So; someone pointed me to a rather interesting contest by DARPA, the DARPA Network Challenge. Now, I appreciate what DARPA tries to do as much as the next guy (basically throwing money at problems hoping someone finds the solution). But, this context in particular struck my fancy; socially organizing a way to find, locate and then tell the government where something is for a prize. Granted a bit of big-brother outsourcing, but I found the idea curious nonetheless.
Basically, DARPA is going to place 10, 8′, red, anchored weather balloons around the US; and thenwants people to use social networking to find them all and report in for a prize. One thing I instantly thought of, is “hey, I want to do another social experiment”. So, here’s the skinny: For each person that hangs up (within their local laws, legally) an 8′ red weather balloon somewhere visible in the US and provides a photo I’ll list you here and send you $15 US via PayPal to cover your expenses and buy a fancy coffee (up to a max 15 entries).
What’s the point?
- To give DARPA another angle to deal with, dealing with extraneous data… it is social networking after all
- To show just how fast ordinary people can get out there and organize when needed.
- Hey, it’ll be funny too
Let the balloonigans begin!
Edit: Yes, things that look similar to 8′ red weather balloons do count, including painting a similarly sized white balloon red.
[and just one more note to do this legally, don't go setting up the balloons on someone's else lawn without permission, etc]