explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1375: Astronaut Vandalism

2014-05-30T15:39:57Z

Erenan: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1375
| date = May 30, 2014
| title = Astronaut Vandalism
| image = astronaut_vandalism.png
| titletext = That night, retired USAF pilots covertly replaced the '62' with '50'.
}}

==Explanation==
Signs like this normally show the distance to places on earth's surface. This sign also has an arrow pointing away from earth and towards "space", with a distance of 62 miles (100 km), due to "astronaut vandalism". The title text states that the distance to "space" was changed later from 62 miles (100 km) to 50 miles (80 km) by retired Air Force pilots. This indicates that the pilots wanted to reduce the altitude considered to be "space", so that their own high altitude flights could be considered space flights.

The {{W|U.S. Air Force}} will award {{W|astronaut wings}} to rated officers who fly higher than 62 miles, because the {{W|World Air Sports Federation}} (FAI) in the mid 1950s designated the 100-kilometer {{W|Karman Line}} (62 miles) as the official boundary between the {{W|Earth's atmosphere}} and {{W|outer space}}. In the 1960s, however, it was enough to fly above 50 miles to earn the wings and seven pilots earned them like this. This explains why it was retired pilots who changed the sign - so their wings would still be valid.

We think of Space as being so very far away. This comic puts into perspective that it's really a lot closer to get to Space than to many destinations we're used to getting to by car or airplane. We think of 62 miles as being an easy trip on the ground, but that same 62 miles is incredibly hard when going vertically, against the force of gravity. Distance-wise, however, it's the same.

See [http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2004/09/where_does_space_begin.html Slate: Where does space begin?] for more background.

This comic was published on the same day that Version 2 of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_(spacecraft) Dragon spaceship] was unveiled.

There may be an Elvis aspect to this comic. The mileages are approximately consistent with the signs being in Tupelo, Mississippi, birthplace of Elvis Presley. Tupelo is about 100 miles from Graceland (Elvis' home) in Memphis, Tennessee. Tupelo is also a bit over a hundred miles from the International Rock-A-Billy Hall of Fame in Jackson, Tennessee. The mileages given by Google maps, however, don't exactly match the mileages on the sign in the comic. Instead of 98 & 115 (in the comic), Google maps gives 101 & 104.

Another possible explanation is a simple mixup. {{W|Winona, Mississippi}} is the hometown of astronaut {{W|Donald H. Peterson}}, who is a retired Air Force officer and pilot, and served as an astronaut in the early Shuttle program. From Winona, it is 115 miles to Memphis International Airport, and 98 miles to Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport ([http://www.travelmath.com/nearest-airport/Winona,+MS source]). Thus, the sign would be reasonably located in Winona, albeit with an error, and Peterson would have vandalized it (and some visiting USAF buddy of his could change it back).

The road from Jackson to Memphis is I-55 (northwards); the distance (according to [https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=jackson&daddr=memphis&hl=en&sll=33.137551,-89.802246&sspn=8.955085,10.338135&geocode=FQXX7AEdluOf-ikhG3SQfysohjGgOPBB5M0TBw%3BFd5WGAIdLPah-ilFl0PqHn7VhzH-thpgFfOT0Q&t=h&mra=ls&z=8 Google Maps]) is 210 miles. That 98+115=213 may indicate that the location is 3 miles off I-55. There is a place called "Pace" near Cleveland which is around 79 miles from Winona. The "astronaut vandalism" may have been to prefix "Pace" with an "s" to form "sPace", and then to rotate the sign. The spacing on the signs in the cartoon is consistent with the idea that the "s" was added; it is a little cramped. The "P" of "space", "M" of "Memphis" and "J" of "Jackson" are perhaps a little larger than the other letters, indicating that those might have been the original initial majuscule letters.

Based purely on the mileages, it is most likely that the sign is located in or near Grenada, MS. This makes the mileages nearly correct when using US-51 as opposed to I-55 to get to Memphis and Jackson, and also is about 62 miles from Pace, MS via Mississippi Route 8. It is unlikely, however, that a sign in Grenada would include the mileage to such a small town as Pace from such a great distance. Cleveland would be a much more useful control city for motorists. Additionally, since the viewer is looking east, Pace would be behind the viewer. Assuming the one doing the vandalism did more than simply turn and add a letter to the sign, it is possible that they also detached it from the southbound-side of the pole (where it could be viewed pointing to the west) and reattached it to the eastbound side, as shown here.

The Memphis mileage may be a reference to {{W|Windows 98}}, which was internally codenamed Memphis whilst in development at {{W|Microsoft}}.

==Transcript==
:[A signpost with three arrows.]
:[Arrow pointing up:]
:Space 62
:[Arrow pointing right:]
:Jackson 115
:[Arrow pointing left:]
:Memphis 98

{{comic discussion}}

312: With Apologies to Robert Frost

2014-05-14T17:06:37Z

Erenan: /* Removed "But he was a poet." */

{{comic
| number = 312
| date = September 5, 2007
| title = With Apologies to Robert Frost
| image = with apologies to robert frost.png
| titletext = Some say the world will end in fire; some say in segfaults.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic presents a poem about a god's dilemma of whether to create the world using {{w|Perl}} or {{w|Lisp (programming language)|Lisp}}, two popular computer programming languages. The god has chosen to write it in Perl but since then appears to lament the choice, apparently expressing that if given the chance to write the world's code again, he or she or it would use Lisp instead.

The implication is that a universe created by Lisp would look better under close examination, the 'founding myth' referred to in the poem. Instead of an incomprehensible big bang, inflation, dark matter and dark energy, the elegance of Lisp may have lead to more elegantly framed laws of nature.

The grammar of Lisp as a language requires the programmer to use a multitude of parentheses, and in many cases it can be difficult to determine whether all of the parentheses have been properly matched up to one another. The last two lines of the poem refer to the plentiful parentheses in Lisp, and the image at the bottom of the panel shows a close-parenthesis at the supposed end of the Universe.

A segmentation fault, also commonly called a segfault, is an error that occurs when a computer program attempts to access computer memory to which it should not have access. This is a fatal error that will cause the program to stop executing.

This comic deals with similar subject matter to #[[224: Lisp]], in which one of "the gods" claims that although the Universe may appear to have been written in Lisp, it was actually written mostly using Perl.

The poem itself and the title text are a parody of "[http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/fire-and-ice/ Fire and Ice]," written by Robert Frost and first published in 1920. In this poem, the speaker discusses his stance in the debate on whether the world will be destroyed in fire or in ice. "A God's Lament" has a rhyme scheme that is nearly identical to that of Frost's poem. However, it differs in that "Lisp" does not rhyme with "men," "again," and "paren," while the corresponding four lines in Frost's poem do rhyme.

==Transcript==
:A God's Lament
:Some said the world should be in Perl;
:Some said in Lisp.
:Now, having given both a whirl,
:I held with those who favored Perl.
:But I fear we passed to men
:A disappointing founding myth,
:And should we write it all again,
:I'd end it with
:A close-paren.

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

Talk:104: Find You

2014-05-14T16:53:54Z

Erenan:

Why does the image show upside down?
[[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 12:32, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
:No idea, I tried to upload a new version that shows right-side up on my computer and it is still upside down. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:52, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
::I've corrected it now. Had to resave the file and then upload again. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:54, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
Could this comic refer back to 98: Fall Apart? [[Special:Contributions/24.121.109.157|24.121.109.157]] 03:34, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

There is nothing in the text to indicate that the loved one is a 'she' (or a 'he' for that matter) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.128|108.162.225.128]] 02:09, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

:True, but the reason the sought after person is presumed to be a woman is because it is implied that Cueball is motivated by love and xkcd's typical depiction of romantic love is heterosexual. It is, of course, certainly possible that the person sought after is loved in a non-romantic sense, but romantic love seemed most plausible to me. This was the reason for the sentence "It is not explicitly made clear whether the loved one in question is a woman with whom he is in love, a family member, or a relation of some other kind, but presumably the loved one is either his girlfriend or wife." The use of "she" throughout the rest of the explanation was done from this perspective. That is, under the assumption that it was the most plausible explanation. [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 16:53, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1139: Rubber and Glue

2012-11-26T20:22:50Z

Erenan:

I am not a native speaker, but after some research, I found that rubber/glue refers to the rhyme "I am rubber, you are glue, whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you." If that's true, the current explanation that the topos is meant "to imply that insults of another person are an indication of their own insecurity and weakness" is just plain wrong. [[User:BKA|BKA]] ([[User talk:BKA|talk]]) 15:51, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
*It's really not wrong, it's just a clarification. [[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 19:43, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

The in-joke here is presumably that CRC stands (or stood?) for the Chemical Rubber Company, and the handbook - found in many a physics and chemistry lab - is often referred to as the "Rubber Bible".
[[Special:Contributions/131.251.254.81|131.251.254.81]] 16:07, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

Of note is probably that the book young black hat is reading is known as the "Rubber Bible". From wikipedia: The CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics is in its 93rd edition. It is sometimes nicknamed the 'Rubber Bible' or the 'Rubber Book', as CRC originally stood for "Chemical Rubber Company". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRC_Handbook_of_Chemistry_and_Physics

As an aside, this is the first time Black Hat has ever been referred to by a name of any kind. Should we consider calling him "Hatman" now? --[[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 19:43, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
:The transcript calls him Black Hat. Hatboy is only what the bullies were calling him in an effort to make fun of him. [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 20:22, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1135: Arachnoneurology

2012-11-19T16:40:02Z

Erenan:

Somehow, I don't believe that ANY object would make the spiders to weave something so thick as a usable shirt. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:26, 16 November 2012 (UTC)
:Maybe he arranged the fork thing so that broken and falling spiderwebs would fall in just the right way to form a shirt. It's possible. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 09:38, 16 November 2012 (UTC)
:It's beret guy. The same guy with endless wings. What do you expect? [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 13:46, 16 November 2012 (UTC)

However, something similar is used by Canadian artist Aganetha Dyck to persuade bees to create art on forms. An example here: http://inspiration-of-the-nation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Aganetha-Dyck-bee-art.jpg Noni Mausa {{unsigned|64.254.188.208}}

It looks more like a sweater to me. [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 14:16, 16 November 2012 (UTC)

I came across the {{w|effect_of_psychoactive_drugs_on_animals|Effect of psychoactive drugs on animals}} once while researching caffeine and now is the PERFECT time to share. Spiders are right up front. [[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 16:49, 16 November 2012 (UTC)
:That's super interesting! Thanks for sharing! It's interesting that the article suggests that in contrast to the other drugs, LSD actually caused the spiders to build even more ordered webs than before. [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 16:39, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

I would think that arachnoarachnology would be the study of how spiders study spiders. Or the study of spiders by spiders. [[User:Bugefun|Bugefun]] ([[User talk:Bugefun|talk]]) 04:50, 17 November 2012 (UTC)

Bugefun: That puzzled me too--does "arachno" have some alternate meaning there, or is he just implying that the study of spiders by spiders involves far too many spiders? [[Special:Contributions/128.252.102.199|128.252.102.199]] 12:33, 18 November 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1135: Arachnoneurology

2012-11-19T16:39:06Z

Erenan:

Somehow, I don't believe that ANY object would make the spiders to weave something so thick as a usable shirt. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:26, 16 November 2012 (UTC)
:Maybe he arranged the fork thing so that broken and falling spiderwebs would fall in just the right way to form a shirt. It's possible. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 09:38, 16 November 2012 (UTC)
:It's beret guy. The same guy with endless wings. What do you expect? [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 13:46, 16 November 2012 (UTC)

However, something similar is used by Canadian artist Aganetha Dyck to persuade bees to create art on forms. An example here: http://inspiration-of-the-nation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Aganetha-Dyck-bee-art.jpg Noni Mausa {{unsigned|64.254.188.208}}

It looks more like a sweater to me. [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 14:16, 16 November 2012 (UTC)

I came across the {{w|effect_of_psychoactive_drugs_on_animals|Effect of psychoactive drugs on animals}} once while researching caffeine and now is the PERFECT time to share. Spiders are right up front. [[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 16:49, 16 November 2012 (UTC)
:That's super interesting! Thanks for sharing! [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 16:39, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

I would think that arachnoarachnology would be the study of how spiders study spiders. Or the study of spiders by spiders. [[User:Bugefun|Bugefun]] ([[User talk:Bugefun|talk]]) 04:50, 17 November 2012 (UTC)

Bugefun: That puzzled me too--does "arachno" have some alternate meaning there, or is he just implying that the study of spiders by spiders involves far too many spiders? [[Special:Contributions/128.252.102.199|128.252.102.199]] 12:33, 18 November 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1121: Identity

2012-11-02T00:00:45Z

Erenan:

He could also be bothered by her willingness to give away the password so easily. Anyone who has spent a sufficient amount of time with the character would have an idea of the things he's interested in. The image text supports it a little by saying how anyone he knows would be aware that he acts like that. [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 08:57, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

They could also be using a version of Google Wave or some such IM... It was possible to view realtime what the others were typing on the window. Then Megan would be able to interrupt Cueball easily.

Notably, although the characters appear to be communicating by way of text (whether SMS, or some instant messaging protocol), Megan should not be able to interrupt Cueball. Text-based messages do not typically stream in realtime as they are typed. She wouldn't be able to read his message until he completed it and sent it. {{unsigned|TheHYPO}}

:Unless they are using something like the unix talk command, which does stream characters as they are typed. This might make sense since they are conversing about a server password, but talk might also perform proper authentication, although it could likely be spoofed as most early unix programs were not very secure. The characters are not streamed in real time, by the way, because there is no deadline for transmission of the characters. Sending something "as soon as possible" is pretty much the opposite of "real-time" and I think this wiki should make great efforts to be extra geeky about the use of the phrase "real-time" treating it like "real-time operating system" rather than "I use the web so I think the word 'real-time' means that time itself is not fake." Has Randall written a comic about the misuse of the phrase "real-time"? He should. {{unsigned|Jsbqvb}}

::I'm going to quibble over your quibbling over semantics for a moment. "Real-time communication" is not simply saying something immediately after another person. Imagine you and I are sitting in plush armchairs in my front parlour, discussing philosophy. You ask me "What is real-time communication?" I look up to the ceiling, as I formulate my response. According to your definition, this conversation has now left real-time, and become a no-deadline-for-transmission delayed communication, because I've failed to respond immediately. Another example, we're sitting in a park outside at a marble chess table. You move your rook. I study the game board before making my own move. Are you going to argue that this is no longer a real-time game because of my delay?

::A third example. I sit down in my writing room and write a lengthy letter addressed to you and put it into the mail. My postman picks up the mail later that day. It gets sorted and put onto a truck to your house. The truck drives across state lines to the distribution center near your house. The letter gets put in your postman's sack, and that day on his rounds he delivers it to your postbox. You read it and write your response. Your postman picks it up the next day, it's trucked back to my state and delivered to me 2 days after you wrote it. Is this real-time communication? I'll answer that one for you. No it isn't.

::What makes communication real-time, and what doesn't? I don't have a hard-and-fast definition for you. I consider, talking to a person whether face-to-face or over the phone real-time. I consider sending mail and email delayed communication. Instant Messages are real-time if I get an answer within five minutes of when I sent them, same with text messages. So is five minutes a good differentiating line? Here's another example.

::We're in grade school, and we're all sitting in a circle playing {{w|Telephone (game)|Telephone}}. I whisper the message to my neighbor, who whispers it on until it reaches you, at the other end of the circle. The whole game takes perhaps a minute. Is this real-time communication? No, because I'm passing the message to middle-men. But that's how messages travel the Internet, bouncing through routers until they reach you. So, it can't be that there are no middle-men involved.

::In conclusion. I think your argument that "somewhat delayed delivery of a response" would be a better phrase instead of "real-time" is fallacious, and pointless. That we need to be cautious of the usage of "real-time communication" is not one of the things I think we need to be worried about. I do think we need to be careful of how we rear the upcoming generations, pay attention to the difference between "loose" and "lose", how to spell "onomatopoeia" and "definitely" correctly, as well as using "literally" accurately, "who" vs. "whom", when to and more importantly when not to dangle prepositions, learning when to use which dashes, avoiding ''ad hominem'' arguments, trying to be a little less pedantic with others, and taking some time to slow down and smell the flowers and enjoy the scenery.

::--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 19:11, 16 October 2012 (UTC)

:::I agree with the action plan given in your final paragraph. However, while I don't disagree with your point, your example about the chess game might be a little confusing for some because in games there is a rather well established usage of "real time" games as being in direct opposition to "turn-based" games. Here "real time" usually means that the action all happens continuously and simultaneously, whereas "turn-based" means that everything proceeds by turns (i.e. I make a move, then you do, then me again, etc.), such as in chess. [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 15:51, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

:Moved here from the explanation. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 16:56, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

:::If you say something, the sound of your voice is spreading by speed of sound, which is relatively slow. What communication can actually be called real-time by the "no delay" definition? Telepathy? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 08:40, 17 October 2012 (UTC)

::::It's possible that by utilizing quantum entanglement we may be able to achieve communication of information without any delay. I may be wrong about this. Anyone with more knowledge about it care to correct me? [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 20:40, 23 October 2012 (UTC)

It's possible that he was sending each sentence separately, and she's responding to one of the ones he already completed. [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 18:33, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

The "NO!" may not be for security but the disappointment of missed opportunity to design a 'cool' identity proof protocol.

:While it's true he hasn't yet properly proved his identity, the "NO!" is DEFINITELY the disappointment of missed opportunity to design a 'cool' identity proof protocol. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 08:40, 17 October 2012 (UTC)

They could be using skype (mobile and on PC with mic) to communicate, not necessarily text.

:: Seriously, why would any of you NOT think that they were using a speakerphone to communicate? (be it through the phone, skype or gtalk or whatever service)? You even got the little "sound wave" lines coming from the devices as the character communicates. [[Special:Contributions/206.72.206.101|206.72.206.101]] 13:38, 23 October 2012 (UTC)

::: Cueball is holding his phone with two hands. He's clearly texting. The "sound wave" lines are clearly meant to indicate that it's what the character is typing/texting. Also, the transcript indicates that Megan's text in the third frame is a text message (the parenthetical is here only because it's the only place where text is present from a character not visible in the image). [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 00:00, 2 November 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1121: Identity

2012-10-24T15:51:01Z

Erenan:

Talk:1121: Identity

2012-10-23T20:40:00Z

Erenan:

He could also be bothered by her willingness to give away the password so easily. Anyone who has spent a sufficient amount of time with the character would have an idea of the things he's interested in. The image text supports it a little by saying how anyone he knows would be aware that he acts like that. [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 08:57, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

They could also be using a version of Google Wave or some such IM... It was possible to view realtime what the others were typing on the window. Then Megan would be able to interrupt Cueball easily.

Notably, although the characters appear to be communicating by way of text (whether SMS, or some instant messaging protocol), Megan should not be able to interrupt Cueball. Text-based messages do not typically stream in realtime as they are typed. She wouldn't be able to read his message until he completed it and sent it. {{unsigned|TheHYPO}}

:Unless they are using something like the unix talk command, which does stream characters as they are typed. This might make sense since they are conversing about a server password, but talk might also perform proper authentication, although it could likely be spoofed as most early unix programs were not very secure. The characters are not streamed in real time, by the way, because there is no deadline for transmission of the characters. Sending something "as soon as possible" is pretty much the opposite of "real-time" and I think this wiki should make great efforts to be extra geeky about the use of the phrase "real-time" treating it like "real-time operating system" rather than "I use the web so I think the word 'real-time' means that time itself is not fake." Has Randall written a comic about the misuse of the phrase "real-time"? He should. {{unsigned|Jsbqvb}}

::I'm going to quibble over your quibbling over semantics for a moment. "Real-time communication" is not simply saying something immediately after another person. Imagine you and I are sitting in plush armchairs in my front parlour, discussing philosophy. You ask me "What is real-time communication?" I look up to the ceiling, as I formulate my response. According to your definition, this conversation has now left real-time, and become a no-deadline-for-transmission delayed communication, because I've failed to respond immediately. Another example, we're sitting in a park outside at a marble chess table. You move your rook. I study the game board before making my own move. Are you going to argue that this is no longer a real-time game because of my delay?

::A third example. I sit down in my writing room and write a lengthy letter addressed to you and put it into the mail. My postman picks up the mail later that day. It gets sorted and put onto a truck to your house. The truck drives across state lines to the distribution center near your house. The letter gets put in your postman's sack, and that day on his rounds he delivers it to your postbox. You read it and write your response. Your postman picks it up the next day, it's trucked back to my state and delivered to me 2 days after you wrote it. Is this real-time communication? I'll answer that one for you. No it isn't.

::What makes communication real-time, and what doesn't? I don't have a hard-and-fast definition for you. I consider, talking to a person whether face-to-face or over the phone real-time. I consider sending mail and email delayed communication. Instant Messages are real-time if I get an answer within five minutes of when I sent them, same with text messages. So is five minutes a good differentiating line? Here's another example.

::We're in grade school, and we're all sitting in a circle playing {{w|Telephone (game)|Telephone}}. I whisper the message to my neighbor, who whispers it on until it reaches you, at the other end of the circle. The whole game takes perhaps a minute. Is this real-time communication? No, because I'm passing the message to middle-men. But that's how messages travel the Internet, bouncing through routers until they reach you. So, it can't be that there are no middle-men involved.

::In conclusion. I think your argument that "somewhat delayed delivery of a response" would be a better phrase instead of "real-time" is fallacious, and pointless. That we need to be cautious of the usage of "real-time communication" is not one of the things I think we need to be worried about. I do think we need to be careful of how we rear the upcoming generations, pay attention to the difference between "loose" and "lose", how to spell "onomatopoeia" and "definitely" correctly, as well as using "literally" accurately, "who" vs. "whom", when to and more importantly when not to dangle prepositions, learning when to use which dashes, avoiding ''ad hominem'' arguments, trying to be a little less pedantic with others, and taking some time to slow down and smell the flowers and enjoy the scenery.

::--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 19:11, 16 October 2012 (UTC)

:Moved here from the explanation. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 16:56, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

:::If you say something, the sound of your voice is spreading by speed of sound, which is relatively slow. What communication can actually be called real-time by the "no delay" definition? Telepathy? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 08:40, 17 October 2012 (UTC)

::::It's possible that by utilizing quantum entanglement we may be able to achieve communication of information without any delay. I may be wrong about this. Anyone with more knowledge about it care to correct me? [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 20:40, 23 October 2012 (UTC)

It's possible that he was sending each sentence separately, and she's responding to one of the ones he already completed. [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 18:33, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

The "NO!" may not be for security but the disappointment of missed opportunity to design a 'cool' identity proof protocol.

:While it's true he hasn't yet properly proved his identity, the "NO!" is DEFINITELY the disappointment of missed opportunity to design a 'cool' identity proof protocol. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 08:40, 17 October 2012 (UTC)

They could be using skype (mobile and on PC with mic) to communicate, not necessarily text.

:: Seriously, why would any of you NOT think that they were using a speakerphone to communicate? (be it through the phone, skype or gtalk or whatever service)? You even got the little "sound wave" lines coming from the devices as the character communicates. [[Special:Contributions/206.72.206.101|206.72.206.101]] 13:38, 23 October 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1117: My Sky

2012-10-08T15:59:39Z

Erenan:

I wonder if the "It's not the same color as anything" line is a reference to Microsoft's cloud service which is named "Azure". "Azure" in conventional speech, is a color. Properly, is a shade of Sky Blue. However, the HTML color Azure is incorrect (propagated from an error in the Linux source code), and is set to a shade of Off-White, coincidentally making it the color of clouds. [[User:jamescurran|James Curran]]

:Any reference to that? Specifically the Linux and Microsoft connection? #F0FFFF does looks blue to me ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 08:31, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

Why was the comment taken out about how "WOW" upside down is "MOM"? I thought it was incredibly clever. http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1117:_My_Sky&oldid=13991 [[User:Jillysky|Jillysky]] ([[User talk:Jillysky|talk]]) 19:06, 5 October 2012 (UTC)
:No worries. I just added it back. [[User:Mgh|Mgh]] ([[User talk:Mgh|talk]]) 14:27, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

Jeff suggested that I post it again down here, to see if anyone knew why it was removed.

An alternate explanation for the Title Text is that, if he was hanging upside-down from the earth, then Randall's actual first word would have been "Mom!".

--[[User:Carlneely|Carlneely]] ([[User talk:Carlneely|talk]]) 20:41, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

*Well you'd have to flip over the exclamation mark, too (all or nothing). "iMom". [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 02:16, 6 October 2012 (UTC)
I do think that was the point of the title text. The current "explanation" on this part in place is hardly an explanation, as all it does is define "wow". As this (and 1115) have been about perspective on the sky, that would explain it. And the most common word word is "mom," after all. [[User:Bobidou23|Bobidou23]] ([[User talk:Bobidou23|talk]]) 22:27, 6 October 2012 (UTC)

*I think it should go back up. Nobody *says* "exclamation point", and wow->mom is very much in line with Randall's type of sneakiness. Almost nothing he does is ever on accident or by chance, and since "mom" is definitely one of the top baby words... Put it back up, Carlneely. You have the right, and even the first page says nothing is set in stone. If someone disagrees with it, too bad for them. [[User:Jillysky|Jillysky]] ([[User talk:Jillysky|talk]]) 17:13, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

::For this comic, the title text doesn't seem to be a statement from Beret Guy. Beret Guy usually expresses his feelings in a more abstract way. On the other hand, recently, Randall has been posting many inspirational comics, that are awe-inspiring about the world, so it makes sense that a direct awe-inspired comment would be from him. In the comic, by the time Beret Guy says "wow" he standing "upright" again. The title text doesn't say that he was upside-down, just looking at the sky. Being horizontal doesn't count as being upside-down. Now, if the title text said that he was doing hand-stands, and said wow, absolutely, then the wow-mom joke would work. On a more technical note, it is not a right to edit a wiki, it is a privilege, and other editors have the privilege to go back and edit your work. Let's not {{w|feature creep|feature-creep}} the definition of the word 'right'. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:49, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

::: He doesn't need to be doing a handstand; these two comics are about perspectives, right? If the image of his saying "mom" were depicted as in the first panel here (i.e. with the earth towards the top), if would be "wow", wouldn't it? And the profound statement also works, but isn't a double meaning plausible? — Comment by [[User:Bobidou23|Bobidou23]] ([[User talk:Bobidou23|talk]]) ''(please sign your comments)''

::::I'm not arguing that there are different perspectives in these two comics. I'm saying that you can't attribute a statement made by one character, to the actions of another. Beret Guy is the one upside-down, Randall is the one saying "wow" with a reference to his mother. If you have a gluten intolerance, it does not mean that your cousin will throw up after eating a slice of bread, that is a logical fallacy, it's a version of {{w|post hoc ergo propter hoc}}. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 02:41, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

:Explanations do not need to be wordy to be complete. Being overly wordy is the sign that you are trying too hard, and probably missing the point. That said, this is a wiki, anyone can edit the explanation as they wish to. Sometimes it may spark an edit war, but if you think the explanation is insufficient, if someone who came here for help in understanding this joke still wouldn't get it, then please, flesh out the explanation. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:49, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

It's interesting to me that Beret Guy's head and beret both appear to be transparent except for their outlines. [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 15:59, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1112: Think Logically

2012-09-29T04:13:31Z

Erenan:

Cueball is clearly a chess novice as demonstrated by the comic (at the very least he knows what the goal of the game is and how the pieces move), however he lacks higher knowledge of the game (which is gained through education) and is very inexperienced (experience is obviously gained by playing the game regularly). Given his non-expert position he attempts to deliver well-meaning advice as best he can (in this case through "thinking logically"), however the player receiving the advise (a clearly more knowledgeable and experienced player) immediately realises how utterly useless that advise is.
Cueball approached the situation by "thinking logically", but his logic was flawed, possibly due to his lack of knowledge. Just because the goal of chess is to deliver checkmate does not necessarily mean that every move must be pushing a piece closer to the opponent's king. The best thing to do would be to first research and study the abundance of chess knowledge out there, practice it and then one can come up with tactics and strategies for every possible position (even if those aren't perfect). Chess is so complex that even if we wished to arrive at the absolute logical move for every position, this would be beyond us most of the time, it is just too complex. Not even computers know the perfect move for every position, although they do come up with great moves through the use of complex algorithms.
Note: I thought the explanation given in the "Explanation" section above had some merit (it also explains some things I didn't include), and that is why I did not modify it and instead chose to provide mine here. Let me know what you thought, together we can explain everything.--[[User:DelendaEst|DelendaEst]] ([[User talk:DelendaEst|talk]]) 13:01, 24 September 2012 (UTC)

:Feel free to add your explanation to the actual page if you think it's lacking in information. Wikis are meritocracies, and anyone is welcome to voice their opinions. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 13:21, 24 September 2012 (UTC)

:A good explanation. My takeaway was more about Dunning Kruger, and chess just happened to be a convenient backdrop. The expert proceeds to {{w|pwn}} the {{w|know-it-all}}... and even having been pwned, the braggart can't find the lesson in the defeat. But as with Randall's work, YMMV. (Or to paraphrase {{w|Euell Gibbons}}: "ever analyze an xkcd? Many interpretations are possible.") -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:52, 24 September 2012 (UTC)

::I think your explanation is the best one, you managed to find the essence of the situation. I can very easily see what you explained happening in the comic.--[[User:DelendaEst|DelendaEst]] ([[User talk:DelendaEst|talk]]) 00:18, 25 September 2012 (UTC)

Just a quick point on the explanation. Chess is not a perfectly balanced game due to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-move_advantage_in_chess first move advantage] enjoyed by white. This advantage is very small, however, and the pieces themselves are well balanced. [[User:Heyart|Heyart]] ([[User talk:Heyart|talk]]) 13:53, 24 September 2012 (UTC)

Please note that experts are not in universal agreement about the supposed first move advantage held by white, and it's unwise to state it in such absolute terms as "Chess is not a perfectly balanced game" [[Special:Contributions/216.99.210.8|216.99.210.8]] 03:54, 29 September 2012 (UTC)

::I found Cueball's demeanor in this comic to be very remeniscent of {{w|Sheldon Cooper}} of ''The Big Bang Theory'' in that he thinks he knows better than everyone even though chess has been around forever. Also, there was a specific episode of ''TBBT'' in which Cooper invents three-player chess including several new pieces. Cooper does not, however, do so considering the traditional rules of chess to be flawed (other than not allowed a third player). The characters do consider chess to be too easy, however, and often play ''Star Trek'''s three-dimensional chess. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 16:27, 24 September 2012 (UTC)

I see this comic, as so many comics before it, to be a description of nerd-dominance. The author seeks to entice the reader into inquiring about his own ill-thought out rules for chess. Do not inquire.

Is the first character really wearing a "hat"? To me, it looks like a headband, similar to the one worn by {{w|Spock}} in the movie {{w|Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home}}. This would give another meaning to "Think logically"... --[[Special:Contributions/85.159.196.16|85.159.196.16]] 11:27, 25 September 2012 (UTC)

Nope, not a headband -- there's hair below the brim but not above it. What you are seeing is a subtle clue that the chess expert is a Canadian, in that he is wearing what we call a toque, known in America as a stocking cap. https://www.google.ca/search?q=toque&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=JNV&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=MaFhUKmkEObRyAH9xoCACg&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=960&bih=544 [[User:Noni Mausa|Noni Mausa]] ([[User talk:Noni Mausa|talk]]) 12:19, 25 September 2012 (UTC)

:Your point about the hair is interesting; however, a Vulcan is much better at explaining logic than any earthling... Canadians included!
:--[[Special:Contributions/85.159.196.16|85.159.196.16]] 13:52, 25 September 2012 (UTC)

:I don't want to make a huge generalization, but in America they're known as beanies, stocking caps extend out from the head and end with pointed tips (or those silly poof balls). [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:02, 28 September 2012 (UTC)

Another point I want to bring up is that it's generally not really a good idea to share your own strategy with your opponents (or potential opponents). I once participated in a Chess tournament, and before it began I encountered this guy who was bragging about his strategy, how he likes to move only his pawns at the beginning and form a sort of wall into which his opponents will invariably run their pieces and, in his words, "kill themselves." Of course, it just so happened that the first game I played in was against this same guy. And so I knew what he was trying to do, and I ended up destroying him. Granted, Cueball's "strategy" in this comic has very little to do with actual established Chess practices, but it's a similar idea. [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 18:53, 25 September 2012 (UTC)

:As an avid chess player, I'd have to agree that we should keep our strategy to ourselves (unless we are planning to use deception). Also, I'd like to point out that your opponent's strategy to only move pawns in the opening is a very poor choice (unless the opening in question is a variation by Alekhine, which is considered to be sound). In the opening we are advised to mainly move pieces and only a few pawns and there are very good reasons for this, which I cannot go into here. Moreover, he plans to build a pawn wall for your pieces to destroy themselves? Typical novice threats, doesn't he realise you have an equally matched army and that you wouldn't purposefully endanger your pieces with his pawn wall? (Your pawns can neutralise his). His reasoning is laughable. If you'd like to learn lots about chess in a fun and painless way, I recommend the Chessmaster game. Anyway, good on you for beating that opponent!--[[User:DelendaEst|DelendaEst]] ([[User talk:DelendaEst|talk]]) 12:27, 28 September 2012 (UTC)

::Yes, indeed, he was clearly very inexperienced, and while I'm not exactly a seasoned expert, I did spend the weeks leading up to this tournament studying openings and playing Chessmaster (and other Chess games on my mobile phone while not at my computer), and to my surprise I ended up in second place. Of course, this wasn't an official tournament, but rather one organized by the business and economics club at the community college in the area. So really I prefer to attribute my ultimate loss not to my lack of skill but to being more tired than my final opponent (final game was played at Denny's around midnight). More to the point, I was going to say that Kasparov had moved only pawns for something like the first eight moves for one of the games he won against Deep Blue, but after looking again at those games, that doesn't appear to be true. So what am I thinking of? I could have sworn I saw this from Kasparov somewhere... [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 04:13, 29 September 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1113: Killed in Action

2012-09-27T15:38:33Z

Erenan:

The title text is essentially the beginning of the hanging paradox: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unexpected_hanging_paradox
:It's not quite the same thing. The unexpected hanging paradox only applies when you have a measure of foreknowledge. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 05:50, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

I think there's also a strong indication that this is mocking cop films from the 80's/90's, such as Lethal Weapon, where a character would always die just before retirement.
--[[Special:Contributions/46.246.31.111|46.246.31.111]] 07:08, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

This one is a variant of the old Czech joke: "The study has proved that statistically the most casualties happen in the last car of a train. Therefore the committee suggests to make all trains one car shorter." --[[User:Mity|Mity]] ([[User talk:Mity|talk]]) 09:59, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

This comics's explanation is complete bollocks, I think. Of course it is NOT a "fact that such a room exists". This comics parodies trope often used in cop movies - an elderly cop goes to work for the last time before his retirement, packs things, plans fishing the next day ... only to be called to one more case (possibly with a new, young and brash partner). And despites his efforts not to screw anything and stay clear of danger, he is either mortally wounded or screws big time and is degraded. So much clichè, that if someone says "It's my last day or service", you might be sure one of the two options above happens. See http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Retirony for all the use cases and examples. [[User:Edheldil|Edheldil]] ([[User talk:Edheldil|talk]]) 10:25, 26 September 2012 (UTC)
:I added the tv trope to the explanation. Didn't even see your comment at first, but why didn't you just change and add to the explanation yourself? That would be the whole point of the wiki. --[[User:Buggz|Buggz]] ([[User talk:Buggz|talk]]) 10:34, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

To add a little irony to the irony, the dead cop actually IS in a "locked, heavily guarded room." (There's a Sufi story along those lines.) The real solution to the retirony risk would be for their retirement day to fall within a 12 month window, chosen by some randomly generated number chosen before the shift begins. Thus they could avoid building up a hazardous "retirony field" focused around the point-source retirement day. Sort of like this thing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_ring [[User:Noni Mausa|Noni Mausa]] ([[User talk:Noni Mausa|talk]]) 12:11, 26 September 2012 (UTC)
:...But that doesn't eliminate the "retirony field", it only dispurses it over a larger area. The retirony claim would shift to "(s)he was due to retire this year" times the number of retirees within that retirement window. Assuming these tragic events are "uniformly distributed" the probability they'll happen will be present right up to the end of one's active tour of duty, no matter what. Shorten the train, indeed. :) -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:29, 26 September 2012 (UTC)
::How about simply not planning your retirement at all, and instead just spontaneously quitting at some point? [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 15:38, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1113: Killed in Action

2012-09-27T15:38:12Z

Erenan:

The title text is essentially the beginning of the hanging paradox: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unexpected_hanging_paradox
:It's not quite the same thing. The unexpected hanging paradox only applies when you have a measure of foreknowledge. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 05:50, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

I think there's also a strong indication that this is mocking cop films from the 80's/90's, such as Lethal Weapon, where a character would always die just before retirement.
--[[Special:Contributions/46.246.31.111|46.246.31.111]] 07:08, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

This one is a variant of the old Czech joke: "The study has proved that statistically the most casualties happen in the last car of a train. Therefore the committee suggests to make all trains one car shorter." --[[User:Mity|Mity]] ([[User talk:Mity|talk]]) 09:59, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

This comics's explanation is complete bollocks, I think. Of course it is NOT a "fact that such a room exists". This comics parodies trope often used in cop movies - an elderly cop goes to work for the last time before his retirement, packs things, plans fishing the next day ... only to be called to one more case (possibly with a new, young and brash partner). And despites his efforts not to screw anything and stay clear of danger, he is either mortally wounded or screws big time and is degraded. So much clichè, that if someone says "It's my last day or service", you might be sure one of the two options above happens. See http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Retirony for all the use cases and examples. [[User:Edheldil|Edheldil]] ([[User talk:Edheldil|talk]]) 10:25, 26 September 2012 (UTC)
:I added the tv trope to the explanation. Didn't even see your comment at first, but why didn't you just change and add to the explanation yourself? That would be the whole point of the wiki. --[[User:Buggz|Buggz]] ([[User talk:Buggz|talk]]) 10:34, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

To add a little irony to the irony, the dead cop actually IS in a "locked, heavily guarded room." (There's a Sufi story along those lines.) The real solution to the retirony risk would be for their retirement day to fall within a 12 month window, chosen by some randomly generated number chosen before the shift begins. Thus they could avoid building up a hazardous "retirony field" focused around the point-source retirement day. Sort of like this thing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_ring [[User:Noni Mausa|Noni Mausa]] ([[User talk:Noni Mausa|talk]]) 12:11, 26 September 2012 (UTC)
:...But that doesn't eliminate the "retirony field", it only dispurses it over a larger area. The retirony claim would shift to "(s)he was due to retire this year" times the number of retirees within that retirement window. Assuming these tragic events are "uniformly distributed" the probability they'll happen will be present right up to the end of one's active tour of duty, no matter what. Shorten the train, indeed. :) -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:29, 26 September 2012 (UTC)
::How about simply not planning your retirement at all, instead just spontaneously quitting at some point. [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 15:38, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1112: Think Logically

2012-09-25T18:53:46Z

Erenan:

453: Upcoming Hurricanes

2012-09-12T15:43:35Z

Erenan: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 453
| date = July 23, 2008
| title = Upcoming Hurricanes
| image = upcoming_hurricanes.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = I'd like to see more damage assessments for hurricanes hitting New York and flooding Manhattan -- something like the 1938 Long Island Express, but aimed a bit more to the west. It's just a matter of time.
}}

==Explanation==
It must be hurricane season! This comic gives some ideas on upcoming hurricane paths. Lets look at each path.

Hurricane Illinois-Has-It-Too-Easy: They really do. This smart hurricane, while actually impossible, comes from Canada to strike little old Chicago before heading back to Canada via my house :(

Hurricane Where-The-Hell-Is-Bermuda: Nice little irony here, normally people get lost once they get to the triangle and never come back. This poor hurricane can't even get there to get lost.

Hurricane Screw-It-Let's-Just-Trash-Florida-Again: Why you would want to live in Florida during hurricane season is beyond me. Sticking out from the rest of the US, Florida is in a nice spot to get hurricanes from the East, South, and West. And with the state not being very high or wide, it is common for a hurricane to run over Florida, lose some strength, then rebuild in the Gulf of Mexico, only to do a U-turn and strike again.

Hurricane Freud: You just need to know that Sigmund Freud had a thing about sex, and let's just leave it at that.

Hurricane Red and Blue: Playing a game of Light Cycles from Tron, Hurricane Blue lost -- it crashed into the lightwall of Hurricane Red.

Hurricane Cos(x): Just following the simple math function, Hurricane Cos(x) just ossolates between 1°N and 1°S. This, while cool, is impossible as near the equator the Coriolis effect is way too weak to cause rotation. In fact, there has never been a hurricane within 5° of the equator due to the Coriolis force being too weak, and the Coriolis force is what causes the hurricane to rotate.

The Alt Text refers to a 1938 Category 5 Hurricane that caused $41.1 billion in damage in current money. Had it been further west it could have caused more damage as the right side of a hurricane is stronger and more destructive than the left side as the winds on the right side push water inland.

{{comic discussion}}

452: Mission

2012-09-11T15:36:33Z

Erenan: /* Explanation */ Corrected explanation. Beret Guy did not intend to bring pastries to a bakery. He brought a bag FOR pastries.

{{comic
| number = 452
| date = July 21, 2008
| title = Mission
| image = mission.png
| titletext = Don't you know? The chances of a random object being a scone are about one in six.
| imagesize =
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] and [[Beret Guy]] are on a mission, intending to destroy whatever machine they are in. Except that [[Beret Guy]] tends to be a bit surreal and brought a bag for holding pastries instead of explosive charges.

This is apparently not the first time he's done something like this, mistaking a mission for a trip to a bakery.

==Transcript==
[Two figures, one in a beret, are rappelling down separate ropes into the interior workings of a large machine]

Man 1: Okay, we're in the belly of the machine. You got the charges?

Man 2 (with beret): The what?

[The two are standing next to some large pieces of machinery]]

Man 1 [gesturing]: The explosive charges!

Man 2 [pulling out a bag]: I just brought this bag for pastries.

Man 1: The hell? We're on a mission here!

Man 2 [looking around]: This isn't a bakery?

Man 1 [head in hand]: Oh, Christ, not this shit again.

Man 2 [crouching by some lug nuts lying on a piece of machinery]: What about these scones?

Man 1: Those are lug nuts.

Man 2 [stuffing them in his mouth]: ...Maybe SOME of them aren't. <<crunch>> Ow! <<crunch>>

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

Talk:1105: License Plate

2012-09-07T15:58:09Z

Erenan:

In New Jersey (USA), the laws allowing personalize license plates specifically disallows plates in the format of a standard plate.

Wouldn't this idea be more effective (theoretically) with 0's and O's (that is, zeroes and capital O's)? [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 15:58, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1103: Nine

2012-09-05T15:15:11Z

Erenan:

I really find that the hover-over text applies to me more often than not, unless I'm not in mixed company. This reminds me of a time that I was staying with a friend and she walked in on me changing the time on her microwave. When I explained to her that her microwave, stove, and coffee pot were all set to different times and it was bugging me, she just looked at me like I was crazy. --[[User:Grate314|"grate314"]] ([[User talk:Grate314|talk]]) 16:47, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
:I don't think that is what the title text meant. Also, anybody who reads an xkcd comic and remembers that they did that ''is'' crazy. --[[Special:Contributions/98.221.139.80|98.221.139.80]]
:I agree with grate314. I have to fix this every time the power goes out in my house because the stove, microwave, and radio all treat power outages differently. Between different rooms, though, it doesn't bother me. --[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 19:04, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
::I know that that isn't specifically what the hover-over text was talking about, but I was thinking of it in a more general way. I've just found that whenever someone asks me what I'm thinking about, it's best to say 'nothing'. What I meant by 'mixed company' is a general social gathering, like a wedding or birthday party. I'm an EE student, so when someone asks me that question at school, I answer honestly. The answer is usually 'soldering'. I think about soldering a lot. Thanks, DanB, the clocks were all on top of each other, btw, I'm not sure how she lived in that chaos.--[[User:Grate314|grate314]] ([[User talk:Grate314|talk]]) 21:27, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

Did anybody try doing what the title text is saying? Just wondering. --[[Special:Contributions/98.221.139.80|98.221.139.80]]

When I'm not following written instructions, I tend to use multiples of 1:11, out of laziness. So, if I figure something should take about 2-3 minutes, I'll nuke it for 2:22. That way, I can press one button 3 times without having to move my finger. [[User:MGK|MGK]] ([[User talk:MGK|talk]]) 17:23, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

I'm lazy and like to use repeated digits rather than have to move my finger along to find the next one - thus 33, 55, 66 get used a lot. I also find that for most items, longer time at lower power settings is more effective at even heating, so I do a lot of 66 at 50% rather than 33 at 100%. Our current oven only has 10 power settings, unlike a previous one that had two digit power settings resulting in 66 sec at 55% being a fairly commonly used setup. Interestingly, the logic of every microwave oven I have encountered treats 99 entered in the seconds display the same as if one were to have entered 1minute and 33 seconds. Thus 99:99 would be 100 minutes and 33 seconds. [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 17:31, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

Oddly (apparently) my microwave has only 3 buttons (10 minutes, 1 minute, 10 seconds), though I do feel sorry for the 10 minute button.

I usually just push the "add 30 seconds" button until I reach the desired time (6 pushes for three minutes, 3 for 1:30, etc.). [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 16:06, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

The 9 and 0 button are near each other so I do a lot of 90 (meaning 1 minute, 30 seconds). Sometimes, I'll get lazy<strike>er</strike> and press 99.

'''Quasar '''unit offers the additional accuracy/simplicity/utility of min 10, 1 and sec 10, 1 There are no other numbers on the control face, which has 14 buttons total. hmm, Minimum number of buttons required to accomplish nuking?--[[User:Idkrash|Idkrash]] ([[User talk:Idkrash|talk]]) 01:28, 5 September 2012 (UTC)
:For simplicity I would be in favor of 2 dials and 2 buttons. The dials could serve for power and time, which could output to digital displays. The buttons then could serve as start and stop. Pressing start and stop simultaneously would toggle the clock set function and you could use the dials to set the min and hour.----[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 10:47, 5 September 2012 (UTC)
::I suspect that sooner or later they'll all just have a power button and a touchscreen. [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 15:15, 5 September 2012 (UTC)

911: Magic School Bus

2012-09-04T17:08:43Z

Erenan:

{{comic
| number = 911
| date = June 13, 2011
| title = Magic School Bus
| image = magic_school_bus.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = At my OLD school, we used Microsoft Encarta 2005.
}}

==Explanation==
"The Magic School Bus" is a series of educational children's books that was adapted in the mid-nineties into an animated television show. The series centers on a class of children whose teacher Ms. Frizzle makes use of the titular magic school bus to take her students on a variety of magical field trips that allow them to experience various scientific topics first hand, such as the inner anatomy of the human body, the effects of friction, what goes on inside a beehive, and many others.

In this comic, however, Ms. Frizzle initially takes the students onto the bus apparently for one of these field trips to explore the way batteries work, but then for whatever reason, she has the students get off the bus again and simply resorts to looking up the Wikipedia article about batteries.

The title text is a reference to Phoebe, one of the students in Ms. Frizzle's class, who would regularly make a remark beginning with "at my old school..." to express wonder at how unusual were the events of Ms. Frizzle's field trips (e.g. "At my old school, we never rode on bees!").

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encarta Microsoft Encarta 2005] was a digital encyclopedia that was often used in school settings for learning with the aid of computers.

==Transcript==
[A girl sits at a desk in a classroom, and the teacher stands before her. The teacher has a blue dress and blonde hair piled on her head in a bun. The girl raises her hand, the teacher raises both arms above her head, a pointer in one hand.]
Girl: Ms. Frizzle, how do batteries work?
Ms. Frizzle: To the bus!

[Ms. Frizzle and the children are shown getting onto the bus.]

((This panel is larger than the other three, and is set behind them.))
[The bus, with Ms. Frizzle at the helm and a child's face in every window, soars through a rainbow void filled with a giant amoeba, a rocket, a big gear, a planet with rings, and a Feynman diagram.]

[The bus is parked, and the occupants have gotten out. The children stand around Ms. Frizzle, and she stands at a desk with a computer on it, typing.]
Computer: WIKIPEDIA -- BATTERIES

{{comic discussion}}

911: Magic School Bus

2012-09-04T17:08:23Z

Erenan:

Magic School Bus

2012-09-04T16:46:47Z

Erenan: Redirected page to 911: Magic School Bus

#REDIRECT: [[911: Magic School Bus]]

911

2012-09-04T16:46:32Z

Erenan: Redirected page to 911: Magic School Bus

#REDIRECT: [[911: Magic School Bus]]

911: Magic School Bus

2012-09-04T16:44:49Z

Erenan: Created page

109: Spoiler Alert

2012-09-04T16:09:49Z

Erenan: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 109
| date = May 31, 2006
| title = Spoiler Alert
| image = Spoiler_Alert.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = 'And then it turns out they're both Tyler Durden.'
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, Snape is depicted knocking Trinity off a high place with a wooden sled called Rosebud.

Severus Snape is a character from J.K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series of books.

Trinity is a character from ''the Matrix'' trilogy of movies.

Rosebud is from the 1941 film ''Citizen Kane''.

From the title text, Tyler Durden is a character from the novel and movie ''Fight Club''.

All four references share the common ground that they are all involved in significant events or ideas in their respective movies that have been often spoiled by careless viewers for those who have not yet seen the movies. Here the relevant events are mashed together into one and spoiled in one go.

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"
!Spoilers in this comic
|-
|Rosebud is a sled
|-
|Snape kills someone important, by knocking them off a building.
|-
|Trinity dies
|-
|Tyler Durden is both characters
|}

Ironically, the event depicted in the comic did not actually occur in any movie.

{{Comic discussion}}

Talk:1103: Nine

2012-09-04T16:07:07Z

Erenan:

I really find that the hover-over text applies to me more often than not, unless I'm not in mixed company. This reminds me of a time that I was staying with a friend and she walked in on me changing the time on her microwave. When I explained to her that her microwave, stove, and coffee pot were all set to different times and it was bugging me, she just looked at me like I was crazy. --[[User:Grate314|"grate314"]] ([[User talk:Grate314|talk]]) 16:47, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
:I don't think that is what the title text meant. Also, anybody who reads an xkcd comic and remembers that they did that ''is'' crazy. --[[Special:Contributions/98.221.139.80|98.221.139.80]]
:I agree with grate314. I have to fix this every time the power goes out in my house because the stove, microwave, and radio all treat power outages differently. Between different rooms, though, it doesn't bother me. By the way, anyone know why this comic image isn't transcluding to the main page properly? --[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 19:04, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
::I know that that isn't specifically what the hover-over text was talking about, but I was thinking of it in a more general way. I've just found that whenever someone asks me what I'm thinking about, it's best to say 'nothing'. What I meant by 'mixed company' is a general social gathering, like a wedding or birthday party. I'm an EE student, so when someone asks me that question at school, I answer honestly. The answer is usually 'soldering'. I think about soldering a lot. Thanks, DanB, the clocks were all on top of each other, btw, I'm not sure how she lived in that chaos.--[[User:Grate314|grate314]] ([[User talk:Grate314|talk]]) 21:27, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

Did anybody try doing what the title text is saying? Just wondering. --[[Special:Contributions/98.221.139.80|98.221.139.80]]

When I'm not following written instructions, I tend to use multiples of 1:11, out of laziness. So, if I figure something should take about 2-3 minutes, I'll nuke it for 2:22. That way, I can press one button 3 times without having to move my finger. [[User:MGK|MGK]] ([[User talk:MGK|talk]]) 17:23, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

I'm lazy and like to use repeated digits rather than have to move my finger along to find the next one - thus 33, 55, 66 get used a lot. I also find that for most items, longer time at lower power settings is more effective at even heating, so I do a lot of 66 at 50% rather than 33 at 100%. Our current oven only has 10 power settings, unlike a previous one that had two digit power settings resulting in 66 sec at 55% being a fairly commonly used setup. Interestingly, the logic of every microwave oven I have encountered treats 99 entered in the seconds display the same as if one were to have entered 1minute and 33 seconds. Thus 99:99 would be 100 minutes and 33 seconds. [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 17:31, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

Oddly (apparently) my microwave has only 3 buttons (10 minutes, 1 minute, 10 seconds), though I do feel sorry for the 10 minute button.

I usually just push the "add 30 seconds" button until I reach the desired time (6 pushes for three minutes, 3 for 1:30, etc.). [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 16:06, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1103: Nine

2012-09-04T16:06:53Z

Erenan:

I really find that the hover-over text applies to me more often than not, unless I'm not in mixed company. This reminds me of a time that I was staying with a friend and she walked in on me changing the time on her microwave. When I explained to her that her microwave, stove, and coffee pot were all set to different times and it was bugging me, she just looked at me like I was crazy. --[[User:Grate314|"grate314"]] ([[User talk:Grate314|talk]]) 16:47, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
:I don't think that is what the title text meant. Also, anybody who reads an xkcd comic and remembers that they did that ''is'' crazy. --[[Special:Contributions/98.221.139.80|98.221.139.80]]
:I agree with grate314. I have to fix this every time the power goes out in my house because the stove, microwave, and radio all treat power outages differently. Between different rooms, though, it doesn't bother me. By the way, anyone know why this comic image isn't transcluding to the main page properly? --[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 19:04, 3 September 2012 (UTC)
::I know that that isn't specifically what the hover-over text was talking about, but I was thinking of it in a more general way. I've just found that whenever someone asks me what I'm thinking about, it's best to say 'nothing'. What I meant by 'mixed company' is a general social gathering, like a wedding or birthday party. I'm an EE student, so when someone asks me that question at school, I answer honestly. The answer is usually 'soldering'. I think about soldering a lot. Thanks, DanB, the clocks were all on top of each other, btw, I'm not sure how she lived in that chaos.--[[User:Grate314|grate314]] ([[User talk:Grate314|talk]]) 21:27, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

Did anybody try doing what the title text is saying? Just wondering. --[[Special:Contributions/98.221.139.80|98.221.139.80]]

When I'm not following written instructions, I tend to use multiples of 1:11, out of laziness. So, if I figure something should take about 2-3 minutes, I'll nuke it for 2:22. That way, I can press one button 3 times without having to move my finger. [[User:MGK|MGK]] ([[User talk:MGK|talk]]) 17:23, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

I'm lazy and like to use repeated digits rather than have to move my finger along to find the next one - thus 33, 55, 66 get used a lot. I also find that for most items, longer time at lower power settings is more effective at even heating, so I do a lot of 66 at 50% rather than 33 at 100%. Our current oven only has 10 power settings, unlike a previous one that had two digit power settings resulting in 66 sec at 55% being a fairly commonly used setup. Interestingly, the logic of every microwave oven I have encountered treats 99 entered in the seconds display the same as if one were to have entered 1minute and 33 seconds. Thus 99:99 would be 100 minutes and 33 seconds. [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 17:31, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

Oddly (apparently) my microwave has only 3 buttons (10 minutes, 1 minute, 10 seconds), though I do feel sorry for the 10 minute button.

I usually just push the "add 30 minutes" button until I reach the desired time (6 pushes for three minutes, 3 for 1:30, etc.). [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 16:06, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1001: AAAAAA

2012-08-28T19:18:54Z

Erenan: Created page with "The usefulness of rotation in romance has been mentioned before in 162: Angular Momentum. Perhaps the problem is that they are spinning the bed clockwise instead of counte..."

The usefulness of rotation in romance has been mentioned before in [[162: Angular Momentum]]. Perhaps the problem is that they are spinning the bed clockwise instead of counter-clockwise? [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 19:18, 28 August 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1095: Crazy Straws

2012-08-16T00:02:26Z

Erenan:

Compare [[915:_Connoisseur|xkcd.com/915]]. [[User:Arlo James Barnes|Arlo James Barnes]] ([[User talk:Arlo James Barnes|talk]]) 10:06, 15 August 2012 (UTC)

"Subcultures" is misspelled in the comic. Perhaps Randall will fix it and reupload? [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 15:17, 15 August 2012 (UTC)
:Randall has corrected the mistake, but the image on this page is still the old one. Would we want to keep both versions of the image in the interest of completeness? [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 00:02, 16 August 2012 (UTC)

* Have to admit, this one went a bit over my head. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 20:38, 15 August 2012 (UTC)

Talk:1095: Crazy Straws

2012-08-15T15:18:48Z

Erenan:

Talk:1095: Crazy Straws

2012-08-15T15:17:32Z

Erenan:

Why Do You Love Me?

2012-08-08T15:58:34Z

Erenan: Redirected page to 58: Why Do You Love Me?

#REDIRECT [[58: Why Do You Love Me?]]

Why Do You Love Me?

2012-08-08T15:58:19Z

Erenan: Redirected page to Why Do You Love Me?

#REDIRECT [[Why Do You Love Me?]]

58

2012-08-08T15:57:57Z

Erenan: Redirected page to 58: Why Do You Love Me?

#REDIRECT [[58: Why Do You Love Me?]]

58: Why Do You Love Me?

2012-08-08T15:57:12Z

Erenan: Changed page to use templates. Modified Explanation a bit.

{{comic
| number = 58
| date = February 1, 2006
| title = Why Do You Love Me?
| image = why_do_you_love_me.jpg
| imagesize =
| titletext = Opening dialogue by Scott
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Cueball]] asks "Why do you love me"? to [[Megan]], a fairly common question that couples ask each other. She responds "My heart never gave me a chance", a seemingly very sentimental, romantic answer. However, she effectively kills the romance of the moment by adding, "I wish it had".

[[Category:comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:comics featuring Megan]]

{{Comic discussion}}

58: Why Do You Love Me?

2012-08-08T15:46:33Z

Erenan: Removed "you need to get out more" line.

In this comic, [[Cueball]] asks "Why do you love me"? to his girlfriend, a fairly common question that couple's ask each other (or are portrayed as asking, in any event). She responds "My heart never gave me a chance", a seemingly very sentimental, romantic answer. However, she effectively kills the romance of the moment by adding, "I wish it had".

481

2012-08-07T16:49:53Z

Erenan: Redirected page to Listen to Yourself

#REDIRECT [[Listen_to_Yourself]]

552

2012-08-07T16:48:14Z

Erenan: Redirected page to Correlation

#REDIRECT [[Correlation]]

109: Spoiler Alert

2012-08-06T22:30:54Z

Erenan: /* Description */ - trimmed some unnecessary stuff and added a bit more to the description

{{comic
| number = 109
| date = May 31, 2006
| title = Spoiler Alert
| image = Spoiler_alert.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = 'And then it turns out they're both Tyler Durden.'
}}

== Description ==
In this comic, Snape is depicted knocking Trinity off a cliff with a wooden sled called Rosebud.

Severus Snape is a character from J.K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series of books.

Trinity is a character from ''the Matrix'' trilogy of movies.

Rosebud is from the 1941 film ''Citizen Kane''.

From the title text, Tyler Durden is a character from the novel and movie ''Fight Club''.

All four references share the common ground that they are all involved in significant events or ideas in their respective movies that have been often spoiled by careless viewers for those who have not yet seen the movies. Here the relevant events are mashed together into one and spoiled in one go. Ironically, the event depicted in the comic did not actually occur in any movie.

{{Comic discussion}}

109

2012-08-06T22:27:46Z

Erenan: Redirected page to Spoiler Alert

#REDIRECT [[Spoiler_Alert]]

109: Spoiler Alert

2012-08-06T22:21:21Z

Erenan: Created page with initial explanation

{{comic
| number = 109
| date = May 31, 2006
| title = Spoiler Alert
| image = Spoiler_alert.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = 'And then it turns out they're both Tyler Durden.'
}}

== Description ==
In this comic, Snape is depicted knocking Trinity off a cliff with a wooden sled called Rosebud.

Severus Snape is a character from J.K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series of books.

Trinity is a character from ''the Matrix'' trilogy of movies.

Rosebud is from the 1941 film ''Citizen Kane'', usually considered one of the greatest movies ever made.

From the title text, Tyler Durden is a character from the novel and movie ''Fight Club''.

All four references share the common ground that they are all involved in significant events or ideas in their respective movies that have been often spoiled by careless viewers for those who have not yet seen the movies.

{{Comic discussion}}

User talk:Erenan

2012-08-01T17:49:08Z

Erenan: Created page with "This is a talk page."

This is a talk page.

312: With Apologies to Robert Frost

2012-08-01T17:48:01Z

Erenan: Added Section Titles

This is comic number 312. It was posted on September 5, 2007. [http://xkcd.com/312/]

[[File:with_apologies_to_robert_frost.png]]

== Image Text ==
Some say the world will end in fire; some say in segfaults.

== Description ==
This comic presents a poem about a god's dilemma of whether to create the world using Perl or Lisp, two popular computer programming languages. The god has chosen to write it in Perl but since then appears to lament the choice, apparently expressing that if given the chance to write the world's code again, he or she or it would use Lisp instead.

The grammar of Lisp as a language requires the programmer to use a multitude of parentheses, and in many cases it can be difficult to determine whether all of the parentheses have been properly matched up to one another. In fact, Lisp programs will often run, possibly incorrectly, even if there are mismatched parentheses or parentheses missing where they should be present, and so, many Lisp programmers will simply throw extra close-parentheses at the end of their programs to ensure that they do not have too few. The last two lines of the poem refer to the plentiful parentheses in Lisp. The image at the bottom of the panel shows a close-parenthesis at the end of the Universe.

A segmentation fault, also commonly called a segfault, is an error that occurs when a computer program attempts to access computer memory to which it should not have access.

This comic might possibly be alluding back to [http://xkcd.com/224/ comic #224], in which one of "the gods" claims that although the Universe may appear to have been written in Lisp, it was actually written mostly using Perl.

The poem itself and the title text are a parody of "[http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/fire-and-ice/ Fire and Ice]," written by Robert Frost and first published in 1920. In this poem, the speaker discusses his stance in the debate on whether the world will be destroyed in fire or in ice. "A God's Lament" has a rhyme scheme that is nearly identical to that of Frost's poem. However, it differs in that "Lisp" does not rhyme with "men," "again," and "paren," while the corresponding four lines in Frost's poem do rhyme.

[[Category:Comics|0312]]

571: Can't Sleep

2012-08-01T17:47:36Z

Erenan: Added Section Titles

This is comic number 571. It was posted on April 20, 2009. [http://xkcd.com/571/]

[[File:Cant_sleep.png]]

== Image Text ==
If androids someday DO dream of electric sheep, don't forget to declare sheepCount as a long int.

== Description ==
In this comic, [[Cueball]] is in bed and is having trouble sleeping. He tries the old standby of counting sheep as they jump over a fence, but upon reaching 32,767 sheep, the sheep all jump back over the fence and start counting up again from -32,768. This is because when an integral number is represented in a digital form, such as on a computer, the number's range is limited by the amount of space used to store it. When the greatest possible number given the storage space is exceeded, an arithmetic overflow occurs, which results in starting over at the least possible number given the storage space. This is not at all unlike a car's odometer. Imagine an odometer with six digits reaching 999999 miles. Upon driving one more mile, the digits will roll back over to 000000.

In this case, the least and greatest possible numbers are -32,768 and 32,767, which implies that the storage space used would be two bytes. In addition, it's clear that the number is designated as a signed number, meaning that it can be either positive or negative.

The image text refers to the 1968 Philip K. Dick science fiction novel ''Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'', which was adapted into the perhaps more widely known Ridley Scott directed 1982 film ''Blade Runner''. The implication is that if we ever do create androids that dream of electric sheep, we should make sure to give them sufficient storage space to store numbers large enough such that an arithmetic overflow will be far less likely to occur, even if they count for a long time. A "long int" consists of four bytes rather than two, so instead of being limited to a range from -32,768 to 32,767 the number will be capable of storing numbers from -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647. "sheepCount" is a possible name for a variable to be used in a computer program. Declaring a variable tells the computer that it should allocate a portion of memory to be associated with the variable name given. For those who might be unfamiliar with common programming practices, "sheepCount" is named using what is commonly referred to as CamelCase, meaning that all words in the name ("sheep" and "count") are pushed together and the first letter of every word after the first is capitalized. This is one of several common approaches to naming variables in computer programming.

[[Category:Comics|0571]]

104: Find You

2012-08-01T17:46:50Z

Erenan: Added Section Titles

This is comic number 104. It was posted on May 19, 2006. [http://xkcd.com/104/]

[[File:find_you.jpg]]

== Image Text ==
I'm like the Terminator, except with love!

== Description ==
This comic depicts [[Cueball]] on a rope in a cavern. The text indicates that one of his loved ones used to be afraid of being taken away from him and being forgotten. It is not explicitly made clear whether the loved one in question is a woman with whom he is in love, a family member, or a relation of some other kind, but presumably the loved one is either his girlfriend or wife.

Cueball had promised that he would always come looking for her. But then she actually was taken from him. He reiterates that he was serious about his promise and that he hopes she is not afraid, because he's coming to find her.

It's not clear exactly in what manner his loved one was taken from him, only that she was torn from his arms and vanished from this world. Though there are many other possible interpretations, this might be read to indicate that she has died and that Cueball is descending a cavern in search of the underworld where she has been taken.

It's also not completely clear whether Cueball is descending the rope or climbing it.

The image text plays on a quote from the 1984 film The Terminator, in which Kyle Reese describes the Terminator to Sarah Connor: "It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead." The implication is that Cueball, motivated by love, can't be persuaded to stop looking for his loved one by any means, and that he will never stop looking until he finds her.

[[Category:Comics|0104]]

1087: Cirith Ungol

2012-08-01T17:45:08Z

Erenan: Added small bit of explanation about Charlotte's Web, changed quotes to italics

This is comic number 1087. Posted on July 27, 2012.

[[File:cirith_ungol.png]]

Image text: My all-time favorite example of syntactic ambiguity comes from Wikipedia: 'Charlotte's Web is a children's novel by American author E. B. White, about a pig named Wilbur who is saved from being slaughtered by an intelligent spider named Charlotte.'

The comic here is a mash up between the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy of books and movies and the novel and movie ''Charlotte's Web''.

The title Cirith Ungol is a reference to ''Lord of the Rings'' where Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee were led to Cirith Ungol by Gollum to the lair of the ancient spider Shelob.

And therefore in this comic, Frodo (by himself) is being led into the lair of the spider, Charlotte. We can tell by the "Some Pig" writing in the spider web on the lower right hand corner which is a direct reference to the story of ''Charlotte's Web'', in which a spider named Charlotte writes the very same text in her web.

In the image text, syntactic ambiguity is a property of sentences which may be reasonably interpreted in more than one way, or reasonably interpreted to mean more than one thing.

The ambiguity of the sentence quoted is that the pig named Wilbur could have been saved by Charlotte from being slaughtered by someone or could have been saved by someone from being slaughtered by Charlotte.

[[Category:Comics|1087]]

1087: Cirith Ungol

2012-08-01T17:42:15Z

Erenan: Typo correction

This is comic number 1087. Posted on July 27, 2012.

[[File:cirith_ungol.png]]

Image text: My all-time favorite example of syntactic ambiguity comes from Wikipedia: 'Charlotte's Web is a children's novel by American author E. B. White, about a pig named Wilbur who is saved from being slaughtered by an intelligent spider named Charlotte.'

The comic here is a mash up between the Lord of the Rings trilogy of books and movies and the novel and movie "Charlotte's Web".

The title Cirith Ungol is a reference to Lord of the Rings where, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee were led to Cirith Ungol by Gollum to the lair of the ancient spider Shelob.

And therefore in this comic, Frodo (by himself) is being led into the lair of the spider, Charlotte. We can tell by the "Some Pig" writing in the spider web on the lower right hand corner which is a direct reference to the story of "Charlotte's Web".

In the image text, syntactic ambiguity is a property of sentences which may be reasonably interpreted in more than one way, or reasonably interpreted to mean more than one thing.

The ambiguity of the sentence quoted is that the pig named Wilbur could have been saved by Charlotte from being slaughtered by someone or could have been saved by someone from being slaughtered by Charlotte.

[[Category:Comics|1087]]

1084: Server Problem

2012-08-01T17:14:24Z

Erenan: Added link to Cueball page.

This is comic number 1084. It was posted on 7/20/12

[[File:server_problem.png]]

Image text: Protip: Annoy Ray Kurzweil by always referring to it as the 'Cybersingularity'.

In this comic, [[Cueball]] has messed up his Linux server (apparently again as he does this a lot). [[Megan]] comes over and runs the 'ls' command which lists the files in the location/directory and gets a "Device is not responding error".

The best I can make of the directory is that it is nonsense. Adobe is the maker of such programs as Acrobat, Flash and Photoshop. Android VM would be a virtual machine for the mobile Operating System created by Google called Android.

But, the crux of the comic is that Cueball should really just give up and wait for the singularity. The singularity is (thanks Wikipedia!) "the hypothetical future emergence of greater-than-human superintelligence through technological means. Since the capabilities of such intelligence would be difficult for an unaided human mind to comprehend, the occurrence of a technological singularity is seen as an intellectual event horizon, beyond which events cannot be predicted or understood.

Proponents of the singularity typically state that an "intelligence explosion",where superintelligences design successive generations of increasingly powerful minds, might occur very quickly and might not stop until the agent's cognitive abilities greatly surpass that of any human."

In the image text, Ray Kurzweil is an author and futurist who has talked and written much about the singularity.

[[Category:Comics|1084]]

1086: Eyelash Wish Log

2012-08-01T17:13:33Z

Erenan: Added link to Black Hat page

This is comic 1086. It was posted on July 25, 2012

[[File:Eyelash_wish_log.png]]

Image text: Ooh, another one. Uh ... the ability to alter any coefficients of friction at will during sporting events.

This comic is based on the situation that when someone's eyelash falls out, that person can make a wish on it. This comic appears to be a page from the fictitious Wish Bureau in charge of granting said wishes. And of course the Wisher is [[Black Hat]] and he has quite a few wishes, most of them based on the previous wish.

Feburary 12th's wish seems to be a reference to the unlimited breadsticks offered at Olive Garden.

March 7th's wish is a reference to Nate Silver, who is a former writer for Baseball Prospectus working on predicting baseball players' stats and now writes for Five Thirty Eight in which he predicts the outcome of elections based on polling data.

And April 22nd's wish is a reference to the cartoon and video game, Pokemon.

[[Category:Comics|1086]]

571: Can't Sleep

2012-08-01T17:10:02Z

Erenan: Added link to Cueball page.

This is comic number 571. It was posted on April 20, 2009. [http://xkcd.com/571/]

[[File:Cant_sleep.png]]

Image Text: If androids someday DO dream of electric sheep, don't forget to declare sheepCount as a long int.

In this comic, [[Cueball]] is in bed and is having trouble sleeping. He tries the old standby of counting sheep as they jump over a fence, but upon reaching 32,767 sheep, the sheep all jump back over the fence and start counting up again from -32,768. This is because when an integral number is represented in a digital form, such as on a computer, the number's range is limited by the amount of space used to store it. When the greatest possible number given the storage space is exceeded, an arithmetic overflow occurs, which results in starting over at the least possible number given the storage space. This is not at all unlike a car's odometer. Imagine an odometer with six digits reaching 999999 miles. Upon driving one more mile, the digits will roll back over to 000000.

In this case, the least and greatest possible numbers are -32,768 and 32,767, which implies that the storage space used would be two bytes. In addition, it's clear that the number is designated as a signed number, meaning that it can be either positive or negative.

The image text refers to the 1968 Philip K. Dick science fiction novel ''Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'', which was adapted into the perhaps more widely known Ridley Scott directed 1982 film ''Blade Runner''. The implication is that if we ever do create androids that dream of electric sheep, we should make sure to give them sufficient storage space to store numbers large enough such that an arithmetic overflow will be far less likely to occur, even if they count for a long time. A "long int" consists of four bytes rather than two, so instead of being limited to a range from -32,768 to 32,767 the number will be capable of storing numbers from -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647. "sheepCount" is a possible name for a variable to be used in a computer program. Declaring a variable tells the computer that it should allocate a portion of memory to be associated with the variable name given. For those who might be unfamiliar with common programming practices, "sheepCount" is named using what is commonly referred to as CamelCase, meaning that all words in the name ("sheep" and "count") are pushed together and the first letter of every word after the first is capitalized. This is one of several common approaches to naming variables in computer programming.

[[Category:Comics|0571]]

104: Find You

2012-08-01T17:09:25Z

Erenan: Added link to Cueball page.

This is comic number 104. It was posted on May 19, 2006. [http://xkcd.com/104/]

[[File:find_you.jpg]]

Image text: I'm like the Terminator, except with love!

This comic depicts [[Cueball]] on a rope in a cavern. The text indicates that one of his loved ones used to be afraid of being taken away from him and being forgotten. It is not explicitly made clear whether the loved one in question is a woman with whom he is in love, a family member, or a relation of some other kind, but presumably the loved one is either his girlfriend or wife.

Cueball had promised that he would always come looking for her. But then she actually was taken from him. He reiterates that he was serious about his promise and that he hopes she is not afraid, because he's coming to find her.

It's not clear exactly in what manner his loved one was taken from him, only that she was torn from his arms and vanished from this world. Though there are many other possible interpretations, this might be read to indicate that she has died and that Cueball is descending a cavern in search of the underworld where she has been taken.

It's also not completely clear whether Cueball is descending the rope or climbing it.

The image text plays on a quote from the 1984 film The Terminator, in which Kyle Reese describes the Terminator to Sarah Connor: "It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead." The implication is that Cueball, motivated by love, can't be persuaded to stop looking for his loved one by any means, and that he will never stop looking until he finds her.

[[Category:Comics|0104]]