Last week was the BA giveaway contest for the book Confessions of an Alien Hunter and the CD set of the "Are We Alone" radio show.
There were an amazing 835 comments on that post. I went to random.org to get the numbers, and for the first time in this contest, the winner didn’t reply by Monday at noon. Turns out the message I sent got stuck in his spam filter, so let that be a lesson to y’all. I felt badly for him, since something like that never occurred to me, so I’m sending him a consolation prize (basically, random junk I’ve collected at meetings). But I won’t do that again, since now that’s a known problem!
The second number chosen was 798, which belongs to Stephen, who replied immediately, so the CD set is on its way to him.
The third number chosen (to replace the first) was 12, which was from Ewan. He replied, and the book is winging its way to him.
Just to keep me honest:
Note that the later number won the book, because of the spam issue. And I think we all know I lack the skillz needed to fake those images.
Thanks for playing everyone, but don’t fret. There’s more where that came from… a lot more. I’ll have another contest very soon. Stay Tuned!
May 14th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Darn, well maybe next time.
May 14th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Damn and blast it!
Er… Phil, I think that should be: “There’s more [where] that came from…”
May 14th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
I think Phil posts those errors just for you Ivan3man.
May 14th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
@ Davidlpf,
Yeah, maybe he is testing me!
May 14th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Alien Hunter: we have winners! | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine
About this blog | Last week was the BA giveaway contest for the book Confessions of an Alien Hunter and the CD set of the “Are We Alone” radio show.There were an amazin.
May 14th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Off topic.
You should link to this song about Jenny McCarthy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v_85tAey9s
May 14th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Bummer!
So sad over here…
May 14th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Congrats to the winner.
May 14th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Photoshopped!
May 14th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Dag nabbit I a LOOSER again. Well “congrats” you lucky winners. 
May 14th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
2 winners means 833 losers?
Seeing things from the dark side of life:
J/P=?
May 14th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Told you I wouldn’t win.
May 14th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
You’re right, no HUMAN could fake images of plain text…
with apologies to Dr. Venkman.
May 14th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Damn. I lost again! Can’t believe it.
Oh, what’s that? I needed to enter first?
Damn. I had my fingers crossed too.
May 14th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
You need to pull some strings and give away a ride on the next Shuttle Mission. Either that, or ten minutes of Hubble time…
May 15th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Well, at least I can stop checking the spam file now.
May 15th, 2009 at 4:12 am
An optimist sees the glass 1/835 full. A pessimist sees the glass 834/835 empty.
May 15th, 2009 at 5:41 am
Wow, what are the chances that those two specific numbers would be chosen out of 835 possible choices? This is obviously proof of intelligent design.
May 15th, 2009 at 5:46 am
They are not random, one is too high, and one is too low, they should be nearer the middle.
May 15th, 2009 at 9:20 am
I probably would have entered if i didnt have a 3 week backlog of Skeptics Guide, heard their interview with Seth Shostak only last night and now i want the book
May 15th, 2009 at 10:36 am
You used a Random Integer Generator?
Surely someone will complain the contest was RIGged.
May 15th, 2009 at 10:38 am
The author of this elegant little book can rest assured that, while my spam filter ensured I would not win it, it consequently ensured that I will buy it.
May 15th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Good thing at look at all 7000 spams I get a day!
May 17th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
1 in a 835 meant decent odds. i feel insignificant now. guess ill toss a coin and treat myself with chocolate on heads.