# xkcd "Pixels" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2014, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351 "2014-09-03T12:10:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/1 "2014-09-03T12:10:59Z")
Randall Munroe releases a book… And destroys another day of productivity in the IT sector. [Click](http://xkcd.com/1416/)at your own risk. May suck up terabytes of memory. Well, not at first. It is safe for work (probably), not sure if it is safe for servers. oh yeah, his [book](http://whatif.xkcd.com/book/)seems interesting also, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/2 "2014-09-03T12:15:31Z")
Clever bastard. I hope he makes a bunch of money. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/3 "2014-09-03T12:29:34Z")
But not [all the money in the world](http://what-if.xkcd.com). ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/4 "2014-09-03T13:40:48Z")
I didn’t know he lived in Somerville. Too bad I didn’t know about the book launch earlier. I would have bought tickets. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/5 "2014-09-03T16:14:19Z")
Holy Cow, I started to explore it and then realized it not only scrolls in, but you have to explore it laterally too. How far does this go? ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/6 "2014-09-03T16:25:53Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > How far does this go? All the way to the turtles on the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/7 "2014-09-03T16:28:25Z")
Damn. Bye bye productivity. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/8 "2014-09-03T16:39:25Z")
Last time he did something like this, he apparently won a Hugo for it. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/9 "2014-09-03T16:44:20Z")
I don’t like the lack of correlation between levels. It’d be much more impressive if black pixels turned into mostly black images and white pixels turned into mostly white images. Instead, it simply fades from one image to another as you zoom in deeper. Not his most impressive work, but that’s a high standard. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/10 "2014-09-03T17:59:56Z")
[Mu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_(negative))? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/11 "2014-09-03T18:33:58Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > I don’t like the lack of correlation between levels. It’d be much more impressive if black pixels turned into mostly black images and white pixels turned into mostly white images. Instead, it simply fades from one image to another as you zoom in deeper. Not his most impressive work, but that’s a high standard. Black pixels _do_ turn into mostly black images, and the same in reverse for white pixels. I actually haven’t even seen a single exception to this when checking for it. Is the thing scripted or procedurally generated? If the latter I wonder if it’s possible different browsers might handle it differently somehow, such that there could be bugs affecting different viewers differently? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/12 "2014-09-03T18:34:19Z")
It’s cows, all the way down. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/13 "2014-09-03T18:37:02Z")
It doesn’t work on either my home or work PC. What is it? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/14 "2014-09-03T18:39:09Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > It doesn’t work on either my home or work PC. What is it? Do you have a scroll wheel on your mouse? If you scroll it magnifies and embedded within the pixels are whole new sets of images, which themselves contain images buried within. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/15 "2014-09-03T18:40:30Z")
It won’t show any image at all, not even when scrolling. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/16 "2014-09-03T18:42:37Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > It won’t show any image at all, not even when scrolling. Do you see the initial image (Cueball stacking turtles)? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/17 "2014-09-03T18:48:02Z")
Doing some experimenting, the results are browser-dependent. IE: fails to load image at all. Firefox: does a weird fade that doesn’t match colors. Chrome: works properly. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/18 "2014-09-03T18:54:00Z")
I don’t really get this one. There’s Cueball with the turtles, and when you zoom in far enough, it eventually turns into a star field with lots of planet earths, each with “Book Launch” written on them. And you zoom in again, and you get another star field with lots of Book Launch Earths, and so on and so on. What’s the big deal? I spent five minutes with it, but it seems I got the whole deal after the first thirty seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/19 "2014-09-03T19:15:25Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t really get this one. There’s Cueball with the turtles, and when you zoom in far enough, it eventually turns into a star field with lots of planet earths, each with “Book Launch” written on them. And you zoom in again, and you get another star field with lots of Book Launch Earths, and so on and so on. > > What’s the big deal? I spent five minutes with it, but it seems I got the whole deal after the first thirty seconds. White pixels and black pixels give you different results, and the results change based on zoom-in level and what part of the original you’re zoomed in on (two white areas divided by a black line can have different results). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351/20 "2014-09-03T20:19:23Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t really get this one. There’s Cueball with the turtles, and when you zoom in far enough, it eventually turns into a star field with lots of planet earths, each with “Book Launch” written on them. And you zoom in again, and you get another star field with lots of Book Launch Earths, and so on and so on. > > What’s the big deal? I spent five minutes with it, but it seems I got the whole deal after the first thirty seconds. You must be on Firefox, like me. That’s what I get. Ho hum. I guess I’m not in the Randall Cult of Personality. I yawned. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-pixels/697351.md?page=2)