explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1222: Pastime

2013-06-14T00:51:02Z

24.145.230.202: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1222
| date = June 7, 2013
| title = Pastime
| image = pastime.png
| titletext = Good thing we're too smart to spend all day being uselessly frustrated with ourselves. I mean, that'd be a hell of a waste, right?
}}

==Explanation==
When asked by [[Megan]] what he's been up to, [[Cueball]] responds with the [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SuspiciouslySpecificDenial suspiciously specific denial], "Definitely not spending every day consumed with worry over stupid things I never talk to anyone about.", which suggests that that is exactly what he's been spending every day doing, but he is hiding it from her (and everyone else). Megan's response "Oh, yeah, me neither" suggests she too is worrying over stupid things but isn't admitting it.

Instead of discussing their mutual worry and possibly making each other feel better, they instead continue to "not talk to anyone about it" and stand in awkward silence. The title text continues the "irony" suggesting it's good that they're too smart to spend all day being uselessly frustrated with themselves, when that is apparently exactly what they are doing.

==Transcript==
:Megan: What've you been up to?
:Cueball: Definitely not spending every day consumed with worry over stupid things I never talk to anyone about.
:Megan: Oh, yeah, me neither.
:Cueball: That's good.
:Megan: Yeah.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

300: Facebook

2013-05-23T11:52:10Z

24.145.230.202: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 300
| date = August 8, 2007
| title = Facebook
| image = facebook.png
| titletext = "Here, I'll put my number in your cell pho -- wait, why is it already here?"
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|It's more descriptive than explanatory.}}
[[Cueball]] has looked up the girl he's talking to on Facebook and noticed that she likes Regina Spektor and the Polyphonic Spree.

Replying to the girl's 'offer' of sex he points out his favorite position, which he presumably also got from her Facebook page. This can be considered a sneer to what people place on their Facebook page, as one's sexual positions are often highly private.

The title text suggests [[Cueball]] has done more than only look at her Facebook page. As her phone number is already in his phone.

==Transcript==
:Mildy sleazy uses of Facebook, part 14:
:Looking up someone's profile before introducing yourself so you know which of your favorite bands to mention
:Cueball: Favorite bands? Hmm...
:Cueball: Maybe Regina Spektor or the Polyphonic Spree.
:Megan: Whoa, those are two of my favorites, too!
:Megan: Clearly, we should have sex.
:Cueball: Okay! My favorite position is the retrograde wheelbarrow.
:Megan: [arms in the air] Ohmygod, mine too!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Sex]]

1212: Interstellar Memes

2013-05-15T11:44:13Z

24.145.230.202: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1212
| date = May 15, 2013
| title = Interstellar Memes
| image = interstellar memes.png
| titletext = The strongest incentive we have to develop faster-than-light travel is that it would let us apologize in advance.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Some talk about the speed of light and the transcript would be good too.}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Meme !! Star !! Origin !! Year !! Distance to star
|-
| Yabba dabba doo! || {{w|Castor (star)|Castor}} || {{w|The Flintstones}} || 1960 || 51 ± 3 ly
|-
| You've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" || {{w|Lambda Aurigae}} || {{w|Dirty Harry}} || 1971 || 41 ly
|-
| Where's the beef? || {{w|HR 1614}} || Slogan for {{w|Wendy’s}} || || 28 ly
|-
| And now for something completely different. || {{w|Capella (star)|Capella}}|| {{w|Monty Python’s Flying Circus}} || 1969 || 42 ly
|-
| Here's lookin' at you, kid. || {{w|Kappa Reticuli}} || {{w|Casablanca (film)|Casablanca}} || 1942 || 70 ly
|-
| My spoon is too big! || {{w|Kapteyn's Star}} || {{w|Rejected}} || 2000 || 12 ly
|-
| May the force be with you. || {{w|Delta Trianguli}} || {{w|Star Wars}} || 1977 || 35 ly
|-
| Peanut butter jelly time! || {{w|Luyten's Star}} || [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/peanut-butter-jelly-time an Internet meme] || 2002 || 12 ly
|-
| Rosebud. || {{w|Alpha Hydri}} || {{w|Citizen Kane}} || 1941 || 71 ly
|-
| Oh my god, they killed Kenny! - You bastards! || {{w|AD Leonis}} || {{w|South Park}} || || 16 ly
|-
| ...God kills a kitten! - A what? || {{w|Procyon}} || {{w|Every time you masturbate... God kills a kitten|an Internet meme}} || 2002 || 11.5 ly
|-
| I ''still'' can't believe Bellatrix- - Dude, get over it. || {{w|Sirius}} || {{w|Harry Potter}} || || 8.6 ly
|-
| Ninjas fight ''all the time!'' || {{w|Epsilon Eridani}} || {{w|The Official Ninja Webpage}} || || 10 ly
|-
| {{w|D'oh!}} || {{w|HR 753}} || {{w|The Simpsons}} || || 23 ly
|-
| {{w|The Spanish Inquisition (Monty Python)|''Nobody'' expects the Spanish Inquisition!}} || {{w|Beta Virginis}} || {{w|Monty Python’s Flying Circus}} || 1970 || 35 ly
|-
| {{w|All your base are belong to us}}. || {{w|Tau Ceti}} || {{w|Zero Wing}} || || 11.9 ly
|-
| Take me to your leader! - No, Steve. || {{w|Beta Cassiopeiae|Caph}} || || || 54 ly
|-
| Chuck Norris doesn't sleep. He ''waits.'' || {{w|Wolf 359}} || {{w|Chuck Norris facts}} || || 7.8 ly
|-
| Numa numa || {{w|Lalande 21185}} || {{w|Numa Numa song}} || || 8.3 ly
|-
| I can haz? || {{w|WISE 1049-5319|Luhman 16}} || {{w|Lolcats}} || || 6.6 ± 0.5 ly
|-
| Internets! || {{w|Luyten 726-8|Gliese 65}} || {{w|George W. Bush}} || 2000 || 8.7
|-
| Look at the tiny dancing Earth mammals! || {{w|Gliese 1}} || {{w|Hampsterdance}}? || || 14 ly
|-
| Wasssuup!?! || {{w|Van Maanen's star}} || {{w|Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch)|Budweiser Beer}} advertising campaign || || 14 ly
|-
| Yippie-ki-yay, motherfucker. || {{w|Beta Hydri}} || {{w|Die Hard}} || 1988 || 24 ly
|-
| I pity the fool! || {{w|Groombridge 1830}} || {{w|Mr. T}} || || 30 ly
|-
| The cake is a lie! || {{w|Alpha Centauri|Alpha Centauri A/B}} || {{w|Portal (video game)|Portal}} || 2007 || 4.3 ly
|-
| Never gonna give you up || {{w|Alpha Centauri|Alpha Centauri A/B}} || {{w|Rickrolling}} || 2007 || 4.3 ly
|-
| I'm on a boat! || {{w|Proxima Centauri}} || {{w|The Lonely Island}} || 2009 || 4.243 ± 0.002 ly
|-
| Chocolate Raaaiiin || {{w|Barnard's Star}} || {{w|Tay Zonday}}: {{w|Chocolate Rain}} video || 2007 || 6 ly
|-
| Leave Britney alone! || {{w|Barnard's Star}} || {{w|Chris Crocker}}: [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/leave-britney-alone LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!] || 2007 || 6 ly
|-
| You're the man now, dog! || {{w|Epsilon Indi}} || {{w|Finding Forrester}} || 2000 || 11.8
|-
| More cowbell! || {{w|Kruger 60}} || {{w|Saturday Night Live}} || || 13 ly
|-
| Hasta la vista, baby. || {{w|Gliese 892}} || {{w|The Terminator}} || 1984 || 21 ly
|-
| Let's get ready to ruuumble! || {{w|Zeta Tucanae}} || {{w|Michael Buffer}} || || 28 ly
|-
| You talkin' to ''me?'' || {{w|Arcturus}} || {{w|Taxi Driver}} || 1976 || 36.7 ± 0.3 ly
|-
| Welcome to Good Burger, home of the good burger. - What's a burger? - I don't know. || {{w|70 Ophiuchi}} || {{w|Good Burger}} slogan || 1997 || 16.6 ly
|-
| Badger badger badger badger || {{w|Ross 154}} || {{w|Badger Badger Badger}} || || 9.7 ly
|-
| {{w|Vulcan salute|Live long and prosper.}} || {{w|HD 211415}} || {{w|Star Trek}} || || 44 ly
|-
| Name's Bond. James Bond. || {{w|51 Pegasi}} || {{w|Dr. No (film)|Dr. No}} ({{w|James Bond}}) || 1962 || 51 ly
|-
| Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. || {{w|Alpha Serpentis}} || {{w|Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind}} || 1939 || 74 ly
|-
| Mr. T ate my balls! || {{w|Altair}} || [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ate-my-balls an Internet meme] || 1996 || 16.7 ly
|-
| I want the truth. - You can't handle the truth! || {{w|Delta Pavonis}} || {{w|A Few Good Men}} || 1992 || 20 ly
|-
| I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse. || {{w|Beta Trianguli Australis}} || {{w|The Godfather}} || 1972 || 40 ly
|-
| {{w|Resistance is futile|Resistance is futile.}} || {{w|Vega}} || {{w|Star Trek}} ({{w|Borg (Star Trek)|Borg}}) || 1988 || 25 ly
|-
| Oh... My... Gaawd || {{w|Sigma Draconis}} || {{w|Friends}} ({{w|Janice Goralnik}}) || 1994 || 18.8 ly
|-
| Ehh, what's up, Doc? || {{w|Epsilon Cygni|Gienah}} || {{w|Bugs Bunny}} || 1940 || 73 ly
|-
| ''EXTERMINATE!'' || {{w|Alpha Cephei|Alderamin}} || {{w|Doctor Who}} ({{w|Dalek|The Daleks}}) || 1963 || 49 ly
|}

==Transcript==
:If other star systems are listening in on our pop culture, these are the jokes and catchphrases they just learned about and are currently repeating way too much:

*List of stars and catchphrases, see above*

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

1212: Interstellar Memes

2013-05-15T11:40:24Z

24.145.230.202: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1212
| date = May 15, 2013
| title = Interstellar Memes
| image = interstellar memes.png
| titletext = The strongest incentive we have to develop faster-than-light travel is that it would let us apologize in advance.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Some talk about the speed of light, time delays and the title text would be good too.}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Meme !! Star !! Origin !! Year !! Distance in light years
|-
| Yabba dabba doo! || {{w|Castor (star)}} || Flintstones || 1960 || 51 ± 3
|-
| You've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" || {{w|Lambda Aurigae}} || Dirty Harry || 1971 || 41.2 ± 0.1
|-
| Where's the beef? || {{w|HR 1614}} || Slogan for Wendy's || 1984 ||
|-
| And now for something completely different. || {{w|Capella (star)}}|| Monty Python || 1969 ||
|-
| Here's lookin' at you, kid. || {{w|Kappa Reticuli}} || Casablanca || 1942 ||
|-
| My spoon is too big! || {{w|Kapteyn's Star}} || Rejected || 2000 ||
|-
| May the force be with you. || {{w|Delta Trianguli}} || Star Wars || 1977 ||
|-
| Peanut butter jelly time! || {{w|Luyten's Star}} || Peanut butter jelly time || 2002 ||
|-
| Rosebud. || {{w|Alpha Hydri}} || Citizen Kane || 1941 ||
|-
| Oh my god, they killed Kenny! - You bastards! || {{w|AD Leonis}} || South Park || 1997 || 15.9 ± 0.2
|-
| ...God kills a kitten! - A what? || {{w|Procyon}} || Internet Meme || 2002 || 11.46 ± 0.05
|-
| I ''still'' can't believe Bellatrix- - Dude, get over it. || {{w|Sirius}} || Harry Potter || 2003 ||
|-
| Ninjas fight ''all the time!'' || {{w|Epsilon Eridani}} || The Official Ninja Webpage || 2002 ||
|-
| D'oh! || {{w|HR 753}} || Simpsons || 1989 ||
|-
| ''Nobody'' expects the Spanish Inquisition! || {{w|Beta Virginis}} || Monty Python || 1970 ||
|-
| All your base are belong to us. || {{w|Tau Ceti}} || Zero Wing || 1998 ||
|-
| Take me to your leader! - No, Steve. || {{w|Beta Cassiopeiae|Caph}} || Title of a Newsboys CD album || 1996  ||
|-
| Chuck Norris doesn't sleep. He ''waits.'' || {{w|Wolf 359}} || Chuck Norris jokes || 2005 ||
|-
| Numa numa || {{w|Lalande 21185}} || Numa Numa song || 2004 ||
|-
| I can haz? || {{w|WISE 1049-5319|Luhman 16}} || Lolcats || 2006 ||
|-
| Internets! || {{w|Luyten 726-8|Gliese 65}} || George W. Bush || 2000 ||
|-
| Look at the tiny dancing Earth mammals! || {{w|Gliese 1}} || Hampsterdance? || 1998 ||
|-
| Wasssuup!?! || {{w|Van Maanen's star}} || Budweiser Beer Advertising Campaign || 1999 ||
|-
| Yippie-ki-yay, motherfucker. || {{w|Beta Hydri}} || Die Hard || 1988 ||
|-
| I pity the fool! || {{w|Groombridge 1830}} || Mr T in Rocky III || 1982 ||
|-
| The cake is a lie! || {{w|Alpha Centauri|Alpha Centauri A/B}} || Portal || 2007 ||
|-
| Never gonna give you up || {{w|Alpha Centauri|Alpha Centauri A/B}} || Never Gonna Give You Up (Rick Astley) / Rickroll || 2007 / 1987 ||
|-
| I'm on a boat! || {{w|Proxima Centauri}} || The Lonely Island || 2009 || 4.24
|-
| Chocolate Raaaiiin || {{w|Barnard's Star}} || Chocolate Rain video (Tay Zonday) || 2007 ||
|-
| Leave Britney alone! || {{w|Barnard's Star}} || LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE! (Chris Crocker) || 2007 ||
|-
| You're the man now, dog! || {{w|Epsilon Indi}} || Finding Forrester || 2000 ||
|-
| More cowbell! || {{w|Kruger 60}} || Saturday Night Live || 2000 ||
|-
| Hasta la vista, baby. || {{w|Gliese 892}} || Terminator || 1984 ||
|-
| Let's get ready to ruuumble! || {{w|Zeta Tucanae}} || Michael Buffer (Wrestling & Boxing Ring Announcer) || 1984 ||
|-
| You talkin' to ''me?'' || {{w|Arcturus}} || Taxi Driver || 1976 ||
|-
| Welcome to Good Burger, home of the good burger. - What's a burger? - I don't know. || {{w|70 Ophiuchi}} || Good Burger || 1997 || 16.58 ± 0.07
|-
| Badger badger badger badger || {{w|Ross 154}} || Badger Badger Badger (The Badger Song) || 2003 ||
|-
| Live long and prosper. || {{w|HD 211415}} || Star Trek (Vulcan Salute) || 1967 ||
|-
| Name's Bond. James Bond. || {{w|51 Pegasi}} || James Bond (Dr No) || 1962 || 50.9 ± 0.3
|-
| Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. || {{w|Alpha Serpentis}} || Gone with the Wind || 1939 || 74.0 ± 0.3
|-
| Mr. T ate my balls! || {{w|Altair}} || Ate My Balls || 1996  ||
|-
| I want the truth. - You can't handle the truth! || {{w|Delta Pavonis}} || A Few Good Men || 1992 ||
|-
| I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse. || {{w|Beta Trianguli Australis}} || The Godfather || 1972 ||
|-
| Resistance is futile. || {{w|Vega}} || Star Trek (The Borg) || 1988 ||
|-
| Oh... My... Gaawd || {{w|Sigma Draconis}} || Friends (Janice Goralnik) || 1994 ||
|-
| Ehh, what's up, Doc? || {{w|Epsilon Cygni|Gienah}} || Bugs Bunny || 1940 ||
|-
| ''EXTERMINATE!'' || {{w|Alpha Cephei|Alderamin}} || Doctor Who (The Daleks) || 1963 ||
|}

==Transcript==
:If other star systems are listening in on our pop culture, these are the jokes and catchphrases they just learned about and are currently repeating way too much:

*List of stars and catchphrases, see above*

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

1212: Interstellar Memes

2013-05-15T10:58:32Z

24.145.230.202: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1212
| date = May 15, 2013
| title = Interstellar Memes
| image = interstellar memes.png
| titletext = The strongest incentive we have to develop faster-than-light travel is that it would let us apologize in advance.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Some talk about the speed of light and the transcript would be good too.}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Meme !! Star !! Origin !! Year
|-
| Yabba dabba doo! || {{w|Castor (star)}} || Flintstones || 1960
|-
| You've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" || {{w|Lambda Aurigae}} || Dirty Harry || 1971
|-
| Where's the beef? || {{w|HR 1614}} || Slogan for Wendy's ||
|-
| And now for something completely different. || {{w|Capella (star)}}|| Monty Python || 1969
|-
| Here's lookin' at you, kid. || {{w|Kappa Reticuli}} || Casablanca || 1942
|-
| My spoon is too big! || {{w|Kapteyn's Star}} || Rejected ||
|-
| May the force be with you. || {{w|Delta Trianguli}} || Star Wars || 1977
|-
| Peanut butter jelly time! || {{w|Luyten's Star}} || Peanut butter jelly time ||
|-
| Rosebud. || {{w|Alpha Hydri}} || Citizen Kane || 1941
|-
| Oh my god, they killed Kenny! - You bastards! || {{w|AD Leonis}} || South Park ||
|-
| ...God kills a kitten! - A what? || {{w|Procyon}} || Internet Meme || 2002
|-
| I ''still'' can't believe Bellatrix- - Dude, get over it. || {{w|Sirius}} || Harry Potter ||
|-
| Ninjas fight ''all the time!'' || {{w|Epsilon Eridani}} || The Official Ninja Webpage ||
|-
| D'oh! || {{w|HR 753}} || Simpsons ||
|-
| ''Nobody'' expects the Spanish Inquisition! || {{w|Beta Virginis}} || Monty Python || 1970
|-
| All your base are belong to us. || {{w|Tau Ceti}} || Zero Wing ||
|-
| Take me to your leader! - No, Steve. || {{w|Beta Cassiopeiae|Caph}} || ||
|-
| Chuck Norris doesn't sleep. He ''waits.'' || {{w|Wolf 359}} || Chuck Norris jokes ||
|-
| Numa numa || {{w|Lalande 21185}} || Numa Numa song ||
|-
| I can haz? || {{w|WISE 1049-5319|Luhman 16}} || Lolcats ||
|-
| Internets! || {{w|Luyten 726-8|Gliese 65}} || George W. Bush || 2000
|-
| Look at the tiny dancing Earth mammals! || {{w|Gliese 1}} || Hampsterdance? ||
|-
| Wasssuup!?! || {{w|Van Maanen's star}} || Budweiser Beer Advertising Campaign ||
|-
| Yippie-ki-yay, motherfucker. || {{w|Beta Hydri}} || Die Hard || 1988
|-
| I pity the fool! || {{w|Groombridge 1830}} || Mr T ||
|-
| The cake is a lie! || {{w|Alpha Centauri|Alpha Centauri A/B}} || Portal || 2007
|-
| Never gonna give you up || {{w|Alpha Centauri|Alpha Centauri A/B}} || Never Gonna Give You Up (Rick Astley) / Rickroll || 1987 / 2007
|-
| I'm on a boat! || {{w|Proxima Centauri}} || The Lonely Island || 2009
|-
| Chocolate Raaaiiin || {{w|Barnard's Star}} || Chocolate Rain video (Tay Zonday) || 2007
|-
| Leave Britney alone! || {{w|Barnard's Star}} || LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE! (Chris Crocker) || 2007
|-
| You're the man now, dog! || {{w|Epsilon Indi}} || Finding Forrester || 2000
|-
| More cowbell! || {{w|Kruger 60}} || Saturday Night Live ||
|-
| Hasta la vista, baby. || {{w|Gliese 892}} || Terminator || 1984
|-
| Let's get ready to ruuumble! || {{w|Zeta Tucanae}} || Michael Buffer (Wrestling & Boxing Ring Announcer) ||
|-
| You talkin' to ''me?'' || {{w|Arcturus}} || Taxi Driver || 1976
|-
| Welcome to Good Burger, home of the good burger. - What's a burger? - I don't know. || {{w|70 Ophiuchi}} || Good Burger || 1997
|-
| Badger badger badger badger || {{w|Ross 154}} || Badger Badger Badger (The Badger Song) ||
|-
| Live long and prosper. || {{w|HD 211415}} || Star Trek (Vulcan Salute) ||
|-
| Name's Bond. James Bond. || {{w|51 Pegasi}} || James Bond (Dr No) || 1962
|-
| Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. || {{w|Alpha Serpentis}} || Gone with the Wind || 1939
|-
| Mr. T ate my balls! || {{w|Altair}} || Ate My Balls || 1996 
|-
| I want the truth. - You can't handle the truth! || {{w|Delta Pavonis}} || A Few Good Men || 1992
|-
| I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse. || {{w|Beta Trianguli Australis}} || The Godfather || 1972
|-
| Resistance is futile. || {{w|Vega}} || Star Trek (The Borg) || 1988
|-
| Oh... My... Gaawd || {{w|Sigma Draconis}} || Friends (Janice Goralnik) || 1994
|-
| Ehh, what's up, Doc? || {{w|Epsilon Cygni|Gienah}} || Bugs Bunny || 1940
|-
| ''EXTERMINATE!'' || {{w|Alpha Cephei|Alderamin}} || Doctor Who (The Daleks) || 1963
|}

==Transcript==
:If other star systems are listening in on our pop culture, these are the jokes and catchphrases they just learned about and are currently repeating way too much:

*List of stars and catchphrases, see above*

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:1212: Interstellar Memes

2013-05-15T04:42:12Z

24.145.230.202:

I'm surprised ponies didn't make the list given how massively and completely they took over the Internet in recent years. Then again, xkcd hasn't made any mention of the phenomenon, which is pretty nice, I guess. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 04:35, 15 May 2013 (UTC)
:Given that the closest one, "I'm on a boat," predates the first episode of MLP:FiM by more than a year (the brony phenomenon by even more), it's safe to say that ponies have not reached the nearest star yet. --[[Special:Contributions/24.145.230.202|24.145.230.202]] 04:42, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

1211: Birds and Dinosaurs

2013-05-13T11:41:14Z

24.145.230.202: /* Explanation */ Spellcheck

{{comic
| number = 1211
| date = May 13, 2013
| title = Birds and Dinosaurs
| image = birds and dinosaurs.png
| titletext = Sure, T. rex is closer in height to Stegosaurus than a sparrow. But that doesn't tell you much; 'Dinosaur Comics' author Ryan North is closer in height to certain dinosaurs than to the average human.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Birds}} are commonly considered to be a separate {{w|class (biology)|class}} of {{w|tetrapods}}. However, this classification is false according to {{w|phylogenetic taxonomy}}. Taking into account that birds developed around {{w|late jurassic|150 mio. years ago}} out of small theropod dinosaurs, birds are indeed the last representatives of the {{w|Archosauria|dinosaur clade}}.

This relation between birds and dinosaurs is depicted in the comic in a {{w|cladogram}} which proves that {{w|Tyrannosaurus Rex}} is closer related to the common {{w|sparrow}} than to {{w|Stegosaurus}}. Not only do the former share a phylogenetic branch, but T. Rex did also live around 80 mio. years ''after'' stegosaurus. (In popular culture, the concurrence of both species is a widespread error.) T. Rex is also much more alike to modern birds than to other dinosaurs in terms of physiognomy.

The comic draws the conclusion that if birds must in fact be considered modern dinosaurs, the hunting practice of birds of prey is consequently a dinosaur fight. For an inveterate dinosaur aficionado like [[Randall]], this fact must make the modern world much more attractive.

The line "This is a good world." could also possibly refer to a famous scene from the {{w|Serenity (Firefly episode)|pilot episode}} of the television series {{w|Firefly}} featuring two plastic dinosaurs in a somewhat philosophic dialogue. [[Randall]] is known to be a {{w|Browncoat}}, i.e. a fan of the series.

The title text is a sidesweep to the webcomic [http://www.qwantz.com Dinosaur Comics] drawn by Ryan North, who stands 6" 6' (198cm) tall.

==Transcript==
:By any reasonable definition, T. Rex is more closely related to sparrows than to Stegosaurus.
:[Diagram showing that Stegosaurus came earlier than T. Rex, along with it showing that T.Rex came at the same time as sparrows. Evaluation criteria "separation by time", "phylogenetic distance" and "physical similarity" are highlighted in red.]
:Birds aren't ''descended'' from dinosaurs, they ''are'' dinosaurs.
:Which means that the fastest animal alive today is a small carnivorous dinosaur, ''Falco Peregrinus''.
:[A picture of two birds is shown.]
:It preys mainly on other dinosaurs, which it strikes and kills in midair with its claws.
:[In red:] This is a good world.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]

605: Extrapolating

2013-05-04T01:50:06Z

24.145.230.202: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 605
| date = July 3, 2009
| title = Extrapolating
| image = extrapolating.png
| titletext = By the third trimester, there will be hundreds of babies inside you.
| imagesize =
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a joke on the use of {{w|linear extrapolation}}. By connecting two points without any context, we can come up with incredibly funny results. Here, connecting the number of spouses against yesterday and today can result in a linear extrapolation to hundreds of spouses a year! Using similar points for pregnancy (yesterday: no babies, today: one), we can get 200+ children inside a single person by the 7th month of pregnancy.

This is another comic in the infrequent [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] series.

==Transcript==
:[[My Hobby]]: Extrapolating

:[There is a graph. Time runs along the horizontal axis; Number of Husbands on the vertical graph. Yesterday and today are labeled in time, 0 and 1 in number of husbands. Points are plotted with 0 at yesterday, 1 at today. A straight line is fitted through them.]
:[A man is holding a pointer to the graph, and looking at a woman wearing a dress and veil.]
:Man: As you can see, by late next month you'll have over four dozen husbands.
:Man: Better get a bulk rate on wedding cake.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Wedding]]
[[Category:Extrapolation]]

1207: AirAware

2013-05-04T00:47:20Z

24.145.230.202:

{{comic
| number = 1207
| date = May 3, 2013
| title = AirAware
| image = airaware.png
| titletext = It ships with a version of Google Now that alerts you when it's too late to leave for your appointments.
}}

==Explanation==
Upon being asked by [[Cueball]], [[Black Hat]] reveals his new 'business', AirAware. He explains it uses a {{w|Quadrotor}} that flies and records a persons daily schedule, if that person either deviates, forgets an appointment, or tells somebody incorrect information (including that of future events) the drone alerts the 'client' with an annoying "WRONG!".

Cueball is skeptical of the 'business plan' and questions its potential. Black Hat expands, saying that his intention is not personal profit, and he is simply releasing them himself. Cueball starts to argue that it is not a business, since there is no monetary gain, before being abruptly interrupted by the AirAware drone, declaring that his previous sentence was incorrect. This implies that Black Hat's business is not for profit; it's just another one of his sadistic schemes to torture people.

Although the Wikipedia page for {{w|business}} states that a business "may also be not-for-profit" it would be better classified as a different type of organization, or even, as a [[:Category:My Hobby|hobby]].

{{w|Google Now}} is software by Google, shipped with newer Android devices. It shows you important information when you need it, like traffic on your way to work or home and upcoming events from your calendar. It also reminds you when to leave in order to reach an appointment in time. In the title text, Black Hat has modified this to tell you when you're too ''late'' to get there, instead.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Black Hat looking at a remote-controlled flying object.]
:Cueball: What's that?
:Black Hat: It's a drone for my new business, ''AirAware''.

:Black Hat (narrating): Our UAVs follow you and learn your schedule. If you miss a turn, forget an appointment, or give someone inaccurate information, they alert you.
:Megan (on phone): I'll be there in five.
:Booming voice from the sky: ''WRONG!''
:Megan: Augh!

:Cueball: That sounds annoying. Who would ''pay'' for that?
:Black Hat: Huh? Nobody pays. I'm just making these and releasing them.

:Cueball: That's not a business. You're just yelling at strangers from the sky.
:Cueball: A business has to make money somehow.
:Booming voice from the sky: ''WRONG!''
:Cueball (in smaller voice): Augh!!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

821: Five-Minute Comics: Part 3

2013-04-27T00:09:24Z

24.145.230.202: /* Comic #11 */

{{comic
| number = 821
| date = November 19, 2010
| title = Five-Minute Comics: Part 3
| image = five minute comics part 3.png
| titletext = Resulting in The Little Rock 9x + C.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the third and final "five-minute comics" post Randall made during November 2010. The introduction to the comic explains everything you need to know about the circumstances behind it, so let's get started!

*{{w|Pearl Harbor}} is a US Navy base that was {{w|Attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked}} in 1941 by Japanese airplanes, which prompted the US to join World War II. Of the attacks, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is claimed to have said "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve" (although this claim is disputed, as the quote first appeared in the 1970 film ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' and isn't substantiated by any sources that would have heard him say it).
:The attacks were made on ''December'' 7, 1941, not November 7. Thus, Randall is correct in depicting a Navy base going about its usual business.

*{{w|Breastfeeding in public}} is a touchy subject in parts of the world. In the US, it is considered by some to be inconsiderate to others who would prefer not to see such a display. Of course, women breastfeeding in public are generally feeding their infants, not other adults. The situation presented in the comic is an absurd exaggeration of the debate.

*"s" is the command in {{w|sed}} to perform a pattern search-and-replace; the syntax has also been adopted by other text-processing utilities, including {{w|Perl}} (a favorite subject of xkcd), and has entered into the geek lexicon as something that could appear in general conversation. The specific command "s/I think that/I saw a study once that said/g" means "Find all occurrences of the phrase 'I think that', and replace it with the phrase 'I saw a study once that said'." This will, indeed, improve the persuasiveness of an article, as the existence of scientific evidence will make people more likely to believe what's said, while most people won't even think to actually look up the study in question.

*Arson is the crime of intentionally setting fire to a structure. {{w|Billy Joel}} will no doubt claim {{w|We Didn't Start the Fire|he didn't start the fire}}.

*Coca-Cola is a fizzy cola-flavored soft drink, commonly abbreviated as "coke." {{w|Pop Rocks}} are a candy that contain tiny bubbles of gas, so that as the sugary candy dissolves on your tongue, it creates a popping sensation. For a long time, it was claimed that drinking the two together would cause one's stomach to explode; this was finally put to rest as some people (the Mythbusters in particular) started actually trying it, and discovered that nothing happened.
:Randall, of course, just thinks outside the box.

*After ''{{w|Brown v. Board of Education}}'' ruled that schools could not segregate based on race, nine African American students from Little Rock, Arkansas enrolled in the previously-segregated Little Rock Central High School. The school board could not officially deny them attendance, but members of the community (and, after Arkansas governor Orval Faubus intervened, the Arkansas National Guard) formed a blockade to physically prevent them from entering the school building. The governor claimed this was within his power even after ''Brown v. Board'', because the students were enrolled without issue, they were just physically blocked from entering the school building. After determining that the right to enroll in a school does, implicitly, include the right to actually attend classes there, president Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division to accompany the students and force the National Guard to stand down, thus integrating the school. This incident became known as the {{w|Little Rock Nine}}.
:However, {{w|Integral|integration}} also has a meaning in mathematics. This is indicated in the comic with the soldiers lifting up a giant integral sign to place beside the school, in order to (mathematically) integrate it. Normally, an integral only makes sense on functions; however, since this is the Little Rock ''Nine'', if we take the integral of the constant function ''f''(''x'') = 9, we do, in fact, get 9''x'' + ''C'', as stated in the title text.

*Cell phones with advanced computing capabilities (typically at least requiring fully-featured Internet browsing, multimedia capabilities, and the ability to run software applications) are called "smartphones." Most cell phones also have a "vibrate" function that allows someone in a public situation to receive calls without alerting others; the phone will discreetly vibrate rather than activate a ringtone, thus privately notifying the owner that a call is incoming. A semi-common problem with this feature is that a vibrating phone on a table that has a slight slope will slowly (or, if the slope is bad enough, rather quickly) slide down the slope, possibly falling off the table and breaking. If our smartphones ever decided to kill us, this would possibly be their only method of attack.
**Randall later covered this in his [[what if?]] blog. [http://what-if.xkcd.com/5/]

*The Three Little Pigs is a children's fairy tale about three pigs who build their houses out of, respectively, straw, sticks, and bricks. A wolf comes along and eats the pigs living in the straw and stick houses, but he can't knock down the brick house, because his only method for breaking them down is to blow on them until the material falls to pieces. The lesson is somewhat confused and seems to be "Don't build your house in such a way that a semi-strong wind can blow it down," which is sound advice but somewhat bizarre for a children's story.
:The 119 Little Pigs seems to be a variant where the pigs build their houses out of the 119 chemical elements. The 38th little pig builds his house out of {{w|strontium}}, which is, of course, the 38th element on the Periodic Table. One wonders what happened to the pigs who are stuck making their houses out of elements that are gaseous or liquid at room temperature, or those whose houses would react with the air and/or undergo nuclear decay.
:Although given the water content in exhaled breath, it's {{w|Alkali metal#Reaction with water (alkali metal hydroxides)|easy to see}} how the wolf would huff, puff, and blow down the houses made of {{w|lithium}}, {{w|sodium}}, {{w|potassium}}, {{w|rubidium}}, {{w|caesium}}, and {{w|francium}}.

*"Fastest gun in the West" is a boast commonly made in Western movies, where it is used to mean that a person is the fastest at drawing his gun in a duel (or, alternatively, can fire his gun the fastest). It doesn't actually describe the gun itself, and certainly doesn't describe how fast the gun can gallop across the land.

*"It's what separates the ''men'' from the ''boys''" is a phrase used to describe "macho" activities that, apparently, only "real men" will participate/do well in; all the other men haven't grown up yet, and are thus "boys." {{w|Centrifuge}}s are used to rapidly separate a material from the liquid it's dissolved in, so apparently they can also be used to separate men from boys.

*Narnia is the mythical land in ''{{w|The Chronicles of Narnia}}''. In the books, time passes differently in Narnia, such that one can spend many years in Narnia and come out to find that almost no time at all has passed on Earth (and, conversely, during a short trip back to Earth, hundreds of years could pass in Narnia). {{w|Lucy Pevensie|Lucy}} is taking advantage of this by putting a computer in Narnia to perform extremely fast computation. {{w|Folding@home}} and {{w|SETI@home}} are distributed computing projects that aim to solve extremely large computational problems by pooling together computer resources of thousands of home computers who volunteer for the project; Folding@home looks at how proteins are folded, which has applications in medical science, and SETI@home analyzes EM waves from space, looking for signs extraterrestrial intelligent life amongst the cosmic background noise. Running through all of that data in a few hours would be quite an accomplishment indeed, although, as Peter points out, the idea has many problems:
**The book was written in 1957 and it occurs even earlier than that, long predating personal computers, so Lucy shouldn't even have one.
**Even if it occurs in an alternate universe where the PC was invented before 1957, the storage that would be needed to store the entire Folding@home and SETI@home databases would be far beyond her means, since the characters in the book are foster kids who don't have any money.
**Even if she somehow pulled that much storage space together, the time needed for one computer to run through those databases is on the order of millennia. A computer would not continuously run for that long without careful treatment, which Narnia is not equipped for.
**Even if we handwave around that issue (''"Aslan, use your power to keep all dust away from this computer for the next ten thousand years, please"''), the wall socket powering the computer is on the Earth side. Mains power outlets in the UK provide alternating current with an amplitude of 230 volts and a frequency of 50 hertz. The 50Hz part is what's important here: all devices designed to work with UK mains power expect a 50Hz sine wave. The time difference between Earth and Narnia would substantially elongate the sine wave in a method similar to the Doppler effect, which would probably prevent the computer from functioning at all.
**The time differential doesn't occur while people are entering/exiting Narnia (though they do occur while the wardrobe's open) or the Pevensie children would have had had some difficulty surviving the transition. Since the cables of the computer are crossing between the worlds, it seems unlikely that the time differential is even active yet.

*''{{w|The Honeymooners}}'' is a classic American sitcom. The show stars Ralph and Alice Kramden, and Ralph frequently makes empty threats of the form "One of these days, Alice...," followed by a combination of onomatopoeia. For example: "One of these days, Alice... BANG! ZOOM! Straight to the moon!" (Alice inevitably replies "Ahhh, shut up.")
:Here, Randall takes the pattern to a ridiculous and not-at-all threatening place.

==Transcript==
Because of a family illness, instead of regular comics, this week I'll be sharing some strips that I drew as part of a game I played with friends. Each comic had to be written and drawn in five minutes.

-- Randall

====Comic #1====
:Pearl Harbor. November 7th, 1941.
:[There is a beach, with some ships floating in a crescent shaped harbor.]

:[The same bay, again.]

:[The boats continue to move about the harbor.]

:[The boats do their thing. A title explains.]
:(We're going to be here a while, since the attack wasn't until December.)

====Comic #2====
:[Cueball is sitting on a bus, Megan in front of him.]
:I know it's natural and all, but I really wish women on the bus wouldn't try to breastfeed me.
:Woman: C'mon, have some milk. Right here.
:Me: I'm ''reading''.

====Comic #3====
:s/I think that/I saw a study once that said that/g
:Instant persuasiveness multiplier!

====Comic #4====
:[A newspaper front page. Billy Joel is between two policemen.]
:Times
:Billy Joel Arrested for Arson

====Comic #5====
:[One person has a cord leaving their mouth, the other is holding a handset on the end of it to their ear.]
:Handset: Hee hee hee... *giggle*
:I hear that if you drink coke and eat pop rocks, you vomit up a corded telephone handset on which you hear creepy little girls giggling.

====Comic #6====
:[Three soldiers are holding a large integral sign, while a fourth points a gun at the Little Rock High School.]
:1957: Eisenhower orders the military to integrate Little Rock High School.

====Comic #7====
:[A smartphone is vibrating across a table, towards a person.]
:The smartphones got ''too'' smart... and developed a taste... for BLOOD!
:Fortunately, the only way they could move was by turning on their vibrate while on a sloped table.

====Comic #8====
:[Cueball is reading to his child.]
:Cueball: And the wolf went to see the 38th little pig, who had built his house out of strontium.
:Cueball: And the wolf was all, "Ok, what is ''with'' this shit?"
:The 119 Little Pigs

====Comic #9====
:[Cueball is holding up a gun.]
:Cueball: Fastest gun in the west!

:[The gun is galloping across the desert.]
:''gallop gallop''

:[There is a podium, with a gun in each position.]
:Winner!

====Comic #10====
:[A picture of a centrifuge dominates the panel.]
:Centrifuges: They're what separate the men from the boys.

====Comic #11====
:[A computer monitor is plugged in, and cables run into a wardrobe.]
:Lucy: Time passes differently in Narnia, so by putting the CPU and storage for my machine there, I was able to run through the Folding@Home and Seti@Home databases in about an hour.
:Peter: There are so many problems with that.

====Comic #12====
:[Someone is talking to Alice.]
:Person: One of these days, Alice... Wham, zoom, sploosh, fwoom, splash, gurlle, wheeeee, fwoosh, aren't waterslides fun?!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Five-minute comics]]

Talk:1204: Detail

2013-04-26T23:31:51Z

24.145.230.202:

I'm not certain as to what the date should be, as I'm in New Zealand. I've taken one off of my current date (26th) as a precaution. Anyone who knows the right date (or right timezone) please edit it accordingly. --[[User:ZephireNZ|ZephireNZ]] ([[User talk:ZephireNZ|talk]]) 04:25, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

This comic arrive a day early, right?[[User:Afhoke|Afhoke]] ([[User talk:Afhoke|talk]]) 04:42, 26 April 2013 (UTC)
:Most likely a result of the time machine. [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 05:02, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

Any idea if the typo Ne*ghborhood is intentional and what it might refer to? [[Special:Contributions/141.17.83.10|141.17.83.10]] 07:11, 26 April 2013 (UTC)
: It appears to have just been a mistake, as it's now been corrected on the panel at kxcd. [[Special:Contributions/67.51.59.66|67.51.59.66]] 16:48, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

:: I see what you did there. ;) --[[Special:Contributions/24.145.230.202|24.145.230.202]] 23:31, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

Forget electronic microscope. Where do you think they would be STORING the maps? Nearby galaxies? Other dimension? .... oh, I see: Black Mesa Research Facility is a google service company researching storage technologies. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 08:13, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

Shouldn't the vertical axis be reversed? If the Planck length is the theoretical smallest length, wouldn't most readers expect the smallest value to be lowest on the vertical axis? Thus the log scale line would angle downward, more clearly indicating that the resolution lengthy is getting smaller with time. The way it it is drawn, the first impression might be that the resolution length is increasing, not decreasing. Just a suggestion. XKCD is my favorite comic because I learn something new almost every day! {{unsigned|Matthew-e-hackman}}
: I had the same thought. Had to pause a moment to reassure myself Planck Length is a small thing. [[Special:Contributions/67.51.59.66|67.51.59.66]] 16:48, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

Randall really likes pointing out the dangers of excessive extrapolation, doesn't he! One of his key themes. And this one is taking extremes to the extreme. [[User:Robbak|Robbak]] ([[User talk:Robbak|talk]]) 13:00, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

Representation == Reality?

Whoa i just figured. the lines meet around 2100 - and in 2101.war was beginning - a coincidence? --[[Special:Contributions/178.203.192.19|178.203.192.19]] 20:25, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

1200: Authorization

2013-04-25T11:45:45Z

24.145.230.202: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1200
| date = April 17, 2013
| title = Authorization
| image = authorization.png
| titletext = Before you say anything, no, I know not to leave my computer sitting out logged in to all my accounts. I have it set up so after a few minutes of inactivity it automatically switches to my brother's.
}}

==Explanation==
Computer operating systems were initially written for the business environment. Thus they were made to be accessible to multiple employees, or users, but only fully accessible to administrators (or admins). Regular users can access and use programs on the computer, but only the admin is allowed to make changes to how the computer runs. This same split level of security continues to this day, even in privately owned, or "home", computers.

The joke here is that the most important things on a computer are no longer the programs that it runs, but the private personal data it accesses (usually online). Anyone who wished to do real mischief on an active computer could do considerable damage without ever caring what the admin password was. The admin password, in effect, now guards a vault no one cares about.

This comic pokes fun at the authorization mechanisms surrounding most operating systems' administrator accounts. It makes the argument that the user's data is more valuable than the integrity of the system. (This is arguably true for most personal systems, although it is probably not true in a shared-server setup, where a system compromise could lead to the exposure of many users' data.)

Essentially, once a user is logged in, he or she can typically access all of his or her data without any further restriction. Modifying the operating system (for example, to install drivers) requires a separate password.

The title text alludes to the security practice where computers automatically lock the user out after a few minutes, requiring a password from the user in order to continue using it. Instead, Randall's computer automatically switches to his brother's account, presumably compromising them instead of his own.

==Transcript==
:[Diagram showing several connected rooms. One in the center says "User account on my laptop," surrounded by "Dropbox," "Photos & files," "Facebook," "Gmail," "PayPal," and "Bank," which are connected to the middle room and to each other. Below the middle room is one labeled "Admin account," which is covered in spikes, and has a door to the room above it.]
:If someone steals my laptop while I'm logged in, they can read my email, take my money, and impersonate me to my friends, but at least they can't install drivers without my permission.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Computers]]

685: G-Spot

2013-04-13T20:37:02Z

24.145.230.202: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 685
| date = January 6, 2010
| title = G-Spot
| image = g-spot.png
| titletext = The BBC lead was 'The elusive erogenous zone said to exist in some women may be a myth, say researchers who have hunted for it.' I couldn't read it with a straight face.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|G-Spot}} is, as the BBC is quoted of saying in the title text, an elusive erogenous zone some women claim to have that can be stimulated to enhance their sexual experience.
In this comic, a live press conference has been held due to a peer-reviewed study suggesting the G-Spot may not exist.
Cueball (the researcher) initially claims he's not researching the G-Spot, but then admits he can't find it anyway.

Cueball may be a G-Spot researcher, but not initially wanting to admit it because of the research result, or really is a solar cell researcher, but has not found the G-Spot when having sex with his partner(s).

As mentioned in the Wikipedia article there actually has been such a study, so the BBC report in the title text is quite likely to have actually been heard by [[Randall Munroe|Randall]].

==Transcript==
:A study published in the journal of sexual medicine suggests that the g-spot may not actually exist.
:We go live to the researchers' press conference:
:[Reporters, including Ponytail, stand below a researcher (Cueball) at a podium.]
:Ponytail: Is it true you've been unable to find evidence that the g-spot exists?
:Cueball: My research is in solar cells. I think you have the wrong press conference.
:[Beat panel]
:Cueball: But ... yes.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

Talk:1190: Time

2013-03-31T20:49:36Z

24.145.230.202: /* bash script to get all images */

Pretty sure we're just getting trolled with this one [[Special:Contributions/99.108.190.136|99.108.190.136]] 04:48, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Can't tell if this is emo xkcd or trolling xkcd. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 04:53, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Something seems a little fishy because the image url is different than normal. [[User:Bugefun|Bugefun]] ([[User talk:Bugefun|talk]]) 04:55, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:Maybe the comic slowly changes throughout the day. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 04:56, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
::Oh god, it does. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 04:57, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:::When uploading different versions of the image, use the naming convention time[iterationNumber].png. We'll compile all the images into one and display them as per [[Traffic Lights]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:05, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
::::Alright, so the comic appears to be switching between two states here: between [[media:time2.png|this]] and [[media:time3.png|this]]. If nothing new happens, I'll get to clipping the comics together. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:28, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:::::Whoop, nope, [[media:time4.png|this]] just came up. Is there more to come? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:34, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
::::::Alright, so a new one is posted every half-hour. Whoopee. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:06, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:::::::And there's a new one! Megan leaning back and looking up...
::::::::Well, the image changed, who has the time to make a script to catch the new images and compile them into a gif? https://dl.dropbox.com/u/932170/time.png [[User:Statharas.903|Statharas.903]] ([[User talk:Statharas.903|talk]]) 07:14, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

[[Special:Contributions/72.21.198.66|72.21.198.66]] 05:11, 25 March 2013 (UTC)It could be a reference to the old proverb " time and tide wait for none" Cueball and the girl could be waiting for the tide in the beach! (Just a guess)[[Special:Contributions/72.21.198.66|72.21.198.66]] 05:11, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

The picture does chance with time. The URL includes a changing timestamp that I can't decipher. Compare these two URLS (which have slightly different images:
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/8eb156cce408df8bb83528382d6a2aa2ce6c74f3c573fd12b058cd1c56420672.png
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/1e349a579b5f9b5ed487ddf7e88244b70330941ddedac9c6abf6ed2e3f589b97.png

Perhaps there is a way to hack the URL to view future images. [[Special:Contributions/199.30.248.121|199.30.248.121]] 05:29, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: I would also like to add that knowing randall, these are not the only images. For all we know, the image will still be changing in 5 years while a tree grows in front of them. My point is: Are the URLs hackable, or did he encrypt them? [[Special:Contributions/199.30.248.121|199.30.248.121]] 05:33, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Likely there is a way to hack the URLs; they look like some sort of hash, probably a hashed timestamp. Of course, he could easily have added some salt to the hash, making it significantly *harder* to hack. But they're strings of a specific length, so it should be pretty easy to bruteforce it, fetch all the images, and then (maybe) reverse-engineer the sequence. *That* all depends on how many of them there are. [[Special:Contributions/76.90.249.178|76.90.249.178]] 05:44, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:Good god, do you see how many digits are *in* that hash? The sun'll have burned out by the time we've tested every possible combination of digits. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:47, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

It seems that the image is updated every 1/2 hour. [[Special:Contributions/152.23.97.150|152.23.97.150]] 06:17, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: Given that the images switch back and forth between other images already seen, and that the comic should be viewable in the future, it seems unlikely that it's any thing like a simple sha256 of part of the timestamp. I think it's more likely a function of half-hours and minutes (assuming we continue to get a new possible image every half-hour). [[Special:Contributions/99.153.248.206|99.153.248.206]] 06:59, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

::: The images do cycle, yes. But for some reason I have never seen the img where Megan is looking behind her. Also wouldn't it be difficult to show a sequential story (like the rising tide) if the previous images keep cycling ?

Hash appears to be SHA-256. I tried some obvious hashes ("1", "11901", "1190_1", "1190.1") to no avail. Maybe this is HMAC-SHA256? Also, I would suggest trying Unix timestamps. [[Special:Contributions/131.156.236.149|131.156.236.149]] 06:19, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: I've been trying to make educated guesses as to what's being hashed here: http://www.xorbin.com/tools/sha256-hash-calculator ... he could also be using hash(hash2(value)) which would be virtually impossible to crack. [[Special:Contributions/99.153.248.206|99.153.248.206]] 06:59, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

It's entirely possible that the "hash" is actually randomly generated. Just a thought. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.153|129.21.119.153]] 07:03, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Regarding sha256. Its most likely some hash of a timestamp, but if he doesnt wants us to crack it, he would have prefixes a password.. sha256('secretcode17:30'). Im just saying, if he doesnt wants us to crack it, we most likely cant.
I've tested all unixtimestamps from 1300000000 to 1364390334. Also "00:00" to "23:59", with and without the colon and a load of other formats. {{unsigned|77.243.128.133}}

Alright, this is probably not going to work, but I'm trying to exploit Randall's awesomeness here. Maybe he decided to take the time-stamps from the user? I don't know if that's even possible... That would then allow people in different time zones to obtain different images simultaneously. (What's the corollary of Godwin's law for a bunch of math-and-science nerds and relativity? Is there one?) Clicking the img src url on the comic's html page, give me this: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/752687b61523144c61736cd89f8c153dc41e19128f72d78d44947ff800f057fa.png : Never mind.. apparently others see the same image too.

Could he be doing this live? Monitoring the discussion on the net? Collaborative, crowdsourced comic-ing? Reminds me of those you-decide-what-the-character-does-next-and-flip-to-appropriate-page parallel plot novels.

[[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 07:14, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Let's just compare the two pictures and see how the bottom right changes, which I believe is water and they are indeed waiting for the tide. [[User:Statharas.903|Statharas.903]] ([[User talk:Statharas.903|talk]]) 07:19, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:I'm adding urls to pictures bellow, edit freely.
::They change every 5 minutes, will try to keep track.

http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/f/f8/time.png
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/1e349a579b5f9b5ed487ddf7e88244b70330941ddedac9c6abf6ed2e3f589b97.png
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/752687b61523144c61736cd89f8c153dc41e19128f72d78d44947ff800f057fa.png
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/932170/timeasdf.png
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/932170/time6.png

:I have uploaded all the different images onto the wiki, in the order that they were revealed. To avoid needless duplication of effort, I'll put them up in the explanation page. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:44, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

It just went back to the second image... [[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 07:59, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: And now changed to something new. http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/cdcc6b46b32c53f8596cd0106958b42c4260b9cbc022e6d94054147aa6554960.png
:: The images do look alike, but they're all different. Thanks David. [[User:Statharas.903|Statharas.903]] ([[User talk:Statharas.903|talk]]) 08:04, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

::: No..I checked the random string. They're exactly the same. In fact, now it's gone back to the second image. Again. [[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 08:07, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Just found this JavaScript code embedded in the comic HTML source (Update: Reformatted to prevent eye-bleeding): http://pastebin.com/4vNJH53Z

I'm no programmer but this looks important to me...

:Moved it to pastebin, so it doesn't clutter the page so much. [[Special:Contributions/81.23.24.51|81.23.24.51]] 14:22, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

:Doesn't really help. The script basically changes the image when something happens (probably some time passes, although it's possible there is more hidden there). WHAT image then appears is not directed by the script, but by the site. Specifically, the image displayed as first is taken from [http://c0.xkcd.com/redirect/comic/time http://c0.xkcd.com/redirect/comic/time], while the script asks for [http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource&r=(somenumber) http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource&r=(somenumber)] ... which is, if you get correct "r", probably some json containing the image url. So, even if you hack the script, you will not get all possible urls. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:17, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

:: ... actually, given that the script part doesn't seem to do anything just now, it's even possible it's for later (ie, starts producing images when the correct time come). Or maybe there is a bug somewhere in the code :-). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:27, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

:::Thanks for explaining. Why hasn't anyone posted this before? Could "location.hash" possibly have anything to do with the method used to generate the image hash key? Also, why is this code so difficult to follow (Obfuscation?)? So many questions... Sorry if this is just a huge waste of ''Time''.

:::: <code>location</code> is the URI of the page. <code>location.hash</code> is the part of the uri after the ''#'' character. If you go to [https://xkcd.com/1190/#verbose https://xkcd.com/1190/#verbose], you'll see some debugging output in your browser's debugging console (Firefox: Web Console or Firebug, Chrome: Development Tools). But nothing to decode the algorithm... :-( --[[Special:Contributions/83.243.48.2|83.243.48.2]] 10:01, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

::::: Well, I don't know what's doing it, but there's definitely some script (probably this script) that's refreshing the image automatically. I left the comic open for an hour or so and noticed the image had changed. I refreshed with #verbose in Chrome right before the 30 minute mark and got the following in the console.
<pre>
connecting to event source: http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource time07.min.js:1
s {type: "comic/time", data: "{"spread":5,"image":"832a7f13ca0fadc46e93475bb617d78211e32c81c3af0e289a51f8f149707759.png"}", lastEventId: "e2992bf0-9557-11e2-8001-1c6f659cb250"} time07.min.js:1
waiting 0 seconds before displaying comic 832a7f13ca0fadc46e93475bb617d78211e32c81c3af0e289a51f8f149707759.png time07.min.js:1
Resource interpreted as Image but transferred with MIME type application/octet-stream: "http://xkcd.com/events/connect_start". time07.min.js:1
s {type: "comic/time", data: "{"spread":5,"image":"847265673986f085460bf1a95b96f7171bcd9a4f1f0a598b2188307d03bcfaa3.png"}", lastEventId: "79580fe8-9558-11e2-8001-1c6f659cb250"} time07.min.js:1
waiting 4 seconds before displaying comic 847265673986f085460bf1a95b96f7171bcd9a4f1f0a598b2188307d03bcfaa3.png time07.min.js:1
connection error i {type: "error"} time07.min.js:1
Resource interpreted as Image but transferred with MIME type application/octet-stream: "http://xkcd.com/events/connect_error".
</pre>
::::: The script seems to poll the server every minute or two. It's different from before, where the image server itself redirected to the correct image. The auto refresh was probably always intended, but not quite ready when the comic went live. It may have turned out to be necessary too, so the image server doesn't have to do all the work. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.153|129.21.119.153]] 14:45, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

== Before obfuscation... ==
http://pastebin.com/dLiWsFyN
[[Special:Contributions/79.180.173.88|79.180.173.88]] 09:48, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

:Moved to pastebin.[[Special:Contributions/81.23.24.51|81.23.24.51]] 14:34, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/426033682a26a0012a6f8e0c47287af91b7991a852d81c77402c937ffbd650c6.png

http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1e/f46c6571393bee1ee649a7daae41f6328e63482506aef1e22607d22c47dd7027.png --[[User:Johnsmith|Johnsmith]] ([[User talk:Johnsmith|talk]]) 22:51, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/b/b0/88e3a0c8bba935c669606d9134314f811a0961985f968dd5d329e4695acc67c8.png --[[User:Johnsmith|Johnsmith]] ([[User talk:Johnsmith|talk]]) 23:10, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Is it just me or or did Randall manage to make all of us perform a Denial of Service on xkcd.com, and explainxkcd.com ? xkcd.com seems much slower, and I keep getting "500 Internal server error" when accessing this site (explainxkcd.com). I guess that's the effect of having everybody hit F5 every few minutes :) [[Special:Contributions/193.239.192.194|193.239.192.194]] 11:57, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Earlier today, the server handled all the image redirections. The script you see above went through several mutations (currently at #8), with each mutation it seems that Randall is adding more servers and trying to split the load between them. This is basically how a bot-net works - we all run code written by some evil genius, and he's changing the code as time passes to serve some hidden purpose.
[[Special:Contributions/79.180.173.88|79.180.173.88]] 15:44, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:If he is using us as a botnet, then maybe the next comic will be something alluding to that.
:Probably like this: http://xkcd.com/350/

When I saw this comic last night and that there was no explanation up, I thought to myself "How zen." I figured that Randall was going through a calm streak before throwing us the utterly ridiculous April 1st comic. Did it come early, or does he have something even bigger planned for us? [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 07:05, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
:Sorry, did you miss the bit where this comic updates every 30 minutes and all the server error messages being caused by the massive traffic to both the wiki and the main xkcd website? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:08, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
::Well, when I said "last night" and "no explanation", I implied that I wasn't aware of that at the time, which is why I thought what I did. Of course, it is now "now" and there is an explanation, so that should answer your question. Also, since it's not April 1st, and Randall has consistently released something major on that day, the jury is still out, leaving my question quite open (though I was really only asking for opinions). [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 07:20, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

wanted to add an image to the list above, but didn't know at what timestamp to add it, got 69085b480cb82911b19fe8f114909756989eed89b0d227db0f59c1843de7ba24.png at 2013-03-26 09:47 CET (UTC+0100)
/Puggan
:The hours denote the time since the initial release of the comic. The page is still a work in progress, we're going to bring that all into one image file soon. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:13, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

This site should seriously consider cloudflare, it's perfect at times like this and takes minutes to set up. I run all my sites through it and it saves a lot of page huts and bandwidth.
[[Special:Contributions/123.3.136.228|123.3.136.228]]Evan Pyle
:Or at least make the main page a static page that refreshes every so often. I'm guessing that most of the traffic is going to the front page with not as much traffic to the actual comic page [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 15:43, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

Some of the images on the wiki (looks like time38.png through time48.png) are slightly different than what is on the main site. The lines are slightly thicker, as though someone did them based on screen captures.
[[User:Royce|Royce]] ([[User talk:Royce|talk]]) 14:37, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
:Well, at least we have the hashes so they can be re-retrieved, so nothing is really lost, right? Should we add links to the original? [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 15:43, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

:I uploaded two of the "thicker" images and one of the "regular" ones, and I did the same thing for all of them: right-click->save-as. Given that the "thick" ones are all clustered together, I think the files on the xkcd site changed. [[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 18:21, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

Story so far: [http://static.odysseus.anderson.name/1190.gif linky] [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 19:30, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

I guess we shall find out in ~10 minutes if Randall is trolling us. [[Special:Contributions/129.138.30.95|129.138.30.95]] 04:20, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

... so that's it?

Did I just miss something or we've all been epically trolled for 48 hours? [[Special:Contributions/189.59.175.92|189.59.175.92]] 04:22, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:Motherofgod, no, he's *still* going!''' [[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:20, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

What makes you think he's done? [[Special:Contributions/129.138.30.95|129.138.30.95]] 04:25, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

I'm still waiting for the water level to drop precipitously... and then for red spiders to run over everything [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 04:28, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Well, strip 1191 is up so I assumed it was over. I guess it's not. Until April's Fools maybe? [[Special:Contributions/189.59.175.92|189.59.175.92]] 04:32, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
: It is not over -- the image is still updating, at least it did for me [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]])
:: Yes, it's not over. Last frame shows just a minimal movement of Cueball's head, but no doubt it's still ongoing. [[Special:Contributions/189.59.175.92|189.59.175.92]] 04:49, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
::: Given the fact the strips for the last 2 weeks have been comparatively simple, I expect Randall has been planning this for at least that long. {{unsigned|101.98.156.239}}

Considering the common theme with "today's" strip, anyone wanna guess that he's sending us a hex-encoded file over a really slow modem link, slated to complete April 1? Anyone wanna run "magic" over the hashes and see if they come up with a compression codec or something? [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 04:45, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:I liked this idea and crunched the hex data for 00:00 to 51:00 into a binary file (http://filebin.ca/bcGyfUvdgBi). Can't see anything resembling a file header, but that doesn't really say much. If this is compressed header-less data there wouldn't likely be any easily discernible patterns. Haven't really tried running the data through anything, zlib was one that came to mind but haven't tried it.

[[Special:Contributions/194.114.62.72|194.114.62.72]] I'm pretty shure it's not the seaside, but a lake - the water level is not changing at all.

Its probably going to loop back on itself, eventually, and repeat this way forever. [[Special:Contributions/113.160.224.209|113.160.224.209]] 07:12, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

For those wondering about the Javascript behind this: I posted my analysis of the Javascript [http://www.echochamber.me/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=101043&start=760#p3303579 on the xkcd forums], and further de-obfuscated and annotated the code over on [https://gist.github.com/cincodenada/5246094 GitHub]. Here's a quick summary though: it holds open a connection to xkcd's servers and listens for instructions and follows them. Those instructions are either "load a new image" or "reload the page". So, you don't have to mash F5, it will automatically update the image when they're available. We have no way to control how fast the images come or when they do, and it's quite possible for them to update forever. --[[User:Fiveofoh|Fiveofoh]] ([[User talk:Fiveofoh|talk]]) 06:41, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

This is a series of animation frames. I suspect they will only ever be shown once (based on the fact you can only get the current image, not previous or future images -- this is in keeping with the title, "Time", which passes and which you can't ever get back]. The filenames are UUIDs too long to guess, so somebody needs to start collecting the filenames here so that a proper flipbook can be assembled. Here's the latest URL: [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/81efa7c4509ac7a329407d9da25d12ec0a3baec50e06588586961575e2d65c2c.png http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/81efa7c4509ac7a329407d9da25d12ec0a3baec50e06588586961575e2d65c2c.png] Go here to collect URLs: [http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource]
:We've kinda already been doing that. They're the big long filenames next to each timestamp. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:06, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Oh my god it's game of thrones played out in 2D [[Special:Contributions/123.3.136.228|123.3.136.228]] Evan Pyle

Is it just me, or do the last two frames look like someone just threw a rock at the castle? [[Special:Contributions/67.167.81.143|67.167.81.143]] 14:20, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

I believe it is the cannon ball that I have been expecting since they first started building castles. [[User:ChrisPUT|ChrisPUT]] ([[User talk:ChrisPUT|talk]]) 16:34, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

== Create an animation on this page ==
Here's a bit of JavaScript to execute in your browser's JavaScript console. (Cmd+Alt+K on Firefox for Mac, for example.)

/* Collect all frame image URLs */
var images = [];
Array.prototype.slice.call(document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/time"][href$=".png"]')).forEach(function (a) {
images.push(a.href);
});

/* Create an image in the top-right corner of the screen */
var img = document.body.appendChild(document.createElement('img'));
img.setAttribute('style', 'position: fixed; top: 1em; right: 1em;');

/* Allow removing the image by clicking */
img.onclick = function () {
img.parentNode.removeChild(img);
};

var texts = [0,51,169,174];
var delays = [0,500,700,1500];

/* Cycle through the frames */
img.onload = function () {
/* Pause a bit longer for the text frames */
var idx = texts.indexOf(img.i);
var delay = ( idx > 0 ) ? delays[idx] : 50;
setTimeout(function () {
img.src = images[++img.i % images.length];
}, delay);
};

/* Start with the first frame */
img.i = 0;
img.src = images[img.i];

— [http://jan.moesen.nu/ Jan!] [[Special:Contributions/94.23.195.79|94.23.195.79]] 09:22, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

---Thanks for the script!. Ctrl+Shift+J on Windows Chrome [[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 13:11, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

- updated script 'coz there are three text panels now. [[User schnitz]] 19:00, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

The one for the prior half hour (5AM - 5:30AM EST, 27 March 2013) is located at http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/5450bd39ee84a394467fabcaf92f1a5711c2a4eca24c8bd8a8cec829496e3dd7.png
[[Special:Contributions/141.161.133.106|141.161.133.106]] 09:26, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

And the one for the following half hour is located at http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/c2ea85f1ab92f2f80e9c4655c47f5c7effc0a7da01c8a88493864845855b3be8.png
[[Special:Contributions/141.161.133.106|141.161.133.106]] 09:31, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Call me a paranoid, but I think this strip is all about 9/11:
*If you read the strip number (1190) backwards, you get 09/11
*This subject is recurrent on xkcd
*As far as we have seen, there is a destroyed tower and they are rebuilding it
*The next strip, following 1190 (or 09/11), mentions war against countries with large oil reserves but low military capacity. {{unsigned|143.107.105.14}}
:I feel like that's kind of a stretch, I'm pretty sure it's just a story about a day at the beach.

If a new strip goes up every 30 minutes our time, and if each strip comprises of, let's say for the sake of simplicity, one minute in their time; to build the sand castle [frames 24-117 = 93 frames] so far it's taken almost 2 days our time, which would be about an hour and a half their time if each frame is a minute. Using my scale, an hour our time is 2 minutes their time, a day is 48 minutes, and our month is their 24 hour day. If we assume Randall plans to give us a 24 hour period from that world's time, and we use the minute-per-frame rate I made up, than we'd probably be looking at a month of images our time. I guess we'll just have to see how long he's got it planned to go on. -boB

Has it ended? All that's left is the sandcastle, and there doesn't seem to have been anything else changed on it for a few hours.

It's zooming out! When look at the gifs showing the frames in succession, the last 3 show the castle getting slightly smaller each time!
: It's true! The most recent also shows the edge of another castle, leading me to believe it's part of some kind of sand castle contest, probably including some of xkcd's other recurring characters!
::Weird, now it's not showing that, Randall must have put something up too soon.
A controllable version of the same comic is available at http://xkcd.aubronwood.com/ - slow/fast movement, pause, control back and forth. It also has the image # on the top left. Auto updating. [[Special:Contributions/59.182.173.88|59.182.173.88]] 20:56, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

:Can you add on-screen buttons, so it's usable on phones and tablets without hardware keyboard?{{unsigned|81.23.24.48}}

looky here: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/4c92727698b704ee1d02fbd37c94c220d16be4ad3ff6fc03a3fb77ea6d96434f.png [[Special:Contributions/97.88.147.176|97.88.147.176]] 23:14, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
That was a glitch on the server that revealed a future frame, but it has been corrected and that link is now a 404 not found. I guess if we want to see it in context we'll just have to "Wait for it."{{unsigned|Bugstomper}}
: Well now we're back to that picture as the present frame. [[User:Racerdude09|Racerdude09]] ([[User talk:Racerdude09|talk]]) 03:14, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Is someone gonna update the transcript to note them building a sandcastle, as well as the dialogue so far (consisting of Megan and Cueball saying goodbye to each other at No. 52)?--[[Special:Contributions/69.119.250.251|69.119.250.251]] 00:38, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Anyone else think that they're roleplaying Dom and Mal in Limbo? [[User:Fry-kun|Fry-kun]] ([[User talk:Fry-kun|talk]]) 05:36, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

I think they're bulding a sand replica of King's Landing for the Game Of Thrones season 3 premiere {{unsigned|201.239.18.75}}
: My first idea regarding the sand castle was also about Game of Thrones, but i dismissed it as being too biased.. --[[Special:Contributions/217.13.68.110|217.13.68.110]] 13:31, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

I have modified the code "'''''/* Collect all frame image URLs */'''''" to see only images of the "'''Frame by Frame Breakdown'''" section :
/* Collect all frame image URLs */
var images = [];
Array.prototype.slice.call(document.querySelector('#Frame_by_Frame_Breakdown').parentElement.nextElementSibling.nextElementSibling.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/wiki/images/"][href*="/time"][href$=".png"]')).forEach(function (a) {
images.push(a.href);
});
(Sorry for my English... and the ugly code...) {{unsigned|194.119.85.99}}

Anyone else think this is going to be related to Wed's cartoon? I'm half-expecting Black Hat to show up from the future, with advanced weaponry, to take oil from the sandcastle of the past. {{unsigned|173.180.60.43}}

Guys, i think we might have lost a few frames in between, no? When did he upload the first image? like, the exakt time... knowing this we could calculate the amount of images there should be and compare to what we have... [[User:Caranhyas|Caranhyas]] ([[User talk:Caranhyas|talk]]) 18:04, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

The four comics from 89:00 to 90:30 (most recent so far) look the same to me, but the PNG files have different CRCs for the image data blocks, though the metadata in the PNG files are all the same. I wonder if there might be something subtle hidden in the images, or the way they're compressed. [[Special:Contributions/24.160.133.3|24.160.133.3]] 22:54, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

: There is a very minor difference in the water level on those images, even though the water level has been static in most of the other images. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.63.210|129.21.63.210]] 02:05, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

I don't think the title text is a reference to anything except for... wait for it... THE MONGOLS ;-) [[Special:Contributions/81.23.24.34|81.23.24.34]] 23:00, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Unless the 99:30 image was misnamed, it's not included in the list of images. Does anyone know where this frame went? [[User:Bob|Bob]] 14:18, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Is that rain in two recent panels? [[User:Larry|Larry]] ([[User talk:Larry|talk]]) 14:21, 29 March 2013 (UTC)r

Can someone identify for sure what Cueball is doing in 105:00? His arms seems to be crossed, and his holding something in his hand. [[User:Mem|mem]] ([[User talk:Mem|talk]]) 14:30, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
: Looks to me like he is shivering, which would allude to a cool down common with rain storms? [[User:Jeremy1026|Jeremy1026]] ([[User talk:Jeremt1026|talk]]) 14:51 29 March 2013 (UTC)
: Looks to me like he's brushing sand off himself; see the shower around him similar to her hair at 10:00? [[Special:Contributions/70.178.167.60|70.178.167.60]] 03:07, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Megan just wheeled in a trebuchet! This is going to be fun! [[Special:Contributions/69.246.10.71|69.246.10.71]] 16:34, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
Now she's launching a rock. I wonder which tower it might hit. March 2013, at 17:08. Flew over the first two and might impact far right tower if it continues. 17:48

I think this is all an elaborate 'joke' which will keep running until Monday - April Fools' Day [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 17:17, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Re explanation of hour 110:00. My first thought was "How can a person whose face is an empty ovoid look upset?". However, looking at the image again I can see how it does. Respects to Randall. Possibly an April Fool, but I will be even more impressed if it runs beyond Monday. I'm waiting for the tide to come in. jasq [[Special:Contributions/79.123.80.87|79.123.80.87]] 23:12, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

I googled some hashes. The first two seem to show up here, in a directory tellingly labeled "wait": http://www.hash-database.net/wait/hash_sha256.txt
:: The "wait" folder there contains hashes that weren't found in the database and might or might not someday be discovered. They are probably there *because* someone was looking up hashes to see if they were common words. [[Special:Contributions/99.153.248.206|99.153.248.206]] 23:17, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
To review, the first two are:
8eb156cce408df8bb83528382d6a2aa2ce6c74f3c573fd12b058cd1c56420672
1e349a579b5f9b5ed487ddf7e88244b70330941ddedac9c6abf6ed2e3f589b97
Googled the third one, but it only shows up on xkcd discussion forums :(
Hashed some of the hashes, but didn't see the result in the list, so it dosen't look like a hash chain.
Someone should google all the other hashes, and someone else should figure out what the guy in the "wait" directory (presuming it wasn't Randall) was hashing. --[[User:Venal dwarf|Venal dwarf]] ([[User talk:Venal dwarf|talk]]) 21:37, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
: Comparing all the filenames to the hashes on that page, I found a total of four that overlap. The first two, as mentioned. But also one from the middle of day 1, and one from the end of day 1.

: 00:30 - 01/00:30 - 8eb156cce408df8bb83528382d6a2aa2ce6c74f3c573fd12b058cd1c56420672.png

: 01:00 - 01/01:00 - 1e349a579b5f9b5ed487ddf7e88244b70330941ddedac9c6abf6ed2e3f589b97.png

: 12:00 - 01/12:00 - a3aa116efca3c01d8a64c0c7e79158dc8a62241aba767064e3a6c724cc5ade93.png

: 23:30 - 01/23:30 - 1da3859627430022485c53ad90e88e8771b2bec2d60e910b59ef332325bba29f.png

: --[[User:Venal dwarf|Venal dwarf]] ([[User talk:Venal dwarf|talk]]) 22:36, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

: There is a fifth one also, from 01:30 - e25be2dd49fe9f33c3543cdf640b67e0f2146cc576db5da007a135a278e524ee.png
: I converted all 1153 hashes in the file to lower case and did a wget on them but it did not turn up any files from the future. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 05:31, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Is Randall training us like Pavlov's dogs - every 30 minutes we are compelled to refresh the web-page? [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 01:59, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Does anyone have an opinion on how we should continue naming the saved timeNN.png files if the updates do not continue on the half hour?
Right now the link for the skipped update 242 got renamed to the nonexistent time242NA.png and the next update's link is time242.png. But what do we do if the updates are changing to once per hour? By the way it does look like the next half-hour update has been skipped too. -- [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 05:57, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
:It does seem to have gone hourly as of midnight EDT. I stuck in "NA" as a placeholder since I wasn't sure what to do with the files, and wanted to make it clear that the half-hour updates were skipped in case it goes back or changes in some other way. Maybe start naming them by the time, instead of sequentially, e.g. "012200.png". If the pattern holds, the "no update" lines can be removed. (Or both might make more sense, like "time243-012200.png".) [[Special:Contributions/69.243.159.96|69.243.159.96]] 06:08, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Anyone else getting a 404 error with the latest image (http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/d1b3b1b6e23995a093377c5ddc044dd98a42a3ae1327c8b6620d51d2a7003c1d.png)? [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 15:19, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Strange: As far as I know http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time.png always redirects to the current frame. But if you visit the current one (133:00) at http://xkcd.com/1190/ and check the displayed image, it says 'c6976fbb244af4fc2286ffe3ac2cf78d408c1f610ecd71e18b4a677a048f084d.png' while time.png redirects to '1d9ce7199935b1b629d6b8744e62c7700a3780357b2dc74bb70471db616ddadb.png'. If you take a md5 of both images, they appear to be the same.
:I was confused by this as well, I'm grabbing the images myself via time.png and got the 1d9ce7 hash. How will these duplicates be displayed in the table?[[User:Lockyy|Lockyy]] ([[User talk:Lockyy|talk]]) 17:48, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

I'm seeing some strange stuff now. I have a script that uses wget of time.png to get the redirected hash png like Lockyy is doing. And I can verify that when you go to the 1190 page in the browser you get a different hash. But the previous hour and this hour, unlike the ones before it, the two hash pngs are different. And when I refresh the screen in my browser at the 1190 page, first I see the image I get from time.png, then the image refreshes with the other one. I'm not sure what this means or what we are supposed to do with it. I added the time.png hashes to the table for the last two hours but we probably need a way of indicating the difference. -- [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 20:38, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
: This latest hourly update did the same thing. If you are fast enough you can even get the first image in your browser by right click view image before it changes to the second one. I edited in something that shows that. It probably could stand some reformatting by someone with better graphic design sense, but at least right now all the information has been captured. - [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 21:18, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
: Looking at it some more, I see that wget of the page at xkcd.com/1190/ gets you an img link to time.png and then there is the javascript that must after some delay get the different hash url image. That means that we had better be sure that we do not miss any manual checks of hourly updates because the scripts will never find that second image unless someone has a way of getting a script that runs the javascript as if it was a browser. As long as someone posts the hash of the image from the browser every hour, I can ensure that we have the hashes the scripts can get because I have a cron job checking for those updates every 15 minutes. -- [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 21:49, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
:: And with the update for day 06/18:00 it appears to be back to normal, one consistent image per update -- [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 22:22, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

== bash script to get all images ==
Just if somebody else wants this, i hacked a little bash script to download all images to the current listed here. It skips already downloaded images so it can be reused later when more images are here.

<pre>#!/bin/bash
curl -s http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1190 |
egrep -o "/wiki/images/[0-9a-f]/[0-9a-f]{2}/time[0-9]*.png" |
while read url; do
imgname=$(basename $url)
tmp=${imgname:4}
id=${tmp%.png}
printf -v target "image%03d.png" ${id:-1}
[[ -e $target ]] && continue
echo $target
curl -so $target http://www.explainxkcd.com$url
done
</pre>
--[[Special:Contributions/79.236.3.216|79.236.3.216]] 18:51, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

To ease waiting times: http://thred.github.com/xkcd-time-catapult/
:: This is awesome. I love the internet. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:15, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

I've offered up [http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=10316|my own explanation]. The obvious metaphor is how time continues to flow and things change when you’re not watching. And how this could be a conceptual art project that could continue the rest of our lives... [[Special:Contributions/72.183.97.36|72.183.97.36]] 19:36, 31 March 2013 (UTC) Lawrence Person
:Correcting your link: [http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=10316 my own explanation] --[[Special:Contributions/24.145.230.202|24.145.230.202]] 20:49, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

806: Tech Support

2013-03-09T01:05:44Z

24.145.230.202: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 806
| date = October 15, 2010
| title = Tech Support
| image = tech_support.png
| titletext = I recently had someone ask me to go get a computer and turn it on so I could restart it. He refused to move further in the script until I said I had done that.
}}

==Explanation==
My thanks to [http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2010/1015/Shibboleet-XKCD-s-clever-code-word-explained Chris Gaylord] for this explanation:

The word Shibboleet is formed by combining the terms shibboleth and leet. Leet is an internet/hacker/gamer term for elite or skilled. A {{w|shibboleth}} is a word that a person unfamiliar with the language will not pronounce correctly.

==Transcript==
:[Person is on the phone, and holding up some networking hardware.]
:Person: ... restart my computer? I know you have a script to follow, but the uplink light on the modem is going off every few hours. The problem is between your office and the modem.
::
:Person: My computer has nothing to do with ... okay, whatever, I "restarted my computer."
:Person: It's still down, and even if it comes back, it's going to die again in a few hours, because your--
::
:Person: I don't HAVE a start menu. This is a Haiku install, but that's not import--
:Person: Haiku? It's an experimental OS that I ... oh, never mind.
::
:Person: I'm sorry, but this won't get fixed until I talk to an engineer. Can you look around for someone wearing cargo pants, maybe a subway map on their wall?
::
:[The tech support person on the other end is wearing a headset, and looks around.]
:Tech: There's a chick two phones over with a stuffed penguin doll and a poster of some bearded dudes with swords.
:Person: Perfect. Can you put her on?
:Tech: Sure.
::
:[Person is now talking to the engineer.]
:Person: Hey, so sorry to bother you, but my connection--
:Engineer: Yeah, I see it. Lingering problems from a server move.
:<<type type>>
:Engineer: Should be fixed now.
:Person: Thank you SO MUCH.
::
:Engineer: No problem. Hey, in the future, if you're on any tech support call, you can say the code word "shibboleet" at any point and you'll be automatically transferred to someone who knows a minimum of two programming languages.
::
:Person: Seriously?
:Engineer: Yup. It's a backdoor put in by the geeks who built these phone support systems back in the 1990's.
:Engineer: Don't tell anyone.
::
:Person: Oh my god, this is the greatest--
:[Person wakes up.]
:Person: Wha--
:Person: ... DAMMIT.


{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]

804: Pumpkin Carving

2013-03-09T00:55:23Z

24.145.230.202:

{{comic
| number = 804
| date = October 11, 2010
| title = Pumpkin Carving
| image = pumpkin_carving.png
| titletext = The Banach-Tarski theorem was actually first developed by King Solomon, but his gruesome attempts to apply it set back set theory for centuries.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a reference to the American custom of carving pumpkins to set out on porches and front steps for the American holiday of {{w|Halloween}}, which occurs on October 31st. The pumpkin has the inside emptied out and a face or design carved in the side. Then a light in placed inside (usually a candle). These are called "{{w|Jack-o'-lantern|Jack-O'-Lantern}}s". The Jack-O'-Lantern in the 3rd frame is the typical and standard design for a carved pumpkin.

[[Beret Guy]], naturally, stays oddly on-topic by carving a pumpkin in his pumpkin. This is a reference to the [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/xzibit-yo-dawg Yo Dawg meme].

In the 2nd frame, [[Black Hat]] is putting {{w|Nitroglycerin}} (an explosive) into his carved pumpkin in the hopes that someone will attempt to smash it and it will explode. Black Hat references chest pains because Nitroglycerin is used to open blood vessels to quickly improve blood flow when someone has chest pains.

In the 3rd frame, [[Megan]] is our typical emotional xkcd comic character. She is projecting herself onto the jack-o'-lantern as she tries to distract herself with holiday traditions that won't work to distract her.

In the 4th frame, is the first to reference the {{w|Banach-Tarski}} theorem, which states that if you carve up a 3-dimensional ball, in this case a pumpkin, to a finite number of pieces, you can then reassemble the pieces into two different balls - identical to the original. The Banach-Tarski theorem is also called a paradox for obvious reasons. The person off-screen in that frame references the {{w|Axiom of choice}} which is a mathematical axiom that says that given a set of buckets or bins (each that contain one or more object(s)) it is possible to select exactly one object from each bucket. The Banach-Tarski rests on several axioms which are fairly well respected, but also requires the Axiom of Choice to work correctly. So a person who does not believe in the Axiom of Choice would not have been able to do what [[Cueball]] managed to do.

The title text says that {{w|Solomon|King Solomon}} developed the Banach-Tarski theorem first. This is a reference to the story of two women being brought before him. Both were arguing that a particular child was their own. Solomon said that the solution was to cut the child in half and give each woman one of the halves. One of the two women said that the other should have the baby whole. Solomon then knew she was the true mother, and gave her the child. The joke is that Solomon, may not have intended to kill the child, but knowing that two whole children could be made from the one, intended give a baby to each woman, and the Banach-Tarski paradox states that it should be possible.

==Transcript==
:[Beret guy stands next to a pumpkin with a picture of a pumpkin carved into it.]
:Interlocutor: So what did you-
:Beret Guy: I carved a pumpkin!
:Interlocutor: ...

:[Black Hat stands next to a pumpkin and a box labeled "Nitro-glycerin. Do not shake."]
:Interlocutor: Taking on teen vandals, I see.
:Black Hat: Heavens, No. My pumpkin simply has chest pains. In fact, I'll leave a note warning them not to smash it.

:[Megan stands next to a jack-o' lantern.]
:Megan: My pumpkin's name is Harold. He just realized that all the time he used to spend daydreaming, he now spends worrying. He'll try to distract himself later with holiday traditions, but it won't work.

:[Cueball stands next to two pumpkins and a knife.]
:Cueball: I carved and carved, and the next thing I knew I had two pumpkins.
:Interlocutor: I told you not to take the axiom of choice.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Axiom of Choice]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Set theory]]

792: Password Reuse

2013-03-09T00:31:08Z

24.145.230.202:

{{comic
| number = 792
| date = September 13, 2010
| title = Password Reuse
| image = password_reuse.png
| titletext = It'll be hilarious the first few times this happens.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic has three layers: hacking, morals, and Google-bashing.

It starts off on a practical level, with Black Hat describing a devious social engineering scheme. It relies on the fact that people commonly reuse the same password on multiple websites, and tend to create accounts on new websites somewhat indiscriminately. Thus, one could create a simple Web service to collect users' usernames, email addresses, and passwords. Since many users will reuse this combination on other websites as well, the website owner can try to hack their accounts on other common sites, such as Amazon or PayPal, using the same login info.

In panel 6, the comic suddenly develops a philosophical and ethical bent. Black Hat reveals that he has already carried out step 1, through his numerous unprofitable Web services which he had been running for this very purpose. However, after successfully executing the hack, he realizes that he does not know what to do with all this power.
He reveals that he is already financially self-sufficient, and makes a point that money can't buy happiness.
He could use his power to realize his sadistic pleasures of messing with people, but he's already a serial classhole.
If he had any beliefs or ideology, he could use this power to try to spread them. However, he reveals that "since March of 1997" he doesn't really have anything to share.
The dilemma: Black Hat has cleverly executed a hack that has given him a lot of power, but he doesn't know what to do with it.

The last part of the comic now transitions to a satire on how Google has already gone through both the stages described above. It describes how all of Google's free services are simply a ploy to collect and control all the world's information, similar in concept but grander than the hack described in part 1. It satirizes the fact that behind Google's "Don't be evil" motto is actually an end-goal of using their powers eventually for evil. However, just like Black Hat, once Google reaches the stage where they are able to capitalize on their powers, they find that there is nothing evil left for them to desire. They already make a lot of money, and anything remaining that they wish to do, such as throwing {{w|Call of Duty|CoD}} tournaments, aren't evil at all.

In the conclusion, Black Hat reveals that the only thing he's doing with all his hacked user accounts is to post slightly inaccurate content on Wiki sites.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball at a computer with Black Hat behind him.]
:Black Hat: Password entropy is rarely relevant. The real modern danger is password reuse.
:Cueball: How so?
:Computer: Password too weak.

:Black Hat: Set up a Web service to do something simple, like image hosting or tweet syndication, so a few million people set up free accounts.

:Black Hat: Bam, you've got a few million emails, default usernames, and passwords.

:Black Hat: Tons of people use one password, strong or not, for most accounts.

:[Diagram showing a table of emails, usernames, and passwords.]
:Black Hat: Use the list and some proxies to try automated logins to the 20 or 30 most popular sites, plus banks and PayPal and such.

:Black Hat: You've now got a few hundred thousand real identities on a few dozen services, and nobody suspects a thing.
:Cueball: And then what?

:Black Hat: Well, that's where I got stuck.
:Cueball: You did this?
:Black Hat: Why do you ''think'' I hosted so many unprofitable web services?

:Black Hat: I could probably net in a lot of money, one way or another, if I did things carefully. But research shows more money doesn't make people happier, once they make enough to avoid day-to-day financial stress.

:Black Hat: I could mess with people endlessly, but I do that already. I could get a political or religious idea out to most of the world, but since March of 1997 I don't really believe in anything.

:Black Hat: So, here I sit, a puppetmaster who wants nothing from his puppets.
:Black Hat: It's the same problem Google has.
:Cueball: Oh?

:[A meeting at Google headquarters. An executive is talking to some others.]
:Google...
:Executive 1: Okay, everyone, we control the world's information. Now it's time to turn evil. What's the plan?
:Executive 2: Make boatloads of money?

:Executive 1: We already do!
:Executive 2 (off-panel): Set up a companywide CoD4: Modern Warfare tournament each week?
:Executive 1: ''That's not evil!''
:Executive 2: Ooh, dibs on the lobby TV!
:Executive 1: Okay, we ''suck'' at this.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]

119: Worst Band Name Ever

2013-03-09T00:25:59Z

24.145.230.202:

{{comic
| number = 119
| date = June 23, 2006
| title = Worst Band Name Ever
| image = hedgeclipper.jpg
| titletext = You can just see his dejection as he realizes he's the lead guitar in 'Hedgeclipper'
}}
==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
The title text suggests that they (or at least the lead guitarist) previously did not know their band name and the heading implies that it was in fact chosen by [[Randall]]. As he bemoans his apparent inability to choose a good band name he probably sees the name 'Hedgeclipper' as the reason why the band has no audience.

==Transcript==
:It's probably a good thing that I never get to pick band names.
:[A stage with banner overhead reading: OPENING TONIGHT! HEDGECLIPPER]
:[On the stage are three guys with a bass, guitar, drum kit and strange haircuts. On the kick drum is a picture of a hedge clipper.]
:Lead Guitarist: Maaan...

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Music]]

207: What xkcd Means

2013-03-09T00:21:20Z

24.145.230.202: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 207
| date = January 8, 2007
| title = What xkcd Means
| image = what_xkcd_means.png
| titletext = It means shuffling quickly past nuns on the street with ketchup in your palms, pretending you're hiding stigmata.
}}

==Explanation==
The first panel shows a driver making a {{w|right turn at red|right turn at a red light}}, a {{w|U-turn}} on the connecting road and then another right turn, returning him to his original direction. Right turns at red lights and U-turns could be illegal at some intersections.

The second panel shows a person in an inset calling his friend's phone to help him find it, only for it to ring from inside a dog's stomach.

In the third panel, {{w|Graham's number}} is a large number (celebrated as the largest number ever used in a proof), and the {{w|Ackermann function}} is a fast-growing function. Actually, A(g64, g64) is less than g65.

{{incomplete}}

==Transcript==
:What does XKCD mean?
:[One car of two sitting at a red light makes a right turn, then shifts over to the left and makes a left turn to go back the way it came. It then makes another right and continues on the road past the traffic light. This is shown with a red arrow.]
:It means saving a few seconds at a long red light via elaborate and questionably legal maneuvers.
:[Someone on a cell phone is shown in a circle in the panel. A second person in the panel itself is looking at a dog, from which the ringing sound of his phone is coming]
:''Ring''
:It means having someone call your cell phone to figure out where it is.
:[The mathematical function "A(g64, g64)=" appears in the panel. Next to the equal sign stands a mathematician, clutching his head.]
:It means calling the Ackermann function with Graham's number as the arguments just to horrify mathematicians.
:Mathematician: Aughhh
:[An approximately 8 by 8 square of floor tiles is shown; the first, fourth and seventh across in the first, fourth and seventh rows are black and the rest are white. A guy and girl are shown next to it, walking on what is presumed to be the same pattern of floor tiles.]
:It means instinctively constructing rules for which floor tiles it's okay to step on and then walking funny ever after.
:[Line indicating the uppermost right black tile: Black tiles okay]
:[Line indicating tile directly below it: White tiles directly between black tiles okay]
:[Line indicating a white tile in the last column over: Not okay]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Math]]

1181: PGP

2013-03-05T12:59:02Z

24.145.230.202: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1181
| date = March 4, 2013
| title = PGP
| image = pgp.png
| titletext = If you want to be extra safe, check that there's a big block of jumbled characters at the bottom.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Pretty Good Privacy|PGP}} (or {{w|GNU_Privacy_Guard|GnuPG}} for the free, open source version) is a program which can be used to encrypt and sign data, including messages sent as emails. It is often used in combination with email software extensions, such as [http://www.enigmail.net/home/index.php Enigmail] (for Thunderbird). Encrypting the message would prevent anybody from reading it if they didn't have the key to decrypt. Signing the message would mean that the message can be verified as unaltered, if the reader was to check the message against the signature. People who use such a program typically only use the feature to sign the message, since encrypting it (which would give you the privacy) requires that the recipient already be a PGP user. Hence the irony here is that nobody actually verifies the "signature" either, but feel secure that the message appears to be signed.

PGP or {{w|Pretty Good Privacy}}, uses {{w|Public-key cryptography}}, which is defined in [https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4880 RFC4880]. The blob which makes the signature is a binary (clear sign) signature which is encoded into ASCII using {{w|ASCII armor}}.

The use of signing software for email is so rare that most people have never seen a signed message. The joke here is that because of that, nobody ever tries to {{w|Spoofing attack|spoof}} a PGP header. So if you see one, it's likely to be authentic. This ignores actual privacy guarantees PGP provides, therefore giving a false sense of security.

A similar thing happens on some web pages that simply state "This page is secure" or include the padlock icon in the body of the page, and then ask for your credit card information, while not actually using SSL (and showing that little padlock or an "https"). (Read an old blog/rant [http://www.troyhunt.com/2011/07/padlock-icon-must-die.html about the padlock icon and security]).

This irresponsible approach to security is unfortunately quite common with users and even more so for computer security related topics. When confronted with something strange (like the blob at the bottom) most people simply believe it: If it says it's secure it really has to be - even if it actually isn't.

Many security geeks would be quite annoyed by this ignorant behavior.

==Transcript==
:How to use PGP to verify that an email is authentic:
:Look for this text at the top
:[In mail header, light grey.] Reply
:-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
:[in mail message, light grey]
:HASH: SHA256
:Hey,
:First of all, thanks for taking care of

:[After mail message]
:If it's there, the email is probably fine

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Computers]]

394: Kilobyte

2013-02-10T23:05:21Z

24.145.230.202: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 394
| date = March 10, 2008
| title = Kilobyte
| image = kilobyte.png
| titletext = I would take 'kibibyte' more seriously if it didn't sound so much like 'Kibbles N Bits'.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic takes advantage of the confusion over the definition of a kilobyte. Some interpret the prefix literally, meaning a kilobyte is 1000 bytes. Others, however, define it as 210, or 1024, bytes because it is computationally easier to deal with.

The first row of the table is simply mocking this discrepancy.

The second row is Randall's interpretation on how [[wikipedia:Stan Kelly-Bootle|Kelly-Bootle]] would approach this problem. Kelly-Bootle is known for writing ''The Computer Contradictionary'' which satirizes the jargon and language of the computer industry. Kelly-Bootle was likely motivated to write this work after working for several years at IMB, a company infamous for its excessive use of acronyms in the work place. Averaging the two definitions together to get 1012 bytes is simply a humorous approach that Kelly-Bootle would likely have taken.

The [[wikipedia:Imaginary number|imaginary]] kilobyte simply plays on the fact that complex analysis is required in quantum computing in relation to quantum mechanics. The imaginary number is represented as ''i'' and has a value of the square root of -1.

The Intel kilobyte mocks the Pentium F.P.U. processor which, in 1994, was notorious for having a [[wikipedia:Pentium FDIV bug|major flaw]] in its floating point division algorithm that gave slightly erroneous results.

The smaller, drivemaker's kilobyte mocks a business model for handling higher prices that keeps prices constant but reduces quantity. The food industry has been notorious for decreasing quantity of food and keeping prices the same instead of increasing prices and keeping quantity the same. Randall is suggesting that if the computer industry tried to do this with hard drives, it could have humorous results such as smaller number of bytes in a kilobyte. In this analogy, food price is to number of kilobytes as food quantity is to bytes in a kilobyte. A value of 908 indicates that drivemakers have been decreasing the value for 23 years (if they started with 1000) or 29 years (if they started with 1024), which means a starting year of either 1985 or 1979. Continuing this trend would cause the drivemaker's kilobyte to become zero in the year 2235.

The baker's kilobyte is a play on the [[wikipedia:Dozen#Baking|baker's dozen]], which is 13 instead of 12. A baker's byte with 9 bits to the byte would result in a total of 9216 bits in a 1024 byte kilobyte. Converting this into "normal" bytes (with 8 bits), we divide 9216 bits by 8 bits per byte to get 1152 8-bit bytes to the baker's kilobyte.

==Transcript==
:There's been a lot of confusion over 1024 vs 1000,
:kbyte vs kbit, and the capitalization for each.
:Here, at last, is a single, definitive standard:
:[table of various kinds of kilobytes]
{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="wikitable" style="width: 50%; text-align: left;"
|-
|SYMBOL
|NAME
|SIZE
|NOTES
|-
|kB
|Kilobyte
|1024 bytes OR 1000 bytes
|1000 bytes during leap years, 1024 otherwise
|-
|KB
|Kelly-Bootle standard unit
|1012 bytes
|compromise between 1000 and 1024 bytes
|-
|KiB
|Imaginary kilobyte
|1024 √-1 bytes
|used in quantum computing
|-
|kb
|Intel kilobyte
|1023.937528 bytes
|calculated on Pentium F.P.U.
|-
|Kb
|Drivemaker's kilobyte
|currently 908 bytes
|shrinks by 4 bytes each year for marketing reasons
|-
|KBa
|Baker's kilobyte
|1152 bytes
|9 bits to the byte since you're such a good customer
|}
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Computers]]

394: Kilobyte

2013-02-10T23:01:47Z

24.145.230.202: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 394
| date = March 10, 2008
| title = Kilobyte
| image = kilobyte.png
| titletext = I would take 'kibibyte' more seriously if it didn't sound so much like 'Kibbles N Bits'.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic takes advantage of the confusion over the definition of a kilobyte. Some interpret the prefix literally, meaning a kilobyte is 1000 bytes. Others, however, define it as 2^10, or 1024, bytes because it is computationally easier to deal with.

The first row of the table is simply mocking this discrepancy.

The second row is Randall's interpretation on how [[wikipedia:Stan Kelly-Bootle|Kelly-Bootle]] would approach this problem. Kelly-Bootle is known for writing ''The Computer Contradictionary'' which satirizes the jargon and language of the computer industry. Kelly-Bootle was likely motivated to write this work after working for several years at IMB, a company infamous for its excessive use of acronyms in the work place. Averaging the two definitions together to get 1012 bytes is simply a humorous approach that Kelly-Bootle would likely have taken.

The [[wikipedia:Imaginary number|imaginary]] kilobyte simply plays on the fact that complex analysis is required in quantum computing in relation to quantum mechanics. The imaginary number is represented as ''i'' and has a value of the square root of -1.

The Intel kilobyte mocks the Pentium F.P.U. processor which, in 1994, was notorious for having a [[wikipedia:Pentium FDIV bug|major flaw]] in its floating point division algorithm that gave slightly erroneous results.

The smaller, drivemaker's kilobyte mocks a business model for handling higher prices that keeps prices constant but reduces quantity. The food industry has been notorious for decreasing quantity of food and keeping prices the same instead of increasing prices and keeping quantity the same. Randall is suggesting that if the computer industry tried to do this with hard drives, it could have humorous results such as smaller number of bytes in a kilobyte. In this analogy, food price is to number of kilobytes as food quantity is to bytes in a kilobyte. A value of 908 indicates that drivemakers have been decreasing the value for 23 years (if they started with 1000) or 29 years (if they started with 1024), which means a starting year of either 1985 or 1979. Continuing this trend would cause the drivemaker's kilobyte to become zero in the year 2235.

The baker's kilobyte is a play on the [[wikipedia:Dozen#Baking|baker's dozen]], which is 13 instead of 12. A baker's byte with 9 bits to the byte would result in a total of 9216 bits in a 1024 byte kilobyte. Converting this into "normal" bytes (with 8 bits), we divide 9216 bits by 8 bits per byte to get 1152 8-bit bytes to the baker's kilobyte.

==Transcript==
:There's been a lot of confusion over 1024 vs 1000,
:kbyte vs kbit, and the capitalization for each.
:Here, at last, is a single, definitive standard:
:[table of various kinds of kilobytes]
{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="wikitable" style="width: 50%; text-align: left;"
|-
|SYMBOL
|NAME
|SIZE
|NOTES
|-
|kB
|Kilobyte
|1024 bytes OR 1000 bytes
|1000 bytes during leap years, 1024 otherwise
|-
|KB
|Kelly-Bootle standard unit
|1012 bytes
|compromise between 1000 and 1024 bytes
|-
|KiB
|Imaginary kilobyte
|1024 √-1 bytes
|used in quantum computing
|-
|kb
|Intel kilobyte
|1023.937528 bytes
|calculated on Pentium F.P.U.
|-
|Kb
|Drivemaker's kilobyte
|currently 908 bytes
|shrinks by 4 bytes each year for marketing reasons
|-
|KBa
|Baker's kilobyte
|1152 bytes
|9 bits to the byte since you're such a good customer
|}
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Computers]]

394: Kilobyte

2013-02-10T23:00:34Z

24.145.230.202: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 394
| date = March 10, 2008
| title = Kilobyte
| image = kilobyte.png
| titletext = I would take 'kibibyte' more seriously if it didn't sound so much like 'Kibbles N Bits'.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic takes advantage of the confusion over the definition of a kilobyte. Some interpret the prefix literally, meaning a kilobyte is 1000 bytes. Others, however, define it as 2^10, or 1024, bytes because it is computationally easier to deal with.

The first row of the table is simply mocking this discrepancy.

The second row is Randall's interpretation on how [[wikipedia:Stan Kelly-Bootle|Kelly-Bootle]] would approach this problem. Kelly-Bootle is known for writing ''The Computer Contradictionary'' which satirizes the jargon and language of the computer industry. Kelly-Bootle was likely motivated to write this work after working for several years at IMB, a company infamous for its excessive use of acronyms in the work place. Averaging the two definitions together to get 1012 bytes is simply a humorous approach that Kelly-Bootle would likely have taken.

The [[wikipedia:Imaginary number|imaginary]] kilobyte simply plays on the fact that complex analysis is required in quantum computing in relation to quantum mechanics. The imaginary number is represented as ''i'' and has a value of the square root of -1.

The Intel kilobyte mocks the Pentium F.P.U. processor which, in 1994, was notorious for having a [[wikipedia:Pentium FDIV bug|major flaw]] in its floating point division algorithm that gave slightly erroneous results.

The smaller, drivemaker's kilobyte mocks a business model for handling higher prices that keeps prices constant but reduces quantity. The food industry has been notorious for decreasing quantity of food and keeping prices the same instead of increasing prices and keeping quantity the same. Randall is suggesting that if the computer industry tried to do this with hard drives, it could have humorous results such as smaller number of bytes in a kilobyte. In this analogy, food price is to number of kilobytes as food quantity is to bytes in a kilobyte. A value of 908 indicates that drivemakers have been decreasing the value for 23 years (if they started with 1000) or 29 years (if they started with 1024). Which means a starting year of either 1985 or 1979. Continuing this trend would cause the drivemaker's kilobyte to become zero in the year 2235.

The baker's kilobyte is a play on the [[wikipedia:Dozen#Baking|baker's dozen]], which is 13 instead of 12. A baker's byte with 9 bits to the byte would result in a total of 9216 bits in a 1024 byte kilobyte. Converting this into "normal" bytes (with 8 bits), we divide 9216 bits by 8 bits per byte to get 1152 8-bit bytes to the baker's kilobyte.

==Transcript==
:There's been a lot of confusion over 1024 vs 1000,
:kbyte vs kbit, and the capitalization for each.
:Here, at last, is a single, definitive standard:
:[table of various kinds of kilobytes]
{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="wikitable" style="width: 50%; text-align: left;"
|-
|SYMBOL
|NAME
|SIZE
|NOTES
|-
|kB
|Kilobyte
|1024 bytes OR 1000 bytes
|1000 bytes during leap years, 1024 otherwise
|-
|KB
|Kelly-Bootle standard unit
|1012 bytes
|compromise between 1000 and 1024 bytes
|-
|KiB
|Imaginary kilobyte
|1024 √-1 bytes
|used in quantum computing
|-
|kb
|Intel kilobyte
|1023.937528 bytes
|calculated on Pentium F.P.U.
|-
|Kb
|Drivemaker's kilobyte
|currently 908 bytes
|shrinks by 4 bytes each year for marketing reasons
|-
|KBa
|Baker's kilobyte
|1152 bytes
|9 bits to the byte since you're such a good customer
|}
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Computers]]

394: Kilobyte

2013-02-10T22:56:05Z

24.145.230.202: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 394
| date = March 10, 2008
| title = Kilobyte
| image = kilobyte.png
| titletext = I would take 'kibibyte' more seriously if it didn't sound so much like 'Kibbles N Bits'.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic takes advantage of the confusion over the definition of a kilobyte. Some interpret the prefix literally, meaning a kilobyte is 1000 bytes. Others, however, define it as 2^10, or 1024, bytes because it is computationally easier to deal with.

The first row of the table is simply mocking this discrepancy.

The second row is Randall's interpretation on how [[wikipedia:Stan Kelly-Bootle|Kelly-Bootle]] would approach this problem. Kelly-Bootle is known for writing ''The Computer Contradictionary'' which satirizes the jargon and language of the computer industry. Kelly-Bootle was likely motivated to write this work after working for several years at IMB, a company infamous for its excessive use of acronyms in the work place. Averaging the two definitions together to get 1012 bytes is simply a humorous approach that Kelly-Bootle would likely have taken.

The [[wikipedia:Imaginary number|imaginary]] kilobyte simply plays on the fact that complex analysis is required in quantum computing in relation to quantum mechanics. The imaginary number is represented as ''i'' and has a value of the square root of -1.

The Intel kilobyte mocks the Pentium F.P.U. processor which, in 1994, was notorious for having a [[wikipedia:Pentium FDIV bug|major flaw]] in its floating point division algorithm that gave slightly erroneous results.

The smaller, drivemaker's kilobyte mocks a business model for handling higher prices that keeps prices constant but reduces quantity. The food industry has been notorious for decreasing quantity of food and keeping prices the same instead of increasing prices and keeping quantity the same. Randall is suggesting that if the computer industry tried to do this with hard drives, it could have humorous results such as smaller number of bytes in a kilobyte. In this analogy, food price is to number of kilobytes as food quantity is to bytes in a kilobyte. A value of 908 indicates that drivemakers have been decreasing the value for 23 years (if they started with 1000) or 29 years (if they started with 1024). Which means a starting year of either 1985 or 1979.

The baker's kilobyte is a play on the [[wikipedia:Dozen#Baking|baker's dozen]], which is 13 instead of 12. A baker's byte with 9 bits to the byte would result in a total of 9216 bits in a 1024 byte kilobyte. Converting this into "normal" bytes (with 8 bits), we divide 9216 bits by 8 bits per byte to get 1152 8-bit bytes to the baker's kilobyte.

==Transcript==
:There's been a lot of confusion over 1024 vs 1000,
:kbyte vs kbit, and the capitalization for each.
:Here, at last, is a single, definitive standard:
:[table of various kinds of kilobytes]
{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="wikitable" style="width: 50%; text-align: left;"
|-
|SYMBOL
|NAME
|SIZE
|NOTES
|-
|kB
|Kilobyte
|1024 bytes OR 1000 bytes
|1000 bytes during leap years, 1024 otherwise
|-
|KB
|Kelly-Bootle standard unit
|1012 bytes
|compromise between 1000 and 1024 bytes
|-
|KiB
|Imaginary kilobyte
|1024 √-1 bytes
|used in quantum computing
|-
|kb
|Intel kilobyte
|1023.937528 bytes
|calculated on Pentium F.P.U.
|-
|Kb
|Drivemaker's kilobyte
|currently 908 bytes
|shrinks by 4 bytes each year for marketing reasons
|-
|KBa
|Baker's kilobyte
|1152 bytes
|9 bits to the byte since you're such a good customer
|}
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Computers]]

394: Kilobyte

2013-02-10T05:12:42Z

24.145.230.202: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 394
| date = March 10, 2008
| title = Kilobyte
| image = kilobyte.png
| titletext = I would take 'kibibyte' more seriously if it didn't sound so much like 'Kibbles N Bits'.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic takes advantage of the confusion over the definition of a kilobyte. Some interpret the prefix literally, meaning a kilobyte is 1000 bytes. Others, however, define it as 2^10, or 1024, bytes because it is computationally easier to deal with.

The first row of the table is simply mocking this discrepancy.

The second row is Randall's interpretation on how Kelly-Bootle would approach this problem. Kelly-Bootle is known for writing ''The Computer Contradictionary'' which satirizes the jargon and language of the computer industry. Kelly-Bootle was likely motivated to write this work after working for several years at IMB, a company infamous for its excessive use of acronyms in the work place. Averaging the two definitions together to get 1012 bytes is simply a humorous approach that Kelly-Bootle would likely have taken.

The imaginary kilobyte simply plays on the fact that complex analysis is required in quantum computing in relation to quantum mechanics.

The Intel kilobyte mocks the Pentium F.P.U. processor which was notorious for having major flaw in its floating point division algorithm that gave slightly erroneous results.

The smaller, drivemaker's kilobyte mocks a business model for handling higher prices that keeps prices constant but reduces quantity. The food industry has been notorious for decreasing quantity of food and keeping prices the same instead of increasing prices and keeping quantity the same. Randall is suggesting that if the computer industry tried to do this with hard drives, it could have humorous results such as smaller number of bytes in a kilobyte. In this analogy, food price is to number of kilobytes as food quantity is to bytes in a kilobyte.

The baker's kilobyte is a play on the baker's dozen, which is 13 instead of 12. A baker's byte with 9 bits to the byte would result in a total of 9216 bits in a 1024 byte kilobyte. Converting this into "normal" bytes (with 8 bits), we divide 9216 bits by 8 bits per byte to get 1152 8-bit bytes to the baker's kilobyte.

==Transcript==
There's been a lot of confusion over 1024 vs 1000,
kbyte vs kbit, and the capitalization for each.
:Here, at last, is a single, definitive standard:
:[table of various kinds of kilobytes]
{| border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="wikitable" style="width: 50%; text-align: left;"
|-
|SYMBOL
|NAME
|SIZE
|NOTES
|-
|kB
|Kilobyte
|1024 bytes OR 1000 bytes
|1000 bytes during leap years, 1024 otherwise
|-
|KB
|Kelly-Bootle standard unit
|1012 bytes
|compromise between 1000 and 1024 bytes
|-
|KiB
|Imaginary kilobyte
|1024 √-1 bytes
|used in quantum computing
|-
|kb
|Intel kilobyte
|1023.937528 bytes
|calculated on Pentium F.P.U.
|-
|Kb
|Drivemaker's kilobyte
|currently 908 bytes
|shrinks by 4 bytes each year for marketing reasons
|-
|KBa
|Baker's kilobyte
|1152 bytes
|9 bits to the byte since you're such a good customer
|}
{{comic discussion}}

16: Monty Python -- Enough

2013-02-07T16:09:30Z

24.145.230.202:

{{comic
| number = 16
| date = October 4, 2005
| title = Monty Python -- Enough
| image = monty_python.jpg
| imagesize = 350px
| titletext = I went to a dinner where there was a full 10 minutes of Holy Grail quotes exchanged, with no context, in lieu of conversation. It depressed me badly.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to the classic British sketch comedy group, {{w|Monty Python}} (active primarily during the 1970s and early 1980s) whose humour style was frequently based on surreal jokes that did not make sense. Their sketches are so popular that, as noted in the comic, many fans can repeat the dialogue word-for-word, and often do. This comic points out the inherent irony of repeating a surrealist sketch, as surrealist humour primarily depends on presenting something the audience does not expect. By repeating the sketch verbatim among those who have already seen it, the listeners know and expect the punchlines and jokes. This is akin to a common ironic concept of a teenager who wants to rebel against conformity by doing all the things his friends are also doing.

The Monty Python sketch in question here is the "{{w|Knights who say Ni}}" sketch about a group of knights who protect certain sacred words, including the word "Ni" (pronounced like "knee", but shortened and with more staccato). The image text references the film ''{{w|Monty Python and the Holy Grail}}'' in which the Knights sketch appeared.

The comic suggests that readers continue in the surreal traditions of Monty Python, and provides and example: The character in panels 3-6 interrupts his retelling of the sketch with what appears to be an apology for running a woman over with his car, before returning to the sketch. The surreal humour is that the character dismisses the significant and serious comment he has just made by returning to the sketch as if nothing happened.

The image text refers to how fans of Monty Python can go for long periods of time simply quoting the sketches, as one person quotes a sketch, another recognizes it and says another quote without context, assuming everyone will recognize it. Perhaps a more contemporary version of this might be Simpsons or Family Guy quote frenzies.

==Trivia==
* [Original Randall quote] "Just sayin'. It's been 30 years now."
* [Original title] "Support Surreal Humor"
* This is the fifteenth comic originally posted to livejournal. The previous was [[15: Just Alerting You]]. The next was [[17: What If]].

== Transcript ==
:Character #1 [Raising his hands]: We are the knights who say... Ni!!
:Two guys and a girl: hahaha
:[written] Does anyone else find it funny that decades later, people are still quoting—word-for-word—a group loved for its mastery of shock, the unexpected and defiance of convention?
:[Two guys looking at a third]
:Third guy: We are the knights who... Oh, God, I'm so sorry
:[Close up to Third guy's face]
:Third guy: So sorry, the car just came too fast and
:[Words crumpled inside the panel, there's barely enough space for the third guy]
:Third guy: She was right there and I saw her and then it was a blur and so much I ran to help didn't know what she wasn't moving I'm so sorry ... so sorry
:[Same two guys looking again at the third guy]
:Third guy: Anyway, yeah, knights who say "Ni".
:[Written centered, in marquee format]
:Honor
:Monty Python:
:Promote surreal humor.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

Talk:1170: Bridge

2013-02-07T01:10:10Z

24.145.230.202:

I am ''definitely'' going to do this to someone!
~tartilc

Ahhh it's been a while since the last classic. This one is instant.

Note that the Cueball's argument doesn't really defeat the idea behind the phrase. Jumping off the bridge JUST because your friends did is still bad idea. What you should do is analyse situation. In best case, FIND the logical reason why your friends jumped, although it's true that spending too much time analysing can be dangerous. Also, look WHERE are your friends jumping too and if they landed alive. In many catastrophic scenarios, panic can kill more people that the catastrophe. That said, statistically speaking, if all your friends jumped off the bridge, there probably IS reason why they did it and you WILL probably do the same - not because they jumped, but for the same reason they jumped. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:01, 6 February 2013 (UTC)
:But cueball didn't go for reasonably check why they jumped before making the decision. From what I understood, his argument, even if not the best idea, is to trust the friends judgement and jump too. Jump first, ask questions later. [[Special:Contributions/189.123.129.34|189.123.129.34]] 18:11, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

In Hong Kong, Moms use "jump off the building" instead of bridge. (Too many skyscrapers, tall apartments right here, only really rich people live in houses). Ok, next time I will argue with her with this when I am going to do something stupid LOL [[Special:Contributions/123.202.19.132|123.202.19.132]] 09:08, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

I probably one of the people who will not jump right away, at least think and looking around first. Yes it need some time and may cost me, but that's me. [[User:Arifsaha|Arifsaha]] ([[User talk:Arifsaha|talk]]) 21:37, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

Cueball's argument assumes that each of his friends made independent decisions to jump off a bridge. However, if his other friends were reasoning in a similar fashion to Cueball, they may have come to the conclusion that the bridge was on fire after only a single person jumped. This herd behaviour is exactly what the adage is to remind one of. --[[Special:Contributions/128.135.70.143|128.135.70.143]] 21:56, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

I always was of the opinion that if '''all''' my friends DID jump off a bridge, I would probably jump off too, because I'd be far too depressed at the thought of all my friends being dead. Can you imagine living with that trauma? And who exactly is going to console you through it? All the likely candidates are dead! - [[User:KeithTyler|KeithTyler]] ([[User talk:KeithTyler|talk]]) 21:58, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, did a comic similar to this one in 1999: [http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1999-11-21/ Young Dilbert] --[[Special:Contributions/24.145.230.202|24.145.230.202]] 01:10, 7 February 2013 (UTC)