Notes on XKCD's “Pixels”
I'll probably get downvoted for this, but I'm ashamed of Randal Monroe for asking for such a crazy deadline and Max for agreeing to it.This is an art project. Randal can set his own deadlines. There is no reason to ask someone to work crazy sleep-deprived hours for it, even if they volunteer. He's doing the same thing a bad boss would do, with less justification than most.Writing it up afterwords sets a bad example for other impressionable young hackers who look up to these guys and will set themselves up for being exploited when they go to work because they think it's expected of them.I couldn't finish the article. I'm sure there are good hacks in it. But we have to stop promoting bad behavior. If we can't do this ourselves for art, what about when there's real pressure?Update: to clarify, there's nothing unusual about this and there far worse examples all the time. It's just a bit striking since Randal's image is of a somewhat otherworldly idealist.Backpedal #2: to avoid being overly dramatic, let me clarify that being ashamed of someone else's behavior implies that you feel some responsibility for their behavior, which doesn't make sense in this case. Also, not finishing an article is, to be honest, not all that unusual.