The Fastest Way To Find Waldo

less than 1m read

·Nov 10, 2024

Here's how to become scary good at finding Waldo.

In 2015, data scientist Randall Olssen used all 68 of Waldo's hiding spots in the seven primary books to build this kernel density estimate. So where's Waldo really? He's here!

Now, there are more ways to connect these 68 dots than there are atoms in the observable universe, and that makes it very hard for us to find the perfect path for our eyes to trace across each page to find Waldo the fastest.

Olsen estimates it would take the 10 largest supercomputers on Earth more than 10 unvigentian times longer than the universe has existed to find the perfect solution. So instead, he used a genetic algorithm to find a nearly perfect solution.

This is how you start: on the left at the top of the bottom third, scan across for a bit and then jump up to the bottom of the top third. Move about halfway into the right page and then dive down.

If Waldo isn't there, check the very middle or the edges. Using this method, I've been able to find Waldo in an average of like 10 seconds per page. It's incredible! And guess what? Waldo has never once found me.

Evaluating quotient of fractional exponents | Mathematics I | High School Math | Khan Academy

Adjectives and commas | Adjectives | Khan Academy

View All

The social contract | Foundations of American democracy | US government and civics | Khan Academy

Before we dive deep into our study of government and politics, it’s worth asking a fundamental question, and that’s whether we even need government. Or why do we need government? I encourage you to pause this video and think about this. Do you think we ne…

Change in expected future prices and demand | Microeconomics | Khan Academy

We’ve been talking about the law of demand and how if we hold all else equal, a change in price affects the quantity demanded. If price goes up, the quantity demanded goes down, and if price goes down, the quantity demanded goes up. So, if you hold all el…

Voyage Air Guitar on Good Morning America

There you go. Yeah, yeah, okay, and finally, this is for just finally. So check it out, so check it out. He’s got it at full size right now, but this is how it comes. This is a Voyager guitar; it’s foldable like this, but then it opens just like this. Ye…

The Birthplace of Afterlife Thought | The Story of God

Here we are at Saqqara. That’s a step pyramid of Kings Osa, and it’s one of the first pyramids. It is the first pyramid ever to be built. That one is over there. Yes, this entire site is a big cemetery. So the ideas that people now have about rebirth and …

The Insane Math Of Knot Theory

Most of us tie our shoelaces wrong. There are two ways to tie a knot in your shoelaces. In one, you go counterclockwise around the loop, and in the other, you go clockwise. These two methods look almost identical, but one of these knots is far superior to…

Magnet making Current - Smarter Every Day 16

Hey, it’s me, Destin. I’m in Baltimore. [Mascot blows raspberries] [Destin laughs] Thanks. [Music] So let’s say you want to make yourself smarter on electronics, but you’re not, uh… You’re not really swoofed on that kinda stuff. Oh, looky here, it’s the …

The Fastest Way To Find Waldo

More Articles