explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1095: Crazy Straws

2016-12-22T22:04:40Z

XndrK: /* Explanation */ Explain title-text a little better.

{{comic
| number = 1095
| date = August 15, 2012
| title = Crazy Straws
| image = crazy_straws.png
| titletext = The new crowd is heavily shaped by this guy named Eric, who's basically the Paris Hilton of the amateur plastic crazy straw design world.
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|subculture}} is a small group of people within a culture that share some property in common, such as hackers or hipsters. Some subcultures form based on a geeky obsession over a trivial topic (for instance, a minimally-drawn webcomic). In this case, that topic is crazy straws, which are toy drinking straws designed with unusual twists and loops. This strip uses this group as an example of the fractal nature of cultures.

Informally speaking, a {{w|fractal}} is a mathematical shape with an infinite level of detail. Just as fractals can always be divided into smaller patterns, Randall points out that human subcultures can always be divided into smaller subcultures. We have the "people who like crazy straws" subculture, but this is further divided into the professionals and the hobbyists. The hobbyists are themselves broken into those who accept loops in the straws and those who don't. A splinter group, as used in the comic, is a subculture that breaks off from a larger one.

Despite the incredible amount of work fans put into it, the whole concept seems completely inconsequential to an outsider. The irony is the source of humor in this strip. An earlier comic, [[915: Connoisseur]], covers a similar topic.

{{w|Paris Hilton}} is a celebrity who is essentially famous for being famous. The "guy named Eric" mentioned in the title-text is someone prominent in the amateur plastic crazy-straw community, but that doesn't really count as famous by most standards, so the Paris Hilton comparison is quite a stretch.

==Transcript==
:[Two people hang out with some beverages. Cueball here has a bright green crazy straw.]
:Cueball: The thing to understand about the plastic crazy straw design world is that there are two main camps: The professionals - designing for established brands - and the hobbyists. The hobbyist mailing lists are full of drama, with friction between the regulars and a splinter group focused on loops...

:Human subcultures are nested fractally. There's no bottom.

==Trivia==
*On June 30, 2014, artists constructed huge artificial hay bales out of straws, near the Museum District of Munich. It was named the [http://museen-in-muenchen.de/index.php?id=1276&L=1 Bale Harvest].

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1764: XKCDE

2016-11-25T22:30:04Z

XndrK: /* Explanation */ Fix template error. (Since when are templates case-sensitive?)

{{comic
| number = 1764
| date = November 25, 2016
| title = XKCDE
| image = xkcde.png
| titletext = 4. They unplug the root machine but the thousands of leaf VMs scatter in the wind and start spinning up new instances wherever they land
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Barebones and possibly inaccurate. Explain title text.}}

Randall has created a theoretical software environment named XKCDE (a portmanteau on xkcd and {{w|Collaborative development environment|CDE}} (Collaborative Development Environment)), which relies on the user creating a series of nested virtual machines inside each other, which would likely cause extreme strain on the resources of the machine running it. This strain is explained in [[676: Abstraction]], at least for the normal case. Virtual Machines are software which pretend to be PC hardware so that a "guest" operating system can run inside of them, under a "host" operating system. Nesting VMs is the process of making a guest also be a host to yet another guest. Generally this is considered quite wasteful of resources, especially beyond one or two layers deep, and is not done except in a test lab for very specific purposes. Randall's theoretical XKCDE requires it for its required use, by its very nature.

He suggests continuing that process until the user gets fired, which will very likely lead to the environment not having many active users, a very counter-productive approach to software development.

A software environment which disables both the machine it runs on and the user that runs it could be thought of as a useless machine.

Someone got [https://pcsteps.com/508-nested-virtualization 4 levels deep] with this.

The title-text is a pun on the words {{w|Tree (data structure)|root and leaf}}, drawing an analogy of cutting down a tree (unplugging the root machine) scattering leaves (the leaf VMs, probably the VMs farthest down). In this case, a literal interpretation would be that turning off the computer the VMs are running on would make all the VMs without any VMs running in them propagate themselves through a network and install themselves on other computers, which at the end of the day would be a very inefficient method of creating a virus.{{Citation needed}}

==Transcript==
Installing the xkcd development environment

{| class="wikitable"
|
# Spin up a VM
# Spin up a VM inside that VM
# Continue spinning up nested VMs and containers until you get fired
|}

{{comic discussion}}

1764: XKCDE

2016-11-25T22:28:13Z

XndrK: /* Explanation */ Make first draft for title-text explanation. (Probably too colloquial and involves too much center embedding. Bad habit.)

{{comic
| number = 1764
| date = November 25, 2016
| title = XKCDE
| image = xkcde.png
| titletext = 4. They unplug the root machine but the thousands of leaf VMs scatter in the wind and start spinning up new instances wherever they land
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Barebones and possibly inaccurate. Explain title text.}}

Randall has created a theoretical software environment named XKCDE (a portmanteau on xkcd and {{w|Collaborative development environment|CDE}} (Collaborative Development Environment)), which relies on the user creating a series of nested virtual machines inside each other, which would likely cause extreme strain on the resources of the machine running it. This strain is explained in [[676: Abstraction]], at least for the normal case. Virtual Machines are software which pretend to be PC hardware so that a "guest" operating system can run inside of them, under a "host" operating system. Nesting VMs is the process of making a guest also be a host to yet another guest. Generally this is considered quite wasteful of resources, especially beyond one or two layers deep, and is not done except in a test lab for very specific purposes. Randall's theoretical XKCDE requires it for its required use, by its very nature.

He suggests continuing that process until the user gets fired, which will very likely lead to the environment not having many active users, a very counter-productive approach to software development.

A software environment which disables both the machine it runs on and the user that runs it could be thought of as a useless machine.

Someone got [https://pcsteps.com/508-nested-virtualization 4 levels deep] with this.

The title-text is a pun on the words {{w|Tree (data structure)|root and leaf}}, drawing an analogy of cutting down a tree (unplugging the root machine) scattering leaves (the leaf VMs, probably the VMs farthest down). In this case, a literal interpretation would be that turning off the computer the VMs are running on would make all the VMs without any VMs running in them propagate themselves through a network and install themselves on other computers, which at the end of the day would be a very inefficient method of creating a virus.{{citation needed}}

==Transcript==
Installing the xkcd development environment

{| class="wikitable"
|
# Spin up a VM
# Spin up a VM inside that VM
# Continue spinning up nested VMs and containers until you get fired
|}

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1753: Thumb War

2016-11-01T02:48:17Z

XndrK:

I love this new perspective of the comic. Seeing the characters as kids is an interesting concept, especially when one of them is Black Hat. Hopefully more of these kind of comics will come to exist. I wonder what kind of "classhole" tendencies Black Hat had as a kid... --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 14:38, 31 October 2016 (UTC)

:We also get to see Black Hat as a child in 1139: Rubber and Glue --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.124|172.68.78.124]] 15:00, 31 October 2016 (UTC)

Is this really Hairy in the comic or just a young Cueball, just with hair? Note that also Black Hat has visible hair under his hat in this comic, whereas the adult version doesn't have hair (or at least none visible). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.141|162.158.202.141]] 14:48, 31 October 2016 (UTC)

:This is Hairy as Hairy is not a single character, but just the name used to identify a stick figure with hair and to distinguish them from a Cueball (a stick figure without hair). The characters with hats are pretty much the only ones assumed to be non-generic recurring characters. Also, Black Hat does have hair, as seen in comic 377: Journal 2 --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.124|172.68.78.124]] 15:03, 31 October 2016 (UTC)

I didn't see Hairy's not wanting to play anymore as boredom but as either developing fear, or/and not wanting to play by weird rules he doesn't understand. Trivia; my school yard version didn't have a 5-6-7-8..., our thumb's shook "hands" and bowed to each other before the fight began. ~~[[Cris]] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.57|108.162.245.57]] 15:42, 31 October 2016 (UTC)

: Agreed (on both parts). The current description's "…and then counting up by fours and making rhymes" was utterly foreign to me, and I had to read it a few times to make sure it really was implying that it was standard to count above four. I've ''never'' heard of anything beyond "One, two, three, four; I declare a thumb war!" (accompanied by the thumbs touching alternating sides of the "ring"). Unless we can get anyone who can support the claim that counting above 4 (with or without rhymes) is normal or even uncommon, it should probably be expunged. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.220|108.162.215.220]] 16:51, 31 October 2016 (UTC)

:I always learned it with two verses, although the second one varied - "1, 2, 3, 4. I declare a Thumb War." and then either "5, 6, 7, 8. Try to keep your thumbs straight." or "5, 6, 7, 8. This'll be a piece of cake." The last word of the second verse was the cue for the fight to begin. --BoomerSooner[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.42|162.158.74.42]] 17:31, 31 October 2016 (UTC)

"Twenty" is a pretty good rhyme for "bunny" if you pronounce it "twenny", which is common in North America. Also, our local variant of Thumb War also stopped at four. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 01:16, 1 November 2016 (UTC)
:Okay, I thought I was alone, though where I come from it's pronounced [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:En-us-twenty.ogg /ˈtwʌn(t)i/]. (And I reveal the smallest bit more information about myself to the internets. Private eyes, gawk away.) --[[User:XndrK|XndrK]] ([[User talk:XndrK|talk]]) 02:48, 1 November 2016 (UTC)

Blondie

2016-09-23T22:41:04Z

XndrK: /* Characteristics */

{{Infobox character
| image = Blondie.png
| imagesize =
| caption = Blondie, as seen in [[1699: Local News]]
| first_appearance = [[59: Graduation]]
}}
'''Blondie''' is a [[stick figure]] character in [[xkcd]]. She is distinguished by her long blonde hair.

==Characteristics==
Blondie is a minor character in xkcd, but has had several appearances without ever being named in general.

The reason she is finally recognized as a "new" character was that with [[1699: Local News]] she had been used three time in less than 100 comics as a {{w|news anchor}}, and by the time she was named she had appeared as a news anchor a [[:Category:News anchor|6 times]]. It turned out that she is by far the most used character for presenting news reports compared to how much she is generally used, even beating Cueball at this time with him only having been anchor man five times.. After this was realized there was a [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#New_character_category_for_blonde_woman_news_reporter_.28from_1699.29|community portal discussion]] regarding this character and no one objected to the name Blondie with the other three as sub characters under her name.

One of the reasons it took so long for her to be named is probably because there are already three [[:Category:Comics by minor characters| minor characters]] that has the same appearance as Blondie, and is thus subcategories of her, just like [[Rob]] is for [[Cueball]]. Those three are the teacher [[Miss Lenhart]], the hacker [[Mrs. Roberts]] and the adult version of her [[:Category:1337|leet]] daughter [[Elaine Roberts]]. The Robertses are always mentioned by name, and Mrs. Roberts has so far only been used six times, and Elaine has only been drawn like Blondie in the last four comics in the [[:Category:1337|1337]] series. Miss Lenhart has only been named and drawn twice, but her name has been used three more times, and she has been drawn like Blondie nine times at the time Blondie was created as a character (after comic [[1731]] was released).

Apart from when she represents one of the above she is not the same character from comic to comic. She is mainly just another woman that [[Randall]] can use when he wishes to give a woman a specific characteristic so to set her aside from the more commonly used women [[Megan]] and [[Ponytail]]. Note that if Ponytail took her hair out she would look like Blondie.

She is rarely depicted with other women like Megan and Ponytail, but in her first appearances she talks with Megan in [[59: Graduation]]. But when she take on her most reprized role as a news anchor she is typically alone on screen, but she may speak to others of camera as in [[495: Secretary: Part 2]], or indirectly to Ponytail and Megan in their living room as in [[932: CIA]]. She seems to be the wife of a Cueball-like guy in [[275: Thoughts]].

A couple of time she is depicted as a mathematician, this may be a representation of Miss Lenhart, but as it is not in a teaching role they are still listed as Blondie. See [[Miss_Lenhart#Math teacher|Math teacher]] on Miss Lenhart's page.

Both Miss Lenhart (see [[416: Zealous Autoconfig]]) and Mrs. Roberts (see [[342: 1337: Part 2]]) are depicted as having at least two children. That Blondie is also often depicted as a mother seems to indicate that Randall sees this character as mother figure. Blondie as a mother can be seen here:
:[[200: Bill Nye]], with two boys.
:[[275: Thoughts]], having a daughter.
:[[946: Family Decals]], left family wagon with three children, two boys and a girl.
:[[1608: Hoverboard]], [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/a/ae/1608_0970x1077y_Kite_and_weird_bug.png next to the volcano] where she is with her daughter. The boy is likely the daughters friend, which is why she is so embarrassed, but it could of course be he brother as well.

==See also==
*[[:Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
*[[:Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
*[[:Category:Comics featuring Mrs. Roberts]]
*[[:Category:Comics featuring Elaine Roberts]]

{{navbox-characters}}

1692: Man Page

2016-06-11T23:09:59Z

XndrK: /* Explanation */ Add clarification for other editors to prevent accidental sarcasm.

{{comic
| number = 1692
| date = June 10, 2016
| title = Man Page
| image = man_page.png
| titletext = For even more info, see blarbl(2)(3) and birb(3ahhaha I'm kidding, just Google it like a normal person.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic shows a {{w|Unix}} manual page, i.e. a ''{{w|man page}}'' (hence the title), for a fictional program called "[http://da.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=blerp blerp]". Unix man pages are meant to provide a brief reference on the usage of a command, not extended explanations with tutorials as may be found in many hardcopy product manuals. Unfortunately, some Unix commands tend to be very bloated and include lots of optional behavior that is often irrelevant to the original intent of the command and can be done much more easily using shell features like piping and redirection, and thus the manpage grows to explain all of the features. This example exaggerates the obscurity and terseness found in many man pages, making fun of the typical style of the genre.

It follows the prescribed format for a man page, with the following sections:
* Command Name: self-explanatory
* Synopsis: a synopsis of the valid command line formats
* Description: a summary of the purpose and operation of the command
* Options: detailed description of all the available command line arguments
* See Also: references to other man pages with relevance
* Bug Reports: contact details for the support group (if any)
* Copyright: details of the ownership and rights status of the man page (not the program)

However most the contents of these sections are not very meaningful, or even obey the correct syntax.

The Synopsis section is supposed to be in a {{w|Regular Expression|regex}}-like language called {{w|Wirth Syntax Notation}}, with structures like

* {<list of valid alternatives>}, e.g. blerp {A,B,C}
* [<optional element>], e.g. blerp [-o [<output file>]]
* <something> ... meaning repeat <something> as many times as you need

But the two Synopsis lines given do not have valid Wirth syntax; they randomly mix objects and syntactic characters, and the brackets and braces are not properly nested or paired.

The Description section provides a somewhat unhelpful summary that could apply to almost any Unix command. Processing input files (or output of other commands in a pipeline) is a generic function for Unix shell tools, as is specifying their behaviour with command line arguments, environment variables and flags.

The options are in alphabetical order (putting lower case before upper case and with an em-dash inserted between b and c the only exception to this order).

{{w|Command-line_interface#Command-line_option|Command-line options}}, also known as flags, are typed following a program name to change how the program runs. The following is an example usage.

<code>blerp -a -d -t -p "AVIGNON"</code>

This would run blerp in attack mode, outputting to DEBUG.EXE, with tumble dry, and with POPE set to AVIGNON. In most cases, any number of flags can be used in any order, and applicable flags can be followed by arguments (such as "AVIGNON" in this example).

For a walkthrough of all possible flags see the '''[[#Table of flags|table of flags]]''' below.

Below the flags there is a ''see also'' list with other stupid program names. Apart from two more blerbs there is also blirb, [http://da.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Blarb blarb] and [http://da.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Blorp blorp], with chapter references. The last blorp(501)(c)(3) is not a valid chapter reference for a man page, it is however a slightly covert reference to {{w|501(c)_organization#501.28c.29.283.29|501(c)(3)}} which is an organization that is {{w|Tax exemption|tax-exempt}}.

Then follows a bug report site. www.inaturalist.org is a site working to extend biological research, and the exact address given, http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47744-Hemiptera, points to the same page as http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/Hemiptera. {{w|Hemiptera}} is the order classifying ''true bugs'', making it a good place to report any biological bugs discovered while running a program (such as certain insects that got into certain early computers, causing the computers to malfunction and giving the name "bug" to computer malfunctions).

Finally there is a "{{w|copyright}}" line which references several variously open-source content licenses which is also a recurring theme on xkcd (see [[225: Open Source]]). For instance, GPL references {{w|GNU General Public License}} and the (2) and (3+) refers to {{w|GNU_General_Public_License#Version_2|GPL 2}} and {{w|GNU_General_Public_License#Version_3|GPL 3 or higher}}. ''CC'' refers to {{w|creative commons}} where ''BY'' is the {{w|Creative_Commons_license#Types_of_licenses|type of license}}, ''5.0'' refers to the attribution and ''RV 41.0'' refers to revision 41.0. However there were no higher attribution than [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode 4.0] at the time of this comic's release. xkcd is released under [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ CC BY-NC 2.5] as can be seen at the bottom of the {{xkcd}}  homepage. A few comics have been released under the [[:Category:CC-BY-SA comics|CC-BY-SA license]] or [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ 3.0]. BSD refers to {{w|BSD licenses}} a [[:Category:BSD|recurring theme]] in xkcd. "Like Gecko" is a reference to a web browser user-agent string; modern user-agent strings include a lot of text designed{{Citation needed}} to let the browser pretend to be several different browsers/renderers, and "(like Gecko)" is the standard text for a browser that wants to be treated as if it were {{w|Gecko (software)|Gecko}} while admitting, if you look closely, that it isn't really Gecko. This copyright line, which includes a lot of mashed-together text that might appear to match any of several different licenses, resembles a {{w|user agent}} string.

"Or best offer" is a reference to a private sale, such as of a car parked outside a home, with a hand-made notice proclaiming the intent to sell to any passer-by who may be interested, usually with relevent details including a suggested price "or best offer", to indicate a willingness to be flexible for a quicker sale. In context, it suggest the person who has the highest offer for ''blerp'' will be sold the rights to the program. Since the other licenses mentioned would allow for free usage without paying royalties, it would usually be pointless to buy the rights to the program. The owner could possibly revoke the other licenses though.

In the title text there is a list with even more info, again with crazy names like [http://blarbl.blogspot.dk/ blarbl] and [http://da.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=birb birb]. Again there are page references, but for the last the person writing this stops writing the reference and begins to laugh at whom ever still reads this man page and telling them that he is kidding and suggest that they ''just Google it like a normal person''. The writer of this text thus also stops finishing the brackets as the ending ")" for the last chapter is missing.

Man pages were part of the subject of [[293: RTFM]], [[912: Manual Override]] and [[1343: Manuals]] and were mentioned in [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport]] and [[456: Cautionary]].

===Table of flags===
*There are 28 flags.
**Only these five letters are not used: l, m, w, x, z.
**j and k are used together as jk.
**The following seven capital letters are used: D, I, O, R, S, U, V.
***That makes it one capital letter for every lower case letter that is not used by itself.
**Finally the em dash "—" is used as the only non-letter character. Also the only that breaks the strict alphabetical sorting of the list, with lower case before upper case letters.
{| class="wikitable"
!Flag!!Description!!Explanation
|-
| -a||ATTACK MODE||This sounds like a command for a robot or something similar. Strange for a command line program. Possibly this is designed to break something?
|-
| -b||SUPPRESS BEES||Nonsensical option. This is a word play, meaning either to suppress {{w|Bee|Bees}} (the insects) or the letter '''B'''. A possible implication is that running the program without this flag would somehow result in the user being attacked by bees. This is also a possible {{w|Discworld}} reference, as the ''{{W|Hex_(Discworld)#Structure_and_technology|long-term storage}}'' of the only recurring computer in the series, ''{{w|Hex (Discworld)|Hex}}'', is composed of a beehive. (Note that the actual computer runs on ants.)
|-
| -—||FLAGS USE EM DASHES||Command line options (flags) typically use {{w|Hyphen|hyphens}} (short horizontal lines largely used within words). {{w|Dash#Em_dash|Em dashes}} (longer, with the same length as the letter "m") can't always be easily typed into a command line interface, so switching flags from hyphens to em dashes is excessively difficult and nonsensical.

This may be a play on how a lot of commands accept both single-dash options, like -h for help, as well as double-dash options like --help also for help. In word processors, a double-dash (--) is often replaced with the longer em dash (—), making them kind of synonymous.

Also implies a paradox where if flags were to use em dashes, this flag itself would be invalid.
|-
| -c||COUNT NUMBER OF ARGUMENTS||Most likely not useful.
|-
| -d||PIPES OUTPUT TO DEBUG.EXE||{{w|DEBUG.EXE}} is the old 16-bit debugger that came with MS-DOS. On a Unix system it is much more likely that one would use the {{w|GNU Debugger}} (GDB). A debugger is usually called by calling the debugger with the program (or script) to be debugged as parameter.
{{w|Pipeline (Unix)|Piping}} in Unix means that the output of one program serves as input for another program.
|-
| -D||DEPRECATED||Many programs contain legacy options to avoid breaking scripts that use them. While the option should still work, the documentation is changed to say "deprecated" to discourage further use. Eventually such options usually get removed. (However, given the nature of this comic, it's likely that -D has always stood for "deprecated".)
|-
| -e||EXECUTE SOMETHING||Vague. Also a possible pun on a kill-switch.
|-
| -f||FUN MODE||Strange and slightly ominous, given some of the other options. See under -O.
|-
| -g||USE GOOGLE||As an actual program flag, a bit hackjob-ish, but it is possible it is telling the user to use Google to find out what this tag does.
|-
| -h||CHECK WHETHER INPUT HALTS||Completely impossible, by the {{w|Halting problem}} which is the problem of determining, from a description of an arbitrary computer program and an input, whether the program will finish running or continue to run forever. {{w|Alan Turing}} proved in 1936 that a general algorithm to solve the halting problem for all possible program-input pairs cannot exist.

Note that most commands reserve -h for help, so using it for a different function is non-standard. Such is common for many Unix and Linux commands.
|-
| -i||IGNORE CASE (LOWER)||Usually, ignoring case means that a program will run without differentiating between upper- and lowercase. This flag suggests that blerp will run ignoring all the lowercase characters completely, or ignoring all the uppercase characters with the next flag "-I". Note that using this may make it ignore the difference for flags like -i and -I...
|-
| -I||IGNORE CASE (UPPER)||See above. Also possible that all text is converted to upper case, or that upper-case requirements only are ignored
|-
| -jk||KIDDING||A common acronym for [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jk Just Kidding], not a program flag. Also note that standard behavior of Unix command line options is that a single "-" can be followed by multiple one-letter options, making -jk equivalent to -j -k.
|-
| -n||BEHAVIOR NOT DEFINED||Possibly mathematically ominous? Otherwise useless.(Possible debug/unstable feature flag)
|-
| -o||OVERWRITE||Standard program flag, usually meaning that the program will overwrite a file rather than make a new one when data is output.May work strangely with -d.
|-
| -O||OPPOSITE DAY||Strange flag, possibly means that all other flags (or maybe even including this one!) have the opposite effects - if so, a lot of strange things would happen. (Especially with -b, -e, -f, -jk, -O...). This may be a reference to the SpongeBob SquarePants episode [http://spongebob.wikia.com/wiki/Opposite_Day "Opposite Day"].
|-
| -p||SET TRUE POPE; ACCEPTS "ROME" OR "AVIGNON"||This refers to a {{w|Western_Schism|historical schism}} in the {{w|Catholic Church}}. In the 14th century, the Pope briefly ruled from Avignon, France, instead of Rome. After the Papacy was returned to Rome in 1377, the Church split (the so-called Western Schism) as not everyone accepted the move and the Pope who ordered it. This flag apparently allows the user to select a preferred Pope. There is actually a possible feature request here, as "PISA", a third Pope, should also be an option. It is the second time this week that Popes have been mentioned, last time was two comics before in [[1690: Time-Tracking Software]] regarding the Popes sexual activity.
|-
| -q||QUIET MODE; OUTPUT IS PRINTED TO STDOUT INSTEAD OF BEING SPOKEN ALOUD||In most cases, a program will output basic information to the console, and running it in quiet mode will make it run without outputting anything. Blerp, on the other hand, outputs information through audio, and the quiet flag causes it to run like a normal program. "STDOUT" is short for "standard output".
|-
| -r||RANDOMIZE ARGUMENTS||Pointless and possibly damaging.
|-
| -R||RUN RECURSIVELY ON <nowiki>http://*</nowiki>||The star (*) symbol is often used as a wildcard to match any string of characters. "<nowiki>http://*</nowiki>" suggests that blerp will be run on every (unsecured) webpage on the internet, or on each page recursively. What it might do in order to make this valid is also ominous.
|-
| -s||FOLLOW SYMBOLIC LINKS SYMBOLICALLY||A {{w|symbolic link}} is a filesystem feature that allows the creation of "fake" files which when accessed redirect to another file path. Many commands offer an option to follow filesystem links and operate on the actual file rather than the fake pointer; this option however seems to suggest that it will only politely pretend to do so.
|-
| -S||STEALTH MODE||Similar to -a, in that it sounds more like an option for some kind of robot.
|-
| -t||TUMBLE DRY||Perhaps useful for a program that runs on a clothes dryer. Refers to [https://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/5254504/il_570xN.184726893.jpg directions like these]. Many clothing items are marked "do not tumble dry" in the care instructions, but this would be extremely difficult to make relevant to a program. Given the other flags, this may be less nonsensical than it would first appear..
|-
| -u||UTF-8 MODE; OTHERWISE DEFAULTS TO ANSEL||{{w|ANSEL}} is an old and obscure character encoding that predates ASCII. Using ANSEL as a default would be strange and largely incompatible with most modern systems. On the other hand, UTF-8 is rather standard. Similar in this regard to -q, blerp does something non-standard by default. The problem with using different modes (where the original was also UTF-8) is shown in the title text of [[1683: Digital Data]].
|-
| -U||UPDATE (DEFAULT: FACEBOOK)||Update usually refers to replacing an old software with a newer version. The default here suggests posting a status update to Facebook, sourcing an update form Facebook, or updating Facebook itself.
|-
| -v||VERBOSE; ALIAS TO find / -exec cat {}||Almost standard flag, in ordinary programs the opposite of -q - instead of silencing output, it makes it more specific, usually to help with debugging. Instead, this flag gets replaced with a command that prints the contents of all files in the filesystem tree. However, it will never complete, as certain device files never end (/dev/urandom contains random bytes). Note that the "find" command is missing <code>\;</code> and will not run, instead complaining <code>find: missing argument to `-exec'</code> .
|-
| -V||SET VERSION NUMBER||Many programs will have a flag to view the version number. This flag changes the version number instead. Version number should only be changed when the program is updated (because it's used for distinguishing which edition of a program you have), so manually changing the version number like this is strange and a little dangerous.
|-
| -y||YIKES||[[wiktionary:yikes|yikes]] is an interjection which can express fear or empathy with unpleasant or undesirable circumstances. It is unclear how this would influence the program.
|}

==Transcript==
:[A terminal screen; the background is black and the text is white.]
<div style="background-color:black;color:white;white-space:pre-wrap;font-family:monospace;padding: 0 2em;max-width:50em;">
;NAME
:blerp
;SYNOPSIS
:blerp {[ OPTION | ARGS ]...[ ARGS ... -f [FLAGS] ...}
:blerp {... DIRECTORY ... URL | BLERP} OPTIONS ] -{}
;DESCRIPTION
:blerp FILTERS LOCAL OR REMOTE FILES OR RESOURCES USING PATTERNS DEFINED BY ARGUMENTS AND ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES. THIS BEHAVIOR CAN BE ALTERED BY VARIOUS FLAGS.
;OPTIONS
:-a ATTACK MODE
:-b SUPPRESS BEES
:-— FLAGS USE EM DASHES
:-c COUNT NUMBER OF ARGUMENTS
:-d PIPES OUTPUT TO DEBUG.EXE
:-D DEPRECATED
:-e EXECUTE SOMETHING
:-f FUN MODE
:-g USE GOOGLE
:-h CHECK WHETHER INPUT HALTS
:-i IGNORE CASE (LOWER)
:-I IGNORE CASE (UPPER)
:-jk KIDDING
:-n BEHAVIOR NOT DEFINED
:-o OVERWRITE
:-O OPPOSITE DAY
:-p SET TRUE POPE; ACCEPTS "ROME" OR "AVIGNON"
:-q QUIET MODE; OUTPUT IS PRINTED TO STDOUT INSTEAD OF BEING SPOKEN ALOUD
:-r RANDOMIZE ARGUMENTS
:-R RUN RECURSIVELY ON <nowiki>http://*</nowiki>
:-s FOLLOW SYMBOLIC LINKS SYMBOLICALLY
:-S STEALTH MODE
:-t TUMBLE DRY
:-u UTF-8 MODE; OTHERWISE DEFAULTS TO ANSEL
:-U UPDATE (DEFAULT: FACEBOOK)
:-v VERBOSE; ALIAS TO find / -exec cat {}
:-V SET VERSION NUMBER
:-y YIKES
;SEE ALSO
:blerp(1), blerp(3), blirb(8), blarb(51) blorp(501)(c)(3)
;BUG REPORTS
:<nowiki>http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47744-Hemiptera</nowiki>
;COPYRIGHT
:GPL(2)(3+) CC-BY/5.0 RV 41.0 LIKE GECKO/BSD 4(2) OR BEST OFFER
</div>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:BSD]]
[[Category:Animals]]

Talk:1062: Budget News

2016-06-03T00:10:36Z

XndrK:

Shame the hawk didn't go after a war hawk. Iran has been going on for faaar too long. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:43, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

This has now happened to Donald Trump http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-narrowly-escapes-being-attacked-by-a-bald-eagle-on-time-magazine-shoot-a6767501.html [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.37|162.158.255.37]] 03:45, 14 December 2015 (UTC)
:Yeah but I wouldn't call Trump any kind of eagle. That scene is still hilarious and indicative though, especially since now Bernie Sanders can simply summon small birds to him -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.155|108.162.250.155]] 05:33, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

Has anyone else noticed that Black Hat is in the audience? Does anyone else think that that might be a hint as to what's going on? --[[User:XndrK|XndrK]] ([[User talk:XndrK|talk]]) 00:09, 3 June 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1062: Budget News

2016-06-03T00:09:38Z

XndrK:

Shame the hawk didn't go after a war hawk. Iran has been going on for faaar too long. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:43, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

This has now happened to Donald Trump http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-narrowly-escapes-being-attacked-by-a-bald-eagle-on-time-magazine-shoot-a6767501.html [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.37|162.158.255.37]] 03:45, 14 December 2015 (UTC)
:Yeah but I wouldn't call Trump any kind of eagle. That scene is still hilarious and indicative though, especially since now Bernie Sanders can simply summon small birds to him -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.155|108.162.250.155]] 05:33, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

Has anyone else noticed that Black Hat is in the audience? --[[User:XndrK|XndrK]] ([[User talk:XndrK|talk]]) 00:09, 3 June 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1687: World War III+

2016-05-30T04:20:56Z

XndrK:

The mouseover text mentions stripping a quote of its context... although this kind of makes the point of the context can often dilute the meaning, it seems that a counter point could be made by pointing out an example where the context is the source at least two major quotes (such as "No man is an island" and "Ask not for whom the bell tolls" both coming from John Donne).

Or I could just be being frivolous here?

[[User:Joshupetersen|Joshupetersen]] ([[User talk:Joshupetersen|talk]]) 04:15, 30 May 2016 (UTC)

Hey, Randall skipped World War XIII. --[[User:XndrK|XndrK]] ([[User talk:XndrK|talk]]) 04:20, 30 May 2016 (UTC)

179: e to the pi times i

2016-04-30T21:06:27Z

XndrK: /* Explanation */ Add another e^(i*pi) explanation

{{comic
| number = 179
| date = November 3, 2006
| title = e to the pi times i
| image = e_to_the_pi_times_i.png
| titletext = I have never been totally satisfied by the explanations for why e to the ix gives a sinusoidal wave.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic largely references {{w|Euler's identity}}. This identity states that e^(i*π) + 1 = 0. Therefore, e^(i*π) = -1.

The humor from this comic is because of the seemingly arbitrary relationship between e, π, and the identity of i (the square root of -1). e is the mathematical identity of which the derivative of e^x with respect to x is still e^x, while π is the relationship between the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter. Taking these two values and applying them to the value of i in such a manner makes it seem counter-intuitive that it would yield -1 from basic analysis. The above linked Wikipedia page goes into good detail of how to derive this identity, as does [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dhHrg-KbJ0 this YouTube video].

The title text refers to how Euler's identity is called upon in complex form (separating real and imaginary numbers): e^(i*x) = cos(x) + i*sin(x).

==Transcript==
:[Two people standing at a board with writing on. One person is pointing a stick at the board.]
:Cueball: Numbers of the form n√-1 are "imaginary," but can still be used in equations.
:Friend: Okay.
:Cueball: And e^(π√-1)=-1.
:Friend: Now you're just fucking with me.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Math]]

585: Outreach

2016-04-30T21:03:20Z

XndrK: /* Explanation */ Missed a spot

{{comic
| number =585
| date =May 18, 2009
| title =Outreach
| image =outreach.png
| titletext =Completely implausible? Yes. Nevertheless, worth keeping a can of shark repellent next to the bed.
}}

==Explanation==
Scientific animal tracking is commonly used to learn more about other species, particularly endangered ones, as a way of better understanding their physiology, behavior, and what risks they face in the wild. It's used in a wide variety of sciences, including wildlife biology, conservation, wildlife management and zoology.

The scientists in this comic are working on a rather limited budget as [[Ponytail]] explains, and can't afford the cost of hiring someone to retrieve a tracking tag from the water. So they create one that will pop free, float to the surface, and inflate a giant helium balloon, causing it to gradually drift over land. Eventually the balloon will slowly deflate and soft-land, and with any luck someone will find it and mail it back to the scientists.

It goes horribly, hilariously wrong. The tag can't quite pop free from the shark, and proceeds to inflate the balloon ''while the shark is still attached''. The shark rises right along with the tracker tag, drifts back over land, and goes right after the scientists that had been tracking it.

The young girl, seeing two scientists running frantically from a flying shark, no doubt has never seen anything more awesome in her whole life,{{Citation needed}} and figures that if such excitement is a daily part of a scientist's job, ''that's'' the job for her, as she tells her daddy [[Cueball]].

The title of the comic, '''Outreach''', refers to the type of activities that scientists do in order to motivate kids to become scientists when they grow up.

The title text suggests keeping shark repellent by one's bed to account for the quite-unlikely event of something like this happening. Because you never know. It may be a reference to the {{w|Batman (1966 film)|Adam West Batman film}} where Batman just happens to have some in his helicopter.

However, since sharks are fish, and fish cannot survive above water, the shark would die if this happened in real life.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail faces two Cueball-like guys. All three are wearing goggles and lab-coats. Between them on a shelve stands a microscope and a beaker.]
:Ponytail: The tracking tag will record the shark's movement and habits.

:[The capsule is shown to float upward towards a water surface.]
:Ponytail (narrating): Then, it will pop free and float to the surface.

:[A coast is shown, with arrows directed from water to land. A small white circle on one of the arrows indicate the balloon.]
:Ponytail (narrating): We can't afford a recovery program, so the capsules will inflate helium balloons, drift over land,

:[The capsule is shown in close up. It has a caption on it.]
:Ponytail (narrating): And hopefully be found and mailed to us. Any questions?
:Caption: If found please call

:[Ponytail is standing over a groggy shark on a boat, with water behind her and a coastline in the background. She attaches the tracking tag to the shark.]
:''Chunk''

:[The shark is dropped headfirst off the boat, into the water with a large splash.]
:''Sploosh''
:Shark: !!!

:[The course of the shark is shown, weaving around islands.]

:[The capsule is shown sticking out of the shark at the moment it is ready to pop free.]
:''Click''

:[The capsule remains attached to the shark.]

:[The balloon starts to inflate, still attached to the shark and underwater.]
:''Hissss''

:[As the balloon inflates, it starts to pull the shark to the surface.]
:Shark: ??

:[The balloon breaks the surface, pulling the shark with it.]

:[A girl with a black ponytail, earing an icecream is standing together with Cueball to the right in an otherwise empty frame.]

:[Two screaming scientists (A Cuball-like guy and Ponytail) runs past the two, who turns to look after them. The guy is holding the microscope and Ponytail the beaker from the first frame.]
:Scientists: Aaaaaaaa

:[A shark attached to a huge balloon floats past the girl and Cueball, it follows the scientists while snapping it's jaws.]
:Shark: ''Chomp chomp''

:[After the shark is gone, the girl turns to Cueball.]
:Girl: Daddy?
:Cueball: Yes?
:Child: I want to be a scientist.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Sharks]]

585: Outreach

2016-04-30T21:02:51Z

XndrK: /* Explanation */ Clean up a bit and edit style

{{comic
| number =585
| date =May 18, 2009
| title =Outreach
| image =outreach.png
| titletext =Completely implausible? Yes. Nevertheless, worth keeping a can of shark repellent next to the bed.
}}

==Explanation==
Scientific animal tracking is commonly used to learn more about other species, particularly endangered ones, as a way of better understanding their physiology, behavior, and what risks they face in the wild. It's used in a wide variety of sciences, including wildlife biology, conservation, wildlife management and zoology.

The scientists in this comic are working on a rather limited budget as [[Ponytail]] explains, and can't afford the cost of hiring someone to retrieve a tracking tag from the water. So they create one that will pop free, float to the surface, and inflate a giant helium balloon, causing it to gradually drift over land. Eventually the balloon will slowly deflate and soft-land, and with any luck someone will find it and mail it back to the scientists.

It goes horribly, hilariously wrong. The tag can't quite pop free from the shark, and proceeds to inflate the balloon ''while the shark is still attached''. The shark rises right along with the tracker tag, drifts back over land, and goes right after the scientists that had been tracking it.

The young girl, seeing two scientists running frantically from a flying shark, no doubt has never seen anything more awesome in her whole life,{{Citation needed}} and figures that if such excitement is a daily part of a scientist's job, ''that's'' the job for her, as she tells her daddy [[Cueball]].

The title of the comic, '''Outreach''', refers to the type of activities that scientists do in order to motivate kids to become scientists when they grow up.

The title text suggests keeping shark repellent by one's bed to account for the quite-unlikely event of something like this happening. Because you never know. It may be a reference to the {{w|Batman (1966 film)|Adam West Batman film}} where Batman just happened to have some in his helicopter.

However, since sharks are fish, and fish cannot survive above water, the shark would die if this happened in real life.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail faces two Cueball-like guys. All three are wearing goggles and lab-coats. Between them on a shelve stands a microscope and a beaker.]
:Ponytail: The tracking tag will record the shark's movement and habits.

:[The capsule is shown to float upward towards a water surface.]
:Ponytail (narrating): Then, it will pop free and float to the surface.

:[A coast is shown, with arrows directed from water to land. A small white circle on one of the arrows indicate the balloon.]
:Ponytail (narrating): We can't afford a recovery program, so the capsules will inflate helium balloons, drift over land,

:[The capsule is shown in close up. It has a caption on it.]
:Ponytail (narrating): And hopefully be found and mailed to us. Any questions?
:Caption: If found please call

:[Ponytail is standing over a groggy shark on a boat, with water behind her and a coastline in the background. She attaches the tracking tag to the shark.]
:''Chunk''

:[The shark is dropped headfirst off the boat, into the water with a large splash.]
:''Sploosh''
:Shark: !!!

:[The course of the shark is shown, weaving around islands.]

:[The capsule is shown sticking out of the shark at the moment it is ready to pop free.]
:''Click''

:[The capsule remains attached to the shark.]

:[The balloon starts to inflate, still attached to the shark and underwater.]
:''Hissss''

:[As the balloon inflates, it starts to pull the shark to the surface.]
:Shark: ??

:[The balloon breaks the surface, pulling the shark with it.]

:[A girl with a black ponytail, earing an icecream is standing together with Cueball to the right in an otherwise empty frame.]

:[Two screaming scientists (A Cuball-like guy and Ponytail) runs past the two, who turns to look after them. The guy is holding the microscope and Ponytail the beaker from the first frame.]
:Scientists: Aaaaaaaa

:[A shark attached to a huge balloon floats past the girl and Cueball, it follows the scientists while snapping it's jaws.]
:Shark: ''Chomp chomp''

:[After the shark is gone, the girl turns to Cueball.]
:Girl: Daddy?
:Cueball: Yes?
:Child: I want to be a scientist.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Sharks]]

582: Brakes

2016-04-30T20:55:24Z

XndrK: /* Trivia */ Appease the Grammar Nazis

{{comic
| number = 582
| date = May 11, 2009
| title = Brakes
| image = brakes.png
| titletext = It was the funniest 6.5 seconds of my life, although as usual like 80% of it was just Tom and Ray's gasping, hacking laughter.
}}

==Explanation==
A car's brakes fail on a winding mountain road. As a response, the driver calls a live radio phone-in show, overlooking the fact that he is in immediate danger and has no time to gather outside advice before improvising a solution. The driver loses control of the car and plunges over a cliff.

If this ever happens to you,
*Try pumping the brakes, it may rebuild enough pressure to slow you down
*Downshift into second and then first gear, which should limit your vehicle's speed
*Use your "emergency brake," it's not just for parking
*Otherwise, find a safe place to coast to a stop, if possible, or else
*Try to wreck your car in a way that won't kill you or your passengers. Aim for something that will slow you down before stopping you, like a gravel turnout or a stand of bushes.

http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-a-Car-with-No-Brakes

The title text refers to {{w|Tom and Ray Magliozzi}} who were the co-hosts of the weekly radio show {{w|Car Talk}}. It was a car advice/comedy radio show often aired on {{w|NPR}} stations. While there is some actual advice given on the radio show, it's presented as a comedy/entertainment show. Much of the show did involve the hosts "gasping and hacking" as they ask non-relevant questions of the callers and add their own commentary or relate other personal asides and stories.

Since he claims that he has 6.5 funny seconds, he must have connected with them way before going over the cliff. Because in 6.5 seconds a car would fall approximately 200 m (½*g*t^2, with g = 9.81 m/s^2, and t the time in seconds. This will give 207 m, but there will be a lot of air resistance). It is clear from the drawing that the call is still going almost straight out into the air, so it is still almost at the height where it left the road at quite a high speed (to get this far away without turning the engine down towards earth yet.) And the is just about 5 car length to the ground, which would make this a 10-15 m drop only (which would take less than 2 seconds to fall). But according to the comic it seems like he first connected with the show, just when the car has left the road...

==Transcript==
:Of the potential responses to my brakes' failure, I did not choose the best.
:[A cliff is visible, with a car flying off it.]
:Voice from car: Hello, you're on Car Talk.

==Trivia==
* NPR made a shirt out of this comic; it can be seen at [http://shop.npr.org/products/car-talk-cartoon-t-shirt shop.npr.org].

{{comic discussion}}

1665: City Talk Pages

2016-04-08T22:53:34Z

XndrK: /* Explanation */ Explain Zootopia reference.

{{comic
| number = 1665
| date = April 8, 2016
| title = City Talk Pages
| image = city talk pages.png
| titletext = "I don't think the Lakeshore Air Crash Museum really belongs under 'Tourist Attractions.' It's not a museum--it's just an area near the Lake Festival Laser Show where a lot of planes have crashed.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|So far only listing references to items. A real explanation needs to be written together from this and more. Title text explanation needed. Real life examples of such city talk pages with at least the more realistic part of the content? There need to be a table with each item?}}

The comic makes fun about Wikipedia talk pages. In the Wikipedia every page has a place to discuss the content of the page, called a "{{w|Help:Using talk pages|talk page}}". In this case, the comic talks about the talk page of an article about a city. While some of the topics are quite normal for such a page (e.g. the quality of the images) others are not (e.g. too many murders and mine disasters in the city).

The topics show a common problem at Wikipedia's talk pages: People often use them as a place to talk about the ''subject'' of the article, but it is for talking about the ''article'' itself.

"Not that notable" refers to Wikipedia's general criteria for including information in articles. Material which is not noteworthy should be removed; however, different editors often disagree about what is notable, resulting in conflicting edits as text is inserted and then removed (an "edit war"). Someone with a personal agenda to suppress certain information might justify their removal of it by claiming it is "not notable", despite other users' interest. "I think the murderer is reverting my edits" suggests the murders are being committed by ''one person'' who is trying to prevent Wikipedia from publishing evidence of them. This raises the possibility that the discussion of the murder visible in the infobox picture was ''initiated by the murderer''.

The {{w|WP:Infobox|infobox}} is a short fact sheet that many articles in the (English) Wikipedia have; it generally includes an image illustrating the subject of the article. The question of which picture is best for the infobox (because this image is so prominent) can cause edit wars.

{{w|Voltaire}} was a French Enlightenment writer. As a prominent and very opinionated intellectual, [https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltaire#Misattributed he gets a lot of quotes falsely attributed to him]; most famously, he did not actually say "I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" (that was {{w|Evelyn Beatrice Hall}}).

{{w|Zootopia}} is a 2016 Disney film. The fictional city which is the setting and title of the film has a distinctive [http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/4/43/Zootopia_City_Full.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160102163923 look] which is far from bleak, but since it is a fictional location, it appears that the people who are editing the article are getting desperate to find a non-bleak picture of the city.

{{w|1982 Secession}} refers to Key West, Florida seceding from the United States in 1982 to form the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conch_Republic Conch Republic].

{{w|Andrew Lloyd Webber}} is an English composer famous for writing ''The {{w|Phantom Of The Opera}}''. (Webber is also known for writing the music for ''{{w|Starlight Express}}'', a rock opera about anthropomorphized trains, which is probably another factor in the train station joke.) Meanwhile, {{w|Frank Lloyd Wright}}, who has a somewhat similar name, was an American architect, who designed more than 1,000 structures. As it turns out it was the composer who was responsible for the train station, and thus explaining the reason for the roof collapse.

In the comic ''Webber'' is spelled ''Weber''. This could be a mistake by [[Randall]], (but then it it likely to be corrected later...) More likely Randall did this for the sake of realism as this is what can be expected by people writing in a talk page on Wikipedia, where errors are not necessarily corrected as they would be in the main article.

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panel: ]
:I love reading the Wikipedia talk pages for articles on individual cites

:[A list of contents for a Wikipedia talk page regarding an article about a city. Except for the header and the square brackets, which are written in black text, the rest is in a blue font.]
:::Contents [Hide]

:1 Origin of city's name?
::1.1 Idea for a better name
::1.2 Not how Wikipedia works
:2 Too much promotion of the lake festival
:3 Should we mention the murders?
::3.1 Not that notable
::3.2 All cites have murders
:4 Quote verification: Even if Voltaire did visit (unlikely), why would he get so angry about our restaurants?
:5 Discuss: New picture
::5.1 Current one looks awfully bleak
::5.2 Gray sky
::5.3 What about this
::5.4 Also bleak
::5.5 Maybe this place just looks that way
::5.6 Found a better picture, more colorful
::5.7 That's a shot from Disney's ''Zootopia''
:6 "Mining disasters" section too long
::6.1 Not really Wikipedia's fault
::6.2 Why is this town so bad at mining?
:7 Infobox picture: I just realized you can see a murder happening in the background
::7.1 This city is terrible
::7.2 Photoshopped out murder
::7.3 Can someone just take a better picture
::7.4 Okay, uploaded a new picture
::7.5 Wait, never mind, I just noticed there's a murder in this one, too
:8 1982 secession still in effect?
:9 I think the murderer is reverting my edits
:10 Why does this article take '''''any''''' position on correct condom use, let alone such a weird and ambiguous one?
:11 Train station "Designed by Andrew Lloyd Weber"?
::11.1 They probably mean Frank Lloyd Wright
::11.2 I thought so too, but it's apparently not a mistake
::11.3 Didn't know he did architecture
::11.4 Roof collapse

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]

1126: Epsilon and Zeta

2016-04-03T02:39:14Z

XndrK: Add a few minor features to transcript. (Specifically, whether the people's keyboards are put away and where their hands are. Hopefully, I didn't miss anything.)

{{comic
| number = 1126
| date = October 26, 2012
| title = Epsilon and Zeta
| image = epsilon and zeta.png
| titletext = The average error in the NHC forecasted position of a hurricane three days in the future has shrunk to a third of what it was in 1990--a staggering accomplishment. However, as you may have gathered, forecasts of future storm *strength* have proved more difficult to improve.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|Atlantic hurricane season}} ''normally'' runs from June to November. [[Randall]] is imagining the situation in the {{w|National Hurricane Center}} when the {{w|2005 Atlantic hurricane season|2005 season}} was extended more than a month by the appearance of {{w|Hurricane Epsilon}} and {{w|Tropical Storm Zeta}}. He imagines the situation as NOAA meteorologists watch with amazement (and increasing annoyance as they were presumably unable to move off to other things such as post-season analysis) as Hurricane Epsilon and Zeta, far beyond the normal end-of-season (November 30).

The monospaced text in most of the panels is material taken from actual NHC reports [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al292005.discus.026.shtml][http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al292005.discus.027.shtml][http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al292005.discus.028.shtml] from that season. The commentary has been edited to fit the comic's format, but it's otherwise faithful to the actual reports. While the only change to Forecaster 1 is when he's celebrating New Year's Eve, Forecaster 2 is visibly losing it after the appearance of Zeta in late December, with unkempt hair and an unshaven beard.

The [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al302005.discus.030.shtml last report of the 2005 season] was issued on January 6, 2006.

A full analysis of the 2005 hurricane season can be found [http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/lib/lib1/nhclib/mwreviews/2005.pdf here].

NHC reports on Epsilion and Zeta:
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al292005.discus.001.shtml 10 AM EST TUE NOV 29 2005 (Panel 1)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al292005.discus.007.shtml 10 PM EST WED NOV 30 2005 (Panel 2a)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al292005.discus.010.shtml 4 PM EST THU DEC 01 2005 (Panel 2b)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al292005.discus.012.shtml 4 AM EST FRI DEC 02 2005 (Panel 3a)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al292005.discus.013.shtml 10 AM EST FRI DEC 02 2005 (Panel 3b)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al292005.discus.018.shtml 4 PM EST SAT DEC 03 2005 (Panel 4)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al292005.discus.019.shtml 10 PM EST SAT DEC 03 2005 (Panel 5a)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al292005.discus.020.shtml 4 AM EST SUN DEC 04 2005 (Panel 5b)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al292005.discus.021.shtml 10 AM EST SUN DEC 04 2005 (Panel 6,7)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al292005.discus.026.shtml 4 PM EST MON DEC 05 2005 (Panel 8)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al292005.discus.027.shtml 10 PM EST MON DEC 05 2005 (Panel 9)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al292005.discus.028.shtml 4 AM EST TUE DEC 06 2005 (Panel 10)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al292005.discus.031.shtml 10 PM EST TUE DEC 06 2005 (Panel 11a)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al292005.discus.032.shtml 4 AM EST WED DEC 07 2005 (Panel 11b)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al292005.discus.037.shtml 10 AM EST THU DEC 08 2005 (Panel 12)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al302005.discus.001.shtml NOON EST FRI DEC 30 2005 (Panel 14)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al302005.discus.002.shtml 4 PM EST FRI DEC 30 2005 (Panel 15)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al302005.discus.007.shtml 10 PM EST SAT DEC 31 2005 (Panel 16)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al302005.discus.011.shtml 10 PM EST SUN JAN 01 2006 (Panel 17)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al302005.discus.012.shtml 4 AM EST MON JAN 02 2006 (Panel 18a)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al302005.discus.014.shtml 4 PM EST MON JAN 02 2006 (Panel 18b)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al302005.discus.015.shtml 10 PM EST MON JAN 02 2006 (Panel 19a)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al302005.discus.021.shtml 10 AM EST WED JAN 04 2006 (Panel 19b)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al302005.discus.024.shtml 4 AM EST THU JAN 05 2006 (Panel 20)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al302005.discus.025.shtml 10 AM EST THU JAN 05 2006 (Panel 21)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al302005.discus.027.shtml 10 PM EST THU JAN 05 2006 (Panel 22)]
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al302005.discus.030.shtml 4 PM EST FRI JAN 06 2006 (Panel 23)]

Randall [[453|has discussed]] the seemingly erratic nature of hurricanes before. This may, however, have been a response to the recent {{w|Hurricane Sandy}}.

The text also seems to be a parody of horror stories/movies, and their theme of writing.

==Transcript==
:'''THE SAGA OF EPSILON AND ZETA'''
:The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season saw devastating storms like Katrina and Rita. But less well-remembered is just how ''strange'' the season got toward the end.
:The forecasters at the National Hurricane Center are the best of the best.
:Their predictions are masterpieces of professional analysis. But in November 2005, out in the center of the Atlantic — far from any land — the atmosphere stopped making sense.
:And the forecasters — who'd expected the season to be long over by now — started to get a little...unhinged.
:This is their story, as seen through the actual 2005 NHC Advisories:

:[Two men, one bald and one not, sit looking at their respective computers, at separate desks, back to back. The advisory is printed above them in caps small-caps Courier type.]
:Tuesday, November 29th, 2005: Tropical Storm Epsilon ... The 26th named storm of the apparently never ending 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.

:[The same scene, different text.]
:10 PM Wed: The window of opportunity for strengthening should close in 12-24 hr. 4 PM Thu: Slow but steady weakening is expected to begin in 12-24 hours.

:[The man with hair now has questions marks above his head.]
:4 AM Fri: Epsilon does not appear weaker. 10 AM Fri: Epsilon has been upgraded to a 65-kt hurricane.

:[The two still sit back-to-back.]
:4 PM Sat: Epsilon has continued to strengthen against all odds ... [but] can not maintain the current intensity much longer since the environment is becoming increasingly unfavorable.

:[The two still sit back-to-back.]
:10 PM Sat: Epsilon might or might not still be a hurricane ... but in any case it likely will not be one on Sunday. 4 AM Sun: Epsilon is downgraded to a tropical storm.

:[The two still sit back-to-back. The man with hair's fists are clenched.] :10 AM Sun: Morning satellite images indicate that Epsilon has restrengthened.

:[A closer view of just the balding man at his desk.]
:There are no clear reasons ... and I am not going to make one up ... to explain the recent strengthening of Epsilon and I am just describing the facts. However ... I still have to make an intensity forecast and the best bet at this time is to predict weakening ... Epsilon will likely become a remnant low. I heard that before about epsilon ... haven't you?

:[The two men still sit back to back, but the man with hair is now turning his head toward the other man, with his arm resting on the back of his chair. The bald man is leaning forward in his seat, toward his computer while typing.]
:4 PM Mon: The cloud pattern continues to be remarkably well-organized for a hurricane at such high latitude in December.

:[The other man has turned back to his own screen.]
:10 PM Mon: We have said this before ... but Epsilon really does not appear as strong this evening as it did this afternoon.

:[Just the bald guy now.]
:4 AM Tue: I have run out of things to say.

:[The two of them again.]
:10 PM Tue: The end is in sight. It really really is. But in the meantime ... Epsilon continues to maintain hurricane status. 4 AM Wed: The end is in sight ... yes ... but not quiet yet. I thought I was going to find a weakening system and instead I found that Epsilon is still a hurricane.

:[The two of them still.]
:10 AM Thu: Convection has vanished and Epsilon is now a tight swirl of low clouds. I hope this is the end of the long lasting 2005 hurricane season.

:[This panel is blank and just reads: Nope.]
:'''NOPE.'''

:[The men are still at their desks. The bald man is leaning back on his chair and staring at his screen, taking his keyboard out of his desk; the other man's hair is noticeably disheveled, and he has started growing a five o'clock shadow.]
:Enter Tropical Storm Zeta.
:Friday, December 30th, 2005: An elongated area of low pressure ... which had its origins in an old frontal trough ... began developing organized convection overnight. Advisories are initiated on the 27th tropical storm of 2005.

:[The men are still at their desks, the man with hair is even more bedraggled-looking.]
:Any new storms would be in the 2006 season.
:4PM Fri: Although the atmosphere seems to want to develop tropical storms ad nauseam ... the calendar will shortly put an end to the use of the Greek alphabet to name them.

:[The bald man is now wearing a party hat and has a {{w|party horn}} in his mouth, and there is confetti in the air.]
:But 2005's wouldn't end until Zeta did.
:10 PM Sat: Zeta appeared on the verge of losing all of its deep convection a few hours ago ... but since about 21z the convection has been on somewhat of an increase again.

:[A close view of the man with hair at his desk.]
:10 PM Sun: This is like Epsilon all over again. Most of the conventional guidance suggested that zeta should have been dissipated by now ... well ... zeta is pretty much alive at this time. I have no choice but to forecast weakening again and again.

:[The two of them again.]
:4 AM Mon: By 24-36 hours ... a significant increase in westerly winds ... should act to shear away most of the associated convection ... and finally bring the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season to a merciful ending. 4 PM Mon: It is hard to conceive that a tropical cyclone will be able to survive for very long in such a hostile environment. therefore I have not backed off on the forecast of weakening.

:[The two of them again. Both men have clenched fists rested back from their keyboards, frustrated.]
:10 PM Mon: Zeta is stronger than yesterday.
:10 AM Wed: As you can see... I ran out of things to say.

:[Both men put up their keyboards...]
:4 AM Thu: Satellite intensity estimates have decreased. Zeta is downgraded to a 30 kt tropical depression.

:[...only to start typing on them again.]
:10 AM Thu: Shortly after the previous advisory had been issued ... regretfully ... the intensity ... increased to 35 kt and Zeta is a tropical storm once again.

:[The two of them again.]
:10 PM Thu: Although it seems as if Zeta will never die ... the forecast continues to show weakening.

:[Both men are now leaning back in their chairs, exhausted, their keyboards put away.]
:4 PM, Friday, January 6, 2006: Zeta no longer meets the criteria of a tropical cyclone... which means that both it and the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season have ended. This is the national hurricane center signing off for 2005.

:[The bald man still sits at his desk, the man with hair is no longer in his chair.]

:[Again, we see the bald man at his desk and the other guy's empty desk.]
:Bald guy: Actually, Zeta's cloud pattern is...
:Hair guy: (out of panel) '''''NO'''''.
:Bald guy: Ok.

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

1219: Reports

2016-03-14T21:40:36Z

XndrK: Clean up summary.

{{comic
| number = 1219
| date = May 31, 2013
| title = Reports
| image = reports.png
| titletext = If that fails, just multiply every number by a thousand. 'The 2nd St speed limit should be set at 25,000 mph, which would likely have prevented 1,000 of the intersection's 3,000 serious accidents last month.'
}}

==Explanation==
The quoted text of the report could (and indeed probably ''would'', given the apparent contents) be stereotypically read out loud by the author, or internally by the reader, in an essentially monotonal manner, as exhibited by any number of popularised film and TV characters such as 'Arthur Pewtey' from the {{w|Marriage Guidance Counsellor|Monty Python sketch}}. But this comic asks us to imagine it instead voiced in the voice of an upset (soon-to-be-'ex-'?) spouse, presumably berating the project leader on various real or imagined infractions, and it works just as well. The jagged nature of the speech bubble indicates that the report has typed out on the computer's screen, but also helps to re-enforce the nagging internal voice.

The title text joke relates to an alternative plan, namely to proportionally exaggerate everything you read. What would have been one serious accident that would have been prevented in the previous month had the speed limit been 25 mph, out of the three that actually occurred under the current limit, now becomes one ''thousand'' people saved! And ''all'' those lives would have been saved by reducing the speed limit to a 'mere' 25,000 miles per hour. Of course, around 2000 accidents would ''not'' have been prevented because people ''still'' try to mess with vehicles that are moving at hypersonic velocities.

Note that the title text is inconsistent; if ''every'' number were to be multiplied by a thousand, then the speed limit would apply to 2000th Street. Somewhat surprisingly, there do exist streets of this name, mainly in Illinois. Though in this case 2nd St is a proper noun and thus should not be modified.

==Transcript==
:How to make boring technical reports more fun to read:
:Imagine they were written and sent in, unsolicited, by the estranged spouse of the head of the project.
:[Cueball is crouching alone over his computer in an empty room, typing on a laptop. He is surrounded by papers and books, apparently related to whatever project is working on. The laptop has a message on it, the text of which is displayed above the computer.]
:Computer: Six guard rails have erratic reflector placement, and one even lacks reflectors entirely, despite rule G31.02(b) clearly mandating consistent usage.
:Cueball: ...Sharon!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1655: Doomsday Clock

2016-03-14T05:12:29Z

XndrK: Add a basic explanation. (Is there an easier way to link to Wikipedia? If so, please replace with proper formatting.)

{{comic
| number = 1655
| date = March 14, 2016
| title = Doomsday Clock
| image = doomsday_clock.png
| titletext = After a power outage at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the new Digital Doomsday Clock is flashing 00:00 and mushroom clouds keep appearing and then retracting once a second.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|More detail on what is happening in the comic, and more history of the clock}}
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is an academic journal which has a recurring feature known as the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_Clock Doomsday Clock], which shows the Bulletin's judgment on the current state of the world. The idea is that when the clock hits midnight, the world ends (originally conceived as in a nuclear war), so how close the clock is to midnight is a scale of the world's current state of risk. Its current setting is at "three minutes to midnight" (11:57 PM or 23:57).

[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Daylight_saving_time&redirect=no Daylight saving time] (DST) is a feature in many countries where in the summer months, everyone moves their clock forward an hour to artificially postpone sunset and thereby have a longer time of sunlight in the afternoon. The idea is that with the extra time, farmers can work longer and people can go outside for longer, thereby increasing economic efficiency and standard of living. The day before this comic came out, the United States switched from standard time to DST.

[[Cueball]] is inside the office of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and comes across the Doomsday Clock, which is apparently an actual clock. Citing a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic mnemonic], "Spring forward, fall back", referring to which direction to move the hour hand in the season when DST begins or ends, he pushes the hour hand forward one hour, so instead of the world being three minutes ''from'' the end of the world, it is now 57 minutes ''into'' it, so the final panel simply shows the world erupting in a [https://youtu.be/NFkryh6hC-k?t=23s ''Dr. Strangelove''-esque] nuclear apocalypse.

The title text continues on this same theme, with the clock (apparently replaced by a digital one) being reset by a power outage. Many digital clocks blink 00:00 once per second after a power outage, only stopping when the clock is reset. This is interpreted as the world actually blinking out of the Doomsday Clock's midnight, so a nuclear explosion would naturally appear and disappear in sync with the clock.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

1600: MarketWatch

2015-11-06T14:19:52Z

XndrK: Add minor summary. (Is this Miss Lenhart?)

{{comic
| number = 1600
| date = November 6, 2015
| title = MarketWatch
| image = marketwatch.png
| titletext = Markets have been rocked by a second day of uncertainty after someone set up a giant Ouija board on the NYSE wall controlled collectively by the movement of the stock tickers.
}}

==Explanation==

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, commonly referred to as the Dow, is a stock market index, meaning that it is a general indicator of how the market is running (in this case, an aggregate of how 30 major industrial companies are doing). The stock market is famous for having unpredictable price swings, and thus the Dow Jones tracing the skyline of Washington, D.C. would definitely weird out most investors.

As seen in [[276: Fixed Width]], unusual patterns can be addicting to the point of harming those involved in the pattern's creation. The joke, however, rests in the fact that stock investors probably have a lot at stake, so following a pattern probably just ruined a couple of lives.

{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

{{w|MarketWatch}} is a web site focused on stocks.

The Dow is {{w|Dow Jones Industrial Average}} (DJIA in the screen), commonly referred to as the "Dow Jones".

DC is {{w|Washington, D.C.}} The DC skyline shown here has the {{w|Lincoln Memorial}}, the {{w|Washington Monument}} (an obelisk) and the {{w|United States Capitol}}.

Note that the distance from the Washington Monument to the Capitol is 3 km (1.9 miles).

Title text: NYSE is the {{w|New York Stock Exchange}}.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

1488: Flowcharts

2015-02-19T15:28:15Z

XndrK: /* Explanation */ Add Illuminati Confirmed reference

{{comic
| number = 1488
| date = February 18, 2015
| title = Flowcharts
| image = flowcharts.png
| titletext = Whoa, and if you overlay a Fibonacci spiral on a golden spiral it matches up almost perfectly!
}}
*If you click on the comic at xkcd you get to the following page: [http://xkcd.com/spiral/].
*The arrow at the bottom of this comic points to the [http://c.xkcd.com/random/comic/ "Random" button] at the bottom of the xkcd page.
**Go to the comic, as always, by clicking on the date line above this comic.

==Explanation==
'''Note''': A flawed version of this comic was posted at first and then quickly a correct version was uploaded. But this gave rise to several misunderstandings and confusion. See the [[#Trivia|Trivia]] section below.

This comic is a {{w|flowchart}} style. Interestingly, the first option, ''Do you like flowcharts?'' loops back to itself if you say ''Yes''. This will cause the reader who actually likes flow charts to go into an endless loop of choosing ''Yes'', until they are so annoyed by flowcharts that they do not like them anymore and can progress by saying ''No''.

After asking about flowcharts, the reader is asked whether they like {{w|line graph|line graphs}}. If they follow yes line, it becomes a line graph where "Time" is the x-axis and "Your Happiness" is the y-axis, and shows that your happiness increases with time. If you don't like line graphs, they are asked the same question about {{w|scatter plots}} where again the lines turn into the points and the axis of such a plot.

Taking yet another line, the reader is asked "Charge a battery?" If they follow the line marked yes they are asked whether they are {{w|Alternating current|A/C}} or {{w|Direct current|D/C}} current and are led to a portion of the flowchart which resembles a {{w|circuit diagram}} of a {{w|rectifier bridge}} with a battery connected to it.

If the reader follows the "no" line, they are asked if they like spirals. If they choose "no" they are told to take the {{w|path of least resistance}}. This part of the flowchart resembles a circuit diagram, and the word "{{w|resistance}}" is a pun because resistance can have several meanings. In electricity it is an electrical quantity that measures how the device or material reduces the electric current flow through it. Going left is the "Never" option, which goes through extra resistors and a diode, therefore making the "Yes" option the "path of least resistance". However, when asked if you choose the path of least resistance and answers ''never'' it could also mean that you do not try to avoid a little trouble.

Whether they choose "Yes" or "No", they arrive at "Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?" If they choose "yes" the line fades into a drawing of a golden spiral, and we see that the flowchart is structured around it. If they choose "no" they are asked if they are tired of flowcharts. If not, they are taken to the beginning to start over again. If they are tired, the line points to the "random" button on the xkcd website.

The title text and the faint image of a golden spiral parody the fact that the golden spiral is superimposed on nearly ''everything''. The golden spiral is a spiral that has the growth rate of the golden ratio, a number that has inspired both artists and mathematicians alike. However, people try to find the golden ratio in seemingly random objects, and they fall to confirmation bias when drawing a golden spiral on top that seemingly fits. The comic links to [http://xkcd.com/spiral/], where one can see exactly that- golden spirals Randall "found" in random photographs. This may be a spoof of the viral video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPCkcKNUVoo Illuminati Confirmed]. The title text is funny because the mathematics of the famous Fibonacci sequence. The limit of consecutive terms of the Fibonacci sequence is equal to the golden ratio. So it matches up almost perfectly for a good reason, unlike the coincidental matchings of the pictures in the mobile site link.

This comic bears reminiscence of [[730: Circuit Diagram]], although it is not exactly the same idea.

===List of Items in Flowchart===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Text in boxes
! Explanation
! Successor(s)
! Predeccessor(s)
|-
| Start
| Start here
| Do you like flowcharts?
| Tired of flowcharts yet?
|-
| Do you like flowcharts?
| Asking whether or not the reader likes flow charts. Recursively returns to itself until the reader is annoyed enough to not like flowcharts and can move on to the next point.
| Do you like flowcharts?, Do you like line graphs?
| Start, Do you like flowcharts?
|-
| Do you like line graphs?
| It asks if you like {{w|line graph|line graphs}}
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to line graphs], Scatter plots?
| Do you like flowcharts?
|-
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to line graphs]
| It is asking if you wish to be the data or the axis. If you choose the line, the flow chart line turns into a line graph with a positive curve. The same question will be asked later if you say no to line graphs and yes to scatter plots.
| [A line in a line graph], Time or your happiness?
| Do you like line graphs?
|-
| Time or your happiness?
| If you choose ''time'' the flow chart line becomes the x-axis of time and if you choose ''your happiness'' it becomes the y-axis in the line graph with the line from before indicating that your happiness increases over time (maybe because you like line graphs and are now becoming part of one?)
| [Time axis], [Your Happiness axis]
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to line graphs]
|-
| Scatter plots?
| If you don't like line graphs then maybe you like {{w|scatterplot|scatter plots}}?
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to scatter plots], Help charge a battery?
| Do you like line graphs?
|-
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to scatter plots]
| It is asking if you wish to be the data or the axis. If you choose the data, the flow chart line turns into a scatter plot that is also a flowchart where each of the 10 flow chart boxes is black with two white arrow, one pointing up and the other to the right. They are all connected with multiple connections. The same question was asked earlier if you said yes to line graphs.
| [A flow chart that looks line points in in a scatter plot], X of Y?
| Scatter plots?
|-
| X or Y?
| Which axis do you prefer? The line you chooses turns in to this axis in the scatter plot.
| [X axis], [Y axis]
| Data or axis? [The one after yes to scatter plots]
|-
| Help charge a battery?
| From here on the flowchart is at the beginning of morphing into a circuit diagram.
| Like spirals?, Are you A/C or D/C?
| Scatter plots?
|-
| Are you A/C or D/C?,
| Asks whether you are an {{w|AC current}} or a {{w|DC current}}.
| Positive or negative phase?, positive or negative DC terminal?
| Help charging a battery?
|-
| Positive or negative phase?
| Conventional current will flow forwards during the positive phase of AC current, whereas in the negative phase the forwards directions matches the actual flow of electrons (see [[567: Urgent Mission]]).
| Positive or negative DC terminal? [To either side of this box]
| Are you A/C or D/C?
|-
| Positive or negative DC terminal?
| This box looks like a {{w|rectifier bridge}}, which is used to convert AC to DC. The single output leads to a battery which is joined in a circuit to the bottom of the rectifier bridge.
| Battery [plus or minus]
| Positive or negative phase?
|-
| Like spirals?
| Well, do you? If you do you instantly goes to the question of golden spirals. If not you take a detour.
| Take the path of least resistance?, Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Help charge a battery?
|-
| Take the path of least resistance?
| This one is a pun. If resistance is seen as electrical resistance, then the bottom one labeled ''yes'' is the one with least resistance. The other labeled "Never" sends you through ''more'' resistance, and a 'protective' diode. But in either case you are lead to the same decision box. Also the resistors could look like spirals - making this detour for those who dislike these even more painful.
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Like spirals?
|-
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
| Here is a question regarding if you like the idea that some people can find and superimpose a {{w|golden spiral}} on a random image. No matter which options you choose you are forced to admit that it is totally BS ({{w|bullshit}}). But maybe you like it anyway? If you choose the ''Yes, even though it's total BS'' option the flow chart continues to the side of the chart, then starts to spiral up only to fades out to a very faint golden spiral aligned to the other items in the flow chart. It is almost impossible to see it before you follow this line. The other option is of course ''No, it's total BS''. If you do like it - then click on the [http://www.xkcd.com/1488/ comic on xkcd].
| Tired of flowcharts yet?, [A very faint golden spiral]
| Like spirals?, Take the path of least resistance?
|-
| Tired of flowcharts yet?
| Have you had enough of flow chart? If not then you are returned to the ''start'' box at the top of the chart. Maybe you have not tried all options yet, although you have already answered that you are tired of flow charts if you get this far. If you have ahd enough and answers ''Yes, I want to look at something else'' this option leads to the random comic button below the comic (only on xkcd). This decision ''literally'' breaks the fourth wall in traveling through the image's nominal boundary to point at a specific button to look at some other comic.
| Start, [The xkcd [http://c.xkcd.com/random/comic/ Random] comic button]
| Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
|}

==Transcript==
:[A flow chart. The first option the start box is white text on a black rectangle. The other boxes are rhombuses standing on edge. Except for the first there are always two options going out. Most onlyhave one option coming in, but there are exceptions with two options going in]
:Start
:[One arrow points to the first real choice]
:[Below the text on the two options going out from each option will be indented. The top of these two options will be the one to be mentioned first below. Then the chart will be mapped like this going back to the previous unfinished option]
:Do you like flowcharts?
::Yes
::No
:[Yes goes back where it came from]
:Do you like line graphs?
::Yes
::No
:Data or axis?
::Line
::Axis
:[The line is just a line – but now as the line in a line graph]
:Time or your happiness?
::Time
::Your happiness
:[These two lines turn into the x and y axis of the line graph]
:Scatter plots?
::Yes
::No
:Data or axis?
::Data
::Axis
:[The data line turns into the points in a scatter plot]
:X or Y?
::X
::Y
:[These two lines turn into the x and y axis of the scatter plot]
:Help charge a battery?
::Yes
::No
:Are you A/C or D/C?,
::A/C
::D/C
:Positive or negative phase?
::+
::-
:[The D/C option also goes to this next option, but directly. This next rhombus looks like a part of a circuit diagram]
:Positive or negative DC terminal?
::+
::-
:[These two lines goes to the + and – poles of a battery]
:Like spirals?
::No
::Yes
:Take the path of least resistance?
::Never
::Yes
:[Never goes through two resistors and a diode before reaching the point of the Yes option, which then also goes though yet another resistor. Both thus end at the same option, which is also the one that Yes to like Spirals ends up at:]
:Do you like when people find the golden spiral in random images?
::Yes, even though it's total BS.
::No, it's total BS.
:[Yes option takes the chart into a fading line that turns into a golden spiral spanning the whole chart.]
:Tired of flowcharts yet?
::No
::Yes, I want to look at something else
:[No takes you back to the start box at the top]
:[Yes takes you out of the comic and points to the Random button at xkcd.]

==Trivia==
*A corrected version of the comic was uploaded later on the same day.
**This is the second time in February 2015 this has occurred; previously with [[1482: NowPlaying]].
*It appears that an unfinished version of the comic was uploaded, with several of the lines and labels missing, and the bridge circuit incorrectly drawn.
*This [[Media:OriginalFlowcharts.png|original]] comic can be seen on the link.
*The errors were:
**Missing yes/no at the line graph options.
**Missing yes/no at the scatter plot options and missing the line for the yes option going to the second Data axis.
**Missing yes at charge a battery options
**Missing DC from the AC or DC options and missing the line for the DC option going to the terminal.
**Missing the arrow pointing to the terminal from the "-" option of the phase.
**Missing +/- at terminal option and missing the line going from the negative pole of the battery to the terminal.
**The terminal, which is a rectifier bridge, had both diodes drawn in the wrong direction on the left side of the diagram. This was corrected.
**There where a + floating between the phase and terminal option. This was deleted.
**Missing yes like spirals options.
**Missing yes/never! at the least resistance options. Also the arrow pointing to the next option was missing.
*The comic has reference to charging a battery, and was posted on the 270th birthday of Alessandro Volta, the original creator of the battery. This could, however, have been a coincidence.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Flowcharts]]

Talk:1354: Heartbleed Explanation

2014-12-28T19:56:30Z

XndrK: Add counterargument for character being Danish

I assume everybody got the (truncated) reference to the password "CorrectHorseBatteryStaple"... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.210|141.101.89.210]] 06:51, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:Until I read this wiki, I did not get that. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.50|108.162.216.50]] 10:09, 11 April 2014 (UTC)BK201
:There are also references to (if I recall correctly): [[Missed Connections]], "snakes but not too long" from [[Umwelt]], there's boats (of which many comics exist), "bees in car why" may be slightly related to [[Parody Week: TFD and Natalie Dee]]... that's all I see. Also the ip (375.381.283.17) doesn't seem to represent anything, but you never know. {{User:Grep/signature|11:04, 11 April 2014}}
::The IP most certainly does not represent anything because it is invalid. Three of the octets are >255. [[User:Dan|Dan]] 21:19, 14 April 2014 (UTC)
:::It does not refer to anything as an IP address. It can still represent something that is not a real IP address - fake IP addresses with four random non-octet numbers are far from unheard of in Hollywood products (e.g, Iron Man 3: 936.345.643.21) [[User:Amadan|Amadan]] ([[User talk:Amadan|talk]]) 03:45, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

While the bug is explained very good, there is one point missing: The word "user" seems to imply that Meg is known to server. But the bug doesn't require that - ANYONE can ask the server. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:03, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
: Nope, the word "user" does not indicate a logged in user. It's just a reference to anybody who happens to "use" (actually: connect to) the server at the moment. In fact, it is a particular network connection (TCP or else), on which other end there is a "user" Meg. -- [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.111|108.162.210.111]] 12:07, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

The transcript should include all the text in the servers memory, not just the highlighted text. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:04, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:Nope, it can only do 64k per request. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.91|108.162.216.91]] 16:04, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
::I meant that the transcript here above the talk page should include all text. When I wrote my comment, only the highlighted text in the computers thoghts where transcripted. Now that I visit the page again, it seems to be complete. The text in the servers last speech is only half the 500 charachters long (251) but that is explained by OnePointEight in the comment below. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:20, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:The speech bubble is formatted as truncated, but if it were complete it would be 500 characters which is what was requested by Megan and within the 64k max.[[User:OnePointEight|OnePointEight]] ([[User talk:OnePointEight|talk]]) 19:39, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

Heartbleed Explanation Explanation. Lovely. Also, I see that Eve is an administrator. Eavesdropper? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.218|108.162.237.218]] 15:24, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:Also the attacker is Meg, which can be thought of as an alternate to Mallory/Trudy [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.65|108.162.221.65]] 16:45, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
::This is absurd. Meg is a common nickname for Margaret. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.84|173.245.50.84]] 20:38, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:::As my main language is not English I'm not familiar with nicknames, but if Meg is a common nickname for Margaret then that is important and should be included in the explanation of the title text. I did not understand why Margaret suddenly turned up... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:28, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
::::The explanation of the title text has presumably been expanded since you visited it. It's a reference to a book. --[[User:V2Blast|V2Blast]] ([[User talk:V2Blast|talk]]) 03:34, 12 April 2014 (UTC)

"Snakes but not too long"... great! --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.241|108.162.210.241]] 15:49, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

It looks like the "server key" is a phone number: 1-483-503-8534 {{unsigned ip|199.27.130.228}}
:I was thinking the same thing. 483 is not a valid area code however. {{unsigned ip|173.245.48.60}}

The User Ada is a reference to Ingress, in which Ada is the head of the blue team. Ingress, being an ARG, would be an IRL game.{{unsigned ip|108.162.219.10}}

Why has everyone here missed the reference to Portal 2? It almost seems so obvious :). [[User:YetAnotherGeek|YetAnotherGeek]] ([[User talk:YetAnotherGeek|talk]]) 09:23, 12 April 2014 (UTC)

Are we sure that the hacker in the comic is Megan? She has long, curly hair as opposed to short straight hair. Considering she has long hair and has malicious intent, she might be Danish. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.71}}
:The server refers to her as "Meg", and if she were spoofing the source address, the packets wouldn't go back to her. That would be an amplification DoS attack. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.4|108.162.246.4]] 22:42, 13 April 2014 (UTC)
::What's to say that [[Danish|Danish's]] real name isn't Margaret? Last I checked, Margaret and Megan are not the same name. That and I'm pretty sure Megan doesn't have curly hair. --[[User:XndrK|XndrK]] ([[User talk:XndrK|talk]]) 19:56, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

Has anybody figured out what the selfie.jpg contents reaaly are? It isn't a valid JPG because the magic numbers don't match, and it isn't ASCII text because multiple bytes have the most significant bit set. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.45|108.162.215.45]] 07:52, 13 April 2014 (UTC)
:I put 834ba962e2ceb9ff89bd3bff8c into a file and [https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/809c727dee625e37c3487f6d57d42e295e2fdd74a8c1f89ce7e667d8ae3e2fcc/analysis/1397428742/#additional-info sent it to VirusTotal]. The magic literal seems to match "DBase 3 data file with memo(s)", so I'd say that it's just random data. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.4|108.162.246.4]] 22:51, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

Has anyone figured out if the words "potato", "bird", and "hat" are supposed to mean something in particular? --[[User:Dfeuer|Dfeuer]] ([[User talk:Dfeuer|talk]]) 07:43, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

I don't know about "potato" and "bird", but "hat" could possibly be a reference to Black Hat Guy, who often creates havoc to prove a point. Also, completely separately from Black Hat Guy, in security discussions, attackers are broken up between black hat ("bad") and white hat ("good") hackers. So "hat" could be a sort of generic reference for a hacker. {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.116}}
:Black Hat Guy is not completely separate. He wears a black hat because he is a black hat hacker. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.65|173.245.55.65]] 23:48, 17 April 2014 (UTC) TooMuchBlue

I think that "potato" and "bird" are a reference to portal 2, (possibly) how the computer cores constantly malfunction. [[User:mailmindlin|mailmindlin]]

To understand better how far this goes, [http://www.pabr.org/heartbleedtax/heartbleedtax.en.html A taxonomy of Heartbleed attacks] contains a very interesting list of attack cases. --[[User:MGitsfullofsheep|MGitsfullofsheep]] ([[User talk:MGitsfullofsheep|talk]]) 12:53, 9 September 2014 (UTC)