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Creator of xkcd Reveals Secret Back-story of His Epic, 3,099-Panel 'Time' Comic
vikingpower writes "Randall Munroe, the comic author best known as the creator of the xkcd webcomic, reveals the secret backstory of his epic, 3099-panel 'Time' strip in an interesting interview with Wired. He says, 'In my comic, our civilization is long gone. Every civilization with written records has existed for less than 5,000 years; it seems optimistic to hope that the current one will last for 10,000 more ... The Earth’s axis wobbles over the millennia, and some individual stars move visibly, so I used a few different pieces of astronomy software–with a lot of hand correction and tweaking–to render the future night sky. When the Sun sets in the night sequence, one of the first things you see is the gap where Antares should be, which was the first clue that this is taking place in the far future. Later in the night–which lasted for several days of real time–more astronomical details let readers pin down the date more precisely.' The comic can be seen as an animation on YouTube. There is also a complete click-through version available on geekwagon. This comic inspired a dedicated wiki and has its own glossary."
And how long has writing existed for?
Randall Munroe is an embarrassing illustration of the mediocrity of the average modern nerd. He says nothing which isn't either cliche or oversimplified.
I thought I was alone in this until a few weeks ago I found a site called xkcdsucks, and it appears I'm not alone in thinking this.
Your personal taste can be different from mass appeal. But, unlike business practice, what harm does it do to simply appreciate the fact that you like things that other people don't like - and they'll like things you don't like?
... but if they're just providing things that others enjoy, why attack it simply because you dislike it?
Just like stand-up comedy, some artists may not do things you like
- Nec Impar Pluribus, or so I'm told.
I should add, for anyone crazy enough to want to read the forums, here's a link: Clicky, it can get quite confusing at times, the regulars were well on their way to inventing a new language (not to mention para-religions at times), but there's definitely some fascinating posts as well, and every frame immortalised in order, with an enforced (by how fast you read) gap to replicate the way it felt when it was going.
Laughter is the best medicine, except if you have a broken rib.
Perhaps because that wasn't IN your post?
xkcd is overrated (Score:1, Insightful)
by Joining Yet Again (2992179) Alter Relationship on Saturday August 03, 2013 @09:32AM (#44465073)
And how long has writing existed for?
Randall Munroe is an embarrassing illustration of the mediocrity of the average modern nerd. He says nothing which isn't either cliche or oversimplified.
I thought I was alone in this until a few weeks ago I found a site called xkcdsucks [blogspot.com], and it appears I'm not alone in thinking this.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
From the BBC article you linked to ...
The Harappan language died out and did not form the basis of other languages.
Dr Meadow: "The earliest inscriptions date back to 3500 BC."
"So probably we will never know what the symbols mean," Dr Meadow told BBC News Online from Harappa.
What historians know of the Harappan civilisation makes them unique. Their society did not like great differences between social classes or the display of wealth by rulers. They did not leave behind large monuments or rich graves.
They appear to be a peaceful people who displayed their art in smaller works of stone.
Their society seems to have petered out. Around 1900 BC Harappa and other urban centres started to decline as people left them to move east to what is now India and the Ganges.
So in this case, the civilisation lasted for less than 5000 years...
(Just for reference, here's the original quote you had an issue with: Every civilization with written records has existed for less than 5,000 years.)
When I first saw the comic progressing, I thought of this book by Kim Stanley Robinson. A couple meets on the beach, explores a strange world, and discovers who they really are.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
Too bad isn't it that Randall doesn't share your particular irrational hysterias? I can manage even when people don't agree with me 100%, but I guess some people are more delicate.
As to Randall's nuclear apology chart, you can find it here.
I'm going to blow your mind right now. I mean seriously mind-fuck material. Want to know how to earn a bazillion dollars? I'll tell you. It takes work, and it won't happen overnight, but it is like printing your own money, only legally.
Take one idea that seems to have a fan base. One single thing that a large group of people agree is a good thing. Any group of people, any object of affection.
Make a web site dedicated to pointing out all of the flaws, inconsistencies, errors, fails, and general pointlessness of that thing. You don't even have to agree with yourself. Just hate something - vehemently and consistently, except for a few occasions when you pay a back-handed compliment.
And the magical part - allow comments.
People who don't agree will post raging apoplectic fits on how wrong you are. Your fans will post raging apoplectic fits on how wrong your haters are. Non-participants will hit your page daily just to see their "avatars" fight, regardless of their chosen side. Through all of this, you will get PAGE VIEWS which turn into ad revenue. You will have eyeballs, and dollars.
Cafe Press will have "Joining Yet Again is retarded" coffee mugs, and "Joining Yet Again is the new Christ" napkin holders, under your control and out of your control. You will be the messiah and the anti-christ, and rich beyond your wildest dreams.
And you don't have to be honest once.
Here's another tip that will blow your already blown mind. Other people have figured this out already.
And finally, since I'm basically retirement planning for you now, doing it on Slashdot earns dollars for Dice, not for you. How did you earn two replies today? You are a spectacular idiot - a shining example of how not to think, and how not to post. The rarest of the rare, a genuine failure pile. And I stopped to help you be less failtastic, or at least encourage you to be failtastic somewhere else, like in a closet with no internet connection.
Which civilisation involving bipeds has existed for more than 50 million years?
You appear to be confusing "civilization" with "species".
A human civilization is vaguely defined as people living in a place (in city or larger states), with a language and system of writing, set of beliefs and culture.
Taking the long view of human history civilizations get wiped out all the time, and none of the previous civilizations have lasted all that long.
Sometimes an artform needs a new dimension. XKCD is good enough that an individual comic doesn't need to be funny to be valid.
[FUCK BETA]
I'm dismayed to see how many comments on the Wired piece and here on Slashdot say such shallowly bad things (it is not criticism, so I won't call it that) about xkcd and this particular project. Do these commentors not know how hard it is to make a thing? Art? Computer programs? New ideas? Try it. Dedicate yourself to something for days, weeks, years. You will see. Never mistake the common phrase "they make it look easy" with "what they are doing is easy". Try to learn and always remember that things that matter are always way harder than they look like they'll be, and the disparity between these two is sometimes the greatest for the very best things.
xkcd and the 'Time' project are not perfect because perfection is unattainable. But I submit that Munroe is a serious artist: he is impressively prolific, and his creations are often deep, thought-provoking, and simply beautiful and fun to look at. Just look at some of the time slices on their own merits, independent of what you think of the story. Are not some of the silhouetted scenes simply wonderful to explore with your eyes?
Now be inspired and create something of your own.