Find The Red Balloon

If you see one of these today, let me know. I, um, lost them, and, er, want them back.



DARPA are offering a big cash prize to anyone who can correctly list the GPS coordinates of these red balloons. I can only gather that, in the interest of making it difficult, one or more will be here in North Dakota, so I'll be keeping my eyes open. The game is designed to test the reliability of information found by mechanical turks, social networks, or other online adhocracies. Bigger social sites, notably Fark and Metafilter, are planning on donating winnings to charity. Contestants have nine days to turn in their data; I'm predicting a correct and vetted winner will come forward within an hour of the balloons' release.

Pabst, Blue Ribbon: Ugly Dog

There has been an upset in the world of dogs: the previous Ugliest Dog in the World has been replaced by this guy:


Maybe I'm just a dog lover, but I think the guy above is cute -- the previous winner was downright terrifying. Sorry about that...here, have a cutest dog in the world to cleanse your palate.