1796: Focus Knob - Revision history

FaviFake: Undo revision 367867 by FaviFake (talk) nevermind!! i'm dumb

2025-03-04T18:10:44Z

Undo revision 367867 by FaviFake (talk) nevermind!! i'm dumb

FaviFake: Undo revision 367822 by Broseph (talk) - Are you kidding me

2025-03-04T18:09:36Z

Undo revision 367822 by Broseph (talk) - Are you kidding me

Broseph: Fixed spelling mistakes

2025-03-04T08:14:16Z

Fixed spelling mistakes

FaviFake: /* Trivia */

2025-03-02T15:57:42Z

‎Trivia

FaviFake: added Category:Comics edited after their publication using HotCat

2025-03-02T15:57:23Z

added Category:Comics edited after their publication using HotCat

FaviFake at 15:56, 2 March 2025

2025-03-02T15:56:59Z

172.70.160.188: /* Transcript */ Better. There's no actual semi-(i.e. half-)circle, with or without diamater-line between its ends of arc.

2024-09-29T08:28:15Z

‎Transcript: Better. There's no actual semi-(i.e. half-)circle, with or without diamater-line between its ends of arc.

Asdf: /* Transcript */ this was probably meant?

2024-09-29T07:42:15Z

‎Transcript: this was probably meant?

172.69.194.118: /* Explanation */

2024-09-28T14:27:16Z

‎Explanation

172.70.162.142: /* Trivia */ Probably a [[]] or {{}} way of linking this (like with {{diff}}) but, for now, using an [] URL-link.

2024-09-28T14:15:43Z

‎Trivia: Probably a [[]] or {{}} way of linking this (like with {{diff}}) but, for now, using an [] URL-link.

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 ==Trivia==
-In the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/8/8c/20170608162730%21focus_knob.png original version of the comic], Randall had misspelled "existent'''i'''al" as "existential", with only one "i". This was later fixed.
+In the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/8/8c/20170608162730%21focus_knob.png original version of the comic], Randall had misspelled "existent'''i'''al" as "existental", with only one "i". This was later fixed.
 {{comic discussion}}

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 ==Trivia==
-In the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/8/8c/20170608162730%21focus_knob.png original version of the comic], Randall had misspelled "existent'''i'''al" as "existental", with only one "i". This was later fixed.
+In the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/8/8c/20170608162730%21focus_knob.png original version of the comic], Randall had misspelled "existent'''i'''al" as "existential", with only one "i". This was later fixed.
 {{comic discussion}}

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 ==Trivia==
-In the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/8/8c/20170608162730%21focus_knob.png original version of the comic], Randall had misspelled "existent'''i'''al" as "existential", with only one "i". This was later fixed.
+In the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/8/8c/20170608162730%21focus_knob.png original version of the comic], Randall had misspelled "existent'''i'''al" as "existental", with only one "i". This was later fixed.
 {{comic discussion}}

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 ==Trivia==
-In the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/8/8c/20170608162730%21focus_knob.png original version of the comic], Randall had misspelled "existent'''i'''al" as "existential" with only one "i"! This was later fixed.
+In the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/8/8c/20170608162730%21focus_knob.png original version of the comic], Randall had misspelled "existent'''i'''al" as "existential", with only one "i". This was later fixed.
 {{comic discussion}}

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:57, 2 March 2025
Line 44:		Line 44:

	[[Category:Charts]]		[[Category:Charts]]
		+	[[Category:Comics edited after their publication]]

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 The healthy balance, Randall suggests, is focusing mostly towards the ''Big Picture'' (two thirds of the way towards the ''Big Picture'' between ticks 24 and 25 out of 37), while keeping an eye on the details by still staying one third ''Detail-Oriented''. Focusing too much on the big picture can ensure nothing gets done, leading to {{w|panic}} and existential {{w|paralysis}}. Unfortunately, the range of healthy balance appears to be vanishingly small and difficult to reach; additionally, if we assume the knob can only stop at the little ticks marked along the outside and that the boundaries are not inclusive, there is no way to set it in the window of ''Healthy Focus''.
-While performing any task (including your daily life as well as editing explainxkcd), it is easy to get so lost in the details that you forget the big picture. It is also equally easy to think too much about the big picture and make vague plans while missing out on the details.
+While performing any task, it is easy to get so lost in the details that you forget the big picture. It is also equally easy to think too much about the big picture and make vague plans while missing out on the details. It is clear that at the moment Randall is mainly focusing on the small details fiddling with his e-mail settings as the knob is set to the 13th tick only just past one third away from ''Detail-Oriented''. He thus seems to try to avoid seeing the big picture right now, since it is his personal knob to set as he wishes.
 The joke in the title text relates to Randall's use of an old fashioned analog control, probably a {{w|potentiometer|potentiometer}}, in the graphic versus a more electronically modern and efficient switching system.  Randall imagines a replacement control using {{w|pulse-width modulation}} (PWM), which is a technique often used to control the {{w|Switched-mode_power_supply|regulation in electronic power supplies}} or the [http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/blog/pulse-width-modulation.html speed of electric motors] with far greater power efficiency than simpler analog controllers. This technique consists of rapidly shifting between {{w|Bang–bang control|fully on and fully off states}} so that the average is the expected output, but no power is wasted by holding the control mechanism "partially on". For example switching back and forth between 0 and 1, spending half the time in each position will lead to a mean value of 0.5. To code 0.67 (the ''healthy balance''), Randall would have to spend more time in the extreme big picture position (67% of the time) than in the detail-oriented position. In the real world of course, a person switching so radically and completely between attention states might get diagnosed with some sort of {{w|Mania|mania}}. But the knob might just be switched between the dividers bordering the healthy zone, creating the perfect balance.
@@ Line 41: / Line 39: @@
 ==Trivia==
-*Randall [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/8/8c/20170608162730%21focus_knob.png had misspelled] existential as ''existental'' with only one "i"! This was later fixed.
+In the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/8/8c/20170608162730%21focus_knob.png original version of the comic], Randall had misspelled "existent'''i'''al" as "existential" with only one "i"! This was later fixed.
 {{comic discussion}}
 [[Category:Charts]]

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 :Personal Focus
-:[A gray rotary control knob with the range of options divided by small ticks on a black semi circle. The knob has a black line that indicates that the knob's setting. At the bottom left and right where the semi circle begins and ends there are two labels in normal black text:]
+:[A gray rotary control knob with the range of options divided by small ticks on a black arc. The knob has a black line that indicates that the knob's setting. At the bottom left and right where the semi circle begins and ends there are two labels in normal black text:]
 :Left: Detail-Oriented
 :Right: Big Picture
@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
 <div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
 <br>
-:[A gray rotary control knob with the range of options divided by 37 small ticks on a black semi circle that extends over 270 degrees from 45 degrees past "6 o'clock" and around to 45 degrees before that "time" on the other side. The first and last tick are a bit larger than the other 35. The knob has a black line that indicates that the knob's setting is on the 13th line from left. This also seem to indicate that the knob can only point to the ticks and not in between them. At the bottom left and right where the semi circle begins and ends there are two labels in normal black text.]
+:[A gray rotary control knob with the range of options divided by 37 small ticks on a black arc that extends over 270 degrees from 45 degrees past "6 o'clock" and around to 45 degrees before that "time" on the other side. The first and last tick are a bit larger than the other 35. The knob has a black line that indicates that the knob's setting is on the 13th line from left. This also seem to indicate that the knob can only point to the ticks and not in between them. At the bottom left and right where the arc begins and ends there are two labels in normal black text.]
-:[Above and all along the black semi circle with the range, another semi circle is drawn in light gray. This has been divided into three sections, with two large sections left and right forming the actual semi circle which here consist of two double ended arrows pointing to four stopping lines orthogonal to the gray arrows pointing at them. The left and right stopping lines are above the larger left and right end ticks below. The other two stops are very near each other, the left just slightly past the 24th tick (from left) and the next is just short of the next 25th tick (but not as near as the other line was to the 24th tick). There is no line or arrow between these two very close stopping lines. There are three labels. The labels for the first section (spanning slightly more than 24 ticks) and the second section (spanning a bit more 13 ticks) have their labels written next to the arrows, which has been broken in order to have the text written next to the black semi circle. The remaining small space lies between the 24th and 25th tick, and it thus have no possible settings within it - i.e. no tick is inside this section, and it is the only part not encompassed by the two double arrows. It is labeled to the right of it, and a line goes from the label down to indicate this small section. All the above including the text is drawn in the same light gray color.]
+:[Above and all along the black semi circle with the range, another set of arcs are drawn in light gray. These has been divided into three sections, with two large sections left and right forming most of the major arc, which here consist of two double ended arrows pointing to four stopping lines orthogonal to the gray arrows pointing at them. The left and right stopping lines are above the larger left and right end ticks below. The other two stops are very near each other, the left just slightly past the 24th tick (from left) and the next is just short of the next 25th tick (but not as near as the other line was to the 24th tick). There is no line or arrow between these two very close stopping lines. There are three labels. The labels for the first section (spanning slightly more than 24 ticks) and the second section (spanning a bit more 13 ticks) have their labels written next to the arrows, which has been broken in order to have the text written next to the black arc. The remaining small space lies between the 24th and 25th tick, and it thus have no possible settings within it - i.e. no tick is inside this section, and it is the only part not encompassed by the two double arrows. It is labeled to the right of it, and a line goes from the label down to indicate this small section. All the above including the text is drawn in the same light gray color.]
 </div>
 <br>

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 It is clear that at the moment Randall is mainly focusing on the small details fiddling with his e-mail settings as the knob is set to the 13th tick only just past one third away from ''Detail-Oriented''. He thus seems to try to avoid seeing the big picture right now, since it is his personal knob to set as he wishes.
-The joke in the title text relates to Randall's use of an old fashioned analog control, probably a {{w|potentiometer|potentiometer}}, in the graphic versus a more electronically modern and efficient switching system.  Randall imagines a replacement control using {{w|pulse-width modulation}} (PWM), which is a technique often used to control the {{w|Switched-mode_power_supply|regulation in electronic power supplies}} or the [http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/blog/pulse-width-modulation.html speed of electric motors] with far greater power efficiency than simpler analog controllers. This technique consists of shifting between fully on and fully off states so that the average is the expected output, but no power is wasted by holding the control mechanism "partially on". For example switching back and forth between 0 and 1, spending half the time in each position will lead to a mean value of 0.5. To code 0.67 (the ''healthy balance''), Randall would have to spend more time in the extreme big picture position (67% of the time) than in the detail-oriented position.  In the real world of course, a person switching so radically and completely between attention states might get diagnosed with some sort of {{w|Mania|mania}}. But the knob might just be switched between the dividers bordering the healthy zone, creating the perfect balance.
+The joke in the title text relates to Randall's use of an old fashioned analog control, probably a {{w|potentiometer|potentiometer}}, in the graphic versus a more electronically modern and efficient switching system.  Randall imagines a replacement control using {{w|pulse-width modulation}} (PWM), which is a technique often used to control the {{w|Switched-mode_power_supply|regulation in electronic power supplies}} or the [http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/blog/pulse-width-modulation.html speed of electric motors] with far greater power efficiency than simpler analog controllers. This technique consists of rapidly shifting between {{w|Bang–bang control|fully on and fully off states}} so that the average is the expected output, but no power is wasted by holding the control mechanism "partially on". For example switching back and forth between 0 and 1, spending half the time in each position will lead to a mean value of 0.5. To code 0.67 (the ''healthy balance''), Randall would have to spend more time in the extreme big picture position (67% of the time) than in the detail-oriented position. In the real world of course, a person switching so radically and completely between attention states might get diagnosed with some sort of {{w|Mania|mania}}. But the knob might just be switched between the dividers bordering the healthy zone, creating the perfect balance.
 ==Transcript==