Google's Math Puzzle

An anonymous reader writes "Commuters in Cambridge, Mass., are scratching their heads over signs challenging passers-by to solve a complicated math problem. The mysterious banners are actually a job-recruiting pitch from Google."

Comments

I'm a Reebok Sales Engineer!

[garcia]

NPR is clueless. That's why I am the one getting hired by Reebok! The URL was really 1828675309.com and let you to an OGG of Blink182 singing the standard Reebok commercial. At the end you were asked to go down to Foot Locker and buy a specific pair of shoes. On the bottom of the shoe was a keypad. Once you dialed 1829675309 you were connected with a Reebok HR rep and giving a job at a local Foot Locker.

Job as a Google engineer, sheesh. What a load of crap! Would you like whitener or a pair of extra soft socks with your shoes? Perhaps a Nuggets jersey?

Re:I'm a Reebok Sales Engineer!

[tiled_rainbows]

Dude,
you are lying!

1828675309 is not prime - it is equal to 37 * 49423657.

And they said I was wasting my time learning the 37 times table up that far...

Re:I'm a Reebok Sales Engineer!

[Graff]

The URL was really 1828675309.com and let you to an OGG of Blink182 singing the standard Reebok commercial.

On a side note, someone was very clever over at Cingular.com. The URL 8675309.com redirects you to Cingular's web site. I'm sure that only a small percentage of people have tried that URL but I'm sure that means that hundreds or thousands of people were redirected.

Someone was definitely thinking when they set that up.

Re:I'm a Reebok Sales Engineer!

[jrockway]

try http://www.7427466391.com/

Re:I'm a Reebok Sales Engineer!

[Anonymous Coward]

I usually round the value of e up to 3. This way it is easier to work with and is equal to Pi, which I usually round down to 3.

Make it hard next time...

[Mateito]

Easy peasy japonesy

Re:Make it hard next time...

[ajayvb]

Even easier... http://www.google.com/jobs/ Worked for me. I got through two interviews on the phone before being kicked out.

not that complicated

[CommanderTaco]

about 20 mins worth of programming, and i'm not that smart. it ends up taking you to this page.

Re:not that complicated

[benito27uk]

Or just use Google!

Re:not that complicated

[justkarl]

Do you think that Google will get confused, after the link was put on slashdot? Just think, they're probably up to about 500 hits and climbing by now.

Then they're gonna wonder where all the applications are.

Re:not that complicated

[artemis67]

As you can imagine, we get many, many resumes every day, so we developed this little process to increase the signal to noise ratio.

Yes, that is, until somebody posted your link on Slashdot...

Re:not that complicated

[vchoy]

Quote: As you can imagine, we get many, many resumes every day, so we developed this little process to increase the signal to noise ratio. We apologize for taking so much of your time just to ask you to consider working with us.

Well done, you have successfully increased the noise to signal ratio! :P

Re:not that complicated

[Florian Weimer]

about 20 mins worth of programming, and i'm not that smart. it ends up taking you to this page.

This one is actually quite easy. We look for a particular host name in Google's address space. So let's try:

$ host www.google.com
www.google.com is an alias for www.google.akadns.net.
www.google.akadns.net has address 216.239.59.147
www.google.akadns.net has address 216.239.59.99
www.google.akadns.net has address 216.239.59.104
$ dnslog 216.239.59.0/24 | grep '^[1-9][0-9]*\.com.A'
$

Hmm, no luck. What about the /16?

$ dnslog 216.239.0.0/16 | grep '^[1-9][0-9]*\.com.A'
466453.com A 216.239.37.99
466453.com A 216.239.39.99
7427466391.com A 216.239.53.184
466453.com A 216.239.57.99
$

Well, we have a candidate, and it is indeed the correct one.

Once you have that domain name, you can search for more information.

Re:not that complicated

[div_2n]

Presumably they are looking for geeks to apply. They put that out there and it gets posted to Slashdot (which they probably expected) and gets deciphered in less than 20 minutes or so (which they also probably expected) and inevitably results in lots of geeks pondering applying to Google.

Sounds reasonable and gets them good exposure at the same time. There is a reason why Google is a household name. This is one more example.

Re:not that complicated

[meringuoid]

Interestingly, that's not cheating. That's exactly what Google are probably looking for. You didn't go charging through millions of digits of 'e' to find the answer; instead, you went looking for any long numerical URLs registered by Google.

That's a much more efficient search strategy. Just what they're after, methinks.

Re:not that complicated

[gowen]

Nice idea, except if you've only seen the billboard, how do you know it has anything to do with Google?

Re:not that complicated

[davorg]

how do you know it has anything to do with Google?

You don't need to know that. Here's how I solved it when I first heard about it in July.

#!/usr/bin/perl

use Net::DNS;

my $res = Net::DNS::Resolver->new;

my $e = '2718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699 9'
.'59574966967627724076630353547594571382178525 166427'
.'427466391932003059921817413596629043572 90033429526'
.'0595630738132328627943490763233829 8807531952510190'
.'11573834187930702154089149934 884167509244761460668';

foreach (0 .. length $e) {
my $n = substr $e, $_, 10;
my $q = $res->search("$n.com");

if ($q) {
print $n, "\n";
last;
}
}

Re:not that complicated

[smaksly]

You get 466453 if you type google on a phone keypad.

Re:not that complicated

[Phisbut]

It's also clear that during the interview process, they're gonna ask people how they found the answer. If you can detail your calculations or reasoning, you're in; if you say "I Googled the question and found the answer...", they'll say "Well, thanks for the flattery, but get the hell out"

Re:not that complicated

[Tablizer]

I took the other route: paid an Indian PhD 50-cents to solve it for me. In case you call it cheating, that better reflects the (new) reality of the work world anyhow: Brains are a cheap global commodity. They should put up a people-skills test instead.

Re:not that complicated

[JPDeckers]

5966290435

Re:not that complicated

[gowen]

I know. Thats what you get when you miscopy the number into Mathematica. I'll get my coat.

Re:not that complicated

[kelzer]

ROFL. Somebody please mod parent up. That's so funny.

Never use a $4 calculator when you can use a $1600 software package instead (and then make an invalid conclusion because it rounded off for you!).

Re:not that complicated

[humphrm]

Here's a supposedly true story I heard in some class years ago - probably dynamics or physics or organic or something...

A physics teacher gives each student a barometer, and tells them that using only the barometer and brief visits to the town's tallest building, they have to determine the height of the building. Grades would be awarded based on the most creative solution.

One student started at the top, took a reading, moved to the ground floor, took a reading, and then based on that information and the barometric pressure that day, determined the approximate height of the building.

Other students basically copied the first, although with different variations (bottom to top, etc)

The student who received the only A? He went to the basement. Found the building engineer's office. Knocked on the door. Told the guy who answered, "I have a fine barometer. If you tell me exactly how tall this building is, it's yours."

Re:not that complicated

[rsd]

The sum to all digits turns to be 49.

there is no function to it.

The variable in f(x) as f(1), f(2) is the x position of a ten digit number that sums to be 49.

With a tiny perl program it turns to be: 5966290435
This is in position 128 in the exp(1) number.

Re:not that complicated

[spoonyfork]

I'm curious what sort of person can do this

I'm not the original poster but I did solve the puzzles this afternoon without "cheating". I'm a psychology/philosophy major that hasn't seen a math book in 10 years and I was able to figure it out. What I find interesting is that the answer to the first question (at least how I solved it) was an indirect hint at how to solve the second puzzle. Good luck, it was fun to work through it.

Re:not that complicated

[Anonymous Coward]

Add the digits, beeyotch!!! Those are the first four 10 digit segments of e that add up to 49. They're looking for the fifth. Dumbass. I'm only 8 years old and I figured that out in approximately .1415 nanoseconds.

Love, Will Hunting.

Re:not that complicated

[arose]

/. raising the noise to signal ratio since 1997

Re:not that complicated

[EngMedic]

this story has been around a long, long time -- i heard it first in AP Chem in high school. google for it, but the "traditional" text generally credits neils bohr as being the student :

Sir Ernest Rutherford, President of the Royal Academy, and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics, related the following story:

Some time ago I received a call from a colleague. He was about to give a student a zero for his answer to a physics question, while the student claimed a perfect score. The instructor and the student agreed to an impartial arbiter, and I was selected.

I read the examination question: "Show how it is possible to determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer."

The student had answered: "Take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to the street, and then bring it up, measuring the length of the rope. The length of the rope is the height of the building."

The student really had a strong case for full credit since he had really answered the question completely and correctly! On the other hand, if full credit were given, it could well contribute to a high grade in his physics course and certify competence in physics, but the answer did not confirm this.

I suggested that the student have another try. I gave the student six minutes to answer the question with the warning that the answer should show some knowledge of physics. At the end of five minutes, he hadn't written anything. I asked if he wished to give up, but he said he had many answers to this problem; he was just thinking of the best one. I excused myself for interrupting him and asked him to please go on in the next minute, he dashed off his answer, which read:

"Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge of the roof. Drop the barometer, timing its fall with a stopwatch. Then, using the formula x=0.5*a*t^2, calculate the height of the building."

At this point, I asked my colleague if he would give up. He conceded, and gave the student almost full credit. While leaving my colleague's office, I recalled that the student had said that he had other answers to the problem, so I asked him what they were.

"Well," said the student, "there are many ways of getting the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer. For example, you could take the barometer out on a sunny day and measure the height of the barometer, the length of its shadow, and the length of the shadow of the building, and by the use of simple proportion, determine the height of the building."

"Fine," I said, "and others?"

"Yes," said the student, "there is a very basic measurement method you will like. In this method, you take the barometer and begin to walk up the stairs. As you climb the stairs, you mark off the length of the barometer along the wall. You then count the number of marks, and this will give you the height of the building in barometer units. A very direct method."

"Of course. If you want a more sophisticated method, you can tie the barometer to the end of a string, swing it as a pendulum, and determine the value of g [gravity] at the street level and at the top of the building. From the difference between the two values of g, the height of the building, in principle, can be calculated."

"On this same tack, you could take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to just above the street, and then swing it as a pendulum. You could then calculate the height of the building by the period of the precession."

"Finally," he concluded, "there are many other ways of solving the problem. Probably the best," he said, "is to take the barometer to the basement and knock on the superintendent's door. When the superintendent answers, you speak to him as follows: 'Mr. Superintendent, here is a fine barometer. If you will tell me the height of the building, I will give you this barometer.'"

At this point, I asked the student if he really did not know the c

Dangerous?

[Alizarin Erythrosin]

I hope that drivers who see that can still pay attention to the road. Regardless of whether they are trying to think about it or not.

More details on Google's Blog

[GillBates0]

Accessible in their 07/01 archives

Monday, July 12, 2004 Warning: We Brake For Number Theory
If any Silicon Valley drivers have found that traffic is moving more slowly than usual these days on the southbound 101 right around Ralston, you may have us to blame. Last week we unveiled a billboard that's a bit unusual in that it promotes Google only to one very narrow constituency: engineers who are geeky enough to be annoyed at the very existence of a math problem they haven't solved, and smart enough to rectify the situation.

Google Billboard

In other words, the billboard (which offers problem-solvers the URL to, sorry, a page containing an even harder problem), is a recruiting campaign. We've always worked hard to hire the smartest engineers we can find, and we thought this would be a cool way to find a few more. Perhaps including you. If you're a math or computer whiz who doesn't happen to live within shouting distance of Palo Alto -- good luck, and we're looking forward to hearing from you.

- A. Googler

Been done before.

[rritterson]

This is at least the second time google has done this. The first was on a billboard along US 101 in Silicon valley. /. may have covered it then, but I can't find the article so here is one from news.com (note that the caption to the picture if you read the NPR article also references the same billboard.)

This was posted before...

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't have the Slashdot link, but here's the linked-to article the last time around: (beware of Slashdot induced spaces in the url).

http://news.com.com/Google+recruits+eggheads+wit h+ mystery+billboard/2100-1023_3-5263941.html?tag=nef d.pop 2004-07-13 10:33:02
In a kind of geek "Jeopardy," the billboard read:"{first 10-digit prime found in consecutive digits e}.com." The answer, 7427466391.com, would lead a puzzle-sleuth to a Web page with yet another equation to solve, with still no sign the game was hosted by Google.

Mastering that equation would lead someone to a page on Google Labs, the company's research and development department, which reads: "One thing we learned while building Google is that it's easier to find what you're looking for if it comes looking for you. What we're looking for are the best engineers in the world. And here you are.

"As you can imagine, we get many, many resumes every day, so we developed this little process to increase the signal-to-noise ratio."

Frustrating

[ajs]

I spent two days on the second puzzle (the number from e just leads you to a site with the real puzzle), only to realize that the answer was far, far simpler than I had been looking for. I think buildings two blocks down heard the "Doh!" ;-)

A hint for those who want it...

If you're searching through all of your number theory memories and reference texts for a solution, you've left the solution far behind.

Is that a hard puzzle

[gowen]

... in the mathematical sense? It strikes me that it probably isn't, since the decimal expansion of e is base dependent, and most "interesting" properties of number are not, IMHO, dependent on the number of fingers our forefathers used for counting.

Is there any method for the solution besides a brute force search and an efficient algorithm for primality testing?

Of course...

[Realistic_Dragon]

...you could just google for the answer:

7427466391

Now, is that a better or worse answer than figuring it out yourself?

Are you trolling?

[mfh]

The URL was really 1828675309.com
That's not resolving and I think I know why...

Jenny, I got your number
I need to make you mine
Jenny, don't change your number
8675309 (8675309)
8675309 (8675309)

I'm a Cheater

[Smuj]

I'm lazy, so I just Googled the answer.

I'm a bit of a maths dunce but

[not_a_product_id]

{first 10-digit prime found in consecutive digits of e}.com

In case you're wondering -- or forgot -- e is the base of the natural system of logarithms, having a numerical value of about 2.71828 (though the number goes on forever).

Get file with copy of prime numbers. Get file with copy of largest precision of e. Use perl to scan for all 10 digit primes and then look for the first one in e.

Profit

or am I missing something?

Re:I'm a bit of a maths dunce but

[samhalliday]

or am I missing something?

yes, the answer...

Re:I'm a bit of a maths dunce but

[Chatterton]

For your reference :)
The fisrt 10 000 digits :P

2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572470936 99 95957496696762772407663035354759457138217852516642 74274663919320030599218174135966290435729003342952 60595630738132328627943490763233829880753195251019 01157383418793070215408914993488416750924476146066 80822648001684774118537423454424371075390777449920 69551702761838606261331384583000752044933826560297 60673711320070932870912744374704723069697720931014 16928368190255151086574637721112523897844250569536 96770785449969967946864454905987931636889230098793 12773617821542499922957635148220826989519366803318 25288693984964651058209392398294887933203625094431 17301238197068416140397019837679320683282376464804 29531180232878250981945581530175671736133206981125 09961818815930416903515988885193458072738667385894 22879228499892086805825749279610484198444363463244 96848756023362482704197862320900216099023530436994 18491463140934317381436405462531520961836908887070 16768396424378140592714563549061303107208510383750 51011574770417189861068739696552126715468895703503 54021234078498193343210681701210056278802351930332 24745015853904730419957777093503660416997329725088 68769664035557071622684471625607988265178713419512 46652010305921236677194325278675398558944896970964 09754591856956380236370162112047742722836489613422 51644507818244235294863637214174023889344124796357 43702637552944483379980161254922785092577825620926 22648326277933386566481627725164019105900491644998 28931505660472580277863186415519565324425869829469 59308019152987211725563475463964479101459040905862 98496791287406870504895858671747985466775757320568 12884592054133405392200011378630094556068816674001 69842055804033637953764520304024322566135278369511 77883863874439662532249850654995886234281899707733 27617178392803494650143455889707194258639877275471 09629537415211151368350627526023264847287039207643 10059584116612054529703023647254929666938115137322 75364509888903136020572481765851180630364428123149 65507047510254465011727211555194866850800368532281 83152196003735625279449515828418829478761085263981 39559900673764829224437528718462457803619298197139 91475644882626039033814418232625150974827987779964 37308997038886778227138360577297882412561190717663 94650706330452795466185509666618566470971134447401 60704626215680717481877844371436988218559670959102 59686200235371858874856965220005031173439207321139 08032936344797273559552773490717837934216370120500 54513263835440001863239914907054797780566978533580 48966906295119432473099587655236812859041383241160 72260299833053537087613893963917795745401613722361 87893652605381558415871869255386061647798340254351 28439612946035291332594279490433729908573158029095 86313826832914771163963370924003168945863606064584 59251269946557248391865642097526850823075442545993 76917041977780085362730941710163434907696423722294 35236612557250881477922315197477806056967253801718 07763603462459278778465850656050780844211529697521 8908740196

Interesting

[meganthom]

Personally, I like this approach. Maybe the problem isn't extraordinarily difficult to solve, but the ad itself has a useful purpose for Google's HR department: it finds people who are willing to solve a problem whose solution is not immediately obvious without any immediate gain, other than satisfying their curiosity. That has to be a nice plus for Google. They can limit their hiring process to those individuals and from there give them more challenging problems, take them through the interview process, etc.

Just Google for the answer!

[Zog The Undeniable]

Remember kids, you don't have to KNOW anything any more. This is the age of the search engine.

Re:Just Google for the answer!

[Threni]

> Remember kids, you don't have to KNOW anything any more. This is the age of the
> search engine.

You never had to "know" anything, it's just that it was easier/cheaper/quicker to know something, or employ someone who knew, than it was to look it up. This is increasingly no longer true.

aaah

[gowen]

I hate "what is the next number in the sequence" type puzzles. The correct answer is always the same.

Anything I damn well like. I understand polynomial interpolation

Re:aaah

[BillyBlaze]

He's wrong anyway. Just because any number is a possibility doesn't mean it's the one they're looking for. You have to find a pattern. In this case, the pattern is f(n) = the nth 10-digit block of the digits of e whose digits add up to 49. f(5) is 5966290435. The linux.org login no longer works. And of course, I figured all that out with Google.

Re:aaah

[Jerf]

I think you, and the thread stretching out from your post, are missing the point. The point is not the with polynomial interpolation, gowen can get "the answer". His point is that you can reasonably get any answer.

The set of functions is uncountably infinite. There are uncountably infinite functions that have f of 1, 2, 3, and 4 set to the values Google gave. The reality is that mathematically speaking, giving four numbers results in exactly no constraint on the next number; you might as well just pick one at random. "Polynomial interpolation" is one reasonable path to this, but remember that functions need not even be continuous and are ultimately just infinite look-up tables. (Note the final "solution" is just a lookup table-type function.)

To counter the obvious next objection ("well obviously it is going to be a human-meaningful number"), I take my objection one meta. Obviously we're not truly drawing from that infinite set of functions. However, there's still an effectively infinite set of "human meaningful functions", too. So the true challenge becomes not a math problem, but in sheer guessing which exact constraints the puzzle writer chose.

This is not a mathematical problem. It tries to pretend to be one, but it is not. Generally, once you know the constraints the solution is trivial.

The correct mathematical answer to all such sequences remains "The next number is whatever the hell it feels like being". I have better things to do with my time then try to second-guess somebody pretending to be clever and plucking some random thing out of the uncountably infinite set and demanding that I guess it. Thus, I don't do these puzzles; they're sophmoric in the literal sense of the term, created by people who think they are clever but don't seem to have a deep understanding of math.

People who "solve" the puzzle may impress Google, but I am not impressed by Google using this as a puzzle.

E A S Y

[StevenHenderson]

Easy solution:

Use Google to find the solution to Google's puzzle.

Guess they just want people who know how to use a search engine. :)

Hmmm. I went to 42.com...

[jbarr]

...and it just displays some guy's resume. Maybe 42 isn't the answer after all!

Re:Hmmm. I went to 42.com...

[Odin's Raven]

Maybe 42 isn't the answer after all!

Maybe you're just asking the wrong question... ;-)

SPOILERS..

[doowy]

I actually don't want to spoil it, and nobody else should because it is a fun excersise..

I won't post the URL, but here's what it says in case you want a jump on the second question;

Congratulations. You've made it to level 2. Go to www.Linux.org and enter Bobsyouruncle as the login and the answer to this equation as the password.

f(1)= 7182818284
f(2)= 8182845904
f(3)= 8747135266
f(4)= 7427466391
f(5)= __________

Unfortunatley, the fun ends here. When you enter the correct password, you are taken to google lab's hiring page which I presume is accessible without jumping through hoops.

Re:The Answer

[lukewarmfusion]

I saw this on Google Blog a few weeks ago and decided to try it out. Like nearly every problem I encounter, I also check Google for a solution and came up with it right quick. So I'm a little surprised it took so long to make it onto Slashdot.

Anyway, I guess I wasn't paying that close of attention during the IPO thing -

From the Wikipedia article: "In the IPO filing for Google, Inc., in 2004, rather than a typical round-number amount of money, the company announced its intention to raise $2,718,281,828, which is, of course, e billion dollars to the nearest integer."

Re:I wonder

[rusty0101]

I presume that would work for billboards where 'Google' is prominently displayed somewhere on the billboard. From the images I have seen of the billboards, it ain't there.

Given a Billboard where the only content is a text string '{first 10 digit prime in e}.com' there are three ways to find out that it is a 'google' ad.

1. Solve the puzzle.
2. Bribe the billboard owner. (surely you have seen this billboard advertizing itsel out at one time or another.)
3. Wait till the news breaks that it is a Google Job offer.

Something tells me that Google is more interested in people who quickly solve #1, vs people who can handle #2, or wait for #3.

-Rusty

Really really lame

[taybin]

In the latest issue Dr. Dobbs (you get a free subscription if you attend LinuxWorldConf), they had a pullout job application. It was in the style of an SAT test and was filled with such "oh we're so smart and clever and funny and funky funky fresh" questions such as "write a haiku on database caching" and "the box below is empty. fill it with something" and other questions where any of the questions could be considered correct.

It was really annoying. It didn't make me want to work there at all. It was like a "oh we're so smart mensa+masturbating club".

Spoiler.........

[orion41us]

Answer to 2nd puzzle is @ http://www.mkaz.com/math/google/.......

Why? Isn't there enough road rage already?

[IronChefMorimoto]

Does Google not realize what these billboards are going to do? Think of the poor embattled commuters sitting in suburban to urban traffic clog.

Honking at each other.

Bitching on their cell phones about their wives while pissing off the person(s) behind them who are also on their cell phones bitching about the guy that is jabbering on his phone and not moving forward with traffic.

Bumping each other and causing just enough damage to their cars to NOT really want to risk an insurance claim but also enough to want to get it fixed before the neighbors think they drive a shitty car.

Flipping over and killing each other because one of them thought that he/she had to get to work about 30mph faster than everyone else, because that one person has a much busier day of meetings than everyone else on the highway.

Enter Google -- further frustrating drivers with friggin' math problems on billboards. What? You don't think people will look at them enough to be distracted and frustrated at learning that they're not really Google material?

I call bullshit. 'cause that bitch on the uncontested divorce for $299 billboard torments me every day. Not because I don't like my marriage or want a divorce. No -- she begs the question -- "Can you beat me in court if you want the dog and the 50" plasma TV? Eh, buddy?"

Fuck you lady. Fuck you and your uncontested divorce. And fuck Google for teasing me with a job that I probably will have never known existed if it weren't for people that are actually qualified to answer the math problem having posted the g'damned answers here and made feel stupid as shit.

I'd complain more, but this guy behind me in his gas guzzling SUV is honking at me to move forward one car length while we drive past an accident. Thank god for WiFi in the car. If he honks again, I'm threatening him with the Airsoft 9mm I have in the glove compartment.

IronChefMorimoto

this is old news - and...

[slashpot]

Google sucks ass anyway (not the search engine, working for the company). If you don't want to move to Mt. View California about the only jobs available at their data centers all over America are hardware managers (ooh - order replacement ide drives...) and data center techs. Google is screwing the hell out the data center techs, luring people into quitting stable jobs for a chance to get in the door at Google - using "contract positions" to build the data centers while leading people into thinking they'll get hired on and can climb their ladder to a sys admin position. If you don't believe, me do a quick monster.com search. Guess what happens when the data centers are built and the techies contracts are up... "Don't do evil" my ass.

The Answer...

[Paulrothrock]

Can be found out using a relatively short Perl script and some math knowledge.

First, find the first 1, 3, 7, or 9 after the first ten digits after the decimal. Take the preceding 9 digits, and run it through a Prime Number Checker. (The algorithm is in the source).

Really, the hardest part is determining the farthest decimal points of e. Here's the formula: limn->infinity (1 + 1/n)n.

It's lazy, impatient, and full of hubris! BTW, I get a finder's fee.

SCO's new hiring ad...

[gosand]

SCO has just released a similar billboard puzzle.

1. Sue IBM
2. ???
3. Profit!

If you have the answer to #2, please contact Darl McBride at SCO.com. We have an immediate opening for someone who can solve this riddle.

Re:SCO's new hiring ad...

[grozzie2]

This is to trivial to even consider as a puzzle.

1. Sue IBM
2. Sell Stock
3. Profit!

Nuthin to it, and Daryl has executed step 2 very brilliantly.

Welcome aboard!

[MarkGriz]

That's just kind of clever thinking we're looking for. How does a corner office and $150K/year sound?

Google GLAT ( Google Labs Aptitude Test )

[nehumanuscrede]

My last two issues of Mensa Bulletin have come with the same type 'ads / puzzles'. The last issue came with a small ( 21 question ) aptitude test / basic resume type question layout complete with a return envelope.

A few sample questions from it:

#2 Write a haiku describing possible methods for predicting search traffic seasonality.

#4 You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike. There is a dusty laptop here with a weak wireless connection. There are dull, lifeless gnomes strolling about. What dost thou do?

A) Wander aimlessly, bumping into obstacles until you are eaten by a grue.

B) Use the laptop as a digging device to tunnel to the next level.

C) Play MPoRPG until the battery dies along with your hopes.

D) Use the computer to map the nodes of the maze and discover an exit path.

E) Email your resume to Google, tell the lead gnome you quit and find yourself in a whole different world.

#9 This space left intentionally blank. Please fill it with something that improves upon emptiness.

#17 Consider a function which, for a given whole number n, returns the number of ones required when writing out all numbers between 0 and n. For example, f(13)=6. Notice that f(1)=1. What is the next largest n such that f(n)=n?

#20 What number comes next in the sequence: 10, 9, 60, 90, 70, 66, ?

A) 96

B) 1 followed by 100 zeros ( a Googol )

C) Either of the above

D) None of the above

#21 In 29 words or fewer, describe what you would strive to accomplish if you worked at Google Labs.

Re:Google GLAT ( Google Labs Aptitude Test )

[AndrewHowe]

Remember last year?
Probably, this year's traffic
Same shape, but scaled up.

One-liner Mathematica solution to billboard puzzle

[coult]

I wrote this in a few minutes in Mathematica, and found the answer to the first puzzle. The second puzzle was annoying so I just searched google for it instead.

en = N[\[ExponentialE], 1000]; Table[x = (Floor[en*(10^k)*10^10] - Floor[en*(
10^k)]*10^10); If[PrimeQ[x], {k, x}, {k, 0}], {k, 0, 100}]

Solution

[simgod]

SPOILER

The solutions are:
http://www.7427466391.com/
and:
5966290435

I see their strategy...

[kahei]

...hire only those who like to goof off and write toy programs at their desks instead of doing work... brilliant I tell you brilliant!

Re:Stewie

[Anonymous Coward]

111-1111... Lois? Damn! 111-1112... Lois? Damn!

I used Google to find the answer...

[foistboinder]

Math : Google Labs Problems

When do I start?

Communicating with Math

[stuffduff]

I recently got a new cell phone. I took information for a search and asked for a vanity number. Then I kept hearing the numbers as they told me what was available, checking it and telling them 'no.' Finally on the 11th try I got an acceptible number. What I was searching for was a 7 digit prime. Fortunately the number with area code was the product of two primes as well. Now I can give out either the ordinal index of the prime for the local, or the prime factors of the 10 digit number. People who are unable to deal with the math just can't call me!

Not at all -- they want the slashdotters too

[xant]

And here's why: The people who did the hard math to solve the problem--hey, they'll make great coders, welcome aboard.

Those of us who googled it or read the /. article successfully got other people to do the work for us, and then took credit for it.

Welcome aboard, manager!

Autistic in Seattle

[macmurph]

I saw that bill board in downtown Seattle. My immediate reaction was, "That's dumb... Why would anyone want the URL http://www.7427466391.com/ ?"