'Double Rainbow Guy' From 2010 Viral Video Dies At 57 (time.com) 60
Paul L. Vasquez, the burly mountain man whose awestruck reaction upon seeing a double rainbow propelled him to internet stardom and turned him into a folk hero, has died in Central California. He was 57. Time Magazine reports: Vasquez, who called himself Yosemitebear on social media, died early Saturday at a hospital emergency room, the Mariposa County coroner's office told the Modesto Bee. The cause of death has not been released. Vasquez had recently posted on his Facebook page that he had gone to get tested for COVID-19 but learned about another unspecified ailment.
In January 2010, Vasquez posted on YouTube a video shot from his mountainside house of a set of rainbows overlooking the Yosemite valley. He notes in the caption that the camera couldn't capture the rainbows' intensity and brightness. But that wasn't what led to 46 million views of the video. It was Vasquez's reaction. Over the course of the 3-minute video, he repeatedly said "whoa," laughed and even sobbed as he marveled at the sight of the rainbows. "It's a double rainbow all the way across the sky!" he exclaimed. He went on to ponder: "What does it all mean?"
In January 2010, Vasquez posted on YouTube a video shot from his mountainside house of a set of rainbows overlooking the Yosemite valley. He notes in the caption that the camera couldn't capture the rainbows' intensity and brightness. But that wasn't what led to 46 million views of the video. It was Vasquez's reaction. Over the course of the 3-minute video, he repeatedly said "whoa," laughed and even sobbed as he marveled at the sight of the rainbows. "It's a double rainbow all the way across the sky!" he exclaimed. He went on to ponder: "What does it all mean?"
Slow news day??? (Score:1)
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This place is a modern day Digg I swear...
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Or maybe this viral favorite: Cooking by the book remix ft. Lil Jon [youtube.com]
Re: Slow news day??? (Score:2)
Double rainbow! (Looking over casket)
This is journalism in a time of Coronavirus (Score:5, Funny)
Some dude who made a viral video in 2010 has died.
What next? All your base aren't belong to us anymore! News at 11.
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It's the COVID connection.
Despite the fact that he apparently died of, "another unspecified ailment", his death will be classified as a COVID death.
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It's the COVID connection.
Despite the fact that he apparently died of, "another unspecified ailment", his death will be classified as a COVID death.
That story is about as connected to COVID as US lawmakers are connected to reality or common sense.
Random 57-year old man dies from [common US disease]. Medical Industrial Complex bilks government $50K for "COVID death". Ah, nothing like the shitty smell of US-flavored entertainment spewing from your local MSM pimp.
Why is this on Slashdot? (Score:4, Insightful)
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Remember, these are people who couldn't even get a job at Buzzfeed.
Re: Why is this on Slashdot? (Score:2)
I think you meant Wal-Mart greeter...
Re:Why is this on Slashdot? (Score:4, Insightful)
When Slashdot posted on a Virtual fistfight by some celebrities, I commented [slashdot.org] that Slashdot is turning into TMZ, only to get down moderated as Offtopic.
Go figure ...
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it wasn't even a virtual fistfight, it was a piece of shit extended tiktok pass-the-puck vid. do some stupid shit and cover the camera with fist, splash or whatever to pass the puck. it's like whoever editor posted that didn't even watch the vid.
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Whatever it was, it is not news for nerds, nor stuff that matters ...
It is more appropriate for sites tracking celebrities doing trivial things, not Slashdot ...
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When Slashdot posted on a Virtual fistfight by some celebrities, I commented [slashdot.org] that Slashdot is turning into TMZ, only to get down moderated as Offtopic.
Because you were. Making light hearted videos to keep busy during a pandemic and sharing those videos during the pandemic at least has some relevance to those of us stuck at home jobless.
On the flipside "OMFG A DOUBLE RAINBOW" guy is just some stupid guy.
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When Slashdot posted on a Virtual fistfight by some celebrities, I commented [slashdot.org] that Slashdot is turning into TMZ, only to get down moderated as Offtopic.
Because you were. Making light hearted videos to keep busy during a pandemic and sharing those videos during the pandemic at least has some relevance to those of us stuck at home jobless.
But not relevance to this site. Shit, I have some time now, and spring is here. I need some stuff to do. Maybe I can look forward to some gardening tips article on slashdot, too?
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LOL. I missed that whole post, and I was just now anticipating modding you down. It sounded like it could have been an interesting work of green screening people together and stuff...nothing that hasn't been done before but still interesting. But nope, I watched the video and you were absolutely right.
Now I'm eagerly awaiting a slashdot article on what the Chocolate Rain guy is up to. How is his quarantine going? /s
His was a tale of true nerd history (Score:5, Interesting)
Seriously, you all need to review your own mission statement.
Oh they have!
This time - This time they have got It exactly right.
The news of Double Rainbow guy passing is among the most nerdiest news it is possible to have, as he sits at the center of the base of the growing virality of the internet itself.
Double Rainbow guy was among the origins of the viral video itself, showing the possibilities to so many... becoming an instant celebrity force of joy that spread through humanity itself in a way that few things have before or since.
So yes, this is truly News for Nerds and I will not even say wholly sad, for is it not the right time in history to be reminded among so many troubles the double rainbow will always exist, while simultaneously remind us of the unthinkable power of the internet to shift the zeitgeist itself...
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"...as he sits at the center of the base of the growing virality of the internet itself..."
No,
this was the guy from 10 years before "double rainbow" guy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahir_%C3%87a%C4%9Fr%C4%B1 [wikipedia.org]
He was a sensation when there was barely an internet to speak of, and most people who did know of the internet were still on dial-up connections. Everyone was sharing this guy's website.
Re: Why is this on Slashdot? (Score:1)
Go ahead, try to find that statement...
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--Well I for one, don't mind. I learned about the guy from the parody they did in Borderlands 2, which is a video game, tech-related, there ya go - news for nerds. :b
Who cares? (Score:4, Insightful)
Double Rainbow Guy is dead (Score:3, Funny)
I just heard some sad news on Slashdot - Double Rainbow Guy Paul L. Vasquez was found dead in his California home this morning. There weren't any more details. I'm sure everyone in the Slashdot community will miss him - even if you didn't enjoy his work, there's no denying his contributions to popular culture. Truly an American icon.
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No shit ? People know more about the time period they are living in than history that generally matters fairly little ?
That went viral? (Score:2)
Maybe I'll go wipe my ass and see if it goes viral.
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You have a donkey? :P
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posting to remove inadvertent mod, was gonna hit funny, missed it by THAT MUCH!
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Only if I could upvote to funny for your post. :P
"news for nerds, stuff that matters" anymore? (Score:1)
apparently not. just noise.
That's not Yosemite Valley.... (Score:2)
Whoa (Score:1)
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It's the severe radiation poisoning you get when you stand at the end at one.
The leprechauns and pots of gold are just hallucinations people often get as the ion particles tear their brain cells apart.
Re: "What does it all mean?" (Score:2)
Fun fact: Rainbows have no end. They are circles.
It's just that the bottom half is usually below the horizon.
I guess you are not nerds (Score:2)
That being said, I thought this would be a thread about Ice Cream.
does someone remember the posting? (Score:2)
I mean. was it actually even viral or was it just some ncbfoxcbs-news bit ?
because I sure don't remember anything about it, I have never seen it referenced anywhere. this is the first time I hear about it and I should have seen the memes in 2010 if it went viral.
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I never heard of him either, but according to the summary, he was a folk hero.
Apparently, to some folks, recording a rainbow is heroic.
Re: does someone remember the posting? (Score:2)
I remember me and some random strangers in a parking lot marvelling at a rainbow. At least two of us knew of the double rainbow meme. It was viral enough I'd say.
Re: does someone remember the posting? (Score:1)
That only proves that you got your memes from the TV and Tosh.0.
Humbling (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't think I had ever seen this video even having been around at the beginning of the net. It was very humbling. While a few were thoughtful, I am worried that most people posting on Slashdot seem to have not a mote of empathy or introspection even when confronted by what is clearly a thoughtful man with a kind heart, overwhelmed by the beauty of nature and having such a strong spiritual moment it is tangible. I'm not talking about religion. It's a human thing. That is the news for nerds part. The internet you are building is a communications medium and it can be a means of sharing profound, deeply held values. I once ran an ISP in 1994 and one very scary thing I found is that when some very smart engineers get too stressed and narrowly focussed, they can become robotic and insensitive to human values, and self-justifying to an extent that would be horrifying to someone in a healthier frame of mind. It is something nerds need to consciously guard against, for both their personal mental health and to ensure that what you build will not be poisonous. Being humble is important if an AI researcher wants to avoid injecting bias or having his work end up in killer bots in the DMZ or creating an Orwellian nightmare. Or for a biotech researcher to enact stringent biosafety precautions and even then accept that being human can mean mistakes are made, so do everything humanly possible to avoid them. In current society it seems that this kind of action sometimes comes from engineers who are lucky to work in a company in which the financial bottom line depends on a degree of trust from the public, such as when Apple and Google built a Covid tracing API that could protect privacy. I feel Apple has a lot to lose if their focus on privacy is eroded, while Google has come up against huge fines for the same. There are probably a lot of nerds like this but a it appears that almost all corporate and political organizations are so sick and have such poisonous people in charge that their voices cannot be heard. So you get whistleblowers who are then pounded into submission. For me, this video and the first reactions I saw on Slashdot today were an arrow that pierced into the heart of a malaise. The voices of enlightened "nerds" could be a counterpoint to the demagoguery that has overtaken the U.S. and led to a horrifyingly immature and self-serving government which has supported the 80,000 Covid-19 deaths and counting to this date. All I ask is that you consider what it is you are doing, what are other people doing, and what impact your attitude might have on those around you when magnified in the echo-chamber of online media being consumed by a world of stay at homers.
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That's the thing about brutalizing nerds when you were young. It makes us think that's how people are supposed to treat others. And you had a heartily good time being cruel to us. And as the treatment of James Damore and most recently Tara Reade tells us, you don't uphold your own values.
. All I ask is that you consider what it is you are doing
It's always other people who are wrong, isn't it? Never you. You don't see the irony of commanding others to show empathy while you need show none yourself?
To all the "this isn't news for nerds" folks (Score:3)
Remember, this was 10 years ago. The idea of "going viral" was still a new concept. This man's story relates how the technology we built affected society--for better or worse. This man was at the foundation of the idea of social medial celebrity, something that is undeniably the byproduct of technology. If you helped create this, and you're having problems with it, you're Dr. Frankenstein. If you didn't create it, and you're having problems with it, you're somebody in the countryside being terrorized by Frankenstein's monster. Finally, if you're a YouTube celebrity, you are Frankenstein's Monster. (This post was not sponsored by Monster Energy Drink, so don't drink it, unless they decide to pay me. Then buy it by the truckload.)
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Re: To all the "this isn't news for nerds" folks (Score:1)
Bullshit. Things went viral in 2000. I remember. Powerpoint files. Links, jokes, etc.
Here is an ancient example from Germany from the year 2000 or before: http://scheissprojekt.de/ [scheissprojekt.de]
Auto-translated: https://translate.googleuserco... [googleusercontent.com]
Another one I remember were the telephone lines of I think Tel-Aviv, that were a horrible mess, shared as Powerpoint slides.
And the oldest one I can remember is Blahbalicious, a Quake engine machinima from the year 1997!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik... [wikipedia.org]
Remember that they are from a
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Creeping sense of emptiness (Score:3)
You say it's not news worthy of /., I say it's reminder that all that ever put a smile on your face will eventually die and it never mattered to begin with.
You can now go back to speculate on bitcoin, Elon Musk or whatever you think is important. Not that it matters anyway.
Oh, your jpeg girlfriends were never your girlfriends in the real life to begin with, btw.
Re: Creeping sense of emptiness (Score:1)
Yeah, how about you go outside and face real life for the first time?
Carig about Bitcoin or Double Rainbiw Guy are eqally equivalent to de-facto death.
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Sorry, Outside has been closed due to Coronavirus.
Each to their own I suppose (Score:3)
OK, all power to the guy's elbow and a death is never a good thing, but is slashdot really this hard up for news?
Trick of alignment in my areas, most rainbows we get are doubles where I am in the Midlands area of the UK. Summer we usually get one double every 2-3 weeks, lasts for about 2-3 mins. If you've never seen a double then fair enough you'd probably get excited but I would have thought that with the temporate climate around Yosemite park that double rainbows would be quite a common event during Summer storms.
On the flipside we rarely get fog or snow where I am, so when I get to see fog I get really excited. Same with mountains, have to drive 300 miles to see mountains and I always get way too excited when I get to see mountains. Don't get me started about mountains with snow AND fog! Ha ha! So I suppose it's one of those things, we all have that one thing that gets us worked up.
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Trick of alignment in my areas, most rainbows we get are doubles where I am in the Midlands area of the UK.
It's nothing to do with alignment. Every rainbow has a secondary arc, but it is often too dim to see because the sun isn't bright enough. The secondary arc becomes clearer when the sky around the sun is very clear and the sun is very bright. Simple as that.