1190: "Time"

[patzer]

sadly I don't know how to get that onto excel or do anything with it
so please can I have a graph?

Yeah you just paste the data into excel at field A1 and then select column A and do Data->Text to columns. Then select deliminated and tick comma then finish.

Then much more excel fiddling to get a graph...

Ah thanks , I didn't know about these data options. May I ask how you got the raw data? was it a script?
anyway I'm currently fiddling with that data, thanks!

[boozledorf]

[Latent22]

What's my post-graph? Now I'm curious.

You were naughty after your 5th, 51st and 150th posts

[HAL9000]

What's my post-graph? Now I'm curious.

You were naughty after your 5th, 51st and 150th posts

I think I redeem myself by being darn near horizontal in several spots.
Also, I'm pretty sure that the gaps at 51 and 150 were when I was off visiting various respectable universities, and thus sans computer.

[Latent22]

Ah thanks , I didn't know about these data options. May I ask how you got the raw data? was it a script?
anyway I'm currently fiddling with that data, thanks!

Spoiler:

Edit:You may wonder how I got this data. To get it I run a script that does:

Code: Select all

wget "http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=101043&start=14440"

for each page start point (increment the number by 40 each time). This gives me a folder of all the pages in raw html form. I then do some text processing to find all lines in these files that has the text

Code: Select all

class="author"

The output of this looks like this

Code: Select all

<p class="author"><a href="./viewtopic.php?p=3332036&amp;sid=722bc2364c923e55d248a1e43a97e8ac#p3332036"><img src="./styles/prosilver/imageset/icon_post_target.gif" width="11" height="9" alt="Post" title="Post" /></a>by <strong><a href="./memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&amp;u=385888&amp;sid=722bc2364c923e55d248a1e43a97e8ac">Latent22</a></strong> &raquo; Fri Apr 19, 2013 3:34 am UTC </p>

And then do text find/replacing to extract just the fields I want from the data. Haven't written any code to do this all for me yet. Also note to save load on the Forum server you don't re download pages you have already done each time you update it except the last 1-2 pages just in case.

Already posted as an edit to my post with the pastbin

[Flado]

Knight of the Woeful Maintenance. Does anyone get this reference?

I, for one, don't.

[tman2nd]

Knight of the Woeful Maintenance. Does anyone get this reference?

I, for one, don't.

And I, for two, don't either.

[Eternal Density]

Who Installed the Red Button and System Administrator)

HA, I installed a big red button in a patch-panel once. As an inside joke it did nothing but glow red. After a few months I noticed someone had hung a sign over the button that said "Do Not Push." Months later I noticed someone installed a plastic cover over it to prevent it being pressed accidentally ...bureaucracy in action I assumed.

This is awesome to an extremely great extent.

[KarMann]

Other Comic reminder: Integration by Parts is up now.

[patzer]

I did the graph! Horribly inefficiently, and I couldn't get both lines on one graph, but I did it
Here's Helper's graph

[vvn]

HA, I installed a big red button in a patch-panel once. As an inside joke it did nothing but glow red. After a few months I noticed someone had hung a sign over the button that said "Do Not Push." Months later I noticed someone installed a plastic cover over it to prevent it being pressed accidentally ...bureaucracy in action I assumed.

This reminds me of the Jargon File story about Magic.

[Eternal Density]

Other Comic reminder: Integration by Parts is up now.

I just realised it should be up (first time in ages I've remembered without seeing a reminder or by thinking of it days later) but fortunately I refreshed before posting it myself.
And I was just thinking this morning about how confusing integration by parts was back when I learned it, as the subject of university math came up in the office.

Hmm, it says that helper.png is not viewed yet, but how am I seeing it then?

Ah yes, the story about Magic, that's an old fave of mine. Sometimes when something magical happens in our codebase I reference 'more magic'

[patzer]

BlitzGirl

[buffygirl]

Doctor Sam Beckett led a group of top scientists into the desert to research his theory that a man could time travel within his own history of thread posts. Unfortunately, in order to save his funding, he was forced to enter the accelerator prematurely and vanished. He then found himself in someone else's body with partial amnesia. His only contact from home is Al, a holographic image only he can see and hear. Setting right BBcode which once went wrong, Sam leaps from post to post, hoping each time that he will finally meet Blitzgirl.

Hmmm .... ... I'm watching BSG for the first time (yeah, yeah, hush!), and I'm thinking .... hmmm ... nevermind

[ChronosDragon]

Curses and cancer, I missed the part where the title of Chronomancer was handed out. Granted, I already have my fair share of greek prefixes indicating time predicating my name. If one can be counted a fair share.

I'd ask for a graph of my postage, but I'm sure it would be quite uninteresting, and bring into the light the ...err...amount of trailing off...that I do...°
°The amount of time I spend Outside...

That being said, my first post of the vigintiquadrinewpix shall also be my last, as I must coma after a busy day of...trailing off...slowly...°
°spending time Outside

[Davidy]

145000 posts?

[patzer]

I'd ask for a graph of my postage, but...[/size]

No buts, you're getting one anyway

[buffygirl]

145000 posts?

you added a zero....

Currently in the HatQueue: boozledorf, AluisiooASG / AluisioASG and jjjdavidson.

[Exodies]

Thank you. Now I need to understand how to read it (not It).
It seems that vertical growth without horizontal growth is a bad thing. Am I right?

yeah its each post you made along the bottom and which TF/Page it was on the side. So vertical lines means you be slacking.

Maybe just giving the name of the program you used would be best. Otherwise, you'll always be busy.

Yeah its just stupid Excel. I've got a sheet I've been using to work on the data for the Book of Time Forum links but it also has posting times and names data which I can manually graph. Not easy to automate this for others though.

Ooo data protection issue. I hope you have the necessary procedures in place to protect the Excel sheet and are prepared, upon simple request, to give full and unfiltered access to all those named in it and have made them aware of their rights.

(Yes I know, I'm just having a toilet break. Leaving in a few minutes)

[Latent22]

145000 posts?

you added a zero....

Actually I think that was a post that was done on the 30th of November 2013. It has been posted back in time to the now to guide us.

[mscha]

What are they up to now?

[Eternal Density]

Where is everyone? No one has posted since the last newpic, and the next is drawing near (wait for it).

Hmm, what indeed are they up to? Maybe they aren't sure themselves. But one thing I am sure of is that the structure is of fairly sturdy construction, given the amount of movement of heavy objects that's gone on.

[Eliram]

BlitzGirl

Me too please

[KarMann]

NONG!

[Eternal Density]

Looks like Cueball is heading down for more supplies, possibly.
[edit] at the time I submitted, the ninja-detection hadn't noticed that the previous post was in fact there.

[tman2nd]

NONG!

Spoiler:

NONG? That's a new one.

[BlitzGirl]

Quest progress: 310 out of 363 pages.
The Observation/Observed Platform. NP 568.

Another signpost:

Spoiler:

Quest progress: 229 out of 309 pages.
The Architect Age. NP 355.

After a good long coma, I resumed my quest and quickly found the second signpost:

Quest progress: 100 out of 229 pages.
The "Wanna Swim?" Period. NP 176.

I have persevered past the 100th newpage of the thread of Time - yet my destination seems ever farther from me. Commemorating this moment with another signpost to my future self that I hope one day to see again in my travels, despite the fact that this post will only increase my journey.

Also, something about seminal coffee and/or bacon. This is a strange, strange Time period, my friends.

It worries me that my markers are now two posts deep. This journey is taking far longer than I anticipated. I hope it will not last for all Time! I despair at the thought of wandering through endless loops of signposts within signposts, forever lost in the past.

And here I am at the three-signpost-deep level. The signpost-sea is rising.
It has occurred to me that all these signposts are just making my Quest harder on myself. But if I don't chronicle the events of past Time in the Now, how will my future self ever remember them all? And how will you of Now (in my future, but soon Time's past) know how I'm faring way back here? Perhaps it's better that you don't know, because the response to this last signpost generated a mountain of posts I had to climb over.

Pastpost Mountain:

Spoiler:

Despair not, Oh Anointed One. The loops may seem endless to you now, but good things come to those who Wait for it...
Let the signposts guide your way along the winding road and never stray from it. We're all Waiting for you here in the present future and we'll celebrate your arrival when it comes. It's only a matter of Time.

I would like to invite all who care to join me in congratulating BlitzGirl, The Anointed One, in making it this far* in her journeyings:

Congratulations, Oh Anointed One. May the newpages ahead be filled with wonders worth waiting for.

* not that she, at the writing of this post has already made it this far, but that I find it worth leaving the congratulations for her to receive upon her reading hereto.

I would like to join you you in congratulating - although BlitzGirl is a Member of the Timewaiters.

Congratulations Blitzgirl, for making it here, through the long and perilous journey through the one true Thread - you are a inspiration to all of us, no matter if Timewaiters, eastern Timewaiters, western Timewaiters, Knights Temporals or Sandmasons.

ALL PEOPLE! HEAR MY WORDS!
In honor of BlitzGirl and her brave quest, I would like to suggest that EVERYBODY stops posting when she reaches the last few pages. That way she has a clearly defined finish-line for her end-run!

Perhaps we should all put stuff in our signatures for Blitzgirl to read, so she has lots of encouragement. That way she won't get disheartened back in the past.

Capital idea, just capital!

Agreed -- already have a message to her, but I'll add some encouragement also!

When Blitzgirl arrives in the present which will be the future, there will be much rejoicing.

Perhaps we should all put stuff in our signatures for Blitzgirl to read, so she has lots of encouragement. That way she won't get disheartened back in the past.

Awesome Idea, I am looking forward to the moment of arrival of Blitzgirl in the present. It will be a moment of pure glory and joy, the sand will sing and the sea will rise - for she is the annointed one, and she will bring balance to the thread.

I know this keeps coming up, but we NEED to have some kind of ceremony when she finally arrives.

Yes, we should...but I think for that we should also have an estimated time of arrival - surely someone must have kept records of her progress so we can foresee when that point will come ?

1. Thank you, past thread-dwellers, for congratulating me on reaching my present pastpage.
2. I don't think there will be a need for you to stop posting when I near the end of my journey, as I will likely Wait faster than ever before when I see the final few newpages before me.
3. I'm glad there's a party waiting in the future! And breakfast! And presents!
4. ETA might be tricky, as my progress varies depending on how badly I need to coma, the difficulty of the thread-terrain I am crossing, and Outside factors. Thankfully I know you all have a knack for Waiting.

Meanwhile, the non-me-related parts of the One True Thread are quite interesting. Many voices propose that the Observation/Observed Platform is actually a ship, a Noah's Ark strategy for when the River/Sea rises (due to global warming, say others). Server issues led to brief confusion, but the thread of Time recovered and created both an epic Litany from the dialogue of the One True Comic and an order of Sandmasons. Also, I glimpsed some John Denver, which inspired me thus:

Spoiler:

Pray that Time will Fly
(to the tune of Rocky Mountain High)

Long ago Time began on on the 25th of March
With two people sitting on a shore
Motionless to all but quickly they began to move
And we all Waited eagerly for more

When first we started posting, our minds seemed very dark,
In the Time before the newpix became long
But then they began building and the blackness went away
As we turned to the True Comic every dong

For the Castle keeps on growing ever high
I've seen it rising far into the sky
And legions of us Wait for it although we know not why
Pray that Time will fly
(in The Comic)
Pray that Time will fly
(fly in The Comic)

They kept to their construction: slowly, yes, but sure
A camera pan thrilled every devotee
And then they both went swimming, and Megan spat out drops
Of the semencoffeecancerbabies sea

Religion sprang anew with the trebuchet attack
Megan falling off her mound by mistake
We made Churches and titles as the castellation grew
Up by the sea (or river? Not a lake)

Oh, the Castle keeps on growing ever high
I've seen it rising far into the sky
And legions of us Wait for it though we get no reply
Pray that Time will fly
(fly in The Comic)
Pray that Time will fly
(fly in The Comic)

We spoke of the Recursion, we Knighted ourselves too,
Observed them and their Observation Stand
And though our creeds may differ, some Timewaiters, some not
We still agree the Sandcastle is grand

May the Castle keep on growing ever high
I've seen it rising far into the sky
Time keeps a-drifting onward; I'll see it by-and-by
Pray that Time will fly

The Castle keeps on growing ever high
I've seen it rising far into the sky
Far off in the future someone hears this lullaby...
I Pray that Time will fly
(fly in The Comic)
Pray that Time will fly
(fly in The Comic)

I also found a wonderful vest-of-many-pockets in a sig, which shall be helpful for carrying Temporal whistles and such:

BlitzGirl -- I have an old vest-of-many-pockets and hereby give it to you. May you find it useful.

Onward I go! And as I do, I cry out to the future:

The river is small!

[Flotter]

I go coma for a while and you start analysing forum posts instead of the One True Comic?!?

[KarMann]

Onward I go! And as I do, I cry out to the future:

The river is small!

The sea is big!

[lmjb1964]

Onward I go! And as I do, I cry out to the future:

The river is small!

The sea is big!

Wait for It.

[manvandmaan]

Has anyone noticed the evolution of this needled pulled thing...a macroscopic view reveals to me a progression from the stone age (Ug, Time, what this?), then the philosophical (Why does Time exist and what is our purpose in it?), then the religious (We built a religion around Time). Now that religion has slowly become more ritualistic than spiritual...an age of scientific enlightenment perhaps?

I may have things turned around a bit, but I think you get my point. Maybe Time isn't about Megan and Cueball. Just maybe it'sall about US! Our behaviors as our universe remains pretty much the same from one frame to the next, change dramatically with each tiny glimpse of knowledge.

Note: All via mobile so I apologize if my attempt at linear thinking fails ever so miserably.

Edit: Eek! 13!

I also thought along that line. If we continue in this way, it won't be long before the long (but cold) war between the Waitalists and the Timeunists!

Now every time someone says "this" I think THIS¹.

¹Temporal Hypotheses and Intelligence Organization

Edit: Aw yeah!
Edit: As a member of THIS, and I humbly extend an olive branch to my religious brethren and humbly abdicate the hat to a true believer that follows.

I'd like to join THIS! I could maybe be somekind of liaison between THIS and also The Sandmasons? I've always wanted to be a liaison, it sounds really cool.

[manvandmaan]

The River is small!

The Sea is big!

[Quicksilver]

The River is small!

The Sea is big!

Wait for It.

[rpgamer]

I wonder if Randall ever intended to take this as far as he has, or if he just decided to keep it going to see how far/crazy this thread could get.

[tman2nd]

I wonder if Randall ever intended to take this as far as he has, or if he just decided to keep it going to see how far/crazy this thread could get.

Congrats on becoming Pope on your 100th post!

[Eternal Density]

Onward I go! And as I do, I cry out to the future:

The river is small!

The sea is big!

Wait for It.

NONG!

Spoiler:

NONG? That's a new one.

NING NANG NONG!

congrats rpgamer!

[Magdiragdag]

The river is small!

The Sea is big!

[Eliram]

Quest progress: 310 out of 363 pages.
The Observation/Observed Platform. NP 568.

Another signpost:
[snip]
And here I am at the three-signpost-deep level. The signpost-sea is rising.
It has occurred to me that all these signposts are just making my Quest harder on myself. But if I don't chronicle the events of past Time in the Now, how will my future self ever remember them all? And how will you of Now (in my future, but soon Time's past) know how I'm faring way back here? Perhaps it's better that you don't know, because the response to this last signpost generated a mountain of posts I had to climb over.
The river is small!

May I suggest that once you are 10 pages from the future, you will write signposts only once per 5 pages?
That should give you a proper finish.
Keep going, BlitzGirl!

The Sea in the mirror is bigger than it seems.

[KarMann]

WONG!

[tman2nd]

NING NANG NONG!

What did I just watch?