explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1926: Bad Code

2017-12-10T00:29:51Z

162.158.92.46:

Is it just me or is the fact that this page was created by a bad coder slightly funny? [[User:Halo422|Halo422]] ([[User talk:Halo422|talk]]) 16:56, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

Sometimes on this wiki we change the created by text to something relevant to the comic Halo. [[User:DPS2004|DPS2004]] ([[User talk:DPS2004|talk]]) 16:58, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

"MAY be the same Cueball and Ponytail as the Code Quality series"???!?! As far as I'me concerned, this is the latest entry in the Code Quality series! Oh, and my interpretation of her "Wait, crap." was her saying she realized he's actually done that before, thrown hammers at that wall. I feel like the giving-him-bad-ideas explanation makes more sense, though. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 17:56, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

:I don't see this that way. Cueball from Code Quality series was a beginner, self-taught coder. This one seems much more mature with programming skills.

The hammer-throwing may also be a call-back to xkcd 905, "Homeownership", where Cueball accidentally destroys his home by getting carried away drilling holes in the walls?

Wait, so nobody thinks calling it "Bad Code" instead of the prior "Code Quality" is a veiled reference to Mr Robot? Randall clearly watches the show; I thought he was referring to the show's repeated assertion that careless people are like bad code, their actions dangerously in need of revision. IE that some people have a knack for really messing stuff up which reaches far beyond the minimal effort they put into choosing their actions.

I'm almost certain that "parsing html" is a reference to this: https://stackoverflow.com/a/1732454
[[User:Waterlubber|Waterlubber]] ([[User talk:Waterlubber|talk]]) 20:16, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

isn't it ponytail who tries to destroy the wall since by cueball's logic it doesn't matter if she does it?

Without the title text, I'd believe the wall is actually (already) bearing some kind of dependency into Cueball's spreadsheet, hence the reaction from Ponytail. Rather than giving him ideas to destroy it. It still makes sense because he's the kind of person to do messy things like that. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.46|162.158.92.46]] 00:29, 10 December 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1820: Security Advice

2017-04-05T15:18:02Z

162.158.92.46:

Secret questions are not 2-factor authentication (2FA). They are just a really shitty password, something that you know. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 14:33, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Secret questions are more like 0-factor authentication, since they typically ask for public data. Shirluban [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.106|141.101.88.106]] 14:39, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Even when it isn't public it is often very unsecure - like: "your password has to have upper and lower case letters, numbers" and other requirements - if you forget it just enter the brand of your first car, there are about 20 likely answers (make it 40 if you need to additionally see wether or not it has been capitalized) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.46|162.158.92.46]] 15:18, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Use prime numbers in your password: this would only limit the number of possible passwords for a hacker to check.

Use special characters like & and % : this advice is thoroughly handled in https://xkcd.com/936/ Changing characters into a special one does adds just very little to the search space.
<small>However, a video from Computerphile suggests ''inserting'' a random character somewhere in the password which might actually be rather helpful</small>

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 14:53, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Maybe you really should use a secure font [https://technet.microsoft.com/library/security/MS15-078 Font related bug] [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.161|162.158.79.161]] 15:13, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Should the blue check mark tip be noted as only being useful on Twitter? Usually, the advice doesn't apply to emails, which are significantly more likely to ask for your less-secret account details, but also significantly less likely to have a blue check mark. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.10|162.158.2.10]] 15:15, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

"If a border guard asks to examine your laptop, you have a legal right to challenge them to a chess game for your soul.", do any of you know exactly what is the original advice here? This is probably different in different countries, but if I recall correctly you can't prevent them from seizing your device, but you are not required to provide them your passwords (but they may give you a hard time or deny your entry if you are not a citizen). Anyone can confirm this? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.22|108.162.216.22]] 15:16, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

1786: Trash

2017-01-16T08:11:25Z

162.158.92.46: Adds transcript

{{comic
| number = 1786
| date = January 16, 2017
| title = Trash
| image = trash.png
| titletext = Plus, time's all weird in there, so most of it probably broke down and decomposed hundreds of years ago. Which reminds me, I've been meaning to get in touch with Yucca Mountain to see if they're interested in a partnership.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a human with slightly more intelligence than a BOT- Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

Black hat is, once again, thoroughly confusing a house guest/room mate. (Shown previously in The Cloud and others). This time, when enquired about a chute extruding from his wardrobe, he explains that it is a trash chute into another dimension, Narnia. this is a reference to The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and the other Narnia books by C. s. Lewis. In the books, the characters use a portal that they find in a wardrobe (and later other places) to travel to a magical dimension called Narnia, where time passes differently from on Earth. Apparently, Black Hat has gotten his hands on the titular wardrobe and is using it to dispose of trash. There are many problems with this. First, the portal only works some times, so the rest of the time the wardrobe would just fill with trash. Also, Narnia is considered magical, so it may seem sacrilegious to be throwing trash there.
The cat he refers to its Aslan, a Magical lion that inhabits and watches over Narnia. He would probably be really pissed that someone is throwing trash there. He would probably try to stop this by any means necessary, even if that means coming up through a trash chute into another dimension. But, because lions are a type of cat (feline), apparently he can be repelled with an ordinary spray bottle, usually used on small house cats.
The system would dispose of trash very efficiently because time passes much faster on Narnia than on earth (previously mentioned in five minute comics: part 3). Because of this, within just a few Earth minutes, the trash could completely decompose. Yucca Mountain is a large landfill. Black hat wants to use his method to help them dispose of some of their trash, likely for a profit for black hat.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball looking at garbage chute attached to wardrobe]
:Cueball: What is this thing on your wardrobe?
:[Black Hat off-panel]
:Black Hat: Garbage chute.

:[Cueball and Black Hat face each other]
:Cueball: Into a wardrobe?
:Black hat: There's some sort of magical portal in there. Half the furniture I get has them - It's kind of a pain.

:Cueball: You dump your trash in Narnia?
:Black Hat: Yeah, it's a real time-saver.
:There's a huge cat in there, but i have a spray bottle i use when he tries to come up trough the chute.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1779: 2017

2016-12-31T07:14:01Z

162.158.92.46:

Well, we're ending the year off with an optimistic XKCD comic. Here's to another year!
[[User:GranadalandDreamer|GranadalandDreamer]] ([[User talk:GranadalandDreamer|talk]]) 23:07, 30 December 2016 (UTC)

What is five thirty eight? From the context I get it's most likely a TV-Show, but I believe some background information would help here. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.46|162.158.92.46]] 07:14, 31 December 2016 (UTC)