1190: "Time"

[dp2]

So I am leaning more and more that they are stuck in some bizarre terrain. Which explains the initial sort of boredom and fidgeting.

So ... you have to, like, be stuck on Mars or something in order to be bored and fidgety? And what, exactly, was this "boredom and fidgeting" anyway? Why couldn't it just have been relaxing on the beach?

Given your resistance to even jokingly re-interpreting the comic, I find your earlier post explaining your username very ironic.

If you can see a punchline in the sentence to which I responded in your quoted message, good for you. I sure don't see it though - so I don't know why this means I'm resistant to jokes. I pointed out that the conclusion "they looked bored and fidgety, so they must not be on a beach" makes no sense, and the person who wrote it originally has responded multiple times without any indication that it was a joke.

Whether xspeedballx was joking is irrelevant. You've repeatedly railed against any interpretation other than the most superficial, while using a handle that seems to have an obvious origin but doesn't.

[Mithramuse]

Typical guy, always fixing things up.

Speaking of which, I've got this honey-do list for this weekend...

[Kieryn]

This hasn't been bumped in a really long time:

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AN EXPLANATION OF THE LAST 4000+ POSTS
WITHOUT HAVING TO READ THEM ALL, PLEASE READ THE WIKI!

http://xkcd-time.wikia.com/wiki/XKCD_Time_Wiki

Need to add the auto generated / inifinite theory to the List of end of comic theories or the List of speculated meanings behind the comic.

Also discussion about AI and possible automation of xkcd / this forum / us ourselves should be added to the off-topic section

[digimuzik]

Megan saw the erosion on her way to construct an even larger castle off to the left and told him about it. She just builds. He maintains.

[Helper]

Last time Megan left him part of the castle crumbled - his world began to fall apart. If that happens again, it's a much bigger world for him to put back together alone.

;_;. Christ, how depressing.

[Zindaras]

I wonder if the flags are made out of sand.

[plumander]

I've been gone for about 30 newpix... so much has happened.

[KroniK907]

Need to add the auto generated / inifinite theory to the List of end of comic theories or the List of speculated meanings behind the comic.

Also discussion about AI and possible automation of xkcd / this forum / us ourselves should be added to the off-topic section

No... That is all there... look at the links page

[belliott4488]

Remember those old times, when we were so happy to have reached newPage 100?

Truly a darker era.

Last time Megan left him part of the castle crumbled - his world began to fall apart. If that happens again, it's a much bigger world for him to put back together alone.

Actually, the last time he fixed a left-most turret in Megan's absence, he then walked off to the left, where we eventually found Megan working on a much larger castle. So, if that patterns repeats itself (which would be kind of Randall-Munroe-like) ...

[jello34543]

By the way, We're now double Pickup Artist's post count.

Does that include the second attempt at Pickup Artist as well?

No, it does not. I didn't know there was a second attempt.

[Reka]

I wonder if the flags are made out of sand.

They can't be: we saw Megan carrying them around in 163.

[Kieryn]

Need to add the auto generated / inifinite theory to the List of end of comic theories or the List of speculated meanings behind the comic.

Also discussion about AI and possible automation of xkcd / this forum / us ourselves should be added to the off-topic section

No... That is all there... look at the links page

Yeah, that has my proof of concept link. but then it says "With the dialogs and action going on, it's clear that it is not autogenerated". I object to that conclusion... it's like the argument "look at the complexity of the eyeball and look how specialist it's function is -- it must have been intelligently designed."

[Thorbard9]

I find it amusing that, despite having only skimmed this thread and not actively participated before, I've still started thinking of time in terms of newpix.

I wonder when it will stop...

[trusstopher]

I wonder if the flags are made out of sand.

They can't be: we saw Megan carrying them around in 163.

But they could be made of ice......

[Zindaras]

I wonder if the flags are made out of sand.

They can't be: we saw Megan carrying them around in 163.

And so they cannot be made from sand? She could just have made them somewhere else and carried them there. I'd expect good sand to stick together well enough to be able to do something like that (though I am now really curious to test it). I think the sandcastle pictures we saw before pretty much prove you can make anything out of sand.

[fixer]

Remember those old times, when we were so happy to have reached newPage 100?

Truly a darker era.

Last time Megan left him part of the castle crumbled - his world began to fall apart. If that happens again, it's a much bigger world for him to put back together alone.

Actually, the last time he fixed a left-most turret in Megan's absence, he then walked off to the left, where we eventually found Megan working on a much larger castle. So, if that patterns repeats itself (which would be kind of Randall-Munroe-like) ...

I like this idea/interpretation/prediction.

[Zindaras]

I wonder if the flags are made out of sand.

They can't be: we saw Megan carrying them around in 163.

But they could be made of ice......

I just want it to be clear that I am a Sandist. I do not subscribe to Iceism.

[k.bookbinder]

Megan saw the erosion on her way to construct an even larger castle off to the left and told him about it. She just builds. He maintains.

That too may be an indicator as to the nature of their relationship. But there have been past Time Frames in which he continues to build on his own without Megan. Though sometimes he doesn't realize he's building alone.

[Mr Moriaty]

Remember those old times, when we were so happy to have reached newPage 100?

Remember those old times when we were so happy to have reached newPage 10??

I need a t-shirt that says "I was there from the beginning of 'Time'"

Man I am going to have SOOOO many new T-shirts after this thread... I'll need a new wardrobe.

[xspeedballx]

I wonder if the flags are made out of sand.

They can't be: we saw Megan carrying them around in 163.

And so they cannot be made from sand? She could just have made them somewhere else and carried them there. I'd expect good sand to stick together well enough to be able to do something like that (though I am now really curious to test it). I think the sandcastle pictures we saw before pretty much prove you can make anything out of sand.

Maybe they are glass flag's? Then they ARE made out of sand. Also be explanation for lack of movement.

[Thorbard9]

I wonder if the flags are made out of sand.

They can't be: we saw Megan carrying them around in 163.

And so they cannot be made from sand? She could just have made them somewhere else and carried them there. I'd expect good sand to stick together well enough to be able to do something like that (though I am now really curious to test it). I think the sandcastle pictures we saw before pretty much prove you can make anything out of sand.

Maybe they are glass flag's? Then they ARE made out of sand. Also be explanation for lack of movement.

Oooh interesting suggestion.

[Zindaras]

I wonder if the flags are made out of sand.

They can't be: we saw Megan carrying them around in 163.

And so they cannot be made from sand? She could just have made them somewhere else and carried them there. I'd expect good sand to stick together well enough to be able to do something like that (though I am now really curious to test it). I think the sandcastle pictures we saw before pretty much prove you can make anything out of sand.

Maybe they are glass flag's? Then they ARE made out of sand. Also be explanation for lack of movement.

Exactly. If they would be real flags, they'd have to move. A lack of movement implies that they, too, are made of sand.

[digimuzik]

I wonder if the flags are made out of sand.

They can't be: we saw Megan carrying them around in 163.

And so they cannot be made from sand? She could just have made them somewhere else and carried them there. I'd expect good sand to stick together well enough to be able to do something like that (though I am now really curious to test it). I think the sandcastle pictures we saw before pretty much prove you can make anything out of sand.

Maybe they are glass flag's? Then they ARE made out of sand. Also be explanation for lack of movement.

I like this theory.

[belliott4488]

Yeah, that has my proof of concept link. but then it says "With the dialogs and action going on, it's clear that it is not autogenerated". I object to that conclusion... it's like the argument "look at the complexity of the eyeball and look how specialist it's function is -- it must have been intelligently designed."

Oh, right .... because we don't already have enough religious wars in this new civilization!

[Reka]

I wonder if the flags are made out of sand.

They can't be: we saw Megan carrying them around in 163.

And so they cannot be made from sand? She could just have made them somewhere else and carried them there. I'd expect good sand to stick together well enough to be able to do something like that (though I am now really curious to test it). I think the sandcastle pictures we saw before pretty much prove you can make anything out of sand.

No, you can't carry around something made of sand that way, unless the sand has been glued together somehow (in which case, the object is no longer made of sand, or at least, it's not made of just sand). Skilled craftsmen can make a lot of things out of wet sand, but there are limits.

[trusstopher]

I wonder if the flags are made out of sand.

They can't be: we saw Megan carrying them around in 163.

And so they cannot be made from sand? She could just have made them somewhere else and carried them there. I'd expect good sand to stick together well enough to be able to do something like that (though I am now really curious to test it). I think the sandcastle pictures we saw before pretty much prove you can make anything out of sand.

No, you can't carry around something made of sand that way, unless the sand has been glued together somehow (in which case, the object is no longer made of sand, or at least, it's not made of just sand). Skilled craftsmen can make a lot of things out of wet sand, but there are limits.

Are things made of wet sand made of just sand? What about things made of frozen wet sand? Ice Sand?

Edit: Sand is not sad

[Whizbang]

The flags are still for the same reason the ocean is still. Time has been suspended for everything except these two and anything they touch. The sand casltes crumble because they touched the sand. The flags do not move because they only touched the poles. Now that they have gone into the ocean, we might see some movement there, depending on if only the water molecules they touch can now move or if the body as a whole is affected. Come to think of it, though, when Cueball dipped his toe, nothing happened, so obviously only the molecules being touched are affected.

[KroniK907]

Are things made of wet sad </snip>

yes... Tearful wet sad...

[scalziand]

Replace rocks with sand castles. Or something.

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a_bunch_of_rocks.png
http://xkcd.com/505/

[diego5wh]

Yeah, that has my proof of concept link. but then it says "With the dialogs and action going on, it's clear that it is not autogenerated". I object to that conclusion... it's like the argument "look at the complexity of the eyeball and look how specialist it's function is -- it must have been intelligently designed."

Oh, right .... because we don't already have enough religious wars in this new civilization!

All this happen just because of this comic, one day The Author of the One True Comic will post a comic with the text "at dawn we riot" and civilization as we know it will be destroyed only to rebuild itself weirder and geekier.

[hdhale]

An Outsider sent me a picture... and I found myself wondering what would happen in the next picture. I have to get out of here...

Why is Hotel California humming through my head??

Great, now I smell colitas....

[PhoenixRising]

Been too long since I've been able to get to an actual computer (by which I mean, you guys post like the proverbial million monkeys!) Wall-o-text incoming...

Maybe this new image will quell the religious talk for a while? I'm hoping so. I've started missing the hopeful speculation.
Also, damn the fact that there's a major development right before I decide to go to sleep.

I've decided that Randall hates sleep and doesn't want any of us to get any.

He must know something we don't about sleep? Or the sandcastle gives us strength to live, so sleep is unnecessary. Either way I am ok with this.

All Hail Randall, Lord of Time.

So, basically, what you are saying is that Randall is a time lord? It all makes so much sense now!

Well, he does have control of how many millions of hours of productivity now? I'd say he reached timelord status some time ago.

So you've all gone insane from lack of sleep, is that about the sum of things?

Seems so. But I've not enjoyed myself this thoroughly in months (kilopix?)

I'm standardizing how we tell time in NewPix:
-The beginning of our calendars shall hereby be the beginning of Time.
-Each NewPix is the quantized time between two frames of Time.
-milliPix is 1/1024th of a NewPix (1.75 "outsider" seconds)
-MACPix is 48 NewPix and is equal to the time of one earth rotational period in the outside world. (MAC Addresses are 48 bits wide)
-KiloPix is equal to 1024 NewPix, and is the standard "Month"
-UltraPix is equal to 17. KiloPix. This is our standard "Year" At the end of this period, there is a 2 day "Month" to celebrate The One True Comic.
Special Case:
Every three UltraPix, there is one Leap MACPix to keep the calendar in sync with the sun "outside".

This would mean our current date is 1:720 3/0/0 AT (Anno Time)

That system is confusing beyond all reason; there is absolutely no need for so many different number bases. I agree wholeheartedly with every point put forward here. An Internet to you.

I present #1061 (we need more complexity to surpass it!) and #927.

Note: There is a very high chance that anything I say at this point will coherence have not.

I'm pretty sure that could be accurately said of anyone in this thread at any time in the last 80 newpix or so, that being when sleep deprivation started hitting us all.

Wait, that may have been too coherent.

Sure am I pretty, accurate couldly said be of anyone this thread time in at any. 80 last newpix so or. Deprivavavavation sleeping hit start us alled.

MFW I realize this isn't lolspeak or a spambot:

Note: There is a very high chance that anything I say at this point will coherence have not.

I'm pretty sure that could be accurately said of anyone in this thread at any time in the last 80 newpix or so, that being when sleep deprivation started hitting us all.

I drank coffee to try to make it better, but now I'm just incoherrent and awake.

I had a problem: I was tired. So I drank a Monster. Now I have two problems.

*hic* luv ya Randall, grate comix here! *hic* dem sandcastlies are grate!

*crash*

Sigging that!
EDIT: oh no, I'm already past the limit... And there's no +1 button on this forum. What do, Randall?

I'll work on a chrome plugin, anyone wanna do a firefox one? (detect datetime, replace with format)

For what it's worth, if you're as sleep deprived as most of us, trying to write code with the intention of other people running might legally be considered an act of cyber-terrorism.

But I understand Paypal was initially written on 0 sleep... as was MacOS... ohwait, nvm, your point still stands. (Also, I want this on a poster on my wall.)


More later, when I finish catching up on the 25+ pages I still haven't read... you guys are insane <3

[anyLH]

Remember those old times, when we were so happy to have reached newPage 100?

Remember those old times when we were so happy to have reached newPage 10??

I need a t-shirt that says "I was there from the beginning of 'Time'"

"And all I got was this lousy T-shirt"?

[Lord Cathbad]

The flags are still for the same reason the ocean is still. Time has been suspended for everything except these two and anything they touch. The sand casltes crumble because they touched the sand. The flags do not move because they only touched the poles. Now that they have gone into the ocean, we might see some movement there, depending on if only the water molecules they touch can now move or if the body as a whole is affected. Come to think of it, though, when Cueball dipped his toe, nothing happened, so obviously only the molecules being touched are affected.

Nope! We've seen sand fall on its own. S there's gravity at least.

[Tophe]

I wonder if the flags are made out of sand.

They can't be: we saw Megan carrying them around in 163.

But they could be made of ice......

I just want it to be clear that I am a Sandist. I do not subscribe to Iceism.

Ah, but where do you stand on java/lava/bacon/semencancercaffeinebabies?

[Jellyfish-derp]

An Outsider sent me a picture... and I found myself wondering what would happen in the next picture. I have to get out of here...

Why is Hotel California humming through my head??

Great, now I smell colitas....

That's never good

[Zindaras]

I wonder if the flags are made out of sand.

They can't be: we saw Megan carrying them around in 163.

But they could be made of ice......

I just want it to be clear that I am a Sandist. I do not subscribe to Iceism.

Ah, but where do you stand on java/lava/bacon/semencancercaffeinebabies?

I'm a big fan of lava and bacon. I think java is just weird. And I cannot shake the feeling that semencancercaffeinebabies have a role to play in this.

[pdg]

I wonder if the flags are made out of sand.

They can't be: we saw Megan carrying them around in 163.

But they could be made of ice......

I just want it to be clear that I am a Sandist. I do not subscribe to Iceism.

Ah, but where do you stand on java/lava/bacon/semencancercaffeinebabies?

Bacon. Not only is it tasty, but the other options don't strike me as being very suitable for standing on.

[Whizbang]

The flags are still for the same reason the ocean is still. Time has been suspended for everything except these two and anything they touch. The sand casltes crumble because they touched the sand. The flags do not move because they only touched the poles. Now that they have gone into the ocean, we might see some movement there, depending on if only the water molecules they touch can now move or if the body as a whole is affected. Come to think of it, though, when Cueball dipped his toe, nothing happened, so obviously only the molecules being touched are affected.

Nope! We've seen sand fall on its own. S there's gravity at least.

Ah, but the sand was touched by them at some point. Anything they touch is then released from whatever force is freezing time.

Also, the gound outside the castles is lava.

[Helper]

semencancercaffeinebabies

What have we done.