The first package we opened was from BuildBrighton, a hackerspace based in Brighton, England. It came in a rather plain looking brown cardboard box (with amazon printed on the sides) and when we opened it up, we were quite surprised to find a loaf of bread inside. Along with the loaf of bread were two notes, one directed at customs and the other to SkullSpace.
The customs note read as follows:
Hello customs/border services agency people.
If you're thinking this package is suspicious, it's not. We've hollowed out a hole inside a loaf of bread and inserted a cupcake, in order to try and preserve it throughout its travels from the UK to Canada. It's part of a larger competition, the details of which can be found here: http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Global_Hackerspace_Cupcake_Challenge
The note to SkullSpace read as follows:
Hello Winnipeg!
Hope the cupcake has arrived in pristine condition. You'll probably be wondering how to get at it.
1) Take the loaf out of the box, then remove the circular plug in the top.
2) Cut down the sides of the loaf, being careful not to cut into the cupcake.
3) Pull the loaf in two, revealing the cupcake.
4) eat!
Cheers, BuildBrighton
We proceeded with their instructions, but opted to leave the bread in the box as it was making a mess on the table when we had it out. We managed to get the cupcake out unscathed, but noticed that the bread had started to grow a bit of delicious mold. We tasted and graded the cupcake.
Note: Each category is supposed to get a rating between 1 and 10.
A) The creativity of method used to stabilize the cupcake: 10/10
B) The stability of mixture / Quality of ingredients: 10/10
C) Appearance: 8.5/10
D) Taste: 9.5/10
E) Condition: 9/10
Total: 47/50
The process (if you can even call it that) by which we determined those numbers can be observed by watching a video of the entire unboxing process on our youtube channel.
We also got a really cool little card with the BuildBrighton name on it. It was much smaller than a business card, but on the back of it was a resistor colour code cheat sheet! Awesome!
Now on to HacDC!
The second package we opened was from HacDC. It was a large styrofoam container with a customs label on the side that declared it containing a cupcake, two icepacks and packaging material. We got excited and cracked it open. Unfortunately the icepacks were room temperature water by then, but we still thought this was a good idea. The cupcake itself was inside a plastic container and was held in place with a lattice of skewers stabbed in the sides. It appears this had failed as when the cupcake dried out it managed to pop loose of the skewers and messed up the icing on top. Here's a picture we got from HacDC of what it looked like beforehand, and you can check the video for what it looked like when we got it.
In any event, this cupcake was delicious. The icing had cinnamon hearts built in, and the cake itself was a sort of gingerbread made with real fresh grated ginger! Tasty++. Our grading follows:
Note: Each category is supposed to get a rating between 1 and 10.
1) The creativity of method used to stabilize the cupcake: 9/10
2) The stability of mixture / Quality of ingredients: 8/10
3) Appearance: 5/10
4) Taste: 11/10
5) Condition: 5/10
Total: 38/50
The process by which we determined those numbers can be observed by watching our unboxing video on our youtube channel.
They also sent multiple packets of "Swedish Fish", a tasty little fruit snack suspiciously similar to swedish berries, along with a couple of HacDC stickers! Awesome!
We had a good time participating in the Global Hackerspace Cupcake Challenge and are looking forward to the next Global Hackerspace Challenge (the details of which are going to be decided during the Global Hackerspace call-in coming up this Saturday).
A big thank-you to both BuildBrighton and HacDC, you guys and gals are awesome!
Cheers,
-SkullSpace
