The xkcd survey

[Trebuchet]

Since the box can be infinitely expanded^*, it can never be filled up.

* WAG: The size of the box may be restrained by the magic number 65,535 +/- 1.

Hmmm. I must have peeked.

If a thousand monkies filled the box, would it contain the works of Shakespeare?

 

[Delvo]

He could probably pretty easily check to see how "random" people's random buttons were; probably almost nobody actually does it randomly.

 

[Puppycow]

Did anyone actually fill out that space completely with random characters?

Mine kept somehow getting deleted partway through. It was annoying.
Because I kept hitting alt-a I think. Eventually I did fill it but it hardly looked random.

Looked like this:

uiewsf.iuefwsuwsusuwefijswedjedswlijwefsceljkwsefljiweselwsfljefewsdljiedwjliwsefjliewsfjliedswljiedwsjiedswjliedwsjlwsfeew

 

[Mashuna]

I wonder how many people didn't put cat and dog in the list of first 5 animals they thought of, and how many that didn't were being honest.

I didn't put cat or dog, but I did fill in the form having just returned from a trip to the zoo.

 

[arthwollipot]

I filled the box as it appeared on screen.

 

[quadraginta]

I filled the box as it appeared on screen.

Okay. I confess.

I did exactly "fill" it. I mostly filled it.

Where I stopped was pretty random, though.

 

[Robin]

I filled the box as it appeared on screen.

I was too lazy to turn off the predictive text, so it was full of real words.

 

[Ladewig]

The appropriate XKCD-explained page has very good descriptions of the vocabulary words and even includes a ranking of their levels of difficulty

http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1572

 

[Yalius]

For the "Fill the box with random text" question, I just put in "no" and went ahead with the next question.

 

[elgarak]

For the "Fill the box with random text" question, I just put in "no" and went ahead with the next question.

Or you could just type "random text" over and over.... (copy'n'paste helps to get lots of them)...

 

[Trebuchet]

Or you could just type "random text" over and over.... (copy'n'paste helps to get lots of them)...

I actually wish I'd thought of that.

 

[Delvo]

I think questions like that one were put in there to see how many participants would think it's clever to pretend the question had quotation marks when it clearly didn't.

 

[jimbob]

I think questions like that one were put in there to see how many participants would think it's clever to pretend the question had quotation marks when it clearly didn't.

Yes

I did "cat', but on the random words one, after some thought, I decided to actually put in five random words rather than the quote "five random words". I know, inconsistent.

Just saying...

ETA: Beaten to it:

Anyone else type "five random words" when it said to?

No, because then someone's hand is getting cut off.

 

[progressquest]

Just did it. Got 18 out of 20 right. Tripped up a bit on the third one, and didn't really understand number 18.

 

[Ladewig]

So. Any word on results?

 

[catsmate]

So. Any word on results?

None as of the last time I checked, early December.

 

[casebro]

His site says he is coming out with a book, maybe it will be in there? Title something like "really hard stuff explained in small words".

 

[catsmate]

His site says he is coming out with a book, maybe it will be in there? Title something like "really hard stuff explained in small words".

Thing Explainer came out last year.