
XKCD: Time - swatkat
http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Time
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brazzy
Am I the only one who is completely underwhelmed by this one?

I mean, yeah, the _concept_ is cool if you hear about it, very modern art. But
in effect it's just a comic strip story that is very inconvenient to read. And
the only thing that makes it special is exactly this inconvenience?

Thanks, but checking back every hour or writing a script in order to see what
happens to two stick figures that were (at the time I first saw it) just
sitting there and doing nothing is not worth my... time.

~~~
Blahah
I wonder if the recent xkcds represent Randall starting to explore the
possibilities of his medium. He now has a huge community of followers, and he
is creating comic-based experiences which are themselves creative platforms.
It's like he's saying "here's a new toy, let's see what you can do with it".
Next stop - Randall starts controlling the hive mind via comics.

~~~
didgeoridoo
Done and done: <http://xkcd.com/426/>

Edit: A little more context- <http://blog.xkcd.com/2012/02/27/geohashing-2/>

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gkoberger
Much easier to use/browse version: <http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/>

It's still ongoing. I bet most people (like myself) completely missed what was
going on here when they first saw it.

~~~
swatkat
Here's another animated version:

<http://xkcd.aubronwood.com/>

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Wingman4l7
As much as I love the fancy XKCDs with scripting, I do wish that sometimes
Randall would post some background info on them _(maybe a week or two in the
future after people have had their fun reverse-engineering them)_ rather than
having to wade through dozens of pages of a forum thread to see what was going
on.

~~~
semisight
I respectfully disagree. I think it adds to the art of it for him to not come
out and tell his followers exactly what it means. 'Time' is more about the
emotion of the comic than a rational explanation, or a joke (like 'nerd
sniping').

~~~
PakG1
Exactly like nerd sniping. It's a self-selecting filter. If you don't like it
or don't get it, but still come back to read more, guess there must be
something for you somehow. But the target are the nerds that get sniped, not
those who get frustrated because there's a lack of information.

I think. :)

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ryangee
I logged into a chat that room my friends and I hang out in a few days ago,
and mentioned that 'Time' was still going.

Then it occurred to me: I wonder if that is the punchline. Randall sits back
and cackles with glee as thousands of otherwise intelligent people wake up
every morning and exclaim to their friends, with complete surprise: "Hey guys!
Time is still going!"

~~~
etfb
Until one morning they wake up and exclaim to their friends, with much more
surprise: "Hey guys! Ti

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JohnLBevan
I assume that eventually this will just show a flat (relative to the
circumference of XKCD-Earth) expanse of sand due to entropy (maybe followed by
a few exciting moments when it gets swallowed by its start red-gianting, is
swallowed by a black hole, then billions of years of nothing pending the heat
death of the universe).

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gioele
The poor server already had load issues. The HN crowd has made it almost
inaccessible.

Maybe somebody experienced in configuring MediaWiki could help them with some
performance and scalability tips. Also, somebody could help with making the
URI look better.

~~~
aspensmonster
No amount of experience with MediaWiki will stop it from being the massive,
bloated beast that it is. Your only hope is reverse proxies.

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alan_cx
Isnt this pretty much a version of Johnny Castaway? Which I have to add was,
all those years ago, a lot more interesting and engaging. At least Johnny had
a goal.

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ttflee
I tried to inspect elements and started recording the network requests in
Safari, until I got tired saving pictures manually.

Any one?

~~~
christianmann
Have a look at the (293 page) forum thread. You're not the first one to think
to do that.

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mjt0229
I didn't realize there were names for the characters.

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maeon3
I see the video as a reminder that the time you wasted watching this video is
like a sand castle, wasted, forever.

~~~
hadem
Time enjoyed is time not wasted.

