https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=108.162.242.123&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T12:10:53ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1685:_Patch&diff=1208501685: Patch2016-05-26T00:25:59Z<p>108.162.242.123: Transcript with first line changed from standard S to S-cedilla.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1685<br />
| date = May 25, 2016<br />
| title = Patch<br />
| image = patch.png<br />
| titletext = My optimizer uses content-aware inpainting to fill in all the wasted whitespace in the code, repeating the process until it compiles.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
<br />
{{w|Adobe Photoshop}} is a commonly used software for image manipulation. One of its features is "content-aware inpainting", which allows the user to delete parts of the image and seamlessly replace the deleted sections with "patches" of texture from other parts of the image. <br />
<br />
The {{w|GNU}} {{w|Patch (Unix)|patch}} is a software program that replaces only parts of the code with an updated version, without requiring the user to download the entire source code. Here, it appears the author was told to "patch" the code, but used Photoshop to do this instead of GNU patch, with devastating results. Although the title text suggest that if you did this enough times the code would eventually compile, this would never happen. In fact, Photoshop could only edit an image of the text and not the text itself.<br />
<br />
The comic blurs the difference between {{w|text_file|text}} (in which letters and symbols represent discrete values, such as 65 being the number for the letter A in the ASCII encoding standard, and it's relatively easy for a program compiler to interpret combinations of these values as keywords and other programming constructs) and {{w|Raster_graphics|graphics}} (where the letters and symbols in the comic are actually represented by pattern of colored dots). There are common and straight forward processes for converting text information to images, such as Printing, which can convert text to a graphics format very faithfully. The reverse, however, requires the use of {{w|Optical_character_recognition|OCR (Optical Character Recognition)}}, which attempts to figure out which letter or symbol certain patterns of dots "look like". OCR could be effective in converting some of the image in the comic back to usable text, however it would fail on some of those patterns that have been mangled and don't look like any existing characters or symbols. The compiler can only operate on text data, so converting the graphic back into text would be a requirement to even begin to attempt to compile it, a step omitted in the title text.<br />
<br />
The code appears to be written in {{w|Python_(programming_language)|Python}}, a programming language often referred to in xkcd. A few of the function names that can be recognized are "isPrime" and "quicksort", both elementary programming algorithms.<br />
<br />
The title text also explains that patch used the content-aware inpainting to fill in all the wasted whitespace in the code. In Python, whitespaces are used as a part of the programming syntax (for example, new lines of code are used instead of semicolons (;), and indents are used instead of curly brackets.<br />
<br />
The original code was likely as follows:<br />
<br />
<font color="red">import</font> re<br />
<font color="red">def<font color="purple"> isPrime</font></font>(n):<br />
<font color="red">if </font>n<font color="red"><=</font><font color="light blue">1</font>:<br />
<font color="red">return</font> <font color="light blue">False</font><br />
<font color="red">for</font> i <font color="red">in <font color="light blue">range</font></font>(<font color="light blue">2</font>, <font color="light blue">int</font>(n<font color="red">**</font><font color="light blue">0.5</font>)<font color="red">+</font><font color="light blue">1</font>):<br />
<font color="red">if</font> n<font color="red">%</font>i<font color="red">==<font color="light blue">0</font></font>:<br />
<font color="red">return<font color="light blue"> False</font></font><br />
<font color="red">return <font color="light blue">True</font></font><br />
<font color="red">def <font color="purple">isPrimeRegex</font></font>(n):<br />
<font color="red">if</font> re.match(<font color="blue">'</font><font color="light blue">^</font><font color="blue">1</font><font color="red">?<font color="light blue">$</font>|<font color="light blue">^</font><font color="blue">(11</font>+?<font color="blue">)</font><font color="green">\1+</font><font color="light blue">$</font></font><font color="blue">'</font>, <font color="blue">'1'</font><font color="red">*</font>n): <br />
<font color="red">return <font color="light blue">False</font><br />
<font color="red">return<font color="light blue"> True</font></font></font><br />
<font color="red">def<font color="purple"> quicksort</font></font>(a):<br />
<font color="red">if <font color="light blue">len</font></font>(a) <font color="red">< <font color="light blue">2</font></font>:<br />
<font color="red">return </font>a<br />
pivot<font color="red">=</font>a[<font color="light blue">0</font>]<br />
l<font color="red">=</font>[i<font color="red"> for</font> i <font color="red">in</font> a <font color="red">if</font> i<font color="red"><</font>pivot]<br />
r<font color="red">=</font>[i<font color="red"> for</font> i <font color="red">in</font> a <font color="red">if</font> i<font color="red">></font>pivot]<br />
mid<font color="red">=</font>[pivot]<font color="red">*</font>(<font color="light blue">len</font>(a)<font color="red">-</font>(<font color="light blue">len</font>(l)<font color="red">+</font><font color="light blue">len</font>(r)))<br />
<font color="red">return </font>quicksort(l)<font color="red">+</font>mid<font color="red">+</font>quicksort(r)<br />
<br />
isPrime and quicksort are standard python implementations of simple algorithms (although you would not generally write a sorting algorithm in python as there are built-in algorithms available). isPrimeRegex uses the [https://docs.python.org/2/library/re.html re module] to detect if a number is prime by seeing if a string containing that many 1s can be matched to 2 or more copies of some string containing at least 2 1s.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[The panel displays part of a code, in four different colors (red, light blue, green and purple) as well as normal black text, which due to image editing is difficult to read. The first and last line are partly obscured by the frame of the panel. Here below is an attempt to transcribe the code, using the sign "¤" for anything not easily transcribed. Feel free to add other signs instead of these that looks more like the one in the image (and also improve the attempted transcription if possible).]<br />
<font color="red">impo¤l </font><font color="purple">me</font><br />
<font color="red">doo</font><font color="purple">PisPޤme</font>(n):<br />
<font color="red">r</font>(<font color="purple">¤</font>n<font color="red"><</font>n,<font color="light blue">1</font>:<br />
<font color="red">retern</font> <font color="light blue">F</font>(<font color="light blue">ise</font><br />
<font color="red">for</font> i <font color="red">ir</font><font color="light blue">ararre</font>(<font color="light blue">2</font>, <font color="light blue">nint</font> <font color="red">*</font>n<font color="red">**</font>n<font color="red">+</font><font color="light blue">5</font>)<font color="red">+</font><font color="light blue">5</font>):<br />
<font color="red">if</font> n i<font color="red">==</font><font color="light blue">0</font><br />
<font color="red">ret¤¤nrs</font><font color="light blue">elsel</font>:<br />
<font color="red">re¤ irn </font><font color="light blue">True</font><br />
<font color="red">defe</font><font color="purple">sisPrimcieg ¤x</font>(c<font color="purple">x</font><br />
<font color="red">if</font> <font color="purple">g</font>e<font color="purple">¤i</font>natc<font color="purple">x</font>(<font color="red">r</font>'<font color="light blue">^</font><font color="blue">(1</font><font color="red">?| ?.</font><font color="blue">1</font><font color="red">+?</font><font color="blue">)</font><font color="lime">\+</font><font color="blue">)</font><font color="light blue">$</font>'<font color="red">*</font>n <font color="blue">)1'</font><font color="red">*</font>n):<br />
<font color="red">rerjrn </font><font color="light blue">Fa</font><font color="blue">(</font><font color="light blue"> e</font><br />
<font color="red">Letyl</font><font color="purple">nr</font><font color="light blue">Trl</font><br />
<font color="red">dq</font><font color="purple">l qlsorsor</font><font color="light blue">n</font>(a :<br />
<font color="red">if </font><font color="light blue">¤n</font>(a <font color="red">< </font><font color="light blue">2</font>:<br />
<font color="red">eteturn </font>a<br />
pi<font color="red">= =r f</font>a[<font color="light blue">0</font>]<br />
l<font color="red">=</font>pi<font color="red">=for</font> j <font color="red">ln</font> a i<font color="red"><</font> i<font color="red"><</font>pi<font color="red"><</font>(t]<small>(</small>)<br />
r<font color="red">=</font>[l<font color="red">=for f in</font> a) <font color="red">r</font> i<font color="red">></font>viviv]<small>(</small>vo)<br />
mid<font color="red">=</font>[pi[<font color="red">*</font>t]<font color="red">*</font>(<font color="light blue">l</font><font color="red">*</font>t<font color="light blue">,</font>(a)<font color="red">-</font>(<font color="light blue">len</font>pi<font color="light blue">enlen</font>(c)))<br />
<font color="red">r¤lrurrr</font>iklcksckt(l) <font color="red">+</font> r ¤ ¤quickrort(r)<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:Protip: If you don't have access to the GNU ''patch'' tool, you can use the Photoshop one.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Protip]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]</div>108.162.242.123https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1685:_Patch&diff=120756Talk:1685: Patch2016-05-25T05:48:49Z<p>108.162.242.123: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~--><br />
Hey, I'm first! Guessing the Bot only JUST created this, it was mere minutes after midnight EST when I landed on this page. Unfortunately this is a comic I'm less capable of explaining. From the looks of it, his Photoshop Patch turned what looks like C code into gobbledegook by filling in several of the spaces (and I think even changing some of the characters, possible with characters which fill more of the space). - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.77|108.162.218.77]] 04:24, 25 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This appears to be Python code. Note the "def" keyword, how "for i in [garbled]:" is used rather than C's for syntax, and how there are no semicolons or braces. --[[User:Sherlock9|Sherlock9]] ([[User talk:Sherlock9|talk]]) 05:03, 25 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Photoshop has a 'patch' tool but it has a very different function from a software patch.</div>108.162.242.123https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1673:_Timeline_of_Bicycle_Design&diff=1207551673: Timeline of Bicycle Design2016-05-25T05:45:42Z<p>108.162.242.123: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1673<br />
| date = 27 April, 2016<br />
| title = Timeline of Bicycle Design<br />
| image = timeline of bicycle design.png<br />
| titletext = I'll be honest--the 1950s were a rough time for cycling.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Randall]] created what is supposedly a 200 year history for bicycles with 13 designs ranging from 1810 to 2016. However, a cursory glance at each one shows that they are almost all fictitious, heavily flawed, and most don't even fit the definition of "bicycle". The main point of the comic is to show off these silly joke designs.<br />
<br />
The only model that both looks like a real model and fits the year is the 1875 model, which resembles the {{w|Penny-farthing}}. The Penny-farthing was popular in the 1870s until the {{w|Safety bicycle}} took over around 1880. The 1875 model appears to be missing handlebars, but it's worth noting that on the real bicycle, the handlebars were very small and close to the saddle, and may be too small to appear in the drawing.<br />
<br />
The 1860 model looks like the {{w|American Star Bicycle}}, but that bicycle was first invented in the 1880s.<br />
<br />
The 1900 model looks like one of {{w|Paul Scheerbart}} 's perpetual motion machines.<br />
<br />
Some of the other examples of "bikes" could, however, look like those in the image at the top of the {{w|Velocipede}} Wikipedia page.<br />
<br />
Several of the "bikes" are shown with a human &mdash; [[Ponytail]] is "riding" the pole-vaulting bike, [[Cueball]] appears in four designs, and [[Megan]] appears in three. <!-- It's not clear that there's a person on the 1900 bike, but if there is, it's clearly not Megan - she isn't bald. --> These humans provide a sense of scale and, in some cases, a demonstration of how the bike might be operated. Cueball's appearance in the 1900 design shows how huge that bike is, appearing to dwarf the previous two models while continuing the short trend of ever-increasing size.<br />
<br />
Only two of the bikes have pedals (1875 and 2016) and another two have a sprocket with a chain (1900 and 1980). Seven designs include a seat for the rider &mdash; eight if you count the device holding Megan in the 1980 model.<br />
<br />
The 1925 model is reminiscent of a {{w|fractal}}; {{w|Benoit Mandelbrot}} was born in October 1924.<br />
<br />
The 1880 model could be the result of an {{w|evolutionary algorithm}} trying to produce a bicycle. Some sub-optimal algorithms that have been given the task of creating a vehicle have been shown to misplace parts in ways that makes them completely useless and/or inaccessible &mdash; for example, placing a small wheel inside a much larger wheel.<br />
<br />
This comic (especially the 2016 bicycle) is possibly also a reference to [https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/~rlawson/cycleweb.html The Science of Cycology], a cognitive psychology project run by Rebecca Lawson at the University of Liverpool, which asked study participants to draw a bicycle from memory. The error rate was high, supporting a hypothesis that humans over-estimate their ability to explain how things work. Gianluca Gimini ran a similar project, [http://www.gianlucagimini.it/prototypes/velocipedia.html Velocipedia], in which he asked people to draw free-hand sketches of bicycles from memory, then later rendered some of the results as if they were real bikes.<br />
<br />
Also, the designs given for the years from 1825 to 1925 distinctly resemble designs that tend to evolve in the various challenge environments in the genetic evolution games [http://boxcar2d.com/ BoxCar2D] ({{w|Flash Player}}) or [http://rednuht.org/genetic_cars_2/ Genetic Cars 2] ({{w|HTML5}}).<br />
<br />
The 1980 design looks strikingly similar to the southpark "wild whacky action bike".<br />
<br />
The title text refers to the scene labeled "1955" which depicts Cueball being chased by 3 bicycle wheels. Whatever caused the wheels to chase Cueball down a hill is left to the reader's imagination. It could be that the wheels have become sentient and are actively chasing Cueball, or it could be that the bicycle failed horribly and Cueball is running from the wreckage. The era this "bike design" is from (1955, which is in the 50s) would be hard to ride a bike in if it was the only available design.<br />
<br />
=== Bike Design Analysis ===<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable" border="1" cellpadding="4" style="border-collapse: collapse;"<br />
|-<br />
! width=4% | Year<br />
! width=40% | Description<br />
! width=16% | Similar to<br />
! width=40% | What's wrong with it?<br />
|-<br />
| 1810<br />
| A single wheel with a long curved bar. Ponytail is riding it like a pole vault.<br />
| {{w|Unicycle}}, {{w|Pole vault}}<br />
| There is no means to propel it once started, since the rider is held off the ground. It would be very difficult to balance on this device as well.<br />
|-<br />
| 1825<br />
| A large wheel connected to a tiny one, with a complex bar leading to a set of handlebars. Cueball is pushing it from behind.<br />
| {{w|Wheelbarrow}}<br />
| This bike has no seat and no means of propulsion other than being pushed from behind, defeating its purpose as a vehicle.<br />
|-<br />
| 1840<br />
| Two wheels connected by a single horizontal bar.<br />
| {{w|Skateboard}}<br />
| No means of propulsion or steering. Design is bottom-heavy, making it very difficult to keep balance.<br />
|-<br />
| 1860<br />
| A large wheel in back and a small wheel in front, connected to a large seat on top. Megan is sitting on the seat doing nothing.<br />
| {{w|Pennyfarthing}} (backwards),American Star bicycle<br />
| No means of propulsion or steering.<br />
|-<br />
| 1875<br />
| A large wheel in front with pedals attached, connected by a nearly-vertical rod to a small seat on top. A curved rod connects the seat to a much smaller wheel.<br />
| Pennyfarthing (almost exact match)<br />
| No handlebars are depicted, suggesting that there is no means of steering.<br />
|-<br />
| 1880<br />
| A very large wheel, connected by a short rod to a much smaller wheel and a seat. These hang from the axle at an odd angle.<br />
| Unicycle (vague)<br />
| The seat and small wheel appear to hang inside or next to the large wheel. A rider could not sit on the seat and would be unable to touch the ground, making it impossible to propel or control the bike.<br />
|-<br />
| 1900<br />
| An extremely large wheel, connected by a chain to a roughly human-sized wheel on top. Cueball may be standing on it, but it's unclear what he's doing.<br />
| Unicycle<br />
| No means of steering, unclear means of propulsion. It would be very difficult to mount this device, to get it moving with human power, and to control and stop it. Additionally, it would require many resources to build and a building several stories tall to store it.<br />
|-<br />
| 1915<br />
| A large wheel connected by an angled rod to a seat. The seat is connected by a nearly-vertical rod to an extremely small wheel behind the large one. Cueball is sitting on the seat, leaning far forward and apparently turning the large wheel by hand.<br />
| Pennyfarthing, {{w|Wheelchair}}<br />
| No apparent means of steering. Propulsion appears to be by hand, similar to a manual wheelchair, making the device both impractical and uncomfortable.<br />
|-<br />
| 1925<br />
| A symmetric seat sits atop a vertical rod connected to a wheel. From the center of this wheel, the frame extends out both front and back toward the ground, with progressively smaller wheels attached in a fractal design. It appears that only the wheels at the very ends of the rods touch the ground.<br />
| Unicycle, {{w|Fractal}}<br />
| No means of propulsion or steering other than pushing against the ground. Only the tiniest wheels touch the ground - if these are truly in fractal pattern, they would not withstand the weight of a rider nor be able to roll on anything but the smoothest of surfaces.<br />
|-<br />
| 1940<br />
| A single seat is connected to four small wheels in a line. Each rod is separate, and the wheels are not directly attached to one another. Megan is standing on the seat and pushing the device forward with a long, flexible pole.<br />
| {{w|In-line Skate}}, {{w|Gondola}}<br />
| No means of steering or propulsion (using a pole doesn't count). Frame would very likely collapse under a rider's weight.<br />
|-<br />
| 1955<br />
| Cueball is being chased down a hill by three {{w|bicycle wheel|bicycle wheels}}.<br />
| ''n/a''<br />
| This scene suggests a spectacular failure of one or more bicycles, resulting in three wheels rolling down a hill. It's possible the wheels became sentient and are rebelling against humans.<br />
|-<br />
| 1980<br />
| A wheel is connected to a triangular frame. Extending up from the frame appears to be a back rest. Just in front of the triangle is a sprocket with no pedals. Two long bars connect from here to a front bar, which extends down to a second wheel and up to a very long set of handlebars. The sprocket connects to the front wheel. Megan is crouched on top of the sprocket with her back resting against the rear frame.<br />
| "Chopper" {{w|Motorcycle}}, Women's {{w|Safety bicycle}}<br />
| No apparent means of propulsion unless the sprocket acts like a {{w|cog wheel}}, requiring the rider to essentially run in place to propel the bike, which would be difficult and uncomfortable in Megan's position. While this is the first of the designs that shows a clear means of steering, the chain would interfere.<br />
|-<br />
| 2016<br />
| A rear wheel has pedals directly attached to it, and is connected to a horizontal rod. A small fender is attached to this rod under the wheel and almost against the ground. A {{w|kickstand}} hangs down and forward. A triangular frame extends upward toward the front, holding a milk bottle, and a second triangle connects to the front wheel, which also has pedals and a low-hanging fender. A set of touring-style handlebars is attached to the front. Two bars extend backward from the two triangles, and a horizontal bar extends backward. Just above the rear wheel, a seat is suspended inside a forked frame hanging down from the top bar.<br />
| Safety bicycle<br />
| The frame is over-complicated and, despite several strong supports in the front, would still likely collapse under a rider's weight. Front pedals would be nearly impossible to use. Seat cannot be used. Fenders and kickstand could easily strike the ground and interfere with the bike's movement.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[13 drawings 8 in the top and 5 in the bottom row of different and weird "bicycle" designs. Above them there is a heading, and below each bike a year is given. On the very last cycle there is a drinking bottle with a label.]<br />
:'''Timeline of Bicycle Design'''<br />
<br />
:[Ponytail hanging on to a bending rod that goes down to a single normal sized bike wheel. It looks like a unicycle with no seat. The rod is bending quite a lot so she looks like she is about to use the contraption as a pole vault]<br />
:1810<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is running after a device holding on to a rod bend in several places before reaching the ground at a very small wheel that then is connected with a shorter rod to a normal sized bike wheel.]<br />
:1825 <br />
<br />
:[Two normal sized bike wheels connected with a single rod between them.]<br />
:1840 <br />
<br />
:[Megan sits on a large saddle on top of a double sized bike wheel, she has some kind of handle bars to hold on to (or it could just be the saddle) and then a small rod goes down to a half size front wheel.]<br />
:1860 <br />
<br />
:[A regular drawing of a Penny-farthing with very small back wheel (half the size of the front wheel on the 1860 bike) and very large front wheel (larger than the 1860 bike) and pedals in the middle of the front wheel. There are no visible handlebars.]<br />
:1875<br />
<br />
:[A huge wheel twice the size of the one on the Penny-farthing, and then a small wheel (like the small one on the Penny-farthing) hangs in a rod from the center of the giant wheel. The small wheel has a saddle attached, but it is not straight up.]<br />
:1880 <br />
<br />
:[This is the largest bike. Not the largest drawings, but where the other have the characters in roughly the same size, this one has a small drawing of Cueball standing on top of the wheel holding on to some kind of handle bar. The wheel is about three times his height.]<br />
:1900 <br />
<br />
:[Cueball sits in the "saddle" of a bike design that is similar to the Penny-farthing, but the saddle is more a rod, and the back wheel is on a rod going straight down from where the saddle ends. Also there are no pedals, so Cueball seems to be directly spinning the front wheel by hand.]<br />
:1915<br />
<br />
:[A symmetrical saddle sits on top of single bike wheel, as with a unicycle but with no pedals. There are (at least) six progressively smaller wheels in-line to the first, three to front and three to the rear, each new wheel approximately half the size of the one before. A possible fourth wheel, presumed to complete the set of medial stabilisers, can no longer be discerned from the rod that goes through the center of the larger wheels.]<br />
:1925<br />
<br />
:[Megan stands on top of a saddle that has four individual rods extending from it, each to a small wheel. One wheel is directly beneath her, one is behind her, one is the same distance in front, and one is farther out in front. Megan is pushing the bike with a long flexible rod resembling a pole vault.]<br />
:1940 <br />
<br />
:[Cueball is running down a steep hill with his arms up, being chased by three normal-sized bike wheels.]<br />
:1955<br />
<br />
:[Megan sits on a bike contraption that seems to have a holder around her mid section rather than her sitting on a saddle. This holder goes to the back wheel below her, and there is actually a sprocket with a chain, although no clear pedals beneath her feet. She holds on to a very long handle bar, which connects with two long rods coming from the sprocket at the front end of the bike far ahead of Megan, below which is a wheel, to where the chain is actually going. Both wheels seem to be normal size.]<br />
:1980 <br />
<br />
:[Another weird contraption of a bike with pedals on both normal sized wheels which have handlebars on the side pointing down towards the front. The saddle hangs in a swing, connected to a rod above it, which goes to the front of the bike and splits in two rods which connect to the center frame of the bike. In front of these there is a contraption resembling many styles of touring bike handlebars, which sits just above the front wheel. The two wheels are connected with a long rod between the center of the wheels and in the middle of this is the center part of the frame going up toward the handle. On the middle of this is a bottle with a label. Towards the back wheel there are two rods sticking out, one presumably a kickstand, the other possibly a parking brake.]<br />
:2016 <br />
:Bottle: Milk<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
<!-- Include any categories below this line. --><br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Charts]]</div>108.162.242.123https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=344:_1337:_Part_4&diff=120754344: 1337: Part 42016-05-25T05:42:12Z<p>108.162.242.123: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 344<br />
| date = November 15, 2007 <!-- date on archive page appears incorrect(2007-11-14), based on xkcd forum date of 2007-11-15 --><br />
| title = 1337: Part 4<br />
| image = 1337 part 4.png<br />
| titletext = Mrs. Roberts would have gotten up sooner, of course, but she was busy piping find ~ and find ~nomad into xargs shred, just in case.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Jon Lech Johansen}}, also known as DVD Jon, is famous for {{w|DeCSS}}, a DVD decryption program that removes the copy protection from commercial DVDs. The {{w|Motion Picture Association of America}}, also known as the MPAA, was not amused. Both the MPAA and the {{w|RIAA}} use the {{w|Digital Millenium Copyright Act}}, shortened to DMCA, as a kind of brute club to silence "infringements" on their copyright. In a perfect world, the DMCA provides safe harbor protection to websites and consumers to make fair use of copyrighted content while also affording copyright owners the ability to protect their works from being pirated. In this world, this means that any content protection system, no matter how weak and poorly executed, cannot be circumvented and discussion of circumvention is illegal as well.<br />
<br />
Of course, {{w|Richard Stallman}}, founder of the {{w|GNU Project}} and stalwart defender of freedom and {{w|copyleft}}, cannot stand for this kind of repression of freedom. (In the real world, Stallman is not a swordsman; there is also no Title IV, Section 408 of the DMCA; Title IV ends with Section 407.) In keeping with the "Kill Bill" themes from earlier in the series, Randall imagines the conflict between Elaine/Stallman/Mrs. Roberts vs MPAA agents as an action-packed katana battle rather than the legal battle it would likely have been in real life.<br />
<br />
The title text is talking about a {{w|Linux}}-ism. In Linux (and all Unix derivatives) ~ is a symbol for a user's home directory (usually <code>/home/<username></code>). Presumedly "nomad" is Elaine's username. <code>find</code> is an application that recursively walks a filesystem, listing all files, and <code>xargs shred</code> takes those files and securely erases each one with pseudorandom data. This is different from simply deleting a file, which merely removes the pointer in the filesystem's record tables to the file's location on the hard disk. The latter can usually be recovered from, secure delete however requires physically taking apart a disk and reading individual bits for remaining magnetic charge to attempt to reconstruct what was there.<br />
<br />
Proprietary hardware is hardware (the electronics part rather than the software) created and uses only by that company as opposed to open hardware that uses parts or chips common to everyone. Proprietary hardware used to found in most gaming consoles and apple/mac devices but that isn't as common now since the cost of designing your own hardware is too expensive compared to using common chips.<br />
<br />
All comics in "[[:Category:1337|1337]]" series:<br />
*[[341: 1337: Part 1]]<br />
*[[342: 1337: Part 2]]<br />
*[[343: 1337: Part 3]]<br />
*344: 1337: Part 4 (this one)<br />
*[[345: 1337: Part 5]]<br />
<br />
This series was released on 5 consecutive days (Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:As time passed, Elaine intensified her hacking work, anonymously publishing exploit after exploit.<br />
:[Elaine is sitting under tree, typing on a laptop.]<br />
<br />
:To crack open proprietary hardware, she teamed up with one of the top experts in signal processing and data transferring protocols.<br />
:[Elaine, wearing a backpack, is walking up to a door where a woman is greeting her.]<br />
:Elaine: Hi, mom.<br />
:Mrs. Roberts (Elaine's mom): Hello, dear. Did you have fun?<br />
<br />
:They were an unstoppable team.<br />
:[Elaine is on the floor with her laptop and Mrs. Roberts is on her computer at a table.]<br />
:Elaine: I finished the CSS decryptor.<br />
:Mrs. Roberts: Good, dear. I'll send it along to Jon.<br />
<br />
:And were eventually noticed.<br />
:[Two men in black hats arrive. One holds a briefcase that reads RIAA and the other holds a briefcase which reads MPAA.]<br />
:RIAA man: Game's over.<br />
:MPAA man: You're coming with us.<br />
<br />
:[Elaine stands up.]<br />
:Elaine: Oh, are we?<br />
:[Mrs. Roberts is still sitting at her computer, typing.]<br />
:Mrs. Roberts: Now now, Elaine-<br />
:''shink''<br />
:[Elaine pulls a knife out.]<br />
<br />
:[The two men each pull a katana out of their briefcase.]<br />
:''shing shing''<br />
<br />
:Mrs. Roberts: Don't let them provoke you, dear.<br />
:Men: We don't want to hurt you, Ma'am.<br />
:Mrs. Roberts: Don't by silly. Record company employees can't just go into houses and slice people up.<br />
<br />
:RIAA Man: Ah, so you haven't read the DMCA.<br />
:MPAA Man: Title IV, Section 408: Authorization of Deadly Force.<br />
<br />
:[Voice comes from off-panel.]: Hark!<br />
:[Everyone looks surprised. Mrs. Roberts stands.]<br />
<br />
:[Richard Stallman enters, bearing two katanas.]<br />
:Richard Stallman: Cease this affront to freedom, or stand and defend yourselves!<br />
:MPAA Man: Stallman!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Elaine Roberts]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Mrs. Roberts]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:1337|04]]</div>108.162.242.123https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1026:_Compare_and_Contrast&diff=1161891026: Compare and Contrast2016-04-03T17:16:33Z<p>108.162.242.123: Heat stroke does appear to be causally linked with outside temperature.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1026<br />
| date = March 7, 2012<br />
| title = Compare and Contrast<br />
| image = compare_and_contrast.png<br />
| titletext = Frankly, I see no difference between thee and a summer's day. Only Ron Paul offers a TRUE alternative!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
<br />
A reference to the most well-known {{w|sonnet}} in the English-speaking world: {{w|William Shakespeare|William Shakespeare's}} "{{w|Sonnet 18}}", the first line of which is: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?". In this comic [[Randall]] sets about this in a typically goal-oriented chart, as opposed to the rather more romantic poetry of the Bard. <br />
<br />
The lines are:<br />
<br />
1. The first line is a reference to the sonnet itself, which reads: "Thou art more lovely and more temperate". He considers both thee and a summer's day to be "fair" (this is a pun; depending on context, "fair" can refer to complexion or weather) and "temperate" (meaning "warm", which again can describe a person or the weather).<br />
<br />
2. "Hot, sticky" also refers to both, in different ways. "Hot" can mean sexually attractive or simply that the temperature is high. A "sticky" day refers to humidity.<br />
<br />
3. "Short" is another pun. "Thee" is not tall. A summer day is chronologically long (time from dawn to dusk.)<br />
<br />
4. "Harbinger of hurricane season" is technically accurate; hurricane season does follow the summer.<br />
<br />
5. "Required for a good beach party" is not a pun, although it is another example of a word with slightly different meanings. The party is required to be held on summer's day and with "thee" present at the party. The party would not be held on "thee", although some of the other lines suggest that the writer might personally be on top of "thee" during the party.<br />
<br />
6. Heat stroke is a condition mainly affecting children and the elderly. Heat waves and excessively hot days are highly linked with heat stroke incidence; see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_stroke#cite_ref-23 Epidemiology]<br />
<br />
7. "Linked to higher rates of juvenile delinquency" apparently refers juveniles committing crimes in the summer. However, this results, to some degree, from school not being in session, rather than simply as a direct result of the summer weather.<br />
<br />
8. "Sometimes too stifling" is another pun. It is also unusual in that it expresses a negative feeling about "thee", unlike the other entries which express what the author likes or admires about thee.<br />
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9. "Arrested for releasing snakes in the library" is possibly inspired by the movie ''Snakes on a Plane''.<br />
<br />
10. The last line "difficult to focus on work while I'm in" is a sexual reference, on the "thee" side, not on the "summer's day" side. To be "in" someone refers to the penetrative part of sex, which would occupy a typical person's attention (with the notable exception of Bill Clinton who reputedly conducted a work-related phone call while doing something else with Monica Lewinsky).<br />
<br />
In Shakespeare's day, English had informal pronouns and formal pronouns, thou/thee (informal), and ye/you (formal). This is similar to what is still used today in many European languages. {{w|English personal pronouns#Full list of personal pronouns|Wikipedia}} has a nice chart for all of English's personal pronouns, current and archaic.<br />
<br />
For both the chart and the original sonnet, whether or not the work is autobiographical is unknown. Also unknown is the identity of the person whom each work refers to. It is believed that Sonnet 18 is addressed to a {{w|Shakespeare's Sonnets#Fair Youth|young man}}.<br />
<br />
And of course, the title text is a reference to {{w|Ron Paul}}, a former {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republican}} candidate for {{w|President of the United States|President}} who was on top in the {{w|Republican Party presidential primaries, 2012|Republican Primary}} against a few other challengers for the nomination. Ron Paul was frequently represented on the internet using similar language to the image text. Paul has been seen as an alternative because he is a strict {{w|Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian}} and believes the government should be as small as possible and stay out of people's lives.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A checklist comparing thee to a summer's day:<br />
:Fair, Temperate: Thee & A Summer's Day<br />
:Hot, Sticky: Thee & A Summer's Day<br />
:Short: Thee<br />
:Harbinger of Hurricane Season: A Summer's Day<br />
:Required for a Good Beach Party: Thee & A Summer's Day<br />
:Major Cause of Heat Stroke in the Elderly: A Summer's Day<br />
:Linked to Higher Rates of Juvenile Delinquency: Thee & A Summer's Day<br />
:Sometimes Too Stifling: Thee & A Summer's Day<br />
:Arrested for Releasing Snakes in Library: Thee<br />
:Difficult to Focus on Work While I'm In: Thee & A Summer's Day]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ron Paul]]<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Sex]]<br />
[[Category:Politics]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]</div>108.162.242.123