bribing, which could potentially bite you in the end legally.
Although Groundspeak didn't win the contest, they decided to donate their $10,000 to DonorsChoose.org, anyway. Yay!
I'm proud of Groundspeak for organizing this at the last minute! It's amazing how many people got involved, with just a day or two warning! Our community of cachers is great, and I'm glad that I'm a part of such a large family. Thanks for yet another day of fun, even if I hardly had to leave my bedroom for it. :-p
Courtesy of holazola:
10 Balloonies Blog
Groundspeak Forum DARPA thread
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