Footnote

2024-03-09T01:21:35Z

172.71.178.173: /* 5. Current footnote */ singles->signals

:''This article is about the text at the bottom of [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com]. For comics featuring footnotes, see [[:Category:Footnotes]].''

[[File:xkcd_bottom.png|thumb|right|250px|The bottom segment on [[xkcd|xkcd.com]]]]{{TOC}}The '''footnote''' on [[xkcd]] is displayed beneath [[Randall]]'s list of "Comics I Enjoy". It's written in a very tiny font, which makes it very hard to read without zooming in. There have been two major footnotes displayed over the course of the site's history, with a gap of 22 days without any footnotes after the removal of the original footnote.

==1. No footnote==
Before at least [https://web.archive.org/web/20070406183323/http://xkcd.com/ April 6th, 2007], there was no footnote on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com].

==2. Original footnote==
The original footnote was added between April 6th, 2007 and [https://web.archive.org/web/20070503171452/http://xkcd.com/ May 3rd, 2007]. According to this [https://blog.xkcd.com/2007/04/19/billboards Blag post], it was as reference to [https://web.archive.org/web/20070601192105/http://valleywag.com/tech/mystery-billboards/asks-advertising-campaign-249274.php random billboards] appearing in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. They were a viral marketing campaign by the Ask Jeeves search engine to drive publicity around their new search algorithm. Randall thought the sort of people who would be curious enough to go to Google and type them in are probably the sort of people who would like xkcd, so he added the footnote to his website to attract more fans.


:We did not invent the algorithm. The algorithm consistently finds Jesus. The algorithm killed Jeeves.
:The algorithm is banned in China. The algorithm is from Jersey. The algorithm constantly finds Jesus.
:This is not the algorithm. This is close.


<gallery widths=240px heights=160px mode="nolines">
File:The algorithm constantly finds Jesus.jpeg|The algorithm constantly finds Jesus.
File:The algorithm killed Jeeves.jpeg|The algorithm killed Jeeves.
File:The algorithm is banned in China.jpeg|The algorithm is banned in China.
File:The algorithm is from Jersey.jpeg|The algorithm is from Jersey.
</gallery>

==3. Bitcoin addresses==
Randall added a {{w|Bitcoin}} address (a string of alphanumeric characters) to the original footnote between [https://web.archive.org/web/20130218163441/http://xkcd.com/ February 18th, 2013] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20130224073827/http://xkcd.com/ February 24, 2013] and changed it many times over time. Randall also had a page at [https://xkcd.com/bitcoin xkcd.com/bitcoin], which listed other Bitcoin addresses. The following footnote uses the first address, but you can view a list of all addresses [[Bitcoin address|here]].


:BTC 14FHqYSgAi39CEJksUJJsK8JzJzyqFpLVk
:We did not invent the algorithm. The algorithm consistently finds Jesus. The algorithm killed Jeeves.
:The algorithm is banned in China. The algorithm is from Jersey. The algorithm constantly finds Jesus.
:This is not the algorithm. This is close.


==4. Footnote removed==
The old footnote was removed entirely, along with the [[Warning|warning]] above it, on [https://web.archive.org/web/20160912204204/http://xkcd.com/ September 12th, 2016], when [[1732: Earth Temperature Timeline]] was the frontpage comic. They were probably removed to not scare potential new fans away, given the [[1732#Popularity_of_comic|popularity of the comic]]. For 22 days, from September 12th, 2016 until [https://web.archive.org/web/20161004055648/http://xkcd.com/ October 4th, 2016], there was no footnote on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com].

==5. Current footnote==
The new footnote was added either on [https://web.archive.org/web/20161004143542/http://xkcd.com/ October 4th, 2016] or on [https://web.archive.org/web/20161005090723/http://xkcd.com/ October 5th, 2016] and has remained on the site ever since.


:xkcd.com is best viewed with Netscape Navigator 4.0 or below on a Pentium 3±1 emulated in Javascript on an Apple IIGS
:at a screen resolution of 1024x1. Please enable your ad blockers, disable high-heat drying, and remove your device
:from Airplane Mode and set it to Boat Mode. For security reasons, please leave caps lock on while browsing.


The text gives questionable advice on how to view xkcd.com. Using a discontinued browser on an Apple computer released in 1986 with a screen resolution one pixel tall would be impossible.{{Citation needed}}

{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Footnote
!Explanation
|-
|Netscape Navigator 4.0 or below
|It is normal to specify browser and minimum version, as all later versions typically retain needed features from previous versions. Instead, the footnote claims that older versions are better (perhaps due to [[1172: Workflow|reliance on a bug]] fixed after version 4.0). No version of Netscape Navigator is maintained.
|-
|on a Pentium 3±1
|{{w|Pentium}} was a brand of processors made by Intel. Instead of specifying a minimum processor generation (as in software system requirements), both a minimum and maximum are given. This notation is often used for specifying tolerances, usually of a physical property (e.g. electrical resistance) - a tolerance range of "Pentium 3, plus or minus one" indicates anything older than Pentium 2 or newer than Pentium 4 is sub-optimal. It may also refer to the more mathematical usage of plus or minus, which would indicate it's best viewed on a Pentium 2, or a Pentium 4, but nothing else.
|-
|emulated in Javascript
|JavaScript is a programming language used on web pages. While it may be possible to write a Pentium emulator in Javascript, this would be a very strange choice.
|-
|on an Apple IIGS
|The Apple IIGS was a computer made in the 1980's. Even the slowest Pentium computers are hundreds of times faster than the Apple IIGS. Combined with the inefficiencies of processor emulation, this would result in a painfully slow experience, if it worked at all. It was made before Internet connections were common, and there was probably no web JavaScript-compatible browser for it, if any browser at all. There are now Ethernet cards available for the IIGS.
|-
|at a screen resolution of 1024x1.
|If the dimensions given are in pixels, as they usually are, then the recommended display setting would only show one horizontal line. 1024 pixels is wider than the maximum supported display width of the Apple IIGS.
|-
|Please enable your ad blockers,
|Many sites ask users to disable ad blockers, either so the owner can get ad revenue, or because blockers sometimes inadvertently block other parts of the page. But here it is recommended to enable the blockers, even though there would be nothing to block since xkcd does not have advertisements.
|-
|disable high-heat drying,
|This appears to be referring to clothes dryer heat settings, which are irrelevant to websites. Some clothing is damaged if dried with high heat.
|-
|and remove your device from Airplane Mode and set it to Boat Mode.
|Many portable devices, especially cell phones and tablets, have an "Airplane Mode," which disables all radio-frequency transmissions (wifi, mobile/cellphone connectivity, etc) to avoid potential interference with an aircraft's own electronics while flying. And also to prevent your phone trying to connect to cell towers at high power because they are being constantly disconnected, the result of this is all the people's phone sending high power signals and jamming other phones. "Boat Mode" is fictional.
|-
|For security reasons, please leave caps lock on while browsing.
|Having caps lock on would not improve security. It may reduce your security if it prevents you from using lower-case letters in passwords.
|}

[[Category:Design of xkcd.com]]
{{xkcdmeta}}

1368: One Of The

2024-03-02T19:04:32Z

172.71.178.173: /* Trivia */ Fix link, rephrase connection...

{{comic
| number = 1368
| date = May 14, 2014
| title = One Of The
| image = one_of_the.png
| titletext = 'The world's greatest [whatever]' is subjective, but 'One of the world's greatest [whatever]s' is clearly objective. Anyway, that's why I got you this 'one of the world's greatest moms' mug!
}}

==Explanation==
Another of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[238: Pet Peeve 114|many]] [[:Category:Pet Peeves|Pet Peeves]], this time on reporters.

[[Cueball]] is a [[:Category:News anchor|news anchor]] describing the {{w|Gateway Arch}} as one of the most recognizable arches in {{w|St. Louis}}. In this case the designer the reporter is likely referring to is {{w|Eero Saarinen}}.

When describing things, reporters try to make only factual statements. If reporters use absolutes (that something is the largest or the smallest thing of its class, or that it is unprecedented, to give several examples) they risk making errors: it is possible that some other example of the thing exists that is even larger or even smaller or that there was some similar incident in the past, and they were not aware of it. If a reader or viewer points out the existence of that thing, even if obscure or trivial, the reporter must issue a correction. As a result, reporters learn to hedge by using formulations such as "one of the biggest" or "a rare example of."

[[Randall]] states that it is his {{W|pet peeve}} when reporters avoid absolutes unnecessarily — that is, in cases where there's vanishingly little risk of error. As an absurd example, Randall depicts one such reporter using this language about the Gateway Arch. As one of the most well-known monuments in Missouri and one of the largest free-standing arches in the world, it's indisputable that this would be one of the most recognizable arches in St. Louis.

In the title text, Randall jokes about what could happen if you misunderstand the practice of avoiding absolutes; he thus appears to think it is an ostentatious display of faux objectivity, as opposed to a correction-avoiding strategy. The title text refers to novelty mugs (and T-shirts, and other printed items) that use superlative descriptions such as "World's Greatest Mom" or "World's Greatest Dad." Obviously, such a statement is an expression of personal affection on the part of the family member who gave such a gift and is not meant to be understood as a literally true fact about the world. Using a parody of reporter-speak (like giving a mug to your mother that says "one of the world's greatest moms") would ruin the compliment by suggesting to her that you thought some other people's moms were as good or better.

The title text also refers to {{w|Mother's Day}}, which in the US was three days before this comic was published.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is a news anchor sitting in front of a screen showing the Gateway Arch with some landscape features around it.]
:Cueball: ...And he went on to design the Gateway Arch, one of the most recognizable arches in St. Louis.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Pet peeve:
:Reporters unnecessarily hedging with "one of the"

==Trivia==
*This comic is referenced in the ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' article ''{{what if|89|Tungsten Countertop}}'', with the quote "the sun is one of the meltiest things in the solar system."
*[[1261: Shake That]] features a gift mug with the absolute statement of "world's greatest daughter".
* This comic is very similar to [[2901: Geographic Qualifiers]], which deals with another case of strangely specified precision.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:News anchor]]
[[Category:Pet Peeves]]

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Footnote

1368: One Of The