https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=199.27.128.200&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T14:27:21ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:774:_Atheists&diff=87222Talk:774: Atheists2015-03-28T08:07:01Z<p>199.27.128.200: </p>
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<div>Atheists aren't annoying, they are just boring. Nobody likes a party pooper. <br />
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The sad truth is that there's nothing out there but the universe. Luckily, it's a magnificent one. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.58|108.162.219.58]] 01:50, 24 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
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:There's some real irony in someone declaring that atheists are boring while also affirming itself as an atheist. Maybe it's just reluctant to claim the title? Some atheists choose to be called "agnostic" for that reason, even when they fit the bill. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.200|199.27.128.200]] 08:07, 28 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
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:Just as i read the word 'magnificent' the conclusion part of 'eclipse' (from dark side of the moon) started. Great timing :) --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.35|108.162.216.35]] 02:17, 11 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
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:How can you be sure that there aren't any other universes? Even if the only things that exist are matter, energy, and information, there still could be other universes that we haven't seen, and those would be real. [[User:Mulan15262|Mulan15262]] ([[User talk:Mulan15262|talk]]) 14:12, 25 May 2014 (UTC)Mulan15262<br />
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:: Not even Explain XKCD is immune to being dragged in to this little argument, but at least its taking a less hostile approach I suppose.<br />
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::I actually have a friend who was a devout Fundamentalist Christian, and then switched over to becoming a dedicated Fundamentalist Atheist. I find arguments about religion with him equally annoying regardless of which side he is/was on so I guess they're on to something...<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.55|108.162.219.55]] 08:39, 5 June 2014 (UTC)</div>199.27.128.200https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=768:_1996&diff=87220768: 19962015-03-28T07:24:16Z<p>199.27.128.200: /* Explanation */ Clarifying that the chatterbot from 2014 did not in fact past the Turing Test</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 768<br />
| date = July 19, 2010<br />
| title = 1996<br />
| image = 1996.png<br />
| titletext = College Board issues aside, I have fond memories of TI-BASIC, writing in it a 3D graphing engine and a stock market analyzer. With enough patience, I could make anything... but friends. (Although with my chatterbot experiments, I certainly tried.)<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
There has been a stunning amount of progress in pretty much any measurable dimension of technology since 1996. We laugh at our prior naivete, pointing out that what would be a non-functionally awful computer now was considered state of the art at that time. Likewise with a {{w|PalmPilot|Palm Pilot}}, arguably a precursor to today's omnipresent smartphones. {{w|Texas Instruments|Texas Instrument (TI)}} calculators, however, appear to have been left behind, not having made any significant advances since the newly discovered issues of the US computer magazine {{w|Computer Shopper (US magazine)|Computer Shopper}} were published. Thus, while we groan at how awful our state of the art technologies truly were in 1996, we are reminded that some technologies have remained in relative stasis over the years.<br />
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The title text, after alluding to the fact that academia's practice of only allowing (or requiring) specific models is at the root of how TI can charge high prices for stagnant technology, reminds us that when they were new, TI calculators were relatively powerful tools if you knew how to use them. TI-Basic was a fairly versatile programming language that could be used to make anything from games to reference files to computational programs.<br />
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The second half of the title text is a reminder to those of us who felt like gods for knowing how to program that power comes at a price—in this case, the power to program a calculator costs [[866: Compass and Straightedge|friends]]. Since, as of this comic's publication date, no program yet devised had truly passed a Turing test, even the most sophisticated {{w|Chatterbot}} (program designed to mimic conversation) couldn't quite qualify as a friend. As of June 2014, however, [http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/08/super-computer-simulates-13-year-old-boy-passes-turing-test a computer convinced 33% of the people who spoke to it that it was a human, qualifying it to pass the Turing Test]. Though some [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/09/turing-test-eugene-goostman_n_5474457.html skepticism] on this point is [http://www.popsci.com/blog-network/boxplot/did-chatbot-really-pass-turing-test needed], as it only passed the University's contest, not the actual [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test Turing test].<br />
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While many people aren't aware of them, TI ''does'' make more modern calculators in their {{w|TI-Nspire series}}, although they were introduced after this comic was published. The newest versions have color screens and (''finally!'') non-BASIC programming support through {{w|Lua (programming language)|Lua}}.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is going through a cardboard box marked "MISC", and finds a catalog. Megan looks on.]<br />
:Cueball: Check it out - old Computer Shoppers! Wow - in 1996, $3,000 would get you a 100 MHz Pentium system with a parallel port, two serial ports, a 2MB video card, and "MS-Windows"<br />
:Megan: Nice!<br />
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:[The two are face-to-face, and they each have a separate copy of Computer Shopper.]<br />
:Megan: And $299 would get you a Palm Pilot 100- - 16MHz, 128Kb storage, and a memo pad, calendar, and state-of-the-art address book that can store over 100 names!<br />
:Cueball: Oooh!<br />
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:[Cueball continues to read from his.]<br />
:Cueball: And $110 would get you a bulky TI graphing calculator with around 10MHz CPU, 24Kb RAM, and a 96x64-pixel B/W display!<br />
:Megan: Times sure have... ...have... uh.<br />
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:[They both put down their catalogs.]<br />
:Cueball: Okay, what the hell, T.I.?<br />
:Megan: Maybe they cost so much now because there's only one engineer left who remembers how to make displays that crappy.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>199.27.128.200https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=535:_It_Might_Be_Cool&diff=85700535: It Might Be Cool2015-03-06T04:02:40Z<p>199.27.128.200: /* Explanation */ Spelling correction</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 535<br />
| date = January 26, 2009<br />
| title = It Might Be Cool<br />
| image = it_might_be_cool.png<br />
| titletext = 'And ovaries. Man, ovaries, huh?' [awkward pause] '... faithfully.'<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] (or [[Randall]]) is administering the {{w|Oath of office of the President of the United States|presidential oath}}. But changes it completely because he begins to wonder out loud: ''it might be cool to be a woman'', hence the title of this comic.<br />
Of course the president becomes baffled when he begins to repeat, and phrases the sentence as a question. When Cueball then continues by replying that ''the menstruation thing is freaky'' the president is completely derailed.<br />
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On January 20, 2009 the inauguration of {{w|Barack Obama}}'s first office took place. Chief Justice {{w|John Roberts}}, who was administering the oath, {{w|Oath of office of the President of the United States#Oath mishaps|made a mistake}} while reciting the words. This comic references the event and wildly exaggerates the deviation from the oath for comedic purposes.<br />
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In truth, the error was rather small: the oath as prescribed in the constitution is:<br />
:I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.<br />
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Due to a missed memo on the pauses planned by the Chief Justice, Obama inadvertently interrupted Roberts during the first phrase - Roberts begins by saying I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear, and Obama repeats his name while Roberts finishes that sentence. This disturbs Roberts who was not using notes, and he rendered the next phrase as "that I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully," misplacing the word ''faithfully'' and saying ''president to'' instead of ''president of''. Obama repeated, "that I will execute", then paused. Roberts attempted to correct the wording, but stumbled: "the off— faithfully the pres— the office of President of the United States." Obama then repeated Roberts' initial incorrect wording.<br />
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However small the error was it was big enough that Obama did {{w|Oath of office of the President of the United States#Retaking the oath of office|retake the oath of office}} the day after the mistake was made.<br />
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The title text continues the wondering about being a woman going on from the {{w|menstruation}} to the {{w|ovaries}}. To make sure it is clearly the oath mistake that is referenced the sentence ends with '... faithfully.' Thus mimicking the real mistake of placing this word last.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is administering the presidential oath.]<br />
:Cueball: You know, it might be cool to be a woman.<br />
:President: It... might be cool to be a woman?<br />
:Cueball: Yeah, but the menstruation thing is freaky.<br />
:President: Yeah, but... the... um. What?<br />
:[Caption below the frame:]<br />
:Turns out I'm even worse at administering the presidential oath than John Roberts.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>199.27.128.200https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1489:_Fundamental_Forces&diff=84802Talk:1489: Fundamental Forces2015-02-20T11:39:03Z<p>199.27.128.200: </p>
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<div><br />
«The off-panel audience, probably a student or class, is interested, but quickly begins to realize Cueball's lack of understanding. Instead of acknowledging the problem directly, Cueball simply blusters onwards.»<br />
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My interpretation is rather different. It looks like Cueball is a physicist who knows that the distinction of "four fundamental horses" is basically wrong/obsolete (the term "horse" is not even used anymore in theoretical physics), but since his audience are high school students, he can't go into the many complex details underlying the fundamental interactions, and therefore is forced to gloss over it. This is confirmed by the title text (if Cueball didn't understand the theory of fundamental interactions, he wouldn't give that answer). --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.101.78|188.114.101.78]] 10:31, 20 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
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To me it appeared as a typical exam situation for Cueball with '''him''' being the pupil. And ironically that situation looks similar to the real scientific understanding of the topic. [[User:Renormalist|Renormalist]] ([[User talk:Renormalist|talk]]) 11:12, 20 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
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I knew from the title, "Fundamental Horses", that this was going to be a great one.</div>199.27.128.200