530: I'm An Idiot

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I'm an Idiot

Title text: Sadly, this is a true story. At least I learned about the OS X 'say' command.

Explanation

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.

This is a general geek issue, exercising one's technical skills to the maximum while overlooking the simplest way.

Transcript

[Ponytail approaches Cueball, who is sitting on porch steps, laptop in lap and backpack open.]

Ponytail: Should I ask?

Cueball: I'm locked out, and I'm trying to get my roommate to let me in.

[Unplugged cell phone on table.]

Cueball: First I tried her cell phone, but it's off.

[Cueball sitting on steps, laptop in lap and gesturing.]

Cueball: Then I tried IRC, but she's not online.

[Cueball standing in front of house and looking up at window.]

Cueball: I couldn't find anything to throw at her window,

[Living room with couch easy chair and computer set up.]

Cueball: So I SSH'd into the Mac Mini in the living room and got the speech synth to yell at her for me.

Computer: Hey I'm locked out downstairs

[Megan sitting at table with laptop open.]

Cueball: But I think I left the volume way down, so I'm reading the OS X docs to learn to set the volume via command line.

[Ponytail facing Cueball, who is still sitting on the porch with his laptop.]

Ponytail: Ah.

Ponytail: I take it the doorbell doesn't work?

[Ponytail remains in place, Cueball tilts head back slightly, as if staring in realization.]

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Discussion

Does this count as a self-nerd-snipe? 108.162.218.101 02:44, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Anyone have an idea how he made his Mac Mini speak? 199.27.133.129 19:46, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

Yes. Read the title text. 108.162.216.83 03:36, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

osascript -e "set volume 7", if anybody is curious --Okofish (talk) 17:34, 1 May 2015 (UTC)

I like how the doorbell pops out real obviously in the last panel. like 0_0... 173.245.54.24

Explanation seems a bit complicated for such a simple joke. Even the description of a beat panel seems convoluted. flewk (talk) 02:44, 4 January 2016 (UTC)

Why is this comic confused with Five Thirty? Halo422 (talk) 05:16, 18 December 2017 (UTC)

Because it's comic five hundred thirty or "five thirty". 162.158.150.82 20:50, 9 March 2019 (UTC)

I could be wrong, but to connect to something via SSH, it needs a static ip, right? Why would their laptop have a static ip? 23:10, 5 August, 2020 EST

No static IP necessary. A name will work just fine. However, if the device is on a LAN that is hidden behind a router, finding it could be hard.

Continuing my string of really late comments: Luckily it is not a laptop. As mentioned above, it's a Mac Mini. Nitpicking (talk) 17:32, 29 August 2021 (UTC)

Or alternatively, since Cueball is at the door his laptop’s probably connected to the same WiFi with the Mac Mini. 172.70.127.61 00:02, 21 September 2024 (UTC)