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LOSERS!!!!

2009-12-06 · John · watch on YouTube · Nerdfighteria · personal update

John comically laments Nerdfighteria's narrow loss of the DARPA red-balloon challenge to MIT, accuses rival nerds of subterfuge, thanks the tipsters, Ningmasters and Dan Brown, and says coming together was great fun and a warm-up for the Project for Awesome on December 17th.

What is said

00:00:00 — We lost the DARPA balloon challenge and the $40,000 for P4A; what happened: thousands searched, MIT came out of nowhere and won

  • ★★★ John says Nerdfighteria lost the DARPA balloon challenge despite being tantalizingly close to winning $40,000 to make the Project for Awesome more awesome. — 00:00:05 · Project for Awesome, Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ John says thousands of Nerdfighters, including hundreds sent to drive around their cities after false leads, seemed on the verge of completing the challenge when MIT won. — 00:00:29 · Nerdfighteria

00:00:59 — Fake balloon accusation, MIT paid for information ('sellouts', just kidding), poopy-pants taunt; a pleasure to share yesterday

  • ★★ John claims MIT's team had nerdy friends in Michigan put up a fake balloon with a fake DARPA representative to trick Nerdfighteria, which worked. (playful) — 00:00:59 · Nerdfighteria
    • number check: MIT called some nerdy friends of theirs in Michigan and they conspired to put up a fake balloon with a fake DARPA representative — doubtful
  • ★★ John thinks Nerdfighteria would still have won except that MIT was willing to pay people for information and Nerdfighteria was not. (playful) (hedged) — 00:00:59
  • ★★ After jokingly calling MIT's team sellouts, John says he is kidding and that they played a great game. — 00:01:25
  • ★★ John hopes Nerdfighteria gets to do something like this again, saying it was a real pleasure to share the day with them. (hedged) — 00:01:25 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ John thanks the thousands of Nerdfighters who sent tens of thousands of tips and who planted false information so convincing that it sometimes tricked the team. — 00:01:25 · Nerdfighteria

00:01:54 — Thanks: tipsters, the Ningmasters at Nerdfighters.com, secret brother Dan Brown's 20,000 calls, callers to 66069 DFTBA

  • ★★ John thanks the Ningmasters at Nerdfighters.com, who worked hard sorting leads and confirming balloons. — 00:01:54 · nerdfighters.com
  • ★★ John thanks 'our secret brother' Dan Brown (pogobat), who made about 20,000 phone calls during the challenge, including to a trailer park, a Ben & Jerry's and a prison guard. — 00:01:54 · secret sibling
  • ★ John thanks everyone who called the 66069 DFTBA line, from helpful sightings (Scottsdale, Union Square in San Francisco, Portland) to insane prank calls. (playful) — 00:02:23

00:02:54 — Most fun not winning $40,000; coming together is always fun; limbering up for the Project for Awesome on December 17th

  • ★★★ John says the day was the most fun they have had not winning $40,000, and that every time Nerdfighters come together to do something it is incredibly fun. — 00:02:54 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★★ John calls the balloon challenge a way of limbering up for the Project for Awesome, coming as always on December 17th. — 00:02:54 · Project for Awesome

00:03:19 — Sign-off; taunt to MIT: a future contest for 'internerdial domination', Parsbjerg and Brahe

  • ★ John warns MIT that one day there will be a decisive contest for 'internerdial domination' and Nerdfighteria is coming for them. (joke) — 00:03:19

Humor (significant)

  • John says the backstabbing of fellow nerds hurts, twisting the old saying about sticks and stones. — 00:00:29 > «sticks and stones can break my bones, but only nerds can hurt me.»
  • John asks Hank what the word is for people who sell out their nerd values for money, then answers it himself. — 00:01:25 > «Oh, yeah. Sellouts.»
  • Among the insane calls to the balloon hotline, one caller claimed to have found a balloon. — 00:02:54 > «It's in your mom.»
  • John vows Nerdfighteria will be the Parsbjerg to MIT's Brahe in a future nerd showdown. — 00:03:19 > «Oh, you don't know that reference, MIT? Maybe you're not so nerdy after all.»

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