explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

989: Cryogenics

2015-01-20T02:16:50Z

173.245.56.154: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 989
| date = December 12, 2011
| title = Cryogenics
| image = cryogenics.png
| titletext = 'Welcome to the future! Nothing's changed.' was the slogan of my astonishingly short-lived tech startup.
}}

{{Incomplete|Title-text needs explanation.}}

==Explanation==
[[Megan]], disappointed with the pace of technology's improvement (and who isn't, we all thought by this point we would have flying cars and the {{w|Hoverboard|flying skateboard}} like in {{w|Back to the Future 2}} or a hyper technological future like in {{w|Blade Runner}}) decides to cryogenically freeze herself as soon as cryogenics are invented. Cryogenic freezing is the ability to freeze oneself, so that one does not age and doesn't experience the passage of time. It is common in fiction as a useful technology for long space flights or other necessary preservation.

However, to Megan's chagrin, when she wakes up, she is told that all the other scientists and engineers that were fascinated about the future have also frozen themselves, so nothing has been invented while she was frozen. Everyone decides to try again, hoping the situation 30 years later will be different. However, if everyone does the same thing again, the situation will repeat itself and nothing will have changed.

Don't freeze yourself, engineers and scientists! We need your help!

In the official transcript, the person greeting Megan is called "someone who isn't Terry," referring to a [http://theinfosphere.org/Terry Futurama character] who does the same thing.

The title text may be suggesting that his idea for a start up was essentially to do stuff that's already been done rather than create something new and innovated

==Transcript==
:[Two people, one of which is staring at a smartphone.]
:Megan: Everyone's carrying sensor-packed, always-connected computers everywhere. That wasn't true ten years ago.
:White Hat: It's all changing too fast, huh?
:Megan: No, too ''slowly''.

:Megan: There's so much potential here. These clumsy, poorly-designed toys are ''nothing'' compared to what lies ahead.

:[Megan climbs into a cryogenic chamber.]
:Megan: That's why I've worked to develop cryogenic freezing. I'm gonna skip forward 30 years and use this stuff when it's ''good''.

:30 years later..
:Someone who isn't Terry: Welcome to the future! Nothing's changed.
:Megan: What? Why??

:[Rows of other people waking up out of their own cryogenic chambers.]
:not Terry: When cryogenic freezing was invented, all the engineers who were excited about the future froze themselves. So there's been no one building anything new.

:not Terry: But they're all waking up now!
:Megan: Sweet! I'm gonna jump forward to see what they do!
:Engineer 1: Me too!
:Engineer 2: Wait, uh, guys?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Time travel]]

Talk:225: Open Source

2014-07-22T21:02:24Z

173.245.56.154:

"Richard Stallman is famous for beginning the GNU Project and is outspoken on the topic of Open Source software and Free software." Specifically, he is an outspoken critic of Open Source, and an outspoken proponent of Free Software. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 02:09, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

:Ah, thank you. That's good to note. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 05:25, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

GPL isn't a recursive abbreviation for ‘GNU Public License’, then it would have to be called ‘GPL Public License’. GNU in itself, on the other hand, ''is'' a recursive abbreviation for 'GNU's Not Unix'. --[[Special:Contributions/188.113.76.15|188.113.76.15]] 15:38, 9 March 2013 (UTC)
:{{done}} (Though I actually noted this myself and fixed it; then noticed your comment :-) ) [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 10:45, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

The pronunciation of GNU is actually "g'new" not "new". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.8|108.162.249.8]] 02:06, 29 December 2013 (UTC)

~ ~ ~ ~ Aren't ninjas supposed to be stealthy and silent? Of course, they could have been made to announce their mission to Richard before (perhaps) killing him, but still... {{unsigned ip|108.162.249.223}}

The comic isn't quite explained here. Did the ninjas kill RMS, or were they just pretend-ninjas trying to scare him? Is the blob in the last panel a blood smear or a hood being carried? {{unsigned ip|173.245.55.61}}
: Read harder, there is RMS's comment on them running away. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.154|173.245.56.154]] 21:02, 22 July 2014 (UTC)

I have a bit of an issue with calling non-free software traditional. RMS is the traditionalist here. He created GNU for that very purpose, to get back to the traditional method of being able to access and modify your source, and then share any fixes you made with the wider community. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.154|173.245.56.154]] 21:02, 22 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:491: Twitter

2014-07-22T20:35:12Z

173.245.56.154:

Just end every sentence in Burma Shave [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]])

Are we sure that Cueball is typing? It seems to me that he is getting a series of texts (or a series of tweets), because of the "Beep Beep" sound: cell phones typically don't beep when typing. --[[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 09:25, 11 July 2014 (UTC)
: I have to agree, add in that the zig-zag is used for external text usually, like the other end of a call. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.154|173.245.56.154]] 20:35, 22 July 2014 (UTC)