DARPA Network Challenge Lasts All of 9 Hours 129
stillnotelf writes "A team based at MIT has won the DARPA Network Challenge. DARPA notes: 'The Challenge has captured the imagination of people around the world, is rich with scientific intrigue, and, we hope, is part of a growing "renaissance of wonder" throughout the nation,' said DARPA's director, Dr. Regina E. Dugan. 'DARPA salutes the MIT team for successfully completing this complex task less than 9 hours after balloon launch.' PDF with (scant) details. Hit the first link above for a map with the locations. How many did your team find?"
That was pretty fast... (Score:0, Funny)
But I bet that team couldn't beat me to first post.
Re:how (Score:3, Funny)
They asked Fark for help.
How many did your team find? (Score:5, Funny)
We found them all within fifteen minutes but we sold the information about this secret DARPA project to China for $400,000. I'm posting anonymously for obvious reasons.
Re:That was pretty fast... (Score:4, Funny)
How many times has that guy had angioplasty?
Re:That was pretty fast... (Score:5, Funny)
Right. Get off slashdot. Now. Thank you.
99 Luftballoons (Score:4, Funny)
Come on, couldn't they have a least made it 99 red balloons? Was DARPA afraid they might accidently start a nuclear war?
Re:That was pretty fast... (Score:5, Funny)
I sure do hope there's some irony in your post I'm not caching.
Irony typically has a short TTL; you're better off not caching it.
Re:Interesting results (Score:1, Funny)
Have you tried hiding a big, red, floating Bin Laden somewhere in the US and let some geeks loose to find it ?
Re:99 Luftballoons (Score:4, Funny)
nah, the RIAA would have sued them
Re:What's DARPA about it ? (Score:2, Funny)
It required communication between different members of a group, to cover a bigger area.
Re:how (Score:4, Funny)
MIT used the pyramid scheme. You don't have to find a balloon, just get 5 people under you to find 5 people and so on.
It's not MIT tactics... It's AMWAY tactics...
Re:That was pretty fast... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:That was pretty fast... (Score:5, Funny)
And obviously slashdot has readers who don't know about TCP/IP [isoc.org].
So that's how the Internet works! I always thought it was a series of tubes.
Re:What's DARPA about it ? (Score:1, Funny)
Seeking out insurgents or terrorist cells might be a practical military application of this technology.
Damn, who'd have though those groups would invade by balloons!
Wait a second... (Score:3, Funny)
...but wasn't this a joint DARPA/MIT project? And an MIT won the challenge? How does this apparent conflict of interest satisfy the "rich with scientific intrigue" tag? This is a non-starter, and I'm disappointed that DARPA would even have wasted their time with this.
As a teacher, my level of concern continues to rise with what passes for "science" these days, especially from institutions that should know better. This wasn't a science experiment. It was an advertising gimmick. Shame on DARPA, and shame on MIT. (No shame on /., because after 12 years, I've come to expect this type of editorial slackness.)
Re:That was pretty fast... (Score:5, Funny)
99 Red Balloons (Score:3, Funny)
I think they should use more balloons to make it harder
99 Red Balloons would have been better
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14IRDDnEPR4 [youtube.com]
Re:That was pretty fast... (Score:1, Funny)
whooosh - the sound made by someone rushing like the wind along a sarchasm.
Re:99 Luftballoons (Score:2, Funny)