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UMCP Programming Competition
Posted by #43 Will Miller at 03-13-1999 9:37 PM
Today b0b, ben, k-rad and I went to UMCP (UMUC actually) for the "9th annual high school programming contest", in c++ this year. The competition was available for teams from high school throughout Maryland, with the object being to correctly answer 8 problems given to each team.
The rules stated that a team could bring "any resonable number of books for reference", so we decided to test the rule and bring 18 books. I brought Huxley's Brave New World(since I don't have a copy of 1984), Ender's Game, The Stranger and the Cliff's notes to Walden. b0b brought Crime and Punishment and a few books on C, including k-rad's reference book. Most importantly, Ben brought the Bible, which he said was "the only book you EVER need." This particular translation was the Easy to Read one, designed specifially for the needs of the deaf.
The first speaker was about 20 minutes late because he was busy supervising the installation of Visual C++ 6.0 on the machines we were going to use. This bothered us for a few reasons. 1st - why the HELL didn't they do it a few days before instead of the morning of the competition? 2nd - why the HELL do we need a visual program if we're doing problem solving?
We finally went into the lab and got a computer. Their flawless security fooled only the really dumb teams (who got 3rd place, no irony here) In theory, we shouldn't have been able to get on the internet because it could've been used to cheat.
Lunch was FUN. We had pizza, which was alright, kinda cold. When we returned to our table with the pizza, there were Microsoft goodies scattered across the table, including little flashlights, keychains and koosh balls. This proved to be the only reason that the entire experience was worthwhile for us. The guest speaker was from Microsoft, who didn't seem to appreciate Ben laughing/sleeping during his speech, b0b disassembling the flashlights or k-rad breaking the sample CD-ROMs and tossing them at Ben.
The competition itself was... dissapointing. We submitted the first problem in 7 minutes, then made the mistake of trying to get too many problems and spread out our efforts too much. However, each of our submissions contained a quote from one of the books we brought and a message to join THE CULT.
Overall, an amusing day, but really a waste. Ben says that the Bible failed us. « replies »
UMCP Programming Competition
Post #5464 by #4 b0b at 03-13-1999 9:42 PM
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I'd like to add two things. One being, *I* did the first problem in 7 minutes, by myself. And two.. rewiring that flashlight so it was always on was pretty cool.
I'm too tired to really write something.
Yup
Post #5465 by #3 Ben at 03-13-1999 9:51 PM
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What did we learn today, kids?
- M$ cds make good coasters.
- Koosh balls can be a deadly weapon.
- Apparently, the deaf have problems reading.
- Even after 9 years, these people can't organize worth a damn.
UMCP Programming Competition
Post #5470 by #9 k-rad at 03-16-1999 1:10 PM
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yea, the koosh balls were fun.. the free food was nice too. And I finally got to see college park, they have some nice computer labs. The team behind us cheating by listening to our plans kinda sucked. As always when there's free food, I grabbed as much as I could and filled cheezus' backpack with little softdrinks.. free stuff rules.
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