The Day People Named Josh Fought in Nebraska (wsj.com) 57
A viral internet joke becomes a real-life, good-natured 'battle' for a lot of people with the same first name. Behind the scenes of the 'JoshFight.' From a report: It began as a joke, Josh Swain emphasized. Spring, a year ago. As a pandemic surged, and millions idled at home, Swain, an engineering student at the University of Arizona, was very bored online. He noted that every time he tried to create a social media account, the name Josh Swain was already taken. An amused Swain logged onto Facebook, gathered every "Josh Swain" he could find into a group message, and offered a brash challenge, which was basically this: On April 24, 2021, everyone named Josh Swain should meet at these select coordinates -- 40.8223286, -96.79820002; it turned out to be farmland in Nebraska -- and duel for the right to be The One and Only Josh Swain. "We fight, whoever wins gets to keep the name, everyone else has to change their name, you have a year to prepare, good luck," Swain wrote.
Over time, Swain's terse, off-the-cuff, throw-down to all Josh Swains became a viral internet meme, leaping the curb from a bored joke into something quite real. The battle would broaden from Josh Swains to anyone named Josh, with Joshes from all over suggesting they, too, would come to Nebraska for a fight to be the The Only Josh. Terms of engagement were offered: they'd fight with foam pool noodles. Last Josh Standing wins. A public location was settled upon. (The original one turned out to be a private farm.) There was even a charitable angle: Supporters were asked to make contributions to the Nebraska Children's Hospital and Medical Center Foundation, and bring an item for the local food bank. On Friday, Joshua Swain, 22, got on a plane for Nebraska. And this past Saturday, on a grassy field in Lincoln, it actually happened. Josh vs. Josh vs. Josh vs. Josh vs. Josh, in the JoshFight of the Century. "It was insane," Swain said. "I can't describe it. It's so heartwarming, so incredible. It was a beautiful day."
Over time, Swain's terse, off-the-cuff, throw-down to all Josh Swains became a viral internet meme, leaping the curb from a bored joke into something quite real. The battle would broaden from Josh Swains to anyone named Josh, with Joshes from all over suggesting they, too, would come to Nebraska for a fight to be the The Only Josh. Terms of engagement were offered: they'd fight with foam pool noodles. Last Josh Standing wins. A public location was settled upon. (The original one turned out to be a private farm.) There was even a charitable angle: Supporters were asked to make contributions to the Nebraska Children's Hospital and Medical Center Foundation, and bring an item for the local food bank. On Friday, Joshua Swain, 22, got on a plane for Nebraska. And this past Saturday, on a grassy field in Lincoln, it actually happened. Josh vs. Josh vs. Josh vs. Josh vs. Josh, in the JoshFight of the Century. "It was insane," Swain said. "I can't describe it. It's so heartwarming, so incredible. It was a beautiful day."
Re:Dumb story (Score:5, Funny)
Swain, an engineering student at the University of Arizona, was very bored online
There you go, it's about a technologist and the internet.
You think I'm Joshing?
Re: Dumb story (Score:3)
In high school, I took a cooking class.
I think it technically counted as a science credit because they dressed it up as being all quantitative and shit (following baking recipes) and biological (what's good to eat and what aint).
This as a tech story is just like cooking class as a science credit.
Re: (Score:2)
There's a lot of science behind cooking.
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If you ever get the chance browse through Nathan Myrvold's modernist cooking books. I've worked on the security system at the Intellectual Ventures labs, and they do incredible things with eatables.
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WTF? I used to work at a VAR that did high-end security installations, I now work at Amazon.
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Nobody in their right mind would even crack open a cookbook with that patent troll's name on it. Open the cover, and Intellectual Ventures will probably come after you and try to appropriate your grandma's family recipes - claiming her oatmeal raisin cookie recipe from 1930 is actually a derivative of whatever the patent troll's ghost writer put in the book.
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A better version would be "there's a lot of woo-woo behind cooking". Having had to substitute ingredients, vary temperatures and times, and lots of other things, when cooking I can tell you that for the vast majority of recipes if you add approximately the right stuff in approximately the right ratio and cook for approximately the right time at approximately the right temperature you'll still get about the same outcome. For guys reading this, go upstairs and ask your mom how she cooks: Bit of this, bit of
Re: Dumb story (Score:1)
Dumb decline (Score:2)
Is that why the population rate [slashdot.org] is down?
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Re:Dumb story (Score:5, Insightful)
Not to mention, hidden behind a paywall.
We've been asking Slashdot to stop posting links to sources that try this crap for what, twenty years now?
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Google is your friend like leeches and tapeworms are pets. Useful in some contexts, but their only interest in you is in what they can harvest.
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Re:Dumb story (Score:5, Insightful)
Internet nerds bring meme challenge to life. That sounds like "News for nerds" to me.
Re:Dumb story (Score:5, Funny)
Slashdot: A news aggregator where commenters come to complain that the news shouldn't have been aggregated.
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Agitators aggravated by aggregator. Story at 11.
Re:Dumb story (Score:4, Insightful)
So frelling what? I've enjoyed stories on SlashDot that were about things as diverse as the theft of a million pounds of maple syrup from the Canadian Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve (really) to the cause of a 110 year-old earth dam in Michigan collapsing. If you don't find it interesting just skip the story.
Re: Dumb story (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
True enough.
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paywalled (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: seriously? (Score:2)
Yeah I saw that in my old man physical newspaper this morning and made a point to not read it.
Let me guess (Score:4, Funny)
Josh Swain won?
Re: (Score:3)
No. The winner was four-year-old Joshua Vinson Jr., who was honored with a paper crown and hoisted in the air for all Joshes to see.
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Josh Swain won?
"Josh Swain" is an anagram for "A Josh wins." Clearly not his real name.
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No, Josh Swain won. Josh is used to having name already taken on social media. Very sad life. Probably have very sad death. But, at least there is symmetry.
Battle of the John's. (Score:2)
You think this is something. Just wait till all the John Doe's get riled up.
Bored-to-fuck, is now a medical term. (Score:1)
"It was insane," Swain said. "I can't describe it. It's so heartwarming, so incredible. It was a beautiful day."
You may not be able to describe it, but we can.
How fucking bored of a human do you have to be...
but (Score:2)
Karen battle next? (Score:2)
Or are they all too busy speaking with the manager..
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I was a senior in high school before I met another Brian, then there were three of us in the same class. Neither of them had ever previously met another Brian either.
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I was a senior in high school before I met another Brian, then there were three of us in the same class. Neither of them had ever previously met another Brian either.
Had any of you met a Biggus Dickus?
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No, but one place I worked the DB admins were discussing the oddest names they had encountered over the years, the winner had to fix the customer record one time for a fellow named Long Dong. She said she always wondered if he lived up to his name.
Didn’t expect a real event... (Score:2)
Changing "news" site (Score:1)
Sad to say the "news for nerds" site of many years is so behind the "news" nowadays. I mean this was advertised on 9gag months ago, and results (with photos) available soon after conclusion of the day.
Heck, 9gag even has the occasional programming meme....
I think I need to switch.
My Name is Josh Swain... Prepare to die (Score:2)
Chessy I know but I envision that this fellow tracks people down and in a dramatic way
"My name is Josh Swain. You used my User Name. Prepare to die."
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Reminds me of Kids in the Hall (Score:2)
Kids in the Hall had had their Thirty Helens [youtube.com] running joke and the Daves I Know [youtube.com] sketch.
And now wait for the infections (Score:2)
A big group of unrelated people came together from lots of places to engage in close physical contact. Many of them not wearing masks. In the middle of a pandemic. How irresponsible can you get?
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At this point we're seeing a slowdown in vaccinations, for lack of interest rather than doses.
I would venture the opinion that if you or yours haven't been vaccinated, and you take part in something like this anyway... then you are a willing participant in evolution. (aka mutation and death - and your mutations all happened before you were conceived.)
bo-ring (Score:2)
it's no Great Outdoor Fight, i'll tell you what
Who would play along with this shit? (Score:1)
Just because some moron is too stupid for names and the real world, doesn't mean one must fly over and shoot the fucker in the back from a mile away or whatever.
This problem whas how we came up with family names or house names (which were not always the same as). So... Just say "Josh Swain from $place" and be done with it. It's not that difficult.
Or you can get shot in the back for being a moron, of course. Natural selection, yadda yaddy...
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Who wouldn't? This sounds like a fun day out, and a chance to be part of something different.
Mind you I'm not sure what you mean by being shot in the back. Do you do that to each other often? Which shithole nation do you live in?
Just say "Josh Swain from $place"
The Dutch already do this. I met a guy once called Michael van Leiden. Michael is a pretty popular Dutch name. I find it hard to believe he's the only Michael who came from a town with a population of 120000 people.
So at best you're kicking the can down the road a bit.
Trial for the big event. (Score:2)
Next year I want to see all the John Smiths going at it in Nebraska to determine who is Mr John Smith America. There's 45000 contestants according to the last census.