explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1483: Quotative Like

2015-02-08T11:47:34Z

108.162.254.138:

That second panel is, like, depressing. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.185|108.162.249.185]] 05:19, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

I found [http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2015/01/25/linguists-are-like-get-used/ruUQoV0XUTLDjx72JojnBI/story.html the article]. [[User:Piderman|Piderman]] ([[User talk:Piderman|talk]]) 05:53, 6 February 2015 (UTC)
:Cool, added it. Thanks. [[User:PinkAmpersand|PinkAmpersand]] ([[User talk:PinkAmpersand|talk]])
God also introduced a new concept "light" and was quicker implementing it throughout the world. And light sounds similar to (like) like. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.68|108.162.231.68]] 08:58, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

Are there any other examples of actual living people who are not celebrities being name-checked in xkcd? [[User:Andries|Andries]] ([[User talk:Andries|talk]]) 13:23, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

Given that the article noted that the next generation would be, quote, "in control," I think Cueball's interpretation is...well, slightly less absurd than it would be otherwise. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.109}}

«Cueball: Like, when you're like, "She was like"?» What does that mean? --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 15:23, 6 February 2015 (UTC)
: Closest translation: "For example, when you say 'she said...'" [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 15:37, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

;Non-English analogon

It might interest you that in Germany exactly the same
phenomenon exists, only in different flavor: the lower caste using
"Digger" (like, "Fatso") as each third word, possibly in lieu
of a comma. (Appears not yet in written material.) Anyone forced to
overhear such a conversation is tempted to smack them in the face
- hey, it works on a stuck record needle too :-) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.230.221|108.162.230.221]] 13:38, 6 February 2015 (UTC)
:That has like nothing to do with it. The German analogue is "so" ("Ich so: Kein Scheiss! Dann sie so: Sicher, Mann!"). --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.138|108.162.254.138]] 11:47, 8 February 2015 (UTC)

I vote that the explain be rewritten to incorporate as many uses of this phenomenon as possible. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.195|199.27.128.195]] 22:06, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

: Do you mean like: "In this comic, Megan like mentions an article on like the use of the word "like" as, like, a quotative, like. Cueball, like, makes a joke on this by, like,managing to use the word "like" like three times in like a seven word sentence, like. The "quotative like" is like regularly given as like an example of like the decline of the English language, like. It is used to like introduce a quotation or impersonation, although what follows may not be a like "verbatim" like quote, but rather conveys the like general meaning of the original phrase, like." [[User:Plm-qaz snr|Plm-qaz snr]] ([[User talk:Plm-qaz snr|talk]]) 02:52, 7 February 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1381: Margin

2014-06-14T17:18:12Z

108.162.254.138:

Isn't it possible that a mathematician knows about the existance or the proof of something, but doen't know how to technically do it? In this case, the margin remark would be accurate and not so funny. They have found a proof of existance for infinite information compression, but not yet discovered an actual method to do it. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.56|141.101.104.56]] 05:32, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
:Yes, when there's no example, it's called a {{w|pure existence theorem}}. If you actually demonstrate an example, that is a {{w|constructive proof}}. [[User:Mattflaschen|Mattflaschen]] ([[User talk:Mattflaschen|talk]]) 05:38, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
::Actually the proof of the Shannon-Hartley theorem is non-constructive. It tells you the data rate of the best possible channel coding, but does not tell you how to achieve it! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.47|108.162.215.47]] 07:58, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
Setting font-size to 0 would be the same as not ''printing'' any information at all, you'll still use the same number of bits and be able to send the text to other computers which can read the information. The Shannon-Hartley theorem is, as far as I can see from the wikipedia article, about analogue channels anyway. --[[User:Buggz|Buggz]] ([[User talk:Buggz|talk]]) 06:16, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
:The Shannon-Hartley theorem is about sending digital data (over analogue channels but you cannot send them over anything else in real world anyway). Nevertheless, you are right that setting the font size won't change the number of bits needed to be sent (font size specifies the size of the representation, not the information itself) therefore it won't change the limit. [[User:Sten|'''S<small>TEN</small>''']] <small>([[User talk:Sten|talk]])</small> 22:12, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

Isn't this also a reference to {{w|Jan Sloot}}'s digital compression mechanism where a movie would fit into 8 kbyte? [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 07:36, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

This was my first time editing Explain XKCD, but I fear I may have went too far in replacing the current explanation of the title-text with my own and removing the incomplete tag. Is it OK? [[User:YatharthROCK|YatharthROCK]] ([[User talk:YatharthROCK|talk]]) 08:10, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
:I think you title text explain seems fine (I have not checked on the Shannon theorem.) But I think it is too soon to make this explain marked as complete. So I have undone that. Great to have one more to edit the explain so keep up the good work. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:46, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

Is the problem behind Fermat's Last Theorem "deceptively simple" or "deceptively difficult"? I've never quite worked out which way it should be. Unlike "cheap at half the price" which really should be "cheap at twice the price" and the effect of putting in the word "only" into "glass ... half full/empty". But I bet you all could care less (or, more accurately, "''couldn't'' care less", because you already do not care at all), right? ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.232|141.101.98.232]] 11:44, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
:I believe the correct wording would be "deceptively difficult". Deceptively simple would imply that the problem looked quite difficult on the surface, but once work had begun it was found to be quite simple. Fermat's last theorem goes the other way. It is simply stated with very few elements, so it would seem the proof should be easily constructed, but is actually quite difficult. {{unsigned ip|173.245.50.72}}
::Unfortunately "deceptively easy" could also mean the opposite: it's easy, but only as a deception, so it's actually difficult. As of now, not even linguists have settled the question. It is just better to avoid the word unless the context can disambiguate the meaning. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.32|141.101.99.32]] 05:14, 14 June 2014 (UTC)

Is it at all possible that the exclamation: "oh," represents the discovery of an earlier proof (perhaps even better than the one purported) all ready in the margin? That would explain the next exclamation: "never mind." This is a comic after all. And what's with the unreadable Lorem Ipsum text (perhaps a proof in itself)? Of course, the unhappy face (after "never mind") is a visual image compression mechanism that may deserve comment as well. [[User:Run, you clever boy|Run, you clever boy]] ([[User talk:Run, you clever boy|talk]]) 14:36, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

;Why bury descriptions of the beautiful inspiration behind these great comics in an afterthought "trivia" section?

I think explanations of the beautiful inspirations for these comics (like Fermat's last theorem, here) should be highlighted in the main part of the article, not buried below the transcript and demeaned with the label "trivia". [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 12:46, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
:Well there is a link from the relevant part. The inspiration of this comic is that someone wrote a statement in a margin and did not have space for the proof. It is not the theorem in it self that is the inspiration. Writing about Phytagoras and formulas in the explain is maybe a little too much. I think it belongs well in the trivia section and it is not buried - with this short transcript you can easily see there is more to the explai. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 05:49, 14 June 2014 (UTC)

"" leading many to believe that he didn't actually possess a (correct) proof"" Of course Fermat did not have a proof.
Was that margin the only free piece of paper in France then?
For that reason in German one does not speak of Fermats "theorems", but the names used are
Fermat's little or resp. big problem. If some nobody had written that margin, of course
that would have been named a conjecture at best. Because Fermat was a real "big shot",
a medium expression is used: "problem". But never theorem, because a theorem without
proof isn't a theorem.
17:18, 14 June 2014 (UTC)[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.138|108.162.254.138]]

1346: Career

2014-03-25T14:30:46Z

108.162.254.138:

{{comic
| number = 1346
| date = March 24, 2014
| title = Career
| image = career.png
| titletext = They'd convince me to come out of retirement for one last job: biting into a giant lump of slightly soft wax a couple of times.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|There is a probability of some nontrivial connection between those three tasks}}

Cueball is presumably asked to answer the typical HR interview question: What is your dream job? Rather than going with the more common answers that are designed to increase the chances of landing that particular job, Cueball talks about unrealistic jobs that are fun, whimsical, and so well compensated that a little over one hour on the clock would provide enough wealth for a luxurious retirement; of course, you can have such a job only in your dreams. Peeling lint off a dryer is quite fun, but it gets boring soon, so Cueball wants to do that only for 5 minutes, followed by pressing a lightsaber handle up to things (this does not exist yet, sadly) for an hour. Then Cueball would like to retire to a life of luxury, and the only way to bring him out of it is to offer him to do another fun task till he gets bored again.

The lightsaber part is most likely a reference to the beginning of Star Wars Episode I, where Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn does exactly this.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is talking to a woman sitting behind a desk]
:Cueball: It would start with five minutes of peeling lint from dryer traps
:Cueball: Followed by an hour of pressing a lightsaber handle against things and switching it on.
:Cueball: Then I'd retire to a life of luxury.

When people ask me to describe my dream job, I'm never sure how realistic to be.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1337: Hack

2014-03-03T09:31:19Z

108.162.254.138: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1337
| date = March 3, 2014
| title = Hack
| image = hack.png
| titletext = HACK THE STARS
}}
<noinclude>:''"1337", this comic's number, redirects here. For the 2007 storyline of the same name, starting with [[341|comic 341]], see [[:Category:1337]].''</noinclude>

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

[[wikipedia:ISEE-3/ICE|ISEE-3/ICE]] is a spacecraft launched August 12, 1978. The original mission was to study the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the solar wind. It was later sent to visit Comet Giacobini-Zinner and became the first spacecraft to do so by flying through a comet's tail. Its trajectory will bring it close to Earth on August 2014. A status check of the spacecraft has revealed that many of its instruments are still working and that it contains plenty of fuel. But the hardware to communicate with ISEE-3/ICE has been decommissioned and it will be expensive to reestablish the communication needed to use the spacecraft for another mission. See also http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2014/02070836-isee-3.html

The characters Crash and Burn (and also Zero Cool, known for his catchphrase "Mess with the best, die like the rest") are an allusion to the 1995 movie [[wikipedia:Hackers (film)|Hackers]]. Since the movie predates the shutdown-signal (1997), the characters should both possess the skills and 'outdated' equipment to understand and hack the signal to the probe.

The title text "Hack the stars" is also an allusion to the movie [[wikipedia:Hackers (film)|Hackers]] where the Phrase "Hack the Planet!" is used on multiple occasions.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}