Search engine for comic strips

[tkg]

This may/may not have been posted here before, but I'll do it anyway: Behold the 'Oh No Robot' search engine!

With this, you can search for text within comic strips (that have already been transcribed) in a multitude of ways - by cast appearance, scene descriptions, sound effects and more. It does require some setup first, but that's no harder than just signing up the comic at their site, and then copy/pasting some JavaScript onto the comic display page(s), as explained here.

Readers of the comic (and Amber herself, of course) would then be able to transcribe each strip at their own pace, which, after attaining a satisfactory level of quality, can be approved by Amber to add the strip to the search database.

This could perhaps also be a great addition to the Wiku Wiki in the form of a template, in which you could pass arguments (search string, flags etc.) to be used with the search engine. For instance, you could have a link on each cast member's page that would do an automated search for all strips that the characters occur in, or any of the sort.

Does this sound like an even remotely good idea, or what do you say?

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Have you looked at the radio scripts, hosted on http://llearch.net/radio/ ?

Reasonably up to date list of every strip, with the transcribed contents.

(note: Yes, I update them. So I'm biased....)

[tkg]

Have you looked at the radio scripts, hosted on http://llearch.net/radio/ ?

Reasonably up to date list of every strip, with the transcribed contents.

Hmmm... nice. Didn't know something similar had been done for this comic already. It doesn't, however, allow for searches more advanced than the 'Find in page...' feature of your average browser though...

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Sure it does. Just download them and use whatever app you want.

Hence why there's the zip files linked, with full list, etc. And each panel is prefixed with strip and panel.



Sure, the OhNoRobot  stuff is better, but Amber's front page has enough size in it already - bearing in mind it's the page that gets the most hits, etc. You might be better off thinking about it for the archives, or a search page, or something, but Amber would still have to integrate it somehow....

Perhaps in the next site design?

[Darkmoon]

If it's something Mab even cares about at all.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Well, yes, there is that issue.

However, since we already have the radio scripts, we could take the effort of translating that into OhNoRobot - all she has to do is put the js into her webpage, really.

*cough* yeah. *shrug* I'm happy with the current setup, though.

[superluser]

If it's something Mab even cares about at all.

Indeed.

``Hey, Amber!  Can you spend a few hours every day transcribing/approving transcriptions of all your comics on top of everything else you're doing?''

Not to say that it's not a good idea, but unless she really wants to do this, I suspect that she's busy enough.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

God no. I spend 10 minutes a week updating it.

And that's with spending five of it guessing who's talking.


I'm happy to keep doing that, why should she be bothered? All I was saying she -might- have to do is include the js into her homepage. And then walk away, quickly :-)


.. after all, the fanbois have to be useful for something. :-)

[Darkmoon]

Well, for Mab it's not hard to do on that end. Since she keeps unflattened version of the newest comics, she *could* do it. Not that I think she would, but she could.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Did she get a dvd writer to store copies on, or am I misremembering things?

[superluser]

God no. I spend 10 minutes a week updating it.

Yeah, but what about the other 700+ strips?  If she has to approve each one, and others have to add scene descriptions, &c., then it's going to take a lot of time.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Ah.... You didn't follow the link, did you?

There's a text file on my server with -every word- said in any of the 700+ strips. Special effects, narrator, you name it, if it's said, it's in there.

Copy/pasting that into OhNoRobot is a long, boring, tedious task - but not terribly difficult. For all I know, OhNoRobot has an import feature, where you can change the format slightly and then just suck the whole thing in in one go...

Still, it's nothing I'd want or need to bother Mab about.

[Darkmoon]

If she posted it on her site, I doubt she'd care if it was transcribed and put into a search engine, so long as it was accurate. However, whether or not she cares to put the javascript on her site is the real issue.

[Amber Williams]

  NEVAAAAAAAAR! 

[Darkmoon]

There we go then.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

... Why am I not surprised. ;-)

Of course, that begs the question about the javascript that's already there, though... :-)

[Silverfoxr]

i really dont know how this works - but i signed up for one anyways not that anyone cares much *shurg*

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I care. Honest. :-)

[tkg]

NEVAAAAAAAAR! 

Alright then, it was just a mere suggestion anyhow. I probably wouldn't even have asked if I had known about Llearch's transcription work, which I reckon should suffice just as well (if only being a tad less streamlined and practical, IMO - no offence meant).

i really dont know how this works - but i signed up for one anyways not that anyone cares much *shurg*

I care enough to help out with a few transcriptions now and then, at least