explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1033: Formal Logic

2015-01-29T03:19:47Z

108.162.249.205:

- What can we learn from this? - I've learned that everyone who drives a car loves Formal Logic that if they press a horn actuator while driving, a horn will sound (Thank you Mr. XKCD). Now can I comment if I love your undeniable genius and your unexpected life's lessons? - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 14:36, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

"So, there is nothing you can do except starting to love formal logic"
That isn't what this comic means. It means "I am a fan of formal logic, and if you are too, you may honk to indicate this. If you honk for any other reason at all, don't be surprised if I jam a pitchfork up your ass."
Re-write, please. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.58|108.162.219.58]] 08:37, 10 February 2014 (UTC)
:Why would you even think that is correct? -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 03:19, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

Talk:892: Null Hypothesis

2015-01-27T00:59:31Z

108.162.249.205:

If you get a 50% discount at two shops and buy stuff from both of them, you have a 100% discount. Math. That's how it works, bitches. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 10:05, 9 March 2013 (UTC)
:I would feel entirely justified punching someone who said that unironically. Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 00:59, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

That's a misleading thing about percentages. Like this:
Prices of coffee increase by 2% this year, then by 3% next year. That's a 1% increase between years, or a 50% increase between years (from 2 to 3). So which is it? 1 or 50?
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.240|141.101.98.240]] 08:26, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

That's why they've invented the "base points" in financials, to denote the percentages of percentages. It's 1% absolute but 50bpp (base point percentage). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.11|108.162.246.11]] 18:35, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

Oh really. If you say it increased by 2% this year, then by 3% next year. It increased 3%. Unless you mean it will increase by 3% from LAST YEAR to NEXT YEAR. Then it really increased by 2% then .97%. But for this purpose let's throw that out and make it simple. It increased by 2% this year, and will increase by 3% next year. 50% isn't how much it increased, but how much the increase increased. That's called acceleration. The rate of increase per year is always 2 or 3%. So, 1% doesn't factor into this equation at all no matter how you do the math. The answer is 1.02*1.03. It increased by 5.06% over the last two years. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.114|108.162.216.114]] 14:59, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Don't these discussion points belong in a different comic? Or perhaps the garbage? Except (1), he lol'd me. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.58|108.162.219.58]] 21:23, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

:They should be on [[985: Percentage Points]] or [[1102: Fastest-Growing]] --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 11:35, 23 October 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1401: New

2015-01-23T02:51:52Z

108.162.249.205:

Why are there three ''n'''s in ''headcannnon'' in the title text?
[[User:Keavon|Keavon]] ([[User talk:Keavon|talk]])

:Or as n increases the effort to convince others that the existence/correctness of headca(n)+on decreases? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.26|108.162.216.26]] 20:31, 30 July 2014 (UTC)arcturius

:I think it's as simple as 1 n in canon (what the pun is based on), 2 n's in cannon (in the comic), and just to keep the pattern going, 3 n's in cannnon (in the title text).--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.175|173.245.54.175]] 05:35, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

That reminds me on Neil Stephensons - The Diamond Age: or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer... Very nerdy! {{unsigned ip|108.162.254.21}}

Another very common usage of headcanon is when you REMOVE something from your headcanon - that is, pretend that it never happened, despite it being canon. Often it's case of not-really-good sequels. Or later edits: see {{w|Han shot first}}. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:35, 30 July 2014 (UTC)
:I thought that headcanon was everything fans imagined, not just what contradicts canon. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.204|141.101.105.204]] 16:32, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

Anyone note that the computer is completely undamaged (from the cannonfire at least, no telling about when it strikes the floor), despite the desk being demolished? [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 13:14, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

Worth mentioning the alternate term "fanon", at all? (Currently third but unlinking item {{w|Fanon|Wikipedia link}}, or the more dangerous (in the [[214|Comic 214]] sense) [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Fanon TVTropes link]... ) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.7|141.101.99.7]] 13:22, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

:I'd say no, fanon is headcanon that is accepted in huge parts of the fandom. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.204|141.101.105.204]] 16:32, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

New headcanon: Black Hat Guy always has a headcannon under his hat, and in this comic he is simply showing Cueball that he got a new one. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.73|108.162.216.73]] 14:12, 30 July 2014 (UTC)Matthew
:Not true. In other comics where he hasn't had his hat, he did not have a cannon on his head. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.161|108.162.237.161]] 15:40, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

Canon (in Greek: Kanon, Arabic: Qanon, Hebrew: Kaneh) means reed, or straight. Thus trustworthy. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_law#Etymology] [[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 14:38, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

Black Hat is shown to have short dark hair. That's new xkcd canon. As far as I know, he'd always been shown wearing a hat completely covering his hair until now. --[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 15:33, 30 July 2014 (UTC)
: Not new. http://xkcd.com/377/ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.161|108.162.237.161]] 15:40, 30 July 2014 (UTC)
:I always assumed black hat and white hat(perhaps all the cast) were aspects of Cueball,s psyc, a jungian zoo. {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.167}}

Ra-Ra-Rasputin {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.170}}

"The title text is a pun on the homophones *canon* and *cannon*" ... uh, the whole entire COMIC is a pun on the homophones *canon* and *cannon*. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.149|173.245.56.149]] 18:16, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

Kudos to the author(s) of the example using Quark. One of the best-written explanations on this wiki. [[User:Jameslucas|jameslucas]] ([[User talk:Jameslucas|" "]] / [[Special:Contributions/Jameslucas|+]]) 22:42, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

''"Fans might wonder why, on a station that has "replicators" (devices that can create any food or drink out of energy on demand), anyone would patronize a bar"'' - perhaps because they might want to, you know, socialise with other people? Call me old-fashioned... --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.37|141.101.99.37]] 14:23, 31 July 2014 (UTC)

Anyone know if this weeks what if is different depending on region? I only ask because it mentions my small town and I am skeptical based on past comics. [[1037: Umwelt]][[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.208|173.245.56.208]] 06:25, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

Well, it doesn't mention anyplace close to me :-)
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.214|141.101.98.214]] 09:04, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

No one has explained why the comic is titled "New". Because Black hat says "NEW HEADCANNON:" rather than "I HAVE A NEW HEADCANNON:", I think he is speaking not English, but some programming language. Black Hat created the headcannon by saying "new Headcannon:", which is a command to instantiate an object of type Headcannon. This is similar to previous strips http://xkcd.com/353/ and http://xkcd.com/413/, which attributed supernatural creative powers to Python's "import" statement. But "new Headcannon:" isn't Python. I don't know language it is. {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.178}}

Could the "headcannnon" refer to an idea that "blows your mind"? The trajectory of the "literal" cannon ball ends where Cueball's head was, so it went from head to head, not head to desk... --[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 22:34, 28 October 2014 (UTC)
:It seems more likely Black Hat is just being an asshole and shooting him in the face. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 02:51, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1476: Ceres

2015-01-22T22:33:48Z

108.162.249.205:

I'm not sure about Number 6 being a reference to The Prisoner. there's no other context in the comic to suggest that reference. {{unsigned ip|‎173.245.54.180}}

Number 6 could be a Battlestar galactica reference as well, which is again a reference to The Prisoner http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_Six_%28Battlestar_Galactica%29 {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.252}}

The novel The WindWalkers (in French "La Horde du Contrevent") from Alain Damasio is the story of the 34th team of people walking against the wind to go past the end of the known world. A group is sent every generation from a starting point and they walk over decades as far as they can go. The team leader is called Golgoth and is the 9th descendant of his family leading a team. He is obsessed with the idea of getting farther than his father (Golgoth 8) and the others Golgoth before them. At one point, while the team thought having been farther than any other, Golgoth 9 finds a sign let by Golgoth 6 (whose team had been thought lost) that demonstrates they were not the first ones reaching this point.
Maybe the comics does not make reference to this event in the novel, but readers of the novel will likely think about it. [[User:Marou|Marou]] ([[User talk:Marou|talk]]) 08:42, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

: Wikipedia has a list of characters in books and/or films named {{w|Number_6#In_the_arts_and_entertainment|Number 6}}, so unless there is a clear reference, I suggest we stick to assuming that Number 6 is simply the identifying number of un-named CERES employee. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 11:16, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Maybe include a picture of Ceres (the dwarf planet) to show the real white spot (not the inspection sticker) [[User:SirKitKat|sirKitKat]] ([[User talk:SirKitKat|talk]]) 09:14, 21 January 2015 (UTC)
: Or a ref to an [http://www.universetoday.com/118358/first-hubble-and-now-dawn-have-seen-this-white-spot-on-ceres-what-is-it/ image/animation] [[User:SirKitKat|sirKitKat]] ([[User talk:SirKitKat|talk]]) 09:16, 21 January 2015 (UTC)
: This image shows it really good: [http://d1jqu7g1y74ds1.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2004HubbleRotation-580x515.jpg] (Images from the Hubble Space Telescope in 2004 of Ceres. Credit: NASA/Hubble) --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.134|108.162.254.134]] 09:29, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Ceres is also a brand of vegetable fat manufactured by [http://www.belusafoods.sk/1/index.php?kat=3&ac=5&id_p=170 BELUŠA FOODS s.r.o.] (no english version, sorry). Salmonela in this kind of Ceres would be very interesting but I doubt that Randal refers to this Ceres. [[User:Jkotek|Jkotek]] ([[User talk:Jkotek|talk]]) 09:31, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Earth the planet contains salmonella.
--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.12|141.101.104.12]] 09:45, 21 January 2015 (UTC)
: I agree, in that sense the joke is much funnier and more closely related to the rest of the comic (since (dwarf)planets are tested). -- [[User:Linuspogo|Linuspogo]] ([[User talk:Linuspogo|talk]]) 09:55, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

;German? Number Nein
Unless this German company puts round inspection stickers onto products, '''in English''', then Randall is referring to [http://www.cafepress.com/inspector6 these stickers], which were used by [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=258182 US clothing manufacturers] in the mid-to-late 20th century. -- [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 12:52, 21 January 2015 (UTC)
: I would tend to agree on the stickers themselves, but the mention of salmonella and the fact that CERES is indeed a company which provides certification of agricultural processes and related inspection services across the EU, some sort of link seems patent, and I think a mention of the relationship should remain in some form. -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 13:26, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

: It's Debbie Slade: [http://articles.latimes.com/1990-11-18/business/fi-6997_1_quality-assurance-manager] [http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=110&dat=19910211&id=IA5QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5lUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6542,3176811] --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.134|108.162.254.134]] 14:49, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

I wonder where the high resolution detail came from. I imagine the frames of the animation could be used as sub-sampled images and hence combined to obtain higher resolution, but I should imagine that, had this been done, such images would also appear on the various science sites. So: did Randall one-up the mission handlers, did he fill in some other image or did I simply fail to find the source?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.123|108.162.229.123]] 13:53, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

: I had wondered that too. My guess was that he took an available higher res image of the moon or similar, then added the shadows and bright patches from the low res Ceres image. I can tell from the pixels and from seeing quite a few shops in my time. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 14:02, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

:: I see what you did there. (xkcd#331). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.217.125|108.162.217.125]] 05:47, 22 January 2015 (UTC)BK201

: I'm pretty sure Randall just took from that one image of six frying pan bottoms.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.101|108.162.221.101]] 17:08, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

I think people are trying too hard to assign meaning to "inspected by number 6" I really think 6 was just an arbitrary number and not a reference to The Prisoner or Battlestar or even Debbie Slade. The lines trying too hard to make "number 6" a reference to something should probably be removed. {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.180}}
:I feel that this happens quite a lot here. Not every word and image has to be a reference to something. Even if two things do bear some similarity, it could always be a coincidence caused by a shared culture producing similar ideas. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.73|173.245.50.73]] 15:11, 22 January 2015 (UTC)
:: Especially when the thing in question is a low value integer. Those things pop up all over the place. -Pennpenn[[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 22:33, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

What about Futurama? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethal_Inspection ¬¬¬¬ {{unsigned ip|141.101.106.131}}

Talk:1284: Improved Keyboard

2015-01-21T04:17:09Z

108.162.249.205:

Black hat has done something similar [[156|here]].[[User:Guru-45|Guru-45]] ([[User talk:Guru-45|talk]]) 13:17, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
: Nice find Guru. I've moved that into the explanation. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 13:23, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
Gosh, Black Hat did something useful and constructive. Hurrah! (I'm such a dinosaur, I read "installing a keyboard" as "plugging in a physical keyboard". Have people got so short of time that even the word "app" gets dropped nowadays?)[[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.114|108.162.249.114]] 23:33, 31 October 2013 (UTC)

:I still remember that word being "application". Seems it was getting shorter and shorter and now it disappeared completely :-) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:44, 1 November 2013 (UTC)
::Given that the person is talking about text messages (ostensibly from the phone he is holding), they probably just didn't need to add that it was an app since that would be self evident. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 04:17, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Reminds me of the invisible Fleksy keyboard.[[User:Deyesed|Deyesed]] ([[User talk:Deyesed|talk]]) 07:31, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

Talk:462: Freemanic Paracusia

2015-01-21T02:28:42Z

108.162.249.205:

Hi there! This is my first xkcd explanation attempt. Hope it's good enough.

- TED N E

PS

One other thing - I can't seem to be able to redirect right from the list of all comics. {{unsigned|TED N E}}
: Go here [[Help:How to add a new comic explanation]] and read the instructions.--[[Special:Contributions/145.253.244.103|145.253.244.103]] 10:11, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

Morgan Freeman's voice has a profound impact in one of the all time favourite movies "Shawshank Redemption", {{unsigned ip|108.162.222.28}}
:Correct - this has now been included in a rephrased Morgan Freeman explain. That must be his most known part, and also a movie he narrates! [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:50, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

Good News Everyone! I've invented a device that will make you subconsciously hear this comment in Professor Farnsworth's voice! -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 02:28, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Talk:823: Guest Week: David Troupes (Buttercup Festival)

2015-01-21T02:21:29Z

108.162.249.205:

Could the 'Woman' be Megan? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.190|173.245.54.190]] 16:20, 14 August 2014 (UTC)
:Maybe David Troupes wants to make the woman be Megan but can't because he doesn't know how to draw the typical Megan hair we use to identify her. [[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.215|103.22.200.215]] 02:25, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
Or she could just be a generic person. It seems like a better idea to presume that a character is a generic unless specifically indicated. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 02:21, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1263: Reassuring

2015-01-20T03:07:21Z

108.162.249.205:

Does anyone know of any specific Go program/progress this comic is referring to? Nothing on Slashdot prior to the comic, so unless it's just looking forward I don't know of any current events it's referring to. {{unsigned ip|192.55.54.36}}
:No specific program that can compete with Dan players yet. But when the problem was started in the 80s, computers couldn't even agree the game was over without giving up a good sum of points. 10 years ago, the best supercomputer was outclassed by a trainee. But now, all the current algorithms can match a decent player. The Deep Blue of Go will probably come within 5 years.[[Special:Contributions/96.251.85.48|96.251.85.48]] 18:12, 11 September 2013 (UTC)

Panel 2 seems to be set up as a reference to [[894: Progeny]]. [[Special:Contributions/100.40.49.22|100.40.49.22]] 07:01, 11 September 2013 (UTC)

It seems that there's been progress since [[1002: Game AIs]] [[Special:Contributions/188.221.199.135|188.221.199.135]] 09:06, 11 September 2013 (UTC)

I am reminded of Isaac Asimov's comment: "It always amuses me to hear some perfectly ordinary human being say that a computer 'can't compose a symphony', as though he himself could." [[User:SteveMB|SteveMB]] ([[User talk:SteveMB|talk]]) 10:25, 11 September 2013 (UTC)

The tooltip text is a reminder that PCs become to be obsolete as well, I think. [[Special:Contributions/217.31.207.1|217.31.207.1]] 11:33, 11 September 2013 (UTC)

Is the Dell Inspiron supposed to be quietly amusing humans, which it might be, or itself? I don't think it can be amusing itself. [[User:Jb|Jb]] ([[User talk:Jb|talk]]) 15:44, 11 September 2013 (UTC)

I think that the screensaver thing is in itself a reference to futility, as screensavers are getting more obsolete with every flatscreen there is - although people are still using them to no avail. [[Special:Contributions/213.55.184.130|213.55.184.130]] 16:02, 11 September 2013 (UTC)

Screensavers are more of a security tool now, as they can be set up to require login credentials to resume work. [[User:Gardnertoo|Gardnertoo]] ([[User talk:Gardnertoo|talk]]) 16:49, 11 September 2013 (UTC)

What is that truncated word supposed to be after salad? Salad compost? Salad component? You don't win friends with salad compared to a BBBQ? [[Special:Contributions/128.49.161.70|128.49.161.70]] 20:33, 11 September 2013 (UTC)

I think it's "computers," beginning the next reassuring expression. [[Special:Contributions/69.245.155.187|69.245.155.187]] 01:16, 12 September 2013 (UTC)

It’s shurely no coincidence that megan makes a python script: http://xkcd.com/353/ --[[Special:Contributions/84.191.162.233|84.191.162.233]] 09:15, 12 September 2013 (UTC)

Haha. https://www.khanacademy.org/cs/sentence-generator/2038602492 [[Special:Contributions/203.188.230.100|203.188.230.100]] 10:38, 15 September 2013 (UTC)

http://chessprogramming.wikispaces.com/Shih-Chieh+Huang {{unsigned ip|82.15.102.182}}

Actually, the screen saver being obsolete is not true. I have an LCD monitor here that has a faint, but still distinctly visible Windows XP taskbar with a very blurry clock when displaying black. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_persistence
[[User:Lennartgoosens|Lennartgoosens]] ([[User talk:Lennartgoosens|talk]]) 22:57, 5 October 2013 (UTC)
:You can simply set a timeout for the display to turn off to avoid this (the same timeout as you would set for a screensaver). I have clarified that in the explanation. [[User:Sten|'''STEN''']] ([[User talk:Sten|talk]]) 01:06, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

The screensaver is not obsolete; the years-old Dell that has been running it (and possibly being amused by it) is obsolete. No other reading of the title text can be justified. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.58|108.162.219.58]] 09:33, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

I don't see why computers can "never" do certain things. I mean, humans can do those things, so its just a sensory inputs and processing, and the structure that gets built to understand it. The first step though, is to figure out why we do those things so we can replicate it elsewhere. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 03:07, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

Talk:345: 1337: Part 5

2015-01-20T02:24:07Z

108.162.249.205:

Does anyone know if such an IP address really exists, where you can point a streaming audio player at the right time to hear her "rock out"? [[User:Saibot84|Saibot84]] ([[User talk:Saibot84|talk]]) 05:33, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

127.0.0.1 [[User:HitiadlfElaineR|HitiadlfElaineR]] ([[User talk:HitiadlfElaineR|talk]]) 08:36, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

Shouldn't we mention Dread Pirate Roberts a.k.a. Ross William Ulbricht, the Silkroad founder? {{unsigned ip|141.101.64.71}}

Also, the joke is that the sentence from the Princess Bride _isn't_ exactly mimicked. Cary Elwes says "you'd make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts," where DPR is the full title. Elaine is told that she make a "great dread Pirate, Roberts," - Roberts being Elaine's surname. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.86|173.245.52.86]] 23:28, 6 November 2014 (UTC)
* Rather pedantic bit of critique. The comma is just there so the joke makes sense as a line.- Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 02:24, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1268: Alternate Universe

2015-01-20T00:55:45Z

108.162.249.205:

This reminds me of that conspiracy theorist thing where a bunch of people thought that New Zealand was, like, to the west or north of Australia (I can't quite remember), only to check on a map and see it was definitely to the east... And as such convinced themselves that they somehow travelled to an alternate version of Earth were everything was basically the same except NZ was in a new place. Anyone else remember/know about those guys?
EDIT: Found one of 'em, so hopefully I sound less crazy (than them): [http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread543455/pg1 NZ conspiracy nut in action]
[[Special:Contributions/67.71.33.122|67.71.33.122]] 01:29, 24 September 2013 (UTC)

I thought Earth Prime was a reference to Sliders... but Wikipedia says it's been used much more widely. [[User:Saibot84|Saibot84]] ([[User talk:Saibot84|talk]]) 04:40, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

Wait, wait ... only "some of you" change your clocks? In the universe I just came from, MOST of them changed their clocks at unsynchronized times for no good reason anyone has ever been able to demonstrate. Only the Third World along with Hawaii and Saskatchewan were holdouts where I came from.{{unsigned ip|72.68.9.56}}

Neither India nor China are having this obscure idea of occasionally changing their clocks for no obvious reasons. So even "most" might be a bit of a stretch. [[User:Pmakholm|Pmakholm]] ([[User talk:Pmakholm|talk]])

:Sure they do -- they're just more occasional about it than others! China last did it in '91, and India in '45.{{unsigned ip|72.68.9.56}}

:Neither does Indonesia. Apparently, according to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DaylightSaving-World-Subdivisions.png this map], neither does a good deal of the world (particularly those near equator) as well. [[User:Goldstein-Izayoi|Goldstein-Izayoi]] ([[User talk:Goldstein-Izayoi|talk]]) 13:57, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

Iceland (definitely NOT Third World) does not changes its clocks. It remains on GMT throughout the year, despite being way west of the Greenwich Meridian [[Special:Contributions/95.131.110.106|95.131.110.106]] 09:53, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

:In my universe, Iceland was a small, inbred fishing community -- prone to collapsing the world's economies with banking phishing scams {{unsigned ip|72.68.9.56}}

Yeah I think it's a Sliders reference. Randall says he was transported in the late 1990s and Sliders aired from 1995-2000. [[Special:Contributions/184.56.86.168|184.56.86.168]] 06:02, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

:Didn't we already had discussion about Earth Prime on [[1184:_Circumference_Formula]]? Hmmm ... should we prepare category for comics mentioning Earth Prime? :-) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:02, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

They eat spiders in some parts of this world, e.g. Cambodia. [[User:Geevade|Geevade]] ([[User talk:Geevade|talk]]) 06:54, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

Reminds me a little bit of this Married to the Sea strip: http://www.marriedtothesea.com/index.php?date=111008 [[Special:Contributions/213.86.4.78|213.86.4.78]] 10:38, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

Reminds me of this bit from [http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/27/1680102/the-lobster-rebellion.html a Dave Barry column]: "I personally see no significant difference between a lobster and, say, a giant Madagascar hissing cockroach, which is a type of cockroach that grows to approximately the size of William Howard Taft (1857-1930). If a group of diners were sitting in a nice restaurant, and the waiter were to bring them each a freshly killed, steaming-hot Madagascar hissing cockroach, they would not put on silly bibs and eat it with butter. No, they would run, retching, directly from the restaurant to the All-Nite Drive-Thru Lawsuit Center." [[User:SteveMB|SteveMB]] ([[User talk:SteveMB|talk]]) 10:46, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

Has this guy never heard of Bear Grylls? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WVcSufp3Fw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJRpXYs1pQA (Just occasionally!) [[Special:Contributions/121.74.169.237|121.74.169.237]] 11:01, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

I wonder how amount of meat compares, and meat-to-shell ration, and taste of meat. BTW Wikipedia says that {{w|Spider#Benefits_to_humans|''Cooked tarantula spiders are considered a delicacy in Cambodia''}}. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 11:56, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

Personally, I don't think spiders to lobsters is a good comparison. Spiders are carnivores, while lobsters are carrion eaters. Personally, I would never want to eat a carrion eater. (Of course, I would never want to eat a spider either, but that's different...) --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 13:53, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

I always compared Lobster to cockroaches. But, maybe calling them "The cockroaches of the sea" was just me. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:22, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

So, this alternate universe has a restaurant chain called "Red Spider"? [[User:SteveMB|SteveMB]] ([[User talk:SteveMB|talk]]) 21:28, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

: Brilliant. [[Special:Contributions/192.249.1.163|192.249.1.163]] 02:45, 9 October 2013 (UTC)
:eek! http://xkcd.com/8/ [[User:Orazor|Orazor]] ([[User talk:Orazor|talk]]) 13:48, 30 September 2014 (UTC)

On this one episode of Game Grumps on of the guys on that show mentioned some comedian or something making a comment along the lines of "Realizing you really are getting old is like seeing a teenager eat a spider like it's nothing. You can't explain to him why it's wrong, you just know it is, but his generation doesn't get why it isn't okay." That was the first thing I thought of when I saw read this, does anyone know who said this? [[Special:Contributions/74.110.143.25|74.110.143.25]] 21:42, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

I read: "where people occasionally ARE spiders"!
...and though Megan was about to kiss her spider boyfriend. [[Special:Contributions/205.151.118.100|205.151.118.100]] 00:41, 24 September 2013 (UTC)

Can someone explain why occasionally eating spiders is weird? The universe that I come from has people eating on average 8 spiders a year while sleeping, though I can't seem to find a source of that information on this universe's Internet. Spiders being not okay to eat occasionally and the Internet failing me must surely be signs I'm in a parallel universe. --[[Special:Contributions/68.97.21.122|68.97.21.122]] 03:32, 24 September 2013 (UTC)

:Somewhere I saw that the 8 spiders a year is probably low estimate :-). (Other sites insists its urban legend, but seriously, how would you prove this?) But no matter what you think about spiders opinion on mouth as possible home, I would say it only counts when you eat spider deliberately. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:28, 25 September 2013 (UTC)

::CP Grey tackles the spider myth in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCzXZfNIu3A {{unsigned|Rael}}

The 8 spiders a year is false. Here's a link: http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/spiders.asp
:Note that this only proves that the statistics is urban legend and doesn't say anything about how high the actual consumption is. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:06, 16 October 2013 (UTC)

Indeed "8 spiders" is probably a very low estimate of annual consumption. In the universe where I originally came from, insect parts (and presumably spiders) provide a nutritional boost to many industrially-processed foods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Food_Defect_Action_Levels [[Special:Contributions/108.160.230.100|108.160.230.100]] 17:23, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

HaHaHa i'm from Israel and this comic is about us! according to jewish diatery rules, spiders and lobsters are both forbidden (only one Arthropod is allowd - Locust). We also had a mix-up with our clock because we changed the date without telling Apple and Google, so the smartphones had to be switched manually. {{unsigned ip|84.229.22.212}}

:Really? I'm not sure it's about Israel. I think it's about the ridiculousness of eating lobsters, as they are similar to spiders, and eating spiders is "disgusting", while eating lobsters is "normal". I'm a vegetarian, so I don't eat any arthropods. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.62|108.162.216.62]] 17:53, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

(CTU) 3102 rebmevoN 1 ,92:30 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|711.642.261.801]] ?sdrawkcab gnitirw lla uoy era yhW {{unsigned ip|108.162.246.117}}

I get why people might dislike eating lobster (and/or spiders) but I don't get why it would seem rational to consider it the same thing when they are quite physically distinct. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 00:55, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

Talk:592: Drama

2015-01-19T03:11:17Z

108.162.249.205: Created page with "All rules changes ever anywhere will cause drama. This is inevitable. -Pennpenn ~~~~"

All rules changes ever anywhere will cause drama. This is inevitable. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 03:11, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

410: Math Paper

2015-01-16T02:54:05Z

108.162.249.205:

{{comic
| number = 410
| date = April 14, 2008
| title = Math Paper
| image = math_paper.png
| titletext = That's nothing. I once lost my genetics, rocketry, and stripping licenses in a single incident.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a set up to use the joke about {{w|imaginary friend}}s by taking the concept of "{{w|friendly number}}s" into the complex plane, which comprises numbers that have both a real and an imaginary part. Such a pun is both so obvious and so terrible that Cueball's superiors deem that he has lost the right to carry a "math license".

This is a recurring theme in earlier xkcd comics, being banned from holding presentations at conferences because said presentations are just elaborate puns. The title text takes the joke a step further, with the added hilarity of making the audience question exactly how Cueball was able to work a {{w|striptease}} into a presentation about genetic engineering and astrophysical rocket study (or possibly genetics and rockets into a striptease...). This is what All The Tropes calls a "[https://allthetropes.orain.org/wiki/Noodle_Incident noodle incident]".

===Math===
An {{w|imaginary number}} is a number that can be written as a real number multiplied by the imaginary unit ''i'', which is defined by its property ''i2 = -1'' (an impossibility for regular, "real" numbers, for which all squares are positive). The name "imaginary number" was coined in the 17th century as a derogatory term, since such numbers were regarded by some as fictitious or useless, but over time many applications in science and engineering have been found.

An imaginary number ''bi'' can be added to a real number ''a'' to form a {{w|complex number}} of the form ''a+bi'', where ''a'' and ''b'' are called, respectively, the real part and the imaginary part of the complex number. If ''a'' and ''b'' are both integers, the complex number is called a {{w|Gaussian integer}}.

Joel Bradbury has a wonderful explanation of {{w|friendly number}}s on [http://www.joelbradbury.net/notes/friendly_numbers his site]:

:What are Friendly Numbers?
:We need first to define a divisor function over the integers, written σ(n) if you're so inclined. To get it first we get all the integers that divide into n. So for 3, it's 1 and 3. For 4, it's 1, 2, and 4, and for 5 it's only 1 and 5.

:Now sum them to get σ(n). So σ(3) = 1 + 3 = 4, or σ(4) = 1 + 2 + 4 = 7, and so on.

:For each of these n, there is something called a characteristic ratio. Now that's just the divisors function over the integer itself: σ(n)/n . So the characteristic ratio where n = 6 is σ(6)/6 = 12/6 = 2.

:Once you have the characteristic ratio for any integer n, any other integers that share the same characteristic are called friendly with each other. So to put it simply a friendly number is any integer that shares its characteristic ratio with at least one other integer. The converse of that is called a solitary number, where it doesn't share its characteristic with anyone else.

:1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are solitary. 6 is friendly with 28; σ(6)/6 = (1+2+3+6)/6 = 12/6 = 2 = 56/28 = (1+2+4+7+14+28)/28 = σ(28)/28.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball points to equations on the board.]
:Cueball: In my paper, I use an extension of the divisor function over the Gaussian integers to generalize the so-called "friendly numbers" into the complex plane.

:Professor: Hold on. Is this paper simply a giant build-up to an "imaginary friends" pun?

:[Cueball stands speechless for two panels.]

:Cueball: It MIGHT not be.
:Professor: I'm sorry, we're revoking your math license.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Banned from conferences]]
[[Category:Public speaking]]

Talk:327: Exploits of a Mom

2015-01-15T03:08:28Z

108.162.249.205:

What about the daughter's name?[[User:Guru-45|Guru-45]] ([[User talk:Guru-45|talk]]) 14:57, 17 November 2012 (UTC)

:I think that's embellished upon later in a series called l33t. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 15:42, 17 November 2012 (UTC)
:It's for novelty license plates with people's names on them (like "Bort" for example). [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.67|199.27.128.67]] 18:15, 6 July 2014 (UTC)

After fixing my stupid undo I think this comic is still incomplete: What is the "driver's license factory" at the title text? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:17, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

:The common tale is that someone purchases some item or other with writing on it (or somewhere where writing can appear, on closer examination) and finds that this writing reads "Help, I'm trapped in a <item> factory", or similar, as appropriate to the object concerned. This suggests that someone is trapped (or perhaps even enslaved to work) within such a place and their only hope of escape is to make 'messages in a bottle' out of the product that leaves the facility. This is often extended to various fantastical situations, like the (British only?) joke about the stick of {{w|Rock_(confectionery)|sea-side rock}}.
:(Of course, the writing in sticks of rock generally starts to become unreadable (for normal-sized sticks) for any name larger than "Bridlington", although with care I suppose they've made them with a semi-legible "Western-super-Mare" set through them. But one aspect of this version of the joke could definitely well be that the theoretical SOS message wouldn't legibly fit.)
:So, anyway, Mrs Roberts (who waited for a number of years for Little Bobby Tables to grow up to school-age, for the illustrated exploit) is patiently waiting for her daughter to get to somewhere in her mid-teens, or later, all the while intending that she will get to spoof such a message from the local DMV's license-printing facility at some point. (Turns out that could be as 'soon' as her reaching 14-16 years of age for her first Learner license, depending on state.) Momma Roberts likes playing the long-game, it appears. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 16:02, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

:The mouseover text might also be a reference to an easter egg in classic Mac OS, in which the text "Help! Help! We're being held prisoner in a system software factory!" was embedded in the {{w|system suitcase}}. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.90|173.245.50.90]] 20:02, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

Wasn't there another comic that had the digits of pi with "Help I'm trapped in a universe factory!" included in it?

Talk:225: Open Source

2015-01-15T03:00:15Z

108.162.249.205:

"Richard Stallman is famous for beginning the GNU Project and is outspoken on the topic of Open Source software and Free software." Specifically, he is an outspoken critic of Open Source, and an outspoken proponent of Free Software. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 02:09, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

:Ah, thank you. That's good to note. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 05:25, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

GPL isn't a recursive abbreviation for ‘GNU Public License’, then it would have to be called ‘GPL Public License’. GNU in itself, on the other hand, ''is'' a recursive abbreviation for 'GNU's Not Unix'. --[[Special:Contributions/188.113.76.15|188.113.76.15]] 15:38, 9 March 2013 (UTC)
:{{done}} (Though I actually noted this myself and fixed it; then noticed your comment :-) ) [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 10:45, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

The pronunciation of GNU is actually "g'new" not "new". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.8|108.162.249.8]] 02:06, 29 December 2013 (UTC)

~ ~ ~ ~ Aren't ninjas supposed to be stealthy and silent? Of course, they could have been made to announce their mission to Richard before (perhaps) killing him, but still... {{unsigned ip|108.162.249.223}}
: The point is not to kill him, but to startle him into a response to an absurd situation which the pranksters find humorous. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 03:00, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

The comic isn't quite explained here. Did the ninjas kill RMS, or were they just pretend-ninjas trying to scare him? Is the blob in the last panel a blood smear or a hood being carried? {{unsigned ip|173.245.55.61}}
: Read harder, there is RMS's comment on them running away. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.154|173.245.56.154]] 21:02, 22 July 2014 (UTC)

I have a bit of an issue with calling non-free software traditional. RMS is the traditionalist here. He created GNU for that very purpose, to get back to the traditional method of being able to access and modify your source, and then share any fixes you made with the wider community. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.154|173.245.56.154]] 21:02, 22 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1473: Location Sharing

2015-01-15T02:28:22Z

108.162.249.205:

It's a reference to the Uncertainty Principle, a property of quantum mechanics that states that position and momentum cannot be known at the same time.
[[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.98|199.27.133.98]] 05:20, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

I may be thinking too much into this, but couldn't she also not want the website to know her mass? Momentum is Mass*Velocity, and Velocity can be derived from change in position [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.159|173.245.56.159]] 05:34, 14 January 2015 (UTC)
:That was my understanding, too. Moreover, I don't see any humor in applying the uncertainity principle to macroscopic objects. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.57|108.162.254.57]] 08:53, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

Angular momentum sensors - a.k.a. gyros, not accelerometers. {{unsigned ip|141.101.80.109}}

She does not want the website to calculate her mass and therefore her weight. It has nothing to do with the uncertainty principle {{unsigned|Saints22}}
:I disagree. Of course it is funny idea that she says nice try as if the website had interest in her weight. But since you cannot calculate mass from position and momentum your ideas makes no sense. You need the velocity and the momentum to calculate the mass. So even though they could have both position and momentum they would still not know her mass. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:33, 14 January 2015 (UTC)
::Unless, of course, the permission given by Megan to determine her location is persistent and lasts for at least two consecutive polls for location, which would enable the recipient to compute the velocity out of two locations and time between the polls. [[User:Nyq|Nyq]] ([[User talk:Nyq|talk]]) 13:12, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

I do not not think that Megan allows the website to access her location. The website wants her to, that's why the button is highlighted and blinking. In the beat panel, Megan presumably denies. The website then asks for momentum and wants Megan to deny the request (by highlighting "Deny"), so that, according to the uncertainty principle, they can still get her location (which is what they wanted all along). However, Megan sees through this trick and acknowledges its cleverness with a "Nice try". --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.134|108.162.254.134]] 10:27, 14 January 2015 (UTC)
:No I disagree. Of course the highlighted button is the one Megan pushes. And just because you do not know the momentum does not automatically give you the location. You just can't know both without a given uncertainty. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:33, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

What's with the persistent "females"? Would make sense in biology talk, but it's really weird when what you mean is "women"[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.185|141.101.104.185]] 13:14, 14 January 2015 (UTC)
:: I'd suggest that it is just about avoidance: some might take 'women' as having negative derogative connotations in this context, whereas females is unarguably accurate. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.204|173.245.54.204]] 13:29, 14 January 2015 (UTC)
:::"Females" is shorter than "women and girls". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.201|108.162.221.201]] 14:54, 14 January 2015 (UTC)
::: Yes, some people are determined to be offended. Unfortunate. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.152|173.245.54.152]] 19:52, 14 January 2015 (UTC)
::: For the sake of accuracy, I move that we should really say something more along the lines of "living female homo sapiens organisms" - so that we can exclude the countless other female eukaryotes we know so little about socialogically, and/or the otherwise dead or nonexistent homo sapiens or their representations? I mean, come on! "Females" is sooooo nonspecific...-- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 19:57, 14 January 2015 (UTC)
:: The name of the academic field of the study of women's perspectives in most public universities is, "Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies." "Women" is the correct academic term for the discussion of women. [[User:ChristGoldman|ChristGoldman]] ([[User talk:ChristGoldman|talk]]) 20:36, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

There's some confusion over the sensors. GPS is used to determine the device's position on Earth, but not its orientation. An accelerometer may be used to determine a phone's orientation in terms of flat/portrait/landscape, but not in which direction in terms of north/south. The magnetometer can measure magnetic forces, but isn't enough to determine north (because of inclination). To measure magnetic north, you need to combine data from accelerometer and magnetometer, which gets a working, but quite unsteady compass. These sensors (GPS, accelerometer, magnetometer) are available on most current smart phones. Better devices also include a gyroscope, which measures angular momentum, but no absolute angle towards the horizon and/or north. A gyroscope may be used to improve the stability of the accelerometer/magnetometer compass (but requires a good algorithm which I'm still looking for). Knowing this, the title text is disputable, because devices without gyro aren't actually able to provide a steady compass, while those with gyro are (although there are apps which don't use the gyro even when available, so they won't get a fast, steady compass anyway). --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 15:24, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

It seems to me that the paragraph explaining mass and weight is too complicated and overly long, and the hypothesis that the app is trying to steal this information unrelated to the comic, or rather, wild speculative extrapolations of logic and meaning. Likewise, the sentences on how the accelerometer may be used to guess passwords seems to me to be unfounded in science. The uncertainty principle is the clear main theme of this comic. --[[User:Canned Soul|Canned Soul]] ([[User talk:Canned Soul|talk]]) 16:03, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

Added one word to make it "An example is a weather app which would need your location in order to '''automatically''' find the correct forecast." It's often trivial to manually get forecasts (or other services, like "nearest branch of a shop that has your desired item in stock") for a current location, just so as long as /you/ know where you are... (I don't turn on my GPS unless I'm actually wanting to use it for something, and don't like websites knowing these things just because they ask for them in the background. Go away, Google Location Services... and why does it grey-out the "Don't share information" hotspot when I've ticked the "Don't ask me again" and only lets me continually refuse ''manually''!? Which I do on principle!!) I keep a variety of common home/away locations on permalink in my favourite weather forecast app and know I can easily add another at a moment's notice when I ''want'' to. (And, the beauty is, I don't even need to be there at the time, just perhaps ''planning'' to go!)

Plus, to the "I don't see any humor in applying the uncertainity principle to macroscopic objects." person, above, please pass by your local XKCD offices at the first opportunity in order to hand back your XKCD Membership Card. You're obviously not one of us! ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.191|141.101.98.191]] 16:28, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

Per the explanation: "Randall suggests the poor accuracy of the compasses in mobile phones (measuring the angular position) is due to the gyroscopes being too good. (If both the gyroscope and the compasses were completely accurate, it would violate the uncertainty principle)."
The compass points in a particular direction but tells you nothing about location or momentum. How would it be involved in any violation of Uncertainty? The gyroscope and GPS I could see, maybe. But the compass? I don't see how it combined with anything could involve Uncertainty. - Equinox [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.117|199.27.128.117]] 16:46, 14 January 2015 (UTC)
: The Uncertainty Principle extends to other pairs of conjugate variables besides the well-known pair of position and momentum. One of these pairs is orientation and angular momentum. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.142|173.245.52.142]] 17:45, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

The way I read this, by knowing her current location AND momentum (ignoring the uncertainty principle thing for the moment) it becomes possible to predict where whe'll be in the future, which would open up all sorts of ... 'interesting' marketing opportunities for the app maker. Megan doesn't mind the app knowing where she *is*, but doesn't want it to know where she's *going*, and so rejects the second seemingly innocent question. Maybe?

Talk:481: Listen to Yourself

2015-01-15T01:04:21Z

108.162.249.205:

Anyone out there skilled in the art of making viruses?
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.72|173.245.50.72]] 03:38, 25 July 2014 (UTC)

I admit that I would welcome this virus in order to weed out spelling and grammatical errors, and to make sure the sentences flow properly (when commenting on Youtube my words can become rather salad-y. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 01:04, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

Talk:434: xkcd Goes to the Airport

2015-01-14T05:44:48Z

108.162.249.205:

I do not understand the "churchmouse" in this context? This needs an explain. Thanks.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:39, 26 August 2013 (UTC)
:A churchmouse is a small rodent. Look it up on Wikipedia. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:23, 27 August 2013 (UTC)
::That's not true: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/church+mouse [[User:Xhfz|Xhfz]] ([[User talk:Xhfz|talk]]) 23:24, 13 October 2013 (UTC)
::Alice in Wonderland creates the door mouse. A church mouse is either ameek but faithful church-goer or referencing the idiom "poor as a church mouse." Either way, I don't get it, either, Dgbrt.07:42, 18 December 2014 (UTC)Nix
:Later, [[526 | Converting to Metric]] informs us that a fieldmouse contains 3 mL of blood.--[[User:Rael|Rael]] ([[User talk:Rael|talk]]) 05:29, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Maybe I'm just dirty minded, but I thought the "stains panties" line had to do with simulating either defloration or menstruation.--[[Special:Contributions/67.243.62.50|67.243.62.50]] 17:16, 28 September 2013 (UTC)

I was under the impression that the "hacker girl" either gave him the set as a gift, or he just learned how to lock-pick from being around her so much that he acquired his own. It seems weird that it would have anything to do with smuggling. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 01:12, 22 October 2013 (UTC)

Am I the only one who thought the second panel was a reference to '147: A Way So Familiar'? Mostly based on the character's enthusiastic obsession with a girl who is probably a very bad influence, or at least a bad match. - Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 05:44, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1215: Insight

2015-01-14T02:34:03Z

108.162.249.205:

Indeed, somebody speaking circa 1895 could have made the same remark but instead of Google Glass the subject could have been something then new such as the Horseless Carriage, a technology now known as the Automobile in which I will soon drive to work.
[[Special:Contributions/24.91.233.200|24.91.233.200]] 09:28, 22 May 2013 (UTC)

:The same could be said for electrification (utility-provided mains, especially when extended to rural areas), steam locomotives, and industrialization as a whole. '''--BigMal27''' // [[Special:Contributions/192.136.15.177|192.136.15.177]] 11:24, 22 May 2013 (UTC)

Let's make a list! --[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 13:25, 22 May 2013 (UTC)
:added <fire>, sorted by date--~~ ~~

*Maybe before we rush to adopt <Google Cornea Implants> we should stop to consider the consequences of blithely giving this technology such a central position in our lives. ''(2020)''
*Maybe before we rush to adopt <the internet> we should stop to consider the consequences of blithely giving this technology such a central position in our lives. ''(1986)''
*Maybe before we rush to adopt <TV> we should stop to consider the consequences of blithely giving this technology such a central position in our lives. ''(1954)''
*Maybe before we rush to adopt <automobiles> we should stop to consider the consequences of blithely giving this technology such a central position in our lives. ''(1914)''
*Maybe before we rush to adopt <electrification> we should stop to consider the consequences of blithely giving this technology such a central position in our lives. ''(1880's)''
*Maybe before we rush to adopt <growing food> we should stop to consider the consequences of blithely giving this technology such a central position in our lives. ''(10,000 BCE)''
*Maybe before we rush to adopt <fire> we should stop to consider the consequences of blithely giving this technology such a central position in our lives. ''(400,000 BCE)''



I think that most people initially view a new idea or technology with skepticism and/or suspicion, but eventually accept it and learn to incorporate into their everyday life. This generally works out fine, and often for the better. Historical examples of this abound: the telephone, electricity, and the automobile, for example, probably all caused controversy when they were first rolled out to the general public, but today we couldn't imagine our lives without them. Another great example is civil rights. At first, the public attacks civil rights activists as radicals, then tolerates them as equals, and eventually hails them as heroes who fought for good and justice.

However, I would caution against thinking that every new idea is equally beneficial, and that those who express initial concern about the latest gizmo are merely backward Luddites. Humans are generally a lot better at figuring out how to make/do/use something before we figure out if it's good for us. Just look at drug companies like Bayer at the turn of the 20th century, who marketed aspirin (good) right alongside heroin (not so good) as great new drugs for modern medicine. Or think about eugenics, which developed out of evolutionary theory. While evolution was, is, and probably will always be the foundation of modern biology, eugenics provided justification for some truly horrible actions in the 20th century before people decided that it was all bull**** science.

Or, take Google Streetview. Sure, it's a great new technology, and I use it almost daily. But think about the unprecedented amount of information Google has been able to collect on (literally) the entire world. I don't think anyone can claim that we fully understand the repercussions that these new Google technologies will have on our lives, and I'd argue that it's premature to ignore or ridicule people who advocate caution with Google Glasses. After all, we're talking about strapping a camera to your face! Just my $0.02.

TL;DR: New technology isn't always good technology.
[[User:Chris j|Chris j]] ([[User talk:Chris j|talk]]) 22:37, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

Hi '''Chris j''', please sign your posts by using the sign button on top of the editor. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:58, 22 May 2013 (UTC)

:Maybe before we rush to adopt <signing our posts by using the sign button on top of the editor> we should stop to consider the consequences of blithely giving this technology such a central position in our lives. -- [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.135|173.245.52.135]] 20:31, 29 March 2014 (UTC)

<blockquote>unprecedented amount of information Google has been able to collect on (literally) the entire world</blockquote>
Nothing like the entire world. Vast areas have no streets. Even where there are streets, there are large areas either nowhere near a street or not visible from the street. I await Google JungleView, SteppeView and (ahem) BedroomView. Or maybe not. [[Special:Contributions/203.206.118.14|203.206.118.14]] 02:28, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

Maybe before we rush to adopt <language> we should stop to consider the consequences of blithely giving this technology such a central position in... oh, wait. Shit.
--[[User:Jesse|Jesse]] ([[User talk:Jesse|talk]]) 19:36, 24 September 2013 (UTC)

I find this discussion joyously entertaining. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.137|173.245.48.137]] 15:53, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

This is related to xkcd 1289. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.177|173.245.52.177]] 23:55, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

I guess one of the core issues is that it is almost completely impossible to predict the consequences of introducing technology into any part of our lives, central or not. It not even really possible to determine whether or not a specific technology will take up a role in people's lives.- Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 02:34, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

Talk:757: Toot

2015-01-14T01:59:56Z

108.162.249.205:

The YouTube link in the explanation is a sarcastic video, that makes anyone who views it laugh out loud at how "seriously" the three men in tuxedos are acting as they blare out awful sounds with those horns. Calling the vuvuzela a "highly sophisticated" instrument based on that video is misleading at the least. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.11|173.245.54.11]] 16:00, 7 November 2013 (UTC)

:Use #2: http://www.sfw.furaffinity.net/view/4078940/
:Use #3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kofsc-0aqK8
[[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 06:34, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

I wonder what the other 4 situations where a V thingy is appropriate are? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.53|108.162.221.53]] 07:48, 8 May 2014 (UTC)

The best part about this comic is that it looks like Black Hat is also screaming "BRAAAAAAP!" at the top of his lungs. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 01:59, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

Talk:819: Five-Minute Comics: Part 1

2015-01-13T23:09:16Z

108.162.249.205:

''The Magic Flute'' was composed by W.A. Mozart, not Bach! --[[Special:Contributions/96.20.169.44|96.20.169.44]] 02:10, 30 December 2012 (UTC)

:You are correct! I've fixed that particular mistake. If you spot any other errors on any explanation, please edit the explanation to be correct. Or, if you find an explanation to be lacking, please add to it! [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:13, 30 December 2012 (UTC)

Regarding #7, couldn't perhaps the lines of the respective girls be transcribed, too? (can't read them)--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.197|108.162.254.197]] 10:59, 4 February 2014 (UTC)
::Ups,sorry, very bad reading. Refers only to the first girl.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.197|108.162.254.197]] 11:03, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

::Can anyone tell what the magazine girl is saying? To me it looks like "Airbrush!", but I'm not sure. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.180|199.27.130.180]] 03:29, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:: It's 'Airbrush!', referring to the Photoshop tool that paints, as the photo has been edited. [[User:Fizzle|Fizzle]] ([[User talk:Fizzle|talk]]) 05:11, 21 April 2014 (UTC)

Regarding #6, the motorcycle could be a reference to Tron. The music for Tron 2 is composed as an opera by the band Daft Punk. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.140|108.162.254.140]] 17:48, 9 January 2015 (UTC)

The explanation of "reintroduction" only refers to captive-raised animals. Reintroduction programs often use wild animals from another geographic area. The wolves reintroduced to Yellowstone, for example, were wild wolves trapped in Alberta, Canada. The main point is that putting wolves back where they haven't been for a while; the source is beside the point. {{unsigned ip|173.245.62.173}}

I don't think that it starts taking a turn for the worse when the girl's wearing one of your shirts. I mean isn't that the climax of hotness? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.237|141.101.98.237]] 10:13, 10 January 2015 (UTC)

I read #1 as Jupiter doing a PUA style 'approach', did anyone else get that?

Talk:1305: Undocumented Feature

2014-08-22T06:17:31Z

108.162.249.205:

:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

This sound pretty cool... Anyone know if it's real or which tool it's in? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.222|173.245.55.222]] 05:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* its real, there are 8 other users, but must stay a secret. {{unsigned ip|108.162.231.233}}

* There is no secret chat room, stop looking for it. It doesn't exist. Look for your own island on the interweb, don't come spoil ours. [[User:scr_admin|scr_admin]]

Okay, let's be honest: how many of us, upon seeing today's comic, immediately went here to see if it was real or not? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.4|108.162.245.4]] 07:47, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I honestly did just that. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.137|173.245.53.137]] 08:06, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I also just did that... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.206|108.162.231.206]] 08:07, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I didn't start up my VM to test it, but I came here to see if was real >.< [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.56|108.162.216.56]] 09:47, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I also did that. But I take that, if it is real and someone uncovers it, it may destroy that community... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.123|173.245.53.123]] 10:28, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* Same here. If it is real, I sincerely hope Randall has a) wiresharked it to find out where this chat room resides so he can prod the admin if it ever goes down b) has a backup plan to migrate himself and his friends to some other private chat room. It won't have the same mystery surrounding it, but at least it's something. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.222|108.162.231.222]] 10:51, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

It's not about Youtube, but Facebook, which just launched AUTOPLAYING video ads. Look at the title text, it's about Facebook's real name policy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.232|108.162.231.232]] 08:11, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I wouldn't limit the scope of this commentary just to Facebook; YouTube's been doing autoplaying video ads for years. YouTube's also been asking for real names recently. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.200|108.162.212.200]] 14:26, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* The video ads thing is definitely related to Facebook, but the title text is probably a reference to Youtube recently asking continuously to switch to the real name of google plus account and not the nickname many used on YouTube. Edited the explanation accordingly, since there was no reference to the title text. Spesknight [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.216|108.162.231.216]] 09:08, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

I just searched after reading - and found this site! -- {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.247}}

* The real secret place is here! {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.75}}

* So THIS is the secret chat [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.7|108.162.229.7]] 09:50, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* One day this place will be forgotten and so will we. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.197|108.162.231.197]] 09:52, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

anyone else recognizes the wonderful tcp-ip explanation movie of Ericsson [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hymzoUpM0K0 Dawn of the net] in frames 6 till 10? [User:Tesshavon|Tesshavon]] ([[User talk:Tesshavon|talk]])

* Tesshavon you're in my mind ! Also, the 6th frame is comes from one of the most common Friends posters (see e.g. here : [http://www.infinitydish.com/tvblog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Friends-friends-69087_1024_768.jpg Friends] ) [[User:dandraka|dandraka]]

It's true. Small online communities offer a more folksy experience than the online giants. Some of the best places to hang out are BBS's that made it onto the Internet and have been there for 25+ years. {{unsigned ip|216.150.130.111}}

Well there's always IRC... {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.30}}

:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

I've rewritten all the explanation.
As far as I'm concerned, I'd remove the incomplete box.
I just keep it because it's likely that someone else will feel something is missing.
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.180|173.245.53.180]] 15:27, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

If you're interested in a tightknit community out on the fringes of the Net, go join a MUD. Some are combat oriented, some are roleplay and chat oriented, all are text-based, and many have largely the same exact userbase as they had twenty years ago. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.228|108.162.212.228]] 15:48, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* If you want a really small and odd community check out the Plato network, you have to emulate a terminal from the late 70's early 80's to use it. --[[User:DECtape|DECtape]] ([[User talk:DECtape|talk]]) 00:27, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

Hmm i think randall also wants to share his believs in the subcontext of the comic, the reason why we live on erth as a random error, the sysadmin who probably sees it all(=god), the question what will happen after all that is gone (his opinion, that our lives are compelty senseless)..etc. {{unsigned ip|108.162.254.161}}

* Anyone else think of comic 37 when reading the last panel (due to the ambiguity of whether he is talking about fucking "video ads" or "fucking video" ads)? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.227|173.245.50.227]] 18:31, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

Yes, of COURSE I came here to see if it really exists! I don't know if there's actually a chatroom as described, but Usenet has become much smaller, has no ads, and doesn't require you to know the secret application to get in. IIf a text experience with no ads appeals, dump FB, come back to Usenet! Tell 'em Sea Wasp sent you! :) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.186|108.162.219.186]] 19:15, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

*Shhh! You're forgetting the first rule of Usenet! [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.6|173.245.54.6]] 17:57, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

:;Please never edit existing posts at the talk page! Just add your content! And NEVER edit foreign posts! Use the "Sign Button" on top of editor or type this at the END of your post <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. This will add the IP or User and a timestamp to the END of your post.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

It's obviously about life and religion. The sysadmin who never writes anything must be there to keep everything running, because else the chat would stop to exist. Like most religions contribute to a god who is never seen or heard. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.232|108.162.231.232]] 08:03, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

I'm wondering if he got this idea from Starship Titanic. They had a very similar thing happen. [http://www.metafilter.com/98848/The-Post-That-Cannot-Possibly-Go-Wrong#3435156 See this epic MeFi comment from the self-described "main web hacker" behind Starship Titanic's web site.] [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.119|199.27.128.119]] 17:29, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

I've made several edits to clean up the explanation. Not sure whether I should remove the incomplete tag or not. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.227|173.245.52.227]] 17:57, 19 December 2013 (UTC)
:Please don't do that. A comic at this size isn't complete within one or two days. Removing the incomplete tag is a minor issue, explaining is the major one. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:46, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

I don't really see why the trivia should be there. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.45|108.162.216.45]] 20:29, 19 December 2013 (UTC)
:This content was moved from the explain section to a trivia section by me. It still needs some rework but it belongs to "old Windows utilities" like Randall is talking about here at the first panel.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:46, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

Reminds me of MUDs. I still check in on New Moon [http://eclipse.cs.pdx.edu/] a few times a year. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.236.25|108.162.236.25]] 16:15, 20 December 2013 (UTC)
:I see what you mean. For me it's the Discworld MUD. But it could similarly (i.e. not exactly like the comic suggests) apply to some long-term Usenet groups that I (in)frequent. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.229|141.101.99.229]] 16:22, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

It may not be the tool from the comic, but people here might be interested in: http://kurlander.net/DJ/Projects/ComicChat/resources.html {{unsigned|Jvfrmtn}}

If this chatroom was real I'd love to see it. I know ts not though. Of course what if there's a little fridge horror in this comic? Like a chatroom 98 sort of thing? Maybe the sysadmin or the people Cueball and the others are talking to are really ghosts or souls that were sucked into an old server forever doomed to spend their days talking to themselves until another unsuspecting user is sucked in.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.36|108.162.215.36]] 02:54, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

Ido: Can someone explain why the URL www.xkcd.com/test reference to this strip? looks like an undocumented feature to me :) {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.220}}

:It doesn't anymore… [[User:Varal7|Varal7]] ([[User talk:Varal7|talk]]) 19:03, 20 May 2014 (UTC)
::It now displays to [[1367: Installing]]. [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 01:11, 23 May 2014 (UTC)

I was doing some searching on the internet, and found, in addition to the one/few on this page, some people who said/implied that they have used this chat before, although, like anything on the internet, the claims may not be true. (Links: http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/436369-does-this-actually-exist [see comments 3, 12, and 14], http://pastebin.com/95nGh8Hk [Says it exists, but doesn't elaborate]) [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 22:02, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

I used to be part of something very similar to to what the comic describes (but not exactly the same). When AOL first started, it was a completely 'walled garden' with no access to the internet. Old folks will remember how popular brands used to advertise on TV that you should go to their 'AOL Keyword' instead of a web site URL. Check Wikipedia for more about this. Anyway, AOL had its own set of message boards, for many popular topics, which were not connected to the internet and could only be accessed by other AOL members. I was just a kid. I went exploring through a bunch of message boards about niche topics until I found one with a community that I came to like. We had all kinds of off-topic conversations, and, the moderators having long since gone, it came to resemble its original topical purpose very little. The ages were not kind to AOL, and our group grew smaller and smaller as the AOL service gained a connection to the real internet (including the WWW and Usenet) and not as many new people bothered to look at AOL-only message boards any more. Eventually, the Keyword that accessed our special board stopped working and it was dropped from the public directory that lists all the areas of AOL. But we found a workaround: AOL had its own quasi-URL system that was mostly only used internally in the software and not usually exposed directly through the UI. But, those of us who had directly bookmarked the message board could still access it that way, and we found a way to share the aol:// URL amongst ourselves. Just like in the comic, we couldn't figure out why the message board still worked at all, for many years after it was no longer publicly visible anywhere, and wondered if some sysadmins with a sense of humour at AOL were watching us. It was fun in a way, a secret place all to ourselves. But it was also kind of sad, when sometimes months would go where noone posted. The UI would sometimes get migrated to a newer version with no notice, and then rolled back again just as abruptly. Old messages would suddenly disappear, become resurrected and then disappear again. Eventually, the thing that finally killed it was that one by one, we each stopped paying for AOL as we found better ISPs and couldn’t justify the expense. It would have been easy enough to move to another web site or chat program, and at first, some of us tried to recreate it elsewhere, but it was never really the same, and we could never get the same group completely back together again. But I guess that's how life is anyway: people drift apart. Despite that, many of us still keep in touch and have become very close friends, some of us even in real life. It's good to have friends. xxj{{unsigned|Xxj}}
:TL;DR! Keep your comments short. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:57, 23 May 2014 (UTC)
::If you really didn't read that, Dgbrt, you missed out (what are you, from Twitter? everything has to be 160 characters or the ADD kicks in?). It was worth it, for an old internet hand/AOLer. That is too often how life is, xxj; thanks for posting it. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by nostalgia for some old AOL and GameFaqs message boards, now... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.77|108.162.219.77]] 03:17, 28 May 2014 (UTC)
:::This is a typical reaction to misuse my reaction. If you look at my contributions here you would know that I'm really NOT a TWITTER man. I don't like Twitter and AOL was always a big mess by it's time. But including some paragraphs, writing shorter sentences, and I wouldn't have posted my "TL;DR!" reply. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:30, 28 May 2014 (UTC)

The comic says it's an "old" Windows utility, but the UI in the picture can be from no older than Windows 95. Native Win95 software still runs on modern PCs without resorting to a VM, doesn't it? Did Randall forget how a window looked in Windows 3.1? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.77|108.162.216.77]] 06:49, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

: An old Windows 95 ''program'' may be able to run on modern systems, but an old ''utility'' may be very tightly tied to that particular system. --[[User:Dfeuer|Dfeuer]] ([[User talk:Dfeuer|talk]]) 08:37, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

I think the reason for the cartoon is to explain chat room vs Facebook/twitter, and rather then say "IRC", which could be misunderstood (as being very large ?), he made up the hidden utility chat room.... this utilities chatroom would explain how there could be a small chatroom that is not filled with mindless *MERE USERS* ... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 06:17, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Talk:175: Automatic Doors

2014-08-22T05:57:57Z

108.162.249.205: Glad to be of service

I Think he should have given DNA credit somehow.

Glad to be of Service. !
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 05:57, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Talk:100: Family Circus

2014-08-21T13:42:53Z

108.162.249.205: pointless

Is it more than Pointless (<<< No full stop either, just to be consistent)

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 13:42, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

681: Gravity Wells

2014-08-21T12:53:53Z

108.162.249.205: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 681
| date = December 28, 2009
| title = Gravity Wells
| image = gravity_wells.png
| titletext = This doesn't take into account the energy imparted by orbital motion (or gravity assists or the Oberth effect), all of which can make it easier to reach outer planets.
}}

The xkcd page links to [http://xkcd.com/681_large/ a much larger version].

==Explanation==

The comic shows the gravitational potential (energy transferred per unit mass due to gravity) for the positions of each planet in the solar system -- including some moons and Saturn's rings. An object traveling along an upward slope loses energy, while an object traveling along a downward slope gains energy.

Escaping a planet or moon's orbit requires enough energy (e.g. by walking, jumping, or rocket) to reach the top of either peak that defines the edge of the well. The peak to the left indicates the minimum energy required to exit orbit. The peak to the right indicates the maximum energy required to exit orbit. In order to exit orbit with the minimum amount of energy, you would have to travel towards the center of the solar system; to exit orbit with the maximum amount of energy, you would have to travel away from the center of the solar system (the Sun). In reality, the strength of gravity decreases with distance from the planet. However, a comparison of energy expended to escape the gravitational pull allows for a simpler comparison between the objects.

The height of the graph is scaled to kilometers via the gravitational potential an object has at the given height assuming at a constant acceleration due to Earth's surface gravity. The {{w|Sun|Sun's}} gravity well is not shown in its entirety, but is just indicated on the far left as ''"Very very far down"''. Had it been shown in its full extent it would have made the rest of the drawing so small in comparison that it would have been unreadable. As the gravitational potential increases with distance from the sun the graph has a general upward slope. To rise out of each well on the diagram, and therefore escape the planets gravity, it would require the same energy required to rise out of a physical well of that depth at Earth's surface gravity.

The length of each gravity well is scaled to the diameter of the planet and the spacing between the planets is not to scale with distance from the sun. This is necessary to make the graph readable. Because the distance between the planets are condensed the gravitational potential, from the gravity pulling toward the sun, accumulates quicker. This is the reason for the large peaks between the planet. The moons shown in the chart are at the appropriate distance from their respective planets' gravity wells for their orbits.

Each planet is shown cut in half at the bottom of its well, with the depth of the well measured down to the planet's flat surface.

The Earth's gravity well's depth in the inset and in the main part of the comic don't match. This is most likely a mistake by Randall.

==== Inner Planets ====
* {{w|Mercury_(planet)|Mercury}} -- no facts listed
* {{w|Venus_(planet)|Venus}} -- no facts listed
* {{w|Earth}} and {{w|Moon}}: The listed depth of the gravity well at Earth is mistakenly listed at 5478 km (note the difference from the cutout value) and the Moon's is 288 km.
* {{w|Mars}}: The listed depth of the gravity well of Mars is 1286 km.

==== Outer Planets ====
* {{w|Jupiter}}: Jupiter is so massive and dense that it is comparable in mass to a {{w|Brown dwarf}} which is the smallest kind of star. Saturn, while similar in size, is composed of much lighter gas material. Hence Saturn's mass and therefore its gravitational pull are much smaller. Had a few dozen times the mass of gasses contained in Jupiter condensed in that location, the gravitational pull would cause the pressure and temperature to increase to a level that is sufficient to ignite {{w|Nuclear fusion|nuclear fusion}}. Had that happen during creation of our solar system, we would have two {{w|Sun|Suns}} and our solar system would be a {{w|Binary system (astronomy)|Binary system}}. Jupiter has {{w|Moons_of_Jupiter|67 moons}} of which 3 are shown;
** {{w|Ganymede_(moon)|Ganymede}} -- moon of Jupiter, no facts given
** {{w|Io_(moon)|Io}} -- moon of Jupiter, no facts given
** {{w|Europa_(moon)|Europa}} -- moon of Jupiter, no facts given

* {{w|Saturn}}: The diagram shows the position of the {{w|rings of Saturn}} in Saturn's gravity well. Saturn's rings start fairly near the planet and extend out quite far, therefore multiple stripes are shown in the figure. The rings are also shown in multiple colors and roughly match the observed colors from photos take by the {{w|Cassini–Huygens|Cassini spacecraft}} expedition as it passed Saturn. All of the colors of the planets and moons represent the predominant color of that object as observed from earth. Saturn has {{w|Moons_of_Saturn|62 moons}} of which one is shown;
** {{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}}, a moon of Saturn. The figures on Titan are sirens, a reference to Kurt Vonnegut's ''{{w|The Sirens of Titan}}''.

* {{w|Uranus}}: Notably absent is any "your-anus" jokes.
* {{w|Neptune}}: Megan's quote is a paraphrase of {{w|Carl Sagan|Carl Sagan's}} quote, "...but from a planet orbiting a star in a distant globular cluster, a still more glorious dawn awaits, not a sun-rise, but a galaxy rise." [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXGELjbc Video here]

==== Cut outs and sketches====
The following items are listed from top to bottom and left to right.

* Mars moons: The Mars cutout shows the Mars moon system, including the moons Deimos and Phobos. The depth of the Mars gravity well is listed at 1286 km.
** {{w|Deimos (moon)|Deimos}}: The gravity on Deimos, a moon of Mars, is so weak that a bike jump would be sufficient to escape its gravity.
** {{w|Phobos (moon)|Phobos}}: The gravity on Phobos, a moon of Mars, is so weak that you could launch a baseball into space simply by throwing it.

* Your mom-Local football team: The sketch next to Jupiter is playing on the classic "Yo Mama" joke. It combines "Yo Mama is so fat" and "Yo Mama is so horny". The sketch implies that she has a huge gravitational pull and has sex with an entire football team by demonstrating a football team falling into her very deep gravity well. A "Yo Mama" joke also appears in comic [[89: Gravitational Mass]].

* Earth's Moon: The cut out shows the significant difference in strength between the {{w|gravity well}} of the Earth and the Moon. Cueball comments that the {{w|Apollo Lunar Module|Apollo Lunar Module}} was very small and the {{w|Saturn V}} rocket was very large because escaping the Earth's gravity well takes much more energy than escaping the Moon's. The cut out also shows that objects like the {{w|International_Space_Station|International Space Station}}, the {{w|Space shuttle|space shuttle}}, {{w|GPS satellite|GPS satellites}} and {{w|Geostationary orbit|geo-stationary satellites}} at their respective positions within Earth's gravity well. The depth of Earth's gravity well is listed correctly at 6 379 km (note the difference from the non-cutout number). The depth of the Moon's gravity well is listed at 288 km.

=== How to calculate gravity wells ===
The text near the bottom of Jupiter's gravity well explains that the depth of the well is mass-of-planet over radius-of-planet with Newton's constant and 9.81 m/s² as constants, where 9.81 m/s² is the acceleration of a free falling body at Earth's gravity.

The calculation for a gravity well is:
:depth = (G * Planet-mass ) / (9.81 m/s2 * Planet-radius)
::where G is {{w|Isaac_Newton|Newton}}'s {{w|Gravitational_constant|gravitational constant}}, and
::9.81 m/s2 is the {{w|Acceleration|acceleration}} rate of a {{w|Gravity_of_Earth|free falling body on earth}} at sea level (g).

====Title text====
The title text indicates that the planets motion can affect the amount of energy for escape velocity. It is possible to change speed by using the planets orbital speed and gravity. This is know as a performing a slingshot or a {{w|Gravity assist|gravity assist}}, and is done to gain speed or to brake when needed. The use of rocket engines are more effective when used at a high speed slingshot maneuver, which is know as the {{w|Oberth effect}}, where most energy is going into moving the rocket as opposed to moving the exhaust -- conserving the maximum useful energy. On earth the same principle is used when launching rockets. Rockets are always launched in a eastward direction to make maximum use of the rotational energy of the earth. Launching rockets in a westward direction would require significant additional energy. Because of this most artificial satellites are flying east around the globe.

The size of the gravity-well as described in this comic is not accounting for these factors. Therefore leaving the solar system (or any of the gravity wells of the planets) could require less energy than described by the graph, assuming that the launch and slingshots are properly designed and executed.

==== Escape Velocities ====
The following table was adapted from the table in {{w|Escape velocity#List of escape velocities|Escape velocity}}, using ''h'' = ''V_e''^2 / 2''g'':
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
| Location || with respect to || Ve (km/s) || Well depth (km) ||
| Location || with respect to || Ve (km/s) || Solar well (Mm) || Total depth (Mm)
|-
| on the Sun, || the Sun's gravity: || 617.5 || 19,435,000 || || || || || || 19,435
|-
| on Mercury, || Mercury's gravity: || 4.3 || 942 ||
| at Mercury, || the Sun's gravity: || 67.7 || 233.6 || 235
|-
| on Venus, || Venus' gravity: || 10.3 || 5,407 ||
| at Venus, || the Sun's gravity: || 49.5 || 124.9 || 130
|-
| on Earth, || the Earth's gravity: || 11.2 || 6,393 ||
| at the Earth/Moon, || the Sun's gravity: || 42.1 || 90.3 || 97
|-
| on the Moon, || the Moon's gravity: || 2.4 || 294 ||
| at the Moon, || the Earth's gravity: || 1.4 || || 91
|-
| on Mars, || Mars' gravity: || 5 || 1,274 ||
| at Mars, || the Sun's gravity: || 34.1 || 59.3 || 61
|-
| on Jupiter, || Jupiter's gravity: || 59.5 || 180,400 ||
| at Jupiter, || the Sun's gravity: || 18.5 || 17.4 || 198
|-
| on Ganymede, || Ganymede's gravity: || 2.7 || 372 || || || || ||
|-
| on Saturn, || Saturn's gravity: || 35.6 || 64,600 ||
| at Saturn, || the Sun's gravity: || 13.6 || 9.43 || 74
|-
| on Uranus, || Uranus' gravity: || 21.2 || 22,907 ||
| at Uranus, || the Sun's gravity: || 9.6 || 4.7 || 28
|-
| on Neptune, || Neptune's gravity: || 23.6 || 28,400 ||
| at Neptune, || the Sun's gravity: || 7.7 || 3.02 || 31
|-
| on Pluto, || Pluto's gravity: || 1.2 || 73 || || || || ||
|-
|at Solar System galactic radius, || the Milky Way's gravity: || 525 || 14,000
|}

==Transcript==
:'''Main Text'''
:Gravity Wells scaled to Earth surface gravity
:This chart shows the "depth" of various solar system gravity wells.
:Each well is scaled such that rising out of a physical well of that depth — in constant Earth surface gravity — would take the same energy as escaping from that planet's gravity in reality.
:Each planet is shown cut in half at the bottom of its well, with the depth of the well measured down to the planet's ''flat'' surface.
:The planet sizes are to the same scale as the wells. Interplanetary distances are not to scale.
:Depth = (G × PlanetMass) / (g × PlanetRadius)
:G = Newton's constant
:g = 9.81 m/s2

:'''Planetary Descriptions'''
:To Sun, very very far down
:Mercury
:Venus
:Earth - 5,478 km
:Moon - 288 km
:Mars - 1,286 km
:Ganymede
:Io
:Jupiter
::[A drawing of a "very deep" gravity well, "Your mom" at the bottom, several member of "local football team" falling down towards her.]
::Jupiter is not much larger than Saturn, but much more massive. At its size, adding more mass just makes it denser due to the extra squeezing of gravity.
::If you dropped a few dozen more Jupiters into it, the pressure would ignite fusion and make it a star.
:Europa
:Titan
::Two figures: Weeoooeeoooeeooo
:Saturn
::Rings
:Uranus
:Neptune
::Megan: An even more glorious dawn awaits!

:'''Mars Inset'''
:[Mars gravity well, the Pathfinder probe on its surface, with its moons Deimos and Phobos as smaller gravity wells.]

:[Figure of a man (to scale) in Deimos's gravity well.]
:You could escape Deimos with a bike and a ramp.

:[Figure of a man (to scale) in Phobos's gravity well.]
:A thrown baseball could escape Phobos.

:'''Earth Inset'''
:[Zoomed-in view of Earth/moon gravity well, featuring the relative locations of the atmosphere, Low Earth Orbit, the International Space Station, the Space Shuttle, GPS satellites, and satellites in geosynchronous orbit.]
:Cueball: This is why it took a huge rocket to get to the moon but only a small one to get back.

:It takes the same amount of energy to launch something on an escape trajectory away from Earth as it would to launch it 6,000 km upward under constant 9.81 m/s2 Earth gravity.

:Hence, Earth's well is 6,000 km deep.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Your Mom]]

1389: Surface Area

2014-07-03T06:47:24Z

108.162.249.205: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1389
| date = July 2, 2014
| title = Surface Area
| image = surface_area.png
| titletext = This isn't an informational illustration; this is a thing I think we should do. First, we'll need a gigantic spool of thread. Next, we'll need some kind of ... hmm, time to head to Seattle.
}}

A [http://xkcd.com/1389/large/ larger version] of this image can be found by clicking the image at xkcd - which can be reached easily from here as always, by clicking on the comic number above.

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|There are still minor issues and clean up of the text left}}
This map shows the total surface areas of all {{w|Terrestrial_planet|terrestrial planets}}, {{w|natural satellite}}s, {{w|asteroid}}s, {{w|minor planet|etc.}} with a diameter larger than 100 m in the {{w|Solar System}}, represented as regions of a single massive landmass - a {{w|supercontinent}} like {{w|Pangaea}} - which is clearly surrounded by an ''ocean''.

On the area that signifies Earth the continents are drawn using a {{w|Map projection}} that keeps the scale of the continents correct. (This is something that [[Randall]] cares about as can be seen in [[977: Map Projections]]). The part of the surface of the Earth that are covered in oceans are also included in the surface area of the Earth, a layer of 3-4 km of water seems insignificant when comparing to the Earth's diameter of 12,000 km.

The objects mentioned by name on the map are all but one amongst those that have reached {{w|Hydrostatic equilibrium}} and these are all included on this {{w|List of gravitationally rounded objects of the Solar System}}. The one named object that is not on this list are the asteroid {{w|4 Vesta|Vesta}}, which is probably included, (next to the largest object in the {{w|Asteroid belt}} the dwarf planet {{w|Ceres (dwarf planet)|Ceres}}), as it is the second largest object in the belt.
The only object from the list, (that qualifies for having a solid surface), that are not included is the {{w|Saturn}} moon {{w|Mimas (moon)|Mimas}}. This moon should have been located amongst the other smaller moons of Saturn between the Earth and {{w|Titan}} the largest of Saturn's moons. Mimas is just slightly smaller than another included Saturn moon {{w|Enceladus}}. It could, however, be the small unlabelled area to the left of {{w|Triton (moon)|Triton}}, although it seems a little too small.

There are on the list, {{w|List_of_Solar_System_objects_in_hydrostatic_equilibrium#Most_likely_additional_dwarf_planets|10 objects}} that are not included with name, but these are only likely candidates and has thus been relegated to the sections without individual names. These object along with other relatively small objects like comets and smaller moons are grouped together and included at the bottom of the map between Mercury and Mars: ''Various small moons, comets, etc''

The rest (called asteroids) are grouped into two regions at the top of the map. Above the right part of the Earth area is the area ''Asteroids (1 km+)'' which include any object not already included larger than 1 km (i.e. the largest dimension, since these objects are no longer round). And finally the area ''Asteroids (100 m+)'' include any object not already included larger than 100 m.

Most of the rest of the objects that have been included in these three sections can likely be found on this list: {{w|List of Solar System objects by size}}.

Tiny objects smaller than 100 m down to space dust are excluded altogether. This is probably because their total surface area is impossible to estimate accurately, and also because any estimate would likely be too large to fit easily into the map.

The earth's undersea surface is included, but the {{w|gas giant}}s {{w|Jupiter}}, {{w|Saturn}}, {{w|Uranus}}, and {{w|Neptune}} are not included because they do not have any "solid surfaces"; even if they had a solid core (which is itself not clear), that would not comprise any "surface". The gas giants are believed to lack any well-defined surface at all, with the gases that make them up simply becoming thinner and thinner with increasing distance from the planets' centers, eventually becoming indistinguishable from the interplanetary medium. If they were included via some sort of surface definition, the map of this comic would become a tiny speck among the gas giants. Similarly the surface of the {{w|Sun}} is also not considered a solid surface but hot {{w|Plasma_(physics)|plasma}}; if it was included it would reduce both the original map and the gas giants map to a tiny speck.

Between Earth and Titan is a tiny speck noted "''all human skin''", which is an interesting sort of solid surface and could conceivably be a reference to the novel ''{{w|The_Silence_of_the_Lambs_(novel)|The Silence of the Lambs}}''. It also makes it clear what is intended with the planets. Their surface is to be "skinned" of them, and then these "skins" should be stitched together. This also explains the ragged edges, and why the continents keep their correct size. It is a planetary version of ''{{w|Buffalo Bill (character)| Buffalo Bill}}''.

The title text explains that this comic is not actually for information, it is something he thinks we should really do - that is, to stitch all the solar system's land areas together, as the comic title says. To do this, we would obviously need a giant spool of thread and then something he can get in Seattle. This is of course the {{w|Space Needle}}, a needle like the tower in Seattle. Of course, since the land areas are on the surfaces of spheres, this would involve lots of deformation and be particularly challenging ... not to mention gruesome when collecting the human skin together.

The map is drawn in a similar style to the two maps of the Internet that Randall has created in the past:
*[[256: Online Communities]]
*[[802: Online Communities 2]]

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Surface area of mentioned objects
!Object
!Type
!Surface area
|-
|{{w|Io (moon)|Io}}||Moon of Jupiter||data-sort-value="41910000"| 4.191×107 km2 (0.082 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Callisto (moon)|Callisto}}||Moon of Jupiter||data-sort-value="73000000"| 7.30×107 km2 (0.143 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Europa (moon)|Europa}}||Moon of Jupiter||data-sort-value="30900000"| 3.09×107 km2 (0.061 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Ganymede (moon)|Ganymede}}||Moon of Jupiter||data-sort-value="87000000"| 8.70×107 km2 (0.171 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Ceres (dwarf planet)|Ceres}}||Dwarf planet||data-sort-value="2850000"| 2.85×106 km2
|-
|{{w|4 Vesta|Vesta}}||Asteroid||data-sort-value="800000"| 8×105 km2
|-
|Asteroids 1 km+||Asteroid||???
|-
|Asteroids 100 m+||Asteroid||???
|-
|{{w|Triton (moon)|Triton}}||Moon of Neptune||data-sort-value="23018000"| 2.3018×107 km2
|-
|{{w|Ariel (moon)|Ariel}}||Moon of Uranus||data-sort-value="4211300"| 4.2113×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Miranda (moon)|Miranda}}||Moon of Uranus||data-sort-value="700000"| 7×105 km2
|-
|{{w|Umbriel (moon)|Umbriel}}||Moon of Uranus||data-sort-value="4296000"| 4.296×106 km2 (0.008 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Oberon (moon)|Oberon}}||Moon of Uranus||data-sort-value="7285000"| 7.285×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Titania (moon)|Titania}}||Moon of Uranus||data-sort-value="7820000"| 7.82×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Tethys (moon)|Tethys}}||Moon of Saturn||data-sort-value="3610000"| 3.61×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Dione (moon)|Dione}}||Moon of Saturn||data-sort-value="3960000"| 3.96×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Enceladus|Enceladus}}||Moon of Saturn||data-sort-value="800000"| 8×105 km2
|-
|{{w|Iapetus (moon)|Iapetus}}||Moon of Saturn||data-sort-value="6700000"| 6.7×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}}||Moon of Saturn||data-sort-value="83000000"| 8.3×107 km2
|-
|{{w|Rhea (moon)|Rhea}}||Moon of Saturn||data-sort-value="7337000"| 7.337×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Earth|Earth}}||Planet||data-sort-value="510072000"| 5.10072×108 km2
|-
|{{w|Moon|The Moon}}||Moon of Earth||data-sort-value="37930000"| 3.793×107 km2
|-
|All human skin|| ||data-sort-value="7000"| 7.2 billion × 1m2 ≈ 7000 km2
|-
|{{w|Mercury (planet)|Mercury}}||Planet||data-sort-value="74800000"| 7.48×107 km2 (0.147 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Mars|Mars}}||Planet||data-sort-value="144800000"| 1.448×108 km2 (0.284 Earths)
|-
|Various small moons, comets, etc.||||???
|-
|{{w|Haumea (dwarf planet)|Haumea}}||Dwarf planet||data-sort-value="6800000"| 6.8×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Makemake (dwarf planet)|Makemake}}||Dwarf planet||data-sort-value="6900000"| 6.9×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Eris (dwarf planet)|Eris}}||Dwarf planet||data-sort-value="17000000"| 1.7×107 km2
|-
|{{w|Pluto|Pluto}}||Dwarf planet||data-sort-value="16650000"| 1.665×107 km2 (0.033 Earths)
|-
|{{w|Charon (moon)|Charon}}||Moon of Pluto||data-sort-value="4580000"| 4.58×106 km2
|-
|{{w|Venus|Venus}}||Planet||data-sort-value="460000000"| 4.60×108 km2 (0.902 Earths)
|}

Larger than Ceres but not included: Quaoar, Sedna, ??.

==Transcript==
:[At the top of a map is a heading, with two sub headings and a note in brackets:]
:'''Space'''
:Without the space
:The Solar System’s solid surfaces stitched together
:(Excluding dust and small rocks)
:[Below the headings there is a map with several distinct areas. Each area is labelled with a name or a description. This label is noted inside the area, except for areas that are too small; here the label is written outside and a line indicates which area the label belongs to. Only exception is the largest area, on which the contours of the Earth’s continents are drawn. Surrounding the map is wavy lines to indicate that this is either an island or one big super-continent placed in an even larger ocean.]
:[Here below are the labels given as they appear in “normal” reading order in as read from left to right in the three main rows as will be indicated:]
:[Row one, above the line defined by the general top of the Earth area:]
:Io
:Callisto
:Europa
:Ganymede
:Ceres
:Vesta
:Asteroids (1 km+)
:[Here – above the Asteroids area before the Triton area - is a small unlabelled area (the only other except Earth)]
:Triton
:Asteroids (100 m+)
:Oberon
:Miranda
:Ariel
:Umbriel
:Titania
:[Row two, the unlabelled Earth area's row, but here only given those that are directly written to the right of this area:]
:Tethys
:Enceladus
:Dione
:Iapetus
:All human skin
:Rhea
:Titan
:[Row three, all the remaining items that are mainly below the Earth area:]
:Mercury
:The Moon
:Various small moons, comets, etc
:Mars
:Makemake
:Haumea
:Eris
:Pluto
:Charon
:Venus

{{comic discussion}}

37: Hyphen

2014-07-02T08:53:25Z

108.162.249.205: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 37
| date = October 28, 2005
| title = Hyphen
| image = hyphen.jpg
| titletext = I do this constantly
}}

==Explanation==
This is the first "[[My Hobby]]" comic in ''[[xkcd]]''. In these comics, [[Randall]] suggests an obscure activity or pastime he enjoys which he declares as his "hobby". In the premiere "My Hobby" comic, Randall's hobby is mentally re-interpreting what people mean when they say "[adjective]-ass [noun]" by moving the hyphen to after the word "ass" instead of before.

The semi-{{Wiktionary|scatological}} suffix "-ass" is used as an intensifier in informal US English speech, usually attached to an adjective directly modifying a noun, as in "big-ass car" or "funny-ass comedian". In this comic, [[Cueball]] is exploring the increased humor aspect of changing "-ass" from a suffix modifying the adjective, to "ass-", a prefix modifying the noun, yielding a "big ass-car" or a "funny ass-comedian", the former presumably being a large car for carrying buttocks, the latter being a humorous comedian specializing in jokes about lower back. The prefix "ass-" may also have a negative connotation, indicating that something is disliked. An "ass-car" may be a very terrible car, for example.

Another explanation would be that, since this suffix/prefix refers to an element of human anatomy, the car would be in the shape of said anatomical piece.

Outside of North America, most English speakers use "arse" to mean the buttocks, so to them it may sound as if Randall's talking about Donkeys.

On an interesting note; there '''really is''' such a thing as an [[Wikipedia:ASS (car)|Ass-Car]]!

==Transcript==
:My hobby: whenever anyone calls something an [adjective]-ass [noun], I mentally move the hyphen one word to the right.
:[Cueball is talking to a friend about a car that resembles a Volkswagen Beetle.]
:Cueball: Man, that's a sweet ass-car.

==Trivia==
*Original comment from [[Randall]]: "Tune in Monday for the conclusion to the story of the boy and his barrel." The comic posted on Monday was [[25: Barrel - Part 4]], which really wasn't the conclusion of the story of the boy and his barrel.
*This is the twenty-fifth comic originally posted to livejournal. The previous was [[23: T-shirts]]. The next was [[25: Barrel - Part 4]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Language]]

33: Self-reference

2014-07-02T08:49:11Z

108.162.249.205: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 33
| date = November 21, 2005
| title = Self-reference
| image = self-reference.jpg
| titletext = I think about self-reference a lot. Example: this comment.
}}

==Explanation==

{{w|Self-reference}} is a situation where something (a comic, a drawing, a musical work, a novel, a mathematical theorem) refers to itself in some manner. This can be a powerful technique in art, music, mathematics and computer science (it is the basis of recursion).

In this comic, [[Cueball]] promises not to use self-reference for humor, and then realizes after a beat panel that, since this comic is referring to the series of comics he is part of, he is using self-reference, thus breaking his promise.

Without the last panel, this comic wouldn't be funny, and therefore wouldn't break the promise about using self-reference for humor. But with it, and his realization that he is breaking his promise, it does break that promise.

And the title text is just another humorous self-reference.

Self-references has been used most famously later in [[688: Self-Description]], but has also been used in the title text of [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]] and in [[917: Hofstadter]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball standing alone.]
:Cueball: I promise to never again squeeze humor out of self-reference.

:[Cueball standing alone.]

:[Cueball standing alone.]
:Cueball: God dammit.

==Trivia==
*This is the thirty-fifth comic originally posted to [[xkcd#History|livejournal]]. The previous was [[32: Pillar]]. The next was [[41: Old Drawing]].

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

Talk:339: Classic

2014-04-12T01:19:50Z

108.162.249.205:

Looks very much like a turntable and speaker to me. {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.45}}

My guess is it's a sarcastic reference to how many songs heavily borrow from Pachelbel's canon in D. In Stairway the clean arpeggiated beginning of the song and the solo around the referenced part of the song, IIRC, as well as Procul Harem's Whiter Shade of Pale are variations on the work, in different keys. The listener knows this but doesn't know Pachelbel's long dead. Just my 2c. If I was certain I'd change the page. If you're convinced please do so. Steve T [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.188|108.162.219.188]] 11:52, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

The real question is if Randall is a defener(TM) or not. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.219|108.162.231.219]] 15:48, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

It looks a little like a turntable and speaker to me; if that's what it is supposed to be, I hope that Randall would have made it look more like that. But my only other idea is an iPhone/iPod in a dock, and that argument has a hard time convincing even me. I also think that the title text is a straightforward reference to the talented Lim Jeong-hyun, whom Randall is saying should be supported and encouraged towards greatness. StephenP [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 21:08, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

I don't think having only one explanation is necessary. The comic really could be interpreted either way; there is no "right" way to interpret it. As long as it's clear that they're two different intepretations, it's better to have all the detail and let the reader decide. Can we remove the incomplete? [[User:LogicalOxymoron|LogicalOxymoron]] ([[User talk:LogicalOxymoron|talk]]) 19:21, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

I agree with ^ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.205|108.162.249.205]] 01:19, 12 April 2014 (UTC)

1353: Heartbleed

2014-04-10T05:29:14Z

108.162.249.205: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1353
| date = April 9, 2014
| title = Heartbleed
| image = heartbleed.png
| titletext = I looked at some of the data dumps from vulnerable sites, and it was ... bad. I saw emails, passwords, password hints. SSL keys and session cookies. Important servers brimming with visitor IPs. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion, c-beams glittering in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. I should probably patch OpenSSL.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|Heartbleed bug}} refers to a critical bug in the {{w|OpenSSL}} cryptographic library. This bug was publicly revealed on Monday, April 7th, 2014. Due to a programming error in OpenSSL versions 1.0.1 through 1.0.1f — meaning the bug had existed for two years — attackers could read random server memory by sending specially prepared HeartbeatRequest messages to an affected server.

OpenSSL is a very commonly used library to implement {{w|SSL/TLS}}, a cryptographic protocol not only used to secure web traffic but also for mail clients and much more. Only the user and the server can read the communication. On the the web the protocol is ''https://'' (HTTP Secure), instead of the open ''http://'' standard. SSL is often used to protect sensitive web traffic, such as login requests, which contains the user names and passwords in the requests. The server sends a certificate to the browser before the secure connection is established. If the certificate is registered the browser accepts it automatically, otherwise the the user gets a popup to accept or reject this insecure certificate.

A vulnerability that lets an attacker read random clumps of memory on the server would possibly let an attacker find recent username/password requests, allowing them to gain unauthorized access to user accounts. Even worse, this vulnerability could read the server's private key, enabling anyone to impersonate the server and/or decrypt any future traffic that relies on that key, and any previously-obtained prior traffic also, unless a "perfect forward secrecy" ciphers is used, which is currently rare. Furthermore, the hearbleed exploit occurs during the handshake phase of setting up a connection, so no traces of it are logged, i.e. you can be attacked and never be the wiser.

More information is available at [http://heartbleed.com heartbleed.com] or under CVE-2014-0160, [https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2014-0160 CVE-2014-0160 at nvd.nist.gov]

The title text cites the {{w|Tears in rain soliloquy}}, the dying words of the replicant and main antagonist Roy Batty (played by {{w|Rutger Hauer}}) in the 1982 film ''{{w|Blade Runner}}'', implying that the 64Kb HeartBleed buffer is so complete it includes memories from replicant brains. This is ironic as in the soliloquy, Roy Batty stated "All those moments will be lost in time".

===Heartbleed===

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security Transport Layer Security] (TLS), the successor to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Sockets_Layer SSL] is a protocol that provides end-to-end encryption for data transmitted over the internet (described in [http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5246 RFC 5246]). The Heartbeat extension to TLS introduced in 2012 (described in [https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6520 RFC 6520]) provides a protocol for keeping an encrypted TLS session alive between the client and the server, so you do not have to do a costly TLS handshake with the server for subsequent transfer of information.

The Heartbeat protocol involves the client sending a packet with an arbitrary payload (often a random 16 to 32 byte number) that the server periodically sends back to the client to tell the client that the TLS session is still alive. When the client sends the packet to a vulnerable version of OpenSSL, the OpenSSL server reads a payload_size from the header sent by the client. This is a 2-byte number (0 to 0xffff=65535) that is supposed to describe the size of the payload. The OpenSSL library writes the payload to memory, but it does not check that the size of the payload written to memory matches the payload_size taken from the client's header. When the vulnerable server sends back the Heartbeat KeepAlive response to the client, it will readout payload_size number of bytes and send them back to the server. If you send a payload that is actually 16 bytes, but claims it is 0xffff bytes you will read the next 64KiB of memory of the vulnerable process starting from whereever the payload was written. An attacker can repeat this attack many times and can do this attack early in the TLS handshake, so the attack will not in any way be logged (unless they are logging every incoming packet which is not typical and would result in many passwords being logged). As private keys often have a specific form, it is often possible for an attacker to find the private TLS key, so if they eavesdrop on network traffic they can decrypt and/or alter it. For more detailed information see: [http://blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2014/04/attack-of-week-openssl-heartbleed.html 1], [http://security.stackexchange.com/a/55117/2568 2], [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7549943 3].

It is worth noting that modern operating systems use a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Memory#Usage virtual memory] abstraction above physical memory. This means every process can only access memory assigned to it, so it would be impossible for a vulnerable web server to read memory assigned to another process (like a text editor that has erotic fan fiction stored to memory) on the same computer. For more info, see: [http://security.stackexchange.com/a/55271/2568 4].

It also should be noted that this heartbleed bug only affects TLS, and does not affect OpenSSH which does not use the TLS protocol, but uses the SSH-2 protocol (described in [http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4251 RFC 4251] a distinct protocol. SSH is used for remote logins on unix and linux computers.

Vulnerable sysadmins need to update to a patched version of OpenSSL or one with the Heartbeats disabled, revoke their old TLS keys, and generate new TLS keys (as their old key may have been compromised).

Users of vulnerable systems should change their passwords after the sysadmins have revoked their old key and issued new ones (as their passwords may have been compromised).

The [https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/bd6941cfaa31ee8a3f8661cb98227a5cbcc0f9f3 vulnerable commit] was introduced Dec 31st, 2011 by Robin Seggelmann, the first co-author of the heartbeats RFC and went live when OpenSSL version 1.0.1 was released on 2012-03-14 and the vulnerability was widely announced 2014-04-07.

==Transcript==
:Megan: Heartbleed must be the worst web security lapse ever.
:Cueball: Worst so far. Give us time.

:Megan: I mean, this bug isn't just broken encryption.
:Megan: It lets website visitors make a server dispense random memory contents.

:Megan: It's not just keys. It's traffic data. Emails. Passwords. Erotic fanfiction.
:Cueball: Is '''''everything''''' compromised?

:Megan: Well, the attack is limited to data stored in computer memory.
:Cueball: So paper is safe. And clay tablets.
:Megan: Our imaginations, too.
:Cueball: See, we'll be fine.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1347: t Distribution

2014-03-26T05:52:07Z

108.162.249.205:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student%27s_t-test

[[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.73|173.245.50.73]] 05:20, 26 March 2014 (UTC)Adam

I think this is a comment of the quality of education today - it is difficult to grade students on a distribution curve and even more so when you take into account the distribution curve of the teachers ability.