Reference dose

2013-07-30T14:36:50Z

80.24.14.10: /* Consensus */ Mistype corrected: NOEAL to NOAEL

{{Infobox Website
| name = Where's Willy?
| logo =
| url = [http://www.whereswilly.com/ whereswilly.com]
| alexa = {{IncreaseNegative}} 5,390,198 ({{as of|2014|2|2|alt=February 2014}})<ref name="alexa">{{cite web|url= http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/whereswilly.com |title= Whereswilly.com Site Info | publisher= [[Alexa Internet]] |accessdate= 2014-02-02 }}</ref>
| commercial =
| location =
| type = Money circulation tracker
| language=English/French
| registration = Optional
| owner =
| author = Hank Eskin
| launch date = February 20, 2001
| current status = Active
| revenue =
}}

'''Where's Willy?''' is a [[website]] that tracks [[Canada|Canadian]] [[Canadian dollar|paper money]] — most commonly $5 bills, but also higher denominations. "Where's Willy" is free, supported by users who pay a fee for extra features. The name Willy refers to [[Sir Wilfrid Laurier]] - the first [[French Canadian]] [[Prime Minister]] whose portrait appears on the [[Canadian five-dollar bill|$5 banknote]].

''Where's Willy?'' is a [[currency tracking]] spin-off of [[Where's George]], a site that tracks United States dollars.

The free site, established by Hank Eskin, a computer consultant in [[Brookline, Massachusetts]], allows people to enter their local [[postal code]] and the serial and series of any Canadian [[currency|denomination]] from $5 up to $100 they want to track. Once a bill is registered, the site reports the time between sightings, the distance travelled and any comments from the finders, and anyone who registered the bill earlier learns about it by e-mail and/or text messaging.

To increase the chance of having a bill reported, users write or stamp text on the bills encouraging bill finders to visit www.whereswilly.com and track the bill's travels.

Since Canada has replaced the one and two dollar bills with more durable coins, the $5 note is the smallest denomination tracked by Where's Willy.

In April 2003, ''[[USA Today]]'' named www.whereswilly.com one of its "Hot Sites".<ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/hotsites/2003/2003-02-20-hotsites.htm Web Guide Hot Sites], USA Today, April 4, 2003</ref>

In 2005, the ''Montreal Mirror'' described the hobby as the most joy to be had with the five-dollar bill since the illegal defacing of Laurier with [[Spock]] ears.<ref>[http://www.montrealmirror.com/2005/082505/artsweek.html $5 Alive], ''Montreal Mirror'', August 25, 2005</ref>

As of April 17, 2012, ''Where's Willy?'' is tracking 3,881,039 bills totalling [[Canadian dollar|$]]58,537,600.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.whereswilly.com/wrapper.php?page=sitesummary |title=Where's Willy Summary |accessdate=2012-04-17 |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= }}</ref>

Researchers studying [[pandemic]]s have used currency tracking sites to plot human travel patterns, to find clues on how to combat the spread of diseases like [[SARS]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2006/01/25/bills-pandemic060125.html |title=Scientists trace dollar bills for clues to predict pandemics |accessdate=2007-08-13 |author=CBC News |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=25 January 2006 |work= |publisher= |pages= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= }}</ref>

==Willy Index==
The "Willy Index" is a method of rating users based on how many bills they've entered and also by how many total hits they've had. The formula is as follows:

<math>100\times\left[\sqrt{\ln({\rm bills\ entered})}+\ln({\rm hits}+1)\right]\times[1-({\rm days\ of\ inactivity}/100)]</math>

Because of the nature of [[square root]]s and [[natural logarithm]]s, the higher a user's bills entered and hits are, the more of each are necessary to increase the score.

==See also==
*[[Currency bill tracking]]
*[[EuroBillTracker]]
*[[Twenty Bucks]] - movie about the travels of a $20 bill

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.whereswilly.com/ Where's Willy? web site]

[[Category:Numismatics]]
[[Category:Currencies of Canada]]
[[Category:Internet object tracking]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 2001]]

formulasearchengine - User contributions [en]

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