1190: "Time"

[Lockyy]

I quite like all the implementations other people have for viewing the newpix. However I keep forgetting to check so I wrote this tiny script to remind me and have it running in the background. Unfortunately requires pygame to play the sound.

Spoiler:

Code: Select all

import pygame
import datetime
import time

pygame.mixer.init()

# Times to play sound at.
updateTimes = [2,32]

while True:
    d = datetime.datetime.now()
    if d.minute in updateTimes:
        pygame.mixer.Sound('sound.wav').play()
    # Don't check constantly, check once a minute. Also ensures we only play once a minute
    time.sleep(60)


Also, new update!
Maybe she called him over to see whatever is coming!

[Ayriannah]

Know what would be cool? To write code to simulate the slow erosion of a sandcastle. You could take any black pixel within some frame of coordinates that is adjacent to a white pixel below it or to the side, and give it an erosion index, starting at 1 and decreasing in random steps toward zero with each simulation step. Below some threshold, the pixel turns white and the lowest white pixel below it in the same column turns black (to simulate sand falling and piling up).

There would have to be more to it - you'd have to be careful about only unsupported bits of sand being able to fall. But this doesn't seem so difficult.

And you could use it to generate a very long sequence of images until the castle had disintegrated entirely into a stable pile of sand.

Unless you also incorporated wind, in which case it would also be slowly blown away ...

something like the game Sugar, Sugar?

[SemisolidSnake]

OK... Entertain me if you will for a few more moments:

The water (or ice) hasn't so much as rippled in 140 frames (the flags haven't moved either, but they've only been around for a few frames)
This beach (or snow field) seems to have an inexhaustible supply of building material, even relatively far from the shore.

And something I just realized!

BUCKETS!

Building a sand castle requires water, does it not?

I've thought about this, too. The sand on top may be dry, but if you dig down enough, you'll find wet sand, or even pooling water.

Of course the cop-out way to explain things is just that they go and grab water with their hidden buckets during the frames that we don't see.

I like to think that once they decided to make a big castle, they dug a trench from the water to their castle to provide a constant supply of water and thus wet building sand. Of course, their wet sand pit is in the background of the picture so we can't see it.

[aslowhite]

Know what would be cool? To write code to simulate the slow erosion of a sandcastle.

That's got to be it. The End of time (or, the end of Time).

[blowfishhootie]

What, exactly, is leading people to believe the girl is sad? Since when is sitting down solely the act of a depressed person? Because I see no other clues to suggest it. Why can't it just be that she finished her part and was waiting for the guy to finish up and join her?

[defineadult]

Here's hoping for hugs in the next frame! Given that he walked past her, it's looking less likely though. I think she actually looks a little cold, rather than depressed.

She's been out in the snow for a really long time.

Not necessarily, it's not clear what Cueball did during the "Later!/Bye!" Uncertainty (I think it's connected to but not exactly the same as the second dark period, and is shorter in duration) and what Megan was up to during the male period. Were they inside? Given the undefined frame rate I can't assume it was just building the upper castle in the sand.

Also, any circles in the sand been spotted?

[trusstopher]

What, exactly, is leading people to believe the girl is sad? Since when is sitting down solely the act of a depressed person? Because I see no other clues to suggest it. Why can't it just be that she finished her part and was waiting for the guy to finish up and join her?

The same thing that led people to think "shaking sand from hair" means her hair is a falling out and she has cancer...

[lovepirate]

What, exactly, is leading people to believe the girl is sad? Since when is sitting down solely the act of a depressed person? Because I see no other clues to suggest it. Why can't it just be that she finished her part and was waiting for the guy to finish up and join her?

It's because we see something of ourselves in them, and we're all sad in some way because Time is sad. It's all projecting.
Wait for it.

[mojacardave]

What, exactly, is leading people to believe the girl is sad? Since when is sitting down solely the act of a depressed person? Because I see no other clues to suggest it. Why can't it just be that she finished her part and was waiting for the guy to finish up and join her?

Well - without other visual cues to go on, it's the protective body position, and the fact that she was looking slightly downwards. Yes, that's quite presumptuous, but it's all we have available to judge emotions, and the pace of progress encourages reading far too much into frames.

I don't actually think she's sad (or cold) but there are some minor visual cues.

[pdg]

Since when is sitting down solely the act of a depressed person?

I hope it isn't, otherwise based on how much time I spend sitting down I'm going to have some serious counseling in my future.

[peewee_RotA]

We need to keep a running quote of the units of measurement..

Metric:
Newpix = 20 grains
metric 'mote' where 100 motes = 1 newpix

Standard:
TimeFrame = 16 grains

Both can be used to determine duration or actual time of day.

When used for duration the conversion is this
1 TimeFrame = 1 Newpix
1 standard grain = 4/5 metric grain
1 mote = 1/100th TimeFrame

When used for time of day, a TimeFrame is based on the BONG/DONG/GONG which is aprox. 0.053 standard grains ahead of the Newpix. The Newpix is based on the exact milli-mote of when the picture actually changes.


Standard Days contain 48 TimeFrames and a new day begins at FDP (First Daily Pic)
Metric days contain 48 Newpix and a new day begins at NDP (New Daily Pic)

put it into the wiki!

Updated the wiki

http://xkcd-time.wikia.com/wiki/TimeFrames
http://xkcd-time.wikia.com/wiki/Newpix

[HAL9000]

This is the third time they've both been looking out over the [unidentified body of water]. They started that way, and then there were a couple of frames of it before Megan left. I'm probably reading too much into it, but these moments always seem to occur when there isn't an obvious castle related route by which to proceed, and then BANG new revelation, so I'm hoping for something interesting within the next few newpices.

I predict one of two endings:
-they sit together for a moment, and then get up and leave off the left side. The castles remain, the only things in the last frame.
-the last frame is them sitting together, either looking out over the water or looking back, admiring the castles they have made.

[icebreather106]

What, exactly, is leading people to believe the girl is sad? Since when is sitting down solely the act of a depressed person? Because I see no other clues to suggest it. Why can't it just be that she finished her part and was waiting for the guy to finish up and join her?

Well - without other visual cues to go on, it's the protective body position, and the fact that she was looking slightly downwards. Yes, that's quite presumptuous, but it's all we have available to judge emotions, and the pace of progress encourages reading far too much into frames.

I don't actually think she's sad (or cold) but there are some minor visual cues.

You beat me to it. I don't at all think it would be a stretch to think she's sad. Not saying that's the case, but by her body language she certainly could be. One other person said she looks cold (that whole crazy snow hypothesis....) but I could get on the bandwagon with cold and/or sad

[blowfishhootie]

What, exactly, is leading people to believe the girl is sad? Since when is sitting down solely the act of a depressed person? Because I see no other clues to suggest it. Why can't it just be that she finished her part and was waiting for the guy to finish up and join her?

Well - without other visual cues to go on, it's the protective body position, and the fact that she was looking slightly downwards. Yes, that's quite presumptuous, but it's all we have available to judge emotions, and the pace of progress encourages reading far too much into frames.

I don't actually think she's sad (or cold) but there are some minor visual cues.

Hmmm... I remain unconvinced, but at least if you think you see something, it's not baseless. :)

I see a person sitting on the beach with her arms on her knees - deep in thought perhaps, but betraying no emotion from the signs we can see.

[backwrds]

What, exactly, is leading people to believe the girl is sad? Since when is sitting down solely the act of a depressed person? Because I see no other clues to suggest it. Why can't it just be that she finished her part and was waiting for the guy to finish up and join her?

Well - without other visual cues to go on, it's the protective body position, and the fact that she was looking slightly downwards. Yes, that's quite presumptuous, but it's all we have available to judge emotions, and the pace of progress encourages reading far too much into frames.

I don't actually think she's sad (or cold) but there are some minor visual cues.

You beat me to it. I don't at all think it would be a stretch to think she's sad. Not saying that's the case, but by her body language she certainly could be. One other person said she looks cold (that whole crazy snow hypothesis....) but I could get on the bandwagon with cold and/or sad

Well "icebreather" (if that is your real name) I'm sorry you think that it's crazy to make an awesome fort out of clean, widely available, and renewable snow. (it's 100% natural! Guaranteed no hypodermics!)

Also, I really hope he doesn't jump into that pond.

[embracethehate]

She does look rather sad, but it's just so hard to tell without facial expressions. She could be deep in thought or just peaceful, or simply bored and waiting for him to catch up with her.

[digimuzik]

It is amazing how well Randall conveys emotions through faceless stick figures...

[Phaelin]

time-i-waited-for-it.jpg

I feel tempted.

Can I suggest a change to the wording? Please make it "I'm waiting for it" (And of course, no end date.)

I feel like if there's going to be merch for this wonderful productivity killer, the image doesn't work too well on a shirt. Maybe magnets, or posters?

T-shirts with an inlaid flexible e-ink display, showing the whole thing over and over and over?

Only if it moves as slowly as this comic! You'd have to wear the same shirt for days! Fun!

[Whizbang]

I bet she is sad because she has no facial features. That'd make anyone sad.

[Splive]

What, exactly, is leading people to believe the girl is sad? Since when is sitting down solely the act of a depressed person? Because I see no other clues to suggest it. Why can't it just be that she finished her part and was waiting for the guy to finish up and join her?

Well - without other visual cues to go on, it's the protective body position, and the fact that she was looking slightly downwards. Yes, that's quite presumptuous, but it's all we have available to judge emotions, and the pace of progress encourages reading far too much into frames.

I don't actually think she's sad (or cold) but there are some minor visual cues.

You beat me to it. I don't at all think it would be a stretch to think she's sad. Not saying that's the case, but by her body language she certainly could be. One other person said she looks cold (that whole crazy snow hypothesis....) but I could get on the bandwagon with cold and/or sad

Yup...and this realization blew my mind. They are stick figures, but you can still infer human emotion to some degree...
Hand on knee - potentially pensive, bored, reflective.
Staring slightly down - again, potentially pensive and reflective, potentially sad
Starting off towards ocean - huge trigger for being reflective...similar to staring at night sky


As opposed to:
Sitting, but staring behind her - either something interesting going on back there, or obviously bored and looking for something more interesting
Sitting, leaning back, looking up - relaxed, happy

[zaphodbeebledoc]

I've been trying to catch up all day, but this

IMHO, "Time" describes relativity of time: kids can run around and play for an hour. To grown-ups, an hour is as fast as blinking an eye, but to a kid an hour of building castles in the sand is like a couple of days. I think we're experiencing time again as if we were six years old. (Sorry if I'm posting something someone else has said already. I followed the forum up to page 17 or so, but catching up will take, like, forever?)

I saw what you did there!

Coming up on 3:30. Coming up on x:30? Holy crap, 0.1 newpix 'til new pic!

Oh, and I'm trying to replace archaic terms like "3:30 AM" wth "7NP". (7 newpix after midnight.)

I have to admit, I did almost say "I'm almost at the 08:30 panel here, which panel are you near?"

Calling now 17NP doesn't seem too hard to do. Just double the time, right? I can manage that ... also I like knowing you're 10NP behind me rather than five hours. Makes me feel more zen.

They might be 10NP behind, but, at the same time, they are on the same pigeoncomic NP... That's my mind blown today!

So while discussing a comic called Time we have redefined time itself?

that's deep.

Mariana Trench deep!

[zaphodbeebledoc]

I bet she is sad because she has no facial features. That'd make anyone sad.

It would make me look sad...

[blowfishhootie]

It is amazing how well Randall conveys emotions through faceless stick figures...

Are you being sarcastic?

Because there's nothing yet to confirm that the speculation about the girls' emotions is correct. If all these people are convinced she's depressed, and that winds up not being the case, that would be a quite strong counter to your argument.

[GingerMuffin]

time-i-waited-for-it.jpg

I feel tempted.

Can I suggest a change to the wording? Please make it "I'm waiting for it" (And of course, no end date.)

I feel like if there's going to be merch for this wonderful productivity killer, the image doesn't work too well on a shirt. Maybe magnets, or posters?

T-shirts with an inlaid flexible e-ink display, showing the whole thing over and over and over?

Only if it moves as slowly as this comic! You'd have to wear the same shirt for days! Fun!

Wow! This would be brilliant! Now imagine the expression on someone's face who saw you at the beginning of the day, when they saw a slightly different picture at the end of the day, with no obvious movement??

[DerPeser]

I love this comic so much. Now I want to go to the beach and built a giant sandcastle.

So when are we going to get together and do this?

so i guess we make the 25th March to the international "build a sandcastle"-day...

Absolutely seconded!

[Arther]

What, exactly, is leading people to believe the girl is sad? Since when is sitting down solely the act of a depressed person? Because I see no other clues to suggest it. Why can't it just be that she finished her part and was waiting for the guy to finish up and join her?

Well - without other visual cues to go on, it's the protective body position, and the fact that she was looking slightly downwards. Yes, that's quite presumptuous, but it's all we have available to judge emotions, and the pace of progress encourages reading far too much into frames.

I don't actually think she's sad (or cold) but there are some minor visual cues.

There are definite cues there (shoulders drooping, head dipping) I'm not sure if she's sad, or cold , or if she's just tired. She has spent a lot of time moving wet sand after all.

[daef]

I love this comic so much. Now I want to go to the beach and built a giant sandcastle.

So when are we going to get together and do this?

so i guess we make the 25th March to the international "build a sandcastle"-day...

Absolutely seconded!

woher isser denn - der peser?

EDIT: oops

[sage615]

So I haven't bothered reading through this whole thread but does anybody else suspect the tide is about to simply wash away all their work, where they will then begin anew from the beginning. From then on the comic will simply cycle through everything again and again as they build the sand castle over and over only to have it all washed away. ...Kind of sad really, but still good. I guess we'll see soon enough won't we.

[mojacardave]

This is the third time they've both been looking out over the [unidentified body of water]. They started that way, and then there were a couple of frames of it before Megan left. I'm probably reading too much into it, but these moments always seem to occur when there isn't an obvious castle related route by which to proceed, and then BANG new revelation, so I'm hoping for something interesting within the next few newpices.

I predict one of two endings:
-they sit together for a moment, and then get up and leave off the left side. The castles remain, the only things in the last frame.
-the last frame is them sitting together, either looking out over the water or looking back, admiring the castles they have made.

I reckon that the number of frames might be a significant figure. Not necessarily an exact multiple of 100 or anything but something meaningful. I think if I was drawing frames, I wouldn't want to stop at 169 frames, I'd always think: well I should keep going until I've done 200, and if the story took me past that point, I'd keep going to 250, then 300 etc. We already know Randall has OCD tendencies so I suspect he'll want to take it to a milestone.

[icebreather106]

What, exactly, is leading people to believe the girl is sad? Since when is sitting down solely the act of a depressed person? Because I see no other clues to suggest it. Why can't it just be that she finished her part and was waiting for the guy to finish up and join her?

Well - without other visual cues to go on, it's the protective body position, and the fact that she was looking slightly downwards. Yes, that's quite presumptuous, but it's all we have available to judge emotions, and the pace of progress encourages reading far too much into frames.

I don't actually think she's sad (or cold) but there are some minor visual cues.

You beat me to it. I don't at all think it would be a stretch to think she's sad. Not saying that's the case, but by her body language she certainly could be. One other person said she looks cold (that whole crazy snow hypothesis....) but I could get on the bandwagon with cold and/or sad

Well "icebreather" (if that is your real name) I'm sorry you think that it's crazy to make an awesome fort out of clean, widely available, and renewable snow. (it's 100% natural! Guaranteed no hypodermics!)

Also, I really hope he doesn't jump into that pond.

I love this answer so much that I'm ok with it being snow now

[slinches]

I don't know how anyone can be depressed. We have new xkcd to look at on a Thursday!

[Lycur]

I love this comic so much. Now I want to go to the beach and built a giant sandcastle.

So when are we going to get together and do this?

so i guess we make the 25th March to the international "build a sandcastle"-day...

Absolutely seconded!

There was a snowstorm here on March 25th. Screw it, I'll build a sandcastle anyways.

[icebreather106]

I love this comic so much. Now I want to go to the beach and built a giant sandcastle.

So when are we going to get together and do this?

so i guess we make the 25th March to the international "build a sandcastle"-day...

Absolutely seconded!

There was a snowstorm here on March 25th. Screw it, I'll build a sandcastle anyways.

Who knows, these COULD be snow castles!

[digimuzik]

It is amazing how well Randall conveys emotions through faceless stick figures...

Are you being sarcastic?

Because there's nothing yet to confirm that the speculation about the girls' emotions is correct. If all these people are convinced she's depressed, and that winds up not being the case, that would be a quite strong counter to your argument.

I was referring to XKCD in general, since we don't have these sort of disagreements in most comics. But you have a point. If it turns out she's not sad, then I'd have to turn this around to say "Wow, Randall really sucks at conveying emotion through faceless stick figures."

[mojacardave]

I love this comic so much. Now I want to go to the beach and built a giant sandcastle.

So when are we going to get together and do this?

so i guess we make the 25th March to the international "build a sandcastle"-day...

Absolutely seconded!

There was a snowstorm here on March 25th. Screw it, I'll build a sandcastle anyways.

To be fair - a number of people in this thread seem to think you should be building a snowcastle anyway.

[thallone]

"So, do you suppose they'll come rescue us?"

[dinfinity]

What, exactly, is leading people to believe the girl is sad? Since when is sitting down solely the act of a depressed person? Because I see no other clues to suggest it. Why can't it just be that she finished her part and was waiting for the guy to finish up and join her?

The lack of conversation. Although the "Later!" and "Bye!" added some lightheartedness, it is still awfully silent in this comic.

Edit: ARG! Either Randall saw my post and decided to add more dialog instantly, or I just chose a terrible moment to make my only contribution to this thread.

[GingerMuffin]

I don't know how anyone can be depressed. We have new xkcd to look at on a Thursday!

Agreed!! Couldn't be happier!!

[Srt252]

0.033NP until the possible start of a new TIME PERIOD! GASP

[ThatGingerBrit]

Gosh, you all bloody love 103 don't you? Well, I have something to tell you!! Just because it contains the most 'action' does NOT make it the best frame. I think in terms of narrative and suspense 126 was by far superior. The not knowing, the questioning, the confusion. The laughter (brought on by the descent into madness)... !!!

I think you've just proven comic 915's point.