MacSurvivor 2004

MacSurvivor Castillo - Award Challenge #6
"Elite Minds"

Contest Tasks
Contest Details
Results
Award

**Sponsored by:**
Allume Founded in 1988, Allume Systems, Inc (previously Aladdin Systems, Inc.), develops and publishes award-winning software solutions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and Solaris.

**Sponsored by:**
FileMaker FileMaker, the worldwide leader in easy-to-use database software, supports millions of customers - individuals, small businesses, teams in education and government, workgroups in Fortune 100 companies - to manage projects, people, and assets.

Contest Task:

This will be a timed web challenge. One the web challenge is posted, castaways will be given 24 hours to complete the challenge. As you answer questions, a timer will calculate how long it takes you to answer each question, and whether you got the answer correct. The timer only activates during the questions. After each question there will be a pause period where you will see the correct answer. You can pause as long as you wish. As soon as you click on the action to take the next question, the timer begins again. You do not have to answer all the questions in one sitting, but if you do stop, be sure to stop at a pause. If you stop after a question, the timer will continue!

Dust off your thinking caps and oil your brain gears, and prepare to find out if you have what it takes to be among the elite!

Contest Details:

To engage the Elite Minds challenge, go to http://users.mac-guild.org/ and click on "Elite Minds Challenge", or click here to reach it directly. Questions range from Mac technical questions, to Mac Guild reviews, to MacSurvivor trivia.

SCORING

You receive 5 points for each correct answer.
You are penalized 1 point for each incorrect answer.
You are timed on each question.
The one with the highest score wins.
For tie breakers, the one with the highest score and the lowest total time wins.

NOTES:

If your answers are not valid choices, you'll get a chance to re-answer the question, but once the response is valid, whether right or wrong, you will not be asked the question again. In other words, if the options are A, B, and C, and you answer "F", you'll be asked to change your answer (no -1 penalty, but the timer is rolling). If you answer it with "A", but the answer is "B", then you will receive a -1, and you will not see that question again.
The timer is activated as soon as the question is displayed, and the timer is de-activated as soon as your answer is submitted. The timer is paused between questions, so you may take breaks if you need to.
It would be wise to turn off autofill preferences to make sure your web browser doesn't automatically insert previous answers as you type answers (aka, you may mean to type "A", but the browser may insert "ABD".

SCHEDULE

The contest began on 1/2/06, 11:00 AM Castillo time. The castaways have until 1/9, 11:00AM Castillo time, or until 24 hours after the first castaway completes all 40 questions, whichever comes first. After the challenge concludes, it will be opened up to the entire Mac Guild membership.

THE AWARD

Results:

Castaway	Score	Total Time
John Gebhardt	176	90 mins, 30 secs
Mark Pickett	170	30 mins, 15 secs
Diane Love	170	76 mins, 14 secs
Jim Melton	158	21 mins, 37 secs

Jim has the best time, but John won the challenge with the highest score (only missed 4 questions).

Award:

The winner will have a choice between the following two prizes:

Dymo Labelwriter 330 printer. This is the printer I used for a short while for labeling Mac Guild mailings, but it's still in new condition. These printers come in very handy!
Matias TactilePro keyboard. Used for a review, but otherwise in new condition.

John won the challenge with the best score. He chose the Dymo Labelwriter as his prize. The contest was then opened up to the general Mac Guild membership. The Matias TactilePro keyboard was awarded to the non-castaway who got the best score.