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James Hong and Jim Young, as photographed for People magazine.

Four years ago, UC Berkeley Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences alumni James Hong (BS '95) and Jim Young (BS '94, MS '97) were drinking beer in their apartment and talking about, what else, girls. Jim commented that he thought a girl they recently met was a "perfect 10." That discussion led to a half-joking plan to launch a Web site where visitors could submit their photos for other people to rate from one to ten. A few days later, HOTorNOT.com went online and quickly became one of the, well, hottest sites on the Web. Mentions in Entertainment Weekly and People followed, along with a Webby Award and Hong and Young's appearance on the Sally Jesse Raphael Show.

Since then, undeniably addictive HOTorNOT and its parent company Eight Days Inc. have expanded into a multi-million dollar online dating service with more than 600,000 active members. Meanwhile, the number of user-submitted photos to the rating site have topped 13 million.

Now, Young, 31, and Hong, 30, have put up $200,000 of their own assets to encourage people to rate the presidential candidates, not by clicking the mouse but actually visiting the polls. On Labor Day, the two launched the VOTEorNOT sweepstakes. Of course, it's illegal to pay people to vote, so the contest goal is simply to raise awareness about the importance of casting a ballot. Anyone who signs up on the VOTEorNOT Web site is eligible for a post-election random drawing for a $100,000 prize. Also, if an entrant refers someone to the site who goes on to the win the prize, the referrer also pockets $100,000.

The aim of the contest, Hong says, isn't to push for any particular candidate over another.

"Part of this is inspired by a book Jim and I both read, The Wisdom of Crowds. The basic premise is that the crowd in many cases is smarter than individuals, based on having a large diversity of people inside who make their own judgments," Hong told Wired News. "What that means is, especially since this election is so close, the more people we can get to vote, the more likely the right answer will appear."

Even with their newfound political mission, Hong and Young haven't lost site of their original idea. Photos of the 2004 presidential candidates in their younger days are available for HOTorNOT ratings.

HOTorNOT

VOTEorNOT

HOTorNOT 2004 Presidential Candidates Scoreboard

"You might think they are hot (or not), but these alums have definitely made it" (Engineering News, 11/24/03)

"Voter Bounty Hits Hundred Grand" by Dan Brekke (Wired News, 9/8/04)

Lab Notes is published online by the Public Affairs Office of the UC Berkeley College of Engineering. The Lab Notes mission is to illuminate groundbreaking research underway today at the College of Engineering that will dramatically change our lives tomorrow.

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© 2004 UC Regents. Updated 10/01/04.