[BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

http://frcdirector.blogspot.com/2010...blue-cake.html

Good Afternoon Teams,

As of last night we now have more teams registered for 2011 than participated in 2010. This season will be even bigger and better than last year!

I know it’s frustrating to be sitting on a wait list this close to kickoff, but hang in there. Once the payment deadline has passed on December 2nd we will start moving teams into the reserved spaces working to ensure as many teams as possible get to attend a Regional event close to home. If you’re not registered for the event you really, really want and you aren’t on the wait list yet, register now so we know you want to be considered.

New this year, we’re planning to release the Game Manual in two sections. Administrative information (Introduction, Communication, Team Organization, At the Events, Robot Transportation and Awards) will be released in the very near future so teams will have time to review it well before kickoff. Game Specific information (The Arena, The Game, The Robot, The Tournament) will be loaded on the website in encrypted form and released during Kickoff as it has been in the past. Watch this space, I’ll let you know the minute you can start downloading the Administrative Information.

What can you expect during Kickoff? The live broadcast will start at 10:30 AM ET and is scheduled to conclude at noon ET. I’ll be there as will Dean and the GDC. We’re working on the schedule of events this week and I can’t wait to disclose this year’s game.

This year we’re celebrating the 20th FRC season. If your team would like to be featured in a 4 second video during kickoff, film your original, funny wishes for a happy 20th season and watch this space. I’m looking for a way to collect your videos and will let you know when I have a place for you to post them.

I have an update to my Oct 13th blog post listing the variations between the 2011 Rookie and Veteran Kits of Parts. Due to some unexpected lead time challenges, Rookie teams will receive 1 Norgren relief valve and Veteran teams will receive 0. Relief valves will be among the choices in the FIRST Choice system in case veteran teams can’t find the ones received in previous years’ kits or if rookies would like a spare.

For those of you with questions about FIRST Choice, yes, this program is for all teams both foreign and domestic. I strongly advise teams to plan to visit the site when it opens for viewing December 13th. The more you know about what’s available, the better you can plan your order when the site goes live.

I understand that I, Wombat, the documentary film about the inaugural FIRST Robotics Competition Team in Australia will premiere on Thursday, Nov 25th at Macquaire University. I’m going to have to miss it as Macquaire is in Sydney Australia, but I want to send my best wishes.

My congratulations to Chris Elston mentor for team 1501 THRUST who has been named one of 40 Engineers under 40 by Control Engineering.

The staff surprised me this week with a cake to celebrate my 5 year anniversary with FRC. With everyone in the same place for once, we took this picture before all rushing back to work.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Jf2J1wSLNG...oup+shot+2.jpg

Oh, and as of late last night, we have a game name for 2011! With any luck, we’ll have a game logo by Friday. Let the game hints begin.

52 days to Kickoff
See you then!

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

WOOT it's almost hint season :)

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

When and where do the game hints come out?

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

When and where don't the game hints come out?

Hints have been posted on BB and on the usfirst.org website. Once it was mailed to teams.

The when can be even more chaotic. I believe in 2008 a hint was released mid-summer that had nothing to do with the game. Otherwise it is usually sometime in December. BTW don't trust game hint threads started by Greg Needel.

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

Or Dave Lavery :O

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

I have no idea what you are talking about :yikes:

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

Haha. Nice try. I remember looking feverishly at those threads, wondering what you could possibly mean! That was before I knew of your sense of humor! :p

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

Lol :yikes:

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

^ What he said. Dave Lavery will have your brain tied in a knot before you even download the game manual.

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

Or simply fried.

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

I think you may have coined a new term: simplafried

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

That wouldn't be anywhere near 'simplified', would it?

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

I'm missing something here - what is the significance of the blue cake?

(if someone responds with "the cake is a lie" then -infinity points to them.)

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

Well, the cake could either be a simple cake

Or

It is blue, so that obviously means that we are having a water game this year.

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

I think it just means Bill likes messing with us. :rolleyes:

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

I was waiting for someone to relate the blue cake to a water game.

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

The hint isn't in the color of the cake. It's in the fact that the photo is taken on stairs.

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

I would tend to agree with the stairs over the cake. When we took pictures, it always had the cake in it or it was a shot of us downing said cake. So in this case.... the cake is a lie.

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

This is the first logical "hint" that points to stairs. No long-shot elevation clues...but a legitimate picture of stairs.

Also, "rushing?" Moving quickly? Scaling stairs quickly? The world may never kno- oh wait, yes we will. 51 days...

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

I wonder how many DIFFERENT LAYERS that blue cake had. Maybe they needed STAIR STEPS to get to them all.

On the other hand maybe they were just celebrating Bill's five years with FIRST and he is fond of the color blue.

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

Lets think about this... blue cake. The blue part of the FIRST logo is a square. Sheet cakes can be squares (although they are more often rectangles).

Add to that past years game pieces. We've seen a huge number of circular or spherical objects in the past 10 years. I think he's trying to tell us we'll have game pieces in some way related to squares (or rectangles) this year.

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

The game piece in 2003 was blue Sterilite containers. I suspect blue KOP containers if they try that again, as the Sterilite ones broke very easily... Either that, or a pallet of them at each event.

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

Sometimes I think all the Game Hint does to us is make us terrible listeners.

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

In playing off of that, I had an idea.

Perhaps the "blue cake" does in fact denote the shape of the object (square), but then the color also denotes the alliance.

So, for example, a team on the Blue alliance would have a square object, colored blue. Perhaps the Red alliance would have another shape entirely?

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

ONIONS HAVE LAYERS! - Shrek anyone?

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

What about cakes? Cakes have layers (Same reference)

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

Layers? Stairs? I think you know where this is going

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

Water game.

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

I don't believe that I have ever actually started a game hint thread. One has to merely follow with the crowd when the opportunity presents itself. :)


It was a very, very sad cake? Because it knew it was about to be eaten?

-dave


.

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

Nah, that's not why it would be sad. The dream of every cake is to be eaten.

As for the rest, that better not be a strategy hint...

Give Dave credit, though, he hasn't started a real game hint thread. Images that Dave has produced have been used to start fake game hint threads, but I don't think he even had anything to do with that. Other than mayhem contributions.

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

I highly doubt it. Cakes don't have a mind of their own. Wait... mind of their own. The robots will have to be completely autonomous this season! You sly dog! Folks, we may have Dean Kamen's army up-and-running by 2012, as scheduled.

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

The robots have to collect (eat) blue square objects ('cakes') that try to move away from the robots (because they don't want to be eaten).

Alternatively...

Sad=crying=tears=water

Water Game!!!!!

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

Who said cakes had to be square?
http://files.sharenator.com/the_cake...1200-95588.jpg

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

<side note> COMPANION CUBE! D': </side note>

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

Oops. I forgot. The idea still applies.

also...

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

I think you have hit the nail on the head. Either the game pieces will be quadrangles or some other part of the field (trailers like in Lunacy) will be. I am leaning toward the game pieces. Of course, there is no reason not to have all three FIRST shapes on the field (round, triangle, square) and the cake is just the first clue.

One thing for sure, we will all go crazy (those of us who aren't already) trying to figure it out before kickoff! :D

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

Are any teams considering submitting a video? This looks like fun.

Jane

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

There is that number 4 again its got to have some significance....

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

4 second tele-op

or

Controls turn on/off every four seconds (possibly on purpose)

or

4second auto

note: FTC has 40 second auto this year

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

4-team alliances. That's the answer. See you in January, unless you wake me up with more hint chatter. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ....

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

Poor Jane trying to point out the video submission, and it turns back into clue-searching.

We probably won't submit a video, since I can't even get the team together in one location before January.

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

That's ok, David. :) If the preseason is going to be a mix of valid information and hints of hints that are hints - then it's going to result in chaos and confusion. Maybe it's all part of the 20th celebration master plan.

Jane

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

Anyone count the number of people on the stairs? 16
With 4 people on a team (2 drivers, human player, coach) * 4 teams = 16 people on an alliance.

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

That's actually a pretty brilliant observation that fits the "4" theme so-far.

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

Isn't it obvious! :D

Get your handy dandy notebooks ready...

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

Possible, additional/alternate interpretations
-the drive team will stand on stairs (::ouch::)
-4 & 16==> (first thing that I think of} squares=field/robot/scoring object shape

Re: [BB]: My staff brought me a blue cake
 

Compiling everything said so far...

4 teams on an alliance, game pieces are circular AND quadangular. They must be scored in triangular goals that are independently floating on the field (think trailers that are not attached to robots). Possibly, four teams on an alliance, but I like the idea of 4 v 0, and ranking points based on points scored divided by four. Elimination rounds have the top 3 robots move on and the robot that scores the least is eliminated

(Water on all this would be good too)