https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=65.60.96.36explain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-07-09T21:13:45ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1163:_Debugger&diff=259351163: Debugger2013-01-21T21:31:04Z<p>65.60.96.36: typo fix: "if" --> "is"</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1163<br />
| date = January 21, 2013<br />
| title = Debugger<br />
| image = debugger.png<br />
| titletext = It can take a site a while to figure out that there's a problem with their 'report a bug' form.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] mentions to [[Megan]] that he can't understand how his mind works, the same mind he uses to understand how things work, and he's not sure if this is a problem. In other words, if he can't understand how his mind works, then how can he tell that it does in fact work and that his perception of reality is accurate. Ordinarily he would use his mind to figure it out, but if his mind really doesn't work, then he'll probably never determine that his mind doesn't work. Understandably, he's a little unsure of how he should feel about this.<br />
<br />
The title text alludes to the problem that if a website's "report a bug" page is buggy or broken to such a degree that it prevents the actual reporting of a bug, specifically that the "report a bug" page is buggy, then it can take time before the website's administrators realises, if they do at all, as unless they test it themselves, the site's administration are relying on users to use the page to report the problem. Which the users can't. This is somewhat analagous to the "brain" dilemma in the main comic, in that they ponder problems occuring in the the normal method of determining that there is a problem.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Cueball: I don't understand how my brain works.<br />
:Cueball: But my brain is what I rely on to understand how things work.<br />
:Megan: Is that a problem?<br />
:Cueball: I'm not sure how to tell.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]<br />
[[Category:Philosophy]]</div>65.60.96.36https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=128:_dPain_over_dt&diff=22555128: dPain over dt2012-12-12T15:46:11Z<p>65.60.96.36: live --> life</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 128<br />
| date = July 14, 2006<br />
| title = dPain over dt<br />
| image = dPain_over_dt.png<br />
| imagesize = <br />
| titletext = You laugh to keep from crying, you do math to keep from crying...<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
Another one of the math-love relationship comics, a mathematical depiction of pain as a derivative of time is shown. It is hoped that dPain/dt, or the change in rate of pain (in this case, shrinking), decreases quickly so that the pain will vanish quickly. <br />
<br />
If k1 was positive or if k2 was a large value, the value of dPain/dt would approach zero. Ideally, k1 would be "How much she's in my life"/Pain (which, if we assume both these values are positive, would mean the ideal k1 would be positive), while k2 would ideally be extremely large. Either of these scenarios approach what would be a situation where the value of dPain/dt is close to zero.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:dPain/dt = (-k_1 Pain + [Image of girl]) (1/(1 + e ^ -(t-k_2)/d))<br />
:k_1=?<br />
:k_2=?<br />
:[Image of girl]=How much she's still in my life<br />
:Please let d only be a few days... or weeks<br />
:I guess there's some kind of a cutoff after years, where it stops mattering and we can be friends. Do I _want_ that?<br />
:Is k_1 positive? Is k_2 large?<br />
:Will I ever stop feeling like this?<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}} <br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]</div>65.60.96.36