When xkcd reminds you of pweb

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Postby Dr. Mobius » Thu May 22, 2008 2:13 am

I haven't really looked into it. I just noticed they both use coordinates and the name is obviously derivative.

Essentially, though, it appears to be the same thing. You're using GPS to find the physical location that corresponds to the given coordinates.

From what I've read about geocaching, it's more of an adventure (or a contest/race if it's a new one and you want to be the first to find it) than a treasure hunt. Really, about the only thing you have to do when you find one is sign the log book so they'll know you didn't cheat and just said you found it when you log your discovery on the website. Though it's entirely possible to ignore log books and websites past getting the coordinates and just find them for the fun of it.

Yes, they usually contain little trinkets (unless you're doing micros which are usually a 35mm film canister or something of similar size) but if you take one you're supposed to leave something of your own so there's always something for the next person who finds it.

If you can't tell, I've been thinking about trying geocaching for awhile, but I don't really have time for it. Plus, I don't know anyone around here who does it and I don't want to spend money on a decent handheld GPS until I've tried it and know I like it.
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Postby Jayelle » Thu May 22, 2008 8:06 am

I've done geocaching. It's totally fun. We did it with our youth kids last year, and we also planted a cache near the church, and it's amazing the number of people who've found it.
I want my own GPS so I can do it myself.
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Postby starlooker » Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:24 pm

http://xkcd.com/438/


This has applied at various times.
There's another home somewhere,
There's another glimpse of sky...
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There's another life out there...

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Postby akrolsmir » Fri Sep 11, 2009 12:39 am

Just in case no one's pointed this out yet:

XKCD comic referencing Ender's Game today, ftw!

http://xkcd.com/635/
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Postby BonitoDeMadrid » Fri Sep 11, 2009 1:09 am

Damn, you beat me to it.

Awesome, as always, and so so true.
Who controls the British crown? Who keeps the metric system down?
We do! We do!
Who leaves Atlantis off the maps? Who keeps the Martians under wraps?
We do! We do!
Who holds back the electric car? Who makes Steve Gutenberg a star?
We do! We do!
Who robs cavefish of their sight? Who rigs every Oscar night?
We do, we do!

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Postby Eddie Pinz » Fri Sep 11, 2009 6:58 am

I love the squirrel in there. That's just win right there.

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Postby starlooker » Fri Sep 11, 2009 8:11 am

Oh God, I can see it now. Trying to explain to my children someday that when I was their age and reading Ender's Game, it seemed perfectly plausible that two people blogging political opinions on the Internet would matter that much. Because we didn't HAVE an Internet when I was your age. So we didn't realize that giving everyone access to it meant giving everyone access to it.
There's another home somewhere,
There's another glimpse of sky...
There's another way to lean
into the wind, unafraid.
There's another life out there...

~~Mary Chapin Carpenter

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Postby Young Val » Fri Sep 11, 2009 8:35 am

<3 the alt text.
you snooze, you lose
well I have snozzed and lost
I'm pushing through
I'll disregard the cost
I hear the bells
so fascinating and
I'll slug it out
I'm sick of waiting
and I can
hear the bells are
ringing joyful and triumphant

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Postby locke » Fri Sep 11, 2009 10:35 am

<3 the alt text.
agreed. :)
So, Lone Star, now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb.

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Postby Jayelle » Sat Sep 12, 2009 6:01 pm

Oh God, I can see it now. Trying to explain to my children someday that when I was their age and reading Ender's Game, it seemed perfectly plausible that two people blogging political opinions on the Internet would matter that much. Because we didn't HAVE an Internet when I was your age. So we didn't realize that giving everyone access to it meant giving everyone access to it.
So true, so very true.
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Postby neo-dragon » Sat Sep 12, 2009 7:34 pm

To be fair, "the nets" are a bit different in EG. Peter and Val had to use their dad's i.d. just to be able to post, and they had to be invited to participate in the serious discussions. So in the future Joe Blow's blog probably isn't taken any more seriously than it is now, but parts of the nets are used for more serious and regulated political discussion. Even today real politicians are using facebook, twitter, youtube, and blogs to express their views and communicate with a wider audience. Rather than seeming dated, the way the net is presented in EG still seems amazingly prophetic for something written in 1985 to me.

That said, the comic is still very funny. :D
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Postby zeroguy » Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:36 pm

I love the squirrel in there. That's just win right there.
That was the best part of the strip. Also the part that most resembled the actual events of the book.
To be fair, "the nets" are a bit different in EG. [...] Rather than seeming dated, the way the net is presented in EG still seems amazingly prophetic for something written in 1985 to me.
The nets are indeed different; but I've maintained that they resembled the internet more as it was at the time than now. OSC hardly seems prophetic to me; he probably just was discussing the idea with someone he knew that the time that was into BBSs (or maybe OSC used them, I don't know). The nets are basically an extension of them.
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Postby locke » Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:54 pm

iirc OSC was an inaugural member of AOL practically, signing up in 85 or something like that. so he was definitely on top of what was being discussed as the future of computing at the time. Remember he had been working for a software company writing instruction manuals not long before.
So, Lone Star, now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb.

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Postby daPyr0x » Mon Sep 28, 2009 5:36 am

If I could be summed up in a single comic strip, it would be this one...

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Stop trying to be perfect. Focus on being you; perfect will come.
"If only I had an enemy bigger than my apathy I could have won"
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Postby zeroguy » Mon Sep 28, 2009 10:34 pm

Titletext: "And I even got out my adorable new netbook!"

I thought this one was close to what I do a lot, but... it's not quite fear of public humiliation; I think I'm okay with that on the "social awkwardness" level. It's just, I know many (most?) conversations I'm in with people, I just do really wonder why the hell they're talking to me, and I wish they'd go away. I don't wish that feeling/situation on anyone, so I try to avoid causing it.

(Except apparently when I've had a certain amount to drink, but not too much.)
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Postby steph » Mon Jan 04, 2010 9:33 am

Because when I read it this morning, the first thing that popped in my head was Adam:

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Postby starlooker » Mon Jan 04, 2010 9:33 am

I was just coming here to post that, Steph.
There's another home somewhere,
There's another glimpse of sky...
There's another way to lean
into the wind, unafraid.
There's another life out there...

~~Mary Chapin Carpenter

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Postby Jayelle » Mon Jan 04, 2010 11:53 am

Brilliant.
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Postby locke » Mon Jan 04, 2010 12:41 pm

hey now.

I'm only that loud online.

:D
So, Lone Star, now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb.

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Re: When xkcd reminds you of pweb

Postby starlooker » Fri Jan 22, 2010 9:52 am

Image

God, I have been reminded of this one so often lately. I know it's been posted in here before, but I just needed to bump it.
There's another home somewhere,
There's another glimpse of sky...
There's another way to lean
into the wind, unafraid.
There's another life out there...

~~Mary Chapin Carpenter

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Postby jotabe » Fri Jan 22, 2010 10:25 am

i have that one on a sticker on my computer XD
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Postby BonitoDeMadrid » Wed Jun 16, 2010 1:00 am

*BUMP*

Can anyone explain today's XKCD for me?
Who controls the British crown? Who keeps the metric system down?
We do! We do!
Who leaves Atlantis off the maps? Who keeps the Martians under wraps?
We do! We do!
Who holds back the electric car? Who makes Steve Gutenberg a star?
We do! We do!
Who robs cavefish of their sight? Who rigs every Oscar night?
We do, we do!

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Postby jotabe » Wed Jun 16, 2010 2:12 am

*BUMP*
Can anyone explain today's XKCD for me?
Well, the topic of the subject is dependency resolution, that is (i think), debugging a program where you are calling variables that haven't yet been defined, or when it calls itself in an infinite loop. The joke is that to enroll in that subject, you need to have passed that subject. Which means the enrollment program has a dependency problem, too.
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Postby zeroguy » Thu Jun 17, 2010 10:52 pm

Well, the topic of the subject is dependency resolution, that is (i think), debugging a program where you are calling variables that haven't yet been defined, or when it calls itself in an infinite loop.
Yeah, but, it's talking about compiler design, so I'd imagine it'd be more like determining the dependencies of calculations or certain instructions, which is used in a compiler for various optimizations (and possibly showing warnings). Or it could be something with symbol resolution and that kind of thing, but I thought that'd be linking.

But I don't know, I only took a couple of classes in that area, and it was rather theoretical. The only thing I can remember that seems close to dependency resolution is binding variable names to variables, and things like that.
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Postby jotabe » Fri Jun 18, 2010 1:31 am

True lol. Compiler design... so there's people who actually do that? :o wow they probably deserve a cookie.
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Postby Jebus » Fri Feb 25, 2011 7:20 pm

I don't understand the new xkcd...

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Roll-over:
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Postby Eaquae Legit » Fri Feb 25, 2011 8:06 pm

"Only for today, I will devote 10 minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul." -- Pope John XXIII

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Postby Jebus » Sun Feb 27, 2011 12:19 pm

Thank you. :)

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Postby Jayelle » Thu Jul 28, 2011 8:27 pm

The rollover of a couple days ago references Lost Boys by OSC. He's so clearly a fan.

http://xkcd.com/928/


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Postby Gravity Defier » Thu Jul 28, 2011 8:33 pm

I have always thought zero was Hat Guy.

After learning some personal stuff about Randall Munroe, if it turns out he's him, I'll kill him. Or just be very angry with him. One of those two. :mrgreen:
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Postby fawkes » Sun Jul 31, 2011 12:02 pm

The rollover of a couple days ago references Lost Boys by OSC. He's so clearly a fan.
I'm kinda bummed that I can't get this book on my kindle.
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Postby Eaquae Legit » Fri Aug 05, 2011 3:23 pm

http://xkcd.com/933/

Anyone wittier than me come up with a version of this referring to stretchmarks/pregnancy?
"Only for today, I will devote 10 minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul." -- Pope John XXIII


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