May21
Google N-Grams.
Editor’s Notes
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↓ Transcript
Panel 1 of 3 contains in the background a chart showing a jagged blue curve.
Above the chart and placed a short distance from the left edge is the label: uphill climb.
Repeated in a smaller font, and placed above the chart approximately equidistant from the left and right edges, is the same label again, accompanied by a small blue square.
The y-axis is labeled with small decimal fractional numbers each followed by a per cent sign. The x-axis is labeled 1800 at the origin and 2000 near the right edge, with equally-spaced intermediate labels.
The jagged blue curve begins close to the x-axis near the 1860 label and rises towards the right with various peaks and valleys, culminating in a peak near the right edge.
Superimposed on the chart are the figures of a man and woman, both wearing knapsacks on their backs, walking towards the right on the jagged blue curve and climbing it.
Man: What’s this Google Enneagram thing I keep hearing about?
Woman: Fortune telling by counting words in old books.
Panel 2 shows a similar chart, but this time the jagged blue curve takes the form of peaks with steep walls, of which the tallest is nearly rectangular, having vertical walls and a flat top.
Above the chart and placed a short distance from the left edge is the label: rectangular peak.
Repeated in a smaller font, and placed above the chart approximately equidistant from the left and right edges, is the same label again, accompanied by a small blue square.
The x-axis is labeled identically to the way it is in panel 1. The y-axis is labeled similarly to the way it is in panel 1, though the actual numbers are not the same.
The man and woman are now seen as tiny figures at ground level, i.e., standing on the x-axis at locations where the blue curve is positioned exactly on the x-axis. The woman stands on the left of the tallest peak and adjacent to it, and looks to the right, with an arm extended as if touching the wall of the rectangle. The man stands to the right of the peak and adjacent to it, and looks slightly up and to the left.
Woman: Amazing that nature could build such steep walls.
Man: Millions of years of erosion.
Panel 3, the final panel, shows a chart similar to the ones in panels 1 and 2, but now the jagged blue curve mostly goes downhill from left to right with peaks being sharper near the y-axis and gentler near the right edge.
Above the chart and placed a short distance from the left edge is the label: gentle decay.
Repeated in a smaller font, and placed above the chart approximately equidistant from the left and right edges, is the same label again, accompanied by a small blue square.
The x-axis is labeled identically to the way it is in panels 1 and 2. The y-axis is labeled similarly to the way it is in panel 1, though the actual numbers are not the same.
The man and woman as seen again as tiny figures, though not so tiny as in panel 2. They are now walking close together, possibly with hands joined, slightly to the right of the middle of the x-axis, at nearly ground level as if they are walking on the jagged blue curve.
Man: Fortune-telling? Really?
Woman: They’re all Linux users. It’s a decadent environment. The fortune feature is practically built in.
Title: Google N-Grams.
Above the chart and placed a short distance from the left edge is the label: uphill climb.
Repeated in a smaller font, and placed above the chart approximately equidistant from the left and right edges, is the same label again, accompanied by a small blue square.
The y-axis is labeled with small decimal fractional numbers each followed by a per cent sign. The x-axis is labeled 1800 at the origin and 2000 near the right edge, with equally-spaced intermediate labels.
The jagged blue curve begins close to the x-axis near the 1860 label and rises towards the right with various peaks and valleys, culminating in a peak near the right edge.
Superimposed on the chart are the figures of a man and woman, both wearing knapsacks on their backs, walking towards the right on the jagged blue curve and climbing it.
Man: What’s this Google Enneagram thing I keep hearing about?
Woman: Fortune telling by counting words in old books.
Panel 2 shows a similar chart, but this time the jagged blue curve takes the form of peaks with steep walls, of which the tallest is nearly rectangular, having vertical walls and a flat top.
Above the chart and placed a short distance from the left edge is the label: rectangular peak.
Repeated in a smaller font, and placed above the chart approximately equidistant from the left and right edges, is the same label again, accompanied by a small blue square.
The x-axis is labeled identically to the way it is in panel 1. The y-axis is labeled similarly to the way it is in panel 1, though the actual numbers are not the same.
The man and woman are now seen as tiny figures at ground level, i.e., standing on the x-axis at locations where the blue curve is positioned exactly on the x-axis. The woman stands on the left of the tallest peak and adjacent to it, and looks to the right, with an arm extended as if touching the wall of the rectangle. The man stands to the right of the peak and adjacent to it, and looks slightly up and to the left.
Woman: Amazing that nature could build such steep walls.
Man: Millions of years of erosion.
Panel 3, the final panel, shows a chart similar to the ones in panels 1 and 2, but now the jagged blue curve mostly goes downhill from left to right with peaks being sharper near the y-axis and gentler near the right edge.
Above the chart and placed a short distance from the left edge is the label: gentle decay.
Repeated in a smaller font, and placed above the chart approximately equidistant from the left and right edges, is the same label again, accompanied by a small blue square.
The x-axis is labeled identically to the way it is in panels 1 and 2. The y-axis is labeled similarly to the way it is in panel 1, though the actual numbers are not the same.
The man and woman as seen again as tiny figures, though not so tiny as in panel 2. They are now walking close together, possibly with hands joined, slightly to the right of the middle of the x-axis, at nearly ground level as if they are walking on the jagged blue curve.
Man: Fortune-telling? Really?
Woman: They’re all Linux users. It’s a decadent environment. The fortune feature is practically built in.
Title: Google N-Grams.