| Latest revision |
Your text |
| Line 19: |
Line 19: |
| | | | |
| | :DOSBox will run QBasic programs if you grab the QBasic 1.1 interpreter from either an old copy of Windows 98 that still has it in its dos utilities folder, or just download it from here: http://www.qbasic.net/en/qbasic-downloads/compiler/qbasic-interpreter.htm [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.42|108.162.219.42]] 17:01, 25 April 2014 (UTC) | | :DOSBox will run QBasic programs if you grab the QBasic 1.1 interpreter from either an old copy of Windows 98 that still has it in its dos utilities folder, or just download it from here: http://www.qbasic.net/en/qbasic-downloads/compiler/qbasic-interpreter.htm [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.42|108.162.219.42]] 17:01, 25 April 2014 (UTC) |
| − |
| |
| − | :Also, there's this: http://www.qb64.net/ [[User:Runefurb|Runefurb]] ([[User talk:Runefurb|talk]]) 06:14, 28 April 2014 (UTC)
| |
| | | | |
| | Qbasic was "hardwired" in IBM PC's and/or PC/AT's. If the PC did not find some bootable device, | | Qbasic was "hardwired" in IBM PC's and/or PC/AT's. If the PC did not find some bootable device, |
| − | it would start Qbasic from a chip. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.55}} | + | it would start Qbasic from a chip. |
| − | | |
| − | :Close but not quite correct. You're thinking of IBM / Microsoft BASIC, which was only really part of the BIOS on the original "5150" PCs (and possibly XTs), whose memory size and processing power was rather more akin to that of mid-to-high-end 8-bit systems than anything we'd recognise as a "PC" today, and indeed whose data storage options were limited to 5.25" single-density floppy drives ... or audio cassettes, which are a media far more suited to ROM BASIC than most others, and vice versa. All later models had a more simplistic boot ROM - along the lines of the Amiga Kickstart - that just looked for a floppy or HDD bootsector (e.g. for CP/M or the rapidly ubiquitous MS-DOS) and threw an error if they couldn't find one. Later BASICs like QBASIC or the intermediate GWBASIC were all disc based, running as programs under DOS. Heck, without the DOS command interpreter and file handling system running in the background, you've got no hope of loading anything into or saving anything from QBASIC, other than maybe a write-only Quine that outputs to a serial port... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.150|141.101.98.150]] 13:19, 29 September 2014 (UTC)
| |
| | | | |
| | Anybody know what Citadel is? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.42|108.162.219.42]] 16:58, 25 April 2014 (UTC) | | Anybody know what Citadel is? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.42|108.162.219.42]] 16:58, 25 April 2014 (UTC) |
| Line 38: |
Line 34: |
| | :: By the way, the current transcript is wrong. The items listed under "No header" headers belong to the "named" headers on the parallel side. There is no dichotomy like that. If you insist on reflecting the visual layout of the comic in the transcript, I suggest something like this (uncapitalised, unsorted, and unformatted, because it is just a quick illustration): | | :: By the way, the current transcript is wrong. The items listed under "No header" headers belong to the "named" headers on the parallel side. There is no dichotomy like that. If you insist on reflecting the visual layout of the comic in the transcript, I suggest something like this (uncapitalised, unsorted, and unformatted, because it is just a quick illustration): |
| | | | |
| − | <nowiki>
| |
| | <table class='wikitable'> | | <table class='wikitable'> |
| | <tr> | | <tr> |
| Line 121: |
Line 116: |
| | | | |
| | </table> | | </table> |
| − | </nowiki>
| |
| | :{{unsigned ip|141.101.89.217}} | | :{{unsigned ip|141.101.89.217}} |
| − | ::i am so sorry but for some ungodly reason your table breaks the sidebar on the modern skin completely. i've wrapped it in a nowiki tag so it won't actually show up formatted, but i can't do much else since i don't know how to use html tables. [[User:Certified_nqh|Me]]{{citation needed}} 05:26, 14 November 2023 (UTC)
| |
| − | :::Looking at it, it's ''horribly'' broken table-tagging (mix of HTML tags and non-table wikimarkup for bullets and 'enforced' newlines.
| |
| − | :::It doesn't break anything for me, so my browser (which also isn't trying to run your custom personal CSS, which might be what reacts badly in your case) is "failing nicely". And I believe it looks very like the original poster intended, probably how they saw it.
| |
| − | :::(For reference, though, where you see a <nowiki><td>-tag, you'd ideally want a closing</td> before the open-<th>. Ditto a close-</th> at the end of the <th> and before the next <td>. Then wrap off each <td> with a </td> ''and'' </tr> before the next opening <tr> (or the final </table>). Or just use actual wikitable markup with {| || |} stuff and let the back-end sort out the HTML tag-enclosure. ...the (unclosed) <hr> and <br>s are 'fine', though I'd have put <hr/> and <br/> out of habit (and because of best/better practice) if it was me using them.</nowiki>) <= Probably easier to fix than explain, but I only bothered to 'explain'!
| |
| − | :::It'd be interesting to see ''how'' it breaks the skin that you use. But I really think it's more a problem with your skin (refactoring some table formatting how it needn't, or not adding a 'catch all' to close off a special case of something you specially tweaked), even if the above could in fact be 'fixed' or just made not quite so peculiar. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.94.68|172.71.94.68]] 11:22, 14 November 2023 (UTC)
| |
| − | ::::it still happened after i signed out, so it's probably not my CSS. also, by "breaks completely" i mean the sidebar moves all the way down to below the page content. [[User:Certified_nqh|Me]]{{citation needed}} 17:21, 14 November 2023 (UTC)
| |
| − | :::::No sign of that at my end (using both Chrome and Firefox), it's pretty much the same for historic edits. And, as long as the brower accepts an implicit table-data/table-header close when seeing the next (they ''can't'' directly nest, so no confusion possible), an implicit table-row close when seeing another (ditto) and both close when the tag outside ends (implicit, as before, or explicit on seeing the table end), there's no reason why any modern browser can't fall back on the accepted DTD. Better to be written correctly, of course! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.111|172.70.85.111]] 18:04, 14 November 2023 (UTC)
| |
| − |
| |
| | :Done '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 21:07, 25 April 2014 (UTC) | | :Done '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 21:07, 25 April 2014 (UTC) |
| | :: Thank you! In fact, I just noticed that rows didn't reflect one filesystem level! They should be moved one level up. I will fix that (and capitalise and sort the labels.) {{unsigned ip|141.101.89.212}} | | :: Thank you! In fact, I just noticed that rows didn't reflect one filesystem level! They should be moved one level up. I will fix that (and capitalise and sort the labels.) {{unsigned ip|141.101.89.212}} |
| Line 138: |
Line 124: |
| | | | |
| | ;Unsigned IP's producing a great chaos here. No READER does UNDERSTAND. Please keep it simple as possible, NO new template for a single comic. I will bring back some edits I've done, respecting edits have done later. But right now I can't see there is any proper attempt to do an explain other could understand. | | ;Unsigned IP's producing a great chaos here. No READER does UNDERSTAND. Please keep it simple as possible, NO new template for a single comic. I will bring back some edits I've done, respecting edits have done later. But right now I can't see there is any proper attempt to do an explain other could understand. |
| − | :Please focus FIRST on the readers here, then focus on possible editors (don't understand), and then tell a new IP how to behave here. It's not my invention, but please try to keep this page at a basis on some standards. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:22, 25 April 2014 (UTC) | + | :Please focus FIRSTS on the readers here, then focus on possible editors (don't understand), and then tell a new IP how to behave here. It's not my invention, but please try to keep this page at a basis on some standards. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:22, 25 April 2014 (UTC) |
| − | | |
| − | Actually, the "AIM Direct Connect" is in reference to the file sharing system that the AOL Instant Messenger used to use. A quick Google would have found that. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.32|108.162.221.32]] 22:20, 26 April 2014 (UTC)Slacker
| |
| − | | |
| − | :First thanks for your hint, but please add comments at the bottom here. I did update many items and I'm not perfect. I will enhance this after this post. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:34, 26 April 2014 (UTC)
| |
| − | ::I can't figure it out, maybe you have a better hint. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:42, 26 April 2014 (UTC)
| |
| − | :::Whup, sorry about that! I'll remember that in the future. For better reference on AIM Direct Connect: https://adium.im/help/pgs/AdvancedFeatures-AIM-DirectConnect.html I'll see if I can add a better explanation to that above! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.32|108.162.221.32]] 00:05, 27 April 2014 (UTC)Slacker
| |
| − | | |
| − | Gorilla.bas is a qbasic game distributed with DOS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorillas_(video_game)
| |
| − | [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.129|173.245.53.129]] 22:29, 26 April 2014 (UTC)
| |
| − | | |
| − | :Thanks for your hint, why do you not add this by yourself? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:34, 26 April 2014 (UTC)
| |
| − | ::Done. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:42, 26 April 2014 (UTC)
| |
| − | | |
| − | I would like to know more as to why it would be awkward to find ANIMORPHS-NOVEL.txt, and why you would delete that from the archives... I was not alive during that time so i dont have a clue as to what it is... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.212|108.162.250.212]] 12:55, 10 May 2014 (UTC)
| |
| − | :''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animorphs Animorphs]'' was a series of young adult books whose publication was apparently contemporary with Cueball's high school years. Many people later find the interests, opinions, etc that they had as teenagers to be embarrassing. This is especially true of fanfiction, which combines the above (in all its earnest, blind infatuation with the subject) with early, inexperienced attempts at writing. As with the poetry found in the very bottom layer, Cueball would probably prefer to pretend he was never so invested in (''Animorphs'') fandom, never wrote something so juvenile/amateurish/terrible, and almost certainly would not wish to share it with any of his adult friends. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.202|108.162.246.202]] 06:28, 20 August 2014 (UTC)
| |
| − | | |
| − | Last night I added the comments about geological rock strata & how files are buried in the way sedimentary layers are. It was my first contribution to explain xkcd so I wasn't sure what the protocol was but adding a comment here. - J. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.44|173.245.54.44]] 03:08, 31 May 2014 (UTC)
| |
| − | | |
| − | This is a perfect example of why *nix filesystems are superior to DOS filesystems. {{unsigned ip|108.162.212.200}}
| |
| − | :Why would that be? Do they somehow magically prevent cascading, decades-long file hoarding as you move from system to system? Or is it that the continual recompiling of the kernel dissuades you from regarding any data store or its content as a permanent entity?[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.150|141.101.98.150]] 13:19, 29 September 2014 (UTC)
| |
| − | | |
| − | Are the concentric circles to scale? The 94MB looks roughing 10x bigger than the 9.4MB, but after that the bubbles start going off the panel and I'm not sure. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.179|173.245.54.179]] 20:38, 7 August 2014 (UTC)
| |
| − | :Doubt it, unless it's logarithmic - it might just be a concept-only "this thing is bigger than the other thing, and also contains it entirely". Then again, as it's an area rather than a line, it miiiiight be possible. If the outer segment was 10x taller and 10x wider than the inner one, then that would suggest it's about 9.4GB (vs 94mb for the zipdisk). Is the 9.4mb "AAAFILES" folder about 3.2x smaller in each dimension than the zipdisk? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.150|141.101.98.150]] 13:19, 29 September 2014 (UTC)
| |
| − | :: (UPDATE: the outer circle says "47GB", ie it's from a storage volume 500x larger than that original Zipdisk, although it is itself not that large a space any more and may well be a USB thumbdrive, microSD card, or the internal storage on a smartphone/tablet/ultraportable laptop with a 64 or 128GB SSD as its primary "disc" drive... or an old rediscovered pocket hard disc or dusty old desktop PC. Even so, the square root of 500 is approx 22.4 ... and it just doesn't look 22x bigger to my eyes, so I'm going to go with "nonlinear, unless the parts hidden off-frame extend a lot further below and to the side than you'd otherwise expect") [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.150|141.101.98.150]] 13:26, 29 September 2014 (UTC)
| |
| − | | |
| − | ;Grammar?
| |
| − | | |
| − | "Still need work, grammar."
| |
| − | | |
| − | The grammar looks very good to me, and I'm pretty fussy. Maybe it has been taken care of, but not removed from the needs list?
| |
| − | | |
| − | I will go back and correct "a image" to "an image";
| |
| − | | |
| − | The first sentence ''...original Andy Warhol artwork, created in 1985 on an Amiga 1000, was recovered from recently found floppy disks''
| |
| − | | |
| − | "might" be improved by removing "was" or add "which" so it reads "which was"
| |
| − | | |
| − | Your thoughts on Grammar?
| |
| − | | |
| − | [[User:WardXmodem|WardXmodem]] ([[User talk:WardXmodem|talk]]) 23:38, 27 October 2014 (UTC)
| |
| − | | |
| − | lovenote.txt might be a reference to [http://xkcd.com/340/ 340] --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.223|108.162.231.223]] 09:00, 8 November 2014 (UTC)
| |
| − | | |
| − | ;My Documents
| |
| − | | |
| − | The "My Documents" folder no longer exists in Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 10 -- it's been renamed to "Documents". Noting the time period when the items within the "My Documents" folder (e.g., KaZaA, Fight Club, AIM, etc.) were popular, Windows XP fits this description the best because it was widely used within the same time period these items were popular AND has the "My Documents" folder. Therefore, simply writing "Microsoft Windows" is both vague and inaccurate; due to the relative disorganization of other directories, it is likely that Cueball took the path of least resistance and used the folder already created for him (My Documents from Windows XP) rather than make his own "My Documents" in Windows Vista or newer (when there's already a Documents folder available). In addition, note the size of the My Documents folder: It's measured in megabytes, not gigabytes, due to the compact software used back then (definitely not Vista). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.97|108.162.216.97]] 00:16, 31 March 2015 (UTC) << Actually 98.23.195.75; explainxkcd got it wrong + I have a dynamic address
| |
| − | :Do not include the 9x versions of Windows along with Windows XP unless Cueball's computer can travel forward in time. Kazaa was invented in 2001. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.107|108.162.216.107]] 04:52, 7 October 2015 (UTC)
| |
| − | | |
| − | I disagree with pretty much every point of the following:
| |
| − | | |
| − | <blockquote>misc.txt: A miscellaneous text file of unknown and unknowable content. It appears unreasonably large for a txt file, so it may be a large encrypted volume with an intentionally misleading name. It is the only non-video file in the topmost layer - the implication is that Cueball encrypts all his current documents. Alternatively, it may represent a folder containing zillions of individual text files.</blockquote>
| |
| − | | |
| − | * There is no indication that the file is "unreasonably large". It's not clear how the visual size of the "files" correlates to file size in the comic.
| |
| − | * There is nothing to suggest that it is an encrypted volume.
| |
| − | * We don't know if it's the only non-video file in the top layer. The lower layers clearly show that we're only seeing a narrow slice of large concentric rings; there could be many more files offscreen.
| |
| − | * There's nothing to imply that Cueball encrypts his documents.
| |
| − | * There's nothing that suggests this .txt file is a misleadingly-named directory.
| |
| − | | |
| − | I'm pretty sure it's just a miscellaneous text file. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 15:54, 12 March 2019 (UTC)
| |
| − | : +1 if you do the edit I support it ;) --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 18:50, 12 March 2019 (UTC)
| |
