explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3150: Ping

2025-10-03T20:33:14Z

Agf:

Should we include links to the other impractical internet protocol comics? (like the one where he has to rebuild civilization for every ping, or the one where they're using neutrinos to send messages?)[[Special:Contributions/2602:FF4D:128:D56:B3E5:923E:8846:D13|2602:FF4D:128:D56:B3E5:923E:8846:D13]] 17:24, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
:Or create a category for networking protocols? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:27, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
::I second that. [[User:Agf|Agf]] ([[User talk:Agf|talk]]) 19:15, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
::Here are those that I've found that would match this category ("weird communication mediums" - the neutrinos router doesn't fit the "impractical internet protocols"): [[3017]], [[1789]] (unsure), [[454]], [[190]], [[1142]] (unsure), [[2949]], [[269]], [[1254]] (Edit: all those without (unsure) have been added.) [[User:Agf|Agf]] ([[User talk:Agf|talk]]) 20:04, 3 October 2025 (UTC)

Little did the shipwrecked sailor know, but the headers were forged and he was duped into participating in the slowest forged-ping-based DDOS ever. [[Special:Contributions/2603:8081:9700:11:0:0:0:2|2603:8081:9700:11:0:0:0:2]] 17:32, 3 October 2025 (UTC)

Minor variation of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_over_Avian_Carriers#Real-life_implementation 1990-04-01 RFC1149 classic]. --[[Special:Contributions/2001:A62:598:F01:500E:58A5:4DF9:A701|2001:A62:598:F01:500E:58A5:4DF9:A701]] 17:44, 3 October 2025 (UTC)

269: TCMP

2025-10-03T20:26:44Z

Agf:

{{comic
| number = 269
| date = May 28, 2007
| title = TCMP
| image = tcmp.png
| titletext = A big obstacle in experimenting with the mind's dream-simulation-engine is holding onto the details as you wake up. With TCMP you can bring back any information you want.
}}

==Explanation==

[[Cueball]] trained himself to type while asleep, so he could communicate from inside his dreams. He calls this ''Trans-Consciousness Messaging Protocol'', or '''TCMP'''. He succeeds in using this system to send a message from inside his dream, but his friends, [[Megan]] and another Cueball, are disappointed when that first message is a {{w|troll (Internet)|trollish}} "F1rst p0st!!", in this case, "trans-reality trolling", instead of something constructive.

Firstposting, or [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=thread%20sniping thread sniping], is the practice of posting short messages to brag to others that you found and saw this content first. This practice was far more common at the time this comic was written, when high-traffic and poorly-moderated social media sites tended to display comments in increasing chronological order by default; as such, the oldest comments would be most prominently displayed at the top, while the newest comments would be buried at the bottom. These days, while low-traffic and closely-monitored forums still use this approach, social media sites instead tend to sort comments by rating, so that the most appreciated comments are given the most prominence and trollish comments like the cliche "F1rst p0st!!" are buried. See also [[1019: First Post]] and [[1258: First]] and regarding trolling [[493: Actuarial]].

"Bell & Watson" refers to {{w|Alexander Graham Bell}} and his assistant {{w|Thomas A. Watson}}. Bell is traditionally credited with inventing the {{w|telephone}}, because he was awarded the patent for it, although {{w|Elisha Gray and Alexander Bell telephone controversy|that is still controversial}}. His first phone call was to Watson in another part of their lab.

The forest Cueball is in may be a reference to the {{w|Narnia (world)|Wood Between the Worlds}} in ''{{w|The Magician's Nephew}}'', the penultimate installment (though chronologically the first) of ''{{w|The Chronicles of Narnia}}'' by {{w|C.S. Lewis}}.

The name "TCMP" is likely to be a portmanteau of TCP ({{w|Transmission Control Protocol}}) and ICMP ({{w|Internet Control Message Protocol}}), which are actual protocols used in computer networking.

The title text explains how this protocol, if real, would be of great value in dream research, since you then would not have to worry about forgetting the dreams after waking up like as in [[430: Every Damn Morning]]. You can relay the dreams as you experience them.

A possible downside is that in order for this to work, the dream has to be {{w|Lucid dream|lucid}}, where the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming. This type of dream is very fascinating to [[Randall]], as mentioned in the title text of [[203: Hallucinations]]. Because this method could not be used to study regular dreams, some possibilities for studying dreams would be limited.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands with a keyboard next to a bed. The keyboard is connected with a wire to a computer on a desk to the right. He talks to Megan and a Cueball-like friend.]
:Cueball: Hey, help me test the Trans-Consciousness Messaging Protocol.
:Friend: What's that?
:Cueball: I've been training myself to keep my fingers moving slightly as I fall asleep. So I can type from inside dreams.

:[In a frameless panel, Cueball sits with the keyboard on the bed.]
:Cueball: I'm going to sleep now. My computer will relay my messages to you as I explore the dream world.

:[Cueball stands with the keyboard in a forest with tall trees. The leaves are not visible; they are above the top of the drawing. At the top, there is a frame with text:]
:In the dream:
:Cueball (thinking): So strange to think none of this is real.
:Cueball (thinking): And yet I have this lifeline to the internet back home.

:[Cueball places the keyboard on a stone, bends down, and types.]
:Cueball (thinking): A chance to speak from one reality to another.
:Cueball (thinking): I feel like Bell & Watson. I get to write the inaugural TCMP message.
:Cueball (thinking): Let's see...
:Keyboard: *Type type type*

:[Megan is at the computer, and the Cueball-like friend behind her looks at his message from the dream. At the top, there is a frame with text:]
:Outside:
:Megan: "F1RST P0ST!!"?
:Friend: Great. He's jumped straight to trans-reality trolling.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Dreams]]
[[Category:Uncoventional Communcation Mediums]]

2949: Network Configuration

2025-10-03T20:26:28Z

Agf:

{{comic
| number = 2949
| date = June 21, 2024
| title = Network Configuration
| image = network_configuration_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = If you repeatedly rerun the development of technological civilization, it turns out that for some reason the only constant is that there is always a networking utility called 'netcat', though it does a different thing in each one.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Cueball]] takes an uncommon networking bug - needing to establish a fresh connection for each {{w|Network_packet|packet}} sent - to the extreme. Instead of merely redoing the appropriate handshakes for data transfer, he is reconstructing the entire {{w|Human_history|history of human civilization}} each time. As this originally took multiple millennia, doing it for every network packet would make communication ''extremely'' slow; in modern networking, we send and receive thousands of packets every second.

Randall may be using a double meaning of the word "rebuild." Instead of just rebuilding his network settings - starting fresh with a clean setup - he is rebuilding civilization itself from scratch, an extreme type of "first principles thinking."

In the last frame of the comic, Cueball looks shaggy and dirty and has a {{w|Hoe_(tool)|grub hoe}} behind him, making it clear he is performing these tasks ''in real life'' just to get his network working again. He says the network packet was stuck in the {{w|Neolithic}} era, the final period of the Stone Age that marked the transition from hunter-gatherer lifestyle to one of settlement. Apparently, Cueball had to go through the effort of inventing farming (one of the developments of the {{w|Neolithic Revolution}}) to keep communicating with [[Ponytail]]. He has also had to build himself a new wooden chair (and possibly desk), and hasn't yet got to the point of developing a notebook computer, so is using an under-desk tower PC connected to a chunky monitor. Presumably his previous equipment and furniture were lost in resetting to the Neolithic, though this seems to have been a localized effect, given that Ponytail appears unaffected.

"Inventing farming takes '''''forever'''''" references the actual rather complex process of inventing farming. First, we needed the last Ice Age to end - around 11,000 years ago - to create suitable climatic environments for agriculture. Then we required advancements in plant cultivation, animal domestication, and tool development - lots of time and experimentation involved there. And the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to sedentary farming communities also needed significant social and cultural adaptations (e.g., new organizational structures).

Randall Munroe is familiar with the popular creative nonfiction topic of what it takes to rebuild civilization, the subject of a book he blurbed on its cover, [https://www.howtoinventeverything.com/ How to Invent Everything], by Ryan North, fellow cartoonist.
* The topic of rebuilding a civilization from scratch was also referenced in comic [[1380: Manual for Civilization]] and in the title text of [[2347: Dependency]].

The title text discusses {{w|netcat}}, a simple utility to make a {{w|Transmission Control Protocol|TCP connection}} which comes in annoyingly incompatible [https://manpages.debian.org/stretch/netcat-traditional/nc.1.en.html nc.traditional] and [https://manpages.debian.org/stretch/netcat-openbsd/nc.1.en.html nc.openbsd] varieties.

In addition, the tendency for civilizations to independently develop netcat may be an allusion to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, in which 85% of all planets invariably develop a cocktail whose name is, by pure coincidence, a phonetic homophone to “gin and tonic”, such as the Jynnan tonnyx, while varying wildly in composition. The word "netcat" is a composite of "net" (most likely standing for network each time, although could relate to some form of mesh/trap, a topology or an amount less any deductions), and "cat", which references the Unix utility {{w|Cat (Unix)|cat}}, or it may be an abbreviation (for example for catalogue, category, catalyst, catastrophe etc.), or even actually referring to a cat. The various possible combinations could encompass a wide variation in function of similarly named processes.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is sitting on an office chair at her computer with a headset on. A zigzag line indicates what is shown on the computer screen]
:Ponytail (typing): Ugh, your connection is so laggy.
:Computer: Yeah, sorry.

:[Cueball is sitting on an office chair at his laptop]
:Cueball (typing): It's because I messed up my network configuration and now I have to rebuild a separate civilization from scratch for each packet.

:[Ponytail at her computer]
:Ponytail (typing): Huh?
:Ponytail (typing): What are you talking about?
:Ponytail (typing): ...Hello?

:[Beat panel, with Ponytail sitting in front of her computer waiting for a response from Cueball]

:[Cueball, with dirt on his head and around him, is at an old computer setup with a hoe leaning on his now non-office chair, blade on the floor]
:Cueball (typing): Sorry, got stuck in the Neolithic that time.
:Cueball (typing): Inventing farming takes '''''forever'''''.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Cueball's computer problems]]
[[Category:Uncoventional Communcation Mediums]]

190: IPoD

2025-10-03T20:25:34Z

Agf:

{{comic
| number = 190
| date = November 29, 2006
| title = IPoD
| image = ipod.png
| titletext = For smaller numbers he has to SAVE lives. The birthrate channel is even more of a mixed bag.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Internet Protocol|IP}} is one of the main protocols of the Internet. It is used to route data packets from one computer to another, using other computers or even complete networks in between if needed. It is designed to use the fastest (not necessarily the shortest) route to the target, automatically using another route if a connection or a transmitting host fails. Every participant of the network has to have a so-called {{w|IP address}}. The data is divided into ''packets'', each consisting of a header and the payload. The header tells the transmitting parties where the packet comes from and where it should go (together with some other details). The payload is the data to be transmitted.

IP packets can be carried by a variety of transport networks. Such methods are often referred to as "IP over X" (or "IPoX" for short). Examples include {{w|IP over DVB}}, [http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/ATM-Linux-HOWTO/ip-over-atm.html IP over ATM], and the humorous [http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2549.html IP over Avian Carriers].

[[Black Hat]] (and other statisticians) are using demographics as IP packets to send data. In order to adjust the death rate to encode the header, Black Hat plans to travel to New Jersey and go on a killing spree with a crossbow, instead of merely hacking the census bureau's computers. Such antics could only be used to ''increase'' the death rate; decreasing it would require saving lives instead, as mentioned in the title text. Also as mentioned, birth rates would be trickier to manipulate; doing so would require encouraging or discouraging women to have children, [[72|compromising birth control]], or conceiving children himself; all would have a nine-month delay. Crossbows were also mentioned in [[564: Crossbows]], and Black Hat is seen using his crossbow in [[929: Speculation]].

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat sits at a computer. Cueball stands behind him.]
:Black Hat: You see, statisticians communicate using IPoD -- IP over Demographics. For example, the header of the next packet I send will be encoded into the New Jersey death rate.
:Cueball: So you're going to hack the census bureau and change the number of reported deaths?
:Black Hat: Guess again.
:Black Hat: Hey, have you seen my crossbow?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Crossbows]]
[[Category:Uncoventional Communcation Mediums]]

454: Rewiring

2025-10-03T20:24:49Z

Agf:

{{comic
| number = 454
| date = July 25, 2008
| title = Rewiring
| image = rewiring.png
| titletext = My friend Finn tried to mail one end of the cable to me and thread the mail system.
}}

==Explanation==
At the time this comic was written, most residential buildings in North America were wired for {{w|Analog device|analog devices}} using the old {{w|plain old telephone service|landline telephone service}}s, although thanks to the growth of {{w|internet telephone}} and wireless telephone technologies, including {{w|cordless telephone|cordless}} and {{w|mobile phone|mobile}} phones, this in-house wiring was increasingly redundant. See also {{w|Wireless telephone#Use of mobile phones|Use of mobile phones}}. At the time, people who took their internet access seriously would have preferred that at least some of the phone wiring and phone jacks in their residences were {{w|Ethernet}} ({{w|Cat-5}} or {{w|Cat-6}}) wiring and ({{w|Modular_connector#8P8C|RJ45}}) jacks for providing wired internet access throughout their home, or in this case, to their neighbor's home, so that they wouldn't have to resort to {{w|Wi-Fi}}, which was then slower and less reliable than a wired connection.

Since the faxing of the ethernet cable is apparently successful, the comic is not really about the conversion, but is instead a subtle {{w|computer network}} joke about {{w|Tunneling protocol|tunneling}}, whereby you can embed one kind of network access protocol within a very different protocol. Herein lies the humor: [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] are apparently under the impression that they can achieve a faster connection by tunneling a high-speed protocol (ethernet) through a slower (landline telephone service) one. Generally speaking, this is not true. The only exception is when embedding a compressed data stream within a non-compressed standard. The performance boosts, however, are typically modest for {{w|lossless compression}}, and not the orders of magnitude difference our novices apparently hope for.

The title text suggests that it shows a fanciful way of converting analog phone lines to {{w|digital}} ethernet lines by simply faxing an ethernet cable, since a fax machine is a tool for {{w|digitizing|converting}} analog content into digital. The title text is a reference to foonetic user relsqui and this comic was presumably inspired by [http://www.xkcdb.com/2001 this conversation] they had over IRC. The reference to "thread the mail system" means that instead of digitally faxing one end of an Ethernet cable over an analog phone line to another person, which is not possible, the idea is to place one end of the Ethernet cable into a mailing envelope and drop it in a mailbox, while holding on to the other end (presumably on a long spool). The mailman would pick up the end in the envelope, and deliver it via the usual means of driving a mail van, sorting through automatic and hand sorting procedures, flying in a cargo plane, driving another mail van, etc, until it reaches the recipient - all while the sender is spooling out enough wire to prevent the cable from breaking. The end result is to thread an Ethernet cable through the entire mail system from sender to recipient. For a variety of reasons, this is also not practically possible.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is feeding cable into a device on a desk labeled "fax."]
:Fax: ''zzzzzz''
:[Outdoors, showing a plant and a lamp (indicates panels 1 and 3 are separate locations).]
:[Megan, laptop behind her, is pulling a cable out of a fax machine.]
:Fax: ''zzzzz''

==Trivia==
The title text of this comic was changed to correct user relsqui's name to "Finn", after they came out as agender. The original title text was:
:My friend Elizabeth tried to mail one end of the cable to me and thread the mail system.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Phones]]
[[Category:Comics edited after their publication]]
[[Category:Uncoventional Communcation Mediums]]

3017: Neutrino Modem

2025-10-03T20:24:02Z

Agf:

{{comic
| number = 3017
| date = November 27, 2024
| title = Neutrino Modem
| image = neutrino_modem_2x.png
| imagesize = 461x537px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Our sysadmin accidentally won a Nobel Prize while trying to debug neutrino oscillation error correction.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another one of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category: Tips|Tips]], this time a Networking tip.

Neutrinos are tiny, chargeless, ghostly particles that barely interact with solid matter at all. Despite trillions of neutrinos passing through your body every second, one will hit you only once every 10 years or so.

In this comic, Randall gives a helpful tip to networking companies: in order to avoid latency issues with their servers, simply relocate their networking node to the Earth's core and use neutrinos to communicate with the surface, rather than radio waves, electrical impulses, photons in fiber-optic cables, etc. Since the core of the Earth is approximately equidistant from every point on Earth's surface, and nearly all neutrinos pass through solid matter unaffected, this allows communication with any server or network node anywhere on Earth, all with the same near-light-speed {{w|Latency (engineering)#Packet-switched networks|latency}} and without having to install wires, fiber optic cables, or anything else along the way. However, the cost is an unbelievable amount of lost data, since only a teeny teeny teeny teeny tiny (teeny4 tiny) fraction of the neutrinos sent from the modem will actually be received by the servers on the surface, and the same again for those neutrinos that make the return journey: the specified packet loss amounts to 1 in 100 trillion packets completing the journey, with the rest missed (for reference: the lower threshold for acceptable packet reception is 98 in 100). If symmetrically failing to be detected, this suggests that only one in 10 million neutrino 'packets' is being received by the remote server, and only one in 10 million of the prompted replies are being received at Cueball's end.

This may still be a vastly better rate than expected. {{w|Neutrino detector|Neutrino detection}} with vastly bigger detectors than Cueball's device may only detect a fraction of the necessary neutrinos. Perhaps a little over 60 billion neutrinos per cm² per second pass through the Earth from the Sun, but detectors much larger than the whole of Cueball's indicated living space tend to detect no more than a few hundred of those per day. As the neutrino modems, at either end, must also ''generate'' (and, ideally, aim) their own modulated neutrino traffic, what proportion of the modem is usefully detecting is debatable. Beyond this issue, network packets consist of a ''series'' of signals to convey purpose, routing information and other overheads (including {{w|error detection and correction}}, which may be particularly important in this case). Even if direct point-to-point transmission (assumed, at least in this respect, to be reliably targeted) removes the need for full routing overheads, each {{w|ping (networking utility)|ICMP echo request}} ''and reply'' will still require a significant number of neutrino events to be triggered, and then sufficiently detected for what they are, to be of any practical use.

A time delay of 45 ms is the approximate round-trip time for light (or neutrinos, which move nearly as fast) to travel the distance from the center of the Earth to the surface and back. Visible light, of course, couldn't make this journey through the rock at all. Perhaps only ''very'' long wavelength electromagnetic radiation could reliably penetrate half the Earth, which would give (like these hit-and-mostly-miss neutrinos, but still vastly better) a very low effective {{w|bit rate}}. This has the opposite issue of using a {{w|Sneakernet}} connection, where a reliable but physically slow transfer protocol (as discussed in {{what if|31|What-If: FedEx Bandwidth}}) can potentially reliably deliver huge amounts of data in a single successful communication.

There are also, of course, the practical problems of constructing a facility at Earth's core, which is extremely far away (~6400 km / 4000 mi underground), extremely hot (~6000°C / 6273K / 11292°Ra / [[1923: Felsius|8400°⋲]] / [[3001: Temperature Scales|−5900°''real'' C]]) and under extremely high pressures (~3½ million atmospheres / 50 million PSI).

Ponytail and Cueball are shown floating because a hollow space in the center of a body experiences near-zero gravity. This is because all the mass of the object is evenly distributed in all directions. While there is 4,000 miles of rock "above" you pulling you "up," there is also 4,000 miles "below" you pulling you "down", with much the same amount left, right, front, back and every other direction, so you experience net-zero gravitational acceleration.

The title text refers to neutrino oscillation, which is a phenomenon in which neutrinos change between three different "flavors" - electron, muon, and tau neutrinos. A Nobel Prize was in fact awarded for the [https://www.nature.com/articles/nphys3543 discovery of neutrino oscillation], which implied that neutrinos have mass, albeit an extremely tiny amount (< 2.14×10−37 kg for the sum of the three flavors). The "neutrino oscillation error correction" could refer either to a way to correct for errors in the signal introduced due to neutrinos oscillating, as above, or for the method of error correction that cleverly ''uses'' modulated neutrino oscillation to its own advantage. Either of these could perhaps be considered such extraordinary developments as to make the {{w|system administrator}} involved deservedly elegible of a {{w|Nobel Prize}}, or perhaps {{w|List of prizes known as the Nobel or the highest honors of a field|one or other close equivalents}}.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Ponytail are inside a large white circle on a black background. Cueball is at a workstation typing on a computer keyboard, floating above a wheeled desk chair behind him. Ponytail is floating in the air up and to the right of him. Attached to Cueball's computer by cables are a second monitor or a tower unit floating to the left, and a large device labeled "''Neutrino'' Modem®" below and to its left. A logo on the modem shows circle with five horizontal lines entering from the left; the fourth line from the top stops within the circle, while the others pass through to the right; this presumably represents neutrinos passing through a planet or other object.]
:Cueball: Check it out—45ms ping times to every server on Earth!
:Ponytail: That 99.999999999999% packet loss is pretty bad, though.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Networking tip: You can minimize worst-case latency by locating your node at the center of the Earth and communicating with the surface using neutrinos.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Tips]]
[[Category:Sysadmins]]
[[Category:Nobel Prize]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Uncoventional Communcation Mediums]]

1254: Preferred Chat System

2025-10-03T20:23:31Z

Agf:

{{comic
| number = 1254
| date = August 21, 2013
| title = Preferred Chat System
| image = preferred chat system.png
| titletext = If you call my regular number, it just goes to my pager.
}}

==Explanation==
As more options become available for communication, it becomes more difficult to determine the social etiquette of communicating with others. It is customary (or at least rarely incorrect) to return a communication from someone using the same medium as the initial contact. For example, a voicemail is generally returned with a phone call (perhaps resulting in another voicemail), and an email with an email, etc. However, sometimes people respond through a different channel, such as texting a response to a voicemail or emailing a reply to a text. This can create confusion that [[Randall]] is pointing out, because the recipient may be unsure whether to go back to their original communication method, or if the response was a signal that the recipient prefers the new method. Similarly, it becomes important for people to know what type of communication is preferred by a recipient, or most likely to reach the recipient quickly and generate the most useful response.

Randall portrays the difficulty [[Cueball]] is facing when communicating with a seemingly irrational recipient. Today's multitude of social networks and communication systems amplifies the problem. After several misses, Cueball is leaving a voicemail for his intended recipient to clarify the best way to reach them. He initially tried texting the recipient, to which they made one reply on the instant-messaging service {{w|Google Talk}} (commonly called GChat). This is unusual because instant messaging services are usually used to engage in longer conversations than one message. Cueball further is confused because the recipient, although silent on Google Talk, continues responding on {{W|Internet Relay Chat|IRC}}. Cueball then attempted to communicate by email, but the response came on {{w|Skype}}, another instant messaging service that features voice and video chat along with text. The recipient mentions that the email "''woke [them] up''", implying that they have e-mail configured to make an audible alert, possibly by being forwarded to a cell phone.

Cueball clarifies that he appreciates that the recipient is very quick to respond, but his confusion stems from his inability to determine the proper medium to use. As he finishes his voicemail, an owl (appears to be a {{w|Barn Owl}} from its face) flies towards him carrying a written message. This appears to be a reference to [[wikia:w:c:harrypotter:Owl post|owl post]], which is a form of communication in the {{w|Harry Potter}} lore which itself is presumably based on the real-world usage of {{w|Carrier pigeon|carrier pigeons}}. The owl post message indicates that the voicemail was received, and suggests using {{w|Google Voice}} next time, which is yet another form of voice and text communication, one that bypasses the standard telecom companies and gives the user a range of controls such as which device is called depending on who is calling or what time of day it is, or to simply ignore the call altogether.

Randall seems to have an interest in bird-related communications; [http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1149 RFC 1149 - IP over Avian Carriers] has been mentioned in previous comics.

The title text mentions a {{w|pager}}, a low-tech, low-cost wireless telecommunications device that beeps or vibrates when it receives a message. Simpler pagers can display numbers, usually the caller's phone number plus a couple of additional digits, while more sophisticated ones can receive text messages. The usual intent of a pager is for the recipient to call the number back or, today, to tell you that your table is ready. Pager use peaked in the 1980s and 1990s, but declined thereafter as cellular phones became ubiquitous. There can be absolutely no need for this hyper-connected individual to use a pager, and having your own cellphone forward messages to your pager makes almost no sense. The question in the beginning of the owl-message further suggests that the receiver did not actually receive the voicemail, but just had Cueball's phone number displayed on his pager.

A possible suggestion is that they are intentionally using such an abundance of communications options to, perversely, make it harder to have a conversation with them. So far, it seems to be working. If this is true, the person Cueball is trying to contact may very well be Black Hat.

Another suggestion is that Cueball is attempting to contact Beret Guy, as Beret Guy is known for doing odd things such as this.

This comic is closely related to a later comic, [[1789: Phone Numbers]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands, talking on his cell phone.]
:Cueball: Sorry for the voicemail, but I'm confused about how to reach you.
:Cueball: When I text you, you reply once on GChat, then go quiet, yet answer IRC right away. I emailed you, and you replied on Skype and mentioned that the email "woke you up".
:Cueball: You're very responsive - I just have no sense of how you use technology.
:[An owl flies into the panel.]
:Cueball: ?!?
:[The owl perches on Cueballs's head. It has delivered a note to Cueball.]
:Note: did you try to call me? use my google voice number next time.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Phones]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]] 
[[Category:Google]]
[[Category:Uncoventional Communcation Mediums]]

3150: Ping

2025-10-03T20:22:47Z

Agf: Create a category

{{comic
| number = 3150
| date = October 3, 2025
| title = Ping
| image = ping_2x.png
| imagesize = 603x208px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Progress on getting shipwrecked sailors to adopt ICMPv6 has been slow.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic shows a message in a bottle on the beach, much like [[1675: Message in a Bottle]].

{{w|ICMP}} is a protocol that's used among other things for "pings" that are used to see if one machine can successfully communicate with another machine. When you send a ping, your computer sends an "Echo request" packet; the receiver sends an "Echo response" message back to the sender (the term "echo" refers to the fact that the data in the request is copied to the response). [[Cueball]] is emulating this same process with the messages in the bottle. However, one difference is that bottles cast into the sea don't have a fixed destination, so there's no assurance (or even expectation) that the response will reach the original sender, nor even that the request had even found the originally intended destination.

The title text references {{w|ICMPv6}}, which is the version of ICMP used with {{w|IPv6}}. Adoption of IPv6 in general has been slow, and the joke in the comic is that shipwrecked sailors using messages in a bottle to try to communicate with the outside world have not adopted this messaging protocol for their pings.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[Cueball is walking on a sandy beach near the shore. A bottle is stuck in the sand, presumably from being washed up by the tide.]

:[Cueball has picked up the bottle and is reading the message inside. There is illegible text written beneath the title of the message.]
:Message: ICMP Echo Request

:[Cueball has set the bottle down below him and is now scribbling out a new message. Once again, there is illegible text written beneath the title of the message.]
:Message: ICMP Echo Reply

:[Cueball is walking away from the shore now, having set the bottle back into the sea.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Uncoventional Communcation Mediums]]

Talk:3150: Ping

2025-10-03T20:08:06Z

Agf:

Should we include links to the other impractical internet protocol comics? (like the one where he has to rebuild civilization for every ping, or the one where they're using neutrinos to send messages?)[[Special:Contributions/2602:FF4D:128:D56:B3E5:923E:8846:D13|2602:FF4D:128:D56:B3E5:923E:8846:D13]] 17:24, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
:Or create a category for networking protocols? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:27, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
::I second that. [[User:Agf|Agf]] ([[User talk:Agf|talk]]) 19:15, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
::Here are those that I've found that would match this category ("weird communication mediums" - the neutrinos router doesn't fit the "impractical internet protocols"): [[3017]], [[1789]] (unsure), [[454]], [[190]], [[1142]] (unsure), [[2949]], [[269]], [[1254]] [[User:Agf|Agf]] ([[User talk:Agf|talk]]) 20:04, 3 October 2025 (UTC)

Little did the shipwrecked sailor know, but the headers were forged and he was duped into participating in the slowest forged-ping-based DDOS ever. [[Special:Contributions/2603:8081:9700:11:0:0:0:2|2603:8081:9700:11:0:0:0:2]] 17:32, 3 October 2025 (UTC)

Minor variation of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_over_Avian_Carriers#Real-life_implementation 1990-04-01 RFC1149 classic]. --[[Special:Contributions/2001:A62:598:F01:500E:58A5:4DF9:A701|2001:A62:598:F01:500E:58A5:4DF9:A701]] 17:44, 3 October 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3150: Ping

2025-10-03T20:04:31Z

Agf:

Should we include links to the other impractical internet protocol comics? (like the one where he has to rebuild civilization for every ping, or the one where they're using neutrinos to send messages?)[[Special:Contributions/2602:FF4D:128:D56:B3E5:923E:8846:D13|2602:FF4D:128:D56:B3E5:923E:8846:D13]] 17:24, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
:Or create a category for networking protocols? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:27, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
::I second that. [[User:Agf|Agf]] ([[User talk:Agf|talk]]) 19:15, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
::Here are those that I've found that would match this category ("weird communication mediums" - the neutrinos router doesn't fit the "impractical internet protocols"): [[3017]], [[1789]] (unsure), [[454]], [[190]], [[1142]] (unsure), [[2949]], [[269]] [[User:Agf|Agf]] ([[User talk:Agf|talk]]) 20:04, 3 October 2025 (UTC)

Little did the shipwrecked sailor know, but the headers were forged and he was duped into participating in the slowest forged-ping-based DDOS ever. [[Special:Contributions/2603:8081:9700:11:0:0:0:2|2603:8081:9700:11:0:0:0:2]] 17:32, 3 October 2025 (UTC)

Minor variation of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_over_Avian_Carriers#Real-life_implementation 1990-04-01 RFC1149 classic]. --[[Special:Contributions/2001:A62:598:F01:500E:58A5:4DF9:A701|2001:A62:598:F01:500E:58A5:4DF9:A701]] 17:44, 3 October 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3150: Ping

2025-10-03T19:15:51Z

Agf:

Should we include links to the other impractical internet protocol comics? (like the one where he has to rebuild civilization for every ping, or the one where they're using neutrinos to send messages?)[[Special:Contributions/2602:FF4D:128:D56:B3E5:923E:8846:D13|2602:FF4D:128:D56:B3E5:923E:8846:D13]] 17:24, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
:Or create a category for networking protocols? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:27, 3 October 2025 (UTC)
::I second that. [[User:Agf|Agf]] ([[User talk:Agf|talk]]) 19:15, 3 October 2025 (UTC)

Little did the shipwrecked sailor know, but the headers were forged and he was duped into participating in the slowest forged-ping-based DDOS ever. [[Special:Contributions/2603:8081:9700:11:0:0:0:2|2603:8081:9700:11:0:0:0:2]] 17:32, 3 October 2025 (UTC)

Minor variation of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_over_Avian_Carriers#Real-life_implementation 1990-04-01 RFC1149 classic]. --[[Special:Contributions/2001:A62:598:F01:500E:58A5:4DF9:A701|2001:A62:598:F01:500E:58A5:4DF9:A701]] 17:44, 3 October 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3132: Coastline Similarity

2025-08-26T07:55:03Z

Agf:

Lol what [[User:SectorCorruptor|SectorCorruptor]] ([[User talk:SectorCorruptor|talk]]) 16:20, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
:Lol what --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]][[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']][[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 17:30, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
::Lol what [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 18:13, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
:::Lol what [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 18:52, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
::::Lol what [[Special:Contributions/24.54.131.250|24.54.131.250]] 19:24, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
:::::Lol what [[Special:Contributions/2001:67C:2564:A301:C26:D05F:D5AA:CA02|2001:67C:2564:A301:C26:D05F:D5AA:CA02]] 21:46, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
::::::Lol what [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!| Aprilfoolsupdate!]]([[User talk:Aprilfoolsupdate!|talk]]) 08:16, 24 August 2025 (UTC)

^^^Plagerism at work^^^ [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 02:18, 24 August 2025 (UTC)

npcs [[user:lett‪herebedarklight|raeb]] 14:29, 23 August 2025 (UTC)

Plagiarism might refer to the designer of one of the coastlinescopying the design of the other one (a reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy).
[[Special:Contributions/147.234.73.125|147.234.73.125]] 22:56, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
:Given that Randall has made references to the guide and that a main part of the first book is talking to Slatibartfast who designed the Norvegian fjords, and later had to just do Africa, could actually mean that this is what Randall/Cueball is thinking of... Should this be mentioned in the explanation? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:14, 25 August 2025 (UTC)
::Can one (even a Planetary Designer) ever ''self-''plagiarise? The same guy got given a different(/additional) part of the replacement Earth and tried his old award-winning design again... I don't think that counts as plagiarism. There are better ways to describe it, so I say it's an inspiration too far.
::At least how it turned out... might have progressed through different stages, say Zlarti got to do Africa, ''then'' to do South America, and he still had some of the large-scale patterns and molds so just re-used them on the other side of the adjacent continent, etc... but that's a stretch of reverse-engineering the joke to the supposed cause, long since diluted if it was ever part of the original concept. Mention it, if you must, but I don't think it's anything to do with that. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.41|82.132.236.41]] 17:54, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

I'm the comic "Coastline similarity" is likely a roof on "Cosine Similarity" which is used in software industry to measure how close two images are. This method is also used to detect plagiarism. {{unsigned ip|108.76.190.132|23:00, 22 August 2025}}

F***ing vandals. Best of luck, I'm gonna bunker down until this blows over. [[Special:Contributions/207.195.86.18|207.195.86.18]] 01:47, 24 August 2025 (UTC)

EDIT: To the dumbs*** who apparently doesn't know how curse words are used: referring to "f***ing X" is a way of expressing HATRED towards X, not love.

:I mean to play devils advocate you did pick the single most versatile word in the English lexicon. Capable of not only being a noun, a verb and an adjective, but also an adverb and probably more too. How are we to know without cultural context clues? (Signed a coitus looter)

:I'm sure the [[wikipedia:Vandals|vandals]] procreated. [[Special:Contributions/70.115.234.146|70.115.234.146]] 01:19, 26 August 2025 (UTC)

My dad once had the opposite conversation with his teacher, where he asked if the two continents had ever been connected and his teacher scoffed at him because continental drift wasn't widely-known yet. --[[Special:Contributions/2603:800C:500:18B3:38A0:233D:17B2:D289|2603:800C:500:18B3:38A0:233D:17B2:D289]] 16:05, 24 August 2025 (UTC)

Ooh, spotted an error in the strip: the fossils that match up are Triassic, not Cretaceous. (This is actually an underappreciated geological/paleontological thing: the Atlantic Ocean is what ended the Triassic. The Atlantic crust started as a mantle plume that split apart Pangaea, causing the largest volcano in Earth's history... which is what drove the extinction of the rivals of the early dinosaurs.) (Signed, tr0gd0r)

<s>Plagerism</s> Research!
[[User:Jgharston|Jgharston]] ([[User talk:Jgharston|talk]]) 22:59, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

Due to lack of evidence supporting the theory about the derivative nature of the work, we concluded that this is a rare case of "convergent erosion". [[User:Agf|Agf]] ([[User talk:Agf|talk]]) 07:55, 26 August 2025 (UTC)