UPDATE NEWS Flash ........Congratulations Massachusetts Institute of Technology WINS !
A team led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology spread the wealth far and wide to locate 10 red balloons in undisclosed locations across the country on Saturday and win a $40,000 cash prize from the Pentagon's think tank.
DARPA said the balloons were raised in Atlanta; Charlottesville, Va.; Christiana, Del.; Katy, Texas; Memphis, Tenn.; Miami; Portland, Ore.; San Francisco and Santa Barbara, Calif.; and Scottsdale, Ariz.
Well they must be all right,as I understand it; they did invent the internet 40 years ago. "Zoom ahead 40 years,and you can hardly find anyone who hasn't been touched by, and whose life hasn't been improved by the Internet.” says Peter Lee, director of Darpa’s transformational convergence technology office
DARPA, the US Defense Department’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is sponsoring a $40,000 prize for the first person or team that can locate all 10 of the eight foot wide balloons that are located at ten fixed locations in the continental United States. Balloons will be in readily accessible locations and visible from nearby roadways...
DARPA says it is studying how social networks can be used by foreign enemies to gain information. And also how fast-breaking information can be organized on a battlefield.
Darpa’s transformational convergence technology office Red Balloon test focuses on tech and social trends that by give participants an incentive, like the prize money, the contest tests how people organize themselves and how they validate information. “Relatively little is known about how those networks respond when trust is a factor,”Lee said.
Its all about informational flow patterns and control. The one that controls the flow controls the battlefield.
In the meantime find those balloons.
How funny would it have been if DARPA had instead tasked people with locating special operatives dressed in red and white striped shirts, ski-hats, glasses, and walking sticks?
ReplyDelete"He's on the beach!"
"No! He was just seen near the great pyramids!"
Most likely the balloons were a cost cutting measure.The cost of red and white striped shirts has skyrocketed though prices of red balloons have remained mostly stable.Good point though Leon thanks as always.BP
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