- Adobe Acrobat Reader (or equivalent) for bonus deciphering
Your bonus tasks will be distributed by PDF transmittal. Be sure you can read ‘em. There is a preliminary assignment already waiting for you when you register. Make sure you can read this, and make sure you’ve become comfortable with the submission process. (You want to impress HQ with your can-do attitude and eagerness for additional workloads, don’t you?) - Video/Webcam suitable for recording your assigned activities
- Method of sharing your video online via URL (YouTube, etc)
Submission of your activities will consist of sending HQ a URL pointing to your video online. Do not send HQ the file directly, as due to recent budget cuts we don’t have the bandwidth to accept your field activities. Also, in our attempts to comply with the Freedom of Information Act, you won’t be able to send us a username/password either. Please note: it is entirely possible that your actions may be shared with other agents for training or humor purposes - facilitating this kind of sharing is exactly what YouTube and others do so well! - AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) or AIM-compatible IM client for communicating with HQ
Your designated handler will be communicated to you prior to the contest. If you do not receive the handler’s AIM Screen Name at least 24 hours before the contest contact HQ via the secure channel contact form or you can try to raise them via insecure public links on the AIM Screen Name MNPigPenHQ. - If you’re going to be out of broadcast radio range, you should consult with our radio department to obtain to necessary StReAM (Stereo Reception Across Mediums) equipment, which will allow those agents out of broadcast radio range to receive voice transmissions from HQ.
Good agents know that you should become comfortable with your toolkit prior to the field action you’ll see on January 15, 2010. When you’re closing in on the kidnappers, you don’t want to waste time getting results back to HQ for lab analysis. Imagine the ridicule you’ll get at the annual agent dinner if fellow agents have to explain to you at 2 AM how to post a video of your actions on YouTube for transmission back to HQ!