explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1957: 2018 CVE List

2018-05-30T02:13:16Z

Daniel Case: sign last

[[First]] post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, the explanation looks like a train wreck, and I'm not sure if a rearranging it into a table or just adding bullet points to everything is better. I'm guessing that a table would be better, but I don't know how I can rearrange it. Can somebody help? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 06:35, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: Added a table layout to the sandbox. Might be of some use to another editor. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.45|162.158.74.45]] 07:32, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: ''Edit: Looks like it's been adapted in; I've cleared the sandbox for future use.'' [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.45|162.158.74.45]] 11:53, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:: Thanks, I think a table is a good way to go. I'm adding it to the article as a place to start. Rather than format the original explanation into the table, I'm leaving the cells blank. The original poorly formatted text can be a starting point, but isn't directly adaptable. --[[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 09:55, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

Never ever have I heard anyone pronounce SQL as "sequel" - Is that a reqional dialect? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.15|162.158.93.15]] 07:41, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: I heard it's common among MS-SQL users.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.137|162.158.91.137]] 08:02, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:: Oh BTW, look at our IPs. Are you an easybell customer? :-) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.137|162.158.91.137]] 08:09, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
::: I somewhat doubt we are using easybell, from the looks of it it's not suited for the size of our company. But I can neither verify nor deny that claim as I am not responsible for the WAN connection at our company. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.9|162.158.93.9]] 15:09, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: Some people pronounce it that way, yes. Don't know if it is "common among MS-SQL users", though. The only person I encountered saying "sequel" never used MS-SQL. [[User:LordHorst|LordHorst]] ([[User talk:LordHorst|talk]]) 09:54, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: Not sure if it's regional or not. I personally say "sequel" and I'd say anecdotally that it's about 50/50 among people that I've worked with. I went to school and work in the Midwest US. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.94|108.162.216.94]] 15:40, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: I've also seen references to Oracle users saying "sequel" rather than S-Q-L. That would make sense as it's the DB I'm primarily working with. http://patorjk.com/blog/2012/01/26/pronouncing-sql-s-q-l-or-sequel/ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.94|108.162.216.94]] 15:43, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:Monty (BDFL for MySQL) always pronounces it as "My ess cue ell". [[User:RandalSchwartz|RandalSchwartz]] ([[User talk:RandalSchwartz|talk]]) 18:22, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
::I've always said 'sequel' but then 'my ess kyoo ell'. Which makes no sense really. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.26|162.158.155.26]] 09:40, 20 February 2018 (UTC)
: When I was in college a couple decades back I have memory of the professor that taught SQL saying that pronouncing it "sequel" had been registered as a trademark of Micosoft. He instructed us to avoid that pronunciation whenever possible because of this. I have not fact-checked this statement. [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 22:00, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:I like to pronounce it "squeel" because that's equally correct phonetically & it never fails to raise eyebrows. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 00:33, 20 February 2018 (UTC)
: I hear it occasionally, even myself once in a while. However, I seriously doubt EVERYBODY who does so is referencing the predecessor, pretty sure everybody I've heard say "sequel" does so because SQL looks like it's short for "sequel", thats all. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:04, 20 February 2018 (UTC)
: Always called it 'Squirrel' myself. Squirrels are more fun, sequels are generally bad, and prequels even worse. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.18|162.158.186.18]] 08:23, 1 April 2018 (UTC)

I want to take a moment to congratulate the dedication of whomever wrote the original explanation. Second languages are hard, bro. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.10|108.162.215.10]] 07:48, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

Has someone tried contacting Randall about "extploit"? If not, what would be the best way? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 08:22, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:Hack his computer to display a message demanding he fix it if he wants his hard drive decrypted.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.26|162.158.155.26]] 09:24, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
::Thanks, will do.

::how to hack complooter
::why does google not work
::how to delete text
::[[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 09:44, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:If anyone is getting this changed to correct silly errors, removing the full stop in “…<tt>one. Computer</tt>…” would be nice. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.197|141.101.99.197]] 15:22, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:Urban Dictionary suggestion: EXTploit - A trojan (usually bearing a harmless looking icon) which takes advantage of the idiotic practice of hiding filename extensions by default within major operating systems. This increases the likelihood that a user will execute the trojan, thinking it is a media file because they cannot see the actual file-extension. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 00:33, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

Regarding "Factor a prime": Factoring a prime is easy: The prime itself is the only factor, so it's sufficient to use [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AKS_primality_test AKS] or whatever to check that. Public-key encryption relies on how hard it is to factor the product of two primes, which is a much harder problem. Maybe this is a typo in the comic? {{unsigned|Comment Police}}
: I don't think it is a typo. It's exactly the type of "inside-joke" I would expect from XKCD. :) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.214|162.158.134.214]] 10:09, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:: AFAIK, there aren't any primality tests known to run in O(log n). For instance, AKS runs in O(log n ^ 7.5). So for numpy to actually achieve factoring as stated would require assuming the input is prime and just returning (1,n). --[[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 12:45, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:::Doesn't testing for primality (just) require a list of all primes up to sqrt(n)? So the best possible time is sqrt(however fast you can calculate primes up to a number). That time can at most be square (divide every number by every other number below it), so a primality test only needs O(n) time. Or do I understand something wrong? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 13:46, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
::::Oh yes, I missed that log(n) is less than n. Nevermind then. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 13:50, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:On the other hand, consider the following phrases that describe a process using the end result of the process as their direct object: "cook scrambled eggs", "bake a cake", "chop firewood", "encode an MP3", and "factor primes". One would "factor primes" out of the semiprime associated with an RSA key. --[[User:Tepples|Tepples]] ([[User talk:Tepples|talk]]) 15:58, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: There are a bunch of things going on:
: * NumPy currently has no primality or factoring functions. SymPy does. We assume the hypothetical CVE happened because someone added it.
: * Factoring a prime is a bit nonsensical. We factor into primes or perform a primality test. Perhaps a reference to the humorously mis-spoken Bill Gates quote: "The obvious mathematical breakthrough would be development of an easy way to factor large prime numbers." -Bill Gates, The Road Ahead, pg. 265. We know what he meant (and he likely does too) but it's technically just wrong.
: * The best known factoring methods are sub-exponential, not polynomial as $O(\log n)$ indicates. The current explanation test here is factually wrong (but gets the concept across) -- it isn't $O(2^n)$.
: * Deterministic 64-bit primality testing is $O(\log^2 n)$ using BPSW or deterministic Miller-Rabin. This worse than $O(\log n)$.
: * Heuristic or probabilistic testing for larger inputs is also $O(\log^2 n)$. The best deterministic method for larger inputs is ECPP at $O(\log^4 n)$, which is faster than AKS's $O(\log^6 n)$ in addition to much smaller constants.
: Ignoring or being amused at the "factoring primes" comment, we see the complexity is actually in the correct form (most internet forum contributers mix up "n" vs. "size of n", for example). If it were factoring composites, then $O(log^k n)$ for any constant 'k' would be funny as it says nobody noticed they added a polynomial time factoring algorithm. If it is primality testing then it's funny as-is since this is faster than any known method (basically saying you could do a primality test on any size input with a constant number of multiplies).
: [[User:DAJ NT|DAJ NT]] ([[User talk:DAJ NT|talk]]) 19:29, 22 February 2018 (UTC)

Can I edit some spelling errors? There seems to be some spelling errors here and there.Boeing-787lover 10:19, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:Of course, that's what a Wiki is for. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 12:10, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

I think the explanation of the one about injecting arbitrary text onto a page with the comments box is overthinking the joke. I think it really is just about the fact that you can write whatever you like in a comment. Look, I just hacked this page to display the word "penguin". [[User:Jeremyp|Jeremyp]] ([[User talk:Jeremyp|talk]]) 10:26, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: I think it can generally be agreed, at least among most people above a certain level of computer knowledge, that this doesn't count as hacking. :) "Hacking" is helping yourself to greater access than you're supposed to have, and requires considerable skill and advanced tools to accomplish. THIS "hacking", both adding to the page and as described in the comic, is perfectly allowed and requires no special knowledge. Wherein lies the joke. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:13, 23 February 2018 (UTC)

Since when is Bruce Schneier not real? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.75|162.158.93.75]] 13:05, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: He never was - it's a cleverly executed art project. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.209|141.101.99.209]] 14:20, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

I've added some clarification to the "CRITICAL" item. I know there are several xkcd comics referencing similar problems but I unfortunately don't have the time to look them up, can someone do that and link them appropriately in the table? [[User:Domino|Domino]] ([[User talk:Domino|talk]]) 13:11, 19 February 2018 (UTC)domino
:Isn't the joke really in the hilarious severity assessment? The vulnerability is supposedly CRITICAL!!!!11!1!!one!, while description shows both a ridiculously small vulnerable population and ridiculously low impact. Population: a single, very old kernel version on a rare, outdated architecture, in one timezone only - and WHICH timezone! UTC+14 means just a couple of islands in the Pacific (Tonga, Kiribati...) - the probability of even one vulnerable system actually existing seems almost zero. Impact: the only possible consequence is switching from 12h to 24h (only in this direction)? This whole entry is very creative - just TRY to come up with a possible vulnerability (yes, it would classify as an actual vulnerability, why not?) that would have a LOWER severity than that...--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.89|162.158.91.89]] 13:41, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
::Agree [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 15:45, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

I think the article should start with an explanation of what is the CVE. From https://cve.mitre.org/
"CVE® is a list of entries—each containing an identification number, a description, and at least one public reference—for publicly known cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
CVE Entries are used in numerous cybersecurity products and services from around the world, including the U.S. National Vulnerability Database (NVD)."
-{{unsigned|Comment Police}}

"MySQL server 55.45" it is 5.5.45 if you zoom in a bit. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.161|162.158.91.161]] 13:41, 19 February 2018 (UTC)Blocki

"An attacker can execute malicious code on their own machine and no one can stop them" might be a jab at the trend toward more closed systems, where even the owner of a device is limited in what they can do on it. 
"A flaw in Mitre's CVE database allows arbitrary code insertion" could be meant as an explanation for the whole comic, i.e. those joke vulnerabilities were added to the CVE database using this flaw. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.225|141.101.69.225]] 13:52, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:Belatedly (thanks to the CAPTCHA problem), I see this as satirizing the attitude of some hardass computer security professionals who think ''no one'', save themselves and certain highly trusted others, should be running malicious code on their own machines even if they aren't connected to the Internet and have no malicious intentions. Sort of like older cops who seethe that people out there are smoking pot or doing other drugs in the privacy of their homes and they can't do ''anything'' about that. [[User:Daniel Case|Daniel Case]] ([[User talk:Daniel Case|talk]]) 02:13, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

It's my first comment here, so I may be wrong. I see the "CRITICAL" as a "differential” joke exhibiting that the requirement standards may be very different from a constructor to another. In fact, it seems that the apple’s bugs described here (crash, fire, remote access granted) are the mosst critical ones. The only two concerning Linux are the one labeled as critical and the one about bribery. I don’t know what to think about the almost complete absence of windows though. Feriaman.

Could we get an ''Air Bud'' category? It seems to be a recurring theme in his comics. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.246.88|162.158.246.88]] 18:50, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:List of direct mentions of "air bud" in the explanations: [[115:_Meerkat]], [[1439:_Rack_Unit]], [[1506:_xkcloud/Table_of_Permalinks]], [[1552:_Rulebook]], [[1819:_Sweet_16]], [[1957:_2018_CVE_List]]
:List of direct mentions of "air bud" in the transcripts: [None]
:Beep, boop, I'm not a bot. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 20:41, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

Anyone happen to notice that instead of writing "mischievous," Randall opted for the non-standard spelling "mischevious?" The standard form would have been an I-before-E word... --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.164|162.158.88.164]] 00:45, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

"Diacritics are the accents found on letters in some languages (eg. č, ģ ķ, ļ, ņ, š, ž). These would not be found on emojis." This misses the point. There is nothing that stops a unicode emoji being followed by unicode combining diacritical mark. The rendering engine does not have to display this in any particular way, but catching fire would be considered a bug by must users.{{Citation needed}} [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.213|162.158.74.213]] 03:35, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

"Flash was discontinued", really? Someone should tell Flash. And Facebook. I'm STILL experiencing issues on Facebook over their sloppy Flash programming interfering with my ability to watch Facebook videos (extra irritating as I'm sure my newly built computer is more powerful and capable than the computers owned by anyone I know, and certainly any phone or tablet, which don't experience these problems). And my last Flash update was a couple of weeks ago - seeing as this bug likes to include telling me I need to upgrade my Flash, even if I did so that day and Flash assures me I'm up date. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:04, 20 February 2018 (UTC)
:Flash hasn't been discontinued, but I think one could call it deprecated. Adobe announced that they will [https://theblog.adobe.com/adobe-flash-update/ stop updating and distributing Flash in 2020] so it will be "discontinued" in 2-3 years. Which means that if you're a web site owner, now's the time to migrate any Flash content to another platform (like HTML5/JavaScript). Additionally, most modern browsers make a point of disabling flash by default, forcing you to enable it on a per-site basis. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 14:53, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

Timing Attack to exploit a race condition in garbage collection refers to Meltdown and Spectre CPU flaws that can be exploited in cloud server like the ones in Wikipedia.
I don't think this is correct. Garbage collection is a technique of freeing up memory no longer used by a program, completely unrelated to speculative execution and the Spectre/Meltdown exploits... [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 07:34, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

Apple products execute any code printed over a photo of a dog with a saddle and a baby riding it.
... This "bug" would not only require the device to figure out specifically what the photo contains image-wise, something that's REALLY HARD for computers to do reliably, it would also require OCR (Optical Character Recognition) type code to convert the text superimposed on the photo into executable code. In other words, it's hard to believe in 2018 that such a bug could exist. Maybe in the future when such things are more routine...? ...
The funny thing is that I don't think it's beyond the realm of plausibility. Given the fact that modern operating systems try to index as much as possible, for faster searches, it seems logical that some OS (if not now, then in the future) would try to run OCR against every image and video in order to index whatever text it finds (much like how YouTube auto-generates captions by running speech-recognition over the entire soundtrack). Ditto for more generic image recognition to identify and index the picture content. A system that does this could easily end up with a bug (or back door) where certain kinds of image content result in an attempt to execute its OCR results as code. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 15:03, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

Does anyone think the 'I before E' could be a stab at Apple, in reference to Internet Explorer?{{unsigned|Comment Police}}

While it is true that part of the plot of the movie "Air Bud" was that there was nothing in the rules to prevent a dog joining a basketball team, I suspect that the recent attempt to run a dog as candidate for governor of Kansas was more on Randal's mind than a 20+ year old movie that (at most) a few million people saw when it was released.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.16|162.158.78.16]] 05:27, 22 February 2018 (UTC)
: Actually, I find AirBud has become more of a thing to reference than a movie to watch. I believe the idea has been recycled a few times (a dog playing football, I think a dog playing baseball), yet it's AirBud, the original, that's always getting referenced (okay, "always" is an overstatement, but still). At the very least I know Randall has referenced it a few times, sometimes by name, enough times that I'd say it's safe to say AirBud is on his list of favourite references. If anything, this dog governor sounds obscure enough that he may not have heard about it, making the AirBud reference more likely, though being wacky politics I wouldn't be surprised if he's well aware, either. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:49, 23 February 2018 (UTC)

Is it just me, or does it feel like the "hack via edit box" thing feel like a reference to us? I mean, not only can this site be added to like that, it's the only one I know of and visit where you can do so without having an account. Seems perfect as the target of that particular one. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:55, 23 February 2018 (UTC)
: The only one? So I guess you don't go on wikipedia much. --[[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 08:49, 23 March 2018 (UTC)

Is it notable that the bugs gradually become more and more trivial except where an Apple device is involved, where they progressively get both more worrying and more impossible to accomplish? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.95|108.162.221.95]] 05:37, 23 March 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1957: 2018 CVE List

2018-05-30T02:12:36Z

Daniel Case: my belated take

[[First]] post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, the explanation looks like a train wreck, and I'm not sure if a rearranging it into a table or just adding bullet points to everything is better. I'm guessing that a table would be better, but I don't know how I can rearrange it. Can somebody help? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 06:35, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: Added a table layout to the sandbox. Might be of some use to another editor. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.45|162.158.74.45]] 07:32, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: ''Edit: Looks like it's been adapted in; I've cleared the sandbox for future use.'' [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.45|162.158.74.45]] 11:53, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:: Thanks, I think a table is a good way to go. I'm adding it to the article as a place to start. Rather than format the original explanation into the table, I'm leaving the cells blank. The original poorly formatted text can be a starting point, but isn't directly adaptable. --[[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 09:55, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

Never ever have I heard anyone pronounce SQL as "sequel" - Is that a reqional dialect? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.15|162.158.93.15]] 07:41, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: I heard it's common among MS-SQL users.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.137|162.158.91.137]] 08:02, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:: Oh BTW, look at our IPs. Are you an easybell customer? :-) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.137|162.158.91.137]] 08:09, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
::: I somewhat doubt we are using easybell, from the looks of it it's not suited for the size of our company. But I can neither verify nor deny that claim as I am not responsible for the WAN connection at our company. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.9|162.158.93.9]] 15:09, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: Some people pronounce it that way, yes. Don't know if it is "common among MS-SQL users", though. The only person I encountered saying "sequel" never used MS-SQL. [[User:LordHorst|LordHorst]] ([[User talk:LordHorst|talk]]) 09:54, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: Not sure if it's regional or not. I personally say "sequel" and I'd say anecdotally that it's about 50/50 among people that I've worked with. I went to school and work in the Midwest US. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.94|108.162.216.94]] 15:40, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: I've also seen references to Oracle users saying "sequel" rather than S-Q-L. That would make sense as it's the DB I'm primarily working with. http://patorjk.com/blog/2012/01/26/pronouncing-sql-s-q-l-or-sequel/ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.94|108.162.216.94]] 15:43, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:Monty (BDFL for MySQL) always pronounces it as "My ess cue ell". [[User:RandalSchwartz|RandalSchwartz]] ([[User talk:RandalSchwartz|talk]]) 18:22, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
::I've always said 'sequel' but then 'my ess kyoo ell'. Which makes no sense really. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.26|162.158.155.26]] 09:40, 20 February 2018 (UTC)
: When I was in college a couple decades back I have memory of the professor that taught SQL saying that pronouncing it "sequel" had been registered as a trademark of Micosoft. He instructed us to avoid that pronunciation whenever possible because of this. I have not fact-checked this statement. [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 22:00, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:I like to pronounce it "squeel" because that's equally correct phonetically & it never fails to raise eyebrows. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 00:33, 20 February 2018 (UTC)
: I hear it occasionally, even myself once in a while. However, I seriously doubt EVERYBODY who does so is referencing the predecessor, pretty sure everybody I've heard say "sequel" does so because SQL looks like it's short for "sequel", thats all. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:04, 20 February 2018 (UTC)
: Always called it 'Squirrel' myself. Squirrels are more fun, sequels are generally bad, and prequels even worse. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.18|162.158.186.18]] 08:23, 1 April 2018 (UTC)

I want to take a moment to congratulate the dedication of whomever wrote the original explanation. Second languages are hard, bro. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.10|108.162.215.10]] 07:48, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

Has someone tried contacting Randall about "extploit"? If not, what would be the best way? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 08:22, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:Hack his computer to display a message demanding he fix it if he wants his hard drive decrypted.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.26|162.158.155.26]] 09:24, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
::Thanks, will do.

::how to hack complooter
::why does google not work
::how to delete text
::[[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 09:44, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:If anyone is getting this changed to correct silly errors, removing the full stop in “…<tt>one. Computer</tt>…” would be nice. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.197|141.101.99.197]] 15:22, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:Urban Dictionary suggestion: EXTploit - A trojan (usually bearing a harmless looking icon) which takes advantage of the idiotic practice of hiding filename extensions by default within major operating systems. This increases the likelihood that a user will execute the trojan, thinking it is a media file because they cannot see the actual file-extension. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 00:33, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

Regarding "Factor a prime": Factoring a prime is easy: The prime itself is the only factor, so it's sufficient to use [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AKS_primality_test AKS] or whatever to check that. Public-key encryption relies on how hard it is to factor the product of two primes, which is a much harder problem. Maybe this is a typo in the comic? {{unsigned|Comment Police}}
: I don't think it is a typo. It's exactly the type of "inside-joke" I would expect from XKCD. :) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.214|162.158.134.214]] 10:09, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:: AFAIK, there aren't any primality tests known to run in O(log n). For instance, AKS runs in O(log n ^ 7.5). So for numpy to actually achieve factoring as stated would require assuming the input is prime and just returning (1,n). --[[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 12:45, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:::Doesn't testing for primality (just) require a list of all primes up to sqrt(n)? So the best possible time is sqrt(however fast you can calculate primes up to a number). That time can at most be square (divide every number by every other number below it), so a primality test only needs O(n) time. Or do I understand something wrong? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 13:46, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
::::Oh yes, I missed that log(n) is less than n. Nevermind then. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 13:50, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:On the other hand, consider the following phrases that describe a process using the end result of the process as their direct object: "cook scrambled eggs", "bake a cake", "chop firewood", "encode an MP3", and "factor primes". One would "factor primes" out of the semiprime associated with an RSA key. --[[User:Tepples|Tepples]] ([[User talk:Tepples|talk]]) 15:58, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: There are a bunch of things going on:
: * NumPy currently has no primality or factoring functions. SymPy does. We assume the hypothetical CVE happened because someone added it.
: * Factoring a prime is a bit nonsensical. We factor into primes or perform a primality test. Perhaps a reference to the humorously mis-spoken Bill Gates quote: "The obvious mathematical breakthrough would be development of an easy way to factor large prime numbers." -Bill Gates, The Road Ahead, pg. 265. We know what he meant (and he likely does too) but it's technically just wrong.
: * The best known factoring methods are sub-exponential, not polynomial as $O(\log n)$ indicates. The current explanation test here is factually wrong (but gets the concept across) -- it isn't $O(2^n)$.
: * Deterministic 64-bit primality testing is $O(\log^2 n)$ using BPSW or deterministic Miller-Rabin. This worse than $O(\log n)$.
: * Heuristic or probabilistic testing for larger inputs is also $O(\log^2 n)$. The best deterministic method for larger inputs is ECPP at $O(\log^4 n)$, which is faster than AKS's $O(\log^6 n)$ in addition to much smaller constants.
: Ignoring or being amused at the "factoring primes" comment, we see the complexity is actually in the correct form (most internet forum contributers mix up "n" vs. "size of n", for example). If it were factoring composites, then $O(log^k n)$ for any constant 'k' would be funny as it says nobody noticed they added a polynomial time factoring algorithm. If it is primality testing then it's funny as-is since this is faster than any known method (basically saying you could do a primality test on any size input with a constant number of multiplies).
: [[User:DAJ NT|DAJ NT]] ([[User talk:DAJ NT|talk]]) 19:29, 22 February 2018 (UTC)

Can I edit some spelling errors? There seems to be some spelling errors here and there.Boeing-787lover 10:19, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:Of course, that's what a Wiki is for. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 12:10, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

I think the explanation of the one about injecting arbitrary text onto a page with the comments box is overthinking the joke. I think it really is just about the fact that you can write whatever you like in a comment. Look, I just hacked this page to display the word "penguin". [[User:Jeremyp|Jeremyp]] ([[User talk:Jeremyp|talk]]) 10:26, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: I think it can generally be agreed, at least among most people above a certain level of computer knowledge, that this doesn't count as hacking. :) "Hacking" is helping yourself to greater access than you're supposed to have, and requires considerable skill and advanced tools to accomplish. THIS "hacking", both adding to the page and as described in the comic, is perfectly allowed and requires no special knowledge. Wherein lies the joke. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:13, 23 February 2018 (UTC)

Since when is Bruce Schneier not real? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.75|162.158.93.75]] 13:05, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: He never was - it's a cleverly executed art project. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.209|141.101.99.209]] 14:20, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

I've added some clarification to the "CRITICAL" item. I know there are several xkcd comics referencing similar problems but I unfortunately don't have the time to look them up, can someone do that and link them appropriately in the table? [[User:Domino|Domino]] ([[User talk:Domino|talk]]) 13:11, 19 February 2018 (UTC)domino
:Isn't the joke really in the hilarious severity assessment? The vulnerability is supposedly CRITICAL!!!!11!1!!one!, while description shows both a ridiculously small vulnerable population and ridiculously low impact. Population: a single, very old kernel version on a rare, outdated architecture, in one timezone only - and WHICH timezone! UTC+14 means just a couple of islands in the Pacific (Tonga, Kiribati...) - the probability of even one vulnerable system actually existing seems almost zero. Impact: the only possible consequence is switching from 12h to 24h (only in this direction)? This whole entry is very creative - just TRY to come up with a possible vulnerability (yes, it would classify as an actual vulnerability, why not?) that would have a LOWER severity than that...--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.89|162.158.91.89]] 13:41, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
::Agree [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 15:45, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

I think the article should start with an explanation of what is the CVE. From https://cve.mitre.org/
"CVE® is a list of entries—each containing an identification number, a description, and at least one public reference—for publicly known cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
CVE Entries are used in numerous cybersecurity products and services from around the world, including the U.S. National Vulnerability Database (NVD)."
-{{unsigned|Comment Police}}

"MySQL server 55.45" it is 5.5.45 if you zoom in a bit. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.161|162.158.91.161]] 13:41, 19 February 2018 (UTC)Blocki

"An attacker can execute malicious code on their own machine and no one can stop them" might be a jab at the trend toward more closed systems, where even the owner of a device is limited in what they can do on it. 
"A flaw in Mitre's CVE database allows arbitrary code insertion" could be meant as an explanation for the whole comic, i.e. those joke vulnerabilities were added to the CVE database using this flaw. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.225|141.101.69.225]] 13:52, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:Belatedly (thanks to the CAPTCHA problem), I see this as satirizing the attitude of some hardass computer security professionals who think ''no one'', save themselves and certain highly trusted others, should be running malicious code on their own machines even if they aren't connected to the Internet and have no malicious intentions. Sort of like older cops who seethe that people out there are smoking pot or doing other drugs in the privacy of their homes and they can't do ''anything'' about that.

It's my first comment here, so I may be wrong. I see the "CRITICAL" as a "differential” joke exhibiting that the requirement standards may be very different from a constructor to another. In fact, it seems that the apple’s bugs described here (crash, fire, remote access granted) are the mosst critical ones. The only two concerning Linux are the one labeled as critical and the one about bribery. I don’t know what to think about the almost complete absence of windows though. Feriaman.

Could we get an ''Air Bud'' category? It seems to be a recurring theme in his comics. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.246.88|162.158.246.88]] 18:50, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:List of direct mentions of "air bud" in the explanations: [[115:_Meerkat]], [[1439:_Rack_Unit]], [[1506:_xkcloud/Table_of_Permalinks]], [[1552:_Rulebook]], [[1819:_Sweet_16]], [[1957:_2018_CVE_List]]
:List of direct mentions of "air bud" in the transcripts: [None]
:Beep, boop, I'm not a bot. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 20:41, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

Anyone happen to notice that instead of writing "mischievous," Randall opted for the non-standard spelling "mischevious?" The standard form would have been an I-before-E word... --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.164|162.158.88.164]] 00:45, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

"Diacritics are the accents found on letters in some languages (eg. č, ģ ķ, ļ, ņ, š, ž). These would not be found on emojis." This misses the point. There is nothing that stops a unicode emoji being followed by unicode combining diacritical mark. The rendering engine does not have to display this in any particular way, but catching fire would be considered a bug by must users.{{Citation needed}} [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.213|162.158.74.213]] 03:35, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

"Flash was discontinued", really? Someone should tell Flash. And Facebook. I'm STILL experiencing issues on Facebook over their sloppy Flash programming interfering with my ability to watch Facebook videos (extra irritating as I'm sure my newly built computer is more powerful and capable than the computers owned by anyone I know, and certainly any phone or tablet, which don't experience these problems). And my last Flash update was a couple of weeks ago - seeing as this bug likes to include telling me I need to upgrade my Flash, even if I did so that day and Flash assures me I'm up date. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:04, 20 February 2018 (UTC)
:Flash hasn't been discontinued, but I think one could call it deprecated. Adobe announced that they will [https://theblog.adobe.com/adobe-flash-update/ stop updating and distributing Flash in 2020] so it will be "discontinued" in 2-3 years. Which means that if you're a web site owner, now's the time to migrate any Flash content to another platform (like HTML5/JavaScript). Additionally, most modern browsers make a point of disabling flash by default, forcing you to enable it on a per-site basis. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 14:53, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

Timing Attack to exploit a race condition in garbage collection refers to Meltdown and Spectre CPU flaws that can be exploited in cloud server like the ones in Wikipedia.
I don't think this is correct. Garbage collection is a technique of freeing up memory no longer used by a program, completely unrelated to speculative execution and the Spectre/Meltdown exploits... [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 07:34, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

Apple products execute any code printed over a photo of a dog with a saddle and a baby riding it.
... This "bug" would not only require the device to figure out specifically what the photo contains image-wise, something that's REALLY HARD for computers to do reliably, it would also require OCR (Optical Character Recognition) type code to convert the text superimposed on the photo into executable code. In other words, it's hard to believe in 2018 that such a bug could exist. Maybe in the future when such things are more routine...? ...
The funny thing is that I don't think it's beyond the realm of plausibility. Given the fact that modern operating systems try to index as much as possible, for faster searches, it seems logical that some OS (if not now, then in the future) would try to run OCR against every image and video in order to index whatever text it finds (much like how YouTube auto-generates captions by running speech-recognition over the entire soundtrack). Ditto for more generic image recognition to identify and index the picture content. A system that does this could easily end up with a bug (or back door) where certain kinds of image content result in an attempt to execute its OCR results as code. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 15:03, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

Does anyone think the 'I before E' could be a stab at Apple, in reference to Internet Explorer?{{unsigned|Comment Police}}

While it is true that part of the plot of the movie "Air Bud" was that there was nothing in the rules to prevent a dog joining a basketball team, I suspect that the recent attempt to run a dog as candidate for governor of Kansas was more on Randal's mind than a 20+ year old movie that (at most) a few million people saw when it was released.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.16|162.158.78.16]] 05:27, 22 February 2018 (UTC)
: Actually, I find AirBud has become more of a thing to reference than a movie to watch. I believe the idea has been recycled a few times (a dog playing football, I think a dog playing baseball), yet it's AirBud, the original, that's always getting referenced (okay, "always" is an overstatement, but still). At the very least I know Randall has referenced it a few times, sometimes by name, enough times that I'd say it's safe to say AirBud is on his list of favourite references. If anything, this dog governor sounds obscure enough that he may not have heard about it, making the AirBud reference more likely, though being wacky politics I wouldn't be surprised if he's well aware, either. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:49, 23 February 2018 (UTC)

Is it just me, or does it feel like the "hack via edit box" thing feel like a reference to us? I mean, not only can this site be added to like that, it's the only one I know of and visit where you can do so without having an account. Seems perfect as the target of that particular one. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:55, 23 February 2018 (UTC)
: The only one? So I guess you don't go on wikipedia much. --[[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 08:49, 23 March 2018 (UTC)

Is it notable that the bugs gradually become more and more trivial except where an Apple device is involved, where they progressively get both more worrying and more impossible to accomplish? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.95|108.162.221.95]] 05:37, 23 March 2018 (UTC)

1943: Universal Dreams

2018-02-06T23:35:51Z

Daniel Case: /* Explanation */ italicize

{{comic
| number = 1943
| date = January 17, 2018
| title = Universal Dreams
| image = universal_dreams.png
| titletext = "That's ... unsettling." "Yeah, those definitely don't sound like the normal drea– ＬＡＴＩＴＵＤＥＴＨＲＥＥＦＩＶＥＰＯＩＮＴ..."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Can someone check whether the clayton movie is actually a reference? Seems to me the nightmare explanation is more relevant.}}

The first and second panel are a discussion between [[Megan]] and [[Ponytail]] about {{w|Dream|dreams}}. Megan mentions a dream or nightmare about failing to prepare for an exam despite not being a student for years. This is similar to the dream depicted in [[557: Students]]. Ponytail responds that certain dreams occur with surprising frequency among many people, dubbing them "Universal Dreams" (which is the title of the comic). Universal dreams are dreams that are weirdly common, as also abused in [[719: Brain Worms]].

In the third panel, [[Black Hat]] describes an avatar of misfortune in the form of a horse appearing on a hill. This could be a play on the word {{w|Nightmare|nightmare}}. A {{w|Mare_(folklore)|mare}} was originally a demon or goblin that gave bad dreams. The modern word {{w|Mare#Etymology|mare}}, meaning female horse, has a different origin, but still serves handily as a {{w|Pun#Homophonic|homophonic pun}}.

Alternatively, this may be a reference to [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465538/ 2007 film ''Michael Clayton''], which features a dream like sequence where the title character recognizes a scene of three horses on a hilltop from an illustration in a book. He stops his car, gets out and approaches the horses just minutes before his car explodes. This marks a major turning point in the direction Clayton takes for the rest of the film, similar to how Black Hat says "[the horses] mean the dream is about to turn bad."

In the last panel, Black Hat describes having dreams where he receives specific information about the real-world, which seems closer to {{w|List_of_dreams#Prophetic_dreams|prophesying}} or {{w|Precognition#In_dreams|precognition}} than what would be considered a normal dream, as normal dreams do not tell the future.{{Citation needed}} This may be a reference to the [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448011/ 2009 film ''Knowing''] where a child hears voices telling her the date, time, latitude and longitude of major disasters (including earthquakes) that will occur 50 years in the future.

In the title text, either [[Megan]] or [[Ponytail]] is responding to Black Hat when she unexpectedly interrupts herself with the first part of geographic coordinates (Latitude 35) just as Black Hat described, implying that the whole comic might be another of Black Hat's dreams. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/35th_parallel_north 35 degrees North] would include 31 major cities around the world, including 11 in Japan and 8 in the USA (including California, a seismically active region); the only major city within [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/35th_parallel_south 35 degrees South] is Canberra, Australia. This would suggest that an earthquake would happen soon in one of those major cities. The second half of the coordinates are most likely cut off to add uncertainty to the situation.

==Transcript==

:[Megan, Ponytail, and Black Hat are standing around.]
:Megan: I've been out of school for years, but I still get those dreams where I have an exam and I didn't prepare.

:[Ponytail shrugs.]
:Ponytail: I think that's one of those weird universal dreams— like forgetting your clothes or discovering rooms in your house you didn't know about.

:[Zoom-in on Black Hat.]
:Black Hat: Yeah! Or when you're having a normal dream, but then a horse appears on a distant hilltop, and it means that the dream is about to turn bad!
:Ponytail or Megan (off-screen): I... What?
:Black Hat: I have that one like every night.

:[Megan and Ponytail look at Black Hat.]
:Black Hat: Or those ones where you're talking to someone, and they start repeating a latitude and longitude over and over, and then you wake up that morning and there's an earthquake there.
:Black Hat: Haha, dreams, right? So weird!

==Trivia==
Dreaming of latitude and longitude was also a topic of [[240: Dream Girl]], but in contrast to this comic, the events in that dream did not come true within the comic. (However, a real-life meetup of xkcd fans occurred at the location and date mentioned within the comic.)

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Dreams]]

Talk:1948: Campaign Fundraising Emails

2018-02-06T23:12:31Z

Daniel Case: another possible precedent

can someone make a table with all the emails and an explanation column? I'm shit at formatting. [[User:DPS2004|DPS2004'); DROP TABLE users;--]] ([[User talk:DPS2004|talk]]) 16:38, 29 January 2018 (UTC)
: Relevant username? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.83|172.68.58.83]] 17:42, 29 January 2018 (UTC)
:: Actually more based on Exploits of a mom [[User:DPS2004|DPS2004'); DROP TABLE users;--]] ([[User talk:DPS2004|talk]]) 15:05, 30 January 2018 (UTC)
ActBlue is a political action committee aimed at helping people on the internet raise money for the Democratic party - there is no Jennifer ActBlue Heir to the ActBlue fortune. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.40|172.68.174.40]] 17:14, 29 January 2018 (UTC)Daniel Macintyre
:That's what Jennifer wants you to think.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.122.12|162.158.122.12]] 17:23, 29 January 2018 (UTC)

It's interesting to note that for three of the emails, the subject isn't bolded, indicating that those emails were read. All three refer to female candidates [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 17:20, 29 January 2018 (UTC)
: Are we sure those are subject lines? I don't usually write or get emails where the subject line flows seamlessly into the contents like this. (Not sure what else they could be, of course.) Also, the lack of bold text could indicate an email without a subject line. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.220|162.158.78.220]] 18:54, 29 January 2018 (UTC)
:: I had actually initially taken the bold text as having being tweaked to emphasize those words, or that they were bold in the email, and that the emails which didn't were actual interesting and legitimate messages. :) Of course that would leave these emails without subjects, so the bold text being subjects makes more sense, and the lack of bold is just without a subject. As for part of the email starting after the subject, I think I've seen that. I know different email providers and programs show things differently. I have my email setup to only show subjects when I'm in my Inbox like this, but I've also seen ones where there's a couple of lines of preview. Perhaps Randall just has his to show only 1 line of subject and preview. If I cared about having a preview in my Inbox I'd set it that way, to save space. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:20, 30 January 2018 (UTC)
::: The default Gmail inbox view looks more or less like this - albeit there's a dash separating subject and body, and if there's no subject it displays "(no subject)". [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.244|141.101.98.244]] 17:08, 31 January 2018 (UTC)

I'm guessing the $35.57 may have been related to a recent Jimquisition episode focusing on this ad: https://youtu.be/Tu3rwf27VRE [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 21:13, 29 January 2018 (UTC)

Some of these scenarios are especially hilarious to me!
:1) When Amy decided to run for Congress, I was like "Huh?" but I checked Wikipedia, and apparently it's a branch of...
:Who needs to know anything when we have Wikipedia?
:2) I will lead the fight against the big banks, special interests, the Earth's climate, and our children. I...
:Won't someone please think of the children? (Those little !#$!%#^$^s!) [Edited slightly, because they are really horrid when they have at-signs in their expletives.]
:3) Whoops. Due to a typo, we spent months running attack ads against Tom Hanks. Now, we need to make up for...
:Yay, automation!
:4) Our campaign's only chance is to seduce Jennifer Actblue, heir to the Actblue fortune. For that, we need a fancy...
:That is just what we need: a candidate with a fresh approach. Will he get slapped?
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.154|108.162.216.154]] 21:30, 29 January 2018 (UTC) Gene Wirchenko genew@telus.net
: The wiki screwed up your nice legible formatting, LOL! Looks great in the edit box, a little confusing once submitted (I've noticed the wiki ignores a single New Line, unless followed by a colon) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:20, 30 January 2018 (UTC)
:: I have just repaired the formatting. The wiki had also interpreted my faux expletive as an E-mail address (and protected it). Mr. Munroe needs to do a strip on how computers "help" us like this. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.154|108.162.216.154]] 06:23, 30 January 2018 (UTC) Gene Wirchenko genew@telus.net

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that the wording of the message starting "Hopeless" is deliberately written in the style of Donald Trump's tweets? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.41|108.162.250.41]] 02:01, 30 January 2018 (UTC)

Right now there's a double Incomplete message, with one asking for contact information in case someone wants to actually donate to one of these campaigns... Is it just me, or does this in fact NOT IDENTIFY ANYBODY? As in, there's nobody to donate TO! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:20, 30 January 2018 (UTC)

Note that the "Doom" email says "Where is the horse and the rider" not "Where now the horse and the rider," and also skips several lines in the middle of the poem. It's quoting the Peter Jackson movie, not the book. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.185|172.69.70.185]] 05:43, 30 January 2018 (UTC)
: It looks like you're correct (as indicated on the linked TolkienGateway page). I do wonder what the sender's address was supposed to be, though. Perhaps [mailto:theoden@royalhouse.rh theoden@royalhouse.rh]? ;-) --[[User:IByte|IByte]] ([[User talk:IByte|talk]]) 10:30, 31 January 2018 (UTC)
: And the beginning of Tolkien's ubi sunt, and the first question of Doom are both translations of the Wanderer 'Hwær cwom mearg? Hwær cwom mago?' --[[User:Richardelguru]]

I know what Ford's controversial comment was: it was characterised by The New York Times as "FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD". [[Special:Contributions/162.158.165.190|162.158.165.190]] 07:09, 30 January 2018 (UTC)

The comment about the establishment not taking Hitler seriously might be referring to that "the powers that be" in pre-Nazi Germany thought they could control Hitler and use his popularity to their advantage. We all know how this plan worked out. --[[User:LordHorst|LordHorst]] ([[User talk:LordHorst|talk]]) 10:16, 30 January 2018 (UTC)

Having read it before, I still laughed more at the linked "Bushism" Wikipedia page than at today's comic. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.25.208|172.68.25.208]] 12:29, 30 January 2018 (UTC)

Having that my college does some fund-raising events, I have seen some of the mails like this being displayed on my lecturer's laptop, so I find it relatable.Boeing-787lover 13:24, 30 January 2018 (UTC)

I'm trying to figure out what the typo was in the Tom Hanks attack ads. Perhaps they attacked Big Hanks instead of Big Banks? -- [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.46|172.68.34.46]] 17:50, 30 January 2018 (UTC)

: Or perhaps the opponent's real name was Tim Hanks, or Tom Henks, or something else similar? -- [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.148|108.162.215.148]] 22:10, 30 January 2018 (UTC)

The "They say we can't win ..." email may also be a reference to [http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/post-ad-campaign-2/2870449?snl=1 this SNL campaign ad parody] with Will Ferrell and Chris Parnell, which takes the opposite approach ... Ferrell has already ''won'' the election, but insists on continuing to hound his opponent about the questions he'd raised in his attack ad, continuing the sarcastic use of quotes ("He says the election is 'over' and that he 'lost'") often seen in real attack ads and the parody here. [[User:Daniel Case|Daniel Case]] ([[User talk:Daniel Case|talk]]) 23:12, 6 February 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1093: Forget

2012-08-14T21:22:27Z

Daniel Case: New Coke clarification

How far off the top of that list is the death of JFK? [[User:SteveBell|SteveB]] ([[User talk:SteveBell|talk]]) 10:55, 10 August 2012‎ (UTC)
: Looking at the time table, my guess would be around 2000. ~[[User:Jjhuddle|JJ]] ([[User talk:Jjhuddle|talk]]) 11:01, 10 August 2012‎ (UTC)
: Assuming that the median age growed monotonically in the past, that was around '98/'99. [[Special:Contributions/178.15.226.170|178.15.226.170]] 13:05, 14 August 2012 (UTC)

Ah, the seventies. Bell Bottoms. The Bicentennial. The Munich Olympics. The original Star Wars movie. Except for Star Wars, I suppose much of that ''could'' be forgotten. Especially {{explain|1072|Bell Bottoms}}.-- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 13:50, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

Lorena Bobbitt is misspelled in the comic. It should have two "t's." Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500185_162-4207517.html [Goingtotryscience, 10 Aug 2012] --[[User:Goingtotryscience|Goingtotryscience]] ([[User talk:Goingtotryscience|talk]]) 14:59, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

The cold war was after World War II, not World War I. --[[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 16:18, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

: He didn't say the cold war was after World War I, he said the Soviet Union began after World War I and was the advesary of the United States during the cold war. --[[User:Enginesoul|Enginesoul]] ([[User talk:Enginesoul|talk]]) 18:10, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

Let's not forget 2035 when the majority of people will not remember a world berift of XKCD! [[User:Loeb|Loeb]] ([[User talk:Loeb|talk]]) 17:17, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

When Coca-Cola change the formula to New Coke, they kept the name "Coca-Cola" for the reformulated beverage, and discontinued the old formula. Because of the backlash, they reintroduced the old formula as "Coca-Cola Classic" and kept the new formula as "Coca-Cola". After a while, with "Coca-Cola Classic" being by far the biggest seller, the new formula was rebranded "Coke II", and eventually discontinued (I believe). The can I have in front of me is marked simply "Coca-Cola", so I guess "Coca-Cola Classic" was eventually rebranded back to the original name. --[[User:Blaisepascal|Blaise Pascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 17:55, 10 August 2012 (UTC)
:Coke II was produced and distributed in some Midwestern markets as late as 2002. Supposedly it's still available in the Marshall Islands, or somewhere like that. [[User:Daniel Case|Daniel Case]] ([[User talk:Daniel Case|talk]]) 21:22, 14 August 2012 (UTC)

Am I the only one who thinks that there are some other things needing explaining here? I have no idea what "Forgot About Dre" or "Baby Got Back" are about. (Well, not without a little googling.) And Pluto still exists, even if it's not currently classified as a planet (last I heard, they were considering classifying it and Charon as a twin planet system) so people are unlikely to forget about the name.--[[User:Joe Green|Joe Green]] ([[User talk:Joe Green|talk]]) 07:26, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

Oh and if Chernobyl is considered worthy of explanation, surely so is Challenger? Columbine too. Jeff's initial selection seems a little arbitrary, and while he justifiably never claims to provide a comprehensive explanation, we usually fill in the gaps.--[[User:Joe Green|Joe Green]] ([[User talk:Joe Green|talk]]) 07:34, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

:Gaps: Filled. By the way, none of the explanation was actually Jeff's. It's the collaboration of multiple users (feel free to pitch in). For example, I made the {{diff|6133|first revision}} of the article, with a basic explanation, [[Special:Contributions/Jjhuddle|Jjhuddle]] {{diff|6157|added}} information about the title text (which I skipped over, as I wasn't sure about it), [[Special:Contributions/Jilkscom56|Jilkscom56]] {{diff|6190|added}} the bit about Eyjafjallajökull, [[Special:Contributions/IronyChef|IronyChef]] {{diff|6199|added}} eight more years, [[Special:Contributions/MrFlibble|MrFlibble]] {{diff|6218|fixed}} an error in one of the dates, [[Special:Contributions/AHT|AHT]] {{diff|6253|expanded}} the Berlin Wall section, and I {{diff|6256|filled in the rest of the blanks}}. {{User:Omega/sig}} 08:18, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

The Berlin Wall was constructed by East Germany, not the USSR and it preceded the reunification of Germany. I've sort of fixed it, but it could do with more work. [[User:Jeremyp|Jeremyp]] ([[User talk:Jeremyp|talk]]) 10:35, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
: Good. I was just writing a comment about exactly these two points. Although the role of the soviets is not entirely clear, it was the Eastern German (aka German Democratic Republic) Government that decided and (mostly) Eastern German soldiers who built the Wall. And while the "Fall of the Wall" usually refers to the day where suddenly after a very confusing press conference, people could cross the border from east to west, the November 9, 1989, the reunification was a political and formal act in 1990, almost a year later. [[Special:Contributions/178.15.226.170|178.15.226.170]] 10:51, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
: Also, the wall was technically not torn down by anyone and especially not from both sides. After a series of weekly demonstrations in Eastern Germany (by a lot of courageous people in different cities), the Government made a decision to lift the travel restrictions, effectively allowing travelling to the West. On November 9, 1989, they made this official in a press conference which did not even receive a lot of attention at first. In this conference, someone raised the question when these new regulation would take effect, and seemingly unprepared, the speaker said "as far as I can see, it's effective immediately". Although there were so many people up that night in both East and West, and although maybe the mass of people prevented a shooting by the unprepared soldiers at the checkpoint, the revolution was not a spontaneous tearing of the wall, it was the demonstrations in the preceeding weeks by the Eastern German People. [[Special:Contributions/178.15.226.170|178.15.226.170]] 11:30, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

It seems whoever wrote the explanation for 9/11 has already forgotten the other two planes that crashed that day: one into the Pentagon, and one in a field outside of Shanksville, PA (Presumably on its way to crashing into the Capitol Building)

Actually I found the most crucial part, the math, was done poorly: Why do we have a 32 years gap today and a 35 years gap in the future, when the current median age is "around 35"?. I fixed it, but I'm not a native speaker, so I'd be happy if someone could go over the first paragraph (again). [[User:BKA|BKA]] ([[User talk:BKA|talk]]) 13:40, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

"''He lost all popularity after he controversially boycotted the 1980 Olympics, in Moscow''" Well, this just proves the point of the comic. Anyone old enough to remember the Carter administration would not have written this. The Olympic boycott was actually supported by most of the American people at the time, albeit a little grudgingly. It was, in fact, one of the few things Carter did at that point that ''was'' popular.The explanation would be more accurate if it read "''He lost popularity due to continual high inflation during his administration, failure to resolve the {{w|Iran hostage crisis}}, a {{w|Malaise speech|speech that was interpreted as blaming the American people for his administration's failings}}, and a growing perception that he was in over his head.''" [[User:Daniel Case|Daniel Case]] ([[User talk:Daniel Case|talk]]) 21:19, 14 August 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1093: Forget

2012-08-14T21:19:56Z

Daniel Case: Olympic boycott had little to do with Carter being unpopular

How far off the top of that list is the death of JFK? [[User:SteveBell|SteveB]] ([[User talk:SteveBell|talk]]) 10:55, 10 August 2012‎ (UTC)
: Looking at the time table, my guess would be around 2000. ~[[User:Jjhuddle|JJ]] ([[User talk:Jjhuddle|talk]]) 11:01, 10 August 2012‎ (UTC)
: Assuming that the median age growed monotonically in the past, that was around '98/'99. [[Special:Contributions/178.15.226.170|178.15.226.170]] 13:05, 14 August 2012 (UTC)

Ah, the seventies. Bell Bottoms. The Bicentennial. The Munich Olympics. The original Star Wars movie. Except for Star Wars, I suppose much of that ''could'' be forgotten. Especially {{explain|1072|Bell Bottoms}}.-- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 13:50, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

Lorena Bobbitt is misspelled in the comic. It should have two "t's." Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500185_162-4207517.html [Goingtotryscience, 10 Aug 2012] --[[User:Goingtotryscience|Goingtotryscience]] ([[User talk:Goingtotryscience|talk]]) 14:59, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

The cold war was after World War II, not World War I. --[[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 16:18, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

: He didn't say the cold war was after World War I, he said the Soviet Union began after World War I and was the advesary of the United States during the cold war. --[[User:Enginesoul|Enginesoul]] ([[User talk:Enginesoul|talk]]) 18:10, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

Let's not forget 2035 when the majority of people will not remember a world berift of XKCD! [[User:Loeb|Loeb]] ([[User talk:Loeb|talk]]) 17:17, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

When Coca-Cola change the formula to New Coke, they kept the name "Coca-Cola" for the reformulated beverage, and discontinued the old formula. Because of the backlash, they reintroduced the old formula as "Coca-Cola Classic" and kept the new formula as "Coca-Cola". After a while, with "Coca-Cola Classic" being by far the biggest seller, the new formula was rebranded "Coke II", and eventually discontinued (I believe). The can I have in front of me is marked simply "Coca-Cola", so I guess "Coca-Cola Classic" was eventually rebranded back to the original name. --[[User:Blaisepascal|Blaise Pascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 17:55, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

Am I the only one who thinks that there are some other things needing explaining here? I have no idea what "Forgot About Dre" or "Baby Got Back" are about. (Well, not without a little googling.) And Pluto still exists, even if it's not currently classified as a planet (last I heard, they were considering classifying it and Charon as a twin planet system) so people are unlikely to forget about the name.--[[User:Joe Green|Joe Green]] ([[User talk:Joe Green|talk]]) 07:26, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

Oh and if Chernobyl is considered worthy of explanation, surely so is Challenger? Columbine too. Jeff's initial selection seems a little arbitrary, and while he justifiably never claims to provide a comprehensive explanation, we usually fill in the gaps.--[[User:Joe Green|Joe Green]] ([[User talk:Joe Green|talk]]) 07:34, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

:Gaps: Filled. By the way, none of the explanation was actually Jeff's. It's the collaboration of multiple users (feel free to pitch in). For example, I made the {{diff|6133|first revision}} of the article, with a basic explanation, [[Special:Contributions/Jjhuddle|Jjhuddle]] {{diff|6157|added}} information about the title text (which I skipped over, as I wasn't sure about it), [[Special:Contributions/Jilkscom56|Jilkscom56]] {{diff|6190|added}} the bit about Eyjafjallajökull, [[Special:Contributions/IronyChef|IronyChef]] {{diff|6199|added}} eight more years, [[Special:Contributions/MrFlibble|MrFlibble]] {{diff|6218|fixed}} an error in one of the dates, [[Special:Contributions/AHT|AHT]] {{diff|6253|expanded}} the Berlin Wall section, and I {{diff|6256|filled in the rest of the blanks}}. {{User:Omega/sig}} 08:18, 11 August 2012 (UTC)

The Berlin Wall was constructed by East Germany, not the USSR and it preceded the reunification of Germany. I've sort of fixed it, but it could do with more work. [[User:Jeremyp|Jeremyp]] ([[User talk:Jeremyp|talk]]) 10:35, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
: Good. I was just writing a comment about exactly these two points. Although the role of the soviets is not entirely clear, it was the Eastern German (aka German Democratic Republic) Government that decided and (mostly) Eastern German soldiers who built the Wall. And while the "Fall of the Wall" usually refers to the day where suddenly after a very confusing press conference, people could cross the border from east to west, the November 9, 1989, the reunification was a political and formal act in 1990, almost a year later. [[Special:Contributions/178.15.226.170|178.15.226.170]] 10:51, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
: Also, the wall was technically not torn down by anyone and especially not from both sides. After a series of weekly demonstrations in Eastern Germany (by a lot of courageous people in different cities), the Government made a decision to lift the travel restrictions, effectively allowing travelling to the West. On November 9, 1989, they made this official in a press conference which did not even receive a lot of attention at first. In this conference, someone raised the question when these new regulation would take effect, and seemingly unprepared, the speaker said "as far as I can see, it's effective immediately". Although there were so many people up that night in both East and West, and although maybe the mass of people prevented a shooting by the unprepared soldiers at the checkpoint, the revolution was not a spontaneous tearing of the wall, it was the demonstrations in the preceeding weeks by the Eastern German People. [[Special:Contributions/178.15.226.170|178.15.226.170]] 11:30, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

It seems whoever wrote the explanation for 9/11 has already forgotten the other two planes that crashed that day: one into the Pentagon, and one in a field outside of Shanksville, PA (Presumably on its way to crashing into the Capitol Building)

Actually I found the most crucial part, the math, was done poorly: Why do we have a 32 years gap today and a 35 years gap in the future, when the current median age is "around 35"?. I fixed it, but I'm not a native speaker, so I'd be happy if someone could go over the first paragraph (again). [[User:BKA|BKA]] ([[User talk:BKA|talk]]) 13:40, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

"''He lost all popularity after he controversially boycotted the 1980 Olympics, in Moscow''" Well, this just proves the point of the comic. Anyone old enough to remember the Carter administration would not have written this. The Olympic boycott was actually supported by most of the American people at the time, albeit a little grudgingly. It was, in fact, one of the few things Carter did at that point that ''was'' popular.The explanation would be more accurate if it read "''He lost popularity due to continual high inflation during his administration, failure to resolve the {{w|Iran hostage crisis}}, a {{w|Malaise speech|speech that was interpreted as blaming the American people for his administration's failings}}, and a growing perception that he was in over his head.''" [[User:Daniel Case|Daniel Case]] ([[User talk:Daniel Case|talk]]) 21:19, 14 August 2012 (UTC)