https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=172.69.71.24&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T08:47:54ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2836:_A_Halloween_Carol&diff=3247452836: A Halloween Carol2023-10-02T20:14:06Z<p>172.69.71.24: edited typo</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2836<br />
| date = October 2, 2023<br />
| title = A Halloween Carol<br />
| image = a_halloween_carol_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 639x245px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = [after a minute] "Okay, I think I've got it, thanks. Can I--" "oOOOooOOooo!"<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a GHOST... oOOOooOOooo - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
In the classic Dickensian story {{w|A Christmas Carol}}, the protagonist of the tale is various ghosts, first that of his old business partner and then (successively) the spirits of Christmases Past, Present and Yet To Come, in order to rehabilitate him from his anti-Christmas ways (and generally improve his humanity and spiritual future). In this case, however, three halloween-style ghosts arrive as a spoof of that tale. They represent similar phases of the actual festival of Halloween, but have turned up to pester Cueball in his bed all at the same time. And the 'lesson' they convey to him is far less transformatory in nature.<br />
<br />
In the title text, in fact, it would appear that the very simple message has been received and taken on board, but the apparitions feel the need to continue their haunting regardless.<br />
<br />
Carolling, though these days almost exclusively associated with Christmas, had long been a term for festive songs and dances, and arguably it is largely through Dickens's use as his story title that we associate it so strongly with this particular annual festival.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Cueball is half sitting up in bed, his lower body underneath the blankets. He is looking at three ghost flying above him.]<br />
:Middle ghost: ooOOOOOooOOOoo<br />
:[The "ooooo" of the ghosts is written in wavy letters of varying sizes]<br />
:Middle ghost: We are the ghosts of halloween past, present and future<br />
<br />
:[Just the middle ghost]<br />
:Ghost: here to teach you the true meaning of halloween!<br />
<br />
:[Back to the full scene]<br />
:Left ghost: ooOOOOOOOooo<br />
:Middle ghost: ooOOOOOooo<br />
<br />
:[Again, the full scene]<br />
:Left ghost: ooooooOOOooOooo<br />
:Right ghost: ooOoooOOOoooo<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
* '''This trivia section was created by a BOT'''<br />
* The [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a_halloween_carol_2x.png standard size] image was uploaded with a resolution/size larger than the supposed 2x version.<br />
* This may have been an error.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>172.69.71.24https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2027:_Lightning_Distance&diff=160705Talk:2027: Lightning Distance2018-08-01T17:06:26Z<p>172.69.71.24: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
<br />
Calculations I used:<br />
<br />
t1=s/v1<br />
<br />
t2=s/v2<br />
<br />
Substract:<br />
<br />
t1-t2=dt=s/v1-s/v2=(s*v2-s*v1)/(v1*v2)=s*(v2-v1)/(v1*v2)=s*dv/(v1*v2)<br />
<br />
Therefore<br />
<br />
s=(dt*v1*v2)/dv<br />
<br />
I evaluated (v1*v2)/dv and it came to be 13.6 billion. Can someone verify it's correct? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.112|172.68.51.112]] 13:08, 1 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:The comic begins with the question "how many miles away", so converting to kilometers isn't the right calculation.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.24|172.69.71.24]] 17:06, 1 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I used refractive index for visible light of 1.000277 (air at STP as opposed to 0C 1atm) and arrived at around 7.9 billion instead. Refractive index of 1.000337 is then required for the radio waves for the comic to be correct. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.11.221|172.68.11.221]] 13:46, 1 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Do you mean 7.9 billion to convert to miles or to kilometers? Because my 13.6 bilion is to kilometers. <br />
<br />
::I'm sure the actual comic is referring to miles and 5 billion was picked to match with the "divide by five" rule for miles. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.131|172.69.70.131]] 13:59, 1 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::I did mean kilometers. If we use miles, 1.000314 fits almost precisely! (5.04 billion) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.11.17|172.68.11.17]] 14:42, 1 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
If you can count several seconds, as is suggested in the comic, the flash is still billions of miles away, the widest possible distance between Earth and Neptun is about 5 billion km. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.40|172.68.110.40]] 14:51, 1 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Do you really need to know the spectrum of the flash? If we assume that a flash contains UV and X-ray radiation and that the visible light is generated at the same time as the UV or X-ray radiation then you only need to know the refractive index of light/UV/X-ray in air under the same temperature conditions and not the exact spectrum. [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]])<br />
<br />
I understand the joke Randall was going for, but have a problem with the wording. "Count the number of seconds" won't work for fractions of anything. "Measure" would work, but spoils the gag a bit. Counting numbers are integers; counting the seconds between the visible and radio frequency flashes will give you zero. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.24|172.69.71.24]] 17:00, 1 August 2018 (UTC)</div>172.69.71.24https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2027:_Lightning_Distance&diff=160704Talk:2027: Lightning Distance2018-08-01T17:00:23Z<p>172.69.71.24: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
<br />
Calculations I used:<br />
<br />
t1=s/v1<br />
<br />
t2=s/v2<br />
<br />
Substract:<br />
<br />
t1-t2=dt=s/v1-s/v2=(s*v2-s*v1)/(v1*v2)=s*(v2-v1)/(v1*v2)=s*dv/(v1*v2)<br />
<br />
Therefore<br />
<br />
s=(dt*v1*v2)/dv<br />
<br />
I evaluated (v1*v2)/dv and it came to be 13.6 billion. Can someone verify it's correct? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.112|172.68.51.112]] 13:08, 1 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I used refractive index for visible light of 1.000277 (air at STP as opposed to 0C 1atm) and arrived at around 7.9 billion instead. Refractive index of 1.000337 is then required for the radio waves for the comic to be correct. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.11.221|172.68.11.221]] 13:46, 1 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Do you mean 7.9 billion to convert to miles or to kilometers? Because my 13.6 bilion is to kilometers. <br />
<br />
::I'm sure the actual comic is referring to miles and 5 billion was picked to match with the "divide by five" rule for miles. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.131|172.69.70.131]] 13:59, 1 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::I did mean kilometers. If we use miles, 1.000314 fits almost precisely! (5.04 billion) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.11.17|172.68.11.17]] 14:42, 1 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
If you can count several seconds, as is suggested in the comic, the flash is still billions of miles away, the widest possible distance between Earth and Neptun is about 5 billion km. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.40|172.68.110.40]] 14:51, 1 August 2018 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Do you really need to know the spectrum of the flash? If we assume that a flash contains UV and X-ray radiation and that the visible light is generated at the same time as the UV or X-ray radiation then you only need to know the refractive index of light/UV/X-ray in air under the same temperature conditions and not the exact spectrum. [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]])<br />
<br />
I understand the joke Randall was going for, but have a problem with the wording. "Count the number of seconds" won't work for fractions of anything. "Measure" would work, but spoils the gag a bit. Counting numbers are integers; counting the seconds between the visible and radio frequency flashes will give you zero. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.24|172.69.71.24]] 17:00, 1 August 2018 (UTC)</div>172.69.71.24https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1833:_Code_Quality_3&diff=1602351833: Code Quality 32018-07-19T04:03:40Z<p>172.69.71.24: rm citation needed</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1833<br />
| date = May 5, 2017<br />
| title = Code Quality 3<br />
| image = code_quality_3.png<br />
| titletext = It's like a half-solved cryptogram where the solution is a piece of FORTH code written by someone who doesn't know FORTH.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
This comic is a direct continuation of [[1513: Code Quality]] and [[1695: Code Quality 2]] in the [[:Category:Code Quality|Code Quality]] series, in which Ponytail continually insults Cueball's code style. In this comic, as in the previous, Cueball does not directly appear, only speaking off-panel; however, as it is a continuation of the series, it is clear that this is Cueball's code.<br />
<br />
In the first panel, Ponytail references {{w|query string|query strings}}, which store information, such as search queries or page numbers, relevant to the URL. Query strings are not meant to be especially human-readable, so a song based on one would likely not be a good one.<br />
<br />
A tactical flashlight is a light that can be mounted on a gun for use in low-light scenarios. They tend to be very durable and very bright. Different models have different features and capabilities, so they are given cool-sounding model numbers. [http://www.json.org/ JSON] (JavaScript Object Notation) is a subset of JavaScript used, by many programming languages, as a convenient way of recording structured data. It's not clear what else would be in the table (tables typically have more than one column) and JSON technically has arrays and objects (dictionaries) but not tables, but a JSON array of objects of these model numbers would look something like:<br />
<br />
[ { "model": "TACT X700"},<br />
{ "model": "Atomic Beam USA 5000" },<br />
{ "model": "E2D LED Defender" },<br />
{ "model": "J5 Tactical V1-Pro" }<br />
]<br />
<br />
{{w|Alan Turing}} was a British theoretical computer scientist, often considered the father of the field. His [https://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/Turing_Paper_1936.pdf 1936 paper] outlined Turing machines, a theoretical model for computing, as well as computability and the halting problem. Theoretical computer science is very different from practical coding; understanding the contents of the paper would not at all help a coder to understand today's algorithms, design patterns, and best practices. This is not helped by a page of Javascript example code. {{w|Javascript}} is a popular programming language which makes web pages responsive to user inputs, and while Javascript arguably solves the problem in a practical manner (as opposed to Turing's very theoretical work), it does get a lot of criticism - for instance it is {{w|Strong and weak typing|nearly untyped}}, which allows the programmer to do very interesting things, like {{w|JSFuck}}. Then, example code is used to explain a concept in programming or demonstrate how a program works, but it does not actually run on any computer. "Guessing everything in between" would involve attempting to write code using skills that could range anywhere from the most basic programming to Turing's extremely advanced ideas.<br />
<br />
In the final panel, Ponytail references {{w|leet|leet-speak}}, in which symbols are replaced with similar-looking symbols, and a {{w|manifesto}}, a statement of a person or group's beliefs and intentions. A manifesto from a survivalist cult leader might be nonsensical, even before being translated to leet-speak. Memory allocation is a low-level computer programming concept; most modern languages have features that take care of memory allocation for the programmer, possibly implying that Cueball does not know how to use these features.<br />
<br />
At this point Cueball, quickly becoming impatient with Ponytail's sass in what is supposed to be a formal code review, retorts that if she can't start giving him the constructive criticism that he's looking for, he can always find someone else to replace her. Ponytail smugly responds that nobody else would be able to stomach his code for more than one sitting, and that she's the only one he's got.<br />
<br />
{{w|Forth_(programming_language)#Programmer.27s_perspective|Forth}} is an old programming language that tends to be difficult to read. It is stack-based, meaning that values to be operated on are moved on a {{w|Stack (abstract data type)|stack}} before the operation to be performed is given. Using stacks can be considered different from programming languages that resemble natural human language (e.g. {{w|COBOL}}). While stack-based computing makes some problems very simple (for example, it is relatively simple to design a Forth compiler, or reversing the order of an array) and uses less computing resources, such programming languages are not easy to learn. Since Forth allows the programmer to rewrite the language, or define their own language, and it does not enforce restrictions like data types, it may be especially easy for novices to write cryptic code.<br />
<br />
A {{w|cryptogram}} is a cipher puzzle, generally one easy enough to be solved manually. The title text implies that the code is so bad that it looks like unreadable FORTH code that is missing random characters.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Ponytail sitting in front of a computer screen typing. Cueball speaks only off-panel, but since this is a direct continuation of comic 1513 and 1695: Code Quality and Code Quality 2 where Cueball is shown, there can be no doubt it is him.]<br />
:Ponytail: Your code looks like song lyrics written using only the stuff that comes after the question mark in a URL.<br />
:Cueball (off-panel): Sorry.<br />
:[Zoom in on Ponytail's upper body.]<br />
:Ponytail: It's like a JSON table of model numbers for flashlights with "tactical" in their names.<br />
:[Zoom back out again. Ponytail has lifted her hands off the table and is slightly leaning back against the chair.]<br />
:Ponytail: Like you read Turing's 1936 paper on computing and a page of JavaScript example code and guessed at everything in between.<br />
:[Zoom in again on Ponytail's face.]<br />
:Ponytail: It's like a leet-speak translation of a manifesto by a survivalist cult leader who's for some reason obsessed with memory allocation.<br />
:Cueball (off-panel): I can get someone else to review my code.<br />
:Ponytail: Not more than once, I bet.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Code Quality]]<br />
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Code Quality 03]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]</div>172.69.71.24https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1943:_Universal_Dreams&diff=1511641943: Universal Dreams2018-01-18T00:22:31Z<p>172.69.71.24: /* Explanation */ Original author of the Michael Clayton reference here. I agree that the pun explanation is better and I moved it to the front. However, if you've seen the movie, the similarity is undeniable.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1943<br />
| date = January 17, 2018<br />
| title = Universal Dreams<br />
| image = universal_dreams.png<br />
| titletext = "That's ... unsettling." "Yeah, those definitely don't sound like the normal drea– LATITUDE THREE FIVE POINT..." <br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Can someone check whether the clayton movie is actually a reference? Seems to me the nightmare explanation is more relevant.}}<br />
<br />
The first and second panel are a discussion between [[Megan]] and [[Ponytail]] about {{w|Dream|dreams}}. Megan mentions a dream or nightmare about failing to prepare for an exam despite not being a student for years. This is similar to the dream depicted in [[557: Students]]. Ponytail responds that certain dreams occur with surprising frequency among many people, dubbing them "Universal Dreams" (which is the title of the comic).<br />
<br />
In the third panel, [[Black Hat]] describes an avatar of misfortune in the form of a horse appearing on a hill. This could be a play on the word {{w|Nightmare|nightmare}}. A {{w|Mare_(folklore)|mare}} was originally a demon or goblin that gave bad dreams. The modern word {{w|Mare#Etymology|mare}}, meaning female horse, has a different origin, but still serves handily as a {{w|Pun#Homophonic|homophonic pun}}.<br />
<br />
Alternatively, this may be a reference to [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465538/ 2007 film Michael Clayton], which features a dream like sequence where the title character recognizes a scene of three horses on a hilltop from an illustration in a book. He stops his car, gets out and approaches the horses just minutes before his car explodes. This marks a major turning point in the direction Clayton takes for the rest of the film, similar to how Black Hat says "[the horses] mean the dream is about to turn bad."<br />
<br />
In the last panel, Black Hat describes having dreams where he receives specific information about the real-world, which seems closer to {{w|List_of_dreams#Prophetic_dreams|prophesying}} or {{w|Precognition#In_dreams|precognition}} than what would be considered a normal dream, as normal dreams do not tell the future. This may be a reference to the [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448011/ 2009 film ''Knowing''] where a child hears voices telling her the date, time, latitude and longitude of major disasters (including earthquakes) that will occur 50 years in the future. Dreaming of latitude and longitude was also a topic of [[240: Dream Girl]], but in contrast the events in that dream did not come true.<br />
<br />
In the title text, either [[Megan]] or [[Ponytail]] is responding to black hat when she unexpectedly interrupts herself with the first part of geographic coordinates- Latitude 35, just as Black Hat described, implying the whole comic might be another of Black Hat's dreams. 35 degrees North would include 31 major cities around the world, including 11 in Japan and 8 in the USA; the only major city within 35 degrees South is Canberra, Australia. This suggest an earthquake would happen soon in one of those major cities. The second half of the coordinates are most likely cut off to add uncertainty to the situation.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
:[Megan, Ponytail, and Black Hat are standing around.]<br />
:Megan: I've been out of school for years, but I still get those dreams where I have an exam and I didn't prepare.<br />
<br />
:[Ponytail shrugs.]<br />
:Ponytail: I think that's one of those weird universal dreams— like forgetting your clothes or discovering rooms in your house you didn't know about.<br />
<br />
:[Zoom-in on Black Hat.]<br />
:Black Hat: Yeah! Or when you're having a normal dream, but then a horse appears on a distant hilltop, and it means that the dream is about to turn bad!<br />
:Ponytail or Megan (off-screen): I... What?<br />
:Black Hat: I have that one like every night.<br />
<br />
:[Megan and Ponytail look at Black Hat.]<br />
:Black Hat: Or those ones where you're talking to someone, and they start repeating a latitude and longitude over and over, and then you wake up that morning and there's an earthquake there. <br />
:Black Hat: Haha, dreams, right? So weird!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Dreams]]</div>172.69.71.24https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1943:_Universal_Dreams&diff=1511461943: Universal Dreams2018-01-17T18:21:18Z<p>172.69.71.24: /* Explanation */ Adding explanation of the first and second panels to better introduce comic 557. Adding references to movies and a previous xkcd with similar events.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1943<br />
| date = January 17, 2018<br />
| title = Universal Dreams<br />
| image = universal_dreams.png<br />
| titletext = "That's ... unsettling." "Yeah, those definitely don't sound like the normal drea- LATITUDE THREE FIVE POINT..." <br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a DREAM - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
The first and second panel are a discussion between [[Megan]] and [[Ponytail]] about {{w|Dream|dreams}}. Megan mentions a dream or nightmare about failing to prepare for an exam despite not being a student for years. This is similar to the dream depicted in [[557: Students]]. Ponytail responds that certain dreams occur with surprising frequency among many people {{Citation needed}}, dubbing them "Universal Dreams" (which is the title of the comic).<br />
<br />
In the third panel, [[Black Hat]] describes an avatar of misfortune in the form of a horse appearing on a hill. This may be a reference to [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465538/ 2007 film Michael Clayton], which features a dream like sequence where the title character stops his car, gets out and approaches 3 horses on a hillside just minutes before his car explodes.<br />
<br />
In the last panel, Black Hat describes having dreams where he receives specific information about the real-world, which seems closer to {{w|List_of_dreams#Prophetic_dreams|prophesying}} or {{w|Precognition#In_dreams|precognition}} than what would be considered a normal dream, as normal dreams do not tell the future {{Citation needed}}. This may be a reference to the [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448011/ 2009 film ''Knowing''] where a child writes down the latitude and longitude of disasters (including earthquakes) that will occur 50 years in the future. Dreaming of latitude and longitude was also a topic of [[240: Dream Girl]], but in contrast the events in that dream did not come true.<br />
<br />
Based on his mannerisms, we can safely conclude that [[Beret Guy]] has stolen Black Hat's signature headwear.<br />
<br />
In the title text, either [[Megan]] or [[Ponytail]] is responding to black hat when they are interrupted by a the first part of geographic coordinates- Latitude 35. 35 degrees North would include 31 major cities around the world, including 11 in Japan and 8 in the USA; the only major city within 35 degrees South is Canberra, Australia. This suggest an earthquake would happen soon in one of those major cities. The second half of the coordinates are most likely cut off to add uncertainty to the situation.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[Megan, Ponytail, and Black Hat are standing around]<br />
<br />
Megan: I've been out of school for years, but I still get those dreams where I have an exam and didn't prepare.<br />
<br />
[Ponytail shrugs]<br />
<br />
Ponytail: I think that's one of those weird universal dreams- like forgetting your clothes or discovering rooms in your house you didn't know about.<br />
<br />
Black Hat: Yeah! Or when you're having a normal dream, but then a horse appears on a distant hilltop, and it means that the dream is about to turn bad!<br />
<br />
Ponytail or Megan, off screen: I... What?<br />
<br />
Black Hat: I have that one like every night.<br />
<br />
Black Hat: Or those ones where you're talking to someone, and they start repeating a latitude and longitude over and over, and then you wake up that morning and there's an earthquake there. Haha, dreams, right? So weird!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Dreams]]</div>172.69.71.24