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− | :<small>''Not to be confused with [[68: Five Thirty]]''</small>
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| {{comic | | {{comic |
| | number = 530 | | | number = 530 |
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| ==Explanation== | | ==Explanation== |
− | [[Cueball]], locked out of his {{w|dorm}}/{{w|apartment}}, is trying to get his roommate [[Megan|Megan's]] attention so that she'll unlock the door. He tries various increasingly obscure ways of contacting her: calling her cell phone, {{w|IRC}}, the window, and finally remotely logging into their Mac computer (via {{w|Secure Shell|SSH}}) to make it shout at her, which involves working out a way to turn up the computer's volume. [[Ponytail]] informs him of the most obvious solution—the doorbell—which prompts a moment of realization. The content of this realization—"I'm An Idiot"—is stated in the title of the comic. The humor of the comic derives from the rhythm of the panels: a long buildup followed by a short quip, then a sudden, silent pause for the implied realization moment. | + | [[Cueball]], locked out of his dorm/apartment, is trying to get his roommate's attention. Being the typical xkcd computer geek, he tries various ways of reaching her, by calling her cell phone, IRC, the window, and SSH'ing into a Mac computer to make it shout at her. [[Ponytail]] informs him of the most obvious solution — the doorbell. |
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− | Additionally some readers will be familiar with the behavior shown in the comic, since most every person who likes solving problems has experienced a moment of realization similar to Cueball's at one point or another. They, like Cueball, get distracted by solving an interesting problem [[356: Nerd Sniping|''because solving problems is fun'']], and fail to notice that the problem has an easier solution that they haven't considered. This same issue of getting lost in a sub-problem [in this case, the-sub problem of how to remotely control text-to-speech in OS X] at the expense of overall problem-solving ability is further covered in [[761: DFS]].
| + | This is a general geek issue, exercising one's technical skills to the maximum while overlooking the simplest way. |
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− | The title text states that this is a true story, so Cueball must represent [[Randall]]. It also mentions that, although missing an obvious solution can be humiliating, one often learns a lot from trying new solutions, which would explain why the behavior persists.
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− | This comic follows a similar storyline to [[349: Success]] and [[1518: Typical Morning Routine]], as Cueball and [[Hairy]] respectively in these comics, encounters an issue and attempts proceedingly more absurd solutions to the issue.
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| ==Transcript== | | ==Transcript== |
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| :Ponytail: I take it the doorbell doesn't work? | | :Ponytail: I take it the doorbell doesn't work? |
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− | :[Beat panel.] | + | :[Ponytail remains in place, Cueball tilts head back slightly, as if staring in realization.] |
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| {{comic discussion}} | | {{comic discussion}} |