explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1498: Terry Pratchett

2020-03-10T13:18:06Z

Viridiansurfer:

Many were the books of Terry Pratchet... and I haven't read any of them. RIP Sir Terry. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.187|108.162.249.187]] 08:22, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

RIP Sir Terry :'( [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.149|141.101.106.149]] 10:17, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

It is so sad. He was ill with {{w|Early-onset Alzheimer's disease|early onset Alzheimer's}} the last eight years, and he still continued to write about a new book each year, and also four in the {{w|The Long Earth}} series together with {{w|Stephen Baxter}}. I have read almost all his books, only waiting for the latest books to come out in paper back. His Discworld series is monumental, and almost all of the 40 books are worth reading, and most of the times the series just got better and better from book to book. Might just begin reading them all again, once I have gotten hold of and read the last published book Raising Steam. (One last(?) book will be out in the fall, as will the last of the Long Earth series. But here another author are there to finish any loose ends). You will be missed, and thanks to Randall for making this comic. RIP. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:23, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

I hadnt seen the news but the moment i saw the Title i knew what had prompted this xkcd. RIP and thank you. [[User:Plm-qaz snr|Plm-qaz snr]] ([[User talk:Plm-qaz snr|talk]]) 12:07, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

There was a comic that included a speculation on how much shelf space to leave for Terry Pratchett books, but I can't remember which one. Can anyone else remember and add a link? [[User:Jasqm|Jasqm]] ([[User talk:Jasqm|talk]]) 13:44, 13 March 2015 (UTC)
:It seems to be http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/625:_Collections [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 14:33, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

Not sure if it has been mentioned, but there is an optical illusion in this strip; the corners between frames look like they have dark circles in them. [[User:Kirdneh|Kirdneh]] ([[User talk:Kirdneh|talk]]) 15:28, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

The thing about Terry Pratchett's books, especially his Discworld series, is that you don't know how much you've read until you look at the series as a whole. I mean, I've *only* read all the Rincewind books, the City Watch books, most of the Weatherwax witch books, a couple of the one-shots, the Moist von Lipwig books, the Death books, etc. You don't realize how far you've come until you stop and turn around to look at where you've been. RIP Sir Terry Pratchett.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.80|108.162.216.80]] 15:32, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

Even this comic was a little bit on the mind-blowing side, and so I'm probably going to end up spending a bunch of money on books I'll likely take years to even start reading... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.169|108.162.249.169]] 16:16, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

Never before have I commented here, and I probably never will again. Just wanted to mark this comic in particular. Thank you Randall. Thank you Terry. RIP.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.54|141.101.99.54]] 16:57, 13 March 2015 (UTC)

Same thing here. Thank you for everything, Terry. RIP. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.204|108.162.229.204]] 02:12, 14 March 2015 (UTC)

His books brought so much knowledge and enlightenment. [[User:Foldark|Foldark]] ([[User talk:Foldark|talk]]) 00:11, 14 March 2015 (UTC)

On another level, Cueball walking to the edge of the leaf and pausing allows us to ponder the next (unseen) panel. Does Cueball return to the relative safety of his flower, the only life he has known, or does he leap off the leaf in a bold move into a new world, new challenges, and new adventures? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.191|108.162.216.191]] 12:18, 14 March 2015 (UTC)

The Bromeliad Trilogy was a great series of books from a great author, and one of my favorite symbolic moments is after most of the characters have left Earth, and turn to see the planet eclipsing the sun and looking "for all the world, like a flower". -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.155|108.162.250.155]] 02:37, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

Terry Pratchett plays the pronoun game in the quoted text "once you know the world is full of things like that, your life is never the same." Are we never the same after learning about the bromeliad frogs, or about the ground? For Cueball, and us the readers, it is clearly the ground. -Drake Aedus [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.83|141.101.106.83]] 09:27, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

Thank you, this is getting me to read discworld. [[User:Netherin5|Netherin5]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 14:09, 19 March 2019 (UTC)

Certainly a fantastic writer and an inspiration to many people. GNU Terry Pratchett [[User:Viridiansurfer|Viridiansurfer]] ([[User talk:Viridiansurfer|talk]]) 13:18, 10 March 2020 (UTC)

Talk:498: Secretary: Part 5

2020-03-09T16:31:28Z

Viridiansurfer: comment about the office structure

The Tron video game was based on the movie Ton, not the other way around. Tron the movie was inspired by the video game Pong, but only in a general, Oooh -- computers! sense. (From Wikipedia: "Development of Tron began in 1976 when Lisberger became fascinated with the early video game Pong."){{unsigned|‎64.20.186.2}}
:You're quite correct: the game was, indeed, based on the movie. Made the necessary changes. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 08:17, 25 September 2013 (UTC)

The Light Cycles though were most likely based in part on the game Blockade which was released in October 1976 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockade_(video_game)] 6 years before the movie was released so I would doubt they never ran across some copy of it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.166|108.162.216.166]] 11:40, 20 July 2017 (UTC)

I hav not laughed like this i a ile.

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.250|162.158.63.250]] 05:24, 28 October 2017 (UTC)qwertybob

Is it just me or does the White House(?) look like the Principle Office[https://reboot.fandom.com/wiki/Principal_Office] from the television show ReBoot? [[User:Viridiansurfer|Viridiansurfer]] ([[User talk:Viridiansurfer|talk]]) 16:31, 9 March 2020 (UTC)
----
''Italic text''

221: Random Number

2020-03-05T14:19:33Z

Viridiansurfer: Added internal link to comic 156: Commented to explain commenting for users who may have not followed the comic in order of publishing.

{{comic
| number = 221
| date = February 9, 2007
| title = Random Number
| image = random_number.png
| titletext = <nowiki>RFC 1149.5</nowiki> specifies 4 as the standard IEEE-vetted random number.
}}
==Explanation==
The comic specifies a function (in a {{w|C (programming language)|C-like}} syntax), which judging by its name should be designed to return a random number. Most functions of this form are random number ''generators'', meaning that on subsequent calls they return ''different'' random numbers. But the programmer has instead implemented a function that just returns the ''same'' random number each time, which, while it could indeed have been truly randomly chosen by rolling a die as the [[Commented|comment]] documented, is essentially worthless were it ever to be called more than once (with the expectation of different, i.e., random, results). In other words, the results over time would not be random at all, but completely predictable and deterministic.

The {{w|IEEE}} is the organization responsible for maintaining a number of computer standards. An RFC, or {{w|Request for Comments}}, is a formal document put out to computing experts by {{w|IETF}} in the hopes of becoming a future standard. However, RFC 1149 was an {{w|April Fools' Day Request for Comments|April Fools' joke}}, defining how carrier pigeons can be used to transmit Internet packets. "<nowiki>RFC 1149.5</nowiki>", meanwhile, simply does not exist.

==Transcript==
int getRandomNumber()
{
return 4; // chosen by fair dice roll.
// guaranteed to be random.
}

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