pic: IRI Prank #1

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by Lowfategg

I agree. No one should be playing with other peoples robots unless the team that owns the robot is asked first.

1114 was already pranked that weekend on Thursday night by professional pranksters.
Saturday was just amateur hour IMHO.
The difference between the Thursday night pranking & the Saturday pranking was that members of 1114 were in on the prank (aka: bot-napping) on Thursday, & obviously were asked before hand.

Pranking is funny but only to a limit of course.

The cone prank (which I didn't see but would have liked to in person) was just great! There's a HUGE difference in pranking a side project & a competitive robot while at an event as well.
That's just funny right there what they did to the cone-bot. lol

[Arefin Bari]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

1114 was already pranked that weekend on Thursday night by professional pranksters.
Saturday was just amateur hour IMHO.
The difference between the Thursday night pranking & the Saturday pranking was that members of 1114 were in on the prank (aka: bot-napping) on Thursday, & obviously were asked before hand.

Pranking is funny but only to a limit of course.

The cone prank (which I didn't see but would have liked to in person) was just great! There's a HUGE difference in pranking a side project & a competitive robot while at an event as well.
That's just funny right there what they did to the cone-bot. lol

Speaking of the Thursday night prank, I am trying to get all the pictures I can get so I can make a collage out of it. Please send me pictures if you have any. Thanks.

[Kyle Love]

If you ask me, the prank done on Thursday night could have broken more things then the whole saran wrap. But thats just me. Regardless, both weren't funny IMHO. The whole barrel thing though, everyone was annoyed by it so that's cool, since ya know, it wasn't a REAL robot.

[Mike Schreiber]

I agree messing with a competition robot isn't exactly funny, especially if something gets messed up...I personally wasn't involved in it, I actually didn't even know it happened until after it was done and never saw it up close only from across the gym (our pit, against the far wall). But I still would like to see pictures, although whoever has them probably shouldn't post them here because the reaction will not be favorable.

[Travis Hoffman]

Could someone provide details of the Thursday night "professional" prank?

Makes me recall the time Steve Warren stuck a note on our crate at GTR on Thursday morning before we arrived. It instructed us not to open it and see "Customs" instead. Except we WEREN'T in on the prank.

[Arefin Bari]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

Could someone provide details of the Thursday night "professional" prank?

Makes me recall the time Steve Warren stuck a note on our crate at GTR on Thursday morning before we arrived. It instructed us not to open it and see "Customs" instead. Except we WEREN'T in on the prank.

Me and few others thought we should pull something on 1114 (specially on Karthik). The idea behind it was to freak Karthik out by taking the robot out of the arena and not bring it back until 8:30 next morning. Few adults and kids from 1114 were involved with us as well (We took their permission before touching the robot).

Anyways, we took the robot out of the arena and took it back to where I was staying (The robot was in the car the whole time and it was supported by many things that will prevent it from breaking, also I was driving very slow). Team 1114's kids were with me the whole time. Around 8 at night, they wanted to go back to the hotel and I didn't feel comfortable keeping the robot in the car the whole night so I took the kids back to the hotel and stored the robot in the meeting room in the hotel that 1114 was staying at. We took pictures of the robot standing in front of the podium giving "lectures" to 1114's kid and so forth. That same night, I went to hang out with team 1114 at their hotel. Karthik had no idea that the robot was downstairs locked in a room.

Next morning, the robot was back in the arena safe and sound. Unfortunately, the prank wasn't successful since Karthik found out that same night. The teacher brought the robot back to the arena.

It's not a good thing to mess with someone else's property without getting their permission; but I believe it's okay when permission is taken as well as the people who it belongs to are involved as well.

[Chris Fultz]

Originally Posted by Arefin Bari

It's not a good thing to mess with someone else's property without getting their permission; but I believe it's okay when permission is taken as well as the people who it belongs to are involved as well.

I am going to disagree here. that robot belongs to the entire 1114 team, and unless they all agreed to take it from the arena, you put them and all of their work at risk. think of what could have happened - a slip, a drop, something bent or broken, and they could have lost their entire weekend of competition. How would you recover from that?

I hope it doesn't come to this, but maybe the IRI needs a "Do not touch another teams robot" policy.

there are lots of ways to have fun and play pranks - i don't think this is a good one.

ps - i would say this about any teams robot, regardless if they were in the #1 or #72 spot.

[jtdowney]

Originally Posted by Chris Fultz

I hope it doesn't come to this, but maybe the IRI needs a "Do not touch another teams robot" policy.

I would have thought/hoped that falls under GP and that a stated policy wouldn't be needed.

I am going to have to agree with Chris (and others), the only time you should do anything with another teams robot is if they've asked you to help work on it.

[Arefin Bari]

Maybe this whole idea was just out of control and not thought out enough. I am embarrassed for leading this whole thing on Thursday night. I didn't have enough people or time to think of a good prank for IRI this year like last one.

I can't take back what I did. With that said, I apologize to everyone on Team 1114 and to the IRI planning committee. I didn't mean this to come out this way or mean any harm to anyone. No such action will be taken in future that will involve me.

Team 1114, I idolize you guys as a team and I hope this action of mine doesn't affect my relationship with your team in future.

[Elgin Clock]

It's all good Arefin.
I'll get on writing up a release form that teams that get pranked can sign next year so the folks who like to lawyer situations will all be happy before we have any fun again at the expense of another team.


Obviously I'm being sarcastic here, & laying it on thick.
Imagine if any candid camera, or situational television show ever aired on tv with humor in mind had the people getting pranked sign a waiver BEFORE they got pranked?? Or what if you were told before hand you were going to be given a surprise party? Takes some of the fun out of it now doesn't it?

Seriously folks. There is a time & a place & a way to go about pranking someone or a team in the FIRST community, or even outside of it.

Yes, I'll agree things have the potential of getting damaged if a prank is approached the wrong way (as I've had the misfortune to experience first hand actually - but I'm no more of an opponent of pranking after that, just more of a propponent of pranking in a non-destructive way), but sometimes people just need to lighten up & have some fun (in a safe way).
FIRST teaches us to be safe. It's in the core values.
It also teaches us to have fun with all we do, & be innovative, & also creative.
With that in mind, if a person decides to pull a prank, you hope that they will approach it in a safe way & they will always, in my mind, be fully responsible for anything that went wrong, which Im sure in ALL these pranks we are talking about the prankster(s) would agree.



And in turn, one good prank usually deserves an equal prank against the original prankster, so if anyone wants to help me plastic wrap Arefin's car, or do something else, let me know.
Oh, & btw, don't mention it to him. Shhhh!!


Wait a second... DARN IT! He's going to read this & know I'm up to something.
Oh wells, may as well get my waiver ready for him to sign.

[JaneYoung]

Just to add a thought to the discussion of taking another team's robot or doing things to it like wrapping it in saran wrap.

Many teams have valuable sponsors that they depend on for monies, support, partnership. If something were to happen to a robot because of a prank, how could that be explained to the sponsor and who would do the explaining?

The discussions regarding sponsor support, outreach, spreading the word of FIRST and impacting communities locally and globally are real. Reputation is something all FIRST teams work to establish inside and outside the FIRST community. It doesn't take much to weaken a reputation that has been built over time.

This is another perspective to look at when making choices and decisions regarding how you conduct yourself as an individual and as a team.

[JVN]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

It's all good Arefin.
I'll get on writing up a release form that teams that get pranked can sign next year so the folks who like to lawyer situations will all be happy before we have any fun again at the expense of another team.


Obviously I'm being sarcastic here, & laying it on thick.
Imagine if any candid camera, or situational television show ever aired on tv with humor in mind had the people getting pranked sign a waiver BEFORE they got pranked?? Or what if you were told before hand you were going to be given a surprise party? Takes some of the fun out of it now doesn't it?

Seriously folks. There is a time & a place & a way to go about pranking someone or a team in the FIRST community, or even outside of it.

Yes, I'll agree things have the potential of getting damaged if a prank is approached the wrong way (as I've had the misfortune to experience first hand actually - but I'm no more of an opponent of pranking after that, just more of a propponent of pranking in a non-destructive way), but sometimes people just need to lighten up & have some fun (in a safe way).
FIRST teaches us to be safe. It's in the core values.
It also teaches us to have fun with all we do, & be innovative, & also creative.
With that in mind, if a person decides to pull a prank, you hope that they will approach it in a safe way & they will always, in my mind, be fully responsible for anything that went wrong, which Im sure in ALL these pranks we are talking about the prankster(s) would agree.

I'll again preface this with the comment that I like practical jokes and have been known to play a prank or two in my time. However, I get agitated when thinking about pranks involving our robots. I find your attitude toward this issue EXTREMELY irresponsible.

If an accident happens, and you damage our robot... how exactly would you be responsible? Would you pay for it? How would we determine cost for such a thing?

Why should I trust that you won't do something stupid which results in a bad situation? How can you be sure there won't be some horrible accident?

If you break something, should I just lighten up? Do you expect me to be happy that you derived pleasure at my team's expense?

It is all about risk. If everything goes fine, great... we laugh at ourselves and everything is cool. If something goes wrong, then what? Why is it worth the risk? Why should YOU get to decide whether it is worth the risk or not.

Why would I ever sign your hypothetical waiver to allow you to mess with me or my team or my robot?

Let me be very clear:
Stay the heck away from 148. I don't trust your judgment.

I wonder if there are other teams who don't trust your judgment. I wonder if you've ever given that any thought.
Then again you ARE a professional pranker, right?

-John

PS - Greg Ross once said "Playing a practical joke means doing something mean and calling it funny."

[Dmentor]

On the subject of pranks…

Good pranks are clever, inventive, humorous and inspiring in a sense; but they are also a little sadistic and very dependent on the participant’s and observer’s perspectives. I think good pranks can spark our imaginations but they also evoke strong emotional responses in the target of the prank (be it fear, embarrassment, anger). Bad pranks (and jokes) damage relationships, reputations and is the source of numerous lawsuits in the workplace. Pranks and jokes typically exist in that murky gray region between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. It is hard to know when you’ve gone over the boundary since you are typically playing very close to it. I tend to think there is an associated “adrenalin rush” with behaving within this boundary of acceptable behavior which makes it appealing to the prankster.

While I admire a good prank, I am often more intrigued by how the prank’s target behaves. Some get angry and/or threaten revenge; others show great generosity of spirit by playing along even though their internal emotions may be roiled. Those folks that fall into that last category are the ones I really admire.

[AndyB]

Bad Prank: Saran Wrapping 1114.
Good Prank: Karthik Matress Taco.


Just sayin.

[Pavan Dave]

Wow.

The way I'm looking at it right now is that Arefin's prank was not theft. The other one, by the sound of it, was. Can you add getting police officers to patrol the event to your list of things to do for IRI next year? Maybe we will need some snipers on the roofs too to make sure everyone is always in order. WAIT maybe thats taking it too far? We're all involved with robotics, maybe we should just make a meter to measure how a team's sense of humor is?
...
I understand some of the outrage about this pranking controversy but really everybody is over reacting unless some damage was caused. If Karthik and 1114 can post on here and say what happened to their robot and what damaged what maybe people will calm down without a magic "chill pill" and shrug or laugh this off.


Pavan.