2604: Frankenstein Captcha

2022-04-12T05:08:42Z

Benjymack: Changed differentiate to distinguish (to distinguish differentiate from its calculus definition)

{{comic
| number = 2604
| date = April 8, 2022
| title = Frankenstein Captcha
| image = frankenstein_captcha.png
| titletext = The distinction between a ship and a boat is a line drawn in water.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CAPTCHA RATED ARGH-Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic strip is a play on the meanings (and misunderstanding) of the name "Frankenstein". ''{{w|Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus}}'' is an 1818 novel by Mary Shelley about a medical student named Victor Frankenstein who creates an artificial life-form. The man he creates once describes himself as "the Adam of [Frankenstein's] labour" in the book, and strictly speaking is properly known as "Frankenstein's ''monster''" (or perhaps "creation" or "son"), but is often erroneously called "Frankenstein" himself. This has been fertile ground for many, many debates whether the monster could also properly be called "Frankenstein," either as a family name, an honorific, or simply because it's more recognizable and convenient. Randall has weighed in on the debate himself in a previous comic, [[1589: Frankenstein]].

The CAPTCHA shown in the comic instructs the user to select all tiles containing Frankenstein. The tiles include both a reanimated corpse resembling Frankenstein's monster and a scientist yelling, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qNeGSJaQ9Q "It's alive!”] who is clearly intended to be Victor Frankenstein. The problem arises from the contrast between various definitions of the term Frankenstein. Going just off the book's text, the monster has no name, so the correct answer to the CAPTCHA is just the left square of the third row. However, the character depicted there is clearly ''Henry'' Frankenstein from the famous {{w|Frankenstein (1931 film)|1931 film adaptation}} (Victor Frankenstein never said the words "it's alive!" in the book), and likewise the creature depicted is clearly inspired by {{w|Boris Karloff}}'s iconic portrayal in that film and its sequels. If the images are captured from that film, then all four of them could be said to be "containing (a subset of) ''Frankenstein'' (the 1931 film)".

CAPTCHAs serve a dual purpose: (1) to separate human users from bots by way of intelligent interaction, and (2) to train a neural network, hence the "correct answer" to image recognition CAPTCHAs is not known ahead of time and is merely based on the most commonly-chosen tiles. Users who frequently face CAPTCHAs are familiar with the dilemma of having to choose tiles that they know do not contain the requested object but which they know were likely chosen by previous users, making the CAPTCHA one part object-identification exercise and one part human-psychology exercise. Thus, a user who knows that "Frankenstein" refers only to the scientist would face this CAPTCHA with dread, uttering "Oh No" as they realize that they must select the tiles containing the monster, and possibly not even be allowed to select the tile containing the actual scientist Victor Frankenstein if they want to pass the CAPTCHA.

Alternatively, this comic strip with its "Oh No" caption could be referencing [[1897]], which would imply that someone had actually created a Frankenstein's monster which needs to be located as soon as possible.

Many of the other tiles appear to be pictures of entities that inspire similar pedantry. For example, there is a picture of a turtle (or possibly a tortoise, or a reference to the {{w|Voight-Kampff_machine|Voight-Kampff test}} used in a manner analogous to CAPTCHA), a ship (or possibly a boat), {{w|Link (The Legend of Zelda)|Link}} (the name given to each of several protagonists that appear across generations and timelines, throughout the ''{{w|Legend of Zelda}}'' video games, who many erroneously refer to as Zelda), a pond (or possibly a lake, a puddle, or a {{w|mirage}}), a squash or pumpkin (often subject to the ''fruit or vegetable'' debate), an erupting volcano (with lava, or is it magma?), and the planet Pluto (or is it a dwarf planet?). Other tiles seem to be inspired by images that commonly occur in actual captchas, like the STOP sign or the traffic light. However, at least some of these may also be meant to fall into the category of entities that inspire pedantry, for example: because traffic lights can also be called traffic signals or stoplights; many people thinking that the shape of a stop sign is a hexagon, not an octagon; and the definition of a sandwich (previously discussed as a “random semi-ironic obsession” in [[1835]]).

The title text refers to one of the methods used to distinguish a ship from a boat. When making a turn, if the vessel leans towards the inside of the turn circle then it is considered a boat, whereas if the vessel leans away from the turn circle it is considered a ship[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1iM2CG5QQ8]. Since the vessel generates a wake as it moves, checking whether it is a boat or a ship can be done while it is literally drawing a line on the water (the wake). The phrase "a line drawn in water" is also an idiom for something ephemeral. Ironically, it has persisted for a long time and dates back at least to the early Buddhists. (e.g. [https://suttacentral.net/an3.132/en/sujato?layout=plain&reference=none&notes=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin| AN 3.132] & [https://suttacentral.net/an7.74/en/sujato?layout=plain&reference=none&notes=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin| AN 7.74]). The distinction between a ship and a boat is also unclear, having changed over time, with no universally accepted rule to {{w|Ship#Nomenclature|distinguish between the two}}. The title text is also a pun on the common idiom "drawing a line in the sand."

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[A captcha design, with a header and four rows of four pictures each below it. The header, in white lettering on a blue background, reads:]
:To continue, please click
:All squares containing
:Frankenstein

:[The pictures, all with gray backgrounds, are as follows, from left to right in each row:]

Row 1
* Tortoise (or turtle)
* Ship (or boat)
* Frankenstein's monster (often mistaken as Frankenstein) waking up from a slab, while lightning strikes.
::Monster: GRRR
* Link from Legend of Zelda series (often mistaken as Zelda)

Row 2
* Lake (or pond), possibly a mirage, in the Egyptian desert
* Megan (or Science Girl, or Danish--possibly a direct joke about this wiki)
* Lava (or magma)
* Tomato (fruit vs vegetable)

Row 3
* A mad scientist (Victor Frankenstein) throwing a switch while lightning strikes outside
::Frankenstein: It's alive!
* Sandwich
* Stop sign
* Girl running away from Frankenstein's monster
::Girl: Monster!

Row 4
* Rocket (spaceship) flying by Pluto (planet or dwarf planet)
* Cueball and Ponytail standing next to each other
* Traffic light (also called a stoplight, possibly mistaken as stop sign?)
* Frankenstein's monster

:[Caption below the panel]:
:Oh no.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:CAPTCHA]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Food]]

1198: Geologist

2021-12-11T22:33:34Z

Benjymack: Fixed broken link to 640: Tornado Hunter

{{comic
| number = 1198
| date = April 12, 2013
| title = Geologist
| image = geologist.png
| titletext = 'It seems like it's still alive, Professor.' 'Yeah, a big one like this can keep running around for a few billion years after you remove the head.'
}}
[[File:Alces_alces_elan_trophee_chateau_Tanlay.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5| Moose head and deers antlers mounted as hunting trophies. (from Wikimedia Commons)]]
==Explanation==
{{w|Geology}} is the study of the physical and chemical makeup of the {{w|Earth}} and {{w|geologists}} are sometimes called rock hunters, sometimes derisively.

Hunters, after killing an especially difficult or rare beast, sometimes remove its head and hang it up on a wall as a {{w|Trophy hunting|trophy}}. [[Cueball]], as a geologist, "kills the Earth" by shooting at it. He removes its "head," a chunk of rock, and hangs it up on his office wall. Above the trophy it says Earth, and below it gives it lifespan from 4,500,000,000 BCE (Before {{w|Common Era}})), which is the current age of the Earth, and then until the day where he shot Earth, which is also the day this comic was released 2013-04-12. The topic of hunting things that are not usually hunted is also in [[640: Tornado Hunter]]

The title text is probably a reference to a chicken running around with its head cut off. A few billion years (7,600,000,000 years) is also about how much longer the Earth is expected to last, assuming {{w|Future of the Earth#Red giant stage|it gets swallowed up by the expanding Sun}} at the {{w|Sun#After core hydrogen exhaustion|end of the Sun's life}}.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball, wearing earmuffs and goggles and holding a gun and a rock hammer in his hands, is walking away from his van in the background towards a group of rocks. The largest of these rocks is almost as tall as Cueball, but five smaller rocks are scattered on the ground, with a bit of grass growing at their bases. The van has text on its side:]
:'''Dept.''' of
:'''Geology'''

:[Zoom in on Cueball close to the base of the largest rock. He has put the rock hammer on the ground next to him and aims his gun at the ground and shoots three holes in the earth, the last hole is just forming, as smoke comes out of the end of the gun.]
:<big>Blam Blam Blam</big>

:[Zoom out again with Cueball hacking away at the top of tallest rock formation with his rock hammer. The gun has been left near the three holes in the ground. The van can again be seen as can most of the text.]
:Clink Clink
:'''ept.''' of
:'''ology'''

:[Cueball, without his head gear, sits at his desk in his office reading a piece of paper he holds in his hands. Three other papers are lying on the otherwise empty desk. Behind him various items hangs on the wall most likely images and diplomas etc. One of them is blank, two looks like images, and four has unreadable text. The last item is the top of the rock that he just chipped off in the previous frame. It has been attached to a mount as a hunting trophy. Above and below there are labels:]
:<big>Earth</big>
:4,500,000,000 BCE - April 12, 2013

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Geology]]

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2604: Frankenstein Captcha

1198: Geologist