https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=108.162.231.232&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-19T08:28:44ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:860:_Never_Do_This&diff=57816Talk:860: Never Do This2014-01-16T03:37:43Z<p>108.162.231.232: </p>
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<div>The current explanation states ''"A "Rule 34" version of this might feature microscopic views of other bodily areas or fluids than fingernails."'' However, I think the title text is actually meant to point out that the images in The Secret House (and the stuff under your fingernails) are so disgusting that it may not be possible to make porn of it, which would be a violation of Rule 34. So by saying "I call Rule 34 on The Secret House," he is either challenging someone to prove that Rule 34 applies to something so disgusting, or he is questioning the validity of Rule 34 altogether.<br />
--[[User:Foushee217|Foushee217]] ([[User talk:Foushee217|talk]]) 16:07, 6 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
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: I agree that it should be changed, but I disagree with your explanation. I think that calling Rule 34 on the book means the book already implements Rule 34. If microscopic photos of what's under your fingernails are dirty, microscopic photos of everyday phenomena in the common house are likely to be dirty. "Dirty" may be related to sexual activities. So, the book contains pornographic photos. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.232|108.162.231.232]] 03:37, 16 January 2014 (UTC)</div>108.162.231.232https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:860:_Never_Do_This&diff=57815Talk:860: Never Do This2014-01-16T03:37:01Z<p>108.162.231.232: </p>
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<div>The current explanation states ''"A "Rule 34" version of this might feature microscopic views of other bodily areas or fluids than fingernails."'' However, I think the title text is actually meant to point out that the images in The Secret House (and the stuff under your fingernails) are so disgusting that it may not be possible to make porn of it, which would be a violation of Rule 34. So by saying "I call Rule 34 on The Secret House," he is either challenging someone to prove that Rule 34 applies to something so disgusting, or he is questioning the validity of Rule 34 altogether.<br />
--[[User:Foushee217|Foushee217]] ([[User talk:Foushee217|talk]]) 16:07, 6 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
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: I agree that it should be changed, but I disagree with your explanation. I think that calling Rule 34 on the book means the book already implements Rule 34. If microscopic photos of what's under your fingernails are dirty, microscopic photos of everyday phenomena in the common house are likely to be dirty. "Dirty" may be related to sexual activities. So, the book contains pornographic photos.</div>108.162.231.232https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1305:_Undocumented_Feature&diff=555671305: Undocumented Feature2013-12-19T15:35:09Z<p>108.162.231.232: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1305<br />
| date = December 18, 2013<br />
| title = Undocumented Feature<br />
| before = [[#Explanation|↓ Skip to explanation ↓]]<br />
| image = undocumented_feature.png<br />
| titletext = And it doesn't pop up a box every time asking you to use your real name. In fact, there's no way to set your name at all. You just have to keep reminding people who you are.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Some layout issues, still too many adds after this tag was removed. Language is an other issue}}<br />
An {{w|undocumented feature}} is a part of a software product that is not explained in the documentation for the product. If this features belongs to a joke or something similar it's called an {{w|Easter egg (media)|easter egg}}.<br />
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[[Cueball]] has found a chat room, intended to ask for help, accessible through the help page of some unnamed old Windows utility. The people who found the chat room start using it for its intended purpose (helping users of the utility by contacting other users), however as time passes they just become friends and enter the chat only to talk to each other, with no relation with computer problems. After a while, the utility program gets old so that nobody uses it any more, however people in the chat still have it installed only to be able to chat to each other.<br />
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A {{w|virtual machine}} (or VM) is a computer program designed to emulate the hardware of a full computer. With such a program, one configures parameters such as the amount of RAM memory the virtual machine will have, the hard disk size, etc. Then, the program creates an environment with those parameters so that one can start to install an {{w|operating system}} as if it were a real machine. Some computer users keep different VMs in their computer with different operating systems, so they can run several operating systems at the same time. In the comic, users of the old chat room create VMs only to have an old operating system installed, with the old utility program (which can be assumed to go funny or not run at all in more recent versions of windows) just to be able to access the chat room.<br />
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A chat room like this must be hosted in some outside server, so the narrator of the comic wonders who runs this server. An obvious thought about this is if and when the server will be shut down, effectively cutting all communication among chat users. Another obvious thought is why the utility author is still maintaining the chat server, since its original purpose (communicating users with problems with the utility program) is no longer an issue as everybody has migrated to more modern systems. The comic suggests that the reason for doing this can be a bored {{w|System administrator|sysadmin}}, who is just reading the messages of the chat users and following their lives but never writing anything. This would turn the chat room as a soap opera for the sysadmin.<br />
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The {{w|Deep Web}} is a term used to refer to any information which is available online, but is hard to find (usually because there are no links to that information in web pages). The chat room described would be an example of this. From this point on, the comic goes all existentialist (a frequent xkcd trait), talking about how life is short, everything has to end, etc.<br />
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The last panel refers to the fact that [http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304403804579263371125671670 Facebook announced it was starting to use autoplaying video ads] just one day before the comic release, and the title text refers to YouTube requiring its users to use their real-life identities instead of just nicknames. These last parts of the comics somehow reveal that the point of the whole comic is just to complain about aggressive money-driven policies used by modern social networks in general and Facebook in particular. It is hinted that [[Randall]] would prefer older technologies, when limited resource would forbid autoplaying videos or huge databases with every detail of every user's life.<br />
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It's possible that the comic is about an actual chat room, but it could also be a complete invention. If it's real, the participants would not want to confirm this in order to protect their privacy.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[A support window is shown.]<br />
:An old Windows utility has an undocumented feature. If you open "help" and click on the background, you get dropped into a "support" chat room.<br />
:Support Window: Launching support forum...<br />
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:[An active conversation between two people is shown.]<br />
:Only a few of us ever found it. But we became friends.<br />
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:[Cueball and Ponytail are at computers.]<br />
:We kept launching the program to check in. Eventually some of us were running VMs just to keep accessing it.<br />
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:[Another conversation.]<br />
:As the Internet aged, so did we.<br />
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:[Three question marks.]<br />
:We don't know who runs the server. We don't know why it's still working so many years later. Maybe we're some sysadmin's soap opera.<br />
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:[A group of people are shown in a bubble.]<br />
:It will probably vanish someday, but for now it's our meeting place. Our hideaway.<br />
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:[The bubble is now smaller, and some parts of a web are shown.]<br />
:A life's worth of chat,<br />
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:[More of the web is shown.]<br />
:Buried in the deep web.<br />
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:[A flat landscape is shown with the sun at the horizon.]<br />
:But even if it lasts forever, ''we'' won't. When we're gone, who will remember us?<br />
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:[Cueball and Hairy are shown standing together in a bubble.]<br />
:Who will remember this strange little world and the friendships we built here?<br />
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:Nobody.<br />
<br />
:[An empty bubble is shown.]<br />
:This place is irrelevant. Ephemeral. One day it will be forgotten.<br />
<br />
:[The bubble starts to fade away.]<br />
:And so will we<br />
<br />
:[The bubble has almost completely faded away.]<br />
<br />
:[The bubble is now completely gone.]<br />
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:But at least it doesn't have fucking video ads.<br />
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==Trivia==<br />
There are many examples of undocumented features in programs written for old versions of Windows, for example:<br />
* When playing {{w|Solitaire (Windows)|Windows Solitaire}} with the "draw three" option, one can draw single cards by holding <Ctrl+Alt+Shift> while clicking on the card to draw cards.<br />
* When playing {{w|Microsoft Minesweeper|Windows Minesweeper}} in pre-Windows-95 versions, typing "{{w|xyzzy}}" followed by <Enter> and then <Right-shift>, will turn the top left pixel of the windows background black or white to indicate if the mouse is over a mine or not.<br />
* The first releases of {{w|Windows 95}} allowed one to see the "credits" for Win95 by creating a folder in the desktop and then renaming it several times.<br />
* {{w|Microsoft word|Word}} 97 has an embedded pinball game, accesible by a [http://www.eeggs.com/items/763.html weird sequence of strange actions].<br />
* {{w|Microsoft Excel|Excel}} 97 has also an embedded game of a spaceship floating over a planet, accessible by another [http://www.eeggs.com/items/718.html weird sequence of actions].<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Internet]]<br />
[[Category:Philosophy]]<br />
[[Category:Social networking]]<br />
[[Category:YouTube]]</div>108.162.231.232https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1305:_Undocumented_Feature&diff=55560Talk:1305: Undocumented Feature2013-12-19T08:03:10Z<p>108.162.231.232: </p>
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:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20&#58;53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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This sound pretty cool... Anyone know if it's real or which tool it's in? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.222|173.245.55.222]] 05:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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* its real, there are 8 other users, but must stay a secret. {{unsigned ip|108.162.231.233}}<br />
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* There is no secret chat room, stop looking for it. It doesn't exist. Look for your own island on the interweb, don't come spoil ours. [[User:scr_admin|scr_admin]]<br />
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Okay, let's be honest: how many of us, upon seeing today's comic, immediately went here to see if it was real or not? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.4|108.162.245.4]] 07:47, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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* I honestly did just that. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.137|173.245.53.137]] 08:06, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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* I also just did that... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.206|108.162.231.206]] 08:07, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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* I didn't start up my VM to test it, but I came here to see if was real >.< [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.56|108.162.216.56]] 09:47, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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* I also did that. But I take that, if it is real and someone uncovers it, it may destroy that community... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.123|173.245.53.123]] 10:28, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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* Same here. If it is real, I sincerely hope Randall has a) wiresharked it to find out where this chat room resides so he can prod the admin if it ever goes down b) has a backup plan to migrate himself and his friends to some other private chat room. It won't have the same mystery surrounding it, but at least it's something. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.222|108.162.231.222]] 10:51, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20&#58;53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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It's not about Youtube, but Facebook, which just launched AUTOPLAYING video ads. Look at the title text, it's about Facebook's real name policy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.232|108.162.231.232]] 08:11, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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* I wouldn't limit the scope of this commentary just to Facebook; YouTube's been doing autoplaying video ads for years. YouTube's also been asking for real names recently. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.200|108.162.212.200]] 14:26, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I just searched after reading - and found this site! -- {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.247}}<br />
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* The real secret place is here! {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.75}}<br />
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* So THIS is the secret chat [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.7|108.162.229.7]] 09:50, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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* One day this place will be forgotten and so will we. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.197|108.162.231.197]] 09:52, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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anyone else recognizes the wonderful tcp-ip explanation movie of Ericsson [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hymzoUpM0K0 Dawn of the net] in frames 6 till 10? [User:Tesshavon|Tesshavon]] ([[User talk:Tesshavon|talk]])<br />
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* Tesshavon you're in my mind ! Also, the 6th frame is comes from one of the most common Friends posters (see e.g. here : [http://www.infinitydish.com/tvblog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Friends-friends-69087_1024_768.jpg Friends] ) [[User:dandraka|dandraka]]<br />
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It's true. Small online communities offer a more folksy experience than the online giants. Some of the best places to hang out are BBS's that made it onto the Internet and have been there for 25+ years. {{unsigned ip|216.150.130.111}}<br />
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Well there's always IRC... {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.30}}<br />
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:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20&#58;53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I've rewritten all the explanation.<br />
As far as I'm concerned, I'd remove the incomplete box.<br />
I just keep it because it's likely that someone else will feel something is missing.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.180|173.245.53.180]] 15:27, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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If you're interested in a tightknit community out on the fringes of the Net, go join a MUD. Some are combat oriented, some are roleplay and chat oriented, all are text-based, and many have largely the same exact userbase as they had twenty years ago. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.228|108.162.212.228]] 15:48, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Hmm i think randall also wants to share his believs in the subcontext of the comic, the reason why we live on erth as a random error, the sysadmin who probably sees it all(=god), the question what will happen after all that is gone (his opinion, that our lives are compelty senseless)..etc. {{unsigned ip|108.162.254.161}}<br />
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* Anyone else think of comic 37 when reading the last panel (due to the ambiguity of whether he is talking about fucking "video ads" or "fucking video" ads)? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.227|173.245.50.227]] 18:31, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Yes, of COURSE I came here to see if it really exists! I don't know if there's actually a chatroom as described, but Usenet has become much smaller, has no ads, and doesn't require you to know the secret application to get in. IIf a text experience with no ads appeals, dump FB, come back to Usenet! Tell 'em Sea Wasp sent you! :) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.186|108.162.219.186]] 19:15, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20&#58;53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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It's obviously about life and religion. The sysadmin who never writes anything must be there to keep everything running, because else the chat would stop to exist. Like most religions contribute to a god who is never seen or heard. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.232|108.162.231.232]] 08:03, 19 December 2013 (UTC)</div>108.162.231.232https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1305:_Undocumented_Feature&diff=55433Talk:1305: Undocumented Feature2013-12-18T08:11:54Z<p>108.162.231.232: </p>
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<div>This sound pretty cool... Anyone know if it's real or which tool it's in? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.222|173.245.55.222]] 05:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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its real, there are 8 other users, but must stay a secret.<br />
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Okay, let's be honest: how many of us, upon seeing today's comic, immediately went here to see if it was real or not? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.4|108.162.245.4]] 07:47, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I honestly did just that. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.137|173.245.53.137]] 08:06, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I also just did that... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.206|108.162.231.206]] 08:07, 18 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
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It's not about Youtube, but Facebook, which just launched AUTOPLAYING video ads. Look at the title text, it's about Facebook's real name policy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.232|108.162.231.232]] 08:11, 18 December 2013 (UTC)</div>108.162.231.232