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| | | title = Server Problem | | | title = Server Problem |
| | | image = server_problem.png | | | image = server_problem.png |
| | + | | imagesize = |
| | | titletext = Protip: Annoy Ray Kurzweil by always referring to it as the 'Cybersingularity'. | | | titletext = Protip: Annoy Ray Kurzweil by always referring to it as the 'Cybersingularity'. |
| | }} | | }} |
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| − | ==Explanation== | + | == Explanation == |
| − | [[Cueball]] has messed up his {{w|Linux server}} (which can have the prompt ~# or ~$), {{tvtropes|WalkingTechbane|apparently not for the first time}}. [[Megan]] offers to take a look at the PC and types in "ls" — a basic command that lists the files in the current directory. The computer returns a bizarre error message — it trips over one of the simplest commands, indicating that Cueball's system is messed up. ''Really'' messed up. | + | In this comic, [[Cueball]] has messed up his Linux server (again, so he apparently does this a lot). [[Megan]] comes over and enters the basic command 'ls' which is supposed to list the files in the current directory. Instead, the computer responds with a generic error message generated by a file named ls.jar in an obscure location. |
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| − | On Linux, most commands are executables usually found in either /bin or /usr/bin. The /usr/share folder, on the other hand, is where "architecture-independent shared data" is stored. Adobe is a software company that produces Acrobat, Photoshop, and a wide range of other software for manipulating work revolving around a 2D canvas. "android_vm" would likely be a virtual machine for Android. The .jar extension suggests a Java-language program. None of the above items are related to the command "ls", nor do they have anything to do with each other, with the semi-exception that Android is based on Java. Executables should also never be found within /usr/share or within directories named "example" or "doc" - indeed, by default Linux does not even look in the /usr/share directory for items that can be run unless the user {{w|PATH (variable)|tells it to do so by changing the $PATH variable}}. The presence of "ls.jar" within a folder called "android_vm" suggests Cueball was attempting to boot up a virtual Android device, but somehow wound up directing the Linux server to use the executable files meant for the virtual system instead of the correct ones in /bin or /usr/bin.
| + | Even ignoring that the 'ls' command's executable file would not typically be named ls.jar (which suggests a Java-language program), the file's location appears to be nonsensical. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesystem_Hierarchy_Standard#Directory_structure /usr/share path should indicate] "architecture-independent shared data". Adobe is the maker of such programs as Acrobat, Flash and Photoshop. Android VM would be a virtual machine for the mobile Operating System created by Google called Android. |
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| − | In the last frame Megan is bewildered by this result and asks ''"What did you do!?"''. Cueball suggest a course of action which mimics a common error message: "[X] is busy, please try again later." Obviously he has seen this type of message frequently enough to try it as a general cure in all similar cases (even scarier, there is a good possibility that his tech issues are so bizarre that it often works for him).
| + | [[Megan]] is annoyed at the weird result. [[Cueball]]'s answer seems as if he is less knowledgeable about the behaviour that is normally expected of the 'ls' command. The crux of the comic is then that the solution to [[Cueball]]'s lack of knowledge and tendency to mess up his server would be to just give up and "wait for the singularity". It is implied that after this future technological advancement a server will be able to properly operate itself without [[Cueball]] repeatedly having to ask for [[Megan]]'s assistance. |
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| − | Megan then tells Cueball to "shut down the system and wait for the {{w|technological singularity|singularity}}," referring to a hypothetical future event when superintelligence can be artificially created. Since future superintelligent humans/computers transcend our comprehension, we can't predict or even understand what will happen after the singularity. One interpretation is that Megan is telling Cueball that his system is such a mess that it will take a post-singularity superintelligence to fix it (or run it in its current state, as only an intelligence beyond present comprehension would be capable of doing). It also indicates that either [[1782: Team Chat]] or [[1668: Singularity]] could be the sequel to this comic. Since the singularity is a hypothetical event that may never happen, or may happen at a date unimaginably far in the future, Megan is essentially telling Cueball to give up completely on fixing his server. This is her way of declaring that no human can fix or understand his server.
| + | The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity singularity] is "the hypothetical future emergence of greater-than-human superintelligence through technological means. Since the capabilities of such intelligence would be difficult for an unaided human mind to comprehend, the occurrence of a technological singularity is seen as an intellectual event horizon, beyond which events cannot be predicted or understood. |
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| − | The title text is yet another [[:Category:Protip|protip]] from [[Randall]]. {{w|Ray Kurzweil}} is an author and futurist who has {{w|Singularity Summit|talked}} and {{w|The Singularity Is Near|written}} much about a ''{{w|technological singularity}}''. Presumably, mangling the jargon (by confusing the concept of the "singularity" with the science fiction term "{{w|cyberspace}}") is something Kurzweil (as an expert) would find annoying. Also, as Randall later pointed out in [[1573: Cyberintelligence]], the prefix "cyber" has not really been used for a decade...
| + | 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." |
| | + | |
| | + | In the image text, Ray Kurzweil is an author and futurist who has talked and written much about the singularity. |
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| | ==Transcript== | | ==Transcript== |
| − | :[Cueball at his computer calls out for Megan who comes walking in to the frame.]
| + | Person 1, sitting at laptop: I, um, messed up my server again. |
| − | :Cueball: I, um, messed up my server again.
| + | |
| − | :Megan: I'll take a look. You have the ''weirdest'' tech problems.
| + | Person 2: I'll take a look. You have the *weirdest* tech problems |
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| | + | [Person 2 uses the root prompt] |
| | + | |
| | + | ~# ls |
| | + | |
| | + | [computer returns the following] |
| | | | |
| − | :[Zoom in on only Megan who uses the root prompt on the computer.]
| + | usr/share/Adobe/doc/example/android_vm/root/sbin/ls.jar: Error: Device is not responding. |
| − | :<code><font color="gray">~#</font> ls</code> | |
| | | | |
| − | :[Megan stands next to the computer, Cueball sits behind her on his chair. The computer returns the following:]
| + | [Person 2 has turned to address Person 1] |
| − | :<code>/usr/share/Adobe/doc/example/android_vm/root/sbin/ls.jar:</code>
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| − | :<code>Error: Device is not responding.</code>
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| | | | |
| − | :[Megan turns towards Cueball who lifts his hands with palm up.]
| + | Person 2: What did you ''do''!? |
| − | :Megan: What did you ''do!?''
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| − | :Cueball: Maybe the device is busy. Should I try it later?
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| − | :Megan: You should shut down this system and wait for the Singularity.
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| − | == Trivia ==
| + | Person 1: Maybe the device is busy. Should I try it later? |
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| − | * This is the first comic to have a high-resolution (pixel-doubled) version of its image.
| + | Person 2: You should shut down this system and wait for the Singularity. |
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| | {{comic discussion}} | | {{comic discussion}} |
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| | [[Category:Computers]] | | [[Category:Computers]] |
| | [[Category:Linux]] | | [[Category:Linux]] |
| − | [[Category:Protip]]
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| − | [[Category:Singularity]]
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| − | [[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]
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| − | [[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
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