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January 27, 2006
What's This?
(Jimmy Akin)
A flight path of a UFO tracked by the Air Force in the 1950s?
Good guess!
But wrong.
In actuality, it's the track path of a one dollar bill that was first picked up by the system on March 15, 2002 in Dayton, Ohio and then tracked through fourteen additional sightings.
It was most recently sighted on March 26, 2005 in Rudyard, Michigan.
It travelled (at least) 4,191 miles in 3 Yrs, 12 Days, 17 Hrs, 25 Mins at an average of 3.8 Miles per day.
How was it tracked?
By a secret government transmitter placed in all paper money since the 1950s that needs to be reported to Agent Fox Mulder of the X-Files?
Good guess!
But wrong.
It was tracked through a free, volunteer web service known as WheresGeorge.Com, which a bunch of friends who thought it would be a hoot to set up a site that lets people track the movements of the money in their wallets.
(Fox Mulder might still think they were agents of the shadow government, though.)
Here's how it works: They set up a database that allowed people to enter the serial numbers of the dollar bills in their pockets, along with the zip code of where they are. Many then wrote "Where's George.Com" on the bills and spent them. When the bills later came into the possession of others, they saw the note, logged in to Where's George.Com, and entered a new bill sighting, allowing the bill to be tracked. Users also could leave notes about how the bill came into their possession.
The above bill, for example, was once received as part of a tip at a Sonic restaurant, given in change at a McDonalds and a Jack In The Box. This bill has a rather--er--colorful history, as it was also received in winnings at a racetrack and then found on the floor of something called the Penthouse Key Club in Dallas (I don't know what that is, but it doesn't sound wholesome).
This bill is something of a superstar, not for those reasons, but because it's the most sighted bill currently on file.
If you're interested,
TRACK YOUR OWN CURRENCY AT WHERESGEORGE.COM.
If you're Canadian,
TRACK YOUR CURRENCY AT WHERESWILLY.COM.
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Curios & Humor | Permalink
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» Friday Fun from CatholicSphere
Jimmy Akin expresses his facination withWhere'sGeorge.com that tracks the movement of registered dollar bills. Apparently there's a Canadian site too.
Well, Jimmy, if you like that ... perhaps you'd like Send Me A Dollar.com. This guy started up ... [Read More]
Tracked on Jan 27, 2006 6:02:37 AM
Comments
That seems like a lot of work, to register each $1 bill you get, but it's so cool that people are doing it! Does wheresgeorge.com allow for the possibility that some $1 bills make it across national borders and into other countries?
Posted by: Karen | Jan 27, 2006 2:19:24 AM
That is very cool.
Posted by: Kosh | Jan 27, 2006 5:18:56 AM
I have seen the handwritten wheresgeorge.com bills in my church's collection. I think some folks have too much time on their hands!
Posted by: marc | Jan 27, 2006 6:02:37 AM
This is a symptomaic temptation of the "Information Age". Just because we CAN track something, does not mean it is worth our while to do so. A dollar bill in my wallet when I fly from NY to LA travelled thousands of miles. So what? So did my shoelaces. Who cares? I have to think God "gave" us the computer for something more important. Wanna track dollars that make a difference? Track e-dollar transations for, say, international book sales, and get a sense of which nations are accumulating libraries from which other nations.
Posted by: Ed Peters | Jan 27, 2006 8:11:31 AM
Ed: But your shoelaces weren't found (at least, I hope they weren't) on the floor of the Penthouse Key Club in Dallas. :)
I couldn't help but think about how people complain about the government and corporate America gathering too much information about us and our daily lives. This sounds even worse. Its organized and searchable. Those aren't hallmarks of the government OR corporate America. And what's more, people are doing this voluntarily!
Posted by: DJ | Jan 27, 2006 8:45:19 AM
This would be cool, if it we could have confidence in those reporting. The superstar dollar bill's story is a little too colourful for me to give it full credit.
PVO
Posted by: mulopwepaul | Jan 27, 2006 10:34:04 AM
Isn't it illegal to write on money? I think that's why the stamps the where's george site use to sell are no longer available. Need idea, though.
Posted by: Breier | Jan 27, 2006 3:41:27 PM
I love it when I get a "where's george.com" dollar bill!It lures me to my computer so I can check it out and see how much history it has of "it's" travels!
I think I am on my third one, I got it at the yard sale we did at my sister's.I am anxious to go back to the site so I can find out!
Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents worth.As far as who would want to be bothered, I am one who even buys it(for $1.00) if I see someone who has one in their posession!
Have a great day!
Posted by: butterfly1952 | Jul 11, 2007 9:14:26 PM
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