OK, I did this last Sunday, but I’ve been too lazy to post this brag until now.
What is the Google puzzle, you ask? I read about it in an article on CNet a few weeks ago. If you don’t want the solution to the first part of the puzzle, which is in the article, Google put up a billboard on Highway 101 in Silicon Valley with the following text:
{first 10-digit prime found in consecutive digits e}.com
Since I read the article, I had the solution to the first part of the puzzle, which leads you to a Web site with a second puzzle. I did solve the second part of the puzzle. It required a bit of programming, which I haven’t done in years. Once I figured out how to get the solution, I cranked out some pseudocode in about 10 minutes. The problem with not having written a real program in about 10 years left my coding skills rather rusty, and it took about two hours worth of stupid mistakes to get the program to work. Of course, that was due to my weak C skills to begin with; I have since downloaded a freeware Basic interpreter for my Mac (Chipmunk Basic), so I can crank out that type of stuff a bit faster (at least, that’s what I think will happen).
In case you’re wondering, no, I’m not going to give you my solution. Not until Google gives out theirs. I’d hate to ruin the fun for others. And besides, I’d like to find out if I’m the only patent attorney to solve the puzzle.