Talk:2206: Mavis Beacon

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So the # key, then?

Shifted or not? The implication is that it is, since that's where โ€˜~โ€™ is. 141.101.99.41 18:44, 23 September 2019 (UTC)

On a typical German QWERTZ layout keyboard, the tilde key '~' can/must be entered via AltGr++; alternatively, Ctrl+Alt++ should work when there is no AltGr key. On certain "dead key" keyboard layouts, there even is no single and direct '~' key: To type a tilde, one would have to press AltGr++ followed directly by a space or to double-tap + while holding AltGr. This would mean even more complicated or pretty much impossible key combinations that would be needed to be pressed at the same time. However, holding AltGr or Ctrl+Alt to try and type a tilde would probably cancel out the "single" Alt key necessary for the comic's secret key code. So, once you've managed to type a tilde, it likely wouldn't count any more for the key combo, making it impossible to type this key combination on such keyboard. --Passerby (talk) 19:26, 23 September 2019 (UTC)
I've seen many programs provide hotkey instructions calling the grave key the tilde key due to the difficulty of differentiating between the grave key and the apostrophe key. So I'd assume no shifting is required. CJB42 (talk) 01:51, 24 September 2019 (UTC)
I don't know if Mavis Beacon was ever internationalized, but it was presumably originally designed for full-sized (non-laptop) U.S. QWERTY 101-key keyboards, where the ~ (tilde) is on the same key as the ` (back-tick) character, and which requires the use of the Shift key to activate. If Mavis Beacon was internationalized, and if this boss reward really existed and was unlocked by a particular key combination, one would hope the key combination would take into account different keyboard layouts. I would also assume that it would not require the shift (or other modifier) key, otherwise they would include that particular modifier key among the list of keys in the combination. So, like CJB42 pointed out, while they would say ~ since that's clearly labeled on the keyboard and easier to display, they really mean ` which might otherwise just look like a smudge. -boB (talk) 19:49, 24 September 2019 (UTC)

The link from Friday's comic to this new one is missing. -boB (talk) 19:21, 23 September 2019 (UTC)

This page was created by the bot only a short while ago. I may be wrong, but I think those links will be set automagically by such bot at some point after the creation of this page. --Passerby (talk) 19:31, 23 September 2019 (UTC)

Currently, the button on Comic #2205 to go to this comic is missing - someone with more technical expertise than me, please fix this 172.69.22.134 21:07, 23 September 2019 (UTC)

Fixed it - to do it, go to https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2205:_Types_of_Approximation&action=Purge , this works for any page if you change "2205:_Types_of_Approximation" to what it should be. 172.68.174.88 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)


Here on a touchscreen the comic hotlinks to https://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fontology/level-3/numbers/oldstyle-figures 172.68.38.64 19:12, 24 September 2019 (UTC)

It is also a link on a PC. It has been added to the explanation. --Kynde (talk) 08:27, 25 September 2019 (UTC)
Unicode

Presumably a lot of this could be achieved with Unicode; any advances on ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿš๐Ÿ›๐Ÿœ๐Ÿ๐Ÿž๐ŸŸ๐Ÿ ๐Ÿก๐Ÿ˜? Sabik (talk) 05:07, 24 September 2019 (UTC)

Simple means of checking:
>>> import unicodedata as ucd
>>> for i in range(0x110000):
...     c = chr(i)
...     if ucd.normalize("NFKD", c)[0] in "0123456789":
...         print(c, end=", ")
It actually spits out
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, ยฒ, ยณ, ยน, ยผ, ยฝ, ยพ, โฐ, โด, โต, โถ, โท, โธ, โน, โ‚€, โ‚, โ‚‚, โ‚ƒ, โ‚„, โ‚…, โ‚†, โ‚‡, โ‚ˆ, โ‚‰, โ…, โ…‘, โ…’, โ…“, โ…”, โ…•, โ…–, โ…—, โ…˜, โ…™, โ…š, โ…›, โ…œ, โ…, โ…ž, โ…Ÿ, โ†‰, โ‘ , โ‘ก, โ‘ข, โ‘ฃ, โ‘ค, โ‘ฅ, โ‘ฆ, โ‘ง, โ‘จ, โ‘ฉ, โ‘ช, โ‘ซ, โ‘ฌ, โ‘ญ, โ‘ฎ, โ‘ฏ, โ‘ฐ, โ‘ฑ, โ‘ฒ, โ‘ณ, โ’ˆ, โ’‰, โ’Š, โ’‹, โ’Œ, โ’, โ’Ž, โ’, โ’, โ’‘, โ’’, โ’“, โ’”, โ’•, โ’–, โ’—, โ’˜, โ’™, โ’š, โ’›, โ“ช, ใ‰‘, ใ‰’, ใ‰“, ใ‰”, ใ‰•, ใ‰–, ใ‰—, ใ‰˜, ใ‰™, ใ‰š, ใ‰›, ใ‰œ, ใ‰, ใ‰ž, ใ‰Ÿ, ใŠฑ, ใŠฒ, ใŠณ, ใŠด, ใŠต, ใŠถ, ใŠท, ใŠธ, ใŠน, ใŠบ, ใŠป, ใŠผ, ใŠฝ, ใŠพ, ใŠฟ, ใ‹€, ใ‹, ใ‹‚, ใ‹ƒ, ใ‹„, ใ‹…, ใ‹†, ใ‹‡, ใ‹ˆ, ใ‹‰, ใ‹Š, ใ‹‹, ใ˜, ใ™, ใš, ใ›, ใœ, ใ, ใž, ใŸ, ใ , ใก, ใข, ใฃ, ใค, ใฅ, ใฆ, ใง, ใจ, ใฉ, ใช, ใซ, ใฌ, ใญ, ใฎ, ใฏ, ใฐ, ใ , ใก, ใข, ใฃ, ใค, ใฅ, ใฆ, ใง, ใจ, ใฉ, ใช, ใซ, ใฌ, ใญ, ใฎ, ใฏ, ใฐ, ใฑ, ใฒ, ใณ, ใด, ใต, ใถ, ใท, ใธ, ใน, ใบ, ใป, ใผ, ใฝ, ใพ, ๏ผ, ๏ผ‘, ๏ผ’, ๏ผ“, ๏ผ”, ๏ผ•, ๏ผ–, ๏ผ—, ๏ผ˜, ๏ผ™, ๐ŸŽ, ๐Ÿ, ๐Ÿ, ๐Ÿ‘, ๐Ÿ’, ๐Ÿ“, ๐Ÿ”, ๐Ÿ•, ๐Ÿ–, ๐Ÿ—, ๐Ÿ˜, ๐Ÿ™, ๐Ÿš, ๐Ÿ›, ๐Ÿœ, ๐Ÿ, ๐Ÿž, ๐ŸŸ, ๐Ÿ , ๐Ÿก, ๐Ÿข, ๐Ÿฃ, ๐Ÿค, ๐Ÿฅ, ๐Ÿฆ, ๐Ÿง, ๐Ÿจ, ๐Ÿฉ, ๐Ÿช, ๐Ÿซ, ๐Ÿฌ, ๐Ÿญ, ๐Ÿฎ, ๐Ÿฏ, ๐Ÿฐ, ๐Ÿฑ, ๐Ÿฒ, ๐Ÿณ, ๐Ÿด, ๐Ÿต, ๐Ÿถ, ๐Ÿท, ๐Ÿธ, ๐Ÿน, ๐Ÿบ, ๐Ÿป, ๐Ÿผ, ๐Ÿฝ, ๐Ÿพ, ๐Ÿฟ, ๐Ÿ„€, ๐Ÿ„, ๐Ÿ„‚, ๐Ÿ„ƒ, ๐Ÿ„„, ๐Ÿ„…, ๐Ÿ„†, ๐Ÿ„‡, ๐Ÿ„ˆ, ๐Ÿ„‰, ๐Ÿ„Š

So unless you're mis-using characters which are not supposed to be numbers (which would change the screenreader experience from annoying in this case to actually unintelligible and is therefore ill-advisable), that's probably the closest you'd get. --141.101.104.139 09:35, 24 September 2019 (UTC)

Trochees

To tie this to a recurring theme in Mr. Munroe's comics... "Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing - Heroes on the half shell." Ryanker (talk) 20:14, 23 September 2019 (UTC)

"Number Maven Mavis Beacon" also fits such a pattern. Enfield (talk) 17:56, 25 September 2019 (UTC)


Is it worth mentioning "Typing of the Dead" and its sequel?--162.158.34.210 14:53, 24 September 2019 (UTC)

It appears you have. So perhaps the former but not the latter? ;-) 172.68.47.66 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

I just wish to say hello to all others here who first experienced Mavis Beacon Typing Tutor back in the day. It was one of the few 'games' with graphics (that weren't CGA!) that was on that early PC of mine, albeit in monochrome (green on black) because of the limitations of that Hercules graphics card/chip/whatever-it-was. That and a 'Digger' game (a clone/ripoff of DigDug, it seems). Ah, nostalgia. I wonder if I can still use my old Psion Xchange suit? Time to dig up a working 5ยผโ€ drive and fit it to whatever ATAPI-enabled Mobos I can find... 162.158.154.61 17:32, 25 September 2019 (UTC)

Playing the same game for 30 years is rare [citation needed]

Windows Solitaire was introduced on 22 May 1990. So we are less than a year from having a game that many people could have been playing for 30 years. These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For (talk) 03:52, 29 September 2019 (UTC)


I like this one! I've often been irritated by the lack of a concept of capital numbers, and this is a great design. Get on it, Unicode consortium! ๐Ÿ˜œ (oh, and don't forget the arbitrary-length snakes!) PotatoGod (talk) 08:54, 30 September 2019 (UTC)

The capital numbers remind me of transdecimal numerals

These were invented by Michael De Vlieger to represent digits in bases higher than ten. That three-holed-eight looks a lot like the numeral for 256... http://www.vincico.com/arqam/digits/argam-current.html

Does the zero look like a very simply drawn Death Star to anyone else? No? Just me then? Okay, just checking. NiceGuy1 (talk) 05:02, 18 October 2019 (UTC)