Chaff
Everyone should go here and buy a red 8-foot weather balloon & fly it on that day.
http://www.scientificsales.com/Meteorological-Balloons-Weather-Balloons-Sounding-Balloon-s/25.htm
The DARPA Network Challenge - a race to find ten large red balloons to be flown at undisclosed locations in the USA this Saturday - is beginning to take shape, with competing teams trying to marshal the legions of crowdsourced operatives necessary for a win. Meanwhile rules and details have been modified in an attempt to prevent …
Approach #2 won't work because entries are limited per e-mail address. If entrants' e-mails are registered prior to the contest, then they could only submit legitimate finds or risk being unable to complete the challenge.
The balloons (<3m) are probably too small to be seen from space. Plus there's always the problem with clouds. DARPA is looking for terrestrial eyes to locate the balloons.
At least DARPA's doing something that shouldn't be considered too expensive. Site 10 balloons and let them fly for a while. Compared to the other things they've done, that's cheap. Most of the expense will probably come out of the pockets of the contestants.
But I suspect that the NSA, or whoever, will be paying very close attention to internet traffic once these balloons are up -- perhaps they have some "network mapping" software they want to use on "terrorist cells" which could be tested using the networks formed to look at these balloons as models. This would work better if the people putting out the balloons don't tell the people monitoring the internet traffic until after the event.
In typing this post I also came up with another theory -- DARPA/NSA/... are trying to work out how to use network traffic and noise to find significant events, like spaceships landing, so that they can use the population as an early-warning system.
"You have to ask just how much DARPA, or anyway the rest of us, are actually going to learn here. What is for certain is that some interesting - probably largely unseen - shenanigans seem likely to take place this weekend."
Then again, it could just be, you know, a bit of fun to celebrate an anniversary?
"Possible Approaches .... Hack DARPA for the locations." ......... lukewarmdog Posted Tuesday 1st December 2009 15:05 GMT
Crack Open the IARPA Shell and All the Fun of ITs Fare is there to Use and Abuse Assets. ....... Pawns.
One wonders whether their Spooky Snoop Algorithms register them hacked or whether IntelAIgent Cloud Community Stealth Programs easily Renders Blissful Unconscious Denial with Ignorant Arrogance ....... Catastrophic Complacency.
The World Great Game is a Very Different Mindset Game to Play 42 Win Win with All, when every Day is ZerodDay Virtually Traded with Vulnerabilities Exploited.
Be Totally Aware of Deep Systemic Vulnerabilities which Capture Perpetrators with the Stickiest and Sweetest of Honey Traps.....which can Easily Control a Soul with their Need Fed.
How else do you Control Anything other than Giving Everything Needed.