Yee-Ha! I just pushed Florida past Wisconsin to take over the #33 spot in the Geography Olympics. Pennsylvania (#31) here we come!
When I started keeping track, Florida was down at #45, so I feel that I (and many others) have made good progress. Currently Nebraska is #1 (Andy must be helping out.)
This is a great game for learning geography, though it does require patience (many games) and/or iniative (studying a world map between games), because the program itself doesn't tell you the true location of the country you guessed wrong. I know I've learned much, although I'm still shaky on the countries of the former Soviet Union, and the Pacific island nations.
Thanks, Jon, for introducing us to the Geography Olympics!
Comments
congratulations!
Posted by
Joyful
on Tuesday, January 04, 2005 at 8:29 am
Other Floridians have been busy, too. Overnight, Florida jumped to #28. My contribution this morning brought it to within .007 of Minnesota, and while I was at the dentist someone else brought Florida to the #27 spot.
I find that I can fairly consistently get 80 - 100 percent, at least if there aren't too many Pacific island nations, nor former Soviet Union countries, on the quiz. And I'm beginning to learn those, too, thanks to the world map on my office wall. (No, I'm NOT cheating. I only look at the map when I'm not taking the challenge.)
I find that I can fairly consistently get 80 - 100 percent, at least if there aren't too many Pacific island nations, nor former Soviet Union countries, on the quiz. And I'm beginning to learn those, too, thanks to the world map on my office wall. (No, I'm NOT cheating. I only look at the map when I'm not taking the challenge.)
Posted by
SursumCorda
on Tuesday, January 04, 2005 at 10:39 am
Florida's now at #25, having surpassed Pennsylvania and on its way towards Connecticut. On the other hand, it's not really discouraging to see a state (or a country) fall in the standings. What that probably means is that more and more people are becoming involved, temporarily lowering the scores until they learn more geography. And learning geography is much more the point of the game.
Posted by
SursumCorda
on Thursday, January 06, 2005 at 8:17 am
It's fun when my effort can push Florida to the next level! This morning I edged it past Delaware to the #21 position. I'll admit that there was as much luck as skill this time, as I was definitely guessing with Equatorial Guinea.
Posted by
SursumCorda
on Saturday, January 08, 2005 at 8:23 am
Hooray! I squeaked Florida past Utah into the top 20. And this despite having muffed Samoa. It's amazing how often I can run into a country I've never been asked, despite having played the game so much. I'm also amazed at how much this simple game has inspired me to learn more geography. Having a world map close by helps shorten the learning curve because it's easy to look up the places I've gotten wrong. (Since I'm usually in the right general area, I don't have to search the whole map.) If I had to go into another room and find an atlas, I doubt I'd bother much of the time.
Posted by
SursumCorda
on Monday, January 10, 2005 at 1:49 pm
Someone from Utah is up early! The first thing I did this morning was gain Florida the #19 spot, but when I did my second quiz a few minutes later, Utah was already back in that place. My third try put Florida on top again, but only by 0.004, so I don't expect it to last long.
Posted by
SursumCorda
on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 at 7:17 am
The competition is getting tougher. Florida dropped considerably since yesterday, not just in position but in score, and even three 100% victories in a row did not pull it from 21st place. The good news is that it means more people are playing and learning. I can pretty consistently score 90 - 100 percent these days, though there's still some luck involved -- I haven't had many former Soviet Union countries come up recently.
Posted by
SursumCorda
on Thursday, January 13, 2005 at 7:14 am
I've been getting 50% rather consistently. I haven't looked anything up and I think I'll need to to get any better.
Posted by
Joyful
on Thursday, January 13, 2005 at 10:43 am
Even three 100% scores in a row could not lift Florida from #23 this morning. There are enough people participating that I can only raise Florida's score by 0.015 or so per turn now. Time to stop thinking about competition and just enjoy keeping my skills up.
Posted by
SursumCorda
on Monday, January 17, 2005 at 8:14 am
Go you Pennsylvanians! You are two ahead of Florida this morning.
Posted by
SursumCorda
on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 at 7:46 am
The scores are so close around Florida's that I was able to make a visible impact this morning, bringing Florida, which had fallen to #25, back up to #22.
I make the game more challenging and interesting by naming the countries that surround the one in question.
I make the game more challenging and interesting by naming the countries that surround the one in question.
Posted by
SursumCorda
on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 at 8:35 am
I returned to Geography Olympics after a long hiatus, having lost incentive to play since I was finding neither personal challenge (consistently getting 100%) nor the thrill of competition (my efforts no longer having a significant impact on Florida's score). But guess what? All that newly-acquired geographical knowledge needs occasional reinforcement. I found my grasp of the Pacific Islands, the former Soviet Union, and parts of Africa on the shaky side again, and I even mixed up Benin and Togo this morning....
Posted by
SursumCorda
on Thursday, March 10, 2005 at 9:42 am
