Majic's Political Easter Eggs

Watch out! I'm Crazy Majic the Political Easter Bunny, and I love to give away points!

Okay, granted I'm not planning to revive (or technically, just "vive", I suppose) PTS by running around handing out points.

However, I don't see any reason why I can't have some fun with PTS. And I do like handing out points -- when they are earned.

So here's a fun little game that I'll be playing on an ongoing basis.

Majic's Political Easter Eggs: The Home Version

While PTS hasn't exactly been the hottest board on the Internet (yet), there's still a lot of very good content enshrined within its hallowed halls.

And so, to call attention to what we already have in PTS, I give you Majic's Political Easter Eggs -- a special little feature I hope you will enjoy.

As a supermod, I can edit almost any post. In the course of my travels, I will -- now and then -- add a little note to a post that looks something like this:

Majic's Political Easter Egg: Be the first to post the name of the 34th President of the United States in this thread and send Majic a U2U with a link to your post, and you will be awarded 500 PTS points.

In general, the challenge will be related to the topic of the thread. When you reply, the thread will be bumped and it will get fresh attention from members.

Note that there are no links or bright colors to call attention to the eggs. This is intentional. I don't want it to be too easy to find them by skimming (yeah, I do it too).

The point values will vary depending on how hard the question is and other, more esoteric factors (e.g., my mercurial whim), but are normally 500 points per egg.

I've only planted a small number of them so far, and won't be planting too many. The idea is to offer something fun that can generate interest in older threads and add a little extra excitement now and then, kind of like finding money on the sidewalk, or change underneath the couch cushions.

For you gamers out there, think of these as "PTS Power-ups".

The Rules

The first member to meet these conditions for a given easter egg gets the prize:

1. Post the correct answer in the thread where the easter egg appears.

2. Send me a U2U with a link to the winning post.

3. First correct post in the thread wins, not U2U, so don't worry that you have to pop that U2U milliseconds after posting the answer. No hurries, no worries.

4. If the first answer is wrong, we move down the thread until the correct answer is found, which will then win the prize.

5. Moderators, FSMEs and Councilors are not eligible (sorry gang).

6. Awards may be limited or refused at my discretion (for example, if I suspect an egg was found as a result of an exploit or whatnot).

7. I may cancel the promotion at any time, in which case I'll post notice here.

8. I may impose other restrictions or limitations at my discretion (like any self-respecting benevolent dictator should).

Remember, these easter eggs are relatively rare, but they are out there, and as the mood strikes me, I'll be planting more in the months to come.

Enjoy!

Okay. But only if you don't change the rules during the game.

Originally posted by Majic
5. Moderators, FSMEs and Councilors are not eligible (sorry gang).

What if you're a mod and FSME? That's a double negetive, thus a positive.

Now, where is dat waskley wabbit?

This sounds like fun but now for the big question since I'm not very good yet on the computer how do I provide the link in a U2U? My daughter knows how but she's leaving soon for college; and by the way what does she mean by growing up to be a self-sufficient strong young lady? Oh yeah, I raised her that way.

Uh Oh, It's Majic

Originally posted by Mechanic 32
Okay. But only if you don't change the rules during the game.

Alas, it cannot be.

Can you know the mighty ocean? Can you lasso a star from the sky?

Can you say to a rainbow... "Hey, stop being a rainbow for a second"?

No!

Such is Majic!

Duke Of URL

Originally posted by gallopinghordes
This sounds like fun but now for the big question since I'm not very good yet on the computer how do I provide the link in a U2U?

No worries. Just copy the URL from your address bar on your browser (where you can type in Internet addresses).

That should get me to the page in question.

If I have trouble finding the post, I'll let you know.



P.S. And sorry intrepid, no eggs for you!

[edit on 7/15/2006 by Majic]

Durden Found An Easter Egg!

politics.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by Durden

Originally posted by Majic
Majic's Political Easter Egg: Be the first to post the name of the first White House Press Secretary appointed by George W. Bush in this thread and send Majic a U2U with a link to your post, and you will be awarded 500 PTS points.

I'll bite: Ari Fleischer.

Correct! You win 500 PTS Points!

Oh but it gets better...

Durden Found Another Easter Egg!

politics.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by Durden

Originally posted by Majic
Majic's Political Easter Egg: Be the first to post how many children were born to Stephen Colbert's parents in this thread and send Majic a U2U with a link to your post, and you will be awarded 500 PTS points.

11. Hey this is fun

!

Correct! Eleven kids. Yoiks!

Another 500 PTS Points for you!

Congratulations! You are now 1000 PTS Points richer!

And yes, I think it's fun, too. Watch out, though. This first round is rather easy.

Durden Found A Third Easter Egg!

politics.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by Durden

Originally posted by Majic
Majic's Political Easter Egg: Be the first to post the official name of the "First International" in this thread and send Majic a U2U with a link to your post, and you will be awarded 500 PTS points.

International Workingmen's Association.

Ok, I'll let someone else play now.

Bingo! Another 500 points!

Don't worry, there's no limit to how many eggs you can redeem in a given time period.

So if Google reindexes those threads, you could really clean up!

So far though, I'm not seeing them on the ATS/Google search, but if anyone should find them that way, I won't complain.

The posts still bump the threads, and though I'm kind of random about it, I'd love to see some of these threads picked up again.

Just because a thread dies doesn't mean it doesn't have some life left in it.




P.S. But if anyone does find an "exploit" or way to find them without reading, please let me know, and I'll make it worth your while (i.e., lotsa points).

eaglewingz Found An Easter Egg!

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by eaglewingz

Originally posted by Majic
Majic's Political Easter Egg: Be the first to post the names of the six founding members of the European Union in this thread and send Majic a U2U with a link to your post, and you will be awarded 500 PTS points.

belgium, france, italy, luxembourg, netherlands, west germany

Correct! 500 PTS Points to you, friend!

Demo Project

I hope this gives folks an idea of what the questions are like and how to win.

Now I'll start just answering in the threads, and maybe just update this BQ&B ad now and then.

Man, this is hard. I must have been through a hundred threads already.

Egg-sasperation

I made a few of them easy to find, and sure enough, some of them have been found.

But I planted quite a few "deeper" in the vast expanses of PTS history.

I won't say how many I've planted, but I spent about two hours today planting them, and I work pretty fast.

And I plan to add at least a few more each day, off and on, as the mood hits me, for the forseeable future.

Some may never be found. :shk:

But I suspect they all will be uncovered eventually.

Okay, I am summoning my spirit guide, to guide the way.

*puts two fingers on each temple and closes eyes, in meditation*

[edit on 7/16/2006 by Mechanic 32]

I found them all. Sorry, there is a loop hole. I sent majic a u2u.

[edit on 16-7-2006 by JohnDoe43]

JohnDoe43, you spoiled it.


In the rules, Majic states...

6. Awards may be limited or refused at my discretion (for example, if I suspect an egg was found as a result of an exploit or whatnot).

I hope Majic finds another way, that this may continue. I had'nt found any until I saw your post, and checked your last few posts.

But it was fun, regardless.

Originally posted by Majic
So far though, I'm not seeing them on the ATS/Google search, but if anyone should find them that way, I won't complain.

P.S. But if anyone does find an "exploit" or way to find them without reading, please let me know, and I'll make it worth your while (i.e., lotsa points).

I found mine by using a search engine. Furthermore I u2u Majic and let him know first.
Btw, Im not 100% sure I answered them all right, maybe you should go check.

[edit on 17-7-2006 by JohnDoe43]

Egg-O-Matic

Indeed, the boolean search will find my easter eggs!

Member Durden first pointed this out, and JohnDoe43 also notified me via U2U before going to town on the eggs with my blessings. Neither member did anything wrong and both were completely ethical about all this.

Thanks to both for being up front with me, and I very much intend to award full points to JohnDoe43 for answering all those questions, and to Durden -- for being the first to point this out and holding back at my request -- I will award an equal amount of points.

I wanted to see how many members would notice this.

I Am The Egg Man

Was it a boo-boo? Sort of, but sort of not. I expected them all to be found by search eventually, and do want them to be found!

However, to make the eggs harder to find by search, I'll start to vary their wording and try to eliminate obvious patterns. Also, I'll be scattering them over time, so even if members find them right away by searching, no problem.

In the meantime, I have a LOT of U2U's in my inbox, and it will take a while to go through them. To help spread the bumps out a bit, I'll only be answering a few egg U2Us at a time, and spreading out my responses over the coming week (I'm going to be taking a break to finish my novel anyway, so that will help pace things).

Once I've awarded JohnDoe43 his points, I will award Durden an equal amount. Both members are looking at about 5000 additional points or so, which isn't shabby.

All this notwithstanding, I think the easter egg program is something I want to continue as a fun way to call attention to older PTS threads and spark interest in the many fascinating topics I think have been underexplored by ATSers.

And now to get hopping, because a political easter bunny's work is never finished.




P.S. And as JohnDoe43 pointed out, he may not have answered all of the questions correctly. If not, the first correct answer in the thread will win.

[edit on 7/17/2006 by Majic]