1190: "Time"

[mscha]

Edit: do I get anything special for grabbing not only the first but also the second post on a NewPage?

Yes. Frowned upon for double posting.

[foilman]

Wing-Wong.

[edfel]

I like this area Only 1k np or so before they reach a proper forest

[mikro2nd]

I like this area Only 1k np or so before they reach a proper forest

More vegetation means more water. Does this mean they're heading back down to the River?

[dreiarmumig]

Here's my first post from page 133.

My prediction: It­'s a red herring and wi­ll be go­ne in the next frame.

It was about the first missile that had been launched by Megan from outside the frame and had, at that point, not been noticed by Cueball. So yay, my first post was a false prediction. And my first computer was a Commodore 64.

Also, PhoenixRising, I love your way of posting ketchup posts, e.g.:

@AluisioASG, ggh, ucim, BlitzGirl: re: the best way to play ketchup.
@BlitzGirl: re: My Side of the Mountain
@ggh: re: staying relevant while playing ketchup
<snip>

Of course the picture (which was, I think, created by AluisioASG) is really cool, but the summaries also make it very easy to decide whether I want to read the spoilered text or not, and it keeps the whole post short and neat.

Edit: Oh, and I have a question. How can you guys tell when exactly a post was made? I've seen people writing that a certain post was at so-and-so many seconds past newpix many times and have asked myself that for quite a while now. I'm a bit afraid of the answer because I might just be blind and it's really obvious.

[cellocgw]

Edit: do I get anything special for grabbing not only the first but also the second post on a NewPage?

Yes. Frowned upon for double posting.

Oh. Well, at least now I know what "double-posting" is
All I can offer in defense is that I posted two unrelated items from two separate pages of artificially-enhanced-speed-reading (not to be confused with Blitz*-ing).

[StratPlayer]

Chapter 3

The first cleric wiped the bird's enlightenment off of his face...<snip>

I'm definitely enjoying this, Jose! Nice work!

Moria?! Wow, that takes me back. I played all of those rogue-like games: rogue, nethack, larn, and yes, moria.

I think I still have a version of nethack installed on this laptop.

2. For anyone nostalgic about rogue-likes (I wore out my share of keyboards playing nethack) you should check out Desktop Dungeons - its totally different, but not. Its great for people who no longer have the time for a deep crawl...

I've got Angband on mine and still play it from time to time when I want a retro dungeon-crawl. I'll have to check out Desktop Dungeons -- thanks for the tip!

(Inspired by StratPlayer's sig) OTCAT

I first thought that acronym meant "One True Crazy-Ass Thread"...

@StratPlayer - Truly awesome pogeeketry!

StratPlayer, That was totally poetry! Time-tacular poetry!

Thanks!

[mscha]

Edit: do I get anything special for grabbing not only the first but also the second post on a NewPage?

Yes. Frowned upon for double posting.

Oh. Well, at least now I know what "double-posting" is
All I can offer in defense is that I posted two unrelated items from two separate pages of artificially-enhanced-speed-reading (not to be confused with Blitz*-ing).

Personally, I don't see a problem with that. (I do it sometimes too...)
The good news is: being frowned upon is the only punishment for this offence, and doesn't hurt ... much. (Ouch! Stop frowning at me! )

Edit:

Also, PhoenixRising, I love your way of posting ketchup posts

Well, I don't; particularly the huge spoilers. These tailor to the ‘skippers’, and it punishes the ‘readers’. (Gotta scroll way up to close the spoiler, or else lose track when you refresh.)

[KarMann]

Edit: Oh, and I have a question. How can you guys tell when exactly a post was made? I've seen people writing that a certain post was at so-and-so many seconds past newpix many times and have asked myself that for quite a while now. I'm a bit afraid of the answer because I might just be blind and it's really obvious.

Yep, everything old is new again.

[dreiarmumig]

Also, PhoenixRising, I love your way of posting ketchup posts

Well, I don't; particularly the huge spoilers. These tailor to the ‘skippers’, and it punishes the ‘readers’. (Gotta scroll way up to close the spoiler, or else lose track when you refresh.)

Yeah, I know, but it suits my way of reading the thread perfectly because while I try to read as many posts as I can without it becoming stressful, I do ski[p|m] those that don't interest me.

Edit:

Edit: Oh, and I have a question. How can you guys tell when exactly a post was made? I've seen people writing that a certain post was at so-and-so many seconds past newpix many times and have asked myself that for quite a while now. I'm a bit afraid of the answer because I might just be blind and it's really obvious.

Yep, everything old is new again.

Haha, it sure is. Thanks!

[higgs-boson]

No. The common male whininess tends to converge to zero if no female sympathy/consolidation donator is in line of sight.

Consolation, mebbe? I'm trying to figure out the action of a "consolidation" donator........

Consolidation donator is someone giving away a steam locomotive with a two-wheeled front truck, eight driving wheels, and no rear truck.

Clearly what he is saying is guys don't whine if you offer them a free steam locomotive.

Edit: Note that the rule is that if someone uses a word and your not sure what they mean by it you must always choose the least likely option.

... on the other hand, the poster could just make use of the right words. A Missus ISS as fine ace a kilometer.*
Consolation, of course. However consolidation may also be worthwhile, at least in context of the aforementioned tangled sheets (although Enhanced Whining Technology does not look advisable for achieving that tangling goal). [insert a smiley of innocence here]

* Lock single dukes in arse-slippers.

[Flado]

mispleds.

You don't expect me to fall for the same trick twice, do you? And to admit it?

[Flotter]

DONG:

[Rule110]

Ketchup post re: all you young whipper-snappers with your newfangled "Commodore 64s" and "Apple II's" and "TRS-80s":

Spoiler:

That photo, by the way, suggests a possible alternative explanation for the entire OTC: Randall has created a new way for kidnappers to prove that a hostage is in their possession and still alive. No more clumsy old-fashioned photos-with-today's-newspaper. XKCD:Time offers an additional order of magnitude of time precision, with the strong hash scheme providing security against spoofing.

[k.bookbinder]

A SURPRISE for k.bookbinder, as suggested by Kieryn long ago on page 567.

I'm...I'm...I don't know what to say except, Thank You! Here I am, drinking my morning coffee and ketchup, avoiding productivity as defined by my heretical heathen bosses and I see this. It's so wonderful, thank you buffygirl! And thank you Kieryn, too.

Oh, and old computers again: OK, legit answer -- I didn't get first real computer until the mid 1980's. Before that I just hung out on the school's mainframe (Moria on the VAX, anyone?) But the first one I bought myself was one of the original Macs, upgraded to 512k, then later upgraded to the double-sided floppy drive, and then later I added an external GIGANTIC 10 Meg hard drive. The original Macs just had the floppy. Why would you EVER need more storage than can fit on a floppy disk???

Moria?! Wow, that takes me back. I played all of those rogue-like games: rogue, nethack, larn, and yes, moria.

I think I still have a version of nethack installed on this laptop.

The first computer I clearly remember was the Tandy 1000SX (I do not really remember the Commodore 64 Home PC). My father was particularly excited when we upgraded to a 10 Mb hard drive. I remember playing Rogue and Moria and another Rogue-like game called Sniper. My brother and I would go with my father to his place of work and we would sit at different computers where we could not perceive each other's actions. My father would connect a phone line between the two, do his compu-mojo (I never understood the concept at the time) and my brother and I would shoot ASCII arrows at each other; two SCSI faces running around a maze of ASCII walls. It was wonderful fun! Had the term multi-player death-match even been coined yet?

Measured the normal length of her arm and that is something extra she is holding

Spoiler:

hand.png

Maybe she is holding a GPS unit and they are on a journey to complete a very long, complicated multi-cache?

I was very happy to see the very small trees. It was reassuring that they are, indeed, walking among small vegetation, and not upturned dead bugs

[Flado]

Is there a TLA which googlebings to no results found?

Nope. We're way past the '90s.

[Flado]

It's a good job there are no official rules of English. Half the Internet would disappear.

- Sigged.

[DrSamCarter]

Maybe she is holding a GPS unit and they are on a journey to complete a very long, complicated multi-cache?

It's more likely a mystery cache, and, of course, we all know the hint:

Spoiler:

Wait for it.<sup>1

1</sup> In rot13 of course

[pelrigg]

palindrome triskaidekaphobiOng

[aka: frame 1331]

[dreiarmumig]

palindrome triskaidekaphobiOng

Spoiler:

[aka: frame 1331]

Haha, good one. Also just made me wonder whether people with triskaidekaphobia are also afraid of ROT13. Fbeel, crbcyr jvgu gevfxnvqrxncubovn.

[pelrigg]

If they're still in the sonoran desert, it's likely a creosote bush. I'd rather not be around any of those when they're burning.

Although from the silhouette, it could be a jumping cholla or small Joshua tree as well.

Could also be sagebrush (some have a tree-like silhouette like the Big Sagebrush {the Wiki for "sagebrush" gives 25 species for genus Artemisia}); or a type of juniper; or a pine of some sort.
[re: Megan breaking off a stem] All are aromatic, have been used for medical reasons, and/or are edible. { "Ever eat a pine tree? Many parts are edible." Euell Gibbons for Grape-Nuts}

Edit

Haha, good one. Also just made me wonder whether people with triskaidekaphobia are also afraid of ROT13. Fbeel, crbcyr jvgu gevfxnvqrxncubovn.

And maybe that's why Frame 1313 [heretic]yesterday[/heretic] went unremarked. Especially since it was on [heretic] day of the month: 13 -- abbreviated year: 13[/heretic]

edit the 2nd
rewording: "and" to "or"

[XonqNopp]

I was wondering for a long while now... I've been taught to put the hat off when I enter a Church... But this is for christian churches. So if I am a good Time Waiter, I shall put the hat on when I enter the Church of Time (the OTT)... So I've put a hat! I found it alone (frame 7, #412)...

[dreiarmumig]

Haha, good one. Also just made me wonder whether people with triskaidekaphobia are also afraid of ROT13. Fbeel, crbcyr jvgu gevfxnvqrxncubovn.

And maybe that's why Frame 1313 [heretic]yesterday[/heretic] went unremarked. Especially since it was on [heretic] day of the month: 13 -- abbreviated year: 13[/heretic]

Woah.

Edit: Maybe Frame 1313 tells us something. Maybe the OTC is taking place somewhere where Frame 1313 was posted at 13:00, which would be, if I calculated correctly: Mountain Standard Time.
(Or maybe I'm trying to spawn yet another religious splinter group.)

[Valarya]

I think I've edited more than I've posted, and read my own posts more than anyone else...

This is exactly how I feel.

[stuff - with a new hat!]

Yours is the one hatted Avatar I didn't quite figure out - all of BuffyGirl's creations are so awesome, but this one went over my head. An .. egg?

He's a Phoenix, which is a bird, and birds come from eggs, and the Phoenix is about to burst out of it! See?

I couldn't help myself any longer, BuffyGirl: While most birds do come from eggs, the Phoenix rises (instead of bursts) from ashes (not eggs).

[Dracomax]

A ketchup based economy is a tasty economy. I'm actually a long way behind, now(About 25 NewPages). stupid computer not having enough memory...

Anyway, long ketchup poist, and If I could, I'd nest spoilers.

If it is a vulture, they are close to death.

It's a time vulture. Duh.

Spoiler:

By going off on wild tangents that only eventually lead to speculating that in order to combat the heretical gray mustard, Randall in his wisdom must have created the sky out of pure white chocolate, and what lovely hats, here are some awesome graphs, throw in a smattering of manips and song parodies, and has anyone noticed the JavaScript? It must be affecting the skypixels, right?

Because moving to debate on a subject is not nearly mad enough The newpages must flow like the tide of semencoffeecancerbabiesoniceplusbaconbits.

Maybe it's made of java-infused white chocolate? What with the javascript and all.

Spoiler:

mscha answers my questions:

Since we are talking algorithms...
The general quality and reliability of the newpixbot has made me assume you have handled pretty much all eventualities. However, I am curious what is does in certain situations.
- ONG is not on time. (Specifically, more than 10 mins late.)

It will probably be caught. I check at :00, :05, :15, :25, :35, :45 and :55. (But only if no newpix has been downloaded yet this hour¹.)

- ONG is over an hour late.

It will catch that newpix, but perhaps not the next one, see ...

- There are multiple ONG's in an hour¹, so the OTC can Ketchup.

Won't be caught, since the bot will be happy as soon as a newpix has been downloaded in that hour.

- Or, multiple ONG's, just because.

Won't be caught.

- Is there any trigger that makes the bot wake you to witness the weirdness?

Nope. But so far, I've always been around in times of trouble (no need for Mother Megan to come to me and whisper words of wisdom)².
If something very unexpected does happen while I'm acoma, hopefully someone is around to at least keep track of image URLs, so I can complete the collection by hand the next day.

Edit: Based on your previous answer I am assuming that if the OTT is down, you just wait for it.

Well, I first download the image, so I've got that, no matter what's up with the forum. After a successful download, I wait until :10 if necessary, then try to post. In case of forum problems, that might time out or hang for a long time, but that doesn't matter for my collection.

¹Outside units used for relativistic clarity. (Bob's timeframe. (Not TimeFrame. (Well, maybe TimeFrame.))) NVM

¹: see ¹.
²: somebody needs to write this song, but not me (right now): coma time.

Thank you for satisfying my curiosity. Sounds like you handle all likely situations. And, since some of the less likely scenarios would require us to crash some servers just to test the bot....I guess we can let it go.
And again, nice work.

The part of me that doesn't trust backups until they've been used to do restores wants newpixbot to look for a newpix every fifteen or twenty minutes after finding a newpix ... but that's approaching paranoia. Excellent work, mscha.

Actually, after posting the above, I wasn't happy myself with some of the answers above, so I changed things a bit.
My script now actually checks for a new image URL/hash every 10 minutes. It it's a hash it has never seen yet, it will download, and if necessary post¹ the image.
It's a bit heavier on the poor old c.xkcd.com servers – if all is well, I now hit them six times instead of once per hour – but it shouldn't be a problem, all I'm doing is checking what image on imgs.xkcd.com it redirects to, that should be lightweight.² (In any case, the script is no worse, in fact a bit better, than a real person who hits F5 every 10 minutes.)
All cases which I said “won't be caught”, should now be caught in pretty much all cases. (Certainly all known cases in past Time, like the one time, about half a kilonewpix ago I believe, where we got no newpix for two ongs, then the two missing newpix arrived at, I believe, about :30 and :45 past ong.)

¹: still not until :10, of course. But if, say, the :35 check finds a new newpix, it'll immediately post it to the OTT.
²: it isn't really lightweight, though; a request for c.xkcd.com/redirect/comic/time typically takes more than a second. No idea why, that should be really easy to optimise to a few milliseconds at most.

P.S. I'd probably want to hit the server every so often to check for changed images. <paranoia> Then diff and image compare to identify header/compression/image changes. </paranoia> This is of course with infinite Time/resources to fiddle with scripts, lex, yacc, etc., and nothing to do but amuse myself.

Already happening.
Not on a scheduled basis, but I run it every few days (or when there's a reason to think something's changed). The “difference” column in my list is based on the results.
The last few times I ran it, nothing was changed. If and when something does change, the OTT will hear about it, of course.

And it just keeps getting better. You Rock!

Spoiler:

The first program I worked on in college (that wasn't an assignment) was an attempt to match dates for a college mixer. People filled out questionnaires, the computer matched people up. Out of those thousand matches, over the next three years, we had one marriage. I abused the data set, found the ten young ladies I thought fit me best, and over the next three months I made dates with each of them ... it became a running joke, how fast I'd be shot down. Didn't have a second date with any of them (granted, I only asked two of them.)

That computer (super computer it was called then, CDC 3600 with two banks of memory) had 32k 48bit words of memory. 192k bytes. More than any non-classified computer in the USA (I know now that Livermore had several of those machines, each with six banks of memory, 15k words per bank.) I have a flash drive on my keychain with 32 gigabytes of storage -- that has a higher I/0 rate than those core devices.

Sorry, can't resist posting this...


More seriously, it is amazing what those early computers, including early home computers (I had a ZX Spectrum with 48 kilobytes of memory; Manic Miner is still one of my favourite computer games) could do with such limited resources.
These days, you need a few GB of RAM to run “Hello, World!”...

But we're very off-topic now, even for the OTT.

We sent a man to the moon with less computing power than I have in my phone. That's amazing. I like to think about it any time I doubt human ingenuity, or that we are living in the future. I'm still waiting for flying cars though.

Spoiler:

How can we deduce speed, if we don't know the size or distance of the .. pixels.
We can measure it in arcseconds. Or arcmicronewpix.

But what is the average airspeed of a laden swallow, and is this faster, slower, or a laden swallow?

Spoiler:

Please stick to the needle-pulled thing rules.

Not to argue with the rules, but I think mscha's comment was specific to posting the ONG. I am not sure if it's easier for the newpixbot, or the rest of us, but this is a special case. The hourly ONG doesn't exist anywhere else. I think the occasional double post is not horrible, especially if it helps the newpixbot.

You have no idea what "needle-pulled thing" means, do you?
You have much to learn from the elders, young one.

I thought I did, but please enlighten me.

This.

No it isn't. We're still waiting for it. therefore, this cannot be it. Or we'd be pretty silly to still be waiting.

Spoiler:

Don't you see? This is a message to us! The world of Time is indeed a good world!

(Or perhaps I got a bit too excited by the sparrow-raptor appearing in an Other Comic and am currently on a reading-too-much-into-everything kick...)

I woke up, checked the Other Comic and just laughed. All this sparrow/raptor discussion we've been having lately? Mhmm. It's a great world in the OTT.

We should start guessing forecasting predicting tomorrow's what-if.

"What would happen if all grains of sand of a very large dune with someone standing on top of it suddenly become globated?"

"What would happen if a very creative person with way too much time on his hands decided to draw a very long, slowly-revealed, plot-starved serial comic about people on a beach who build an elaborate sandcastle and then decide to go for an extended boring hike to the hills for no real reason?"

I've pointed out the heresies here. Dracomax, you know what to do...

I really don't like to be predictable, but the heresies are getting out of hand. Therefore, I sentence Stratplayer to a Steaking, wherein the only beverage avaialble shall be diet fanta, and the chocolate bath has been replaced by vanilla. Also, he shall spend some time in the Comfy Chair. We have to make an example.

Spoiler:

I apologize. I was too long in the Outside and allowed reason, perspective, sanity, and lucidity to seep into my thinking. But I'm sure my return to the OTT with a renewed commitment to Wait For It will soon cause all of those heathen influences to fade.

All right, I shall commute your sentence, due to your obvious penitence. However, an example must be made. the propagation of the [heresy] tag is deeply worrying. We shall not change out the Chocolate to Vanilla. It would have been a lot of work anyway.

Spoiler:

Here you go! Chocolate and skittles.

Yummie! Can I have some, or do I need to do something heretic first?

I am the Cardinal of Cupcakes! Anyone may partake of the delicious creaminess at any time. We Eastern Unorthodox Timewaiters are, after all, unorthodox. We don't give a crap about all that heresy stuff. *yum yum yum*

But chocolate is the punishment of the Inquisitor, merited our for heresy. To accept punishment for sin one must sin. *picks at chocolate* I shall speak heretically and graciously accept my punishment of chocolate bits...

This is all just a waste of Time!!!

Eeep! I said it! Forgive me GLR!

Oooh...chocolate. Must pick out the skittles and set aside for Hal9000.

See? what did I tell you!
I now Decree that you be pelted by vanilla Ice cream.

...5 more pages to go atm..Lots of sand puns. They say punnery is the lowest form of humor. and takes some grit to keep going. Somebody should smooth things over.

Spoiler:

[stuff - with a new hat!]

Yours is the one hatted Avatar I didn't quite figure out - all of BuffyGirl's creations are so awesome, but this one went over my head. An .. egg?

Hmm, I should make myself some sort of avatar, now that I think about it.

He's a Phoenix, which is a bird, and birds come from eggs, and the Phoenix is about to burst out of it! See?

I thought Phoenix didn't hatch from eggs, but that each was born from the pyre of it's predecessor. The hat is cool, I just think it was produced using possibly fallable information. He likes it though, and it's pretty awesome, so who cares? /pedant

Spoiler:

ETA: I didn't know you were a tree, KarMann! Are you at least a hat-tree?

As it happens, I do have a coat-and-hat stand recently, but, umm, no, that's not quite what I meant. Must be the old-timers' disease getting to me.

Or maybe you have a brain-eating amoeba? If so, I wouldn't worry too much, as Cueball seems to be okay and he's had one for newpix and newpix now.

I'll repeat what I said when this was coming up before:

Oh, and that brain-eating amoeba seems to finally have gotten to Cueball.

Brief consultation of the brain extension reveals that said amoeba takes on average 120 newpix to cause symptoms, although they may appear after only 24. Confusion and hallucinations must be setting in. Of course, who knows what strain lives in the River. Food for thought.

Also apologies if this has been discussed. I have some remaining cataracts from an unthorough ketchup.

Nasty stuff. I'd heard about it before, but not read the more detailed stuff, like . . . (gross stuff warning)

From there, the amoeba climbs along nerve fibers through the floor of the cranium via the cribriform plate and into the brain. The organism begins to consume cells of the brain piecemeal by means of a unique sucking apparatus extended from its cell surface.

Food for thought, indeed.

So, even if Cueball seems fine for the moment, thanks, but not thanks. I'll worry!

Also, it seems it hasn't been noticed that CueGan's passage seems to have had some effect on the tree. I had some confusion trying to follow mscha's style for showing it, but here's the overall effect:

time-tree.png

Not sure if they stripped some leaves from it, or if it's just swaying in their wake. There does seem to be an overall reduction in dark pixels (that would be red).

Now it looks like it's burning.
a burning Bush. must...avoid...political or sexual puns...

and...current! Woo!

[ucim]

I couldn't help myself any longer, BuffyGirl: While most birds do come from eggs, the Phoenix rises (instead of bursts) from ashes (not eggs).

... which, I presume, is why the egg is glowing like a charcoal - it is becoming ash, so that it can properly release its phoenix.

Jose

[Dracomax]

I couldn't help myself any longer, BuffyGirl: While most birds do come from eggs, the Phoenix rises (instead of bursts) from ashes (not eggs).

... which, I presume, is why the egg is glowing like a charcoal - it is becoming ash, so that it can properly release its phoenix.

Jose

Except they aren't born from eggs. they are born from themselves. and technically, I think there is only supposed to be one of them. (edit) it dies and is reborn. it's a symbol of renewal, and is linked to the cycle of the seasons as well /pedant

[XonqNopp]

ANYBODYSINGASONG!

[StratPlayer]

I couldn't help myself any longer, BuffyGirl: While most birds do come from eggs, the Phoenix rises (instead of bursts) from ashes (not eggs).

... which, I presume, is why the egg is glowing like a charcoal - it is becoming ash, so that it can properly release its phoenix.

Jose

Except they aren't born from eggs. they are born from themselves. and technically, I think there is only supposed to be one of them. (edit) it dies and is reborn. it's a symbol of renewal, and is linked to the cycle of the seasons as well /pedant

Yes, but I would assume that there are stages in the rebirth process. The fire from the initial phoenix turns it into ash, but then those ashes might have to re-assemble together in a form of ash aggregation. This would naturally occur and would create an egg-shaped form, I would think. Then once this egg-mass of ash becomes large enough, it begins to heat and glow, and as ashes from the old-phoenix continue to absorb into it, it reaches a critical mass and bursts into flames again, erupting and "hatching" the new phoenix.

I think buffygirl just happened to capture the image just as this re-aggregated-previous-bird-mass is about to erupt, birthing the new phoenix.

Makes perfect sense to me, and so you're both right.

[Dracomax]

I couldn't help myself any longer, BuffyGirl: While most birds do come from eggs, the Phoenix rises (instead of bursts) from ashes (not eggs).

... which, I presume, is why the egg is glowing like a charcoal - it is becoming ash, so that it can properly release its phoenix.

Jose

Except they aren't born from eggs. they are born from themselves. and technically, I think there is only supposed to be one of them. (edit) it dies and is reborn. it's a symbol of renewal, and is linked to the cycle of the seasons as well /pedant

Yes, but I would assume that there are stages in the rebirth process. The fire from the initial phoenix turns it into ash, but then those ashes might have to re-assemble together in a form of ash aggregation. This would naturally occur and would create an egg-shaped form, I would think. Then once this egg-mass of ash becomes large enough, it begins to heat and glow, and as ashes from the old-phoenix continue to absorb into it, it reaches a critical mass and bursts into flames again, erupting and "hatching" the new phoenix.

I think buffygirl just happened to capture the image just as this re-aggregated-previous-bird-mass is about to erupt, birthing the new phoenix.

Makes perfect sense to me, and so you're both right.

As I said in absurdly long Ketchup post, as long as Phoenixrising likes it, I'm only arguing out of pedantic obstinence. I think it falls under rule of cool. but in no piece of lore I've ever read does it mention an egg. Is it possible that a mid stage egg occurs so fast nobody ever saw it before Buffygirl's flash CG-ography? Sure. it just seems like an extra step that may or may not be unnecessary.

[StratPlayer]

ANYBODYSINGASONG!

Spoiler:

I'm wondering what exciting level of interaction we're going to have with this new plant? Perhaps taking a moment from their walk to smell the flowers? Ooohh, the excitement and anticipation are building!

Also, XongNopp -- that was your 100th post! W00t! I think an appropriate word of celebration is in order, don't you?

[StratPlayer]

I couldn't help myself any longer, BuffyGirl: While most birds do come from eggs, the Phoenix rises (instead of bursts) from ashes (not eggs).

... which, I presume, is why the egg is glowing like a charcoal - it is becoming ash, so that it can properly release its phoenix.

Jose

Except they aren't born from eggs. they are born from themselves. and technically, I think there is only supposed to be one of them. (edit) it dies and is reborn. it's a symbol of renewal, and is linked to the cycle of the seasons as well /pedant

Yes, but I would assume that there are stages in the rebirth process. The fire from the initial phoenix turns it into ash, but then those ashes might have to re-assemble together in a form of ash aggregation. This would naturally occur and would create an egg-shaped form, I would think. Then once this egg-mass of ash becomes large enough, it begins to heat and glow, and as ashes from the old-phoenix continue to absorb into it, it reaches a critical mass and bursts into flames again, erupting and "hatching" the new phoenix.

I think buffygirl just happened to capture the image just as this re-aggregated-previous-bird-mass is about to erupt, birthing the new phoenix.

Makes perfect sense to me, and so you're both right.

As I said in absurdly long Ketchup post, as long as Phoenixrising likes it, I'm only arguing out of pedantic obstinence. I think it falls under rule of cool. but in no piece of lore I've ever read does it mention an egg. Is it possible that a mid stage egg occurs so fast nobody ever saw it before Buffygirl's flash CG-ography? Sure. it just seems like an extra step that may or may not be unnecessary.

Agreed -- the most important things are that Phoenixrising likes it, and that it was generously offered by buffygirl and makes a fine avatar.

But I think that proto-egg-forming step might be necessary. Or does the previous ash just suddenly re-assemble into a fully-formed new phoenix? Or -- even more unlikely, I would think -- does the old ash not even get used? If not, then the phoenix is forming out of nothing, and that's not possible. We've got to think this out scientifically here. This phoenix rebirth isn't some pseudo-science magical mysticism, after all...

Also --this is NOT a double post! It's a serial post, to commemorate the serial nature of the OTC, and as such, is a holy offering...

[pelrigg]

I couldn't help myself any longer, BuffyGirl: While most birds do come from eggs, the Phoenix rises (instead of bursts) from ashes (not eggs).

... which, I presume, is why the egg is glowing like a charcoal - it is becoming ash, so that it can properly release its phoenix.

Jose

Except they aren't born from eggs. they are born from themselves. and technically, I think there is only supposed to be one of them. (edit) it dies and is reborn. it's a symbol of renewal, and is linked to the cycle of the seasons as well /pedant

Yes, but I would assume that there are stages in the rebirth process. The fire from the initial phoenix turns it into ash, but then those ashes might have to re-assemble together in a form of ash aggregation. This would naturally occur and would create an egg-shaped form, I would think. Then once this egg-mass of ash becomes large enough, it begins to heat and glow, and as ashes from the old-phoenix continue to absorb into it, it reaches a critical mass and bursts into flames again, erupting and "hatching" the new phoenix.

I think buffygirl just happened to capture the image just as this re-aggregated-previous-bird-mass is about to erupt, birthing the new phoenix.

Makes perfect sense to me, and so you're both right.

As I said in absurdly long Ketchup post, as long as Phoenixrising likes it, I'm only arguing out of pedantic obstinence. I think it falls under rule of cool. but in no piece of lore I've ever read does it mention an egg. Is it possible that a mid stage egg occurs so fast nobody ever saw it before Buffygirl's flash CG-ography? Sure. it just seems like an extra step that may or may not be unnecessary.

I can see we're all being civilized here. (The OTT's first flamewar over the life cycle of a phoenix?)
Of course, it would probably end up looking like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... VscCNZsYSY

[hwhitney]

In looking over the Wikia of Time I came across the history of Buffygirl and hats. I'm now surprised that I did not draw her ire and wrath when I delurked with my avatar, unaware - as only a part-Time lurker - of it's potential significance. I do apologize for inadvertently stepping on your toes, Buffygirl.

[Dracomax]

I couldn't help myself any longer, BuffyGirl: While most birds do come from eggs, the Phoenix rises (instead of bursts) from ashes (not eggs).

... which, I presume, is why the egg is glowing like a charcoal - it is becoming ash, so that it can properly release its phoenix.

Jose

Except they aren't born from eggs. they are born from themselves. and technically, I think there is only supposed to be one of them. (edit) it dies and is reborn. it's a symbol of renewal, and is linked to the cycle of the seasons as well /pedant

Yes, but I would assume that there are stages in the rebirth process. The fire from the initial phoenix turns it into ash, but then those ashes might have to re-assemble together in a form of ash aggregation. This would naturally occur and would create an egg-shaped form, I would think. Then once this egg-mass of ash becomes large enough, it begins to heat and glow, and as ashes from the old-phoenix continue to absorb into it, it reaches a critical mass and bursts into flames again, erupting and "hatching" the new phoenix.

I think buffygirl just happened to capture the image just as this re-aggregated-previous-bird-mass is about to erupt, birthing the new phoenix.

Makes perfect sense to me, and so you're both right.

As I said in absurdly long Ketchup post, as long as Phoenixrising likes it, I'm only arguing out of pedantic obstinence. I think it falls under rule of cool. but in no piece of lore I've ever read does it mention an egg. Is it possible that a mid stage egg occurs so fast nobody ever saw it before Buffygirl's flash CG-ography? Sure. it just seems like an extra step that may or may not be unnecessary.

Agreed -- the most important things are that Phoenixrising likes it, and that it was generously offered by buffygirl and makes a fine avatar.

But I think that proto-egg-forming step might be necessary. Or does the previous ash just suddenly re-assemble into a fully-formed new phoenix? Or -- even more unlikely, I would think -- does the old ash not even get used? If not, then the phoenix is forming out of nothing, and that's not possible. We've got to think this out scientifically here. This phoenix rebirth isn't some pseudo-science magical mysticism, after all...

Also --this is NOT a double post! It's a serial post, to commemorate the serial nature of the OTC, and as such, is a holy offering...

Okay, some alternatives :
Option 1) Obviously it is born from energy to mass conversion of the fire that burned itself up. that's why a newly regenerated phoenix is much smaller than the original--it loses some mass in the process.

Option 2) the Phoenix is a timelord, and the whole burning up/rising from the ashes thing is just primitive man's peotic/uneducated way of explaining the process of regeneration. the 12 regeneration limit might be why we haven't seen any around recently.

In looking over the Wikia of Time I came across the history of Buffygirl and hats. I'm now surprised that I did not draw her ire and wrath when I delurked with my avatar, unaware - as only a part-Time lurker - of it's potential significance. I do apologize for inadvertently stepping on your toes, Buffygirl.

There is some precedent, and buffygirl is capable of hatting a hat.

[mscha]

Also --this is NOT a double post! It's a serial post, to commemorate the serial nature of the OTC, and as such, is a holy offering...

And to commemorate your 600th posting, of course. Cake for everyone!

[charlie_grumbles]

Whimsy

[mikro2nd]

(The OTT's first flamewar over the life cycle of a phoenix?)

It's probably just a flash in the pan...

[mscha]

We sent a man to the moon with less computing power than I have in my phone. That's amazing. I like to think about it any time I doubt human ingenuity, or that we are living in the future. I'm still waiting for flying cars though.

What's even more amazing, is that we could do so in the sixties (with less computing power than the average modern watch, I believe), but that we can't do so today.

[hwhitney]

In looking over the Wikia of Time I came across the history of Buffygirl and hats. I'm now surprised that I did not draw her ire and wrath when I delurked with my avatar, unaware - as only a part-Time lurker - of it's potential significance. I do apologize for inadvertently stepping on your toes, Buffygirl.

There is some precedent, and buffygirl is capable of hatting a hat.

I would be honored to have my hat hatted if she so desires.