1190: "Time"

[balthasar_s]

None of those are easy to answer.

I thought the second one is. And you answered it:

The colours [...] seem to be there to disambiguate one speaker, narrator, and/or voice from another.

And that's all.
Or almost all:

The colours seem to be chosen arbitrarily

Actually, no.
The blue:
12: B the guy
and then:

• In frames 0042-0068, 0098 for B's dialogue

then 113: Be the girl
and then:

• In frames 0146-0174 for KXA's dialogue

See 146 and 98. The frames have the same words of kxa with different colours.

the "default" colour which I guess we can call "black"

We can. bsta.css says that all text must be black unless this rule is overridden with something else.

Okay, so there is a different narrator in frames 0189-present. But we knew that,

good that this is known.

Apparently you are saying this is meaningful somehow. But we can't read minds.

When the narration changed I also changed the text colour, like before. I hoped that if people reading bsta notice the color change they will know (because they have seen how textcolour behavers in the dialogues) what it means. And now I was just wondering if that's what actually happened.

Only one more thing to see here: the text changed to blue (and not something else) and I hope it's clear now what blue text means.

the narrator on 0187 said they were going to leave US to play the game

[/quote]

[mrob27]

Thank you for your patience.

I thought the second one is. And you answered it:

It was easy to answer, but impossible to know if that was the answer that you (or someone else) might have thought was easy.

At any rate, it seems that colour 0057AF signifies who "the reader" is "being". That would mean that the reader is also "being" one of the Joes (Old Joe or Young Joe) in frames 0138-0144. And I guess that is a useful insight, because of the apparently extradiagetic NICE DROP! in frame 0183 becomes a little more related to those in 0142, 0143 (but only a little? because those are in some greenish colour 08B000).

[GnomeAnne]

New OtherComic.

It's even a little bit related.

[addams]

Happy Saint Valentines Night!

Spoiler:

[Eternal Density]

I saw the Panther Salve Movie (hexcode 000000) about the raptorcatman todip. It's molpish, steakish, and wingish.

[GnomeAnne]

I might have to give that a watch as well, then.

[mrob27]

I've looked into the BSTA colours a bit more. Again I didn't have to spam the server because I have downloaded each frame once and I view them on my own machine without the Internet. I looked at the palettes in the PNG files (I do not know how to get palettes from the GIFs) and found four:

Code: Select all

        000000 aaaaaa bb6622 ffffff  (first seen in bsta-000001.png)
        000000 0057af bb6622 ffffff  (first seen in bsta-000030.png)
        000000 08b000 aa22bb ffffff  (first seen in bsta-000138.png)
                (no palette)         (first seen in bsta-000175.png)


That's:
　　000000 AAAAAA BB6622 FFFFFF
　　000000 0057AF BB6622 FFFFFF
　　000000 08B000 AA22BB FFFFFF
The interesting thing (perhaps) is that BSTA 0175 seems to be a PNG file with no PLTE. That's not typical for @balthasar_s but it's totally valid PNG. Frame 0175 is colour type 2, bit depth 8, which means that every pixel is 24 bits (8 bits each of R,G,B) and it's conceivable that we might be able to ENHANCE the image and find something. I tried, but didn't see much, apart from the wheel stick (which is perfect!)

[addams]

AHH!
Spiders!

I had to do Big Suck battle with a wall of Spiders!
It was scary. It was exhausting. It is done. phew.

[ucim]

It was scary. It was exhausting. It is done. phew.

Are you sure?

[...]

Jose

[addams]

No...
Not forever, done.
We all know they will come back.

But, I will have little skirmishes.
Not; Epic Spider Battles.

The "I have a Spider on Me Dance" is exhausting.
I performed multiple free form performances. whine...

[Peaceful Whale]

No...
Not forever, done.
We all know they will come back.

But, I will have little skirmishes.
Not; Epic Spider Battles.

The "I have a Spider on Me Dance" is exhausting.
I performed multiple free form performances. whine...

I have a solution:
Boring Company Flamethrower.
It’s a glorified propane torch, so you won’t get burning napalm all over your house, if you use it wisely, only spiders and spider webs will burn...
When the insurance company asks why you thought this was a good idea, just mention my name, they have a special fund for “accidents” associated with me.

[addams]

oh...I no longer have the reflexes for FlameThrowers.
Besides; I have Big Suck. He is a Trooper. I Love him.

edit:

Spoiler:

He is Big Suck.
Not Big Sick;
Big Sick is Me!

[taixzo]

Indeed, it's even Megan's weapon of choice.



RSIR

Spoiler:

[balthasar_s]

(I do not know how to get palettes from the GIFs) and found four:

I use libdevilAlso here is the GIF format specification if you want to do it by yourself: http://www.w3.org/Graphics/GIF/spec-gif89a.txt

Code: Select all

        000000 aaaaaa bb6622 ffffff  (first seen in bsta-000001.png)

what about bsta-000000.png?

The interesting thing (perhaps) is that BSTA 0175 seems to be a PNG file with no PLTE. That's not typical for @balthasar_s but it's totally valid PNG.

This is a mistake which will be corrected.

That would mean that the reader is also "being" one of the Joes (Old Joe or Young Joe) in frames 0138-0144.

The story doesn't suggest anywhere that the reades suddenly is being Joe. You would expect to still be KXA.
But maybe KXA is being Joe when she reads "Old Joe and Young Joe" just like the reader is being her when reading BSTA?
If KXA is being Joe while you're being KXA then maybe you're also being Joe somehow?

[mrob27]

Yes, if beingness is transitive. Which it would be, as being is being, num' sein?

I am slightly embarassed to discover that not only did I forget that there was a BSTA frame 0000, but even my BSTA bot thought that 0 was an invalid frame number. Bad bot.

Thanks for the pointers. I found this GIF decoder source code and got it working fairly quickly. The palette of BSTA frame 0006 is, unsurprisingly, 000000 AAAAAA BB6622 FFFFFF. I can automate this a bit more to check all the GIFs if this seems like a thing that might want to be done.
　 Perhaps slightly more surprising, the FFFFFF is repeated 4 more times (for a total of 8 possible pixel values). So the white pixels in the GIFs might "hide" something

[squonk]

Dropped in to see if anyone's figured out the language yet.

No?

OK, see y'all again in a couple years.

[ZoomanSP]

New OtherComic.

[addams]

Weather Report!
Weather Report!

Spoiler:

Snow!
Neighbor to Neighbor;
Spoken openly and whispered while looking at flowers that have been 'tricked' into thinking it is Spring.

Snow!
They are saying we will get Snow in two days Time.
I will be watching and waiting and covering up my Citrus Trees.

It is, just, so weird.
We have had 70 F. days and balmy nights.
We get Snow every five to seven years.

We had Snow last year!
We should be inoculated against Snow.

it is all very exciting.
I will let you know if Snow Flakes drift to the ground.

!t may be a conspiracy theory.
Earth Against My Garden!

Sorry.
I can't contribute to solving computer puzzles.
I am down at the intellectual level of:
The Sky Is Falling! and Spiders.

Spoiler:

If Spiders start falling from a Clear Blue Sky,
You will be the Second to know.

Katty the Cat Lady will be First.

[balthasar_s]

Perhaps slightly more surprising, the FFFFFF is repeated 4 more times (for a total of 8 possible pixel values). So the white pixels in the GIFs might "hide" something

I'll try to explain this.
A GIF can have 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, or 256 colours.
So why 8 and not 4?
The gif bsta frames are made in such a way that the frames of the animation contain only the difference from the previous. The rest is transparent.
This way the file size is smaller.
But because of this transparency a palette of 4 is not enough any more. The redundant whites can be safely ignored

There is one special BSTA frame for wich I made an exception and used a 5-color palette.

[ucim]

There is one special BSTA frame for wich I made an exception and used a 5-color palette.

What's the difference between a five color palette and an eight color palette with three unused colors?

Jose

[GnomeAnne]

...
When the insurance company asks why you thought this was a good idea, just mention my name, they have a special fund for “accidents” associated with me.

Indeed, it's even Megan's weapon of choice.

(:
These made my dip.

[lmjb1964]

I want to read through balthapuzzler's clues about colors and see what he's getting at (and mrob's responses to see what he knows), but it will have to wait (for it) until after I listen to Mahler iv a few times.

Oh let me help you!
*flute and sleigh bells* plink plink plink plink plink plink plink plink
diddle diddle dum dum, diddle diddle dum, diddle dum, diddle dum, diddle dum
Daa daa daa DA dum daaa, diddle diddle dum dum daaaaa da...

Maybe you could ottify it to help you remember it. Though that would be tricky as only the 4th movement has any words... Das OTTische Leben?

OMR, that is totally what it sounds like. :azule: You've ruined it for me--I couldn't unhear that! Hm, would I OTTify the translation, or would I have to come up with some German OTTish?

AHH!
Spiders!

I had to do Big Suck battle with a wall of Spiders!
It was scary. It was exhausting. It is done. phew.

A wall of spiders? A WALL OF SPIDERS??
Just the thought of that makes me want to hide, curled up in a fetal position.

Dropped in to see if anyone's figured out the language yet.

No?

OK, see y'all again in a couple years.

No, we've been waiting for you to do it. Get back here!

Indeed, it's even Megan's weapon of choice.

Awesomeful.

So, there isn't something hiding in the bsta frames? If there is, I wouldn't know how to find it. How it was found in taixzo's story is still a mystery to me.

So the dialogue colors in bsta are an indication of point of view, basically. Very clever! And a little bit of a puzzle since, as mrob points out, we can read minds. Now, I wonder if point of view will change again? Will we follow the box to wherever the Mustardis is taking it?

Edited to fix my broken quote tags and typo (thanks, GnomeAnne!) Haven't had a broken quote tag in a while. Seems like old Times!

[ucim]

A wall of spiders? A WALL OF SPIDERS??
Just the thought of that makes me want to hide, curled up in a fetal position.

Hey... it lowers carpentry costs! And it's probably better than a wall of carpenter ants - they bring union problems.

*flute and sleigh bells* plink plink plink plink plink plink plink plink
diddle diddle dum dum, diddle diddle dum, diddle dum, diddle dum, diddle dum...

OMR, that is totally what it sounds like.

I'm going to have to have a listen. It won't be the first time I've had to go back to the library!

OK, see y'all again in a couple years.

That's someone truly dedicated to the First Commandment!

(Wait a minute... is it really "waiting for it" if xe's doing something else while waiting? I'll have to convene the Grand Canonical Ensemble!)

Jose

[balthasar_s]

(Wait a minute... is it really "waiting for it" if xe's doing something else while waiting?

if doing something else and waiting then yes, if doing something else and not waiting then no.

[addams]

That was easily settled.
This Thread is Famous for That.

That and Hats.

[GnomeAnne]

...

Ok, this was fun. Now time to...

What?
Why did it just
disappear?

[TUNO:67]

[addams]

It is a Tardis?

[GnomeAnne]

It is a Tardis?

Hmm
You could be on to something here.

[mrob27]

I did a little more work on my GIF file palette decoder.

Code: Select all

 000000 aaaaaa bb6622 ffffff  (first seen in bsta-000000.png)
 000000 aaaaaa bb6622 ffffff ffffff ffffff ffffff ffffff (first seen in bsta-000006.gif)
 000000 0057af bb6622 ffffff  (first seen in bsta-000030.png)
 000000 0057af bb6622 ffffff ffffff ffffff ffffff ffffff (first seen in bsta-000039.gif)
 000000 08b000 aa22bb ffffff  (first seen in bsta-000138.png)
         (no palette)         (first seen in bsta-000175.png)
 000000 0057af bb6622 ffffff 0057af 0057af 0057af 0057af (first seen in bsta-000178.gif)
 000000 bb6622 aaaaaa 0057af ffffff 0057af 0057af 0057af (first seen in bsta-000181.gif)
 000000 0057af bb6622 ffffff 000000 000000 000000 000000 (first seen in bsta-000193.gif)


As @balthasar_s suggested, BSTA frame 0181 is a GIF (animated) frame with 5 colours: 000000 BB6622 AAAAAA 0057AF FFFFFF. (I also re-downloaded frame 0175, no change as yet.)

What?
Why did it just
disappear?

Yeah, the MusTARDIS derezzed. Who didn't see that coming? And it managed to do so without a limited-edition 5-colour palette.

[balthasar_s]

I did a little more work on my GIF file palette decoder.

so the palettes seen so far are:
4: 000000 AAAAAA BB6622 FFFFFF
5: 000000 0057AF BB6622 FFFFFF
10: 000000 08B000 AA22BB FFFFFF
11: 000000 bb6622 AAAAAA 0057AF FFFFFF

Interesting coincidence that I just noticed: Palette 11 was created by combining palettes 4 and 5. And 4+5=11.

Yeah, the MusTARDIS derezzed. Who didn't see that coming? And it managed to do so without a limited-edition 5-colour palette.

It was made possible by Dithering.

[GnomeAnne]

Doesn't 4+5=9?
I feel like I'm missing something.

Is this using octadecimal because of the 8bit colour depth?

[ucim]

Doesn't 4+5=9?
I feel like I'm missing something.

It's new math. Also the two ones in 11 can be rearranged to make the plus sign, which is what signals the addition of 4+5 in the first place. Once you add in the add operator (how can you not add the add??) you come up with eleven, base ten. And the sequence eleven, ten, ... yields nine as the next number.

It's all RELATED!

Jose

[GnomeAnne]

Oh, of course, how could I have not seen this at once?

Robots

How did your competition go? Did your team make it to state?

[mrob27]

Oh, there are palettes #10 and #11 now; the numbering continues!
　 I did some PMs with @balthasar_s, sometime around three yips ago when I was writing Mrorl's Machine, which needed to reference a fictitious palette without generating too much confusion with respect to the numbered palettes, the existence of which I already knew for some reason though I can't seem to find it now.^Ꮔ
　 During BFTF there were specific palettes to which @balthasar_s had given numbers (he showed us #2, #4, #5, #7, and #9 in OTT:2255:7). After the PMs I knew of Balthapalette numbers from #0 to #9, skipping a couple. My notes also say "#10: (maybe more here)".
　 I wanted there to be one for each prime number, so I gave the character Balthacarius a "Palette #3", which had 1781B7 as its colour #3.^Ƨ
　 Now we have a #11, continuing the prime-numbered series.

Palette 11 was created by combining palettes 4 and 5. And 4+5=11.

　 … which would be true in base 8. Yes, this is indeed New Math (great classic song by Tom Lehrer which uses base 8 as its example of arithmetic in another PNS^Ҩ base.^Ꮠ) So maybe we haven't continued the prime numbers yet

<sup>— mrob27

Ꮔ</sup> I guess it came up sometime during BFTF, which had started about 8 mips earlier, during which there were some frames with hidden information and the OTT as a whole was paying a lot of attention to the Balthapalettes.
^ƧThis is the same "blue as in @mention tags" that appears in my posts when I mention OTTers. I got it from www.workwithcolor.com/color-converter-01.htm by putting in coordinates that are aligned with the perceptial primaries as defined by the pHSL coordinates. There are eight; in full they are E32322, EE771D, FDC60B, BED714, 008E5B, 1781B7, 444E99, and A71EA7.
^Ҩ PNS = Positional Numeral System.
^Ꮠ In my own schooling we had base 5. Base 8 would have been much more relevant, it was being used in computer programming, which of course is why 10-year-olds were being taught to deal with different PNS bases.

(Edit: Better Balthapalette link, and I started reading bOTTeriada too. MJNH!)

[Peaceful Whale]

Oh, of course, how could I have not seen this at once?

Robots

How did your competition go? Did your team make it to state?

No, one of our servos was acting really werid, no matter what value we told it to go to, it would just go somewhere randomly. It was one of our most important ones, without it we couldn’t grab the relic...

[mscha]

ERONGOS...

Spoiler:

Wait for it.

(Colorization by taixzo.)

OTT Time Travel

I HAS A CROISSANT. YOU CAN HAS MY CROISSANT.

-- posted by randompixbot

[addams]

Weather Report:

Spoiler:

The Spiders have not returned for rear of Big Suck.
The Snow, the light quiet flakes of wonder, we were promised has not come.

What we got was Sleet.
Hard cold ice mixed with rain.

All of it pushed by a wind that penetrates everything except Ski Gear.
We don't have Ski Gear, here. We are prepared for a Mild Climate.

I'll keep waiting and watching.

Sleet can turn to Snow.
I'll let you know.

[balthasar_s]

Doesn't 4+5=9?

it is.

Is this using octadecimal because of the 8bit colour depth?

octadecimal would be base 18.

he showed us #2, #5, #7 in OTT:2053:24

this is a better post to link to: http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?p=3752564#p3752564

MINY
I just got mrobsniped into re-reading the PMs about colours.
And about the poems from the electronic bard.

Palette 10 was created by rotating 5 by 90 degrees.

[ucim]

I think we got your snow addams. Six inches of it. I'd send it to you but it's melting pretty quickly. Fortunately I was able to keep on top of the shoveling.

As to the spiders, Big Suck must be pretty rearsome!

Jose

[addams]

I think we got your snow addams. Six inches of it. I'd send it to you but it's melting pretty quickly. Fortunately I was able to keep on top of the shoveling.

As to the spiders, Big Suck must be pretty rearsome!

Jose

oh...We were looking forward to that Snow
Quickly melting was also expected.

Yes. Big Suck is my Wonderfulness!
Plugged in and Ready for any sign of Eight Legs.