Editing 342: 1337: Part 2
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | + | "Like a ring in a bell" appears to be a reference to the {{w|Chuck Berry}} song {{w|Johnny B. Goode}}, in which Berry describes a young boy (like himself) who becomes a guitar-playing prodigy. Apparently, Elaine learned to program as quickly, easily, and skillfully as Johnny (and Chuck) learned to play rock 'n' roll. | |
+ | {{w|Donald Knuth}} is a computer science Professor Emeritus at {{w|Stanford University}} who is famous for writing {{w|The Art of Computer Programming}} and developing the <span class="texhtml"><span style="font-family:cmr10, LMRoman10-Regular, Times, serif;">T<span style="text-transform:uppercase; vertical-align:-0.5ex; margin-left:-0.1667em; margin-right:-0.125em;">e</span>X</span></span> computerized typesetting system. He may not have a mountain hideaway (a reference to ''{{w|Kill Bill}}'', by the way), but he would be one of the best mentors a budding hacker could have. | ||
− | + | The {{w|A* search algorithm}} and {{w|Dijkstra's algorithm}} are {{w|Graph traversal|graph search}} {{w|algorithm}}s. And what study of algorithms would be complete without a healthy study about finding complexities? {{w|Computational complexity theory|Time complexity}} is the amount of time an algorithm takes to execute. Upper and lower bounds for complexity is written in {{w|Big O notation}}. Best possible execution of an algorithm is constant time, or O(1), said in words, for any given data set no matter how large the algorithm will always return the answer in the same time. However, constant time is extremely difficult to achieve; linear time (O(n)) is also very good. For more complex algorithms, [http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=plot+x*log%28x%29 O( n*log(n) )] is good, but [http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=plot+x*log%28log%28x%29%29 O( n*log(log(n)) )] is better. (Note that logarithms in different bases are proportional to each other. So this would hold true for any base >1.) | |
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− | + | From the evidence that [[Mrs. Roberts]] has two children, a daughter named [[Elaine Roberts|Elaine]], and a younger son named Bobby (presumably [[Little Bobby Tables|Robert'); DROP TABLE students;--]]), we can assume that she is the same mother from [[327: Exploits of a Mom]]. Of course, the title text here explains that Elaine is only her middle name. In [[327]] we learned her first name is "Help I'm trapped in a driver's license factory". Mrs. Roberts appears to have had fun naming her children. | |
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− | + | All comics in "[[:Category:1337|1337]]" series: | |
+ | *[[341: 1337: Part 1]] | ||
+ | *342: 1337: Part 2 (this one) | ||
+ | *[[343: 1337: Part 3]] | ||
+ | *[[344: 1337: Part 4]] | ||
+ | *[[345: 1337: Part 5]] | ||
− | + | This series was released on 5 consecutive days (Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule. | |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[Cueball standing | + | :[Cueball standing near his Cueball-like friend, who is sitting on the floor near the armchair holding a cloth to his face.] |
:Friend: So the greatest hacker of our era is a cookie-baking mom? | :Friend: So the greatest hacker of our era is a cookie-baking mom? | ||
:Cueball: Second-greatest. | :Cueball: Second-greatest. | ||
:Friend: Oh? | :Friend: Oh? | ||
− | :[The next panel is only half height as Cueball's narration is written as a caption above the panel without a frame around it. In the panel | + | :[The next panel is only half height as Cueball's narration is written as a caption above the panel without a frame around it. In the panel is a young Elaine with a ponytail is laying on the floor looking at the screen of a computer that appears to have been pieced together, parts of a box lies behind her. A younger Bobby (a kid version of Cueball) is painting with a broad bush at an easel. There is a clear drawing with two parts going up and one down, but it's not easy to see what it should look like. He is holding his other hand up in the air, like he is enjoying the painting.] |
− | + | :Mrs. Roberts had two children. Her son, Bobby, was never much for computers, but her daughter Elaine took to them like a ring in the bell. | |
− | :[The | + | :[The back of a car is in frame. Mrs. Roberts is waving goodbye to her daughter who is wearing a backpack and is holding a walking stick. She is about to begin climbing a staircase built into a mountain.] |
− | + | :When Elaine turned 11, her mother sent her to train under Donald Knuth in his mountain hideaway. | |
− | :[Donald Knuth, | + | :[Donald Knuth, with hair only around his neck, is standing with a pointing stick at a chalk board with graph traversal patterns on it.] |
− | + | :For four years she studied algorithms. | |
:Donald Knuth: Child— | :Donald Knuth: Child— | ||
− | :[ | + | :[Knuth whips around slashing the stick like a sword. Elaine jumps and lands on the stick.] |
− | : | + | :Knuth: Why is A* search wrong in this situation? |
− | + | :''swish'' | |
:Elaine: Memory usage! | :Elaine: Memory usage! | ||
− | :Donald Knuth: What would | + | :Donald Knuth: What would you use? |
:Elaine: Dijkstra's algorithm! | :Elaine: Dijkstra's algorithm! | ||
− | :[ | + | :[They are outside both working on a chalkboard with a separator down the middle so they cannot look at each other's work. Elaine is no longer wearing her hair in a ponytail.] |
− | + | :Until one day she bested her master | |
:Donald Knuth: So our lower bound here is O(n log n) | :Donald Knuth: So our lower bound here is O(n log n) | ||
:Elaine: Nope. Got it in O(n log (log n)) | :Elaine: Nope. Got it in O(n log (log n)) | ||
− | + | :And left. | |
==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
− | *In this [ | + | *In this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJOS0sV2a24#t=21m30s Google-speech] Donald Knuth personally asked [[Randall]] what his ''n*log(log(n))'' algorithm for searching was, and Randall referred him to Elaine. |
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
− | [[Category:Comics featuring | + | [[Category:Comics featuring Elaine Roberts]] |
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[[Category:Comics featuring Mrs. Roberts]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Mrs. Roberts]] | ||
+ | [[Category:Comics featuring Little Bobby Tables]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Donald Knuth]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Donald Knuth]] | ||
− | [[Category: | + | [[Category:1337|02]] |
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