Slashdot Mirror
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."
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?
I'm lazy, so I just Googled the answer.
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.
:P
Well done, you have successfully increased the noise to signal ratio!
...and it just displays some guy's resume. Maybe 42 isn't the answer after all!
My mom always said, "Jim, you're 1 in a million." Given the current population, there are 7000 of me. God help us all!
yes, the answer...
Even easier... http://www.google.com/jobs/ Worked for me. I got through two interviews on the phone before being kicked out.
Answer to 2nd puzzle is @ http://www.mkaz.com/math/google/.......
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 one is actually quite easy. We look for a particular host name in Google's address space. So let's try:
Hmm, no luck. What about the /16?
Well, we have a candidate, and it is indeed the correct one.
Once you have that domain name, you can search for more information.
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.
That's a much more efficient search strategy. Just what they're after, methinks.
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
Nice idea, except if you've only seen the billboard, how do you know it has anything to do with Google?
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
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.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
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.
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}]
All is Number -Pythagoras.
You don't need to know that. Here's how I solved it when I first heard about it in July.
111-1111... Lois? Damn! 111-1112... Lois? Damn!
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.
Table-ized A.I.
I know. Thats what you get when you miscopy the number into Mathematica. I'll get my coat.
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.