Xkcd

[fazo96]

I plan to archive all the comics in http://xkcd.com/

I think i'll use (comicnumber)-(comictitle).png for the image and figure out how to save the alt-text in the png metadata

Please post if you want to keep a copy of the archive or you manage to create it before I do :)

[whyrusleeping]

@fazo96 how are you going to manage the comics that are dynamic or contain multiple sequential images? Or the map ones that have a larger version available on click?

I would loooooove to have this. But we should make sure that randall is okay with it first, i'm not sure if there are any sort of copyrights involved here. (too bad he doesnt use github, or we could just ping him)

[jbenet]

I would loooooove to have this. But we should make sure that randall is okay with it first, i'm not sure if there are any sort of copyrights involved here.

absolutely. thanks for saying this.

looks like everything is released CC-BY-NC

(too bad he doesnt use github, or we could just ping him)

i'm sure has an account. just have to find it \o/

@fazo96

• would be great to include a web viewer with the archive.
• maybe make a dir for every comic
• put the image in both image.png and <original-img-filename> so that we respect his filenames too, but also make them predictably linked
• put the alt text in a file, like alt.txt

(Alternatively, mirror the RSS feed?)

[rnhmjoj]

The title and the alt text could be stored in the png metadata. You can use ImageMagic: see this.

[fazo96]

Looks like license is not an issue as long as we provide credit to randall and include a copy of the license.

Also:

• Storing title and alt-text in the png metadata looks like the way to go!
• @whyrusleeping As far as unconventional comics, we'll figure a solution out for every comic
• @jbenet a viewer would be great, but at this point, what do you guys think about including the entire website?

Uhm, I just found this in the About page of xkcd.com:

Is there an interface for automated systems to access comics and metadata?
Yes. You can get comics through the JSON interface, at URLs like http://xkcd.com/info.0.json (current comic) and http://xkcd.com/614/info.0.json (comic #614).

Getting the data will be a lot easier this way (no html parsing involved)

EDIT:

I wrote a node script that downloads and organizes data from xkcd.com and it worked!

I created a partial copy of xkcd.com to see if you like the setup (so that we can create a full copy later). I included Randall's about and license pages and my script in the folder 👍

You can check it out here: QmSeYATNaa2fSR3eMqRD8uXwujVLT2JU9wQvSjCd1Rf8pZ

I'm thinking about writing a simple index.html to include in every comic's folder so that alt-text, image (and transcript) can all be seen comfortably on the same browser tab

[davidar]

👍

a viewer would be great, but at this point, what do you guys think about including the entire website?

I think #7 is also quite relevant here.

[fazo96]

I completed the archive (now every image file and more is available via ipfs), it just a needs a viewer and probably better folder structure.

Here you go: QmPVP4sDre9rtYahGvcjv3Fqet3oQyqrH5xS33d4YBVFme

[davidar]

@fazo96 👏

[cryptix]

@fazo96 👍

Can we zero pad the numbers on the next pass? :)

[fazo96]

@cryptix yeah I figured it was necessary :) if you'd like a try, the script I used to generate the directory tree is included in the directory. It's named xkcd-downloader.js

If I have time I'll implement it

[mateon1]

I have scraped the entirety of xkcd.com and some of it's subdomains (Apparently cross-subdomain interlinking didn't work), the result is a very well functioning copy, available at the end of this comment.
EDIT:
Instructions for updating the archive:

1. Download and install HTTrack. (Windows/linux/OSX)
2. run httrack xkcd.com -d -%F "" -%N1 -n +*.css +*.js +*.png +*.jpg +*.jpeg +*.gif -*.pdf -O $mirror,$cache (or httrack xkcd.com what-if.xkcd.com ... to archive what-if as well)
3. The command should be done within 10 minutes a few hours on a decent link.
4. There may be some .delayed files in imgs.xkcd.com/comics; they contain proper data but have an invalid name. I have no clean solution, so use this command to fix it up:
   cd $mirror/imgs.xkcd.com/comics && ls -1 | awk -F. '/delayed/ {print $0 " " $1".png"}' | xargs -n 2 mv
5. ipfs add -r $mirror

Switch explanation:

• -d - Allow to mirror subdomains (edit: Doesn't seem to work for some reason.)
• -%F "" - Disable footer text (by default including timestamp), allowing deduplication of HTML across updates.
• -%N1 - Untested, but should fix the 'delayed' files for known file extensions.
• -n - Archive resources "near" an HTML file, (scripts, css, images)
• +*.css +*.js +*.png +*.jpg +*.jpeg +*.gif - Also archive all css, js, and images seen outside of HTML (included from JS or CSS, for example)
• -*.pdf - Don't download external PDFs (when archiving what-if.xkcd.com)
• -O $mirror,$cache - The resulting webpage is put into $mirror, while httrack runtime info, logs, caches are put into $cache.
• (optional) -%v2 - Add a progress and statistics display during crawl.

Archiving notes:

• While HTTrack supports an --update switch, it's broken if the -%F option has an empty argument, so we need to re-crawl the site completely to update.
• I don't recommend archiving what-if.xkcd.com using the command above, as for some reason, the crawler enters Wikipedia and downloads way too much.
• TODO: Check how well m.xkcd.com archives
• TODO: Archive "Hoverboard" game/comic (+ other interactive, if sensible)

Archive links (newest to oldest): (My IPNS entry might be more up to date)

Date	Last Comic	Size	Hash	Notes
2016-09-30	1740	169MB	QmNogExCdnMJwWE1bpEweMUQyo3X2LP6tuWVvmLYJxUc6o
2016-09-28	1739	169MB	QmTGXzCqJNRpKVWmt84oQFmHLiSPQ43JLMpshY95Xkfy1N
2016-09-26	1738	169MB	Qmam87KnuC93dVF2PidnDh1KpH8U1V3osWx41tkYCQfont	Includes uncorrected 1738: Moon Shapes image
2016-09-21	1736	169MB	QmZR6JT1nnNdcBcPjnA4GfT3uqRsHmYrg2fKWrT2BEiTmk
2016-09-21	1735	168MB	QmRtXAxyXHWA5krxXMrRJHKJ5qFYXpsz48htquiHp9KbUs
2016-09-15	1733	167MB	QmTfagPa7QTtpcZVLYSsKBNMSZz4ytSwStAsNX5mJXhyEF
2016-09-12	1732	167MB	QmWoJ5aLozwkNuPQh7RSX7RCn5eXLRwSQezxNBNKsWxsc2
2016-09-09	1731	166MB	QmZLdQQJHMCZFZ8jVSSwpmeGfHw6fF2V2QBzo2SJVerWHN
2016-09-05	1729	166MB	QmXzDGjRT7McpuLHfRP42ST6bZbjX2KvDGxAZ68gXFdbBz
2016-09-02	1728	166MB	Qmc5MG1kL2rR5PNVqr7uqZKAi7g7FcRgvf8mPxtWhb3tNp
2016-09-01	1727	166MB	QmTz7tvjVCYz5GPN3YZYNQHadbrSmSzCLp4RWKrh664pJL
2016-08-29	1726	166MB	QmRZGA4dMVn13acXQsQL32c8ANcpLSsuTMkx5t98y5oeJL
2016-08-26	1725	165MB	QmbLgCaps5oiEh1KSBcnAXAado3tVmpocqsgshVrU2jLoR
2016-08-24	1724	166MB	QmNvQQwupNbfUkkTvGSxSyoDjC1WVbEob6NhzVh9qFydCR
2016-08-23	1723	165MB	QmRrbEHYyDLSF3d7ghVSpRS2TqrLRhkFxXCsJSFBjuSaCs
2016-08-19	1722	165MB	QmdDtTn5W1cQyKDQjubVwEACazjhhP2f7VaNew5bZaBsk7
2016-08-17	1721	164MB	QmPMrtopMKBmsW2AMtNNkvdYu9VoHAEwAYgWTFKZgNNqe2
2016-08-15	1720	165MB	QmXfn9kftq3DNHPoEbwonYdmEdwyH6BRENMCHscGXaymRm
2016-08-13	1719	165MB	QmZJHTHXjGnZN4FtrxzZprNtSyFRg8x9t2pLpuE2jjrzad	Fix .delayed files causing some comics to be broken.
2016-08-13	1719	165MB	QmauMY4ux6jQVkGmphhzWwULasZ4RPMYxvWkppGv1ZpAL3
2016-08-11	1718	172MB	QmbcvivamWCKUuQjdTbCHNBy74qehU6uWTCdyBw3sN8X6b	this archive unfortunately includes the cache folder.

[Kubuxu]

Looks like the currently referenced version on the website isn't fully available.

[leerspace]

@fazo96 do you have the original archive that's currently linked to on the archives.ipfs.io site? https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmPVP4sDre9rtYahGvcjv3Fqet3oQyqrH5xS33d4YBVFme

It doesn't currently seem to be fully available, but if you still have it I can pin it to my ipfs node. I'd try to reproduce the archive using the script in the archive, but I could only guess what the exact text was in the about and license files.

[leerspace]

FWIW I just generated a new version of fazo96's archive that's linked to from the site and pinned it to my ipfs node, so the comics that I couldn't access through the gateway before (in the archive linked to from archives.ipfs.io) now seem to be accessible. The about and license files still seem to be unavailable, but I just added the relevant pages from the website to the version of the archive I just created.

Qmb8wsGZNXt5VXZh1pEmYynjB6Euqpq3HYyeAdw2vScTkQ

[ghost]

Awesome, gonna pull that onto one of our storage nodes too. @leerspace wanna make a PR to update the site?

[ghost]

Cool thanks, I just updated https://archives.ipfs.io

[fazo96]

@leerspace sorry for replying late, looks like I lost my copy of the original archive. Thanks for updating it! 👍

[kenXengineering]

Hello, I've updated the archive using the xkcd-downloader.js script offered in the repo, and it now has all comics up to the latest today (1862). It is currently pinned on my laptop, but I will pin it to my server when I get home so it will be available at all times.

QmdmQXB2mzChmMeKY47C43LxUdg1NDJ5MWcKMKxDu7RgQm

[ghost]

Awesome, thanks @chosenken -- also pinned it on nihal.i.ipfs.io

[kenXengineering]

Updated again to 1864, but this time attached it to an ipns: QmTaW8vRj4SkM6JhqVhAsibQE9PdJb5PQ2FMwPPc6gBi2h. I might work on a script that pulls new comics down and updates the ipns when it changes.

[carsonfarmer]

I'd like to update this one again, but to facilitate programmatic access, I'd like to change the structure slightly to something more like:

/ipfs/Qmahash/1/1 - Barrel - Part 1.png
...
/ipfs/Qmbhash/2003/2003 - Presidential Succession.png

where the comic files are contained within a 'folder' defined by the number rather than number and name. Any issues with this? I can host on our server, but I'd also be happy to submit a PR to update the archives.

[olizilla]

@carsonfarmer that'd be rad. I've no objection to simplifying the folder structure.

[olizilla]

I plan to feature this data set on the start page of the new IPLD Explorer page in the ipfs-webui.

[olizilla]

@carsonfarmer could we get some zero padding on those indexes?

/ipfs/QmHash/0001/0001 - Barrel - Part 1.png
...
/ipfs/Qmbhash/2003/2003 - Presidential Succession.png

[carsonfarmer]

Ah sorry, was on vacation. Yes I'll update the indexes and post here when ready.

[HugoReeves]

I've written a new program in go that creates an archive such as the following, /ipfs/QmdAChzF2JQCx9icrmYHZhFdRSv9TpRjq5q1v5b3ANpxRf. It also includes a csv with an index of post titles, published date and post number. I have submitted a pr, ipfs/awesome-ipfs#193

[hodlon]

If I were someone who wanted to start pinning content like XKCD their own node(s) to help network redundancy, which hash would I use? There are many different hashes presented in this thread and it's not clear to me which one is the most relevant or up-to-date.

This seems to be the most up-to-date: Qmb8wsGZNXt5VXZh1pEmYynjB6Euqpq3HYyeAdw2vScTkQ

This one seems to be an exact replica of the first but it has a different hash, perhaps due to the lack of .html on "about" and "license": QmPVP4sDre9rtYahGvcjv3Fqet3oQyqrH5xS33d4YBVFme

https://archives.ipfs.io/ seems to favor the first one, TkQ.

And this seems to be the same content as everything above but in a different structure: https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmdAChzF2JQCx9icrmYHZhFdRSv9TpRjq5q1v5b3ANpxRf

So, which hash do I pin?

[rnhmjoj]

I think it would be a good idea to zero pad the numbers: right know it's impossible to browse.

[j2ghz]

I added padding to the downloader: /ipfs/QmX4pR3KKdivwY9Pn5mHNYi5FRhtTqapMfFmW4SYesstxU/xkcd-downloader.js
Whole: https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmX4pR3KKdivwY9Pn5mHNYi5FRhtTqapMfFmW4SYesstxU
I'm not sure why it's not sorted though

[hacdias]

I've just created an XKCD archive at /ipns/xkcd.hacdias.com. It is updated every day 😄 Please see the repository for more info: https://github.com/hacdias/xkcd.hacdias.com

[hacdias]

@Stebalien should we update the index to /ipns/xkcd.hacdias.com?

[Stebalien]

I take it your comment is moot now that this has all moved to awesome.ipfs.io?

[Stebalien]

Is it possible to have two links? Ideally, we'd link to an immutable version as well.

[hacdias]

@Stebalien we could also add an immutable version, but that would be a snapshot somewhere in the past. But yes, we could add it as a description perhaps.

[Stebalien]

Yeah, I know. It's just that archives that rely on DNS sketch me out a bit.

[hacdias]

Please see ipfs/awesome-ipfs#261.