explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2533: Slope Hypothesis Testing

2021-10-26T04:21:40Z

141.101.77.54:

I love it. [[User:Fwacer|Fwacer]] ([[User talk:Fwacer|talk]]) 02:52, 26 October 2021 (UTC)

I imagine that the problem here is that the errors are not independent. I can't find anything else wrong with this, but I feel like there's something obvious I'm not seeing. They might revoke my statistics degree if I miss something big here, hehe.--[[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 03:06, 26 October 2021 (UTC)
:The scores are clearly the one score they originally (sometime prior to the expanded test) received. Either that or multiple tests with the same exam questions without having given them enough feedback to change their answer-scheme at all. The volumes are probably a "good go at screaming" on demand, belying any obvious "test result -> thus intensity of scream" (what might be expected if the scream(s) of shock/joy/frustration were recorded immediately upon hearing a score).
:What they have here is a 1D distribution of scream-ability/tendency (which was originally a single datum), arbitrarily set against test scores. (Could as easily have been against shoe-size, father's income-before-tax, a single dice-roll, etc.)
:Whether there ''was'' an original theory that grades correlated with intensity of vocalisation is perhaps a valid speculation, but clearly the design of the test is wrong. Too few datum points, in the first instance, and the wrong way to increase them when they find out their original failing.
: The true solution is to recruit more subject. (And justify properly if it's intensity of spontaneous result-prompted evocations or merely general ability to be loud that is the quality the wish to measure. Either could be valid, but it's not obvious that the latter is indeed the one that they meant to measure.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.54|141.101.77.54]] 04:21, 26 October 2021 (UTC)

I don't think the title text speakers are unidentified, I'm pretty sure it's a direct continuation of the dialogue in the last panel. [[User:Esogalt|Esogalt]] ([[User talk:Esogalt|talk]]) 04:11, 26 October 2021 (UTC)

Talk:1989: IMHO

2021-10-20T21:50:27Z

141.101.77.54:

I have never heard anyone use it like "Humble". Probably because "in my humble opinion" sounds more condescending than anything, along with the fact that a lot of people love to state things ironically, especially nowadays; seems important to point out when you're actually being sincere sometimes because of that.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.12|162.158.186.12]] 19:32, 9 May 2018 (UTC)
::I use it to mean "humble", wasn't aware that there was an alternative. But then when I was a kid, V.23 was cutting edge. The use of "humble" is not condescending, it is sarcasm. For a master class, watch practically any episode of "My So-Called Life". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.16|108.162.229.16]] 22:16, 24 May 2018 (UTC)

I mean, the dress is b&w if you have one of the forms of colorblindness. Although, what colors ''is'' it? [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 16:33, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
: The gold/black part is 61522F hex and the white/blue part is 8190B2 hex. So it's brown and blue. [[User:Grabadora304|Grabadora304]] ([[User talk:Grabadora304|talk]]) 16:55, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
::So that explains the colors represented by the photo; what about the colors of the dress itself? I'd guess black & gold, based purely upon the discussions I've heard. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 20:52, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:::The dress was blue with black lace. And I've added the fact that Randall had made a comic because of the dress ([[1492: Dress Color]]). [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 01:04, 5 May 2018 (UTC)
Currently adding transcript. [[User:Chbs|Chbs]] ([[User talk:Chbs|talk]]) 16:38, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:Did top row. Feel free to format it differently. [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 16:42, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
::''Screams in edit conflicts.'' [[User:Chbs|Chbs]] ([[User talk:Chbs|talk]]) 16:53, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:::Okay, I've normalized the formatting to what seems to be the standard: uniform indent with ":".[[User:Chbs|Chbs]] ([[User talk:Chbs|talk]]) 16:57, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:::: What about using tabs? ;D
::::[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 20:52, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

AFAIK In normal (British) usage the phrase is "In my humble opinion" and I have heard it said, when someone prefaces their contribution with IMHO it is rarely humble but is definitely an opinion. [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 16:47, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:The weirdos reading/using it as "honest" _might_ have a problem with the relatively common "IMNSHO." [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.41|172.68.58.41]] 14:34, 7 May 2018 (UTC)

No lie, I had a manager who used to refer to the database language as Squeal. As in a high-pitched animal sound. We had an in-house database tool called PiggySQL. [[User:Thaledison|Thaledison]] ([[User talk:Thaledison|talk]]) 17:26, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:I've always preferred that pronunciation too. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 20:53, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

Dammit. Now my brain will always translate "OMG" to "oh, my genitals".[[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.167|172.68.58.167]] 17:45, 4 May 2018 (UTC)Pat
:Actually I will keep this in mind. If someone OMGs me in a "discussion" on the web my response will be: Just scratch... [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.10|172.68.51.10]] 18:08, 6 May 2018 (UTC)
::+1 And I didn't even know what "tbh" means, but then Im probably getting old. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.100|172.68.110.100]] 10:17, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

The single space convention became the standard [[wikipedia:History_of_sentence_spacing#Movement_to_single_sentence_spacing|waaay before HTML]]. [[User:Cgrimes85|Cgrimes85]] ([[User talk:Cgrimes85|talk]]) 18:13, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:Standard, but less readable. For printed documents (especially stories with a lot of lengthy paragraphs) I'd still strongly recommend using double spaces because it's easier for the reader to discern sentence breaks. Incidentally, I had points deducted from English papers lacking that extra space as late as 1998.
::Funny - I always interpreted the period at the end of sentences as the end of the sentence in question, discerning any dot used for abbreviations based on context... [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 19:28, 17 December 2018 (UTC)
:(By the way, that link you gave is broken:
:"Trouble Encountered ~ can't fetch document")
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 21:10, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:: If you print documents with monospace font, using just single space is NOT the main reason it's hard to read. You should use proportional font and tool actually designed to handle printing, which include having better option than using two spaces. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 03:25, 5 May 2018 (UTC)
::: I find variable-width fonts hard to read. Fixed-width fonts are way clearer and more readable. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.75|172.69.63.75]] 18:45, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
:Using extra-wide space between sentences (not necessarily two spaces) goes back to the earliest days of printing, long before the invention of typewriters.     As a matter of fact, the practice of double-spacing sentences with typewriters got started by trying to mimic the printing practices of the time.     It was only in the mid-20th century (with the 1949 edition of the Chicago Manual of Style) that the recommendation became "one space", in 1969 when they stopped mentioning the earlier customs, and in the 21st century where they explicitly prohibit any alternative.     There's a [https://web.archive.org/web/20171207185025/http://www.heracliteanriver.com/?p=324 great article about this] that explains the history in great detail.     (Sadly, that blog no longer exists, but the Wayback Machine has preserved the content).     [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 15:44, 5 May 2018 (UTC)

Tabs vs Spaces might also be a reference to the programmer's war on how to indent code correctly. [[User:Ruffy314|Ruffy314]] ([[User talk:Ruffy314|talk]]) 19:25, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:Agreed. I prefer " " (U+2003, A.K.A. &emsp;)
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 21:10, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:: Did you ever manage to RUN some of those programs? :) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 03:25, 5 May 2018 (UTC)
Maybe I'm reading too much in this, but there is a popular product called "cramp tabs" for use during and right after a period [[User:Sysin|Sysin]] ([[User talk:Sysin|talk]])
:I definitely read that as using birth control pills, given that she said she didn't have any. I'm reading this as "I don't need to worry about how frequent my periods usually are, because I'm on the pill and skip them all". That is unless the implication there was that she's bleeding every day of the cycle... And while that would explain "omg", I'm inclined to say that's not what it is, purely out of shock [[Special:Contributions/172.69.50.16|172.69.50.16]] 22:03, 3 April 2019 (UTC)Insev

I hate to be that guy, but I pronounce Giantess and Gift the same way.--[[User:Henke37|Henke37]] ([[User talk:Henke37|talk]]) 11:06, 5 May 2018 (UTC)
:LOL! (Lots of love [or lots of luck for you old-schoolers])[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.172|162.158.255.172]] 14:12, 9 May 2018 (UTC)
:With a Dutch G perhaps? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.54|141.101.77.54]] 21:50, 20 October 2021 (UTC)
== SQL Pronunciation ==

For Microsoft's ''SQL Server'', "SQL" should be pronounced "sequel" because it's Microsoft's product, and that's how they pronounce it. I notice young I.T. people tend to try to make abbreviations into pronounceable words (acronyms) rather than go letter-by-letter (initialisms). Many older I.T. people I've met prefer initialism pronunciation. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.150.10|172.68.150.10]] 17:36, 5 May 2018 (UTC)

The term "SQL" existed long before Microsoft started playing; they do not get to change the pronunciation. I do not think that it is necessarily young IT people who prefer pronouncable words. "SCSI" being pronounced "scuzzy" has a long tradition. For myself, I usually say "S-Q-L" but have also used "squeal". I am 57. Gene Wirchenko genew@telus.net [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.220|108.162.216.220]] 01:06, 6 May 2018 (UTC)
:I'm aware SQL existed long before Microsoft got into the act. It started as SEQUEL for "Structured English Query Language". Nor did I intend to say that Microsoft dictated the pronunciation for all SQL. In the first sentence, I was only referring to their product. I use "sequel" for Microsoft's product, but mostly "ess-kew-el" for others. For some reason, my remarks as typed came out shorter than as thought. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.150.76|172.68.150.76]] 14:39, 6 May 2018 (UTC)

Is it possible the last panel is punning on menstruation?

.

ANOTHER one where talking about a debate invents the debate for me! For decades GIF was pronounced "jif" by literally everyone since they were invented, until Big Bang Theory taught me some people (including them) pronounce it wrong. Then SQL, which everyone I've ever met - including in SQL class - pronounced it as S.Q.L., by letters (my favourite was when I learned of this debate, someone saying they used another word with the letters in the right places that was odd, I think "Squeal", which I resolved to use myself, but forgot since it never comes up for me). Now IMHO? This comic is literally the first I hear of this. Another one with a clear answer and no reason for debate: It's an acronym applied to an ages old phrase, which predates all this texting / internet stuff. The saying is "In My Humble Opinion", therefore so is the acronym. That's it. Mixing it up with TBH doesn't make it correct, just like "Should of / would of" isn't correct, nor is "for all intensive purposes", or "ect", or many, many others.

As for the spaces-after-period thing, I was taught 2 in several typing courses, but quickly dropped it to one as a waste of space (I don't mean I think there's a limit to how many times we can use the space bar, I mean to keep things compact, LOL!) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:31, 6 May 2018 (UTC)

:For me it (gif) was the other way around. I've never heard anyone call it jif before The Big Bang Theory came around. To this day I still prefer the hard g because it stands for graphics after all. Similar to your reasoning for IMHO being "In My Humble Opinion" which I fully agree with.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.150|162.158.90.150]] 06:38, 8 March 2019 (UTC)

::I think the inventor of the GIF file format declared that it is pronounced with a soft G. Once an abbreviation becomes an acronym, there is no rule that says the letters have to be pronounced the same. For example, LASER is "La-zer", not "La-cer" (from "stimulated"). SCUBA is "scoo-ba", not "scuh-ba" (from "underwater"). Hence, the guy that coined the word is the ultimate authority of correct pronunciation. I was also taught 2 spaces after a period (early 1990s), and I kept the habit because it makes it easier to do a search-and-replace on sentence breaks to manipulate the text, or count sentences with a simple regex search (without miscounting other occurrences of period-space). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.46|172.68.141.46]] 16:46, 8 July 2019 (UTC)

I, too, was taught to type two spaces after a full stop. I think it had something to do with the font most typewriters used. On a web page, the HTML processor seems to remove extra spaces. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.150.76|172.68.150.76]] 14:39, 6 May 2018 (UTC)
:Yes, HTML collapses all whitespace.    Runs of whitespace characters (spaces, tabs, newlines) are all collapsed and rendered as a single space.    But there are workarounds.    One of the easiest is to use non-breaking-space characters (<TT>&nbsp;</TT>), which are not collapsed.    You can see the effect of using them in this comment.    [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 13:43, 7 May 2018 (UTC)
The dress is blue and gold to me. I don't know why it would be anything else. [[User:HelloWorld|HelloWorld]] ([[User talk:HelloWorld|talk]]) 18:15, 23 December 2019 (UTC)

Talk:1874: Geologic Faults

2021-10-19T08:58:08Z

141.101.77.54:

Faults are not necessarily caused on plate boundaries - they can happen anywhere. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.16|162.158.146.16]] 04:41, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Totally missed an opportunity for a Lego Fault.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.251|108.162.212.251]] 13:43, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
:Both LEGO and BRIO in the same comic would have been too many toys. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.196|162.158.134.196]] 14:38, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
::I agree, but I think he should have gone with Lego instead, more universally recognized. I know "Brio" as a Spanish Cola. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 02:41, 11 August 2017 (UTC)
::BRIO connections can slide, like most faults, whereas LEGO connections interlock, and don't tend to slip.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.179|108.162.238.179]] 12:51, 11 August 2017 (UTC)
::Also one must consider that BRIO is from the very south of Sweden, which I think most people can relate to, while LEGO is from Denmark which I think would alienate most of the readers.

The alt text reminds me of how Earthquakes are depicted in movies, where a massive rift opens up in the Earth. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.10|162.158.75.10]] 13:48, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

I was totally expecting the Amigara Fault in there [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.112|108.162.216.112]] 14:10, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Probably only for Germans, but the comedian Otto Waalkes invented that soap bar long ago in the seventies: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKOcmLiujAI Keili]. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:01, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

No seg fault to the left or right of the image? Unfortunate. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.16|172.68.78.16]] 16:56, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
::A segmentation fault in geology sounds absolutely terrifying! And you thought it was a bad deal when it happened to a computer program!

Your fault: 💔 [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 19:24, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Well, the "taffy fault" is named as a joke, it is quite similar to "rift faults". These are several normal faults going on at the same time at both sides of a valley. The "soap fault" is not impossible.

Another terrifying thing about living near a bag-of-chips fault is that usually the things near the tears in chip bags get eaten. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.95|108.162.238.95]] 04:48, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

The "soap fault" is nothing but two reverse faults with a narrow wedge between them. A geologist would refer to the two faults separately, but to the general public, "soap faulting" would be a clear, and accurate, term.

The "splinted fault" is probably related to the ''plates'' used to fix broken bones.

The "Apple Power Cable Fault" I took as less a reference to MagSafe connectors and more a reference to iDevice power cords (both the old 30-pin and the current Lightning), whose shielding is so soft and fragile, this kind of tearing always happens, even with the most gentle handling. Actually, it hasn't seemed like the MagSafe connectors have had this fragility problem, at least not to me. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 02:38, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

* If the "soap fault" actually occurred, we would probably have a name for it, like we do for the similar formations called horsts and grabens. But it just doesn't seem to be how the crust behaves. [[User:D5xtgr|D5xtgr]] ([[User talk:D5xtgr|talk]]) 03:15, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

::I think if the Soap fault were real, it would be incredibly dangerous. Messing with its structural integrity or mass in a significant way would doubtless trigger a quake. Parts calving off the great wall of faultlandia during a quake would potentially exacerbate the issue, and it would likely be prone to weathering in ways that encourage instability. Worse still, it could be thousands of miles long, vertical, near-vertical, or overhanging cliffs miles tall, and rivers or huge waterfalls would flow off both sides. Earthquakes could cause considerable changes in elevation either up or down, or in areas where it generates an exposed cliff face, cause chunks of rock the size of small mountains to calve off. In other words, it would be an utterly-impassable cliff or mountain-like structure that was prone to huge earthquakes and shedding debris onto anything nearby. Any infrastructure you tried to use to go through or over it would need to deal with these quakes and would cost an absolute fortune to build and even more to maintain against continuous Earthquakes.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.88|108.162.245.88]] 08:06, 11 August 2017 (UTC)
::: we should ask michael bay about this... https://xkcd.com/748/ [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.65|198.41.242.65]]

The description for torn-bag-of-potato-chips reminds me a lot of the geological situation in florida, where much of the state is sitting on top of a giant aquifer instead of bedrock. As the aquifer is depleted for use as agricultural and civic fresh water, the structural integrity of Florida itself is increasingly compromised and lately has threatened to swallow up buildings into sinkholes. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.11|108.162.238.11]] 18:12, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

A growing-tear-fault should be easy to prevent on bags that allow mid tear steering: if you cross-tear the seam (instead of pulling/tearing across the seam) then just after you start tearing the bag open you can take one of the two tears that forms and (after letting it form a good opening) steer it to the other. (the forces that concentrate on the tear's endpoint should now work on the open air instead of the bag and do diddlysquat instead of worsening the tear) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.54|141.101.77.54]] 08:58, 19 October 2021 (UTC)