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The World's Largest Scavenger Hunt Returns

mresolver writes "University of Chicago students have once again emerged from the library after a long winter to participate in the world's largest scavenger hunt. The multiple day event is famous for the working breeder reactor that students managed to build during the 1999 hunt. This year, the official list (PDF) includes a superconductor, working wood refrigerator, hot air balloon made to Montgolfier specifications, one-way funhouse mirror, and a walk-in Kaleidoscope."

102 comments

  1. Spoilers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The goal this time is to build a working Atari 2600 from everyday household objects.

    1. Re:Spoilers by mallardtheduck · · Score: 0

      That should be pretty easy... an Atari 2600 is an everyday household item, right?

    2. Re:Spoilers by kammat · · Score: 1

      Where does one find faux wood grain paneling these days, though?

    3. Re:Spoilers by krakelohm · · Score: 3, Funny

      Visit any trailerpark in America.

      --
      You are all a bunch of idots.
    4. Re:Spoilers by IHC+Navistar · · Score: 0
      I second that motion! May it be grace with thy almighty game Missile Command.

      -----

      "Want to play a game?"

      --
      Knowing Google's lust for data collection, the Soviet Union is still alive and well inside the psyche of Sergey Brin....
  2. What? by Umbral+Blot · · Score: 4, Funny

    What, no human organs? How boring.

    1. Re:What? by nerdguy0 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      They have a book bound in human skin (#143). Skin is an organ, right?

      --
      "In /dev/null no one can hear you stream."
    2. Re:What? by hackstraw · · Score: 4, Informative

      Skin is an organ, right?

      Yup, the biggest one we have.

    3. Re:What? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Skin is an organ, right?

      Yup, the biggest one we have.


      Mod parent Captain Obvious

    4. Re:What? by Errtu76 · · Score: 0

      Not just an organ, but the biggest one in a human.

    5. Re:What? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So it's at least as large as you?

      Basically you're saying you're a prick?

    6. Re:What? by kalirion · · Score: 1

      Hmm, so if in previous hunts they've been building some of the items themselves....

    7. Re:What? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Head Judge Courtney: "For item number 143, please do not skin yourselves. Administration is /very/ concerned that students are going to try to skin themselves for this item [[rolls eyes]] so please do NOT skin yourselves."

    8. Re:What? by ZecretZquirrel · · Score: 1

      Uhhh, speak for yourself there, Mr. "straw".

  3. The 2006 first annual Slashdot scavenger hunt by Centurix · · Score: 5, Funny

    1. 2 lines of source code from Duke Nukem Forever
    2. DNA From a) Bill Gates b) Linus Torvalds c) Larry Ellison
    3. 1 Site which can withstand a force 10 slashdot effect (Not a search engine)
    4. Someone who can actually write IAAL
    5. Used items belonging to the goatse man
    6. 3 pounds of lime green duct tape
    7. 1 pound of Sillier Putty (tm)
    8. 1 Signed Microsoft UAT
    9. A travelling salesman who understands non-deterministic polynomial time
    10. A girlfriend

    --
    Task Mangler
    1. Re:The 2006 first annual Slashdot scavenger hunt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well the first nine should be fairly easy in comparison.

    2. Re:The 2006 first annual Slashdot scavenger hunt by Umbral+Blot · · Score: 1

      Hm 4 / 10 so far.

    3. Re:The 2006 first annual Slashdot scavenger hunt by StarkRG · · Score: 4, Funny

      I just hope you don't have goatse's traffic cones...

    4. Re:The 2006 first annual Slashdot scavenger hunt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      1)
      10 PRINT "I OWNZ JOO!"
      20 GOTO 10

      2) *dons ninja suit*
      3) cnn.com?
      5) How many points is this worth?
      6) There is a lime green type of nuclear duct tape. I have some lying around somewhere....
      10) C'mon! These entries are supposed to be possible!

    5. Re:The 2006 first annual Slashdot scavenger hunt by Captain+Perspicuous · · Score: 1, Funny

      11. Natalie Portman naked and petrified in hot grits

    6. Re:The 2006 first annual Slashdot scavenger hunt by CortoMaltese · · Score: 5, Funny
      1. 2 lines of source code from Duke Nukem Forever

      /* Duke Nukem Forever
      Copyright (C) 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 3D Realms */
    7. Re:The 2006 first annual Slashdot scavenger hunt by jrmcferren · · Score: 0

      Well, I'm getting closer to number 10. Yes, slashdotters, I have a life other than slashdot.

      --
      sudo mod me up
    8. Re:The 2006 first annual Slashdot scavenger hunt by andersa · · Score: 1
      1. 2 lines of source code from Duke Nukem Forever
      void main(void)
      {}
    9. Re:The 2006 first annual Slashdot scavenger hunt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How come people feel compelled to make up horrible unfunny lists every time the Scavenger Hunt gets mentioned?

      HAHA 1) Open source microsoft code HAHA HILARIOUS
      2) esr's GUNS HAHA
      3) the real life goatse guy HAHAHA

    10. Re:The 2006 first annual Slashdot scavenger hunt by mr_tenor · · Score: 0, Redundant

      11. Profit!

    11. Re:The 2006 first annual Slashdot scavenger hunt by fuzza · · Score: 1

      4. Someone who can actually write IAAL

      Will this guy do? :)

      --
      Can't find examples of evolution? No matter, neither could Dawkins
    12. Re:The 2006 first annual Slashdot scavenger hunt by gendusoa · · Score: 1

      Shouldn't that be: /* Duke Nukem Forever
      Copyright (C) 1997-2006 3D Realms */

      They've had plenty of time to revise it...

    13. Re:The 2006 first annual Slashdot scavenger hunt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      3. 1 Site which can withstand a force 10 slashdot effect (Not a search engine)

      The U of C website seems to be holding up nicely :-)

    14. Re:The 2006 first annual Slashdot scavenger hunt by Hillgiant · · Score: 2, Funny

      /*drunk. fix later*/

      --
      -
    15. Re:The 2006 first annual Slashdot scavenger hunt by Amouth · · Score: 1

      can i subistute girlfriend with wife?

      --
      '...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
    16. Re:The 2006 first annual Slashdot scavenger hunt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Only if she doesn't mind.

    17. Re:The 2006 first annual Slashdot scavenger hunt by Loligo · · Score: 1

      > 4. Someone who can actually write IAAL

      We have plenty of those, but due to their career choice, they start out with massively negative karma.

      They're here, they're just all below your threshold.

  4. How dare they! by AuMatar · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ok, most of this list was harmless fun. But how dare they violate the valuable IP of patent #6,368,227? Don't bother letting these hardened criminals rot in jail- just shoot them for their crimes against humanity.

    --
    I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
    1. Re:How dare they! by WalterGR · · Score: 2, Interesting
      But how dare they violate the valuable IP of patent #6,368,227? Don't bother letting these hardened criminals rot in jail- just shoot them for their crimes against humanity.

      In reference to the patent you mention, this text is from a New Scientist article on the patent:

      A five-year-old kid from Minnesota has patented a way of swinging on a child's swing...

      Peter Olson[, his father,] told New Scientist: "I had told him that if he invented something he could file a patent." His son had not seen sideways swinging because the swings at his school are closely spaced, so he asked his father to file the application.

      But that's coo, Slashdot. Mock away. That's what you do best.

    2. Re:How dare they! by Kjellander · · Score: 1
      Ok, most of this list was harmless fun. But how dare they violate the valuable IP of patent #6,368,227? Don't bother letting these hardened criminals rot in jail- just shoot them for their crimes against humanity.


      I have prior art to this patent dating back to 1982 or before that.

      We used this mode of swinging in the two swings made of rubber tires hanging next to each other outside of this house, effectively making them into bumper cars. The object was to swing into the other guy until he couldn't take it any more.

      Important to note is that you actually only need to pull rythmically in one of the chains to get this sideways swinging motion, so our invention is technically far supperior to this kids inferior method of pulling in both chains.

      And of course, the oval mode of swinging was the key of winning our matches since the lateral G's became to much for any 5-6 year old after a few direct hits directly into the sides of hiw swing (which naturally was the front or the back of the swing since we were sitting sideways on the swings).

      What is my next step? Do I need to sue the kid to get the rights to this
      patent?
    3. Re:How dare they! by kansas1051 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      There is actually a interesting history behind that patent. It was subject to a "director" ordered reexamination, which means that the USPTO itself thought the patent was so bad that it had to be withdrawn and prosecuted again. Director ordered reexaminations are incredibly rare, particularly when there isn't a lot of money at stake.

      As the patented swinging method had been long known in the art, the USPTO invalidated all claims of the patent (as it should have the first time around), rendering it unenforceable. Because a patent with no claims is worthless, its owner allowed it to expire on 5/10/2006 by nonpayment of issue fees.

    4. Re:How dare they! by Atzanteol · · Score: 1

      But that's coo, Slashdot. Mock away. That's what you do best.

      Soooo, a patent lawyer making a mokery of the patent system isn't worthy of our ire simply because a child was involved?

      --
      "Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge"

      - Charles Darwin
    5. Re:How dare they! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Harmless? Don't they realize that armidillos are the world's largest source of leprosy causing bacteria? They're really trying to create an ACTUAL army of zombies because they know the government's zombie defense plan has a critical flaw!

      -cons piracy

    6. Re:How dare they! by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      He did it deliberately to show his child how the patent system worked, and it demonstrated that the patent system is a mockery. I don't think he has any plans to sue anyone and stop them from swinging sideways.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  5. the list.... by leuk_he · · Score: 1

    well the list already contains.

    "23 In Soviet Russia, Scav hunts you! Get the autograph of the One and Only. What a country! [19861951
    points]"

    so /. is covered.

  6. FYI: Patent 6368227 by cyclomedia · · Score: 0, Redundant

    shameless karma whoring; patent 6368227 is "Method of swinging on a swing.", supposedly unique in that instead of swining the "usual" way you swing sideways.

    When i was younger my brother and i used to sit astride swings and swing towards each other in a joust/battle scenario. Which would be slightly different to the method described in this patent, so maybe i should patent mine. there might even be prior art in my photo albumn from the 80s when i was a wee whippersnapper to support my claim that i (co)invented it!

    --
    If you don't risk failure you don't risk success.
    1. Re:FYI: Patent 6368227 by D'Eyncourt · · Score: 1

      Based on the old photos, I think you should challenge the patent instead.

  7. I got #1 by TheEternalVortex · · Score: 2, Funny

    I give you as many as 5 lines: int main() { throw NotImplementedException(); return 0; }

    1. Re:I got #1 by VGPowerlord · · Score: 3, Funny
      give you as many as 5 lines: int main() { throw NotImplementedException(); return 0; }

      Uh oh, 3D Realms is going to sue you for posting the game's entire source code!

      --
      GLaDOS for President 2016! "Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure." -- GLaDOS, 2011
  8. Aluminum tubes being used! by Phoinix · · Score: 2, Funny

    If they used "Aluminum Tubes", then they may qualify for a free bonus WMD point/strike from GW...

  9. Moving Violations Required? by penguinland · · Score: 4, Funny
    From the rules on how to conduct the road trip:

    [The driver] may not have received no moving violations or convictions or court-ordered supervision.

    I really hope that's a typo... I'm not sure how easy it would be to find someone with a prior conviction to send on the road trip.

    --
    "Flying is the art of throwing yourself at the ground and missing." - Douglas Adams
    1. Re:Moving Violations Required? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think it would be hard to find somone who doesn't have a moving violation.

    2. Re:Moving Violations Required? by z0idberg · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure how easy it would be to find someone with a prior conviction to send on the road trip.

      Yeah, everything else on the list should be a piece of cake, but where the hell are you going to find someone thats had a moving violation?!

    3. Re:Moving Violations Required? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As someone who actually took part in the hunt I can honestly say that they (the judges) made sure every driver had at least one moving violation or court ordered suspension before putting them behind the wheel. You know, safety first.

  10. Participation points by SirWraith · · Score: 4, Funny

    So i'm going to visit my friend at U of C this weekend, and she says, "oh, this was a good week to come, you will get to participate in the scav hunt." obviously, i figure, "hmm, this would be fun for a short while." Then... i see this article. "damn, this is gonna be hard." but compared to Centurix's list up there, this is a walk in the park. sure anyone can find things like "2. DNA From a) Bill Gates b) Linus Torvalds c) Larry Ellison" and "9. A travelling salesman who understands non-deterministic polynomial time" but if i was able to find something like "10. A girlfriend" do you really think i would be writing this at 4:56, come on, at least make it a realistic list.

    1. Re:Participation points by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, technically you already have a friend who is a girl. ;)

    2. Re:Participation points by Xugumad · · Score: 1

      > but if i was able to find something like "10. A girlfriend"

      Who says it has to be your girlfriend. You're thinking too literally!

  11. no points. by leuk_he · · Score: 1

    That is one line... you forgot the
    tags.
    I could point some other errors. Like that it might be WinMain, that is might be written in C and throw does not work there. the program uses "exit" instead of return. or it returns a error exit code instead of 0 (0 is assumed "ok" mostly for unix programs) .

    safer would have been:
    {
    }

    But then there is still point 10 in the list. That is the real hard part.

  12. Some advice by Mostly+a+lurker · · Score: 1, Informative

    In the future, before insulting someone else's intelligence, ensure that you understand the post you are criticising. He clearly stated that the real list was bad enough, but at least not as hard as the spoof list.

  13. Worlds largest egh ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    of course the http://www.geocaching.com/ concept is smallfry, but no, a school in USA has the biggest right ?

    this is like the "World Series" where the winners are "World Baseball Champions" when only teams from USA play, most American kids dont even know what the world is.

    1. Re:Worlds largest egh ? by mpaulsen · · Score: 1

      this is like the "World Series" where the winners are "World Baseball Champions" when only teams from USA play, most American kids dont even know what the world is.

      It is also like the "Almost correct example using MLB" where the teams are "only from USA" when some people don't even know where Toronto is.

      hth, hand

    2. Re:Worlds largest egh ? by Vann_v2 · · Score: 1

      Geocaching isn't really a scavenger hunt, it's more of a treasure hunt. In any event, it's not like other people in other countries are prevented from having their own scavenger hunts -- certainly not in the same way that, say, a Japanese baseball team is prevented from playing in the MLB.

      You're just looking for something to complain about. Big ol' whiner.

    3. Re:Worlds largest egh ? by Red+Flayer · · Score: 1

      Well, the geocaching exercise is not a scavenger hunt.

      And it's not like the UoChi organizers decreed that theirs is the world's biggest scavenger hunt. Even if they did, I'm sure they wouldn't have a problem with not calling it that should someone prove another scavenger hunt to be larger.

      Sure, there's some hubris involved with calling the MLB championship the World Series, but when the Series was initiated, it was without a doubt the world championship by default.

      Instead of getting your panties all in a wad, why not create a larger scavenger hunt wherever you live, so then you can claim the title of "World's Largest Scavenger Hunt". Or maybe prove that the UoChi hunt isn't the largest.

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
  14. GWB by whitestone · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    And does George Bush know about this?

  15. I was an item on this hunt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They needed to find a UofC Unicyclist. I was about 10 years old and went to UofC lab school.

  16. F***ing by floki · · Score: 5, Funny

    11. That Fucking road sign.

    Poor people of Fucking, Austria (Europe). As if they didn't have enough tourists stealing their sign. At least it has become harder to steal now:

    ... In August 2005 the road signs were replaced with theft-proof signs welded to steel and secured in cement to make the signs harder to take. ...

    --
    from the to-stupid-for-words dept.
    1. Re:F***ing by David+Horn · · Score: 1

      Apparently it was only us Brits that were stealing them. No one else found it funny.

      *sniggers*

      --
      PocketGamer.org - For the gamer on the go!
  17. NOTICE: Item #43 Replaced to Redesign Slashdot by digitaldc · · Score: 1

    This just in: Item #43 'Drawing a perfect circle freehand' has been replaced with 'Redesigning Slashdot.com' instead.
    It's a one-shot deal and no further information is available about this update.

    --
    He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
    1. Re:NOTICE: Item #43 Replaced to Redesign Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I could swear hearing a story about Leonardo da Vinci doing this. If I remember correctly the story went that a King wanted the best artist to paint a protrait of him. All the other artist brought their best works to show the King, but da Vinci brought nothing. The king asked him what made him so great and da Vinci drew a perfectly round circle on a piece of paper.

    2. Re:NOTICE: Item #43 Replaced to Redesign Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      After some research on Wikipedia, I stand corrected. It was Giotto di Bondone that did this.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giotto_di_Bondone

  18. Lets not forget a few.... by CFD339 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Cmon, we can do better than that...

    B1. Ponies!
    B2. Desktop Cold Fusion, the energy of the Future!
    B3. Gray Goo.
    B4. Profit!
    B5. AI Based dust collecting overloards.
    B6. A working automobile metaphore.
    B7. An actual first post.
    B8. An editor who actually reads the articles before posting them.

    --
    The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
  19. I know where the book bound in skin is by technoextreme · · Score: 1

    Should I say it? I'll be dammed if someone didn't take the same tours that I did. It's sort of interesting to go on two different tours and have them both point out a library that has a book bound in skin. It's not even like there were 1000 other things that happened in this place that weren't more interesting. Too bad it's not a public library and you have to pay a yearly fee to use it. Pretty interesting story too. A psycho killer wrote a book and read it. Realizing at how deranged he was he had his skin bound with the book to give to the family of those he killed.

    --
    Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.
  20. Skin bound books are pretty common???? by technoextreme · · Score: 1

    http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/arti cles/2006/01/07/some_of_nations_best_libraries_hav e_books_bound_in_human_skin/
    Ill be dammed. Skin bound books are everywhere. The one specifically that I was thinking of was the one mentioned on the second page.

    --
    Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.
    1. Re:Skin bound books are pretty common???? by grammar+fascist · · Score: 1

      From the article:

      The Harvard Law School Library bought its copy of a 1605 practice manual for Spanish lawyers decades ago, for $42.50 from an antiquarian books dealer in New Orleans.

      A 1605 practice manual for Spanish lawyers bound in human skin is oddly fitting. In fact, now that I think about it, why aren't all law books bound in human skin?

      --
      I got my Linux laptop at System76.
  21. Can't believe this hasn't been done by goldaryn · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...

    11. Weapons of Mass Destruction
    12. A copy of "Where's Waldo? Special Osama Edition"
    12. George Bush's rear end
    12a. Tony Blair's puckered lips

    g.

    1. Re:Can't believe this hasn't been done by cynical+kane · · Score: 1

      It hasn't been done because it's not funny.

    2. Re:Can't believe this hasn't been done by tuanjim_2001 · · Score: 1
      11. Weapons of Mass Destruction
      12. A copy of "Where's Waldo? Special Osama Edition"
      12. George Bush's rear end
      12a. Tony Blair's puckered lips

      Looks like somone needs to check their math again.

      --
      "If a quarter is two bits, then a dollar's a byte." -R Deric Miller
    3. Re:Can't believe this hasn't been done by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah-ha! Political humor....
      .
      .
      .
      .
      CLASSIC!

    4. Re:Can't believe this hasn't been done by renjipanicker · · Score: 1

      >> 12. George Bush's rear end
      >> 12a. Tony Blair's puckered lips

      Why 12 and 12a? Because the two items are pretty much fused together?

    5. Re:Can't believe this hasn't been done by freakmn · · Score: 1

      >>>12. A copy of "Where's Waldo? Special Osama Edition"
      >>>12a. Tony Blair's puckered lips

      Why would Tony Blair be kissing Waldo? That's just weird!

      --
      warning: This post is likely to contain gobs of dripping sarcasm. Consume at your own risk.
  22. Aaah hahaha! by Crizp · · Score: 1

    Why, oh why did I just waste my mod points on someone insightful!

  23. Found Itemd that I think is against the rules... by Kiffer · · Score: 1

    153. Sending Flora to your mother on Mother's Day is so played out. This year, she wants fauna. [4 points] ...
    183. A pet bee on a string. Do not conflate with Item #228. [3 points]


    don't the rules state that you cant have any animals...?


    Rule 11.
    Items. Most items remain the property of the team that secured it except for the items that explicitly call for surrender. Furthermore, no items should use any living, non-human animals|think S.P.C.A.
    guidelines.


    I guess you could give her a dead animal... but the bee would need to be alive...
  24. Re:Found Itemd that I think is against the rules.. by Kiffer · · Score: 1

    225. A live eyelash mite, to be removed from a team member on Justice Sunday and displayed under a microscope. [15 points]

    thats 3 items that are against the rules...

  25. MacGyver by antdude · · Score: 0

    MacGyver could easily do this one.

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    1. Re:MacGyver by grammar+fascist · · Score: 1

      MacGyver could easily do this one.

      Yes, gentlemen, this is my self-assembled Atari 2600, made from nothing but old hosiery, chewing gum, a banana peel, and a few locks from my very own mullet!

      --
      I got my Linux laptop at System76.
  26. Re:Found Itemd that I think is against the rules.. by cmcfaul · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The key is the line, "Think S.P.C.A guidelines." I don't know the guidlines all that well, but my understanding is that bees are not considered worth protecting. At any rate, the enforcement of the list rules is done by our ORCSA advisor, who checks the List to make sure we're not doing anything dangerous/illegal. I'm not sure where exactly they would draw the line, but it appears to be somewhere between insects and mammals.

    OTOH, the story I've heard from judges older than myself is that the original source of the no-animals rule is a Little Bo Peep item gone awry several years ago.

    Finally, and for what it's worth, Item #228 ("T Bee A") has been revealed: Catch a bee.

    --colin, Keeper of the Scrolls

  27. Re:Found Itemd that I think is against the rules.. by Kadin2048 · · Score: 1

    183. A pet bee on a string. Do not conflate with Item #228. [3 points]

    Nowhere in that line does it say "live pet bee on a string". It could easily be a dead bee on a string. I don't think that a "pet" necessarily implies that the object is alive: think pet rock, etc.

    So, find a dead bee, some string, and some Krazy Glue. You've got your pet bee on a string. Macabre? Maybe, but not as much as the book bound in human skin...

    --
    "Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
  28. Don't Just Read The Article, See The Movie! by Phat_Tony · · Score: 1
    The 2002 Scavenger Hunt was documented and made into a film, The Hunt. I bought a copy, and I enjoyed it. Find out more, and/or buy a copy, here.

    Or if you don't want to pay the money, why not request that Netflix carry it. Or your local library.

    --
    Can anyone tell me how to set my sig on Slashdot?
  29. Biggest Scavenged Item Ever by shking · · Score: 1

    Every fall, the freshman engineering class at Queen's University is sent on a scavenger hunt. Over the years, in addition to thunder mugs many "large" items were turned in, but even a the great lakes lake freighter that someone moored near campus isn't the biggest. The greatest bit of scavenge ever turned in was the United States of America. Apparently one of the frosh had a parent with connections to the Carter administration and they got the White House to send a document handing over the USA for one hour to the Queen's Engineering Society. The year was 1978 or 1979. My memory's a little hazy; I was in Clark Hall working on that week's issue of Golden Words when I heard the news.

    --
    -- "At Microsoft, quality is job 1.1" -- PC Magazine, Nov. 1994
  30. Amulet of Yendor. by atomic-penguin · · Score: 1

    From the list:

    7._________ The Amulet of Yendor. [ 1 point ]

    Oh, come on, that has got to be worth at least 1,000,000 Zorkmids!

    --
    /^([Ss]ame [Bb]at (time, |channel.)){2}$/
  31. Re:Found Itemd that I think is against the rules.. by pomakis · · Score: 1
    Nowhere in that line does it say "live pet bee on a string". It could easily be a dead bee on a string. I don't think that a "pet" necessarily implies that the object is alive: think pet rock, etc.
    Actually, according to rule #11 in their official rules, "no items should use any living, non-human animals". So I guess a deceased bee (who must ipso-facto be not a bee) is the only option.
  32. Half a bee, philosophically... by Kadin2048 · · Score: 1

    Half a bee, philosophically, must, ipso facto, half not be.

    But half the bee
    has got to be,
    vis a vis
    its entity - do you see?

    But can a bee
    be said to be
    or not to be
    an entire bee
    when half the bee
    is not a bee
    due to some ancient injury?

    Singing...

    La dee dee, 1 2 3,
    Eric the half a bee.
    A B C D E F G,
    Eric the half a bee.

    Is this retched demi-bee,
    half asleep upon my knee,
    some freak from a menagerie?
    No! It's Eric the half a bee.

    Fiddle dee dum,
    Fiddle dee dee,
    Eric the half bee.

    Ho ho ho,
    Tee hee hee,
    Eric the half a bee.

    I love this hive employee-ee-ee
    [with buzzing in background]
    bisected accidentally
    one summer afternoon by me
    I love him carnally.

    He loves him carnally... [together] ...semi-carnally

    --
    "Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
  33. Stanford game better than a scavenger hunt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This game, played at Stanford, is much cooler than a scavenger hunt.