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		<updated>2026-04-15T18:20:51Z</updated>
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	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:10:_Pi_Equals&amp;diff=67908</id>
		<title>Talk:10: Pi Equals</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:10:_Pi_Equals&amp;diff=67908"/>
				<updated>2014-05-23T12:57:24Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;NSDCars5: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Interestingly, 7108914 does not occur in the [http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/~huberty/math5337/groupe/digits.html first 100,000 digits of pi]. However, 71089 does occur at roughly around the 2,500 digit mark. --[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 18:17, 6 August 2012‎ (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:7108914 position [http://www.angio.net/pi/bigpi.cgi 13,709,690] counting from the first digit after the decimal point. The 3. is not included.  --[[User:whitecat|whitecat]] ([[User talk:whitecat|talk]]) 10:43, 7 August 2012‎ (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There is a children's book called &amp;quot;Help, I'm a prisoner in a toothpaste factory&amp;quot;. {{unsigned ip|86.30.117.77|17:13, 7 January 2013‎ (UTC)}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
or it's reference of the Mac OS 6 and 7 [http://www.mackido.com/EasterEggs/BlueMeanies.html &amp;quot;BlueMeanies&amp;quot; easter egg] &amp;quot;Help! Help! We're being held prisoner in a system software factory!&amp;quot;. {{unsigned ip|46.126.181.133| 08:59, 7 January 2013‎ (UTC)}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In my profession - simplifications of π is equal perfection, I can throw a recurring function at it, but it will just give me more pages of numbers. Remember that pi will ultimately equal 22/7, and you'll be alright. - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 09:17, 3 March 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We still have to find &amp;quot;helpimtrappedinauniversefactory&amp;quot; @pi, even when Randall also does not know.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:48, 23 June 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
You know, we could convert &amp;quot;helpimtrappedinauniversefactory&amp;quot; to the ASCII numbers and then use one of those algorithms that searches pi for a particular string of numbers... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.36|108.162.219.36]] 22:40, 13 November 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:While the string 72697680 (HELP) appears multiple times throughout the first 200,000,000 digits of pi (not counting the 3.), none of the resulting ASCII strings makes sense. The closest (7269768022774869990317421141) is at position 31,961,494 with the resulting string as &amp;quot;HELP�M0E&amp;quot;. Note that it is the number &amp;quot;0&amp;quot; and not the letter &amp;quot;O&amp;quot;. The string &amp;quot;104101108112&amp;quot; (&amp;quot;help&amp;quot;) does not occur in the first 200,000,000 digits. -[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.114|108.162.250.114]] 08:15, 30 December 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Umm... &amp;quot;Of course, because pi never ends and never repeats, if you assign each number pair a letter from the alphabet and look through the digits of pi, somewhere within it is the entire work of Shakespeare, or any other piece of information that could be expressed with human language. So, ironically, somewhere in pi, there actually is the phrase stated in the comic, in a sense.&amp;quot;  This isn't guaranteed.  Just because it's infinite and non-repeating doesn't mean that every possible pattern exists within it.  0.1010010001000010000010000001... is infinite and non-repeating, but it most certainly doesn't contain Shakespeare.  It would only be guaranteed if the series was perfectly random over an infinite amount of time. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.64|108.162.237.64]] 23:47, 14 March 2014 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:Ah, but in 0.1010010001... there is a pattern, isn't there? 1, then n number of zeroes, where n is incremented by 1 each time it is used. I don't see such patterns in 3.14159... myself. :P[[User:NSDCars5|NSDCars5]] ([[User talk:NSDCars5|talk]]) 12:56, 23 May 2014 (UTC)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>NSDCars5</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:10:_Pi_Equals&amp;diff=67907</id>
		<title>Talk:10: Pi Equals</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:10:_Pi_Equals&amp;diff=67907"/>
				<updated>2014-05-23T12:56:06Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;NSDCars5: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Interestingly, 7108914 does not occur in the [http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/~huberty/math5337/groupe/digits.html first 100,000 digits of pi]. However, 71089 does occur at roughly around the 2,500 digit mark. --[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 18:17, 6 August 2012‎ (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:7108914 position [http://www.angio.net/pi/bigpi.cgi 13,709,690] counting from the first digit after the decimal point. The 3. is not included.  --[[User:whitecat|whitecat]] ([[User talk:whitecat|talk]]) 10:43, 7 August 2012‎ (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There is a children's book called &amp;quot;Help, I'm a prisoner in a toothpaste factory&amp;quot;. {{unsigned ip|86.30.117.77|17:13, 7 January 2013‎ (UTC)}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
or it's reference of the Mac OS 6 and 7 [http://www.mackido.com/EasterEggs/BlueMeanies.html &amp;quot;BlueMeanies&amp;quot; easter egg] &amp;quot;Help! Help! We're being held prisoner in a system software factory!&amp;quot;. {{unsigned ip|46.126.181.133| 08:59, 7 January 2013‎ (UTC)}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In my profession - simplifications of π is equal perfection, I can throw a recurring function at it, but it will just give me more pages of numbers. Remember that pi will ultimately equal 22/7, and you'll be alright. - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 09:17, 3 March 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We still have to find &amp;quot;helpimtrappedinauniversefactory&amp;quot; @pi, even when Randall also does not know.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:48, 23 June 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
You know, we could convert &amp;quot;helpimtrappedinauniversefactory&amp;quot; to the ASCII numbers and then use one of those algorithms that searches pi for a particular string of numbers... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.36|108.162.219.36]] 22:40, 13 November 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:While the string 72697680 (HELP) appears multiple times throughout the first 200,000,000 digits of pi (not counting the 3.), none of the resulting ASCII strings makes sense. The closest (7269768022774869990317421141) is at position 31,961,494 with the resulting string as &amp;quot;HELP�M0E&amp;quot;. Note that it is the number &amp;quot;0&amp;quot; and not the letter &amp;quot;O&amp;quot;. The string &amp;quot;104101108112&amp;quot; (&amp;quot;help&amp;quot;) does not occur in the first 200,000,000 digits. -[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.114|108.162.250.114]] 08:15, 30 December 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Umm... &amp;quot;Of course, because pi never ends and never repeats, if you assign each number pair a letter from the alphabet and look through the digits of pi, somewhere within it is the entire work of Shakespeare, or any other piece of information that could be expressed with human language. So, ironically, somewhere in pi, there actually is the phrase stated in the comic, in a sense.&amp;quot;  This isn't guaranteed.  Just because it's infinite and non-repeating doesn't mean that every possible pattern exists within it.  0.1010010001000010000010000001... is infinite and non-repeating, but it most certainly doesn't contain Shakespeare.  It would only be guaranteed if the series was perfectly random over an infinite amount of time. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.64|108.162.237.64]] 23:47, 14 March 2014 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
Ah, but in 0.1010010001... there is a pattern, isn't there? 1, then n number of zeroes, where n is incremented by 1 each time it is used. I don't see such patterns in 3.14159... myself. :P[[User:NSDCars5|NSDCars5]] ([[User talk:NSDCars5|talk]]) 12:56, 23 May 2014 (UTC)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>NSDCars5</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:141:_Parody_Week:_Achewood&amp;diff=67268</id>
		<title>Talk:141: Parody Week: Achewood</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:141:_Parody_Week:_Achewood&amp;diff=67268"/>
				<updated>2014-05-14T16:18:35Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;NSDCars5: Created page with &amp;quot;I see the Athena reference. She came out all ready in full battle armor and stuff from her dad, Zeus's skull (which was broken into two or something). ~~~~ NSDCars5&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;I see the Athena reference. She came out all ready in full battle armor and stuff from her dad, Zeus's skull (which was broken into two or something). [[User:NSDCars5|NSDCars5]] ([[User talk:NSDCars5|talk]]) 16:18, 14 May 2014 (UTC) NSDCars5&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>NSDCars5</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1168:_tar&amp;diff=66999</id>
		<title>Talk:1168: tar</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1168:_tar&amp;diff=66999"/>
				<updated>2014-05-09T12:16:27Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;NSDCars5: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;I thought the title text would be &amp;quot;tar --help&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
[[Special:Contributions/123.202.19.132|123.202.19.132]] 06:59, 1 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Is it good that I could have disarmed the bomb, and I have only used tar (or for that matter, Linux) sparsely? [[User:NSDCars5|NSDCars5]] ([[User talk:NSDCars5|talk]]) 12:16, 9 May 2014 (UTC)NSDCars5&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The comic is about the difficulty of the tar program options.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Even if his life depended on it and after years of usage, Bob/Randall could not come up with the right parameters without looking them up. So a situation is shown, where Bob's life depends on coming up with the right parameters:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* It shows an atomic warhead&lt;br /&gt;
* It has a user interface, which requests any valid tar command&lt;br /&gt;
* If it is not entered on the first try within 10s, the bomb is not disarmed and potentially explodes on the spot&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Randall has come up with a situation, where the unix guy Bob can be the hero by knowing tar parameters. This is a pipe dream of a geek; nobody cares IRL, if you know tar parameters on the first try.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is hilarious, that&lt;br /&gt;
* the bomb says in full detail the rules including that you should not cheat and it probably has no means to check whether you cheated. This is no game, but feels like one. In war and love every means is allowed - even cheating; it would also be self-defense for disarming the bomb; Bob and his colleagues are not even considering to cheat.&lt;br /&gt;
* the user has root access to the bomb, shown by the bomb as ~#, the tilde is the home directory, the # signifies super-user rights; even if the available programs prevent the bomb from being shutdown or disabled by a nonintended way, normally no root access is given for users of linux devices during normal usage; and disarming the bomb with official rules is normal usage of a bomb; a root prompt should not be necessary, if the bomb software is designed and configured well; possibly the unix prompt is a simulation for entering an answer&lt;br /&gt;
* Bob shurely needs more than 10s to come. So the bomb will have announced that questions, which require unix knowledge will follow - or has already asked other Unix questions; perhaps after 10s without entering anything a new question comes up&lt;br /&gt;
* this bomb can be disarmed with &amp;quot;common knowledge&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Small notes:&lt;br /&gt;
* The screen looks to be really grayscale (esp. the inverted &amp;quot;TEN&amp;quot;) - not just because of the comic; it has at least 3 colors (black, white, tar gray); it could be that the &amp;quot;TEN&amp;quot; is updated dynamically and is thus inverted&lt;br /&gt;
* The comic is quite black: The screen and the bomb; Randall seldomly uses solid black areas; the bomb is a gloomy topic so it is black like &amp;quot;tar&amp;quot; (pun)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/178.26.121.97|178.26.121.97]] 07:24, 1 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I think there is a visual double pun in this strip: the bomb disarmed by a tar command is a reference to the [[wikipedia:Tar (computing)#Tarbomb|tarbombs]], but it also looks like the [[wikipedia:File:Tsar Bomba Revised.jpg|Tsar Bomb(a)]]. --[[User:Koveras|Koveras]] ([[User talk:Koveras|talk]]) 08:24, 1 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
: I don’t think it looks like Tsar Bomba. If anything, it is much more similar to [[wikipedia:Fat Man|Fat Man]]. --[[User:Mormegil|Mormegil]] ([[User talk:Mormegil|talk]]) 08:38, 1 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:: Yeah, but &amp;quot;Fat Man&amp;quot; doesn't sound like &amp;quot;tarbomb&amp;quot;. --[[User:Koveras|Koveras]] ([[User talk:Koveras|talk]]) 10:48, 1 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:: Furthermore, the Tsar bomb was much bigger; I think I've read somewhere that it had the size of a bus. --[[Special:Contributions/95.34.7.179|95.34.7.179]] 11:11, 3 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I think another joke is in the fact that you don't know which Unix is running on the bomb so you don't actually know which parameter layout is supported. tar --help for example may or may not be valid since -- is a GNU extension.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
tar -bvzx for a tar.bzip2 .... wait... no... argh... I've always just trusted my fingers.. --[[Special:Contributions/59.167.191.93|59.167.191.93]] 10:14, 1 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
: Will '''tar -?''' be valid everywhere?. [[User:Arifsaha|Arifsaha]] ([[User talk:Arifsaha|talk]]) 19:32, 1 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
tar -lvvb archive.tar.bz&lt;br /&gt;
File not found. Sorry, you're dead.&lt;br /&gt;
~#&lt;br /&gt;
[[Special:Contributions/74.82.68.68|74.82.68.68]] 12:35, 1 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Googling tar commands would definitely take more than 10 seconds, especially considering that Rob did not take his computer. (A smartphone is an option, but...) &lt;br /&gt;
Then again, why would &amp;quot;ten&amp;quot; be written in letters instead of numerals? [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 13:28, 1 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:I think the clock is already counting down. So probably they've discovered the bomb with still some minutes on the display.  They call Bob when there is a minute left, He arrives with 25 sec's on the display and 15s later the screendump is made... [[Special:Contributions/86.82.116.63|86.82.116.63]] 22:33, 1 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:: This makes sense. --[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 22:41, 1 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I think the current explantion is missing an important point: the tar commands are not that much difficult. What makes tar complicated is that there are many different implementations. The linux guy knows only gnu tar, but some unices have much different implementations and different commands. &amp;quot;tar --help&amp;quot; is certainly not available on an old hpux, for example. '''That''' make is difficult to type a valid tar command – even more if you don't know the implementation.&lt;br /&gt;
[[Special:Contributions/212.222.53.78|212.222.53.78]] 10:26, 1 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
: Will '''tar -?''' be valid everywhere?. [[User:Arifsaha|Arifsaha]] ([[User talk:Arifsaha|talk]]) 19:32, 1 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I'm a Windows user, so bear with me. Couldn't he type something like &amp;quot;man tar&amp;quot; to get the proper usage of the &amp;quot;tar&amp;quot; command on this particular system? It's a &amp;quot;man&amp;quot; command, so it shouldn't count as a try towards typing a &amp;quot;tar&amp;quot; command. Of course, maybe the bomb would explode if he entered anything else. [[Special:Contributions/70.31.159.230|70.31.159.230]] 13:46, 1 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Yeah, all standard Unix installations should have man installed.  But many mini installations don't, so these days Google is the standard backup.[[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 14:58, 1 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Randall's joke is spot on, as usual. I've been using UNIX for nearly 30 years. Windows User's solution is elegant. Before Google there was the &amp;lt;code&amp;gt;man&amp;lt;/code&amp;gt; command. In all seriousness, productivity on a UNIX box can be greatly enhanced simply by keeping good notes. I keep patterns of all sorts of UNIX commands handy so I don't have to look them up. As Wikipedia implies, &amp;lt;code&amp;gt;tar -tf&amp;lt;/code&amp;gt; (I prefer &amp;lt;code&amp;gt;-t&amp;lt;b&amp;gt;v&amp;lt;/b&amp;gt;f&amp;lt;/code&amp;gt;) should be memorized because one quickly learns that one should ''always'' inspect tarballs before unpacking them. ''– [[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 14:11, 1 February 2013 (UTC)''&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
One of the reasons that tar is so useful is that it can often do exactly what you want when other, more obvious commands cannot.  For instance, recursively copying a directory from one place to another (using &amp;quot;cp&amp;quot;) can be tricky when symbolic links are involved, and thus people memorize incantations like &amp;quot;tar cf - . | (cd dest; tar xf -)&amp;quot;.  As well, it's a standard tool that's guaranteed to be found on every Unix installation (unlike zip/unzip).[[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 14:58, 1 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
tar --help. Problem solved. '''[[User:Davidy22|&amp;lt;span title=&amp;quot;I want you.&amp;quot;&amp;gt;&amp;lt;u&amp;gt;&amp;lt;font color=&amp;quot;purple&amp;quot; size=&amp;quot;2px&amp;quot;&amp;gt;David&amp;lt;/font&amp;gt;&amp;lt;font color=&amp;quot;green&amp;quot; size=&amp;quot;3px&amp;quot;&amp;gt;y&amp;lt;/font&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/u&amp;gt;&amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;&amp;lt;font color=&amp;quot;indigo&amp;quot; size=&amp;quot;1px&amp;quot;&amp;gt;22&amp;lt;/font&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|&amp;lt;tt&amp;gt;[talk]&amp;lt;/tt&amp;gt;]] 15:21, 1 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
: Maybe '''tar -?''' is better?. [[User:Arifsaha|Arifsaha]] ([[User talk:Arifsaha|talk]]) 19:32, 1 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
What about &amp;quot;tar xf foo.tar&amp;quot;? I always assume options without dash work everywhere because options they are the original scheme. Of course, foot.tar might be absent, but in my view, the command itself remains valid.&lt;br /&gt;
As to the time limit: I imagine a countdown starts when the first key is hit - that leaves little time for &amp;quot;man tar&amp;quot;. [[Special:Contributions/46.142.35.251|46.142.35.251]] 16:49, 1 February 2013 (UTC) madd&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It feels like a partial reference to comic [http://xkcd.com/208/ xkcd 208]--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.157.176|108.162.157.176]] 04:31, 2 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I don't find tar all that tricky.  The situation I'm always trumped with is when copying data, using cp, scp or rsync -r, then chmod -R /data 555.  Why is '-R' capitalized? --[[Special:Contributions/98.253.217.12|98.253.217.12]] 19:54, 2 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:Because -r is 'substract the &amp;quot;read&amp;quot; right'. More interresting question is, why ssh -p but scp -P? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:03, 7 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
First thing that struck me here was the Jurassic Park allusion. Surprised no-one else has mentioned it.--[[Special:Contributions/58.6.184.37|58.6.184.37]] 07:01, 3 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:No one mentioned &amp;quot;What are four lowercase letters that are not legal flag arguments to the Berkeley UNIX version of `ls'?&amp;quot; question either ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:07, 7 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Does this mean we should start retroactively rename cueball to &amp;quot;rob&amp;quot;?&lt;br /&gt;
:Rob is ''a'' Cueball, not ''every'' Cueball, so no. [[User:JET73L|JET73L]] ([[User talk:JET73L|talk]]) 14:05, 8 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There is something morbid in the subtext here.... I have a feeling that Randall is going to kill off Megan, Rob, and &amp;quot;White Hat&amp;quot;... [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 01:47, 4 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Randall, I am disappoint! I haven't used tar for more than a year and I don't err anymore: tar -xvzf file (.gz) or tar -xvjf file (.bz2), and I still consider myself quite the newb. Works on all flavors of linux I tried (I like trying linuxes on VMs, dunno about other unixes, but everytime I need it, I get it right, so I wouldn't even consider this in my list of hardest programs to get right first time). For those interested: -x extract -v verbose (I like it) -z uncompress (for some compression types, in some flavors this works with bz2, IIRC) -j uncompress (for bz2, maybe others). [[Special:Contributions/189.123.132.123|189.123.132.123]] 20:51, 4 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Originally bzip used -y. Not speaking about fact that bzip is pretty new - and some unixes don't have ANY compression support in their tar. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:03, 7 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The quickest tar command with valid syntax would be &amp;quot;tar t&amp;quot;. Every switch after the first command letter is optional. Even the initial dash is optional. [[Special:Contributions/85.24.234.35|85.24.234.35]] 11:03, 19 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:(That would also be a command that is valid in every known tar version throughout the universe.)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The tar command actually has a unique syntax in unix.  Classicly, it's first parameter is a subcommand (letter) followed by zero or more option letters.  (And I think the subcommand had to be first.)  Parameters for the options follow in sequence after that, in the same order the options where listed.  Then, for the 'c' subcommand, an input filename list follows.  This syntax was rather painful when you had perhaps 5 different option letters each with parameters, but this was a normal enough occurance when you specified the tape drive, tape block size, tape length, and a few others I can't even remember.  Early implementations would have a file listing tape configurations so you could pick one and all its parameters with a single digit.  In any case, it should be noted that a dash ('-') was actually NOT ALLOWED on the parameters.  More recent versions of tar have attempted to add the more common unix option parsing, but still support the dash-less form.  Having said all that, I tend to prefer &amp;quot;tar xvzf filename.tar.gz&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;tar tvzf filename.tar.gz&amp;quot;.  [[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 20:18, 23 February 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I'm not sure about it, so I'll not add to the explanation: doesn't &amp;quot;tarbomb&amp;quot; also refers to a malicious tarball that releases a ridiculously big file filled with blank/random data? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.18|108.162.212.18]] 01:26, 17 February 2014 (UTC)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>NSDCars5</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:NSDCars5&amp;diff=62717</id>
		<title>User:NSDCars5</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:NSDCars5&amp;diff=62717"/>
				<updated>2014-03-14T13:41:46Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;NSDCars5: Created page with &amp;quot;Guy's a web developer or something.   Press that &amp;quot;Random page&amp;quot; button on the left; it'll take you someplace more interesting --NSDCars5.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Guy's a web developer or something. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Press that &amp;quot;Random page&amp;quot; button on the left; it'll take you someplace more interesting --NSDCars5.&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>NSDCars5</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1341:_Types_of_Editors&amp;diff=62716</id>
		<title>Talk:1341: Types of Editors</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1341:_Types_of_Editors&amp;diff=62716"/>
				<updated>2014-03-14T13:40:38Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;NSDCars5: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The horse is a noble animal; refers to this? http://www.marciafarquhar.com/artwork/the-horse-is-a-noble-animal/ --[[User:NSDCars5|NSDCars5]] ([[User talk:NSDCars5|talk]]) 13:40, 14 March 2014 (UTC)NSDCars5&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Title text and last frame are a reference to the book [http://machineofdeath.net/ &amp;quot;Machine of Death&amp;quot;], a collection of short stories in which a machine can tell a person a word, that is in some way related to how they will die. {{unsigned ip|173.245.53.198}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Incidentally, Munroe himself wrote a story in that anthology. Apparently, it was titled &amp;quot;?&amp;quot; Has anyone read it?[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.108|199.27.128.108]] 08:14, 12 March 2014 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
SPOILER ALERT In the machine of death story from Randal the protagonist struggles with the fact the machine can predict death, it does not fit his world picture. He decides the only way to win is not to play so he never reads his slip of paper and goes to work starting fires to form an huge question mark. In the end he decides to stay in one place to ether die there from hunger and thirst or any other way. He hopes the slip of paper says &amp;quot;murder&amp;quot; instead of anything else as in the machine murdered him. /SPOILER ALERT{{unsigned ip|62.177.168.231}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There are also {{w|WYSIWYM}} editors: &amp;quot;what you see is what you mean&amp;quot;, where editor marks the content according to its meaning (e.g. section title), but not necessarily exactly as it would appear in presentation. The main advantage of this system is the total separation of presentation and content.  Examples include LyX, FrameMaker, WYMeditor, CodeMirror.  --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 08:44, 12 March 2014 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
And let's not forget WYGIWYG (wiggywig), &amp;quot;What you get is what you get&amp;quot; A joking reference to the imperfection of certain well-known word processors. At this moment, someone out there is writing a machineofdeath-mode for Emacs. [[User:Jim E|Jim E]] ([[User talk:Jim E|talk]]) 16:07, 12 March 2014 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Anyone know that &amp;quot;horse&amp;quot; reference? It sounds familiar but I can't place it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.9|108.162.216.9]] 16:34, 12 March 2014 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
: I don't know if it's relevant, but there's a sculpture titled &amp;quot;The Horse is a Noble Animal&amp;quot;. [http://www.marciafarquhar.com/the-horse-is-a-noble-animal-tatton-park/][http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/north_yorkshire/8605076.stm] [[User:Wwoods|Wwoods]] ([[User talk:Wwoods|talk]]) 19:18, 12 March 2014 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
What about Death Note? Sounds a bit like WYSIHYD is a nerfed version of the Death Note. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.8|108.162.215.8]] 17:12, 12 March 2014 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:It's just a correlation. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.64|108.162.237.64]] 17:16, 12 March 2014 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
::Are you Randall? If not, you do not know that. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.215|108.162.249.215]] 01:53, 13 March 2014 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I think this needs an incomplete flag. It doesn't make a clear distinction between the comic and the real-world context, and the latter isn't sufficiently explained. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 18:15, 12 March 2014 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Was my indentation of the transcript too much? I thought it added to the understanding of the layout and flow. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 12:38, 13 March 2014 (UTC)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>NSDCars5</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:813:_One-Liners&amp;diff=62356</id>
		<title>Talk:813: One-Liners</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:813:_One-Liners&amp;diff=62356"/>
				<updated>2014-03-10T11:14:53Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;NSDCars5: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;I dunno, &amp;quot;Bangarang, motherfucker!&amp;quot; seems a lot more quotable to me than most of the others. Actually, I think I'm going to try to use it in my daily life. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.210|173.245.55.210]] 15:54, 31 October 2013 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* Well, that, and Skrillex. {{unsigned ip|108.162.218.101}}&lt;br /&gt;
I think the last frame is the most quotable as well. It's very similar to John McClain's one-liner from the Die Hard movies: &amp;quot;Yippie Ki-Yay, Mother Fucker&amp;quot;. {{unsigned ip|173.245.56.85}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Well, I'd gladly use the one in the title text daily; now that I've seen this comic, I probably will.--[[User:NSDCars5|NSDCars5]] ([[User talk:NSDCars5|talk]]) 11:14, 10 March 2014 (UTC)NSDCars5.&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>NSDCars5</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:436:_How_it_Happened&amp;diff=61616</id>
		<title>Talk:436: How it Happened</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:436:_How_it_Happened&amp;diff=61616"/>
				<updated>2014-03-03T18:15:20Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;NSDCars5: Created page with &amp;quot;Cueball's friend's like me. --~~~~NSDCars5&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Cueball's friend's like me. --[[User:NSDCars5|NSDCars5]] ([[User talk:NSDCars5|talk]]) 18:15, 3 March 2014 (UTC)NSDCars5&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>NSDCars5</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1051:_Visited&amp;diff=61599</id>
		<title>1051: Visited</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1051:_Visited&amp;diff=61599"/>
				<updated>2014-03-03T15:16:09Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;NSDCars5: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 1051&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = May 4, 2012&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Visited&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = Visited.png&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = I hate when I read something like '... tension among the BASE jumpers nearly led to wingsuit combat ...', and I get excited because 'wingsuit combat' is underlined, only to find that it's just separate links to the 'wingsuit' and 'combat' articles.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
This comic is a reference to how an internet browser will make the links of the pages that you have visited a different color than the links that you have not visited. In the case of {{w|Wikipedia}} (and other wikis powered by {{w|MediaWiki}}), they are blue for non-visited and purple for visited. In this comic, [[Randall]] is ashamed of the pages he has visited, because with the color changes there is evidence of what he has visited in the past, e.g. autoerotic asphyxiation. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Also the pages that he did visit before are in great contrast with the pages that he hasn't. Pages he didn't click are often difficult, highly intelligent topics, while he only clicks the easy, funny articles with little scientific background on the Wikipedia site.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The title text refers to a common mistake many people make when reading articles on Wikipedia.  Words referring to subjects that have an article on Wikipedia are coloured in blue.  This, however, can cause confusion when two words leading to two separate articles appear together, as the two links appear to be one. However, on hovering the cursor over the article link, only one word at a time is underlined, showing that the links are separate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is not possible to determine who this fake article is supposed to be about, but the Macarena band is certainly from Dos Hermanas, Spain. So, it is quite possibly a made up article from [[Randall]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
:[the following is in the standard format of a wikipedia article, modified to reflect the content of the comic]&lt;br /&gt;
:...and was a pioneer of literary {{w|social realism}}.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:He was born in {{w|Dos Hermanas}} in the {{w|Andalusia}} region of {{w|Spain}} (not to be confused with {{w|Andalasia}}[link clicked], the kingdom in Disney's ''{{w|Enchanted}}''[link clicked]), which is also the hometown of ''{{w|Macarena, Seville|Macarena}}''[link clicked] band {{w|Los Del Río}}[link clicked],&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:His {{w|third novel}}, set during the {{w|Burmese-Siamese war}}, marked the start of a lifelong interest in the {{w|history of Southeast Asia}}. He spent his later years in {{w|Thailand}}, writing his final novels just a few blocks from the hotel where actor {{w|David Carradine}}[link clicked] died of {{w|Autoerotic Asphyxiation}}[link clicked].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics with color]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Wikipedia]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Wingsuit]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>NSDCars5</name></author>	</entry>

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