6 ms·

DARPA Network Challenge

50 points by jballanc 17y ago

labria 17y ago
I don't get it. Do you submit results once, or you can resubmit? Makes a lot of difference!
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
jballanc 17y ago
I'm thinking the best approach might be an intelligent system to scape from Twitter/Facebook and correlate location words with "What the heck is that big balloon"-type phrases...would be difficult, but such a system could be really useful for the next major disaster.
- ErrantX 17y ago
  Id just take the risk and watch for the relevant hash tags rather than filtering other keywords :) Besides sounds like they want pretty specific lat/long.
wmf 17y ago
This sounds tailor-made for an iPhone app. Perhaps Foursquare could award a badge for finding one of the balloons.
jpwagner 17y ago
now THAT is a cool competition
ivankirigin 17y ago
They has as well have called this "facebook vs. twitter". For the former, start a group, and build awareness. Direct the money to a cause. Use the iphone app to post and get updates. For twitter, post to and follow a hashtag. At least 50% of your human labor will need to be dedicated to filtering spam if the tag starts to trend. Definitely search on either to get random people on board http://www.facebook.com/search/?init=srp&sfxp=&q=red+balloon&gl=1&lo=en_US&sp=7 http://www.facebook.com/search/?init=srp&sfxp=&q=red...
MaysonL 17y ago
Probably the best way to win is to deploy a couple dozen red balloons of your own...
- kakooljay 17y ago
  That's hilarious :) YC asks applicants to describe a time they hacked something to their advantage.. wouldn't that be a great answer?
- NathanKP 17y ago
  That certainly wouldn't be ethical (as it would cause havoc for the other contestants) and it would be ludicrous (as DARPA would obviously know that your balloons were fake).
  - nl 17y ago
    Putting up another 89 red balloons would be nice anti-war protest. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_Luftballons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_Luftballons :) Also, making the contest more hostile would arguably be very ethical given that DARPA are funding it. It would presumably provide a better research outcome if the winning method had to deal with bad actors. It wouldn't be ludicrous, because it would force your competitors to deal with the problem of fake balloon, presumably increasing your chances of winning (assuming you have some method for determining what is a real balloon and what is a fake one)
  - briansmith 17y ago
    The fake balloons would be to trick your competitors into giving up early.
- nl 17y ago
  Deploy a few of your own, and burst a few of the original ones (after recoding the location!)
memetichazard 17y ago
From the rules. Eligibility: The DARPA Network Challenge is open to individuals of all ages irrespective of nationality or residency. Prizes: The winner must provide a U.S. taxpayer identification number (e.g. a social security number) to receive the cash prize. So you can participate no matter who or where you are, but you can only win the prize if you live(d) in the US?
- gloob 17y ago
  Given that the balloons are in the US, I'm not sure that's much of a restriction.
  - the_real_r2d2 17y ago
    Not necessary. If you assume that people is going to spread the news in twitter (or blogs, facebook, etc.) when they find a balloon, the locations is not a restriction. You just need a smart enough engine to search and find those tweets. Now, the "smart engine technology" is the difficult task (and for sure what DARPA is looking for).
- kakooljay 17y ago
  Maybe that applies only if the winner is American. I bet they changed the eligibility requirements after that was written..
- wtallis 17y ago
  You can get an ITIN without being a citizen or resident of the US, it's just seldom necessary. The most common reason seems to be foreign nationals with American investments that are taxed by the IRS.
tlb 17y ago
How big a fleet of drone aircraft would you need search the US in a couple hours? It'd be tens of thousands, but it might be doable for a few million bucks. I think you could fly pretty high and use large telephoto lenses and high-speed video cameras to see red dots while scanning quickly. That'd be a more interesting project than trying to enlist a lot of volunteer spotters with iPhone apps.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
nl 17y ago
Here's a good interview question: The required accuracy is 1 arc minute, which is approximately 1.86 kms. The area of the continental United States is approximately 8080464 sq. km. How many entries do you need to submit to guarantee one will contain the correct answer? Supplementary question for extra credit: Let the correct answer above be X. Suggest a solution for finding the earliest correct answer from 10X entries. :)
protomyth 17y ago
So, if it is known someone will pay $X per photo with embedded GPS coordinates taken from under the ballon, then aren't we talking about how close to $4,000 a central gatherer is willing to go?
mjgoins 17y ago
Help the best-funded and least accountable military on the globe with some free intelligence work. How exciting.
tybris 17y ago
a.k.a. the biggest prisoner's dilemma competition yet.
TrevorJ 17y ago
An HN team anyone? I'd be interested to see how far our skills could take us.
RedBalloon 17y ago
There are a variety of different ways to try to win this competition but I'm sure most of them leverage, in one way or another, having as many people as possible know about the competition. Everyone should help spread the word! We're trying to do that on Facebook and on our website: http://www.redballoonrace.com http://www.redballoonrace.com Check us out and shoot me an email! Tell me what you think!
XenonofArcticus 17y ago
My team, DeciNena, will win because we have the best technology, the coolest name, and are cupcake-free. We are even offering to share some of the prize money with participating team members who don't find a balloon themselves! http://decinena.com http://decinena.com
ispyaredballoon 17y ago
We've got a strong team that's going to give all the money to charity (Red Cross). If you'd like to help, report your balloon sightings to http://www.ispyaredballoon.com/ http://www.ispyaredballoon.com/ or at facebook http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=201028633372 http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=201028633372

50 points by jballanc 17y ago

labria 17y ago

I don't get it. Do you submit results once, or you can resubmit? Makes a lot of difference!

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

jballanc 17y ago

I'm thinking the best approach might be an intelligent system to scape from Twitter/Facebook and correlate location words with "What the heck is that big balloon"-type phrases...would be difficult, but such a system could be really useful for the next major disaster.

ErrantX 17y ago
Id just take the risk and watch for the relevant hash tags rather than filtering other keywords :) Besides sounds like they want pretty specific lat/long.

wmf 17y ago

This sounds tailor-made for an iPhone app. Perhaps Foursquare could award a badge for finding one of the balloons.

jpwagner 17y ago

now THAT is a cool competition

ivankirigin 17y ago

They has as well have called this "facebook vs. twitter". For the former, start a group, and build awareness. Direct the money to a cause. Use the iphone app to post and get updates. For twitter, post to and follow a hashtag. At least 50% of your human labor will need to be dedicated to filtering spam if the tag starts to trend. Definitely search on either to get random people on board http://www.facebook.com/search/?init=srp&sfxp=&q=red+balloon&gl=1&lo=en_US&sp=7 http://www.facebook.com/search/?init=srp&sfxp=&q=red...

MaysonL 17y ago

Probably the best way to win is to deploy a couple dozen red balloons of your own...

kakooljay 17y ago
That's hilarious :) YC asks applicants to describe a time they hacked something to their advantage.. wouldn't that be a great answer?
NathanKP 17y ago
That certainly wouldn't be ethical (as it would cause havoc for the other contestants) and it would be ludicrous (as DARPA would obviously know that your balloons were fake).
- nl 17y ago
  Putting up another 89 red balloons would be nice anti-war protest. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_Luftballons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_Luftballons :) Also, making the contest more hostile would arguably be very ethical given that DARPA are funding it. It would presumably provide a better research outcome if the winning method had to deal with bad actors. It wouldn't be ludicrous, because it would force your competitors to deal with the problem of fake balloon, presumably increasing your chances of winning (assuming you have some method for determining what is a real balloon and what is a fake one)
- briansmith 17y ago
  The fake balloons would be to trick your competitors into giving up early.
nl 17y ago
Deploy a few of your own, and burst a few of the original ones (after recoding the location!)

memetichazard 17y ago

From the rules. Eligibility: The DARPA Network Challenge is open to individuals of all ages irrespective of nationality or residency. Prizes: The winner must provide a U.S. taxpayer identification number (e.g. a social security number) to receive the cash prize. So you can participate no matter who or where you are, but you can only win the prize if you live(d) in the US?

gloob 17y ago
Given that the balloons are in the US, I'm not sure that's much of a restriction.
- the_real_r2d2 17y ago
  Not necessary. If you assume that people is going to spread the news in twitter (or blogs, facebook, etc.) when they find a balloon, the locations is not a restriction. You just need a smart enough engine to search and find those tweets. Now, the "smart engine technology" is the difficult task (and for sure what DARPA is looking for).
kakooljay 17y ago
Maybe that applies only if the winner is American. I bet they changed the eligibility requirements after that was written..
wtallis 17y ago
You can get an ITIN without being a citizen or resident of the US, it's just seldom necessary. The most common reason seems to be foreign nationals with American investments that are taxed by the IRS.

tlb 17y ago

How big a fleet of drone aircraft would you need search the US in a couple hours? It'd be tens of thousands, but it might be doable for a few million bucks. I think you could fly pretty high and use large telephoto lenses and high-speed video cameras to see red dots while scanning quickly. That'd be a more interesting project than trying to enlist a lot of volunteer spotters with iPhone apps.

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

nl 17y ago

Here's a good interview question: The required accuracy is 1 arc minute, which is approximately 1.86 kms. The area of the continental United States is approximately 8080464 sq. km. How many entries do you need to submit to guarantee one will contain the correct answer? Supplementary question for extra credit: Let the correct answer above be X. Suggest a solution for finding the earliest correct answer from 10X entries. :)

protomyth 17y ago

So, if it is known someone will pay $X per photo with embedded GPS coordinates taken from under the ballon, then aren't we talking about how close to $4,000 a central gatherer is willing to go?

mjgoins 17y ago

Help the best-funded and least accountable military on the globe with some free intelligence work. How exciting.

tybris 17y ago

a.k.a. the biggest prisoner's dilemma competition yet.

TrevorJ 17y ago

An HN team anyone? I'd be interested to see how far our skills could take us.

RedBalloon 17y ago

There are a variety of different ways to try to win this competition but I'm sure most of them leverage, in one way or another, having as many people as possible know about the competition. Everyone should help spread the word! We're trying to do that on Facebook and on our website: http://www.redballoonrace.com http://www.redballoonrace.com Check us out and shoot me an email! Tell me what you think!

XenonofArcticus 17y ago

My team, DeciNena, will win because we have the best technology, the coolest name, and are cupcake-free. We are even offering to share some of the prize money with participating team members who don't find a balloon themselves! http://decinena.com http://decinena.com

ispyaredballoon 17y ago

We've got a strong team that's going to give all the money to charity (Red Cross). If you'd like to help, report your balloon sightings to http://www.ispyaredballoon.com/ http://www.ispyaredballoon.com/ or at facebook http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=201028633372 http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=201028633372