As part of CS 144, a class at Caltech, we're participating in a contest. Last year at CMU, Professor von Ahn ran a contest among his students to see who could get the highest ranked page with the word "rankmaniac" on it. This year, the contest is at Caltech with Professor Wierman. The goal is to have the highest ranked page with the phrase "rankmaniac 2010" on it.
The grading scheme is pretty harsh. Half of the assignment is graded based on performance in the rankings. For getting on the first page of results: 10%. For beating the TAs, who are also doing this assigment: 30% (but nobody's going to beat the TAs! Virgil Griffith is one of the TAs!). For beating the highest CMU site: 10%. Then, additional bonus points for ranking very highly in the class.
We're taking the approach that good content will always be rewarded. So, I'm going to do my best to make sure that interesting posts are always going up on this blog! Wish me luck!
