1190: "Time"

[Fitzypyro]

Is it just me, or does "The Past" feel like a letdown compared to this? It's such a simple strip, it almost feels blah.

I think everyone is just too focused on Time to worry about The Past. And i think Randall planned that perfectly to just send us another message. Some serious zen going on here now.

Whoa, man, whoa.

That...you just totally blew my mind right there.

The internet doesn't convey sarcasm well, but I'm going to say that was sincere so, thanks
This is my favorite thing about XKCD, how easily Randall can toy with us yet enlighten us so. Despite the sheer amount of time that everyone here has been wasting on this, I'm going to guess a whole lot have so much more appreciation for it now. And I'm going to guess that was the master plan. Time is important but it can be well wasted. We have lots of it too. (clearly)
For me just seeing that first panel was immensely powerful. That they were just sitting there and letting time pass was a wonderful thing. But now its just so much more than i thought it would be (and its still going!) and its all because of everyone else out there watching and waiting.

I wasn't being sarcastic, sorry if it seemed that way! I'll admit, I've been lacking sleep the past few days over this comic, but you just made me sit for a few minutes and think hard about life.

Nono don't worry I didn't think you were being sarcastic. It was just that tiny doubtful voice in the back of my head being silly. I know how you feel about missing sleep, this has been absorbing my life up heaps and heaps. Just more time to contemplate really And thank you for your kind words! Good to know I'm not rambling to empty space.
Also I see that the hashers are back! keep up the hashing talk! its very interesting for someone with no knowledge of it.
Can i get a *bump*? You will gets an internet

[higgs-boson]

I can imagine the guy breaking the 4th wall saying "Hey, sorry, but this strip went on for so long and I got even less sleep than you! And I did not just watch!".
Ehr. Too much complaining for that guy. So maybe it will be narrowed down to "Oops, sorry.".

[MSTK]

did we end up cracking the hash or are we just waiting for it the slow way

Not possible. The hashes for each image are being revealed by a server, not calculated by the client. The hashes are probably just random and are being used specifically to prevent people from finding images in advance of their scheduled reveal.

by cracking, i mean figuring out the pattern of the text he is hashing...like trying out all possible sequences of numbers or something. if he wants us to know. if he doesn't want us to know (with some salt or something, or a non-trivial pattern), then we are sol

[azule]

The previous from current frame*, I believe, shows him elbowing his way out of the inside of the castle. It must have been on purpose to destroy it. Maybe just part of it. We'll see.

*[sorry, can't figure out a more cogent way to say it]

RANDALL.

PLEASE.

STOP.

THE WIKI SERVER IS DYING.

HAVE MERCY.

I was planning to just read the updates on the wiki...and was forced to come here to have any chance at reading something besides a 503 error page. Still looking forward to see the summation @ ExplainXKCD when it's over....if...

[mybrainhurts]

She's off getting a whole lot of playpen balls!
To have a bath in the courtyard, of course!

[azule]

Just wanted to say thanks to all those staying up keeping an eye on the progress. Of course, thanks most to the machines that are running/ruining? our lives. lol.





*Homophonic edit

[yangosplat]

I can't post images yet, but new frame! Beat me to it, anyway!

Is it just me or does he look like he's eating the sand...?

[KarMann]

Looks like maybe he got sand on or in his mouth when he fell and is wiping it off now, maybe?

[Incognito357]

He looks to be brushing sand off of himself, I bet he fell by accident, poor guy. Next 3 hours is him fixing it, maybe the girl comes back sometime while that's happening

[mojacardave]

I'm surprised nobody has said it yet, but it looks like he's constructing a ramp. Early on, when the guy disappeared, somebody predicted he was going to reappear doing a stunt of some kind over the (smaller) castle. I predict that now, but for the girl.

EDIT: On reviewing all the panels I missed while I was asleep, I think that it looks more like he fell by mistake and broke the castle, as most people seem to think. Until now, Randall's done a very good job of making his stick figures pretty unambiguous, but it's not entirely clear what happened there. Maybe we'll find out whether it was accidental, or maybe we'll never know.

[azule]

Looks like maybe he got sand on or in his mouth when he fell and is wiping it off now, maybe?

Yeah, just brushing sand off his face/head.



p.s. I finally beat someone at posting the image. "Now you can go to bed, you dork!"

[Mr Moriaty]

Why do I feel empathy for some black pixels?

I'm think there is something going on off screen. why else have they both left at different times? It's not like he came back with Beer or Ice Cream.

[Fitzypyro]

It seems like there's been a considerable decline in traffic the last 10 odd updates. I'm guessing our American friends finally gave in and went to sleep?
I really hope this thread makes it to #1. I wonder if cueball will fix what he fell on or just wait until Megan gets back? Or there's always the feathered velciraptors, waves, lions or hat guy.

[eidako]

Another epileptic tree:
BHG will build a time machine in 1192, then appear in 1190 to steal their oil. Some type of causality error will ensue, corrupting xkcd.com and leading into this year's ||||-| gimmick.

[Blackbird O'Malley]

I've been reading xkcd for about eight years now, but I also joined the forum just for this thread. Actually, I only sought out the forums for the first time Monday night just to figure out what the hell was going on with this comic. Now I'm just saying hi to help pad the post count.

Three more minutes until a new image comes down.

[franko553]

[Fitzypyro]

"Whoops"

[KroniK907]

First thing that came to mind....

[Hermesdfo]

Oh, God, it won't stop.

It has become eternal and self-conscious, outside of Munroe's control. It won't stop until we pull the plug on the internet. Or the Roomba does it for us.

Oh, and as far as collateral damage goes, I didn't sleep the first night, missed stuff to do along these days and probably won't sleep tonight. Dandall, you have successfully crashed both servers and persons. And I can't be mad at you.

[Beidah]

I'm back. Poor guy worked so hard on that sandcastle, only for his own clumsiness to destroy it. Now, will he rebuild, or will he call it a day and leave? Time... will tell.

[Fitzypyro]

First thing that came to mind....

Oh that just made my day (evening)

Oh, God, it won't stop.

It has become eternal and self-conscious, outside of Munroe's control. It won't stop until we pull the plug on the internet. Or the Roomba does it for us.

Oh, and as far as collateral damage goes, I didn't sleep the first night, missed stuff to do along these days and probably won't sleep tonight. Dandall, you have successfully crashed both servers and persons. And I can't be mad at you.

I totally agree. Yet I was fortunate enough to not have to much on my plate that I couldn't scramble something together last minute.

[franko553]

[franko553]

He's rebuilding!

[KarMann]

We can rebuild it. We have the technology. We can make it better than it was. Better . . . stronger . . . well, maybe not faster.

[yangosplat]

He appears to be rebuilding. And so the thread continues...

Oh, God, it won't stop.

It has become eternal and self-conscious, outside of Munroe's control. It won't stop until we pull the plug on the internet. Or the Roomba does it for us.

Oh, and as far as collateral damage goes, I didn't sleep the first night, missed stuff to do along these days and probably won't sleep tonight. Dandall, you have successfully crashed both servers and persons. And I can't be mad at you.

So Monday morning I woke up, hoping to get some work done, but decided just to go check for the newest xkcd comic - it was Monday, after all.
Half an hour, some confusion, endless hypothesizing, several 500 errors on explainxkcd, and absolutely no work later, I ended up on this thread, and here I have stayed.
I mean, I think I might have gone to school? And slept at some point? But besides that... WHY IS THIS SO TIME-CONSUMING.

[velkito]

Just a side note: Is this the largest comic thread this forum has seen? I went and looked to see how big Click And Drag was, but the comment number for that has already been outdone.

It's kinda interesting to read people watching this unfold. Maybe there is no real end game, and it's a tiny social experiment, in which Randall Munroe watches to see how people react to incredibly minor changes in things, when they believe there is a substantial outcome at the end of those changes?

I would be okay with that.

Sort by "replies" on forum page. Time comes eigth with 678 replies (at this moment). "Pickup Artist"'s got 2030. So good luck

EDIT: "Pickup Artist" had a flame war going on as far as I know (I didn't read through all 2030 posts . Locked now.

The "Pressures" thread was legendary.

Can anyone please post a link to this thread? Now I'm really curious

Also, good grief, 16 pages of comments while I was sleeping, how am I gonna read them all at work??

[Mr Moriaty]

Randall has successfully made xx:15 and xx:45 the most depressing moments of the hour.

[Fitzypyro]

First thing that came to mind....

Good Call. (YAY EXCITEMENT IN HALF HOURLY INCREMENTS)
this could definitely be a social experiment.

[ggrohmann]

"that moments that make up a dull day." This comic so wants me going to the beach again. But its -1°C there and everything is frozen. See:

Now I'm jealous to some stick-people

Greetings from germany,
Guido

[Foarm]

Randall has successfully made xx:15 and xx:45 the most depressing moments of the hour.

So true!
But then again...
For me the last xx:15 gave me a moment to register to the forum

[franko553]

[Beidah]

Has everyone gone to bed?

[yangosplat]

Pretty much everyone has, yeah. But there are still a few stragglers around.

[Mr Moriaty]

actually I just got up

[Sighclops]

Wearing my XKCD tie today just in honor of this.

[mojacardave]

The UK is awake again now though, so there's presumably some English speaking posters left on here.

This comic would be less frustrating if there was continuous forward progress. With the speed of the updates, any damage to the castle is truly annoying. And that's presumably part of the point. It's beautiful in spite of that (and partly BECAUSE of that).

At least this rebuild clarifies that the destruction was accidental. I'm still hoping for something new and a bit different, after this reconstruction is complete.

[Eoink]

Yep, it's now 9.40 in the UK, I'm having a manic day at work, but taking time every 30 minutes to check what our friend(s) are doing.
It's amazing how it is possible toget emotionally invested in 2 stick figures.

[higgs-boson]

"that moments that make up a dull day." This comic so wants me going to the beach again. But its -1°C there and everything is frozen.

What are you waiting for? Go! Build a sand castle, provide updates on your blog every 30 minutes. Take your girl-friend with you.
And of course, deciding that the water is too cold for taking a quick bath is in the script, too.

-1°C is good weather for building sand castles. You don't sweat easily and wet sand could freeze solid* for additional stability.



*Actually, salty water would not freeze at -1°C. But I liked the thought.

[iisjreg]

I've just got to work and am ready for a day of hardcore waiting.

Plus, I've got xkcd always-on-top now with OnTopReplica (http://ontopreplica.codeplex.com/) loaded up so I can always see the comic! (example attached)

[FayZee]

The UK is awake again now though, so there's presumably some English speaking posters left on here.

This comic would be less frustrating if there was continuous forward progress. With the speed of the updates, any damage to the castle is truly annoying. And that's presumably part of the point. It's beautiful in spite of that (and partly BECAUSE of that).

At least this rebuild clarifies that the destruction was accidental. I'm still hoping for something new and a bit different, after this reconstruction is complete.

I know. I feel I can't settle to anything until the damage to the castle is repaired.

UK poster.