explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1479: Troubleshooting

2015-01-28T05:32:33Z

108.162.249.223: Created page with "You could also move the off-scrren window back in view by Alt+Space, M to initiate window move, then press any arrow key and your mouse will then be able to move the window ba..."

You could also move the off-scrren window back in view by Alt+Space, M to initiate window move, then press any arrow key and your mouse will then be able to move the window back into view.

838: Incident

2014-12-02T14:54:09Z

108.162.249.223:

{{comic
| number = 838
| date = December 24, 2010
| title = Incident
| image = incident.png
| titletext = He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he's copied on /var/spool/mail/root, so be good for goodness' sake.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic was posted on {{w|Christmas Eve}} in the {{w|United States}}. While {{w|Christmas}} is principally a {{w|Christian}} holiday celebrating the birth of {{w|Jesus}} on December 25, there are many tradition around the holiday, among them {{w|Christmas Eve#Gift_giving|a tradition}} in {{w|United States}} that in {{w|Christmas Eve}} {{w|Santa Claus}} will make his round delivering gifts to good children.

[[Rob]] sits behind a Linux computer and tried to change his user account from his normal access to the access of a super user by using the command "{{w|sudo|sudo su}}". Sudo is a famous phrase in xkcd lore, made famous by comic [[149: Sandwich]]. When Rob is unable to use "sudo" because his account is not authorized, the system says that the incident "will be reported" (usually to the system administrator, so he can see if someone is making repeated attempts at accessing administrator privileges).

In the comic, however, Sudo and the system report the incidents to {{w|Santa Claus}}, who in Christmas lore makes a list of who is naughty and who is nice. If you are nice, you get presents, if you are naughty, you get a lump of coal. When sudo reports to Santa that Rob's account is not authorized, he puts Rob on the naughty list.

In the title text, which is a parody of the famous Christmas song, "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", <code>/var/spool/mail/root</code> is the root (superuser) mailbox on a Linux system, where the incident described in the comic would commonly be reported to.

==Transcript==
:[Rob is sitting at a computer. The computer's prompt is shown.]
robm@homebox~$ sudo su
Password:
robm is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
robm@homebox~$ █
:[Megan approaches.]
:Rob: Hey — who does sudo report these "incidents" ''to''?
:Megan: You know, I've never checked.
:[Santa Claus is sitting at a desk supported by candy canes, with a red monitor. On the wall are two lists labeled 'naughty' and 'nice'. He is adding a name to the 'naughty' list.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Rob]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Linux]]
[[Category:Christmas]]

Talk:1454: Done

2014-12-01T05:36:38Z

108.162.249.223: Created page with "Is it a girl? I was thinking the hair is a bit like mick Jaggers... - Palitu"

Is it a girl? I was thinking the hair is a bit like mick Jaggers... - Palitu

1372: Smartwatches

2014-05-25T07:11:11Z

108.162.249.223: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1372
| date = May 23, 2014
| title = Smartwatches
| image = smartwatches.png
| titletext = This is even better than my previous smartphone casemod: an old Western Electric Model 2500 desk phone handset complete with a frayed, torn-off cord dangling from it.
}}

==Important Safety Warning==

Prior to sawing a smartphone, remove the battery. Sawing through a phone that contains a battery can cause an electric shock or an explosion or a fire.

----
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This is supposed to say why the explanation is incomplete. As currently it only touches the title and not the image itself, it should be obvious.}}

[[wikipedia:Smartwatch|Smartwatches]] are fairly recent innovations which function something like smartphones which are attached to one's wrist, although the screens are often shorter than those of typical smartphones, and they typically need to be attached via bluetooth to a smartphone. This comic shows someone "{{w|Case modding}}" some smartwatches and a broken smartphone; that is, taking the electronic innards of two smartwatches and putting them into the sawn-in-half case of a smartphone before attaching the two halves with a hinge, allowing it to open and close like flip phones, a type that was popular before the rise of smartphones.

The {{w|Model_500_telephone#Model_2500|Western Electric Model 2500}} is the last standard desk-style domestic telephone set issued by the {{w|Bell System}} in North America. It contains the # key and the * key, so it can be said it has same application features as the first cellphones, but it's obviously much bigger, and of course not wireless. Smartphones usually have much more functionality. {{w|Case modding}} is the art of building machines (usually computers) into nicely shaped non-standard cases. The opinion about "niceness" of the result vary, as usual in art. The point is that changing the case doesn't change the functionality, so the niceness (or, usually, "coolness") is only relevant feature (although, badly done modding can affect cooling).

It appears that [[Randall]] has a rather low opinion of smartwatches, as he suggests that it would be better to take out their screens and mount them onto a dead iPhone than to use them the way smartwatches are normally used.

However, Randall's suggestion to cut open the dead phone with a hacksaw is unsound for several reasons:
1. Any attempt to saw through glass will cause it to shatter. To cut glass, one needs to grind it, not saw it.
2. Even if the phone is dead, the battery may be charged. Saw blades conduct electricity, so the person might get shocked.
3. Some batteries contain chemicals that are toxic or explosive. Even if the battery is discharged, sawing through it is very dangerous.
To add which, the hinge depicted in the cartoon is an ordinary household hinge. It is overly large for using in electronics (compared to hinges on, say, old clamshell-style cell phones), and drilling holes in the watch cases to attach one would potentially damage the internal electronic circuits, rendering the watch useless.

==Transcript==
:A USE FOR SMARTWATCHES:
:[Depicted are two smartwatches, both labelled as "Working" and showing generic colour displays, and one smartphone labelled as "Dead" with a blank screen.]

:[A hacksaw cutting through the smartphone, throughout the middle of the long edge of the case.]

:[The two smartwatches are shown with the wristband and case broken around the edge of the display because the displays with the associated electronics are removed. Arrows are shown coming from the smartwatch cases to the smartwatch displays, then from the displays to the smartphone case halves.]

:[The smartphone halves are installed with the smartwatch components and a hinge with screws beside is shown. Another view shows the hinge screwed into the back of the smartphone case.]

:[The smartphone with the working smartwatch components installed is shown, with the hinge three-quarters open and fully closed - resembling an early flip-phone.]
:World's first flip iPhone

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]

Talk:16: Monty Python -- Enough

2014-05-09T16:53:29Z

108.162.249.223:

An army of suicidal scotsmen are outside. They would like to object to your refusal to remember their plight. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:11, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

== Comic image broken ==

I'm hoping that someone else will notice this comment and fix it, since I'm not sure how to. --[[Special:Contributions/143.112.144.129|143.112.144.129]] 22:53, 14 February 2013 (UTC)

fixed. [[Special:Contributions/59.167.244.130|59.167.244.130]] 03:57, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

People are always asking my why I spend so much time quoting Monty Python, but I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition! It's the meaning of life, Bruce. My mother just says "He's a very naughty boy!", but that might just be because I dress in women's clothing and hang around in bars. No, no, no, sorry, it's all getting too silly now. My brain hurts, and now for something completely different. It's... [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 16:52, 25 June 2013 (UTC) (PS., sorry for all this spam, spam, spam, spam and spam. Perhaps I should just have stripped naked and played with my organ, instead?)

"Always look on the bright side of life, always look on the right side of life."

Talk:225: Open Source

2014-05-09T14:43:09Z

108.162.249.223:

"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...

Talk:109: Spoiler Alert

2014-05-09T14:37:50Z

108.162.249.223:

Trinity doesn't look dead, he looks like he's dodging the sled. He'll be back in two movies. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 03:41, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

''He?'' Did Carrie Anne Moss get gender reassignment surgery? ;) -- mwburden [[Special:Contributions/70.91.188.49|70.91.188.49]] 20:19, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

"I always thought... you were a guy." "Most guys do." [[User:Alivechihiro|Alivechihiro]] ([[User talk:Alivechihiro|talk]]) 07:59, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

~ ~ ~ ~ Larry (Lana) Wachowski did.

Talk:137: Dreams

2014-05-09T13:50:39Z

108.162.249.223:

This seems a very short explanation that doesn't reflect the depth or passion of Cueball's speech :P. Or maybe I'm just overly affected by it. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 17:40, 13 May 2013 (UTC)

The mistake is that <nowiki>{{incomplete|the possibilities are countable at any fixed time}}</nowiki>. Because space-information (as opposed to space-time-information) is countable. But Who would have guess that. (there are other problems, but honestly if people expect me to fix all the worlds problems... I have some bad news)This is the algorithm now. 17:41, 12 January 2014 (UTC) {{unsigned|Anomulus}}

I think that's white hat with the bumps on his head, even though he is hatless [[User:halfhat]], 21:46 12 January 2014 (UTC)

~ ~ ~ ~ Could the road trip be a reference to the plot of T2 I.e. travelling to destroy Skynet?