explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1037: Umwelt

2013-10-08T23:46:24Z

71.166.47.84: Additional reference?

Normally I understand xkcd. But this one hurts my head. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:35, 15 August 2012 (UTC)
: I sorted all of them out. Phew!!! That was some work. The ones at the end have no appropriate picture in the image part. Atleast the hurricane one should be added. Please do so. [[User:TheOriginalSoni|TheOriginalSoni]] ([[User talk:TheOriginalSoni|talk]]) 11:09, 8 September 2012 (UTC)
:: I live in one of Umwelt's "hurricane areas", and that's the one I see. How do we add it? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 06:06, 30 January 2013 (UTC)

There is a fixed image used if your browser does not support javascript, which is missing. Additionally, the alt text varies at times. [[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 20:16, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

I can't see any of them neither in Firefox nor in IE :( --[[User:Kronf|Kronf]] ([[User talk:Kronf|talk]]) 11:32, 13 October 2012 (UTC)

This has got to be one of my favourite xkcd's! That amount of ingenuity in one edition! [[User:D3KN0W|Dean]] ([[User talk:D3KN0W|talk]]) 22:33, 01 January 2013 (UTC)

There is now also a category page for Jurassic Park, but I'm not sure how to work that into the explanation. [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 09:04, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

I can't resist noting that Chrome is sadly mistaken in thinking that its puzzle piece links up to a corner piece - it would have to be an edge piece to do that. Firefox would never have that kind of issue... [[User:Natf|Natf]] ([[User talk:Natf|talk]])
: Supposedly, if there were a puzzle with inner corners, such as one with a plus cut out of it, this could link up as shown. ... I wanna make a puzzle like that now. [[Special:Contributions/99.44.200.140|99.44.200.140]] 08:00, 1 June 2013 (UTC)

It would be difficult to compile, but I think this page would benefit from having the conditions along with the image (for instance, "Displays when running Netscape:") [[Special:Contributions/24.41.66.114|24.41.66.114]] 03:27, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Hey, um, I think there is an Animaniacs reference. Namely, the question about hot dogs resembles Yakko's question to the Wally Llama except it dealt with packages of eight and packages of ten. (I forget which is which)

Talk:689: FIRST Design

2013-09-29T15:00:42Z

71.166.47.84: Created page with "Should I mention there is an Umbrella Corporation? ~~~~"

Should I mention there is an Umbrella Corporation? [[Special:Contributions/71.166.47.84|71.166.47.84]] 15:00, 29 September 2013 (UTC)

238: Pet Peeve 114

2013-09-20T21:25:14Z

71.166.47.84: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number =238
| date =March 21, 2007
| title =Pet Peeve 114
| image =pet_peeve_114.png
| titletext =I'm reading a goddamn book, thank you very much.
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|pet peeve}} is a minor annoyance that an individual identifies as particularly annoying to them, to a greater degree than others may find it. [[Cueball]] counts his pet peeves, this is number 114.

Cueball's friend calls him and on finding out that he is reading a book on a "Saturday Night". Saturday night or on weekends in general people are supposed to be time for enjoying or partying with friends after five weekdays of work. But Cueball is annoyed by the fact that people are stuck with the stereotype of partying out on weekends. In his view, reading a good book is also great way of enjoying the weekend. His annoyance is expressed in the title text.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball reading a book in a chair.]
:Pet peeve #114:
:Voice on the phone: Really? What are you doing reading? It's ''Saturday night!''

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

138: Pointers

2013-09-19T20:02:11Z

71.166.47.84: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 138
| date = August 7, 2006
| title = Pointers
| image = pointers.png
| titletext = Every computer, at the unreachable memory address 0x-1, stores a secret. I found it, and it is that all humans ar—SEGMENTATION FAULT.
}}

== Explanation ==
This comic is about a play on the dual meaning of the word “pointer”. [[Cueball]] is playing a computer game in the comic, but he seems to be stuck. So he asks [[Black Hat]] for a few tips (“pointers”) to get unstuck again. Black Hat wants to be annoying, so he spits out a couple of (seemingly random) 32-bit hexadecimal addresses, which are “{{w|Pointer (computer programming)|pointers}}” in a programming language. These pointers are used to access a certain location in the computer's memory in order to fulfill a task. Cueball is then annoyed at [[Black Hat]] for not answering his question.

A {{w|segmentation fault}}, as referred to in the title text, is a result by accessing invalid memory addresses. If you define a pointer to an invalid address, then try to access the memory location associated with it, you could end up with this exception. The hexadecimal address 0x-1 is one of those invalid access pointers, because it should contain more accurate numbers for a valid 32-bit hexadecimal address.

The ending letters of the pointers are spelling, reading top to bottom, the word ACE. As Cueball is playing a game Black Hat could be additionally saying he's an ace of that game.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is playing a video game, with Black Hat standing behind him.]
:Cueball: Man, I suck at this game. Can you give me a few pointers?
:Black Hat: 0x3A28213A 0x6339392C, 0x7363682E.
:Cueball: I hate you.

==Trivia==
*The "pointers" given are interesting in that all the bytes are printable ASCII characters. In this case (and assuming network byte order), "''':(!:'''", "'''c99,'''", and "'''sch.'''". It is also interesting that the values that are followed by punctuation each end in that punctuation.

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]