explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1027: Pickup Artist

2013-02-28T21:45:30Z

75.103.23.206:

{{w|Penny Arcade (webcomic)|Penny Arcade}} had a fascinating exchange on this subject a while back: http://www.penny-arcade.com/2009/08/10 - start in the last paragraph of the first post, and note that until "Follow up" the argument is mostly feigned. Especially read the two long posts at the end.

The biggest message I got out of it is that "pickup artistry" to many awkward people (aka nerds) is actually "learning how to fit in better socially and get over crippling anxiety when talking to women, or even in social situations generally." Negging, then, is not "lowering women's self-esteem to sleep with them", but is engaging in the gentle teasing and joking around that occurs between friends - the "diet" example Randall proposes is a terrible one. In that way you're acting less like you're treating your social partner as some untouchable object of worship (which most of us would agree is creepy as hell). It's very hard for those without any sort of crippling social anxiety to imagine trying to be socially active under those circumstances. Is it sad that "normal" comfort level and social graces didn't develop naturally, such that some nerds have to "learn" these things? Perhaps. Does that mean we should shame all nerds for trying to fit in, labeling them "dehumanizing creeps"? Yell at anyone with low self-esteem "HAVE MORE CONFIDENCE, LOSER!"? I hope not.

Of course there are jerks who will use this stuff for evil. Maybe more of them than the nerds, I have no idea. It's also possible these anxiety-fighting methods have better alternatives. Just another perspective I didn't know about until reading about it, which made me take Randall's one-sided, there-can-be-no-other-explanation comments on the subject with a grain of salt. But, still a funny strip, so whatevs. [[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 16:17, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

: I loved the strip because of throwing a bowling ball under a line of stalls (which isn't creepy nor dehumanizing?) but anyhow... I agree with you. I used to be virtually unable to talk to women, let alone flirt. I used pickup tips to break out of my shell and learn how to be a sociable person. Today, most new people I meet can't believe I used to be that shy, I actually had my best friend talk bad about me to my girlfriend who couldn't believe that at all. Guess what ... she loves me for being a good and honest person. The only thing pickup learned me was to show my honest and good side to other people in a normal, non creepy way.
: That being said. It is insulting that an otherwise smart person like Randall couldn't see the different aspects of pickup and rather just go with the popular "creep" definition. Then again, Baret Guy is just a cliche asshole. Maybe that's the lesson, neither pickup artists nor assholes are good choices for women. [[Special:Contributions/62.159.14.62|62.159.14.62]] 15:55, 22 January 2013 (UTC)
::What do you two think that the phrase ''pickup artist'' literally means? If you want to develop into a good and honest person, how could the way be to learn ''pickup'' '''''tricks''''' aiming to seduce and ''fuck'' women? If you meet someone that wants to learn to be more romantic, suggest them to read {{w|Pride and Prejudice}}, or watch {{w|Casablanca (film)|Casablanca}}. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 20:03, 22 January 2013 (UTC)

Trying to be a "Romantic" upon first meeting a girl is going to crash and burn 99/100 HARD. The reason being, romance is wonderful when you are already IN a relationship, but it is a terrible way to start. The hollywood version of "Romance" isn't even anywhere NEAR what a real healthy relationship full of problems and compromises and arguments and give and take is. As one of those "Nerds" with crippling social anxiety I tried that. I watched Casablanca, wonderful film. I grew up treating every girl/woman I met as though they where a princess. I was the most romantic person I could possibly be. It got me nowhere. Actually it got me called a creep on dozens of occasions. The few times a woman would respond favorably she was just using me for whatever petty bs she wanted at the time, rides, drinks, etc.

The real world you have to find the middle way. Neither bag-em-and-tag-em womanizing, nor putting women on an impossible pedestal. Everything I know about "Normal" human interaction I learned from pickup artist books and shows. The whole point was to learn how to be at ease around people and have them at ease around you. Are there goofy tricks sure. Do I personally think negging for the most part is bs, absolutely. It isnt there to be used as a cureall. The purpose of negging is to bring the super full of herself party girl back down to planet earth in a gentle way. To let her not walk all over you. Its not to try and make someone feel bad, but to instead imply that you aren't going to be their whipping boy. Properly used, it just is a way to show you've got balls.

: To the unsigned person who wrote that: Do you realize you're displaying a markedly negative attitude towards women in general? Even the very idea of being "romantic" right off the bat shows a belief that women aren't actual human beings, they only exist to be targets of your sexual aggression. When you don't respect someone as a human being, get to know them, etc., you set yourself up for disappointment. It *is* creepy, exactly the same as PoA techniques. The goal isn't to get to know someone to see if you're compatible; it's to manipulate them and coerce them into "feeling at ease" or into a semblance of a relationship. And if you despise a woman enough to describe her as a "super full of herself party girl", why in the world would you want a relationship with her? You yourself state that you don't, you just want to cut her down and prove your own power. Your techniques have nothing to do with establishing a communication between equals and everything to do with establishing yourself as dominant and powerful and women as powerless. [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 21:45, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1179: ISO 8601

2013-02-28T20:14:03Z

75.103.23.206:

Apparently there are some mistakes in the Roman numerals in the comic, the year MMXII is 2012. Also LVII/CCLXV = 57/265, whereas February 27th is the 58th day of the year (which has 365 days). --[[User:Ulm|ulm]] ([[User talk:Ulm|talk]]) 07:55, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
:Just guessing, but could this have something to do with the divergence of various Roman calendars, e.g. Julian vs. Gregorian? [[Special:Contributions/98.122.166.235|98.122.166.235]] 13:55, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
:Another error: Obviously 1330300800 is intended to be Unix time, but it corresponds to 2012-02-27 00:00:00 UTC. --[[User:Ulm|ulm]] ([[User talk:Ulm|talk]]) 08:10, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
:The day part "57" is not wrong: Since Feb 27 is the 58th day of the year, at the beginning of that day, 57 days have gone by since the year started. (At the end of the day, 58 days have gone by) Since we associate days with their beginning (like we do with e.g. hours and minutes), 57 is the correct number (or else Dec 31 would be 2013+365/365 = 2014, and therefore in the wrong year) -- [[User:Xorg|Xorg]] ([[User talk:Xorg|talk]]) 13:53, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
::The day part is ambiguous. It could be as Xorg suggests, the fraction of the year past at the start of the day. On the other hand it could be interpreted as "day 57 or 365," as with pieces in a shipment or page numbers. In the latter case it should be 58/265. But then, that (ambiguity) is the point, isn't it? [[User:Jqavins|Jqavins]] ([[User talk:Jqavins|talk]]) 17:40, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
::Meanwhile the comic was replaced, with CCLXV corrected to CCCLXV. --[[User:Ulm|ulm]] ([[User talk:Ulm|talk]]) Prima vigilia, XVI Kal. Mar. MMDCCLXVI
::I was just about to publish my theory of how "2012" in the Roman numerals in just the same vein might be intended to indeed represent the year we denote "2013", but by counting only the finished years. This would also connect with the confusion over {{w|year zero}}, another thing that ISO 8601 tried to straighten out. (They placed it before year 1.) Everything fit so well. Then there was an edit conflict, following Randalls correction to "2013". I guess you can't always be right. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:03, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

Can anyone explain 01237 (last interpretation before the cat)? Thanks [[Special:Contributions/68.230.38.154|68.230.38.154]] 08:04, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
:The small numbers above and below the larger ones show which digit is used where. For example, the 2nd and 5th digit is a 0, the 3rd digit is a 1 etc. [[Special:Contributions/82.115.151.1|82.115.151.1]] 08:15, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
:01237 are the digits used in the date, and the numbers above and below them reflect the order in which they are written; 0 is the second and fifth digit, 1 is the third digit, 2 is the first, sixth and seventh digit, 3 is the fourth digit, and 7 is the eighth digit: 20130227 [[User:Bdemirci|Bdemirci]] ([[User talk:Bdemirci|talk]]) 08:15, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

Someone can explain me what means: ((3+3)×(111+1)-1)×3/3-1/33? {{unsigned|95.23.147.48}}
:Read the comic explanation. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 10:58, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

Many of these format mirror how the dates are spoken in languages. For example, Americans will say "February 27, 2013" and write "2/27/2013", whereas the French will say "27 février 2013" and write "27-02-2013". As a scientist, I was encouraged to write "27 II 2013" (which is apparently standard in Hungary, according to the explanation above) in my lab notebook to avoid ambiguity. --[[User:Prooffreader|Prooffreader]] ([[User talk:Prooffreader|talk]]) 13:16, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

A strange thing is that he forgot the form mostly used in Europe: 27.01.2013. --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 12:44, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
:: That form is mostly used in Germany. Belgium and France use 27/01/2013 more, Netherlands use 27-01-2013. No idea what the UK prefers although I could imagine 01.27.2013.[[Special:Contributions/62.159.14.62|62.159.14.62]] 12:58, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
::: The UK prefers 27/02/2013 --[[User:H|H]] ([[User talk:H|talk]]) 13:20, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
::: That form (27.02.2013) is also common in all of Scandinavia. --[[User:Buggz|Buggz]] ([[User talk:Buggz|talk]]) 14:15, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

The image text has a subtle twist as "12/01/04" offers no contextual clues to it meaning at all, can be read three different ways : "December 1st 2004", "January 12, 2004" or "January 4th, 2012" (as opposed to, for example, "01/15/98" which could only be interrupted as "January 15th, 1998") [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 14:29, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
: Technically speaking, it could also be interpreted as April 1st 2012 or April 12th 2001, though that would be the least likely interpretation. I personally like spelling out 3 letters of the month and using an apostrophe before the year, such as 27 Feb '13. --[[User:Joehammer79|Joehammer79]] ([[User talk:Joehammer79|talk]]) 15:07, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
:: And of course December, 4th 2001 Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/178.26.118.249|178.26.118.249]] 19:54, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

Is there any way to convert the time-stamp placed on these comments to the YYYY-MM-DD format? --16:17, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
: If you're logged in, you can set your [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-datetime|date and time preferences]]. I doubt it will affect the timestamps on this page, though, since those appear to be saved as plain text. --[[User:Aaron of Mpls|Aaron of Mpls]] ([[User talk:Aaron of Mpls|talk]]) 23:01, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

I feel like the cat thing is a reference to something, but I'm not sure what... is it something? A quick google image search pulls up nothing. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:26, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
: Seems to me that Randall missed an opportunity: Why a cat? Why not a '''bob'''cat? It still could be some other reference that I'm missing too.
:: Black cats are considered unlucky. I don't see any reference beyond that. [[User:Mattflaschen|Mattflaschen]] ([[User talk:Mattflaschen|talk]]) 17:59, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
::: It's taking the last two digits from 2013 and emphasizing triskaidekaphobia. Doing a web image search on "Cat 13" will pull up similar artwork of hissing black cats combined with the number 13, including both flyers for Friday 13th drink specials at bars, and combat airplane noseart. Apparently combining the unlucky "13" with an unlucky black cat emphasized that they were bad luck for the enemy. [[User:Columbus Admission|Columbus Admission]] ([[User talk:Columbus Admission|talk]]) 19:20, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

Cool, this is my birthday. [[User:Mattflaschen|Mattflaschen]] ([[User talk:Mattflaschen|talk]]) 17:59, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

"However the list then starts listing formats ranging from uncommon to absurd, such as writing the date partly in Roman numerals [...] " -
My math teacher uses a very similar format (in reverse order, d/m/yy, with m being in Roman numerals, because this is Germany (see above)), so I wouldn't call it absurd. She is the only person I know who uses it though. [[Special:Contributions/87.189.150.212|87.189.150.212]] 19:36, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

The image and explanation needs to be updated for the corrections. I could do the explanation part, but I have no idea how to do the image part. And one without the other would be confusing for the readers, so I'll leave that to wiki-magic. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 21:09, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

: I updated the image as well as the explanation (and transcript). There is still the error on the Unix timestamp though (will this comic be fixed a third time?...). - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 21:57, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

Sweden uses the ISO 8601 format. (If only food producers could understand this as well..)
[[Special:Contributions/46.59.16.141|46.59.16.141]] 21:42, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

- What can we learn from this? - I've learned that no matter the system we use today to communicate with others, it's probably seems silly for someone else. It's great to document what we do and propose it as an option to others, but it will be next to impossible to force them to adopt. When someone will develop a time reference that makes sense to everyone, it will be adopted all over the world without much effort. - e-inspired [[Special:Contributions/24.51.197.187|24.51.197.187]] 19:07, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

Perhaps the cat (because of the vagueness of the system) was referring to not the 27th of February 2013. but instead referring to the 13th of February in 1327 which would make it Friday the 13th. {{unsigned|66.35.1.98}}

Just so you know, Explainxkcd wiki uses the ISO certified date standard for its "All Comics" page. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:57, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

Personally I've always preferred to use Year-Month-Day my personal stuff. I like it because the format is written the way we write any other number: Most significant to left, least significant to right. I didn't know this was a standardized method and I've always wondered why it wasn't used. Nice to know it is![[Special:Contributions/172.191.224.64|172.191.224.64]] 04:09, 28 February 2013 (UTC)ExternalMonologue

Personally, I like yyyy-mm-dd because it sorts correctly. I really hate running into a list of dates sorted by month name, or worse, day of the week. I suspect this was part of why ISO chose this format. I've never been able to remember the american vs european ordering... My only other options is: February 27, 2013. [[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 12:11, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

- What can we learn from this? - I've learned that keeping our time relative to earth rotation is outdated, we keep having to add seconds here and there just to keep time. And as an engineer don't get me started on complexity of mktime function. I personally think of time as oscillation of a flawed crystal in my circuits that I constantly need to keep accounting for through endless calibrations, and keep wishing that better time references would be cheaper (to me good is never good enough) - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 15:05, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

Ha ha E-inspired you should read the "falsehoods programmers believe about times" http://infiniteundo.com/post/25326999628/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-time http://infiniteundo.com/post/25509354022/more-falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-time-wisdom [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 20:14, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

1179: ISO 8601

2013-02-28T20:07:28Z

75.103.23.206: year and fraction of year are allowed in the ISO 8601 -- see the wikipedia article

{{comic
| number = 1179
| date = February 27, 2013
| title = ISO 8601
| image = iso_8601.png
| titletext = ISO 8601 was published on 06/05/88 and most recently amended on 12/01/04.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Public service announcement}}: Two commonly used date formats are {{w|Date format by country|dd.mm.yyyy and mm/dd/yyyy}} (the symbols separating the values, as well as the year being 2 or 4 digits notwithstanding). These differences are often causes for debate. However, the comic explains that the {{w|International Organization for Standardization}} (ISO) has standardized dates in the yyyy-mm-dd format, in its {{w|ISO 8601}} standard.

The comic then lists many formats as "discouraged". This list starts with commonly used formats, which include the two above as well as other commonly used ones, such as dd/mm/yy. However the list then starts listing formats ranging from uncommon to absurd, such as writing the date partly in Roman numerals and painting the date in m/d/yy format with white paint onto a hissing black cat.

The ISO standard was published (to use yet another date format) on 5 June 1988 and amended on 1 December 2004, two dates given in the title text in mm/dd/yy format. Since the day values are less than 13, the format used demonstrates its ambiguity; it could be interpreted as other dates given in dd/mm/yy format (the last in several other formats as well). Anyway, the dates are not written in ISO 8601 format, contradicting the advice in this comic, adding a level of metahumor.

The other mentioned formats are:

{| class=wikitable
! Date !! Explanation
|-
| 02/27/2013
| MM/DD/YYYY, used mostly in the US.
|-
| 02/27/13
| MM/DD/YY
|-
| 27/02/2013
| DD/MM/YYYY, used e.g. in South America, Canada ({{w|Date_and_time_notation_in_Canada|officially uses ISO 8601}}) and Europe.
|-
| 27/02/13
| DD/MM/YY
|-
| 20130227
| YYYYMMDD, also allowed in ISO 8601
|-
| 2013.02.27
| YYYY.MM.DD
|-
| 27.02.13
| DD.MM.YY, used e.g. in Germany
|-
| 27-02-13
| DD-MM-YY, used in Denmark, Netherlands, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, etc.
|-
| 27.2.13
| D.M.YY
|-
| 2013. II. 27.
| YYYY. MM. DD., with month as {{w|Roman numerals}}, used in Hungary.
|-
| 27⁄2-13
| D⁄M-YY
|-
| 2013.158904109
| Year and decimal fraction of year – 58/365, February 27 being the 58th day of the year. This representation marks the end of that day. Also allowed in ISO 8601.
|-
| MMXIII-II-XXVII
| Year-month-day in Roman numerals
|-
| MMXIII [and] LVII [over] CCCLXV
| Year and ''57''/365. This representation marks the start of the day, which is 57 days after the year started.
|-
| 1330300800
| {{w|Unix time|UNIX Timestamp}}, but for '''2012'''-02-27.
|-
| ((3+3)×(111+1)-1)×3/3-1/33
| Year/month/day with the parts written as arithmetic expressions, using just the digits 1 and 3. (The slashes are not to be interpreted as fraction lines.)
|-
| 27 [''on''] 02 [''on''] 2013
| An obfuscated date format not used ordinarily. This can be considered a compromise between the different formats: since we cannot agree on which position in the date the day, month and year parts shall be, we just write them all in the same place; we don't even need separators, which we cannot agree on either. On the other hand, reading it gets somewhat tricky...
|-
| 10/11011/1101
| Month/day/year in {{w|Binary number|binary}}.
|-
| 02/27/20/13
| A slash is absurdly placed in the middle of "2013".
|-
| 0 [2,5] 1 [3] 2 [1,6,7] 3 [4] 7 [8]
| The large digits are to be placed at the positions listed above and below: 0 is used at positions 2 and 5, 1 is used on position 3, etc.; the result being 20130227
|-
| ''A cat, with the numerals'' 2-27-13 ''painted on it, going'' HISSSS
| In Western cultures, black cats and the number 13 are associated with bad luck. The cat might also just be angry that someone painted an (unstandardized) date on it.
|}

==Transcript==
:Public Service Announcement:

:Our different ways of writing dates as numbers can lead to online confusion. That's why in 1988 ISO set a global standard numeric date format. This is '''''the''''' correct way to write numeric dates:

:2013-02-27

:The following formats are therefore discouraged:
*02/27/2013
*02/27/13
*27/02/2013
*27/02/13
*20130227
*2013.02.27
*27.02.13
*27-02-13
*27.2.13
*2013. II. 27.
*27⁄2-13
*2013.158904109
*MMXIII-II-XXVII
*MMXIII [and] LVII [over] CCCLXV
*1330300800
*((3+3)×(111+1)-1)×3/3-1/33
*27 [''written on top of''] 02 [''written on top of''] 2013
*10/11011/1101
*02/27/20/13
*0 [2,5] 1 [3] 2 [1,6,7] 3 [4] 7 [8]
*''A cat, with the numerals'' 2-27-13 ''painted on it, going'' HISSSS

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]

Talk:1098: Star Ratings

2012-12-26T22:58:08Z

75.103.23.206:

'''please add <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> to the end of your comments to include your signature. Thanks!'''

*An alternate explanation is that internet users only vote in 1s and 5s, and that the cutoff represents the point where there are too many 1s.

*The people most likely to vote are those with strong opinions, which would often be polerized to one or five stars. These people would be the most likely to vote because their connection to the product would make them more willing to spend the time to share their experiance.

*In my opinion, this comic is about overrating. The comic says anything between full fout stars is crap. One possible explanation could be that people dislike to admit that their decision for a particular product was a bad one, so they grant three stars. Or look at certain brands, where every defect is by definition unimportant so they do not impact the review too harshly. [[Special:Contributions/46.142.51.138|46.142.51.138]] 15:05, 22 August 2012 (UTC)madd
**It was pointed out to me (by a district manager in the organization concerned) that on those surveys you are asked to take by retail outlets, anything less than a 5 is considered a zero by Corporate. They're apparently not interested in honest evaluations; either it was SUPEREXCELLENTGREAT!! or it's worthless. [[User:Shalom S.|Shalom S.]] ([[User talk:Shalom S.|talk]]) 19:24, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

*It seems likely that any product with a 1-start rating only has one (or a small number of) reviews as well. Usually a product has ''some'' redeeming value that someone will find useful.
**Usually the developer or at least a friend will provide a positive rating and review, though the issue of self rating isn't specifically addressed by this comic. Still, if 3 users give it a 1-star review, but the developer has access to at least 2 accounts that can give a 5-star rating, you still result in 13/25 rating, or two-and-a-half stars, which is why that star rating would be "crap".--[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 16:31, 22 August 2012 (UTC)
*** Agreed. If there's only one review, it most likely comes from the supplier / author / producer, and in that case it's going to be a five star rating. From that perspective, the only way to get a bad _average_ review is if there are many bad reviews. As an example, consider a product with five reviews: 5, 2, 2, 1, 3. The average is 2.6, and depending on the implementation this might be shown as "two and half stars" or "three stars". If you take out the 5, you get an average of 2. Consider the case of two reviews, 5 and 1. The 5 is from the author and the 1 is from a real user. Average is 3. Considering the other cases (5 and 2, 5 and 3, 5 and 4) the averges are 3.5, 4, 4.5. As you can see, anything below 3.5 is crap (the 1 and 2 from real users) and 4 and 4.5 are indeed ok (3 and 4 from the real user). As the number of "real" reviews increases, the average will tend towards the actual average perception from users (law of large numbers), and there is ''no way'' to get a 5 on average because of the fact that when dealing with subjective evaluation, ''someone'' is going to think the product is crap, therefore a five star rating is the product of a single review from the author. [[User:Mem|mem]] ([[User talk:Mem|talk]]) 20:56, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

*I think there might be a little too much analysis for this, given the title text. When shopping online, especially for random items like computer parts, media, and whatnot, people tend to peruse through items fairly quickly and/or fairly critically. A 5 star rating seems a little too perfect for the real world, hence the notion that there's only one review; a cynic might say that its from the author himself or some astroturfer (and they're probably right). The rest of the rating scale, however, is an observation of buyer behavior. Getting ''only'' four out of five stars is considered the lowest a potential buyer will risk before buying/downloading/ordering whatever it is. Everything else is very unceremoniously considered "crap," with the reasoning that there's some sort of defect or angry reviewer. Any further inquiry isn't necessary since there's a lot of other alternative products or manufacturers on the market. Hence, "crap, move on to the next item" mentality." The title text alludes to this with its strange gravestones. I take it as symbolizing all the products and sellers and manufacturers and establishments that got below that 4-star threshold, doomed to death by obscurity as buyers simply skip over the item in question, having called quickly decided it was "crap." Whether they actually are that bad is beyond that line of thinking. Whether it might be someone just hating on it and everyone else being scared off is similarly beyond it. As mentioned above, Corporate considers anything that isn't great to be worthless; it's because online consumers tend to think the exact same thing. And I guess to top it off, the mention about going to Yelp to give it a one-star review due to his unease and then feeling compulsed not to would basically be some sort supernatural power from the cemetery making sure that 1.) the cemetery's rating doesn't go down, and 2.) the author doesn't make that whole rating cemetery thing even more meta. [[Special:Contributions/68.123.154.215|68.123.154.215]] 05:41, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
** Wow do I wish I could have used paragraphs there. [[Special:Contributions/68.123.154.215|68.123.154.215]] 05:41, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
*** You need to use . I tried to put some above. Hope that is what you meant. Generally agree with what you said, though. [[User:Arifsaha|Arifsaha]] ([[User talk:Arifsaha|talk]]) 20:25, 20 November 2012 (UTC)

*The alt text sounds vaguely like a chain letter or urban legend. Does anyone recognize it as referring to any one in particular? --[[User:Aw|Aw]] ([[User talk:Aw|talk]]) 23:57, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

*I think this comic illustrates a more general rating bias. Consider hotel star ratings - almost every one boasts four or five. Sometimes you can see three. I was recently shocked to see a hotel displaying two stars next to its name! (No, I haven't stayed there, I was just driving by.) One-star hotel, anyone? -- [[Special:Contributions/89.174.214.74|89.174.214.74]] 14:50, 20 September 2012 (UTC)
**In many places, star ratings of a hotel are not a measure of the quality of the hotel, but of the types of services it provides (do they have private bathrooms, a pool, a concierge, etc.) [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 22:58, 26 December 2012 (UTC)

test of the 4 tilde demanded here... [[Special:Contributions/84.154.135.194|84.154.135.194]] 22:10, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1097: A Hypochondriac's Nightmare

2012-12-26T22:50:31Z

75.103.23.206:

'''Please type four tildes (that is, <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>) at the end of comments to include your signature. Thanks!'''

*I am not sure that hypochondriac is spelled hypochrondiac. According to the dictionary it is hypochondriac. I wonder if RM will fix this. --[[User:Grep|Grep]] ([[User talk:Grep|talk]])
**I think hypochondriac is the right spelling (according to Google and Wikipedia)
**Is it possible that the spelling of hypo'''chron'''diac is on purpose? The timing of the banana and jet engine versus the death mites? [[User:Altor|Altor]] ([[User talk:Altor|talk]]) 12:46, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
*** I doubt that it was intended, as I would think there would still be the r in driac. It has not been changed as of now, so I can't be sure. #TEBOWTIME 14:19, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
****Corrected to proper spelling by RM as of 9/21/12 [http://www.xkcd.com/1097/]Maybe we should as well. --[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 17:32, 21 August 2012 (UTC)
***Moved page and 1097 redirect to new spelling...--[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 22:40, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

*What are "death mites"?
** A {{W|Mite}} is a small arthropod that aren't particularly dangerous to humans, at worst causing allergic reactions. I guess "death mites" is another joke on hypochondriacs. [[User:Buggz|Buggz]] ([[User talk:Buggz|talk]]) 11:11, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

*I feel like a Hypochondriac's nightmare would be dying from a disease that they detected at the earilest stage, but could do absolutely nothing about. #TEBOWTIME 10:33, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

*Don't you think the Title Text is more suggesting that Randal has a rash and he made the comic to calm himself down, but then it turns out that he has death mites in real life?
** Using the context clues, it's safe to assume that Cueball is thinking the title-text. #TEBOWTIME 13:24, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
* Note that banana peels aren't actually slippery (though they are portrayed as such in media), and haven't been since the Gros Michel cultivar (think "breed") was wiped out (by Panama Disease, a fungus) and replaced with the Cavendish. [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 22:50, 26 December 2012 (UTC)

Talk:832: Tic-Tac-Toe

2012-12-13T23:29:52Z

75.103.23.206: Created page with "The only joke in this comic is the title text; a reference to the 1984 movie WarGames. In that movie, the AI concludes that the only way to win at Tic-Tac-Toe is not to play (..."

The only joke in this comic is the title text; a reference to the 1984 movie WarGames. In that movie, the AI concludes that the only way to win at Tic-Tac-Toe is not to play (since perfect strategy always produces a tie). That conclusion is parodied in the title text. [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 23:29, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

Talk:842: Mark

2012-12-13T22:18:12Z

75.103.23.206: Created page with "The title "Mark" referring to both the mark on his arm, and the fact that he is a "mark" -- a victim of a prank or confidence scheme. ~~~~"

The title "Mark" referring to both the mark on his arm, and the fact that he is a "mark" -- a victim of a prank or confidence scheme. [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 22:18, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

Talk:843: Misconceptions

2012-12-13T22:14:13Z

75.103.23.206:

When I took Calculus-based Physics in college (2003), my professor taught us that glass was an "extremely viscous fluid." When was glass reclassified as an amorphous solid?
 [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]])
Your professor was simply incorrect. Glass never was, and has never been, an "extremely viscous fluid". Molten glass is a "molecular liquid" where the viscosity depends on temperature. [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 22:14, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

Talk:866: Compass and Straightedge

2012-12-13T19:53:42Z

75.103.23.206: Created page with "No, the comic is funny because many geometrical theorems prove something along the lines of "With a compass and straightedge you cannot construct..." (e.g. a square and a circ..."

No, the comic is funny because many geometrical theorems prove something along the lines of "With a compass and straightedge you cannot construct..." (e.g. a square and a circle with the same area) If you have knowledge of this type of proof, the humor is that you think he's about to talk about something that is impossible in geometry, but really he's talking about the inapplicability of geometry to real life. This is often a difficulty with nerds and brainy people, they try to apply their theoretical knowledge to human relationships and fail. [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 19:53, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

Talk:923: Strunk and White

2012-12-13T17:49:44Z

75.103.23.206: Created page with "EB White was also a Cornell professor. ~~~~"

EB White was also a Cornell professor. [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 17:49, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

Talk:926: Time Vulture

2012-12-13T17:33:04Z

75.103.23.206: Created page with "An obvious reference to death itself, which stalks everyone, usually for decades. This is a "memento mori". ~~~~"

An obvious reference to death itself, which stalks everyone, usually for decades. This is a "memento mori". [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 17:33, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

Talk:935: Missed Connections

2012-12-13T17:09:38Z

75.103.23.206: Created page with "A "Juggalo" is a fan of the band Insane Clown Posse, about as diametrically removed from a democratic politician as you could think of. ~~~~"

A "Juggalo" is a fan of the band Insane Clown Posse, about as diametrically removed from a democratic politician as you could think of. [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 17:09, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

Talk:938: T-Cells

2012-12-13T16:54:07Z

75.103.23.206: Created page with "Trial appears to have been a success, although the patient now has no B-cells and thus a compromised immune system (will need regular gamma globulin transfusions and the like)..."

Trial appears to have been a success, although the patient now has no B-cells and thus a compromised immune system (will need regular gamma globulin transfusions and the like). [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 16:54, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

Talk:950: Mystery Solved

2012-12-13T16:12:01Z

75.103.23.206: Created page with "The Northwest Passage is a sea route from the North Atlantic to the Pacific, north of the North American continent. It has not been "open" until very recent years; the icepack..."

The Northwest Passage is a sea route from the North Atlantic to the Pacific, north of the North American continent. It has not been "open" until very recent years; the icepack extends far enough south that it is not generally navigable. [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 16:12, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1043: Ablogalypse

2012-12-07T22:32:19Z

75.103.23.206: Created page with "Actually, the august 18 date was premature; blog beat tumblr over the rest of august and so they didn't cross in August. Revised data showed that the crossing actually occurre..."

Actually, the august 18 date was premature; blog beat tumblr over the rest of august and so they didn't cross in August. Revised data showed that the crossing actually occurred for the first time in november 2012. [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 22:32, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1052: Every Major's Terrible

2012-12-07T22:04:30Z

75.103.23.206: Created page with "Panel 1's cueball is in the same pose as Rodin's "The Thinker" Panel 4 background is the periodic table of elements. Panel 5, Fowler's Toad emits a noxious secretion that ir..."

Panel 1's cueball is in the same pose as Rodin's "The Thinker"

Panel 4 background is the periodic table of elements.

Panel 5, Fowler's Toad emits a noxious secretion that irritates skin and mucous membranes (it was previously thought to cause warts)

Panel 6, Psychology = a serial killer with a chainsaw, Sociology = hobo; Social Psych = hobo serial killer with chainsaw.

Panel 15, LISP, Scheme, and other computer languages with an excess of parentheses.

Panel 16, biohazard symbol

Panel 19, bongos were played by Richard Feynman

Panel 27, fear of snakes, study of reptiles

Panel 28, a picture of a stomach, pun on "stomach" being slang for "tolerate"

Panel 30, words in all lowercase like e.e.cummings

Talk:1055: Kickstarter

2012-12-07T21:52:26Z

75.103.23.206: Created page with "Also note the Droste effect of Blackhat's video: in the video he's holding a copy of the current webpage. ~~~~"

Also note the Droste effect of Blackhat's video: in the video he's holding a copy of the current webpage. [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 21:52, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1061: EST

2012-12-07T21:44:28Z

75.103.23.206: Created page with ""24 hours 4 minutes" because the period of rotation of the Earth is 24 hours MINUS four minutes. EST = Eastern Standard Time (USA) or England Standard Time (UK); there's no e..."

"24 hours 4 minutes" because the period of rotation of the Earth is 24 hours MINUS four minutes.

EST = Eastern Standard Time (USA) or England Standard Time (UK); there's no easy way to disambiguate this since it is a common time zone for English speakers in the USA and UK.

"Run clocks backward" a possible reference to the leap second.

"0.9144" because 1 yard = 0.9144 meters

"triple 4 hours after every full moon" = add on an additional 12 hours every full moon, to make the time between full moons exactly 30 "days" (in real life it's 29.5 days). [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 21:44, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1075: Warning

2012-12-07T20:51:44Z

75.103.23.206: Created page with "And also that riding in a car is one of the most hazardous activities possible, and people don't realize this, the common view is that walking or riding in a plane is more dan..."

And also that riding in a car is one of the most hazardous activities possible, and people don't realize this, the common view is that walking or riding in a plane is more dangerous when really being in a car is by several orders of magnitude. [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 20:51, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1084: Server Problem

2012-12-07T20:40:01Z

75.103.23.206: /* */

It reminded me of the [http://articles.cnn.com/2012-04-13/tech/tech_web_apple-mac-virus-fix_1_mac-users-malware-mac-os?_s=PM:TECH Flashback Virus] that happened on Macs --[[User:Toddr|Toddr]] ([[User talk:Toddr|talk]]) 21:41, 9 August 2012‎ (UTC)

== WooWoo Science from La-La Land ==

I love this paragraph:
"Proponents of the singularity typically state that an "intelligence explosion",where superintelligences design successive generations of increasingly powerful minds, might occur very quickly and might not stop until the agent's cognitive abilities greatly surpass that of any human."

"OK team, you can stop now, we are much more intelligent than they are"
"Don't we need to keep learning"
"Nah!"
:Whence comes the quote (and the follow-up commentary)? Attribution requested. Posted by an IP-address contributor; if you'd like to see this retained, please follow up with sources, explanation, and signature... otherwise, I think the content is just tangential enough to be removed. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:42, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
:I believe the assumption is that they will hit some sort of fundamental physical limit on intelligence (At the extreme long-term end, perhaps latency due to the finite speed of light) and stop, rather than simply grow tired of advancing and focus attention elsewhere. [[User:Thirgfloorgreg|Thirgfloorgreg]] ([[User talk:Thirgfloorgreg|talk]]) 23:02, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

== ==
I think there are two ways of interpreting it. The most likely is that Megan's "What did you do!?" is a cry of frustration and amazement that Cueball has managed to *so* break the server. First, how on earth did Cueball's $PATH get changed *at all* so that executing "ls" in the shell ran anything but the usual /bin/ls? Second, how did it end up pointing to that ls.jar? And third, what the heck did Cueball do to end up with that ls.jar being installed there anyway!? Then her "You should shut down..." comment should be interpreted as being preceded with the phrase "You are so clearly not qualified to use a computer that ...". On the other hand, she may be expressing awe and amazement at his ability to interact with his system in such a bizarre way. And then her "You should shut down ..." comment should be preceded with the phrase, "You are clearly so at one with computing machinery that ..." TK 2012-08-17

:alias ls='sudo java usr/share/Adobe/doc/example/android_vm/root/sbin/ls.jar' [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 23:35, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

or you could edit $PATH and do a soft link from the first member of PATH/ls to /usr/share/Adobe/doc/example/android_vm/root/sbin/ls.jar, anyway if i was Megan i wouldn't give up just yet, i still have /bin/ls and dir in my disposal... (and always check the environment variables... never assume the user's environment is clean.. it's just most likely that $PATH got screwed up (happened a bit too often for my liking in my previous company.. some people just love to use the command "set PATH=/myprog" instead of set PATH=${PATH}:/myprog ) and all you had to do is to reset the variable and we are done :) (but ya.. Megan's reaction is also my reaction.. it's fun to see people helpless and think that they have royally screwed up their system when you swoop in like a super hero to miraculously repair their system) [[Special:Contributions/118.101.220.167|118.101.220.167]] 09:59, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

Considering Cueball's response, which suggests he is completely unaware of the unlikeliness of the error message, we can assume that the latter is not the case. Cueball totally fails to miss the point by suggesting a simple solution while not realizing how messed up his system would need to be to not even be able to operate the ls command. --[[Special:Contributions/88.75.181.101|88.75.181.101]] 02:45, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

== ==

Cueball has somehow messed up his path so that 'ls' now points to ls.jar, which executes the command on an external device (presumably an Android device).

== ==
Cueball's last line is a reference to an error message from the 8-bit era that went something like "Device not ready" or "device busy, try again later" which led some people to interpret it (literally) that they should try again later, when it really meant "the drive can't read the floppy disc that's in it". [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 20:39, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1084: Server Problem

2012-12-07T20:39:08Z

75.103.23.206:

It reminded me of the [http://articles.cnn.com/2012-04-13/tech/tech_web_apple-mac-virus-fix_1_mac-users-malware-mac-os?_s=PM:TECH Flashback Virus] that happened on Macs --[[User:Toddr|Toddr]] ([[User talk:Toddr|talk]]) 21:41, 9 August 2012‎ (UTC)

== WooWoo Science from La-La Land ==

I love this paragraph:
"Proponents of the singularity typically state that an "intelligence explosion",where superintelligences design successive generations of increasingly powerful minds, might occur very quickly and might not stop until the agent's cognitive abilities greatly surpass that of any human."

"OK team, you can stop now, we are much more intelligent than they are"
"Don't we need to keep learning"
"Nah!"
:Whence comes the quote (and the follow-up commentary)? Attribution requested. Posted by an IP-address contributor; if you'd like to see this retained, please follow up with sources, explanation, and signature... otherwise, I think the content is just tangential enough to be removed. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:42, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
:I believe the assumption is that they will hit some sort of fundamental physical limit on intelligence (At the extreme long-term end, perhaps latency due to the finite speed of light) and stop, rather than simply grow tired of advancing and focus attention elsewhere. [[User:Thirgfloorgreg|Thirgfloorgreg]] ([[User talk:Thirgfloorgreg|talk]]) 23:02, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

== ==
I think there are two ways of interpreting it. The most likely is that Megan's "What did you do!?" is a cry of frustration and amazement that Cueball has managed to *so* break the server. First, how on earth did Cueball's $PATH get changed *at all* so that executing "ls" in the shell ran anything but the usual /bin/ls? Second, how did it end up pointing to that ls.jar? And third, what the heck did Cueball do to end up with that ls.jar being installed there anyway!? Then her "You should shut down..." comment should be interpreted as being preceded with the phrase "You are so clearly not qualified to use a computer that ...". On the other hand, she may be expressing awe and amazement at his ability to interact with his system in such a bizarre way. And then her "You should shut down ..." comment should be preceded with the phrase, "You are clearly so at one with computing machinery that ..." TK 2012-08-17

:alias ls='sudo java usr/share/Adobe/doc/example/android_vm/root/sbin/ls.jar' [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 23:35, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

or you could edit $PATH and do a soft link from the first member of PATH/ls to /usr/share/Adobe/doc/example/android_vm/root/sbin/ls.jar, anyway if i was Megan i wouldn't give up just yet, i still have /bin/ls and dir in my disposal... (and always check the environment variables... never assume the user's environment is clean.. it's just most likely that $PATH got screwed up (happened a bit too often for my liking in my previous company.. some people just love to use the command "set PATH=/myprog" instead of set PATH=${PATH}:/myprog ) and all you had to do is to reset the variable and we are done :) (but ya.. Megan's reaction is also my reaction.. it's fun to see people helpless and think that they have royally screwed up their system when you swoop in like a super hero to miraculously repair their system) [[Special:Contributions/118.101.220.167|118.101.220.167]] 09:59, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

Considering Cueball's response, which suggests he is completely unaware of the unlikeliness of the error message, we can assume that the latter is not the case. Cueball totally fails to miss the point by suggesting a simple solution while not realizing how messed up his system would need to be to not even be able to operate the ls command. --[[Special:Contributions/88.75.181.101|88.75.181.101]] 02:45, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

== ==

Cueball has somehow messed up his path so that 'ls' now points to ls.jar, which executes the command on an external device (presumably an Android device).

== ==
Cueball's last line is a reference to an error message from the 8-bit era that went something like "Device not ready" which led some people to interpret it (literally) that they should try again later, when it really meant "the drive can't read the floppy disc that's in it". [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 20:39, 7 December 2012 (UTC)