https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=108.162.229.82&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T11:48:20ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2141:_UI_vs_UX&diff=173187Talk:2141: UI vs UX2019-04-26T07:34:53Z<p>108.162.229.82: Why this particular set of characters?</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
<br />
The comic as a whole is making fun of how meta software developers get about the user experience, seeking to name all the different types of interactions a user can have with an app or webpage. <br />
This comic is massive for me on my desktop (chrome); I wonder if this is a joke about bad UX or if it is a genuine error? [[User:Fwacer|Fwacer]] ([[User talk:Fwacer|talk]]) 18:50, 24 April 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:It's not this big on xkcd.com. Did it start this big and got fixed on the original site? Update: replaced with the image from xkcd.com which was much smaller. [[User:Cgrimes85|Cgrimes85]] ([[User talk:Cgrimes85|talk]]) 18:55, 24 April 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Looks like it is fixed now, but yes it was also that big on xkcd.com initially. [[User:Fwacer|Fwacer]] ([[User talk:Fwacer|talk]]) 19:19, 24 April 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
To me, it comes across as a hyperbolic play on the common confusion between the meaning of UI and UX. [https://twitter.com/sdw/status/709853249407361024] [[User:Ahiijny|Ahiijny]] ([[User talk:Ahiijny|talk]]) 19:06, 24 April 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It makes sense that it would be alpha and omega, but I originally thought it was the "proportional" symbol. I only ask because alpha is lowercase and omega is uppercase, although perhaps this was to avoid confusion with the Latin "A". [[User:Cgrimes85|Cgrimes85]] ([[User talk:Cgrimes85|talk]]) 19:13, 24 April 2019 (UTC)<br />
:Concerning the lowercase/uppercase difference, since alpha is the beginning and omega is the end, then consider that in the beginning we are born little and then grow up - we start out as lowercase and end up as uppercase. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 19:30, 24 April 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This is a joke on integration, yes?[[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.129|172.69.68.129]] 19:33, 24 April 2019 (UTC)<br />
: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice" -- I guess the big in the comic being about the arc of the moral universe can reference the fight against segregation and thus for integration...<br />
:: I meant mathematical integration...<br />
<br />
I'm happy with the explanations I just added for everything but "Life's experience of time" -- does anyone know what that phrase is from? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.133.54|172.68.133.54]] 05:48, 25 April 2019 (UTC)<br />
:I thought it was made by a U[unprintable glyph] designer. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.226.64|172.68.226.64]] 07:40, 25 April 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
No UK - well that is about par [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.240|141.101.107.240]] 20:45, 25 April 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
On what level are those idiots who say "user doesn't need this setting, it would only confuse him"? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:20, 25 April 2019 (UTC)<br />
:UG<sub>2</sub> - user second-guessing. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.197|172.68.142.197]] 06:27, 26 April 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Why has Randall chosen this particular set of characters? Why Z? Why alpha and omega - the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, used in the bible quote "i am the alpha and omega" i.e. the beginning and the end, but what link with the subject? Or is it just a sequence of increasingly improbable characters from latin through Greek, then glyphs then unprintable glyphs..? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.82|108.162.229.82]] 07:34, 26 April 2019 (UTC) Dancergraham</div>108.162.229.82https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1998:_GDPR&diff=1577911998: GDPR2018-05-27T20:09:10Z<p>108.162.229.82: Clarified the title text explanation. The joke is not entirely encapsulated in recognizing the Shakespearean reference, after all.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1998<br />
| date = May 25, 2018<br />
| title = GDPR<br />
| image = gdpr.png<br />
| titletext = By clicking anywhere, scrolling, or closing this notification, you agree to be legally bound by the witch Sycorax within a cloven pine.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
<br />
This comic was released on the date on which the {{w|General Data Protection Regulation|General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)}} law went into effect. Most people will have already seen a large number of updated privacy policies in the week or two leading up to this law going active. And while [[xkcd]] would likely be outside of the jurisdiction that the law can enforce, it technically does fall within the scope of the law (as certainly EU citizens visit xkcd).<br />
<br />
There are several references made to this law, but also several jokes are included about the way people treat privacy policies specifically, and user agreements in general.<br />
<br />
The comic is a joke privacy policy, with terms that no one would agree to under normal circumstances. In most cases, website users will use websites without reading the policies, potentially "agreeing" to something unexpected.<br />
<br />
"purely out of the goodness of our hearts" is a phrase never expected to be found ever anywhere in any privacy policy. "and has nothing to do with ..." is a blatantly transparent lie - if this were a real privacy policy.<br />
<br />
"governs your interactions" starts out as a plausibly valid statement including "the service" and "the website". But then balloons outward to include the entire Internet and Facebook. As this presumably is a privacy policy only for xkcd, this policy should not attempt to claim that it also represents Facebook or the entire Internet. The extension to Facebook may be a reference to reports that [https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/facebook-is-the-internet-for-many-people-in-south-east-asia-20180322-p4z5nu.html "for many people ... Facebook is the Internet."]<br />
<br />
"Please don't send us your personal information" is also a phrase never expected to be found ever in a privacy policy. A privacy policy, by default, is a contract users agree to BECAUSE personal information is being stored. This is likely a reference to the previous comic [[1997: Business Update]]<br />
<br />
The language that the privacy policy will not "deny or disparage" any preexisting rights mirrors that of the {{w|Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution}}, substituting "this policy" for "the Constitution" and "users" for "people."<br />
<br />
The agreement claims that it does not "deny or disparage" any of the user's other rights, but then immediately denies the user the right not to quarter troops in their home, which is a constitutional right described by the {{w|Third Amendment to the United States Constitution}}. Refusing to quarter troops in one's home was previously referenced in [[496: Secretary: Part 3]]. Note that the Third Amendment only applies to Americans. However, similar laws preventing troops being quartered in ones home also exist in European countries.<br />
<br />
"If you tell us your name" is presumably something that Randall does in real life and is not part of a privacy policy.<br />
<br />
"This website places pixels" is something websites are designed to do and has nothing to do with privacy policies. Websites are more often employing "callback pixels" from companies such as Facebook and Twitter, which is an image file that is hosted on an external server that allows cross-platform and cross-session tracking for targeted advertisements. This is a controversial topic, as many people are against this kind of targeted advertising.<br />
<br />
"We use cookies to enhance your performance." apparently says that Randall is giving out actual cookies that can be eaten. Privacy policies normally deal with electronic cookies that track user activity and store personal information.<br />
<br />
"may use local storage" is threatening to turn the user's device into cloud storage should Randall run out of space on his drive.<br />
<br />
The [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Warning_beacons_of_Gondor Warning beacons of Gondor] were a system to call for aid used by {{w|Gondor}} in ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}''. They were used before the [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Siege_of_Gondor Battle of the Pelennor Fields] to request the aid of the {{w|Rohan (Middle-earth)|Rohirrim}}. The use of the Beacons has previously been mentioned in [[921: Delivery Notification]].<br />
<br />
{{w|3rd Party}} was a three-member dance-pop group that released one album in 1997, "Alive". In software, "third-party extensions" are small programs that plug into a larger program to modify its behavior, and are created neither by the maker of the larger program nor the user.<br />
<br />
"requesting permission" can be construed in several frightening ways. 1. We will ask you after you die if you are willing to donate your organs. 2. We were not asking permission before, but now we have to ask. 3. We will ask you, but your answer doesn't actually matter. 4. We've switched from an organ donation program (legal) to an organ harvesting program (wildly illegal). 5. Anyone ''not'' in the EU will have (or, possibly, ''continue'' to have) their organs harvested without permission. Besides these frightening scenarios, there is also the question of how a website (and not a doctor) is going to perform the harvesting.<br />
<br />
"supersedes" is an apparently valid statement. Its inclusiveness is quite extreme, but appears to be a technically valid statement. However, many laws and constitutional rights cannot be superseded by an ordinary privacy policy.<br />
<br />
"unenforceable" claims to have higher jurisdiction than any court and can somehow maintain legality even if a court disagrees. A typical policy would read that an unenforceable provision would not invalidate the rest of the policy.<br />
<br />
"not liable" and "shall not be construed" are blanket statements that are supposed to have limiters. For example, a restaurant could have a policy stating "not liable for burns received from our hot coffee." A statement made to a court could say "The defendant's statement of giving the prostitute money shall not be construed as an admission of committing a crime." This makes little sense when claiming the website “is not liable” for anything, and “shall not be construed” to have any meaning whatsoever.<br />
<br />
The Food and Drug Administration has nothing to do with privacy policies. As such, this is an accurate statement. Silly, but accurate.<br />
<br />
"cure and treat any disease" is claiming to be a medical panacea. Panacea do not exist. It is also mocking the label on many food and health supplements, which are legally required to say they are “not intended to cure or treat any disease.”<br />
<br />
The title text is a reference to Shakespeare's "{{w|The Tempest}}", in which the witch {{w|Sycorax}} imprisoned the sprite Ariel in a cloven pine prior to Ariel's rescue by Prospero. As this clause cannot be escaped by anything short of destroying your computer or throwing it away, it may also reflect on how hard it often proves to be to opt out of privacy policy agreements and other forms to be filled on website, for all that they may appear optional. The fact that it appears as a title-text akin to a footnote, which a careless reader of the Privacy Policy may not notice at first glance, may also continue the joke of small but unexpected clauses hidden amidst a long-winded block of legalese, agreed to by users who haven't read them. <br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[The picture shows a long text:]<br />
:'''Privacy policy'''<br />
:We've updated our privacy policy. This is purely out of the goodness of our hearts, and has nothing to do with any hypothetical unions on any particular continents. Please read every part of this policy carefully, and don't just skip ahead looking for sex scenes.<br />
:This policy governs your interactions with this website, herein referred to as "The Service", "The Website", "The Internet", or "Facebook", and with all other websites and organizations of any kind. The enumeration in this policy, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the users. By using this service, you opt in to quartering troops in your home.<br />
<br />
:'''Your personal information'''<br />
:Please don't send us your personal information. We do not want your personal information. We have a hard enough time keeping track of our ''own'' personal information, let alone yours.<br />
:If you tell us your name, or any identifying information, we will forget it immediately. The next time we see you, we'll struggle to remember who you are, and try desperately to get through the conversation so we can go online and hopefully figure it out.<br />
<br />
:'''Tracking pixels, cookies, and beacons'''<br />
:This website places pixels on your screen in order to form text and images, some of which may remain in your memory after you close the page. We use cookies to enhance your performance. Our website may use local storage on your device if we run low on space on our end. We may use beacons to call Rohan for aid.<br />
<br />
:'''3rd party extension'''<br />
:This service may utilize 3rd party extensions in order to play the song '''''Can U Feel It''''' from their debut album '''''Alive'''''.<br />
<br />
:'''Permission'''<br />
:For users who are citizens of the European Union, we will now be requesting permission before initiating organ harvesting.<br />
<br />
:'''Scope and limitations'''<br />
:This policy supersedes any application federal, state, and local laws, regulations and ordinances, international treaties, and legal agreements that would otherwise apply. If any provision of this policy is found by a court to be unenforceable, it nevertheless remains in force.<br />
:This organization is not liable and this agreement shall not be construed. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This website is intended to treat, cure and prevent any disease.<br />
:If you know anyone in Europe, please tell them we're cool.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>108.162.229.82https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1186:_Bumblebees&diff=132575Talk:1186: Bumblebees2016-12-16T04:07:50Z<p>108.162.229.82: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{w|Bumblebee#Flight}} [[Special:Contributions/96.238.211.171|96.238.211.171]] 05:49, 15 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
Amazing that this urban legend is still going. I seem to remember reading that the aerodynamicist who came to this conclusion sobered up and withdrew his comments within a day or two, 80 years ago. [[User:DreamingDaemon|DD]] ([[User talk:DreamingDaemon|talk]]) 09:22, 15 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In Richard Hammonds Invisible Worlds (Great Series) they shows slow motion footage of a bee's flight through smoke, revealing that the be '''TWISTS ITS WINGS''' in order to swing downwards twice in one flap of its wings, doubling its lift and removing the up-flaps negative lift. Here is the link, http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p007vs8p.[[Special:Contributions/220.255.1.50|220.255.1.50]] 10:37, 15 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I also saw this comic as a reference to the movie "A Bee Movie" where Jerry Seinfeld's bee character is helping the human land the plane. I realize the human is actually flying the plane in that situation, but the bees were helping her. -- [[User:Mattsinc]] ([[User talk:Mattsinc|talk]]) 12:31, 16 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Bumblebees DO fly planes. <Can't believe what I'm about to say...> Ask an economist <Forces self to overcomes retching impulse>. {{w|Bumblebee#Agricultural_use}} #TIL about Buzz pollination. [[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 14:44, 16 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The alt-text also plays with this urban legend. Claiming that sociologists cannot explain why people like to claim that bumblebees can't fly is exactly like claiming that scientists cannot explain bumblebee flight, to the extent that the motivation for people to cite the myth about bumblebees is actually quite easily explained by the desire to discredit science as a way to avoid having to consider the implications of your own beliefs being contradictory to science (e.g. young-earth creationism). [[Special:Contributions/74.77.132.55|74.77.132.55]] 03:47, 28 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Correct, at least in my experience. I was raised as a Baptist, and I vividly remember my Sunday School teachers telling me this "fact" about bees. They were trying to do exactly what you said: discredit science and justify their beliefs. [[User:Diszy|Diszy]] ([[User talk:Diszy|talk]]) 17:46, 6 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Does the explanation actually say that not all mechanics of bumblebee flight are understood? Because it's actually been completely understood for years. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.63.180|173.245.63.180]] 07:34, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Nah, its just saying that one interpretation is that it is an alternate universe where physicist are just scrambling to try to come up with an answer to the claim that bumblebees can't fly airplanes. --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 21:21, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Of course bumblebees can't fly. Our bumblebee overlords just brainwash humans with the illusion that they can, as well as forgetting that our bumblebee overlords exist. [[User:SuperSupermario24|<span style="color: #c21aff;">Just some random derp</span>]] 17:23, 2 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I get quite annoyed when people say that bumblebees can't fly. I was at my grandpas watch Joel Osteen and he said that bumblebess shouldn't be able to fly and then I died a little inside. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.163|108.162.237.163]] 19:35, 7 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Am i the only one who, until i read the explanation, thought it was a bumblebee on top of a robot panicking (presumably because there's a bumblebee on its head)? The two things on the sides are its arms and hands (it even has thumbs), the neck is somewhat craned, the white dots are the eyes and the small rectange under them is the wide open screaming mouth. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.82|108.162.229.82]]</div>108.162.229.82https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1566:_Board_Game&diff=1000631566: Board Game2015-08-23T11:28:59Z<p>108.162.229.82: /* Explanation */ Don’t insult people when you are not aware of the variety of board game in Europe. Sure many German board games looks tedious (but are usually not), but there are a lot of very good games in France too, guys.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1566<br />
| date = August 19, 2015<br />
| title = Board Game<br />
| image = board_game.png<br />
| titletext = Yes, it took a lot of work to make the cards and pieces, but it's worth it--the players are way more thorough than the tax prep people ever were.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In this comic, [[Cueball]] is shown explaining the rules of a {{w|board game}} to three other players ([[Hairy]], [[Ponytail]], and [[Hair Bun Girl]]) of a local board game club – a hobbyist group that gets together to play board games. However, the board game Cueball is explaining is actually his own creation which is designed to trick the club into preparing his {{w|income tax}} return. The caption indicates that Cueball does this every year, which makes this comic reminiscent of the [[My Hobby]] series.<br />
<br />
An income tax return is an annual document which most adults in many countries must prepare and submit to the government agency responsible for tax collection. The document sets out that person's income for the year, along with offsets including deductions and credits, and calculates the amount of income tax the person is required to pay to the government (used by the revenue service to compare it to the value that person had actually paid).<br />
<br />
The return requires understanding of a number of forms which may seem complicated to those not familiar with them. It is an annual task that is stereotypically met with confusion and disdain. Many people hire professionals to prepare their taxes. More recently, software-based solutions that walk the user through a series of more understandable text-based questions are available to aid taxpayers in completing their returns; however these are not always ideal for those with complicated returns.<br />
<br />
In this comic, Cueball has developed his alternative method of tax preparation which utilizes the collective intelligence of several board-game-club players, and also capitalizes on the fact that members of such a club are likely very competitive and eager to succeed at board games. As a result (as the title text suggests), Cueball thinks the board game players are more thorough than the tax preparation professionals he has previously used. Such professionals would prepare perhaps hundreds of returns per year and as a result, might indeed be less thorough with each individual return which may all be viewed as fairly simple and repetitive by the professional.<br />
<br />
Among the rules Cueball explains are references to "allowable deduction" cards which presumably reference certain deductions which are allowed on income tax returns to lower the net income (resulting in lower taxes). For example; a portion of certain medical expenses are permitted to lower one's income in recognition of the fact that using one's income for medical expenses is somewhat non-discretionary. Similarly, certain charitable donations are permitted as deductions to encourage such donations.<br />
<br />
In Cueball's game, players must match the deductions with other cards to preserve their full "point value". This appears to be a reference to the desire to capitalize as much as possible on the value of a deduction by taking the deduction against income which would otherwise incur the greatest tax, and ensuring that the full amount of the deduction can be used. A deduction of $2,000 against income of $1,000 would waste half the deduction.<br />
<br />
In gaming, tokens are small playing pieces which may represent various things, depending on the game. In many board games (e.g. <br />
''{{w|Monopoly (game)|Monopoly}}''), tokens represent the players themselves. In other games, such as ''{{w|Magic: The Gathering}}'', tokens can represent creatures or other items in a player's inventory. Cueball references "dependent tokens" which appear to be game tokens representing Cueball's dependents. Dependents are individuals for whom the taxpayer is entitled to certain deductions and credits, often related to expenses incurred to care for the dependents. Most commonly, dependents are the minor children whom the taxpayer is required to support financially, but in the United States (where Randall lives) a person can claim a qualifying child as a dependent as long as the qualifying child lives with the claimant and is not self-supporting, even if the claimant is not the person who supports the qualifying child, and a person who voluntarily supports another (without being required) may also qualify to claim the person. Also, U.S. law usually does not allow a person's own spouse to be claimed as a "dependent", even when financial support is required.<br />
<br />
Note that while Cueball states he "tricks" his board game club into doing his taxes, in fact his use of clear tax terms ("allowable deductions", "dependent") for naming different tokens and elements of the game would suggest that the players knew what he was doing but going along with it because they just enjoy playing board games, such that even doing a tax return – often considered a boring mind-numbing chore – within the format of a board game would be something they would enjoy doing. Alternatively, the comic may be comparing the tediousness of some board games to that of doing tax returns. It is noted that there are board games on a variety of unexpected topics which might seem like boring subjects for a game. For example, there are several games designed to simulate the stock market and investing. The popular video game ''{{w|Farmville}}'' is often joked about having created a successful game out of a job most people would find unpleasurable. This suggests it might actually be possible to create an board game enjoyable to some people from the process of preparing a tax return.<br />
<br />
This is one of several xkcd comics that suggest going to comically extreme lengths to avoid doing something (in this case, his taxes) that might have been simpler to do normally than the way [[Randall]] proposes. In this case, Cueball suggests that his motives may actually be to get the most thorough preparation possible, rather than to simply find a way to get the task done. Presumably, the enthusiasm of a stereotypical gamer nerd makes them more thorough than even trained professionals.<br />
<br />
A similar situation of Randall secretly exploiting someone's interest for his own purposes occurs in [[1323: Protocol]].<br />
<br />
And another board game can be found at [[492: Scrabble]].tmy<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Hairy, Cueball, Ponytail (reading something), and Hair Bun Girl (holding some cards) are sitting around a table. There are several other objects on the table.]<br />
:Cueball: ...Now, this pile is "allowable deduction" cards. You match them with cards in your hand to preserve their full point value.<br />
:Cueball: Over here are "dependent" tokens...<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the frame:]<br />
:Every year, I trick a local board game club into doing my taxes.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hair Bun Girl]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]</div>108.162.229.82