explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1608: Hoverboard

2015-12-26T21:56:37Z

173.245.55.65:

Well, this will be the next incomplete explanation for a while. -[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.165|162.158.90.165]] 21:58, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

Yes, one thing to note is how to get the hell out of the cave near the volcano [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.159|108.162.249.159]] 22:38, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

The image is made up of small images with addresses of the form http://xkcd.com/1608/XXXX:-YYYY+s.png (although not every coordinate inside the bounds has an image associated). A script could probably dump out all the images and paste them together. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.6|108.162.216.6]] 22:46, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

West -- Under Lava Pools -- Elon Musk's Secret Volcano Base (not as enjoyable as you might expect).

The Starship out east contains, among other things, Darth Vader, apparently explaining Steven Universe to a subordinate. (Steven and the Crystal Gems can be found a the west end of the ship, near an ice cream cooler.) The same ship contains an elaborate homage to the original Prince of Persia. {{unsigned ip|162.158.56.5}}

There, have at thee an image! [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 22:58, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

There are 168 coins spread throughout the map according to the source code [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 23:03, 24 November 2015 (UTC)
:It's actually 169 coins (t.length). --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.111.129|188.114.111.129]] 23:22, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

When using a device, instead of saying "use arrow keys to move", it says "tilt to move, tap to jump". It's also a lot harder to control. {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.159}}
:What kind of device and is this through the normal xkcd home page? It does not work on my tablet by going to xkcd (anroid, leonov tablet). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:24, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

I got 153 coins!! :D There's two starships, one's a star destroyer with an expansive maze dropping regular torpedoes on the other. May be noteworthy that there are various references to Star Wars and Steven Universe throughout. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.13|108.162.221.13]] 23:27, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

The second starship is the TantiveIV, Leia's ship at the beginning of episode 4. Note directly below the Tantive, the terrain seems to be sand dunes. Also there are two more space ships by the volcano; an X-wing at a gas station and an Apollo Command Module. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.24}}

https://xkcd.com/1608/tigl.js - Looks like there's an easier to read version of the code there. Maybe that'll help someone with extracting all the images. {{unsigned ip|

I've got all the images downloaded. Zipping/uploading now. Should I post a link here when complete or what's the best way to share these? I'm also working on setting up a zoomable map. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 23:57, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

The collision detection is glitchy. I keep landing/bumping against platforms I'm far away from. Is getting stuck against walls normal? --[[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.234|199.27.130.234]] 00:01, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Tiles are located here in a zip: https://up1.ca/#Gi51KPFyPRELe0T1D6q9Mw All I did was iterate over http://xkcd.com/1608/X:-Y+s.png from X=[916...1116] and Y=[916...1116]. I'm working on putting a zoomable map together. If anyone has interest in helping we could hop on IRC? [[User:Jcox|Jcox]] ([[User talk:Jcox|talk]]) 00:15, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

I've written a zsh script to iterate over all possible tiles (does anyone know the height limits? the source only gives the left and right limits) and glue them together into one giant file. I'll upload the results as soon as it's finished. [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 00:17, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

I don't think it's limited vertically at all. I found a zoomable map on the reddit topic http://codepen.io/KyleDavidE/full/605dc87b614ff6b2bd716f4c6f640203/ (by kyledavide) [[User:Miraries|Miraries]] ([[User talk:Miraries|talk]]) 00:21, 25 November 2015 (UTC)Mirages

Here's a zoomed out map of all the game area: https://i.imgur.com/rNU9ZgN.png. From ''luke_in_the_sky'' at Reddit [https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/3u4sy1/xkcd_1608_hoverboard/cxc1245]. --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.111.129|188.114.111.129]] 00:35, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Alright, the full png of the entire map is almost finished, I should have used white tiles as blank tiles but I guess I can fix that up in gimp, and I'm not sure how to account for the 1 pixel overlap with just imagemagick convert. The last step is to merge allthe layer images into one giant image, wish my laptop the best of luck! [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 01:00, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Someone beat you to it, but keep on it: that one doesn't have right limit tiles. https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/3u4sy1/xkcd_1608_hoverboard/cxc0p8x --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.111.129|188.114.111.129]] 01:19, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Perhaps we can change the screenshot at the top to this? It's a quickly hacked overview of the entire map: http://imgur.com/Mz9arHz [[Special:Contributions/199.27.129.167|199.27.129.167]] 01:27, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
: I think it might make more sense to just add it as another image, mediawiki supports this after all. The syntax should be: <nowiki>[[File:filename.png|thumb|Subtitle|alt=alt]]</nowiki> [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 01:34, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

[http://files.mckaysalisbury.com/xkcd/hoverboard.html] This one loads all of the images quickly (From the xkcd site), and uses browser zooming. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.47|173.245.54.47]] 01:29, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

:The impassible backgrounds are RGB(0,0,0), and the passable ones are RGB(1,1,1). <code>#explore > :first-child {filter:brightness(30);-webkit-filter:brightness(30);-moz-filter:brightness(30);-o-filter:brightness(30);-ms-filter:brightness(30);}</code> ... See https://twitter.com/BadPhysics/status/669354631869304832 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.155|108.162.249.155]] 03:40, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Here are all the secret passages marked I could find: http://imgur.com/a/fKE1Q --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.220|162.158.91.220]] 00:50, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

I wrote a tampermonkey script that shows you your coordinates and lets you teleport; will make coordinate sharing a lot easier. You do need tampermonkey installed for this to work. [https://github.com/minerguy31/xkcd-hoverboard-mod/raw/master/XKCD%20Hoverboard%20Mod.user.js Click to install] [[User:Minerguy31|Minerguy31]] ([[User talk:Minerguy31|talk]]) 04:17, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

I got 159 coins without the map. If you guys are still wondering how to escape the volcano, move to the right for as long as you think you can, then start spamming the up key while switching between holding the left and right keys. It worked for me on my first try.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.119|162.158.252.119]] 07:06, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Didn't take down the coordinates, but the layout to the first level of the original Prince of Persia is in there, including the guard standing by with his scimitar! I found it in the ship atop the pyramid east of the play area. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.245|108.162.218.245]] 06:24, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Just thought this was interesting, when you "complete" the game by dropping coins, the following line of javascript is run, which sends your result to the server (L is number of coins, z is seconds used):
(new Image).src = "//xkcd.com/events.gif?coins=" + L + "&seconds=" + z;
Don't be tricked by the .gif extension, it doesn't show an image when opened, and the server probably handles this request by logging it to somewhere. {{unsigned ip|141.101.80.87}}
:It actually returns a 1 by 1 pixel white GIF. [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 13:14, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Is there a way that we can merge the "game" part of this comic with the map of [[1110: Click and Drag]]? Allowing us to explore that one in a similar way? [[User:Bon|Bon]] ([[User talk:Bon|talk]]) 11:03, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Well I managed to find (nearly) everything, except the floating rock island, and 162 coins without the map, but even with looking at several maps, I didn't pass any graveyard nor found the way to the grey ocean, which I assume is underneath the "continent". Does anyone know where the entrance is? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.218|162.158.90.218]] 11:54, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
:Search for any missing things in the complete [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript]], and you shall find what you seek. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:40, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Just thought I should say; the comic supports some alternative movement controls, there's the arrow keys, WASD, and also the vi keys (hjkl), and the numpad (8426). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.125|108.162.242.125]] 13:29, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

I was not able to get to some points because they were surrounded by text, people or other objects. Is that normal, or are there tricks to get to every coin without using cheats (console)? It would be nice if this could be mention / explained in the article. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.135.35|162.158.135.35]] 13:31, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
:In some cases you can come in from the side as opposed to trying to come down through or up through something. Example: at the X-Wing "gas station", to get that coin, land on the ground to the left of the X-Wing and move to the right on the ground towards the gas station. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:45, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
::No text is solid! You can use the full [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript]] to find out how to get to every coin and place (or the great map linked at the top). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:40, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

The list of "areas" in the map would be much easier to read, and much easier to correlate with the map, if the origin were set to the starting area (that is, if the coordinates of the starting area were set to x:0, y:0). What is the reason for the very large numbers? --[[User:BlueMoonlet|BlueMoonlet]] ([[User talk:BlueMoonlet|talk]]) 15:50, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
: The large numbers are the actual ones used by the game code and displayed by the hacked-up "radar" so it was a natural choice to use them as they are. We could define some origin and count coordinates from it but we would have to agree on its position and then change the "radar" code and recalculate all coordinates written down already. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.224|162.158.90.224]] 08:53, 27 November 2015 (UTC)
::Coordinates is not very helpful to most people. It should more be in relation to the objects you pass. Either you just look at one of the maps (and then past the pyramid or in the volcano makes sense) or else you actually try the real experience, and again after the ocean comes a pyramid makes more sense than coordinates. Have moved this section to a trivia section. The table should be build differently. That is still work to be done. All things are at the moment mentioned in the complete [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript]]. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:40, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

The starting area is in no way related to pac-man. The lines are not all right angles, there is a timer, there's gravity, there are no aggressors, you're collecting coins instead of pellets.... Not every line maze is pac-man. This is an erroneous reference that should be removed. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.167|198.41.235.167]] 17:16, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

The source code found at https://xkcd.com/1608/tigl.js does not seem to be complete. I would personally work on de-obfuscating the full source code using the fragment found there but technically the source is covered by implicit copyright laws and that means that if I published a derived work I would be breaking those laws. Should I just change the line from "The source code can be found at ..." to "The full (obfuscated) source code can be found at ...tigl.min.js and a deobfuscated piece of the source code can be found at ...tigl.js". [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 18:28, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

I added quick coordinate / teleport access on right-click to the quick hack map. [[User:Kyledavide|Kyledavide]] ([[User talk:Kyledavide|talk]]) 20:45, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Can't be bothered working out how to edit the page, but the explanation contains the phrase "People holding anchor lines to a Star Destroyer" - they're holding anchor lines to a CR90 Corvette, specifically the Tantive IV, commonly referred to as the "Rebel Blockade Runner", which in turn is being *attacked by* a Star Destroyer. I'll get my coat. {{unsigned ip|162.158.153.47}}

That's no 'Children's Swimming Pool', it's a ball pit! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.222|162.158.2.222]] 23:46, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
:If it is, it's filled with water as well. There are waves on the surface and fish live in it. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.224|162.158.90.224]] 09:00, 27 November 2015 (UTC)

I slightly improved the "direction to next coin"-code by displaying a compas. Code can be found here http://pastebin.com/PL6fv5XK . I'm new to this wiki and don't want to mess up the page, so I didn't put the code in there myself ... --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.209|162.158.90.209]] 00:01, 26 November 2015 (UTC)

Haven't read all the comments above so maybe someone has written about it?
If you click up it seems to count how many times. So it will just show white and then when you release again, it will take longer to hit the ground the longer you have pushed up. Tried with 100 clicks (9-10 seconds) and 200 clicks (20 seconds).
I got about 163 coins in about 15886 seconds. (4 hours and 24 minutes.) That was with breaks. It was written so shortly on the screen I did not manage to take it down for certain. But after that I read here about the 169 and found that there where at least three in the volcano I had not noticed at first. And it seems likely that there would be three more I have missed. But really fun to explore. I wrote a lot of the transcript along the way (not from the very start though) This I have now posted without any real order in the [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript]] page. Hope fully a full and useful transcript can emerge from this. I hope my text can be used if not used as it is written at the moment.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 02:05, 26 November 2015 (UTC)
:Now a complete transcript... Took me about three weeks to get enough time to do that--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:42, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

I thought Atreyu's horse was Artax, not Artex. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.32|198.41.238.32]] 05:27, 26 November 2015 (UTC)

The beret guy riding a torpedo (/explosive device of some sort) looks like a Dr. Strangeloe tribute to me. {{unsigned ip|162.158.255.39}}

Just added in the 'collision detection' section the text "On a slow connection, it's possible to move into an 'open' area and then the black image loads in and (probably permanently, without tricks) traps you immobile." To expand upon this, if this is a risk to anyone else (I'm reliant on mobile internet, being away from any comparable landline capability) then you need to look out for perfectly horizontal/vertical edges. For example, hovering up the side of the Washington monument and encountering (typically above the 'bricks' line) a completely flat top. Drifting onto that soon gets you embedded in the remaining Monument, somewhere well below the eventual tip. Alternately, drifting sideways over the landscape and discovering a perfectly vertical cliff downwards (just past the bowling pins is a prime location) tempts you to drift down it and then suddenly the solid land 'happens' around you, forcing a page-refresh and restart (though doubtless there's also various console tricks that could be used). The well, also 'opens out', but it's a lie. I've ended up trapped 'in white' below the now closed black blocks that surround the well bottom (and not found any way back up). But if there a 'texture' (like other cliffs) or 'slope' (like the real Monument edge) to the surface, you're probably Ok. It's a genuine surface or wall that you can generally navigate around without fear of being misled. (Or so is my experience.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.227|162.158.152.227]] 09:12, 26 November 2015 (UTC)

Doesn't show anything but a blank page on the first generation iPad. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.184.11|162.158.184.11]] 10:41, 26 November 2015 (UTC)

I agree with [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]]. I have changed the text referring to the source code, since it does not refer to the full sourde code, but just an obfuscated part.--[[User:Gamevang|Gamevang]] ([[User talk:Gamevang|talk]]) 14:36, 26 November 2015 (UTC)

I can't pass through text, anybody else experiencing this? I remember being able to pass through text without no clip mode earlier, but for some reason not anymore.--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.36|173.245.54.36]] 18:16, 26 November 2015 (UTC)
:I found that I can't pass through ANYTHING non-white when using current version of Chrome on an iPad iOS 9.1. Makes the "game" much harder to play. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.63.144|173.245.63.144]] 04:23, 29 November 2015 (UTC)

----

We definitely need a better presentation of interesting objects/locations and their coordinates. Now, we have quite comprehensive multi-level bullet list and a newly-started table. Neither is perfect. We need some form that will show clearly what is where and where it belongs.

Issues to solve:
* Many objects are large and a single coordinates pair simply don't describe them well. We need a clear presentation form that will allow putting both a single pair and several ones, e.g. top and bottom for thin vertical objects (e.g. poles, The Monument), four corners for objects occupying large swaths etc.
* Grouping - we need to group objects that belong to an area, like all things within the Star Destroyer etc. Multilevel bullets are ok, but how to do that in a table?
* Order - within groups and between them, we need some ordering that will organize the entries. For example left-to-right then top-to-bottom or something like that.
* Coordinates system - the "native" game coordinates are large numbers, and negative values for the y coordinate to boot. Someone proposed setting a new origin and counting from there. I think it's a good idea, but will require a firm decision, rewrite of radar code and recalculating of all coordinates written down so far.

Any ideas?
-- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.224|162.158.90.224]] 09:24, 27 November 2015 (UTC)
:If it weren't for so much effort put in already, I think that we ''could'' re-class features as follows:
:* All coin locations, and/or links to the locations they are associated with (e.g. "in original game area" and "carried by a quadcopter drone"), if that's not considered 'unfair' to those wanting to actually play the game (without the self-discipline not to browse the list ;).
:* Locations of all characters, certainly all stick-figures, but maybe also 'wildlife' (or automata) of notable types.
:* All monologues/dialogues/labels (albeit that this is almost entirely a subset of the prior list).
:* Other notable landscape (or structural) features that are more than mere 'flavour' (e.g. the T-shaped mushrooms/whatevers to the east, but not random ground-boulders).
:* Notable move-through spots; inclusive of 'sink-into'able waters/magmas (waist-height, neck-height, fully-submerged?), even when not featuring further hidden routes, but excluding vegetation (ground-grasses/tree-trunks) that ''mostly'' are pass-throughable.
: Some of these are themselves useful references to other items (e.g. "inside front of Blockade Runner" or "beneath eastern stretch of magma") and so can probably be sub-grouped as all items in a given structure ("coins within the initial play area", "characters/speech within the Star Destroyer") and some things do occupy a swathe (the 'play area', the Monument, the ships, the kites, with their strings; the hail of (regular) torpedoes). And I bet there's a whole lot of arguments about what level of detail we could go to... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.227|162.158.152.227]] 10:21, 27 November 2015 (UTC)
When you deposit 42 coins, the response, "No answers here" is a reference to "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."[[User:Hax|Hax]] ([[User talk:Hax|talk]])
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.149|162.158.252.149]] 03:33, 29 November 2015 (UTC)
::The full and complete [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript]] that I have made uses some of the ideas, and groups the stage into sections. Not saying these should be used as is. But all in the image has been described and text transcribed in there. So it would be easy to cut and paste something from them. I have used jump height and fall time as well as time elapsed when moving and the height of the hoverboard Cueball to measure distances/dimensions. I would suggest making pictures from the maps of larger rooms or items. And then zoom in on interesting features. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:50, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Where can I get the uncompressed (original) source code? The reason I am asking is, ''/tigl.js'' is incomplete (no Easter Eggs, etc.), and ''/tigl.min.js'' seems complete, but is unreadable due to "minification" (compression).

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.149|162.158.252.149]] 03:33, 29 November 2015 (UTC)

It's a great comic, but does anyone know what it has to do the with his new book? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.161|198.41.235.161]] 03:50, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

I've created desktop C++/SDL2 based version of 1608, maybe someone will find it useful: https://github.com/AMDmi3/hoverboard-sdl [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.212|162.158.90.212]] 17:57, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

I'm not sure what the coordinates are, so I'm reluctant to add it to the page proper, but I'm pretty sure Beret Guy riding the bomb near the Tantive IV is a nod to Dr. Strangelove [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.185|108.162.218.185]] 19:17, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

When I try to play the game on my machine (IE10, Win7), I have whole sections that are just straight lined black boxes, almost like a puzzle with pieces missing. The easiest one to find is by going to the left, the quadcopters are hovering over nothing. Is this a java issue, an IE issue, a Windows issue, or just a "shut up and reboot" issue?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.44|108.162.216.44]] 19:19, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

You use IE? Suicide! The Department of Homeland Security considers IE as a threat. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.36|173.245.54.36]] 22:39, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

Also: If you are using IE, no matter what the problem is, it will '''always''' be an IE issue.
* Stove fire? -- IE issue
* Alien obduction? -- IE issue

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.187|162.158.90.187]] 12:47, 4 December 2015 (UTC)

Might be useful for exploration of the map: I have made a page that embeds hoverboard with a panel allowing you do perform various cheats and tricks. :) http://php.9kv.cu.cc/hoverboard/ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.37|108.162.216.37]] 21:42, 1 December 2015 (UTC)

Me Again: Here's a stitched-together image of the map (taken from reddit) with the areas that you can walk through that are normally black highlighted in red: https://www.dropbox.com/s/pnstn4oam15lvgf/hoverboard-collision-map.png?raw=1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.37|108.162.216.37]] 22:34, 1 December 2015 (UTC)

The full transcript of the entire comic is now complete [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript]].--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:03, 15 December 2015 (UTC)
:And I just tried it out to finally get all 169 coins and explorer the entire drawing the true way without cheating, in just 1½ hours: [[1608:_Hoverboard/Screen-shots#All_169_coins]].

Talk:961: Eternal Flame

2015-12-19T16:23:44Z

173.245.55.65:

Ugh, I hate it when people attribute everything the the technology to Steve Jobs. Apple spends pebbles on R&D, polishes up the work of other countries and they get labelled as inventors and heroes. Incredibly frustrating for the rest of us in the technology industry. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:35, 9 March 2013 (UTC)
:I don't think Apple would polish up the work of other '''countries'''. [[User:InAndOutLand|InAndOutLand]] ([[User talk:InAndOutLand|talk]]) 01:51, 31 July 2014 (UTC)

:The way I see it, Apple's innovation is in their UI. The iPod wasn't the first portable digital music player, and the iPhone wasn't the first smartphone, but they ''were'' the first in their respective classes to have an intuitive interface that could easily be understood by someone with no technology background. Marketing is everything in the tech industry, and a product will fail if it can't ''convince'' the market that it's the better choice, even if it's absolutely better from a technical standpoint. [[User:Curtmack|Curtmack]] ([[User talk:Curtmack|talk]]) 18:36, 11 March 2013 (UTC)

:First of all, nothing in this comic attributes "everything in the technology industry" to Steve. Secondly, Apple spends more on R&D than most other companies – it's one of the reasons the markup is so high on Apple's products. Thirdly, if those "other companies" were just as good at design and execution as Apple, as you seem to believe, there would be nothing stopping them from achieving the same success as Apple. So what stopped Dell from releasing the iPhone and upsetting the mobile industry? What stopped HP from developing an online music store and totally upsetting the music industry? Either you're going to have to argue that everyone except Apple is just incredibly, incredibly unlucky, or you have to admit that there is something that Apple does that those companies don't. What that differentiating thing may be is open for debate, sure, but to say that everything they do is just a polish of some other company's work is simply ignorant. [[Special:Contributions/71.201.53.130|71.201.53.130]] 17:48, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

::Apple got lucky early on, and managed to get a fanbase, which they have basically brainwashed into thinking that Apple Products are automatically better than anything else. Secondly, I assume that it was not the comic itseld Davidy22 was referring to, but rather the explanation, which has since been changed. [[Special:Contributions/74.214.147.188|74.214.147.188]] 23:40, 24 October 2013 (UTC)

::: Brainwashed? The Apple II and the Macintosh were not the first in their ideas, but they were revolutionary computers. {{unsigned ip|112.209.87.11}}

:"pebbles on R&D"? I wish I had pebbles... Apple spends BILLIONS of US dollars every year on R&D ($3.3B in 2012, $4.4B in 2013). Check their Form-K filings with the SEC if you don't believe me. Some other tech companies spend more, but they also have a much larger product line than Apple's so that is to be expected.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.100|108.162.216.100]] 14:30, 18 September 2014 (UTC)

This actually looks more like the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Flame Centennial Flame] at the Canadian parliament building. It has the same paneling style at the base, unlike the JFK eternal flame, which, judging by pictures, has a round, flat base. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.65|173.245.55.65]] 16:23, 19 December 2015 (UTC)

675: Revolutionary

2015-12-01T07:42:15Z

173.245.55.65: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 675
| date = December 14, 2009
| title = Revolutionary
| image = revolutionary.png
| titletext = I mean, what's more likely -- that I have uncovered fundamental flaws in this field that no one in it has ever thought about, or that I need to read a little more? Hint: it's the one that involves less work.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic contrasts brilliant revolutionary scientific thought with the simplistic arrogance of assuming one understands the current scientific theory enough to correct it. The character with the goatee has a degree in {{w|philosophy}}, and perhaps has certain ideas of his own about how the world should fundamentally be described by physics. He has studied Einstein's {{w|theory of special relativity}} for less than an hour and thinks he has found a flaw. When confronted about this, he considers the objection as based in {{w|dogma}}, and remains so confident that he wants to email the "president of physics". His ignorance of the field is emphasized by thinking that the entire field of physics has a president - although certain important organizations such as the {{w|American Physical Society}} do have presidents.

[[Cueball]] concedes that it is possible for such a revolutionary idea to come from a relative outsider. One example is {{w|Albert Einstein}}'s own formulation of {{w|special relativity}}, which came while he was working at a patent office in Switzerland, although he did already have a Ph.D in physics. A {{w|thought experiment}} considers some hypothesis, theory, or principle for the purpose of thinking through its consequences.

The "racecar on a train" idea alludes to thought experiments involving {{w|Frame_of_reference#Simple_example|frames of reference}}, which are important in relativity. If the philosopher had studied more, he would know that this idea is accounted for by the fact that, when a system is moving at nearly the speed of light, any motion within the system that could otherwise cause faster-than-light travel results in the flow of time changing so as to avoid this issue.

The title text compares two possible scenarios:
*That decades of work by numerous physicists is fundamentally incorrect, and I found the flaw immediately
*That I need to read a little more

[[Randall]] hints that believing you have found fundamental flaws in a theory is much easier than doing more research on it. This is possibly a statement about using Occam's Razor in arguments, which says the simpler answer is the more likely one, which is commonly brought up in Philosophy. Usually, when someone with little understanding of the subject thinks that they have found a flaw, it takes only a little bit more reading to discover that the flaw is in fact completely explained already.

As an example, lets say a high school student happens to do sqrt(5-6). His calculator tells him 'Error', and he thinks he has uncovered a function which has no answer. In fact, with a little more reading, he would discover that mathematicians have a whole area devoted to this type of mathematics, namely {{w|Imaginary numbers|imaginary numbers}}.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: Yes, science is an open process in which a good idea can come from anybody.

:Cueball: Yes, widely-believed theories are ''on occasion'' overturned by simple thought experiments.

:Cueball: And yes, your philosophy degree equips you to ask interesting questions sometimes.

:[Cueball is talking to a philosopher with a goatee, who is sitting at a computer.]
:Cueball: But you did not just overturn special relativity, a subject you learned about an hour ago, with your "racecar on a train" idea.
:Philosopher: You just don't like that I'm turning a rational eye to your dogma. Hey, what's the email for the president of physics?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Physics]]

24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey

2014-06-15T13:44:53Z

173.245.55.65: /* Transcript */ small fix

{{comic
| number = 24
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey
| image = godel_escher_kurthalsey.jpg
| titletext = I love the idea here, though of course it's not a great-quality drawing or scan.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|the bubbles, expanding text, shreds & ending are not yet explained.}}
Before starting xkcd, [[Randall]] worked on robotics at {{w|NASA}}'s Langley Center. This drawing was apparently made during that period, while attending a talk that he didn't like.

The name of the comic is a portmanteau-like play on the following:
* {{w|Gödel, Escher, Bach}} is a book about "strange loops", self-reference, and recurring patterns, partially shown through the works of the three people in its title:
** {{w|Kurt Gödel}} was a 20th-century mathematician most famous for proving that in our commonly used axiomatic systems, there are true propositions that cannot be proved from the axioms. His proof used a self-referential paradox.
** {{w|M. C. Escher}} was a 20th-century artist most famous for mathematically-inspired engravings of tessellated animals, impossible scenes, distorted images that contained themselves, and so on.
** {{w|Johann Sebastian Bach}} was a German composer and musician from the Baroque Period, famous for numerous works such as the Brandenburg Concerto.

* [http://www.kurthalsey.com Kurt Halsey] is a comic artist from Oregon. His work often contains introspective philosophical musings.

In the first part of the comic, two people discuss the difficulty of comparing past and present generations, since the person making the comparison invariably belongs to one of the two groups.

It's unclear whether the hatted guy is [[Black Hat]], because Randall hadn't standardized his character designs yet. The sarcastic comment suggests that it is.

The assembly of text panels found in the middle of the strip is similar to his [[124: Blogofractal]].

==Interpretations==
''While I feel this article can't be improved with rational arguments, I believe a standalone section with different hypothesis is a great way to tackle the problem. If the goal here is not to go into subjective interpretations of the comic, then I think its better tagged as closed, because you obviously can't go any further by ignoring the symbols. (You may want to edit meta-comments out, but I wanted to make my point first). Please add to or adapt my interpretation to whatever suits you or the community here. It would be very nice if we could have a subjective section for people to explain what they interpreted out of the strips.''

* The bubbles may illustrate ideas, memories or subjects that one could wonder about. In the context of the boring talk, this would mean that Randall is lost in thoughts and gradually looses focus of things going on around him. He sees the talk as mundane, as a part of so many other "subject bubbles".
** Even the comic vertical lines (and therefor the strip's structure) seems to loose their sense to Randall as they collapses and become part of the scene, eventually merging three panels into one. They later reappear for the last six panels.
* The big bubble pushing the small ones further outside may demonstrate how shallow the surface bubbles are to him or represent an infinite (or very large) amount of small bubbles.
* The quote stating "There's too much. And so little feels important." tell us that he feels overwhelmed by the world; maybe by information given in the NASA talk or by events in his life. He recognizes what is important to him, and feels it is small compared to the size of the worries of the world (or the big bubble). He may have experienced a sort of existential crisis before turning to his feeling of love in the last panels, when asking himself "What do you do?".

==Transcript==
:Drawn during an unending NASA lecture.
:[Two people are talking, one in a hat.]
:Cueball: it's just so hard to compare kids now with kids in the past. you can't help but to belong to one group or the other.

:Cueball: and of course every generation seems awful to the one before it. look at quotes from throughout history.

:Hatted: yeah, and it sure would be nice to have some historical perspective on some of this stuff. I just don't know what to make of it.
:[Circles are appearing--maybe snow?]

:Cueball: i guess you do what you can to help the people around you and hope it turns out okay.

:Cueball: in the end, what else can you do?

:Hatted: lead a crusade?

:[We can no longer see the people, just the circles.]
:it's presentism, man. the idea that historical context is irrelevant, that we understand it

:all that we need take no warnings from the follies of the past. that we're facing something new.

:socrates couldn't imagine the internet. but people don't change.
:[We can start to see the corner of a darker circle in the lower right.]

:(The borders between the three panels on this line are cracking.)
:have you seen those collections of historical pornography? talk about historical context.

:did you know the first porn photo was bestial in.
:[inside a circle:] nature?

:at least that stuff was out of the mainstream
:[each word in one circle:]
:no
:just
:in
:history

:(the three panels have merged into one on each row.)

:i don't know about you, but
:[circled] I
:[uncircled] never

:even once seen

:[The circles are highly variable in size now, and pressed up against a larger one on the right side.]

:[There is mass of circles of different sizes, with some dark fissures in between, against the side of a large circle which we can see part of in the right half of the panel. They look like cells. There's a tiny square in the center of the giant cell.]

:[We see only the tiny square, centered. It has a few marks inside it.]

:[Closer, the square is divided into rectangles of different sizes, each of which has text in it.]

:[Much closer, we can see fragments of the text. Some are sideways, some are cut off, some are too small to read.]
:machine language translated by principles of isomorphism it is a consequence of the Church-Turing thesis that ...
:but how do you select the channel you wish to se-
:thou ... shou ... palin ... stri ... it is a ... crab ...

:[Closer still, we can just see a huge sideways s and h.]

:[Those letters are faded and mixed with a faded version of the next panel.]

:girls take boys away ...
:never be further than a phone call and a goosebumped shiver away ...
:drove all night listening to mix tapes ...
:the past is just practice
:[There is a heart at the bottom and, in the lower left, the name Kurt.]

:[The same as the previous panel, but with the words blurred out to scribbles.]

:[Jagged, shaded shapes and strands start to fall. Faint panel borders appear again. There is a person on the far right.]

:(Back to three panels per row.)
:[Cueball and Megan are standing amid the fragments.]

:Man: There's too much. And so little feels important.

:[The jagged edge of the shaded area is encroaching on the sides of the panel.]

:What do you do?

:[We see them from farther away through a rough hole in the shaded area. Bits continue to fall around them.]

:[They are holding hands.]

==Trivia==
*This is the sixth comic originally posted on livejournal. The previous was [[1: Barrel - Part 1]]. The next was [[13: Canyon]]. View archive [http://liveweb.archive.org/web/20070927001941/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=40 here].
*[Original title]: "Strip series"
*[Original [[Randall]] quote]: "One of a series of strips I drew during a long and boring NASA lecture. It careens wildly from intellectual to chaotic to Godel, Escher, Bach to Kurt Halsey to chaotic and sappy." This might suggest that the image on LiveJournal was only part of this strip. Unfortunately, the image link on LiveJournal is broken.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

819: Five-Minute Comics: Part 1

2014-06-08T15:44:43Z

173.245.55.65: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 819
| date = November 15, 2010
| title = Five-Minute Comics: Part 1
| image = five minute comics part 1.png
| titletext = The wolves thin the RAID arrays, removing the slowest and weakest disks to keep the average seek speed high.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the first of three "five-minute comics" posts Randall made during November 2010.

*In astronomy, an "approach" is when two bodies come abnormally close to one another, but not close enough to crash. {{w|Jupiter}}, as most probably know, is the fifth planet in our solar system. Its approach to Earth in September 2010 was the closest seen in many years - in fact, the next time it will come that close will be in 2022. In the comic, this is indicated by Jupiter hovering right above Earth and talking to the characters.
:Of course, Jupiter is not only planet-sized, but is ''enormous'' compared to Earth; in fact, Earth would fit quite comfortably into the {{w|Atmosphere of Jupiter#Great Red Spot|red spot}} of Jupiter.
:Gravitational slingshots are used by deep-space probes to gain speed by approaching a planet and then leaving that planet; the gravity fields of the sun and the planet changes the trajectory of the probe, and the end result is an extremely fuel-efficient way of gaining speed during space travel. Jupiter is commonly used for this purpose because it's the most massive planet in our solar system.

*The comic in the middle left features the lyrics to the Johnny Cash song {{w|A Boy Named Sue}}, but with "Sue" replaced with "Trig." Inexplicably, [http://wiki.name.com/en/Trig Trig] is a name that people actually give their children. The most notable example in the US - and probably the inspiration for Randall drawing this comic - is Trig Palin, the son of Alaskan politician Sarah Palin. Trig is also a widely-accepted abbreviation for the mathematical field of {{w|trigonometry}}, and it sounds similar to "twig," so one can imagine how a person with such a name might be ridiculed.

*A child getting trapped in a well is an alien experience to some parts of the Western world, but it's quite a serious problem in places where wells are commonplace. Here, though, rather than attempt to rescue the little girl, Cueball instead tries to grant her wish of owning a pony before her imminent demise; a pony is a stereotypical thing for a little girl to want. Of course, since ponies don't fit into wells too easily, he has to stuff it in, which appears to be quite painful for the pony.

*The server room of a large datacenter is an unusual place to return "back to nature", to say the least. {{w|Reintroduction}} refers to the process of taking a population of animals raised in captivity and bringing them back to the wild; this is a delicate process, as being raised in captivity affects the natural development of skills the animal needs to survive. In fact, Wikipedia has a page specifically about the challenges of {{w|wolf reintroduction}}.
:Needless to say, reintroducing wolves to a server room is neither a good idea nor OSHA-approved.
:The title-text refers to the wolves thinning the RAID array. A {{w|RAID|RAID array}} is a way of spreading data redundantly across multiple hard drives, such that 100% of the data is still recoverable if some number of drives go down. This number can be set arbitrarily, as long as you have at least one more disk than the number you want, but it reduces your total storage space accordingly. The seek speed of a drive is how fast it can find a specific point of data on its platter; thus, the wolves are essentially killing the slowest drives, implementing a kind of natural selection to "evolve" the drives to be faster.

*Directly below the previous comic, Cueball is telling a "yo mama" joke. Such jokes are usually told in jest, and aren't really targeted at a particular person's mother; however, in this case, Cueball ''was'' attempting to make an honest observation about the listener's mother, and when he discovers his mistake, he realizes that she is, in fact, quite a nice person.

*{{w|Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart}} wrote an opera called ''{{w|The Magic Flute}}'', though the comic seems to attribute it to {{w|Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach}}. {{w|Richard Wagner}} wrote a series of operas called {{w|Der Ring des Nibelungen}}, or, more commonly, the ring cycle. Here, Randall interprets the ring cycle as some kind of motorcycle, while the teleporting magic flute comes from video games: in both ''The Legend of Zelda'' and ''Super Mario Bros. 3'', the player can obtain a magic flute item that has teleportation powers. In the Magic Tree House series, the magic flute is an actual magical flute that does magic when played, although it does not teleport people.
:The caption implies that even Randall is not sure what meaning this comic has.
:However, as he has made a mash up of Mozart, Bach and Wagner - this must be intentionally - so ''he'' does not attribute the Magic Flute to Bach!

*This comic shows how people rate the "hotness" of girls. Glamour magazines have desensitized many people to photo-edited models with large amounts of make-up, so the model gets a "meh" reaction. The girl in biology class, by contrast, is not only "real" by comparison, but is actually a viable choice for dating, so she is given a 2 star rating. If the same girl from bio class is wearing your shirt, that usually means you've had sex the night before, and she spent the night at your apartment, hence the need to get dressed in one of your shirts; this possibility earns the highest rating, 4 stars.
:Here it starts taking a turn for the worse. If wearing one of ''your'' shirts means she spent the night with ''you'', logically, wearing one of your ''mom's'' shirts means she spent the night with ''your mom''. This earns a "Wat!" reaction.
:Finally, human skin is not generally designed to detach from its owner. If the girl from your bio class is wearing your mom's skin like a suit, it means she probably murdered your mom and skinned her. Both of these actions are considerably illegal, and quite likely indicate a serious mental instability. To this, Cueball can only scream.

==Transcript==
Because of a family illness, instead of regular comics, this week I'll be sharing some strips that I drew as part of a game I played with friends. Each comic had to be written and drawn in five minutes. -- Randall

====Comic #1====
:[Cueball and Megan stand facing each other.]
:Cueball: Jupiter will make its closest approach to Earth in decades.

:[Cueball points behind Megan, and she turns around.]
:Cueball: In fact, here it comes now!

:[Jupiter, about the size of the characters' heads, hovers into the frame at about head-height.]
:Jupiter: Hey, guys.

:[Jupiter continues to hover through the frame as the characters watch it go.]
:Jupiter: Anyone need a gravitational slingshot?
:Megan: No, I'm good.
:Jupiter: Aight.

====Comic #2====
:[Cueball sits on a box, playing a guitar.]
:Cueball: ...Now I don't blame him 'cause he ran and hid,
:Cueball: but the meanest thing that he ever did
:Cueball: was before he left, he went and named me "Trig."

====Comic #3====
:[Cueball looks down a well.]
:Cueball: Oh God, a little girl is trapped down this well!

:[Cueball runs off screen.]

:[Cueball returns, leading a pony.]
:Cueball: It's okay, we got you that pony you always wanted!

:[Cueball tries to cram the pony down the well with the aid of a large stick.]
:Cueball: Get... in... there...
:Cueball: Ugh!

====Comic #4====
:[Cueball and Megan stand in a server room. ]
:Cueball: I like to get back to nature by coming out here to the server room.
:Cueball: The warmth, the whirr of the drives, the drone of the fans, the howl of the wolves...
:Megan: Wolves?
:Cueball: Yeah, we started a reintroduction program.
:Wolf: Awoooooo

====Comic #5====
:[Cueball stands by himself in the frame.]
:Cueball: Yo momma's so masculine that she... oh, wait, that's your dad.
:Cueball: Is your mom the lady over by the door? Aww, she looks nice!

====Comic #6====
:[Cueball runs toward another man who is wearing a powdered wig, holding a gun in one hand, and a flute in the other. Behind him, someone is chasing him on a motorcycle.]
:Cueball: Bach, activate the magic flute and teleport us home! Wagner's right behind me on his Ring Cycle!

:Why did I ''draw'' this?

====Comic #7====
:Hotness Ratings:
:[A close up of a girl with wavy hair.]
:Incredibly made-up girl on magazine cover.
:[Inset of Cueball: "Meh."]

:[An average girl.]
:Girl in your bio class.
:[Inset of Cueball: "Two stars."]

:[Girl with mussed hair in over-sized men's shirt.]
:Girl in your bio class wearing one of your shirts.
:Girl: Want some breakfast?
:[Cueball: "Four stars."]

:[Girl with another sort of shirt speaking to an older lady.]
:Girl in your bio class wearing one of your mom's shirts.
:Girl: Thanks for the great night.
:[Cueball: "Wat!"]

:[Creepy-looking girl.]
:Girl in your bio class wearing your mom's skin like a suit.
:Girl: Give Mommy a hug!
:[Cueball, screaming: "AAAAAAAA"]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Your Mom]]
[[Category:Five-minute comics]]

1378: Turbine

2014-06-06T16:46:48Z

173.245.55.65: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1378
| date = June 6, 2014
| title = Turbine
| image = turbine.png
| titletext = Ok, plan B: Fly a kite into the blades, with a rock in a sling dangling below it, and create the world's largest trebuchet.
}}

==Explanation==

In this comic, Megan is speaking to a {{w|wind turbine}} (which has the unrealistic ability to respond to her).

A wind turbine is a mechnanical device that generates power via kinetic energy produced from the turning of its blades by the wind, and converts it into electricity. A wind turbine is visually very similar to a {{w|mechanical fan|fan}}, whose fan blades spin via electrical (or other) power in order to move air (i.e. create wind) to provide a cooling effect. In this way, a fan is essentially the opposite of a wind turbine.

The punchline of this comic is a {{w|pun}} which plays on a second meaning of the word "fan" as a colloquial short form for "fanatic" - someone who is a fanatic about something (e.g. a football team, a band, etc.).

Megan suggests that the wind turbine blow air at her so that she can use a kite to lift off the ground. When Megan asks what the turbine thinks of the idea, the turbine's response is both literal (it is a turbine, not a fan and therefore can't blow air) and colloquial (saying "I'm not a fan" of an idea that one does not like or support the idea).

The title text contains an alternative suggestion to build a makeshift {{w|trebuchet}}. A trebuchet is a type of catapult. The [http://youtu.be/MTWsmZta6AE setup described] would not resemble the widely known counterweight trebuchet, as the energy rotating the arm and flinging the rock would not be from a raised counterweight. It would rather be more similar to a traction trebuchet.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is talking to a giant wind turbine.]
:Megan: I'll hold up a big kite, and you blow air at me until I lift off!
:Megan: What do you think of that idea?
:Wind turbine: I'm not a huge fan.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Trebuchet]]

Talk:1354: Heartbleed Explanation

2014-04-17T23:48:43Z

173.245.55.65: Respond to Black Hat Guy comment.

I assume everybody got the (truncated) reference to the password "CorrectHorseBatteryStaple"... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.210|141.101.89.210]] 06:51, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:Until I read this wiki, I did not get that. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.50|108.162.216.50]] 10:09, 11 April 2014 (UTC)BK201
:There are also references to (if I recall correctly): [[Missed Connections]], "snakes but not too long" from [[Umwelt]], there's boats (of which many comics exist), "bees in car why" may be slightly related to [[Parody Week: TFD and Natalie Dee]]... that's all I see. Also the ip (375.381.283.17) doesn't seem to represent anything, but you never know. {{User:Grep/signature|11:04, 11 April 2014}}
::The IP most certainly does not represent anything because it is invalid. Three of the octets are >255. [[User:Dan|Dan]] 21:19, 14 April 2014 (UTC)
:::It does not refer to anything as an IP address. It can still represent something that is not a real IP address - fake IP addresses with four random non-octet numbers are far from unheard of in Hollywood products (e.g, Iron Man 3: 936.345.643.21) [[User:Amadan|Amadan]] ([[User talk:Amadan|talk]]) 03:45, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

While the bug is explained very good, there is one point missing: The word "user" seems to imply that Meg is known to server. But the bug doesn't require that - ANYONE can ask the server. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:03, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
: Nope, the word "user" does not indicate a logged in user. It's just a reference to anybody who happens to "use" (actually: connect to) the server at the moment. In fact, it is a particular network connection (TCP or else), on which other end there is a "user" Meg. -- [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.111|108.162.210.111]] 12:07, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

The transcript should include all the text in the servers memory, not just the highlighted text. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:04, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:Nope, it can only do 64k per request. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.91|108.162.216.91]] 16:04, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
::I meant that the transcript here above the talk page should include all text. When I wrote my comment, only the highlighted text in the computers thoghts where transcripted. Now that I visit the page again, it seems to be complete. The text in the servers last speech is only half the 500 charachters long (251) but that is explained by OnePointEight in the comment below. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:20, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:The speech bubble is formatted as truncated, but if it were complete it would be 500 characters which is what was requested by Megan and within the 64k max.[[User:OnePointEight|OnePointEight]] ([[User talk:OnePointEight|talk]]) 19:39, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

Heartbleed Explanation Explanation. Lovely. Also, I see that Eve is an administrator. Eavesdropper? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.218|108.162.237.218]] 15:24, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:Also the attacker is Meg, which can be thought of as an alternate to Mallory/Trudy [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.65|108.162.221.65]] 16:45, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
::This is absurd. Meg is a common nickname for Margaret. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.84|173.245.50.84]] 20:38, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:::As my main language is not English I'm not familiar with nicknames, but if Meg is a common nickname for Margaret then that is important and should be included in the explanation of the title text. I did not understand why Margaret suddenly turned up... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:28, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
::::The explanation of the title text has presumably been expanded since you visited it. It's a reference to a book. --[[User:V2Blast|V2Blast]] ([[User talk:V2Blast|talk]]) 03:34, 12 April 2014 (UTC)

"Snakes but not too long"... great! --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.241|108.162.210.241]] 15:49, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

It looks like the "server key" is a phone number: 1-483-503-8534 {{unsigned ip|199.27.130.228}}
:I was thinking the same thing. 483 is not a valid area code however. {{unsigned ip|173.245.48.60}}

The User Ada is a reference to Ingress, in which Ada is the head of the blue team. Ingress, being an ARG, would be an IRL game.{{unsigned ip|108.162.219.10}}

Why has everyone here missed the reference to Portal 2? It almost seems so obvious :). [[User:YetAnotherGeek|YetAnotherGeek]] ([[User talk:YetAnotherGeek|talk]]) 09:23, 12 April 2014 (UTC)

Are we sure that the hacker in the comic is Megan? She has long, curly hair as opposed to short straight hair. Considering she has long hair and has malicious intent, she might be Danish. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.71}}
:The server refers to her as "Meg", and if she were spoofing the source address, the packets wouldn't go back to her. That would be an amplification DoS attack. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.4|108.162.246.4]] 22:42, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

Has anybody figured out what the selfie.jpg contents reaaly are? It isn't a valid JPG because the magic numbers don't match, and it isn't ASCII text because multiple bytes have the most significant bit set. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.45|108.162.215.45]] 07:52, 13 April 2014 (UTC)
:I put 834ba962e2ceb9ff89bd3bff8c into a file and [https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/809c727dee625e37c3487f6d57d42e295e2fdd74a8c1f89ce7e667d8ae3e2fcc/analysis/1397428742/#additional-info sent it to VirusTotal]. The magic literal seems to match "DBase 3 data file with memo(s)", so I'd say that it's just random data. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.4|108.162.246.4]] 22:51, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

Has anyone figured out if the words "potato", "bird", and "hat" are supposed to mean something in particular? --[[User:Dfeuer|Dfeuer]] ([[User talk:Dfeuer|talk]]) 07:43, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

I don't know about "potato" and "bird", but "hat" could possibly be a reference to Black Hat Guy, who often creates havoc to prove a point. Also, completely separately from Black Hat Guy, in security discussions, attackers are broken up between black hat ("bad") and white hat ("good") hackers. So "hat" could be a sort of generic reference for a hacker. {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.116}}
:Black Hat Guy is not completely separate. He wears a black hat because he is a black hat hacker. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.65|173.245.55.65]] 23:48, 17 April 2014 (UTC) TooMuchBlue

I think that "potato" and "bird" are a reference to portal 2, (possibly) how the computer cores constantly malfunction. [[User:mailmindlin|mailmindlin]]