1190: "Time"

[mojacardave]

Are Latent22 and patzer still doing those graphs? I guess I'll stop resisting and ask for one.

ETA: someone get mojacardave his pointy hat!

Bestow upon me a pointy hat, and I shall bestow upon you a graph...

[AluisioASG]

Hold on. How do we know you're It? After all, you have an underscore before and after your name, and there is no capitalization! I CALL FRAUD!

Actually, according to this new theory, we are waiting for “it” (no capitalization).

[_it_]

Hold on. How do we know you're It? After all, you have an underscore before and after your name, and there is no capitalization! I CALL FRAUD!

I am it* and there's not supposed to be any capitals. As for the underscores, I would have been "it" had the forum rules allowed two character user names.


*well, at least an it.

[Asthanius]

Hold on. How do we know you're It? After all, you have an underscore before and after your name, and there is no capitalization! I CALL FRAUD!

I am it* and there's not supposed to be any capitals. As for the underscores, I would have been "it" had the forum rules allowed two character user names.


*well, at least an it.

...I'll get you next time, Gadget.

[silent_death]

Tracker of the top ten posters on this thread (up to TimeFrame 720). This graph is corrected for the period shift at TimeFrame 240, and so is grouped by total number of posts in a ten hour period. Looks like none of the top ten posters were present on the forum in the first day.

EDIT TO ADD: The top ten are in reverse order on the legend. It's fixable but faffy, and I really couldn't be bothered.

Fascinating! Can you create the same with Fora pages as a timeline (so they would have the same height) ? Or do you not have that data ?

data is quite big.
http://pastebin.com/bxMdVQqy here is a postbin of the data in csv type format

I have the data I require, as helpfully provided by Latent22. Whether I have the patience is another matter entirely! Also, the only way to make every column have the same height is to include EVERY user, or at least bulk up the data with an 'others' category.

The amount of processing required is really pushing my Excel to the limits too - it nearly crashed dealing with the formula I used. Breaking it down into smaller steps would probably work but it's still processor intensive. Excel isn't the most efficient software!

I might just do that once I am done with work and at home, now way my work computer could handle anything like that, it almost crashed while opening the pastebin XD

[HAL9000]

Also, the only way to make every column have the same height is to include EVERY user, or at least bulk up the data with an 'others' category.

It would basically be a grid 20 units high and 365 wide, and instead of choosing random colours for all those other users (or giving them all an 'other' colour) what you could do is represent each post by the user's avatar, standardised to the maximum avatar size (with random colours or the first letters of names for the users who don't have avatars.) You could even keep them in order rather than grouping them by user. Then we'd just have a huge mosaic of avatars, and if the avatars look different enough from a distance (which they probably don't, because a lot of them are from comics) we'd be able to see who was posting the most and when.

It might be better to pretend a page is 85 posts long, for a big square mosaic thing. It would look less chaotic than that representation of pi someone posted earlier.

For extra credit, figure out a way of incorporating timeframes into the tiling at the appropriate locations. Also keep track of buffygirl's hats.

There, that should keep'em busy for a while. Now, sprint, BlitzGirl!

What about the users without avatars?

[StratPlayer]

Are Latent22 and patzer still doing those graphs? I guess I'll stop resisting and ask for one.

ETA: someone get mojacardave his pointy hat!

Bestow upon me a pointy hat, and I shall bestow upon you a graph...

Ooo-oo-oo! Might I humbly beseech thee for a graph of my own forumisity? All the other kids are gettin' one! I promise to feed it, clean up after it, and I'll cherish it throughout all of Time! Pleeeeeaassseeee? Plllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaasssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?

[htom]

I must confess that I've been questioning my beliefs as to Time. I did try to start a period enlightenment back on NP 223, but I fear that is the wrong path. Truthfully I think it is incorrect to believe that the One True Comic exists outside of the influence of Lord Randall.

And yet, the devotion to Lord Randall and the OTC seems to me a bit... misplaced.

Spoiler:

However, now, through much meditation, I believe I've come to see the Truth. The OTC does not exist without the input of Lord Randall, and yet Lord Randall is not the supreme influence, either. He is but a conduit for a higher force.

Then I realized that He Himself has told us the answer, and continues to do so each Newpic through the miracle of mouse-hovering-alt-text:

"Wait for It."

Of course! IT!

IT is the true source of all! But IT is mysterious, and in many ways, ultimately unknowable...

"The IT that can be spoken of is not the eternal IT
the frame that can seen is not the eternal frame

The IT is empty
When used, IT is not filled up.
Bottomless! IT is the source of all things

Empty, and yet never exhausted,
IT moves, and produces more

Look at IT -- IT cannot be seen
IT is called colorless.
Listen to IT -- IT cannot be heard
IT is called noiselss.
Reach for IT -- IT cannot be held
IT is called formless

Above IT; not bright
Below IT; not dark
Continuing endlessly, IT cannot be named
IT returns back into nothingness.
Thus IT is called the form of the formless

The great IT is like a flood
IT can flow to the left or the right

Use IT, IT cannot be exhausted."


This is the core of It-ism.

Within our faith, we believe in IT. Within our reason, we study IT. Both are valid paths, yet both are destined to never reach their ultimate goal. For the more we learn of IT, the less we know.

The Tao of IT.

I love it.

[StratPlayer]

What's woth the huge overall spike at 120 hours?

Was that the onset of the Madness and the thought that "It" must be arriving on that day (4/1)?

[Asthanius]

Also, the only way to make every column have the same height is to include EVERY user, or at least bulk up the data with an 'others' category.

It would basically be a grid 20 units high and 365 wide, and instead of choosing random colours for all those other users (or giving them all an 'other' colour) what you could do is represent each post by the user's avatar, standardised to the maximum avatar size (with random colours or the first letters of names for the users who don't have avatars.) You could even keep them in order rather than grouping them by user. Then we'd just have a huge mosaic of avatars, and if the avatars look different enough from a distance (which they probably don't, because a lot of them are from comics) we'd be able to see who was posting the most and when.

It might be better to pretend a page is 85 posts long, for a big square mosaic thing. It would look less chaotic than that representation of pi someone posted earlier.

For extra credit, figure out a way of incorporating timeframes into the tiling at the appropriate locations. Also keep track of buffygirl's hats.

There, that should keep'em busy for a while. Now, sprint, BlitzGirl!

What about the users without avatars?

Psst.

(with random colours or the first letters of names for the users who don't have avatars.)

[StratPlayer]

I must confess that I've been questioning my beliefs as to Time. I did try to start a period enlightenment back on NP 223, but I fear that is the wrong path. Truthfully I think it is incorrect to believe that the One True Comic exists outside of the influence of Lord Randall.

And yet, the devotion to Lord Randall and the OTC seems to me a bit... misplaced.

Spoiler:

However, now, through much meditation, I believe I've come to see the Truth. The OTC does not exist without the input of Lord Randall, and yet Lord Randall is not the supreme influence, either. He is but a conduit for a higher force.

Then I realized that He Himself has told us the answer, and continues to do so each Newpic through the miracle of mouse-hovering-alt-text:

"Wait for It."

Of course! IT!

IT is the true source of all! But IT is mysterious, and in many ways, ultimately unknowable...

"The IT that can be spoken of is not the eternal IT
the frame that can seen is not the eternal frame

The IT is empty
When used, IT is not filled up.
Bottomless! IT is the source of all things

Empty, and yet never exhausted,
IT moves, and produces more

Look at IT -- IT cannot be seen
IT is called colorless.
Listen to IT -- IT cannot be heard
IT is called noiselss.
Reach for IT -- IT cannot be held
IT is called formless

Above IT; not bright
Below IT; not dark
Continuing endlessly, IT cannot be named
IT returns back into nothingness.
Thus IT is called the form of the formless

The great IT is like a flood
IT can flow to the left or the right

Use IT, IT cannot be exhausted."


This is the core of It-ism.

Within our faith, we believe in IT. Within our reason, we study IT. Both are valid paths, yet both are destined to never reach their ultimate goal. For the more we learn of IT, the less we know.

The Tao of IT.

I love it.

Or... The It of It.

[mojacardave]

Are Latent22 and patzer still doing those graphs? I guess I'll stop resisting and ask for one.

ETA: someone get mojacardave his pointy hat!

Bestow upon me a pointy hat, and I shall bestow upon you a graph...

Ooo-oo-oo! Might I humbly beseech thee for a graph of my own forumisity? All the other kids are gettin' one! I promise to feed it, clean up after it, and I'll cherish it throughout all of Time! Pleeeeeaassseeee? Plllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaasssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?

Yes - but my work laptop is resisting at the moment.

Why should deleting 9 columns of an Excel spreadsheet, which aren't referenced by any other cells, take 5 minutes?

[histrion]

Are Latent22 and patzer still doing those graphs? I guess I'll stop resisting and ask for one.

ETA: someone get mojacardave his pointy hat!

Bestow upon me a pointy hat, and I shall bestow upon you a graph...

Awesome! Look what a latecomer I am to the party!

[StratPlayer]

Are Latent22 and patzer still doing those graphs? I guess I'll stop resisting and ask for one.

ETA: someone get mojacardave his pointy hat!

Bestow upon me a pointy hat, and I shall bestow upon you a graph...

Ooo-oo-oo! Might I humbly beseech thee for a graph of my own forumisity? All the other kids are gettin' one! I promise to feed it, clean up after it, and I'll cherish it throughout all of Time! Pleeeeeaassseeee? Plllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaasssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?

Yes - but my work laptop is resisting at the moment.

Why should deleting 9 columns of an Excel spreadsheet, which aren't referenced by any other cells, take 5 minutes?

Maybe your PC is waiting for I.T.?

[htom]

Megan's current construction is beginning to look like the Taj Mahal.

[mojacardave]

Are Latent22 and patzer still doing those graphs? I guess I'll stop resisting and ask for one.

ETA: someone get mojacardave his pointy hat!

Bestow upon me a pointy hat, and I shall bestow upon you a graph...

Ooo-oo-oo! Might I humbly beseech thee for a graph of my own forumisity? All the other kids are gettin' one! I promise to feed it, clean up after it, and I'll cherish it throughout all of Time! Pleeeeeaassseeee? Plllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaasssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?

Yes - but my work laptop is resisting at the moment.

Why should deleting 9 columns of an Excel spreadsheet, which aren't referenced by any other cells, take 5 minutes?

Maybe your PC is waiting for I.T.?

Heh - time for a cup of tea I think. And then I'll generalise my spreadsheet, so that it doesn't take me any time the next time I get a request!

[htom]

Are Latent22 and patzer still doing those graphs? I guess I'll stop resisting and ask for one.

ETA: someone get mojacardave his pointy hat!

Bestow upon me a pointy hat, and I shall bestow upon you a graph...

Ooo-oo-oo! Might I humbly beseech thee for a graph of my own forumisity? All the other kids are gettin' one! I promise to feed it, clean up after it, and I'll cherish it throughout all of Time! Pleeeeeaassseeee? Plllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaasssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?

Yes - but my work laptop is resisting at the moment.

Why should deleting 9 columns of an Excel spreadsheet, which aren't referenced by any other cells, take 5 minutes?

Maybe your PC is waiting for I.T.?

Poor data structure? (Internally, in Excel.) Although there are all of those links to fix. Could be thrashing between memory and the hard disk's internal cache.

[StratPlayer]

Are Latent22 and patzer still doing those graphs? I guess I'll stop resisting and ask for one.

ETA: someone get mojacardave his pointy hat!

Bestow upon me a pointy hat, and I shall bestow upon you a graph...

Awesome! Look what a latecomer I am to the party!

You're not alone. I checked: Of the top ten posters, only two (KarMann and peewee_RotA) were XKCD forum members before the beginning of Time.

[StratPlayer]

<snip>

Poor data structure? (Internally, in Excel.) Although there are all of those links to fix. Could be thrashing between memory and the hard disk's internal cache.

<insert typical Microsoft bloatware comment here>

Oh, and thanks for the graph-to-be, mojacardave! I'm sorry it's crashing your PC...

[mojacardave]

<snip>

Poor data structure? (Internally, in Excel.) Although there are all of those links to fix. Could be thrashing between memory and the hard disk's internal cache.

<insert typical Microsoft bloatware comment here>

Oh, and thanks for the graph-to-be, mojacardave! I'm sorry it's crashing your PC...

I always think that if my computer starts misbehaving at this point on a Friday, it's a sign that I ought to give up and go home.

[htom]

<snip>

Poor data structure? (Internally, in Excel.) Although there are all of those links to fix. Could be thrashing between memory and the hard disk's internal cache.

<insert typical Microsoft bloatware comment here>

Oh, and thanks for the graph-to-be, mojacardave! I'm sorry it's crashing your PC...

It could be running down the columns, deleting and relinking the cells one at a time, rather than cutting them in a hunk, linking over the hunk, and then reallocating the cells from the hunk as a background thing.

[mojacardave]

Right, sorry about that delay!

[HAL9000]

So how do you rponounce your username, mojacardave? I've been thinking it as 'moja-car-dave,' as in someone named Dave who has a car with 'moja' as one of its qualities.

[mscha]

..., and so is grouped by total number of posts in a ten hour period. ...

Hours? Heresy!

Is it, though? An hour is merely the term given to a two newpic period, is it not?

It is now, it wasn't for the first 240 newpix. Since the graph includes entirety of Time, it can't use “hour” as a unit of measure, since its meaning changed midway.

[mojacardave]

So how do you rponounce your username, mojacardave? I've been thinking it as 'moja-car-dave,' as in someone named Dave who has a car with 'moja' as one of its qualities.

Mojacar is a Spanish town on the South coast, so it's pronounced 'mow-hah-car', but the 'h' is quite phlegmy!

[StratPlayer]

Right, sorry about that delay!

Thanks! Another late-to-the-party crasher...

[mojacardave]

If anybody else wants a graph, this should work in Excel 2007 and later (possibly earlier versions as well, but I don't guarantee that).
It only contains data up to TimeFrame 720.

[Mycroft_147]

Definitely seeing a middle-eastern influence emerging.

Rampant statistical analysis and secular philosophical exploration. THIS is the clearly the dawn of a new era. We wait for It, though some seem quite content believing It may never come. It is, rather, how we wait for It that matters most. Our entire existence summed up in my opinion.

[mscha]

[mojacardave]

..., and so is grouped by total number of posts in a ten hour period. ...

Hours? Heresy!

Is it, though? An hour is merely the term given to a two newpic period, is it not?

It is now, it wasn't for the first 240 newpix. Since the graph includes entirety of Time, it can't use “hour” as a unit of measure, since its meaning changed midway.

That's precisely the reason I DID use hours as a unit of measure. The definition of a newpix/TimeFrame changed at frame 240, so I made the necessary corrections to the data, and used 'real-world' hours, for uniform block sizes.

[AluisioASG]

Definitely seeing a middle-eastern influence emerging.

Rampant statistical analysis and secular philosophical exploration. THIS is the clearly the dawn of a new era. We wait for It, though some seem quite content believing It may never come. It is, rather, how we wait for It that matters most. Our entire existence summed up in my opinion.

Are you another of those who didn't realize “it” is uncapitalized?

[mscha]

..., and so is grouped by total number of posts in a ten hour period. ...

Hours? Heresy!

Is it, though? An hour is merely the term given to a two newpic period, is it not?

It is now, it wasn't for the first 240 newpix. Since the graph includes entirety of Time, it can't use “hour” as a unit of measure, since its meaning changed midway.

That's precisely the reason I DID use hours as a unit of measure. The definition of a newpix/TimeFrame changed at frame 240, so I made the necessary corrections to the data, and used 'real-world' hours, for uniform block sizes.

And that, exactly, is heresy!

Edit: I don't know if there are any commandments yet (there certainly should be), but if so, one of them will definitely be: thou shalt only measure time in newpix (or timeframes), as these are constant, and any other measures of Outside and Inside time are variable and unreliable.

[mojacardave]

..., and so is grouped by total number of posts in a ten hour period. ...

Hours? Heresy!

Is it, though? An hour is merely the term given to a two newpic period, is it not?

It is now, it wasn't for the first 240 newpix. Since the graph includes entirety of Time, it can't use “hour” as a unit of measure, since its meaning changed midway.

That's precisely the reason I DID use hours as a unit of measure. The definition of a newpix/TimeFrame changed at frame 240, so I made the necessary corrections to the data, and used 'real-world' hours, for uniform block sizes.

And that, exactly, is heresy!

Do you normally go around accusing your Pope of being a heretic?

[mscha]

Do you normally go around accusing your Pope of being a heretic?

Certainly. Is there a problem with that, Your (former) Timeliness?

Edit: uh oh... My first (and last) papal decree will be to disband the papacy.

[Mycroft_147]

Are you another of those who didn't realize “it” is uncapitalized?

Pop culture outpaces everyone in the end. But I only intended to capitalize "it" to symbolically represent the "it" for which we've all been waiting. And since you seem to know exactly which "it" I was referring to, in retrospect it seems to have been a rather effective conduit.

[mscha]

Are you another of those who didn't realize “it” is uncapitalized?

Pop culture outpaces everyone in the end. But I only intended to capitalize "it" to symbolically represent the "it" for which we've all been waiting. And since you seem to know exactly which "it" I was referring to, in retrospect it seems to have been a rather effective conduit.

I don't know about y'all, but I'm not "waiting for it" or "waiting for IT", but "waiting for it".

[HAL9000]

So how do you rponounce your username, mojacardave? I've been thinking it as 'moja-car-dave,' as in someone named Dave who has a car with 'moja' as one of its qualities.

Mojacar is a Spanish town on the South coast, so it's pronounced 'mow-hah-car', but the 'h' is quite phlegmy!

Did I at least guess the 'dave' part correctly?

[mojacardave]

So how do you rponounce your username, mojacardave? I've been thinking it as 'moja-car-dave,' as in someone named Dave who has a car with 'moja' as one of its qualities.

Mojacar is a Spanish town on the South coast, so it's pronounced 'mow-hah-car', but the 'h' is quite phlegmy!

Did I at least guess the 'dave' part correctly?

Presumably: it's pronounced like you would expect, 'dah-vay'.

EDIT TO ADD:

[Caswallon]

I coma for just 15 newpix, and now I'm 6 newpages behind!

Beginning my noble miniquest to return to the present...

[Asthanius]

Alright, I think that we can all see that the progression of what is being built is (at least) similar to the progression of mankind's architecture through the ages. Thus, I feel that I can safely assume that not only will Cueball and Megan build skyscrapers and such, but will also gain knowledge of the world around them as time goes on. At the beginning, they were clumsy (falling into the sandcastles), barbaric (deriving joy from destroying the structures), but also curious (Cueball tasting the seawater). We could see that they were progressing, though, when they began building more intricate structures such as the small trebuchet and the scaffolding. At this point, they were shown to have little knowledge of the world around them ("I don't know how anything works"), but resourceful (using the bucket and rope to haul sand up to the scaffolding), even if they were still clumsy (Megan falling into the sandcastle). However, once the seawall was breached, Cueball and Megan didn't waste much time. They built more intricate structures on the scaffolding (thin towers and a domed building), indicating that they have moved on from the larger rough castles below.