explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1654: Universal Install Script

2016-03-14T18:45:36Z

Fewmet:

{{comic
| number = 1654
| date = March 11, 2016
| title = Universal Install Script
| image = universal_install_script.png
| titletext = The failures usually don't hurt anything, and if it installs several versions, it increases the chance that one of them is right. (Note: The 'yes' command and '2>/dev/null' are recommended additions.)
}}

==Explanation==

Most users of computers today are used to simple, easy installation of programs. You just download a .exe or a .pkg, double click it, and do what it says. Sometimes you don't even have to install anything at all, and it runs without any installation.

However, when things are more "homebrew", for example downloading source code, things are more complicated. Under {{w|Unix-like}} systems, which this universal install script is designed for, you may have to work with "build environments" and "makefiles", and command line tools. To make this process simpler, there exist repositories of programs which host either packages of source code and the things needed to build it or the pre-built programs. When you download the package, it automatically does most of the work of building the code into something executable if necessary and then installing it. However, there are many such repositories, such as "pip" and "brew", among others listed in the comic. If you only know the name of a program or package, you may not know in which repository(ies) it resides.

The script provided in the comic attempts to fix this problem, by giving a "universal install script", which contains a lot of common install commands used in various Unix-like systems. In between each of the install commands in the script is the & character, which in POSIX-compatible shells (including {{w|Bash (Unix shell)|Bash}}, a popular shell scripting language) means it should continue to run the next command without waiting for the first command to finish, also known as "running in the background". This has the effect of running all the install commands simultaneously; all output and error text provided by the will be mixed together as they are all displaying on the screen around the same time.

The script accepts the name of a program when you run it as an argument. This value is then referenced as "$1" (argument number 1). Everywhere the script says "$1", it substitutes in the name of the package you gave it. The end result is the name being tried against a large number of software repositories and package managers, and hopefully, at least one of them will be appropriate and the program will be successfully installed. Near the end, it even tries changing the current working directory to that which is assumed to hold the package to be installed, and then runs several commands which build the program from source code.

All in all, this script would probably work; it runs many standard popular repository programs and package managers, and runs the nearly-universal commands needed to build a program. Most of the commands would simply give an error and exit, but hopefully the correct one will proceed with the install.

One of the more subtle jokes in the comic is the inclusion of <code>apt-get</code> and <code>sudo apt-get</code> in the same script. Good unix practice dictates never logging in as root; instead you stay logged in as your normal user, and run system admin accounts via <code>sudo program name</code>. This prevents accidental errors and enables logging of all sensitive commands. A side effect of this, however, is that an administrator may forget to prefix her command with <code>sudo</code>, and re-running it properly the second time. This is a common joke in the Linux community, an example of which can be found at [https://twitter.com/liamosaur/status/506975850596536320 viral tweet] which shows a humorous workaround for the issue.

Since Randall's script does not use sudo for any but the <code>apt-get</code> command, there are two possibilities: the script itself was run via the root user or via sudo (in which case the <code>sudo apt-get</code> is not needed, or the script was run as a normal user, in which case all of the commands will fail (due to lacking necessary permissions) with the possible exception of the <code>sudo apt-get</code> one.

Sudo has also been used both by [[Randall]] in [[149: Sandwich]] and by Jason Fox to force Randall to let him appear on xkcd with [[824: Guest Week: Bill Amend (FoxTrot)]].

The tool <code>curl</code> downloads files from the network (e.g., the Internet). For example <code>curl http://xkcd.com/</code> downloads and displays the xkcd HTML source. The pipe <code>|</code> in the script attaches the output of the command before the pipe to the input of the command after the pipe, thus running whatever commands exist in the web content. Although this "curl|sh" pattern is a common practice for conveniently installing software, it is considered extremely unwise; you are running untrusted code without validation, there may be a MITM who modifies the code you receive, or the remote system could have been hijacked and the code made malicious. Most local package managers (e.g. <code>apt</code>, <code>yum</code>) offer digitally-signed packages that thwart this problem. You can find many examples of software providers suggesting a <code>curl|sh</code> solution at [https://curlpipesh.tumblr.com/ curlpipesh]

There appears to be a bug with the & at the end of the "git clone" line; since a git repository typically contains program source code, not executables, it may have been intended to retrieve the source code with git and then compile and install the program in the next line. In this case, the single & should be replaced with &&, an operator that will run the second command only if the first one has completed successfully. This plays into a second bug on the "configure" line, where the placement of the & means that only the "make install" command will be run asynchronously after the "configure" and "make" steps have finished in sequence. To make success as likely as possible, the two lines should be like this:

git clone <nowiki>https://github.com/</nowiki>"$1"/"$1" && (cd "$1"; ./configure; make; make install) &

Since all commands are running in the background, any command that requires user input will stop and wait until brought to the foreground. A common request would be for a database password, or if it is allowed to restart services for the installation. This could lead to packages being only partly installed or configured. (See more about using "yes" below.)

The title text mentions the possibility that the same program may be in multiple repositories, so in this case, the script will download and install several versions, or it may fail on a number of repositories, in which case usually nothing bad happens. Since all the commands come from different operating systems, versions, or distributions, it is not very likely that more than one will work (with the exception of pip/easy_install and the two forms of apt-get) or even exist on the same system. It mentions that adding a way of automatically saying "yes" to questions asked during the different repository-fetching programs' running, by making them read input from another program that writes a (nearly) endless stream of "y"s, could simplify things further. (This would not work for any curses-based menus, or to answer any more complicated questions.) Adding <code>2>/dev/null</code> to a command redirects the second output stream (the "error stream") to the null device driver, which discards all writes to it, meaning errors (the package not existing) will not be sent to the screen.

==Transcript==
:[In the panel is a shell script which, unusual for xkcd, uses only lower case. At the top the title of the program is inlaid in the frame, which has been broken here.]
:<big>Install.sh</big>

:<nowiki>#!/bin/bash</nowiki>

:pip install "$1" &
:easy_install "$1" &
:brew install "$1" &
:npm install "$1" &
:yum install "$1" & dnf install "$1" &
:docker run "$1" &
:pkg install "$1" &
:apt-get install "$1" &
:sudo apt-get install "$1" &
:steamcmd +app_update "$1" validate &
:git clone <nowiki>https://github.com/</nowiki>"$1"/"$1" &
:cd "$1";./configure;make;make install &
:curl "$1" | bash &

==Trivia==
*pip and easy install are package managers for {{w|Python (programming language)|Python}}
*brew is the successor/replacement for {{w|MacPorts}} and a third-party package manager for OS X
*{{w|npm (software)|npm}} is the node package manager that maintains node.js packages
*{{w|Yellowdog Updater, Modified|yum}} is the package management tool for {{w|Red Hat Enterprise Linux}} and some derivatives
*{{w|DNF (software)|dnf}} is the package management tool for {{w|Fedora (operating system)|Fedora}} since version 22
*docker run is a {{w|Docker (software)|Docker}} command that runs a given container (similar to a virtual machine)
*pkg is the package management tool on {{w|Berkeley Software Distribution|BSD systems}}
*apt-get is the package management tool of {{w|Debian}} and derivatives (e.g. Ubuntu)
*steamcmd refers to {{w|Steam (software)|Steam}}, the computer game client
*git is the revision control software used for many projects and gained a lot of traction through the {{w|GitHub}} platform
*configure/make/make install refers to the standard way of compiling software from source (on Linux/Unix)
*curl is a tool for loading data via http:// (i.e. from a website), this data is then pushed to the shell interpreter (in order to install)
**Note: While this is a security nightmare, some projects (like Homebrew) still use it as the preferred or only method of installation.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Programming]]

Talk:1507: Metaball

2015-04-03T22:26:19Z

Fewmet:

This... looks amazing! I wonder if this is going to be a case of xkcd influencing real life, like geohashing, the "citation needed" on speeches or cory doctorow cosplaying... cory doctorow. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.29|173.245.48.29]] 08:26, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

Over here in Rightpondia (UK), "Hockey" means "Field Hockey" (I'm sure I've never actually heard "ball hockey" as a term before, ''ever'', although must be the same)... although it's mostly popularised as a (often very vicious!) girl's sport; see the St. Trinians cartoons/films. Although we understand Leftpondians (and especially Upper-Leftpondians) mean Ice Hockey when they miss off the qualifier. Just as vicious, of course (except now that everyone wears armour... also c.f. usual comments regarding Rugby League/Union vs 'American Football'/Gridiron). But none of these have anything on the near-variant of these games (mainly in Ireland) that is Hurling..! (As to Field Hockey as Aussie Rules Football is to Association Football?)[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 16:25, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

Suspiciously similar to Calvinball. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.100|108.162.221.100]] 21:18, 3 April 2015 (UTC)A Martin

I see influences of Hofstadter's ''Godel,Escher,Bach'', which has
1) the idea of how the play-by-play of a football game would be altered if it were baseball (among other counterfactuals), and
2) the idea of a boardgame whose rules change according to where pieces are on the board. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 22:26, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

1018: Good Cop, Dadaist Cop

2014-07-09T01:50:59Z

Fewmet: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1018
| date = February 17, 2012
| title = Good Cop, Dadaist Cop
| image = good_cop_dadaist_cop.png
| titletext = NOW INVENT AN IMPOSSIBLE-TO-TRANSLATE LANGUAGE AND USE IT TO TELL US WHERE THE MONEY IS.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Language, layout, and the title text is missing.}}
This is a play on the police interrogation strategy of "{{w|Good cop/bad cop}}", in which two officers take on contrary roles to get the suspect to give the required information. One interrogator establishes a sympathetic relationship with the subject while the other interrogator is antagonistic and threatening. The goal of this is to make the subject trust the “good cop” and to reveal the desired information.

In this comic, the interrogators ([[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]]) use the "good cop, Dadaist cop" strategy to get information from [[Hairy]]. The overview of the [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada#Overview Dadaists] given by Wikipedia says they used “artistic expression that appeared to reject logic and embrace chaos and irrationality”. As such, it is not an effective interrogation technique.

The incongruities of two of Ponytail’s questions are clear: “WHY ARE MY BONES SO SMALL?” and “What's wrong with ART?” are [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non_sequitur_%28logic%29 non sequiturs]. The third question has two levels to its absurdity. {{w|Mark Zuckerberg}} (the co-founder of {{w|Facebook}}) was [//allfacebook.com/mark-zuckerberg-moves-into-another-rental-house_b29174 reported in 2011] to be living in a house he rented, so he would not have a {{w|mortgage}}. Nor would any mortgage be written in a [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_language liturgical language] like {{w|Church Latin}}.

The title text adds one more absurdity: the whereabouts of the money cannot be conveyed to Ponytail if the information were expressed in a newly-invented language that cannot be translated.

==Transcript==
:[Two cops look through a window into an interrogation chamber holding a handcuffed suspect.]
:Good Cop: All right, let's try good cop, dadaist cop

:[Good Cop is seated in front of the suspect.]
:Good Cop: Look, you're a good guy. We can work this out. Hey, lemme get us some coffee.

:[CHANGE PLACES.]

:[Dadaist Cop holds up a document of indeterminate contents and threatens the suspect with it.]
:Dadaist Cop: See this? It's Mark Zuckerberg's Mortgage. So why is it written in '''''CHURCH LATIN'''''?

:[Dadaist cop physically rattles the suspect.]
:Dadaist Cop: '''''WHY ARE MY BONES SO SMALL'''''?
:Suspect: What's ''WRONG'' with you!?
:Dadaist Cop: What's wrong with '''''ART'''''?
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

Talk:802: Online Communities 2

2014-07-09T01:46:25Z

Fewmet:

I believe I can explain why the e-mail, SMS and Internet areas of the map are surrounded by the "Spoken Language" country. Yes, SMS, e-mail and most of the Internet are "written", but they're more of a "written spoken language", sharing many traits with informal spoken language. Maybe Wikipedia articles and blog posts can be classified as "standard written texts", but most other forms of electronically-mediated communication bare more resemblance to the way we speak: forums, chatrooms, Facebook posts, SMS texts, the usage of acronyms and smiley faces, etc. It's a widely researched phenomenon, and it continues to be a topic in the fields of linguistics, psychology, sociology and education (literacy attainment). As an aspiring linguist myself, I smiled when I noticed that these so-called "written" forms were next to spoken language :) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.10|108.162.215.10]] 22:16, 22 December 2013 (UTC)

I wonder if it's intentional that 4chan looks like a penis...{{unsigned ip|‎65.40.201.44}}

It needs to explain the ferry between 4chan and Gaia. Although, so does a lot of other stuff. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.45|108.162.216.45]] 07:58, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

I am still working on this. However, not only is this a big job, but I also have a lot to do outside here. In fact, I might even take a break from the Internet. I am simply warning others here. [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 04:37, 10 December 2013 (UTC)

about the Catbus Route on 4chan island in the Forums inset: Might it have something to do with the catbus in the animated film Totoro? In the film, the bus appears to have a regular route, or at least standard bus stops. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.40|108.162.219.40]] 07:55, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

This comic makes a brief guest appearance at [//www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=hFAOXdXZ5TM#t=256 4:25] in the MinutePhysics post about magnets. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 01:46, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1391: Darkness

2014-07-08T03:03:10Z

Fewmet:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MundaneMadeAwesome --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 07:07, 7 July 2014 (UTC)
Ugghhh, you just HAD to link to TVTropes... Now I'm gonna get sucked into the vortex! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.49|108.162.216.49]] 02:16, 8 July 2014 (UTC)
This narrative was actually the very first story I've read in The Onion back in 2006: [http://www.theonion.com/articles/rotation-of-earth-plunges-entire-north-american-co,1905/] -- [[User:Xorg|Xorg]] ([[User talk:Xorg|talk]]) 08:28, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

Will Eno has a play, "TRAGEDY: a tragedy", which has a very similar set-up (reporters reporting on the fall of night as if they'd never known it before), but never explains how the situation came about --- now thanks to XKCD, we know how come! -- awhyzip, 7 July 2014

Isn't there a problem with the wish formulation? If the genie does not remember ever granting any wishes, how come the one in the comic is labelled as his "last wish". {{unsigned ip|173.245.49.181}}

"There usually is an added stipulation" ... really? Most time I read about genies, it's about someone using some clever way to overcome the limit on number of wishes, if there IS any limit to start with - but what I read may not be representative. This may require more research ... what is the most "traditional" genie story? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:47, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

:The most traditional would be the character simply carefully choosing all three wishes, using the last one at the very end of e story. Again, not representative either, but from what I've read the concept of "getting around the three-wish limit" seems to be a more recent take on the 'traditional' version. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 13:00, 7 July 2014 (UTC)
::The most traditional would be the character simply carefully choosing all three wishes, using the last one at the very end of e story. Again, not representative either, but from what I've read the concept of "getting around the three-wish limit" seems to be a more recent take on the 'traditional' version. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 13:00, 7 July 2014 (UTC)
:I'm pretty well-read in folklore. The three-wishes tale that I have seen come up most often involves a man getting three wishes, wishing for a sausage, his wife complaining, him wishing the sausage were on her nose and then wishing it were off her nose. There are several variants of that [//www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0750a.html here].

:I agree the ruse of getting more wishes is a modern device, not a folk one. In a ''Godel, Escher, Bach'' dialogue, for example, it is explained that genies only cast wishes, not metawishes (wishes about wishes). That requires a metagenie. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 03:03, 8 July 2014 (UTC)
Um... If the genie cannot remember that each wish was NOT his first, that does not preclude him from keeping track of or remembering how many wishes he has made. It doesn't keep him from remembering other wishes, he simply can't remember which one was NOT first. Perhaps I'm over-thinking this, but the genie would probably say, "I may remember your last wish was only your first, but I distinctly remember the 3 wishes you've made so far, especially the one to screw with my head. So... no more wishes for you." XP -naginalf [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.40|108.162.216.40]] 13:17, 7 July 2014 (UTC)
:I was more wondering about the genie having pause for thought when (remembering no previous wishes) he hears "for my ''last'' wish...". But with genies generally being the 'manual workers' of the magical world, generally being unimaginative (except for those that tend to twist wishes into causing unintended consequences, possibly something that Wish #1 was used to explore the possibility of) and working to rule (perhaps "twist the wish" is one of the rules?), they don't notice. [i]Or[/i] they're so fed up with "bottled servitude" that they'd be quite happy to go along with this new guy with the new attempt at rules-lawyering, at least until they get bored... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.192|141.101.99.192]] 14:07, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

I took this to be a reference to [//wisegeek.com/what-is-a-news-cycle.htm#didyouknowout news cycles]. The wisher was irritated that news reporting is influenced by an artificial constraint like the [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24-hour_news_cycle 24 hour news cycle] and wished the media would forget about it. In classic form, a poorly-worded wish is inconveniently interpreted. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 15:34, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1391: Darkness

2014-07-07T15:34:08Z

Fewmet:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MundaneMadeAwesome --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 07:07, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

This narrative was actually the very first story I've read in The Onion back in 2006: [http://www.theonion.com/articles/rotation-of-earth-plunges-entire-north-american-co,1905/] -- [[User:Xorg|Xorg]] ([[User talk:Xorg|talk]]) 08:28, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

Isn't there a problem with the wish formulation? If the genie does not remember ever granting any wishes, how come the one in the comic is labelled as his "last wish". {{unsigned ip|173.245.49.181}}

"There usually is an added stipulation" ... really? Most time I read about genies, it's about someone using some clever way to overcome the limit on number of wishes, if there IS any limit to start with - but what I read may not be representative. This may require more research ... what is the most "traditional" genie story? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:47, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

:The most traditional would be the character simply carefully choosing all three wishes, using the last one at the very end of e story. Again, not representative either, but from what I've read the concept of "getting around the three-wish limit" seems to be a more recent take on the 'traditional' version. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 13:00, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

Um... If the genie cannot remember that each wish was NOT his first, that does not preclude him from keeping track of or remembering how many wishes he has made. It doesn't keep him from remembering other wishes, he simply can't remember which one was NOT first. Perhaps I'm over-thinking this, but the genie would probably say, "I may remember your last wish was only your first, but I distinctly remember the 3 wishes you've made so far, especially the one to screw with my head. So... no more wishes for you." XP -naginalf [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.40|108.162.216.40]] 13:17, 7 July 2014 (UTC)
:I was more wondering about the genie having pause for thought when (remembering no previous wishes) he hears "for my ''last'' wish...". But with genies generally being the 'manual workers' of the magical world, generally being unimaginative (except for those that tend to twist wishes into causing unintended consequences, possibly something that Wish #1 was used to explore the possibility of) and working to rule (perhaps "twist the wish" is one of the rules?), they don't notice. [i]Or[/i] they're so fed up with "bottled servitude" that they'd be quite happy to go along with this new guy with the new attempt at rules-lawyering, at least until they get bored... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.192|141.101.99.192]] 14:07, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

I took this to be a reference to [//wisegeek.com/what-is-a-news-cycle.htm#didyouknowout news cycles]. The wisher was irritated that news reporting is influenced by an artificial constraint like the [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24-hour_news_cycle 24 hour news cycle] and wished the media would forget about it. In classic form, a poorly-worded wish is inconveniently interpreted. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 15:34, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

1018: Good Cop, Dadaist Cop

2014-07-07T15:01:40Z

Fewmet: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1018
| date = February 17, 2012
| title = Good Cop, Dadaist Cop
| image = good_cop_dadaist_cop.png
| titletext = NOW INVENT AN IMPOSSIBLE-TO-TRANSLATE LANGUAGE AND USE IT TO TELL US WHERE THE MONEY IS.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Language, layout, and the title text is missing.}}
This is a play on the police interrogation strategy of "{{w|Good cop/bad cop}}", in which two officers play different parts to get the suspect to give the required information. One interrogator establishes a sympathetic relationship with the subject while the other interrogator is antagonistic and threatening. The goal of this is to make the subject trust the “good cop” and to reveal the desired information.

In this comic, the interrogators ([[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]]) use the "good cop, Dadaist cop" strategy to get information from [[Hairy]]. The overview of the [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada#Overview Dadaists] given by Wikipedia says they used “artistic expression that appeared to reject logic and embrace chaos and irrationality”. As such, it is not an effective interrogation technique.

The incongruities of two of Ponytail’s questions are clear: “WHY ARE MY BONES SO SMALL?” and “What's wrong with ART?” are [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non_sequitur_%28logic%29 non sequiturs]. The third question has two levels to its absurdity. {{w|Mark Zuckerberg}} (the co-founder of {{w|Facebook}}) was [//allfacebook.com/mark-zuckerberg-moves-into-another-rental-house_b29174 reported in 2011] to be living in a house he rented, so he would not have a {{w|mortgage}}. Nor would any mortgage be written in a [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_language liturgical language] like {{w|Church Latin}}.

The title text adds one more absurdity: the whereabouts of the money cannot be conveyed to Ponytail if the information were expressed in a newly-invented language that cannot be translated.

==Transcript==
:[Two cops look through a window into an interrogation chamber holding a handcuffed suspect.]
:Good Cop: All right, let's try good cop, dadaist cop

:[Good Cop is seated in front of the suspect.]
:Good Cop: Look, you're a good guy. We can work this out. Hey, lemme get us some coffee.

:[CHANGE PLACES.]

:[Dadaist Cop holds up a document of indeterminate contents and threatens the suspect with it.]
:Dadaist Cop: See this? It's Mark Zuckerberg's Mortgage. So why is it written in '''''CHURCH LATIN'''''?

:[Dadaist cop physically rattles the suspect.]
:Dadaist Cop: '''''WHY ARE MY BONES SO SMALL'''''?
:Suspect: What's ''WRONG'' with you!?
:Dadaist Cop: What's wrong with '''''ART'''''?
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

1018: Good Cop, Dadaist Cop

2014-07-07T00:17:39Z

Fewmet:

{{comic
| number = 1018
| date = February 17, 2012
| title = Good Cop, Dadaist Cop
| image = good_cop_dadaist_cop.png
| titletext = NOW INVENT AN IMPOSSIBLE-TO-TRANSLATE LANGUAGE AND USE IT TO TELL US WHERE THE MONEY IS.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Language, layout, and the title text is missing.}}
This is a play on the police interrogation strategy of "{{w|Good cop/bad cop}}", in which two officers play different parts to get the suspect to give the required information. One interrogator establishes a sympathetic relationship with the subject while the other interrogator is antagonistic and threatening. The goal of this is to make the subject trust the “good cop” and to reveal the desired information.

In this comic, the interrogators (Cueball and Ponytail) use the "good cop, Dadaist cop" strategy to get information from Hairy. The overview of the [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada#Overview Dadaists] given by Wikipedia says they used “artistic expression that appeared to reject logic and embrace chaos and irrationality”. As such, it is not an effective interrogation technique.

The incongruities of two of Ponytail’s questions are clear: “WHY ARE MY BONES SO SMALL?” and “What's wrong with ART?” are [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non_sequitur_%28logic%29 non sequiturs]. The third question has two levels to its absurdity. {{w|Mark Zuckerberg}} (the co-founder of {{w|Facebook}}) was [//allfacebook.com/mark-zuckerberg-moves-into-another-rental-house_b29174 reported in 2011] to be living in a house he rented, so he would not have a {{w|mortgage}}. Nor would any mortgage be written in a [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_language liturgical language] like {{w|Church Latin}}.

The title text adds one more absurdity: the whereabouts of the money cannot be conveyed to Ponytail if the information were expressed in a newly-invented language that cannot be translated.

==Transcript==
:[Two cops look through a window into an interrogation chamber holding a handcuffed suspect.]
:Good Cop: All right, let's try good cop, dadaist cop

:[Good Cop is seated in front of the suspect.]
:Good Cop: Look, you're a good guy. We can work this out. Hey, lemme get us some coffee.

:[CHANGE PLACES.]

:[Dadaist Cop holds up a document of indeterminate contents and threatens the suspect with it.]
:Dadaist Cop: See this? It's Mark Zuckerberg's Mortgage. So why is it written in '''''CHURCH LATIN'''''?

:[Dadaist cop physically rattles the suspect.]
:Dadaist Cop: '''''WHY ARE MY BONES SO SMALL'''''?
:Suspect: What's ''WRONG'' with you!?
:Dadaist Cop: What's wrong with '''''ART'''''?
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

Talk:681: Gravity Wells

2014-07-05T23:07:44Z

Fewmet:

Why is Earth's well's depth listed as 5478km but as 6379km in the inset?
Compare with Mars which has 1286 in both places.
[[Special:Contributions/87.174.225.131|87.174.225.131]] 07:21, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
:Best guess is either a goof, or that the lower number is just for Earth itself, while the greater number is for the Earth/Moon system as a whole. Proportionally speaking, we have the largest moon in the solar system, so maybe it wouldn't nicely fit in the Earth well as easily as Mars's and Jupiter's moons do.--[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 08:28, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

: It ''may'' be the height needed to go from one gravity well to another. You don't have to get all the way up to escape speed for that.

: Randall wasn't kidding about the Sun being "very very far down"; its well is 100 times deeper than Jupiter's!
:[[User:Wwoods|Wwoods]] ([[User talk:Wwoods|talk]]) 19:47, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

:: OTOH, from the table above i'm thinking that the 5.4 might be the Venus figure, and it was wrongly placed besides Earth...
:: Secondly, what i found interesting was that the Earth's 6.4 looks so much like its radius! I wonder if it's merely a coincidence, or there's a connection between the two... -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.233|141.101.99.233]] 21:25, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::The table is great, it must be included in the article; layout and time is just my problem right now. PRO TIP: Do not care about the x-axis.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:18, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
: The fact that the density of the Earth is 5478 kilograms per cubic kilometer makes me pretty sure it is a typo. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 03:04, 4 July 2014 (UTC)
:: Hehe, you might be right. That's the best explanation. It would be a strange coincidence otherwise. But your units are wrong: a cubic kilometer of water, ice-cream or Natalie Portmans would be already something like a billion kilograms. Or a trillion, if you are American. Oh, you might be American. In this case: happy 4th of July! -[[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.35|188.114.102.35]] 12:39, 4 July 2014 (UTC)
:::Thanks for catching that (and for the July 4 wishes). It should be kilograms per cubic meter. Looking into that, though, leaves me less sure that is the origin of the problem. I thought I had multiple sources for Earth having a density of 5478 kg/m3, but can find only [//atharvatutorials.com/doc/physics_paper.docx one] (and not a very compelling one at that). I have sounder sources for [//www.universetoday.com/26771/density-of-the-earth/ 5513 kg/m3]. [//nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html 5514 kg/m3], [//www.wolframalpha.com 5515 kg/m3], [//www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Venus_Express/Venus_compared_to_Earth 5520 kg/m3] and [//principles.ou.edu/earth_planet/ 5540 kg/m3]. It may be trivial in that all round to 5500 kg/m3.

:::I solved for the wells on Earth, Moon and Mars using the equation Randall gave and masses and equatorial radii from NASA, getting 6371 km, 287 km and 1286 km, respectively. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 23:07, 5 July 2014 (UTC)
The Oberth Effect mentioned in the title text is [//www.askamathematician.com/2013/01/q-how-does-the-oberth-effect-work-and-where-does-the-extra-energy-come-from-why-is-it-better-for-a-rocket-to-fire-at-the-lowest-point-in-its-orbit/ well-explained here] (assuming you are not intimidated by the algebra in squaring a binomial). The gist of it is that using a bit of fuel in a rocket thrust will increase the rocket’s kinetic energy . The higher the kinetic energy at the time of the thrust, the greater the increase in kinetic energy. It works because the energy of the fuel goes into increasing the kinetic energy of the ship and the kinetic energy of the spent fuel. The faster you go, the greater the portion of the energy the ship gets.

The “gravity assist” is also known as the slingshot effect. The [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_assist#Explanation Wikipedia explanation] is good, especially with its diagram. In it a spaceship (or other body) accelerates toward a planet (or moon, star, etc.) in the same direction that body was going. The ship picks up a little of the body’s momentum and so goes faster, although only according to an external reference frame. An observer at rest with respect to that other body would actually see the ship approach and depart with the same speed.

The title text reference to orbital speed is unclear to me. I suppose it just means that the given gravity wells assume you are at rest on the surface of the planet. Then being in orbit (and necessarily having an orbital speed) would mean you are part way out of the well already. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 02:57, 4 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1388: Subduction License

2014-07-04T16:19:12Z

Fewmet:

I'm assuming "subduction license" is being comically reinterpreted here from some other meaning. What is a subduction license, normally speaking? [[User:Jevicci|Jevicci]] ([[User talk:Jevicci|talk]]) 15:20, 30 June 2014 (UTC)

Um, you're making it too easy to make me normal and rub away very fast {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.9}}

I'm thinking the closest real term to "subduction license" is probably "Subversion License" - Subversion being a popular source code repository system. (Edit: Created a new account) [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 21:02, 30 June 2014 (UTC)

:Nah, that's not it ... there's got to be some pun on ''license'', or perhaps a term that sounds like ''-uction license''. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.159|173.245.54.159]] 23:14, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
::Could be the ''seduction license'' he should have applied for instead. He wishes to seduce his roommate, and has applied for a license for this. However he misunderstood the word and has applied for the other license, and has also read about it on Wikipedia ;-) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:31, 1 July 2014 (UTC)
Alternate explanation for the title text: A fault is a break between two blocks of the lithosphere (or the crust if you want to be more vernacular). The two blocks move in one of three ways: laterally side-by-side (making it a transform fault), away from each other (a normal fault) or toward each other (a reverse fault, which is the kind involved in subduction). If Beret Guy were normal, he'd have to be moving away from Cueball. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 15:15, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:681: Gravity Wells

2014-07-04T16:10:49Z

Fewmet:

Why is Earth's well's depth listed as 5478km but as 6379km in the inset?
Compare with Mars which has 1286 in both places.
[[Special:Contributions/87.174.225.131|87.174.225.131]] 07:21, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
:Best guess is either a goof, or that the lower number is just for Earth itself, while the greater number is for the Earth/Moon system as a whole. Proportionally speaking, we have the largest moon in the solar system, so maybe it wouldn't nicely fit in the Earth well as easily as Mars's and Jupiter's moons do.--[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 08:28, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

: It ''may'' be the height needed to go from one gravity well to another. You don't have to get all the way up to escape speed for that.

: Randall wasn't kidding about the Sun being "very very far down"; its well is 100 times deeper than Jupiter's!
:[[User:Wwoods|Wwoods]] ([[User talk:Wwoods|talk]]) 19:47, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

:: OTOH, from the table above i'm thinking that the 5.4 might be the Venus figure, and it was wrongly placed besides Earth...
:: Secondly, what i found interesting was that the Earth's 6.4 looks so much like its radius! I wonder if it's merely a coincidence, or there's a connection between the two... -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.233|141.101.99.233]] 21:25, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::The table is great, it must be included in the article; layout and time is just my problem right now. PRO TIP: Do not care about the x-axis.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:18, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
: The fact that the density of the Earth is 5478 kilograms per cubic kilometer makes me pretty sure it is a typo. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 03:04, 4 July 2014 (UTC)
:: Hehe, you might be right. That's the best explanation. It would be a strange coincidence otherwise. But your units are wrong: a cubic kilometer of water, ice-cream or Natalie Portmans would be already something like a billion kilograms. Or a trillion, if you are American. Oh, you might be American. In this case: happy 4th of July! -[[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.35|188.114.102.35]] 12:39, 4 July 2014 (UTC)

The Oberth Effect mentioned in the title text is [//www.askamathematician.com/2013/01/q-how-does-the-oberth-effect-work-and-where-does-the-extra-energy-come-from-why-is-it-better-for-a-rocket-to-fire-at-the-lowest-point-in-its-orbit/ well-explained here] (assuming you are not intimidated by the algebra in squaring a binomial). The gist of it is that using a bit of fuel in a rocket thrust will increase the rocket’s kinetic energy . The higher the kinetic energy at the time of the thrust, the greater the increase in kinetic energy. It works because the energy of the fuel goes into increasing the kinetic energy of the ship and the kinetic energy of the spent fuel. The faster you go, the greater the portion of the energy the ship gets.

The “gravity assist” is also known as the slingshot effect. The [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_assist#Explanation Wikipedia explanation] is good, especially with its diagram. In it a spaceship (or other body) accelerates toward a planet (or moon, star, etc.) in the same direction that body was going. The ship picks up a little of the body’s momentum and so goes faster, although only according to an external reference frame. An observer at rest with respect to that other body would actually see the ship approach and depart with the same speed.

The title text reference to orbital speed is unclear to me. I suppose it just means that the given gravity wells assume you are at rest on the surface of the planet. Then being in orbit (and necessarily having an orbital speed) would mean you are part way out of the well already. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 02:57, 4 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:681: Gravity Wells

2014-07-04T03:04:20Z

Fewmet:

Why is Earth's well's depth listed as 5478km but as 6379km in the inset?
Compare with Mars which has 1286 in both places.
[[Special:Contributions/87.174.225.131|87.174.225.131]] 07:21, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
:Best guess is either a goof, or that the lower number is just for Earth itself, while the greater number is for the Earth/Moon system as a whole. Proportionally speaking, we have the largest moon in the solar system, so maybe it wouldn't nicely fit in the Earth well as easily as Mars's and Jupiter's moons do.--[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 08:28, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

: It ''may'' be the height needed to go from one gravity well to another. You don't have to get all the way up to escape speed for that.

: Randall wasn't kidding about the Sun being "very very far down"; its well is 100 times deeper than Jupiter's!
:[[User:Wwoods|Wwoods]] ([[User talk:Wwoods|talk]]) 19:47, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

:: OTOH, from the table above i'm thinking that the 5.4 might be the Venus figure, and it was wrongly placed besides Earth...
:: Secondly, what i found interesting was that the Earth's 6.4 looks so much like its radius! I wonder if it's merely a coincidence, or there's a connection between the two... -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.233|141.101.99.233]] 21:25, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::The table is great, it must be included in the article; layout and time is just my problem right now. PRO TIP: Do not care about the x-axis.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:18, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
: The fact that the density of the Earth is 5478 kilograms per cubic kilometer makes me pretty sure it is a typo. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 03:04, 4 July 2014 (UTC)

The Oberth Effect mentioned in the title text is [//www.askamathematician.com/2013/01/q-how-does-the-oberth-effect-work-and-where-does-the-extra-energy-come-from-why-is-it-better-for-a-rocket-to-fire-at-the-lowest-point-in-its-orbit/ well-explained here] (assuming you are not intimidated by the algebra in squaring a binomial). The gist of it is that using a bit of fuel in a rocket thrust will increase the rocket’s kinetic energy . The higher the kinetic energy at the time of the thrust, the greater the increase in kinetic energy. It works because the energy of the fuel goes into increasing the kinetic energy of the ship and the kinetic energy of the spent fuel. The faster you go, the greater the portion of the energy the ship gets.

The “gravity assist” is also known as the slingshot effect. The [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_assist#Explanation Wikipedia explanation] is good, especially with its diagram. In is a spaceship (or other body) accelerates toward a planet (or moon, star, etc.) in the same direction that body was going. The ship picks up a little of the body’s momentum and so goes faster, although only according to an external reference frame. An observer at rest with respect to that other body would actually see the ship approach and depart with the same speed.

The title text reference to orbital speed is unclear to me. I suppose it just means that the given gravity wells assume you are at rest on the surface of the planet. Then being in orbit (and necessarily having an orbital speed) would mean you are part way out of the well already. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 02:57, 4 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:681: Gravity Wells

2014-07-04T02:57:48Z

Fewmet:

Talk:248: Hypotheticals

2014-07-01T16:50:03Z

Fewmet:

The reason for marking this page incomplete is itself incomprehensible, while the explanation itself seems perfectly fine. Can we just mark this as complete? [[User:ImVeryAngryItsNotButter|ImVeryAngryItsNotButter]] ([[User talk:ImVeryAngryItsNotButter|talk]]) 03:41, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
:My former comment was "Layout, language, that TV topes are missing, more...". Please do not remove that tag until it's solved. And right now we have some more issues here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:57, 8 March 2014 (UTC)
::Can you elaborate? I don't see anything wrong with the explanation... [[User:LogicalOxymoron|LogicalOxymoron]] ([[User talk:LogicalOxymoron|talk]]) 05:38, 12 March 2014 (UTC)
:::I did not say that something is wrong, I just did say something is missing. Most important is to explain "TV tropes". Most people don't know about this and so it has to be explained.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:37, 13 March 2014 (UTC)
::::The comic itself has nothing to do with TV tropes, so no explanation is needed. 03:38, 7 April 2014 (UTC)
I think the interpretation that someone appears in your room is the one intended. The assumption is that the reader is alone, at their computer and Randall is asking them to consider the possibility of somebody breaking out of a hypothetical situation next to them. However I think the iterative nature of a hypothetical situation about hypothetical situations is the important part of the title text. [[User:Seanybabes|Seanybabes]] ([[User talk:Seanybabes|talk]]) 06:00, 9 March 2014 (UTC)
I agree. The title-text is attempting to cause a hypothetical person to *actually* break into your room by making you imagine somebody breaking out of the hypothetical situation you are imagining about somebody breaking out of a hypothetical situation. [[User:LogicalOxymoron|LogicalOxymoron]] ([[User talk:LogicalOxymoron|talk]]) 05:38, 12 March 2014 (UTC)
:I disagree - that would be to break into your room. Look at what happens to beret guy who eats ice with a "friend" who breaks out of the situation beret created! Beret would be stunned and then probably cease to exist :-) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:43, 5 April 2014 (UTC)
I think the explanation is on-target except that a stronger case can be made for this referring to Douglas Hofstadter’s ''Godel, Escher, Bach'' than to a comedy trope. I have seen explicit and implicit influences of ''Godel, Escher Bach'' in XKCD (24, 88, 468, 555, 688, 917, 1153…). This comic is highly reminiscent of the dialog ''Little Harmonic Labyrinth'' (on page 103) and of the discussion of Escher's ''Dragon'' (page 524). Randall is playing with the weirdness of mixing levels (what Hofstatdter calls strange loops).[[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 16:50, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1388: Subduction License

2014-07-01T15:15:51Z

Fewmet:

I'm assuming "subduction license" is being comically reinterpreted here from some other meaning. What is a subduction license, normally speaking? [[User:Jevicci|Jevicci]] ([[User talk:Jevicci|talk]]) 15:20, 30 June 2014 (UTC)

Um, you're making it too easy to make me normal and rub away very fast {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.9}}

I'm thinking the closest real term to "subduction license" is probably "Subversion License" - Subversion being a popular source code repository system. (Edit: Created a new account) [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 21:02, 30 June 2014 (UTC)

:Nah, that's not it ... there's got to be some pun on ''license'', or perhaps a term that sounds like ''-uction license''. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.159|173.245.54.159]] 23:14, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
::Could be the ''seduction license'' he should have applied for instead. He wishes to seduce his roommate, and has applied for a license for this. However he misunderstood the word and has applied for the other license, and has also read about it on Wikipedia ;-) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:31, 1 July 2014 (UTC)
Alternate explanation for the title text: A fault is a break between two blocks of the lithosphere (or the crust if you want to be more vernacular). The two blocks move in one on three ways: laterally side-by-side (making it a transform fault), away from each other (a normal fault) or toward each other (a reverse fault, which it the kind involved in subduction). If Beret Guy were normal, he'd have to be moving away from Cueball. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 15:15, 1 July 2014 (UTC)