Hi Everyone,
Happy New Year and welcome to 2025! To get this New Year off to a promising start, I would like to announce the winners of the Christmas contest. The winner who received the highest valued presents and the winner who gave the highest valued presents. In many ways, everyone is a winner because I upvoted all the participants' entry comments.
For the benefit of those who did not enter, the Christmas contest required participants to choose a present for themselves, for the participant who entered immediately before them, and for the participant who entered immediately after them. Each participant, in total, received 3 presents. They were given a choice of 12 boxes. Each box may or may not contain a present. The presents were assigned values. If the selected boxes contain these presents, the value of the present is awarded to the participant and contributes to determining if he or she has won the contest. A probability was assigned to each box to determine the likelihood that it contains a present. If the box does not contain a present, it is assumed to have no value.
This contest has two objectives. The first objective is to receive the highest value of presents (one from yourself and two from two other participants). This participant will win 40 Hive Power. The second objective is to give the highest value of presents (one to yourself and two to two other participants). This participant will win 20 Hive Power. These objectives are measured separately; thus, two participants can win Hive Power. The usual contest tiebreaker rules apply. If there is a tie, the participant who entered first wins. The contest post contains more information and can be accessed using the link below.
It is now time to determine our Christmas winners. The GIF below captures the opening of the boxes from the video.
With the boxes open, we can determine our lucky and partly skilful winners. The tables contain the boxes selected by the participants, value received, and value given.
The participant who received the highest value in presents is 
The participant who gave away the highest value in presents was 
This year we have no grinches. Nobody gave away the dreaded Present 4. Oddly, two participants gave themselves Present 4. I guess they would rather not win, hahaha.
The results of this contest are based mostly on luck. There are many things beyond a participant’s control. These include the box opening and also the decisions made by the other participants. However, participants can increase their chances of winning through box selection and choosing to enter behind participants that give them the highest chances of winning.
Following a participant who was giving away relatively high-valued and high-probability presents, such as 1 or 11, would have been a sensible strategy. The participant should then give himself or herself that box as well. Selecting Present 11 worked out well. Unfortunately, Present 1 was empty.
Being the highest giver relies more on strategy than being the highest receiver. 
Source: Bing Image Creator
I have published an ebook on Amazon; it is titled ‘Sapien Loop: End of an Era’. The book is fiction. I do not normally write fiction. However, I felt it was appropriate considering what is happening in the world today. Freedom is the most important thing we have, but we are gradually losing it. I have covered this in many of my posts.
In the story, most citizens do not understand the concept of freedom because they have never really experienced it. In essence, the story is about an alien world that might represent our not-so-distant future. There are many other elements to the story that are an abstract and exaggerated version of our reality. I believe this book to be an important read, and I believe it has the potential to change the way you think.
This story is based on the fictional planet Sapia and its sole country, Sapey. Sapey is portrayed as a form of utopia for all its citizens. No poverty. No war. Almost no crime. Opportunities for all.
This was enough for most citizens, but not all. In one of the small regions, some of the citizens had become discontent. They felt something important was missing in their lives. Their discontent did not go unnoticed. Some of the Sapey elite wanted to weaponise this discontent to gain more power. This created more chaos than they anticipated. This led to further widespread social unrest.
On top of the chaos, ambition and greed provoked another enemy. This enemy was on a mission to settle both new and old scores.
If you want to buy a copy of the book, below are links to the relevant Amazon websites for each country it is available in. The book is priced at approximately US$5.08.
I am also running monthly contests where participants are required to answer questions based on the book. The prize is 30 Hive Power plus upvotes for the first twelve entries. You can recover the cost of the book with just one win.
▶️ 3Speak
