WCG Game Giveaway: CEP2 Challenge

[manofthem]

Batman Arkham Origins
theonedub
​

Bow has generously passed on Batman Arkham Origins, which means it's still up for grabs. So here goes:

To enter: for Batman Arkham Origins, post below about your favorite Batman villain, and why!

Closing: Monday @8pm, at which point Bow will be choosing the winner and posting here This time we mean business!

Previous WInners:

Kane and Lynch Pack
mauriek


Men of War
Bow


Sleeping Dogs
Black.Raven


Duke Nukem Forever
Vinska


Nordic Bundle
mauriek
Sabre23


King's Bounty Pack
okidna
​

The Clean Energy Project Phase 2 Challenge has officially begun, and we are on the TPU WCG team are actively doing out best to support it with our crunching. We heartedly encourage those of you who are not yet crunching to give it some thought and to try to join our team, even if only for the few days of the CEP2 challenge, Oct 6-14 2013. Please check out our thread on the CEP2 challenge.

As a token of appreciation for all the hard work and efforts put forth by TPU's WCg team, we are throwing a little game giveaway, as we normally try to do. All those crunching, which includes the members of the F@H team, are welcomed to enter our game giveaway for a chance to win a free game. So let's look below for some info:

Spoiler: Previous Games and Info

We have some awesome games up for grabs!

• 2x Nordic Humble Bundles (Norton/manofthem)
• Killing Floor (Vinska)
• Serious Sam Pack (Vinska) (SS 1st & 2nd Encounter, SS HD 1st & 2nd Encounter & Legend of the Beast DLC, SS3: BFE & Jewel of the Nile DLC & Bonus Pack, SS DD, SS The Random Encounter)
• Serious Sam 3 (vinska)
• Mark of the Ninja
• King's Bounty Pack (KB: Armored Princess, KB: Crossworlds, KB: The Legend)
• Men of War Pack (Men of War, MoW: Assault Squad, MoW: Red Tide)
• Brutal legend
• Duke Nukem Forever
• Sleeping Dogs
• Kane and Lynch Pack (Kane and Lynch 1&2)
• Left 4 Dead 2 (stinger608)
• Retro Shooter Pack (Norton) (Serious Sam HD 1st & 2nd Encounter, Shadow Warrior Classic Redux, Duke Nukem 3D Megaton Edition, Hard Reset, System Shock 2)

And as a GRAND PRIZE.... Batman Arkham Origins!
All are Steam games, either gifts or keys


The Deal and How To Enter: We have several games and 1 Grand Prize, Batman Arkham Origins (pre-order)! Everyone who posts for a game is automatically entered for Batman. If for any reason you don't want Batman, simply say so . If you don't want any of the games but only want to enter for Batman, simply post accordingly.

So: Please post what game you are entering for; to change it up, you may enter for up to 3 games. (if someone wins both Batman and another game, the winner may keep both ) Along with your selection, please post an idea on a clean energy item; the item doesn't need to be original... a link to an article the poster feels is a good, crazy, or funny idea is cool too. Let's get some interesting discussion going along with some games talk.

Example(s)

• the pig methane plant from Mad Max- Thunderdome
• solar power from space mirrors
• cold fusion

Requirements & Closing: Must be an active TPU WCG or F@H member with results returned by Wednesday, 10/9/13, which is when the giveaway is scheduled to end Let's aim for 10pm. I know that's later than usual, so if it etc too late, we will just do Thursday

Random Drawing: Drawings will be done randomly, as outlined in the following spoiler below

Spoiler: Drawing Process

To ensure everyone gets a fair shake and to minimize any potential conflict of interest while maintaining the highest level of transparency- I have drafted a new way to draw winners. The system uses (3) members and works as follows:

Member 1: This member creates a list of all qualified participants usernames. This list is sent to Member 2.

Member 2: Using the list of names, Member 2 will assign each entrant a unique number. A list of the usernames with the unique numbers is sent back to Person 1. The list of just the random numbers is sent to Member 3.

Member 3: Member 3 has a list of just numbers. They use Random.Org or whatever random system to select which number wins a given prize. The list of winning numbers and the associated prize is then sent back to Member 1.

Member 1: Using the lists, Member 1 ‘decodes’ the winning numbers into the winning usernames and posts the results.

The lists are sent as Private Messages through the forum. This establishes an electronic record of everything while also preventing alterations of lists after the drawing.

When the winning usernames are posted by Member 1, Member 2 can verify that the number belongs to the correct username and Member 3 verifies that the number was actually pulled as a winner.

The system makes sure that there is no bias or other favoritism at play when winners are drawn. Winners are drawn based on a random number instead of usernames- where a possibility exists to redraw if that person doesn't like who won, draw a friend, draw themselves, pass on new members, or skip doing a random drawing all together.

My hope is that this will alleviate any concerns about drawings and their legitimacy. If it works smoothly, I would like to see this become the new standard when conducting giveaways that have prizes donated by the community.

If there are any questions about this system, drop me a PM.

Another big thanks to all those who are actively crunching and assisting the WCG! These are fun challenges that allow us a chance to try some new projects, help some scientific research, expand our knowledge, and gives us a chance to win some free stuff

THanks for all your efforts TeamTPU!

 

[Chicken Patty]

Thread stickied for the duration of the contest.

 

[[Ion]]

Thanks for running this!
I'm going to pass for now because I seriously don't need any more video games to consume my time, but that's a lot of exciting games!

 

[TRWOV]

Going for Duke Nukem Forever

 

[manofthem]

Slight change: you may enter for up to 3 games (not including Batman because that's automatic). If you win Batman and another game, you may keep both

 

[Norton]

Thanks to manofthem for hosting another great giveaway!

Please opt me out on the games... I don't have time to play the ones I already own

Here's my clean energy idea:

Create a modular power pack that will fit universally in our cars and our homes

 

[stinger608]

Thanks goes out again to Manofthem for offering such an awesome service! Thanks of course goes out to all that are offering the game codes.

Count me out of this one Matt.

Also, update the original post to include a copy of Left4Dead 2. I have a code to offer for this as well.

 

[manofthem]

Thanks guys! I'm out now but when I'm home later, I will to the OP:

-Retro Shooter Bundle (Norton)
-Left 4 Dead 2 (stinger)

 

[AlienIsGOD]

entering for Batman only, as i have purchased or won from TPU forum contests most of the games on the list i dont have any ideas to offer, but would like the use of solar panels and wind turbines to become more prevalent in our world.

 

[Bow]

Men of War Pack

 

[Norton]

FYI

Along with your selection, please post an idea on a clean energy item; the item doesn't need to be original... a link to an article the poster feels is a good, crazy, or funny idea is cool too. Let's get some interesting discussion going along with some games talk

Toss in some ideas folks- fact, fiction, funny... your call (no wrong answers)

 

[manofthem]

Just updated the OP with further info and the additional games. Each pack details which games are included in them, ie Men of War includes 3 games and are all mentioned specifically. The only I'm waiting back on is the Serious Sam pack, as I'm not sure which games are exactly includes, but Vinska will surely get back with us soon


As for the energy topic, I'm not great with science so I don't have anything valid or interesting to offer. I suppose all I can offer is the idea of getting away from fossil fuels lol. We need some kind of clean energy: something that will not leave any harmful remnants and/or consequences, something that will offer a high yield of power with little initial input, something that can be readily available throughout the world. Now I know that's entirely generic and non-helpful but it's a start

 

[TRWOV]

There's plenty of potential power sources but for some of them the amount of energy required to get them is larger than the energy they provide. Breaking the atomic bond in water takes about 30% more energy than what it gives back for example (400kcal vs 320kcal).

 

[sabre23]

Nordic Humble Bundle Please.

Reprocessing Coffee Grounds into Biodiesel
"The researchers estimate that if all the waste grounds generated by the world's coffee drinkers were gathered and reprocessed, the yield would amount to 2.9 million gallons of diesel fuel each year. Alternatively, the coffee grounds could be converted to fuel pellets. If all of the leftover grounds from Starbucks were reprocessed, they would produce 89,000 tons of such fuel pellets annually, enough to generate millions of dollars in revenue for the coffee-shop chain, as well as help counter rising fuel costs for trucking companies."

http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/articles/3238/wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee-biodiesel

P.S. Pellet fuels are heating fuels made from compressed biomass. Pellets are extremely dense and can be produced with a low moisture content (below 10%) that allows them to be burned with a very high combustion efficiency.

 

[xvi]

Clean energy vehicle: Windmill powered car that goes faster than the speed of wind.

[spoiler='Impossible' you say?]Well, I think not! It's been recorded to achieve 2.8 times the speed of the wind that's pushing it. (theory and explanation)

[/spoiler]

 

[Peter1986C]

Awesome vehicle! I am not sure how it can be turned into a practical car though (maybe on ships, as an assistive technology?).

Do you all have seen this?

BTW, not entering the game competition this time.

 

[manofthem]

Just bringing this back up. Come on crunchers and folders, there are lots of games to get in on, lots of cool packs. As a reminder, this is scheduled to end on Wednesday evening, so just keep that in mind.

As the other threads point out, we are doing a great job in the CEP2 challenge, and we need to keep that up. This giveaway obviously ends before the challenge does, so if you do win a game, please keep in mind that we need some good crunching time for the challenge, and hopefully the games won't monopolize our pc's time til the end of the challenge
Thanks guys!

 

[mauriek]

i'm in for nordic humble bundle, Kane and Lynch Pack, King's Bounty Pack.

for clean energy i think its time to make law that every house built need to have solar panel and recycling system for waste so we can drink our piss safely and cleanly.

 

[Black.Raven]

I would like to enter for sleeping dogs, Thanks for the awesome giveaway

 

[librin.so.1]

I'll be entering for these

• The Grand Prize, AKA Batman
• Sleeping Dogs
• Duke Nukem Forever

I know I "automatically enter" for the Grand prize, but I prefer to state it explicitly. So please bear with me
And I know I can enter for a third non-grand prize, but meh, enough greed already - may others have higher chances on the remaining games instead

Okay, my "clean energy idea" here
(my own idea I had for quite a while, but decided not to go with it due to simply not being worth the effort. As it is VERY inefficient and brings more problems than good).

Ever heard of the thermoelectric effect?
Some people use the Peltier effect deriving from it to cool their CPUs and whatnot to below-freezing temperatures. So You might have read about it on these forums here already.

Meanwhile, I thought of using the opposite effect. The Seebeck effect. By using temperature differences, it produces electrical current. So, If I were buy a good peltier element and to place it between my CPU and my cooler, but place it upside-down, it would produce electricity! And it might be possible to feed it back into the machine again, reducing the overall power draw from the grid. Not only that - having some the heat energy transformed into electricity means there is less heat left for the cooler to dissipate. If done right, this would mean:

1. The CPU would not have higher temps than normally
2. Some of the electricity which was transformed into heat is transformed back into electricity again and thus can be "recycled"
3. Thanks to #2 less power needs to be drawn from the grid, which indirectly results in less non-renewable energy source consumption
4. Since it needs to dissipate less heat, more comfort in summer

Although, I realized, if I am lucky I would manage to "recycle" ~3W as a best case scenario. So it is simply not worth the trouble.

And sorry, this turned out not much of a "renevable energy source" idea, but much more of a "energy recycling" idea. Hope that still passes...

EDIT:

for clean energy i think its time to make law that every house built need to have solar panel and recycling system for waste so we can drink our piss safely.

Solar panels that only work when the sun is up... And waste recycling system good enough to make piss drinkable...
I suppose this is in order, then

 

[Norton]

Just over 24 hrs left....

Time to get in on winning some of these great games

 

[manofthem]

I think what's happening here is our crunchers have these games; that or most crunchers don't do all that much gaming

Don't be bashful fellas


At least the Batman game should be great. I just finished Arkham Asylum, and it was pretty great. I just started Arkham City, and it seems even better with more beautiful scenes and open spaces. Even though Rocksteady isn't doing Arkham Origins, it looks to be awesome too.

 

[theonedub]

I'll enter for Batman Origins, please.

Hamsters could generate power. I've already taught them how to row.

 

[Arjai]

Shyness has nothing to do with why I have not, won't, enter in for the prize pool. Mostly, all-ly(?), it is my current computational abilities. This lappy top, although great for a large chunk of things, cannot play much more than a few indie games. Which is fine. I don't really have time, right now, to devote hours to gaming. Although I do have tomorrow off from work...



Anyways, I do appreciate the generosity of the folks here, and actually have a few games on this, namely FEZ, that I really like to play. LIMBO is awesomely drawn but, I am stuck. I can not seem to conjure a solution to crossing a stream on a crate. (?) Perhaps, tomorrow I will devote more to this stream crossing.

Gratuitous Space Battles also has wasted some hours entertaining me.

Yada, yada. So, as always, CRUNCH ON!!

 

[xvi]

Meanwhile, I thought of using the opposite effect. The Seebeck effect. By using temperature differences, it produces electrical current. So, If I were buy a good peltier element and to place it between my CPU and my cooler, but place it upside-down, it would produce electricity! And it might be possible to feed it back into the machine again, reducing the overall power draw from the grid. Not only that - having some the heat energy transformed into electricity means there is less heat left for the cooler to dissipate.

Peltiers generate electricity when there's a difference in temperatures. You'd have to choose between high temps or measly output, sadly.

Alternative clean energy ideas:

Spoiler