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@joelbecker
Last active December 20, 2017 19:33
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An implementation of XKCD 1930: Calendar Facts in Python 3.
import random
class Statement:
def __init__(self, *args, suffix=''):
for item in args:
assert (
isinstance(item, (str, Branch))
)
self.words = args
self.suffix = suffix
def __str__(self):
return ' '.join([str(w) for w in self.words]) + self.suffix
class Branch:
def __init__(self, *args, suffix=''):
for item in args:
assert (
isinstance(item, (str, Statement))
)
self.choices = args
self.suffix = suffix
def __str__(self):
return str(random.choice(self.choices)) + self.suffix
chunk_one = Branch(
Statement('the', Branch('fall', 'spring'), 'equinox'),
Statement('the', Branch('winter', 'summer'), Branch('solstice', 'olympics')),
Statement('the', Branch('earliest', 'latest'), Branch('sunrise', 'sunset')),
Statement('daylight', Branch('saving', 'savings'), 'time'),
Statement('leap', Branch('day', 'year')),
Statement('Easter'),
Statement('the', Branch('harvest', 'super', 'blood'), 'moon'),
Statement('Toyota truck month'),
Statement('Shark Week')
)
chunk_two = Branch(
Statement('happens', Branch('earlier', 'later', 'at the wrong time'), 'every year'),
Statement(
'drifts out of sync with the',
Branch(
'sun', 'moon', 'zodiac', 'atomic clock in colorado',
Statement(Branch('Gregorian', 'Mayan', 'lunar', 'iPhone'), 'calendar')
)
),
Statement('might', Branch('not happen', 'happen twice'), 'this year')
)
chunk_three = Branch(
Statement('time zone legislation in', Branch('indiana', 'arizona', 'russia')),
Statement('a decree by the Pope in the 1500s'),
Statement(
Branch(
'precession', 'libration', 'nutation', 'libation',
'eccentricity', 'obliquity'
),
'of the',
Branch(
'Moon', 'Sun', 'Earth\'s axis',
'Equator', 'Prime Meridian',
Statement(Branch('international date', 'Mason-Dixon'), 'line')
)
),
Statement('magnetic field reversal'),
Statement(
'an arbitrary decision by',
Branch('Benjamin Franklin', 'Isaac Newton', 'FDR')
),
suffix='?'
)
chunk_four = Branch(
Statement('it causes a predictable increase in car accidents.'),
Statement('that\'s why we have leap seconds.'),
Statement('scientists are really worried.'),
Statement(
'it was even more extreme during the',
Branch('Bronze Age', 'Ice Age', 'Cretaceous', '1990s'),
'.'
),
Statement(
'there\'s a proposal to fix it, but it',
Branch(
'will never happen.',
'actually makes things worse.',
'is stalled in congress.',
'might be unconstitutional.'
)
),
Statement('it\'s getting worse and no one knows why.')
)
calendar_facts = Statement(
'Did you know that',
chunk_one,
chunk_two,
'because of',
chunk_three,
'Apparently',
chunk_four
)
def make_calendar_fact():
return str(calendar_facts)
if __name__ == '__main__':
print(make_calendar_fact())
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