https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=141.101.99.179&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T02:17:49ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1928:_Seven_Years&diff=2092331928: Seven Years2021-03-31T06:27:18Z<p>141.101.99.179: link fix for "unique header text"</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1928<br />
| date = December 13, 2017<br />
| title = Seven Years<br />
| image = seven_years.png<br />
| titletext = [hair in face] "SEVVVENNN YEEEARRRSSS"<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Randall]]'s then girlfriend, now wife, was diagnosed with cancer in late 2010, a matter he has discussed in the comic [[:Category:Cancer|multiple times before]]. Here, motivated by the seven-year period between the American solar eclipses of {{w|Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017|2017}} and {{w|Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024|2024}}, we see them reminiscing the seven years prior to the first eclipse, leaving an open question to what the next seven years will bring.<br />
<br />
This comic is part of a [[:Category:X Years|series of comics]] and directly continues [[1141: Two Years]], which is shown as the first eight panels, slightly grayed out. It later continued in [[2386: Ten Years]].<br />
<br />
It was released as a response to another cancer diagnosis, this is explained in the [[Design_of_xkcd.com#Header_text|Header text]], which, for [[Design of xkcd.com#Unique header text|this comic only]], has replaced the standard ''xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.'' The header for this comic, with the active link included, is:<br />
:Becky Beaton, sister of fellow cartoonist Kate Beaton, has also been diagnosed with cancer. You can support her treatment [https://www.youcaring.com/beckybeaton-1008390 here]. <br />
{{w|Kate Beaton}} is the creator of the web comic [http://www.harkavagrant.com/ Hark! A Vagrant]. Although this comic is not one on Randall's list of [[Design_of_xkcd.com#Comics_I_enjoy|Comics I enjoy]], he is clearly much influenced by another cancer diagnosis among someone in his own creative field.<br />
<br />
[[Image:seven years key.png|right]]<br />
<br />
Explanations of the individual panels:<br />
<br />
*Panels 1–8: See [[1141: Two Years]], where there are also three more panels, not included here, with the punch line for that comic.<br />
*Panel 9: Randall (drawn as [[Cueball]]) and Randall's wife (with her hair noticeably longer than it was at the end of [[1141: Two Years]], so she looks like [[Megan]]), are walking through a forest with very tall trees (maybe {{w|Sequoiadendron giganteum|giant redwood}}). The perspective is from a distant vantage point, and themes of extreme longevity are mixed with new growth: The old trees are so tall they grow out of the frame, yet saplings are clearly growing as well. Importantly, they are literally "not out of the woods yet," the very question that was posed to them at the start of [[931: Lanes]].<br />
*Panel 10: Randall's wife is sitting down, not in the forest anymore. She is concerned because she has pain in her toe and worries that this is an early sign of her cancer spreading again. Randall points out the simpler explanation- that she stubbed her toe the previous day, and the pain is likely a result of that. This panel shows the paranoia that comes from cancer remission, as earlier explained in [[931: Lanes]].<br />
*Panel 11: Randall and his wife are going spelunking (aka {{w|caving}}). Their guide, [[Hairy]], is gesturing deeper into the cave while Randall and his wife are climbing down. It is the first of three frames that contrast darkness and light, and two frames center on exploring a dark underworld. <br />
*Panel 12: Randall's wife stands on a rock above an alligator in a swamp, photographing the alligator. Randall, on a balcony behind safety railings, observes that medical predictions about the odds of someone surviving cancer generally assume that the cancer patient doesn't risk something ''else'' killing them first. In this case her extreme hobbies (not related to [[:Category:My Hobby|Randall's hobbies]]).<br />
*Panel 13: Randall's wife sits on an examination bed, listening to a doctor [[Ponytail]] holding a clipboard. The doctor talks about an issue which is "probably nothing" but ''might'' be the cancer — again showing the paranoia that comes with cancer. Ponytail tells her not to worry about until they have the result of a full scan she will order for her. This could be a full body {{w|Positron emission tomography|PET scan}} to ensure there are no active {{w|lymph node|lymph nodes}}. If there are this could be caused by {{w|metastasis}} of the cancer to the {{w|lymphatic system}}, which would often be impossible to cure. In the first comic we see that it is very difficult to wait for the reply of such a scan. <br />
*Panel 14: Randall and his wife stand above a deep pond full of fish and other objects. Randall's wife is piloting a wired underwater camera with lights. Randall shared pictures of his [https://blog.xkcd.com/2010/11/05/submarines/ underwater ROV] before. If this panel can be taken as following directly after the previous, it could be concluded that after some years they have learned to go do something fun rather than sit and worry for a result that they cannot change and do not know when will arrive. That would be a positive take on the sequence. They are shown both literally and figuratively searching -- as in the cave -- in the dark unknown. In the same way the doctor in the previous frame was exploring his wife's body, searching for hard to find things at depth. <br />
*Panel 15: Randall and his wife are standing next to each other. Randall's wife has shoulder-length hair covering most of her face, and observes that, despite the chemotherapy robbing her of most of her hair six years ago, it is now growing enough to obscure her face. "The little girl from ''The Ring''" refers to {{w|Sadako Yamamura}}, the antagonist of the {{w|Ring (novel series)|''Ring'' series}} by {{w|Koji Suzuki}}, and popularized in a {{w|The Ring (2002 film)|2002 movie}}. See the title text,<br />
*Panel 16: A line of six people, Ponytail between two other [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|Cueball-like]] characters as well as Randall and his wife, with [[Megan]] to the right, stand and watch the corona of the Sun during the totality of the {{w|Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017|total solar eclipse of 2017}}. This has already been mentioned in [[:Category:Total Solar Eclipse 2017|several comics]] earlier in 2017, where this {{w|solar eclipse}} passed over the entire continental USA. Thematically, all three dark frames (cave, pond, and eclipse) are without speech. In this dark frame, exploration is replaced with awe, and when light comes in the next frame, speech returns and, in the light of day, determination to move forward. <br />
*Panel 17: The sky has been brightened, and the eclipse is over. As the eclipse is cool to see in person (as Randall made clear in [[1880: Eclipse Review]]), the onlookers are left with little more than exclamations of amazement, one of which comes from Randall's wife, which 7 years ago had not expected, or even thought that she would be here to watch it (or a bit earlier, had doubted that she would be!)<br />
*Panel 18: Randall and his wife are walking together and holding hands. When his wife inquires about the next total eclipse, Randall replies that the next one is in seven years (2024), and asks whether they should go to see it.<br />
*Panel 19: Still walking, Randall and his wife think together about a timeline. Seven years have passed since 2010, represented with a solid line from the past to 2017; seven years in the future will be 2024, represented with a dotted line into the future and surrounded by three question marks. This is reflective of Panel 6, where "next year" is not guaranteed to be a thing.<br />
*Panel 20: The pair keeps walking, with his wife optimistically agreeing to this stating that she will do her best to accomplish this, and Randall states that they have a date! (His way of claiming her to still be there in seven years!) His affirmation of something so simple as a "date" highlights the contrast to the natural awe of an eclipse or the staggering diagnosis of cancer, and it simultaneously elevates the event to a much higher accomplishment. <br />
<br />
The title text is a continuation to panel 15 concerning the horror movie ''The Ring''. Specifically, watching the videotape in ''The Ring'' is supposed to kill a person in seven days, but the title text instead says "seven years".<br />
<br />
With all these thoughts in mind, there is no wonder that he wishes to participate in helping a colleague's cancer-stricken sister with the [[xkcd Header text#Changes to the header text|unique header text]] above this comic, as mentioned above.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
:[The first eight panels, used earlier in the comic [[1141: Two Years]], are faded out.]<br />
<br />
:[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit on a bed, Randall's fiancée is talking on the phone. The person she is talking to, a doctor holding a clipboard, is shown inset.]<br />
:Randall's fiancée: Oh god.<br />
<br />
:[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit together while Randall's fiancée, now bald, is receiving chemotherapy. They are both on their laptops.]<br />
:IV pump: ... Beeep ... Beeep ... Beeep ...<br />
<br />
:[Randall and Randall's fiancée (who is wearing a knit cap) are paddling a kayak against a scenic mountain backdrop.]<br />
<br />
:[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit at a table, staring at a cell phone. There is a clock on the wall. Her head is stubbly.]<br />
:Randall's fiancée: How long can it take to read a scan!?<br />
<br />
:[Randall and Randall's fiancée are back at the hospital again, Randall's fiancée receiving chemo. They are playing Scrabble.]<br />
:Randall: "Zarg" isn't a word.<br />
:Randall's fiancée: But ''caaaancer.''<br />
:Randall: ...Ok, fine.<br />
<br />
:[Randall and Randall's fiancée (wearing a knit cap) are listening to a Cueball-like friend. A large thought bubble is above their heads and it obscures the friends talk. The text below, split in three is the only part there can be no doubt about:]<br />
:Friend: So next year you should come visit us up in the mounta<br />
::a<br />
::and<br />
:Randall and Randall's fiancée (thinking): '''"Next year"'''<br />
<br />
:[Randall and Randall's fiancée are getting married, with a heart above their heads. Randall's wife's hair is growing back.]<br />
<br />
:[Randall and Randall's wife (wearing a knit cap) stand on a beach, watching a whale jump out of water. This is the last gray panel, with an additional label in normal black color.]<br />
:''Fwoosh''<br />
:Label: Two years<br />
<br />
:[Randall and Randall's wife (with her hair noticably longer) are walking through a forest.]<br />
<br />
:[Randall's wife is sitting down, not in the forest anymore.]<br />
:Randall's wife: My toe hurts and I found a report of a case in which toe pain was an early sign of cancer spreading.<br />
:Randall: Wait—didn’t you stub your toe yesterday?<br />
:Randall's wife: Yes, but what if this is unrelated?<br />
<br />
:[Randall and his wife are going spelunking. The guide is gesturing deeper into the cave while Randall and his wife are climbing down.]<br />
<br />
:[Randall's wife stands on a rock above an alligator in a swamp, photographing the alligator. Randall is on a balcony behind safety railings.]<br />
:Randall: When they estimated your survival odds, I think they made some optimistic assumptions about your hobbies.<br />
<br />
:[Randall's wife sits on an examination bed, listening to a doctor holding a clipboard.]<br />
:Doctor: This is probably nothing. <br />
:Doctor: But given your history, we should do a full scan. <br />
:Doctor: We'll call with the results in a few days. Try not to worry about it until then!<br />
<br />
:[Randall and his wife stand above a deep pond full of fish and other objects. Randall's wife is piloting a wired underwater camera with lights.]<br />
<br />
:[Randall and his wife are standing next to each other. Randall's wife has shoulder-length hair covering most of her face.]<br />
:Randall's wife: Hard to believe—six years ago, I was bald. But today, after a long struggle, I finally look like the little girl from ''The Ring''.<br />
:Randall: That's, uhh... good?<br />
:Randall's wife: ''Hissssss''<br />
<br />
:[A line of six people, including Randall and his wife, stand and watch the solar eclipse.]<br />
<br />
:[The sky has been brightened.]<br />
:Ponytail: ''Wow.''<br />
:Randall's wife: Yeah.<br />
<br />
:[Randall and his wife are walking together and holding hands.]<br />
:Randall's wife: That was incredible. <br />
:Randall's wife: When's the next one?<br />
:Randall: In seven years. <br />
:Randall: Wanna go see it?<br />
<br />
:[Still walking, Randall and his wife think together about a timeline. Seven years have passed since 2010, represented with a solid line from the past to 2017; seven years in the future will be 2024, represented with a dotted line into the future and surrounded by three question marks.]<br />
<br />
:[The pair keeps walking.]<br />
:Randall's wife: Yeah. <br />
:Randall's wife: I'll do my best.<br />
:Randall: It's a date!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:X Years]]<br />
[[Category:Doctor Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Cancer]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Total Solar Eclipse 2017]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1951:_Super_Bowl_Watch_Party&diff=1519291951: Super Bowl Watch Party2018-02-05T22:14:10Z<p>141.101.99.179: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1951<br />
| date = February 5, 2018<br />
| title = Super Bowl Watch Party<br />
| image = super_bowl_watch_party.png<br />
| titletext = It's going to be weird near the end of May when the screen goes blank for over 18 hours.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a FOOTBALL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
The {{w|Super Bowl}} is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL), the highest level of professional {{w|American football}}. In late January or early February each year, the winner of the American Football Conference (AFC) plays the winner of the National Football Conference (NFC) to determine the champion. In {{w|Super Bowl LII}} held on Sunday, February 4, the NFC champion {{w|Philadelphia Eagles}} defeated the AFC champion {{w|New England Patriots}}. Based on its wide-reaching cultural impact, Super Bowl is widely considered the single most important game of the year (of any sport) in the United States, and over a hundred million people watch it, many of whom are not even fans of American football. Some have parties centered on watching the game. The full game lasts around four hours, including breaks for advertisement and a halftime, which includes a live performance of music.<br />
<br />
By slowing the video down by a factor of 2300, the show would last a full year. Normal TV is broadcast at 30 frames per second. So if slowed by a factor of 2300, each frame would be shown for about 76 seconds. Each frame can be discussed and analysed by the watchers. Each day in the slow video would cover just under 40 seconds of real time. So when Megan comes down to rejoin the party (who have been watching all night) they can describe about 20 seconds of real time. The description refers to the offense taking the field after the initial kickoff was returned to the 26 yard line.<br />
<br />
A ''cut'' means a change in camera angle. Cuts happen frequently during the broadcast, especially when the ball is not in play; thus Megan has a relatively high probability of being right simply by chance that the next frame will be a cut, and has apparently been predicting it often.<br />
<br />
The ads and halftime show are considered integral parts of the broadcast, and many advertisers debut elaborate commercials especially for game, since so many people watch it. Many people claim to watch the Super Bowl only for the commercial breaks. The end of February would correspond to about 14 minutes of real time.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to how, during a commercial break during the 2018 Super Bowl, just blackness was broadcast for 28 seconds. <ref>https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2018/02/04/super-bowl-nbc-equipment-failure-blank-screen-super-bowl-commercial/305623002/</ref><br />
<br />
Cueball has previously explained that he now watches the [[1480: Super Bowl|Super Bowl]], despite [[60: Super Bowl|not being very interested in sport]]. A slowly updating video is similar to the concept behind [[Time]], and is also reminiscent of Douglas Gordon's 1993 art installation {{w|24 Hour Psycho}}.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Megan walks into a room. Cueball and another Megan-like individual are sitting on a couch. Another Cueball sits in front of them, while Ponytail lies on the ground in front of a TV.]<br />
:Megan: Morning. How's the game?<br />
:Cueball: Eagles got to the 26-yard line around midnight. They've been walking across the field since then. Just entered a huddle.<br />
:Megan #2: I bet the next frame will be a cut.<br />
:Cueball #2: You always say that.<br />
:Ponytail: Do you think the first ads will come by the end of February?<br />
:[Caption below the comic:]<br />
:I'm at a year-round Super Bowl watch party. We're playing the stream at 1/2300x speed, so it will end just as next year's Super Bowl starts.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:American football]]<br />
<br />
<references/></div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=452:_Mission&diff=142388452: Mission2017-07-07T20:17:21Z<p>141.101.99.179: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 452<br />
| date = July 21, 2008<br />
| title = Mission<br />
| image = mission.png<br />
| titletext = Don't you know? The chances of a random object being a scone are about one in six.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] and [[Beret Guy]] are on a mission, intending to destroy whatever machine they are in. Except that Beret Guy tends to be a bit surreal and brought a bag for holding pastries instead of explosive charges.<br />
<br />
This is not the first time he's made such a bakery mistake; see [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport]].<br />
<br />
He then attempts to eat what Cueball identifies as {{w|Lug nut}}s, believing them to be scones. <br />
<br />
The title text further emphasizes Beret Guy's obsession with bakery goods, by stating that if you pick up six random objects it is highly likely that one of these will be a scone, which explains his behaviour with the Lug nuts. This is of course a ridiculous assertion, as if it were true more than 16% of all things in the universe would have to be scones, a hypothesis easily disprovable by looking around any room which isn't a bakery, provided few enough rooms are bakeries.<br />
<br />
Beret guy and scones are also referenced in the title text of both [[677: Asshole]] and [[1030: Keyed]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Beret Guy and Cueball are rappelling down separate ropes into the interior workings of a large machine.]<br />
:Cueball: Okay, we're in the belly of the machine. You got the charges?<br />
:Beret Guy: The what?<br />
<br />
:[The two are standing next to some large pieces of machinery.]<br />
:Cueball [gesturing]: The explosive charges!<br />
:Beret Guy [pulling out a bag]: I just brought this bag for pastries.<br />
:Cueball: The hell? We're on a mission here!<br />
<br />
:Beret Guy [looking around]: This isn't a bakery?<br />
:Cueball [head in hand]: Oh, Christ, not this shit again.<br />
<br />
:Beret Guy [crouching by some lug nuts lying on a piece of machinery]: What about these scones?<br />
:Cueball: Those are lug nuts.<br />
:Beret Guy [stuffing them in his mouth]: ...Maybe SOME of them aren't. ''crunch'' Ow! ''crunch''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Food]]</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1848:_Glacial_Erratic&diff=1410291848: Glacial Erratic2017-06-09T07:29:05Z<p>141.101.99.179: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1848<br />
| date = June 9, 2017<br />
| title = Glacial Erratic<br />
| image = glacial_erratic.png<br />
| titletext = "This will take a while, which sucks, because I'm already so busy chiseling out igneous intrusions from rock formations and watching Youtube loops of the Superman fault-sealing scene over and over."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Early stuff.}}<br />
[[Ponytail]] and [[Megan]] are walking along when they come across an {{w|Glacial_erratic|erratic rock}} (which differs from the surrounding geology and is brought there by glacial action). Not wishing to bow down to the forces of nature, Megan tries to take it back to its rightful place.<br />
Megan seems to be treating the glacier like a {{tvtropes|ParentalAbandonment|parent who abandoned one of its children}}, hence "And it just left it here? And everybody's OKAY with this?"<br />
<br />
The title text furthers the absurdity by suggesting Megan is chiselling out {{w|Intrusive_rock|igneous intrusions}} which are another type of rock formation caused by solidification of {{w|magma}}.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:Ponytail: That rock is an igneous erratic--A glacier broke it off from those hills and placed it here.<br />
:Megan: What? And just left it here? And everybody's okay with this?<br />
::[pushes rock] Get...Back...<br />
:Ponytail:Why are you doing that?<br />
:Megan: Because fuck glaciers!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1847:_Dubious_Study&diff=1409721847: Dubious Study2017-06-08T12:46:03Z<p>141.101.99.179: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1847<br />
| date = June 7, 2017<br />
| title = Dubious Study<br />
| image = dubious_study.png<br />
| titletext = Sounds fine. I looked up the Academy, and it says on their MySpace page that their journal is peer-viewed and downloaded biannually.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic alludes to the growing industry in {{w|Predatory open access publishing|disreputable academic journals}}, many of whom accept articles of dubious merit for publication without rigorous peer review on payment of a fee. In an attempt to sound legitimate (and thus attract submissions), many such publishers publish journals whose names sound mistakably close to (if not identical to) established titles. Here, the ''National Academy of Proceedings'' is a play on the highly regarded academic title {{w|Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|<br />
''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA}}<br />
<br />
The title text implies that this (at present) fictional journal has a dubious online presence in the faded internet site {{w|Myspace|MySpace}}, where the publishers make claims that may be true but are misleading: "peer-viewed" sounds similar to "{{w|peer review|peer-reviewed}}", the community-led process of establishing a paper's scientific integrity prior to publication, but in fact means only that scientists have viewed the content (as [[Cueball]] is now). Likewise, some journals might be "published biannually", whereas "downloaded biannually" implies that the journal is ''read'' only twice each year. Single articles in high-profile journals such as ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'' would expect to receive [http://palgrave.nature.com/nchem/journal/v7/n5/nchem.2243/metrics hundreds to thousands] of views in their first year of publication. The fictional journal publisher no doubt hopes that an inexperienced scientist may mistake these claims for meaningful statements of authority, and thus submit a paper (and eventually pay a fee for its publication). <br />
<br />
''The National Academy of Proceedings'' in fact sets itself apart from certain predatory journals by ensuring that the claims on its website are in fact factually accurate (if phrased to mislead article authors, particularly those with English as an additional language); some journals are [http://www.nature.com/news/predatory-journals-recruit-fake-editor-1.21662 openly dishonest] on their websites.<br />
<br />
Randall also judges academic content based on superficial details in comic [[1301: File Extensions]], where he focuses on how the information is formatted (in particular if it is in TeX or with the TeX rendering-style of a scientific publication). Similarly, in [[906: Advertising Discovery]], Randall muses on how we automatically trust anything formatted in Wikipedia style. (This was later proven in a scientific study.)<ref>No it wasn't. But weren't you inclined to believe it just because of the little blue "[1]"?</ref> And on a different note, prestigious-sounding but meaningless names also appear in the title text for [[1068: Swiftkey|1068]], where {{w|SwiftKey}} suggests the phrase "Massachusetts Institute of America" to Randall.<br />
<br />
<div style="font-size:10px;"><references/></div><br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan is standing behind Cueball who is sitting at a computer desk using a laptop.]<br />
:Megan: Are you sure this study is legit?<br />
:Cueball: Sure, it says it was accepted for publication.<br />
:Megan: Where?<br />
:Cueball: Hmm... ''The National Academy of Proceedings''.<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:If something is formatted like a serious scientific paper, it can take me a while to realize it isn't one.<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1846:_Drone_Problems&diff=1408441846: Drone Problems2017-06-06T14:31:59Z<p>141.101.99.179: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1846<br />
| date = June 5, 2017<br />
| title = Drone Problems<br />
| image = drone_problems.png<br />
| titletext = On the other hand, as far as they know, my system is working perfectly.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Possibly more, may contain language errors. Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[[Megan]] is frustrated because of people flying {{w|Unmanned aerial vehicle|drones}} too close to her. So she builds a system to shoot them down and shows it to [[Cueball]], who clearly is also excited about the idea and helps spot the drones. However, each of the drones gets accidentally destroyed by its own pilot because of their inability to fly the drones.<br />
<br />
After three hours of unsuccessful drone hunting, a frustrated Megan complains about people unable to fly the drones, which prevents her (and Cueball) from having fun shooting them down. The joke is that she originally created the system to get rid of the drones, so the lack of drones should be the desired output - and now she wants the drones nearby (even if only temporarily).<br />
<br />
This comic confirms that Cueball prefers technological air-defense systems to [[1842: Anti-Drone Eagles|biological measures]].<br />
<br />
The title text refers to the fact that from an outsider's perspective, the system is keeping all the drones away from the house.<br />
<br />
Another possible secondary joke is that the drones were flying near her because the pilots can't fly properly.<br />
<br />
Megan had [[1586: Keyboard Problems|previously suggested]] that drones flying near Cueball's house ({{tvtropes|TheJinx|and possibly Cueball's general vicinity}}) would unexpectedly crash.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan is sitting on her knees at the porch in front of a house when Cueball comes walking up. She is using a smartphone which is connected to a dish-antenna pointing into the sky.]<br />
:Megan: People in the park keep flying drones near me, so I've built a system to shoot them down.<br />
:Cueball: Cool! Oh yeah, there's one now.<br />
:Megan: Time for a test!<br />
<br />
:Megan: Okay, locking on…<br />
:Cueball: Wait, it just crashed.<br />
:Megan: Damn.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Here comes another one! Aim for… nope, it got stuck in a tree.<br />
<br />
:Caption: Three hours later…<br />
:Cueball: Finally, two more just—no, one crashed and the other is hurtling sideways toward the lake.<br />
:Megan: ''Will you people learn to fly these things?!''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Drones]]</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1837:_Rental_Car&diff=1406941837: Rental Car2017-06-03T18:39:52Z<p>141.101.99.179: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1837<br />
| date = May 15, 2017<br />
| title = Rental Car<br />
| image = rental_car.png<br />
| titletext = Technically, both cars are haunted, but the murder ghosts can't stand listening to the broken GPS for more than a few minutes.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
In this comic the couple [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] want to rent a car. The [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|Cueball-like guy]] from the {{w|car rental}} agency tells them they only have two vehicles available:<br />
* One car that puts its occupants into mortal danger, so much so that it is called ''The Murder Car''. The danger, however, is abstract—the car is haunted by a {{w|ghost}}, and actual death befalls only "maybe one in six". (That is the equivalent of a round of {{w|Russian Roulette}}.) This is the fatality rate for drivers (in this case, Megan), while the rate for passengers is not mentioned.<br />
* The other car, a regular {{w|Sedan (automobile)|sedan}}, has a defective {{w|GPS}} that incessantly gives instructions to go specifically to {{w|Seattle}}, regardless of the driver's intention to go there. And it cannot be turned off.<br />
<br />
Megan believes she can ignore this and accepts the least lethal car. The comic suggests that driving with a GPS that tries to guide you to a different destination than that which you wish to visit—so it is always recalculating and asking you to do U-turns—is incredibly annoying. So annoying that given the choice between the persistent low-level annoyance of the GPS on one hand, and the ("low") probability of being murdered on the other, most people will choose the latter option. After all, they might survive murderous ghosts but they feel they will not survive long having to listen to the broken GPS.<br />
<br />
According to the title text, the murderous ghosts haunt both cars, but as soon as the car starts driving and the GPS begins to drone on, even the ghost cannot stand listening to the broken GPS and stops possessing it.<br />
<br />
Apart from the joke about GPS, this is also a subtle joke on the horrible cars one might get at a car rental service.<br />
<br />
It is possible that the car rental service is trying to drive people away from the haunted car, which we can assume is just a normal car, to get more profit when people come back and take the "haunted" car when their GPS is broken.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*With an estimated 1.25 million vehicular deaths globally in 2013[http://www.who.int/gho/road_safety/mortality/traffic_deaths_number/en/] and approx. 1,187 million vehicles on the road in the same year [https://www.statista.com/statistics/281134/number-of-vehicles-in-use-worldwide/], the number of fatalities per vehicle comes to be around 0.1% or about 1 in 950. This number includes trucks and commecial vehicles.<br />
* As of 2014, there were 253 million cars on the road in the US [http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-ihs-automotive-average-age-car-20140609-story.html] and only 32,675 deaths [https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812246], giving a rate of fatalities per car of slightly over 0.01%, or 1 in 7,700)<br />
* The car lethality risk is lower in the US by a factor of 8, compared to the worldwide vehicular lethality risk.<br />
<br />
*The global number of haunted cars is not available, but believed to be at least five in number. [http://www.autoblog.com/2014/10/31/five-cursed-haunted-cars/]<br />
<br />
*Similarly, while the number of faulty car GPS devices is not available, Garmin recalled 1.3 million Nuvi GPS units in 2011. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/26/garmin-gps-recall-nuvi_n_695967.html] These recalls were not for bad directions, but for fire hazards.<br />
<br />
*There are records of several {{w|Death by GPS | deaths resulting from following faulty GPS directions or maps}}, particularly while traveling in unfamiliar or difficult terrain. [http://www.newser.com/story/214008/woman-killed-after-gps-takes-her-to-wrong-street.html] [http://www.npr.org/2011/07/26/137646147/the-gps-a-fatally-misleading-travel-companion] [https://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/05/death-by-gps/]<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A Cueball-like guy standing behind a desk looking at a computer screen services Megan and Cueball on the other side of the desk.]<br />
:Guy: We have two rental cars left.<br />
:Guy: One is the murder car. But don't let the name scare you!<br />
:Guy: It's definitely haunted. But most drivers don't get murdered.<br />
:Guy: Maybe one in six.<br />
<br />
:[The guy lifts his hand and looks at Megan and Cueball.]<br />
:Guy: The other is a regular sedan.<br />
:Guy: But it has a GPS that's stuck trying to navigate to Seattle, and you can’t turn it off.<br />
:Megan: ...I can ignore it, right? That's fine.<br />
<br />
:[In a frame-less panel Megan and Cueball drive in the sedan.]<br />
:GPS: Turn left<br />
:GPS: Recalculating<br />
:GPS: Make a U-Turn<br />
:GPS: Recalculating<br />
:GPS: Turn right<br />
:GPS: Make a U-Turn<br />
:GPS: Recalculating<br />
<br />
:[Megan and Cueball walk back into the agency with the guy behind his desk. Megan holds out the car keys in one hand.]<br />
:Guy: Back already?<br />
:Megan: We'll take the murder car.<br />
:Guy: Popular choice.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1843:_Opening_Crawl&diff=140555Talk:1843: Opening Crawl2017-05-31T14:30:06Z<p>141.101.99.179: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~--><br />
<br />
Rogue One has no opening crawl. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.22|141.101.98.22]] 20:30, 29 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
:It is also a Star Wars story, i.e. not a part of the trilogy of trilogies... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:41, 29 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I suspect I'm not only one who would prefer reading Heir to the Empire to watching The Force Awakens. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:52, 29 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
If I recall correctly, Splinter of the Mind's Eye also contains the first EU inconsistency, with it and a comic from that same year disagreeing about whether Luke can swim. Cool to see that referenced here. -- [[User:Tempystral|Tempystral]] ([[User talk:Tempystral|talk]]) 04:43, 30 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Luke can only swim in tepid water. Hence the term, ''lukewarm''. <sub>--[[User:Nialpxe|<span style="color: #000; text-decoration: none;">Nialpxe</span>]], 2017. [[User_talk:Nialpxe|<span style="color: #000; text-decoration: none;">(Arguments welcome)</span>]]</sub><br />
::Bada-bum, tss [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:07, 30 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think with this one, people would notice straight away. An opening crawl that starts off with something about the universe, or the political situation, would work. But I think from that quote, the ''first line'' describes direct action, so the audience would be thinking something's wrong before they get into reading it. Need one that starts with setting the scene. Also, you'd need a huge amount of space if you want to film more than a couple of pages. - [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.109|162.158.154.109]] 10:04, 30 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
:I honestly wouldn't notice. Reading the first part of 'Thrawn Trilogy' (book whose text is shown here) I reckon I would think it's a new, artistic, 'spin' on the traditional summary. I would proceed to get lost in the storyline until one woke person starts yelling 'It isn't real! They're just showing us the text from a book!'. The incident will be filmed by multiple people and get 100,000 upvotes on reddit. [[User:Themanhimself11|Themanhimself11]] ([[User talk:Themanhimself11|talk]]) 11:56, 30 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:They might be able to get away with the first line, although there would be some unrest. The moment the first quote shows up, though, is when most of the audience would be clued in. Of course, I wouldn't mind sitting down reading parts of a Star Wars book to a John Williams score. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 11:29, 30 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I must say, I really like the TvTropes warning. Very useful. [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 10:30, 30 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I doubt that the joke actually has anything to do with the old rumors about the Thrawn Trilogy being a source for VII-IX, the Thrawn Trilogy was more likely chosen both for it's longstanding popularity and it's stylistic similarities to the actual crawl texts. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.47|162.158.79.47]] <br />
<br />
The joke regarding Splinter in the Mind's Eye probably has less to do with differences in style and more to do with stuff like the Luke/Leia romance subplot in Splinter (obviously written before George Lucas decided to make them twins separated at birth) and similar inconsistencies which would confuse the daylights out of a modern fan.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.47|162.158.79.47]]<br />
<br />
Why is the text provided in the Trivia? It's already in the transcript (making this the first transcript I actually read). The only difference is the first paragraph and the last word. And I say the first paragraph should be in the transcript. It might be completely illegible, but it is unquestionably visible in the comic. As for the proposal presented in the comic, I'd say that the first spoken word would give it away. :) The first paragraph fits in well for an opening crawl, but that's it.<br />
<br />
And what's with TVTropes? Never been there, but all I ever hear / read is complaints, people requesting not to link to it, forbidding links to it, and now, lately on here, speaking of an automatic warning. From the looks of it, said warning makes the link not work on my iPad - I just see a thin underline - and I'm kind of afraid to check on a computer now, LOL! - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.16|108.162.219.16]] 12:37, 31 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
: [[609: Tab Explosion]] - [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.179|141.101.99.179]] 14:30, 31 May 2017 (UTC)</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1843:_Opening_Crawl&diff=1405131843: Opening Crawl2017-05-30T07:10:51Z<p>141.101.99.179: /* Trivia */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1843<br />
| date = May 29, 2017<br />
| title = Opening Crawl<br />
| image = opening_crawl.png<br />
| titletext = Using a classic Timothy Zahn EU/Legends novel is bad enough, but at least the style and setting aren't too far off. If you really want to mess with people, try using Splinter of the Mind's Eye.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|I have a bad feeling about this.}}<br />
<br />
Each <span style="border-bottom:1px dotted" title="thus excluding spin-offs like Rogue One">episodic</span> {{w|Star Wars}} film begins with an "{{tvtropes|OpeningScroll|opening crawl}}" giving the audience some of the backstory, which often reads like the prologue of a novel. <br />
<br />
[[Randall]] wants to reverse this by projecting the text of a Star Wars novel and see how long this can be continued before viewers realize it is a prank.<br />
<br />
The title text compares different Star Wars novels' style, remarking on how well suited they would be for this prank.<br />
<br />
{{w|Timothy Zahn}} is a science fiction writer who has written and contributed to many novels and comics [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Timothy_Zahn#Works] in the {{w|Star Wars expanded universe}}. The [http://www.mustreading.net/Thrawn_Trilogy_03.html text in the comic] is the first five paragraphs from the book ''[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/The_Last_Command The Last Command]''. The characters mentioned are [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mitth%27raw%27nuruodo Grand Admiral Thrawn], the primary antagonist of the ''Thrawn Trilogy'', and [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Pellaeon Gilad Pellaeon], who serves as a {{w|Dr. Watson}}-type companion to Thrawn throughout much of the trilogy.<br />
<br />
''[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Splinter_of_the_Mind%27s_Eye Splinter of the Mind's Eye]'' was an early Star Wars novel written before the original film was expanded to a trilogy (and then expanded some more), so it contains multiple aborted subplots which can make it very confusing for a fan who has seen the later works.<br />
<br />
The term "EU" refers to "Expanded Universe", which was the term for the corpus of non-cinematic ''Star Wars'' content before ''Star Wars'' was acquired by {{w|Disney}}. Not wanting to be constrained by previous canon, Disney declared all "Expanded Universe" content to be non-canonical to all future movies, and re-branded the EU as "Legends" to take place in its own alternate continuity.<br />
<br />
For a very long time, fans believed that the Thrawn Trilogy would have constituted Star Wars VII to IX should the movie have been made and thus "before they figure out there's no movie coming after it" refers to both the mistaken belief of fans and the novelisation as delivered through the opening crawl.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[On a black background with many stars is five yellow blocks of text that recedes towards a black section at the back of the panel. The last block cannot be read, but it is (almost) possible to read the second block of text at the back. The bottom line of the last text block is cut off through the middle of the letters.]<br />
<br />
:"All systems show battle ready, Admiral," the comm officer reported from the portside crew pit. "The task force is beginning to check in."<br />
<br />
:"Very good, Lieutenant," Grand Admiral Thrawn nodded. "Inform me when all have done so. Captain Pellaeon?"<br />
<br />
:"Sir?" Pellaeon said, searching his superior's face for the stress the Grand Admiral must be feeling. The stress he himself was certainly feeling. This was not just another tactical strike against the Rebellion, after all—not a minor shipping raid or even a complex but straightforward hit-and-fade against some insignificant planetary base. After nearly a month of frenzied preparations, Thrawn's master campaign for the Empire's final victory was about to be launched.<br />
<br />
:But if the Grand Admiral was feeling any tension, he was keeping it to himself. "Begin the countdown," he told <br />
:[Cut off through the middle and at the end]: Pellaeon, his voice as calm as if he were ordering<br />
<br />
:[Caption beneath the panel:] <br />
:Movie theater projection booth prank: see how many pages of a Star Wars novel you can get people to read before they figure out there's no movie coming after it.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*Some of the crawl in the comic is unreadable. But since this is text from a real book [http://www.mustreading.net/Thrawn_Trilogy_03.html the full text] can be found online.<br />
*Here is what would have been readable up to this moment of the "film", if the text was crawling by:<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: #ffc; border: solid thin grey;"><br />
&nbsp;Gliding through the blackness of deep space, the Imperial Star Destroyer Chimaera pointed its mighty arrowhead shape toward the dim star of its target system, three thousandths of a light-year away. And prepared itself for war.<br><br><br />
&nbsp;"All systems show battle ready, Admiral," the comm officer reported from the portside crew pit. "The task force is beginning to check in."<br />
&nbsp;"Very good, Lieutenant," Grand Admiral Thrawn nodded. "Inform me when all have done so. Captain Pellaeon?"<br><br><br />
&nbsp;"Sir?" Pellaeon said, searching his superior's face for the stress the Grand Admiral must be feeling. The stress he himself was certainly feeling. This was not just another tactical strike against the Rebellion, after all—not a minor shipping raid or even a complex but straightforward hit-and-fade against some insignificant planetary base. After nearly a month of frenzied preparations, Thrawn's master campaign for the Empire's final victory was about to be launched.<br><br><br />
&nbsp;But if the Grand Admiral was feeling any tension, he was keeping it to himself. "Begin the countdown," he told Pellaeon, his voice as calm as if he were ordering dinner.</blockquote><br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Star Wars]]</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1842:_Anti-Drone_Eagles&diff=1404271842: Anti-Drone Eagles2017-05-28T06:57:20Z<p>141.101.99.179: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1842<br />
| date = May 26, 2017<br />
| title = Anti-Drone Eagles<br />
| image = anti_drone_eagles.png<br />
| titletext = It's cool, it's totally ethical--they're all programmed to hunt whichever bird of prey is most numerous at the moment, so they leave the endangered ones alone until near the end.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|People at work.}}<br />
Law enforcement and security agencies often use [http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-35750816/eagles-trained-to-take-down-drones birds of prey] [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/02/21/terrorists-are-building-drones-france-is-destroying-them-with-eagles/ to combat drones] flying unlawfully over restricted sites. <span style="border-bottom:1px dotted" title="Probably not as cost effective as using eagles to transport golden rings or bearers thereof to volcanoes in foreign lands.">This is often more cost effective than using technological means (such as scramblers and counter-drones) and safer for the public than using conventional weaponry (such as shotguns).</span><br />
<br />
Eagles, being predators, have natural tendencies to attack the central components of drones while avoiding the sharp and spinny bits.<br />
<br />
[[Cueball]] argues that this is unethical as it forces rare animals to put their lives at risk, and compares it to using police dogs for traffic control, which people would generally frown upon.<br />
<br />
<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted" title="Effectiveness depends upon the conditions of use. Obviously eagles can't be used everywhere that drones are restricted, but they are often effectively used where ground security is also present to identify and arrest those that might be unlawfully flying the drones, so they can't indefinitely replenish their hardware. The first paragraph has links to real life examples.">Not only would it be unethical, but also ineffective.</span> The supply of Eagles is rather limited, and there are biological limits to how fast it can be replenished, whereas more drones can be created very quickly to replace those that are destroyed. Traffic control dogs would be similarly ineffective, as dogs would struggle to run as fast as a speeding motorcycle, and would be powerless to stop the motorcycle even if they could. <br />
<br />
[[Megan]] thinks both ideas (eagles and dogs) sound cool, but she understands the ethical argument against using them for traffic control.<br />
<br />
[[Black Hat]], on the other hand, goes a step further and says that he has created a drone that hunts the eagles. In the title text, he continues that is ethical because they (only the title text mentions that there are several of such drones) only target the most populous species first, although they will eventually eradicate the endangered ones once they bring down the number of all birds of prey (note that this implies that he wants to make all birds of prey extinct or endangered). He seems to {{tvtropes|ComicallyMissingThePoint|miss the point}} that it is not merely the relative number of birds that creates the ethical problem, but the fact that animals' lives are being put at direct risk by humans. His construction of the anti-eagle drone may be simply for the point of making the eagles' goals not only dangerous, but also entirely ineffective. This is probably not an opposition to privacy but merely his trademark [[72: Classhole|classholery]] in action.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
:(Cueball, Black Hat and Megan are standing.)<br />
:Cueball: Everyone loves these eagles that take down drones, but ... I dunno.<br />
:Megan: You gotta admit, it's pretty cool.<br />
<br />
:(Close-up on Cueball's face)<br />
:Cueball: Yeah, but ... training rare animals to hurl themselves at whirling machinery can only get us so far, you know?<br />
<br />
:(Regular shot)<br />
:Cueball: At some point, it's like releasing police dogs onto highways to attack speeding motorcycles.<br />
:Megan: Also cool, but I see your point.<br />
<br />
:Black Hat: Plus, I just finished my autonomous drone that hunts eagles.<br />
:Cueball: Man, ''you'' are an entirely separate class of problem.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1838:_Machine_Learning&diff=1404261838: Machine Learning2017-05-28T06:51:40Z<p>141.101.99.179: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1838<br />
| date = May 17, 2017<br />
| title = Machine Learning<br />
| image = machine_learning.png<br />
| titletext = The pile gets soaked with data and starts to get mushy over time, so it's technically recurrent.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|'''or is it?'''}}<br />
<br />
{{w|Machine learning}} is a method employed in automation of complex tasks. It usually involves creation of algorithms that deal with statistical analysis of data and pattern recognition to generate output. The validity/accuracy of the output can be used to give feedback to make changes to the system, usually making future results statistically better.<br />
<br />
Cueball stands next to what looks like a pile of garbage (or compost), with a Cueball-like friend standing atop it. The pile has a funnel (labelled "data") at one end and a box labelled "answers" at the other. Here and there mathematical matrices stick out of the pile. As the friend explains to the incredulous Cueball, data enters through the funnel, undergoes an incomprehensible process of linear algebra, and comes out as answers. The friend appears to be a functional part of this system himself, as he stands atop the pile stirring it with a paddle. His machine learning system is probably very inefficient, as he is integral to both the mechanical part (repeated stirring) and the learning part (making the answers look "right").<br />
<br />
The main joke is that, despite this description being too vague and giving no intuition or details into the system, it is close to the level of understanding most machine learning experts have of the most popular class of techniques in machine learning, namely support vector machines. <!--''(Replaced reference to neural networks, but still needs explanation of vector machines.)''--><br />
<br />
====Composting====<br />
This comic compares a machine learning system to a compost pile. {{w|Composting}} is the process of taking organic matter, such as food and yard waste, and allowing it to decompose into a form that serves as fertilizer. A common method of composting is to mound the organic matter in a pile with a certain amount of moisture, then "stirring" the pile occasionally to move the less-decomposed material from the top to the interior of the pile, where it will decompose faster. <br />
<br />
In large-scale composting operations, the raw organic matter added to the pile is referred to as "input". This cartoon implies a play on the term "input", comparing a compost input to a data input.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
[Cueball Prime, holds a canoe paddle at his side and stands on top of a "big pile of linear algebra" containing a funnel labeled "data" and box labeled "answers". Cueball II stands to the left side of the panel.)]<br />
<br />
Cueball II: <i>This</i> is your machine learning system?<br />
<br />
Cueball Prime: Yup! You pour the data into this big pile of linear algebra, then collect the answers on the other side.<br />
<br />
Cueball II: What if the answers are wrong?<br />
<br />
Cueball Prime: Just stir the pile until they start looking right. <br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=609:_Tab_Explosion&diff=140415609: Tab Explosion2017-05-27T10:43:22Z<p>141.101.99.179: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 609<br />
| date = July 13, 2009<br />
| title = Tab Explosion<br />
| image = tab_explosion.png<br />
| titletext = Cracked.com is another inexplicable browser narcotic. They could write a list of '17 worst haircuts in the Ottoman Empire' and I'd still read through to the end, then click on all the links at the end.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{tvtropes|HomePage|TV Tropes}} is a popular site which allows conversation on {{w|tropes}}. A common joke with the site is how you will read a page, find a certain trope, which will open another tab on your web page. Then, as you read another article, you'll open even more pages. Pretty soon, this will cause an extremely long cycle of opening new pages and closing old ones.<br />
<br />
In the comic, this is exactly what happens to our unfortunate victim. He starts on a single page, then opens more and more tabs on different pages. Pretty soon, he finds himself stuck in a loop of opening pages.<br />
<br />
The last frame refers to {{w|Rickrolling}}, which is the practice of being linked to {{w|Rick Astley|Rick Astley's}} "{{w|Never Gonna Give You Up}}" on YouTube.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to the comedy site [http://www.cracked.com Cracked.com]. This site is also known for its addictive articles. Most articles are formatted in the same way the title text notes. Eventually, Cracked itself wrote a column that [http://www.cracked.com/blog/clippy-finally-messes-with-the-wrong-word-doc/ paid tribute to this cartoon]. (See the very last line ''With that in mind, we present to you the 17 Worst Haircuts in The Ottoman Empire''.)<br />
<br />
The original comic links to TVtropes' page of {{tvtropes|UniversalTropes|Universal tropes}}. TVtropes has taken notice and has a welcome letter for you at the end of the main article: "Oh, and {{xkcd|609|hello}} to all you {{tvtropes|Xkcd|xkcd}} readers. (And [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=609 thank you] - {{tvtropes|TVTropesWillRuinYourLife|for the information}}!)" Here the "thank you" link actually links to this page, the "hello" links to the comic on xkcd and the other two links are to two articles on TVTropes, the first about xkcd and the last one referring to this comic about how TVTropes will ruin your life.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
:Cueball: Huh.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
:''Click''<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball stares at the computer.]<br />
:Cueball: I never noticed that!<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
:Cueball: Haha, yeah.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
:''Click''<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
:Cueball: So true.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball stares at the computer.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball stares at the computer.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
:''Click''<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball stares at the computer.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
:Megan (off-screen): Are you in there?<br />
:Cueball: Help!<br />
<br />
:[Megan walks in behind Cueball who is still sitting at the computer. The bottom of the image is covered in Megan's last line]<br />
:Megan: Okay, who linked you to TVTropes? What's ''with'' that site?<br />
:Cueball: Can't ... stop...<br />
:Megan: It's like Rickrolling, but you're trapped all day.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Rickrolling]]</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1842:_Anti-Drone_Eagles&diff=1404141842: Anti-Drone Eagles2017-05-27T10:16:55Z<p>141.101.99.179: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1842<br />
| date = May 26, 2017<br />
| title = Anti-Drone Eagles<br />
| image = anti_drone_eagles.png<br />
| titletext = It's cool, it's totally ethical--they're all programmed to hunt whichever bird of prey is most numerous at the moment, so they leave the endangered ones alone until near the end.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|People at work.}}<br />
Law enforcement and security agencies often use [http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-35750816/eagles-trained-to-take-down-drones birds of prey] [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/02/21/terrorists-are-building-drones-france-is-destroying-them-with-eagles/ to combat drones] flying unlawfully over restricted sites. This is often more cost effective than using technological means (such as scramblers and counter-drones) and safer for the public than using conventional weaponry (such as shotguns). <br />
<br />
Eagles, being predators, have natural tendencies to attack the central components of drones while avoiding the sharp and spinny bits.<br />
<br />
[[Cueball]] argues that this is unethical as it forces rare animals to put their lives at risk, and compares it to using police dogs for traffic control, which people would generally frown upon.<br />
<br />
<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted" title="Effectiveness depends upon the conditions of use. Obviously eagles can't be used everywhere that drones are restricted, but they are often effectively used where ground security is also present to identify and arrest those that might be unlawfully flying the drones. The first paragraph has links to real life examples.">Not only would it be unethical, but also ineffective.</span> The supply of Eagles is rather limited, and there are biological limits to how fast it can be replenished, whereas more drones can be created very quickly to replace those that are destroyed. Traffic control dogs would be similarly ineffective, as dogs would struggle to run as fast as a speeding motorcycle, and would be powerless to stop the motorcycle even if they could. <br />
<br />
[[Megan]] thinks both ideas (eagles and dogs) sound cool, but she understands the ethical argument against using them for traffic control.<br />
<br />
[[Black Hat]], on the other hand, goes a step further and says that he has created a drone that hunts the eagles. In the title text, he continues that is ethical because they (only the title text mentions that there are several of such drones) only target the most populous species first, although they will eventually eradicate the endangered ones once they bring down the number of all birds of prey (note that this implies that he wants to make all eagles extinct or endangered). He seems to {{tvtropes|ComicallyMissingThePoint|miss the point}} that it is not merely the relative number of birds that creates the ethical problem, but the fact that animals' lives are being put at direct risk by humans. His construction of the anti-eagle drone may be simply for the point of making the eagles' goals not only dangerous, but also entirely ineffective. This is probably not an opposition to privacy but merely his trademark [[72: Classhole|classholery]] in action.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
:(Cueball, Black Hat and Megan are standing.)<br />
:Cueball: Everyone loves these eagles that take down drones, but ... I dunno.<br />
:Megan: You gotta admit, it's pretty cool.<br />
<br />
:(Close-up on Cueball's face)<br />
:Cueball: Yeah, but ... training rare animals to hurl themselves at whirling machinery can only get us so far, you know?<br />
<br />
:(Regular shot)<br />
:Cueball: At some point, it's like releasing police dogs onto highways to attack speeding motorcycles.<br />
:Megan: Also cool, but I see your point.<br />
<br />
:Black Hat: Plus, I just finished my autonomous drone that hunts eagles.<br />
:Cueball: Man, ''you'' are an entirely separate class of problem.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1838:_Machine_Learning&diff=1399901838: Machine Learning2017-05-18T06:27:40Z<p>141.101.99.179: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1838<br />
| date = May 17, 2017<br />
| title = Machine Learning<br />
| image = machine_learning.png<br />
| titletext = The pile gets soaked with data and starts to get mushy over time, so it's technically recurrent.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Work in progress. <s>This explanation is an attempt at {{w|design by committee|machine learning by committee}}.</s>}}<br />
<br />
This comic compares a machine learning system to a compost pile.<br />
<br />
{{w|Machine learning}} is a method employed in automation of complex tasks. It usually involves creation of algorithms that deal with statistical analysis of data and pattern recognition to generate output. The validity/accuracy of the output can be used to give feedback to make changes to the system, usually making future results statistically better.<br />
<br />
{{w|Composting}} is the process of taking organic matter, such as food and yard waste, and allowing it to decompose into a form that serves as fertilizer. A common method of composting is to mound the organic matter in a pile with a certain amount of moisture, then "stirring" the pile occasionally to move the less-decomposed material from the top to the interior of the pile, where it will decompose faster. <br />
<br />
In this comic, Cueball explains to a Cueball-like guy his machine learning system, which consists of a pile of mathematical functions with an input funnel (labelled "data") at one end and an output box (labelled "answers) at the other. Cueball himself appears to be a functional part of this system as he stands atop the pile stirring it with a paddle.<br />
<br />
In this cartoon data is input into a funnel, and goes through a mess of linear algebra, and comes out as answers. The main joke is that, despite this description being too vague and giving no intuition or details into the system, it is close to the level of understanding most machine learning experts have of the most popular class of techniques in machine learning, namely deep learning with neural networks. <!--''(Why reference to neural networks here? They are non-linear. A better example is support vector machines.)''--><br />
<br />
''One of the most popular paradigms of machine learning is that of supervised learning, where a function mapping an input to an output is learned from several input-output pairs, e.g. a function mapping images of faces to people names, from a dataset of static labelled images. Classic machine learning techniques like regression, or logistic regression, have understandable parameters, and provable algorithms, but require significant engineering in the pre-processing step and don't perform very well for data like images or natural text. Deep learning techniques, on the other hand, require very little pre-processing, but require the data to be run through several steps of linear algebra, where essentially in each step the output of the previous step is multiplied with a matrix and sent to the the next step. This multi-step process has proven to be very successful for image and text data, but the structure of the parameters, arranged as a matrix for each step, allows for very little interpretation, and can only be described as "data going through a pile of linear algebra".''<br />
<br />
The method of training such deep neural networks is via gradient descent, which can be viewed as "stirring the pile of linear algebra until the answers start looking right".<br />
<br />
The title text refers to recurrent neural networks, which are a useful class of deep neural networks for dealing with sequence data like speech or text.<br />
<br />
This comic satirizes machine learning, more specifically neural networks. In its most basic form, a neural network takes data and results and strengthens connections that give the right answer and weakens ones that don't, until the results "look right". Neural networks are extremely data-dependent, and make remarkably few guarantees when compared to most other computing techniques, thus the joke.<br />
<br />
Cueball's machine learning system is probably very inefficient, as he is integral to both the mechanical part (repeated stirring) and the learning part (making the answers look "right"). <br />
<br />
''Recently, other forms of neural networks, such as LSTMs, feed old sequence data back into the network with some delay, making it recurrent. The title text calls this the pile "getting mushy". The title text is also be a pun based on how Cueball is going through the data. Instead of using a shovel, he is using a canoe paddle. Canoes can be used on rivers, and rivers by definition have currents. Thus, a recurrent data could, in this situation, mean data treated as if it were part of a river.''<br />
<br />
In large-scale composting operations, the raw organic matter added to the pile is referred to as "input". This cartoon implies a play on the term "input", comparing a compost input to a data input.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
[Cueball, holding a canoe paddle at his side, is standing on top of a "big pile of linear algebra" containing a funnel labeled "data" and box labeled "answers" while talking to a Cueball-like person to the left (from the reader's perspective)]<br />
<br />
Guy: <i>This</i> is your machine learning system?<br />
<br />
Cueball: Yup! You pour the data into this big pile of linear algebra, then collect the answers on the other side.<br />
<br />
Guy: What if the answers are wrong?<br />
<br />
Cueball: Just stir the pile until they start looking right. <br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1838:_Machine_Learning&diff=139970Talk:1838: Machine Learning2017-05-17T12:38:48Z<p>141.101.99.179: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~--><br />
Appearently, there is the issue of people "training" intelligent systems out of their gut feeling: Let's say for example a system should determine whether or not a person should be promoted to fill a currently vacant business position. If the system is taught by the humans currently in charge of that very decision, and it weakens the people the humnas would decline and stenghtens the one they wouldn't, all these people might do is feeding the machine their own irrational biases. Then, down the road, some candidate may be declined because "computer says so".<br />
One could argue that this, if it happens, is just bad usage and no inherent issue of machine learning itself, so I'm not sure if this thought can be connected to the comic. In my head, it's close to "stirring the pile until the answers look right". What do you people think?<br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.2|162.158.88.2]] 05:39, 17 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Up the creek *with* a paddle. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.121|162.158.111.121]] 07:52, 17 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It's a compost pile! Stir it and keep it moist until something useful comes out.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.64|162.158.75.64]] 11:40, 17 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
]<br />
<br />
Actually I doin't think the paddle has anything to do with canoes - paddles like that are often used when stirring large quantities. In Louisiana its called a crawfish or gumbo paddle<br />
<br />
I think the entire paragraph that goes "One of the most popular paradigms of..." needs to be cleaned up to make it human readable. [[User:Nialpxe|Nialpxe]] ([[User talk:Nialpxe|talk]]) 12:09, 17 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
Does anyone else think the topic may have been influenced by Google's recently (May 17) featured article about machine learning?[[https://www.google.com/intl/en/about/main/gender-equality-films/]] <br />
--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.35|162.158.79.35]] 12:17, 17 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Maybe one day bots will learn to create entire explanations for xkcd. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.179|141.101.99.179]] 12:38, 17 May 2017 (UTC)</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1837:_Rental_Car&diff=1398561837: Rental Car2017-05-15T14:46:15Z<p>141.101.99.179: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1837<br />
| date = May 15, 2017<br />
| title = Rental Car<br />
| image = rental_car.png<br />
| titletext = Technically, both cars are haunted, but the murder ghosts can't stand listening to the broken GPS for more than a few minutes.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Work in progress}}<br />
<br />
In this comic the couple [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] want to rent a car. The [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|Cueball-like guy]] from the {{w|car rental}} agency tells them they only have two vehicles available:<br />
* One car that puts its occupants into mortal danger, so much so that it is called ''The Murder Car''. The danger, however, is abstract - it is [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/haunted haunted] by a {{w|ghost}}, and actual death befalls only "maybe one in six". (That is the equivalent of a round of {{w|Russian Roulette}}. )<br />
* The other car, a regular {{w|Sedan (automobile)|Sedan}}, has a defective {{w|GPS}} that incessantly gives instructions to go specifically to {{w|Seattle}}, regardless of the driver's intention to go there. And it cannot be turned off.<br />
<br />
Megan believes she can ignore this and accepts the least lethal car. The comic suggests that driving with a GPS that tries to guide you to a different destination than that which you wish to visit - so it is always recalculating and asking you to do U-turns - is incredibly annoying. So annoying that given the choice between the persistent low-level annoyance of the GPS on one hand, and the ("low") probability of being murdered on the other, most people will choose the latter option. After all, they might survive murderous ghosts but they feel they will not survive long having to listen to the broken GPS.<br />
<br />
According to the title text, the murderous ghosts haunt both cars, but as soon as the car starts driving and the GPS begins to drone on, even the ghost cannot stand listening to the broken GPS and returns to ''The Murder Car''.<br />
<br />
Apart from the joke about GPS, there is also a joke on the horrible cars one might get at a car rental service...<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*With an estimated 1.25 million vehicular deaths globally in 2013[http://www.who.int/gho/road_safety/mortality/traffic_deaths_number/en/] and approx 53.7 million cars sold in the same year [https://www.statista.com/statistics/200002/international-car-sales-since-1990/], the number of fatalities per vehicle sold comes to be around 2.3 or about 1 in 43.5.<br />
<br />
*The global number of haunted cars those with faulty GPS/Sat Navs is not available, but believed to be at least five in number. [http://www.autoblog.com/2014/10/31/five-cursed-haunted-cars/]<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A Cueball-like guy standing behind a desk looking at a computer screen services Megan and Cueball on the other side of the desk.]<br />
:Guy: We have two rental cars left.<br />
:Guy: One is the murder car. But don't let the name scare you!<br />
:Guy: It's definitely haunted. But most drivers don't get murdered.<br />
:Guy: Maybe one in six.<br />
<br />
:[The guy lifts his hand and looks at Megan and Cueball.]<br />
:Guy: The other is a regular Sedan.<br />
:Guy: But is has a GPS that's stuck trying to navigate to Seattle.<br />
:Megan: ...I can ignore it, right? That's fine.<br />
<br />
:[In a frame-less panel Megan and Cueball drives in the Sedan.]<br />
:GPS: Turn left<br />
:GPS: Recalculating<br />
:GPS: Make a U-Turn<br />
:GPS: Recalculating<br />
:GPS: Turn right<br />
:GPS: Make a U-Turn<br />
:GPS: Recalculating<br />
<br />
:[Megan and Cueball walks back into the the guy behind his desk. Megan holds out the car keys in one hand.]<br />
:Guy: Back already?<br />
:Megan: We'll take the murder car.<br />
:Guy: Popular Choice.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1837:_Rental_Car&diff=1398541837: Rental Car2017-05-15T14:41:19Z<p>141.101.99.179: Trivia regarding car deaths</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1837<br />
| date = May 15, 2017<br />
| title = Rental Car<br />
| image = rental_car.png<br />
| titletext = Technically, both cars are haunted, but the murder ghosts can't stand listening to the broken GPS for more than a few minutes.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Work in progress}}<br />
<br />
In this comic the couple [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] want to rent a car. The [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|Cueball-like guy]] from the {{w|car rental}} agency tells them they only have two vehicles available:<br />
* One car that puts its occupants into mortal danger, so much so that it is called ''The Murder Car''. The danger, however, is abstract - it is [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/haunted haunted] by a {{w|ghost}}, and actual death befalls only "maybe one in six". (That is the equivalent of a round of {{w|Russian Roulette}}. )<br />
* The other car, a regular {{w|Sedan (automobile)|Sedan}}, has a defective {{w|GPS}} that incessantly gives instructions to go specifically to {{w|Seattle}}, regardless of the driver's intention to go there. And it cannot be turned off.<br />
<br />
Megan believes she can ignore this and accepts the least lethal car. The comic suggests that driving with a GPS that tries to guide you to a different destination than that which you wish to visit - so it is always recalculating and asking you to do U-turns - is incredibly annoying. So annoying that given the choice between the persistent low-level annoyance of the GPS on one hand, and the ("low") probability of being murdered on the other, most people will choose the latter option. After all, they might survive murderous ghosts but they feel they will not survive long having to listen to the broken GPS.<br />
<br />
According to the title text, the murderous ghosts haunt both cars, but as soon as the car starts driving and the GPS begins to drone on, even the ghost cannot stand listening to the broken GPS and returns to ''The Murder Car''.<br />
<br />
Apart from the joke about GPS, there is also a joke on the horrible cars one might get at a car rental service...<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*With an estimated 1.25 million vehicular deaths globally in 2013[http://www.who.int/gho/road_safety/mortality/traffic_deaths_number/en/] and approx 53.7 million cars sold in the same year [https://www.statista.com/statistics/200002/international-car-sales-since-1990/], the number of fatalities per vehicle sold comes to be around 2.3 or about 1 in 43.5.<br />
<br />
*The number of haunted cars in circulation or those with faulty GPS/Sat Navs is not available.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A Cueball-like guy standing behind a desk looking at a computer screen services Megan and Cueball on the other side of the desk.]<br />
:Guy: We have two rental cars left.<br />
:Guy: One is the murder car. But don't let the name scare you!<br />
:Guy: It's definitely haunted. But most drivers don't get murdered.<br />
:Guy: Maybe one in six.<br />
<br />
:[The guy lifts his hand and looks at Megan and Cueball.]<br />
:Guy: The other is a regular Sedan.<br />
:Guy: But is has a GPS that's stuck trying to navigate to Seattle.<br />
:Megan: ...I can ignore it, right? That's fine.<br />
<br />
:[In a frame-less panel Megan and Cueball drives in the Sedan.]<br />
:GPS: Turn left<br />
:GPS: Recalculating<br />
:GPS: Make a U-Turn<br />
:GPS: Recalculating<br />
:GPS: Turn right<br />
:GPS: Make a U-Turn<br />
:GPS: Recalculating<br />
<br />
:[Megan and Cueball walks back into the the guy behind his desk. Megan holds out the car keys in one hand.]<br />
:Guy: Back already?<br />
:Megan: We'll take the murder car.<br />
:Guy: Popular Choice.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:499:_Scantron&diff=138088Talk:499: Scantron2017-03-30T20:47:36Z<p>141.101.99.179: </p>
<hr />
<div>I used a 2B pencil for the SAT. Hope I didn't kill anyone. --[[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 09:30, 25 September 2014 (UTC)<br />
:I see your dilemma. The test starts and you only have a 2B pencil. Take the risk or fail the test? 2B or not 2B?--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.71|162.158.86.71]] 12:20, 6 October 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It always bugged me how strictly my teachers would enforce this--[[User:Potato Gunman3|Potato Gunman3]] ([[User talk:Potato Gunman3|talk]]) 02:01, 1 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I find it weird that they point out how an imperfect mark will not register, but they warn against any stray marks or an incompletely erased bubble will. Which is it, one or the other? [[User:RedHatGuy68|RedHatGuy68]] ([[User talk:RedHatGuy68|talk]]) 01:48, 29 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I always thought it strange they always told you to use a #2 pencil even though anything but a #2 pencil is pretty rare for a student to even find.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.10|108.162.221.10]] 22:41, 2 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"that most modern students have heard" Not true. First of all, I've never even heard of this "Scantron" thing, and second of all, I've never had tests with only multiple choice things. In fact, multiple choice things are very rare, I think I could count all the times I've had a test involving them with only one hand. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.166|162.158.238.166]] 14:35, 21 February 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Same here. Although I am in England: maybe this is an American thing (i.e. should be "most modern US students")? Particularly considering the use of #2 vs #3 (which I've never encountered) as opposed to HB vs H. -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.179|141.101.99.179]] 20:47, 30 March 2017 (UTC)</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:903:_Extended_Mind&diff=59976Talk:903: Extended Mind2014-02-13T23:55:10Z<p>141.101.99.179: /* wikipedia outages */</p>
<hr />
<div>Title text is true - unless you happen to stumble upon any one of: {{w|Fact}}, {{w|Proof (truth)}}, {{w|Evidence}}, or {{w|Truth}}. Then you'll be stranded in an eternal loop. <br />
:What do you mean? {{w|Fact}} works fine, you get there in 7 steps. Proof gets you there in 6 - you go to {{w|Necessity and Sufficiency}} not {{w|Evidence}}. Same for {{w|Evidence}}. {{w|Truth}} leads you to {{w|Fact}}. So all of your examples actually work.<br />
--[[User:T0IVI|T0IVI]] ([[User talk:T0IVI|talk]]) 09:27, 28 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Yeah, I hit a loop on the page Community. Went right from National community to Community again. {{unsigned|69.91.105.111}}<br />
<br />
These infinite loops seem to be 'fixed', I went through fact and other stuff right to philosophy.{{unsigned|141.35.48.11}}<br />
<br />
Another loop is "England". It goes right to "Countries of the United Kingdom" which returns immediately to England. <br />
<br />
Finally we all end up in {{w|Reality}}. [[Special:Contributions/85.178.28.173|85.178.28.173]] 21:16, 29 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I do have to say that the best loop that doesn't feed to Philosophy is {{w|Sand Fence}} and {{w|Snow Fence}}. The first sentence of each article is identical except for switching the instances of sand and snow. --[[Special:Contributions/68.97.21.122|68.97.21.122]] 05:17, 6 July 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Randall is either mistaken or intentionally misinformative (or rather, politically correct) in his IQ estimates. What's a car hyperbole aside, the cluelessness, sentence length, and spelling of the outage-messages remind of a person in their low 90s-high 80s, if not lower, and Randall is clearly more than 120, (conservative) average for physics majors as it might be. [[Special:Contributions/178.42.101.38|178.42.101.38]] 20:08, 13 July 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==What can we learn?==<br />
I've learned that memorizing facts is so yesteryear. Over next few years facts will be even easier to find, understand, use, reference and forget. When in school we should concentrate not on memorizing facts we can look up later, but rather new methods to think outside the box full of facts others placed inside it. (Thank you Mr. XKCD) - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:42, 28 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
: That is true, but the overhead for looking something up versus remembering it is usually great enough that memorizing some things (multiplication tables come to mind) can increase the speed we can arrive at conclusions, or can give us other options (correlation between spark plug gapping and engine performance) that might not have come to mind otherwise. Outside of that, even though we forget much of it, having a vague sense of things (dates, locations/countries, etc) allow us to start out knowing at least something (order of things that occurred, Egypt being in Africa, Pythagorean theorem). This is just my opinion, and I may be biased, since I like facts. [[User:Tryc|Tryc]] ([[User talk:Tryc|talk]]) 13:19, 25 July 2013 (UTC)<br />
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You can't teach everyone to think outside the box, that would spoil my advantage over the common man. [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 03:03, 26 August 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Wikiloop: (noun) A loop that results in wikipedia articles from clicking the first link not in brackets or italics over and over again. <br />
Here is the most commonly encountered wikiloop. (Reality is also the first link in Philosophy) --[[User:ParadoX|ParadoX]] ([[User talk:ParadoX|talk]]) 09:03, 13 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
Reality<br />
Existence<br />
World<br />
Human<br />
Primate<br />
Mammal<br />
Clade<br />
Tree of life (biology)<br />
Metaphor<br />
Figure of speech<br />
Word<br />
Linguistics<br />
Science<br />
Knowledge<br />
Fact<br />
Reality<br />
...<br />
<br />
== wikipedia outages ==<br />
<br />
There was a major outage in 2005 when a power failure hit their database servers http://cyberbrahma.com/power-corrupts-power-failure-corrupts-absolutely/. I also remember countless minor outages over the years (though not recently). -- plugwash<br />
:And just after I wrote the above wikipedia went down....... -- plugwash</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:903:_Extended_Mind&diff=59975Talk:903: Extended Mind2014-02-13T23:51:53Z<p>141.101.99.179: /* wikipedia outages */ new section</p>
<hr />
<div>Title text is true - unless you happen to stumble upon any one of: {{w|Fact}}, {{w|Proof (truth)}}, {{w|Evidence}}, or {{w|Truth}}. Then you'll be stranded in an eternal loop. <br />
:What do you mean? {{w|Fact}} works fine, you get there in 7 steps. Proof gets you there in 6 - you go to {{w|Necessity and Sufficiency}} not {{w|Evidence}}. Same for {{w|Evidence}}. {{w|Truth}} leads you to {{w|Fact}}. So all of your examples actually work.<br />
--[[User:T0IVI|T0IVI]] ([[User talk:T0IVI|talk]]) 09:27, 28 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
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Yeah, I hit a loop on the page Community. Went right from National community to Community again. {{unsigned|69.91.105.111}}<br />
<br />
These infinite loops seem to be 'fixed', I went through fact and other stuff right to philosophy.{{unsigned|141.35.48.11}}<br />
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Another loop is "England". It goes right to "Countries of the United Kingdom" which returns immediately to England. <br />
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Finally we all end up in {{w|Reality}}. [[Special:Contributions/85.178.28.173|85.178.28.173]] 21:16, 29 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I do have to say that the best loop that doesn't feed to Philosophy is {{w|Sand Fence}} and {{w|Snow Fence}}. The first sentence of each article is identical except for switching the instances of sand and snow. --[[Special:Contributions/68.97.21.122|68.97.21.122]] 05:17, 6 July 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Randall is either mistaken or intentionally misinformative (or rather, politically correct) in his IQ estimates. What's a car hyperbole aside, the cluelessness, sentence length, and spelling of the outage-messages remind of a person in their low 90s-high 80s, if not lower, and Randall is clearly more than 120, (conservative) average for physics majors as it might be. [[Special:Contributions/178.42.101.38|178.42.101.38]] 20:08, 13 July 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
==What can we learn?==<br />
I've learned that memorizing facts is so yesteryear. Over next few years facts will be even easier to find, understand, use, reference and forget. When in school we should concentrate not on memorizing facts we can look up later, but rather new methods to think outside the box full of facts others placed inside it. (Thank you Mr. XKCD) - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:42, 28 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
: That is true, but the overhead for looking something up versus remembering it is usually great enough that memorizing some things (multiplication tables come to mind) can increase the speed we can arrive at conclusions, or can give us other options (correlation between spark plug gapping and engine performance) that might not have come to mind otherwise. Outside of that, even though we forget much of it, having a vague sense of things (dates, locations/countries, etc) allow us to start out knowing at least something (order of things that occurred, Egypt being in Africa, Pythagorean theorem). This is just my opinion, and I may be biased, since I like facts. [[User:Tryc|Tryc]] ([[User talk:Tryc|talk]]) 13:19, 25 July 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
You can't teach everyone to think outside the box, that would spoil my advantage over the common man. [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 03:03, 26 August 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Wikiloop: (noun) A loop that results in wikipedia articles from clicking the first link not in brackets or italics over and over again. <br />
Here is the most commonly encountered wikiloop. (Reality is also the first link in Philosophy) --[[User:ParadoX|ParadoX]] ([[User talk:ParadoX|talk]]) 09:03, 13 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
Reality<br />
Existence<br />
World<br />
Human<br />
Primate<br />
Mammal<br />
Clade<br />
Tree of life (biology)<br />
Metaphor<br />
Figure of speech<br />
Word<br />
Linguistics<br />
Science<br />
Knowledge<br />
Fact<br />
Reality<br />
...<br />
<br />
== wikipedia outages ==<br />
<br />
There was a major outage in 2005 when a power failure hit their database servers http://cyberbrahma.com/power-corrupts-power-failure-corrupts-absolutely/. I also remember countless minor outages over the years (though not recently). -- plugwash</div>141.101.99.179https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1328:_Update&diff=59804Talk:1328: Update2014-02-12T03:19:28Z<p>141.101.99.179: </p>
<hr />
<div>Note that 1.) web browsers usually can remember opened tabs (and even scroll position) and reopen them automatically on start, and/or ask if reopen those tabs if browser was not closed cleanly 2.) MS Windows tries to reopen apps closed during "upgrade reboot" --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 07:48, 10 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Yes, browsers can remember the last tabs you have open, but may require the user to enable that option as it's off by default (with Chrome anyway - as was my experience). I usually leave it off because I don't necessarily want the last 5 tabs I had open to open automatically the next time I want to start my browser to do something completely different. If (my) Chrome browser crashes however (or otherwise does not close cleanly), it will ask me if I want to restore my previous session, which may include multiple tabs and browsing positions. =8o) [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:12, 10 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Windows does not reopen apps that it closed before an upgrade (at best it has an option to reopen Explorer windows in the same state if the user enables it.) As for Chrome saving tabs, it can be often flaky especially when using multiple windows combined with multiple profiles. This is moot since in Real Life™ users generally don't trust these features, when they are even aware of them. [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 15:19, 10 February 2014 (UTC) <br />
: While browsers remember opened tabs, it's flakey. Some browsers in the "now remembering tabs" era were sometimes inconsistent on whether they should remember tabs (Chrome), some didn't give an option to manually exit with/without remembering tabs (Firefox/Chrome), some didn't preserve form input (Opera), etc. It behaves more like a screwed-on hack rather than a fully functional feature. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.240.6|108.162.240.6]] 14:36, 11 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
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@Jakub, thanks for bringing it up. I knew about it, but for the sake of brevity decided to leave it out. Hooray for my first explanation btw! --[[User:Akha|Akha]] ([[User talk:Akha|talk]]) 08:33, 10 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
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While one interpretation is that users would push back even a critical update, the cynical me read it the other way around: that most updates labelled as critical and notified with "!"s and yellow triangles are actually not that urgent and naturally the user desensibilizes. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.201|173.245.53.201]] 11:16, 10 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
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:Note also that browsers are ones of VERY FEW application who can reopen exactly what you had open before restart, and even them usually fail to preserve form content. Also, physical problem is not likely to occur just after the patch was created: only problem which would really need immediate patching would be security problem related to virus just spreading, in which case it would probably be too late when the window appear anyway. So, in all cases, pressing "remind me later" and finishing your work as soon as possible is the most logical course of action regarding critical update. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:18, 10 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
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It's a sad day when non-kernel updates require a reboot. [[User:Chrisp6825|Chrisp6825]] ([[User talk:Chrisp6825|talk]]) 13:13, 10 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
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I think the comic has less to do with the time a reboot takes, and more to do with losing the user's current state [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.46|173.245.54.46]] 16:27, 10 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
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I agree with the last comment. It's not about the time it takes to reboot. It's about the current state of things. If you have a bunch of apps running in different virtual desktops, then a lot of these won't be configured exactly as they were before rebooting. By the way, updates for OS X are exactly the same, with the exception that they're not downloaded automatically. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.57}}<br />
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My initial interpretation was that Cueball doesn't want to reboot his laptop because rebooting increases the risk of a random electrical fire. --[[User:Rael|Rael]] ([[User talk:Rael|talk]]) 21:58, 10 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Well that's why we have this twiki.... 'cause you're dumb. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.74|108.162.229.74]] 02:18, 11 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Actually, that's a pretty smart explanation. I couldn't have put it to better words. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.59|108.162.219.59]] 14:23, 11 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
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If I was faced with such an update notification, I would probably have it download and install itself, but not reboot until tonight when I'm going to shut down anyway. I find it really annoying when Windoze does things like complain about updates and run virus scans right after booting up, which just makes loading up whatever software I want to use (i.e. web browsers) take even longer. I would much rather have it use my CPU time while I was, say, Web browsing or maybe programming (but not compiling... hmm...), or, better yet, asleep. Also, Linux. --[[User:Someone Else 37|Someone Else 37]] ([[User talk:Someone Else 37|talk]]) 04:23, 11 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
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"Laptop fire" reminds me of that silly but popular phenomenon in space operas: in case the own ship is hit by some enemies "rays", <br />
inevitably fire will spark from keybords and monitors in the command room. Georg [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.171|173.245.53.171]] 09:59, 11 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ExplosiveInstrumentation [[User:Wwoods|Wwoods]] ([[User talk:Wwoods|talk]]) 20:17, 11 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
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The usual lot of nonsense in the comments. Why don't we talk about how to improve the explanation? Arguing that browsers remember open tabs, or advertising Linux, or going into excruciating detail how you would react in this situation, is ludicrously off the point. The following points are those by this comic:<br />
* Windows is always banging on about something, usually incredibly unimportant.<br />
* Even if it is important (as here) we may just skim the explanation (because of the first point) and not even realize what it is saying<br />
* Even if we do understand it, we don't want to be interrupted during our work (or our not-work) as we hate being inconvenienced in any way<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.58|108.162.219.58]] 21:45, 11 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Possible reference to Microsoft's monthly security patch on the second Tuesday of each month, having been posted the day before the second Tuesday of February 2014. [[User:Quetzalcoatl|Quetzalcoatl]] ([[User talk:Quetzalcoatl|talk]]) 22:23, 11 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
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==Dubious statement in explanation==<br />
"The joke goes further because a software update mostly can't prevent any hardware failures like burning laptop batteries. This specific update is just nonsense." <br />
<br />
It's quite possible for software to put hardware into a state which damages it. In an ideal world hardware would have protection against this but sometimes the protection is either missing or incorrectly set. This sort of thing CAN be worked around in software, if you know what the bad states are you can avoid ever putting the hardware into them.<br />
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Burning laptop batteries are an extreme example but not completely implausible.<br />
<br />
-- plugwash</div>141.101.99.179