Contest: WTHAI?: Win up to 20 BTC Daily

[BTCurious]

WTHAI 1: Sri Lanka
WTHAI 2: Malaysia
WTHAI 3: Brazil
WTHAI 4: Nigeria
WTHAI 5: China

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[legolouman]

Wait, I want to guess in the Milky Way Galaxy. There is no way I'm wrong.

[phillipsjk]

I found the shadow detail in WTHAI 3: you can see it around valleys and that depression that may indicate the mountain is a volcano. I now estimate 45 degrees south +-30. If it is in brazil, it would have to be the southern half. My guess: Chile Argentina.

What 4 update: Looking at a globe, the equator actually runs through the middle of africa. Phinnaeus Gage was being nice when he narrowed it to "North Africa".

Edit: Chile appears to be too mountianous for WTHAI3.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

WTHAI 1: Sri Lanka
WTHAI 2: Malaysia  Close!
WTHAI 3: Brazil  No
WTHAI 4: Nigeria  Ùú
WTHAI 5: China 没有

Remember that correctly naming the country doesn't mean you've won. You must supply a pulled back image, thereby showing that there's a definite match.

What 4 update: Looking at a globe, the equator actually runs through the middle of africa. Phinnaeus Gage was being nice when he narrowed it to "North Africa".

You know what I like about you, Chad? The effort you're putting into this. Believe you me, if I wanted to be nice, I would give better clues.

~Bruno~

[RandyFolds]

WTHA1: is in the northern hemisphere, likely south of 60 degrees north, north of 22 degrees north. That rules out Africa.

WTHA2: is closer to the equator, the only visible shaddows appear to exgagerated by the nearby creakbed. I Estimate summer, between 0 degrees north and 45 degrees north.

WTHA3: No visible shadow detail, hint given is "south america"

WTHA4: Cloud shadows suggest morning near the equator, likey between 30 degrees south/north. Hint was "Africa", my analysis narrows it to north Africa.

WTHA5: Shadow detail is hard to see; appears to be another morning image. Hint was Asia. I think I can narrow it to between 22 south and 45 north, which eliminates most of Russia.

PS: voted both "Yes" and "No" in the poll

I think your shadow information is irrelevant...can you explain it further?

[Phinnaeus Gage]

WTHA1: is in the northern hemisphere, likely south of 60 degrees north, north of 22 degrees north. That rules out Africa.

WTHA2: is closer to the equator, the only visible shaddows appear to exgagerated by the nearby creakbed. I Estimate summer, between 0 degrees north and 45 degrees north.

WTHA3: No visible shadow detail, hint given is "south america"

WTHA4: Cloud shadows suggest morning near the equator, likey between 30 degrees south/north. Hint was "Africa", my analysis narrows it to north Africa.

WTHA5: Shadow detail is hard to see; appears to be another morning image. Hint was Asia. I think I can narrow it to between 22 south and 45 north, which eliminates most of Russia.

PS: voted both "Yes" and "No" in the poll

I think your shadow information is irrelevant...can you explain it further?

Dude, that's what the internet's for! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow

WTHAI 2: Malaysia  Close! (South of there)
WTHAI 3: Brazil  No! Now  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_West,_young_man

Stay tuned for WTHAI? 6.

~Bruno~

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Time for WTHAI 6: Guess the location within the first hour and win 20 BTC. Guess the location during the following 23 hours after the first hour, and win 10 BTC. Once guessed, I'll donate 2 BTC to Bitcoin100 along with paying out the winnings. After 1 month without a correct answer, I will donate 1 BTC to Bitcoin100, then reveal the answer.

Major clues for all 6 images:

• 1. Høst
• 2. Ha'i
• 3. Sikú
• 4. Déby
• 5. Nyāyá
• 6. Europe

WTHAI 6
WTHAI 6WTHAI 6

[RandyFolds]

Dude, that's what the internet's for! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow

Yes, shadows do exist. I am skeptical that you can draw conjectures as to season and latitude from them as they vary daily and seasonally, and you have no information as to the angle of incidence for the photograph. I am curious how these 'calculations' are made. My notion is that all you can really say if a shadow exists is that the image was not taken at high noon at the equator. Other than that, it seems like total BS. I am curious to learn more if this really is a legitimate method of analysis.

I guess if you know the alignment of the image with regards to true north, you could make a pass at whether it is the northern or southern hemisphere, but how can you take that any further not knowing the time or season of the photograph?

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Dude, that's what the internet's for! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow

Yes, shadows do exist. I am skeptical that you can draw conjectures as to season and latitude from them as they vary daily and seasonally, and you have no information as to the angle of incidence for the photograph. I am curious how these 'calculations' are made. My notion is that all you can really say if a shadow exists is that the image was not taken at high noon at the equator. Other than that, it seems like total BS. I am curious to learn more if this really is a legitimate method of analysis.

I guess if you know the alignment of the image with regards to true north, you could make a pass at whether it is the northern or southern hemisphere, but how can you take that any further not knowing the time or season of the photograph?

Although you replied to me, it reads like you wanted to reply to phillipsjk. If you would have realized that the post you quoted was penned by me, you would have known it was for humor purposes only. I knew exactly what you were asking, Randy. I find this rather interesting as well, and look forward to a full explanation by Phillip. BTW, did you eat every last crumb of that Oreo cookie I sent you?

~Bruno~

[RandyFolds]

You go to hell, Bruno. You go to hell and you die!

(see, I am rolling with the cartman thing...)

One oreo is never enough, regardless of the level of stacking.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

You go to hell, Bruno. You go to hell and you die!

(see, I am rolling with the cartman thing...)

One oreo is never enough, regardless of the level of stacking.

Just for that, I'll give you a clue.

WTHAI 2: Juanita

[RandyFolds]

WTHAI2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aNaqUm26hY

Oh, Juanita

[Phinnaeus Gage]

WTHAI2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aNaqUm26hY

Oh, Juanita

This is great! I get to bed soon envisioning you playing the Hurdy Gurdy while dancing with Dryads. Sick!

Best Clue to Date:

WTHAI? 1: Baltic Sea

~Bruno~

[phillipsjk]

I think your shadow information is irrelevant...can you explain it further?

So far they have been gut feelings. Since my last post, I have been pondering how to get a more precise fix on the latitude of WTHAI1.

For WTHAI 4, I knew it must be about 10 am when the picture was taken because the shadow was almost directly below the fluffy white clouds that typically float at least 1000-2000ft (300-580m) above the surface. Despite this, the shadow is only slightly north of the clouds. That tells me it is near the equator. However, because it is near the equator, I can not tell the season based on the vegetation.

Up here at 55 degrees north, the ground is brown/white in the winter (Google has used winter images in the past).  Not knowing the season is a major source of error since the Earth is tilted on its axis about 22.5 degrees. That means even if I correctly guage the angle of elevation of the sun, the corresponding Latitude can vary by up to 43 degrees.

For WTHAI1, the long shadows hint at a location close to the poles. The green deciduous trees indicate that it is summer (and not too close to the poles). This means I have the potential to narrow the angle of elevation to within 22 degrees: if I can just measure the angle of elevation of the sun. I can probably determine the time the picture was taken within about 30 minutes (Standard local time). For example, WTHAI1 was taken at 12:30 1300 (Correction: sundials are 24 hour clocks...). The length of the shadow varies throughout the day. It is longest at either midnight or sunrise/sunset; shortest at noon.

The difficulty is that to determine the angle of the sun from objects on the ground, I have to know how tall those objects are. Trees are tricky because their height changes based of how far north they are, as well as with how much water they get. I am assuming that the pictures are taken from directly overhead. This will be true for aerial photos, and likely many of the satellite photos.

Even if I determine how tall an object on the ground is, I still don't know when sunrise is... because I don't know the latitude (or exact day). I have yet to deterime if I can solve a series of equations (with a least 2 unknowns) for elevation of the light source.

TL;DR: I can determine the hemisphere (North vs South) with a high degree of certainty. Other than that, I may be just guessing using other visual cues. Generally, the closer to the poles you go, the longer the shadows at high noon.

 

[Phinnaeus Gage]

I think your shadow information is irrelevant...can you explain it further?

So far they have been gut feelings. Since my last post, I have been pondering how to get a more precise fix on the latitude of WTHAI1.

For WTHAI 4, I knew it must be about 10 am when the picture was taken because the shadow was almost directly below the fluffy white clouds that typically float at least 1000-2000ft (300-580m) above the surface. Despite this, the shadow is only slightly north of the clouds. That tells me it is near the equator. However, because it is near the equator, I can not tell the season based on the vegetation.

Up here at 55 degrees north, the ground is brown/white in the winter (Google has used winter images in the past).  Not knowing the season is a major source of error since the Earth is tilted on its axis about 22.5 degrees. That means even if I correctly guage the angle of elevation of the sun, the corresponding Latitude can vary by up to 43 degrees.

For WTHAI1, the long shadows hint at a location close to the poles. The green deciduous trees indicate that it is summer (and not too close to the poles). This means I have the potential to narrow the angle of elevation to within 22 dergrees: if I can just measure the angle of elevation of the sun. I can probably determine the time the picture was taken within about 30 minutes (Standard local time). For example, WTHAI1 was taken at 12:30. The length of the shadow varies throughout the day. It is longest at either midnight or sunrise/sunset; shortest at noon.

The difficulty is that to determine the angle of the sun from objects on the ground, I have to know how tall those objects are. Trees are tricky because their height changes based of how far north they are, as well as with how much water they get. I am assuming that the pictures are taken from directly overhead. This will be true for aerial photos, and likely many of the satellite photos.

Even if I determine how tall an object on the ground is, I still don't know when sunrise is... because I don't know the latitude (or exact day). I have yet to deterime if I can solve a series of equations (with a least 2 unknowns) for elevation of the light source.

TL;DR: I can determine the hemisphere (North vs South) with a high degree of certainty. Other than that, I may be just guessing using other visual cues. Generally, the closer to the poles you go, the longer the shadows at high noon.

Now that you know that WTHAI 1 is located on an island in the Baltic sea, what else can you glean?

~Bruno~

[phillipsjk]

Now that you know that WTHAI 1 is located on an island in the Baltic sea, what else can you glean?

~Bruno~

You know I was doing as much as possible without actually firing up Google Maps (which requires enabling JavaScript), right?

I suspect that WTHAI 4 can only be solved using Google, not competitors like Yahoo! or Microsoft. The distinguishing marks (the clouds) are specific to Google's satellite pass. Though, the apparent change in resolution at the border may not be a coincidence.

I am probably going to bed.

[BTCurious]

WTHAI 1: Sri Lanka
WTHAI 2: Malaysia  Close!
WTHAI 3: Brazil  No
WTHAI 4: Nigeria  Ùú
WTHAI 5: China 没有

I'm gonna assume this all means "No", except for the Malaysia one.

I tried Google maps but even small islands are huge, so I'll just verify my guesses first.

WTHAI 1: Gotland, the largest island in the Baltic sea.
WTHAI 2: Indonesia
WTHAI 3: Peru
WTHAI 4: Chad
WTHAI 5: India
WTHAI 6: Germany

[Phinnaeus Gage]

WTHAI 1: Sri Lanka
WTHAI 2: Malaysia  Close!
WTHAI 3: Brazil  No
WTHAI 4: Nigeria  Ùú
WTHAI 5: China 没有

I'm gonna assume this all means "No", except for the Malaysia one.

I tried Google maps but even small islands are huge, so I'll just verify my guesses first.

WTHAI 1: Gotland, the largest island in the Baltic sea.  NO
WTHAI 2: Indonesia                                                Yes
WTHAI 3: Peru                                                       Yes
WTHAI 4: Chad                                                      Yes
WTHAI 5: India                                                       Maybe
WTHAI 6: Germany                                                  No

[RandyFolds]

daaaaaaamn, BTCurious is killin' it here...

[ineededausername]

daaaaaaamn, BTCurious is killin' it here...

Off topic: who else keeps reading his username as "bicurious?" xD