explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2226: Recombination And Reionization

2019-11-12T13:26:38Z

Will: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2226
| date = November 8, 2019
| title = Recombination And Reionization
| image = recombination_and_reionization.png
| titletext = These signals seem to be pre-star-formation but post-Malone.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by BBC RADIO FIVE LISTENERS. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The {{w|hydrogen line}} is a {{w|spectral line}} of neutral (un-ionized) hydrogen atoms. The electrons in an atom have a property called spin, equal to either 1/2 or -1/2, and one "spin state" of the electron in neutral hydrogen has slightly more energy than the other spin state. This means that when the electron in a hydrogen atom spontaneously switches its spin state, it releases a photon at a certain frequency called the hydrogen line. This line falls in the {{w|microwave}} region of the electromagnetic spectrum, with a frequency of ~1.42 gigahertz (GHz). The wavelength corresponding to this frequency is about 21.1 centimeters, giving it the common name of the 21-centimeter line. In this comic, [[Ponytail]] is attempting to detect the signal of this emission line from the ancient universe, although due to {{w|redshift}}, the line's frequency has decreased from 1.4 GHz to only ~100 megahertz (MHz), putting it in the current {{w|FM broadcast band}}. In most parts of the world, FM radio makes use of frequencies from 87.5 to 108 MHz.

The problem that FM radio and the signal for which Ponytail is searching overlap in frequency quickly becomes apparent when tuning to the frequency detects a local radio station rather than the desired signal. The radio station is called Hot 92.7: The Vibe; this indicates that Ponytail is searching for a signal at 92.7 MHz, but there is a [https://vibe927miami.com/ radio station] interfering with it. She demonstrates this to [[Cueball]] by playing the live signal for him, but says that once the radio DJ stops talking, their research will result in a {{w|Nobel Prize}}. This is unlikely, as most radio stations broadcast 24 hours a day without ever stopping (except in cases of power failure, which would also affect Ponytail's radio telescope). An unstated joke is that Ponytail's observational setup receives the FM radio signal at all; any actual {{w|radio telescope}} would have incorporated methods from its inception to exclude local sources of radio signals such as FM radio.

Cueball points out that perhaps the signal is what the supposed primordial hydrogen line actually sounds like during the phase of universe formation called {{w|reionization}}. Ponytail jokes back that the primordial universe must enjoy playing popular singer {{w|Selena Gomez}}. Although it is theoretically possible that a naturally occurring radio transmission might sound like music to humans, it would not contain clearly understandable coherent sentences in a language that did not exist when the transmission was created.{{fact}}

The title text refers to the signal Ponytail is detecting, claiming that it originates from before the formation of the first stars in the universe (which took place approximately 150 to 200 million years after the {{w|Big Bang}}), but is additionally post-Malone. "{{w|Post Malone}}" is the stage name of a popular hip hop musician and singer, so this is a play on words, as the "Post" in his stage name isn't referring to "after" something, but is simply his (real) last name, and perhaps a play on the expression "a star is born" for an artist becoming a famous celebrity.

==Transcript==

:[Panel showing Ponytail sitting working at some type of console, possibly in her laboratory. Cueball is standing on the other side of the console, facing her.]
:Ponytail: Our lab is trying to pick up the spin line of neutral hydrogen. It's the only radiation from the era before the first stars formed.

:[Panel showing Ponytail and Cueball. Ponytail has paused working, with one hand raised off the console.]
:Ponytail: It was 1.4 GHz at first, but by now it's redshifted to the 100-MHz range.
:Cueball: Isn't that also where FM radio broadcasts?

:[Frameless panel showing Ponytail and Cueball. Ponytail is pressing a key on the console to enable and disable a live signal from her lab's equipment.]
:Ponytail: Yeah. That's the problem. Listen:
:Sound of keypress on console: *Click*
:Audio signal from console: ''You're tuned to Hot 92.7: the Vibe! Coming up next...''
:Sound of keypress on console: *Click*

:[Panel showing Ponytail and Cueball. Ponytail has resumed working at the console, and Cueball has raised a hand to his chin.]
:Ponytail: But once this guy stops talking, that Nobel Prize will be '''''ours'''''.
:Cueball: Maybe that's not a station – maybe that's just what reionization sounds like.
:Ponytail: Reionization plays a lot of Selena Gomez.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[category: Astronomy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

1967: Violin Plots

2018-03-16T14:32:16Z

Will:

{{comic
| number = 1967
| date = March 14, 2018
| title = Violin Plots
| image = violin_plots.png
| titletext = Strictly speaking, 'violin' refers to the internal structure of the data. The external portion visible in the plot is called the 'viola.'
}}

==Explanation==
This comic graphs the "suggestiveness" of different visualization types, and the winner is {{w|Violin plot|Violin plots}}, hence the title of the comic. A violin plot is a method of plotting data similar to a {{w|box plot}}, but shows the full probability distribution of the data rather than a "box" showing the central two quartiles. This plot can look like the external opening of a human vulva, as do some of those in the violin plot represented in the comic (strictly speaking, this chart is not purely a violin plot; it is a box plot overlaid onto a violin plot).

The chart compares other visualization types' suggestiveness (as female genitalia) to the violin plots and ranks them after how suggestive they are. In the low end we find {{w|pie chart}}, a circular graph divided into "slices" to show proportions, and {{w|Line chart|line graph}} or line chart, a graph of points connected by line segments.

Almost as suggestive as violin plots are the paintings by {{w|Georgia O'Keeffe}}, an American painter known for her {{w|Flower paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe|paintings of flowers}}. Some of these flowers, ''{{w|Black Iris (painting)|Black Iris}}'' for example, are said to symbolize female genitalia, though O'Keeffe herself denied those claims.

The title text invokes the fact that many people incorrectly use the word "{{w|vagina}}", which refers to an internal structure, for the {{w|vulva}}, which is the external portion of the female genitals. Meanwhile the {{w|viola}} is an instrument often mistaken for a {{w|violin}}. And the word "viola" shares common letters with "vulva."

[[Randall]] has made several comics with [[:Category:Sex|sexual topics]], and the vagina has been the center of attention before, as early as in [[136: Science Fair]]. There is even an entire [[:Category:Penis|Penis category]]. However, these topics haven't appeared recently — the last comic in the penis category was posted more than two years ago, and the sex category hasn't had a new comic since December 2017 (more than three months before this comic).

It possible that pie charts were included because this comic was released on {{w|Pi Day}}. Randall has shown fascination with Pi in earlier comics like [[1292: Pi vs. Tau]]. On the other hand, it could be a reference to the film {{w|American Pie (film)|American Pie}}, which states that putting a finger in a pie feels like putting it inside a {{w|Vagina|Violin}}... It could of course be both reasons, or none of them...

==Transcript==
:[Header over a violin plot type chart:]
:Suggestiveness of different visualization types

:[The chart only has an Y-axis with tics, ranking the points on the plot. There are legends at the top and at the bottom:]
:Suggestive
:Not very suggestive

:[There are four points on the graph, each with a mucosa colored and "violin" shaped probability density around each point. The points are white inside a black box plot like structure with black error bars. The two first points to the left are very low near the bottom of the Y-axis while the two next point to the right are almost at the top of the chart, the last also clearly with the probability density higher than the second last. Above the first two and below the second two points there are legends:]
:Pie charts
:Line graphs
:Georgia O'Keeffe paintings
:Violin plots

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Sex]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Pie charts]] 
[[Category:Line graphs]]

1957: 2018 CVE List

2018-02-19T16:28:40Z

Will: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1957
| date = February 19, 2018
| title = 2018 CVE List
| image = 2018_cve_list.png
| titletext = CVE-2018-?????: It turns out Bruce Schneier is just two mischevious kids in a trenchcoat.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by HACKING THIS WIKI VIA THE EDIT BOX - The explanation looks like a list. Explain the comic and put the security vulnerabilities in a table. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures|CVE}} (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) is a standardized format for assigning an identity to a cybersecurity vulnerability (similar to the way that astronomical bodies are assigned unique identifiers by committees). Giving vulnerabilities a unique identifier makes them easier to talk about and helps in keeping track of the progress made toward resolving them. The typical format of a CVE identifier is '''CVE-[YEAR]-[NUMBER]'''. For example, the CVE identifier for 2017's widespread {{w|Meltdown (security vulnerability|Meltdown vulnerability}} is [https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2017-5754 CVE-2017-5754]. CVEs also contain a short description of the issue.

In this comic (released in February 2018), Randall presents a number of spurious predicted CVEs for later in 2018. Each CVE identifier is given as "CVE-2018-?????", reflecting the fact that they have not yet happened so we don't know exactly what their CVE identifier will be.

{|class="wikitable"
! style="width: 30%;" | Security Vulnerability
! style="width: 70%;" | Notes
|-
|Apple products crash when displaying certain Telugu or Bengali letter combinations.
|This refers to a real vulnerability in iOS and MacOS publicized a few days before the comic released <ref>https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/15/iphone-text-bomb-ios-mac-crash-apple/</ref>.
|-
|An attacker can use a timing attack to extploit [''sic''] a race condition in garbage collection to extract a limited number of bits from the Wikipedia article on Claude Shannon.
|Timing Attack to exploit a race condition in garbage collection refers to Meltdown and Spectre CPU flaws that can be exploited in cloud server like the ones in Wikipedia. {{w|Claude Shannon}} was an early and highly influential information scientist whose work underlies compression, encryption, security, and the theory behind how information is encoded into binary digits - hence the pertinence of extracting just some of the bits from his Wikipedia entry.
|-
|At the cafe on Third Street, the Post-it note with the WiFi password is visible from the sidewalk.
|Writing passwords in a visible place is a major security flaw. For instance, following the [[wikipedia:2018 Hawaii false missile alert|2018 Hawaii false missile alert]] the agency received criticism for a press photo showing a password written on a sticky note attached to a monitor.<ref>http://uk.businessinsider.com/hawaii-emergency-agency-password-discovered-in-photo-sparks-security-criticism-2018-1?r=US&IR=T</ref> However, if a cafe posts their wifi password for customers, this suggests that it's ''supposed'' to be public knowledge. In this case, having it visible through the window as well presents only a very minor reduction in security.
|-
|A remote attacker can inject arbitrary text into public-facing pages via the comments box.
|Describes a common feature on news sites or social media sites like Facebook. The possibility for users to "inject" text into the page is by design. This is a humorous reference to the relatively common security vulnerability "[[Wikipedia:Cross-site_scripting|persistent cross-site scripting]]", where input provided by the user is displayed to other users in a dangerous fashion that allows attackers to inject arbitrary HTML or Javascript code into e.g. a comment section. It might also be a humorous reference to the events before, during and after the 2016 US Presidential elections where Internet Research Agency employees based remotely in St. Petersburg, Russia, but disguised as US citizens, "injected" arbitrary text in the form of political propaganda into comments on multiple web sites, according to an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on February 16, 2018.
|-
|MySQL server 5.5.45 secretly runs two parallel databases for people who say "S-Q-L" and "sequel."
|Some people pronounce "{{w|SQL}}" like "sequel", after SQL's predecessor "SEQUEL (Structured English Query Language)". The standard for SQL suggests that it should be pronounced as separate letters; however, the author of SQL pronounces it "sequel", so the debate is persisting (with even more justification than arguments about how to pronounce "GIF"). MySQL is an open-source relational database management system, the latest GA version (at the time of writing) is MySQL 5.7.
|-
|A flaw in some x86 CPUs could allow a root user to de-escalate to normal account privileges.
|{{w|Privilege escalation}} refers to any illegitimate means of giving a system user greater privilege than they are supposed to have, and most hackers will seek to achieve this if they can. The most highly-sought privilege is that of the root user, which allows complete access to an entire system.

This CVE, however, presents the reverse situation; that a flaw can allow a root user to ''de-escalate'', the exact opposite of what a hacker would want to achieve.{{Citation needed}} (In any case, the root user can always de-escalate manually if they so choose, as they have complete control).
|-
|Apple products catch fire when displaying emoji with diacritics.
|Diacritics are the accents found on letters in some languages (eg. č, ģ ķ, ļ, ņ, š, ž). These would not be found on emojis. It is also a reference to a common problem of modern gadgets catching fire (usually related to flaws in Lithium-Ion batteries).
|-
|An oversight in the rules allows a dog to join a basketball team.
|This likely refers to the movie {{w|Air Bud}}. It is a movie about a dog playing basketball. This has been a common theme in xkcd comics, see [[115: Meerkat]], [[1439: Rack Unit]], [[1819: Sweet 16]], [[1552: Rulebook]]
|-
|Haskell isn't side-effect-free after all; the effects are all just concentrated in this one. computer [''sic''] in Missouri that no one's checked on in a while.
|{{w|Haskell}} is a functional programming language, functional programming is characterized by using functions that don't have side effects in other parts of the program. The joke here is discovering that indeed it does have side-effects, but for some unknown (and highly absurd) reason they only manifest on a specific computer in a nondescript location, but no one has noticed.
|-
|Nobody really knows how hypervisors work.
|[[wikipedia:Hypervisor|"Hypervisors"]] are a tool for computer virtualization. Virtualization is an extremely complex topic, as it requires a computer to completely emulate a different computer with its own unique hardware and software. Many IT professionals and businesses rely heavily on various forms of virtualization, but the individual employees would be hard-pressed to explain how it works. Meltdown and Specter are related to this.
|-
|Critical: Under Linux 3.14.8 on System/390 in a UTC+14 time zone, a local user could potentially use a buffer overflow to change another user's default system clock from 12-hour to 24-hour.
|This joke is about arcane systems that are running Linux in exceedingly unique situations, such that reproducing the error would be incredibly difficult or inconvenient, and would only affect a very tiny user base (if any at all). Other xkcd comics make references to such obscure computer-time issues relating to time zones and time conversions, and how many programmers find these issues frustrating or even traumatizing. UTC+14 is a time zone used only on some islands in the Pacific Ocean, i.e., [[Wikipedia:Line_Islands|the Line Islands]], and is also the earliest time zone on earth. The joke continues by stating that even if all of these absurd conditions were met, the resulting vulnerability would still be relatively benign: simply changing a user's preferred clock display format.
|-
|x86 has way too many instructions.
|The x86 architecture is considered "CISC" (a "complex instruction set computer"), having many instructions originally provided to make programming by a human simpler; other examples include the 68000 series used in the first Apple Mac. In the 1980s, this design philosophy was countered by the "RISC" ("reduced instruction set computer") design movement exemplified by SPARC, MIPS, PowerPC (previously used by Apple) and the ARM chips common in mobile phones - based on the observation that computer programs were increasingly generated by compilers (which only used a few instructions) rather than directly by people, and that the chip area dedicated to extra instructions could be better dedicated to, for example, cache. At the time, there was an internet war about the merits of each approach (with the Mac and PC being on different sides, at one time; owners of other competing systems such as the Archimedes and Amiga had similar arguments on usenet in the early 1990s); this "issue" may be posted by someone who still recalls these debates. Technically, the extra instructions do slightly complicate the task of validating correct chip behaviour and complicate the tool chains that manage software, which could be seen as a minor security risk; however, the 64-bit architecture introduced by AMD and since adopted by Intel does rationalise things somewhat, and all recent x86 chips break down instructions into RISC-like micro-operations, so the complication from a hardware perspective is localised. Recent security issues such as the speculative cache load issue in Meltdown and Spectre depend more on details of implementation rather than instruction set, and have been exhibited both by x86 (CISC) and ARM (RISC) processors.
|-
|NumPy 1.8.0 can factor primes in ''O''(log ''n'') time and must be quietly deprecated before anyone notices.
|NumPy is the fundamental package for scientific computing with Python. If something can find the prime factors of a number this quickly, especially a [[wikipedia:semiprime|semiprime]] with two large factors, there are attacks to break many crypto functions used in internet security. However, prime numbers have only a single factor, and "factoring primes" quickly is a simpler problem, that of [[wikipedia:Primality test|proving that a number is in fact a prime]].
|-
|Apple products grant remote access if you send them words that break the "I before E" rule.
|Another joke on the first CVE and a common English writing rule of thumb, which fails almost as often as it succeeds. Possibly a jab at Apple's image, portraying their software as unable to handle improper grammar or spelling.
|-
|Skylake x86 chips can be pried from their sockets using certain flathead screwdrivers.
|Skylake x86 chips are a line of microprocessors made by Intel. Yes, you can forcefully remove any processor from its socket with a screwdriver.{{Citation needed}} There are many reports from people not using common sense.
|-
|Apparently Linus Torvalds can be bribed pretty easily.
|{{w|Linus Torvalds}} is the benevolent dictator of the Linux kernel codebase. Normally it is hard to pass a change because he has the last word about what merge to the code base because that code is replicated in all Linux installations, but apparently he is easy to bribe, which would be a severe critical vulnerability to all Linux servers and machines.
|-
|An attacker can execute malicious code on their own machine and no one can stop them.
|The point of an attack is to make someone else's machine perform actions against the owner's will. Anyone can make their own machine execute any code{{Citation needed}}, but this would usually not be described as an attack except in the case of a locked-down appliance, such as a video game console or pay TV decoder.
|-
|Apple products execute any code printed over a photo of a dog with a saddle and a baby riding it.
|This could refer to a CVE vulnerability of JPG files where javascript embedded within the image file is executed by some application, only this time is in a printed photo instead of encoded into the image itself.
|-
|Under rare circumstances, a flaw in some versions of Windows could allow Flash to be installed.
|Flash was discontinued because of its notoriously abysmal security record. All security experts advise against install. The joke here relates to the perceived difficulty with keeping Flash up to date or even installed properly to begin with. A common user experience which is the subject of numerous jokes and memes is the constant nagging notification to install or update Flash in order for web pages to display properly. While anecdotal, many IT professionals will bemoan the trouble that Flash has given them in the workplace due to these notifications and problems related to them.
|-
|Turns out the cloud is just other people's computers.
|This refers to a computer meme where replace "cloud" with "other people's computers" must be used in all marketing presentation to CEOs and not computer literate persons to evaluate the security impact of using "Cloud services". Part of the humor here is that "the cloud", in actuality, is simply a term for hosted services, i.e., computers being run by other people (typically businesses that specialize in this type of "Platform As A Service" or "PAAS" service model). Calling "the cloud" as "other people's computers" is, at its core, entirely accurate, though it takes away the business jargon and simplifies the situation in such a way that it might cast doubt on the security, reliability, and general effectiveness of using "cloud" solutions.
|-
|A flaw in Mitre's CVE database allows arbitrary code insertion.[[285|[~~CLICK HERE FOR CHEAP VIAGRA~~]]]
|Mitre's CVE database is the database where all CVE are stored. This is a joke relating to the 4th CVE in this list, pointing out that the CVE site is also vulnerable.
|-
|It turns out Bruce Schneier is just two mischevious kids in a trenchcoat.
|Appears in the title text. {{w|Bruce Schneier}} is security researcher and blogger. He was mentioned in the title texts of [[748: Worst-Case Scenario]] and [[1039: RuBisCO]]. The "two kids in a trenchcoat" is a reference to the Totem Pole Trench trope.<ref>[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TotemPoleTrench TV Tropes:Totem Pole Trench trope]</ref>
|}

== References ==
<references/>

==Transcript==
LEAKED LIST OF MAJOR 2018 SECURITY VULNERABILITIES

CVE-2018-????? Apple products crash when displaying certain Telugu or Bengali letter combinations.

CVE-2018-????? An attacker can use a timing attack to extploit a race condition in garbage collection to extract a limited number of bits from the Wikipedia article on Claude Shannon.

CVE-2018-????? At the cafe on Third Street, the Post-it note with the WiFi password is visible from the sidewalk.

CVE-2018-????? A remote attacker can inject arbitrary text into public-facing pages via the comments box.

CVE-2018-????? MySQL server 5.5.45 secretly runs two parallel databases for people who say "S-Q-L" and "sequel."

CVE-2018-????? A flaw in some x86 CPUs could allow a root user to de-escalate to normal account privileges.

CVE-2018-????? Apple products catch fire when displaying emoji with diacritics.

CVE-2018-????? An oversight in the rules allows a dog to join a basketball team.

CUE-2018-????? Haskell isn't side-effect-free after all; the effects are all just concentrated in this one. computer in Missouri that no one's checked on in a while.

CVE-2018-????? Nobody really knows how hypervisors work.

CVE-2018-????? Critical: Under Linux 3.14.8 on System/390 in a UTC+14 time zone, a local user could potentially use a buffer overflow to change another user's default system clock from 12-hour to 24-hour.

CVE-2018-????? x86 has way too many instructions.

CVE-2018-????? NumPy 1.8.0 can factor primes in ''O''(log ''n'') time and must be quietly deprecated before anyone notices.

CVE-2018-????? Apple products grant remote access if you send them words that break the "I before E" rule.

CVE-2018-????? Skylake x86 chips can be pried from their sockets using certain flathead screwdrivers.

CVE-2018-????? Apparently Linus Torvalds can be bribed pretty easily.

CVE-2018-????? An attacker can execute malicious code on their own machine and no one can stop them.

CVE-2018-????? Apple products execute any code printed over a photo of a dog with a saddle and a baby riding it.

CVE-2018-????? Under rare circumstances, a flaw in some versions of Windows could allow Flash to be installed.

CVE-2018-????? Turns out the cloud is just other people's computers.

CVE-2018-????? A flaw in Mitre's CVE database allows arbitrary code insertion.[~~CLICK HERE FOR CHEAP VIAGRA~~]

{{comic discussion}}

1957: 2018 CVE List

2018-02-19T15:22:23Z

Will: Exploit to allow users to extract bits from Claude Shannon Wikipedia entry

{{comic
| number = 1957
| date = February 19, 2018
| title = 2018 CVE List
| image = 2018_cve_list.png
| titletext = CVE-2018-?????: It turns out Bruce Schneier is just two mischevious kids in a trenchcoat.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by HACKING THIS WIKI VIA THE EDIT BOX - The explanation looks like a list. Explain the comic and put the security vulnerabilities in a table. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures|CVE}} (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) is a standardized format for assigning an identity to a cybersecurity vulnerability (similar to the way that astronomical bodies are assigned unique identifiers by committees). Giving vulnerabilities a unique identifier makes them easier to talk about and helps in keeping track of the progress made toward resolving them. The typical format of a CVE identifier is '''CVE-[YEAR]-[NUMBER]'''. For example, the CVE identifier for 2017's widespread {{w|Meltdown (security vulnerability|Meltdown vulnerability}} is [https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2017-5754 CVE-2017-5754]. CVEs also contain a short description of the issue.

In this comic (released in February 2018), Randall presents a number of spurious predicted CVEs for later in 2018. Each CVE identifier is given as "CVE-2018-?????", reflecting the fact that they have not yet happened so we don't know exactly what their CVE identifier will be.

{|class="wikitable"
! style="width: 30%;" | Security Vulnerability
! style="width: 70%;" | Notes
|-
|Apple products crash when displaying certain Telugu or Bengali letter combinations.
|This refers to a real vulnerability in iOS and MacOS publicized a few days before the comic released <ref>https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/15/iphone-text-bomb-ios-mac-crash-apple/</ref>.
|-
|An attacker can use a timing attack to extploit[sic] a race condition in garbage collection to extract a limited number of bits from the Wikipedia article on Claude Shannon.
|Timing Attack to exploit a race condition in garbage collection refers to Meltdown and Spectre CPU flaws that can be exploited in cloud server like the ones in Wikipedia. {{w|Claude Shannon}} was an early and highly influential information scientist whose work underlies compression, encryption, security, and the theory behind how information is encoded into binary digits - hence the pertinence of extracting just some of the bits from his Wikipedia entry.
|-
|At the cafe on third street, the post-it note with the wifi password is visible from the sidewalk.
|Writing passwords in a visible place is a major security flaw. For instance, following the [[wikipedia:2018 Hawaii false missile alert|2018 Hawaii false missile alert]] the agency received criticism for a press photo showing a password written on a sticky note attached to a monitor.<ref>http://uk.businessinsider.com/hawaii-emergency-agency-password-discovered-in-photo-sparks-security-criticism-2018-1?r=US&IR=T</ref> However, if a cafe posts their wifi password for customers, this suggests that it's ''supposed'' to be public knowledge. In this case, having it visible through the window as well presents only a very minor reduction in security.
|-
|A remote attacker can inject arbitrary text into public-facing pages via the comments box.
|Describes a common feature on news sites or social media sites like Facebook. The possibility for users to "inject" text into the page is by design. This is a humorous reference to the relatively common security vulnerability "[[Wikipedia:Cross-site_scripting|persistent cross-site scripting]]", where input provided by the user is displayed to other users in a dangerous fashion that allows attackers to inject arbitrary HTML or Javascript code into e.g. a comment section. It might also be a humorous reference to the events before, during and after the 2016 US Presidential elections where Internet Research Agency employees based remotely in St. Petersburg, Russia, but disguised as US citizens, "injected" arbitrary text in the form of political propaganda into comments on multiple web sites, according to an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on February 16, 2018.
|-
|MySQL server 5.5.45 secretly runs two parallel databases for people who say "S-Q-L" and "sequel."
|Some people pronounce "SQL" like "sequel", after SQL's predecessor "SEQUEL (Structured English Query Language)". The standard for SQL suggests that it should be pronounced as separate letters; however, the author of SQL pronounces it "sequel", so the debate is persisting (with even more justification than arguments about how to pronounce "GIF"). MySQL is an open-source relational database management system, the latest GA version (at the time of writing) is MySQL 5.7.
|-
|A flaw in some x86 CPUs could allow a root user to de-escalate to normal account privileges.
|{{w|Privilege escalation}} refers to any illegitimate means of giving a system user greater privilege than they are supposed to have, and most hackers will seek to achieve this if they can. The most highly-sought privilege is that of the root user, which allows complete access to an entire system.

This CVE, however, presents the reverse situation; that a flaw can allow a root user to ''de-escalate'', the exact opposite of what a hacker would want to achieve. (In any case, the root user can always de-escalate manually if they so choose, as they have complete control).
|-
|Apple products catch fire when displaying emoji with diacritics.
|Diacritics are the accents found on letters in some languages (eg. č, ģ ķ, ļ, ņ, š, ž). These would not be found on emojis. It is also a reference to a common problem of modern gadgets catching fire (usually related to flaws in Lithium-Ion batteries).
|-
|An oversight in the rules allows a dog to join a basketball team.
|This likely refers to the movie {{w|Air Bud}}. It is a movie about a dog playing basketball. This has been a common theme in xkcd comics, see [[115: Meerkat]], [[1439: Rack Unit]], [[1819: Sweet 16]], [[1552: Rulebook]]
|-
|Haskell isn't side-effect-free after all; the effects are all just concentrated in this one. Computer in Missouri that no one's checked on in a while.
|Haskell is a functional programming language, functional programming is characterized by using functions that don't have side effects in other parts of the program. The joke here is discovering that indeed it does have side-effects, but for some unknown (and highly absurd) reason they only manifest on a specific computer in a nondescript location, but no one has noticed.
|-
|Nobody really knows how hypervisors work.
|[[wikipedia:Hypervisor|"Hypervisors"]] are a tool for computer virtualization. Virtualization is an extremely complex topic, as it requires a computer to completely emulate a different computer with its own unique hardware and software. Many IT professionals and businesses rely heavily on various forms of virtualization, but the individual employees would be hard-pressed to explain how it works. Meltdown and Specter are related to this.
|-
|CRITICAL: Under Linux 3.14.8 on System/390 in a UTC+14 time zone, a local user could potentially use a buffer overflow to change another user's default system clock from 12-hour to 24-hour.
|This joke is about arcane systems that are running Linux in exceedingly unique situations, such that reproducing the error would be incredibly difficult or inconvenient, and would only affect a very tiny user base (if any at all). Other xkcd comics make references to such obscure computer-time issues relating to time zones and time conversions, and how many programmers find these issues frustrating or even traumatizing. UTC+14 is a time zone used only on some islands in the Pacific Ocean, i.e., [[Wikipedia:Line_Islands|the Line Islands]], and is also the earliest time zone on earth. The joke continues by stating that even if all of these absurd conditions were met, the resulting vulnerability would still be relatively benign: simply changing a user's preferred clock display format.
|-
|x86 has way too many instructions.
|The x86 architecture is considered "CISC" (a "complex instruction set computer"), having many instructions originally provided to make programming by a human simpler; other examples include the 68000 series used in the first Apple Mac. In the 1980s, this design philosophy was countered by the "RISC" ("reduced instruction set computer") design movement exemplified by SPARC, MIPS, PowerPC (previously used by Apple) and the ARM chips common in mobile phones - based on the observation that computer programs were increasingly generated by compilers (which only used a few instructions) rather than directly by people, and that the chip area dedicated to extra instructions could be better dedicated to, for example, cache. At the time, there was an internet war about the merits of each approach (with the Mac and PC being on different sides, at one time; owners of other competing systems such as the Archimedes and Amiga had similar arguments on usenet in the early 1990s); this "issue" may be posted by someone who still recalls these debates. Technically, the extra instructions do slightly complicate the task of validating correct chip behaviour and complicate the tool chains that manage software, which could be seen as a minor security risk; however, the 64-bit architecture introduced by AMD and since adopted by Intel does rationalise things somewhat, and all recent x86 chips break down instructions into RISC-like micro-operations, so the complication from a hardware perspective is localised. Recent security issues such as the speculative cache load issue in Meltdown and Spectre depend more on details of implementation rather than instruction set, and have been exhibited both by x86 (CISC) and ARM (RISC) processors.
|-
|NumPy 1.8.0 can factor primes in O(log n) time and must be quietly deprecated before anyone notices.
|NumPy is the fundamental package for scientific computing with Python. If something can find the prime factors of a number this quickly, there are attacks to break many crypto functions used in internet security. However, prime numbers have only a single factor, and "factoring primes" quickly is a simpler problem.
|-
|Apple products grant remote access if you send them words that break the "I before E" rule.
|Another joke on the first CVE and a common English writing rule of thumb, which fails almost as often as it succeeds. Possibly a jab at Apple's image, portraying their software as unable to handle improper grammar or spelling.
|-
|Skylake x86 chips can be pried from their sockets using certain flathead screwdrivers.
|Skylake x86 chips are a line of microprocessors. Yes, you can forcefully remove any processor from its socket with a screwdriver. There are many reports from people not using common sense.
|-
|Apparently Linus Torvalds can be bribed pretty easily.
|Linus Torvalds is the benevolent dictator of the Linux kernel codebase. Normally it is hard to pass a change because he has the last word about what merge to the code base because that code is replicated in all Linux installations, but apparently he is easy to bribe, which would be a severe critical vulnerability to all Linux servers and machines.
|-
|An attacker can execute malicious code on their own machine and no one can stop them.
|The point of an attack is to make someone else's machine perform actions against the owner's will. Anyone can make their own machine execute any code, but this would usually not be described as an attack.
|-
|Apple products execute any code printed over a photo of a dog with a saddle and a baby riding it.
|This could refer to a CVE vulnerability of JPG files where javascript embedded within the image file is executed by some application, only this time is in a printed photo instead of encoded into the image itself.
|-
|Under rare circumstances, a flaw in some versions of Windows could allow Flash to be installed.
|Flash was discontinued because of its notoriously abysmal security record. All security experts advise against install. The joke here relates to the perceived difficulty with keeping Flash up to date or even installed properly to begin with. A common user experience which is the subject of numerous jokes and memes is the constant nagging notification to install or update Flash in order for web pages to display properly. While anecdotal, many IT professionals will bemoan the trouble that Flash has given them in the workplace due to these notifications and problems related to them.
|-
|Turns out the cloud is just other people's computers.
|This refers to a computer meme where replace "cloud" with "other people's computers" must be used in all marketing presentation to CEOs and not computer literate persons to evaluate the security impact of using "Cloud services". Part of the humor here is that "the cloud", in actuality, it simply a term for hosted services, i.e., computers being run by other people (typically businesses that specialize in this type of "Platform As A Service" or "PAAS" service model). Calling "the cloud" as "other people's computers" is, at its core, entirely accurate, though it takes away the business jargon and simplifies the situation in such a way that it might cast doubt on the security, reliability, and general effectiveness of using "cloud" solutions.
|-
|A flaw in Mitre's CVE database allows arbitrary code insertion.[~~CLICK HERE FOR CHEAP VIAGRA~~]
|Mitre's CVE database is the database where all CVE are stored. This is a joke relating to the 4th CVE in this list, pointing out that the CVE site is also vulnerable.
|-
|It turns out Bruce Schneier is just two mischievous[sp?] kids in a trenchcoat. (title text)
|Bruce Schneier is security researcher and blogger. He was mentioned in the title texts of [[748: Worst-Case Scenario]] and [[1039: RuBisCO]]. The "two kids in a trenchcoat" is a reference to the Totem Pole Trench trope.<ref>[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TotemPoleTrench TV Tropes:Totem Pole Trench trope]</ref>
|}

== References ==
<references/>

==Transcript==
LEAKED LIST OF MAJOR 2018 SECURITY VULNERABILITIES

CVE-2018-????? Apple products crash when displaying certain Telugu or Bengali letter combinations.

CVE-2018-????? An attacker can use a timing attack to extploit[sic] a race condition in garbage collection to extract a limited number of bits from the Wikipedia article on Claude Shannon.

CVE-2018-????? At the cafe on third street, the post-it note with the wifi password is visible from the sidewalk.

CVE-2018-????? A remote attacker can inject arbitrary text into public-facing pages via the comments box.

CVE-2018-????? MySQL server 5.5.45 secretly runs two parallel databases for people who say "S-Q-L" and "sequel."

CVE-2018-????? A flaw in some x86 CPUs could allow a root user to de-escalate to normal account privileges.

CVE-2018-????? Apple products catch fire when displaying emoji with diacritics.

CVE-2018-????? An oversight in the rules allows a dog to join a basketball team.

CUE-2018-????? Haskell isn't side-effect-free after all; the effects are all just concentrated in this one. Computer in Missouri that no one's checked on in a while.

CVE-2018-????? Nobody really knows how hypervisors work.

CVE-2018-????? CRITICAL: Under Linux 3.14.8 on System/390 in a UTC+14 time zone, a local user could potentially use a buffer overflow to change another user's default system clock from 12-hour to 24-hour.

CVE-2018-????? x86 has way too many instructions.

CVE-2018-????? NumPy 1.8.0 can factor primes in O(log n) time and must be quietly deprecated before anyone notices.

CVE-2018-????? Apple products grant remote access if you send them words that break the "I before E" rule.

CVE-2018-????? Skylake x86 chips can be pried from their sockets using certain flathead screwdrivers.

CVE-2018-????? Apparently Linus Torvalds can be bribed pretty easily.

CVE-2018-????? An attacker can execute malicious code on their own machine and no one can stop them.

CVE-2018-????? Apple products execute any code printed over a photo of a dog with a saddle and a baby riding it.

CVE-2018-????? Under rare circumstances, a flaw in some versions of Windows could allow Flash to be installed.

CVE-2018-????? Turns out the cloud is just other people's computers.

CVE-2018-????? A flaw in Mitre's CVE database allows arbitrary code insertion.[~~CLICK HERE FOR CHEAP VIAGRA~~]

{{comic discussion}}

1880: Eclipse Review

2017-08-23T20:50:45Z

Will: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1880
| date = August 23, 2017
| title = Eclipse Review
| image = eclipse_review.png
| titletext = I watched from a beautiful nature reserve in central Missouri, and it was--without exaggeration--the coolest thing I've ever seen.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|First draft - Additions to this would be useful, alter this tag if you alter the explanation}}

This comic is the fifth consecutive comic with a {{w|solar eclipse}} as the topic. On {{w|Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017|August 21, 2017}}, a total solar eclipse was visible within a band across the {{w|contiguous United States}} from west to east. The other comics are [[1876: Eclipse Searches]], [[1877: Eclipse Science]], [[1878: Earth Orbital Diagram]] and [[1879: Eclipse Birds]].

The comic is another comparison graph, like [[1775: Things You Learn]] or [[1701: Speed and Danger]]. It contrasts how cool something ''sounds'' and how cool it actually ''is''. It has five points on it, Planetary Conjunction, Supermoon, Lunar Eclipse, Partial Solar Eclipse, and Total Solar Eclipse.

While the four other thing than total solar eclipse are relatively close to each other on the "how cool to see" scale, the graph is not even high enough to plot the total solar eclipse point as indicated by the dotted arrow showing that this point should be way higher up. This is as opposed to leaving the point out, as Randall did with the coconut in [[388: Fuck Grapefruit]], where it is only mentioned in the title text. This could be an indication that if the scale had been high enough to fit the total solar eclipse point, then the rest of the points would be on the x-axis without any indication of which would be cooler.

The name is the coolest of the five, but by no means as much cooler as it is to see it in person. Guess Randall tries to make those who missed it this time, try to go in seven years when another total solar eclipse is visible in the USA.

;Planetary Conjunction
In a {{w|Conjunction (astronomy)|planetary conjunction}} two or more planets are visible in night sky nearby. This happens relatively {{w|List_of_conjunctions_(astronomy)|often}} because all planets roughly lie in the same plane around the sun (the <s>Sagittal</s> {{w|ecliptic}}).

;Supermoon
A {{w|Supermoon|supermoon}} is a full moon or a new moon that approximately coincides with the closest distance of the Moon on in its elliptic orbit around the Earth. This results in a larger-than-usual apparent size of the lunar disk, but a typical human doesn't recognize the difference. Nevertheless in the last years the press always announces this as an important astronomical event. The opposite is called micromoon.

;Lunar Eclipse
A {{w|Lunar eclipse|lunar eclipse}} can occur at full moon and happens only, like at a solar eclipse, when the Moon is in the region where the orbital planes of the Moon and the Earth intersect. The Earth's shadow falls on the Moon and it appears in dark red because some light still reaches the Moon through the outer layers of the Earth's atmosphere. Lunar eclipses occur more often than solar eclipses and they can be viewed by much more people at the same time in the night sky. Only people on the day-side can't see it.

;Partial Solar Eclipse
There are three types of {{w|Solar_eclipse#Types|partial solar eclipses}}. An ''annular eclipse'' occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line with the Earth but the Moon is to far away and can not block the entire Sun. The Sun appears as a very bright ring, also called annulus. A ''partial eclipse'' occurs when the Sun and Moon are not exactly in line to the observer on Earth and thus the Sun can't be fully blocked by the Moon. A ''hybrid eclipse'' is a total and annular eclipse at the same time. At some locations on Earth it appears as a total eclipse, while at other locations it appears as annular. These ''mixed'' eclipses are comparatively rare.

;Total Solar Eclipse
The {{w|Solar_eclipse#Types|total solar eclipse}} is the topic of this and the four preceding comics. It can occur at new moon and happens only when Sun and Moon are exactly in line with the Earth. But unlike to the lunar eclipse only a small part of the Earth is in the totality zone, a disc with a diameter of approx. 100 km. The disc moves very fast over the Earth's surface and at a specific location it lasts only a few minutes in maximum. At locations outside of this ''shadow-disc'', in a region over a few thousand kilometers, the eclipse is partial.

In the title text, [[Randall]] remarks that, without any exaggeration or hyperbole, the total solar eclipse was the coolest thing he has ever seen in his life.

==Transcript==
:[A scatter plot with five labeled dots is drawn. The x-axis reads "How cool it sounds like it would be" and the y-axis is labeled with "How cool it is to see in person".]
:[Bottom left] Planetary conjunction
:[Bottom middle] Supermoon
:[Low left-center] Lunar eclipse
:[Low-center middle] Partial solar eclipse
:[Upper right, with a dotted arrow above it pointing up] Total solar eclipse

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Scatter plots]]
[[Category:Total Solar Eclipse 2017]]

1852: Election Map

2017-06-21T12:56:39Z

Will: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1852
| date = June 19, 2017
| title = Election Map
| image = election_map.png
| titletext = Luckily for my interpretation, no precincts were won by the Green Party.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Should include how (if at all) this comic predicted the 2017 vote one day after it was released.}}
A wave (e.g. an electromagnetic wave, like light) changes its frequency and wavelength when its source is moving relative to the observer, due to the {{w|Doppler effect}}. In the case of light, increased frequency — indicating movement towards the observer — is called {{w|blueshift}}, while reduced frequency — indicating movement away from the observer — is called {{w|redshift}}. These names apply even if the effect is outside of the visible spectrum (e.g. infrared light that has reduced frequency is called redshifted, even though its frequency is further away from that of visible red light than normally). Red and blue colors are used accordingly to indicate the effect.

The recent advent of the {{w|integral field spectrograph}} allowed astronomers to produce [http://iopscience.iop.org/0067-0049/199/1/1/downloadHRFigure/figure/apjs412917f14 images] illustrating how different parts of a galaxy move along our sightline, images that look not very different from the map Cueball shows. If one side of the image is higher redshifted while the other side is less or even blueshifted, the usual interpretation is that the galaxy is rotating with an axis of rotation not completely parallel to our sightline, but other interpretations are also possible. Nevertheless no redshifted object appears in red to the human eye, it's still white. But the {{w|Spectral line|spectral lines}} are shifted. This means all colors used in those scientific images are not real.

The map [[Cueball]] shows represents election results. Red regions mark where one of the parties won, while blue regions indicate some other party (as Randall lives in the United States the parties are probably {{w|Democratic party (United States)|Democratic}} (blue) and {{w|Republican party (United States)|Republican}} (red), although it's not explicitly stated in the comic). Cueball analyzes the map as if it showed magnitude of Doppler effect by the light emitted by the region. This, however, is not what the viewers expect to hear during the election night from election analysis. That's why Cueball was fired from the job rather quickly, as the caption states.

The title text states that the {{w|Green Party of the United States|Green Party}} did not win any {{w|Precinct#Elections|precincts}}. If the Green Party won, its regions would likely be colored green, which would not fit to Cueball's Doppler effect analysis. Sometimes, however, green is used to indicate lack of movement. And since the center of rotating object isn't moving, green-colored spaces could actually be interpreted according to Doppler analysis - but only if they appeared near the center of the district.

The map appears to depict {{w|Georgia's 6th congressional district}}, which was set for a {{w|Georgia's 6th congressional district special election, 2017|runoff election}} on June 20, 2017, the day after the comic ran. The comic appears to be broadly[{{w|vagueness|''vague''}}] similar to the final result[https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/georgia-congressional-runoff-ossoff-handel], although is not entirely different from the result of the single-ballot of April 18, 2017.[http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2017/04/23/from-red-to-purple-what-ossoffs-path-through-the-6th-district-means/img_7178/#main]

==Transcript==
:[On a TV-screen Cueball is seen pointing at a map on the left which is colored in red and blue. There is a header on the map and in the top right corner of the screen the title of the program is shown. Below this at the bottom of the screen text indicate that the program is broad live. Cueball explains the map, with his text shown above the TV.]
:Header: Results
:Title: ''Election'' Night
:Live

:Cueball: These northern precincts appear red, which probably means they're moving away from us, whereas these bluer regions are approaching us. I believe the district may be rotating in space.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:My career as an election analyst was short-lived.

==Trivia==
*Cueball was fired from his job a number of times before. Many are listed in [[1428: Move Fast and Break Things]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

1852: Election Map

2017-06-21T12:32:52Z

Will:

{{comic
| number = 1852
| date = June 19, 2017
| title = Election Map
| image = election_map.png
| titletext = Luckily for my interpretation, no precincts were won by the Green Party.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Should include how (if at all) this comic predicted the 2017 vote one day after it was released.}}
A wave (e.g. an electromagnetic wave, like light) changes its frequency and wavelength when its source is moving relative to the observer, due to the {{w|Doppler effect}}. In the case of light, increased frequency — indicating movement towards the observer — is called {{w|blueshift}}, while reduced frequency — indicating movement away from the observer — is called {{w|redshift}}. These names apply even if the effect is outside of the visible spectrum (e.g. infrared light that has reduced frequency is called redshifted, even though its frequency is further away from that of visible red light than normally). Red and blue colors are used accordingly to indicate the effect.

The recent advent of the {{w|integral field spectrograph}} allowed astronomers to produce [http://iopscience.iop.org/0067-0049/199/1/1/downloadHRFigure/figure/apjs412917f14 images] illustrating how different parts of a galaxy move along our sightline, images that look not very different from the map Cueball shows. If one side of the image is higher redshifted while the other side is less or even blueshifted, the usual interpretation is that the galaxy is rotating with an axis of rotation not completely parallel to our sightline, but other interpretations are also possible. Nevertheless no redshifted object appears in red to the human eye, it's still white. But the {{w|Spectral line|spectral lines}} are shifted. This means all colors used in those scientific images are not real.

The map [[Cueball]] shows represents election results. Red regions mark where one of the parties won, while blue regions indicate some other party (as Randall lives in the United States the parties are probably {{w|Democratic party (United States)|Democratic}} (blue) and {{w|Republican party (United States)|Republican}} (red), although it's not explicitly stated in the comic). Cueball analyzes the map as if it showed magnitude of Doppler effect by the light emitted by the region. This, however, is not what the viewers expect to hear during the election night from election analysis. That's why Cueball was fired from the job rather quickly, as the caption states.

The title text states that the {{w|Green Party of the United States|Green Party}} did not win any {{w|Precinct#Elections|precincts}}. If the Green Party won, its regions would likely be colored green, which would not fit to Cueball's Doppler effect analysis. Sometimes, however, green is used to indicate lack of movement. And since the center of rotating object isn't moving, green-colored spaces could actually be interpreted according to Doppler analysis - but only if they appeared near the center of the district.

The map appears to depict {{w|Georgia's 6th congressional district}}, which was set for a {{w|Georgia's 6th congressional district special election, 2017|runoff election}} on June 20, 2017, the day after the comic ran. The comic appears to be broadly similar to the final result[https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/georgia-congressional-runoff-ossoff-handel], although is not entirely different from the result of the single-ballot of April 18, 2017.[http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2017/04/23/from-red-to-purple-what-ossoffs-path-through-the-6th-district-means/img_7178/#main]

==Transcript==
:[On a TV-screen Cueball is seen pointing at a map on the left which is colored in red and blue. There is a header on the map and in the top right corner of the screen the title of the program is shown. Below this at the bottom of the screen text indicate that the program is broad live. Cueball explains the map, with his text shown above the TV.]
:Header: Results
:Title: ''Election'' Night
:Live

:Cueball: These northern precincts appear red, which probably means they're moving away from us, whereas these bluer regions are approaching us. I believe the district may be rotating in space.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:My career as an election analyst was short-lived.

==Trivia==
*Cueball was fired from his job a number of times before. Many are listed in [[1428: Move Fast and Break Things]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

1824: Identification Chart

2017-05-26T10:01:40Z

Will: Citation needed

{{comic
| number = 1824
| date = April 14, 2017
| title = Identification Chart
| image = identification_chart.png
| titletext = Be careful-it's breeding season, and some of these can be *extremely* defensive of their nests.
}}

==Explanation==
Some aircraft are named after creatures of flight, including {{w|bird of prey|birds of prey}}, other birds, and insects. This comic spoofs an "identification guide" of bird silhouettes, each with the {{w|fuselage}} of an aircraft and the wings of the flying animal from which the aircraft gets its name. All are birds with the exception of the {{w|hornet|hornet}} which is an insect, see the [[#Table|table]] below for individual explanations.

This idea of having feathers wings on a plane is absurd, as bird wings (for birds that can fly) are made to support the lightweight structure of a bird. Supporting the metal parts of a plane along with its human pilot would be impossible.{{Citation needed}}

General military training often includes aircraft identification. {{w|Aircraft_recognition|Silhouette charts}} are given to ground observers for memorization and reference so that friend or foe can be determined in the field. Conversely, many bird watching books will carry pictures of avian silhouettes from below, as often key details like tail and wing shape are the easiest way to determine what a species a high soaring bird is, especially birds of prey. (Two comics later [[Cueball]] is out birdwatching with his friend in [[1826: Birdwatching]] and could need such a chart, if he could spot any birds that is.)

The pseudo-confusion between birds and planes here could be a reference to the quote "It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman" quote often used in, naturally, {{w|Superman}}-related entertainment. A similar joke was used in [[1792: Bird/Plane/Superman]].

The comic highlights not only the various designs of aircraft tails, but also bird wings. Some wings are highly adapted for soaring (eagle), speed (falcon), as well as rapid acceleration and short flights (blackbird).

The title text is juxtaposing military air bases with breeding nests of the animals, both of which might earn a hostile response to approach at the wrong time, but in wildly different measure. Encroaching on breeding territory of some of the birds being referenced may result in getting dived at or chased, so the comparison invites the reader to imagine what might happen if the analogous creatures in the comic were defending their nest with aircraft ordnance. This could also be a reference to the increasing hostility between US and Russia, as well as the generally more strained relationship US now has with many countries after the election of {{w|Donald Trump}} for president half a year before this comic was released. This is also the second comic to refer to the military in less than two months, the first being [[1803: Location Reviews]] reviewing a Nuclear Launch Facility. [[Randall]] has seemed very worried in his comics since the election, see more regarding this [[I'm_With_Her#Sad_comics|here]].

The idea of a bird with plane engines was first used in [[1729: Migrating Geese]], which also shows birds in silhouette. The third last bird in the right arm of the V-formation has twin engines.

===Table===
{| class="wikitable"
!Animal
! style="width: 8em" | Plane
!Description
|-
|{{w|Osprey|Osprey}}
|{{w|Bell_Boeing_V-22_Osprey|V-22 Osprey}}
|The osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is a raptor with distinctive white and brown coloring. It's also sometimes referred to as a sea hawk or fish eagle due to its virtually all fish diet.
The V-22 Osprey is a tilt-rotor aircraft that has been in development since the 1980s, and was introduced to the U.S. Armed Forces in 2007. It's a troop carrier aircraft that combines the vertical take-off ability of a helicopter with the high cruising speed of an airplane. (''{{w|Bell Helicopter}}'' and {{w|Boeing Rotorcraft Systems|''Boeing''}})
|-
|{{w|Hornet|Hornet}}
|{{w|McDonnell_Douglas_F/A-18_Hornet|F/A-18 Hornet}}
|Hornets are a type of wasp of the genera vespa or provespa. They're known to be highly territorial and aggressive.
The F-18 Hornet is a fighter developed for the Navy in the 1970s. It's been deployed by air forces around the world in both air-to-air and air-to-ground roles, and is flown by the US Navy demonstration team, the Blue Angels. The airplane is still being produced in an updated and larger version, the {{w|F/A-18E/F Super Hornet}}. (''{{w|McDonnell Douglas}}'')
|-
|{{w|Falcon|Falcon}}
|{{w|General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting_Falcon|F-16 Falcon}}
|A falcon is a bird of prey known for its tapered wings that allow for high speed flight and high maneuverability.
The F-16 Falcon is a light single-engine fighter. It's flown by the USAF demonstration team, the Thunderbirds. (''{{w|General Dynamics}}'')
|-
|{{w|Harrier (bird)|Harrier}}
|{{w|Harrier_Jump_Jet|AV-8B Harrier}}
|A harrier is a hawk that hunts by flying low over open ground.
The first operational {{w|STOL}}/{{w|VTOL}} fighter. They are known for their use in the {{w|Falklands War}} (1982), where they operated from converted cargo ships as well as aircraft carriers. (''{{w|Hawker Siddeley}}'')
|-
|{{w|Eagle|Eagle}}
|{{w|McDonnell_Douglas_F-15_Eagle|F-15 Eagle}}
|Eagle is a common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae.
Introduced in 1976, other jets like F-16 have filled its role. The U.S. Air National Guard is the largest operator as of now. (''{{w|McDonnell Douglas}}'')
|-
|{{w|Kestrel|Kestrel}}
|{{w|Kestrel_K-350|Kestrel K-350}}
|A bird of prey that can hover before swooping in on its prey.
The Kestrel is a single-engine, proof-of-concept aircraft, similar to the {{w|Pilatus PC-12}}. (''{{w|Kestrel Aircraft}}'')
|-
|{{w|Hawk|Hawk}}
|{{w|BAE_Systems_Hawk|Hawk T1}}
|A hawk is a large bird of prey with a heavy head and beak. They have very acute vision.
A trainer aircraft. It is flown by the Royal Air Force display team, the ''{{w|Red Arrows}}''. {{w|T-45 Goshawk}} is the U.S. designation of a variant of this aircraft. The fuselage silhouette is of a BAe Hawk, although other aircraft have also had Hawk-related names, for example the Hawker [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Sea_Hawk Sea Hawk] and the Douglas [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_A-4_Skyhawk A-4 Skyhawk]. (''{{w|BAE Systems}}'')
|-
|{{w|Common blackbird|Blackbird}}
|{{w|Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird|SR-71 Blackbird}}
|There are many birds that goes under the {{w|Blackbird#Birds|name blackbird}} but the common blackbird is a species of {{w|true thrush}}.
A Mach 3+ spy aircraft, known for its speed and engine design (which allowed them to work both as turbines and ramjets). (''{{w|Lockheed Martin}}'')
|}

==Transcript==
:[A silhouette identification guide chart shows eight silhouettes in two rows. The silhouettes are a combination of the fuselage of an aircraft and the wings of birds, or in the second case an insect. Below each silhouette is a label:]
:Osprey Hornet Falcon Harrier
:Eagle Kestrel Hawk Blackbird

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Animals]]

469: Improvised

2016-01-29T13:12:44Z

Will:

{{comic
| number = 469
| date = August 29, 2008
| title = Improvised
| image = improvised.png
| titletext = Oh, your brother is Luke. Sorry, should've mentioned that first.
}}

==Explanation==
In the second of the original {{w|Star Wars}} film {{w|The Empire Strikes Back|Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back}}", just before {{w|Han Solo}}, portrayed by {{w|Harrison Ford}}, is frozen in carbonite, the following conversation occurs:
:Leia: I love you.
:Han: I know.

The original script had Han Solo respond with "I love you, too", but Harrison Ford felt that the character would not give such a cliched response, even in the face of likely death and ad-libbed the "I know" line that was actually used in the finished film. The ad-libbed line is generally thought to be better than the original would have been.

The comic presents several alternative ad-libs that Ford could have made in that conversation as well as at various points throughout the trilogy. So in this situation it is the actor Ford and not Han Solo that speaks the lines.

{| class="wikitable"
! Row
! Col
! Ad-Lib
! Further Detail
|-
| 1
| 1
| '''Well, duh.'''
| Here, Han ruins the mood [a dramatic confession] with a flippant statement.
|-
| 1
| 2
| '''Seriously? ...Christ.'''
| Another example of an out-of-tone ad-lib. The original line is "never tell me the odds", a nod to Solo's daredevil persona. In this ad-lib, however, he is hesitant to try anything dangerous.
|-
| 1
| 3
| '''Oh! Hey, that explains the kissing earlier.'''
| Another absurd, out-of-character answer to a serious remark, this time with Solo acting romantically oblivious [rather than forward, as he is usually].
|-
| 2
| 1
| '''I'm nailing your brother.'''
| So far Leia doesn't know she has a brother. Also, since ''to nail'' means to penetrate, she may be surprised to learn that Han is currently engaged in a same-sex relationship (or at least an ongoing arrangement). This panel is referenced in the title text.
|-
| 2
| 2
| '''Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for scissors, though they do beat paper and rock.'''
| The original line is "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid", a reference to Luke's force training and lightsaber use. In this ad-lib, Han turns a discussion about weapons into a [unusually formal] discussion about the game {{w|Rock-paper-scissors}}.
|-
| 2
| 3
| '''Cool. Listen, this thing is really, REALLY cold.'''
| Han is in a freezing chamber in this scene. This remark indicates that he is not very interested in Leia's feeling at this moment since he is so cold.
|-
| 3
| 1
| '''Wowzers'''
| ''Wowzers'' is an expression used by {{w|Inspector Gadget}}; another amusingly out-of-character ad-lib.
|-
| 3
| 2
| '''Barely. They're pretty drunk.'''
| The original response here is "Uh, my team's ready. I don't have a command crew for the shuttle." In this ad-lib, Han responds to a serious situation [preparations for an important mission to bring down the Galactic Empire] with an unserious response and an admission that he's allowing his crew to drink while on duty.
|-
| 3
| 3
| '''Man, me too but Chewie never seems interested. Maybe I should grow my hair out.'''
| The original response was "I can arrange that! You could ''use'' a good kiss!" In the original film, Leia's remark "I'd just as soon kiss a wookiee" is meant as an insult to Han, implying that he's no more attractive than a great hairy monster. In this ad-lib, though, Han takes her statement literally, and suggests that he is also interested in kissing a wookiee. Chewbacca is Han's wookiee copilot and fellow smuggler. Han's suggestion that he's interested in kissing Chewbacca is unexpected on many levels: firstly, Han's shown interest in Leia, secondly, Chewbacca is an entirely different species, and thirdly, Chewbacca is also male, and Han Solo is presumed by Leia to be straight.
|}

Note: although it's spelled "wookie" in the comic, the canonical spelling of Chewbacca's species is "{{w|Wookiee}}".

The title text continues the ad lib in panel four. It refers to the plot twist that {{w|Luke Skywalker}} is princess {{w|Princess Leia|Leia's}} brother, which would not be revealed until the next film in the series. How Harrison Ford knows this twist at this point in the story is unknown.

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panels:]
:Harrison Ford famously improvised his "I know" line in E.S.B. Here are a few of his less-successful ad-libs:

:[Harrison Ford as Han Solo (in all the panels) stands in front of Princess Leia on the Cloud City Carbon Freezing Chamber.]
:Leia: I love you.
:Han: Well, duh.

:[Han Solo in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon.]
:C-3P0: Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3720 to 1!
:Han: Seriously? ...Christ.

:[Han Solo stands in front of Princess Leia on the Cloud City Carbon Freezing Chamber.]
:Leia: I love you.
:Han: Oh! Hey, that explains the kissing earlier.

:[Han Solo stands in front of Princess Leia on the Cloud City Carbon Freezing Chamber.]
:Leia: I love you.
:Han: I'm nailing your brother.

:[Han Solo standing in front of Luke Skywalker, who is holding a blast shield helmet and a lightsaber. The training droid hovers between them.]

:Han: Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for scissors, though they do beat paper and rock.

:[Han Solo stands in front of Princess Leia on the Cloud City Carbon Freezing Chamber.]
:Leia: I love you.
:Han: Cool. Listen, this thing is really, really cold.

:[Han Solo stands in front of Princess Leia on the Cloud City Carbon Freezing Chamber.]
:Leia: I love you.
:Han: Wowzers.

:[Han Solo sits with two others. General Madine approaches.]
:Madine: General Solo, is your strike team assembled?
:Han: Barely. They're pretty drunk.

:[Han Solo and Princess Leia stand in an Ice Tunnel of Hoth.]
:Leia: I'd just as soon kiss a wookie.
:Han: Man, me too but Chewie never seems interested. Maybe I should grow my hair out.

{{comic discussion}}
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