1052: Every Major's Terrible - Revision history

DollarStoreBa'al: cat

2026-03-31T17:02:05Z

cat

TomtheBuilder: No longer an issue, as per talk page thread

2025-08-06T04:27:22Z

No longer an issue, as per talk page thread

FaviFake at 13:30, 29 July 2025

2025-07-29T13:30:21Z

FaviFake: /* Explanation */

2025-06-25T07:10:57Z

‎Explanation

FaviFake: /* Explanation */

2025-06-25T07:10:28Z

‎Explanation

FaviFake: Yes, it has. Undo revision 380342 by TomtheBuilder (talk)

2025-06-25T07:08:54Z

Yes, it has. Undo revision 380342 by TomtheBuilder (talk)

TomtheBuilder at 02:43, 25 June 2025

2025-06-25T02:43:15Z

TomtheBuilder: check if this works out

2025-06-25T02:42:13Z

check if this works out

TomtheBuilder: Archive.org video

2025-06-25T02:33:19Z

Archive.org video

172.68.3.68: /* Explanation */

2025-03-20T05:17:30Z

‎Explanation

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:02, 31 March 2026
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	[[Category:Comics edited after their publication]] <!-- "As of August 2018, the comic has been linked to the said song...", apparently. -->		[[Category:Comics edited after their publication]] <!-- "As of August 2018, the comic has been linked to the said song...", apparently. -->
	[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]] <!-- ... poetry degree ... -->		[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]] <!-- ... poetry degree ... -->
		+	[[Category:Comics with custom header texts]]

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 ==Explanation==
-{{incomplete|As of June 2025, the title text has been changed to link to the said song. In the [[#Trivia]] section, add the and update the title text in the comic template above.}}[[Randall]] has written a song called ''Every Major's Terrible'' and this comic illustrates the song. In this song the term {{w|Major (academic)|Major}} refers to the US version of an academic major. The point of the song is that it makes no sense to pick any major since they are all terrible!
+[[Randall]] has written a song called ''Every Major's Terrible'' and this comic illustrates the song. In this song the term {{w|Major (academic)|Major}} refers to the US version of an academic major. The point of the song is that it makes no sense to pick any major since they are all terrible!
 The header notes that the song is written to the tune of the satirical {{w|Major-General's Song}} from {{w|Gilbert and Sullivan's}} 1879 comic opera ''{{w|The Pirates of Penzance}}''. The song satirizes the idea of the "modern" educated British Army officer of the latter 19th century. {{w|Major general}} is a military rank in the United Kingdom and many other countries. The meter in the Major-General's Song is {{w|iambic octameter}}, which means that in each line there are eight iambs, where an iamb is two syllables in an unstressed-stressed pattern. Therefore, each line contains 16 syllables.
@@ Line 253: / Line 253: @@
 ==Trivia==
-In August of 2018, the comic was made to link [no it wasn't] to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhaEjgnmy3c a video], which no longer exists due to the owner's account being terminated by YouTube.
+In August of 2018, the comic was made to link to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhaEjgnmy3c a video], which no longer exists due to the owner's account being terminated by YouTube.
 {{comic discussion}}
@@ Line 282: / Line 282: @@
 [[Category:Animals]]
 [[Category:Wikipedia]]
-[[Category:Comics edited after their publication]] <!-- "As of August 2018, the title text has been changed to a link to the said song...", apparently. -->
+[[Category:Comics edited after their publication]] <!-- "As of August 2018, the comic has been linked to the said song...", apparently. -->
 [[Category:Comics with lowercase text]] <!-- ... poetry degree ... -->

@@ Line 60: / Line 60: @@
 ;Panel 16, ''Virology will guarantee you'll never get a hug again.'': {{w|Virology}} is the study of {{w|infectious diseases}}. The green symbol above the central figure is the {{w|Hazard_symbol#Biohazard_sign|biohazard symbol}}, implying that people who study infectious diseases, and are therefore located near them at some points in time, will be shunned like the plague, because they're probably carrying it. Thus no hugs to Megan as three Cueballs and Ponytail lean back away from her.
-;Panel 17, ''I.T. prepares you for a life of fighting with PCs nonstop.'': "I.T." is short for "{{w|Information Technology}}", a degree for people who maintain computer systems. If there is a need for an I.T. position (in which I.T. professionals are employed) there are computers which need fixing — hence the I.T. Professional is always fixing (or fighting) computers, which may or may not have been[https://web.archive.org/web/20220225163355/https://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=19980506 "broken"] by [[:Category:Cueball Computer Problems|certain users]]. In the panel Megan, wielding an axe, is in a real fight with a PC.
+;Panel 17, ''I.T. prepares you for a life of fighting with PCs nonstop.'': "I.T." is short for "{{w|Information Technology}}", a degree for people who maintain computer systems. If there is a need for an I.T. position (in which I.T. professionals are employed) there are computers which need fixing — hence the I.T. Professional is always fixing (or fighting) computers, which may or may not have been[https://web.archive.org/web/20220225163355/https://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=19980506 "broken"] by [[:Category:Cueball's computer problems|certain users]]. In the panel Megan, wielding an axe, is in a real fight with a PC.
 ;Panel 18, ''As Pratchett said, "Geography's just physics slowed with trees on top."'': This is a slightly amended quote from {{w|Discworld}} author {{w|Terry Pratchett}}, from his book "{{w|Feet of Clay (novel)|Feet of Clay}}". The actual quote is "{{w|Geography}} is just physics slowed down, with a couple of trees stuck in it." But the meaning is the same, that physics also describes geography - a similar quote to the one about physics vs. stamp collections mentioned under panel 4.

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 ==Explanation==
-{{incomplete|As of August 2018, the title text has been changed to link to the said song. In the [[#Trivia]] section, add the and update the title text in the comic template above.}}[[Randall]] has written a song called ''Every Major's Terrible'' and this comic illustrates the song. In this song the term {{w|Major (academic)|Major}} refers to the US version of an academic major. The point of the song is that it makes no sense to pick any major since they are all terrible!
+{{incomplete|As of June 2025, the title text has been changed to link to the said song. In the [[#Trivia]] section, add the and update the title text in the comic template above.}}[[Randall]] has written a song called ''Every Major's Terrible'' and this comic illustrates the song. In this song the term {{w|Major (academic)|Major}} refers to the US version of an academic major. The point of the song is that it makes no sense to pick any major since they are all terrible!
 The header notes that the song is written to the tune of the satirical {{w|Major-General's Song}} from {{w|Gilbert and Sullivan's}} 1879 comic opera ''{{w|The Pirates of Penzance}}''. The song satirizes the idea of the "modern" educated British Army officer of the latter 19th century. {{w|Major general}} is a military rank in the United Kingdom and many other countries. The meter in the Major-General's Song is {{w|iambic octameter}}, which means that in each line there are eight iambs, where an iamb is two syllables in an unstressed-stressed pattern. Therefore, each line contains 16 syllables.

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 ==Explanation==
-{{incomplete|As of August 2018, the title text has been changed to a link to the said song. Need to provide a link to the original video above and in the [[#Trivia]] section with the original title text, and update the title text above.}}[[Randall]] has written a song called ''Every Major's Terrible'' and this comic illustrates the song. In this song the term {{w|Major (academic)|Major}} refers to the US version of an academic major. The point of the song is that it makes no sense to pick any major since they are all terrible!
+{{incomplete|As of August 2018, the title text has been changed to link to the said song. In the [[#Trivia]] section, add the and update the title text in the comic template above.}}[[Randall]] has written a song called ''Every Major's Terrible'' and this comic illustrates the song. In this song the term {{w|Major (academic)|Major}} refers to the US version of an academic major. The point of the song is that it makes no sense to pick any major since they are all terrible!
 The header notes that the song is written to the tune of the satirical {{w|Major-General's Song}} from {{w|Gilbert and Sullivan's}} 1879 comic opera ''{{w|The Pirates of Penzance}}''. The song satirizes the idea of the "modern" educated British Army officer of the latter 19th century. {{w|Major general}} is a military rank in the United Kingdom and many other countries. The meter in the Major-General's Song is {{w|iambic octameter}}, which means that in each line there are eight iambs, where an iamb is two syllables in an unstressed-stressed pattern. Therefore, each line contains 16 syllables.

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 | titletext = Someday I'll be the first to get a Ph. D in 'Undeclared'.
 }}
-The comic links to a now-unavailable [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhaEjgnmy3c YouTube video of the song]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150401183305/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhaEjgnmy3c Here is an Archive.org link to the video.]
+Clicking on the image on [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] links to a now-unavailable [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhaEjgnmy3c YouTube video of the original song]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150401183305/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhaEjgnmy3c Here is an Archive.org link to the video.]
 ==Explanation==

@@ Line 54: / Line 54: @@
 ;Panel 13, ''Now, if you can't prognosticate, that's OK in seismology,'':[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prognosticate Prognosticate] means "to predict". This refers to the inability of {{w|seismology}} to reliably predict catastrophic {{w|earthquake}}s, even after centuries of extensive research. The panel shows {{w|Seismic wave|seismic waves}} from a {{w|seismograph}}. The seismograph chart has four traces and about halfway across one trace begins oscillating vigorously indicating an earthquake. Five months after this comic was published several seismologists in Italy were [http://www.nature.com/news/italian-court-finds-seismologists-guilty-of-manslaughter-1.11640 convicted of crimes] that effectively stemmed from an inability to predict an earthquake. This does not go down well for the message of this panel... Their conviction was [http://www.nature.com/news/italian-seismologists-cleared-of-manslaughter-1.16313 overturned on appeal] in 2014.
-;Panel 14, ''But if your hindsight's weak as well, you'd best stick to theology.'': The bearded [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/theologist theologist] represents {{w|Theology}} by stating the formal logic proposition shown in the illustration: "X ∴ ∃X". This says "I can describe this thing called X, therefore X exists". (However, it might not be syntactically correct, since "X" is not a formula, and there are no free variable(s) after the ∃.) This is what Anselm’s {{w|ontological argument}} for God boils down to. Briefly, it asks you to imagine the best possible deity, which, by definition, would be God. A God which exists in both reality and theory would be greater than one who exists in merely the latter. Therefore, this proposition concludes that God exists. The fatal flaw of this argument is that it can be used to prove the existence of anything (e.g. a vacuum cleaner which exists in both reality and theory is greater than one which exists merely in theory). Just because a perfect God would exist does not mean he does. Thus it has been largely rejected. (See [[1505: Ontological Argument]].)
+;Panel 14, ''But if your hindsight's weak as well, you'd best stick to theology.'': The bearded [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/theologist theologist] represents {{w|Theology}} by stating the formal logic proposition shown in the illustration: "X ∴ ∃X". This says "I can describe this thing called X, therefore X exists". (However, it might not be syntactically correct, since "X" is not a formula, and there are no free variable(s) after the ∃.) This is what Anselm’s {{w|ontological argument}} for God boils down to. Briefly, it asks you to imagine the best possible entity, which, by definition, would be God. A God which exists in both reality and imagination would (according to Anselm) be greater than one who exists in merely the latter. Therefore, this proposition concludes that God exists. The argument has many fatal flaws, and has been largely rejected even by theists. (See [[1505: Ontological Argument]].) The same can be said for any of the so-called proofs of God that have been developed over the past several thousand years, making Theology decidedly non-rigorous.
 ;Panel 15, ''CS will make each day a quest to find a missing close-paren.'': "CS" is short for "{{w|Computer Science}}." Most programming languages use parentheses as part of their syntax, and often have multiply-nested parenthetical expressions. This is especially true of {{w|Lisp (programming language)|Lisp}}. It is often difficult for a programmer to determine where the unbalanced parenthesis begins or ends when the code and parentheses are not properly formatted and indented. In the panel there is one more left "(" parenthesis (13) than right ")" or ''close-paren'' (12). Unpaired parentheses were also discussed in comic [[859]].