I propose that we make it relative to the announcement of the winner. That way, regardless of where in the world the viewer might be, he or she will not need to look any further this the page itself. If my pc says that that winner was selected "on May 19 2004, 09:47 PM", which is the time as shown on my pc, I need only determine if sufficient time has elapsed since then.
I declare Fudgy's quote the winner:
QUOTE
Astro, if you can hear me, Dr Elefun is on his way! He'll get you out!!!
Jeffbert is the runner up. In the event that Fudgy is unable to post a new image and choose a winner by Sunday 30th May, Jeffbert will automatically take over.
Your turn to post a picture, Fudgy!
Since Sunday officially starts at 24 different times depending upon where one might be, this would seem to be the most appropraite solution.
I further propose a few other things.
first, let there be a 72 hour period between the selection of the winner and the runner up becoming the winner by default. Whatever time period, it should be a multiple of 24 hours for simplicity's sake. We might adopt a longer period if the interval includes any portion of a weekend--or better yet, if it includes any fewer than two weekdays. In the US, there are several Monday hollidays, but only during Thanksgiving is there what usually turns out to be a four day weekend. Since people use extended weekends for travel, but this four day weekend occurs only once a year, I think this is fair.
Second, there should be a similar period for the runner up to post, before the prize reverts back to the 1st place person. If both should fail, then there ought also to be a rule for selection of another winner. Perhaps 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place winners ought to be selected. This would limit any unreasonable delays to rare occasions.
So, if the 1st place winner has 72 hours, let the 2nd and 3rd place finishers have 24 hours each.
Thus, in this case, 72 hours from the date in question is here in Maryland Saturday @ 9:47 PM. This is ok, because there were two calander weekdays (at least here in MD USA). Aaargh! Solution eliminate time zones altogether, make the world flat.
