https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=172.68.65.18&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T07:14:28ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2215:_Faculty:Student_Ratio&diff=181258Talk:2215: Faculty:Student Ratio2019-10-15T00:21:16Z<p>172.68.65.18: comnment</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Hi<br />
<br />
That student from the title text would have just barely made a cent, two if they were generous and rounded up. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.18|172.68.65.18]] 00:21, 15 October 2019 (UTC)</div>172.68.65.18https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2206:_Mavis_Beacon&diff=1804302206: Mavis Beacon2019-09-25T11:53:36Z<p>172.68.65.18: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2206<br />
| date = September 23, 2019<br />
| title = Mavis Beacon<br />
| image = mavis_beacon.png<br />
| titletext = There are actually lowercase-like 'oldstyle' forms of normal numbers with more pronounced ascenders and descenders, which is why some numbers like '5' in books sometimes dangle below the line. But the true capital numbers remain the domain of number maven Mavis Beacon.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by an END BOSS. What does the "maven" in "the domain of number maven" from the title text mean? Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
[[Cueball]] is being congratulated by the game he plays, Mavis Beacon, on his computer, because he has beaten the end boss and unlocked a new ability - the ability to type capital numbers...<br />
<br />
''{{w|Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing}}'' is a computer game first released in 1987, with the goal of teaching touch-typing and improving typing speed on a computer keyboard. Unlike many video games, ''Mavis Beacon'' contains no combat and therefore does not feature any "{{w|Boss_(video_gaming)#Final_boss|end boss}}" (a very powerful enemy encountered as the final challenge of the game). In many video games, defeating major opponents "unlocks" special features, such as improved weapons. Also, playing ''Mavis Beacon'', although it may improve typing skill, has no effect on how typing works on one's computer.<br />
<br />
In the caption, however, [[Randall]] asserts that after 30 years of playing ''Mavis Beacon'', he encountered and defeated such a boss. Playing the same game for 30 years is rare, and may not be an indicator of good mental health.{{Citation needed}} Regardless, Randall claims that defeating this "end boss" unlocked an ability to type esoteric "capital numbers," which Randall depicts as more extravagant versions of the familiar numerals. Although modern {{w|Latin letters}} have different {{w|letter case}} (i.e. capital or upper case and small or lower-case), {{w|Arabic numerals}} - the conventional numerals 0-9 used in the Western world - do not. <br />
<br />
Stating that the game is old enough that it could have been played for 30 years, could be another attempt at making people, who actually did play the game in the early days, [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|feel old]]. But is doesn't seem to be the main point of the comic.<br />
<br />
Typing such numerals is said to require pressing the Alt, tilde (~), Scroll Lock, and numeral keys at the same time. Some keyboard layouts do not have a scroll lock key or a separate tilde key (such that pressing ~ actually requires pressing a shift key along with the ~ key), and in any event pressing four or five keys at once would be quite difficult. Needless to say, pressing all those keys simultaneously does not, in fact, do anything like what the comics describes in any known computer system, though some smaller subset of those keys together (i.e. "Alt ~" or "Alt numeral-key") might activate other operating system or user-defined shortcuts.<br />
<br />
Keyboards vary in how many simultaneous key presses they can process ({{w|Rollover (key)|rollover}}). Computer keyboards for English may be limited to as few as 3 simultaneous keys, whereas other languages or higher quality keyboards may be able to handle an unlimited number of keys at once. (A musical keyboard might need to handle 10 or more simultaneous keys, likewise gaming or braille keyboards may need to handle many simultaneous keys.)<br />
<br />
In the title text, Randall notes that [https://www.bamagazine.com/Text-type-typeface-s/105.htm certain typefaces] feature {{w|text figures}}, numerals that have ascenders and descenders, much as lower-case letters do, rather than all standing at the full X-height like capital letters. He then goes on to joke that, conversely, there are true "capital numerals," but they are a guarded secret of Mavis Beacon. {{w|Mavis Beacon (character)|Mavis Beacon}} was the character created as the typing instructor for the ''Mavis Beacon'' game, and is fictional, not a real person. Additionally, as a typing instructor, this person (even if she actually existed) would not be able to change typographical standards.<br />
<br />
The comic itself hotlinks to this article: [https://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fontology/level-3/numbers/oldstyle-figures Oldstyle Figures]. It is about oldstyle/text figures.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is sitting in an office chair at his desk in front of his computer reading a message that is shown coming from the screen with a zigzag line, going to the text above him. The two upper lines (of five) are separated from the lines below, but connected with a small zigzag line. The computer short cut is written in three boxes. The last line is the numbers from 1 to 9 and 0, but in an invented format. But is is possible to decipher them. Here below just written in lover case numbers...]<br />
:Congratulations.<br />
:Use this power wisely.<br />
<br />
:Key Code (secret!!): <br />
:<span style="border: 1px solid black"><kbd>Alt</kbd></span> + <span style="border: 1px solid black"><kbd>Tilde</kbd></span> + <span style="border: 1px solid black"><kbd>Scroll Lock</kbd></span> + Number<br />
:1234567890<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:After 30 years, I finally beat the end boss of ''Mavis Beacon'' and unlocked the ability to type capital numbers.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]</div>172.68.65.18https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=258:_Conspiracy_Theories&diff=169875258: Conspiracy Theories2019-02-20T16:33:29Z<p>172.68.65.18: Added quote re: conspiracy theorists not being deterred by evidence</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 258<br />
| date = May 7, 2007<br />
| title = Conspiracy Theories<br />
| image = conspiracy theories.png<br />
| titletext = There are a lot of graduate-educated young-earth creationists.<br />
}}<br />
==Explanation==<br />
A {{w|conspiracy theory}} purports to explain a social, political, or economic event as being caused or covered up by a covert group or organization. A typical example is the {{w|moon landing conspiracy}}, which asserts that no human has ever reached the {{w|Moon landing|Moon}}.<br />
<br />
Once a conspiracy theory starts, it often grows stronger. Facts agreeing with the theory are, of course, evidence for the theory. Facts disagreeing with the theory are considered part of the cover-up, and thus prove there is in fact a cover-up, so they're also evidence for the theory. In the Moon landing case, videos of men walking on the Moon are assumed to be faked by Hollywood studios, so the existence of the assumed fake videos proves the cover-up. Also, the absence of filming crew or anything else needed for faking a video is considered further proof of how carefully the cover-up was planned. No matter what happens next, it will be evidence for the conspiracy theory. As one person put it: "To a conspiracy theorist, there are only two kinds of evidence: evidence that proves their theory correct, and evidence that proves the conspiracy ''goes deeper than they ever imagined''."<br />
<br />
People promoting these theories belong to a small minority, but they gain attention from many people — often without much knowledge on that specific matter. People who have actual knowledge about a given subject just get frustrated by this, because it seems like smart or educated people should reject conspiracy theories for lack of proof. In the comic, [[Hairy]] (who is considered "smart" by [[Cueball]]) starts pointing out "errors" in the {{w|September 11 attacks|"official" 9/11 story}}, obviously starting to describe the {{w|9/11 conspiracy theory}}. Cueball cuts his speech sharply, and his heart is broken because he's seeing his smart friend wasting his great intelligence in a foolish conspiracy theory, instead of doing something useful.<br />
<br />
In the second panel, Cueball rants about conspiracy theories in general. He mentions {{w|Young Earth creationism}}, {{w|Moon landing conspiracy|the Moon landing}}, and {{w|Perpetual motion}} machines. In the third panel, Hairy mentions that of course we never landed on the Moon. This frustrates Cueball so much that he just walks away with no further comment.<br />
<br />
In the last panel, Cueball asks God to fix the bug he committed when creating smart beings capable of believing such foolish things as conspiracy theories. This is a not-so-subtle joke as, to atheists, God himself is quite similar to a conspiracy theory. Indeed, a good portion of evidence against God's existence put forward by an atheist is met with a "whatever happens, it's God's will" by a believer. This is much like any other conspiracy theory, so in this last panel, to a subset of atheists, Cueball is pictured as contradicting himself by complaining that other people believe in foolish conspiracy theories while the atheist may think that Cueball himself is very plainly believing his own foolish conspiracy theory.<br />
<br />
Of course, from the believers' perspective, some such schools of atheistic thought also have many characteristics of a conspiracy theory. In particular, atheism and agnosticism are a small subculture — actually smaller in the U.S. than the 9/11 Truth movement — of which many believe that a large majority of people (about [http://www.gallup.com/poll/147887/americans-continue-believe-god.aspx 95% of Americans believe in God]) have been deluded into believing something ridiculous by conspiracies (e.g. churches and conservative politicians) that benefit from the spreading of misinformation on the subject.<br />
<br />
A "bug report" is a description of some error that occurred when using a computer program, to inform the developer of a problem that needs to be fixed. Filing a "bug report" to God should be unnecessary, as God is generally understood by believers to be omniscient, and thus already aware of the problem. God allows it to exist for explicable reasons of "God's will."<br />
<br />
The title text refers the large number of educated people who believe in {{w|Young Earth creationism}}, stating that the earth is only thousands of years old, instead of the billions of years evolutionary scientists suggest.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Hairy: The official story of 9-11 is full of holes. Take the—<br />
:Cueball: Please, stop, because seeing this happen to you breaks my heart.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Conspiracy theories represent a known glitch in human reasoning. The theories are of course occasionally true, but their truth is completely uncorrelated with the believer's certainty. For some reason, sometimes when people think they've uncovered a lie, they raise confirmation bias to an art form. They cut context away from facts and arguments and assemble them into reassuring litanies. And over and over I've argued helplessly with smart people consumed by theories they were sure were irrefutable, theories that in the end proved complete fictions.<br />
:Cueball: Young-Earth Creationists, the Moon Landing people, the Perpetual Motion subculture — can't you see you're falling into the same pattern?<br />
<br />
:Hairy: You don't seriously believe we landed on the moon, do you?<br />
<br />
:[Cueball walks away, frustrated.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball praying:]<br />
:Cueball: Dear God.<br />
:[Booming from the sky:]<br />
:God: '''YES, MY CHILD?'''<br />
:Cueball: I would like to file a bug report.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Religion]]<br />
[[Category:Conspiracy theory]]</div>172.68.65.18https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1975:_Right_Click&diff=1552611975: Right Click2018-04-02T21:41:33Z<p>172.68.65.18: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1975<br />
| date = April 1, 2018<br />
| title = Right Click<br />
| image = right_click.png<br />
| titletext = Right-click or long press (where supported) to save!<br />
}}<br />
'''NOTE: The above is the first panel of an interactive comic.'''<br><br />
To experience the interactive content, click [https://www.xkcd.com/1975/ here].<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Please add an explanation table of all functions This is an April Fools comic, so it'll take a while to get organized and much longer to fill out. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic pokes fun at how hard it can be to save an image or to just navigate context menus in some computer programs.<br />
<br />
This is an interactive comic which manipulates the context menu of the browser. This menu is typically accessible by a right-click or a long press on mobile devices without a mouse.<br />
<br />
It should be noted that if you DO manage to save the image somehow (Possibly by right-clicking before the javascript loads, or by pulling it from the source, or by right-click saving it normally from unixkcd), it just shows the initial image of the page with nothing changed. There is not additional joke by actually being able to save the image. Note that if you dig deep enough, there IS a way to save the image from the right click menu, and it DOES get you a different image. However, the other ways previously mentioned do not give you that image, even though you are saving the image. <br />
<br />
The comic uses {{w|JavaScript}} and {{w|HTML5}} to override the standard context menu. Since modern browsers use the same features to integrate Add-ons into that menu, the behavior may be different depending on the browser environment.<br />
<br />
The manipulated context menu is described below:<br />
;Main Context Menu<br />
<br />
{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"<br />
! # !! Menu Item !! Explanation !! Sub-Menu Items<br />
|-<br />
!1<br />
| '''Save'''<br />
| Only appears after successfully completing the ADVENT.EXE game or getting the Easter egg in Mornington Crescent.<br />
| Save image> Downloads this image. [https://xkcd.com/1975/v6xso1_right_click_save.png]<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! 2 <br />
| '''File''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
|Close: Closes menu, does nothing.<br />
Open: A:\, C:\, / (See more [[#Table - Filesystems Menu|below]])<br />
<br />
Find: Where, When, How, (grayed out) What, (grayed out) Why, Who. <br />
<br />
'Where' leads to four options. The first, 'computer', has two options ('folder' and 'menus'), which link back to the 'find' and right-click menus, respectively. "Narnia" leads to a link to the comic [[665: Prudence]] as well as to a grey comment about how it's weird that "they" have to die to go back to Narnia.<br />
"Canada" and "America" lead to the same set of bizarre menus (America leads into Canada's menu), which then give the options 'Upper' and 'Lower', ultimately leading to a drive-through and hockey, respectively.<br />
<br />
'When' leads to a description of Siri entering someone's home, and the menu can be followed to reveal several further events from 'earlier' in the day. The last one ('a bottle of jack and a toothbrush') is likely a reference to the song 'Tik Tok' by Kesha.<br />
<br />
'How' simply leads to an exclamation of 'How!?'.<br />
<br />
'Who' leads to a menu version of the Abbot and Costello "Who's on First?" routine.<br />
<br />
Backup: Causes the area around the comic to flash red 9 times, with high-pitch sounds reminiscent of a truck backing up. Likely a pun.<br />
<br />
Save: Only available after the save menu is unlocked after one of the two Easter Eggs is found, allows download of bonus comic.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! 3 <br />
| '''Edit''' <br />
| Enables a mode allowing the user to draw on the webpage. Pressing Esc asks "Aw, that looks nice though. Really delete?" and the page returns to normal if OK is clicked.<br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! 4 <br />
| '''System''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
|Shut Down> Changes the only menu option to "Power on", then once that is used, system returns to normal.<br />
<br />
/ (See [[#Table - Filesystems Menu|below]])<br />
|-<br />
! 5 <br />
| '''View''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
|Cascade>Links to [http://wiki.xkcd.com/geohashing/Mt._St._Helens,_Washington]<br />
<br />
Tile> Links to [[245: Floor Tiles]]<br />
<br />
Minimize> Changes pointer to a smaller pointer.<br />
<br />
Full Screen> Enters full screen.<br />
|-<br />
! 6 <br />
| '''Utilities''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
|Park drives> Nothing.<br />
<br />
Check space usage> (cannot click) Space usage: -Dark matter -Hydrogen -Helium -Scattered clumps of heavier elements -Stars -Rocks -Some space probes -Earth<br />
<br />
Spell check> English (links to [[1069: Alphabet]]) and Colors (links to [https://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/])<br />
<br />
Train AI> links to [[1838: Machine Learning]]<br />
<br />
Identify song> opens a long word-by-word menu for song lyrics; it's actually a menu-ised version of [[851: Na]].<br />
<br />
Advanced> several Unix commands, all absurd (or dangerous) for some reason:<br />
* <code>apt-get install /dev/null</code>: <code>apt-get</code> is the standard package manager used in Debian-derived Linux distributions (including Ubuntu); it is normally used to install software; <code>/dev/null</code> is the "bit-bucket" device on any Unix system, which can be used as a dummy output file to discard output or as a dummy empty input file. This command would attempt to install <code>/dev/null</code> (which is a device, not a package!) or, more correctly, would try to install a package reading its data from <code>/dev/null</code> (if <code>apt-get</code> is given a file name it tries to interpret it as a .deb package), which is obviously impossible.<br />
* <code>brew install apt-get</code>: <code>brew</code> is a third-party package manager for macOS; it is generally used to install "missing" open-source utilities on a macOS system; the command is attempting to install the aforementioned <code>apt-get</code>, which is both impossible (<code>apt-get</code> doesn't run on macOS) and hilariously recursive (did you install a package manager - brew - to install another one?). Even if this were possible, the package would have been called <code>apt</code>, as apt-get is only one of the commands in the package manager.<br />
* <code>/usr/local/bin/wine xen-hypervisor.exe</code>: <code>wine</code> is a compatibility layer used to run Windows executables on Linux (and on macOS); the fact that it is in <code>/usr/local</code> hints that it has been manually compiled on this machine; Xen is a Linux-based hypervisor, i.e. a software used to run and manage virtual machines over a Linux host, but the .exe suffix here hints that it is a Windows executable. The command would try to launch a Windows build of a Linux-based virtual machine manager on a Unix machine through a Windows emulation layer (wine).<br />
* <code>source .bash_history</code>: the <code>source</code> shell command reads the file that is given as argument and executes each of its rows as a command in the current shell, roughly as if you typed them in; <code>.bash_history</code> (located in the user home directory) is the file where the bash shell saves the history of the commands that have been run. This command would re-run all the command that have been typed in the shell.<br />
* <code>rm -rf $DIRECTROY/*</code>: <code>rm -rf</code> deletes recursively and forcefully the paths it is given as arguments; <code>$DIRECTROY</code> is a shell variable, probably containing some directory that whoever typed in this command wanted to clean; however, it is misspelled (it says <code>$DIRECTROY</code>, not <code>$DIRECTORY</code>), and, due to how POSIX shell work, it is thus expanded to an empty string; so, the command becomes <code>rm -rf /*</code>, which deletes all the files and directories in the root of the disk, effectively killing the system instead of just deleting the content of some directory. Notice that this particular misspell manages to circumvent the builtin protection of many <code>rm</code> versions, which refuse to do a plain <code>rm -rf /</code>, as <code>/*</code> gets expanded by the shell, so <code>rm</code> never has the chance to see explicitly that you are killing all the data in the root directory.<br />
* <code>:(){:|:&};:</code>: this is [https://askubuntu.com/q/159491/208527 a classic shell fork bomb], i.e. a small program that keeps launching copies of itself, until all resources have been exhausted or the user somehow manages to kill all its copies.<br />
* <code>echo "source .bashrc" >> .bashrc</code>: <code>.bashrc</code> is a file that gets executed whenever the <code>bash</code> shell is started in interactive mode; this command appends the string <code>source .bashrc</code> to it, which effectively executes it again recursively; this would pretty much make it impossible to open an interactive shell when launching it with the default parameters.<br />
* <code>alias gcc=php</code>: the <code>alias</code> shell builtin create an alias for another command; <code>gcc</code> is the GNU C compiler driver, which is used to compile programs written in the C language; <code>php</code> is the command-line interpreter for the PHP language. This line creates an alias such that when typing <code>gcc</code>, <code>php</code> is actually invoked, which would generate completely absurd error messages. This is doubly devious, as PHP isn't generally held in high esteem by large part of the programming community (especially by someone writing stuff in C).<br />
<br />
'); DROP TABLE Menus;-- links to [[327: Exploits of a Mom]]<br />
|-<br />
! 7 <br />
| '''Games''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
| Twenty Questions> A Twenty Questions interface that gets really confusing. There are links to Bing image searches for '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=okapi&FORM=HDRSC2 okapi]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=pronghorn&FORM=HDRSC2 pronghorn]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=eland&FORM=HDRSC2 eland]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=baribusa&FORM=HDRSC2 baribusa]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=musk%20deer&FORM=HDRSC2 musk deer]' and '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=ibex&FORM=HDRSC2 ibex]'.<br />
<br />
Rock Paper Scissors> A Rock Paper Scissors game where the computer always matches your move.<br />
<br />
D&D> A complex Dungeons and Dragons interface. Allows you to cast various spells from D&D 5e which link to various pages, including xkcd comics (e.g. [[1331: Frequency]]), what-ifs (e.g. {{what if|144|Saliva Pool}}) and other external sites (e.g. [https://www.nasa.gov/sun The Sun | NASA]). See [https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/88vwoe/xkcds_latest_comic_has_a_dd_easter_egg/ post on /r/dndnext] for all 285 links and 11 extra effects.<br />
<br />
ADVENT.EXE> A text-based game. If played correctly, you can win, unlocking 'Save'>'Save image' from the beginning menu, which links to [https://xkcd.com/1975/v6xso1_right_click_save.png]. 'ADVENT.EXE>Castle>Well>Wish for...' has links to comics [[572: Together]], [[1053: Ten Thousand]], [[152: Hamster Ball]], [[1196: Subways]], [[231: Cat Proximity]] and to what-if articles {{what if|111|All the Money}} and {{what if|9|Soul Mates}}. The C-remover is a reference to [http://emshort.com/counterfeit_monkey/](Counterfeit Monkey), a text adventure by Emily Short.<br />
<br />
Hoverboard> Links to [[1608: Hoverboard]] browser game.<br />
<br />
Mornington Crescent> This is a simulation of the well-known game {{W|Mornington_Crescent_(game)|Mornington Crescent}}, which bears a surprising resemblance to {{W|London_Underground|London's Underground}} railway network. Players name a station, in turn, endeavouring to reach Mornington Crescent. The rules of play are very complicated and beyond the scope of this article; interested persons are referred to ''N. F. Stovold’s Mornington Crescent: Rules and Origins'' (sadly out of print). In this variation, one may reach 'Vauxhall'>'Easter basket'>'Take egg', also allowing you to save. The shortest path to the Easter basket is: Euston / Warren Street / Oxford Circus / Green Park / Victoria / Pimlico / Vauxhall / Easter basket<br />
|-<br />
! 8 <br />
| '''Help''' <br />
| Contains various submenus, all of which, barring Credits, loop back recursively to this menu:<br />
|Tutorial<br />
Support<br />
<br />
Manual<br />
<br />
Troubleshooting<br />
<br />
FAQ<br />
<br />
Guide<br />
<br />
Q&A<br />
<br />
User forums<br />
<br />
--------------<br />
<br />
Credits> 'Some people who helped with this comic: <br />
[http://chromakode.com/ @chromakode] <br />
[https://twitter.com/aiiane Amber] <br />
[https://twitter.com/fadinginterest @fadinginterest] <br />
[https://twitter.com/wirehead2501 Kat] <br />
[https://twitter.com/cotrone Kevin] <br />
[http://90d.ca/ Stereo]'<br />
|-<br />
! 9<br />
| '''Do Crimes'''<br />
| Contains several "crimes" that can be committed. This option is unlocked by File > Open > C:\ (or /home/user) > Bookmarks/ > Secret > Enable Dark Web.<br />
| Steal Bitcoins > Grayed out.<br />
Say swears > Several clean swears that all link to [[771: Period Speech]].<br />
<br />
Hack > Three sub-options that link to various related comics. (Gibson: Nothing. Election: [[1019: First Post]]. Planet: [[1337: Hack]].)<br />
<br />
Forge a Scrabble Tile > Several sub-options that don't do anything. (U, Z, <this menu option intentionally left blank>, and two special characters, one appearing like a reversed 'E' modelled on a 'C', or Russian 'Э', as low-pitched [eh], and the second being crossed swords)<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
;Filesystems Menu<br />
<br />
{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"<br />
! Drive !! Menu Item !! Explanation !! Sub-Menu Items<br />
|-<br />
! A:\ <br />
| '''Insert''' <br />
| Only appears before inserting a floppy disk.<br />
|Floppy disk> Unlocks other options for drive A:\, which are identical to drive C:\<br />
Chip card> A long sequence of being told 'Please wait. Authorizing...' ending in 'Chip error! REMOVE CARD NOW!'<br />
|-<br />
! C:\ <br />
| '''Documents/'''<br />
| Nothing.<br />
| None.<br />
|-<br />
! C:\<br />
| '''Music/'''<br />
| Leads to a long string of prompts for song lyrics. 'Hey now / Hey now na now / Sing "This Corrosion" to me' inverts the webpage's color before Easter egg mode is enabled, and plays the referenced song in the browser with inverted color and flashing if the Easter egg mode is enabled. It's actually the same menu that is shown under Utilities>Identify song (which itself is a menu-ised version of [[851: Na]]). <br />
| 'Hey now / Hey now / Don't dream it's over' links to [[240: Dream Girl]]. 'This / is / a / story all about how / my life got flipped, turned upside down' links to [[464: RBA]]. 'This / is / the / story of a girl / who cried a river and drowned the whole world' links to a Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_FVAEYRM5I<br />
|-<br />
! C:\<br />
| '''Bookmarks/'''<br />
| Similar to Music/, Bookmarks/> Comics leads to a chain from which many comics are titled and linked. Bookmarks/> Secret> Enable Dark Web adds the 'Dark Web' option to the initial menu.<br />
|-<br />
! C:\<br />
| '''Games/'''<br />
| Same as 'Games' from the initial menu.<br />
|-<br />
! C:\<br />
| '''Sequences/'''<br />
| The options are the lines from a ''Tim and Eric'' sketch [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/celery-man Celery Man]; the final option links to a YouTube video of the sketch.<br />
| After several single-option menus, it links to this Youtube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHWBEK8w_YY<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''home/'''<br />
| Nothing.<br />
| guest> links to [//uni.xkcd.com]<br />
<br />
user> Same files as C:\<br />
<br />
root> Displays 'You are not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.'<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''opt/'''<br />
| Does nothing.<br />
| None.<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''sbin/'''<br />
| Does nothing.<br />
| None.<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''usr/'''<br />
| Opens an infinite sequence of options, each similar to the last, but replacing the previous selection with another folder; probably a reference to the fact that [https://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Filesystem-Hierarchy/html/usr.html the /usr hierarchy] does contain a list of subdirectories pretty much identical [https://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Filesystem-Hierarchy/html/the-root-directory.html to those of the root directory].<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''dev/'''<br />
| Nothing.<br />
|random/> links to a random xkcd comic.<br />
urandom/> links to [[221: Random Number]]<br />
|}<br />
<br />
In an additional fool it introduces the [https://uni.xkcd.com/ Unix XKCD] as a reference to the {{W|Telenet}}. (More on UniXKCD commands can be found [[721:_Flatland#UniXKCD|here]].)<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Empty frame with Cueball slightly right of centre.]<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the frame:]<br />
:Editor's Note: Today's comic is optimized for local viewing. To see the full version, just save a copy of the image!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
<!-- Include any categories below this line. --><br />
<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]<br />
[[Category:April fools' comics]]</div>172.68.65.18https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1975:_Right_Click&diff=1552601975: Right Click2018-04-02T21:33:47Z<p>172.68.65.18: /* Explanation */ h</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1975<br />
| date = April 1, 2018<br />
| title = Right Click<br />
| image = right_click.png<br />
| titletext = Right-click or long press (where supported) to save!<br />
}}<br />
'''NOTE: The above is the first panel of an interactive comic.'''<br><br />
To experience the interactive content, click [https://www.xkcd.com/1975/ here].<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Please add an explanation table of all functions This is an April Fools comic, so it'll take a while to get organized and much longer to fill out. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic pokes fun at how hard it can be to save an image or to just navigate context menus in some computer programs.<br />
<br />
This is an interactive comic which manipulates the context menu of the browser. This menu is typically accessible by a right-click or a long press on mobile devices without a mouse.<br />
<br />
It should be noted that if you DO manage to save the image somehow (Possibly by right-clicking before the javascript loads, or by pulling it from the source, or by right-click saving it normally from unixkcd), it just shows the initial image of the page with nothing changed. There is not additional joke by actually being able to save the image. Note that if you dig deep enough, there IS a way to save the image from the right click menu, and it DOES get you a different image. However, the other ways previously mentioned do not give you that image, even though you are saving the image. <br />
<br />
The comic uses {{w|JavaScript}} and {{w|HTML5}} to override the standard context menu. Since modern browsers use the same features to integrate Add-ons into that menu, the behavior may be different depending on the browser environment.<br />
<br />
The manipulated context menu is described below:<br />
;Main Context Menu<br />
<br />
{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"<br />
! # !! Menu Item !! Explanation !! Sub-Menu Items<br />
|-<br />
!1<br />
| '''Save'''<br />
| Only appears after successfully completing the ADVENT.EXE game or getting the Easter egg in Mornington Crescent.<br />
| Save image> Downloads this image. [https://xkcd.com/1975/v6xso1_right_click_save.png]<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! 2 <br />
| '''File''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
|Close: Closes menu, does nothing.<br />
Open: A:\, C:\, / (See more [[#Table - Filesystems Menu|below]])<br />
<br />
Find: Where, When, How, (grayed out) What, (grayed out) Why, Who. <br />
<br />
'Where' leads to four options. The first, 'computer', has two options ('folder' and 'menus'), which link back to the 'find' and right-click menus, respectively. "Narnia" leads to a link to the comic [[665: Prudence]] as well as to a grey comment about how it's weird that "they" have to die to go back to Narnia.<br />
"Canada" and "America" lead to the same set of bizarre menus (America leads into Canada's menu), which then give the options 'Upper' and 'Lower', ultimately leading to a drive-through and hockey, respectively.<br />
<br />
'When' leads to a description of Siri entering someone's home, and the menu can be followed to reveal several further events from 'earlier' in the day. The last one ('a bottle of jack and a toothbrush') is likely a reference to the song 'Tik Tok' by Kesha.<br />
<br />
'How' simply leads to an exclamation of 'How!?'.<br />
<br />
'Who' leads to a menu version of the Abbot and Costello "Who's on First?" routine.<br />
<br />
Backup: Causes the area around the comic to flash red 9 times, with high-pitch sounds reminiscent of a truck backing up. Likely a pun.<br />
<br />
Save: Only available after the save menu is unlocked after one of the two Easter Eggs is found, does nothing<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! 3 <br />
| '''Edit''' <br />
| Enables a mode allowing the user to draw on the webpage. Pressing Esc asks "Aw, that looks nice though. Really delete?" and the page returns to normal if OK is clicked.<br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! 4 <br />
| '''System''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
|Shut Down> Changes the only menu option to "Power on", then once that is used, system returns to normal.<br />
<br />
/ (See [[#Table - Filesystems Menu|below]])<br />
|-<br />
! 5 <br />
| '''View''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
|Cascade>Links to [http://wiki.xkcd.com/geohashing/Mt._St._Helens,_Washington]<br />
<br />
Tile> Links to [[245: Floor Tiles]]<br />
<br />
Minimize> Changes pointer to a smaller pointer.<br />
<br />
Full Screen> Enters full screen.<br />
|-<br />
! 6 <br />
| '''Utilities''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
|Park drives> Nothing.<br />
<br />
Check space usage> (cannot click) Space usage: -Dark matter -Hydrogen -Helium -Scattered clumps of heavier elements -Stars -Rocks -Some space probes -Earth<br />
<br />
Spell check> English (links to [[1069: Alphabet]]) and Colors (links to [https://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/])<br />
<br />
Train AI> links to [[1838: Machine Learning]]<br />
<br />
Identify song> opens a long word-by-word menu for song lyrics; it's actually a menu-ised version of [[851: Na]].<br />
<br />
Advanced> several Unix commands, all absurd (or dangerous) for some reason:<br />
* <code>apt-get install /dev/null</code>: <code>apt-get</code> is the standard package manager used in Debian-derived Linux distributions (including Ubuntu); it is normally used to install software; <code>/dev/null</code> is the "bit-bucket" device on any Unix system, which can be used as a dummy output file to discard output or as a dummy empty input file. This command would attempt to install <code>/dev/null</code> (which is a device, not a package!) or, more correctly, would try to install a package reading its data from <code>/dev/null</code> (if <code>apt-get</code> is given a file name it tries to interpret it as a .deb package), which is obviously impossible.<br />
* <code>brew install apt-get</code>: <code>brew</code> is a third-party package manager for macOS; it is generally used to install "missing" open-source utilities on a macOS system; the command is attempting to install the aforementioned <code>apt-get</code>, which is both impossible (<code>apt-get</code> doesn't run on macOS) and hilariously recursive (did you install a package manager - brew - to install another one?). Even if this were possible, the package would have been called <code>apt</code>, as apt-get is only one of the commands in the package manager.<br />
* <code>/usr/local/bin/wine xen-hypervisor.exe</code>: <code>wine</code> is a compatibility layer used to run Windows executables on Linux (and on macOS); the fact that it is in <code>/usr/local</code> hints that it has been manually compiled on this machine; Xen is a Linux-based hypervisor, i.e. a software used to run and manage virtual machines over a Linux host, but the .exe suffix here hints that it is a Windows executable. The command would try to launch a Windows build of a Linux-based virtual machine manager on a Unix machine through a Windows emulation layer (wine).<br />
* <code>source .bash_history</code>: the <code>source</code> shell command reads the file that is given as argument and executes each of its rows as a command in the current shell, roughly as if you typed them in; <code>.bash_history</code> (located in the user home directory) is the file where the bash shell saves the history of the commands that have been run. This command would re-run all the command that have been typed in the shell.<br />
* <code>rm -rf $DIRECTROY/*</code>: <code>rm -rf</code> deletes recursively and forcefully the paths it is given as arguments; <code>$DIRECTROY</code> is a shell variable, probably containing some directory that whoever typed in this command wanted to clean; however, it is misspelled (it says <code>$DIRECTROY</code>, not <code>$DIRECTORY</code>), and, due to how POSIX shell work, it is thus expanded to an empty string; so, the command becomes <code>rm -rf /*</code>, which deletes all the files and directories in the root of the disk, effectively killing the system instead of just deleting the content of some directory. Notice that this particular misspell manages to circumvent the builtin protection of many <code>rm</code> versions, which refuse to do a plain <code>rm -rf /</code>, as <code>/*</code> gets expanded by the shell, so <code>rm</code> never has the chance to see explicitly that you are killing all the data in the root directory.<br />
* <code>:(){:|:&};:</code>: this is [https://askubuntu.com/q/159491/208527 a classic shell fork bomb], i.e. a small program that keeps launching copies of itself, until all resources have been exhausted or the user somehow manages to kill all its copies.<br />
* <code>echo "source .bashrc" >> .bashrc</code>: <code>.bashrc</code> is a file that gets executed whenever the <code>bash</code> shell is started in interactive mode; this command appends the string <code>source .bashrc</code> to it, which effectively executes it again recursively; this would pretty much make it impossible to open an interactive shell when launching it with the default parameters.<br />
* <code>alias gcc=php</code>: the <code>alias</code> shell builtin create an alias for another command; <code>gcc</code> is the GNU C compiler driver, which is used to compile programs written in the C language; <code>php</code> is the command-line interpreter for the PHP language. This line creates an alias such that when typing <code>gcc</code>, <code>php</code> is actually invoked, which would generate completely absurd error messages. This is doubly devious, as PHP isn't generally held in high esteem by large part of the programming community (especially by someone writing stuff in C).<br />
<br />
'); DROP TABLE Menus;-- links to [[327: Exploits of a Mom]]<br />
|-<br />
! 7 <br />
| '''Games''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
| Twenty Questions> A Twenty Questions interface that gets really confusing. There are links to Bing image searches for '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=okapi&FORM=HDRSC2 okapi]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=pronghorn&FORM=HDRSC2 pronghorn]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=eland&FORM=HDRSC2 eland]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=baribusa&FORM=HDRSC2 baribusa]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=musk%20deer&FORM=HDRSC2 musk deer]' and '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=ibex&FORM=HDRSC2 ibex]'.<br />
<br />
Rock Paper Scissors> A Rock Paper Scissors game where the computer always matches your move.<br />
<br />
D&D> A complex Dungeons and Dragons interface. Allows you to cast various spells from D&D 5e which link to various pages, including xkcd comics (e.g. [[1331: Frequency]]), what-ifs (e.g. {{what if|144|Saliva Pool}}) and other external sites (e.g. [https://www.nasa.gov/sun The Sun | NASA]). See [https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/88vwoe/xkcds_latest_comic_has_a_dd_easter_egg/ post on /r/dndnext] for all 285 links and 11 extra effects.<br />
<br />
ADVENT.EXE> A text-based game. If played correctly, you can win, unlocking 'Save'>'Save image' from the beginning menu, which links to [https://xkcd.com/1975/v6xso1_right_click_save.png]. 'ADVENT.EXE>Castle>Well>Wish for...' has links to comics [[572: Together]], [[1053: Ten Thousand]], [[152: Hamster Ball]], [[1196: Subways]], [[231: Cat Proximity]] and to what-if articles {{what if|111|All the Money}} and {{what if|9|Soul Mates}}. The C-remover is a reference to [http://emshort.com/counterfeit_monkey/](Counterfeit Monkey), a text adventure by Emily Short.<br />
<br />
Hoverboard> Links to [[1608: Hoverboard]] browser game.<br />
<br />
Mornington Crescent> This is a simulation of the well-known game {{W|Mornington_Crescent_(game)|Mornington Crescent}}, which bears a surprising resemblance to {{W|London_Underground|London's Underground}} railway network. Players name a station, in turn, endeavouring to reach Mornington Crescent. The rules of play are very complicated and beyond the scope of this article; interested persons are referred to ''N. F. Stovold’s Mornington Crescent: Rules and Origins'' (sadly out of print). In this variation, one may reach 'Vauxhall'>'Easter basket'>'Take egg', also allowing you to save. The shortest path to the Easter basket is: Euston / Warren Street / Oxford Circus / Green Park / Victoria / Pimlico / Vauxhall / Easter basket<br />
|-<br />
! 8 <br />
| '''Help''' <br />
| Contains various submenus, all of which, barring Credits, loop back recursively to this menu:<br />
|Tutorial<br />
Support<br />
<br />
Manual<br />
<br />
Troubleshooting<br />
<br />
FAQ<br />
<br />
Guide<br />
<br />
Q&A<br />
<br />
User forums<br />
<br />
--------------<br />
<br />
Credits> 'Some people who helped with this comic: <br />
[http://chromakode.com/ @chromakode] <br />
[https://twitter.com/aiiane Amber] <br />
[https://twitter.com/fadinginterest @fadinginterest] <br />
[https://twitter.com/wirehead2501 Kat] <br />
[https://twitter.com/cotrone Kevin] <br />
[http://90d.ca/ Stereo]'<br />
|-<br />
! 9<br />
| '''Do Crimes'''<br />
| Contains several "crimes" that can be committed. This option is unlocked by File > Open > C:\ (or /home/user) > Bookmarks/ > Secret > Enable Dark Web.<br />
| Steal Bitcoins > Grayed out.<br />
Say swears > Several clean swears that all link to [[771: Period Speech]].<br />
<br />
Hack > Three sub-options that link to various related comics. (Gibson: Nothing. Election: [[1019: First Post]]. Planet: [[1337: Hack]].)<br />
<br />
Forge a Scrabble Tile > Several sub-options that don't do anything. (U, Z, <this menu option intentionally left blank>, and two special characters, one appearing like a reversed 'E' modelled on a 'C', or Russian 'Э', as low-pitched [eh], and the second being crossed swords)<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
;Filesystems Menu<br />
<br />
{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"<br />
! Drive !! Menu Item !! Explanation !! Sub-Menu Items<br />
|-<br />
! A:\ <br />
| '''Insert''' <br />
| Only appears before inserting a floppy disk.<br />
|Floppy disk> Unlocks other options for drive A:\, which are identical to drive C:\<br />
Chip card> A long sequence of being told 'Please wait. Authorizing...' ending in 'Chip error! REMOVE CARD NOW!'<br />
|-<br />
! C:\ <br />
| '''Documents/'''<br />
| Nothing.<br />
| None.<br />
|-<br />
! C:\<br />
| '''Music/'''<br />
| Leads to a long string of prompts for song lyrics. 'Hey now / Hey now na now / Sing "This Corrosion" to me' inverts the webpage's color before Easter egg mode is enabled, and plays the referenced song in the browser with inverted color and flashing if the Easter egg mode is enabled. It's actually the same menu that is shown under Utilities>Identify song (which itself is a menu-ised version of [[851: Na]]). <br />
| 'Hey now / Hey now / Don't dream it's over' links to [[240: Dream Girl]]. 'This / is / a / story all about how / my life got flipped, turned upside down' links to [[464: RBA]]. 'This / is / the / story of a girl / who cried a river and drowned the whole world' links to a Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_FVAEYRM5I<br />
|-<br />
! C:\<br />
| '''Bookmarks/'''<br />
| Similar to Music/, Bookmarks/> Comics leads to a chain from which many comics are titled and linked. Bookmarks/> Secret> Enable Dark Web adds the 'Dark Web' option to the initial menu.<br />
|-<br />
! C:\<br />
| '''Games/'''<br />
| Same as 'Games' from the initial menu.<br />
|-<br />
! C:\<br />
| '''Sequences/'''<br />
| The options are the lines from a ''Tim and Eric'' sketch [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/celery-man Celery Man]; the final option links to a YouTube video of the sketch.<br />
| After several single-option menus, it links to this Youtube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHWBEK8w_YY<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''home/'''<br />
| Nothing.<br />
| guest> links to [//uni.xkcd.com]<br />
<br />
user> Same files as C:\<br />
<br />
root> Displays 'You are not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.'<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''opt/'''<br />
| Does nothing.<br />
| None.<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''sbin/'''<br />
| Does nothing.<br />
| None.<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''usr/'''<br />
| Opens an infinite sequence of options, each similar to the last, but replacing the previous selection with another folder; probably a reference to the fact that [https://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Filesystem-Hierarchy/html/usr.html the /usr hierarchy] does contain a list of subdirectories pretty much identical [https://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Filesystem-Hierarchy/html/the-root-directory.html to those of the root directory].<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''dev/'''<br />
| Nothing.<br />
|random/> links to a random xkcd comic.<br />
urandom/> links to [[221: Random Number]]<br />
|}<br />
<br />
In an additional fool it introduces the [https://uni.xkcd.com/ Unix XKCD] as a reference to the {{W|Telenet}}. (More on UniXKCD commands can be found [[721:_Flatland#UniXKCD|here]].)<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Empty frame with Cueball slightly right of centre.]<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the frame:]<br />
:Editor's Note: Today's comic is optimized for local viewing. To see the full version, just save a copy of the image!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
<!-- Include any categories below this line. --><br />
<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]<br />
[[Category:April fools' comics]]</div>172.68.65.18https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1975:_Right_Click&diff=1552591975: Right Click2018-04-02T21:33:18Z<p>172.68.65.18: /* Explanation */ who</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1975<br />
| date = April 1, 2018<br />
| title = Right Click<br />
| image = right_click.png<br />
| titletext = Right-click or long press (where supported) to save!<br />
}}<br />
'''NOTE: The above is the first panel of an interactive comic.'''<br><br />
To experience the interactive content, click [https://www.xkcd.com/1975/ here].<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Please add an explanation table of all functions This is an April Fools comic, so it'll take a while to get organized and much longer to fill out. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic pokes fun at how hard it can be to save an image or to just navigate context menus in some computer programs.<br />
<br />
This is an interactive comic which manipulates the context menu of the browser. This menu is typically accessible by a right-click or a long press on mobile devices without a mouse.<br />
<br />
It should be noted that if you DO manage to save the image somehow (Possibly by right-clicking before the javascript loads, or by pulling it from the source, or by right-click saving it normally from unixkcd), it just shows the initial image of the page with nothing changed. There is not additional joke by actually being able to save the image. Note that if you dig deep enough, there IS a way to save the image from the right click menu, and it DOES get you a different image. However, the other ways previously mentioned do not give you that image, even though you are saving the image. <br />
<br />
The comic uses {{w|JavaScript}} and {{w|HTML5}} to override the standard context menu. Since modern browsers use the same features to integrate Add-ons into that menu, the behavior may be different depending on the browser environment.<br />
<br />
The manipulated context menu is described below:<br />
;Main Context Menu<br />
<br />
{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"<br />
! # !! Menu Item !! Explanation !! Sub-Menu Items<br />
|-<br />
!1<br />
| '''Save'''<br />
| Only appears after successfully completing the ADVENT.EXE game or getting the Easter egg in Mornington Crescent.<br />
| Save image> Downloads this image. [https://xkcd.com/1975/v6xso1_right_click_save.png]<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! 2 <br />
| '''File''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
|Close: Closes menu, does nothing.<br />
Open: A:\, C:\, / (See more [[#Table - Filesystems Menu|below]])<br />
<br />
Find: Where, When, How, (grayed out) What, (grayed out) Why, WHo. <br />
<br />
'Where' leads to four options. The first, 'computer', has two options ('folder' and 'menus'), which link back to the 'find' and right-click menus, respectively. "Narnia" leads to a link to the comic [[665: Prudence]] as well as to a grey comment about how it's weird that "they" have to die to go back to Narnia.<br />
"Canada" and "America" lead to the same set of bizarre menus (America leads into Canada's menu), which then give the options 'Upper' and 'Lower', ultimately leading to a drive-through and hockey, respectively.<br />
<br />
'When' leads to a description of Siri entering someone's home, and the menu can be followed to reveal several further events from 'earlier' in the day. The last one ('a bottle of jack and a toothbrush') is likely a reference to the song 'Tik Tok' by Kesha.<br />
<br />
'How' simply leads to an exclamation of 'How!?'.<br />
<br />
'Who' leads to a menu version of the Abbot and Costello "Who's on First?" routine.<br />
<br />
Backup: Causes the area around the comic to flash red 9 times, with high-pitch sounds reminiscent of a truck backing up. Likely a pun.<br />
<br />
Save: Only available after the save menu is unlocked after one of the two Easter Eggs is found, does nothing<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! 3 <br />
| '''Edit''' <br />
| Enables a mode allowing the user to draw on the webpage. Pressing Esc asks "Aw, that looks nice though. Really delete?" and the page returns to normal if OK is clicked.<br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! 4 <br />
| '''System''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
|Shut Down> Changes the only menu option to "Power on", then once that is used, system returns to normal.<br />
<br />
/ (See [[#Table - Filesystems Menu|below]])<br />
|-<br />
! 5 <br />
| '''View''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
|Cascade>Links to [http://wiki.xkcd.com/geohashing/Mt._St._Helens,_Washington]<br />
<br />
Tile> Links to [[245: Floor Tiles]]<br />
<br />
Minimize> Changes pointer to a smaller pointer.<br />
<br />
Full Screen> Enters full screen.<br />
|-<br />
! 6 <br />
| '''Utilities''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
|Park drives> Nothing.<br />
<br />
Check space usage> (cannot click) Space usage: -Dark matter -Hydrogen -Helium -Scattered clumps of heavier elements -Stars -Rocks -Some space probes -Earth<br />
<br />
Spell check> English (links to [[1069: Alphabet]]) and Colors (links to [https://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/])<br />
<br />
Train AI> links to [[1838: Machine Learning]]<br />
<br />
Identify song> opens a long word-by-word menu for song lyrics; it's actually a menu-ised version of [[851: Na]].<br />
<br />
Advanced> several Unix commands, all absurd (or dangerous) for some reason:<br />
* <code>apt-get install /dev/null</code>: <code>apt-get</code> is the standard package manager used in Debian-derived Linux distributions (including Ubuntu); it is normally used to install software; <code>/dev/null</code> is the "bit-bucket" device on any Unix system, which can be used as a dummy output file to discard output or as a dummy empty input file. This command would attempt to install <code>/dev/null</code> (which is a device, not a package!) or, more correctly, would try to install a package reading its data from <code>/dev/null</code> (if <code>apt-get</code> is given a file name it tries to interpret it as a .deb package), which is obviously impossible.<br />
* <code>brew install apt-get</code>: <code>brew</code> is a third-party package manager for macOS; it is generally used to install "missing" open-source utilities on a macOS system; the command is attempting to install the aforementioned <code>apt-get</code>, which is both impossible (<code>apt-get</code> doesn't run on macOS) and hilariously recursive (did you install a package manager - brew - to install another one?). Even if this were possible, the package would have been called <code>apt</code>, as apt-get is only one of the commands in the package manager.<br />
* <code>/usr/local/bin/wine xen-hypervisor.exe</code>: <code>wine</code> is a compatibility layer used to run Windows executables on Linux (and on macOS); the fact that it is in <code>/usr/local</code> hints that it has been manually compiled on this machine; Xen is a Linux-based hypervisor, i.e. a software used to run and manage virtual machines over a Linux host, but the .exe suffix here hints that it is a Windows executable. The command would try to launch a Windows build of a Linux-based virtual machine manager on a Unix machine through a Windows emulation layer (wine).<br />
* <code>source .bash_history</code>: the <code>source</code> shell command reads the file that is given as argument and executes each of its rows as a command in the current shell, roughly as if you typed them in; <code>.bash_history</code> (located in the user home directory) is the file where the bash shell saves the history of the commands that have been run. This command would re-run all the command that have been typed in the shell.<br />
* <code>rm -rf $DIRECTROY/*</code>: <code>rm -rf</code> deletes recursively and forcefully the paths it is given as arguments; <code>$DIRECTROY</code> is a shell variable, probably containing some directory that whoever typed in this command wanted to clean; however, it is misspelled (it says <code>$DIRECTROY</code>, not <code>$DIRECTORY</code>), and, due to how POSIX shell work, it is thus expanded to an empty string; so, the command becomes <code>rm -rf /*</code>, which deletes all the files and directories in the root of the disk, effectively killing the system instead of just deleting the content of some directory. Notice that this particular misspell manages to circumvent the builtin protection of many <code>rm</code> versions, which refuse to do a plain <code>rm -rf /</code>, as <code>/*</code> gets expanded by the shell, so <code>rm</code> never has the chance to see explicitly that you are killing all the data in the root directory.<br />
* <code>:(){:|:&};:</code>: this is [https://askubuntu.com/q/159491/208527 a classic shell fork bomb], i.e. a small program that keeps launching copies of itself, until all resources have been exhausted or the user somehow manages to kill all its copies.<br />
* <code>echo "source .bashrc" >> .bashrc</code>: <code>.bashrc</code> is a file that gets executed whenever the <code>bash</code> shell is started in interactive mode; this command appends the string <code>source .bashrc</code> to it, which effectively executes it again recursively; this would pretty much make it impossible to open an interactive shell when launching it with the default parameters.<br />
* <code>alias gcc=php</code>: the <code>alias</code> shell builtin create an alias for another command; <code>gcc</code> is the GNU C compiler driver, which is used to compile programs written in the C language; <code>php</code> is the command-line interpreter for the PHP language. This line creates an alias such that when typing <code>gcc</code>, <code>php</code> is actually invoked, which would generate completely absurd error messages. This is doubly devious, as PHP isn't generally held in high esteem by large part of the programming community (especially by someone writing stuff in C).<br />
<br />
'); DROP TABLE Menus;-- links to [[327: Exploits of a Mom]]<br />
|-<br />
! 7 <br />
| '''Games''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
| Twenty Questions> A Twenty Questions interface that gets really confusing. There are links to Bing image searches for '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=okapi&FORM=HDRSC2 okapi]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=pronghorn&FORM=HDRSC2 pronghorn]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=eland&FORM=HDRSC2 eland]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=baribusa&FORM=HDRSC2 baribusa]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=musk%20deer&FORM=HDRSC2 musk deer]' and '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=ibex&FORM=HDRSC2 ibex]'.<br />
<br />
Rock Paper Scissors> A Rock Paper Scissors game where the computer always matches your move.<br />
<br />
D&D> A complex Dungeons and Dragons interface. Allows you to cast various spells from D&D 5e which link to various pages, including xkcd comics (e.g. [[1331: Frequency]]), what-ifs (e.g. {{what if|144|Saliva Pool}}) and other external sites (e.g. [https://www.nasa.gov/sun The Sun | NASA]). See [https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/88vwoe/xkcds_latest_comic_has_a_dd_easter_egg/ post on /r/dndnext] for all 285 links and 11 extra effects.<br />
<br />
ADVENT.EXE> A text-based game. If played correctly, you can win, unlocking 'Save'>'Save image' from the beginning menu, which links to [https://xkcd.com/1975/v6xso1_right_click_save.png]. 'ADVENT.EXE>Castle>Well>Wish for...' has links to comics [[572: Together]], [[1053: Ten Thousand]], [[152: Hamster Ball]], [[1196: Subways]], [[231: Cat Proximity]] and to what-if articles {{what if|111|All the Money}} and {{what if|9|Soul Mates}}. The C-remover is a reference to [http://emshort.com/counterfeit_monkey/](Counterfeit Monkey), a text adventure by Emily Short.<br />
<br />
Hoverboard> Links to [[1608: Hoverboard]] browser game.<br />
<br />
Mornington Crescent> This is a simulation of the well-known game {{W|Mornington_Crescent_(game)|Mornington Crescent}}, which bears a surprising resemblance to {{W|London_Underground|London's Underground}} railway network. Players name a station, in turn, endeavouring to reach Mornington Crescent. The rules of play are very complicated and beyond the scope of this article; interested persons are referred to ''N. F. Stovold’s Mornington Crescent: Rules and Origins'' (sadly out of print). In this variation, one may reach 'Vauxhall'>'Easter basket'>'Take egg', also allowing you to save. The shortest path to the Easter basket is: Euston / Warren Street / Oxford Circus / Green Park / Victoria / Pimlico / Vauxhall / Easter basket<br />
|-<br />
! 8 <br />
| '''Help''' <br />
| Contains various submenus, all of which, barring Credits, loop back recursively to this menu:<br />
|Tutorial<br />
Support<br />
<br />
Manual<br />
<br />
Troubleshooting<br />
<br />
FAQ<br />
<br />
Guide<br />
<br />
Q&A<br />
<br />
User forums<br />
<br />
--------------<br />
<br />
Credits> 'Some people who helped with this comic: <br />
[http://chromakode.com/ @chromakode] <br />
[https://twitter.com/aiiane Amber] <br />
[https://twitter.com/fadinginterest @fadinginterest] <br />
[https://twitter.com/wirehead2501 Kat] <br />
[https://twitter.com/cotrone Kevin] <br />
[http://90d.ca/ Stereo]'<br />
|-<br />
! 9<br />
| '''Do Crimes'''<br />
| Contains several "crimes" that can be committed. This option is unlocked by File > Open > C:\ (or /home/user) > Bookmarks/ > Secret > Enable Dark Web.<br />
| Steal Bitcoins > Grayed out.<br />
Say swears > Several clean swears that all link to [[771: Period Speech]].<br />
<br />
Hack > Three sub-options that link to various related comics. (Gibson: Nothing. Election: [[1019: First Post]]. Planet: [[1337: Hack]].)<br />
<br />
Forge a Scrabble Tile > Several sub-options that don't do anything. (U, Z, <this menu option intentionally left blank>, and two special characters, one appearing like a reversed 'E' modelled on a 'C', or Russian 'Э', as low-pitched [eh], and the second being crossed swords)<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
;Filesystems Menu<br />
<br />
{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"<br />
! Drive !! Menu Item !! Explanation !! Sub-Menu Items<br />
|-<br />
! A:\ <br />
| '''Insert''' <br />
| Only appears before inserting a floppy disk.<br />
|Floppy disk> Unlocks other options for drive A:\, which are identical to drive C:\<br />
Chip card> A long sequence of being told 'Please wait. Authorizing...' ending in 'Chip error! REMOVE CARD NOW!'<br />
|-<br />
! C:\ <br />
| '''Documents/'''<br />
| Nothing.<br />
| None.<br />
|-<br />
! C:\<br />
| '''Music/'''<br />
| Leads to a long string of prompts for song lyrics. 'Hey now / Hey now na now / Sing "This Corrosion" to me' inverts the webpage's color before Easter egg mode is enabled, and plays the referenced song in the browser with inverted color and flashing if the Easter egg mode is enabled. It's actually the same menu that is shown under Utilities>Identify song (which itself is a menu-ised version of [[851: Na]]). <br />
| 'Hey now / Hey now / Don't dream it's over' links to [[240: Dream Girl]]. 'This / is / a / story all about how / my life got flipped, turned upside down' links to [[464: RBA]]. 'This / is / the / story of a girl / who cried a river and drowned the whole world' links to a Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_FVAEYRM5I<br />
|-<br />
! C:\<br />
| '''Bookmarks/'''<br />
| Similar to Music/, Bookmarks/> Comics leads to a chain from which many comics are titled and linked. Bookmarks/> Secret> Enable Dark Web adds the 'Dark Web' option to the initial menu.<br />
|-<br />
! C:\<br />
| '''Games/'''<br />
| Same as 'Games' from the initial menu.<br />
|-<br />
! C:\<br />
| '''Sequences/'''<br />
| The options are the lines from a ''Tim and Eric'' sketch [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/celery-man Celery Man]; the final option links to a YouTube video of the sketch.<br />
| After several single-option menus, it links to this Youtube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHWBEK8w_YY<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''home/'''<br />
| Nothing.<br />
| guest> links to [//uni.xkcd.com]<br />
<br />
user> Same files as C:\<br />
<br />
root> Displays 'You are not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.'<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''opt/'''<br />
| Does nothing.<br />
| None.<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''sbin/'''<br />
| Does nothing.<br />
| None.<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''usr/'''<br />
| Opens an infinite sequence of options, each similar to the last, but replacing the previous selection with another folder; probably a reference to the fact that [https://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Filesystem-Hierarchy/html/usr.html the /usr hierarchy] does contain a list of subdirectories pretty much identical [https://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Filesystem-Hierarchy/html/the-root-directory.html to those of the root directory].<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''dev/'''<br />
| Nothing.<br />
|random/> links to a random xkcd comic.<br />
urandom/> links to [[221: Random Number]]<br />
|}<br />
<br />
In an additional fool it introduces the [https://uni.xkcd.com/ Unix XKCD] as a reference to the {{W|Telenet}}. (More on UniXKCD commands can be found [[721:_Flatland#UniXKCD|here]].)<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Empty frame with Cueball slightly right of centre.]<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the frame:]<br />
:Editor's Note: Today's comic is optimized for local viewing. To see the full version, just save a copy of the image!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
<!-- Include any categories below this line. --><br />
<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]<br />
[[Category:April fools' comics]]</div>172.68.65.18https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1975:_Right_Click&diff=1552581975: Right Click2018-04-02T21:32:11Z<p>172.68.65.18: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1975<br />
| date = April 1, 2018<br />
| title = Right Click<br />
| image = right_click.png<br />
| titletext = Right-click or long press (where supported) to save!<br />
}}<br />
'''NOTE: The above is the first panel of an interactive comic.'''<br><br />
To experience the interactive content, click [https://www.xkcd.com/1975/ here].<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Please add an explanation table of all functions This is an April Fools comic, so it'll take a while to get organized and much longer to fill out. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic pokes fun at how hard it can be to save an image or to just navigate context menus in some computer programs.<br />
<br />
This is an interactive comic which manipulates the context menu of the browser. This menu is typically accessible by a right-click or a long press on mobile devices without a mouse.<br />
<br />
It should be noted that if you DO manage to save the image somehow (Possibly by right-clicking before the javascript loads, or by pulling it from the source, or by right-click saving it normally from unixkcd), it just shows the initial image of the page with nothing changed. There is not additional joke by actually being able to save the image. Note that if you dig deep enough, there IS a way to save the image from the right click menu, and it DOES get you a different image. However, the other ways previously mentioned do not give you that image, even though you are saving the image. <br />
<br />
The comic uses {{w|JavaScript}} and {{w|HTML5}} to override the standard context menu. Since modern browsers use the same features to integrate Add-ons into that menu, the behavior may be different depending on the browser environment.<br />
<br />
The manipulated context menu is described below:<br />
;Main Context Menu<br />
<br />
{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"<br />
! # !! Menu Item !! Explanation !! Sub-Menu Items<br />
|-<br />
!1<br />
| '''Save'''<br />
| Only appears after successfully completing the ADVENT.EXE game or getting the Easter egg in Mornington Crescent.<br />
| Save image> Downloads this image. [https://xkcd.com/1975/v6xso1_right_click_save.png]<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! 2 <br />
| '''File''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
|Close: Closes menu, does nothing.<br />
Open: A:\, C:\, / (See more [[#Table - Filesystems Menu|below]])<br />
<br />
Find: Where, When, How, (grayed out) What, (grayed out) Why. <br />
<br />
'Where' leads to four options. The first, 'computer', has two options ('folder' and 'menus'), which link back to the 'find' and right-click menus, respectively. "Narnia" leads to a link to the comic [[665: Prudence]] as well as to a grey comment about how it's weird that "they" have to die to go back to Narnia.<br />
"Canada" and "America" lead to the same set of bizarre menus (America leads into Canada's menu), which then give the options 'Upper' and 'Lower', ultimately leading to a drive-through and hockey, respectively.<br />
<br />
'When' leads to a description of Siri entering someone's home, and the menu can be followed to reveal several further events from 'earlier' in the day. The last one ('a bottle of jack and a toothbrush') is likely a reference to the song 'Tik Tok' by Kesha.<br />
<br />
'How' simply leads to an exclamation of 'How!?'.<br />
<br />
'Who' leads to a menu version of the Abbot and Costello "Who's on First?" routine.<br />
<br />
Backup: Causes the area around the comic to flash red 9 times, with high-pitch sounds reminiscent of a truck backing up. Likely a pun.<br />
<br />
Save: Only available after the save menu is unlocked after one of the two Easter Eggs is found, does nothing<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! 3 <br />
| '''Edit''' <br />
| Enables a mode allowing the user to draw on the webpage. Pressing Esc asks "Aw, that looks nice though. Really delete?" and the page returns to normal if OK is clicked.<br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! 4 <br />
| '''System''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
|Shut Down> Changes the only menu option to "Power on", then once that is used, system returns to normal.<br />
<br />
/ (See [[#Table - Filesystems Menu|below]])<br />
|-<br />
! 5 <br />
| '''View''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
|Cascade>Links to [http://wiki.xkcd.com/geohashing/Mt._St._Helens,_Washington]<br />
<br />
Tile> Links to [[245: Floor Tiles]]<br />
<br />
Minimize> Changes pointer to a smaller pointer.<br />
<br />
Full Screen> Enters full screen.<br />
|-<br />
! 6 <br />
| '''Utilities''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
|Park drives> Nothing.<br />
<br />
Check space usage> (cannot click) Space usage: -Dark matter -Hydrogen -Helium -Scattered clumps of heavier elements -Stars -Rocks -Some space probes -Earth<br />
<br />
Spell check> English (links to [[1069: Alphabet]]) and Colors (links to [https://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/])<br />
<br />
Train AI> links to [[1838: Machine Learning]]<br />
<br />
Identify song> opens a long word-by-word menu for song lyrics; it's actually a menu-ised version of [[851: Na]].<br />
<br />
Advanced> several Unix commands, all absurd (or dangerous) for some reason:<br />
* <code>apt-get install /dev/null</code>: <code>apt-get</code> is the standard package manager used in Debian-derived Linux distributions (including Ubuntu); it is normally used to install software; <code>/dev/null</code> is the "bit-bucket" device on any Unix system, which can be used as a dummy output file to discard output or as a dummy empty input file. This command would attempt to install <code>/dev/null</code> (which is a device, not a package!) or, more correctly, would try to install a package reading its data from <code>/dev/null</code> (if <code>apt-get</code> is given a file name it tries to interpret it as a .deb package), which is obviously impossible.<br />
* <code>brew install apt-get</code>: <code>brew</code> is a third-party package manager for macOS; it is generally used to install "missing" open-source utilities on a macOS system; the command is attempting to install the aforementioned <code>apt-get</code>, which is both impossible (<code>apt-get</code> doesn't run on macOS) and hilariously recursive (did you install a package manager - brew - to install another one?). Even if this were possible, the package would have been called <code>apt</code>, as apt-get is only one of the commands in the package manager.<br />
* <code>/usr/local/bin/wine xen-hypervisor.exe</code>: <code>wine</code> is a compatibility layer used to run Windows executables on Linux (and on macOS); the fact that it is in <code>/usr/local</code> hints that it has been manually compiled on this machine; Xen is a Linux-based hypervisor, i.e. a software used to run and manage virtual machines over a Linux host, but the .exe suffix here hints that it is a Windows executable. The command would try to launch a Windows build of a Linux-based virtual machine manager on a Unix machine through a Windows emulation layer (wine).<br />
* <code>source .bash_history</code>: the <code>source</code> shell command reads the file that is given as argument and executes each of its rows as a command in the current shell, roughly as if you typed them in; <code>.bash_history</code> (located in the user home directory) is the file where the bash shell saves the history of the commands that have been run. This command would re-run all the command that have been typed in the shell.<br />
* <code>rm -rf $DIRECTROY/*</code>: <code>rm -rf</code> deletes recursively and forcefully the paths it is given as arguments; <code>$DIRECTROY</code> is a shell variable, probably containing some directory that whoever typed in this command wanted to clean; however, it is misspelled (it says <code>$DIRECTROY</code>, not <code>$DIRECTORY</code>), and, due to how POSIX shell work, it is thus expanded to an empty string; so, the command becomes <code>rm -rf /*</code>, which deletes all the files and directories in the root of the disk, effectively killing the system instead of just deleting the content of some directory. Notice that this particular misspell manages to circumvent the builtin protection of many <code>rm</code> versions, which refuse to do a plain <code>rm -rf /</code>, as <code>/*</code> gets expanded by the shell, so <code>rm</code> never has the chance to see explicitly that you are killing all the data in the root directory.<br />
* <code>:(){:|:&};:</code>: this is [https://askubuntu.com/q/159491/208527 a classic shell fork bomb], i.e. a small program that keeps launching copies of itself, until all resources have been exhausted or the user somehow manages to kill all its copies.<br />
* <code>echo "source .bashrc" >> .bashrc</code>: <code>.bashrc</code> is a file that gets executed whenever the <code>bash</code> shell is started in interactive mode; this command appends the string <code>source .bashrc</code> to it, which effectively executes it again recursively; this would pretty much make it impossible to open an interactive shell when launching it with the default parameters.<br />
* <code>alias gcc=php</code>: the <code>alias</code> shell builtin create an alias for another command; <code>gcc</code> is the GNU C compiler driver, which is used to compile programs written in the C language; <code>php</code> is the command-line interpreter for the PHP language. This line creates an alias such that when typing <code>gcc</code>, <code>php</code> is actually invoked, which would generate completely absurd error messages. This is doubly devious, as PHP isn't generally held in high esteem by large part of the programming community (especially by someone writing stuff in C).<br />
<br />
'); DROP TABLE Menus;-- links to [[327: Exploits of a Mom]]<br />
|-<br />
! 7 <br />
| '''Games''' <br />
| Normal submenu <br />
| Twenty Questions> A Twenty Questions interface that gets really confusing. There are links to Bing image searches for '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=okapi&FORM=HDRSC2 okapi]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=pronghorn&FORM=HDRSC2 pronghorn]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=eland&FORM=HDRSC2 eland]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=baribusa&FORM=HDRSC2 baribusa]', '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=musk%20deer&FORM=HDRSC2 musk deer]' and '[https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=ibex&FORM=HDRSC2 ibex]'.<br />
<br />
Rock Paper Scissors> A Rock Paper Scissors game where the computer always matches your move.<br />
<br />
D&D> A complex Dungeons and Dragons interface. Allows you to cast various spells from D&D 5e which link to various pages, including xkcd comics (e.g. [[1331: Frequency]]), what-ifs (e.g. {{what if|144|Saliva Pool}}) and other external sites (e.g. [https://www.nasa.gov/sun The Sun | NASA]). See [https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/88vwoe/xkcds_latest_comic_has_a_dd_easter_egg/ post on /r/dndnext] for all 285 links and 11 extra effects.<br />
<br />
ADVENT.EXE> A text-based game. If played correctly, you can win, unlocking 'Save'>'Save image' from the beginning menu, which links to [https://xkcd.com/1975/v6xso1_right_click_save.png]. 'ADVENT.EXE>Castle>Well>Wish for...' has links to comics [[572: Together]], [[1053: Ten Thousand]], [[152: Hamster Ball]], [[1196: Subways]], [[231: Cat Proximity]] and to what-if articles {{what if|111|All the Money}} and {{what if|9|Soul Mates}}. The C-remover is a reference to [http://emshort.com/counterfeit_monkey/](Counterfeit Monkey), a text adventure by Emily Short.<br />
<br />
Hoverboard> Links to [[1608: Hoverboard]] browser game.<br />
<br />
Mornington Crescent> This is a simulation of the well-known game {{W|Mornington_Crescent_(game)|Mornington Crescent}}, which bears a surprising resemblance to {{W|London_Underground|London's Underground}} railway network. Players name a station, in turn, endeavouring to reach Mornington Crescent. The rules of play are very complicated and beyond the scope of this article; interested persons are referred to ''N. F. Stovold’s Mornington Crescent: Rules and Origins'' (sadly out of print). In this variation, one may reach 'Vauxhall'>'Easter basket'>'Take egg', also allowing you to save. The shortest path to the Easter basket is: Euston / Warren Street / Oxford Circus / Green Park / Victoria / Pimlico / Vauxhall / Easter basket<br />
|-<br />
! 8 <br />
| '''Help''' <br />
| Contains various submenus, all of which, barring Credits, loop back recursively to this menu:<br />
|Tutorial<br />
Support<br />
<br />
Manual<br />
<br />
Troubleshooting<br />
<br />
FAQ<br />
<br />
Guide<br />
<br />
Q&A<br />
<br />
User forums<br />
<br />
--------------<br />
<br />
Credits> 'Some people who helped with this comic: <br />
[http://chromakode.com/ @chromakode] <br />
[https://twitter.com/aiiane Amber] <br />
[https://twitter.com/fadinginterest @fadinginterest] <br />
[https://twitter.com/wirehead2501 Kat] <br />
[https://twitter.com/cotrone Kevin] <br />
[http://90d.ca/ Stereo]'<br />
|-<br />
! 9<br />
| '''Do Crimes'''<br />
| Contains several "crimes" that can be committed. This option is unlocked by File > Open > C:\ (or /home/user) > Bookmarks/ > Secret > Enable Dark Web.<br />
| Steal Bitcoins > Grayed out.<br />
Say swears > Several clean swears that all link to [[771: Period Speech]].<br />
<br />
Hack > Three sub-options that link to various related comics. (Gibson: Nothing. Election: [[1019: First Post]]. Planet: [[1337: Hack]].)<br />
<br />
Forge a Scrabble Tile > Several sub-options that don't do anything. (U, Z, <this menu option intentionally left blank>, and two special characters, one appearing like a reversed 'E' modelled on a 'C', or Russian 'Э', as low-pitched [eh], and the second being crossed swords)<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
;Filesystems Menu<br />
<br />
{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"<br />
! Drive !! Menu Item !! Explanation !! Sub-Menu Items<br />
|-<br />
! A:\ <br />
| '''Insert''' <br />
| Only appears before inserting a floppy disk.<br />
|Floppy disk> Unlocks other options for drive A:\, which are identical to drive C:\<br />
Chip card> A long sequence of being told 'Please wait. Authorizing...' ending in 'Chip error! REMOVE CARD NOW!'<br />
|-<br />
! C:\ <br />
| '''Documents/'''<br />
| Nothing.<br />
| None.<br />
|-<br />
! C:\<br />
| '''Music/'''<br />
| Leads to a long string of prompts for song lyrics. 'Hey now / Hey now na now / Sing "This Corrosion" to me' inverts the webpage's color before Easter egg mode is enabled, and plays the referenced song in the browser with inverted color and flashing if the Easter egg mode is enabled. It's actually the same menu that is shown under Utilities>Identify song (which itself is a menu-ised version of [[851: Na]]). <br />
| 'Hey now / Hey now / Don't dream it's over' links to [[240: Dream Girl]]. 'This / is / a / story all about how / my life got flipped, turned upside down' links to [[464: RBA]]. 'This / is / the / story of a girl / who cried a river and drowned the whole world' links to a Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_FVAEYRM5I<br />
|-<br />
! C:\<br />
| '''Bookmarks/'''<br />
| Similar to Music/, Bookmarks/> Comics leads to a chain from which many comics are titled and linked. Bookmarks/> Secret> Enable Dark Web adds the 'Dark Web' option to the initial menu.<br />
|-<br />
! C:\<br />
| '''Games/'''<br />
| Same as 'Games' from the initial menu.<br />
|-<br />
! C:\<br />
| '''Sequences/'''<br />
| The options are the lines from a ''Tim and Eric'' sketch [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/celery-man Celery Man]; the final option links to a YouTube video of the sketch.<br />
| After several single-option menus, it links to this Youtube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHWBEK8w_YY<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''home/'''<br />
| Nothing.<br />
| guest> links to [//uni.xkcd.com]<br />
<br />
user> Same files as C:\<br />
<br />
root> Displays 'You are not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.'<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''opt/'''<br />
| Does nothing.<br />
| None.<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''sbin/'''<br />
| Does nothing.<br />
| None.<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''usr/'''<br />
| Opens an infinite sequence of options, each similar to the last, but replacing the previous selection with another folder; probably a reference to the fact that [https://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Filesystem-Hierarchy/html/usr.html the /usr hierarchy] does contain a list of subdirectories pretty much identical [https://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Filesystem-Hierarchy/html/the-root-directory.html to those of the root directory].<br />
|-<br />
! /<br />
| '''dev/'''<br />
| Nothing.<br />
|random/> links to a random xkcd comic.<br />
urandom/> links to [[221: Random Number]]<br />
|}<br />
<br />
In an additional fool it introduces the [https://uni.xkcd.com/ Unix XKCD] as a reference to the {{W|Telenet}}. (More on UniXKCD commands can be found [[721:_Flatland#UniXKCD|here]].)<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Empty frame with Cueball slightly right of centre.]<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the frame:]<br />
:Editor's Note: Today's comic is optimized for local viewing. To see the full version, just save a copy of the image!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
<!-- Include any categories below this line. --><br />
<br />
[[Category:Interactive comics]]<br />
[[Category:April fools' comics]]</div>172.68.65.18https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1966:_Smart_Home_Security&diff=1545871966: Smart Home Security2018-03-21T02:41:06Z<p>172.68.65.18: /* Explanation */ Grammar improvements and Wikipedia links.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1966<br />
| date = March 12, 2018<br />
| title = Smart Home Security<br />
| image = smart_home_security.png<br />
| titletext = If they're getting valuable enough stuff from you, at least the organized crime folks have an incentive to issue regular updates to keep the appliance working after the manufacturer discontinues support.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
With the proliferation of smart appliances in recent years, there is a growing trend of hackers taking over smart "Internet of Things" devices and adding them to {{w|botnets}}. The hardware is then used for DDOS attacks, crypto mining etc. The "{{w|Mirai (malware)|Mirai}}" botnet, for example, made of over 500,000 compromised routers, refrigerators, TVs, DVRs, baby monitors, thermostats, and webcams, was used in October 2016 to take down DynDNS, one of the core infrastructure providers for the internet in North America.<br />
<br />
With the constant potential threat, security updates must be constantly published, and vulnerabilities must be found by the original developers and "{{w|White hat (computer security)|white hat}}" hackers (the faceless team of engineers [[Randall]] describes), before they are found and exploited by "{{w|black hat}}" hackers. At any time, these defenders could step down from their jobs, leaving devices defenseless.<br />
<br />
The graph shows the various cases of how well things go on the y-axis, compared to how long it has been owned on the x-axis. The probability of compromise briefly dips (indicative of first rounds of security fix updates & the time window when you can easily exchange the product if you find out it's faulty) within the 1st year, then rises: the older a device/software is, the less likely it is to consistently receive security updates for protection, so they are more likely to be hacked, even in the best case. After 10 years, the device/software is most likely outdated and is not being used anymore. Companies then no longer find it profitable to continually update the product. Thus, they pull the support out, even if people are still using the device, leaving customers vulnerable.<br />
<br />
The title text suggests that there may be some silver lining to having your device controlled by organized crime professionals: they have a vested interest in keeping your device working well enough that you keep it plugged in. So, the more organized, pragmatic attackers will actually secure it against competing attackers, especially those of a more prankster-like mindset, who would cause more noticeably malicious changes. Advanced malware in the wild does frequently block and evict competing malware, so Randall is probably right. Some IOT malware may thus provide "regular security update services" after the original manufacturers give up, some at a conceivably acceptable cost of a few cents' worth of electrical usage for a crypto-miner. However, it could very easily go horribly wrong, for instance if that miner is hiding by letting a refrigerator run 2°C higher than its outputs allege and using the energy difference to max out the processor on mining operations.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A graph is shown inside a frame. There is one dotted line going from the middle of the left edge, then dipping slightly before rising slowly at first, then more rapid and finally slowing its ascend down as it nears the top right corner.]<br />
<br />
:[Above the frame is the title of the x-axis, and from each end of this text, there is a small line going out and then down, to indicate a time range, which is shown below with four times:]<br />
:How long you've had your smart appliance<br />
:6 months &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 1 year &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 5 years &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 10 years<br />
<br />
:[Along the left part of the frame there runs a double arrow and at the top and bottom of these arrows there are legends at the top and bottom of the panels height:]<br />
:Best-case<br />
:Worst-case<br />
<br />
:[Inside the panel there is text above the dotted line to the left, and below the dotted line to the right:]<br />
:You're constantly being rescued from peril by a faceless team of engineers who could wander away at any time<br />
<br />
:Your appliance is part of a botnet run by organized crime<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Line graphs]]<br />
[[Category:Virtual Assistants]]</div>172.68.65.18https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1956:_Unification&diff=1540601956: Unification2018-03-09T17:16:29Z<p>172.68.65.18: /* Unifications */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1956<br />
| date = February 16, 2018<br />
| title = Unification<br />
| image = unification.png<br />
| titletext = For a while, some physicists worked on a theory unifying the other forces with both the force of gravity and the film "Gravity," but even after Alfonso Cuarón was held in a deep underground chamber of water for 10^31 years he refused to sell his film to Disney.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
In physics, the fundamental interactions, also known as fundamental forces, are the interactions that do not appear to be reducible to more basic interactions. There are four {{w|fundamental interactions}} known to exist: the {{w|gravity|gravitational}} and {{w|electromagnetism|electromagnetic}} interactions, which produce significant long-range forces whose effects can be seen directly in everyday life, and the {{w|strong interaction|strong}} and {{w|weak interactions|weak}} interactions, which produce forces at minuscule, subatomic distances and govern nuclear interactions. Some scientists speculate that a fifth force might exist, but, if so, it is not widely accepted nor proven.<br />
<br />
This comic lists five physical forces (it split up electricity and magnetism), but also includes a number of other things (two countries and three businesses) that are known for "unifying" in a non-physics sense. {{w|East Germany|East}} and {{w|West Germany}} {{w|German reunification|united politically in 1990}}, more than forty years after being divided at the end of {{w|World War II}}. Entertainment company {{w|Disney}} has united in a business sense with a number of others over the years; the comic mentions animation studio {{w|Pixar}} and the ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' franchise. The comic states that this is the progress toward unifying the fundamental forces of nature, which is absurd, with the addition of Disney and {{w|Germany}}, neither of which is one of the fundamental forces.{{Citation needed}} Star Wars is, of course, all about {{w|The Force (Star Wars)|The Force}}, but this has, for some reason, gone unnoticed by most physicists.<br />
<br />
The title text jokes that some physicists tried to unify the force of {{w|gravity}} with the 2013 movie ''{{w|Gravity (2013 film)|Gravity}}'', starring {{w|Sandra Bullock}}. Of course, this is also absurd, but it turns out that this is just another jab by [[Randall]] at {{w|George Lucas}} for selling his rights to ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' to {{w|Disney}}. The jab comes when he makes it clear that the director of ''Gravity'' {{w|Alfonso Cuarón}} would refuse to sell the rights to his film to Disney, even if he was held in underground chamber of water for 10<sup>31</sup> years. <br />
<br />
This water chamber and incredible time span is a reference to {{w|Proton decay}}, which is being investigated by trying to detect the {{w|Cherenkov radiation}} that could occur from possible decay of protons in water. These measurements are being conducted in {{w|Proton_decay#Experimental_evidence|immense water tanks}} buried under mountains to protect them against similar signals that could result from cosmic radiation. The same type of tanks have been used to detect {{w|neutrinos}}.<br />
<br />
The half life of protons is currently believed to be between 10<sup>31</sup>–10<sup>36</sup> years. This should be compared to the age of the universe at around 1.3 10<sup>10</sup> years, which means that one second compared to the age of the universe is larger than the age of the universe compared to the smallest suggested half life of the proton (as used in the comic) by a factor of about 10,000, but even this time would not make Cuarón cave in...<br />
<br />
===Unifications===<br />
{|class="wikitable"<br />
!Item<br />
!colspan="2"|Unifications<br />
|-<br />
!Electricity<br />
|rowspan="2"|Electricity and magnetism were historically considered separate forces. Observations through the 19th century indicated that the two were closely linked, however, and the work of James Clerk Maxwell finally established their common identity in 1873. Today, their unified explanation, {{w|electromagnetism}}, is considered one of the four fundamental interactions in physics.<br />
|rowspan="3"|The unification of electromagnetism and the weak nuclear force—known as the {{w|electroweak interaction}}—is the only currently-accepted unification of two fundamental forces. Two Nobel Prizes in Physics have been awarded for work on this unification, in 1979 and in 1999.<br />
|-<br />
!Magnetism<br />
|-<br />
!Weak force<br />
|style="text-align:center;"|→<br />
|-<br />
!Strong force<br />
|colspan="2"|The strong nuclear force is similar to the electroweak forces, as they are all part of the model known as {{w|quantum field theory}} (QFT). There have been attempts to unify them to produce a so-called {{w|Grand Unified Theory}}. No model of their unification has yet been shown to be correct, and it remains a major unsolved problem in physics.<br />
|-<br />
!Gravity<br />
|colspan="2"|Unlike the other three fundamental forces, gravity is not described by QFT, but by {{w|general relativity}} (GR). A so-called "{{w|Theory of Everything}}", describing both QFT and GR, could also unify gravity and the other forces. Such a unification is still strictly hypothetical, however.<br />
|-<br />
!East Germany<br />
|rowspan="2" colspan="2"|In 1945, after {{w|Nazi Germany|Nazi Germany's}} defeat in the Second World War, Germany was occupied by the {{w|Allies of World War II|Allied Forces}}. At first, it was expected that the whole country would be transitioned to a single post-war government, but political and ideological differences between the {{w|Soviet Union}} and the other allies (which developed into the Cold War) prevented this. The Soviet-controlled zone became the German Democratic Republic, or {{w|East Germany}}, while the British, American and French zones of control merged to form the Federal Republic of Germany, or {{w|West Germany}}.<br />
<br />
With the fall of the Berlin Wall (a physical and symbolic representation of the division) in 1989, and the fall of the East German socialist government in the "Peaceful Revolution", {{w|German reunification}} again became an immediate possibility. By late 1990, the merger was achieved, with East Germany joining the federal structure already existing in West Germany.<br />
<br />
On 5th February 2018, just under two weeks before this comic appeared, the {{w|Berlin Wall}} had been "gone as long as it had stood"; that is, 28 years, two months, and 27 days.<br />
|-<br />
!West Germany<br />
|-<br />
!Disney<br />
|rowspan="2"|Pixar was originally a part of the computer division of Lucasfilm, but was spun off into a separate business in 1986. The studio had a positive partnership with Walt Disney Animation, which resulted in a deal for Pixar to produce animated feature films for Walt Disney Pictures. Though the partnership later became strained, Disney agreed to buy Pixar in 2006. Pixar films produced after this acquisition have been branded "Disney-Pixar" films.<br />
|rowspan="3"|The Star Wars franchise was perhaps the most successful and best-known property of Lucasfilm, the company founded by George Lucas in 1971. Discussion in 2011 of a distribution deal with Disney, around the time that Lucas was planning his retirement, turned into the outright purchase of Lucasfilm by Disney in 2012. Since then, Disney has extensively revamped and developed the Star Wars franchise, with three new films and a television series released by the date of this comic, and several more in the works.<br />
|-<br />
!Pixar<br />
|-<br />
!Star Wars<br />
|style="text-align:center;"|→<br />
<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Ten rounded frames with text inside are shown in two rows. Below each frame there is a line going down and then this line either joins with one or two of the other frames lines or in two cases do not joins with any other. At the bottom of the panel the now five remaining lines turn towards the center of the bottom of the panel and ends in arrows that points towards three question marks. The first three frames' lines are unified, same goes for the next two, and the three after that. The lines of the last two are not joined with any other lines. The text in the transcript is given as it appears from left to right, disregarding if it is the top or bottom row, but this will alternate through the ten frames, starting with one up, then one down etc.]<br />
<br />
:[Group one, starting with up:]<br />
:Electricity<br />
:Magnetism<br />
:Weak force<br />
<br />
:[Group two starting with down:]<br />
:East Germany<br />
:West Germany<br />
<br />
:[Group three starting with down:]<br />
:Star Wars<br />
:Disney<br />
:Pixar<br />
<br />
:[Two single frames, the first is up:]<br />
:Strong force<br />
:Gravity<br />
<br />
:[All five arrows points to this:]<br />
:<big><big>???</big></big><br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:Progress toward unifying the fundamental forces of nature<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]<br />
[[Category:Star Wars]]<br />
[[Category:Fiction]]<br />
[[Category:Geography]]</div>172.68.65.18https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=395:_Morning&diff=152957395: Morning2018-02-22T21:48:45Z<p>172.68.65.18: /* Explanation */ Added a [citation needed] marker, for the lulz.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 395<br />
| date = March 12, 2008<br />
| title = Morning<br />
| image = morning.png<br />
| titletext = I'd press on them to try to unstick them, but I can't reach. Can we try cycling day and night really fast?<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic makes reference to the idea, as presented in the movie {{w|The Matrix}}, that reality is a computer simulation. In {{w|Liquid-crystal display|LCD screens}}, especially {{w|TFT LCD}}, a {{w|Defective pixel|dead pixel}} is a pixel that does not work properly, usually set as black or as some other color. Megan realizes that the reality is a computer simulation when she sees dead pixels in the sky, indicating that what she sees is an LCD screen.<br />
<br />
In last panel of the comic, there are two red and one green pixel that look exactly like actual dead pixels.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to usual techniques for fixing a dead pixel. One way is to apply pressure and release it, which isn't possible{{Citation needed}} for Megan due to the distance of the sky. Another way is to make the area of the screen that the dead pixel is on change colors really quickly, which could happen if the day-night cycle was fast enough.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan is standing to one side.]<br />
:We've all seen The Matrix<br />
:We've all joked about "What resolution is life"<br />
:But it doesn't blunt the shock<br />
:Of waking up one morning<br />
:[Megan looks up from field and sees several colored pixels in the sky.]<br />
:And seeing dead pixels in the sky.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:The Matrix]]</div>172.68.65.18https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1951:_Super_Bowl_Watch_Party&diff=1526251951: Super Bowl Watch Party2018-02-16T20:29:41Z<p>172.68.65.18: /* Explanation */ NTSC frame rate is a 30/1.001 frames per second</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 />
<br />
The {{w|Super Bowl}} is the annual championship game of the {{w|National Football League}} (NFL), the highest level of professional {{w|American football}}. In late January or early February each year, the winner of the {{w|American Football Conference}} (AFC) plays the winner of the {{w|National Football Conference}} (NFC) to determine the champion. In {{w|Super Bowl LII}} held on Sunday, February 4, (the day before this comic's release), the NFC champion {{w|Philadelphia Eagles}} defeated the AFC champion {{w|New England Patriots}} 41: 33. Based on its wide-reaching cultural impact, the Super Bowl is the single most important American football game of the year. Over a hundred million people (across the world) watch it, many of whom are not even fans of American football. <br />
<br />
Many people have parties centered on watching the game. The full game lasts around four hours, including breaks for advertisements and a halftime, which includes a live performance of music, and the "best" commercials, which the Super Bowl has become notorious for, with some viewers only tuning in to watch them instead of the football game.<br />
<br />
[[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] (on the couch) have such a Super Bowl Watch Party going with their friends (hence the title), but in order to watch the game so that the end will be at the start of the next game, they have slowed down the broadcast so the game takes an entire year to watch. The normal TV is broadcast at 29.97002997 frames per second and takes four hours, for a total of 431568 frames. But by slowing the video down by a factor of 2300, the show would last a full year. (Actually it would last 33,119,967 seconds which is 383 days, 18 days more than a year. To make it last a year, minus 4 hours, it should be slowed down a factor 2189). Each frame would be shown for about 76.7 seconds. Each day in the slow video would cover just under 40 seconds of real time. With this method of viewing, the watchers are instead reduced to analyzing the game frame-by-frame, which may make it easier to understand the sequence of events, but also creates a feeling of tedium.<br />
<br />
Due to this extension creating a lack of variety, [[Megan]] tries to make it interesting by guessing the next frame shown will be a cut to a different camera angle. Cuts happen frequently during the broadcast, especially when the ball is not in play, and these cuts may be marked by a black screen. If this is the case, then the cut will be around a minute of nothing to look at at this speed. Megan has a relatively high probability (albeit still incredibly low, with cuts being less than one in every 1000 frames) of being right simply by chance that the next frame will be a cut, but Cueball's tired comment that she always guesses that indicates that the game is so slow or the cuts are so rare that she is almost never correct.<br />
<br />
[[Ponytail]] asks if they think the first ad block will come out before the end of February, about 20 days after the start of the Super Bowl show. The ads and halftime show are considered integral parts of the broadcast, and many advertisers debut elaborate commercials especially for this game, since so many people watch it. Many people claim to watch the Super Bowl only for the commercial breaks, as mentioned in [[60: Super Bowl]], and the anticipation for these is exaggerated for this game, as the wait is much longer with the extended broadcast. (In exchange, however, the commercials will be longer, too.)<br />
<br />
The title text refers to how, during a commercial break during the 2018 Super Bowl, only blackness was broadcast for 28 seconds due to equipment failure at NBC. <ref>https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2018/02/04/super-bowl-nbc-equipment-failure-blank-screen-super-bowl-commercial/305623002/</ref> At the rate they watch it would last almost 18 hours as described (17 hours 53 minutes). <br />
<br />
In previous comics regarding the Super Bowl, [[Randall]] has explained that he now watches the Super Bowl ([[1480: Super Bowl]]), despite previously expressing a lack of interest in the game ([[60: Super Bowl]]) or any other sport ([[1107: Sports Cheat Sheet]]). A slowly updating video is similar to the concept behind [[1190: Time]], and is also reminiscent of Douglas Gordon's 1993 art installation {{w|24 Hour Psycho}}. Also, {{w|As Slow as Possible}} is an organ piece that is currently played in a German church - it will end in 2640, after 639 years of continuous playing. The theme of a group becoming interested in frame-by-frame shots is reminiscent of [[915: Connoisseur]]. Related to frame-by-frame film watching is the ''Cinema interruptus'' concept used by film critic {{w|Roger Ebert}} at the {{w|Conference on World Affairs}}, where you first watch a film at normal speed, without interruptions, and then you watch it again, over several afternoons - while everybody present can stop the film at any time, and have a discussion about anything related to the scene. This is also method sport coaches use to discuss recordings of games.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A woman, looking like Megan, walks up to a group of people watching TV. Cueball and Megan (with shorter hair than the walking woman) are sitting on a couch. A Cueball-like guy sits in front of them, while Ponytail lies on the ground, head resting on a hand, in front of a TV, which is quite far from the couch.]<br />
:Woman: 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: I bet the next frame will be a cut.<br />
:Guy on floor: You always say that.<br />
:Ponytail: Do you think the first ads will come by the end of February?<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the comic:]<br />
:I'm at a year-round Super Bowl watch party. We're playing the stream at <sup>1</sup>/<sub>2300x</sub> speed, so it will end just as next year's Super Bowl starts.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:American football]]<br />
<references/></div>172.68.65.18https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1889:_xkcd_Phone_6&diff=145611Talk:1889: xkcd Phone 62017-09-18T14:33:39Z<p>172.68.65.18: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
<br />
For 'Never Needs Sharpening' I thought it was an implication that the screen that goes past the edge is sharp, but does not need the user to sharpen it. A sharp screen that extends past the edge is, naturally, an extremely inconvenient feature. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.28|141.101.76.28]] 21:10, 14 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I tried to access http://xkcd.com/MDCCCLXXXIX but I got a "CDIV NOT FOVND" error.[[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 14:38, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
1876 is the year of Alexander Graham Bell's telephone patent US174465 "Improvement in telegraphy" and the "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you." transmission.--[[User:Laverock|Laverock]] ([[User talk:Laverock|talk]]) 15:31, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Maybe "SPF 30" refers to how easily the phone becomes sunburned, rather than to how much protection the phone provides to you. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.16|162.158.63.16]] 15:40, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"... the phone cannot be ... inserted ... [in]to something else." Is it wrong that I know a website that disproves this? [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]])<br />
<br />
"Never Needs Sharpening," while applicable to pencils, is more likely a reference to those crappy knives often hocked in infomercials. See the TvTropes entry of the same name: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NeverNeedsSharpening [[Special:Contributions/172.68.133.222|172.68.133.222]] 16:38, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The promotional material for [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1809 xkdc Phone 5] said they refused to skip numbers!--[[User:Laverock|Laverock]] ([[User talk:Laverock|talk]]) 17:18, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Did anyone else notice that the title text contradicts with one of the main design features of the phone? Having a front camera in the middle of the screen specifically for video calling, then claiming that the phone never transmits images of the user's face (or even restricting the phone's software/hardware such that it cannot transmit images of the user's face) is somewhat of a contradiction. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.61|162.158.154.61]] 17:20, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"We didn't start this war" reminiscent of War for the Planet of the Apes tagline? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.238|108.162.215.238]] 17:25, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I thought it might have been a small reference to "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel? See also comics 1775 and 1794.<br />
--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.88|108.162.219.88]] 11:17, 14 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The "camera in the middle of the screen" is (hopefully) not too far away: [http://appleinsider.com/articles/09/01/08/apple_files_patent_for_camera_hidden_behind_display] [http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1112501121/sony-patents-technology-to-put-camera-and-sensors-behind-smartphone-display/] [[User:Sysin|Sysin]] ([[User talk:Sysin|talk]]) 19:21, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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;{{w|ordinal indicator#Masculine|º}} or {{w|superior letter|<sup>o</sup>}} or {{w|degree symbol|°}} or {{w|ring (diacritic)|˚}}?<br />
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Which one is it at the end of the trademarked (and registered to be so), copyrighted tagline?<br />
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(Currently it's transcribed as {{w|ordinal indicator#Masculine|º}}.)<br />
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--[[User:Das-g|Das-g]] ([[User talk:Das-g|talk]]) 20:09, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
:I'm pretty sure it's the {{w|degree symbol|degree symbol °}} because the letter before is a C for copyright or Celsius. Open the original 2x picture and you can see there is no underline like here: º. Thanks for this question. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:35, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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;What's the future?<br />
iPhone 8 followed by 9 then 10 and 11? And the <s>phablet</s> iPhone X followed by XI and XII? That X is pronounced ''ten''. And what number will the next xkcd phone use (besides the 7)? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:12, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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: The iPhone X is not a Phablet. It is "smaller" than the iPhone 8 Plus (see https://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/) and only slightly larger than the iPhone 8. And they're calling it the iPhone X (ten) because it is a step forward. Presumably the next phone will be the 11, unless they choose to go with a digit after the X, following OSX's approach. --[[User:Rand|Rand]] ([[User talk:Rand|talk]]) 22:18, 13 September 2017 (UTC) <br />
::Phablet was wrong, but that's what I've found at the first documentations. But for sure the next phone will not be 11, probably again two products, maybe then 9 and XL... --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:39, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
: I'm wondering if the iphone is meant to be the Iphone "Ex" or "Ten" - a la OSX (which should be OS Ten, not Oh Es Ex) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.55|162.158.154.55]] 07:27, 14 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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;Citation needed<br />
Is this template still that funny that it's worth to mention it more often then the existing numbers of Google Chrome versions? I say this isn't funny anymore for a long time{{Citation needed}}. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:31, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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;Non-consecutive numbers joke<br />
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The ''joke'' in the title text is that Apple just jumped from iPhone 8 to iPhone 10. <br />
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The joke needs to be explained somewhere in the text. Dgbrt reverted my edit in such a way that ''the joke is no longer explained''.<br />
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Please fix.--[[User:Rand|Rand]] ([[User talk:Rand|talk]]) 22:13, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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: In case anyone doubts the joke: If I type "why did a" into Google, it autofills to "why did apple skip iphone 9". A lot of people are asking this question. Randall, meanwhile, is making fun of Apple for skipping iPhone 9. --[[User:Rand|Rand]] ([[User talk:Rand|talk]]) 22:24, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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:Here's somebody else making a similar joke at Apple's expense: http://ew.com/news/2017/09/12/in-memoriam-iphone-9/--[[User:Rand|Rand]] ([[User talk:Rand|talk]]) 22:26, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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OMG, iPhone 8 and iPhone X were released at the same time. There is no current phone existing which follows iPhone 8 and there may be a iPhone 9 in the future. The X is pronounced ''ten'' but that phone is not the successor of the iPhone 8. Until now Microsoft is the one company who omitted the version number 9. To claim this on Apple we still have to wait for the next phone.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:13, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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: No, in order to ''know with certainty'' that Apple skipped a version number (as opposed to releasing a ten followed by a nine) we would need to wait for the next phone. In order to joke about it... well, half the internet is already making that joke: https://www.bustle.com/p/iphone-9-memes-jokes-pay-homage-to-the-forgotten-generation-2343796. And yes, Randall Munroe is also making that joke.--[[User:Rand|Rand]] ([[User talk:Rand|talk]]) 23:20, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
::Of course people are joking. But it's still only Microsoft omitting the 9. Randall jokes about this by presenting the xkcd phone VIII, and many other names, for the same major features. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:30, 13 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
::: They're joking about ''skipping the iPhone 9''. Randall refers to ''nonconsecutive'' version numbers: that is, version numbers that skip. There's no ambiguity here. The graceful thing for you to do here would be to undo your revision, improving the language if necessary. If you're not willing to, I'll let others handle the edit warring / making the consensus clear.--[[User:Rand|Rand]] ([[User talk:Rand|talk]]) 00:08, 14 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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The best I could find for what "26" is referencing in the context of version skipping is Linux kernel 2.6, which was the last in the old versioning scheme of "evens stable, odds development" before they moved to version 3.0 which used a different scheme. If you search in the context of phones the current Android API version for 8.0 Oreo is 26, but there was no version skip there. Both theories are weak, so does anyone have another idea? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.51.35|173.245.51.35]] 14:12, 14 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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26 could refer to the number of letters in the alphabet. The 26th letter is "Z," which seems appropriate given that the previous "number" shown is "X," as if to suggest that "Y" was skipped in a sense, or that the numbering system suddenly decided to jump to the last number in a sequence for no reason. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.40|162.158.78.40]] 19:39, 14 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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: This explanation makes the most sense. iPhone X pronounced "ten" could be followed by Y, then Z. Twisting this, it becomes iPhone 26 pronounced "zee". [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.201|162.158.74.201]] 12:52, 15 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Shroud of turin style facial transfer means you'd have to press the phone against your face until somehow an impression of your face was registered, in the same way as an imprint of oils(?) from a face is left on the turin shroud. This is more amusing, and ridiculous, than the current explanation. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.233|141.101.99.233]] 05:13, 14 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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The war of nonconsecutive numbering goes back to 1999 at least, as Slackware jumped from Version 4.0 to 7.0 because other distros had been iterating version numbers quicker, and Patrick Volkerding wanted to catch up: http://www.slackware.com/faq/do_faq.php?faq=general#0 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.76|162.158.34.76]] 12:48, 14 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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isn't "dishwasher safe" another waterproofing joke? one of the the reasons that Apple gave for removing all the ports (apart from "because we hate you") was to allow the phones to be sealed and therefore properly waterproof. the whole 1m/30mins thing is put into the shade by 50 degrees for 3 hours, no? --[[User:Misterstick|Misterstick]] ([[User talk:Misterstick|talk]]) 13:12, 14 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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'''High thread count CPU '''<br />
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There is a therm called "CPU-Threads", which is the number of parallel processes in the CPU.<br />
(e.g. 4-Core + hyper-threading (x2) = 8 CPU-Threads)<br />
--[[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.136|172.68.51.136]] 18:45, 14 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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'''Pre-seasoned '''<br />
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Is also used for Steaks (and some other ingredients) sold already seasoned. (Bot is less compliant with solar heating) --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.136|172.68.51.136]] 18:49, 14 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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'''Extra screen'''<br />
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There are already phones with a small rectangular extra screen, although on the top instead of the bottom. e.g. LG V10, LG X screen. It is used for additional buttons and always-on notifications there. I think the first Samsung phones with edged screen also used this as a second screen with addition controls. A Screen on the bottom wouldnt be much worse.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.205|162.158.89.205]] 09:33, 18 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
: I second this interpretation. There is a play on words with "extra screen" meaning either "an additional screen" or "more screen" [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.18|172.68.65.18]] 14:33, 18 September 2017 (UTC)</div>172.68.65.18https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1887:_Two_Down,_One_to_Go&diff=145229Talk:1887: Two Down, One to Go2017-09-11T15:53:56Z<p>172.68.65.18: </p>
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<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Worth noting that the Orionids are the last major shower of the year: https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/orionid.html {{unsigned ip|108.162.246.215}}<br />
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Venus is sometimes visible during the day. A daylight supernova need not be the second brightest object in the night sky.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.159|162.158.62.159]] 13:30, 8 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
:The Moon is also sometimes visible during the day. SN 1006 and SN 1054 were brighter than Venus at maximum brightness but still dimmer than the Moon. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:02, 8 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Randall is likely talking about the expected replenishment of the Leonids http://www.imo.net/50-years-ago-the-1966-leonid-meteor-storm/ [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.18|172.68.65.18]] 14:55, 8 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Aurora viewing in "perhaps parts of Maine"? Maine's northern limit is ~47.5 degrees. Most of the US/Canada border is at 49 degrees, which is still too far south for good aurora views, but being in Seattle gets you closer to the pole than Maine. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.160|108.162.216.160]] 18:59, 8 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
: Auroras are centered on the Earth's geomagnetic poles, not the geographic poles. The geomagnetic pole is currently on Ellesmere Island and is closer to Portland, ME than Seattle, WA. The closest spot in the contiguous US to the geomagnetic north pole might be in northern Maine, Isle Royale, MI or the Northwest angle, depending on exactly which epoch is used for the location of the pole.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.159|162.158.62.159]] 00:22, 9 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Could Randal's mention of a supernova be interpreted to mean that our sun goes supernova and since that's the last thing he sees, he jsut closes off his bucket list? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.58|108.162.221.58]] 22:55, 8 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Nice idea, and fits with Randall's sense of humor, but he knows that while it is possible that a nearby star will go supernova in his lifetime (though unlikely) our sun will never go supernova because it is too small. And the odds of our sun going nova anytime soon are meaningfully zero (on the same order of magnitude of the odds that every atom that makes up the clothing you are wearing suddenly quantum tunneling two feet to your left). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.124|162.158.78.124]] 14:54, 9 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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I always have to share my favorite song about Romance and Science: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V_g_QxzUco Judith Edelman: Magnetic]. Read the lyrics at one of the first comments, "...Will the aurora borealis give us one last show?". --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:31, 9 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Total Solar Eclipse: (16 times) check, Aurora (both northern and southern) check, Meteor Storm (1966) check, Naked eye visible supernova (SN 1987A) check, Transit of Venus: (2004 & 2012) check, Comet impact into a planet (Jupiter) check, Volcanic eruption (Mt. St. Helens, Kilauea, Mt. Erebus, etc.) check, Tsunami (Marshall Islands) check, Major Earthquake (Turkey, China, US) check, Hurricane (US, Virgin Islands, etc.) check, Tornado (several close up on the state of NM) check, Earth Poles, (North Geographic Pole, South Geographic Pole. North Magnetic, South Magnetic) check, World records (1980 and 1990 record book) check, .. still hoping to go into outer space, still hoping to see a naked eye Supernova in our galaxy, plus and a few other cool things: nevertheless, I'm well satisfied with my life so far. [[User:Chongo|Chongo]] ([[User talk:Chongo|talk]]) 09:08, 10 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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FYI: There was no total solar eclipse in 2014, 2011, 2007, 2005, 2004, ... [[User:Chongo|Chongo]] ([[User talk:Chongo|talk]]) 09:26, 10 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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I'm not the only one who can see 'Wave of Hurricanes' right? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.83|108.162.238.83]] 12:27, 11 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Someone changed the image on this site. xkcd.com still shows the original with "Meteor Storm". If I knew how to fix this, I would. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.95|108.162.238.95]]<br />
::It's corrected back to the original. But you must be patient to see it until the cache on the website is expired.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:23, 11 September 2017 (UTC)--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:23, 11 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
:::Someone has broken it again [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.18|172.68.65.18]] 15:53, 11 September 2017 (UTC)</div>172.68.65.18https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1887:_Two_Down,_One_to_Go&diff=145140Talk:1887: Two Down, One to Go2017-09-08T14:55:26Z<p>172.68.65.18: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Worth noting that the Orionids are the last major shower of the year: https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/orionid.html {{unsigned ip|108.162.246.215}}<br />
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Venus is sometimes visible during the day. A daylight supernova need not be the second brightest object in the night sky.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.159|162.158.62.159]] 13:30, 8 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
:The Moon is also sometimes visible during the day. SN 1006 and SN 1054 were brighter than Venus at maximum brightness but still dimmer than the Moon. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:02, 8 September 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Randall is likely talking about the expected replenishment of the Leonids http://www.imo.net/50-years-ago-the-1966-leonid-meteor-storm/ [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.18|172.68.65.18]] 14:55, 8 September 2017 (UTC)</div>172.68.65.18