explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:396: The Ring

2019-10-08T01:30:00Z

162.158.74.51: Why am I supposed todo this?!

Ironic, when Youtube is one of the prime targets for death-threat chain letters. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 03:32, 30 October 2012 (UTC)

How does the comic imply that he is not safe? The mom just seems mad because 360,000 people are going to die. [[User:Athang|Athang]] ([[User talk:Athang|talk]]) 03:10, 4 May 2013 (UTC)

In the books, copying didn't really make you safe. Granted, this comic is about the movie based off of the movie based off of the books, so the comparison is pretty limited. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 18:57, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

The boy is not Cueball but a child. He did watch the tape on a TV, presumably at a much better resolution as his YouTube upload is.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:41, 13 June 2013 (UTC)
:The transcript calls him "young cueball" [[Special:Contributions/190.75.237.167|190.75.237.167]] 01:37, 14 July 2013 (UTC)
:The official transcript calls them just 'boy' and 'girl'. 'Young Cueball' isn't a thing. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 21:44, 3 January 2014 (UTC)
::Where is the official transcript - is this something Randall post somewhere? The transcript on this page uses the names given to the characters on this page. Cueball only exist as a name outside the XKCD comic. It is not something Randall subscribes to. But here any non descript character is called Cueball. But is is true that this is a child version of Cueball and I have corrected the explain so it says this. The transcript is fine as it is. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 05:26, 27 May 2014 (UTC)
Randall loses points for calling her "Samara" and not Sadako.
the "remakes" do not exist. that is a fact.
[[Special:Contributions/193.37.237.100|193.37.237.100]] 09:50, 6 September 2013 (UTC)
:Maybe but as the comic is about the Ring Sadako is not in the movie Cueball watches :-) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 05:26, 27 May 2014 (UTC)

Is it likely that Ponytail and Young Cueball are Rachel and Aiden from the movie? The first panel (apart from the nonchalance of the child) seems somewhat similar to the scene in the movie where Rachel discovers that Aiden has watched the tape. --[[User:Hatkirby|Hatkirby]] ([[User talk:Hatkirby|talk]]) 04:09, 2 June 2014 (UTC)

Sharing doesn't reduce the number of casualties. It only transfers the death sentence to another person. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.135.57|162.158.135.57]] 08:15, 6 September 2016 (UTC)

Actually, this happened, in the crossover film between the Japanese series of this movie (Ringu) and Ju-On (Japanese version of the Grudge), named 'Sadako v. Kayako'. Right before she dies, one of the main characters uploads a version of the tape to a file-sharing site, allowing it to distribute through the internet and pick up 6,000 views in a few hours. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.54|172.68.47.54]] 02:51, 28 June 2017 (UTC)
:At the end of the second US sequel 'Rings', Samara does it herself.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.110|162.158.155.110]] 23:14, 20 January 2019 (UTC)

You know, if you were in the "the ring" universe and you had a time machine, you could copy it and give it to your future self, and when your past self gives it to you, destroy it.

Talk:2209: Fresh Pears

2019-09-30T21:32:14Z

162.158.74.51: Moved signature and new comments comment to the top

If anyone complains about the wait, Beret Guy can tell them to 'grow a pear'.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.151|162.158.158.151]] 21:04, 30 September 2019 (UTC)

Beret Guy may just have a good idea. Why not put up a seed dispenser with a sign: "Plant a pear tree: 50¢"? Any unwanted seedlings could easily be removed--even accidentally by lawn mowers--within the first few years, and wanted trees would last a long time, benefit the environment, and produce food for people and animals. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.51|162.158.74.51]] 21:31, 30 September 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2209: Fresh Pears

2019-09-30T21:31:11Z

162.158.74.51: A practical Beret Guy startup

If anyone complains about the wait, Beret Guy can tell them to 'grow a pear'.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.151|162.158.158.151]] 21:04, 30 September 2019 (UTC)



Beret Guy may just have a good idea. Why not put up a seed dispenser with a sign: "Plant a pear tree: 50¢"? Any unwanted seedlings could easily be removed--even accidentally by lawn mowers--within the first few years, and wanted trees would last a long time, benefit the environment, and produce food for people and animals. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.51|162.158.74.51]] 21:31, 30 September 2019 (UTC)

655: Climbing

2018-07-06T13:23:47Z

162.158.74.51: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 655
| date = October 28, 2009
| title = Climbing
| image = climbing.png
| titletext = Where did you even get this wall? Return it there and stand it back up right now.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic makes fun of a certain type of images very common on the internet. Those pictures are taken with a camera turned by 90° or rotated later by software, thus creating the illusion of people walking on walls or ceilings. While the original pictures depict the physical impossibility of a rotated {{w|gravitational force}}, Cueball uses the aforementioned technique to create pictures of himself on a {{w|climbing wall}}. Megan approaches him from above the wall, indicating that the climbing wall is in fact lying on the floor. It becomes clear that Cueball was not able to climb a real wall and therefore crawled on the floor with his camera adjusted accordingly.

Her comment is a sideswipe on the practise of self-display on {{w|Facebook}}, which is often done with the help of {{w|image manipulation}}.

The title text implies that Cueball has in fact stolen a real climbing wall, and that Megan wants him to return it.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball seen from his back, as he is ascending a gray climbing wall with 16 white handles in different shapes and sizes. He is standing on one near the bottom left of the panel with his left foot, holding on to a large handle to the left of his head, and one to the right at shoulder height. His right foot is seeking hold on another handle above knee hight of his left leg.]

:[Cueball is seen in profile still climbing up the gray wall, which is drawn in the right part of the panel, 13 handles protruding. At the top of the panel something is protruding from the wall at more than ninety degree angle to the wall, as the line soon goes off panel at the top, but it seems to be directed at a small white half circle at the top of the panel. The line begins in front of the last of the handles at the top, a small one, and below this there is a larger handle bending up making it easy to hold on to. Cueball is holding on with his hands to two similar "easy" handles.]

:[Cueball climbs a bit further up till his hand reaches the up bending handle in front of the line, and his lower leg and upper knee touches the two handles his hands where on before. Here he has stopped climbing and lifts his head back to look up and sees Megan standing there above him (as she was also doing at the top of the previous panel, but cut off at leg and face). She just stands perpendicular to the wall facing down towards Cueball. The panel has panned up following Cueball so there are only 11 handles now, two more visible "above" Megan, and four from the previous panel are now below this panels frame.]

:[Same scene but Cueball is now looking at the wall as Megan speaks.]
:Megan: Your Facebook rock climbing pictures just got a lot less impressive.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Social networking]]

Talk:1850: Air Force Museum

2017-06-15T05:13:20Z

162.158.74.51:

And I hear if you have a basic understanding of computer systems and know a reservist Colonel, you can hack into the flight schedule, reserve two fighters fully loaded down with as much ordinance as they can carry, and go on a rescue mission to save your father who was shot down in disputed airspace. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 18:31, 14 June 2017 (UTC)
:What movie is that? (... at least, I ''hope'' it is a movie.) [[User:Chrullrich|Chrullrich]] ([[User talk:Chrullrich|talk]]) 18:43, 14 June 2017 (UTC)
::[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091278/ Iron Eagle]. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 19:23, 14 June 2017 (UTC)

The mention of "planes from different eras" alludes to the fact that military aircraft are often still in use after a much longer time than they were originally designed for. Examples of this are the US Air Force's B-52 bomber, first introduced in 1955 (62 years before the publication of this comic) and the C-160 Transall, which has been in service in, e.g., the German Luftwaffe, since 1967 (50 years before). Additionally, aircraft museums typically house military aircraft from previous eras, such as from WWII and the Cold War, to show the evolution in aircraft design and to showcase technological advances.

It struck me as more, if not entirely, the latter. I didn't perceive any allusion to the fact that "military aircraft are often still in use after a much longer time than they were originally designed for" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.51|162.158.74.51]] 05:13, 15 June 2017 (UTC)

== Implication of pursuit? ==

The implication is that there was no museum to begin with and Cueball went to observe the actual air force base and '''''is now being pursued by the military'''''.

I don't think there's anything to credibly suggest Cueball is being pursued. Hearing helicopters implies they are close enough to perceive a military operation of some sort, but it could easily be launching aircraft departing to another destination as it might be pursuit of Cueball. Is there anything to justify the last 7 words? [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 01:54, 15 June 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1837: Rental Car

2017-05-15T20:38:12Z

162.158.74.51:

Started with a bare-bones explanation. Please elaborate further. [[User:Nialpxe|Nialpxe]] ([[User talk:Nialpxe|talk]]) 09:28, 15 May 2017 (UTC)

It looks like the "one in six" figure might be a reference to [[795: Conditional Risk]]? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.244|108.162.229.244]] 09:34, 15 May 2017 (UTC)

Added a transcript (that ip is mine, was not logged in)[[User:PMR GO|PMR GO]] ([[User talk:PMR GO|talk]]) 10:01, 15 May 2017 (UTC)

Maybe the murder car is a reference to Christine? See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_(1983_film)
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.128|162.158.88.128]] 14:45, 15 May 2017 (UTC)
:Seems like a stretch. Christine killed like 6 out of 8, for starters, and wasn't a rental... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.51|162.158.74.51]] 20:38, 15 May 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1832: Photo Library Management

2017-05-04T17:18:10Z

162.158.74.51:

Started edit today - mostly easy and self explanatory although suspect someone will explain Moore's law better than I can. Have, unfortunately got to work, but hopefully start and template is good.

I believe that the rightmost section (that increases faster than Moore's Law) should be labeled as the "Kardashian Zone"

[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.197|141.101.99.197]] 13:49, 3 May 2017 (UTC)

Not sure why the top-right line (above which is "Can't sleep, too busy sifting through photos to find the best ones") slants down as the number-of-photos-taken-per-day increases. Surely if the amount of time you spend sorting through photos is steady, the amount of sleep you lose due to sorting photos should be steady, too (assuming no other factors).
:I believe this is in reference to the decreasing threshold at which picture sorting will become all-consuming, since there would be more to sort. But yes, based on the axis label, this does seem a bit odd. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.51|162.158.74.51]] 23:08, 3 May 2017 (UTC)

Taking photos uses up time in the day, therefore as you take more and more photos per day you naturally have less time left over to sort the photos [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.229|162.158.89.229]] 08:19, 4 May 2017 (UTC)

This comic is in direct contrast to the days of past when cameras used film, and people viewed pictures behind sticky plastic in photo albums. The idea, as I remember, was to take only what you thought were the best pictures and to keep checking the number on your camera to see how many pictures were left (24?). These days, of course, you take as many pictures as your phone will hold, then... well, view comic above ;)
:I've recently sorted through a box of pictures from my wife's high school days that conflicts with this. Just the media and delay were different. If you had as much film as you wanted, or about 200 of those disposable cameras (and enough money to buy that), you can generate enough pictures to make it time-prohibitive to sort. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.51|162.158.74.51]] 17:18, 4 May 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1832: Photo Library Management

2017-05-03T23:08:12Z

162.158.74.51:

Talk:1828: ISS Solar Transit

2017-04-24T22:54:00Z

162.158.74.51:

The staging of this comic is really confusing... Top to bottom, right to left is just a weird order. It took me a little while to figure out that the solid white space in the top row is actually a double high, and not a solid white beat panel. I was thinking that the picture was completely whited out. [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 15:37, 24 April 2017 (UTC)

The comic reads left-to-right, not right-to-left... [[User:Rajakiit|Raj-a-Kiit]] ([[User talk:Rajakiit|talk]]) 16:45, 24 April 2017 (UTC)

I disagree with the description that's posted. The joke is that Cueball is not trying to take a picture of the sun - he is trying to take a picture of the ISS while it passes in front of the sun. So it is true that the object being photographed (the ISS) is in direct sunlight, just as the label says. The problem with the label is that it's incomplete: in context, it really means something like, "The object being photographed is in lighting equivalent to direct sunlight falling on the surface of the planet Earth with no intervening filters." The ISS (and the moon, as mentioned in the title text) are being directly struck by sunlight but do not fit the rest of the implied context of the label.
: So shouldn't it then use the 'Shade' option for the ISS? ;) -- Denny
:Technically, he's trying to take a picture of the shadow of the ISS, since he's not looking for the reflected sunlight. Since the Sun is incandescent, that filter would also apply, but only for the background, not the object in question. Also, isn't that kind of the joke, here?[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.51|162.158.74.51]] 22:48, 24 April 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1828: ISS Solar Transit

2017-04-24T22:48:55Z

162.158.74.51:

The staging of this comic is really confusing... Top to bottom, right to left is just a weird order. It took me a little while to figure out that the solid white space in the top row is actually a double high, and not a solid white beat panel. I was thinking that the picture was completely whited out. [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 15:37, 24 April 2017 (UTC)

The comic reads left-to-right, not right-to-left... [[User:Rajakiit|Raj-a-Kiit]] ([[User talk:Rajakiit|talk]]) 16:45, 24 April 2017 (UTC)

I disagree with the description that's posted. The joke is that Cueball is not trying to take a picture of the sun - he is trying to take a picture of the ISS while it passes in front of the sun. So it is true that the object being photographed (the ISS) is in direct sunlight, just as the label says. The problem with the label is that it's incomplete: in context, it really means something like, "The object being photographed is in lighting equivalent to direct sunlight falling on the surface of the planet Earth with no intervening filters." The ISS (and the moon, as mentioned in the title text) are being directly struck by sunlight but do not fit the rest of the implied context of the label.
: So shouldn't it then use the 'Shade' option for the ISS? ;) -- Denny
:Technically, he's trying to take a picture of the shadow of the ISS, since he's not looking for the reflected sunlight. Also, isn't that kind of the joke, here?[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.51|162.158.74.51]] 22:48, 24 April 2017 (UTC)

1474: Screws

2017-04-22T13:42:21Z

162.158.74.51: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1474
| date = January 16, 2015
| title = Screws
| image = screws.png
| titletext = If you encounter a hex bolt, but you only brought screwdrivers, you can try sandwiching the head of the bolt between two parallel screwdriver shafts, squeezing the screwdrivers together with a hand at either end, then twisting. It doesn't work and it's a great way to hurt yourself, but you can try it!
}}

==Explanation==
Appliance makers sometimes use strange screw heads to hinder attempts from users to remove appliance covers. Users usually have handy screwdrivers for the first two screw types drawn, Phillips and Flat. More advanced users usually have some less standard drivers, such as Torx or Allen, however appliance makers keep designing increasingly strange screw heads and users keep acquiring increasingly strange screwdrivers.

The comic is about the frustration a user may feel when faced with a screw for which they have no screwdriver. Usually the user will try to fit one of the drivers they have handy into the strange screw, leading to damaging the screw and/or the driver and/or the person wielding the tool.

The types of screws listed are the following:

{| class="wikitable"
! style="width: 25%"|Screw type
! Description
|-
| Phillips head
| {{w|List of screw drives#Phillips|Phillips screw drive}} and its corresponding screw head is one of the most recognizable types of screw heads that is commonly used in construction. This type of screw head was named after its inventor, a US businessman {{w|Henry F. Phillips}}. Neither the inventor nor his invention have any relationship to the Dutch electronics manufacturing company with similar, but not exactly the same name {{w|Philips}}.
|-
| Flat head
| {{w|List_of_screw_drives#Slot|Slot head screws}} are frequently erroneously referred to as flat heads (a flat head screw refers, in fact, to the shape of the screw head, regardless of the shape of the drive socket). The slot head is also commonly used in construction. Although the diagram shows the slot truncated, the slot almost always runs across the entire head of the screw (as in the case of the "uranium screw" below).
|-
| Uh oh. Maybe it's on Amazon? (star-shaped screw)
| Manufacturers sometimes use screws that require special screwdrivers in order to prevent the customer from opening the product. The reference to Amazon is presumably a suggestion to search Amazon.com for the screwdriver. A number of star-shaped screw heads exist, notably the six-pointed {{w|Torx}}, and Apple's rounded {{w|Pentalobe screw|pentalobe screw}}, although there is no popular design that uses the 5-pointed star shape depicted in the comic. Torx screws are common in automotive applications — Phillips heads are designed to "cam out" at high torque to protect the screw, whereas Torx do not — and on bicycles where a higher tightening torque is needed than hex screws can support. They are also commonly used on disk brake mounts and in Smartphones.

|-
| Cursed -1 Phillips head
| The head of a screw can be stripped by overuse, tightening the screw too much, using the wrong size screwdriver, or other misuse. As the driving surfaces wear away, removing the screw becomes more difficult, and the added pressure needed to drive the screw usually damages it further.

The addition of "cursed" and "-1" in the titles is a reference to various role playing games (e.g. Dungeons and Dragons), where magical "cursed" items appear frequently. This often makes the cursed equipment (in the case of armor or weapons) incredibly difficult to remove, as it will cling to the wielder. Similarly, the cursed Phillips Head screw becomes difficult to remove due to the stripped head.
Alternatively, this may imply that the damage to the screw head was caused ''because'' the screw is "cursed" and therefore difficult to remove.

The "-1" refers to the damage of the screw head. In role playing games, items such as weapons and armor may have an "enchantment", with a positive enchantment making the item more effective, and a negative enchantment making the item less effective. Negatively enchanted items are often also cursed, as is the case with this screw head. The "-1" does not appear to be a reference to a Philips bit-size number, as those are always positive.

Notably, the stripped screw bears a resemblance to a {{w|List_of_screw_drives#Pozidriv|Pozidriv head}}, a modified version of the Phillips head designed to resist slipping and subsequent stripping. Using a Phillips head screwdriver in a Pozidriv screw is very likely to damage the screw head and cause a real Pozidriv screwdriver to no longer mate correctly.
|-
| Crap, it's a ''rivet''.
| A {{w|rivet}} is not a screw - it is a permanent fastener which is secured by deforming the body of the fastener. Rivets cannot be removed with a screwdriver, they must be "drilled out". Some bolts also have rounded rivet-style heads, though, which need a collet style tool to grip and remove.
|-
| Phillips head ruiner ''(actually a hex screw)''
| A reference to the fact that {{w|List_of_screw_drives#Hex_socket|hex socket}} screws can, in a pinch, be removed with a Phillips screwdriver (rather than the intended {{w|Allen wrench}}) but this will likely ruin the screwdriver in the process.
|-
| Uranium screw
| Uranium screws were [http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2014/11/10/fat-mans-uranium/ used] in the [http://www.scintillators.ru/booc/criticality/reports/ref_050.pdf construction] of [http://www.osti.gov/scitech/servlets/purl/769001 nuclear weapons] during the twentieth century. Multiple radially extending short wave-like lines around the screw head symbolize radiant energy output, although real uranium screws were most likely made of depleted uranium, which is [http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_ii/du_ii_tabc.htm 40 percent less radioactive] than "raw" naturally-occurring uranium.
|-
| Phillip's head
| This is a morbidly literal interpretation of the misuse of an apostrophe in "Phillip's head". This "screw" is actually a bloody bag containing the severed head of someone named Phillip. Intentionally or otherwise, this last punchline could be described as a "[http://www.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MindScrew mind screw]".
|-
|Hex bolt (title text)
|A {{w|List_of_screw_drives#Hex|hex bolt}} has six external sides, so it could in theory be held by squeezing two screwdriver shafts together with the bolt in between. The amount of force on the two screwdriver shafts needed to turn the hex bolt will probably exceed the strength of human hands - the attempt would most likely only result in causing your hands to cramp or causing the screwdrivers to slip and cause further injury.
|}

==Transcript==
:[Eight drawings of different types of heads each with a caption:]
:[Plus sign-shaped screw.]
:Phillips head
:[Minus sign-shaped screw.]
:Flat head
:[Star-shaped screw.]
:Uh oh. Maybe it's on Amazon?
:[Plus sign-shaped screw with worn edges.]
:Cursed -1 Phillips head
:[No screw, just a circle.]
:Crap, it's a ''rivet''.
:[Hexagon-shaped screw.]
:Phillips-head ruiner
:[Minus sign-shaped screw going through the whole circle. Also giving off radiation.]
:Uranium screw (a real thing)
:[A sack with blood oozing out of it.]
:Phillip's head

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1823: Hottest Editors

2017-04-12T22:12:51Z

162.158.74.51:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRISPR, a procaryotic immune defense system that, coupled with Cas9, has been used by molecular biologists as a technology for precise edition of a the genome of virtually any organism.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.216|141.101.105.216]] 14:59, 12 April 2017 (UTC) LinVl

So.. the M-x crispr command? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.172|172.68.51.172]] 15:54, 12 April 2017 (UTC)ZZ

The first editors are not for machine-readable Text. But for sourcecode which is human-readable.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.192|162.158.90.192]] 16:49, 12 April 2017 (UTC)
:Well, the compiler or interpreter can hopefully read your source code, so in some sense it's machine-readable :P. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.112|172.68.54.112]] 18:13, 12 April 2017 (UTC)

i noticed the article fails to mention the comic declaring vim as the winner in 2005... kind of a huge oversight. mayhaps there is bias in the author of this wiki? mayhaps the author is a huge emacs fan?
:Maybe he's alluding to this with CRISPR-VIM in 2025.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.51|162.158.74.51]] 22:12, 12 April 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1823: Hottest Editors

2017-04-12T22:12:04Z

162.158.74.51:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRISPR, a procaryotic immune defense system that, coupled with Cas9, has been used by molecular biologists as a technology for precise edition of a the genome of virtually any organism.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.216|141.101.105.216]] 14:59, 12 April 2017 (UTC) LinVl

So.. the M-x crispr command? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.172|172.68.51.172]] 15:54, 12 April 2017 (UTC)ZZ

The first editors are not for machine-readable Text. But for sourcecode which is human-readable.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.192|162.158.90.192]] 16:49, 12 April 2017 (UTC)
:Well, the compiler or interpreter can hopefully read your source code, so in some sense it's machine-readable :P. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.112|172.68.54.112]] 18:13, 12 April 2017 (UTC)

i noticed the article fails to mention the comic declaring vim as the winner in 2005... kind of a huge oversight. mayhaps there is bias in the author of this wiki? mayhaps the author is a huge emacs fan?
:Maybe he's alluding to this with CRISPER-VIM in 2025.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.51|162.158.74.51]] 22:12, 12 April 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1821: Incinerator

2017-04-08T17:14:03Z

162.158.74.51:

The crisis could come from a more abstract feeling thinking of the incinerating/trash devices as Ouroboros, serpents biting their own tail or nilpotent matrices. Nothing would be left. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.62|162.158.88.62]] 06:01, 8 April 2017 (UTC)

There also might be a more practical explanation of the crisis; in my experience it is extremely difficult to convey to trash collectors that a garbage can itself is part of the trash. Merely placing it inside another, larger trash receptacle is often not enough to convince them to collect it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.58|108.162.216.58]] 07:15, 8 April 2017 (UTC)
:I actually had the opposite problem recently, where we obtained a medium sized plastic tote with a recyclables logo on the side, and they were kind enough to take all the recyclable materials, apparently including the tote. So be careful what you wish for.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.51|162.158.74.51]] 17:14, 8 April 2017 (UTC)

Talk:136: Science Fair

2017-03-16T17:14:46Z

162.158.74.51:

Can I get a link to his paper? {{unsigned ip|173.46.229.105}}
:You can, but it's pretty dry.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.51|162.158.74.51]] 17:14, 16 March 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1808: Hacking

2017-03-08T19:18:42Z

162.158.74.51:

Some explanations for title text:
* a list of millions of prime factors: trivial to produce and useless without knowing the problem they're from
* a 0-day Tamagotchi exploit: sounds not very useful, unless modern Tamagotchis [http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39002142 have internet connection]
* and a technique for getting gcc and bash to execute arbitrary code: unlike other applications, these two programs (especially when used together) are specifically created to let user execute arbitrary code{{unsigned ip|141.101.80.106}}
--
Internet connected tamagotchis you say?
http://spritesmods.com/?art=tamasingularity -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.202|141.101.76.202]] 06:42, 8 March 2017 (UTC)
--

Expanded the details; I know Tamagotchi hacking is a thing, but I'll leave it to someone who actually knows about it to decide whether it's worth mentioning in the page. Also, "a list of millions of prime factors" could just as well be called "a list of millions of prime numbers", which sounds much less important, but I couldn't think of a brief way to mention that. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.4|162.158.78.4]] 09:53, 8 March 2017 (UTC)

The television-show "Zondag met Lubach" (Sunday with Lubach) has prior to the elections in the Netherlands launched the Kamergotchi-app. In this app you have to cuddle and feed your partyleader to keep him/her alive. The party leader is randomly chosen. In the last episode of the show the results from the app were compared with the polls. Surely the CIA and the Russians would like to hack this Tamagotchi-clone. Vince 10:27, 8 March 2017 (UTC){{unsigned ip|141.101.105.174}}

- I think the joke regarding the "millions or prime factors" is that "millions" sounds like a lot, but it is in fact a very small set that can be easily computed, and even more easily downloaded. It is also useless for cracking any modern encryption. Bigprimes.net has a downloadable list of the first 1.4 billion primes; the 1.4 billionth prime (32416190071) is a 40-bit number, which is only useful for factoring 80-bit products at best. The CIA would likely need (and probably do have) at least a trillion primes pre-computed. [[User:Sysin|Sysin]] ([[User talk:Sysin|talk]]) 10:53, 8 March 2017 (UTC)

Say, this was the first header on the WSJ today! [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 10:54, 8 March 2017 (UTC)

I think the 0 day tamagotchi exploit might be a pun on 0 day exploits as explained above and the fact that tamigotchis use an ingame time mechanic. So a 0 day tamigotchi exploit might allow you to do something special with or to your tamigotchi while it is still and egg. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.2.28|172.68.2.28]] 12:56, 8 March 2017 (UTC)-

I think you're actually allowed to have an e-mail address like john dot doe@example.org - but a lot of programs will be greatly confused by it. That is not really a comment on the comic. Also, I once read someone's research which reported that spam list users simply delete obfuscated addresses, and particularly if "spam" appears in the address; for them, if not for the TLAs, to do more is pointless. So by all means set your real address to johnlovespamela@couples.com. Although you may have to change your names and sex. Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@excite.com.fearless.not!:-) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.108|141.101.107.108]] 15:47, 8 March 2017 (UTC)

A list of one prime from each of the million most important RSA keys could accurately, if understatedly, be described as "a list of a million prime factors". If people realize what it is it would break the web. So it depends on which primes: the first million, meh; a million random primes; yawn; a million carefully chosen primes, yowza! The last two would not be obviously different unless you did some fairly minimal work. A prime the CIA classifies could be interesting. Or they could be messing with us.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.21|162.158.62.21]] 15:52, 8 March 2017 (UTC)

I can't resist pointing out that anything that has a speaker also has a microphone. So a network connected tamagotchi, which is presumably capable of playing sounds, could also be used as a bug, despite being a "low-end device" ☺{{unsigned ip|162.158.78.130}}

If the gcc/bash thing was actually a reference to ShellShock or some other real problem, then its inclusion wouldn't be funny... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.51|162.158.74.51]] 19:18, 8 March 2017 (UTC)