Remember when I went flying in Zero G a few months ago? It was so much fun, I convinced Symantec to sponsor a ticket for ONE of you, too! This is finally your chance to experience the feeling of zero gravity for yourself. Fly Zero G and rule the Geekosphere!

To qualify for this giveaway, you must:

• be registered on geeks.pirillo.com
• have received at least twenty five (25) comments to their profile on Geeks
• have at least twenty five (25) Profile followers on Geeks
• have given at least forty (40) Profile comments to other Geeks on Geeks
• have created at least 10 Original Blog posts with 100 words or more on Geeks
• have commented in at least ten (10) Blog posts made by other Geeks on Geeks
• have uploaded or embedded at least ten (10) Videos on Geeks
• have submitted at least 10 Original Events on Geeks
• have responded to at least twenty (20) Forum posts on Geeks
• have created at least five (5) Forum threads on Geeks
• have actively participated in at least 5 Groups on Geeks
• have invited at least ten (10) friends to join the Geeks community (with legitimate email addresses) through Geeks
• be subscribed to the YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/lockergnome
• at all times have been in compliance with the Geeks terms of service: http://geeks.pirillo.com/main/authorization/termsOfService?noBack=1

Act quick: the deadline is on January 10th. Official rules are posted here (if you had specific questions, they’re likely answered therein).

Zero Gravity Flight: Prize includes round-trip, coach class air transportation for one (1) from any airport in the U.S. to launch city departing February 20, 2009 and returning February 22, 2009; one (1) standard hotel room for two (2) nights/three (3) days; ground transportation to and from the airport; ground transportation to and from the Zero Gravity Flight launch facility; and meals. Approximate retail value (“ARV”) up to $7,500 USD, depending upon winner’s point of travel origin and airfare fluctuations at the time of taking the trip. Any differences between stated and actual value will not be awarded. Selection of airline and hotel are solely within Prize Provider’s discretion. All other expenses not specifically mentioned herein are solely the winner’s responsibility. Expenses related to acceptance and use of the prize and not specified herein are the sole responsibility of the winner. All travel must be taken on dates specified; no alternative travel dates are available or prize will be forfeited and may be awarded to an alternate. All travel subject to availability and restrictions. Winner must sign and return a travel release before any ticketing of travel occurs. Winner is solely responsible for obtaining all necessary identification and/or governmental travel documents (e.g., a valid U.S. driver’s license, passport, etc) required for travel to launch city. (Approximate Retail Value: $7,500 USD).

How to Win a Zero G Flight Giveaway

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Was it worth it? You bet your life it was. Ponzi and I were totally psyched to ride on the G-Force One, which is a specially modified aircraft that provides a zero gravity experience. Flying and floating around is just a feeling that is hard to describe, other than to say WOW! Even iJustine loved every second of it.

Your flight begins like any other commercial flight. You taxi out to the runway and await permission to take off. Once granted, the captain flies out for about a half an hour to the airspace that the FAA has designated as our playground for the day. About the time the captain of a commercial flight would be turning off the seatbelt sign, you are given the okay to unbuckle your seatbelt and truly “move about the cabin”. Your team leader will guide you to the floating area and instruct you to lay on the padded floor to prepare for the first parabola.

After a few moments of feeling pressed gently into the floor as you experience 1.8g’s, the Flight Director will call out “Martian 1” and you begin to feel lighter. Okay, so you haven’t done a pushup since Junior High, but suddenly it doesn’t seem that difficult – even if you are only using one finger. Between parabolas you assume the prone position on the floor as you mentally prepare what you want to do on the next parabola. Then you hear “Lunar 1” and jump up excitedly to see what this will feel like.

“ZERO-G.” It’s like nothing on Earth. Fly like Superman; drink a bubble of water floating by you; walk up the side of the plane; let your imagination stretch.

The first time we all floated up into the air, you can hear the screams and exclamations. People couldn’t begin to believe what they were doing, flying around that way. We thought we knew what to expect, but we were so completely wrong. After my first time, I learned not to push off. You’ll go skyrocketing around. I just let myself float up and away after that.

It was so unreal, almost like being on a roller coaster with no harness. By our third time ‘up’, no one was screaming anymore. All you could hear was shouts of how amazing it was, and laughter. By the fourth time, Ponzi was doing flips in mid-air and yelling out “awesome!” over and over. iJustine had a small, stuffed ostrich with her. She proved once and for all that ostriches DO, in fact, fly. My friend Peter Ha of Crunchgear had some sage words: “I can’t even describe it. It’s just amazing!!!”. I have to agree.

Ponzi tried to organize everyone to get together and hold hands. Then we would all go up in the air at the same time, and attempt to look like we were just jumping out of an airplane together. Everyone loved the idea so much, the crew helped us to do something really cool together. I had a water bottle, that had the cap nearly off. With no gravity, the water came out in spurts, and looked like these very cool bubbles.

Towards the end, I did a flip finally. I freaked out. I mean, seriously. I did a complete 360! It was just unreal. At the end, they had us all lay down on our stomachs in one line, and link arms. We pushed off all together, and the crew took some excellent pictures of us. Then next ‘lift off’ was all of us doing the Superman pose! I always knew I was supposed to be a super hero. And of course, someone busted out singing “I believe I can fly”.

What an amazing experience this was. I know I speak for us all when I say that it was life-changing, and something I am not ever going to forget. Thanks, Symantec!

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Is the Zero G Weightless Experience Worth It? Yes!

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This past weekend, I attended the Symantec Vision 08 conference in Las Vegas. While there, I got to do the coolest thing… ever. Ponzi and I took a ride on the G-Force One, which is a specially modified aircraft where you can experience zero gravity.

The idea behind this during the Symantec conference is simple. Symantec is touting it’s new Norton Security Suite 2009 as the fastest and lightest in the industry. Equate it being light with a human having no weight… and we get to ride the Vomit Comet!

ZERO-G conducts its weightless flights aboard G-Force One – a specially modified Boeing 727-200 aircraft. Able to accommodate up to 35 Flyers and six crew members, G-Force One is licensed at the highest levels of safety with the FAA following extensive testing and evaluations in coordination with the FAA. G-Force One flies a parabolic flight maneuvers – a controlled ascent and descent of that creates temporary weightlessness or reduced gravity. This is the identical weightless flight experience used by NASA to train its astronauts and used by Ron Howard and Tom Hanks to film Apollo-13.

G-Force-One features a large cargo door and a 90-foot-long padded Floating Zone, which provides ample room for passengers to float and fly during Martian (1/3-gravity), Lunar (1/6-gravity), and zero gravity conditions created during the experience. A built-in pallet system supports the rapid change-out of interiors that would allow the aircraft to go from a passenger-experience configuration, to a government research configuration and even to a television or filming configuration.

Despite the funny suits and ugly yellow socks, we had an absolutely amazing experience. It was totally fun flying and floating around. You fall to the ground, and then do it all over again. Ponzi said it best when she termed it “radical” afterwards. She says it was like being on top of a roller coaster for thirty seconds at a time. Both of us would love to do it again… and again… and ok. You see where I’m headed with that.

Thank you, Symantec, for providing such an amazing experience.

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Can Geeks Fly in Zero Gravity?

This past weekend, I was in Las Vegas, attending the Symantec Vision 08 conference. I knew ahead of time that I would be getting to ride the “Vomit Comet”… otherwise known as the G-FORCE ONE. I wasn’t sure what to expect, so I asked others for their tips on how to handle the ride.

Gee, such mixed advice! I took the most serious of it to heart. And well… keep an eye out for the videos I’m about to upload from my experience!

Preparing to Ride the Vomit Comet