Adieu to Ken Jennings 523
IllogicalStudent writes "The Toronto Star is reporting that the episode of Jeopardy where Ken Jennings (a.k.a. 'The Jeopardy Guy') finally loses aired this evening. It came down to a 2-person finish (3rd had -2600 at the end of Double Jeopardy, and was eliminated) between Ken and opponent Nancy Zerg, with the final category being Business & Industry. Ken answered 'Fed Ex' to the question 'Most of this firm's 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year,' when the correct answer was 'H&R Block.' Ken finished his record-streak with just over $2.5 Million."
Said he's going to keep his job (Score:3, Interesting)
Does anybody know what company Ken works for? Or, what tools he uses? I wonder if he's a Java-guy, a Linux-guy, or what
SLL
threw the game (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:FedEx? (Score:2, Interesting)
Old News (Score:3, Interesting)
Was The Game Show Rigged To Get Ratings? (Score:3, Interesting)
Does this suggest anything?
Is anybody old enough to remember the the "64 Thousand Dollar Question" game show back in the 50s? Remember the isolation booths and the network scandal that resulted after it was discovered that the show was rigged for the ratings? I do!
Re:It's interesting to note... (Score:5, Interesting)
Did Ken Give Up? (Score:5, Interesting)
First off, how many software engineers do we all know. Most good ones will go to extreme measures, breaking deadlines and spec sometimes, to do the *right* thing, not just to finish the project.
Most (good) programmers want to be badasses. To impress everyone around them with their programming prowess and moxie. Ken Jennings, I believe, is probably a pretty good programmer, one of the reasons being that he is obviously a master of research, and he learns until he *knows* it, not just learning to solve a particular problem and forgetting about it.
I mean, the guy's not stupid. How many of us would sell our souls for a job that paid $150,000 a week to work one (long) day with paid travel and lodging, and the other 6 days off? Even if the job was really difficult, and required constant brainpower, most of us would give up a lot for something like that, even if it was a short term contract.
Nah, I think he would have gone on until he was defeated. I've seen most every episode he was in, and even up to the last one, he attacked the board with the same energy that he always did. The only mistake I think he made was betting bit on that 2nd daily double, when he was pretty far ahead, but he wanted to put the game away. When he didn't, it gave Nancy an opportunity.
Even going into the final, with the two large daily doubles he missed, he still had the lead. The only way to lose was if he missed the question, and she got it right (or they both missed it and she bet weird). And it happened. That situation had come up at least 4 times in the past, and the odds finally caught up with him.
Kudos Ken, you're as good as mascot as Jeopardy could have hoped for. I mean, watch a few episodes, and you can't help but like the guy.
Re:FedEx? (Score:5, Interesting)
He was tired at game 55. Personally, I think he threw this game. For almost the entire Jeopardy round he seemed to be ringing in slow. Like he was trying to allow the other players to ring in first. But they weren't doing it. Some of the answers, like Bastogne (a Daily Double), I don't believe he didn't know.
And I have an extremely hard time believing he didn't know that Final Jeopardy answer. FedEx doesn't have 70k seasonal employees. If FedEx has a "seasonal" time of year, it would be around Christmas and wouldn't last 4 months. And FedEx employees, at least the ones who would be seasonal (package handlers, drivers, etc.), are not white collar. And everyone that I gave the question to today immediately came up with the right answer.
I just don't buy it. I mean, I don't blame him for wanting to get out. But he also could have just said "I don't want to play tomorrow", and walked away. The rules allow for that.
-Todd
Re:A moment of silence... (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:FedEx? (Score:2, Interesting)
One time I saw an Airborne truck with three flat tires... and no spare. I let him use my phone.
Another time Airborne failed on two occasions to find an address that they'd delivered to before (way out in the country, down ONE highway; it wasn't like some suburb-planned-community-maze, which I always got lost in as a driver). So I elected to pick up the package (a computer; stupid cheapskate f'n Dell contracts with Airborne) at Airborne's warehouse. They offered no help getting it out of the office or loading into my truck, even though I was doing them a favor. It was raining, so I asked for some large shipping bags to cover the computer boxes for the 2 hour ride home (which I knew they had, since I'd used AIRBORNE bags at my old job). They said they didn't know what I was talking about. I insisted, saying I'd contracted for their fool asses before. They gave me some bags. Throughout the whole thing, they were surly and rediculous, even though I was the one carrying THEIR boxes around in the rain and delivering them to an address that THEY were paid to find--a couple of points which, I might add, I had the self-control to keep from screaming at them; it was perhaps my finest moment of self control, and I regret it immensely.
Oh I could go on and on with airborne stories ^_^
Re:FedEx? (Score:5, Interesting)
My wife threw out an interesting suggestion... perhaps he went with "Fed Ex" on purpose. How much would Fed Ex pay to have Ken Jennings as their front man this holiday season? Can you hear the commercial now?
i think Ken threw it (Score:2, Interesting)
Spoiled all day long... (Score:3, Interesting)
Also NPR had a small blurb on their Talk of The Nation show about how the stream "may" be over, this was also earlier in the day:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?story Id=4192614
Similarity to the movie "Quiz Show"? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:The worst part... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:It's interesting to note... (Score:1, Interesting)
As we all know, common usage changes meanings over time - eg. gay, awful, incredible etc. So, I don't know if everybody should get on their high horses about this every single time.
(Besides, most people who are so strict on telling people their use of the word "irony" is wrong usually use Alannis Morrisette's song as an example - ironically getting their own use of the word wrong as there are many examples of situational, or dramatic, irony in the song itself
Coincidence ... or something more? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:FedEx? (Score:3, Interesting)
My question is, does the newcomer stand a chance of breaking Ken's record, or is it back to the regular routine on the show now?
Re:FedEx? (Score:4, Interesting)
If it were rigged, it would be in the button (Score:3, Interesting)
Having seen Nightline last night, which was about Jeopardy, and prepared in advance in secret, to be aired when the show where he lost was aired, I see how secure the questions were. It's highly unlikely that anybody could have been feeding him the questions (not the answers -- it's Jeopardy -- duh!). And given the stakes, it's unlikely that they were cheating at all, even if it were to improve ther ratings and profits. Merv's credibility is on the line, after all.
But Jennings himself explained that much of the trick was in the button. It does not get activated until Alex Trebek is finished giving the "answer", and if you press too soon, you get locked out for a fraction of a second. So there's some logic behind the button mechanism.
I was on a TV quiz show once. I do believe that particular one was rigged. No names -- it was probably before most current Slashdotters were born. It too used a button. And I noticed that one team's buttons -- the designated winners' -- responded differently than my team's. Of course those were the days of mechanical relays; game shows weren't computerized yet. It can be quite subtle, but a fraction of a second in timing can make all the difference.
I just found Ken's observation interesting.