Editing Talk:1190: Time

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Hmm... we gonna see a guy floating in a barrel?? -z64dan [[Special:Contributions/204.57.93.104|204.57.93.104]] 15:56, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
 
Hmm... we gonna see a guy floating in a barrel?? -z64dan [[Special:Contributions/204.57.93.104|204.57.93.104]] 15:56, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
: And now I think we're going to see that too! [[User:Hippyjim|Hippyjim]] ([[User talk:Hippyjim|talk]]) 00:23, 24 July 2013 (UTC)
 
  
 
And now we're off to see the wizard!!  This is great!  A comic within a comic!  [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 17:23, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
 
And now we're off to see the wizard!!  This is great!  A comic within a comic!  [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 17:23, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
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I think what happened is that one of the three sites (107.6.97.102) started giving the same result each time.  Now, I think they are down for maintenance....  --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 20:47, 5 May 2013 (UTC)
 
I think what happened is that one of the three sites (107.6.97.102) started giving the same result each time.  Now, I think they are down for maintenance....  --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 20:47, 5 May 2013 (UTC)
 
Why are images 2816 and 2817 the same? http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=2816 http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=2817 [[Special:Contributions/121.72.166.59|121.72.166.59]] 21:56, 16 July 2013 (UTC)
 
  
 
== Hours ==
 
== Hours ==
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:NO--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 17 May 2013 (UTC)
 
:NO--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 17 May 2013 (UTC)
 
Finally, Randall has this to say: http://blog.xkcd.com/2013/07/29/1190-time/ [[Special:Contributions/122.182.0.94|122.182.0.94]] 06:26, 30 July 2013 (UTC)
 
  
 
== Simple English ==
 
== Simple English ==
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::Noticed the same. Looks like the left and right arrow keys don't work after a certain point, but the up and down arrow keys and the mouse wheel continue to work correctly. -- [[Special:Contributions/205.171.58.158|205.171.58.158]] 17:36, 14 June 2013 (UTC)
 
::Noticed the same. Looks like the left and right arrow keys don't work after a certain point, but the up and down arrow keys and the mouse wheel continue to work correctly. -- [[Special:Contributions/205.171.58.158|205.171.58.158]] 17:36, 14 June 2013 (UTC)
 
::I found that if I hit "Slower" when this happens, it returns to single frame navigation with arrow keys.
 
::I found that if I hit "Slower" when this happens, it returns to single frame navigation with arrow keys.
::If you click on the slider at the bottom of the page, left and right keys then move it one pixel, which is currently 2 images. If you click on the comic to move focus there, arrow keys work correctly
 
  
 
== Elevation? ==
 
== Elevation? ==
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:They also slept under the tree in images 1348-1352, Megan talked about that night in 1830-1832 (time 1709:00) "Megan: I heard chirps from the night sky once. I was looking at the stars one night and I heard peeping. - It was very quiet. - just a single chirp now and then. Cueball: Did you see anything? Megan: I thought a few stars flicker. - Nothing else." [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 00:40, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:They also slept under the tree in images 1348-1352, Megan talked about that night in 1830-1832 (time 1709:00) "Megan: I heard chirps from the night sky once. I was looking at the stars one night and I heard peeping. - It was very quiet. - just a single chirp now and then. Cueball: Did you see anything? Megan: I thought a few stars flicker. - Nothing else." [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 00:40, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
 
::The story from time 1709:00 also refers to things did happen before this comic did start.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:31, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
 
::The story from time 1709:00 also refers to things did happen before this comic did start.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:31, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
::I agree too, but not this time... there is a chick in the grass in the scene next to the tree where they slept. See {{geekwagon|1375|1374}} or "Chick in grass 1375" in 1190: Time: Pictures [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1190:_Time:_Pictures] in the Hidden Animals section. The same type of chick was right in front them in time 1709:00 (see "Chick in grass 1826"). [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 13:58, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
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::I agree too, but not this time... there is a chick in the grass in the scene next to the tree where they slept. See [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1375&framediff=1374] or "Chick in grass 1375" in 1190: Time: Pictures [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1190:_Time:_Pictures] in the Hidden Animals section. The same type of chick was right in front them in time 1709:00 (see "Chick in grass 1826"). [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 13:58, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
  
They're coming back... in {{geekwagon|1928}} we can see the two heading off following the small river with their knapsacks (or rucksacks) left behind by the tree where they slept. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 14:09, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
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They're coming back... in image 1928 [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1928] we can see the two heading off following the small river with their knapsacks (or rucksacks) left behind by the tree where they slept. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 14:09, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
  
 
Journey update: As of (right edge of) image 2103, they climbed 1290 pixels or 193.5 ft (59 m) from the place the two slept by the small river (image 1908). [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 18:30, 15 June 2013 (UTC)
 
Journey update: As of (right edge of) image 2103, they climbed 1290 pixels or 193.5 ft (59 m) from the place the two slept by the small river (image 1908). [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 18:30, 15 June 2013 (UTC)
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:: I'm not sure that current agriculture would be an issue. Unless they are play-acting or in some kind of _The Village_ setup, they seem unlikely to be current-day humans. They seem strangely ignorant of some obvious things and yet aware of others. There might be a few tribal peoples living in tents that would be unaware of the next river over, but they would be unlikely to be confused by birds nesting. Or be using trebuchets and European castle architecture in sandcastles. And if they genuinely walked for "days" along the shore, it seems unlikely to be a _The Village_ setup; that's got to be 20 miles even taking a leisurely trip for just two days, and probably more. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 23:36, 17 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:: I'm not sure that current agriculture would be an issue. Unless they are play-acting or in some kind of _The Village_ setup, they seem unlikely to be current-day humans. They seem strangely ignorant of some obvious things and yet aware of others. There might be a few tribal peoples living in tents that would be unaware of the next river over, but they would be unlikely to be confused by birds nesting. Or be using trebuchets and European castle architecture in sandcastles. And if they genuinely walked for "days" along the shore, it seems unlikely to be a _The Village_ setup; that's got to be 20 miles even taking a leisurely trip for just two days, and probably more. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 23:36, 17 June 2013 (UTC)
  
It might be interesting, however, that there's a striking resemblance between the Grandidier's Baobab depicted in the comic at frame 1525 {{geekwagon|1525}} and the tree on the left in the Wikimedia picture [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adansonia_grandidieri03.jpg Grandidier's Baobab (Adansonia grandidieri) near Morondava, Madagascar]. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 18:24, 16 June 2013 (UTC)
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It might be interesting, however, that there's a striking resemblance between the Grandidier's Baobab depicted in the comic at frame 1525 [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1525] and the tree on the left in the Wikimedia picture [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adansonia_grandidieri03.jpg Grandidier's Baobab (Adansonia grandidieri) near Morondava, Madagascar]. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 18:24, 16 June 2013 (UTC)
  
 
:That place is surprisingly like the comic, especially when explored [[Expedition]] style. It has beaches, other rivers, baobabs, etc! And doesn't the fact that they slept overnight invalidate the northern hemisphere theory and mess with determining the walking direction by the sun? Despite all this, I doubt being in Madagascar does much for understanding the meaning of the comic. --[[User:Irino.|Irino.]] ([[User talk:Irino.|talk]]) 01:55, 17 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:That place is surprisingly like the comic, especially when explored [[Expedition]] style. It has beaches, other rivers, baobabs, etc! And doesn't the fact that they slept overnight invalidate the northern hemisphere theory and mess with determining the walking direction by the sun? Despite all this, I doubt being in Madagascar does much for understanding the meaning of the comic. --[[User:Irino.|Irino.]] ([[User talk:Irino.|talk]]) 01:55, 17 June 2013 (UTC)
 
That Theory seems to be out of date by now - post-apocalyptic(?) mediteran sea it is... [[Special:Contributions/212.202.64.10|212.202.64.10]] 04:24, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
  
 
== Jumped by a kitty ==
 
== Jumped by a kitty ==
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Given that they're been hiking up into the mountains, my guess is that it was a mountain lion... which is also known as a cougar. Or puma. --[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 08:07, 22 June 2013 (UTC)
 
Given that they're been hiking up into the mountains, my guess is that it was a mountain lion... which is also known as a cougar. Or puma. --[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 08:07, 22 June 2013 (UTC)
 
As we now know that they are in the Mediterranean region, a {{w|Eurasian lynx}} or an {{w|Iberian lynx}} look quite good guesses but the cat in the comic has a tail that is too long and it doesn't have ear tufts. I guess if it is far enough in the future, the distribution of animals could have changed, so it might be {{w|Caracal}} (desert lynx), a {{w|Serval}} or an {{w|African golden cat}}. Of course if it is even further in the future, it might be a whole new species that doesn't currently exist.[[User:NHSavage|NHSavage]] ([[User talk:NHSavage|talk]]) 21:11, 20 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
They're back to the kitty! Will it run, or does it bear a grudge? [[Special:Contributions/121.72.165.205|121.72.165.205]] 04:09, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
 
: I still want it to be a lonely lost pet, maybe a zoo refugee. [[Special:Contributions/99.72.154.66|99.72.154.66]] 04:59, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
 
: It ran. Is it preparing another surprise attack? ''Time'' will tell. (Ha ha.) [[Special:Contributions/121.72.165.205|121.72.165.205]] 06:22, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
 
  
 
== Frame 2188 ==
 
== Frame 2188 ==
  
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned or come up with theories about {{geekwagon|2188}}. I guess we now know that it was the cat stalking them.
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I'm surprised nobody has mentioned or come up with theories about [http://bit.ly/16fGzVM frame 2188]. I guess we now know that it was the cat stalking them.
 
--[[Special:Contributions/68.147.179.172|68.147.179.172]] 01:04, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
 
--[[Special:Contributions/68.147.179.172|68.147.179.172]] 01:04, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
  
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== Frames 2231-2232 ==
 
== Frames 2231-2232 ==
  
What is that on the far right of the screen on {{geekwagon|2231}}? Any theories at all?
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What is that on [http://bit.ly/11QNRvN the far right of the screen]? Any theories at all?
 
:Boom mike? Martian tripod? [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 07:40, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:Boom mike? Martian tripod? [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 07:40, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
  
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I'll take a shot... The bottom part is curved and aligns perfectly with Cueball's head in Photoshop, just cutoff on the left (and the right as it goes out of frame). The rounded slice at the top matches Megan's head as well. The full slice does not match any scene to date (the only one close is 1885 with Megan in the tree, but that's not it); thus, it must be a slice from a future scene (or maybe part of a template with assorted characters). [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 16:20, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
 
I'll take a shot... The bottom part is curved and aligns perfectly with Cueball's head in Photoshop, just cutoff on the left (and the right as it goes out of frame). The rounded slice at the top matches Megan's head as well. The full slice does not match any scene to date (the only one close is 1885 with Megan in the tree, but that's not it); thus, it must be a slice from a future scene (or maybe part of a template with assorted characters). [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 16:20, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
:I was going with "sprites from Pitfall, while the reader was distracted by the action", but the "template fragment" theory certainly works better.  ;-)
 
  
 
== The great re-encoding ==
 
== The great re-encoding ==
  
 
After noticing the snafu around 2231-2232, I whent and re downloaded the full set from imgs.xkcd.org and what I downloaded today doesn't match what I downloaded before (generally when they were <24h old). Everything from 1068 back seems to be a pixle match for what is there now but have different MD5s and is generally smaller. [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 20:31, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
 
After noticing the snafu around 2231-2232, I whent and re downloaded the full set from imgs.xkcd.org and what I downloaded today doesn't match what I downloaded before (generally when they were <24h old). Everything from 1068 back seems to be a pixle match for what is there now but have different MD5s and is generally smaller. [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 20:31, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
:My observations suggest that XKCD images are routinely optimized a few hours after posting.  In short, it is normal for the image to change without the pixels changing.  --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 03:37, 30 June 2013 (UTC)
 
  
 
== Another Theory ==
 
== Another Theory ==
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Can it just be about Mr. Munroe's life? I don't know many personal details, but it would be easy to draw about and still be important without being funny. --[[User:Irino.|Irino.]] ([[User talk:Irino.|talk]]) 04:39, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
 
Can it just be about Mr. Munroe's life? I don't know many personal details, but it would be easy to draw about and still be important without being funny. --[[User:Irino.|Irino.]] ([[User talk:Irino.|talk]]) 04:39, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:A fair number of people have speculated that it's a metaphor for something personal, yeah. He's married and his wife had a bout with cancer a year or so back, so there's been some concern that the whole 'inescapable tide' may be a less than happy thing. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 19:39, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:A fair number of people have speculated that it's a metaphor for something personal, yeah. He's married and his wife had a bout with cancer a year or so back, so there's been some concern that the whole 'inescapable tide' may be a less than happy thing. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 19:39, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
This is beginning to look a lot like the plot outline of a quest video game. --deepfatfriar 17:34, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
 
  
 
== Only one day to reach the top of the Mountain ==
 
== Only one day to reach the top of the Mountain ==
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== It's getting cloudy. ==
 
== It's getting cloudy. ==
  
Upper right corner of {{geekwagon|2352}}? Also the other three corners have something going on. [[Special:Contributions/99.72.154.66|99.72.154.66]] 03:25, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
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Upper right corner of [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=2352&framediff=2351 frame 2352]? Also the other three corners have something going on. [[Special:Contributions/99.72.154.66|99.72.154.66]] 03:25, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
 
: May Randall is reading this Wiki and saw the complain about still air :-) [[User:Joggl|Joggl]] ([[User talk:Joggl|talk]]) 06:09, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
 
: May Randall is reading this Wiki and saw the complain about still air :-) [[User:Joggl|Joggl]] ([[User talk:Joggl|talk]]) 06:09, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:: Or maybe Megan is getting cold because a storm's coming.  Maybe they don't know about storms in the hills or mountains.  Note that the "people in the hills" where they live are perhaps not friendly, according to the earlier conversation about going on up the mountain:  Cueball: "We can't be more than a day or so from the top. There may be people there."  Megan: "Like the people in the hills?"  Cueball: "We're a long way from there."  If the people of the hills back home are unfriendly, Cueball and Megan may have no experience of hill weather. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 11:14, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:: Or maybe Megan is getting cold because a storm's coming.  Maybe they don't know about storms in the hills or mountains.  Note that the "people in the hills" where they live are perhaps not friendly, according to the earlier conversation about going on up the mountain:  Cueball: "We can't be more than a day or so from the top. There may be people there."  Megan: "Like the people in the hills?"  Cueball: "We're a long way from there."  If the people of the hills back home are unfriendly, Cueball and Megan may have no experience of hill weather. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 11:14, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
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:::@Taibhse, It seems to me that you just explained the entire point of the cartoon. [[Special:Contributions/74.174.17.194|74.174.17.194]] 13:57, 27 June 2013 (UTC)ALurker
 
:::@Taibhse, It seems to me that you just explained the entire point of the cartoon. [[Special:Contributions/74.174.17.194|74.174.17.194]] 13:57, 27 June 2013 (UTC)ALurker
 
Where are the astronomical freaks? Can't we find out where they are depending on the stars? [[User:Joggl|Joggl]] ([[User talk:Joggl|talk]]) 17:12, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
 
: ~30 deg north based on the direction of motion. [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 17:57, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:The constellation looks like Bootes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo%C3%B6tes[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 18:03, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
 
::When Bootes is setting around sunset in the US it is August or September.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 18:16, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:::I can't identify Boötes so far but the bright star following the path of the sun isn't a star: It's the planet Venus, here as the "Evening Star".--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:28, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
 
::::Not Bootes; it's not on the ecliptic, which these stars are. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 22:46, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
 
: I think the upper constellation on 2394 is the Sagittarius. The lower one, which can be seen better on 2393 is the tail of the Scorpion constellation. The two bright stars close to each other above the tree are Shaula and Lesath. The brightest star is a planet, probably Venus. The only think bothers me is that there is an other star very close to Ascella in Sagittarius, which should not be there... Maybe an other planet? --[[Special:Contributions/80.98.250.115|80.98.250.115]] 21:31, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
 
::I think you may have it. I passed over Sagittarius at first, because they looked too close together, but I think I was overestimating the scale. Virgo and Gemini both contain something close to the Y pattern of four bright stars, but the surrounding stars aren't right. If it's a planet, it would have to be naked eye visible but not as bright as Ascella,and I don't think there is anything that fits, which is a pity, because we could work out possible years. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 22:26, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:::Reviewing further, I'm even more convinced. If you get a star map in the right orientation, you can see that the rest of Scorpio is becoming visible just above the horizon in {{geekwagon|2393}}.  And the arc of stars the three consellations are 'facing' matches up with the Serpent and Ophiuchius, including the visual binary of Delta and Epsilon Ophiuchi.  If you look at a sky map for Nov 7, 2013, Venus is in about the right configuration. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 23:14, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
 
 
 
== Star Map ==
 
Is someone already stitching together a map of the stars as they move through the frames? I could do it, but I'm too lazy *g*.
 
And if we have that, the relative position of the sun to the stars should be sufficient to determine the day of the year (depending on the accuracy of the drawings) and probably, assuming the first bright dot was indeed Venus, we might even be able to determine if the story takes/took place this year. Maybe other astronomical objects show (or don't show) and help to further narrow down the '''time'''. --[[Special:Contributions/92.76.250.121|92.76.250.121]] 00:18, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:From the position of the sun, Venus is at or close to greatest eastern elongation from the sun.  Assuming that the constellations we are looking at are Sagittarius and surroundings (and the new stars coming into view continue to match this), the sun is located around Virgo.  From the angle of the ecliptic, they are at 30 degrees north, and thus it would have to be around the beginning of November, as that's when Virgo sets with the sun at 30N. So it could be a year when Venus hits the greatest eastern elongation in late October/early November.  Which happens this year, but it can't be this year as the moon isn't right -- there would be a crescent moon next to Venus. It would have to be at new moon or waning moon, and that puts it after 2037. Of course, there are a lot of assumptions and estimations in that calculation. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 02:29, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
 
::Actually, for the moon it could be 2029, but there's another blocking factor: Mars should be next to Venus in 2037.  And for the next few eight year cycles, some combination of Mercury, the moon, and Saturn should be showing up between Venus and the Sun before the stars do. So it looks like 2053 would be the first matching date. And the next date after that 2085 - it precesses forward a bit each year, so it would be Nov 12 by 2085. Seems a bit late for grapes and hiking without any thought of shelter, but if it's 30N it is likely a pretty warm area. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 02:59, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:::Going backwards, the first one with no planets is 1981, but there would be a nearly full moon, and that scene does not look illuminated by a full moon. The most recent one with no planets and no moon interfering would be 1949. But that's purely my amateur estimation using the online AstroViewer. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 02:59, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
 
I wandered over to the forum, and they agree with our conclusion of Sagittarius, and one of them had a interesting observation: Antares is gone. It should be the brightest thing in this view apart from Venus, and you can see the two stars that should flank it appear at {{geekwagon|2392}}, between Cueball's head and the tree, but no Antares. Which suggests that this is set sufficiently far in the future that Antares has gone supernova (which it is due to do.) [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 06:27, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:Even more suggestive of a far future: certain of the stars in the Scorpion appear to have moved.  If you go to Hipparchos [[http://www.rssd.esa.int/SA-general/Projects/Hipparcos/apps/ShowMotion.html]] and enter RA 260.4, Dec -42, and V(lim) 4.4, you will get the stars in the head and part of the body of the Scorpion. If you run it forward several thousand years, you'll see that the high-motion stars match with the distortions in the XKCD sky.[[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 08:05, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
 
One last thing (for the moment): The angle of the sun and planets are what they should be for c. 30-33 degrees N, but to get the constellations angled the right way, it's closer to 12 degrees north. This may be precession, which could also explain the grapes in what would be currently by the stars the beginning of November -- the vernal equinox may have precessed forward, resulting in the sun being in Virgo/Libra in summer rather than fall. 15,000 years would put it in Libra in June, for example [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 16:27, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== Where in the world are Megan and Cueball? ==
 
 
Venus marking the path of the ecliptic tells us that we are at about 30 degrees north (my quick-ass calculation came up closer to 31 or 32 degrees north.) They are walking east with the ocean to the south of them, and they are following a large river north into hills and mountains that apparently are less than a day's walk north.
 
 
So if it's Earth, where could they be? There's not a lot of south-facing coasts around 30N. The only large one is the Gulf Coast of the US, but there's not much in the way of hills much less anything you could call a mountain close to the shore. The only exception I can really see is maybe around Mobile, which at last has some hills. There's the north end of the Persian Gulf and of the Gulf of California, but for both of those the hills are east of of the most obvious large river.  Though the Gulf of California would make sense in other ways -- rivers that only run to the sea in the wet season, for example. There's South Korea, but the southern coast of that is broken up into a fringe of islands and peninsula, there's not really a solid stretch of coast to walk east along.  [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 00:14, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:If, as hypothesized above, this is taking place a few thousand years into the future, might not the coastlines have changed?  (Especially since the "sea" seems to be rising.)  I wonder if we could find the proper configuration of hills and a mountain even in absence of a body of water to the south.  [[Special:Contributions/69.123.166.176|69.123.166.176]] 15:06, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
 
 
All the stars are following the same parallel path through the sky. Shouldn't the stars should be following a circular path centered on the north star, and the planets if any be following roughly the path of the sun and moon? --deepfatfriar
 
:Based on my analsys (sicking a post-it to my screen so that it partially obscures Venus) things do seem to be curving (Venus is less obscured, then more, then less as I step through frames). [[Special:Contributions/99.72.154.66|99.72.154.66]] 03:54, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
 
 
So, how far away are we viewing them from? We know (about) how tall Cueball is and the stars give us an angular ruler so we should be able to figure that out. Also, when will sunrise be? [[Special:Contributions/99.72.154.66|99.72.154.66]] 03:54, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Someone mentioned the Clock of the Long Now, and the 10,000 Year Clock would fit in a number of ways.  The Texas original one is at the right latitude, and the Sierra Diablo mountains where it is are near a dried-up inland sea, which presumably could be a sea again, and an inland sea could rise much faster than the world's oceans.  And it would fit with the title "Time", and explain the multi-thousand year future setting.
 
 
Has anyone been able to map exactly where the sun is on the stars? That would show where in the precession sequence we are. If it's in Libra, for example 15,000 years forward the sun would set in Libra around June at 31-32 degrees north at that point.  Which would explain the grapes and the camping without shelter. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 20:27, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
 
 
==If the night does map the real world...==
 
If the stars are real I'm sure it still does map to the current time frame of this comic. Venus and also Jupiter (even also Mercury, but hard to see) did follow the sun at dawn. Tomorrow I will have to fix my (Linux) xOrg for running {{w|Stellarium (computer program)|Stellarium}} or {{w|Celestia}}. So for now I'm only on [http://heavens-above.com/ heavens-above], which is still not accurate enough for this cloudy comic sky at night.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:37, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:I've made a compare of the changes in Scorpio over the next 15K years, and the sky in Time. [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/77/starsmove.png].  It matches pretty well, though I think the fastest moving star hasn't moved quite as far.  So my current prediction: they are in the Sierra Diablo mountains in Texas (or what was Texas), climbing towards the 10,000 Year Clock observatory, about 14,000 years from now. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 22:57, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
 
 
::So is Beret Girl a mysterious time traveler? [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 23:45, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:What is the source for your picture, Photoshop? Please tell us more.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:32, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:: Stellarium to generate the comparison star maps (it takes into account Hipparchos data, so will move stars with high proper motion for far future dates), and GIMP to overlay them. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 21:02, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:::Thanks Tavella. Stellarium was my own first attempt too, but my xOohhhhgrrrrg did crash. NVIDIA on Linux is still a mess.
 
:::Go North to Dakota or even Canada to find a location where a 30 degree sunset can happen.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:14, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:Very nice pictures, Tavella! What's the meaning of the three red stars? Thanks in advance. [[Special:Contributions/79.98.2.71|79.98.2.71]] 22:20, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
 
::They are marking the three stars with the highest proper motion in the constellation (well, one of them, the top one, is a small companion star in the constellation zone rather than being formally in the constellation.) I just installed GIMP on this computer and was too lazy to go find the arrow plugin. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 23:16, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
 
I'm sure i remember seeing a shooting star in one of the frames but it doesn't seem to be in any of the recorded frames? [[Special:Contributions/75.181.22.10|75.181.22.10]] 19:33, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
 
::Yes, it was a fast series of pictures so it didn't get caught. Here's an animation of the sequence: [http://xkcd.mscha.org/tmp/meteor.gif] [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 23:11, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:::Can you give us some hashes and timestamps?  --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 03:25, 30 June 2013 (UTC)
 
::::2440a through e here: [http://xkcd.mscha.org/#frame2440] [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 04:58, 30 June 2013 (UTC)
 
: [[User:Tavella|Tavella]], your picture [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/77/starsmove.png] seems to be gone for some reason, could you re-upload it? Thanks. [[User:Jahvascriptmaniac|Jahvascriptmaniac]] ([[User talk:Jahvascriptmaniac|talk]]) 11:31, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
==Did we just see Megan and then Cueball have bowel movements?==
 
Day 95 1:00  Megan squats alone on the right side of frame while Cueball sits in the middle of frame http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/d/d9/time2378.png
 
 
Day 97 6:00 Cueball walks over and squats near where Megan herself squatted http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/8490469c3f8cea3b8dd7f55f8152d8048166af8a13bf2473af5b0b032b9c6f30.png
 
 
Day 97 7:00 & 8:00 Cueball is seen washing his hands in subsequent two frames?{{unsigned ip|24.91.69.220}}
 
 
== Meteor frames. ==
 
 
There were five meteor frames that appeared in very quick succession recently. How should they be numbered?
 
 
:"appeared in very quick succession": I assume they actually appeared on the hour, just like all the others (except for first days), <strike>and as they are currently listed in our table</strike>? [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 12:00, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
::No, they appeared on the minute between 20:20 and 20:24 UTC on 29 June. That's how they're listed here. [[User:Crimethink|Crimethink]] ([[User talk:Crimethink|talk]]) 16:10, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:::Yeah, I was looking at the hours +2441 through +2445! However, in my defence, I was fighting the database error when I first thought I noticed this. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 12:48, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
[http://xkcd.mscha.org/#frame2440 mscha's site] numbers them 2440a to 2440e.
 
 
[http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=2441 geekwagon] only has the final meteor frame (2440e) which it numbers 2441, and after that all the numbers on geekwagon are out by one compared to mscha's site.
 
 
Another logical option is to number them from 2441 to 2445.
 
 
[http://xkcd.aubronwood.com/?i=2445&playing=0&audio=0&speed=200 aubronwood] has the frames numbered 2444 to 2448 (like the previous suggestion, but I think aubronwood had been out by three for a long time compared to other sites)
 
 
On the [http://xkcd-time.wikia.com/wiki/Periods xkcd-time wiki] I have tentatively used mscha's numbering, which may be a problem considering the wiki has built-in linking to geekwagon.
 
 
[[User:Patzer|Patzer]] ([[User talk:Patzer|talk]]) 07:01, 30 June 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:Numbering them 2440a to 2440e is ok. And geekwagon seems to be broken at some more more frames right now.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:52, 30 June 2013 (UTC)
 
 
::Uh, it would be great if we could number frames in actual chronological number order, not appending letters onto the ends of the filenames. It makes it easier for scripts to access images with a consistent naming scheme. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:28, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:::We have already been appending letters onto the ends of filenames, with frames 256P, 257P, and 258P. [[User:Patzer|Patzer]] ([[User talk:Patzer|talk]]) 15:52, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::::And those are problematic with scripts already. More special cases to account for are not fun. I've only let those alone because fixing the problem would mean shifting more than a thousand filenames now, and I didn't notice it originally until it was 200 frames too late. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:32, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:::::I have two ideas on this problem:
 
:::::a) Put that special frames into an extra table at the bottom of that specific days, or
 
:::::b) Add an extra column to the tables containing a sequence number. This would be much of work.
 
:::::I prefer a).--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:48, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::::::The meteor does seem to be a part of the comic, so it probably should still be inline with the rest of the frames. We'll only need to shift 40-odd image names to fix this, it shouldn't be too onerous. I'll do it tomorrow morning. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:09, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:::::::This will be good for your scripts but not for mine. We will be also out of sync to other sites. But if you will do that tell me where day 101 should start. I have to change a counter at my script.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:17, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::::::::Day 101 starts at 2531 with the meteor frames shifted down. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:01, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:::::::::Many thanks for your chaos, day 101 starts NOW with 2526. Before your edit it would have been 2521. But 2531 is a little bit too much.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:16, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::::::::::I can understand the desire for standardized numbering but I've been doing a lot of the image uploading recently using mscha's site as the source.  I do it manually so it's already a pain, I don't think I can face having to do that extra little bit of arithmetic for each image to work out what the id should be on this site.  Guess I'll be leaving it for the bots from now on. [[User:Crimethink|Crimethink]] ([[User talk:Crimethink|talk]]) 12:21, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:::::::::::Thanks Crimethink for your great work. This is still a mess, but we can't revert it. We are all trapped in someone's decision...--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:02, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::::::::::::Yeah - I can see that.  Just a shame that mscha decided to do it that way.[[User:Crimethink|Crimethink]] ([[User talk:Crimethink|talk]]) 13:22, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:::::::::::::Yeah. The idea of naming that pictures as 2440a to 2440e was first. Other sites like geekwagon are also out of sync. Unless we do use the timestamp at the file name it will be more mess in the future, I am sure.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:42, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
I made this page to show the differences between numbering systems at mscha's site, geekwagon, aubronwood and explainxkcd.
 
http://xkcd-time.wikia.com/wiki/Frame_numbering  [[User:Patzer|Patzer]] ([[User talk:Patzer|talk]]) 15:17, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:WOW, you must have much TIME ;)--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:27, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
How do we even know that it's a meteor? Maybe Mr. Munroe has finally decided to use his [[254|best idea ever]]? Then it was just a damaged space station falling through the atmosphere. Also the mountain they are climbing is actually a volcano and the sea is rising because of all the tyrannosaurs swimming in it. --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 21:53, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:This comic is just showing the real world we all do know. Look at this {{w|Perseids}} meteor shower at the next days, the peak should be around August 10 or 15. Most of that particles you can see as a bright meteor are smaller than one millimeter. It's only the vast velocity what causes this great visual effect.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:19, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
==Animated gif for the night==
 
Here is an [[Media:1190TimeNight.gif|animated gif with enhanced brightness]]. You can see the Milky Way in the beginning and by the end some birds appear in the sky.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:51, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:That's awesome. Good job!--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 14:17, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
 
Since we r watching the scene toward west, shouldn't the sky appear darker near the horizon, with respect to the sky above, at sunrise? (I'm asking here but of course I'm not referring to your animated gif but to the xkcd scene itself...) [[Special:Contributions/217.200.201.97|217.200.201.97]] 11:46, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:When the sun rises on East the horizon at the opposite side is darker than the rest of the sky. When the sun is high enough you will not recognize this any more.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:01, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::Yep Dgbrt, my point is that in the comic sequence we can see the full path from the dead of night to the morning through the dawn: why Randall depicted a shade of light coming from the horizon and not from the sky above? Is it a realistic scene? [[User:Mlejnas|Mlejnas]] ([[User talk:Mlejnas|talk]]) 07:38, 3 July 2013 (UTC)
 
These clouds moving with the sky could be the milkyway. [[User:FG|FG]] 10:18, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:Yep, FG, but that's at the sunset, I'm talking about the sunrise (on the other side of the sky). [[User:Mlejnas|Mlejnas]] ([[User talk:Mlejnas|talk]]) 09:47, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:FG, look at my first statement at this section here. But Mlejnas is talking about the sunrise after the Milky Way already had disappeared.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:20, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
 
== New picture naming rule ==
 
 
Is there any BOT here understanding the new naming? I'm missing many picture uploads, I will not do this by manual because that's stupid. This is still a job for a bot.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:32, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:Sry, I was on vacation for a week, and I haven't resumed my bot yet because of that meteor. IMHO, we should get in touch with the admins of geekwagon, aubronwood and mscha in order to re-sync the frame numbers. Does anyone know whether any of them is already active here? --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 16:50, 3 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
::mscha and aubronwood have accounts on the forum (http://forums.xkcd.com/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=381029, http://forums.xkcd.com/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=35789). However, I don't think the owner of geekwagon has an account on the forum (see http://geekwagon.net/). [[User:Patzer|Patzer]] ([[User talk:Patzer|talk]]) 06:21, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:::I had an account xkcd forum but found their rules complex so I generally communicate here or through email. I like the idea of a standard frame count between all the sites. Currently geekwagon is limited to a number instead of an alphanumeric frame number like mscha uses. However this can be changed. My two cents is a frame number should be the number in which the frames were shown regardless of what time they were displayed (I like simple), but I am open to ideas. --[[User:Deplicator|Deplicator]] ([[User talk:Deplicator|talk]]) 03:37, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
::::Geekwagon have now changed their numbering to the system used here. [[User:Patzer|Patzer]] ([[User talk:Patzer|talk]]) 05:17, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:::::I fixed it to include the meteor frames. They were missed because the script runs every 5 minutes. Would have done it sooner but I was out of town.--[[User:Deplicator|Deplicator]] ([[User talk:Deplicator|talk]]) 17:14, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
::::::Great job and THANKS!--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:16, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== Derrick ==
 
 
What is it? Sort of looks like on oil derrick, but of course it is not. What is the mechanical bits up top? --[[Special:Contributions/68.147.179.172|68.147.179.172]] 08:26, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:The ladder that goes up to the middle level but not the top and the wheel on that level suggest to me that it is supposed to be turned by an operator, but I can't see what that would power or move -- there's no obvious lines that aren't support structure. Looks to me like we are panning toward something even taller, so maybe that will enlighten. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 09:33, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:The device looks to me like a sextant -- a telescope mounted on a gauged pivot. Possibly there is a second pivot at 90 degrees to the one we can see. The device might be used to measure the sea rise, if the sea can be seen from here. [[Special:Contributions/24.158.67.232|24.158.67.232]] 12:30, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::Megan does seem to be looking through it, so sextant or telescope seems likely. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 19:44, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:Could it have anything to do with the 10,000 Year Clock mentioned above? [[Special:Contributions/173.195.5.167|173.195.5.167]] 13:37, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
 
Looks like a great platform to build another sand castle. Too bad there's probably no sand...--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 13:19, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
My guess is that the tower may semaphore tower that is under instruction (or abandoned) and part semaphore tower in a {{w|Semaphore_line}}.  In {{geekwagon|2594}} where Megan reports seeing flashes. Could those flashes be distant semaphore signals? [[User:Chongo|Chongo]] ([[User talk:Chongo|talk]]) 00:05, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:In frame 2686 we see more of these towers. Those may be part of a semaphore line that you suggest. [[Special:Contributions/166.137.209.163|166.137.209.163]] 05:33, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
I think it's an telescope or something like this. Maybe they see the sea rising with this thing... [[User:Joggl|Joggl]] ([[User talk:Joggl|talk]]) 19:22, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
After seeing {{geekwagon|2803}} I'm pretty sure these are triangulation points which historically were used for geodetics, see e.g. [http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/geoinformation/bezugssysteme/download/flyer_rauenberg.pdf] (3.6MB, sorry only German text). --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 21:03, 14 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== all okWTF FADE! ==
 
 
just - what's going on??! [[Special:Contributions/83.8.22.78|83.8.22.78]] 22:15, 6 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:Fade from white to the castle and we get to see what beret girl has been up to (last we saw, she was dragging something in frame 970: {{geekwagon|970|969}}]). [[Special:Contributions/216.98.244.174|216.98.244.174]] 22:55, 6 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:I think this is where the water level is now. If so, holy crap! Is there anything hidden in the white frame? --[[User:Irino.|Irino.]] ([[User talk:Irino.|talk]]) 00:01, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MeanwhileScene Meanwhile, back at the beach...] [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.94|216.239.45.94]] 04:01, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== Out of breath -- higher than we thought? ==
 
 
I haven't done the exact calculations, but my impression from those we did that they have only climbed 300-400 cueball-heights, which would be only a couple of thousand feet. Doesn't it usually take more than that before you start getting oxygen effects? Could they have started at a higher elevation than we thought? Anyone have a current calculation for elevation gain? [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 22:15, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:They started at sea level, unless the body of water was not the ocean.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 00:34, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::Right, but the speed of sea level rise strongly suggests their "ocean" is an inland sea, so they could be in an endorheic basin that is much higher than sea level, like the Great Basin in the US (where the second 10,000 year clock will be), or Lake Van in Turkey. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 06:16, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:::The {{w|Great Salt Lake}} was proposed here before, it's at level 4,200 feet or approx. 1,283 meter. The mountains there are going up to a much higher level, you can get out of breath there. The level calculations may be wrong because Randall didn't show every part of the trip. There were more nights, but we could only see one.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:33, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== The people they did find ==
 
 
Any ideas what the hats or hair cut does belong to?--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:08, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:Looks like [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knit_cap Watch Caps] to me. [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.90|216.239.45.90]] 20:19, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:Or a yarmulke {{geekwagon|2933}} [[Special:Contributions/99.72.154.66|99.72.154.66]] 04:17, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
It's the wrong end of the river for them to be building a dam, but I'm wondering, with all the surveying equipment, if they are diverting more water into the basin that Cueball and Megan live in. But they seem like pleasant enough people, quick to help Megan. It's hard to be believe they would drown the area without checking to see if, y'know, people live there. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 23:02, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
 
: What if they're building a bridge? Are we too far from the Big River? [[Special:Contributions/24.218.148.222|24.218.148.222]] 01:12, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Is this pair the Cueball and Meagan we've known from before? What impresses me is the level of ignorance this pair exhibits, compared to the couple we've come to know. This pair do not seem to understand oxygen starvation at higher altitudes, how tides work, etc. This almost flies in contradiction to the fact that, in the beginning, they were building sand castles. This presumes castles existed at some point in their own history if not currently. Castles indicate a certain level of knowledge and technology, which this current couple seem to lack knowledge of, to some large degree at least.
 
If this strip 'ends' at the level of technology we've seen thus far and hinted at by this new tribe of people, I would suggest this indicates a world wide (or at least very large area) collapse of a prior civilization.
 
[[User:Riprap|Riprap]] ([[User talk:Riprap|talk]]) 23:14, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:Well, they certainly don't have access to [http://www.xkcd.com/903/ wikipedia]. As for the tides, I think we generally concluded that it is more likely a lake and they never saw it rise as fast as it did. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:49, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
So are they getting sleepy from the bad night's sleep or something more nefarious? [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.92|216.239.45.92]] 05:31, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:Or are they brewing ent-draughts here?  Watch to see whether Cueball and Megan start growing taller! [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 01:14, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Now things are getting meta; Cueball drawing a stick figure of himself.... [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.87|216.239.45.87]] 06:04, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:At least it's an accurate depiction--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 11:07, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
 
=== Language ===
 
Is someone trying to decipher what they are saying? It might be more or less some kind of substitution cypher, but I'm not sure yet which letters are actually the same (e.g. 1st in {{geekwagon|2663}} and 1st in {{geekwagon|2664}} are quite likely the same. But the last but ones in these frames just look close in my view (also to 9th in {{geekwagon|2671}})). Sentences seem to end with the an ° or ¯ above the last letter. [[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 09:29, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:The ° or ¯ above the last letter appear to be a period or a question mark respectively.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 10:38, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
::{{geekwagon|2676}} is identical to the last two words of {{geekwagon|2668}}. Apparently that is the stuff they applied on Megan's leg. [[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 10:42, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:::We can't decipher because it's just Randalls invention. At 2545:00 we have a clear 69 at the last word.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:50, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:: My current theory is ¯ means "!" so {{geekwagon|2708}} could be "Water!" - "Yes!!, Water!!". I'm not sure about the substitution cypher theory anymore, though. Unless some signs represent two Latin characters. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 12:05, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::: {{geekwagon|2806}} is another hint that [[File:Dialog2806d.png]] could mean "Yes." The rest of the dialog looks similar to {{geekwagon|2734}}. Hopefully, they meet the translator soon. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 21:27, 14 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
I believe it's possible to translate their language into pervect english by simple replacing their symbols by roman letters (the right way). For "water" we have an example. ([[User talk:FG|talk]]) 17:12, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:What could the last word in {{geekwagon|2728}} be then? It ends the same way as "water"/"drink", except for a ° instead of a ¯ over the last letter, but has an additional "3"-shaped letter at the beginning. I'm starting to believe that Randall put a bit more effort into designing this language. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 15:34, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
It is clearly not a letter-per-letter cipher; I think Randall has been considerably cleverer than that. It looks like a (fictional) Semitic language, in which case individual characters could indicate syllables rather than letters, but I doubt that it is a simple cipher for English at the syllable level either. At this stage it is impossible to say how far he has gone in creating an original syntax, but I would note that we have seen the word that means "water" (or "drink") in at least two forms (a simple form used by Cueball, and a form with a kind of 3 at the beginning used as the last word of the Beanie's response to Cueball's picture). I'm confident the ¯ is simply a period, ° a question mark, and the double ¯ is an exclamation mark. The other stray marks could be other punctuation marks as well. [[User:KenBrown|KenBrown]] ([[User talk:KenBrown|talk]]) 15:55, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:Provisionally, I took the "water" string with the '3' in front to be something like "sea-water." [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 18:25, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:Another reason why it's not a "letter-per-letter cipher" is that I'm pretty sure we've seen at least 3 distinct single character words. Note that almost all characters are reminiscent of arabic numerals. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 18:59, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Next speculation: [[File:Dialog2827.png]] could mean "(the) castle" and [[File:Dialog2806c.png]] could mean something like "(move) to the castle" or "(to be) at the castle".
 
Maybe we should start a subpage for all language investigations. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 00:42, 16 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:Seconded. Also we need a template for putting stranglish text on this wiki. --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 21:59, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
I just noticed that translator often puts a ° or ¯ above last letter in some sentences, just like in stranglish (did we come up with a better name for it yet?). I think this confirms that ° and ¯ is stranglish punctuation. Also since stranglish has punctuation, it can't be substitution cipher applied to lojban. --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 21:55, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:It also confirms that we were right about the meaning of the punctuation. ¯ is a period, and (as confirmed by the latest frame) ° is a question mark. [[User:KenBrown|KenBrown]] ([[User talk:KenBrown|talk]]) 10:06, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:: Indeed, in frame [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=2892 2892] ([http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/50f8c0e828c300b959fb23924851f6c592d8fc012dc0b6c0ee07fa1305d78242.png permahash on XKCD]), the girl with long hair seems to say "WHAT RIVER?", and instead of putting a "?", there is a "°" above the last "R". [[User:Jahvascriptmaniac|Jahvascriptmaniac]] ([[User talk:Jahvascriptmaniac|talk]]) 11:29, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
=== New Guy in City ===
 
How do we call the new guy that appears in {{geekwagon|2819}}? One Suggestion: Black Hat Stranger (He's clearly not [[Black Hat]]). --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 14:19, 15 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:And maybe calling them "stranger(s)" is actually not appropriate. How about "local(s)" or "native(s)"? --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 16:51, 15 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
I'm guessing the cake-house of the Big Translator Guy is going to look like a sandcastle, thus the Oh, Wow from Megan. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 18:31, 15 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
=== A long haired woman (former: The old guy) in Castle ===
 
Man that is an atrocious accent. [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 13:37, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:Why are we assuming its a 'guy' again? [[Special:Contributions/24.218.148.222|24.218.148.222]] 21:45, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::I did edit the entire page (Old man -> is now the Long haired woman), but maybe I did miss some. The main cause of this fault was probably my guess that they did walk to an old man.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:22, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:::The stick figure in the drawing really did look like a bearded guy, so I think it's a reasonable mistake [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 22:47, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::::At the drawings on the ground they did not show stick figures. The current pictures are real stick figures. So the bear is falling around far over the neck? It's a woman.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:56, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== Passage of Time ==
 
 
I suppose it is safe to assume that the black frame ({{geekwagon|2698}}) represents some indeterminate passage of time, since we do see Cueball now speaking the language of the Beanie-Wearers. What is strange, and perhaps it is just Randall being lazy, is that if you compare the frames before and after the black frame, there is absolutely no changes to vegetation, and very few changes to anything else. Vegetation would have been the biggest culprit to a lengthy time interval. (Again, assuming it took some non-trivial amount of time for Cueball to learn the new language.) --[[Special:Contributions/68.147.179.172|68.147.179.172]] 20:01, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:I assume only a few hours have passed. It seems rather that Cueball is only now learning his first word: "water." Presumably the response also means "Yes! water" so then he would know two words, but there is no reason to assume he knows any more than that yet.[[Special:Contributions/79.247.252.250|79.247.252.250]] 20:06, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::Yeah. I jumped the gun. He's only learned a single word. So just a single sleep has passed. --[[Special:Contributions/68.147.179.172|68.147.179.172]] 22:37, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::Cueball did talk something like "watr" and the stranger did correct him "No, water".
 
:::If you are right, then it looks like a substitution cipher to me. --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 21:15, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::BTW: I think we should call this language "Stranglish" until we do not know what it is.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:21, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::Or was that Cueball: "water" and Stranger: "Yes, water?" [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 01:14, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== Megan's backpack ==
 
Megan started wearing a backpack after they left the tower. They lost Cueball's backpack when the animal clawed it up, so he carried everything in Megan's to keep weight off her leg. That ointment must be good stuff if she's able to walk with a backpack. The locals must have given her a new one.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 01:50, 16 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:Yep, I noticed that.  Apparently they gave/loaned her one of their bags.  Even so, I notice she was the only one shown ({{geekwagon|2814}}) clambering up a small steep spot, so maybe she's not fully functional yet. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 11:49, 16 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:Also, I wonder what they did with their "telescope" that they lowered from the tower; and the little folded-up mini-tower.  And for that matter, whatever that was leaning against the right leg of the tower from the beginning.  All three things seemed to disappear just before they left the scene.  They don't seem to be packing them. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 11:49, 16 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:: I assume they have some kind of storage at that location to protect their equipment from weather and from animals. They also left some other bigger things, like the ladder and the water container, indicating that they appear to go there frequently. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 12:05, 16 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== Who are they? ==
 
If the Great and Powerful OZ steps out from behind a curtain, I'll upchuck. Castles imply a need for defense, yet our adventurous pair and the 'natives' both seem totally relaxed with the discovery of the other. No obvious caution shown, no attempt to discover which side they may be on, etc. In fact, the 'natives' appear to be experienced with the finding of new people and following an established procedure for dealing with them, hence the trip to the castle. If Meagan and Cueball had declined to follow, what would have taken place then? Just a guess but I would say, nothing, each to their separate way.
 
 
The one map view strongly suggests, to me, survey work using trigonometry (or some variation) to determine location. It would seem to be a case of figure the location first, get there, then see what you find. The greater and lesser circles are intriguing as well, along with the long, straight lines and other geometrical figures seen. Wish there was a bigger, clearer view of it.[[User:Riprap|Riprap]] ([[User talk:Riprap|talk]]) 00:11, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:Not all large structures are castles. It could be a cathedral or temple or university. Only Megan called it a castle because of its resemblance to their sandcastle. The castle's inhabitants called it a squiggle-squiggle-squiggle.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 02:41, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::No they call it [[File:Dialog2827.png]] ;). The usage of merlons indicates that it shall have some defense purpose&mdash;OTOH, it could be purely decorative. The fact that they all seem very relaxed about meeting strangers and nobody (visibly) carries any kind of weapons or armor suggests the latter. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 07:31, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::So does the fact that there were obviously children playing under the watchful eye of the first person they encountered in the "city."  No effort was made to protect children from possible inimical strangers, and no obvious defenses at the school/playground/whatever-it-is at the entry gate.  The gate hat guy was very relaxed.  (If the "telescope" towers are part of a communications system, they might already know in the city everything they think they need to know about trusting Cueball and Megan, of course.) [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 09:35, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::The question arises, what was the mission of the single stranger with the package/book/box/whatever, who met them on the way, spoke a few words, and continued on toward the tower that the group had just left.  Could have been a replacement watcher on the mountain.  But then why did all three strangers need to leave the post and come to the city with Cueball and Megan? [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 09:35, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:::I think most of that conversation was "Hello" and "Good bye" or some variants of that. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 10:33, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Probably the "strangers" ought to be called the "castle people" since that is how Megan and Cueball seem to think of them. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 09:35, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:How about "mountain people"? I agree that "stranger(s)" does not seem appropriate anymore&mdash;after all, they are at least a local majority. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 10:33, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Maybe the castle is there to defend humans against other creatures. So other humans are always welcome, even if they don't wear silly hats.[[Special:Contributions/134.102.219.242|134.102.219.242]] 12:58, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:That would still hardly explain the merlons&mdash;unless these creatures are somehow able to shot at higher ranges. Maybe they are currently at peace with all their neighbors, but expect a war in the future. (BTW: Greetings colleague! (According to your IP-address)) --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 17:14, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Has anyone thought of looking at obscure languages with odd script texts?  Georgian?  Sri Lanka?  Thai?{{unsigned ip|164.165.173.219}}
 
:I was speculating about some language like Esperanto or [[Lojban]], encrypted with a simple substitution cypher. But I have not investigated that further. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 17:14, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
They could be adding to an extant structure - historically not an uncommon practice.  So the merlons could be historic.  As a side note, are there levers and pivots in the glass window? Maybe this is the temple of engineering??  ~~rbnm
 
:Or just using past motifs.  Look at all the Grecian columns and medieval merlons and gargoyles and what-not that went into subsequent architecture.  Nothing is more full of tradition (right along with innovation) than architecture.  As for the "temple of engineering" it might just be that the whole city is the "Engineers."  (Not Larry Niven's Engineers.)  Whatever their role, they might be causing the sea level to rise through an engineering project, thinking that no one lives down by the sea. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 21:11, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:Those might be "levers and pivots."  They might also be telescope mounts and astronomical objects.  It's a very interesting window. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 21:11, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
It's interesting that the castle is mostly underground. I wonder if the "little houses" also extend underground? And I wonder if this is a sign this is a very hot climate for the Beanies / Long-haired woman (I like the idea of naming her Hypatia, as was suggested elsewhere.)  If it's hot for them up on the mountain where it is significantly cooler to Cuegan, maybe that explains why they didn't think there were people down in the sea basin. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 22:55, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Underground, an interesting theory but, many such structures had several levels below ground level, so as to reach the bedrock wherein to support the massive stone structure above. Once dug, why waste it, especially if it provided a comfortable environment? Still, the temperature theory is interesting.
 
If one takes the images with the partially obscured text and play with the brightness and contrast, you can make out many more words, which do not seem to be spoken aloud. Are these sub-conscious thoughts dealing with translation or something a tad more sinister? (I just saw the image change over at :40 after the hour. Just a hiccup on my browser or are these frames speeding up?)[[User:Riprap|Riprap]] ([[User talk:Riprap|talk]]) 23:56, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Has anyone transcribed the blurred English words? Having trouble with a few.[[Special:Contributions/98.201.4.16|98.201.4.16]] 13:04, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:Just created a page to address this topic. See [[1190:_Time:_Translator|Translator]]. If someone could wikify that, that'd rock. I'm wiki-dumb and it shows on that page. --[[User:1292|1292]] ([[User talk:1292|talk]]) 14:53, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== Translator's Blurry Text ==
 
 
Since a lot of the stuff the translator is saying is hard to read, I figured we should have a place to get everyone's opinions on it. So I made a [[1190:_Time:_Translator|Translator]] page where it can be discussed.{{unsigned ip|74.95.85.209}}
 
 
I make that out as "What is forty? My numbers are no same." [[User:Riprap|Riprap]] ([[User talk:Riprap|talk]]) 16:51, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
 
Meagan and Cueball explain why they are there. In reply I read it as "You do not know. I make sea rise." [[User:Riprap|Riprap]] ([[User talk:Riprap|talk]]) 17:10, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:The main Explain XDCD page has all the text of the whole comic and is doing a pretty good job with the blurred text [[1190:_Time#Scene_3_-_Part_3_.28Inside_the_castle.29|Scene 3 Inside Castle]]--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 18:25, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::This page can be used for investigations, but the images should zoom in much more on the text. The final explain has to go here for sure: [[1190:_Time#Scene_3_-_Part_3_.28Inside_the_castle.29|Scene 3 Inside Castle]]--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:06, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::I added links to the images from the main transcript.  Perhaps the translator page should be deleted.  Individual panes/phrases can be debated on the image's page, and updated in the main transcript.--[[User:Waitforit|Waitforit]] ([[User talk:Waitforit|talk]]) 20:00, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::: And I did delete it, we just need a link to this experimental page, that's enough. And the pictures still need some more improvements. At transcript we basically only show the text.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:17, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== Why the sea is rising ==
 
Now we know why the sea is rising. I wonder if the castle people connected the two seas intentionally, or if it was an act of nature.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 18:43, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:the way the long haired woman says there was a great ?????? seems like an natural thing, maybe an earthquake that shut the gibraltar passage [[Special:Contributions/212.202.64.10|212.202.64.10]] 04:44, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:Yes, but that was the ''closing'' of the passage 5.96 million years before our present time.  Hair Woman is surprisingly knowledgeable about the evolution of hominids, and when her ancestors "first learned to walk upright" about that time.  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_human_evolution. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 01:27, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::Maybe she has Wikipedia too.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 02:35, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:As for the opening of the passage in Cueball/Megan/Hair Woman time, H.W. says "When we discovered that the sea was ???/flowing under the bank we tried to shore it up.  We failed."  No indication what, if any, geological or human-caused event may have started it, and no need for there to be one, actually.  No reason it couldn't have been gradual seepage even by geological measure, let alone human measure. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 01:27, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== Do you know where you are? ==
 
 
Aw yea, finally! I just hope that we don't get another 500 frames with 2 bits of dialogue (like when they left the beach) [[User:Bdemirci|Bdemirci]] ([[User talk:Bdemirci|talk]]) 22:00, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
I'm guessing we are less than 100 feet above the "higher" sea. Sort of a dead-sea kind of difference (>1k ft) [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 22:05, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
So they are in the Mediterranean Sea.  We can see Italy and to the left the Strait of Gibraltar leading to the Atlantic ocean. Would this have been thousands of years ago? [[Special:Contributions/206.191.28.43|206.191.28.43]] 01:18, 19 July 2013 (UTC)dbuck
 
 
If this article[http://www.livescience.com/10607-colossal-flood-created-mediterranean-sea.html] is right, about 5.3 million years ago.
 
 
Which makes me wonder if we're in the far future. Castles and such large architecture is only a few thousand years old. So was there an earthquake that closed the Straights of Gibraltar again, and the Mediterranean dried up? And it's now filling up again?--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 01:30, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
{{geekwagon|2909}} confirms that this is the future, as it refers to it happening before, when our ancestors ("parents") were learning to walk upright, i.e. 3-6 million years ago. [[User:KenBrown|KenBrown]] ([[User talk:KenBrown|talk]]) 06:44, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
ATLANTIS!!!! [[Special:Contributions/98.201.4.16|98.201.4.16]] 01:34, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Is the castle Chateau D'If in France? --[[Special:Contributions/203.0.215.2|203.0.215.2]] 01:41, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
It does resemble Chateau D'If. [http://www.carhirex.com/cheap-car-hire/france-car-hire/chateau-dif-in-marseille].  The distant future is sounding more reasonable than the distant past. [[Special:Contributions/206.191.28.43|206.191.28.43]] 01:48, 19 July 2013 (UTC)dbuck
 
 
That certainly looks like the modern Mediterranean sea, now doesn't it? [[Special:Contributions/24.22.89.85|24.22.89.85]] 02:47, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Not only that, if you look at the map which shows the channel, the location of the castle is highlighted and it does correspond to the location of Chateau D'If. --[[Special:Contributions/203.0.215.2|203.0.215.2]] 04:11, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
I don't think there is any doubt.  The castle is the Chateau d'If.  The correspondence on the map to Marseille harbor is exact.  The map and the outline of the castle are pretty explicit, including the depiction of the Strait of Gibraltar as the "passage" between seas.  So if the level of the Atlantic is anywhere near our own, they will end up on the Île d'If.  If higher, who knows.  [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 05:30, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
This is a future version of Julian May's "The Many-Colored Land." [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 05:30, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
By the way, Cueball and Megan have walked quite a long distance.  On Hair Woman's map their home appears to be due south of If, same longitude, and roughly at the latitude of Sassari, Sardinia.  A minute of latitude is a nautical mile, essentially, and they walked a polygonal path, not a straight line north; a couple hundred nautical miles, at least.  That's a long walk.  [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 05:30, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
What if this is the map from http://what-if.xkcd.com/53/ where the Earth's oceans had been drained? That shows the Strait of Gibraltar having been cut off from a now much-receded Mediterranean sea![[Special:Contributions/155.95.80.253|155.95.80.253]] 15:36, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
I wonder if the flag in frame 2944 (and 2812) is intended to be a marker for the new sea level?  [[Special:Contributions/173.212.109.235|173.212.109.235]] 19:15, 20 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Assuming this is the Mediterranean sea[http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/medsea.htm], the predicted sea level map in frame 2907 shows that the Balearic Islands will become completely submerged. Since the highest point on the Balearic Islands is 1432 meters above sea level [http://www.islasbaleares.com/en/general-information-about-balearic-islands.html], and Chateau D'If isn't nearly as high, wouldn't Chateau D'If become completely submerged as well? Or maybe the Translator just omitted the Balearic Islands from the map. I'm guessing the latter is true. [[User:JimmyK4542|JimmyK4542]] ([[User talk:JimmyK4542|talk]]) 21:50, 20 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
See the file : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Inserciomamifers.jpg for a dried mediterranean.
 
 
== "How many people strong are you?" ==
 
 
Am I the only one who finds the "strangers" a little sinister? Especially this question. It reminded me of the scene in Invader Zim when he asks the teacher about Earth'd defences... [[Special:Contributions/77.87.179.62|77.87.179.62]] 07:56, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&list=PL8BC075BA3A6D336D&v=k453j0d6WEk#t=351s found the clip! [[Special:Contributions/77.87.179.62|77.87.179.62]] 07:56, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:No, you're not the only one.  Megan reacted that way when Hair Woman asked them for their bags, for example.  Both our protagonists looked uncomfortable when she sent away the three individuals that had helped them and brought them to the castle.  And remember the hill people, and the discussion between M and C of the people on the mountain being -- maybe, hopefully -- different, since they are a long way from the hills.  Also Hair Woman said "Yes! Good." when she understood the number 40.  The suspense is intentional, I am sure. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 08:23, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:Also when Cueball was talking about the people in the hill where their river comes from Megan said, "They don't like us," implies that there is some level of antagonism between peoples in this world and that they didn't know what to expect from the castle people.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 08:39, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:An alternate interpretation of "Yes! Good." would be "only 40 will have drowned." [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 13:57, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
::The "Oh" and "OH" just after indicate she didn't know they weren't there and was taken aback that they weren't even aware. [[Special:Contributions/121.72.165.205|121.72.165.205]] 10:50, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:I interpreted it as "Yes! Good. I understand, I get it." [[User:Caraway|Caraway]] ([[User talk:Caraway|talk]]) 15:08, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== Surveying equipment ==
 
I'll bet their instruments are intended to judge the level of the Atlantic and to determine if they will be an island or completely swamped. They were also used to draw the map of their guess about the future sea level.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 08:46, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
: According to frame 2605, the Beanies could see Cuegan's home. But the beanie leader claims they did not spot them. Further indication of malicious intent? [[Special:Contributions/212.219.143.98|212.219.143.98]] 15:26, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
 
: 2605 shows that Cueball and Megan knew where there home was, to point to it, but not necessarily that they could /see/ anything.  No instruments appeared to be mounted in that tower. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 17:51, 20 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== Title text ==
 
When did the hovertext change to "RUN."? --deepfatfriar 20JUL13
 
:Great catch! I wonder what else we missed... (You can sign your posts by typing 4 ~'s in a row) [[User:Bdemirci|Bdemirci]] ([[User talk:Bdemirci|talk]]) 16:54, 20 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:Checked out the Wikia page. Luckily, we didn't miss much. The title text is "Wait for it." up until this frame (exclusive): [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/13/time2925.png] That frame has a text of "...", and all frames since have read "RUN." [[User:Bdemirci|Bdemirci]] ([[User talk:Bdemirci|talk]]) 17:06, 20 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:Frame 3076 has the text back to "...". When did it change? [[User:JimmyK4542|JimmyK4542]] ([[User talk:JimmyK4542|talk]]) 02:05, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::Here: [http://xkcd.mscha.org/viewer/3067] Although, technically that frame reads '....', but all frames since read '...' [[User:Bdemirci|Bdemirci]] ([[User talk:Bdemirci|talk]]) 03:13, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
Now (frame 3077 at geekwagon) it's back to '...'[[Special:Contributions/71.212.147.246|71.212.147.246]] 03:23, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
: And a brief investigation shows it's been that way since 3072gw.[[Special:Contributions/71.212.147.246|71.212.147.246]] 03:42, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== The story of Gibraltar ==
 
 
Did the learner/teacher/leader/ruler know the truth? She did some guesses and used a map that their people had found. I can't imagine their parents did travel 2.000 kilometers to Gibraltar, Megan and Cueball must have walked to a level more than 1.000 meters above their home, and also several hundreds of kilometers. A Cougar does not belong to Europe; they were walking to a higher level, running out of breath. At sea level? I'm pretty sure this story is still not solved.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:49, 20 July 2013 (UTC)
 
: People can have trouble with elevation differences as low as 1500m. It's a common problem where I live (at 1640m). If the estimates of the vertical distance traversed are wrong because Randall has been imprecise, maybe they're that far up.[[Special:Contributions/71.212.147.246|71.212.147.246]] 00:04, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:: The castle is at sea level, though (+/- 100m given than the strip is apparently 14,000 years in the future.) I don't think one would have trouble breathing at sea level, even if they live one thousand meters below sea level. --[[Special:Contributions/68.147.179.172|68.147.179.172]] 05:38, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
 
: We don't know that it was a cougar though, do we? That was just people's assumption. It could have been a lynx, or some other big feline. ~Therrufying [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 21:12, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::I just did say: "this story is still not solved". Maybe the Cougar is wrong or even much more. Did we follow them on a journey of a couple of hundred kilometers? I'm still not convinced in that. But when they will successful use their stolen maps it could be a prove (or not, we haven't seen that local maps jet). Nevertheless, we know their castle is flooded.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:59, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Now that we have their location, did anyone try to match it up against the night sky from Scene 2 - Part 6 in order to see how far in the future the action might be taking place? It should be easier to make more accurate predictions now, right?--[[User:Michael85|Michael85]] ([[User talk:Michael85|talk]]) 23:46, 20 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Please do not start a new topic for each post here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:39, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:And since you do not read, this story is NOT solved.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:48, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::I followed closely this whole thread ever since it started, but I haven't joined the discussion until now. Anyway, I haven't seen any update to the star map investigation and I was curious. Sorry for barging in.--[[User:Michael85|Michael85]] ([[User talk:Michael85|talk]]) 18:05, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:::Hey, it's a wiki.  Do barge right in! [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 12:27, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
There is a nice artist's conception of the Zanclean Flood at http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Roger_Pibernat_-_landscape_-_messianic_med-1024x768.jpg [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 05:45, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
 
It's not quite the same configuration as Randall's sea basin, but similar.  The flood has its own wiki page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanclean_flood. I really do not think there is any doubt that Randall's story takes place in a far-future (possibly with liberties taken) Mediterranean Basin, and Hair Woman's castle is the Chateau d'If under restoration.  The original Messinian Salinity Crisis (q.v.) is estimated to have taken a thousand years or so to stabilize once the Gibraltar (and possibly other) passage(s) closed, presumably as a result of tectonic activity under the influence of the two opposing continental plates colliding at the site of the present Mediterranean Sea.  [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 05:45, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
I do believe it quite likely that Hair Woman's people's ancestors/forbears already were spread as far west as Gibraltar, which would explain why her people know about the Atlantic seeping in, and then flowing, through the barrier.  She said they attempted to reinforce the barrier, but failed, so certainly they were there at Gibraltar in the "present time" of the story.  And to draw ("build" she said) the outlines on the map, they had to have information about the second sea basin on the other side of Italy-Sardinia and the outlines of what we call the Adriatic, etc.  [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 05:45, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:The sea they are use to must be rather hypersaline for them to consider the incoming water (from the Atlantic?) to be be "fresh"
 
 
::It sounds like they're used to water which is salty enough to float on.  In any case, hypersalinity makes sense if it's the mostly-dried-up remnant of the Mediterranean.[[Special:Contributions/129.22.117.158|129.22.117.158]] 19:11, 23 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
"I think there's stuff floating on the sea... I think something on the sea." {{geekwagon|3024}} and  {{geekwagon|3025}} -- Ship? [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 23:30, 23 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:I wonder if "Oh, OH" meant she knew a way to rescue the 40 people by getting word to someone with a boat. Radio?--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 00:41, 24 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== PNG time chunks changed on the xkcd server ==
 
 
The images mirrored http://xkcd.mscha.org/ and those served by xkcd servers differs in two PNG 'tEXt' chunks with keywords 'date:create' and 'date:modify', which appears to contain the original timestamps.  Images from mscha.org have wide range of these timestamps, indicating that the images weren't produced all at the same time. But the same frames downloaded from xkcd servers now have their time values set to "2013-05-01T15:11:05-04:00", so either mscha or xkcd must have modified the PNGs. The compressed image data seems to be modified, too.
 
 
Also note that the copy of the first frame found at mscha.org has been edited by Photoshop, because the PNG structure is different from all the others and contains a color profile beginning with "Photoshop ICC profile".
 
 
[[Special:Contributions/78.108.152.10|78.108.152.10]] 14:37, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:Since May 3, 2013 all original files have this modification timestamp at EDT (UTC -4:00): "2013-05-01 11:22:58.000000000". So it's a fake by Randall.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:40, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== Terrain Map ==
 
 
I marked up a bathymetric map of the north-west Mediterranean with the data from the Beanie map, plus extrapolated data about locations and paths: [[:File:TimeTerrainMap.png]]
 
 
The good news is, Megball can save about a third of the distance by their direct path through the hills.  The bad news is, it's about a 50 mile journey from the likely location of the "tents" to the first part of the ridge they need to take to safety. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 05:00, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:Great work!  Are the white spaces just regions lacking bathymetric data?  My speculation is that the "40" will already be on the move.  The original "sand" castle (as much salt as sand?  It certainly was a sculptable medium anyway) was implied to be underwater in the three frames with the rocking bucket on the waves.  Beret Girl was down there just as C+M were leaving, dragging something.  They will not have been caught totally by surprise.  Perhaps the C+M's upper "castle" construction will end up being a raft?  Or perhaps they have packed up their tents and are already heading for high ground?  They might have seen the Hill People leaving, or...who knows.  We still have to "wait for it" even as C+M "run."  (That cat sure is scared of running Megan!  It took off like a...scared cat!  You could say, "caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.")  [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 12:25, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::Yup, the white spots where spots this survey hadn't finished yet, though there's been other bathymetric work so we know they are mostly flat. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 17:09, 23 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:Current research suggests neither years, nor days, but months for the basin to fill from the Atlantic the last time, in the 5.6mya event; but this one can be whatever Randall wants it to be.  [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 12:25, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Cueball is concerned that the water is fresh.  Although this may seem to disprove the theory that the Atlantic is flooding into the Mediterranean, it actually doesn't. Notice that Cueball "felt" that something was strange.  What was strange was that they were accustomed to an extremely salty sea. Can you imagine filling up the Mediterranean Sea with ocean water then cutting it off from the Atlantic and allowing it to evaporate down to the size of C&M's sea?  It would be extremely salty and you could float easily in it. The water from the Atlantic Ocean is nowhere near that salty so Cueball interprets it as fresh water. This will cause problems with the rescue because these people are not used to swimming in water that's not super salty.  They can't float like they're used to and risk drowning. [[Special:Contributions/198.103.184.76|198.103.184.76]] 16:32, 23 July 2013 (UTC)dbuck
 
:My thought too. He does say "Not as fresh as a river", which means it's still salty, but much less so than the sea they're used to. I'm reminded of the Dead Sea, which also has a very high salinity. This makes the water tasting and spluttering in the beginning (while building the sand castle) make a lot of sense. I guess I have to go back and read it all again now that we have some context.  ~Therrufying [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 18:36, 23 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::"Not as fresh as a river"--we also now know why Megan and Cueball couldn't get Cueball's water bottle when it fell in the river at 920:00. They never learned to swim without the high salinity helping them float.[[User:Vicky715|Vicky715]] ([[User talk:Vicky715|talk]]) 23:36, 23 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Another map, with better resolution, of the rising water levels: [[:File:rising-water.png]] [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 06:39, 24 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:How 'bout that - you can even see Ile D'If. [[Special:Contributions/121.72.165.205|121.72.165.205]] 08:28, 24 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== Moving 'mound'? ==
 
 
I've got a feeling.. that it's beret girl and the 'platform' from way back in the first 'act'! - "10:02, 24 July 2013‎ 98.144.105.195"
 
 
:Your feeling is accurate.  The return of Beret Girl!  "I found my cousin."  "Here we come to save the day!" [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 10:16, 24 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:Well, I have a feeling that since you made your edit (without signing it) ''after'' Beret Girl reappeared you actually mean "the ''same'' beret girl". [[Special:Contributions/121.72.165.205|121.72.165.205]] 10:27, 24 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:in the frames she shows up with the upper platform, what are the small moving parts in the lower area? allready floating stuff? [[Special:Contributions/212.202.64.10|212.202.64.10]] 10:59, 24 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::Well, she did say "I turned it into a boat."  I guess that means floating stuff. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 12:11, 24 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Beret Girl said "boat" and I congratulate her resourcefulness but, I wonder if she meant "raft" instead. (Let us not dwell heavily on the difference.) Is there any doubt now that Randall has been planning this for a long time, in fair detail? He seemed to have responded, to some degree, to some of the postings made here on the Wiki, yet I wonder if perhaps it was just coincidence? [[User:Riprap|Riprap]] ([[User talk:Riprap|talk]]) 14:41, 24 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
So to theft (the maps) do we now add looting? What they are taking was left behind by others who evacuated in the face of a natural disaster. Our tribe seems not to have needed these things before, back in the sand castle days, but are taking advantage of this opportunity to load up on stuff now. I hope they don't sink the raft under their loot. deepfatfriar [[Special:Contributions/75.109.36.232|75.109.36.232]] 17:02, 25 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
That might be the tribes own camp. They may have moved the camp up into the hills to pick up the stuff that was left behind. Also, if there us no reasonable chance of the former owner getting it back I think the proper term is "salvaging" or "scavenging" not "looting". [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 19:40, 25 July 2013 (UTC)
 
: I was under the impression that it was the tribes' own camp. We already knew they were tent-dwellers- Yurt dwellers by the looks! [[Special:Contributions/24.218.148.222|24.218.148.222]] 02:31, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
This has to be one of the best dialogues Randall has ever written:  "Why is everything flooding?  Why is the water full of trees?  Why do you have little tables covered in sand?"  [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 21:05, 25 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Frame 3060 "Is there any way to keep us pointing forward?" "We could start calling this the front." Clearly, someone is a mathematician. [[User:JimmyK4542|JimmyK4542]] ([[User talk:JimmyK4542|talk]]) 21:37, 25 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:...rubbed elbows with 'em, anyway.  :)  [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 01:22, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
33 heads {{geekwagon|3072}} << "About forty of us" {{geekwagon|2896}}. Where are the others? [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 22:10, 25 July 2013 (UTC)
 
: I counted 33... then 29... then 26... where are they going??? (ps, fixed your second link.) [[Special:Contributions/24.218.148.222|24.218.148.222]] 00:06, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::Behind the hanging curtain? [[Special:Contributions/50.139.68.248|50.139.68.248]] 00:19, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:: It's a bit of a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sljSf7KVlQ lifeboat scenario] [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 00:40, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:: Well, Randall knows we are watching and counting! [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 01:22, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::: Now down to 18 visible people. Cueball and Megan were among the first to disappear. If they're all under the enclosure, it must be pretty cozy. [[Special:Contributions/24.218.148.222|24.218.148.222]] 03:52, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::: Almost certainly they are. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 08:23, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Frame 3072 - Title text has once again changed to "...."  [[User:Uglystick|Uglystick]] ([[User talk:Uglystick|talk]]) 22:12, 25 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:GREAT find, has to be mentioned when we do know what's the next.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:24, 25 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
It's a Yurt!!! [[Special:Contributions/184.155.116.49|184.155.116.49]] Polecat
 
: Yes.  They lived in yurts in their village by the sea.  They took some down to use in enhancing their platform-boat-raft, and apparently brought along many of the spare parts.  These people seem to be very quick and very clever at improvising, even on the water. And very logical thinkers in an emergency. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 08:23, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
I have no idea what is going on. The "boat" looks like it's moving over land in 3079/3080, not floating on water. --[[Special:Contributions/68.147.179.172|68.147.179.172]] 06:20, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:I think that is not land, but debris floating on the water. [[User:Sumitimus|Sumitimus]] ([[User talk:Sumitimus|talk]]) 07:03, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:Yes.  In 3076 a big swell caused the whole group to stagger and fall down.  In 3079 and 3080 more waves, and smaller ones in 3081 and 3082.  Both rafts have been on the water since they first spotted the remaining party with the second raft. Now there are flying fish!  (in 3082.) The thing that may save them is that their construction methods seem to make use of lots of flexible members and perhaps lashings for fasteners; their rafts can apparently flex with the waves.  So long as they don't get overwhelmed.  [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 08:23, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
You would think there would be considerable air movement.  I wonder if they will figure out the concept of a sea anchor, or if it would even help. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 08:23, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
And we're back to building sandcastles on top of the raft with the left-over sand there.  I guess the story is going to move slowly for a while again.  We'll have to "Wait for it" even though the hover-over text has gone back to "RUN." [[Special:Contributions/198.103.184.76|198.103.184.76]] 12:47, 26 July 2013 (UTC)dbuck
 
 
<blockquote> I think that is not land, but debris floating on the water. Sumitimus (talk) 07:03, 26 July 2013 (UTC)</blockquote>
 
 
It's [http://kosmo.hubpages.com/hub/What-Should-I-Know-about-the-Earths-Floating-Islands-of-Garbage# Gilligan's Island]! Sorry couldn't help it.[[Special:Contributions/69.126.70.32|69.126.70.32]] 19:02, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
I feel like Randall is playing a little too fast and loose with the science here. I mean, this MASSIVE influx of water never overwhelms their makeshift rafts, carries them all the way to land, deposits them gentle on the shore, and then suddenly stops rising, without even pulling  back? Did he decide he needed to speed things along, as the comic was becoming too time consuming? [[User:KenBrown|KenBrown]] ([[User talk:KenBrown|talk]]) 19:08, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:At the pictures you can see many big bags filled with air attached to the raft. This does work fine. And because they did not steering their vessel they just reach land again by random.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:33, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== The End ==
 
 
Oh my.  What a letdown.  [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 20:03, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:Nevertheless, a wonderful ride.  A ''tour de force''.  Randall is a genius at minimalism.  Stick figures with no faces, all individuals, with full expression and body language; and his fans practically crash the internet.  :)  [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 13:52, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:Yeah, that's it?  I mean it's a nice story, but not much of a climax/denouement.  [[Special:Contributions/66.66.107.178|66.66.107.178]] 20:05, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::You could see the writing on the wall with how he sped through the rescue, but that's seriously anticlimactic. I mean, it couldn't go on forever, but it feels like he just ran out of Time. [[User:KenBrown|KenBrown]] ([[User talk:KenBrown|talk]]) 20:15, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:::Well, I sure couldn't see the writing on the wall when he started to rush the story - I mean, he depicted the climb from the point where they meet the tribe (which is shortly before the dunes) to the castle in about 1500 frames - more than a month worth of story, I think - while the descent was depicted in just about 100 frames. So, when he started to rush things, my reaction was thinking that something big was about to happen; and I think that's why I (and others here) are disappointed at how it ended. I suppose Randall started to get tired and just wanted to be done with it, but maybe he could've wrapped it up a bit better. He made an awesome job on the whole, yeah, but I do get that "Lost" feeling - anticlimatic, and a few things left unexplained. --[[User:Fernandofig|Fernandofig]] ([[User talk:Fernandofig|talk]]) 16:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:I'm not sure, maybe we will get a sequel. But the original image links now to [[http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/ geekwagon]] and the title text is "The end.". I'm waiting just for the next hour, then it should be clear, or not?--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:17, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::We're all junkies now--we'll still be hitting refresh a week from now, hoping it might just change... In the end, though, that was the real brilliance of it. Not the story, but the way making us wait for each frame gave every little moment of it so much more weight, by giving us the time to anticipate and speculate and imagine for ourselves. It had to end eventually, but it was an amazing thing. [[User:KenBrown|KenBrown]] ([[User talk:KenBrown|talk]]) 20:27, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:As ggh said: "Wow. Maybe we ''are'' supposed to draw it now." http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=101043&start=50160#p3422078 [[Special:Contributions/174.27.36.133|174.27.36.133]] 20:43, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
So, is it time to pin down the skydate more accurately? [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 20:34, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
: We have one date that matches, so someone with patience could do the math for when Venus's cycle of reappearing in the same spot and Jupiter's almost-12 year cycle of doing the same match up again, and then test the star movements to see which is closest. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 23:33, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Be patient, this is NOT the END, maybe just a fading out, but images still do get updates.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:12, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
: Writing a program to make the raft and water wiggle around forever (maybe even with tides?) would not be *that* hard. [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 21:19, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
: The final frame is a link to geekwagon now, so it may really be over. I've enjoyed my time watching and waiting and lurking through the discussion. Thank you, Randall, and thank you all for the wonderful discussion. [[User:Lizzard|Lizzard]] ([[User talk:Lizzard|talk]]) 03:57, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
If Randall is reading:  Thanks for the story.  We all loved it.  [[Special:Contributions/206.191.28.43|206.191.28.43]] 21:25, 26 July 2013 (UTC)dbuck
 
:I very much enjoyed following the story, but am also very much disappointed in how it ended. --[[Special:Contributions/68.147.179.172|68.147.179.172]] 01:16, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
Thank you Randall for the nice story! The End remembers me of Lucasarts-Adventures... May someday a new frame appears with "That's really the end, you can shutdown your computer now" ;-) [[User:Joggl|Joggl]] ([[User talk:Joggl|talk]]) 11:47, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:I wouldn't believed it anyway. I recommend checking the comics until the xkcd.com address is resolvable. Is the updating script prepared for eventual IPv4 deprecation? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 16:21, 28 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
We still get updates every hour, even when most pictures are not new. The latest NEW picture was on 02:00, 27 July 2013 (EDT), ten hours after the "end frame".--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:53, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
 
: Not anymore, it loops over now. [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/data/log.html Check the log.] [[Special:Contributions/83.8.27.154|83.8.27.154]] 15:11, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:: Yeah, based upon that log, except for glitches, from midnight Geekwagon time, it is repeating:
 
:::3099
 
:::3097
 
:::3098
 
:::3095
 
:::3099
 
:::3098
 
:::3097
 
:::3096
 
:::3095
 
:::3099
 
:::3098
 
:::3097
 
:::3097
 
:::3098
 
:::3097
 
:::3096
 
:::3095
 
:::3098
 
:::3095
 
:::3099
 
:::3098
 
:::3097
 
:::3096
 
:::3095
 
::
 
::[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 08:11, 30 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
I think it's time to change the text on the main page to reflect the fact that the comic has actually ended. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:13, 28 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== The Bit After the Credits ==
 
 
I thought that we might get one, and indeed something is coming into view under the bush on the right. I am expecting the hedgehog, possibly pursued by the wildcat, whose choices on who to eat continue to be painful. There are really the only two extraneous elements that haven't been wrapped up.  [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 23:31, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
What about the chirps from way up high when they were up on the mountain?  Or the baby bird and it's mother?
 
Or the other tribes from the hills? {{unsigned|98.144.105.195}}
 
:Well, we only got a tiny tease anyway, sniff. No aftercredits bit. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 16:27, 28 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:What about giving back the maps.  And what did Cueball mean?  "M: Along with the maps, I should've stolen a guide to treating injuries.  Ooh, and one on how they make those pointing devices in the towers..." C responds:  "Um..."  Did he take something?  What was it?  Hmm... [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 12:53, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
 
::I thought the "Um..." was like, "Um, maybe we shouldn't be quite so eager to steal stuff". [[Special:Contributions/50.139.68.248|50.139.68.248]] 13:26, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
 
So it has ended, Thank you Mr. Munroe.    By my estimation 3099 frames is about 1/5th of what Watterson did in 10 years.  WOW.   
 
So now it's time to go outside and build some sandcastles of our own.  Hey we can be re-enactors!!  [[Special:Contributions/184.155.116.49|184.155.116.49]] Polecat
 
:3102 frames archived at http://xkcd.mscha.org - geekwagon's archive is missing three early frames. The complete sequence can be viewed starting from http://xkcd.mscha.org/viewer/1. [[User:Filron|Filron]] ([[User talk:Filron|talk]]) 05:33, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
 
I wish there WERE credits. I would love to get Randall's view on what his original idea was, whether he fashioned the whole story from the beginning or if it started simple and evolved into this post-apocalyptic drama, what his inspirations were, what real-wold sources he used to develop the science, a language translation, etc. I loved the whole series and checked daily (mostly) and don't think the ending in any way diminished the richness of the whole. As usually happens with XKCD, it spawned some wonderful discussions, speculations and scientific explorations. We don't usually get much explanation and I don't anticipate much from this one, either, but it doesn't make me long for it (or am I missing something). Thank you for the wonderful four month exercise in patience. Every time XKCD does something amazing that I think cannot be topped, Randall always comes up with something that amazes me. What's next? I guess I have to, "Wait for it."--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 16:47, 28 July 2013 (UTC)
 
:Randall [http://blog.xkcd.com/2013/07/29/1190-time/ posted about it] with a few insights into the process, and some "special thanks" stuff. Looks like it's done for real.--[[User:Fernandofig|Fernandofig]] ([[User talk:Fernandofig|talk]]) 17:22, 30 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
It's sad having to go back to getting new XKCD comics on MWF. I really enjoyed getting to read new stuff everyday. [[User:Puck0687|Puck0687]] ([[User talk:Puck0687|talk]]) 13:55, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== Second night ==
 
 
The second night is darker [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=3081 on geekwagon] than on [http://xkcd.mscha.org/viewer/3076 mscha] and aubronwood, which both use [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/f8683dd615aa9a2b0768f32e26b5c08c6a2ff176414d5cdd84bebf005eb224a6.png this image from xkcd.com]. Did we miss a rapid animation? [[User:Jahvascriptmaniac|Jahvascriptmaniac]] ([[User talk:Jahvascriptmaniac|talk]]) 14:31, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:I've been logging on 1 minutes intervals and got only the normal hourly change around there. [[Special:Contributions/99.72.154.66|99.72.154.66]] 16:32, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
:: Thanks, I guess what geekwagon.net caught was just a minor glitch then. [[User:Jahvascriptmaniac|Jahvascriptmaniac]] ([[User talk:Jahvascriptmaniac|talk]]) 18:29, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
 
 
== Internal XKCD Referencing ==
 
 
Can's spot a "Referenced in"-like section in the existing Main or Talk listings, and I don't even know if anyone's going to read this addition to the Talk and take it seriously, but the final picture of http://what-if.xkcd.com/83/ (an image of someone building a sandcastle in a "solar sandpit") has the title-text "Just to be clear, this image does not update every hour..." And I'm sure that's not the first one I've seen (but right now it escapes me what the others were).  FYI, however, for anyone who comes along to search for this kind of info. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.177|141.101.99.177]] 04:54, 12 February 2014 (UTC)
 
:Glad someone mentioned it here.  [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.227|108.162.212.227]] 18:07, 6 August 2017 (UTC)
 
 
== Bird in tree ==
 
 
From 1539 to 1543 in the tree you can see small movements if you look close enough.
 
 
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.4|108.162.221.4]]
 
 
== Rest of xkcd ==
 
 
I think that other comics should have this animation as an option. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.40|108.162.245.40]] 01:33, 19 November 2016 (UTC)
 
 
== Upriver vs. downriver ==
 
 
When Megan and Cueball find the second river, they travel and eventually get to a place where it joins up with another river; this presumably means that they are traveling downriver. However, they then say "let's continue upriver". Which is it? --[[User:Emperor-Nathan|Emperor-Nathan]] ([[User talk:Emperor-Nathan|talk]]) 05:29, 5 January 2020 (UTC)
 
:I think it splits instead of joining, so upriver. [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] ([[User talk:Beanie|talk]]) 12:03, 11 December 2020 (UTC)
 

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