explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1403: Thesis Defense

2014-08-04T13:18:41Z

Wrybred:

Sorry, but if your best defense is frightening counter attack a good offense will destroy you. The best defense is a good offense because a weakened or destroyed opponent can mount no offense.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.132|173.245.48.132]] 05:58, 4 August 2014 (UTC)BluDgeons

:Depends on type of counter attack. For example, the best defense against missiles is to fire anti-missile missiles, which may be seen as type of attack. Of course, the phrase is older than missiles, but I believe similar principles applied: not retaliation nor first strike, but attacking the enemy units which are trying to attack you. Alternatively, attacking enemy army supply lines may also force it to interrupt her attack on you. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:22, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

The expression is based on a concept that is military and ancient, but I wonder if the expression itself, in English, originated with American football, sometime since the game's birth in the 1860s. It is so specifically applicable to this game, where a team's defense and offense are completely separate units, run separately and spoken of separately and yet an extremely effective way to keep the opponent from scoring is to maintain possession of the ball while the game clock ticks down. [[User:Wrybred|Wrybred]] ([[User talk:Wrybred|talk]]) 13:18, 4 August 2014 (UTC)wrybred

May or may not also be inspired by Studio C: Thesis Defense
http://youtu.be/Lrlro3YJ15o
Teagan N {{unsigned ip|173.245.48.134}}

Can anyone make out what's written on the board? {{unsigned ip|141.101.105.220}}

My best guess after resizing the image a few times is
[The|To] [F|Falcons?] [at|of] [T|Times?]
[D|Displays?] [a|is|its] [M|Moods?]
[by?] {illegible first name (short maybe Meg)} {illegible surname (long)
[C|{illegible}] [the] {illegible 1 short word 1 long word or only 1 long word}
{illegible mid size word} {illegible short word maybe is} {illegible short word a} {illegible} {illegible} {{unsigned|Meerkat}}

Talk:1385: Throwing Rocks

2014-06-23T12:20:05Z

Wrybred:

Current explanation says the rock in the second panel is seen "possibly sinking the boat." Whoever typed this apparently didn't notice the undisturbed leaf boat, floating approximately 2 feet away from the splash. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.36|108.162.240.36]] 04:38, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

My boat sunk! THANKS, OBAMA! - [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.153|173.245.56.153]] 05:32, 23 June 2014 (UTC)
:SURE... BLAME OBAMA WHEN IT WAS BUSH WHO STARTED IT. ''(Sorry! Couldn't resist.)'' [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 11:15, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Did we already know both Beret Guy and Megan are left handed? [[User:Wrybred|Wrybred]] ([[User talk:Wrybred|talk]]) 12:20, 23 June 2014 (UTC)wrybred

Talk:1282: Monty Hall

2013-10-25T21:53:10Z

Wrybred:

This has absolutely nothing to do with "The Monty Hall Problem". It's strictly about the TV game show ''Let's Make a Deal''. In the game, contestants are often given a choice of several options (Curtains, boxes, envelopes etc). Generally, one has a valuable prize (such as a car), and the others either have a lesser prize or nothing. The "nothing" prizes are often given a colorful name, such as "A pig in a poke". Colloquially, such losing prizes are known as "winning the goat". The joke here is that the contestant, having lost the car, is happy to get a goat as a pet. (In fact, the fine print of the rules make it clear that contestant do not really get such "losing" prizes) [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 15:21, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

: I believe this is correct. The focus of this comic is that he didn't win the prize, but instead got the gag prize. Most contestants on the show are bummed out, but Beret Guy is actually excited for a new pet goat! Sucks though that you can't actually keep the goat like the above commenter said. [[User:Uctriton00|Uctriton00]] ([[User talk:Uctriton00|talk]]) 17:41, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

Monty hall. Is this a Monty Python reference? Or something related to a skit of theirs'?
--[[User:Commarchinin|Commarchinin]] ([[User talk:Commarchinin|talk]]) 04:18, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
: [http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Monty+Hall Not a Monthy Python] -- {{w|Monty Hall}} is a game host famous for Let's Make a Deal which gave birth to the {{w|Monty Hall Problem}} [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]])

I don't understand "It is known that door 3 has a goat, but nothing else." What do you mean by that? At the beginning in the Monty Hall problem, a contestant knows nothing. --[[Special:Contributions/209.51.184.11|209.51.184.11]] 04:27, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
: See {{w|Monty Hall Problem}} [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]])
It goes like this: Player chooses door A, Monty then opens a door he knows there is a goat behind. Player is then offered a chance to switch.

If you do not switch you get a 1/3rd chance of winning because it was a 1 in 3 guess and nothing changed. But if you take into account that Monty will ALWAYS open a goat door and never a car door you can recalculate the odds. So you have a 1/3rd chance that you initially chose the car which means you will lose if you switch 1/3rd of the time, but you had a 2/3rd chance of not selecting the car initially meaning you have a 2/3rds chance if you switch at winning the car. [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 04:58, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

:Reminds me a bit of [[1134]]: ''Goats make sense. Goats are fine.'' --[[Special:Contributions/132.230.1.28|132.230.1.28]] 08:39, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

[[User:Goldstein-Izayoi|Goldstein-Izayoi]] ([[User talk:Goldstein-Izayoi|talk]]) 14:53, 25 October 2013 (UTC) Umm, I think there's no telling if the Beret Guy chose A or C in the beginning~
:It's either A or C. Then the player should choose again between A or C. [[User:Xhfz|Xhfz]] ([[User talk:Xhfz|talk]]) 14:56, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

; Sequence of the events (assuming Beret Guy initially selects door A)
:''Monty:'' Pick a door.
:''Beret Guy:'' I choose A.
:''Monty:'' I will open another door. It is B. ''(He opens it and they see a goat).'' Do you want to switch doors? ''(Meaning if he will switch from A to C.)''
:''Beret Guy:'' I choose door B.
:''Beret Guy (to the goat):'' ...And my yard has so much grass, and I'll teach you tricks, and...
:''A few minutes later, the goat from behind door C drives away in the car that was behind door A.''

"In that scenario, if a goat is revealed, there is in fact an equal probability of winning by switching or keeping the initial door." I'm not sure of this, can anyone explain? It seems to be stating that simply because of the random chance of the host picking the goat door in this situation then the facts about probability change.This seems to be a very large stretch. Surely in this situation since the host is picking randomly then your probabilities of losing are increased but the moment he does randomly pick a goat door then your chances of winning by switching remain the same as they were in the original problem, 2/3. --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 17:29, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

I agree with the various comments above. While this comic does use a goat, it really isn't making use of "The Monty Hall Problem" at all. That involves offering a player a chance to switch doors, and there's no indication that happened here. In this comic, for all we know, Beret selected door B, won a goat and, unlike most players, was pleased with having won a goat.

Even if one were to assume the Month Hall Problem scenario occurred, Beret isn't following it. That scenario involves the player being offered a choice between keeping their original choice (a door currently closed) or switching to the other still closed door. Choosing the door that was opened is not part of the Problem. So if Beret was being offered the Problem choice, he took neither of the options offered to him. [[Special:Contributions/67.51.59.66|67.51.59.66]] 20:38, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

I remember the show, in Monty's day, vaguely. The deals varied but I don't think there were ever two goats. Typically I think there was a big prize such as a car, a moderate prize like a washer/dryer, and a zonk. Player chose a door, Monty revealed another door that had the washer / dryer, to show the player that it was now 50/50, car or nothing. He might ask if he wanted to switch to the unchosen, unopened door, or switch to the open door and go home now with the washer / dryer. OR he might offer him cash. "I'll give you three hundred dollars to walk away now. No? How about five hundred dollars?" The car might have been worth $3000 or something, so if you don't feel lucky, you might take a sure $500 instead of a 50/50 shot. [[User:Wrybred|Wrybred]] ([[User talk:Wrybred|talk]]) 21:53, 25 October 2013 (UTC) wrybred

Talk:1242: Scary Names

2013-07-24T13:57:14Z

Wrybred: answer about Zero Halliburton

What is "A Zero Halliburton briefcase"?[[Special:Contributions/212.232.24.57|212.232.24.57]] 13:24, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

Zero Halliburton is a luggage brand name, with a line of aluminum attache cases. Not connected to the big company Halliburton, associated with former US Vice President Cheney and the war in Iraq. [[User:Wrybred|Wrybred]] ([[User talk:Wrybred|talk]]) 13:57, 24 July 2013 (UTC)wrybred

Talk:1207: AirAware

2013-05-06T12:48:02Z

Wrybred:

I somehow has the feeling that the business-plan behind is that people will pay you that the drone LEAVES. --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 08:39, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

:That would certainly work, but I'm not sure Black Hat wants that money. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:03, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

:: Even if this is the revenue model, it would be an undertaking that still genera...err.. extorts revenue. So, the drone is still incorrect when it yells out in the last panel. On the other hand, we're back to square one (the definition of business) if it's not the blackmailing BlackHat you pay to get rid of his drones, but another business that shoots them down. [[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 19:07, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

The "as it does not seem to generate money" bit seems a bit premature in the explanation. At the stage he's questioning whether it ''is'' a business, the question is "''who'' would even pay?". Only in the last frame does the utter lack of generated money (above idea from DaB. aside) arise and make him assert that it is ''not'' one, which gets him shouted at. Not sure how to re-write it, though. [[Special:Contributions/31.110.91.76|31.110.91.76]] 09:59, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

:Yeah, I was thinking that, but I didn't really know what to write and I was a bit rushed, I might fix it up now. [[Special:Contributions/203.51.90.96|203.51.90.96]] 14:06, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

I think this could also be to do with how Google Now works - e.g. it will often tell you things that you are semi-aware of, but ignoring.--[[Special:Contributions/194.201.25.22|194.201.25.22]] 12:03, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Google will make money on Now the same as always. By renting our eyeballs. I used it for the first time last night. It located me and showed me nearby businesses. If they weren't paying for clickthrough then, they will over time. ''— [[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 12:42, 3 May 2013 (UTC)''

: I have not seen those yet, maybe because I'm living in a rural area. But it always shows me the weather, upcoming appointments (and when to leave for them) and traffic on my way to work. At work (smaller city) it also shows me places nearby to visit, but no ads, only POIs. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 15:17, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

The bit about "must nake money" being WRONG is probably a reference to the scores of dotcoms who came to market with the idea that "We'll make something cool now, figure out how to make money from it later" [[User:Gardnertoo|Gardnertoo]] ([[User talk:Gardnertoo|talk]]) 13:30, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

IMHO, there is only one kind of organization that collect tons of dollars "just yelling at stranger from the sky": churches (in addition, churches are non profit organizations). [[User:Andcoz|Andcoz]] ([[User talk:Andcoz|talk]]) 14:45, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Big Brother 1984 (from 1948 by George Orwell) is just a Child's Birthday comparing to Goooogle.
And I like Goooogle as everyone else here does.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:24, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Of course the Pakistani version of this drone shoots you (and/or your relatives) if you say something silly, unless you pay it enough money. ~~tbwtg~~

I think that this explanation is wrong. This strip is about giving too much privacy. Google or Facebook knows much more about us than anybody else, and information is money, so this IS a huge business even if you dont pay anything --[[Special:Contributions/89.70.180.131|89.70.180.131]] 23:43, 3 May 2013 (UTC)
:so fix it [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 04:57, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Any good business makes decisions to please or entice it's paying customers. You are not google's customer, or facebook's. If you didn't pay, you're not the customer, you're the stock-in-trade. The hardware store owner doesn't ask the hammers where he should display them. The grocer doesn't ask the watermelon for advice on marketing policy. ~wrybred

Talk:1207: AirAware

2013-05-06T12:45:49Z

Wrybred:

Talk:1190: Time

2013-04-04T14:30:12Z

Wrybred:

Pretty sure we're just getting trolled with this one [[Special:Contributions/99.108.190.136|99.108.190.136]] 04:48, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Can't tell if this is emo xkcd or trolling xkcd. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 04:53, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Something seems a little fishy because the image url is different than normal. [[User:Bugefun|Bugefun]] ([[User talk:Bugefun|talk]]) 04:55, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:Maybe the comic slowly changes throughout the day. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 04:56, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
::Oh god, it does. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 04:57, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:::When uploading different versions of the image, use the naming convention time[iterationNumber].png. We'll compile all the images into one and display them as per [[Traffic Lights]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:05, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
::::Alright, so the comic appears to be switching between two states here: between [[media:time2.png|this]] and [[media:time3.png|this]]. If nothing new happens, I'll get to clipping the comics together. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:28, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:::::Whoop, nope, [[media:time4.png|this]] just came up. Is there more to come? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:34, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
::::::Alright, so a new one is posted every half-hour. Whoopee. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:06, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:::::::And there's a new one! Megan leaning back and looking up...
::::::::Well, the image changed, who has the time to make a script to catch the new images and compile them into a gif? https://dl.dropbox.com/u/932170/time.png [[User:Statharas.903|Statharas.903]] ([[User talk:Statharas.903|talk]]) 07:14, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

[[Special:Contributions/72.21.198.66|72.21.198.66]] 05:11, 25 March 2013 (UTC)It could be a reference to the old proverb " time and tide wait for none" Cueball and the girl could be waiting for the tide in the beach! (Just a guess)[[Special:Contributions/72.21.198.66|72.21.198.66]] 05:11, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

The picture does chance with time. The URL includes a changing timestamp that I can't decipher. Compare these two URLS (which have slightly different images:
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/8eb156cce408df8bb83528382d6a2aa2ce6c74f3c573fd12b058cd1c56420672.png
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/1e349a579b5f9b5ed487ddf7e88244b70330941ddedac9c6abf6ed2e3f589b97.png

Perhaps there is a way to hack the URL to view future images. [[Special:Contributions/199.30.248.121|199.30.248.121]] 05:29, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: I would also like to add that knowing randall, these are not the only images. For all we know, the image will still be changing in 5 years while a tree grows in front of them. My point is: Are the URLs hackable, or did he encrypt them? [[Special:Contributions/199.30.248.121|199.30.248.121]] 05:33, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Likely there is a way to hack the URLs; they look like some sort of hash, probably a hashed timestamp. Of course, he could easily have added some salt to the hash, making it significantly *harder* to hack. But they're strings of a specific length, so it should be pretty easy to bruteforce it, fetch all the images, and then (maybe) reverse-engineer the sequence. *That* all depends on how many of them there are. [[Special:Contributions/76.90.249.178|76.90.249.178]] 05:44, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:Good god, do you see how many digits are *in* that hash? The sun'll have burned out by the time we've tested every possible combination of digits. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:47, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

It seems that the image is updated every 1/2 hour. [[Special:Contributions/152.23.97.150|152.23.97.150]] 06:17, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: Given that the images switch back and forth between other images already seen, and that the comic should be viewable in the future, it seems unlikely that it's any thing like a simple sha256 of part of the timestamp. I think it's more likely a function of half-hours and minutes (assuming we continue to get a new possible image every half-hour). [[Special:Contributions/99.153.248.206|99.153.248.206]] 06:59, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

::: The images do cycle, yes. But for some reason I have never seen the img where Megan is looking behind her. Also wouldn't it be difficult to show a sequential story (like the rising tide) if the previous images keep cycling ?

Hash appears to be SHA-256. I tried some obvious hashes ("1", "11901", "1190_1", "1190.1") to no avail. Maybe this is HMAC-SHA256? Also, I would suggest trying Unix timestamps. [[Special:Contributions/131.156.236.149|131.156.236.149]] 06:19, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: I've been trying to make educated guesses as to what's being hashed here: http://www.xorbin.com/tools/sha256-hash-calculator ... he could also be using hash(hash2(value)) which would be virtually impossible to crack. [[Special:Contributions/99.153.248.206|99.153.248.206]] 06:59, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

It's entirely possible that the "hash" is actually randomly generated. Just a thought. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.153|129.21.119.153]] 07:03, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Regarding sha256. Its most likely some hash of a timestamp, but if he doesnt wants us to crack it, he would have prefixes a password.. sha256('secretcode17:30'). Im just saying, if he doesnt wants us to crack it, we most likely cant.
I've tested all unixtimestamps from 1300000000 to 1364390334. Also "00:00" to "23:59", with and without the colon and a load of other formats. {{unsigned|77.243.128.133}}

Alright, this is probably not going to work, but I'm trying to exploit Randall's awesomeness here. Maybe he decided to take the time-stamps from the user? I don't know if that's even possible... That would then allow people in different time zones to obtain different images simultaneously. (What's the corollary of Godwin's law for a bunch of math-and-science nerds and relativity? Is there one?) Clicking the img src url on the comic's html page, give me this: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/752687b61523144c61736cd89f8c153dc41e19128f72d78d44947ff800f057fa.png : Never mind.. apparently others see the same image too.

Could he be doing this live? Monitoring the discussion on the net? Collaborative, crowdsourced comic-ing? Reminds me of those you-decide-what-the-character-does-next-and-flip-to-appropriate-page parallel plot novels.

[[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 07:14, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Let's just compare the two pictures and see how the bottom right changes, which I believe is water and they are indeed waiting for the tide. [[User:Statharas.903|Statharas.903]] ([[User talk:Statharas.903|talk]]) 07:19, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:I'm adding urls to pictures bellow, edit freely.
::They change every 5 minutes, will try to keep track.

http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/f/f8/time.png
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/1e349a579b5f9b5ed487ddf7e88244b70330941ddedac9c6abf6ed2e3f589b97.png
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/752687b61523144c61736cd89f8c153dc41e19128f72d78d44947ff800f057fa.png
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/932170/timeasdf.png
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/932170/time6.png

:I have uploaded all the different images onto the wiki, in the order that they were revealed. To avoid needless duplication of effort, I'll put them up in the explanation page. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:44, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

It just went back to the second image... [[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 07:59, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: And now changed to something new. http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/cdcc6b46b32c53f8596cd0106958b42c4260b9cbc022e6d94054147aa6554960.png
:: The images do look alike, but they're all different. Thanks David. [[User:Statharas.903|Statharas.903]] ([[User talk:Statharas.903|talk]]) 08:04, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

::: No..I checked the random string. They're exactly the same. In fact, now it's gone back to the second image. Again. [[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 08:07, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Just found this JavaScript code embedded in the comic HTML source (Update: Reformatted to prevent eye-bleeding): http://pastebin.com/4vNJH53Z

I'm no programmer but this looks important to me...

:Moved it to pastebin, so it doesn't clutter the page so much. [[Special:Contributions/81.23.24.51|81.23.24.51]] 14:22, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

:Doesn't really help. The script basically changes the image when something happens (probably some time passes, although it's possible there is more hidden there). WHAT image then appears is not directed by the script, but by the site. Specifically, the image displayed as first is taken from [http://c0.xkcd.com/redirect/comic/time http://c0.xkcd.com/redirect/comic/time], while the script asks for [http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource&r=(somenumber) http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource&r=(somenumber)] ... which is, if you get correct "r", probably some json containing the image url. So, even if you hack the script, you will not get all possible urls. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:17, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

:: ... actually, given that the script part doesn't seem to do anything just now, it's even possible it's for later (ie, starts producing images when the correct time come). Or maybe there is a bug somewhere in the code :-). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:27, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

:::Thanks for explaining. Why hasn't anyone posted this before? Could "location.hash" possibly have anything to do with the method used to generate the image hash key? Also, why is this code so difficult to follow (Obfuscation?)? So many questions... Sorry if this is just a huge waste of ''Time''.

:::: <code>location</code> is the URI of the page. <code>location.hash</code> is the part of the uri after the ''#'' character. If you go to [https://xkcd.com/1190/#verbose https://xkcd.com/1190/#verbose], you'll see some debugging output in your browser's debugging console (Firefox: Web Console or Firebug, Chrome: Development Tools). But nothing to decode the algorithm... :-( --[[Special:Contributions/83.243.48.2|83.243.48.2]] 10:01, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

::::: Well, I don't know what's doing it, but there's definitely some script (probably this script) that's refreshing the image automatically. I left the comic open for an hour or so and noticed the image had changed. I refreshed with #verbose in Chrome right before the 30 minute mark and got the following in the console.
<pre>
connecting to event source: http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource time07.min.js:1
s {type: "comic/time", data: "{"spread":5,"image":"832a7f13ca0fadc46e93475bb617d78211e32c81c3af0e289a51f8f149707759.png"}", lastEventId: "e2992bf0-9557-11e2-8001-1c6f659cb250"} time07.min.js:1
waiting 0 seconds before displaying comic 832a7f13ca0fadc46e93475bb617d78211e32c81c3af0e289a51f8f149707759.png time07.min.js:1
Resource interpreted as Image but transferred with MIME type application/octet-stream: "http://xkcd.com/events/connect_start". time07.min.js:1
s {type: "comic/time", data: "{"spread":5,"image":"847265673986f085460bf1a95b96f7171bcd9a4f1f0a598b2188307d03bcfaa3.png"}", lastEventId: "79580fe8-9558-11e2-8001-1c6f659cb250"} time07.min.js:1
waiting 4 seconds before displaying comic 847265673986f085460bf1a95b96f7171bcd9a4f1f0a598b2188307d03bcfaa3.png time07.min.js:1
connection error i {type: "error"} time07.min.js:1
Resource interpreted as Image but transferred with MIME type application/octet-stream: "http://xkcd.com/events/connect_error".
</pre>
::::: The script seems to poll the server every minute or two. It's different from before, where the image server itself redirected to the correct image. The auto refresh was probably always intended, but not quite ready when the comic went live. It may have turned out to be necessary too, so the image server doesn't have to do all the work. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.153|129.21.119.153]] 14:45, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

== Before obfuscation... ==
http://pastebin.com/dLiWsFyN
[[Special:Contributions/79.180.173.88|79.180.173.88]] 09:48, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

:Moved to pastebin.[[Special:Contributions/81.23.24.51|81.23.24.51]] 14:34, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/426033682a26a0012a6f8e0c47287af91b7991a852d81c77402c937ffbd650c6.png

http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1e/f46c6571393bee1ee649a7daae41f6328e63482506aef1e22607d22c47dd7027.png --[[User:Johnsmith|Johnsmith]] ([[User talk:Johnsmith|talk]]) 22:51, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/b/b0/88e3a0c8bba935c669606d9134314f811a0961985f968dd5d329e4695acc67c8.png --[[User:Johnsmith|Johnsmith]] ([[User talk:Johnsmith|talk]]) 23:10, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Is it just me or or did Randall manage to make all of us perform a Denial of Service on xkcd.com, and explainxkcd.com ? xkcd.com seems much slower, and I keep getting "500 Internal server error" when accessing this site (explainxkcd.com). I guess that's the effect of having everybody hit F5 every few minutes :) [[Special:Contributions/193.239.192.194|193.239.192.194]] 11:57, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Earlier today, the server handled all the image redirections. The script you see above went through several mutations (currently at #8), with each mutation it seems that Randall is adding more servers and trying to split the load between them. This is basically how a bot-net works - we all run code written by some evil genius, and he's changing the code as time passes to serve some hidden purpose.
[[Special:Contributions/79.180.173.88|79.180.173.88]] 15:44, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:If he is using us as a botnet, then maybe the next comic will be something alluding to that.
:Probably like this: http://xkcd.com/350/

When I saw this comic last night and that there was no explanation up, I thought to myself "How zen." I figured that Randall was going through a calm streak before throwing us the utterly ridiculous April 1st comic. Did it come early, or does he have something even bigger planned for us? [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 07:05, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
:Sorry, did you miss the bit where this comic updates every 30 minutes and all the server error messages being caused by the massive traffic to both the wiki and the main xkcd website? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:08, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
::Well, when I said "last night" and "no explanation", I implied that I wasn't aware of that at the time, which is why I thought what I did. Of course, it is now "now" and there is an explanation, so that should answer your question. Also, since it's not April 1st, and Randall has consistently released something major on that day, the jury is still out, leaving my question quite open (though I was really only asking for opinions). [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 07:20, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

wanted to add an image to the list above, but didn't know at what timestamp to add it, got 69085b480cb82911b19fe8f114909756989eed89b0d227db0f59c1843de7ba24.png at 2013-03-26 09:47 CET (UTC+0100)
/Puggan
:The hours denote the time since the initial release of the comic. The page is still a work in progress, we're going to bring that all into one image file soon. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:13, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

This site should seriously consider cloudflare, it's perfect at times like this and takes minutes to set up. I run all my sites through it and it saves a lot of page huts and bandwidth.
[[Special:Contributions/123.3.136.228|123.3.136.228]]Evan Pyle
:Or at least make the main page a static page that refreshes every so often. I'm guessing that most of the traffic is going to the front page with not as much traffic to the actual comic page [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 15:43, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

Some of the images on the wiki (looks like time38.png through time48.png) are slightly different than what is on the main site. The lines are slightly thicker, as though someone did them based on screen captures.
[[User:Royce|Royce]] ([[User talk:Royce|talk]]) 14:37, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
:Well, at least we have the hashes so they can be re-retrieved, so nothing is really lost, right? Should we add links to the original? [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 15:43, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

:I uploaded two of the "thicker" images and one of the "regular" ones, and I did the same thing for all of them: right-click->save-as. Given that the "thick" ones are all clustered together, I think the files on the xkcd site changed. [[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 18:21, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

Story so far: [http://static.odysseus.anderson.name/1190.gif linky] [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 19:30, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

I guess we shall find out in ~10 minutes if Randall is trolling us. [[Special:Contributions/129.138.30.95|129.138.30.95]] 04:20, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

... so that's it?

Did I just miss something or we've all been epically trolled for 48 hours? [[Special:Contributions/189.59.175.92|189.59.175.92]] 04:22, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:Motherofgod, no, he's *still* going!''' [[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:20, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

What makes you think he's done? [[Special:Contributions/129.138.30.95|129.138.30.95]] 04:25, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

I'm still waiting for the water level to drop precipitously... and then for red spiders to run over everything [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 04:28, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Well, strip 1191 is up so I assumed it was over. I guess it's not. Until April's Fools maybe? [[Special:Contributions/189.59.175.92|189.59.175.92]] 04:32, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
: It is not over -- the image is still updating, at least it did for me [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]])
:: Yes, it's not over. Last frame shows just a minimal movement of Cueball's head, but no doubt it's still ongoing. [[Special:Contributions/189.59.175.92|189.59.175.92]] 04:49, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
::: Given the fact the strips for the last 2 weeks have been comparatively simple, I expect Randall has been planning this for at least that long. {{unsigned|101.98.156.239}}

Considering the common theme with "today's" strip, anyone wanna guess that he's sending us a hex-encoded file over a really slow modem link, slated to complete April 1? Anyone wanna run "magic" over the hashes and see if they come up with a compression codec or something? [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 04:45, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:I liked this idea and crunched the hex data for 00:00 to 51:00 into a binary file (http://filebin.ca/bcGyfUvdgBi). Can't see anything resembling a file header, but that doesn't really say much. If this is compressed header-less data there wouldn't likely be any easily discernible patterns. Haven't really tried running the data through anything, zlib was one that came to mind but haven't tried it.

[[Special:Contributions/194.114.62.72|194.114.62.72]] I'm pretty shure it's not the seaside, but a lake - the water level is not changing at all.

Its probably going to loop back on itself, eventually, and repeat this way forever. [[Special:Contributions/113.160.224.209|113.160.224.209]] 07:12, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

For those wondering about the Javascript behind this: I posted my analysis of the Javascript [http://www.echochamber.me/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=101043&start=760#p3303579 on the xkcd forums], and further de-obfuscated and annotated the code over on [https://gist.github.com/cincodenada/5246094 GitHub]. Here's a quick summary though: it holds open a connection to xkcd's servers and listens for instructions and follows them. Those instructions are either "load a new image" or "reload the page". So, you don't have to mash F5, it will automatically update the image when they're available. We have no way to control how fast the images come or when they do, and it's quite possible for them to update forever. --[[User:Fiveofoh|Fiveofoh]] ([[User talk:Fiveofoh|talk]]) 06:41, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

This is a series of animation frames. I suspect they will only ever be shown once (based on the fact you can only get the current image, not previous or future images -- this is in keeping with the title, "Time", which passes and which you can't ever get back]. The filenames are UUIDs too long to guess, so somebody needs to start collecting the filenames here so that a proper flipbook can be assembled. Here's the latest URL: [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/81efa7c4509ac7a329407d9da25d12ec0a3baec50e06588586961575e2d65c2c.png http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/81efa7c4509ac7a329407d9da25d12ec0a3baec50e06588586961575e2d65c2c.png] Go here to collect URLs: [http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource]
:We've kinda already been doing that. They're the big long filenames next to each timestamp. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:06, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Oh my god it's game of thrones played out in 2D [[Special:Contributions/123.3.136.228|123.3.136.228]] Evan Pyle

Is it just me, or do the last two frames look like someone just threw a rock at the castle? [[Special:Contributions/67.167.81.143|67.167.81.143]] 14:20, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

I believe it is the cannon ball that I have been expecting since they first started building castles. [[User:ChrisPUT|ChrisPUT]] ([[User talk:ChrisPUT|talk]]) 16:34, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

== Create an animation on this page ==
Here's a bit of JavaScript to execute in your browser's JavaScript console. (Cmd+Alt+K on Firefox for Mac, for example.)
<pre>
/* Collect all frame image URLs */
var images = [];
Array.prototype.slice.call(document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/time"][href$=".png"]')).forEach(function (a) {
images.push(a.href);
});

/* Create an image in the top-right corner of the screen */
var img = document.body.appendChild(document.createElement('img'));
img.setAttribute('style', 'position: fixed; top: 1em; right: 1em;');

/* Allow removing the image by clicking */
img.onclick = function () {
img.parentNode.removeChild(img);
};

var texts = [0,51,169,174,322];
var delays = [0,1000,1000,1500,4000];

/* Cycle through the frames */
img.onload = function () {
/* Pause a bit longer for the text frames */
var idx = texts.indexOf(img.i);
var delay = ( idx > 0 ) ? delays[idx] : 50;
setTimeout(function () {
img.src = images[++img.i % images.length];
}, delay);
};

/* Start with the first frame */
img.i = 0;
img.src = images[img.i];
</pre>

— [http://jan.moesen.nu/ Jan!] [[Special:Contributions/94.23.195.79|94.23.195.79]] 09:22, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

---Thanks for the script!. Ctrl+Shift+J on Windows Chrome [[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 13:11, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

- updated script 'coz there are three text panels now. [[User schnitz]] 19:00, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

- updated script with another text panel [[Special:Contributions/24.77.229.71|24.77.229.71]] 21:00, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

The one for the prior half hour (5AM - 5:30AM EST, 27 March 2013) is located at http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/5450bd39ee84a394467fabcaf92f1a5711c2a4eca24c8bd8a8cec829496e3dd7.png
[[Special:Contributions/141.161.133.106|141.161.133.106]] 09:26, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

And the one for the following half hour is located at http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/c2ea85f1ab92f2f80e9c4655c47f5c7effc0a7da01c8a88493864845855b3be8.png
[[Special:Contributions/141.161.133.106|141.161.133.106]] 09:31, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Call me a paranoid, but I think this strip is all about 9/11:
*If you read the strip number (1190) backwards, you get 09/11
*This subject is recurrent on xkcd
*As far as we have seen, there is a destroyed tower and they are rebuilding it
*The next strip, following 1190 (or 09/11), mentions war against countries with large oil reserves but low military capacity. {{unsigned|143.107.105.14}}
:I feel like that's kind of a stretch, I'm pretty sure it's just a story about a day at the beach.

If a new strip goes up every 30 minutes our time, and if each strip comprises of, let's say for the sake of simplicity, one minute in their time; to build the sand castle [frames 24-117 = 93 frames] so far it's taken almost 2 days our time, which would be about an hour and a half their time if each frame is a minute. Using my scale, an hour our time is 2 minutes their time, a day is 48 minutes, and our month is their 24 hour day. If we assume Randall plans to give us a 24 hour period from that world's time, and we use the minute-per-frame rate I made up, than we'd probably be looking at a month of images our time. I guess we'll just have to see how long he's got it planned to go on. -boB

Has it ended? All that's left is the sandcastle, and there doesn't seem to have been anything else changed on it for a few hours.

It's zooming out! When look at the gifs showing the frames in succession, the last 3 show the castle getting slightly smaller each time!
: It's true! The most recent also shows the edge of another castle, leading me to believe it's part of some kind of sand castle contest, probably including some of xkcd's other recurring characters!
::Weird, now it's not showing that, Randall must have put something up too soon.
A controllable version of the same comic is available at http://xkcd.aubronwood.com/ - slow/fast movement, pause, control back and forth. It also has the image # on the top left. Auto updating. [[Special:Contributions/59.182.173.88|59.182.173.88]] 20:56, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

:Can you add on-screen buttons, so it's usable on phones and tablets without hardware keyboard?{{unsigned|81.23.24.48}}

looky here: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/4c92727698b704ee1d02fbd37c94c220d16be4ad3ff6fc03a3fb77ea6d96434f.png [[Special:Contributions/97.88.147.176|97.88.147.176]] 23:14, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
That was a glitch on the server that revealed a future frame, but it has been corrected and that link is now a 404 not found. I guess if we want to see it in context we'll just have to "Wait for it."{{unsigned|Bugstomper}}
: Well now we're back to that picture as the present frame. [[User:Racerdude09|Racerdude09]] ([[User talk:Racerdude09|talk]]) 03:14, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Is someone gonna update the transcript to note them building a sandcastle, as well as the dialogue so far (consisting of Megan and Cueball saying goodbye to each other at No. 52)?--[[Special:Contributions/69.119.250.251|69.119.250.251]] 00:38, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Anyone else think that they're roleplaying Dom and Mal in Limbo? [[User:Fry-kun|Fry-kun]] ([[User talk:Fry-kun|talk]]) 05:36, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

I think they're bulding a sand replica of King's Landing for the Game Of Thrones season 3 premiere {{unsigned|201.239.18.75}}
: My first idea regarding the sand castle was also about Game of Thrones, but i dismissed it as being too biased.. --[[Special:Contributions/217.13.68.110|217.13.68.110]] 13:31, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

I have modified the code "'''''/* Collect all frame image URLs */'''''" to see only images of the "'''Frame by Frame Breakdown'''" section :
/* Collect all frame image URLs */
var images = [];
Array.prototype.slice.call(document.querySelector('#Frame_by_Frame_Breakdown').parentElement.nextElementSibling.nextElementSibling.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/wiki/images/"][href*="/time"][href$=".png"]')).forEach(function (a) {
images.push(a.href);
});
(Sorry for my English... and the ugly code...) {{unsigned|194.119.85.99}}

Anyone else think this is going to be related to Wed's cartoon? I'm half-expecting Black Hat to show up from the future, with advanced weaponry, to take oil from the sandcastle of the past. {{unsigned|173.180.60.43}}

Guys, i think we might have lost a few frames in between, no? When did he upload the first image? like, the exakt time... knowing this we could calculate the amount of images there should be and compare to what we have... [[User:Caranhyas|Caranhyas]] ([[User talk:Caranhyas|talk]]) 18:04, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

The four comics from 89:00 to 90:30 (most recent so far) look the same to me, but the PNG files have different CRCs for the image data blocks, though the metadata in the PNG files are all the same. I wonder if there might be something subtle hidden in the images, or the way they're compressed. [[Special:Contributions/24.160.133.3|24.160.133.3]] 22:54, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

: There is a very minor difference in the water level on those images, even though the water level has been static in most of the other images. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.63.210|129.21.63.210]] 02:05, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

I don't think the title text is a reference to anything except for... wait for it... THE MONGOLS ;-) [[Special:Contributions/81.23.24.34|81.23.24.34]] 23:00, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Unless the 99:30 image was misnamed, it's not included in the list of images. Does anyone know where this frame went? [[User:Bob|Bob]] 14:18, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Is that rain in two recent panels? [[User:Larry|Larry]] ([[User talk:Larry|talk]]) 14:21, 29 March 2013 (UTC)r

Can someone identify for sure what Cueball is doing in 105:00? His arms seems to be crossed, and his holding something in his hand. [[User:Mem|mem]] ([[User talk:Mem|talk]]) 14:30, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
: Looks to me like he is shivering, which would allude to a cool down common with rain storms? [[User:Jeremy1026|Jeremy1026]] ([[User talk:Jeremt1026|talk]]) 14:51 29 March 2013 (UTC)
: Looks to me like he's brushing sand off himself; see the shower around him similar to her hair at 10:00? [[Special:Contributions/70.178.167.60|70.178.167.60]] 03:07, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Megan just wheeled in a trebuchet! This is going to be fun! [[Special:Contributions/69.246.10.71|69.246.10.71]] 16:34, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
Now she's launching a rock. I wonder which tower it might hit. March 2013, at 17:08. Flew over the first two and might impact far right tower if it continues. 17:48

I think this is all an elaborate 'joke' which will keep running until Monday - April Fools' Day [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 17:17, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Re explanation of hour 110:00. My first thought was "How can a person whose face is an empty ovoid look upset?". However, looking at the image again I can see how it does. Respects to Randall. Possibly an April Fool, but I will be even more impressed if it runs beyond Monday. I'm waiting for the tide to come in. jasq [[Special:Contributions/79.123.80.87|79.123.80.87]] 23:12, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

I googled some hashes. The first two seem to show up here, in a directory tellingly labeled "wait": http://www.hash-database.net/wait/hash_sha256.txt
:: The "wait" folder there contains hashes that weren't found in the database and might or might not someday be discovered. They are probably there *because* someone was looking up hashes to see if they were common words. [[Special:Contributions/99.153.248.206|99.153.248.206]] 23:17, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
To review, the first two are:
8eb156cce408df8bb83528382d6a2aa2ce6c74f3c573fd12b058cd1c56420672
1e349a579b5f9b5ed487ddf7e88244b70330941ddedac9c6abf6ed2e3f589b97
Googled the third one, but it only shows up on xkcd discussion forums :(
Hashed some of the hashes, but didn't see the result in the list, so it dosen't look like a hash chain.
Someone should google all the other hashes, and someone else should figure out what the guy in the "wait" directory (presuming it wasn't Randall) was hashing. --[[User:Venal dwarf|Venal dwarf]] ([[User talk:Venal dwarf|talk]]) 21:37, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
: Comparing all the filenames to the hashes on that page, I found a total of four that overlap. The first two, as mentioned. But also one from the middle of day 1, and one from the end of day 1.

: 00:30 - 01/00:30 - 8eb156cce408df8bb83528382d6a2aa2ce6c74f3c573fd12b058cd1c56420672.png

: 01:00 - 01/01:00 - 1e349a579b5f9b5ed487ddf7e88244b70330941ddedac9c6abf6ed2e3f589b97.png

: 12:00 - 01/12:00 - a3aa116efca3c01d8a64c0c7e79158dc8a62241aba767064e3a6c724cc5ade93.png

: 23:30 - 01/23:30 - 1da3859627430022485c53ad90e88e8771b2bec2d60e910b59ef332325bba29f.png

: --[[User:Venal dwarf|Venal dwarf]] ([[User talk:Venal dwarf|talk]]) 22:36, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

: There is a fifth one also, from 01:30 - e25be2dd49fe9f33c3543cdf640b67e0f2146cc576db5da007a135a278e524ee.png
: I converted all 1153 hashes in the file to lower case and did a wget on them but it did not turn up any files from the future. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 05:31, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Is Randall training us like Pavlov's dogs - every 30 minutes we are compelled to refresh the web-page? [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 01:59, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Does anyone have an opinion on how we should continue naming the saved timeNN.png files if the updates do not continue on the half hour?
Right now the link for the skipped update 242 got renamed to the nonexistent time242NA.png and the next update's link is time242.png. But what do we do if the updates are changing to once per hour? By the way it does look like the next half-hour update has been skipped too. -- [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 05:57, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
:It does seem to have gone hourly as of midnight EDT. I stuck in "NA" as a placeholder since I wasn't sure what to do with the files, and wanted to make it clear that the half-hour updates were skipped in case it goes back or changes in some other way. Maybe start naming them by the time, instead of sequentially, e.g. "012200.png". If the pattern holds, the "no update" lines can be removed. (Or both might make more sense, like "time243-012200.png".) [[Special:Contributions/69.243.159.96|69.243.159.96]] 06:08, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Anyone else getting a 404 error with the latest image (http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/d1b3b1b6e23995a093377c5ddc044dd98a42a3ae1327c8b6620d51d2a7003c1d.png)? [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 15:19, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Strange: As far as I know http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time.png always redirects to the current frame. But if you visit the current one (133:00) at http://xkcd.com/1190/ and check the displayed image, it says 'c6976fbb244af4fc2286ffe3ac2cf78d408c1f610ecd71e18b4a677a048f084d.png' while time.png redirects to '1d9ce7199935b1b629d6b8744e62c7700a3780357b2dc74bb70471db616ddadb.png'. If you take a md5 of both images, they appear to be the same.
:I was confused by this as well, I'm grabbing the images myself via time.png and got the 1d9ce7 hash. How will these duplicates be displayed in the table?[[User:Lockyy|Lockyy]] ([[User talk:Lockyy|talk]]) 17:48, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

I'm seeing some strange stuff now. I have a script that uses wget of time.png to get the redirected hash png like Lockyy is doing. And I can verify that when you go to the 1190 page in the browser you get a different hash. But the previous hour and this hour, unlike the ones before it, the two hash pngs are different. And when I refresh the screen in my browser at the 1190 page, first I see the image I get from time.png, then the image refreshes with the other one. I'm not sure what this means or what we are supposed to do with it. I added the time.png hashes to the table for the last two hours but we probably need a way of indicating the difference. -- [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 20:38, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
: This latest hourly update did the same thing. If you are fast enough you can even get the first image in your browser by right click view image before it changes to the second one. I edited in something that shows that. It probably could stand some reformatting by someone with better graphic design sense, but at least right now all the information has been captured. - [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 21:18, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
: Looking at it some more, I see that wget of the page at xkcd.com/1190/ gets you an img link to time.png and then there is the javascript that must after some delay get the different hash url image. That means that we had better be sure that we do not miss any manual checks of hourly updates because the scripts will never find that second image unless someone has a way of getting a script that runs the javascript as if it was a browser. As long as someone posts the hash of the image from the browser every hour, I can ensure that we have the hashes the scripts can get because I have a cron job checking for those updates every 15 minutes. -- [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 21:49, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
:: And with the update for day 06/18:00 it appears to be back to normal, one consistent image per update -- [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 22:22, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

== bash script to get all images ==
Just if somebody else wants this, i hacked a little bash script to download all images to the current listed here. It skips already downloaded images so it can be reused later when more images are here.

<pre>#!/bin/bash
curl -s http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1190 |
egrep -o "/wiki/images/[0-9a-f]/[0-9a-f]{2}/time[0-9]*.png" |
while read url; do
imgname=$(basename $url)
tmp=${imgname:4}
id=${tmp%.png}
printf -v target "image%03d.png" ${id:-1}
[[ -e $target ]] && continue
echo $target
curl -so $target http://www.explainxkcd.com$url
done
</pre>
--[[Special:Contributions/79.236.3.216|79.236.3.216]] 18:51, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

To ease waiting times: http://thred.github.com/xkcd-time-catapult/
:: This is awesome. I love the internet. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:15, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

I've offered up [http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=10316|my own explanation]. The obvious metaphor is how time continues to flow and things change when you’re not watching. And how this could be a conceptual art project that could continue the rest of our lives... [[Special:Contributions/72.183.97.36|72.183.97.36]] 19:36, 31 March 2013 (UTC) Lawrence Person
:Correcting your link: [http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=10316 my own explanation] --[[Special:Contributions/24.145.230.202|24.145.230.202]] 20:49, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

::This comics may not really continue forever unless Randall will put some sort of repetition into it. May not be simple loop but something more sophisticated, but still, images shown up to now doesn't show any kind of repetition yet. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:28, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

anyone else notice the water is slowly rising? not unlike a tide (depending on the time scaling implemented? perhaps a flooding river (as might correspond to the mention of a river)? [[Special:Contributions/70.192.210.128|70.192.210.128]] 18:08, 2 April 2013 (UTC)
:I checked your claim that the water is rising, and I agree. Good catch! I measure the rate at about 1 pixel per 25 frames starting at about 100 hours. Though a more careful look could surely refine that estimate.{{unsigned|207.67.82.250}}
:I measured the water level with a ruler. The water will take another 20 days before reaching the sand castle if rising at a constant rate. [[Special:Contributions/192.155.85.119|192.155.85.119]] 01:27, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Oddly this contradicts the text, which says that the river is going down: "Any idea where the river is now?", Cueball replies "Still pretty far out. It actually retreated a little this week." --AH
:"It's *still* pretty far out". I think this means that it's getting less far out.[[Special:Contributions/93.73.186.104|93.73.186.104]] 07:41, 3 April 2013 (UTC)
::"It actually retreated a little this week." ~~dang

This comic has been running and updating so long I think perhaps it is a sand castle creation/destruction program that autonomously lets the two indefinitely build, destroy and rebuild new sand castles all the time… [[Special:Contributions/80.101.210.21|80.101.210.21]] 09:55, 4 April 2013 (UTC)
:Maybe. We don't have enough data to say that for sure yet. We just need to "wait for it". [[Special:Contributions/93.73.186.104|93.73.186.104]] 10:07, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

I think numbers in "As of this writing, it is still updated after more than XXX hours - even after Y new, different comics were posted on the front page" at the top of the page should be calculated using {{#expr}}. I changed it for number of comics, but I have no idea how to calculate number of hours since it was posted.[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 11:15, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

When Megan coughed and Cueball asked if she was okay, did anyone else think of http://xkcd.com/931/ Lanes? Cueball explains that cancer treatment results are not known until much later, "and often the first sign is a cough or a bone pain. So you spend the next five or ten years trying not to worry . . . ." ~~wrybred

Talk:1190: Time

2013-04-04T14:29:08Z

Wrybred: