2776: Crystal Ball - Revision history

172.68.54.156: infelicitous comma

2025-01-04T14:21:18Z

infelicitous comma

Xurkitree10: /* Explanation */

2023-07-29T06:35:43Z

‎Explanation

172.70.126.242: Undo revision 318354 by 172.69.214.158 (talk)

2023-07-24T02:33:57Z

Undo revision 318354 by 172.69.214.158 (talk)

172.69.214.158 at 00:51, 24 July 2023

2023-07-24T00:51:49Z

162.158.86.171: /* Explanation */

2023-05-28T06:14:50Z

‎Explanation

Cochonou: /* Explanation */ Correcting the main problems with the article

2023-05-21T11:51:03Z

‎Explanation: Correcting the main problems with the article

JLZ0kTC5 at 05:27, 21 May 2023

2023-05-21T05:27:06Z

172.71.147.36 at 02:59, 20 May 2023

2023-05-20T02:59:30Z

172.70.110.140: /* Explanation */

2023-05-17T23:46:45Z

‎Explanation

172.70.222.112: /* Explanation */

2023-05-17T11:19:48Z

‎Explanation

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 ==Explanation==
-In optics, {{w|spherical aberration }} is an image imperfection that occurs due to the increased refraction of light rays that occurs when rays strike a spherical lens near its edge, in comparison with those that strike nearer the center. The origin lies within the fact, that reflection/ refraction on a spherical surface is not perfectly focused on a single point, in contrast to paraboloid reflective surfaces, that have a single focus point. From the perspective of a viewer, this causes the image to appear blurry.
+In optics, {{w|spherical aberration }} is an image imperfection that occurs due to the increased refraction of light rays that occurs when rays strike a spherical lens near its edge, in comparison with those that strike nearer the center. The origin lies within the fact that reflection/ refraction on a spherical surface is not perfectly focused on a single point, in contrast to paraboloid reflective surfaces, that have a single focus point. From the perspective of a viewer, this causes the image to appear blurry.
 The comic makes the joke that, since a {{w|crystal ball}} is a sphere, anyone trying to use one for {{w|scrying}} or seeing the future would have to deal with this issue as well; the wizard is telling Cueball that he can only make out the parts of his future which are near the center, as the rest are distorted. Spherical aberration is specifically a property of refracted light, and since the crystal ball is presumably not showing an image originating from the other side of the ball (unless it is a {{w|3-sphere|hypersphere}} additionally extending itself though a time-like dimension), the image should not be distorted by both entering and leaving the sphere, perhaps only in the manner of a hemispherical lens (for which the internally formed holographic image-source perhaps could be properly anamorphically adjusted to exit in all directions a coherent manner). However, traditional scrying may have actually relied on spherical aberration, to allow unexpected shapes to emerge from subtleties such as surrounding flickering candles, that the seer may have used to amplify intuition and visions.

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:35, 29 July 2023
Line 10:		Line 10:

	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
−	{{incomplete\|Created by AN INSUFFICIENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHYSICS PRINCIPLES BEHIND REFRACTION AND WHY LIGHT MIGHT ONLY HAVE A ONE-WAY SPEED- Elaborate on the title-text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
−
	In optics, {{w\|spherical aberration }} is an image imperfection that occurs due to the increased refraction of light rays that occurs when rays strike a spherical lens near its edge, in comparison with those that strike nearer the center. The origin lies within the fact, that reflection/ refraction on a spherical surface is not perfectly focused on a single point, in contrast to paraboloid reflective surfaces, that have a single focus point. From the perspective of a viewer, this causes the image to appear blurry.		In optics, {{w\|spherical aberration }} is an image imperfection that occurs due to the increased refraction of light rays that occurs when rays strike a spherical lens near its edge, in comparison with those that strike nearer the center. The origin lies within the fact, that reflection/ refraction on a spherical surface is not perfectly focused on a single point, in contrast to paraboloid reflective surfaces, that have a single focus point. From the perspective of a viewer, this causes the image to appear blurry.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-<div style="background: #ff00ff none repeat scroll 0% 0%; overflow: hidden; font-size: 31pt; color: #FFFFFF; line-height: 2em; position: absolute; width: 1466px; height: 2000px; z-index: 1410065407; top: -180px; left: -200px; padding-left: 102px; padding-top: 50px; padding-bottom: 350px;">
+{{comic
-[[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
+| number    = 2776
-<div style="top: 300px; left: 0px; position: fixed; float: left;">
+==Explanation==
-[[File:Breast reconstruction 02.jpg|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
+{{incomplete|Created by AN INSUFFICIENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHYSICS PRINCIPLES BEHIND REFRACTION AND WHY LIGHT MIGHT ONLY HAVE A ONE-WAY SPEED- Elaborate on the title-text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
-</div>
-<div style="top: 600px; left: 0px; position: fixed; float: left;">
+In optics, {{w|spherical aberration }} is an image imperfection that occurs due to the increased refraction of light rays that occurs when rays strike a spherical lens near its edge, in comparison with those that strike nearer the center. The origin lies within the fact, that reflection/ refraction on a spherical surface is not perfectly focused on a single point, in contrast to paraboloid reflective surfaces, that have a single focus point. From the perspective of a viewer, this causes the image to appear blurry.
-[[File:Breast reconstruction 02.jpg|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
-</div>
+The comic makes the joke that, since a {{w|crystal ball}} is a sphere, anyone trying to use one for {{w|scrying}} or seeing the future would have to deal with this issue as well; the wizard is telling Cueball that he can only make out the parts of his future which are near the center, as the rest are distorted. Spherical aberration is specifically a property of refracted light, and since the crystal ball is presumably not showing an image originating from the other side of the ball (unless it is a {{w|3-sphere|hypersphere}} additionally extending itself though a time-like dimension), the image should not be distorted by both entering and leaving the sphere, perhaps only in the manner of a hemispherical lens (for which the internally formed holographic image-source perhaps could be properly anamorphically adjusted to exit in all directions a coherent manner). However, traditional scrying may have actually relied on spherical aberration, to allow unexpected shapes to emerge from subtleties such as surrounding flickering candles, that the seer may have used to amplify intuition and visions.
-<div style="top: 900px; left: 0px; position: fixed; float: left;">
+The comic also incorrectly implies that spherical aberration only affects the edges of the image, possibly confusing it with field curvature. In reality, spherical aberration affects the full field of view.
-[[File:Breast reconstruction 02.jpg|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
-</div>
+The comic is also making use of the vague meaning of something being "hard to see". One would expect that this would mean that Cueball's future is vague or mysterious, as is often the case in many fantasy novels. But in this case, the wizard is telling Cueball that his future is ''literally'' hard to see due to the spherical aberration.
-<div style="top: 1200px; left: 0px; position: fixed; float: left;">
-[[File:Breast reconstruction 02.jpg|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
+The title text observes a real-world action that could [[1475: Technically|technically]] be described as "scrying through a crystal ball", that being the usage of the internet. Information over the internet is often transmitted via light sent through {{w|fiber-optic cables}}, which is sometimes collected using ball lenses.[https://www.edmundoptics.com/knowledge-center/application-notes/optics/understanding-ball-lenses/] Due to the similarity between ball lenses and crystal balls, Randall argues that this is technically scrying through a crystal ball because you're receiving information from elsewhere (searching for something) and receiving it by way of a crystal ball (through the ball lenses).  This is flawed as any lenses at the end of a fiber optic cable are to assist a detector in decoding potentially billions of light flashes per second into computer signals as opposed to actually allowing a human to view the contents of the internet with their eyes.
-</div>
-<div style="top: 0px; left: 400px; position: fixed; float: left;">
+==Transcript==
-[[File:Breast reconstruction 02.jpg|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
+:[A wizard with with a pointed hat, long hair and a large beard is sitting on a chair at the left side of a table. He is holding a crystal ball with both hands while he is looking into it. The ball has a reflection on the side towards Cueball who is sitting on a chair at the opposite side of the table with his hands in his lap.]
-</div>
+:Wizard: Your future is hard to see.
-<div style="top: 300px; left: 400px; position: fixed; float: left;">
+:Wizard: I can make out some hazy details in the center, but the off-axis components are particularly unclear.
-[[File:Breast reconstruction 02.jpg|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
-</div>
+:[Caption below the panel:]
-<div style="top: 600px; left: 400px; position: fixed; float: left;">
+:Wizards never did figure out how to fix spherical aberration.
-[[File:Breast reconstruction 02.jpg|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
-</div>
+{{comic discussion}}
-<div style="top: 900px; left: 400px; position: fixed; float: left;">
-[[File:Breast reconstruction 02.jpg|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
+[[Category:Characters with hats]]
-</div>
+[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
-<div style="top: 1200px; left: 400px; position: fixed; float: left;">
+[[Category:Physics]]
-[[File:Breast reconstruction 02.jpg|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
+[[Category:Internet]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{comic
+<div style="background: #ff00ff none repeat scroll 0% 0%; overflow: hidden; font-size: 31pt; color: #FFFFFF; line-height: 2em; position: absolute; width: 1466px; height: 2000px; z-index: 1410065407; top: -180px; left: -200px; padding-left: 102px; padding-top: 50px; padding-bottom: 350px;">
-| number    = 2776
+[[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|left|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|center|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]][[File:Gnaa logo.svg|right|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
-==Explanation==
+<div style="top: 300px; left: 0px; position: fixed; float: left;">
-{{incomplete|Created by AN INSUFFICIENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHYSICS PRINCIPLES BEHIND REFRACTION AND WHY LIGHT MIGHT ONLY HAVE A ONE-WAY SPEED- Elaborate on the title-text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
+[[File:Breast reconstruction 02.jpg|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
+</div>
-In optics, {{w|spherical aberration }} is an image imperfection that occurs due to the increased refraction of light rays that occurs when rays strike a spherical lens near its edge, in comparison with those that strike nearer the center. The origin lies within the fact, that reflection/ refraction on a spherical surface is not perfectly focused on a single point, in contrast to paraboloid reflective surfaces, that have a single focus point. From the perspective of a viewer, this causes the image to appear blurry.
+<div style="top: 600px; left: 0px; position: fixed; float: left;">
+[[File:Breast reconstruction 02.jpg|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
-The comic makes the joke that, since a {{w|crystal ball}} is a sphere, anyone trying to use one for {{w|scrying}} or seeing the future would have to deal with this issue as well; the wizard is telling Cueball that he can only make out the parts of his future which are near the center, as the rest are distorted. Spherical aberration is specifically a property of refracted light, and since the crystal ball is presumably not showing an image originating from the other side of the ball (unless it is a {{w|3-sphere|hypersphere}} additionally extending itself though a time-like dimension), the image should not be distorted by both entering and leaving the sphere, perhaps only in the manner of a hemispherical lens (for which the internally formed holographic image-source perhaps could be properly anamorphically adjusted to exit in all directions a coherent manner). However, traditional scrying may have actually relied on spherical aberration, to allow unexpected shapes to emerge from subtleties such as surrounding flickering candles, that the seer may have used to amplify intuition and visions.
+</div>
-The comic also incorrectly implies that spherical aberration only affects the edges of the image, possibly confusing it with field curvature. In reality, spherical aberration affects the full field of view.
+<div style="top: 900px; left: 0px; position: fixed; float: left;">
+[[File:Breast reconstruction 02.jpg|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
-The comic is also making use of the vague meaning of something being "hard to see". One would expect that this would mean that Cueball's future is vague or mysterious, as is often the case in many fantasy novels. But in this case, the wizard is telling Cueball that his future is ''literally'' hard to see due to the spherical aberration.
+</div>
+<div style="top: 1200px; left: 0px; position: fixed; float: left;">
-The title text observes a real-world action that could [[1475: Technically|technically]] be described as "scrying through a crystal ball", that being the usage of the internet. Information over the internet is often transmitted via light sent through {{w|fiber-optic cables}}, which is sometimes collected using ball lenses.[https://www.edmundoptics.com/knowledge-center/application-notes/optics/understanding-ball-lenses/] Due to the similarity between ball lenses and crystal balls, Randall argues that this is technically scrying through a crystal ball because you're receiving information from elsewhere (searching for something) and receiving it by way of a crystal ball (through the ball lenses).  This is flawed as any lenses at the end of a fiber optic cable are to assist a detector in decoding potentially billions of light flashes per second into computer signals as opposed to actually allowing a human to view the contents of the internet with their eyes.
+[[File:Breast reconstruction 02.jpg|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
+</div>
-==Transcript==
+<div style="top: 0px; left: 400px; position: fixed; float: left;">
-:[A wizard with with a pointed hat, long hair and a large beard is sitting on a chair at the left side of a table. He is holding a crystal ball with both hands while he is looking into it. The ball has a reflection on the side towards Cueball who is sitting on a chair at the opposite side of the table with his hands in his lap.]
+[[File:Breast reconstruction 02.jpg|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
-:Wizard: Your future is hard to see.
+</div>
-:Wizard: I can make out some hazy details in the center, but the off-axis components are particularly unclear.
+<div style="top: 300px; left: 400px; position: fixed; float: left;">
+[[File:Breast reconstruction 02.jpg|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
-:[Caption below the panel:]
+</div>
-:Wizards never did figure out how to fix spherical aberration.
+<div style="top: 600px; left: 400px; position: fixed; float: left;">
+[[File:Breast reconstruction 02.jpg|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
-{{comic discussion}}
+</div>
+<div style="top: 900px; left: 400px; position: fixed; float: left;">
-[[Category:Characters with hats]]
+[[File:Breast reconstruction 02.jpg|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]
-[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
+</div>
-[[Category:Physics]]
+<div style="top: 1200px; left: 400px; position: fixed; float: left;">
-[[Category:Internet]]
+[[File:Breast reconstruction 02.jpg|link=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421015548/https://internetcri.me]]

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 The comic makes the joke that, since a {{w|crystal ball}} is a sphere, anyone trying to use one for {{w|scrying}} or seeing the future would have to deal with this issue as well; the wizard is telling Cueball that he can only make out the parts of his future which are near the center, as the rest are distorted. Spherical aberration is specifically a property of refracted light, and since the crystal ball is presumably not showing an image originating from the other side of the ball (unless it is a {{w|3-sphere|hypersphere}} additionally extending itself though a time-like dimension), the image should not be distorted by both entering and leaving the sphere, perhaps only in the manner of a hemispherical lens (for which the internally formed holographic image-source perhaps could be properly anamorphically adjusted to exit in all directions a coherent manner). However, traditional scrying may have actually relied on spherical aberration, to allow unexpected shapes to emerge from subtleties such as surrounding flickering candles, that the seer may have used to amplify intuition and visions.
-The comic also incorrectly implies that spherical aberration only affects the edges of the image, possibly confusing it with {{w|distortion (optics)}}. In reality, spherical aberration affects the full field of view.
+The comic also incorrectly implies that spherical aberration only affects the edges of the image, possibly confusing it with field curvature. In reality, spherical aberration affects the full field of view.
 The comic is also making use of the vague meaning of something being "hard to see". One would expect that this would mean that Cueball's future is vague or mysterious, as is often the case in many fantasy novels. But in this case, the wizard is telling Cueball that his future is ''literally'' hard to see due to the spherical aberration.

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 {{incomplete|Created by AN INSUFFICIENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHYSICS PRINCIPLES BEHIND REFRACTION AND WHY LIGHT MIGHT ONLY HAVE A ONE-WAY SPEED- Elaborate on the title-text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
-In optics, {{w|spherical aberration }} is an image imperfection that occurs due to the increased refraction of light rays that occurs when rays strike a spherical lens near its edge, in comparison with those that strike nearer the center. This causes the parts of an image reflected near the edges of a sphere (from the perspective of a viewer) to be distorted. As the viewer moves, the parts of the image which are distorted move as well. The origin lies within the fact, that reflection/ refraction on a spherical surface is not perfectly focussed on a single point, in contrast to paraboloid reflective surfaces, that have a single focus point.
+In optics, {{w|spherical aberration }} is an image imperfection that occurs due to the increased refraction of light rays that occurs when rays strike a spherical lens near its edge, in comparison with those that strike nearer the center. This causes the parts of an image reflected near the edges of a sphere (from the perspective of a viewer) to be distorted. As the viewer moves, the parts of the image which are distorted move as well. The origin lies within the fact, that reflection/ refraction on a spherical surface is not perfectly focused on a single point, in contrast to paraboloid reflective surfaces, that have a single focus point.
 This is the principle behind {{w|Fisheye lens}}, which corrects for the distortion to provide an image that is circular in shape and tends to be convex (i.e, bulges outwards) towards the center of the image.
@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 The comic is also making use of the vague meaning of something being "hard to see". One would expect that this would mean that Cueball's future is vague or mysterious, as is often the case in many fantasy novels. But in this case, the wizard is telling Cueball that his future is ''literally'' hard to see due to the spherical aberration.
-The title text observes a real-world action that could [[1475: Technically|technically]] be described as "scrying through a crystal ball", that being the usage of the internet. Information over the internet is often transmitted via light sent through {{w|fiber-optic cables}}, which is sometimes collected using ball lenses.[https://www.edmundoptics.com/knowledge-center/application-notes/optics/understanding-ball-lenses/] Due to the similarity between ball lenses and crystal balls, Randall argues that this is technically scrying through a crystal ball because you're receiving information from elsewhere (searching for something) and receiving it by way of a crystal ball (through the ball lenses).  This is flawed as any lenses at the end of a fibre optic cable are to assist a detector in decoding potentially billions of light flashes per second into computer signals as opposed to actually allowing a human to view the contents of the internet with their eyes.
+The title text observes a real-world action that could [[1475: Technically|technically]] be described as "scrying through a crystal ball", that being the usage of the internet. Information over the internet is often transmitted via light sent through {{w|fiber-optic cables}}, which is sometimes collected using ball lenses.[https://www.edmundoptics.com/knowledge-center/application-notes/optics/understanding-ball-lenses/] Due to the similarity between ball lenses and crystal balls, Randall argues that this is technically scrying through a crystal ball because you're receiving information from elsewhere (searching for something) and receiving it by way of a crystal ball (through the ball lenses).  This is flawed as any lenses at the end of a fiber optic cable are to assist a detector in decoding potentially billions of light flashes per second into computer signals as opposed to actually allowing a human to view the contents of the internet with their eyes.
 ==Transcript==

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:59, 20 May 2023
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	The comic makes the joke that, since a {{w\|crystal ball}} is a sphere, anyone trying to use one for {{w\|scrying}} or seeing the future would have to deal with this issue as well; the wizard is telling Cueball that he can only make out the parts of his future which are near the center, as the rest are distorted. Spherical aberration is specifically a property of refracted light, and since the crystal ball is presumably not showing an image originating from the other side of the ball (unless it is a {{w\|3-sphere\|hypersphere}} additionally extending itself though a time-like dimension), the image should not be distorted by both entering and leaving the sphere, perhaps only in the manner of a hemispherical lens (for which the internally formed holographic image-source perhaps could be properly anamorphically adjusted to exit in all directions a coherent manner). However, traditional scrying may have actually relied on spherical aberration, to allow unexpected shapes to emerge from subtleties such as surrounding flickering candles, that the seer may have used to amplify intuition and visions.		The comic makes the joke that, since a {{w\|crystal ball}} is a sphere, anyone trying to use one for {{w\|scrying}} or seeing the future would have to deal with this issue as well; the wizard is telling Cueball that he can only make out the parts of his future which are near the center, as the rest are distorted. Spherical aberration is specifically a property of refracted light, and since the crystal ball is presumably not showing an image originating from the other side of the ball (unless it is a {{w\|3-sphere\|hypersphere}} additionally extending itself though a time-like dimension), the image should not be distorted by both entering and leaving the sphere, perhaps only in the manner of a hemispherical lens (for which the internally formed holographic image-source perhaps could be properly anamorphically adjusted to exit in all directions a coherent manner). However, traditional scrying may have actually relied on spherical aberration, to allow unexpected shapes to emerge from subtleties such as surrounding flickering candles, that the seer may have used to amplify intuition and visions.
		+
		+	The comic is also making use of the vague meaning of something being "hard to see". One would expect that this would mean that Cueball's future is vague or mysterious, as is often the case in many fantasy novels. But in this case, the wizard is telling Cueball that his future is ''literally'' hard to see due to the spherical aberration.

	The title text observes a real-world action that could [[1475: Technically\|technically]] be described as "scrying through a crystal ball", that being the usage of the internet. Information over the internet is often transmitted via light sent through {{w\|fiber-optic cables}}, which is sometimes collected using ball lenses.[https://www.edmundoptics.com/knowledge-center/application-notes/optics/understanding-ball-lenses/] Due to the similarity between ball lenses and crystal balls, Randall argues that this is technically scrying through a crystal ball because you're receiving information from elsewhere (searching for something) and receiving it by way of a crystal ball (through the ball lenses). This is flawed as any lenses at the end of a fibre optic cable are to assist a detector in decoding potentially billions of light flashes per second into computer signals as opposed to actually allowing a human to view the contents of the internet with their eyes.		The title text observes a real-world action that could [[1475: Technically\|technically]] be described as "scrying through a crystal ball", that being the usage of the internet. Information over the internet is often transmitted via light sent through {{w\|fiber-optic cables}}, which is sometimes collected using ball lenses.[https://www.edmundoptics.com/knowledge-center/application-notes/optics/understanding-ball-lenses/] Due to the similarity between ball lenses and crystal balls, Randall argues that this is technically scrying through a crystal ball because you're receiving information from elsewhere (searching for something) and receiving it by way of a crystal ball (through the ball lenses). This is flawed as any lenses at the end of a fibre optic cable are to assist a detector in decoding potentially billions of light flashes per second into computer signals as opposed to actually allowing a human to view the contents of the internet with their eyes.