IT'S ABOUT TIME!
Starting with 2020, we will be giving out the annual Hofstadter-Wolowitz Technology Overshoot of the Year Award (TOY Award) for the most imaginative use of advanced technology to accomplish a goal for which most people would employ an alternate low-tech strategy. An example would be heating a cup of ramen noodle with a laser, or Howard Wolowitz's personal use of the robot arm that was designed for use in the international space station, as seen on The Big Bang Theory, or the original Trojan room coffee pot camera.
Below you will find the answers to all your questions about the TOY award. Good luck!
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Why?
Why not? Are you serious?
Why wouldn't we be? |
Who may apply?
Anybody. |
How do I apply?
Go to our application page to send us a message. We would much appreciate it if you would send us nothing but the title of your submission and a link to a web page hosted by you that has all the details and a way to get in touch with you. That way, all we have to do is add your link to our list of current submissions, which is just about as much work as we are willing to do for you. If you're having trouble hosting your own page, ask you 9-year-old nephew to make you a page here on weebly. It's free, except for the gum money that your nephew will hit you up for. Alternately, you could send us a text description of your submission. If we decide to proceed, which is not likely because it means work for us, we could host your stuff on this site. Please don't make us do that. It's so annoying. I still don't get it. Is there an example of a valid application for me to look at?
Yes. We have seeded the list of applications with something that we have accepted into the competition because it's ours. However, if you think, as some of us do, that that one's lame, then do something completely different. The sky's the limit. No wait, it isn't. That first one uses space technology. Who selects the winner?
The winner will be selected by an impartial committee that convenes behind closed doors and is not accountable to anybody. That's all you need to know. Can I challenge the committee's decision?
Yes you may. The arbitration committee consists of Sheldon Cooper. His ruling will be that your application was so lame that it should not have been considered in the first place, and you're an annoying person for complaining. Besides, the award should have been given neither to you nor to the actual winner, but to himself, without as much as a submission on his part. All further inquiries will be forwarded to former Car Talk customer care representative Haywood Djebuzoff. What happens to my submission if I don't win?
Unless you decide to withdraw your submission, which you may at any time, it will stay in the competition. Who knows, perhaps the new submissions become so lame over time that yours starts looking not so bad all of a sudden. On the other hand, if the new submissions become so good that yours starts looking lamer and lamer, we may eventually remove it from the competition. See also the next question below. Is my submission guaranteed to be considered?
No. If we decide that your submission is too lame to ever have a chance of winning, why bother with it. You're out, and that's final. May I submit something that I submitted before?
No. You think we'll spend any of our precious time on something that we already rejected? Think again. Submitting the same thing more than once will be considered a DOS attack, to which we don't take kindly. Ok, granted, we wouldn't know what to do about a DOS attack. Let's just hope it won't happen. What about submitting something that's similar to something that's already in the competition?
Tough one. Did you have to bring that up? Why don't you just not do it? In case of doubt, it's first come first serve. What if my idea is marketabe? Do I retain the rights?
You got to be kidding. If your idea is marketable, do you really think you should have submitted it here? But you may rest assured that we won't stand in the way of your financial success. Why is it called the Hofstadter-Wolowitz award? Shouldn't that be the Wolowitz-Hofstadter award?
Academic convention dictates that credit be assigned in alphabetical order by last name. If you don't like it, that's not our problem. Change your last name to Aaronson if you must. Won't the Warner Brothers' lawyers come after you for using references to the Big Bang Theory?
Probably so. That would be just like them, spoiling everybody's fun. |