584: Unsatisfied - Revision history

DKMell: minor fixes

2025-04-16T18:38:41Z

minor fixes

172.70.162.196: /* Explanation */ gargh

2025-04-08T13:38:30Z

‎Explanation: gargh

172.70.162.195: /* Explanation */ Just adds yet more decisions, and potentially a whole lot more regrets if things don't go swimmingly.

2025-04-08T13:37:44Z

‎Explanation: Just adds yet more decisions, and potentially a whole lot more regrets if things don't go swimmingly.

User 8496351: /* Explanation */

2025-04-08T12:57:05Z

‎Explanation

I HAVE NO NAME: i think you used the word "still" too much, which makes the sentence more bland, so i changed it to but to make it less bland.

2024-08-20T04:39:36Z

i think you used the word "still" too much, which makes the sentence more bland, so i changed it to but to make it less bland.

Theusaf: Reverted edits by Donald Trump (talk) to last revision by CRLF

2022-05-26T19:57:35Z

Reverted edits by Donald Trump (talk) to last revision by CRLF

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Donald Trump: Reverted edit by anti-crap user

2022-05-26T19:04:33Z

Reverted edit by anti-crap user

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CRLF: Reverted vandalism with User:CRLF/OneClickUndo.js

2022-05-26T17:49:58Z

Reverted vandalism with User:CRLF/OneClickUndo.js

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Donald Trump: Crapped page

2022-05-26T17:24:23Z

Crapped page

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Davidy22: Reverted edits by Explain xkcd server admin (talk) to last revision by Theusaf

2022-05-21T02:53:19Z

Reverted edits by Explain xkcd server admin (talk) to last revision by Theusaf

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@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-[[Cueball]] is trying to decide if he wants to stay with [[Ponytail]] who he is currently dating or leave her and have a relationship with [[Megan]]. The comic suggests that no matter which one he chooses he will never truly achieve happiness because of his longing for the option he chose not to take. In a sense this is a {{w|no-win situation}}. No matter what he does of interesting stuff (sex or otherwise) with Ponytail he will be thinking forever of Megan, and vice versa. This even goes on after he dies, where he lies next to one of them and thinks he would rather have been buried next to the other girl. This may have been averted, if [[Cueball]] had chosen polygamy and had relations with both girls, although then he might have cause to wonder what ''both'' the single-relationships could have been like.
+[[Cueball]] is trying to decide if he wants to stay with [[Ponytail]], who he is currently dating, or leave her and have a relationship with [[Megan]]. The comic suggests that no matter which one he chooses, he will never truly achieve happiness because of his longing for the option he chose not to take. In a sense this is a {{w|no-win situation}}. No matter what interesting stuff he does (sex or otherwise) with Ponytail, he will forever be thinking of Megan, and vice versa. This goes on even after he dies, where he is buried next to one of them and thinks he would rather have been buried next to the other. This might have been averted if [[Cueball]] had chosen polygamy and had relationships with both women, although then he might have cause to wonder what ''both'' the single-relationships could have been like.
-The title text is referring to a concept in computer science. All {{w|Comparison sort|comparison based sorting algorithms}} are incapable of sorting an arbitrary set of n values faster than an order of n*log(n). On the other hand, non-comparison sorting algorithms (e.g. {{w|bucket sort}}) with external knowledge of the distribution of the values can sort them with order n. If [[Cueball]] was capable of establishing an external scale he could use a non-comparison sort, but as he does not know what the best thing for him is he is stuck with comparisons and thus he can't achieve better performance.
+The title text is referring to a concept in computer science. All {{w|Comparison sort|comparison-based sorting algorithms}} are incapable of sorting an arbitrary set of ''n'' values faster than order of ''n''·log(''n''). On the other hand, non-comparison sorting algorithms (e.g., {{w|bucket sort}}) with external knowledge of the distribution of the values can sort them in time of order ''n''. If [[Cueball]] were capable of establishing an external scale, he could use a non-comparison sort, but as he does not know what the best thing for him is, he is stuck with comparisons and thus can't achieve better performance.
-This comic is possibly a sequel to [[310: Commitment]].
+This comic is possibly a sequel to [[310: Commitment]], and two-way choices are referenced in [[3076: The Roads Both Taken]].
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-[[Cueball]] is trying to decide if he wants to stay with [[Ponytail]] who he is currently dating or leave her and have a relationship with [[Megan]]. The comic suggests that no matter which one he chooses he will never truly achieve happiness because of his longing for the option he chose not to take. In a sense this is a {{w|no-win situation}}. No matter what he does of interesting stuff (sex or otherwise) with Ponytail he will be thinking forever of Megan, and vice versa. This even goes on after he dies, where he lies next to one of them and thinks he would rather have been buried next to the other girl. This may have been averted, if [[Cueball]] had chosen polygamy and had relations with both girls, although then he might have cause to wonder what ''both'' the single-relationships coupd have been like.
+[[Cueball]] is trying to decide if he wants to stay with [[Ponytail]] who he is currently dating or leave her and have a relationship with [[Megan]]. The comic suggests that no matter which one he chooses he will never truly achieve happiness because of his longing for the option he chose not to take. In a sense this is a {{w|no-win situation}}. No matter what he does of interesting stuff (sex or otherwise) with Ponytail he will be thinking forever of Megan, and vice versa. This even goes on after he dies, where he lies next to one of them and thinks he would rather have been buried next to the other girl. This may have been averted, if [[Cueball]] had chosen polygamy and had relations with both girls, although then he might have cause to wonder what ''both'' the single-relationships could have been like.
 The title text is referring to a concept in computer science. All {{w|Comparison sort|comparison based sorting algorithms}} are incapable of sorting an arbitrary set of n values faster than an order of n*log(n). On the other hand, non-comparison sorting algorithms (e.g. {{w|bucket sort}}) with external knowledge of the distribution of the values can sort them with order n. If [[Cueball]] was capable of establishing an external scale he could use a non-comparison sort, but as he does not know what the best thing for him is he is stuck with comparisons and thus he can't achieve better performance.

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-[[Cueball]] is trying to decide if he wants to stay with [[Ponytail]] who he is currently dating or leave her and have a relationship with [[Megan]]. The comic suggests that no matter which one he chooses he will never truly achieve happiness because of his longing for the option he chose not to take. In a sense this is a {{w|no-win situation}}. No matter what he does of interesting stuff (sex or otherwise) with Ponytail he will be thinking forever of Megan, and vice versa. This even goes on after he dies, where he lies next to one of them and thinks he would rather have been buried next to the other girl. This could have be averted, if [[Cueball]] chosen polygamy and had relations with both girls.
+[[Cueball]] is trying to decide if he wants to stay with [[Ponytail]] who he is currently dating or leave her and have a relationship with [[Megan]]. The comic suggests that no matter which one he chooses he will never truly achieve happiness because of his longing for the option he chose not to take. In a sense this is a {{w|no-win situation}}. No matter what he does of interesting stuff (sex or otherwise) with Ponytail he will be thinking forever of Megan, and vice versa. This even goes on after he dies, where he lies next to one of them and thinks he would rather have been buried next to the other girl. This may have been averted, if [[Cueball]] had chosen polygamy and had relations with both girls, although then he might have cause to wonder what ''both'' the single-relationships coupd have been like.
 The title text is referring to a concept in computer science. All {{w|Comparison sort|comparison based sorting algorithms}} are incapable of sorting an arbitrary set of n values faster than an order of n*log(n). On the other hand, non-comparison sorting algorithms (e.g. {{w|bucket sort}}) with external knowledge of the distribution of the values can sort them with order n. If [[Cueball]] was capable of establishing an external scale he could use a non-comparison sort, but as he does not know what the best thing for him is he is stuck with comparisons and thus he can't achieve better performance.

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-[[Cueball]] is trying to decide if he wants to stay with [[Ponytail]] who he is currently dating or leave her and have a relationship with [[Megan]]. The comic suggests that no matter which one he chooses he will never truly achieve happiness because of his longing for the option he chose not to take. In a sense this is a {{w|no-win situation}}. No matter what he does of interesting stuff (sex or otherwise) with Ponytail he will be thinking forever of Megan, and vice versa. This even goes on after he dies, where he lies next to one of them and thinks he would rather have been buried next to the other girl.
+[[Cueball]] is trying to decide if he wants to stay with [[Ponytail]] who he is currently dating or leave her and have a relationship with [[Megan]]. The comic suggests that no matter which one he chooses he will never truly achieve happiness because of his longing for the option he chose not to take. In a sense this is a {{w|no-win situation}}. No matter what he does of interesting stuff (sex or otherwise) with Ponytail he will be thinking forever of Megan, and vice versa. This even goes on after he dies, where he lies next to one of them and thinks he would rather have been buried next to the other girl. This could have be averted, if [[Cueball]] chosen polygamy and had relations with both girls.
 The title text is referring to a concept in computer science. All {{w|Comparison sort|comparison based sorting algorithms}} are incapable of sorting an arbitrary set of n values faster than an order of n*log(n). On the other hand, non-comparison sorting algorithms (e.g. {{w|bucket sort}}) with external knowledge of the distribution of the values can sort them with order n. If [[Cueball]] was capable of establishing an external scale he could use a non-comparison sort, but as he does not know what the best thing for him is he is stuck with comparisons and thus he can't achieve better performance.

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 :(Right path) [Cueball and Megan have sex on the arm of a chair, he is still thinking about Ponytail.]
-:(Left path) [Cueball and Ponytail are drawing something together, and he is still thinking about Megan.]
+:(Left path) [Cueball and Ponytail are drawing something together, but still he is still thinking about Megan.]
-:(Right path) [Cueball and Megan are hiking together, and he is still thinking about Ponytail.]
+:(Right path) [Cueball and Megan are hiking together, but he is thinking about Ponytail.]
 :(Left path) [Cueball and Ponytail are holding hands looking at each other, and he continues to think of Megan.]