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Winners of the 'Google CodeJam 2004' Contest
astrab writes "The Argentinian programmer Sergio Sancho, 30, won the 'Google Code Jam 2004'
programming contest, whose final was held yesterday in Google HQ (Mountain View, CA), and pocketed $10,000. According to Dirson, Sergio studies at UBA (University of Buenos Aires,
Argentina) and works at
the Research and Development Center which Core
Security owns in Buenos Aires. More information also in the official Google Blog."
http://www.google.com/press/pressrel/codejamwinner s.html
Coolness. If there was any one company I would trust to "Do no evil", it would be Google.
So what did he win the $10K for?
Anyone else notice that all the contestants were on Windows boxes? I thought Google was a Linux oriented shop.... There's a picture on the blog
Agile Artisans
I was unaware there were teams, let alone teams based on country.
/Canadian
Argentina didn't win, the US didn't lose, Sergio Sancho is the winner, and it shouldn't matter what country he's from.
CC Licensed Serialized Story and Podcast: Ingenioustries
The operating system is merely a tool that is used to complete your work, not a religion. Creative people see beyond linux vs win.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
Brian: Hola, me llamo es Brian
Sergio(spanish): Hey, that was pretty good, except when you said "me llamo es Brian," you don't need the "es," just me llamo Brian.
Brian: Oh, oh you speak english
Sergio (sigh): No, just that first speech and this one explaining it.
Brian: You
Sergio(spanish): Que?
It is nice (or even astonishing) to see that the well known "rivalry" between brazilians and agertines is disappearing.
I dunno -- do you think Manu Ginobili makes more than $10,000?
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
Yeah, right. So by that rationale, you should have a first prize of, say, $50,000 if the winner is from the US but only $10,000 if he's from India. Do you realise how dumb that sounds?
Good code is good code: it doesn't matter where it's written, who it's written by or where the writer got his education. If you know what you want then it doesn't matter if the programmer you employ to do the job is based in Silicon Valley, Bangalore or Buenos Aires. The sooner you realise this fact (and the possible implications that it has for you), the better.
It's precisely because Indian coders can do most (if not all) jobs as well as their US counterparts that has US companies turning to them: why pay a guy five times as much because of his geographical location if you don't have to? To reiterate my point again, don't expect to get paid a premium just because of your latitude and longitude.
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
Anyway, I did notice that Reid Barton was a 3rd place finisher. I recognized the name from a book called Count Down by Steve Olson about the U.S. High School Mathematics Olympiad team in 2001. Good read about geniuses in high school. What's interesting is that programmers are usually mathematical, but not necessarily the other way around -- that one person can be near the top in both fields (esp 2 years out of high school) is remarkable.
Additional cash prizes went to the other top 50 finalists, who are working or studying in the United States and in 16 other countries, from Scandinavia to central Europe to Hong Kong, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
I know we have the EC, but 'central Europe' is now a country? When did we get downgraded from a continent?
I must have missed that one while I was reading the sports pages...:o)
--#voxlator
That only applies to soccer, trust me :) I've been to Brazil a lot of times and always been treated great. I extend the same courtesy to Brazilians visiting Argentina.
Hi Google,
I was a contestant in IOI 2004 (the International Olympiad in Informatics) this September. I would have participated in the GCJ also, but unfortunately Google's dates and the IOI dates overlapped. See the "important dates" here - the Qualification Round was on September 15-16, and the IOI was on September 11-18. Oh well.
(There were people walking around with GCJ 2003 T-shirts. It was pretty amusing.)
Google: Something to consider for GCJ 2005. (IOI 2005 will be on August 18-25.)
Thanks,
Yoni
void*x=(*((void*(*)())&(x=(void*)0xfdeb58)))();
Over here in Argentina, isn't very healthy to have your name near that ammount of money in the frontpage of the newspapers.
With kidnaps beign in the top ten of modus operandies(?) prefered by delincuents, he should start applying for a (name a 1st world country) visa ASAP.
Professional tennis players had to ask the media not to mention the ammount of cash they won for that matter.
Man A: What's your name, again?
Man B: I am Sancho.
Man A: Look, I get a lot of people auditioning all the time. What makes you think that you'd be good enough for porno?
Man B: I am Sancho.
Man A: Great... but what do you do?
Man B: What do I do? I am Sancho.
Man An: And...?
Man B: And there are many Jeffs in the world, and many Toms as well. But I... am Sancho.
Man A: And...?!
Man B: Are you Sancho? No you are not. Neither is Scott Baio Sancho. Frank Gifford is not Sancho. But I...
Man A: You... are Sancho!
Man B: That's right.
Man A: Okay, you're hired.
I agree wholeheartedly. But sadly Google cannot trust their users to do no evil. As an example let's take this "Google file system." As much as I am usually against frivolous lawsuits, in this case I really hope Google will sue its authors and win. Why? Because this so called "file system" is a classical example of parasite which can only hurt Google giving absolutely nothing in exchange whatsoever. And for what? So its "developers" could have their project posted on Slashdot frontpage? So they could say "look, mom, how 'leet' I am"? I ask you, people, what if one day someone writes a "file system" stealing storage from Slashdot, saving its files in the form of gigabyte first posts filled with goat sex links and literally tons of uuencoded pornography? This is exactly the same, only much worse, because Google has much less intrusive advertisements and no corporate agenda. From every greedy US corporation, Google is unquestionably the closest to being absolutely perfect. And how do we say "thank you"? By stealing their property? By advertising this pathetic thief "file system" on the front page of the most popular website on the north hemisphere? I just wanted to protest and clearly state that I am strongly against it. I hope someone will start a paypal fund to help Google in court. We cannot tolerate such a behaviour. Please keep in mind that Google is not another IBM who didn't see anything wrong in helping Hitler or Cisco who is perfectly comfortable with building the largest machines of censorship and oppression in the history of human kind. Google is trying to do what is best for us. They deserve our gratefulness and, what is even more important, respect. The existence of script kiddies shamefully exploiting Google's superior services for their own miserable advantage is a precedence not only insulting to our intelligence but a one actually harmful for us in the long run, because that could possibly mean the end of fantastic projects from Google, when they eventually stop to think and inevitably say: "Hey, what's the point in making another contest? Why give them so much if they just want to steal from us? Maybe that popup pornography ads and paid search results placement weren't such a bad idea, after all?" I know I certainly would. Sorry for a long rant. I just love Google and I hate people who hurt it. Going back on topic, I think it was a great contest, even though I haven't won anything. Google is great as always. I wish every corporation would act that way.
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=16 20&ncid=1211&e=2&u=/sv/20041016/tc_sv/googlesdeskt opsearchisvaluableyetcreepy
Desktop Search does three things in particular that could compromise your privacy when someone else uses your computer:
First, the software keeps a copy of all your AOL Instant Messenger conversations. AIM, for many users, is like talking over the water cooler at work -- you say things you don't want preserved for posterity. Until now, AIM conversations with your buddies disappeared from your computer the moment you closed the discussion window. Desktop Search, however, makes a copy of AIM conversations and keeps them forever.
Second, the software keeps its own copy of all your Outlook and Outlook Express e-mail messages -- even after you delete them from within Outlook or Outlook Express. A confidential company memo, in other words, will still pop up during Google searches after you've emptied the Deleted Items folder in Outlook.
Third, the software keeps a copy of every Web page you visit and lists those pages in search results with the date and time of your visit. This even includes Web pages that are supposed to be secure from prying eyes, such as those run by online banking sites.
You must be kidding. But is not that bad, it's like sibling rivalry.
Oh, Agertines must be very old...
"I think this line is mostly filler"
just what a looser would say ;-)
.ar
from
"I think this line is mostly filler"
true, but in argentina we have a culture of everything from outside its better (even developers) so this is very important for my country.
\n.\n
Being from Buenos Aires and a former student of the UBA, I can only say that this shows how well a person who actually puts its mind on it can compete with the best programmers in the world.
After the economic chaos we have been through in the last few years, only positive startups, against all odds and a corrupt government will save this country from extinction.
Note that many of us programmers are working for international projects (as in, programming some of the outsourcing project from the EU or USA) and I am a big fan of the USA - I have always wanted to apply the good aspects of that country to my own. I think we need to start working hard on all those issues, just like the USA did during the great depression.
Also, Microsoft is present at the Computer Science Uni, offering free Windows, Office and Visual Studio for students. Note that this is a country where the average computer user runs a pirate version of Windows and Linux is only a word they have heard somewhere.
On the other hand, I have met a handful of excellent, worldclass programmers who I'm sure will make a difference at least in their areas.
Felicitaciones, Sergio!
- Who needs a sig?
not to mention about some of their people on board being Ex NSA people.
I really wonder if some linux/bsd/opensource using company invents a chemical weapon and geeks love to smell it...
I really wonder...
maybe you should consider taking up a career of looking for conspiracies while your at it.
gimme a break.
who says 10k in the US isn't much? Hell, it would be a great addition to MY bank account.
Just another case of media manipulating information. ;-)
I am from Argentina. I know nobody who has been kidnapped. I know nobody who knows anybody who has been kidnapped. And probably I could recurse a few more times.
The focus that kidnapping has drawn so much attention is mainly due to the fact that kidnappers target famous/rich/powerfull people (the kind that gets the most attention from the media), the fact that the owner of a media holding is also the owner of a private security holding, and the fact that the security forces (police, primarily) were being suspected of corruption and abuse (during the riots of 2001) with members of the forces playing part in organized crime (even kidnapping
In Buenos Aires City (kind of the DC), there was just one kidnapping in the first half of the year. Considering a population of 3-4 million people, that does not seem like a major problem...