explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1476: Ceres

2016-03-04T00:16:59Z

108.162.238.90: /* Transcript */ Fixing typo: "lasy" -> "last"

{{comic
| number = 1476
| date = January 21, 2015
| title = Ceres
| image = ceres.png
| titletext = Earth clearly hasn't been inspected, since it's definitely contaminated with salmonella.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Ceres (dwarf planet)|Ceres}} is the largest known {{w|asteroid}} and the smallest known {{w|dwarf planet}}. [[Megan]] sits at her computer and tells [[Cueball]] how exciting it will be when Dawn will discover what is the cause of the "stupid white dot" on Ceres.

{{w|Dawn (spacecraft)|Dawn}} is a probe sent by {{w|NASA}} in 2007 to examine the {{w|asteroid belt}}. Having already visited the {{w|protoplanet}} {{w|4 Vesta|Vesta}} in 2012, Dawn is now scheduled to arrive at Ceres on March 6, 2015. Dawn's initial images of Ceres were released two days before this comic, quickly inspiring [http://www.universetoday.com/118358/first-hubble-and-now-dawn-have-seen-this-white-spot-on-ceres-what-is-it/ questions about the white spot]. The spot was first noticed in photographs taken by the {{w|Hubble Space Telescope}}.

"[http://www.cafepress.com/inspector6 Inspected By No. 6]" refers to a series of quality assurance stickers used by US clothing manufacturers. Individual inspectors, each assigned a number, randomly sample products for workmanship. Accepted items are marked with that inspector's sticker. The presumed joke is that the white spot is a large sticker indicating that Ceres has passed inspection.

[http://www.ceres-cert.com/ CERES] (Certification of Environmental Standards) is also the name of a food inspection company based in Germany. Both the food inspection company and the dwarf planet are named for {{w|Ceres (mythology)|Ceres}}, the ancient Roman harvest goddess from whom English derives the word "{{w|Breakfast cereal|cereal}}."

The title text extends the joke to the planet Earth, where {{w|salmonella}} can be found. Salmonella are harmful microorganisms that are sometimes found in food products subject to improper handling or overlong storage. Mixing the realms of astronomical objects and food once more, the title text concludes that the planet Earth clearly hasn't been tested by CERES since salmonella can be found on it.

The Dawn mission is mentioned in [[1532: New Horizons]].

==Transcript==
:[Megan sitting in front of her laptop talks to Cueball who stand behind her.]
:Megan: ''Dawn'' has almost reached Ceres.
:Megan: I'm excited that we'll finally learn what that stupid white dot is.

:[Current version of Dawn's best picture of Ceres and the white spot is shown.]

:[As Dawn get's closer the pictures improve and in the second version the white spot shows to have black markings.]

:[In the last zoom in on Ceres, the white dot resolves to a badge with clear black text:]
:Inspected by No. 6

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Space probes]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Food]]

Talk:694: Retro Virus

2016-02-05T19:53:29Z

108.162.238.90:

Edited to reflect that at the time referenced in the comic (2003), Windows XP machines were not necessarily "more susceptible" to viruses, but rather due to their ubiquity (especially at large corporations or other organizations) were more likely to be targeted by viruses. I'm certainly not an expert, so please if anyone has a better understanding, update or revert the explanation, as appropriate. [[User:Orazor|Orazor]] ([[User talk:Orazor|talk]]) 08:52, 11 June 2014 (UTC)

"Cleaning viruses in the Win32 API" is such a stupid statement... Gonna edit it later. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.217|141.101.89.217]] 13:28, 9 October 2014 (UTC)
: When, exactly, is "later"?[[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 10:47, 11 December 2014 (UTC)
::When the prophets realise there is more to keeping Windows afloat than a cartel making hardware. Or do you imagine that moving to Adobe is a brilliant move on the part of US Intelligence.

::Ah... Let me rephrase that...
::There is no way on god's earth that Microsoft could have survived Vista without a lot of very well placed software makers shitting semicolons. Imagine the wave of panic that must have darkened the doorstep of every computer seller and manufacturer of Windows games and other software when it occurred to them it was Vista or Linux.

::If going back to school would have sucked for Windows users, think how the schools were reacting to the news.

[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]])

I predict the Linux Event date to be sometime in 2016. That's because I, a confirmed disbeliever in the usability of Linux (due to many attempts and no successes), have decided that the Linux community has matured enough and grown large enough to have created a distro that I can get working. I will be attempting this major breakthrough in the next 6 months or so. Please stand by. [[User:Jakee308|Jakee308]] ([[User talk:Jakee308|talk]]) 19:08, 8 June 2015 (UTC)
:Didn't happen. Linux just totally sucks. All the commands make no sense (If I hear 'sudo' one more time I will barf)
. Also Android is shit. {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.35}}
:You should try Fedora. Fedora is probably the best Linux distribution for GNOME. It's also the most up to date (while stable) distro. :)

1596: Launch Status Check

2015-10-28T15:25:47Z

108.162.238.90: /* Really looks more like an Atlas V with solid boosters */

{{comic
| number = 1596
| date = October 28, 2015
| title = Launch Status Check
| image = launch status check.png
| titletext = Visual checks suggest the cool bird has exited the launch zone. Tip the rocket sideways and resume the countdown--we're gonna go find it!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Probably requires some rewording, also a (better?) explanation about hawks, vultures, eagles and V-shaped wings would be nice}}
The first panel shows a {{w|Rocket launch|rocket launch}}, which is a critical point in any {{w|Spaceflight|space mission}}. Before this moment, there are years of hard work from a large technical staff, and all that work (and even lives) could be destroyed in a second if anything {{w|List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents|goes wrong during the launch}}. ''{{w|Countdown|T-Minus}} 2 minutes'' means that there are only two minutes left before the rocket is actually launched, so at this moment everybody is very nervous and worried about the launch going wrong. Other texts from the panel refer to the usual checks before the launch, whose end is to ensure everything is ready.

In the second panel, one of the people controlling the launch sees a "cool bird" on the {{w|Closed-circuit television|live feed}} from the cameras controlling the operation. This should be of no importance at all, given the relatively much more serious matter of having years of work and possibly human lives at stake. However, the technical staff starts commenting on this cool bird and aborts the launch procedure as they are interested in the bird. This behavior would be absurd in real life.

In the third panel, the two controllers attempt to identify the bird; the one on the right guesses maybe it is a hawk. Since the habitat of hawks and vultures overlap almost entirely, a birdwatcher is almost certain to accidentally confuse the two in their lifetime of birdwatching. Obviously having this knowledge of the habitat overlap, the controller on the left asks if the bird was a vulture. The controller on the right accurately notes that it probably was not a vulture since it is commonly known to ornithologists that vultures "hold their wings slightly raised in a "V" when seen head on."[http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Turkey_Vulture/id]. However, this demands that the original sighting of the bird must have included a flight pattern in which the bird not only "flew past the tower" as stated, but also flew towards the tower...even cooler!

The title text goes on with the same absurd behavior: the crew restarts the countdown to launch the rocket, but only to follow the bird and get a closer look at it. The original space mission the rocket was designed for is completely ignored. This is even more absurd than the initial interest in the bird, given that a rocket designed to enter outer space is ill equipped to try to follow a bird and maneuver at the low elevation and at the relatively slow speed of a bird.

The rocket featured has some similarity with the {{w|Falcon_Heavy|SpaceX Falcon 9 Heavy}} launch vehicle (albeit with stubbier strap-on boosters), although there are/have been/will be {{w|Ariane_4|other}} {{w|Atlas_V|launch systems}} with booster profiles and payload shrouds of a similar nature that could have ended up illustrated somewhat like this.

The bird being refered to by the launch-crew features as a mere mark on the comic-strip, consistent with scale against the rocket, but they are obviously trying to start to identify the rough species or group it belongs to from the {{w|Bird_flight#Wing_shape_and_flight|wing geometry}}, the effortlessly soaring carrion-seeking vulture and the hawk that often uses a swooping attack upon its prey typically having very different wing configurations as matches their evolved lifestyle.

==Transcript==
:[A rocket is about to launch. A small object is near the top of the rocket.]
:Countdown: ''T-Minus 2 minutes''
:Offscreen Voice 1: Tank and booster are go for launch.
:Offscreen Voice 2: Safety console?
:Offscreen Voice 1: Check. Safety-
:Offscreen Voice 2: Wait.

:[The small object moves to further to the right.]
:Offscreen Voice 1: What is it?
:Offscreen Voice 2: On the live feed- a cool bird just flew past the tower!

:[A shadow darkens the launch site. The small object moves out of the panel.]
:Offscreen Voice 1: Whoa, what kind?
:Offscreen Voice 2: Like a hawk, maybe!
:Offscreen Voice 1: Could it be a vulture?
:Offscreen Voice 2: I doubt it. The wings were flat, not in a "V".
:Offscreen Voice 1: It could be an eagle!
:Offscreen Voice 2: Ooh!

:Offscreen Voice 1: This is launch control. We have a possible sighting of a cool bird. Halt the countdown.
:Offscreen Voice 2: Someone get some binoculars up here!
:Offscreen Voice 1: I want to see!

{{comic discussion}}