ScavHunt211

VoidEngineer writes "Well, it's that time of the year again... the World's Largest Scavenger Hunt has begun again. (This is the same annual Scavenger Hunt where the students built the breeder reactor, for item #240, back in 1999...) Anyhow, you can find the list here. This year, the competition is between 9 teams and there are 307 items. Nerdy items include, but are not limited to: #2 From the fetid swamps of Lotan to the teeming forests of Jojojop, Endor is an ancient, mysterious, beautiful land, deserving to be rendered as a full-color map fit for National Geographic, circa TA 3019; [51 points] #46 Mobius stripper. Must be non-orientable. Must not emphasize the one-dimensionality of the stripper's personality. [28 points]. #98 A piece of the Space Shuttle Columbia with NASA verification [155 points] #101 A hologram of an entire team member. [50 points] #136 Explain string theory using only sock puppets. The Judge must understand. [19 points]"

Comments

string theory sock puppets

[everyplace]

What's funny about this item is that last year I wrote up a PBS-oriented kids show, about a mad professor black hole (think of a black sock puppet with a mustache, googley eyes, and a black swirley patterned outfit) called "The Great Abyss". He went around talking with his sidekick, every now and then making hilarous jokes about Twistor Theory.

I'm sure we could dig up the old material if anyone wanted to adapt it to string theory. Heh.

Re:Sexist.

[stwrtpj]

A "mobius stripper"? Why is it always with the nerdy population that we find such blatant sexism and a desire to exploit women? Are you people still wondering why no women want to enter the fields of engineering or computer science? It's a hostile environment, plain and simple, and you assholes are the cause.

You need to take this stuff with a grain of salt. I happen to be in the software field, and there are a lot of women in my office doing the same or similar job as me, and everything is as professional as you can get it. Yet these are the same people that would laugh at this in a context other than the office. Hell, I've met some of these women outside of the office, and they like off-color humor just as much as the guys. In the office, yes, it would be inappropriate. But what we're talking about here can hardly be considered in this context.

This is not the right battle to fight.