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U of Chicago Scavenger Hunt List - 2004

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the distributed-approach dept.

nightsweat writes "The list of items and tasks for the 2004 version of the infamous University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt (or scavhunt for short) is up as a PDF. As a veteran of the first hunt in 1985, I'm glad to see the youngsters carrying on the madness. Some of the highlight items - the URLs of the blogs of the judges, five pages of Queer Eye for Doctor Doom, A McDonald's Sad Meal, Mrs Potatohead giving Mr. Potato head, Eudaemonia (300 points!), and a permanent tattoo that says 'Sorry about the syphilis, can we still be cousins?'"

29 of 268 comments (clear)

  1. #1 on the list by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    A PDF viewer for Windows that doesn't suck up more resources Doom III. Good luck on that!

    1. Re:#1 on the list by dgmartin98 · · Score: 4, Informative

      (while acknowledging the humor...)

      Solution:
      Don't use Adobe Reader 6.x.
      Stick with Adobe Reader 5.x.

      If you already have 6.x installed and you're pissed off with the startup time and resources used (I was), uninstall it and reinstall 5.x

      To download 5.x, go to the Adobe site, and pick Windows 98 as your platform, regardless if you actually have WinXP, 2k or whatever. If you REALLY want a small Adobe Reader, pick the Win 3.1 platform, to give you Adobe Reader 3.x.

      If you're using Linux, you're in luck, Adobe won't try to forcefeed you with 6.x... yet.

      --
      FPGA, Wireless, ASIC, Verilog, VHDL, HW, 10yr exp, Team Lead, Ottawa (More? Email above. slashdotusername=dgmartin98 )
    2. Re:#1 on the list by normal_guy · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually, this is much easier. Go to your Acrobat\Reader folder and take everything from the "plug_ins" folder and move it into "Optional" except the following: Search.api, Search5.api, IA32.api, EWH32.api, EScript.api. Printing and search will still work, and it will load 75% faster. This is on Reader 6.0.

      --

      Linux: Free if your time is worthless.
  2. I'm over here! by mrpotato · · Score: 5, Funny

    If Mrs Potato wants to give me head.

    --

    cheers
    1. Re:I'm over here! by Raul654 · · Score: 4, Informative

      I don't see it on the list, although xylophilia is pretty close.

      --


      To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
      --E.C. Stanton
  3. Re:Eudaemonia means by SomeGuyFromCA · · Score: 5, Informative

    Happiness derived from a life of living according to reason. Shouldn't be *too* hard to find *that* at a Uni.

    --
    if the answer isn't violence, neither is your silence / freedom of expression doesn't make it alright
  4. a couple years ago... by dijjnn · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Some of the kids successfully built a working breeder reactor...

    the last time the reactor was seen, it was in the back of one of the "idiot twins" cars. The idiot twins were genius physics students, one of which went on to work at los alamos...

    makes you think.

    --
    ~dijjnn
    1. Re:a couple years ago... by Cyclotron_Boy · · Score: 5, Informative
      No, we (Justin and I) are not "idiot twins." Our breeder reactor was, indeed, last publicly seen in the back of my Ford. It was originally built in our dorm suite. But it was later disassembled. You can read about it here. Our breeder reactor created about 12000 atoms of Uranium and in the neighborhood of 4000 atoms of Plutonium. At those levels, it is even difficult to measure chemically.

      As a result of my experience building nuclear reactors for fun, I was a science advisor for a BBC show, "The Nuclear Boyscout." I have had to answer questions about this a thousand times, and it has been /.-ed before (second down).

      Also, I don't work for Los Alamos. I worked for Fermi National Accelerator Lab, but now I am at General Dynamics.

      And by way of reference, the Scav Hunt rocks. We had a great time every year. Too bad I can't be there as an honorary judge this year. I would, but I can't make it... (Sorry Matt Kellard)

      -Fred

      My Webpage

    2. Re:a couple years ago... by Cyclotron_Boy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Actually, no. I wish I had known that was the list item. Justin and I have always wanted to have a triumphant alumni rematch with the Scav Hunt. I wasn't involved in 2k2. AJ was a great supporter of ours back then. When it was first /.-ed, and the rumors started spreading on campus, seemingly thousands of people disputed the story and several people complained to the Housing office at the U of C. In the end, Sherry Gutman already knew us and what we were all about, so the university complaints ended at her desk. He and a few others really helped fend off ridiculous claims and rumors during those first few days.
      -F

    3. Re:a couple years ago... by Twirlip+of+the+Mists · · Score: 4, Funny

      Fucking Internet. Fucking, fucking Internet. Can't even spread a good urban legend any more. Every time you try, the subject of the damn rumor pops up and starts spouting all kinds of unnecessary facts!

      I hate the fucking Internet. It's taken all the fun out of a well-crafted lie.

      --

      I write in my journal
  5. Hope it's less than 33 ft... by pyite · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This event truly sucks. Teams must provide a giant straw which reaches from the ground to Ratner's upper deck. The team who can suck up a litre of water the fastest wins. You provide the bucket.

    Anyone know the distance of this? It might be impossible if it's greater than 33 ft.

    --

    "Nature doesn't care how smart you are. You can still be wrong." - Richard Feynman

    1. Re:Hope it's less than 33 ft... by gunnk · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The trick to this one is "you provide the bucket". Bring a tall enough bucket and this one is easy...

      --
      Life is short: void the warranty.
  6. electric pickle by lahosken · · Score: 5, Funny

    "A demonstration of the edible electric pickle."

    I have attached a pickle to an electric cord to make it (the pickle) glow. But I'm not sure if it was edible in that state. First of all, it was emitting burnt-pickle smoke. Second of all, the eater probably would have been electrocuted.

    Then again, that's a small price to pay for science.

  7. Slashdotted... by Dr.+Bent · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe the first item on the list should have been "Another Web Server"

  8. Re:Eudaemonia means by kavachameleon · · Score: 5, Informative

    Really, it means "Well-demoned". It can be lucky, happy, prosperous, or a couple of other things.

  9. The Real #1 on the list is... by Chris_Compton · · Score: 5, Funny

    1) SCO's Case

    --
    -- http://www.vle.org
  10. Rising Costs by sssmashy · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...a permanent tattoo that says 'Sorry about the syphilis, can we still be cousins?'

    Geez, the Scavenger hunt is getting more expensive every year. And now the contestants have to add to their expenses a return bus ticket from Illinois to Alabama?

  11. To anybody competing by soybean · · Score: 4, Funny

    I have that tatoo already, and for five dolars, you can use me in your game.

  12. mirror here by whizkid042 · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.unixauthority.com/~fiskeja/list2004.pdf

    1. Re:mirror here by lart2150 · · Score: 4, Informative

      another one here http://www.cyberonic.com/~creamme/list2004.pdf

  13. Unrealistic Item by pete-classic · · Score: 5, Funny
    Mrs Potatohead giving Mr. Potato head


    Comeon. They're married. Really, what are the odds of this hunt taking place on Mr. Potatohead's birthday?

    -Peter
  14. Top 10 Accidentally Found Scavenger Items by AtariAmarok · · Score: 4, Funny
    Top 10 Accidentally Found Scavenger Items in Chicago:

    10. Mayor Daley the First

    9. An effective WinXP security patch CD

    8. 11,000 Bush vote ballots brought home early in 2001 by Bill "Lex Luthor" Daley and hidden in a landfill.

    7. My car keys!

    6. (still missing)

    5. The Beagle

    4. 8,700 ballots from 1960 election marked as votes for Nixon.

    3. WMD's

    2. Meigs Field

    1. Jimmy Hoffa

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  15. the scary thing is... by size1one · · Score: 5, Funny
    "...a permanent tattoo that says 'Sorry about the syphilis, can we still be cousins?'"

    There is probably a college student dumb enough to get the tattoo.

    They better post a picture.

  16. Re:UC Prank or scavenger hunt? by arrow · · Score: 5, Informative

    It was MIT, on the great dome. The car was a mockup too.

    http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/1994/cp_car/

    --
    symetrix. We are building a religion, a limited edition.
  17. To Clarify... by gunnk · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Say the distance to the top is 40 feet. Bring a 39 foot tall bucket and fill it to the top. Stick your 40 foot straw into it (thus reaching the ground). The water level in the straw will be (approximately) the same as the water level in the bucket. Just suck it the remaining foot.

    --
    Life is short: void the warranty.
  18. Re:Eudaemonia means by reverseengineer · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The term comes from Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (at least, I know of no earlier discussion), and while often translated as "happiness," it's not happiness in the sense of "bliss" or "joy," but rather is the satisfaction and sense of accomplishment obtained by striving for excellence and through perfect use of one's capacities- in fact, Aristotle is careful to differentiate the concept from happiness obtained through idle amusement. In Aristotelian philosophy, it is held as the highest good of all, a perfect and complete end.

    As a side note, I'm pretty sure I first encountered the term a few years ago, prior to reading any serious philosophy, while playing Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri- it's on the tech tree, as a matter of fact, and comes complete with a quote from the Nicomachean Ethics. You could even designate that your society act in accordance with the aims of achieving eudaimonia, though cruel and unjust leader that I am, I generally preferred the Cybernetic or Thought Control options.

    --
    "FDA staff reviewers expressed concern about the number of patients who were left out of the study because they died."
  19. Never specified *which* gas. by raygundan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Note that the item doesn't say "gasoline" specifically, either. It says "pump your own damn gas in new jersey."

    The solution is as simple as:

    1. Go to new jersey
    2. Acquire pump
    3. Use it to pump a damn gas of your choice. (Air is handy)

    Hell, just breathing there probably counts as "pumping a gas."

    I'd be more worried about fulfilling the "damn" part of the requirement-- you may have to curse the gas, or coerce the gas into comitting a sin before pumping it.

  20. Done it. by raygundan · · Score: 5, Informative

    Find an AT machine. (ATX PSUs probably won't do this). Connect any one of the case LED jumpers to the power switch connector with the polarity right.

    Plug in machine. What you have done, essentially, is used the LED as a dead short across the power switch. The tiny wire on that connector will not handle the high current, and the insulation will be on fire before you can say "hey, I made it through POST!"

    I can confirm it works, having done it on accident once. Computer was fine, but it stunk in my room for days. The PSU fan moves that nasty plastic smoke into your room very effectively.

  21. Re:They forgot number 283, a non slashdotable serv by Christopher_G_Lewis · · Score: 4, Funny

    284) A keyboard with a space bar :-)

    --
    www.christopherlewis.com