Editing 1796: Focus Knob
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 8: | Line 8: | ||
==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | The | + | The image is of a rotary {{w|control knob}} used for adjusting parameters in instruments, such as the visual focus of a camera or display. Apparently this one is for adjusting [[Randall]]'s personal focus level, with the extremes of focus being towards small details and big picture respectively. However, humans do not usually have control knobs to adjust personal parameters; thus, the absurdity of the concept -- having direct, immediate control of mental/emotional focus -- drives the humor of this strip. Some may see this as desirable, but it could also be manipulated by others against one's will. |
− | + | 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 much about the big picture and make vague plans while missing out on the details. | |
− | + | One can get lost doing small tasks that might increase efficiency for long projects (e.g. fiddling with email settings), but these might make one lose track of the big picture. | |
− | + | The healthy balance, Randall suggests, is focusing mostly towards the big picture, while keeping an eye on the details. Focusing too much on the big picture can ensure nothing gets done, leading to panic and existential crises. Unfortunately, if we assume the knob can only stop at the little notches marked along the outside, there is no way to set it to a healthy focus. | |
− | + | In the title text, Randall imagines spinning the dial to and fro, causing {{w|Pulse-width modulation}} (a technique often used to encode data in waves). This techniques consists of shifting between a set of fixed values (often 2) so that the average is the expected output. 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 0.7, you have to spend more time in the 1 position (70% of the time). In this way, he could attempt to have an average of a healthy focus even if the knob cannot be set directly in that range. One feature of this modulation is that the expected value is not actually reached by the signal before applying the low-pass filter (averaging), so using a PWM-like method would mean alternating between being too much and too little attention to detail to have an average on the healthy balance, but never actually reach it. As cool as the idea may sound, it is probably not very healthy. | |
+ | |||
+ | Many people having a project to complete will usually cycle through the various available settings, often going directly from fiddling the email to panic and existential crisis in a matter of minutes. Maintaining a healthy balance throughout the project is difficult, because it occupies such a small place on the knob. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Of course, not everyone is knob-headed, so some people can panic and have an existential crisis while simultaneously fiddling with email settings.{{Citation needed}} | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
Line 22: | Line 26: | ||
:Personal Focus | :Personal Focus | ||
− | :[A gray rotary control knob with the range of options divided by small ticks on a black semi. The knob has a black line that | + | :[A gray rotary control knob with the range of options divided by 37 small ticks on a black semi circle that extends over 270 degree from 45 degree past "6 o'clock" and around to 45 degree 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 indicated that its setting is on the 12th line from left extreme (13th line when also counting the starting tick), and thus also indicating 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/ends there are two labels in normal black text:] |
:Left: Detail-Oriented | :Left: Detail-Oriented | ||
− | :Right: Big Picture | + | :Right extreme: Big Picture |
− | :[Above | + | :[Above the semi circle with the range there is another semi circle drawn in light gray. This has been divided into three sections, with the two large left and right forming the semi circle which actually consist of two double ended arrows pointing to four stopping lines. The left and right stopping lines is above the larger left and right end ticks below. The other two stops are just slightly past the 24th tick (from left) and the next is just short of the 25th tick (but not as near as the other line was to the 24th tick). There is no line 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.] |
:Left section: <span style="color: gray;">Fiddling with email settings</span> | :Left section: <span style="color: gray;">Fiddling with email settings</span> | ||
− | :Right | + | :Right sections: <span style="color: gray;">Panic and existential paralysis</span> |
:Small section: <span style="color: gray;">Healthy balance</span> | :Small section: <span style="color: gray;">Healthy balance</span> | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
[[Category:Charts]] | [[Category:Charts]] |