(Not sure if this should be in GQ, MPSIMS, or here)
I just got an e-mail for a drawing/‘lottery’ nVidia is having for owners of GeForce cards (which I have). It all seems to be honest and straightforward, but when I went to review the Rules of Contest (pdf file), it states in bolded font (upper part of p3) that if a* Canadian resident* is selected in a random drawing, they will have to answer a “math question involving at least four operations of at least two digit numbers.” Seriously?! I did not read the whole thing in great detail as that part jumped out at me really quick and had me hurrying over here to ask this.
Is this a normal thing? Or is it nVidia’s way of giving Canucks some grief for whatever reason? If there is some legitimate need for showing basic math skills for Canadians in particular that enter drawings online, I would love to hear about it (fighting ignorance, ya know!). It seems really funny, but I might be missing some actual bona-fide need to have Canadians do this kind of thing when declared a ‘winner’.
For the record, I have no grief or other complaint towards the Northern folk, none at all. But, wtf is with that requirement?! :dubious:
Canada has a dumb law about gambling, IIRC, so there’s a silly little test when Canadians win things - it’s very simple, evidently, just something that’s required.
here, let me google that for you… (not snark so much as I’ve wanted to try that thing out ;))
Zsofia, I’m not quite so sure why you’re on the high horse about gambling? It’s not like us stateside are living in a bastion of gambling libertarianism.
Basically if a company wants to put T-Shirts into random cases of beer that’s fine, otherwise they have to engage in a skill testing question and award the prize on the successful conclusion of the game.
OK - kinda makes sense, but really odd to me. I just could not seem to see any legitimate need for such a requirement. Ignorance fought. If I had had ANY indication of “skill+test+question” relating to Canadians for a drawing, I could’ve googled it as well. No such indication given at all, so pfffffft Maybe if I had thought about it some more it would’ve been more obvious that Canadians consider simple math a skill to be demonstrated? (j/k!)
We got dumb stuff here too (you should go to the local Walmart at midnight on a Saturday to watch the staff rope off pretty much everything but the groceries until Sunday afternoon) - I don’t see the problem with calling out other dumb weird things as I see 'em, though. Seriously, if you don’t want gambling, outlaw gambling. Don’t make people add two and two to get their sweepstakes winnings.
At least one, which was reported on the SDMB. See this thread, which also contains some discussion and reasons as to why Canada requires a skill-testing question.
Maybe if I had thought about it some more it would’ve been more obvious that Canadians consider simple math a skill to be demonstrated? (j/k!)