[FRC Blog] Kickoff Broadcast and Game Hint Redux

[Hallry]

Posted on the FRC Blog, 12/30/13: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...ame-Hint-Redux

Kickoff Broadcast and Game Hint Redux

Blog Date: Monday, December 30, 2013 - 13:35

Watching the Kickoff Broadcast

If you’re not attending a local Kickoff and want to watch the broadcast, it can be found at http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/robotics.../kickoff-2014/. The stream may be up and down for the next week or so as various formats and options are tested. You can click on the "Webcast Flash Backup Stream" if you get a "Playlist could not be loaded" error from the Primary Stream. NASA is currently streaming the NASA-TV Education satellite feed to that encoder.

2014 Game Hint Redux

I’ve been checking in on the posts on Chief Delphi about the hint we released a few weeks ago.

You may want to take a look at the ‘Frank Answers Fridays’ post that included some information about game hints here (http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...idays-11112013). The reason I said ‘we don’t spend too much time on this’ is because we don’t spend too much time on this. Some folks on the GDC honestly thought the hint this year was going to be too easy. Admittedly, we made a few tweaks to the hint after those statements were made, but I didn’t think the tweaks obscured things excessively. I must have been wrong about that.

We did, however, on double checking, find that the first set of numbers in the hint contained a potential error, or at least data we can't verify at this point. We aren’t saying it’s wrong, we’re just not 100% sure it’s right. So maybe we should have spent a little more time on this one! Sorry about that. As compensation, we're replacing that set of numbers with a new set that should get you to the same answer. We've also reformatted some of the numbers to hopefully make them a little more familiar. Here's the updated hint:

61474:135, 12661:1963, 32662:15806

From what I've seen on CD, folks are trying far too hard on this. Once you get the answer, it will be so obvious I expect some reactions like this*:



Frank

*Doctor Who is not a hint. I just happen to enjoy the show.

[Please don’t take my saying Doctor Who is not a hint to mean it really is a hint. It’s really not a hint]

[[Please don’t take my saying Doctor Who really is not a hint to mean it really really is a hint. It’s really really not a hint]]

[[[etc]]]

[Anupam Goli]

Due to what will likely be game hint discussion in this thread, we should move this to the rumors subforum.

[Calvin Hartley]

Originally Posted by Frank

From what I've seen on CD, folks are trying far too hard on this.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[phantokidd7x]

I happened to be on Facebook today and the first post that I saw was that FIRST updated their blog HERE today with info on Kickoff and the game hint. Here's what they said:

Admittedly, we made a few tweaks to the hint after those statements were made, but I didn’t think the tweaks obscured things excessively. I must have been wrong about that.

We did, however, on double checking, find that the first set of numbers in the hint contained a potential error, or at least data we can't verify at this point. We aren’t saying it’s wrong, we’re just not 100% sure it’s right. So maybe we should have spent a little more time on this one! Sorry about that. As compensation, we're replacing that set of numbers with a new set that should get you to the same answer. We've also reformatted some of the numbers to hopefully make them a little more familiar. Here's the updated hint:

61474:135, 12661:1963, 32662:15806

From what I've seen on CD, folks are trying far too hard on this. Once you get the answer, it will be so obvious I expect some reactions like this*:


Frank

*Doctor Who is not a hint. I just happen to enjoy the show.

[Please don’t take my saying Doctor Who is not a hint to mean it really is a hint. It’s really not a hint]

[[Please don’t take my saying Doctor Who really is not a hint to mean it really really is a hint. It’s really really not a hint]]

[[[etc]]]

What do you guys think?

[Whippet]

a little more familiar.

We've seen these numbers before?!?

Team 135 is the Black Knights, and team 1963 was PSC robotics. 135 is from Indiana, and 1963 was from England. No luck there.

[Hallry]

I think that we already have a thread about this here: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...hreadid=123823. This thread can be closed/deleted.

[yarden.saa]

It's not funny to change the hint, they laugh from where they sit

[cadandcookies]

I just want to point out that I'm relatively sure that that gif is from "Waters of Mars," the 2009 Dr. Who autumn special.

It takes place on Mars when a virus that creates water infects the first (human) martian colony.

(edit: just realized it's from 2009)

[coalhot]

Originally Posted by yarden.saa

It's not funny to change the hint, they laugh from where they sit

[fsgond]

Woot Woot, 135!

[Zuelu562]

Porting my (and George1902's) Findings to here:

Using the idea that the first number (EDIT: Of each pair) is a date, I searched June 14, 1974, December 6, 1961 (Could be January 26, '61 however), and March 26, 1962.

Those dates yielded some interesting results. June 14th '74 was the date Nolan Ryan stuck out 19 Red Sox in 12 innings. December 6, 1961 was the day the Heisman was awarded in that particular year. March 26 1962 was the birthday of several athletes, covering Baseball, basketball and soccer, and was the day the inventor of wax paper died.

January 26, 1961 (the alternative option to Dec 6 61) was the day Elvis Presley's hit "Are you lonesome tonight?" peaked to #1, and is the birthday of Hockey great Wayne Gretzky.

Lots of references to sports.

Wayne Gretzky holds the regular season record for career assists: 1963.

John Stockton holds this record in basketball: 15806.

John Stockton was the basketball player born on 3/26/62.

EDIT: Steve Ralston, Born June 14, 1974, is the all-time career leader in assists in the MLS at 135.

3 Sports references, all different sports, all have the "assist" as a tracked statistic. Something to do with assists methinks.

[GCDelp]

Originally Posted by George1902

Steve Ralston, born 6-14-74, holds the MLS record for assists: 135.

Wayne Gretzky, born 1-26-61, holds NHL record for career assists: 1963.

John Stockton, born 3-26-62, holds the NBA assists record: 15806.

I was beat to it a bit in the other thread, but it looks like we have a pattern of assisting going on.

[Hallry]

If you search the first set of the updated numbers, 61474:135, on Google, you get an Aircraft Part:

TRIPLE TACHYMETRIC INDICATOR, Part No. 61474-135-1

Source: http://www.aerosup.com/THALES-AVIONI...474-135-1.aspx

No hits for the second or third sets of the updated numbers, though.

[George1902]

And to solve the unsolvable first clue...

Landon Donovan, born 3-4-82, holds the all-time US Soccer assists record: 57.

[bduddy]

Originally Posted by George1902

And to solve the unsolvable first clue...

Landon Donovan, born 3-4-82, holds the all-time US Soccer assists record: 57.

Yup, this is it. We're done here, guys.