Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Indy
Posts: 38

The Countdown to Christmas contest is a cool idea ...
But I can't find anything that says how we become ELIGIBLE to actually win.
From the "official rules" page:
"Winners will be selected in a random drawing from among all eligible entries submitted..."
But what constitutes an ELIGIBLE entry?
My guess is that we answer a bunch of questions between now (Dec. 1) and then (Dec. 25). But then what?
Are the 61 highest-scoring registered users put in a hat? Then those folks are chosen at random and awarded prizes?
That's the most fair thing I can think of.

Anyone else have any ideas (including moderators)?

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<br><img src="http://brian.covert.net/pix/sitepix/sig.jpg" border="0">

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
Posts: 790

From the news page:

quote:

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The more unique questions you answer correctly, the higher your chances of winning a prize.

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Jeff

Registered: Aug 1999
Location: Inverness, FL
Posts: 428

PDAENVY is correct - everyone who answers at least one question right gets their name put in the 'hat'.

However, the more questions you answer correctly, the more times your name is dropped into the hat, increasing your chances of winning.

For example:

Let's say there are 10,000 entries in the contest and you answered each question correctly.

Your chances of winning a prize, and correct me if wrong here, it has been a while since intro to stats, is (24/10,000)(61)= 14.64%. Each drawing is independent of the previous one, ie your name is put back in the 'hat', so no reduction of probability should occur.

A reader who only answered one question correctly would only have a .61% (1/10,0000)(61) chance of winning an item.

So your odds would be roughly 2400% better. Fair enough

Speaking of the contest, what do you think of our impressive variety and amount of prizes?

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<B>Marcus Adolfsson</B>
Editor

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: New York, New York
Posts: 560

Its like the NBA lottery. The more questions you answer correctly the more balls you have in the pot.

But to answer you question on who wins: ME ME ME. :-)

Marcus can you win more than one prize?

I think the limit should be 2 prizes (if you haven't already come up with a limit), but ...

Lets say a person gets picked 3 times to win a prize, that person should be contacted to see which 2 he or she wants. The other prize then gets to be won by someone else. MHO.

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Felipe Garcia
Happy Treo 600 user, so far. Thanx Cingular for having an unlocked phone.

My Treo 600 is my phone, my PDA, my watch, and my MP3 player. Oh yeah, I take a picture once in a while with it. Convergence is such a great thing.

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Indy
Posts: 38

Thanks for clearing things up, Marcus.
And your math makes sense, although it's also been a while since I've had a stats course.
I do like the variety of prizes available - of course, some are better than others!
Felipe - good point about limiting winners to two prizes. I mean, statistically speaking, it's possible for one lucky winner to walk away with 25 prizes (assuming he/she gets every answer right).
And unless I'm the big winner, I'm gonna demand a recount. And if I'm still not declared the winner, we're going to the Supreme Court!

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<br><img src="http://brian.covert.net/pix/sitepix/sig.jpg" border="0">

Registered: Oct 2000
Location:
Posts: 443

quote:

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Originally posted by marcus
Speaking of the contest, what do you think of our impressive variety and amount of prizes?

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Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
Posts: 790

quote:

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Originally posted by marcus
Speaking of the contest, what do you think of our impressive variety and amount of prizes?

---

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Jeff

Registered: Aug 1999
Location: Inverness, FL
Posts: 428

quote:

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My only complaint is, based on today's question anyway, the answers are too easy.

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It will get harder with time Easy questions for the first couple of days to attract readers to the contest.

quote:

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Statistically speaking, it's possible for one lucky winner to walk away with 25 prizes.

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More mathematically possible than statistically, since statistics should even the spread out. Because of your suggestions, we added the following to the rules:

Max two prizes per winner; winner may select which two prizes from all prizes winner was selected for.

Thanks,

Marcus

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<B>Marcus Adolfsson</B>
Editor

Registered: May 2000
Location:
Posts: 321

does
20. Any Handspring Case
Choose any case from Handspring's wide variety of cases. With so many choices, it's easy to personalize your Visor to reflect your own unique style.

Prize provided by: Handspring
include custom cases?

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My processing power is contributed to
<a href="http://members.ud.com/services/teams/team.htm?id=E3894ECF-2FDA-4B0E-AD9E-45FEFF2D5AB6"><IMG SRC="http://members.ud.com/img/ud_logo_hdr_fff.gif"><a>
JOIN TODAY!

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 2682

Are the moderators eligible???

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God bless America, my home sweet home...

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 37

trouble with contest

After I answered the question I accidently entered the wrong password and was taken to the 'fix your password' page. Then, after I put in the correct password, it said that my answer of "" had been submited. When I tried to fix it I was told to only vote once. I know there is no paper evidence, no pregnant or hanging chads, but can my entry still count?? It could be the one that wins me a Minijam

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

I'd just like to publicly thank all of the gift sponsors. It's nice to see companies support a site like this.

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We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
-David Byrne

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Heerlen, The Netherlands
Posts: 3

Nice contest, but...

Cool contest, but I can't enter because I live in Europe.
Next year could you ask the sponsors to include shipping to the rest of the world (Europe, Asia, Australia etc.). Not all visor-owners live in the States. Besides, we celebrate christmas too :-)

But to all who can enter: good luck!

Registered: Feb 2000
Location: Moved to Clie Land
Posts: 331

I agree with HOMER...this a really nice gesture on the part of the sponsors AND VC. Thanks for making Christmas that much better!

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"Stupid Handspring."

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: NJ
Posts: 517

The number of discussion users seems to be growing faster than usual. I wonder if the new people will actually post, or if they just want the prizes.

I think it is a very nice thing to do too, thanks!

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Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Mineola, NY USA
Posts: 161

quote:

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Originally posted by mensachicken
[QUOTE][i]My only complaint is, based on today's question anyway, the answers are too easy. Why give us a link directly to the answer? Make people work for it.

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-Michael-

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Sydney Australia
Posts: 1883

quote:

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Originally posted by MarkEagle
Are the moderators eligible???

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<IMG WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="50" SRC=http://www.visorcentral.com/images/visorcentral.gif> VisorCentral Discussion Moderator
Do files get embarrassed when they get unzipped?

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Petersburg, AK
Posts: 131

Kudos concerning the contest - great assortment of prizes! It worked for me. I used to just lurk but I'm posting (a little) now. I'm checking out sites for products I would have never looked at...

One problem though. I logged in last night and went to enter the contest and it had already changed to today's question. What time zone do they change at? The contest ends on the 24th at midnight right? (Would that be on Hawaii's time?)

Thanks again for the contest!

-misssing out on contests, free shipping, and daylight in Alaska!

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Texan in Calgary for a while
Posts: 1361

VC is based in Gainesville, so all times are EST. I'll tell Marcus to reflect this in the rules.

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James Hromadka
Old Friend

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 13

Gainesville? Can we trust you guys to count these entries properly?

Just kidding. It's a great contest, great prizes and, yes, it's taken me to websites and products I might not ordinarily investigate.

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Tim Kelly
www.dietryin.com
www.bushlite.net