After thinking about some of the recent unrest over our recruiting threads (no valid purpose, bla, blah, blah), I began to think that while the competiton and stats are enough for me, what if we mixed in a "higher" purpose and also made it a competition?
My idea is a "Pledge" type campaign. Any AnandTecher taking the pledge would commit to personally add or recruit a certain amount of CPU horsepower, let's say 2 Ghz, between now and Thanksgiving. Anyone failing to achieve their pledge would have to pay a penalty of $10 or $20, whatever. The penalty funds would be used at Christmas time to purchase toys for kids in a women's/family shelter, in the name of Anandtech. Of course, any members that had actually recuited the horsepower could (
) still contribute to the penalty fund if they wished!!
While I don't think crackin needs to be justified, this would be an opportunity for everyone, not just current crackers, in the AnandTech community to participate together to bring a little joy into a holiday season that might otherwise be kind of bleak for these kids.
Getting some extra Ghz for TA (Seti, OGR, RC5, whatever) would be a definite plus, but just as being on a team to compete is fun by itself, being part of a team that gives something to kids that are victims through no fault of their own makes it even more fun.
I really have no idea how many people would be interested, but if participation were sufficiently high, we might even be able to use part of the funds to purchase a computer for the shelter. These kids still go to school and need to type, they like to chat, surf, etc and we could be the force that puts the box in their shelter. I know we have several computer builders in our community from whom we could purchase the machine.
Sorry to ramble forever, but I see a couple of issues folks might raise--mainly, who gets the money? I would suggest one of the well known and respected old timers could set up a paypal account for the penalties to be deposited. He could then order the toys and stuff online to be shipped to the shelter. There are many members that I think have sufficient credibility to be trusted with the money--remember, no one would have more than $20 or so at stake.
Secondly. what fun is a competiton without a winner? You win by recruiting the most new Mhz. And what does the winner get? A new title from Zuni--Crackin' King! (Well, Crackin' Queen could happen also): If an Elite won, he of course would be Elite Crackin King (haven't figured out the Crackin' Den Mother yet ). I think the recruiting title can be awarded on a honor system, we'd just need one person to track the sign-ups via email or something. All persons who took the pledge could also be rewarded by enshrinement on a "Hall of Fame" page in Paulson's webpage.
Third issue would be the recipient organization. I personally could care less as long as it goes for kids facing an otherwise bleak Christmas. It is the one day a year I retire my grinch hat and wish everyone in the world was free from suffering or sorrow, particularly kids. Perhaps one of our female members (WW?) has a lead on a good facility pr could get some info. Some of these places are a little wary in dealing with men.
Perhaps even 'Da Boss' will take the pledge, he's gotta have a bunch of Mhz laying around in case he's not willing to part with the $20!
Well, sorry again about my rambling, I may have lost many folks after the first few paragraphs, just thought this would be a chance for everyone to take part in something slightly more significant that trashing 3dfx or Intel. Oh, and you ought to thank me for not doing this as another friggin' poll. Would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions...
My idea is a "Pledge" type campaign. Any AnandTecher taking the pledge would commit to personally add or recruit a certain amount of CPU horsepower, let's say 2 Ghz, between now and Thanksgiving. Anyone failing to achieve their pledge would have to pay a penalty of $10 or $20, whatever. The penalty funds would be used at Christmas time to purchase toys for kids in a women's/family shelter, in the name of Anandtech. Of course, any members that had actually recuited the horsepower could (
) still contribute to the penalty fund if they wished!!While I don't think crackin needs to be justified, this would be an opportunity for everyone, not just current crackers, in the AnandTech community to participate together to bring a little joy into a holiday season that might otherwise be kind of bleak for these kids.
Getting some extra Ghz for TA (Seti, OGR, RC5, whatever) would be a definite plus, but just as being on a team to compete is fun by itself, being part of a team that gives something to kids that are victims through no fault of their own makes it even more fun.
I really have no idea how many people would be interested, but if participation were sufficiently high, we might even be able to use part of the funds to purchase a computer for the shelter. These kids still go to school and need to type, they like to chat, surf, etc and we could be the force that puts the box in their shelter. I know we have several computer builders in our community from whom we could purchase the machine.
Sorry to ramble forever, but I see a couple of issues folks might raise--mainly, who gets the money? I would suggest one of the well known and respected old timers could set up a paypal account for the penalties to be deposited. He could then order the toys and stuff online to be shipped to the shelter. There are many members that I think have sufficient credibility to be trusted with the money--remember, no one would have more than $20 or so at stake.
Secondly. what fun is a competiton without a winner? You win by recruiting the most new Mhz. And what does the winner get? A new title from Zuni--Crackin' King! (Well, Crackin' Queen could happen also)
: If an Elite won, he of course would be Elite Crackin King (haven't figured out the Crackin' Den Mother yet ). I think the recruiting title can be awarded on a honor system, we'd just need one person to track the sign-ups via email or something. All persons who took the pledge could also be rewarded by enshrinement on a "Hall of Fame" page in Paulson's webpage. Third issue would be the recipient organization. I personally could care less as long as it goes for kids facing an otherwise bleak Christmas. It is the one day a year I retire my grinch hat and wish everyone in the world was free from suffering or sorrow, particularly kids. Perhaps one of our female members (WW?) has a lead on a good facility pr could get some info. Some of these places are a little wary in dealing with men.
Perhaps even 'Da Boss' will take the pledge, he's gotta have a bunch of Mhz laying around in case he's not willing to part with the $20
!Well, sorry again about my rambling, I may have lost many folks after the first few paragraphs, just thought this would be a chance for everyone to take part in something slightly more significant that trashing 3dfx or Intel. Oh, and you ought to thank me for not doing this as another friggin' poll. Would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions...
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