explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

405: Journal 3

2013-04-01T22:26:53Z

71.225.89.44: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 405
| date = April 2, 2008
| title = Journal 3
| image = journal_3.png
| titletext = Oh, and, uh, if the Russian government asks, that submarine was always there.
| imagesize =
}}

==Explanation==
In Journal 1, [[Black Hat]] explains to [[Cueball]] that a hobby of his is to pretend to write in a journal while on the subway, acting embarrassed if anyone sees. He then proceeds to silently scorn the person once they give him any kind of reassurance.

In Journal 2, however, the brunette (we'll call her [[Danish]]) sees through his ruse. She counteracts it by proving that she understands him, and attempts to resign him to the fact that he will never see her again, thus robbing him of the satisfaction of a proper social connection. She leaves, taking his hat in the process. Initially stunned, he has at last regained his hat, the trademark of his personality and attitude, leaving him with the upper hand.

The whole "[[:Category:Journal|Journal]]" story arc:
* [[374: Journal]]
* [[377: Journal 2]]
* [[405: Journal 3]]
* [[432: Journal 4]]
* [[433: Journal 5]]

==Transcript==
:[Two women ice-skating outside]
:Ponytail: Wait up!
:Danish (wearing Black Hat's Hat): Skate faster!

:[Danish sees cracking ice]
:<<Crack>> <<Crack>>

:[Danish on chunk of ice broken off]
:<<Crack>> <<Rumble>>

:[Submarine dorsal fin emerging]
:<<AWOOGA>>

:[Black Hat (minus hat) coming out of hatch]
:<<CREAK>>
:Black Hat: Hi.

:Black Hat: That's my hat you're wearing.

:Danish (wearing Black Hat's Hat): So, you found me after all.
:Black Hat (out of frame): You didn't make it easy.

:Black Hat: You saw through me, all right. But not quite well enough.

:Black Hat: Because if you wanted to stay lost forever, you made one mistake

:[Black Hat climbing out of hatch]

:[Black Hat sliding down a sheet of ice]

:[Black Hat snatches hat from Danish's head as he slides by on the ice]

:[Black Hat skidding to a stop and putting hat back on his head]

:Black Hat: You took my hat.

:Black Hat: I LIKE my hat.

:[Black Hat walking away]

:[Danish left standing]

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Journal|03]]

1043: Ablogalypse

2013-03-31T15:51:24Z

71.225.89.44: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1043
| date = April 16, 2012
| title = Ablogalypse
| image = ablogalypse.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Plus the reaction in the Tumblverse is always 'repeatedly get hit by a dog and fall down the stairs'.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic plays with the [http://www.google.com/trends/?q=blog,tumblr,wordpress,livejournal google trends for the terms blog, tumblr, wordpress and livejournal].

Ok, let's see: blog, you know what that is because <s>you are currently reading one</s> (explainxkcd until recently was one). Tumblr is a more of a "micro-blogging" site, which has taken off due to the prevalence of animated gifs and funny photos. Wordpress is a type of blog software. Livejournal is a sort of personal blog site that as you can see hasn't been really popular at all since 2004-2005.

As you can see in the caption and then the image text, there is no way that newscasters will reference the "Tumblrverse" because all the reactions will be filled with animated gifs of a person in [http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/thank-you-toronto-raptor%27s-mascot a raptor suit falling over] or [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/yes-this-is-dog a dog answering a phone].

It has [http://www.google.com/trends/?q=blog,+tumblr&ctab=0&geo=all&date=ytd&sort=0 already happened], as of August 18, 2012

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

810

2013-02-10T21:36:57Z

71.225.89.44: Grammar.

{{comic
| number = 810
| date =
| title = Constructive
| image = Constructive.png
| titletext = And what about all the people who won't be able to join the community because they're terrible at making helpful and constructive co-- ... oh.
}}

==Explanation==

For every online community to thrive and for constructive discussions to be had, it needs to have a certain number of friendly, polite and helpful people. Spammers are opposite of that; they are people or organisations trying to sell certain products, with no regards to the rules of community or any discussions being made. In fact, some of them use automated scripts to simulate human beings, allowing them to quickly post identical "advertising posts" in multiple threads under multiple names, flooding the forums and stifling real discussions. Therefore, it is vital to prevent them from posting non-sequitur posts with links towards their websites and to prevent bots from registering.

Captcha is one of the methods used to prevent lots of automated registering of fake usernames used by bots and spammers. It consists of asking a person to prove that they are human before registering them as user and allowing them to post on sites or forum topics. That is done by using pictures of words and letters that humans can easily recognize, but bots and OCR software have trouble with.

Now, artificial intelligence (AI) of bots has advanced so far, that the man has invented a new system. It asks of the users to rate a slate of comments as constructive (the best sort of comments!) or not, then asks them to reply with comments of their own. The woman asks what will happen when spammers find a way around his system, such as making bots that make constructive and helpful comments? Well, it turns out that is what he is trying to accomplish in first place, a thriving community helping its members with constructive and helpful comments.

Title text investigates the consequences of such system further, by thinking of people unable to give constructive and helpful comments... which are sort of people you don't want in your online community anyway.

==Transcript==
:[A man is talking to a woman]
:Man: Spammers are breaking traditional captchas with AI, so I've built a new system. It asks users to rate a slate of comments as "Constructive" or "Not constructive".
:[Close up of man]
:Man: Then it has them reply with comments of their own, which are later rated by other users.
:[Woman standing next to man again]
:Woman: But what will you do when spammers train their bots to make automated constructive and helpful comments?
:[Close up of man again]
:Man: Mission Fucking Accomplished.

:{Title text: And what about all the people who won't be able to join the community because they're terrible at making helpful and constructive co-- ... oh.}

{{comic discussion}}