A Web Treasure Hunt
Urban treasure hunts are fairly popular in cities
throughout the world. Small teams of amateur sleuths search
the streets and alleys for answers to clues, and along the
way learn about the city's history. San Francisco has the
Chinese New Year Treasure Hunt, and there was a
treasure hunt at PracTeX04 in San Francisco.
A Web Treasure Hunt is similar, but instead you will be surfing the
Web to solve the clues. While you are searching for answers to the clues you
will learn more about the subject -- in this case TeX. All
you need is a net connection, a Web browser, and your
problem-solving skills. You can work as a team or work
alone. Once you have the answers email
them to us and you may be the winner of a souvenir PracTeX
postcard.
Here's how the clues work: the first part of the clue
will direct you to one of the web sites listed at the
bottom of this page. The remainder of the clue will guide
you through the site to arrive at the answer. To get an
idea of how it works try solving this one:
Sample Clue: A strong pull (or a type of boat). Within
you will find a showcase with the picture of a girl, played
by Scarlett Johansson in a recent movie. Who submitted this
pearl of an image?
(Try to solve it on your own before looking at the
answer at the end of this page.)
How to enter the contest: Solve the following
clues and then send an email to
the contest judge by August 15, 2005. Put your name in
the subject line of the email. For example:
Subject: Web treasure hunt answers from: Sue
Trex
In the body of the email put the answers for the
clues:
- The Lone Ranger
- Green
- ...
After August 15 we will choose entries at random and the
first five selected with the most correct answers will
receive prizes. If there are multiple entries by the same
person we will use the one with the earliest date. Good
luck and happy hunting!
1. Can TeX Add Numbers? (Initially this makes sense.) If
you Look through you will find info. If you're lshort on
time, reading this will help you in the long run, no matter
which language you speak. Who is the main author here?
2. A well-known scientist (whose name contains a Latin
lion) dropped the ball here. (It was a big day for
gravity.) Four centuries later a leaning lion will host a
meeting here on what date?
3. 
Some pictures can be pulled down. There you will find a
curious cabinet containing a mirror image of the site
owner's name. What is the date below?
4. He wrote a divinely comedic book. The group which
uses his name holds local meetings for regulars (and beer
is served!). What are these gatherings called?
5. It's August without the gold. What's the name of the
lakeside resort where the annual meeting is held and where
this photo was taken?
(Extra credit: supply a caption for this photo.)
6. This year is the 400th anniversary of a famous novel
about two wanderers in La Mancha. A modern-day group uses
the author's name, with a xmall alteration. Which
anniversary are they celebrating?
7. An untangled Chain is holding 
At the end of your Travel you may want to see some sites.
What is the One Soup here?
8. Ask our friend with one and a hundred zeros about
latex errors and he will suggest an artistic way of solving
your problem. What special character is at #5?
All answers may be found within these sites:
Answer to Sample Clue: "A strong pull" is a "tug".
Looking down the list of links you will see "TUG". Click
on this to enter the site. The word "showcase" will lead
you to the category "TeX Showcase" (you can also enter
"showcase" in the Find box in the upper left of the home
page). Click this link. Looking down the TeX showcase page
you will see an image of Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl
Earring", played by Scarlett Johansson in a movie of the
same name. The answer is "Antonio Almeida", the person who
submitted this item.
Photo in clue #5 (c)Wojciech Myszka
