gnimmel: Mysterious symbols

gnimmel (

gnimmel) wrote,
@ 2006-08-01 12:31:00

Mysterious symbols
There are certain shapes, sets of numbers, combinations of letters and so forth that I have looked at so frequently (it is usually, though not always, the fault of Work) that I can recognise them instantly. No context, no framing; just squiggly lines on a page. I suspect everyone has some of the same sort of thing. Currently, I know a lot about this shape:

,
and I have previously had a lot of dealings with this shape:

.
However, my prompt for revealing such shapes unto the world (other than to add to the daily quota of perplexity) is another form of mysterious incantation, to wit: the seemingly meaningless ascii conundrum. I showed this particular odd jumble of ascii to

purplepiano at the weekend, in great excitement; it was the first time I had seen such a thing. Unsurprisingly, he had no idea of its import. But I suspect some of the people reading this might be able to hazard a guess....

(Post a new comment)

	borusa 2006-08-01 11:50 am UTC (link)
	Looks like something's gone horribly wrong with your game of Angband! (Reply to this)

	rathenar 2006-08-01 11:56 am UTC (link)
	Isn't that Nethack? Looks like an unlit level with a telepathic character to me. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	gnimmel 2006-08-01 03:46 pm UTC (link)
	Something like that. :) (Reply to this)(Parent)

	simont 2006-08-01 12:51 pm UTC (link)
	Congratulations on the third of those! :-) Can't make head or tail of the first two though. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	pseudomonas 2006-08-01 03:27 pm UTC (link)
	The first one reminds me compellingly of this. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	gnimmel 2006-08-01 03:46 pm UTC (link)
	Yay! Only took me ten years.... (Reply to this)(Parent)

	atreic 2008-02-16 08:24 am UTC (link)
	Come on, it's been a year and a half, someone tell me what's going on in the Nethack/angband picture! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	simont 2008-02-16 08:38 am UTC (link)
	:-) That's a screenshot from Nethack, depicting the very last level of the game. The clear implication is that gnimmel managed her first ascension. (You can't actually tell that for sure from the picture; it's perfectly possible for the game to end in ignominious defeat even at that stage. But the context makes it fairly clear.) (Reply to this)(Parent)

	fluffymark 2006-08-01 02:42 pm UTC (link)
	First diagram is surely a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram for a Wolf-Rayet star. :) (Reply to this)(Thread)

	gnimmel 2006-08-01 03:46 pm UTC (link)
	I thought you'd get that one :) There is possibly someone who reads this journal who could get the second one, but I believe he reads rather infrequently. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	fluffymormegil 2006-08-01 05:06 pm UTC (link)
	w00t! (Reply to this)(Thread)

	gnimmel 2006-08-01 05:33 pm UTC (link)
	Kind of YOUR FAULT, really. :p (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	fluffymormegil 2006-08-01 05:37 pm UTC (link)
	Hey, y'know, I never made you play the game :) (Reply to this)(Parent)

	ceb 2006-08-01 05:30 pm UTC (link)
	Well done! :-) (Reply to this)

	king_laugh 2006-08-01 06:25 pm UTC (link)
	I'm afraid I have no idea what ascii is/ are. Never heard of it. 'til now. However, the first squiggle is clearly a high-heeled shoe, and the second is a mouse being eaten by a dragon (see its little tail hanging out?) (Reply to this)

	ashfae 2006-08-01 08:03 pm UTC (link)
	You are so, so doomed. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	gnimmel 2006-08-01 08:33 pm UTC (link)
	On the contrary.... (Reply to this)(Parent)

	caulkhead 2006-08-01 09:50 pm UTC (link)
	Looks like a venus flytrap to me. I've got the feeling I really, really don't want to know. (Reply to this)

	altoclef 2006-08-04 06:59 am UTC (link)
	Is the second one geographical? (Reply to this)(Thread)

	gnimmel 2006-08-04 05:50 pm UTC (link)
	You are very much on the right track, sir. (you're the only person reading this who might be able to get it; which is rather a lot of a clue!) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	altoclef 2006-08-04 06:02 pm UTC (link)
	I suspected as much, hence the question. It looks to me like the Brunt Ice Shelf, although I wouldn't be surprised if I was wrong. It's a bit like identifying things in clouds, where you can so easily convince yourself of something. Anyway, even if it's not the Brunt Ice Shelf, I postulate that it could be! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	gnimmel 2006-08-04 06:11 pm UTC (link)
	That's exactly what it is! Yay :) (Reply to this)(Parent)

	fatdog 2006-08-04 01:10 pm UTC (link)
	I am immensely frustrated that I cannot perform any sort of Google search to identify the second shape. (Reply to this)(Thread)

gnimmel
2006-08-04 05:56 pm UTC (link)

There ought to be a sort of shape-google, somehow; I mean, there exist tune-identifying services to which you can input 'the notes go up, and then down again, and then stay sort of the same'-type data; you'd think something similar was possible for shapes, given that you've got line-lengths and connectivity and changes of slope and so forth to use.
Not that it would help too much with the second shape, mind; it's a bigger bit of a continuous thing and there could well be some other lines in there and it changes a little from year to year. But still.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	spencerpine 2006-08-07 10:54 pm UTC (link)
	Would you mind if I added you to my friends list? We met very briefly at the weekend and I've just looked through your journal and you write open letters to Muse, which is a good reason to add someone. Anyway, no problem if not, but I thought I'd ask. Graham (Reply to this)(Thread)

	gnimmel 2006-08-08 11:44 am UTC (link)
	Gosh, no: I don't mind at all. :) (Reply to this)(Parent)

Mini Sitemap:

Username:		Create an Account Forgot your login? Login w/ OpenID
Password:
	Remember Me
	English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…