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GPS Cell Phone in Soda Can Form
Myko writes "PhoneScoop.com reports that Coca Cola has unleashed a new GPS enabled cell phone for a new promo. Apparently the user will push one button which will auto dial a Coke rep that will tell them they won an SUV. They'll then press and enable the GPS and the prize squad will drive to their location with the prize. So the big question is, will the phone give off any residual waves that will allow custom made detection equipment to find the right 12 pack, similar to the tilt and win iTunes trick? :)" We mentioned this last year, but it wasn't clear how the GPS-in-a-can trick was going to work.
I doubt there's going to be anything given off by this phone when it's not in use. Afterall, does a cell phone that's turned off give of any energy that can be detected?
Aside from weight, which will obviously be different on the case that has the phone in it compared to the case that does not, WHERE is the phone being placed? Inside an empty can with a different style lid? Or is the phone can-shaped, to prevent the case from making "noises" or rattling that a normal case wouldn't make... in any case (no pun intended) the case will be different. Though I do not support cheating the game.
You just ruined my best source of tin for my hats, Coca-Cola.
Should I even tell the poor sap that cans are made of aluminum?
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
There's a ton of FUD about this going around. But its necessary. Basically, the car counts as "income" so you pay income taxes on it.
If they didn't do this, then instead of companies paying you in dollars, they could just pay you in "cars" (or something smaller, like bycicles) that you could convert to dollars tax-free. So this really plugs a loophole. But you pay tax on your income, no matter what form it comes in - money, cars, vacations, etc.
The worst example I ever saw was someone who won a one-year lease on a new BMW Z3. Have you seen the price on a one year lease? They ended up paying ~$600 a month in equiv. taxes, a reasonable car payment, and they didn't even get to pick the car.
You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
There's two taxes going on here...
A: Pepsi pays the tax on buying the vehile.
B: The contest winner owes income tax on their winnings... even if it comes in a non-cash form they owe tax on the value of what they got.
Think of what happens when you buy a car the normal way. You pay a sales tax on the car itself, but you also have already paid income tax on the money you're going to use to pay for the car.
Yep, it's double-dipping, but that's the way the system's worked for a long time.
It doesn't matter. Being able to detect it would be like buying an extra powerball ticket: it doesn't substantially improve your chances of winning. So what if you go from having a 1 in a bazillion chance of picking the right box to a 20 or 30 in a bazillion chance? With the pepsi bottle itunes thing it was different, because you had a reasonable chance to begin with. I don't know how many SUVs they are giving away but I doubt the odds are so good that you can actually improve your lot this way.
coke needs to be smart and ensure that the can weighs _exactly_ the same as an existing can, otherwise, everyone who works at a shop or distribution channel could weigh the boxes or pallets and discern the differences.
Equally, another way to cheat would be to be use sort of low-tech radar/xray device that can detect different types of solids (for example: cans and liquid are pretty simple, but a radio has a lot of complexity that'll generate signal splatter).
Another way [:-)] would be to see if you can generate radio signals at right frequency to induce resonant effects in the antenna within the can.
This type of low-tech gear wouldn't take more than one or two cluey engineers and weeks work of work.
Have fun