7 days 7 books to give away

[Greg Bernhardt]

This contest is easy. All you have to do is log in and make a post (anywhere)! Each day this up coming week I'll draw a name from the pool that meets the requirement. That member will receive the coffee table book "What it's like in space". The only catch is this contest is open to staff, advisors, Insight authors and https://www.physicsforums.com/account/upgrades!

First day is Monday! Good luck!

 

[berkeman]

Very fun looking book. That's the kind of book that you enjoy reading, and then enjoy passing around to your best friends.

Sign me up. Um, I mean, how can I cheat to get a better chance? Oh the heck with it, heading to Amazon...

 

[lekh2003]

So this is much like a raffle, if I'm right?

 

[DaveC426913]

What if it's like a 50:50 draw?
You win half the book and he keeps the other half.

 

[berkeman]

Or like Jeopardy, where the clicker hardware is decades old, sampling the clickers at 10Hz, and the first contestant to click as fast as possible for several seconds just happens to get seen by the software. Scary...

 

[berkeman]

Oh the heck with it, heading to Amazon...

Whew, what a feeling of relief. The pressure is off.

Thank you, your order has been placed.
An email confirmation has been sent to you.

 

[lekh2003]

What if it's like a 50:50 draw?
You win half the book and he keeps the other half.

I'd prefer not having any book than just half. I would be devastated in suspense.

 

[berkeman]

I'd prefer not having any book than just half. I would be devastated in suspense.

Nah, don't worry. That's not how Greg runs these things...

 

[mfb]

If it is split letter by letter, go for the upper half.

 

[Bystander]

You trying to silence us for the week?

 

[lekh2003]

If it is split letter by letter, go for the upper half.

That is very interesting. But I think we can establish that us intellectual minds won't be splitting stuff like that. Brutal.

 

[fresh_42]

You trying to silence us for the week?

Maybe the trapdoor is behind

All you have to do is log in and make a post!

and most of us never log out. Maybe there isn't even a book? We should wait and see what happens, if @berkeman will have opened his package from Amazon

 

[opus]

Sweet! I love space books!

 

[jedishrfu]

What a sneaky management trick to get us to work for seven days and if we’re lucky to win a book.

 

[lekh2003]

What a sneaky management trick to get us to work for seven days and if we’re lucky to win a book.

All the mentors, gold members, insight authors, etc. usually post everyday anyways. The books are like a little free treat if we're lucky.

 

[mfb]

All the mentors, gold members, insight authors, etc. usually post everyday anyways. The books are like a little free treat if we're lucky.

We have a lot of advisors who were here at some point in the last 15 years and moved on later. The fraction of eligible users still active here is significant, but not "all", and not even "most". You just don't see users if their most recent post was many years ago (random example).

 

[lekh2003]

We have a lot of advisors who were here at some point in the last 15 years and moved on later. The fraction of eligible users still active here is significant, but not "all", and not even "most".

Yes that is a good point. There are lots of inactive gold members and advisors.

 

[SemM]

Or like Jeopardy, where the clicker hardware is decades old, sampling the clickers at 10Hz, and the first contestant to click as fast as possible for several seconds just happens to get seen by the software. Scary...

haha!

 

[doglover9754]

If we win the book but don’t want it, could we give it to someone else? I’m honestly not a book person but a kid who likes online comics...

 

[berkeman]

If we win the book but don’t want it, could we give it to someone else? I’m honestly not a book person but a kid who likes online comics...

Read it, enjoy it, and then loan it out to your best friends. That's my plan...

 

[doglover9754]

Read it, enjoy it, and then loan it out to your best friends. That's my plan...

Is it bad that my friends don’t read books? I mean, I’ve seen them also read comics but not books...

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

If we win the book but don’t want it, could we give it to someone else? I’m honestly not a book person but a kid who likes online comics...

Sure, why not :)

 

[doglover9754]

Sure, why not :)

Cool

 

[ISamson]

So you just have to get involved?
I like it!

 

[ibkev]

Count me in! :)

 

[lekh2003]

Is it bad that my friends don’t read books? I mean, I’ve seen them also read comics but not books...

Just delegate the book to me. I am more than willing to take the weight off of your shoulders and I happen to get a book in the process too...

 

[jedishrfu]

Checking in

 

[mfb]

I'm quite sure the post does't have to be in this thread ;).

 

[fresh_42]

I'm quite sure the post does't have to be in this thread ;).

Good question. And will the logout before be a necessary condition to fulfill the login condition?

 

[mfb]

@Greg Bernhardt will me correct if I'm wrong, but I am >90% sure he will just run a database query to get all users in the listed user groups with a post between 0:00 and 24:00 on the corresponding day, and then pick one of them randomly.

 

[fresh_42]

@Greg Bernhardt will me correct if I'm wrong, but I am >90% sure he will just run a database query to get all users in the listed user groups with a post between 0:00 and 24:00 on the corresponding day, and then pick one of them randomly.

Sure. I just wondered about the where clause. Trues on the user check boxes, and maybe Time in a between case, but depending on whether the database is historized or not, there can also be a timestamp clause on a login field. The same as you've asked about the post table: here or anywhere.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Good question. And will the logout before be a necessary condition to fulfill the login condition?

The login part is redundant since to post you need to login. Don't over think this whole thing :)

 

[fresh_42]

The login part is redundant since to post you need to login. Don't over think this whole thing :)

Yes, but to think about the structure of the query is a riddle. And the urge to solve riddles counts as an occupational disease here.

 

[mfb]

SELECT DISTINCT users.username FROM posts INNER JOIN users ON posts.userid = users.userid WHERE posts.posttime > x AND posts.posttime < y AND users.secondarygroups [no idea how they are stored] ORDER BY RAND ( ) LIMIT 1

Didn't use SQL queries for a long time, and I have never seen the Xenforo database, but I would expect something like that.

 

[fresh_42]

SELECT DISTINCT users.username FROM posts INNER JOIN users ON posts.userid = users.userid WHERE posts.posttime > x AND posts.posttime < y AND users.secondarygroups [no idea how they are stored] ORDER BY RAND ( ) LIMIT 1

Didn't use SQL queries for a long time, and I have never seen the Xenforo database, but I would expect something like that.

Yes, I only meant, that it as well could be "SELECT DISTINCT ... from USER where ... AND USER.TIMESTAMP_LOGIN between MM.D D.YYYY and MM.D (D-1).YYYY" then copy the IDs into Excel and let a random function select a cell.