0276: "Fixed Width"

[miles01110]

LINK: http://www.xkcd.com/c276.html

Alt-text: I wish I knew how to quit this so I wouldn't have to quit you.



I would have deleted the post if it didn't already have so many comments. Read the rules, and ALWAYS link to the comic in the post. -L

Commentary is NECESSARY, not optional.

[4=5]

sucks to be them, at least the sex was good

I wish I knew how to quit this so I didn't have to quit you.

[Rocco]

weak.

But cute/sad comic.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Heh.... if she's spectacular in bed, for the LOVE OF GOD, don't ruin it by being yourself!

[Algorithm]

Code: Select all

<emily> is this for real?
<emily> or is it just sex
<rob> yes, it's for real!
<rob> I love you so much.

See, this is how you do it.

[starkruzr]

Code: Select all

<emily> or is it just sex
<rob> definitely just sex

...
THINGS HE COULD HAVE SAID
...

<rob> not at all just sex
<rob> no, em.  I love you
<rob> actually, no.  More
<rob> no way, sweetheart.
<rob> just sex? babe, no.

[Xayma]

She can't be worth it, she doesn't even capitalise her messages. Also there is punctuation but no capitalisation I maintain that maybe rob just had a broken shift key since he doesn't use anything that would require it and using caps for everything but AMAZING would've been annoying, but she has question marks!

[miles01110]

Looks like an IRC client with the <brackets> around the names. Nobody uses IRC to talk to their significant others.

Yeah....nobody...... [looks around].

Ahem.

[CorranH]

She can't be worth it, she doesn't even capitalise her messages. Also there is punctuation but no capitalisation I maintain that maybe rob just had a broken shift key since he doesn't use anything that would require it and using caps for everything but AMAZING would've been annoying, but she has question marks!

Y'know, I actually don't use my shift keys for anything but punctuation and stuff. Anytime I need to used a capital letter, it's capslock-key-capslock. And then on with the rest of my typing. I have no idea why. Probably because I never formally learned to type. I knew where I was supposed to put my fingers and stuff, but I never bothered to learn until I started playing Ultima Online (an MMORPG), and then I just kind of taught myself (Do you really need 2 "self"s in that sentence?). Now I type about sixty or seventy WPM, and all with using capslock for capital letters. I didn't even realize it was weird until friends saw me typing and asked what the fuck I was doing.

EDIT - Disembodied pink mod-voice has shamed me and my poor syntax. I . . . I offer no excuses.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Code: Select all

<emily> or is it just sex
<rob> definitely just sex

THINGS HE COULD HAVE SAID

<rob> sex makes babies?!?
<rob> what is "just sex"?
<rob> do you feel itching
<rob> it can be buttsecks


[Invisible_Insane]

Code: Select all

THINGS HE COULD HAVE SAID
<rob> it can be buttsecks


Quite hilarious.

[skeptical scientist]

So, I take it the consensus of this thread is that "if he really loved her, he would have figured out a way of saying it while staying within the fixed width", and not "if he really loved her, he wouldn't have cared"?

Does anyone find this at all worrying?

[joeframbach]

So, I take it the consensus of this thread is that "if he really loved her, he would have figured out a way of saying it while staying within the fixed width", and not "if he really loved her, he wouldn't have cared"?

Does anyone find this at all worrying?

I wouldn't worry about it. Keep in mind this is probably the same character that had a girl walk out on him because he was reading docs on cursor movement instead of watching a movie.

[kertrats]

Knowing <emily> in real life, I can attest this comic is quite accurate.

[Barbie]

Have any other xkcd characters had names, or is this a first?

[Mike Graham]

Reason 633 not to use monospaced type for IM.

[Xayma]

To steal the code because I'm lazy to retype it:

Code: Select all

<emily> or is it just sex
<rob> definitely just sex

THINGS HE COULD HAVE SAID

<rob> well it is good sex
<rob> or? do you mean xor
<rob> i have to choose?:(
<rob> btw i have syphilis

<rob> i love you miranda!
<rob> typo, miranda=emily


[kertrats]

Have any other xkcd characters had names, or is this a first?

Well, this isn't the first time we've had a relationship with a named character go awry...

http://xkcd.com/c215.html

[liza]

So, I take it the consensus of this thread is that "if he really loved her, he would have figured out a way of saying it while staying within the fixed width", and not "if he really loved her, he wouldn't have cared"?

Does anyone find this at all worrying?

I'd say no. Just because you love a person doesn't mean you have to love him/her more than you already love your mild OCD. I'm pretty sure. Okay, so I'm going to go with that as the reason why I don't have a boyfriend.

Code: Select all

<rob> well it is good sex
<rob> i have to choose?:(
<rob> btw i have syphilis

<rob> i love you miranda!
<rob> typo, miranda=emily


I lol'd

Knowing <emily> in real life, I can attest this comic is quite accurate.

Pshh, don't we all "know" her? I'm pretty sure it's common knowledge that <emily>'s a whore.

While not my favourite comic, still pretty cute. Also, I do the line-width thing quite a bit.

[tzirean]

I registered for the forums just to point out that "just sex" and "for real" have the same number of characters:

Code: Select all

<rob> definitely just sex
<rob> definitely for real


If only rob had put a little more thought into his line-length obsession, a lot of heartache could have been avoided!

[Nigy]

DAMMIT rob.....not as smart as it had previously seemed..

[Eleven]

Hmm... It could just be that he had some clever addition to his sentence, but she types too damn fast.

[Arancaytar]

Looks like an IRC client with the <brackets> around the names. Nobody uses IRC to talk to their significant others.

Yeah....nobody...... [looks around].

Ahem.

I've seen Psi emulate that look. I guess it's not reserved to IRC, even though that's where it came from.

More likely, though, it means they're both using Jabber, and are therefore geeks. So it's a bit confusing why she took offense at that line length comment...

...except for the fact that she must know there are a dozen nice things to say with the proper length, so he's using a really weak excuse.

[BlueNowhere]

So, I take it the consensus of this thread is that "if he really loved her, he would have figured out a way of saying it while staying within the fixed width", and not "if he really loved her, he wouldn't have cared"?

Does anyone find this at all worrying?

No, this isn't worrying. Clearly it's much more impressive to fit your thoughts into the constraints given rather than just dismissing them. Clearly.

[voodooKobra]

Heh. That's funny.

[MHZmaster]

More to add, although most of these would be worse.

Code: Select all

<emily> is this for real?
<emily> or is it just sex
<rob> definitely just sex
THINGS HE COULD HAVE SAID
<rob> o my god we fucked?
<rob> i don't have an STD
<rob> can we do it again?
<rob> wait you're a girl?
<rob> no that wasn't mine
<rob> but are you virgin?    //ok this doesn't make sense in context; this is better:
<rob> so were you virgin?
<rob> so how drunk was i?
<rob> do the dishes woman
<rob> oooh just like that
<rob> wait let me ask mom

[hotaru]

She can't be worth it, she doesn't even capitalise her messages. Also there is punctuation but no capitalisation I maintain that maybe rob just had a broken shift key since he doesn't use anything that would require it and using caps for everything but AMAZING would've been annoying, but she has question marks!

capitalizing the first letter of the first word of every sentence is redundant and ugly. and it doesn't work if the sentence starts with a word that has to have it's first letter lowercase.

[Mike Graham]

She can't be worth it, she doesn't even capitalise her messages. Also there is punctuation but no capitalisation I maintain that maybe rob just had a broken shift key since he doesn't use anything that would require it and using caps for everything but AMAZING would've been annoying, but she has question marks!

capitalizing the first letter of the first word of every sentence is redundant and ugly. and it doesn't work if the sentence starts with a word that has to have it's first letter lowercase.

Capitalizing the first letter of the first word of each sentence is both aesthetically pleasing and practical—it gives more effect to the full stop. In the case that the first letter cannot be capitalized, the exception is quite easy. But for sentences it is an option, it helps the reader perceive the structure of the paragraph.

Personally, I'm all for more capitalization, but this doesn't seem to be the way English is going.

[xooll]

Sad yet hilarious.

[__Kit]

I love it, wasn't THAT sad...

[cmacis]

Or it could be one of the linux programs that connects to a more popular service. I'm sure I had that effect here talking to my mates over msn. Then, he's the nerd and her position is left unclear. But, since it is just about sex, it is clear that they are incompatible. He runs linux, she runs windows. They're just not meant to be. Let them go.

Then again, if he's like most linux users I know of (myself excluded), he's polyamorous. Open enough chat windows and this would happen eventually.

I know that this is a very specific interpretation, but it entertains me to play around with alternate stories with what is printed.

[missingglassmarbles]

That is... pathetic. We've established he could have said lots of things.

I can't really respect a girl like our <emily>. I give a lot more respect to tolerant, patient people who know when to take other peoples' word and throw them a rope. Take a joke. Understand OCD and random desires to ask questions that can be taken badly as just curiosity. Like if I say, "we need to talk" to an S.O., I don't expect him to automatically take it to mean, "I want to break up"

[Drostie]

So, I take it the consensus of this thread is that "if he really loved her, he would have figured out a way of saying it while staying within the fixed width", and not "if he really loved her, he wouldn't have cared"?

Does anyone find this at all worrying?

This is about a person who has xkcd.

It might be worth checking the "what xkcd means" comic again; but it suffices to say that, if he hadn't stayed within the fixed width, he would not have had xkcd and hence would not have been a subject of the webcomic.

(Slowly but surely, the term is getting meaning. I envision a world where saying "I have xkcd" is a meaningful statement about a person who would, indeed, make wings for his ferret.)

[Ace_NoOne]

This is BRILLIANT!
And all this time I thought I was the only one out there who even noticed when chat lines are syncing up...

[Phasic]

So, I take it the consensus of this thread is that "if he really loved her, he would have figured out a way of saying it while staying within the fixed width", and not "if he really loved her, he wouldn't have cared"?

Does anyone find this at all worrying?

This is about a person who has xkcd.

It might be worth checking the "what xkcd means" comic again; but it suffices to say that, if he hadn't stayed within the fixed width, he would not have had xkcd and hence would not have been a subject of the webcomic.

(Slowly but surely, the term is getting meaning. I envision a world where saying "I have xkcd" is a meaningful statement about a person who would, indeed, make wings for his ferret.)

I don't think I'd even contemplate dating someone who didn't have xkcd.

[SubReal]

So, I take it the consensus of this thread is that "if he really loved her, he would have figured out a way of saying it while staying within the fixed width", and not "if he really loved her, he wouldn't have cared"?

Does anyone find this at all worrying?

No, for several reasons.

1. Why should it be worrying?
2. The structure constrains have an effect similar to poetry.
3. As others have pointed out he could have easily said "definitely for real" or something like that.

[Hawknc]

I prefer to consider it a state, rather than a condition. One is xkcd, rather than one has xkcd.

[Rocco]

I prefer to consider it a state, rather than a condition. One is xkcd, rather than one has xkcd.

NOTE: I am insane because I have some form of insanity.

[Ace_NoOne]

I prefer to consider it a state, rather than a condition. One is xkcd, rather than one has xkcd.

NOTE: I am insane because I have some form of insanity.

Good point.

However, there's some ambiguity in saying "I'm xkcd" - after all, it's RM who is xkcd!?
So personally, I'd try to avoid that kinda hubris (or even deception) there...

[GhostWolfe]

So, I take it the consensus of this thread is that "if he really loved her, he would have figured out a way of saying it while staying within the fixed width", and not "if he really loved her, he wouldn't have cared"?

Does anyone find this at all worrying?

I'm not sure what is worrying about about it. Is there a scripture somewhere that states we have to pretend to fit the other persons' concpet of "normal" or else they won't love us?

Though I agree that <emily> might have overreacted just a tiny bit (speaking from the point of view of a world-class A-grade overreactor) by logging off without trying to find out if he was joking (and then giving him a thorough dressing-down over not saying one of the multitude of better responses).