explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1172: Workflow

2013-12-05T13:19:14Z

Daddy: /* Explanation */ "a software" is like "a stuff". It's a noncount noun that doesn't really have a singular.

{{comic
| number = 1172
| date = February 11, 2013
| title = Workflow
| image = workflow.png
| titletext = There are probably children out there holding down spacebar to stay warm in the winter! YOUR UPDATE MURDERS CHILDREN.
}}

==Explanation==
Users will often try to work around bugs in software, and are sometimes able to get used to having the bugs around. Some bugs are even interpreted as features and users complain when the software authors fixed them. A similar effect may be caused by other improvements, particularly those which involve changes in the user interface.

This comic shows a somewhat extreme example. An unnamed application had a bug causing the CPU to overheat whenever the spacebar was held down too long. In version 10.17, this bug was fixed. Soon, longtimeuser4 complained that they relied on the fact that the CPU overheats if the spacebar is held down. They had stumbled across this "feature" (which is, again, more weird than usual) and took advantage of it to streamline their workflow, and they wanted an option to re-enable it.

{{w|Emacs}} (name originally derived from ''E''ditor ''MAC''ro''S'') is a text editor originally written at MIT in 1976 and adopted into the GNU project in 1984. The control key sees extensive use in Emacs, and since it's hard to reach, users often remap it to Caps Lock or some other key. longtimeuser4 fixed the problem very clumsily ("horrifying," as the admin puts it) and is annoyed that their {{w|kludge}} no longer works. The moral of the story is that you can't please everyone.

Examples of real life changes in software which, though often acclaimed by critics, caused great annoyance among existing user base include ribbons introduced in Microsoft Office 2007, Start screen of Windows 8 or Unity desktop manager bundled with Ubuntu since version 11.10. In the latter case, developers included an option to use the older interface; for the rest, applications emulating old behavior were developed by third parties.

The title text makes a hyperbole to humorous effect; children will freeze to death during the winter because they won't be warmed by a rather unconventional heater. Making (or creating an illusion of) a connection between one's opinion and [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThinkOfTheChildren care for children's welfare] is a common method of gaining public support, as such arguments are hard to deflect without sounding cruel and uncaring.

==Transcript==
:Latest: 10.17       [Update]
----
:'''Changes in version 10.17:'''
:The CPU no longer overheats
:when you hold down spacebar.
----
:<div style="margin-left: 5em;">Comments:</div>
:'''LongtimeUser4''' writes:

:This update broke my workflow!
:my control key is hard to reach,
:so I hold spacebar instead, and I
:configured Emacs to intepret a
:rapid temperature rise as "control".

:'''Admin''' writes:

:That's horrifying.

:'''LongtimeUser4''' writes:

:Look, my setup works for me.
:Just add an option to reenable
:spacebar heating.

Every change breaks someone's workflow.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Computers]]

Talk:217: e to the pi Minus pi

2013-04-29T12:39:27Z

Daddy: Created page with "Asserting that the programmers' algorithms truncated to three decimal digits is an unsupported and unnecessary extrapolation. Most floating-point implementations use binary, ..."

Asserting that the programmers' algorithms truncated to three decimal digits is an unsupported and unnecessary extrapolation. Most floating-point implementations use binary, not decimal, and 19.999099979 ''looks'' very much like a rounding error in binary floating-point that has accumulated over several operations. [[User:Daddy|Daddy]] ([[User talk:Daddy|talk]]) 12:39, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Talk:183: Snacktime Rules

2013-04-28T15:43:42Z

Daddy:

Hm, how can we know, really, if it's Randall or Cueball speaking? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 20:19, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

It's Randall. I was there. [[User:Spotlouise|Spotlouise]] ([[User talk:Spotlouise|talk]]) 16:13, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

:I'm pretty sure that Cueball is basically just an abstraction of Randall. Black Hat, too, at times. Odd that no one seems to notice. [[User:Daddy|Daddy]] ([[User talk:Daddy|talk]]) 15:43, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

Talk:179: e to the pi times i

2013-04-28T15:18:29Z

Daddy:

This is one of the few comics that were changed after release, as stated by Randall in his XKCD book. It first claimed e^(i*Pi) = 1, which lead to huge protest from the community and a correction from Randall. --[[User:Gefrierbrand|Gefrierbrand]] ([[User talk:Gefrierbrand|talk]]) 09:47, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
:He must have been pie-eyed when he wrote that; he's usually pretty good about his math... -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 05:09, 7 November 2012 (UTC)
::I see what you did there. [[User:Daddy|Daddy]] ([[User talk:Daddy|talk]]) 15:18, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

Talk:173: Movie Seating

2013-04-28T06:17:02Z

Daddy: Created page with "I think that "two friends ... each sitting three seats away" takes "they" a little too literally. ~~~~"

I think that "two friends ... each sitting three seats away" takes "they" a little too literally. [[User:Daddy|Daddy]] ([[User talk:Daddy|talk]]) 06:17, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

111: Firefox and Witchcraft - The Connection?

2013-04-22T04:52:47Z

Daddy: /* Explanation */ "#" is not a word; Internet Explorer is not an organization

{{comic
| number = 111
| date = June 5, 2006
| title = Firefox and Witchcraft - The Connection?
| image = firefox wicca.png
| titletext = ThisadpaidforbythecounciltopromoteMicrosoftandChristianity. Remember, The Bible is Closed Source.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic shows a chart between the number of members of the pagan religion {{w|Wicca}} and the number of times Mozilla's web browser {{w|Firefox}} has been downloaded, the implication being that Firefox is related to Wicca. The page lists Internet Explorer, a rival web browser, and the cross, representing Christianity, on the bottom, implying that it is an attempt at discouraging Firefox by both Microsoft (creators of Internet Explorer) and a Christian source.

The title text is reminiscent of political commercials, which tell you who paid for them. The last sentence is a play on the term of {{w|Closed source software}}, which Internet Explorer is, as opposed to Firefox, which was open source in development. Similar in that vein, the Bible can be considered "closed source" [http://kingjbible.com/revelation/22.htm due to God's prohibition on altering its contents.]

This type of statistical ploy is used again in a few other comics, e.g [[925: Cell Phones]]

==Transcript==
:[Y axis]:membership in wicca
:[X axis]:total firefox downloads
:[Positive slope graph.]
:[Internet Explorer icon.]
:Keep the Faith
:[Outline of a cross.]

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

Talk:80: My Other Car

2013-04-22T04:39:11Z

Daddy: Is there an easier, fixed-width-font-friendly way to add an em-dash?

Some comedian (Google is failing to tell me who) once claimed to have seen a bumper sticker that read "My other car is a Rolls Royce"...... on a Rolls Royce. -- mwburden [[Special:Contributions/70.91.188.49|70.91.188.49]] 21:37, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

----

This may kill some of the parody, but the audacious spoiler suggests that this may be a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution (often referred to as simply an "Evo"). While this isn't a particularly fancy car—indeed the base Lancer model could be considered somewhat of an "econobox", on par with a Honda Civic or Toyota Tercel—the Evo trim level can be considered fairly valuable, particularly by performance enthusiasts. Comparing the 2013 models, the Evo trim has roughly twice the horsepower as the base model (291 hp vs. 148 hp), and its base price is more than twice as high (nearly $35,000 US vs. $16,000). The Evo has enhanced handling, transmission, and brakes, and is a favorite among club racers.

On the other hand, there are some who consider the Evo a "toy" car, little more than a go-kart with a stereo. This is especially applicable to the older generations of the mark, as they were less refined than more recent ones, focusing primarily on performance and eschewing creature comforts or any other hallmarks of perceived quality. The over-sized, garish spoiler only serves to enforce the "childish", low-class image (of note is that Mitsubishi seems to have abandoned the ridiculous spoiler for the latest model, offering comparatively conservative ones instead). Having driven one of the older models, I can attest to how unrefined and go-kart-like they are. My opinion is that it would be great fun to throw a car like that around the track on the weekends, but my ass couldn't handle driving one on a daily basis.

So for me, that bumper sticker could actually make sense. It could be my "other" car, one that I only used on track days. [[User:Daddy|Daddy]] ([[User talk:Daddy|talk]]) 05:22, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

----
I've discussed the issues with the image [[File talk:other car.jpg|here]]. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 09:00, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

:I fixed the image by resaving it in an image editing application. I, too, am perplexed why the original wouldn't display properly. The weird orientation doesn't seem to explain why it would fail to display at all. Perhaps it has something to do with the image being a link (e.g., the browser prepares a link area that's 372 x 300, then tries to fill it with an image that renders to 300 x 372 instead, and pukes). Regardless, it's easier to fix the image than to fix the browser. [[User:Daddy|Daddy]] ([[User talk:Daddy|talk]]) 04:35, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

Talk:80: My Other Car

2013-04-22T04:35:56Z

Daddy:

Some comedian (Google is failing to tell me who) once claimed to have seen a bumper sticker that read "My other car is a Rolls Royce"...... on a Rolls Royce. -- mwburden [[Special:Contributions/70.91.188.49|70.91.188.49]] 21:37, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

----

This may kill some of the parody, but the audacious spoiler suggests that this may be a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution (often referred to as simply an "Evo"). While this isn't a particularly fancy car--indeed the base Lancer model could be considered somewhat of an "econobox", on par with a Honda Civic or Toyota Tercel--the Evo trim level can be considered fairly valuable, particularly by performance enthusiasts. Comparing the 2013 models, the Evo trim has roughly twice the horsepower as the base model (291 hp vs. 148 hp), and its base price is more than twice as high (nearly $35,000 US vs. $16,000). The Evo has enhanced handling, transmission, and brakes, and is a favorite among club racers.

On the other hand, there are some who consider the Evo a "toy" car, little more than a go-kart with a stereo. This is especially applicable to the older generations of the mark, as they were less refined than more recent ones, focusing primarily on performance and eschewing creature comforts or any other hallmarks of perceived quality. The over-sized, garish spoiler only serves to enforce the "childish", low-class image (of note is that Mitsubishi seems to have abandoned the ridiculous spoiler for the latest model, offering comparatively conservative ones instead). Having driven one of the older models, I can attest to how unrefined and go-kart-like they are. My opinion is that it would be great fun to throw a car like that around the track on the weekends, but my ass couldn't handle driving one on a daily basis.

So for me, that bumper sticker could actually make sense. It could be my "other" car, one that I only used on track days. [[User:Daddy|Daddy]] ([[User talk:Daddy|talk]]) 05:22, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

----
I've discussed the issues with the image [[File talk:other car.jpg|here]]. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 09:00, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

:I fixed the image by resaving it in an image editing application. I, too, am perplexed why the original wouldn't display properly. The weird orientation doesn't seem to explain why it would fail to display at all. Perhaps it has something to do with the image being a link (e.g., the browser prepares a link area that's 372 x 300, then tries to fill it with an image that renders to 300 x 372 instead, and pukes). Regardless, it's easier to fix the image than to fix the browser. [[User:Daddy|Daddy]] ([[User talk:Daddy|talk]]) 04:35, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

File:other car.jpg

2013-04-22T04:17:33Z

Daddy: Daddy uploaded a new version of "File:other car.jpg": Downloaded from xkcd, opened and resaved in image editing program; hopefully this will fix the broken image

== Summary ==
XKCD Comic #80
== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

[[Category:Comic images]]

101: Laser Scope

2013-04-22T02:37:58Z

Daddy: /* Transcript */ It's not a missile launcher, it's the actual scope (the small part on top is the laser, not the scope on top of something else). A laser scope would be rather silly on top of a missile launcher. Think about it for a second.

{{comic
| number = 101
| date = May 12, 2006
| title = Laser Scope
| image = laser_scope.jpg
| imagesize =
| titletext = I wish I'd missed you then so I wouldn't be missing you now
}}

==Explanation==
This comic plays on the {{w|homonym}}ic relationship between "miss" (to feel sad due to the absence of someone) and "miss" (to fail to hit – in this case, with a gunshot). "Miss your loved ones?" is a question which would generally use the former "miss". However, it's use on the package for a laser scope implies the latter "miss".

A laser scope is a tool that can be attached to a firearm to aid in aiming the weapon. The laser adds a degree of accuracy to the scope. The model number RJX-21 does not appear to be a reference to anything, and this comic is primarily a play on a common marketing technique of adapting a common saying to your own product by use of homonym or {{w|homophone}}; in this case, it is perhaps an inappropriate use, as one would not be expected to be aiming a firearm at their loved ones. An exception might be a psychotic stalker.

The title text hammers it home with the dual use of the word "miss", as the writer wishes he had missed (not shot) someone so they would not miss them (feel bad that they are not there).

==Transcript==
:[Box with a mailing label on one side, and in the front:]
:Miss your loved ones?
:[Picture of a laser scope]
:You don't have to.
:RJX-21 Laser Scope

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Language]]

Talk:80: My Other Car

2013-04-21T05:22:53Z

Daddy:

Some comedian (Google is failing to tell me who) once claimed to have seen a bumper sticker that read "My other car is a Rolls Royce"...... on a Rolls Royce. -- mwburden [[Special:Contributions/70.91.188.49|70.91.188.49]] 21:37, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

----

This may kill some of the parody, but the audacious spoiler suggests that this may be a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution (often referred to as simply an "Evo"). While this isn't a particularly fancy car&emdash;indeed the base Lancer model could be considered somewhat of an "econobox", on par with a Honda Civic or Toyota Tercel&emdash;the Evo trim level can be considered fairly valuable, particularly by performance enthusiasts. Comparing the 2013 models, the Evo trim has roughly twice the horsepower as the base model (291 hp vs. 148 hp), and its base price is more than twice as high (nearly $35,000 US vs. $16,000). The Evo has enhanced handling, transmission, and brakes, and is a favorite among club racers.

On the other hand, there are some who consider the Evo a "toy" car, little more than a go-kart with a stereo. This is especially applicable to the older generations of the mark, as they were less refined than more recent ones, focusing primarily on performance and eschewing creature comforts or any other hallmarks of perceived quality. The over-sized, garish spoiler only serves to enforce the "childish", low-class image (of note is that Mitsubish seems to have abandoned the ridiculous spoiler for the latest model, offering comparatively conservative ones instead). Having driven one of the older models, I can attest to how unrefined and go-kart-like they are. My opinion is that it would be great fun to throw a car like that around the track on the weekends, but my ass couldn't handle driving one on a daily basis.

So for me, that bumper sticker could actually make sense. It could be my "other" car, one that I only used on track days. [[User:Daddy|Daddy]] ([[User talk:Daddy|talk]]) 05:22, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1160: Drop Those Pounds

2013-04-17T14:01:30Z

Daddy:

"Dropping Thirty Pounds Fast"? Is that a reference to the projectile weight being approx 30lb and "dropping" it on someone's walls? [[User:DreamingDaemon|DD]] ([[User talk:DreamingDaemon|talk]]) 10:03, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
:I was thinking more along the lines of thirty pounds of blood and dismembered flesh. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 10:46, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

A trebuchet works by dropping a large weight connected to the swing arm, thereby propelling the projectile in a parabola (hopefully) towards the target. Thus, by dropping 30 lbs fast, you may literally hit your target. {{unsigned|‎62.109.36.140}}

:Anyhow the explanation is a little off. The "subtlety" referred to is not that people tend to ignore weight loss flyers. It is that the flyer ''looks'' like a flyer for a weight loss programme, while it is actually trying to recruit people for something entirely different. Most people would not get this and sign up thinking that they would lose body weight, while they would be signing up for the trebuchet club. The only hint is the drawing, really. I agree with the above comment that the "dropping 30lbs" probably refers to the projectile. [[Special:Contributions/62.25.36.19|62.25.36.19]] 10:52, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

::Actually - I didn't mean that the 30lbs was the projectile but rather the counterweight propelling the projectile. [[Special:Contributions/62.109.36.140|62.109.36.140]] 12:53, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

My vote is that 30lbs stands for the projectile. [[Special:Contributions/70.31.159.230|70.31.159.230]] 15:55, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

30lbs for the projectile is most consistent with the alt-text, which implies that they will be hurling projectiles at the town. A 30lbs counterweight would only be able to fling a projectile an order of magnitude smaller. Also, for medieval trebuchets the "average mass of the projectiles was probably around 50–100 kg" ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trebuchet#Counterweight_trebuchet Wikipedia article]) --[[User:Forlackofabettername|Forlackofabettername]] ([[User talk:Forlackofabettername|talk]]) 16:23, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

:A trebuchet club would likely be building smaller models than the original medieval ones, so my vote is the 30lbs is referring to the counterweight, not the projectile. In a trebuchet, the counterweight drops fast, whereas the projectile doesn't initially drop at all, but it rather launches upwards and sideways; it'll be some time before it starts dropping, and even then not very quickly as the vertical speed takes some time to switch from up to zero, and then finally down, eventually building up speed to something that might be considered "FAST". But the "FAST" is mostly in the horizontal direction rather than seen as a "drop". In the meantime, that counterweight had already dropped more directly a long time ago. --boB

::Even the projectiles will take more to drop, it still quite "FAST" compare any weight loss program, so I think it can still refer to the projectile. [[User:Arifsaha|Arifsaha]] ([[User talk:Arifsaha|talk]]) 18:17, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

:::I can just imagine someone from the club saying "Let's drop 30 lbs on the target". Besides, I'd consider the usage of the word "drop" to be more metaphorical because in the operation of a trebuchet, no individual actually drops a counterweight; they simply pull a pin or cut a rope. [[Special:Contributions/70.31.159.230|70.31.159.230]] 20:54, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

A what-if wonder: considering a {{w|trebuchet}} is a {{w|weapon}}, will it be legal to own and place a {{w|trebuchet}} in your own {{w|backyard}}? [[User:Arifsaha|Arifsaha]] ([[User talk:Arifsaha|talk]]) 18:20, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
: The art of [http://www.amazon.com/dp/1613740646 backyard ballistics] is a firmly established niche hobby -- presumably for people with really big backyards. --[[User:Prooffreader|Prooffreader]] ([[User talk:Prooffreader|talk]]) 20:22, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
::'''''Presumably''''' people with really big backyards ... or with really annoying neighbors. {{unsigned|76.172.113.16}}
:: I needed a new hobby since I broke the last one... this is a contender! Thanks! :D [[User:DreamingDaemon|DD]] ([[User talk:DreamingDaemon|talk]]) 16:42, 15 January 2013 (UTC)

This might be example of '''literal''' vs '''figurative''' meaning: for trebuchet it is literally dropping counterweight and literally hitting a target. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 17:06, 15 January 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for finally turning my temporary text into a proper explanation :) [[Special:Contributions/62.25.36.19|62.25.36.19]] 17:16, 15 January 2013 (UTC)

Image could also be mistaken for two people taking a walk by a hill to a castle; which would be consistent with mistaking the add for one for weight-loss; The absence of any trebuchet in the picture suggests this is deliberate. [[Special:Contributions/144.124.1.121|144.124.1.121]] 10:04, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

Although there is ambiguity here, I would think that the 30 pounds is referring to the counterweight. This is due to the fact that any device can hurl a projectile (spring catapult, torsion device, and of course trebuchet) but what sets the trebuchet apart from the rest is that it is powered by falling mass. Also, any trebuchet club that is just starting will likely be building small golfball trebuchets which would likely use counterweights on the scale of 30 pounds. I agree the alt-text makes more sense if they are actually hurling 30 pounds, but I think the main joke here is the comic that makes use of the fact that a trebuchet is literally a dropping weight. Lastly, you aren't "dropping" the projectile, you are hurling it. {{unsigned|72.71.205.240}}

:Of course it's truly pedantic, but has anybody considered that dropping a 30-pound counterweight to fling a projectile imparts the same amount of energy1 to the target as dropping a 30-pound "projectile" (which would be more like a bomb in this case) on the target from roughly the same height the counterweight drops? So dropping a 30-pound counterweight on a trebuchet is very much indeed like dropping a 30-pound payload directly on your target, albeit at an angle that's more likely to be disadvantageous to the target, and from a location that's generally easier to occupy.

:1This is disregarding the additional friction losses, of course, which would be higher in the case of flinging a projectile with a trebuchet than in the case of dropping a bomb, due to friction in the trebuchet's axle or other mechanisms, the greater distance the projectile most likely travels as well as the higher speed with which it does so, and the projectile's lower mass and thus lower inertia. [[User:Daddy|Daddy]] ([[User talk:Daddy|talk]]) 14:01, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

But what IS the LEAST subtle method???[[Special:Contributions/204.138.232.251|204.138.232.251]] 20:40, 17 January 2013 (UTC)

I'm surprised that nobody else has mentioned (or that I have somehow managed to skim over) the reference to the ''usual'' over-figerative depiction of "hitting a target" in such aspirationally motivating advertising, i.e. an archery target with an arrow in the bullseye. Or unpierced, but pensively awaiting the projectile, depicted in flight (in extreme perspective, heading intothe page that the target often faces straight out from) or otherwise. (I suspect that the phenomena extends to firearms targets as well, especially in communities with a relatively high amount of target-shooting involvement. I'm sure I've seen the old "german soldier silhouette" image used, albeit very rarely.) But, anyway, I can imagine that Randall is additionally riffing off the number of "Hit your target!" flyers with a bullseye motif... but skewing that to the fictional target reader's expectation that a motif or depiction of a parabolic trajectory might be supposed to convey exactly the same thing, rather than its actual literalist meaning. [[Special:Contributions/178.99.226.118|178.99.226.118]] 00:44, 29 March 2013 (UTC)