Interview of a JetPunker #25 - JWatson24

Hi Watson!

[Discussion about the French translation of the Ibn Battuta quiz.]

Also, something else... Would you like to be my 25th interviewee...?

Yes! I'd love to be your 25th interviewee!

Glad to read it. So let’s start this interview! First, could you present yourself on JetPunk quickly for our readers who don’t know you?

Hi! I’m JWatson24, but my real name is Pabitra (Pab for short). I am a college student going to Penn State University and majoring in Biochemistry. I was actually introduced to JetPunk by my sister a long time ago, in 2014. There was a competition I was studying for, National Geographic’s Geography Bee, and I needed study resources. My sister was really into JetPunk at the time, so she showed me some of the geography quizzes. At first I was strictly a quiz-taker; I didn’t make my account until 2017. I started making quizzes in 2019, and then got much deeper into quiz-making in 2020, when the pandemic hit. If you’ve encountered me, it’s probably through my “Trace the Route” quizzes, although I have other featured and spotlighted quizzes you may be familiar with.

Interesting to notice that you joined the site for similar reasons than the Hines Brothers, and probably many more users.

You are mostly known for your “Trace the Route” quizzes. How did you get this idea? Was it technically difficult, at the beginning, to create them?

I got a lot of time during the summer of 2021 to make quizzes, so I tried making a few SVGs. I’m into history and I wanted to try something a bit different, so I decided I would focus on making a map based around a specific person. The first “Trace the Route” quiz I made was my Marco Polo one, in May 2021. I did some historical research and looked at some maps of his travels, and used these sources to trace lines corresponding to the countries he visited. Even though the quiz wasn’t that difficult to make, I want to point out that the first edition was very different from the current one; it only had very basic CSS to make the lines look clean. Instead of the trademark “tracing,” the lines would just pop up when you typed in an answer.

Around the same time, I was paying a lot of attention to overtired’s quizzes. He was doing amazing things with animations, and in June, he dropped his iconic quiz, “Guess the Countries Being Drawn”. I was fascinated by how seamless the animations were and thought my quiz would look great if I applied the same principles to it. So, with overtired’s permission, I went into his quiz and investigated the CSS he used, and then applied it to my quiz so that the lines would draw themselves. It made the quiz a lot more interactive and fun and it soon became very popular, so I owe a big debt to overtired for that!

Given the success of my Marco Polo quiz, I made more “Trace the Route” quizzes. I now have 7 of them, with my Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta ones both being featured. The Ibn Battuta quiz was definitely more difficult to make than the other ones, given the amount of lines I had to draw and animate, but I’m proud of how it turned out, so I think it was worth it.

You have also been an important publisher of JetPunk charts. Was it a good experience? Do you see them as a true part of the site, like blogs or quizzes?

Certainly! I actually haven’t made any charts in a long time, but I made a few of them when the feature first came out. I think it’s an underappreciated resource; it’s a cool way to look at history and how things have changed over time, and some of the data I came across while making the charts was really fascinating. At the end of the day though, I’m not sure if charts are as engaging as quizzes or blogs, which might be why they are not that popular. As much as I’d like to see the charts section become more popular, if Quizmaster and other JetPunkers want to focus on quizzes and blogs over charts, that makes sense to me.

As a detective, I can say that your JetPunk pseudonym sounds familiar… Could you explain it?

Haha, I can confirm your suspicions. I was very into Sherlock Holmes when I first created my JetPunk account, so I thought it would be fun to have a Sherlock Holmes-themed nickname. My sister always used to call me Watson and so I decided to make that my nickname. I’m not quite that into Sherlock Holmes anymore, but I’ve decided to stick with it since I’ve kept it for so long. Just to be clear though, it’s not my real name; I prefer to be called by my nickname, Pab.

Oh, yeah, elementary my dear Wats... Pab. I can definitely understand this situation, being kinda in the same one.

Now something else: you have already published two JetPunk blogs. Do you plan on publishing a few more? More generally, what do you think about the RUB?

I’ve never been as into blogging as I’ve been into quizzing, which is why I don’t have a whole lot of blogs. The first one is just book recommendations and the second one is the story behind one of my favorite songs, “American Pie” by Don McLean. I was happy with how the second one turned out, but I also found it was a lot of work, and I didn’t enjoy it as much as quiz-making. Maybe if I have the time and energy to make blogs I will in the future, but no guarantees. As for the RUB, I check it once every few days, but I don’t usually spend a lot of time reading through the blogs or commenting on them unless it’s a topic that interests me, so I’m personally not invested in this section of the site as a whole.

You participated in several of the Insaniot’s QCC. Was it a good experience? What do you think about this concept?

Insaniot’s QCC is a great experience! I think the quizzes I’ve made for the QCC are some of my most unique. I also really like his theme choices–the movies one was probably my favorite–and it’s fun to see the creative quizzes other users come up. That being said, it bothers me a bit how long Insaniot takes to grade them. I don’t want that to sound like a criticism, but if he could do things a bit faster, that would be nice.

I agree: some QCC encouraged me to create some of my most elaborated quizzes too. I truly hope that we will have more of them in a near future. If you read this, my dear Insaniot, keep doing this, please.

What is your own quiz you are the proudest of?

Well, I already mentioned my Ibn Battuta quiz, which I put a lot of work into, and so I’m really happy with how it turned out. The animations on that one also ended up going really smoothly, and it seems that people love playing it, which makes me happy. Beyond that one, I’d have to say my “South Asia in 1947” quiz. There are a lot of great users that have made very intricate historical maps and I wanted to try making one myself. Given my Bangladeshi heritage and my interest in the history of the region, I decided to focus on a complete map of all the states and kingdoms of pre-independence India. I think that SVG took me 2 weeks to make, and I gave a lot of attention to minor details with that quiz, even color-coding it. All of the work I did paid off in the end because the quiz looks great. That being said, I’m not sure I’ll ever have the time or willpower to do something that complex ever again!

Wow! Definitely an impressive work. And what about your future masterpieces? Do you have big projects of quizzes in preparation?

Maybe. JetPunk quiz-making was a really great way for me to get through the pandemic–I had a lot of free time then and it gave me something to do at a time when there wasn’t much to do. As life has gotten back to normal, I’ve found I have less time and interest in quiz-making. My last big project was my “Decipher the Coded Countries” quiz, which I had planned for a long time but didn’t get time to make until recently. I promised a few users that I’d make a sequel, but I’m struggling a bit with that. I’d like to do it eventually, but I can’t make any commitments.

I have to admit that I'm part of the users who loved this quiz and would really enjoy to try a second one following this concept.

What is the most important event in your own life as a JetPunker?

This is a really tough question, but I’d have to say the time that I got my second feature, my Marco Polo quiz, in April 2022. I had previously gotten another feature, but my Marco Polo quiz was unique in that it was my first quiz to get featured by nominations. It was inspiring seeing the outpouring of support that the quiz got from fellow JetPunkers and reminded me that this is not just a site but a community.

If you had to describe your JetPunk adventure in one word, what would it be?

Enlightening. I haven’t been able to travel much outside America, but JetPunk quizzes have taught me a lot about the world and exposed me to countries and places that I wouldn’t have previously thought of. Beyond this, I love how it’s such an international community with people from all walks of life–it’s great reading about the experiences others have had, and this has given me an understanding of what the world beyond America is like.

Would you change something to your JetPunk adventure, if it was possible?

No, I’m pretty happy with where I’m at and how my JetPunk adventure has been and I don’t have any major regrets.

If you had to choose just three JetPunker for their quizzes, who would it be?

There are many top JetPunkers that I love, but I feel like they always get mentioned. I like how cathlete chose less mentioned JetPunkers in his previous interview, so I’ll do the same.

SWATkun - There’s something so elegant about his map quizzes, especially the Metro station ones. That was definitely one of the inspirations behind my “Trace the Route” series. I also feel like there aren’t a lot of prominent Indian JetPunkers, so it’s nice to see someone who’s done a lot to promote quizzes catered toward Indian users, even if they aren’t a large section of the site.

youtubeplayer - I can’t take most of his quizzes because they are in Polish, but his English ones are great! The “Countries Symbolized” quizzes are a lot of fun and some of his other ideas are very creative too, like his World Cup schemes and Colorful Countries of the World quiz.

SpiritOfFire - This is a newer user I’ve gotten into lately. They are a very brilliant quiz-maker, with very innovative CSS usage combined with enjoyable topics. Some of the highlights from them are “Reveal the Flags” and “Cross the River”, and I’m looking forward to what else they come up with!

Interesting choices! And for their blogs?

Jiaozira - His blogs are for me the perfect example of what a blog should be–entertaining, detailed, well-organized, and thought-provoking. My favorite blogs from him would have to be “Maps That Explain Canada'' and “Life in a Rural Village in Nepal”.

Aficionado - Another user I appreciate for bringing attention to Indian-themed topics. Beyond that, his blogs are creative and well thought-out. I love his flag blogs, especially his “Planets” and “Continents” ones, especially how he took the time and effort to actually design the flags himself. 

Musiclistsareus - A less conventional choice, but as a music fan, these blogs have been a good source of new songs for me to listen to. I don’t have a favorite blog in particular, but I can tell they put a lot of effort into listening to and compiling these music lists, which I appreciate.

What are your passions in life, excepting JetPunk?

As I mentioned in the last question, I am a big music fan–I listen to a lot of music, and I play guitar and like to sing. I also read a lot and play on my Nintendo Switch sometimes. I try to spend time outside, walking and jogging around my area (although I haven't been doing this much in recent weeks as it’s been very cold). Finally, I’m very close to my parents and my sister and try to spend time with them whenever I can.

“JetPunk actuality question”: The JetPunk Daily Word Search reached its term a few days ago. What do you think about it? Were you one of its regular players?

Unfortunately I didn’t have time to play it regularly. I did it regularly for the first week and then only sporadically for the rest of the year. That being said, it was a very unique feature and I know it meant a lot to many JetPunkers, so I’m sorry to see it go.

I can attest that the DWS became through month a true entire part of the site. But all good things gave an end, and that's with a beautiful blog that it finally said goodbye.

You are on the JetPunk Discord server. Is it a good experience? Did it help you in your JetPunk adventure?

I don’t spend a lot of time on the server itself, because the conversations go so fast and I never have the time to get into them. That being said, I’ve been able to DM a lot of my favorite JetPunkers through the Discord, and they’ve given me really helpful advice that has helped me grow as a quiz-maker and member of the JetPunk community. I also like the “Sharing Space” tab because it gives me access to quizzes and users that I might not have encountered otherwise.

As a side note, if you’re on the Discord and like my quizzes or have similar interests to me, feel free to DM me! I’m always happy to talk to new people, and even though I struggle to keep up on the main server, I never have problems keeping up with one-on-one conversations.

What do you hope for JetPunk development in the next few months?

I know that Quizmaster has a caveat under his nomination policies that states, “We may feature more than one quiz per week. However, secondary quizzes will be chosen based on creativity and not on number of nominations.” I’ve noticed though that recently, it’s only been one quiz per week being featured from nominations. I think there are a lot of very creative quizzes that are a bit lower on the nomination page but that are definitely worthy of features, so I hope Quizmaster considers implementing this policy more in the future. Beyond that, I think it would be nice to see JetPunk branch out into more unique topics beyond geography, such as more puzzles or science-based quizzes.

The nomination is a pretty interesting one. I wouldn't have think about it, but that is definitely an important point. Let's see if 2023 bruings its share of changes...

Do you have a message to pass to the whole JetPunk community (or at least to the few users reading these blogs…)?

To reword the famous JFK quote: ask not what JetPunk can do for you, but what you can do for JetPunk! When I first started making quizzes, I wanted to be as popular as possible, and I became overly concerned with the number of takes I got on my quizzes. I also plugged my quizzes under the pages of other users, something that I know may have offended some people. (If I did this to you, I fully apologize, and if they are still up, let me know and I’ll take them down.) Over time though, I found that takes were just a statistic, and that they weren't making me happy. Instead, I found it fulfilling to see the kind comments other users left me on how much they enjoyed and learned from my quizzes. I guess the lesson of this is that at the end of the day, focus on making a positive impact on others instead of just yourself.

Beyond that, I just want to thank Poirot for this lovely interview, and you, my audience, for getting through the interview! It’s been an honor, and if anyone has any more questions for me, I’m available on Discord.

It seems that you clearly understood it: it was the last question of your interview. I have to admit that I am admirative: you gave very detailed answers to all the questions. Félicitations and thank you so much for this implication!