explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

569: Borders

2013-12-20T13:57:52Z

173.245.53.180: Added links

{{comic
| number = 569
| date = April 15, 2009
| title = Borders
| image = borders.png
| titletext = Eventually a UN is set up. And then a lone rebel runs down the line of flags in front of it, runs back to his base, and gets a kajillion points.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
{{w|Capture the flag}} (CTF) is a common way of playing games where the objective is to capture the opponent's flag, while protecting your own team's flag. This comic describes a CTF server (for an online war game) where peace has been established, and no one is trying to capture each other's flags, therefore making the game pointless.

The title text refers to the line of flags common in front of UN buildings, where the flags of all the teams has been gathered. One could then quickly capture all the flags and reach a very high score. A {{Wiktionary|kajillion}} is slang for "an unspecified large number" of something.

LIATE is an acronym sometimes used when {{w|Integration by parts|integrating by parts}}. The preferred part to integrate is "Logarithmic, Inverse-trig, Algebraic, Trig, Exponential." Yarbis is a Turkish name, but may be an error for {{w|Alfred L. Yarbus}}, a Russian psychologist who investigated how the eyes scan faces and other things (thus the borders were set according by looking around).

==Transcript==
:[Two people stand on a hill overlooking a great city. Between them and the city stands an embassy flying a red flag.]
:Three years ago, the kingdom of Liate overthrew their old order and established a constitutional monarchy. Our leaders signed a treaty with their queen, and our borders were set by the Yarbis Accords.
:Many said war would be unending, that peace would always be a dream deferred. But today, our flag flies proudly over our embassy in their kingdom, and they walk our lands without fear.
:So come, traveller. Lay down your grudges and join us in brotherhood. It is time not to fight, but to live.
:[Cueball sitting at computer.]
:Cueball: This is the worst capture-the-flag server ever.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Math]]

1306: Sigil Cycle

2013-12-20T13:40:05Z

173.245.53.180: Removed the comment about the redirection bug, as it's been fixed quite quickly, and tidied the link to the wikipedia page for sigil

{{comic
| number = 1306
| date = December 20, 2013
| title = Sigil Cycle
| image = sigil_cycle.png
| titletext = The cycle seems to be 'we need these symbols to clarify what types of things we're referring to!' followed by 'wait, it turns out words already do that.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This is just a skeleton, every detail is missing and probably some parts are inaccurate or plain wrong}}

In computer programming, a {{w|Sigil (computer programming)|sigil}} is a symbol attached to a variable name, showing the variable's datatype or scope, usually a prefix, as in $foo, where $ is the sigil.

;{{w|QBASIC}}
:Variables of type string end with the $ symbol. Other symbols are used (% for integers, ! for single-precision, # for double-precision and, in some versions of BASIC, & for long integers), however the usual QBASIC program will use only the $ symbol and not any of the others, as the default type if no symbol is used is double-precision and that's OK for most numeric uses.

;{{w|C++}}
:Variables have no strange symbol. They are just words with regular letters.

;{{w|bash (Unix shell)|bash}}
:This is not strictly a programming language, but a Unix shell. However, the shell command syntax is rich enough to be able to write simple (and sometimes really complex) programs, usually called shell-scripts. In this language, all variables start with the symbol $.

;{{w|Perl}}
:Variables of simple types in Perl start with $, and arrays start with @.

;{{w|Python (programming language)|Python}}
:Variables have no marker symbol.

;{{w|Google}}
:In the beginning of Google, it was a search engine. However, it now includes many things, in particular a social network called Google+.

;{{w|Twitter}}
:Twitter channels are identified by the symbol @.

;{{w|Hashtag}}s
:In some microblogging messages, a # sign can be prepended to important words to mark them as "keywords", so the message can be searched for those words.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
*Y axis: Odds that the words I type will start with some weird symbol
*X axis: Time
*Data labels: $QBASIC, C++, $BASH, @$PERL, PYTHON, +GOOGLE, @TWITTER, #HASHTAGS

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Comics presenting a compromise]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Social networking]]

Talk:1306: Sigil Cycle

2013-12-20T13:32:53Z

173.245.53.180:

Shouldn't it be QBASIC$ (or QBASIC%), since in Basic the sigil is attached to the end of variable names? --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.108|173.245.53.108]] 13:19, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

Could not find where categories can be added, here's a list of suitable categories: Charts, Computers, Comics presenting a compromise Internet, Programming [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.180|173.245.53.180]] 13:32, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

1306: Sigil Cycle

2013-12-20T13:24:37Z

173.245.53.180: Corrected incomplete tags

{{comic
| number = 1306
| date = December 20, 2013
| title = Sigil Cycle
| image = sigil_cycle.png
| titletext = The cycle seems to be 'we need these symbols to clarify what types of things we're referring to!' followed by 'wait, it turns out words already do that.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This is just a skeleton, every detail is missing and probably some parts are inaccurate or plain wrong}}

"In computer programming, a sigil (/ˈsɪdʒəl/ or /ˈsɪɡəl/; plural sigilia or sigils) is a symbol attached to a variable name, showing the variable's datatype or scope, usually a prefix, as in $foo, where $ is the sigil."[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigil_%28computer_programming%29]

Usually, the link [http://www.xkcd.com/ http://www.xkcd.com/] goes directly to the latest comic, however in this case the homepage redirect seems to have not been updated, so [http://www.xkcd.com/ http://www.xkcd.com/] goes to comic 1305, while the most recent is 1306 and it can only be accessed through the link [http://www.xkcd.com/1306/ http://www.xkcd.com/1306/].
The link to the "next" comic in 1035 should move forward to comic 1306, however this only works if comic 1305 is accessed through [http://www.xkcd.com/1305/ http://www.xkcd.com/1305/] and not if it is accessed through [http://www.xkcd.com/ http://www.xkcd.com/].

;{{w|QBASIC}}
: Variables of type string end with the $ symbol. Other symbols are used (% for integers, ! for single-precision, # for double-precision and, in some versions of BASIC, & for long integers), however the usual QBASIC program will use only the $ symbol and not any of the others, as the default type if no symbol is used is double-precision and that's OK for most numeric uses.

; {{w|C++}}
: Variables have no strange symbol. They are just words with regular letters.

; {{w|bash (Unix shell)|bash}}
: This is not strictly a programming language, but a Unix shell. However, the shell command syntax is rich enough to be able to write simple (and sometimes really complex) programs, usually called shell-scripts. In this language, all variables start with the symbol $.

; {{w|Perl}}
: Variables of simple types in Perl start with $, and arrays start with @.

; {{w|Python (programming language)|Python}}
: Variables have no marker symbol.

; {{w|Google}}
: In the beginning of Google, it was a search engine. However, it now includes many things, in particular a social network called Google+.

; {{w|Twitter}}
: Twitter channels are identified by the symbol @.

; {{w|Hashtag}}s
: In some microblogging messages, a # sign can be prepended to important words to mark them as "keywords", so the message can be searched for those words.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
*Y axis: Odds that the words I type will start with some weird symbol
*X axis: Time
*Data labels: $QBASIC, C++, $BASH, @$PERL, PYTHON, +GOOGLE, @TWITTER, #HASHTAGS

Mouseover text: The cycle seems to be 'we need these symbols to clarify what types of things we're referring to!' followed by 'wait, it turns out words already do that.'
{{comic discussion}}

1306: Sigil Cycle

2013-12-20T13:23:58Z

173.245.53.180: Basic skeleton

{{comic
| number = 1306
| date = December 20, 2013
| title = Sigil Cycle
| image = sigil_cycle.png
| titletext = The cycle seems to be 'we need these symbols to clarify what types of things we're referring to!' followed by 'wait, it turns out words already do that.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT}}
"In computer programming, a sigil (/ˈsɪdʒəl/ or /ˈsɪɡəl/; plural sigilia or sigils) is a symbol attached to a variable name, showing the variable's datatype or scope, usually a prefix, as in $foo, where $ is the sigil."[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigil_%28computer_programming%29]

{{incomplete|This is just a skeleton, every detail is missing and probably some parts are inaccurate or plain wrong}}

Usually, the link [http://www.xkcd.com/ http://www.xkcd.com/] goes directly to the latest comic, however in this case the homepage redirect seems to have not been updated, so [http://www.xkcd.com/ http://www.xkcd.com/] goes to comic 1305, while the most recent is 1306 and it can only be accessed through the link [http://www.xkcd.com/1306/ http://www.xkcd.com/1306/].
The link to the "next" comic in 1035 should move forward to comic 1306, however this only works if comic 1305 is accessed through [http://www.xkcd.com/1305/ http://www.xkcd.com/1305/] and not if it is accessed through [http://www.xkcd.com/ http://www.xkcd.com/].

;{{w|QBASIC}}
: Variables of type string end with the $ symbol. Other symbols are used (% for integers, ! for single-precision, # for double-precision and, in some versions of BASIC, & for long integers), however the usual QBASIC program will use only the $ symbol and not any of the others, as the default type if no symbol is used is double-precision and that's OK for most numeric uses.

; {{w|C++}}
: Variables have no strange symbol. They are just words with regular letters.

; {{w|bash (Unix shell)|bash}}
: This is not strictly a programming language, but a Unix shell. However, the shell command syntax is rich enough to be able to write simple (and sometimes really complex) programs, usually called shell-scripts. In this language, all variables start with the symbol $.

; {{w|Perl}}
: Variables of simple types in Perl start with $, and arrays start with @.

; {{w|Python (programming language)|Python}}
: Variables have no marker symbol.

; {{w|Google}}
: In the beginning of Google, it was a search engine. However, it now includes many things, in particular a social network called Google+.

; {{w|Twitter}}
: Twitter channels are identified by the symbol @.

; {{w|Hashtag}}s
: In some microblogging messages, a # sign can be prepended to important words to mark them as "keywords", so the message can be searched for those words.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
*Y axis: Odds that the words I type will start with some weird symbol
*X axis: Time
*Data labels: $QBASIC, C++, $BASH, @$PERL, PYTHON, +GOOGLE, @TWITTER, #HASHTAGS

Mouseover text: The cycle seems to be 'we need these symbols to clarify what types of things we're referring to!' followed by 'wait, it turns out words already do that.'
{{comic discussion}}

1305: Undocumented Feature

2013-12-20T09:07:27Z

173.245.53.180: Trivia: Added links for undocumented features which had it missing

{{comic
| number = 1305
| date = December 18, 2013
| title = Undocumented Feature
| before = [[#Explanation|↓ Skip to explanation ↓]]
| image = undocumented_feature.png
| titletext = And it doesn't pop up a box every time asking you to use your real name. In fact, there's no way to set your name at all. You just have to keep reminding people who you are.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Some layout issues, still too many adds after this tag was removed. Language is an other issue}}
An {{w|undocumented feature}} is a part of a software product that is not explained in the documentation for the product. [[Cueball]] has found such a feature, a chat room intended to ask for help, accessible through the help page of some unnamed old Windows utility. The people who found the chat room started out using it for its intended purpose (helping users of the utility by contacting other users), however as time has passed they have become friends and enter the chat only to talk to each other, with no relation to computer problems.

A {{w|virtual machine}} (or VM) is a computer program designed to emulate the hardware of a full computer. In this case, users of the old chat room create VMs only to have the old operating system installed which included the utility program. They use this setup only to access the old chat room. This is shown in the third panel where [[Cueball]] is using a modern laptop to enter the chatroom (presumably by means of a VM), whereas [[Ponytail]] is still using an old computer (as evidenced by the CRT monitor).

A chat room like this must be hosted on some outside server, so the narrator of the comic wonders who runs this server. An obvious thought about this is if and when the server will be shut down, effectively cutting all communication among chat users. Another obvious thought is why the utility author is still maintaining the chat server, since its original purpose (allowing communication between users with problems with the utility program) is no longer an issue as everybody has migrated to more modern systems. The comic suggests that the reason for doing this can be a bored {{w|System administrator|sysadmin}}, who is just reading the messages of the chat users and following their lives but never writing anything. This would turn the chat room in to a soap opera for the sysadmin.

The {{w|Deep Web}} is a term used to refer to any information which is available online, but is hard to find (usually because there are no links to that information in web pages). The chat room described would be an example of this. From this point on, the comic takes an existentialist turn (a frequent xkcd trait), talking about how life is short, everything has to end, etc.

The last panel is a reference to [http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304403804579263371125671670 Facebook's recent announcement] that it would start autoplaying video ads, and the title text refers to YouTube requiring its users to use their real-life identities instead of just nicknames. These last parts of the comics somehow reveal that the point of the whole comic is just to complain about aggressive money-driven policies used by modern social networks in general and Facebook in particular. It is hinted that [[Randall]] would prefer older technologies, where limited resources would forbid autoplaying videos or huge databases with every detail of every user's life.

It's possible that the comic is about an actual chat room, but more likely it is a complete invention, since if it were real someone would have been able to trace its origin. However if it is real, the participants would not want to confirm this in order to protect their privacy.

The title text mentions the simplicity of this chat; even user names do not exist and other users could only be identified by their behavior because the user names are random and can change on every login.

==Transcript==
:[A support window is shown.]
:An old Windows utility has an undocumented feature. If you open "help" and click on the background, you get dropped into a "support" chat room.
:Support Window: Launching support forum...

:[An active conversation between two people is shown.]
:Only a few of us ever found it. But we became friends.

:[Cueball and Ponytail are at computers.]
:We kept launching the program to check in. Eventually some of us were running VMs just to keep accessing it.

:[Another conversation.]
:As the Internet aged, so did we.

:[Three question marks.]
:We don't know who runs the server. We don't know why it's still working so many years later. Maybe we're some sysadmin's soap opera.

:[A group of people are shown in a bubble.]
:It will probably vanish someday, but for now it's our meeting place. Our hideaway.

:[The bubble is now smaller, and some parts of a web are shown.]
:A life's worth of chat,

:[More of the web is shown.]
:Buried in the deep web.

:[A flat landscape is shown with the sun at the horizon.]
:But even if it lasts forever, ''we'' won't. When we're gone, who will remember us?

:[Cueball and Hairy are shown standing together in a bubble.]
:Who will remember this strange little world and the friendships we built here?

:Nobody.

:[An empty bubble is shown.]
:This place is irrelevant. Ephemeral. One day it will be forgotten.

:[The bubble starts to fade away.]
:And so will we

:[The bubble has almost completely faded away.]

:[The bubble is now completely gone.]

:But at least it doesn't have fucking video ads.

==Trivia==
There are many examples of undocumented features in programs written for old versions of Windows, for example:
* When playing {{w|Solitaire (Windows)|Windows Solitaire}} with the "draw three" option, one can [http://www.eeggs.com/items/42178.html draw single cards] by holding <Ctrl+Alt+Shift> while clicking on the card to draw cards.
* When playing {{w|Microsoft Minesweeper|Windows Minesweeper}} in pre-Windows-95 versions, typing "{{w|xyzzy}}" followed by <Enter> and then <Right-shift>, will [http://www.eeggs.com/items/49964.html turn the top left pixel] of the windows background black or white to indicate if the mouse is over a mine or not.
* The first releases of {{w|Windows 95}} allowed one to see the "credits" for Win95 by creating a folder in the desktop and then [http://www.eeggs.com/items/478.html renaming it several times].
* {{w|Microsoft word|Word}} 97 has an embedded pinball game, accesible by a [http://www.eeggs.com/items/763.html weird sequence of strange actions].
* {{w|Microsoft Excel|Excel}} 97 has also an embedded game of a spaceship floating over a planet, accessible by another [http://www.eeggs.com/items/718.html weird sequence of actions].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Social networking]]
[[Category:YouTube]]

Talk:1305: Undocumented Feature

2013-12-18T15:28:19Z

173.245.53.180:

This sound pretty cool... Anyone know if it's real or which tool it's in? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.222|173.245.55.222]] 05:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* its real, there are 8 other users, but must stay a secret. {{unsigned ip|108.162.231.233}}

* There is no secret chat room, stop looking for it. It doesn't exist. Look for your own island on the interweb, don't come spoil ours. [[User:scr_admin|scr_admin]]

Okay, let's be honest: how many of us, upon seeing today's comic, immediately went here to see if it was real or not? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.4|108.162.245.4]] 07:47, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I honestly did just that. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.137|173.245.53.137]] 08:06, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I also just did that... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.206|108.162.231.206]] 08:07, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I didn't start up my VM to test it, but I came here to see if was real >.< [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.56|108.162.216.56]] 09:47, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I also did that. But I take that, if it is real and someone uncovers it, it may destroy that community... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.123|173.245.53.123]] 10:28, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* Same here. If it is real, I sincerely hope Randall has a) wiresharked it to find out where this chat room resides so he can prod the admin if it ever goes down b) has a backup plan to migrate himself and his friends to some other private chat room. It won't have the same mystery surrounding it, but at least it's something. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.222|108.162.231.222]] 10:51, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

It's not about Youtube, but Facebook, which just launched AUTOPLAYING video ads. Look at the title text, it's about Facebook's real name policy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.232|108.162.231.232]] 08:11, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I wouldn't limit the scope of this commentary just to Facebook; YouTube's been doing autoplaying video ads for years. YouTube's also been asking for real names recently. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.200|108.162.212.200]] 14:26, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

I just searched after reading - and found this site! -- {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.247}}

* The real secret place is here! {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.75}}

* So THIS is the secret chat [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.7|108.162.229.7]] 09:50, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* One day this place will be forgotten and so will we. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.197|108.162.231.197]] 09:52, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

anyone else recognizes the wonderful tcp-ip explanation movie of Ericsson [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hymzoUpM0K0 Dawn of the net] in frames 6 till 10? [User:Tesshavon|Tesshavon]] ([[User talk:Tesshavon|talk]])

* Tesshavon you're in my mind ! Also, the 6th frame is comes from one of the most common Friends posters (see e.g. here : [http://www.infinitydish.com/tvblog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Friends-friends-69087_1024_768.jpg Friends] ) [[User:dandraka|dandraka]]

It's true. Small online communities offer a more folksy experience than the online giants. Some of the best places to hang out are BBS's that made it onto the Internet and have been there for 25+ years. {{unsigned ip|216.150.130.111}}

Well there's always IRC...

I've rewritten all the explanation.
As far as I'm concerned, I'd remove the incomplete box.
I just keep it because it's likely that someone else will feel something is missing.
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.180|173.245.53.180]] 15:27, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1305: Undocumented Feature

2013-12-18T15:27:49Z

173.245.53.180:

This sound pretty cool... Anyone know if it's real or which tool it's in? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.222|173.245.55.222]] 05:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* its real, there are 8 other users, but must stay a secret. {{unsigned ip|108.162.231.233}}

* There is no secret chat room, stop looking for it. It doesn't exist. Look for your own island on the interweb, don't come spoil ours. [[User:scr_admin|scr_admin]]

Okay, let's be honest: how many of us, upon seeing today's comic, immediately went here to see if it was real or not? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.4|108.162.245.4]] 07:47, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I honestly did just that. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.137|173.245.53.137]] 08:06, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I also just did that... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.206|108.162.231.206]] 08:07, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I didn't start up my VM to test it, but I came here to see if was real >.< [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.56|108.162.216.56]] 09:47, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I also did that. But I take that, if it is real and someone uncovers it, it may destroy that community... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.123|173.245.53.123]] 10:28, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* Same here. If it is real, I sincerely hope Randall has a) wiresharked it to find out where this chat room resides so he can prod the admin if it ever goes down b) has a backup plan to migrate himself and his friends to some other private chat room. It won't have the same mystery surrounding it, but at least it's something. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.222|108.162.231.222]] 10:51, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

It's not about Youtube, but Facebook, which just launched AUTOPLAYING video ads. Look at the title text, it's about Facebook's real name policy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.232|108.162.231.232]] 08:11, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* I wouldn't limit the scope of this commentary just to Facebook; YouTube's been doing autoplaying video ads for years. YouTube's also been asking for real names recently. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.200|108.162.212.200]] 14:26, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

I just searched after reading - and found this site! -- {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.247}}

* The real secret place is here! {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.75}}

* So THIS is the secret chat [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.7|108.162.229.7]] 09:50, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

* One day this place will be forgotten and so will we. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.197|108.162.231.197]] 09:52, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

anyone else recognizes the wonderful tcp-ip explanation movie of Ericsson [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hymzoUpM0K0 Dawn of the net] in frames 6 till 10? [User:Tesshavon|Tesshavon]] ([[User talk:Tesshavon|talk]])

* Tesshavon you're in my mind ! Also, the 6th frame is comes from one of the most common Friends posters (see e.g. here : [http://www.infinitydish.com/tvblog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Friends-friends-69087_1024_768.jpg Friends] ) [[User:dandraka|dandraka]]

It's true. Small online communities offer a more folksy experience than the online giants. Some of the best places to hang out are BBS's that made it onto the Internet and have been there for 25+ years. {{unsigned ip|216.150.130.111}}

Well there's always IRC...

I've rewritten all the explanation.
As fas as I'm concerned, I'd remove the incomplete box.
I just keep it because it's likely that someone else will feel something is missing.
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.180|173.245.53.180]] 15:27, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

1305: Undocumented Feature

2013-12-18T15:23:04Z

173.245.53.180: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1305
| date = December 18, 2013
| title = Undocumented Feature
| image = undocumented_feature.png
| titletext = And it doesn't pop up a box every time asking you to use your real name. In fact, there's no way to set your name at all. You just have to keep reminding people who you are.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|I don't think this is incomplete anymore, but I don't dare remove the box}}
An {{w|Undocumented feature}} is a part of a software product
that is not explained in the documentation for the product.
There are many examples of undocumented features in programs
written for old versions of windows, for example:
* When playing {{w|Solitaire (Windows)|Windows Solitaire}} with the "draw three" option, one can draw single cards by holding Ctrl+Alt+Shift while clicking on the card to draw cards.
* When playing {{w|Microsoft Minesweeper|Windows Minesweeper}} in pre-windows-95 versions, typing "xyzzy" followed by <Enter> and then <Right-shift>, will turn the top left pixel of the windows background black or white to indicate if the mouse is over a mine or not.
* The fist releases of {{w|Windows 95}} allowed to see the "credits" for Win95 by creating a folder in the desktop and then renaming it several times.
* {{w|Microsoft word|Word}} 97 has an embedded pinball game, accesible by a weird sequence of strange actions.
* {{w|Microsoft Excel|Excel}} 97 has also an embedded game of a spaceship floating over a planet, accesible by another weird sequence of actions.

Windows XP and later versions have no undocumented features (none that have got widely known afterwards anyway),
allegedly because Microsoft wanted the U.S. government to use Windows XP and they don't use any software with any undocumented features.

In this comic, Cueball has found a chat room, intended to ask for help, accesible through the help page of some unnamed old windows utility.
The people who found the chat room starts using it for its intended purpose (helping users of the utility by contacting other users),
however as time passes they just become friends and enter the chat only to talk to each other, with no relation with computer problems.
After a while, the utility program gets old so that nobody uses it any more,
however people in the chat still have it installed only to be able to chat to each other.

A {{w|Virtual Machine}} (or VM) is a computer program designed to emulate the hardware of a full computer.
With such a program, one configures parameters such as the amount of RAM memory the virtual machine will have,
the hard disk size, etc.
Then, the program creates an environment with those parameters so that one can start to install an {{w|Operating system}} as if it were a real machine.
Some computer users keep different VMs in their computer with different operating systems, so they can run several operating systems at the same time.
In the comic, users of the old chat room create VMs only to have an old operating system installed, with the old utility program
(which can be assumed to go funny or not run at all in more recent versions of windows)
just to be able to access the chat room.

A chat room like this must be hosted in some outside server, so the narrator of the comic wonders who runs this server.
An obvious thought about this is if and when the server will be shut down, effectively cutting all communication among chat users.
Another obvious thought is why the utility author is still maintaining the chat server, since its original purpose
(communicating users with problems with the utitity program) is no more an issue as everybody has migrated to more modern systems.
The comic suggests that the reason for doing this can be a bored {{w|System administrator|sysadmin}},
who is just reading the messages of the chat users and following their lives but never writing anything.
This would turn the chat room as a soap opera for the sysadmin.

The {{w|Deep Web}} is a term used to refer to any information which is available online, but it's hard to find
(usually because there are no links to that information in web pages).
The chat room described would be an example of this.
From this point on, the comic goes all existentialist (a frequent xkcd trait), talking about how life is short, everything has to end, etc.

The last panel refers to the fact that
[http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304403804579263371125671670 Facebook announced it was starting to use autoplaying video ads]
just one day before the comic release, and the title text refers to
[http://www.facebook.com/help/www/112146705538576 Facebook requiring its users to use their real-life identities]
instead of just nicknames.
These last parts of the comics somehow reveal that the point of the whole comic is just to complain about aggresive money-driven policies
used by modern social networks in general and Facebook in particular.
It is hinted that [[Randall]] would prefer older technologies,
when limited resource would forbid autoplaying videos or huge databases with every detail of every user's life.

==Transcript==
:[A support window is shown.]
:An old Windows utility has an undocumented feature. If you open "help" and click on the background, you get dropped into a "support" chat room.
:Support Window: Launching support forum...

:[An active conversation between two people is shown.]
:Only a few of us ever found it. But we became friends.

:[Cueball and Ponytail are at computers.]
:We kept launching the program to check in. Eventually some of us were running VMs just to keep accessing it.

:[Another conversation.]
:As the Internet aged, so did we.

:[Three question marks.]
:We don't know who runs the server. We don't know why it's still working so many years later. Maybe we're some sysadmin's soap opera.

:[A group of people are shown in a bubble.]
:It will probably vanish someday, but for now it's our meeting place. Our hideaway.

:[The bubble is now smaller, and some parts of a web are shown.]
:A life's worth of chat,

:[More of the web is shown.]
:Buried in the deep web.

:[A flat landscape is shown with the sun at the horizon.]
:But even if it lasts forever, ''we'' won't. When we're gone, who will remember us?

:[Cueball and Hairy are shown standing together in a bubble.]
:Who will remember this strange little world and the friendships we built here?

:Nobody.

:[An empty bubble is shown.]
:This place is irrelevant. Ephemeral. One day it will be forgotten.

:[The bubble starts to fade away.]
:And so will we

:[The bubble has almost completely faded away.]

:[The bubble is now completely gone.]

:But at least it doesn't have fucking video ads.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

1305: Undocumented Feature

2013-12-18T14:57:24Z

173.245.53.180: Added explanation of chat server and sysadmin

{{comic
| number = 1305
| date = December 18, 2013
| title = Undocumented Feature
| image = undocumented_feature.png
| titletext = And it doesn't pop up a box every time asking you to use your real name. In fact, there's no way to set your name at all. You just have to keep reminding people who you are.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|explain reference to Deep Web}}
An {{w|Undocumented feature}} is a part of a software product
that is not explained in the documentation for the product.
There are many examples of undocumented features in programs
written for old versions of windows, for example:
* When playing {{w|Solitaire (Windows)|Windows Solitaire}} with the "draw three" option, one can draw single cards by holding Ctrl+Alt+Shift while clicking on the card to draw cards.
* When playing {{w|Microsoft Minesweeper|Windows Minesweeper}} in pre-windows-95 versions, typing "xyzzy" followed by <Enter> and then <Right-shift>, will turn the top left pixel of the windows background black or white to indicate if the mouse is over a mine or not.
* The fist releases of {{w|Windows 95}} allowed to see the "credits" for Win95 by creating a folder in the desktop and then renaming it several times.
* {{w|Microsoft word|Word}} 97 has an embedded pinball game, accesible by a weird sequence of strange actions.
* {{w|Microsoft Excel|Excel}} 97 has also an embedded game of a spaceship floating over a planet, accesible by another weird sequence of actions.

Windows XP and later versions have no undocumented features (none that have got widely known afterwards anyway),
allegedly because Microsoft wanted the U.S. government to use Windows XP and they don't use any software with any undocumented features.

In this comic, Cueball has found a chat room, intended to ask for help, accesible through the help page of some unnamed old windows utility.
The people who found the chat room starts using it for its intended purpose (helping users of the utility by contacting other users),
however as time passes they just become friends and enter the chat only to talk to each other, with no relation with computer problems.
After a while, the utility program gets old so that nobody uses it any more,
however people in the chat still have it installed only to be able to chat to each other.

A {{w|Virtual Machine}} (or VM) is a computer program designed to emulate the hardware of a full computer.
With such a program, one configures parameters such as the amount of RAM memory the virtual machine will have,
the hard disk size, etc.
Then, the program creates an environment with those parameters so that one can start to install an {{w|Operating system}} as if it were a real machine.
Some computer users keep different VMs in their computer with different operating systems, so they can run several operating systems at the same time.
In the comic, users of the old chat room create VMs only to have an old operating system installed, with the old utility program
(which can be assumed to go funny or not run at all in more recent versions of windows)
just to be able to access the chat room.

A chat room like this must be hosted in some outside server, so the narrator of the comic wonders who runs this server.
An obvious thought about this is if and when the server will be shut down, effectively cutting all communication among chat users.
Another obvious thought is why the utility author is still maintaining the chat server, since its original purpose
(communicating users with problems with the utitity program) is no more an issue as everybody has migrated to more modern systems.
The comic suggests that the reason for doing this can be a bored {{w|System administrator|sysadmin}},
who is just reading the messages of the chat users and following their lives but never writing anything.
This would turn the chat room as a soap opera for the sysadmin.

Eventually, the comic comments on how nothing is forever, but eventually subverts this by attacking Facebook's video ads that had been announced the day just before the release of the comic.
Over years he and the other members of the chatroom become friends in their secret hideaway. The chatroom seems to serve no purpose other than perhaps being some sysadmin's source of entertainment.
Cueball/the narrator then develops an existential outlook, contemplating the relatively short life of the chatroom server and also the lives of its small group of users.

The fact that it has no video ads or even names for its users is a feature of the simpler times of the Internet.

The title text expands on this by mentioning the popups on YouTube asking for your channel/user name. YouTube would like you to use your real name. On Facebook you're supposed to use your real name anyway. Based on the final frame, the comic appears also to be a negative commentary on the recent addition of autoplay video ads to Facebook.

==Transcript==
:[A support window is shown.]
:An old Windows utility has an undocumented feature. If you open "help" and click on the background, you get dropped into a "support" chat room.
:Support Window: Launching support forum...

:[An active conversation between two people is shown.]
:Only a few of us ever found it. But we became friends.

:[Cueball and Ponytail are at computers.]
:We kept launching the program to check in. Eventually some of us were running VMs just to keep accessing it.

:[Another conversation.]
:As the Internet aged, so did we.

:[Three question marks.]
:We don't know who runs the server. We don't know why it's still working so many years later. Maybe we're some sysadmin's soap opera.

:[A group of people are shown in a bubble.]
:It will probably vanish someday, but for now it's our meeting place. Our hideaway.

:[The bubble is now smaller, and some parts of a web are shown.]
:A life's worth of chat,

:[More of the web is shown.]
:Buried in the deep web.

:[A flat landscape is shown with the sun at the horizon.]
:But even if it lasts forever, ''we'' won't. When we're gone, who will remember us?

:[Cueball and Hairy are shown standing together in a bubble.]
:Who will remember this strange little world and the friendships we built here?

:Nobody.

:[An empty bubble is shown.]
:This place is irrelevant. Ephemeral. One day it will be forgotten.

:[The bubble starts to fade away.]
:And so will we

:[The bubble has almost completely faded away.]

:[The bubble is now completely gone.]

:But at least it doesn't have fucking video ads.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

1305: Undocumented Feature

2013-12-18T14:46:29Z

173.245.53.180: Added VM explanation

{{comic
| number = 1305
| date = December 18, 2013
| title = Undocumented Feature
| image = undocumented_feature.png
| titletext = And it doesn't pop up a box every time asking you to use your real name. In fact, there's no way to set your name at all. You just have to keep reminding people who you are.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Why a server needs to be running, what is a sysadmin, deep web}}
An {{w|Undocumented feature}} is a part of a software product
that is not explained in the documentation for the product.
There are many examples of undocumented features in programs
written for old versions of windows, for example:
* When playing {{w|Solitaire (Windows)|Windows Solitaire}} with the "draw three" option, one can draw single cards by holding Ctrl+Alt+Shift while clicking on the card to draw cards.
* When playing {{w|Microsoft Minesweeper|Windows Minesweeper}} in pre-windows-95 versions, typing "xyzzy" followed by <Enter> and then <Right-shift>, will turn the top left pixel of the windows background black or white to indicate if the mouse is over a mine or not.
* The fist releases of {{w|Windows 95}} allowed to see the "credits" for Win95 by creating a folder in the desktop and then renaming it several times.
* {{w|Microsoft word|Word}} 97 has an embedded pinball game, accesible by a weird sequence of strange actions.
* {{w|Microsoft Excel|Excel}} 97 has also an embedded game of a spaceship floating over a planet, accesible by another weird sequence of actions.

Windows XP and later versions have no undocumented features (none that have got widely known afterwards anyway),
allegedly because Microsoft wanted the U.S. government to use Windows XP and they don't use any software with any undocumented features.

In this comic, Cueball has found a chat room, intended to ask for help, accesible through the help page of some unnamed old windows utility.
The people who found the chat room starts using it for its intended purpose (helping users of the utility by contacting other users),
however as time passes they just become friends and enter the chat only to talk to each other, with no relation with computer problems.
After a while, the utility program gets old so that nobody uses it any more,
however people in the chat still have it installed only to be able to chat to each other.

A {{w|Virtual Machine}} (or VM) is a computer program designed to emulate the hardware of a full computer.
With such a program, one configures parameters such as the amount of RAM memory the virtual machine will have,
the hard disk size, etc.
Then, the program creates an environment with those parameters so that one can start to install an {{w|Operating system}} as if it were a real machine.
Some computer users keep different VMs in their computer with different operating systems, so they can run several operating systems at the same time.
In the comic, users of the old chat room create VMs only to have an old operating system installed, with the old utility program
(which can be assumed to go funny or not run at all in more recent versions of windows)
just to be able to access the chat room.

Eventually, the comic comments on how nothing is forever, but eventually subverts this by attacking Facebook's video ads that had been announced the day just before the release of the comic.
Over years he and the other members of the chatroom become friends in their secret hideaway. The chatroom seems to serve no purpose other than perhaps being some sysadmin's source of entertainment.
Cueball/the narrator then develops an existential outlook, contemplating the relatively short life of the chatroom server and also the lives of its small group of users.

The fact that it has no video ads or even names for its users is a feature of the simpler times of the Internet.

The title text expands on this by mentioning the popups on YouTube asking for your channel/user name. YouTube would like you to use your real name. On Facebook you're supposed to use your real name anyway. Based on the final frame, the comic appears also to be a negative commentary on the recent addition of autoplay video ads to Facebook.

==Transcript==
:[A support window is shown.]
:An old Windows utility has an undocumented feature. If you open "help" and click on the background, you get dropped into a "support" chat room.
:Support Window: Launching support forum...

:[An active conversation between two people is shown.]
:Only a few of us ever found it. But we became friends.

:[Cueball and Ponytail are at computers.]
:We kept launching the program to check in. Eventually some of us were running VMs just to keep accessing it.

:[Another conversation.]
:As the Internet aged, so did we.

:[Three question marks.]
:We don't know who runs the server. We don't know why it's still working so many years later. Maybe we're some sysadmin's soap opera.

:[A group of people are shown in a bubble.]
:It will probably vanish someday, but for now it's our meeting place. Our hideaway.

:[The bubble is now smaller, and some parts of a web are shown.]
:A life's worth of chat,

:[More of the web is shown.]
:Buried in the deep web.

:[A flat landscape is shown with the sun at the horizon.]
:But even if it lasts forever, ''we'' won't. When we're gone, who will remember us?

:[Cueball and Hairy are shown standing together in a bubble.]
:Who will remember this strange little world and the friendships we built here?

:Nobody.

:[An empty bubble is shown.]
:This place is irrelevant. Ephemeral. One day it will be forgotten.

:[The bubble starts to fade away.]
:And so will we

:[The bubble has almost completely faded away.]

:[The bubble is now completely gone.]

:But at least it doesn't have fucking video ads.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

1305: Undocumented Feature

2013-12-18T14:32:49Z

173.245.53.180: Added links

1305: Undocumented Feature

2013-12-18T14:18:05Z

173.245.53.180: Clarified what is missing

1305: Undocumented Feature

2013-12-18T14:12:30Z

173.245.53.180: Explained what an undocumented feature is.

Talk:886: Craigslist Apartments

2013-12-12T21:13:59Z

173.245.53.180:

The house with a house inside may be a reference to the tesseracted, 4D house from Robert Heinlein's "-And He Built A Crooked House." {{unsigned ip|‎173.225.52.131}}

I would have thought the klein stairs with the intense heat in short bursts may be a reference to a research fusion reactor. 'Net searches seem to suggest there may be connections between plasma behaviour and klein bottle mathematics. {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.5}}

The Minotaur sounds like a reference to Doctor Who The God Complex. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.201|173.245.52.201]] 05:05, 1 December 2013 (UTC)

The closet full of board games which play themselves could be a reference to the movie Jumanji.
Can't remember a tub full of blood from that movie, though, however surely pets won't survive long. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.180|173.245.53.180]] 21:13, 12 December 2013 (UTC)

530: I'm An Idiot

2013-12-10T13:42:43Z

173.245.53.180: Dropped the incomplete tag as seemed copied from 1253: Exoplanet names and has nothing to do whatsoever with this (to me) absolutely complete explanation

{{comic
| number = 530
| date = January 14, 2009
| title = I'm an Idiot
| image = im an idiot.png
| titletext = Sadly, this is a true story. At least I learned about the OS X 'say' command.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]], locked out of his dorm/apartment, is trying to get his roommate's attention so that she'll unlock the door. He tries various ways of contacting her: calling her cell phone, {{w|IRC}}, the window, and remotely logging into their downstairs Mac computer (via {{w|Secure Shell|SSH}}) to make it shout at her. [[Ponytail]] informs him of the most obvious solution—the doorbell—which prompts a moment of realization. The content of this realization—"I'm An Idiot"—is stated in the title of the comic. The humor of the comic derives from the rhythm of the panels: a long buildup followed by a short quip, then a pause for the implied moment of realization.

The humor of this comic also derives from the reader's familiarity with the behavior shown in the comic, since most every person who likes solving problems has experienced a moment of realization similar to Cueball's at one point or another. They, like Cueball, get distracted by solving an interesting problem [[356: Nerd Sniping |''because solving problems is fun'']], and fail to notice that the problem has an easier solution that they haven't noticed. This same issue of getting lost in a sub-problem [in this case, the-sub problem of how to remotely control text-to-speech in OS X] at the expense of overall problem-solving ability is further covered in [[761: DFS]].

The alt-text of the comic mentions that, although missing an obvious solution can be humiliating, one often learns a lot from trying new solutions, which would explain why the behavior persists.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail approaches Cueball, who is sitting on porch steps, laptop in lap and backpack open.]
:Ponytail: Should I ask?
:Cueball: I'm locked out, and I'm trying to get my roommate to let me in.

:[Unplugged cell phone on table.]
:Cueball: First I tried her cell phone, but it's off.

:[Cueball sitting on steps, laptop in lap and gesturing.]
:Cueball: Then I tried IRC, but she's not online.

:[Cueball standing in front of house and looking up at window.]
:Cueball: I couldn't find anything to throw at her window,

:[Living room with couch easy chair and computer set up.]
:Cueball: So I SSH'd into the Mac Mini in the living room and got the speech synth to yell at her for me.
:Computer: Hey I'm locked out downstairs

:[Megan sitting at table with laptop open.]
:Cueball: But I think I left the volume way down, so I'm reading the OS X docs to learn to set the volume via command line.

:[Ponytail facing Cueball, who is still sitting on the porch with his laptop.]
:Ponytail: Ah.
:Ponytail: I take it the doorbell doesn't work?

:[Ponytail remains in place, Cueball tilts head back slightly, as if staring in realization.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Computers]]

Talk:1300: Galilean Moons

2013-12-06T13:39:36Z

173.245.53.180:

Hmmm. The animation just added agrees with another animation I've seen, in that the three innermost moons never line up all on one side of Jupiter at the same time. So if "Hi" (Io) and "What's your name" (Europa) conjoin on the right side as we're looking, then "What's your name" and "MOOOON!" (Ganymede) should conjoin on the left side. Not that I'm being critical of course...

[[User:Just some guy|Just some guy]] ([[User talk:Just some guy|talk]]) 05:39, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

Some javascript application available on the net to see the 4 moons orbits around [http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/javascript/jupiter jupiter]

[[User:HmmmHmmm|HmmmHmmm]] ([[User talk:HmmmHmmm|talk]]) 06:48, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

If the inner moons are tidally locked with Jupiter, can you ostensibly state that they're mooning the outer moons, whenever two such moons line up? lol [[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.209|108.162.222.209]] 08:57, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

Even with the resonance, "MOOOOOON!" appears still not to have been able to escape with that effect alone until Cueball's own close approach to Megan brought his own gravity well close enough to hers to give rise to a viable transfer orbit. And appears to be now retrograde, relative to its last orbit. Or possibly on a free-return path, unless Cueball steps back before the return transfer happens or makes an appropriate sideways move to quash the orbital potential. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.229|141.101.99.229]] 09:34, 6 December 2013 (UTC)
:Hang on... "MOOOOOON!" isn't the "Ugh/So annoying/Almost/Yes!" one. Forgot to note the hint of shading. Still, the above applies to the disgusted/elated moon, clearly not liking either of the Valley Girls ''or'' the loudmouth Jock. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.229|141.101.99.229]] 09:38, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

Is it just me or does "MOOOOOON!" have a subtle [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/moon-moon "MOON MOON"] undertone? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.4|141.101.96.4]] 12:26, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

Am I the only one thinking that the "MOOOOOON!" is a reference to the "SPAAAAACE!" module from portal 2?

Maybe moons converse with Cueball, not between them itself?
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.180|173.245.53.180]] 13:14, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

Or with Megan, when opposite to her face?
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.180|173.245.53.180]] 13:39, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1300: Galilean Moons

2013-12-06T13:14:10Z

173.245.53.180: