Editing 1718: Backups
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | + | Here, Cueball is depicted on his laptop, exploring a cyclic path along which his files are being copied from storage to storage. His laptop (presumably the one he is on) is sending its files to a server, which sends its files to ''another'' server, which in turn syncs back to his laptop. Cueball determines that this setup leads to an exponential growth, implying that each node in the cycle simply copies files over to the next without any effort to avoid duplicates. Indeed, each time a set of files completes a full cycle, a second copy of the same set will be created, thus doubling the amount of storage space required. | |
− | + | Cueball, who was rather alarmed, calms down when he realizes that ''this'' exponential growth is slower than that of Moore's Law. He reasons that as long as he keeps at the forefront of information storage, he will never run out of room. {{w|Moore's Law}} is an observation in computer science that states that the number of transistors we can fit in a chip will double approximately every two years. Assuming available disk capacity is proportional to number of transistors (this is true for solid-state disks), this would imply it takes more than two years for his files to completely propagate through a full cycle, which is extremely slow considering it only involves copying between three computers. | |
− | The phrase "[this is] why we can't have nice things" is often used in response to incidents where someone abuses a | + | The phrase "[this is] why we can't have nice things" is often used in response to incidents where someone abuses a feature meant to benefit people and ultimately causing the feature to break down. In the comic, the person off-screen is commenting on the fact that Cueball is not using advances in storage capacity in a responsible manner. That is, rather than using the increased capacity to store more useful information, he is simply using it as a workaround to avoid having to make his backup strategy more efficient. |
− | + | ==Transcript== | |
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− | + | [Cueball] is sitting at a desk, working on a laptop. | |
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:Cueball: Wait. My laptop is backing up some folders to this server... | :Cueball: Wait. My laptop is backing up some folders to this server... | ||
− | + | [Cueball scratches his chin in thought.] | |
− | :Cueball: ... | + | :Cueball: ...which is backing up its archives to ''that'' server... |
− | :Cueball: ... | + | :Cueball: ...and ''that'' server is syncing certain folders over to my laptop... |
− | + | [Cueball clicks something on his laptop keyboard.] | |
− | :Click click click | + | :Keyboard: Click click click |
− | + | [Cueball is back to working normally on his laptop. A voice speaks to him from offscreen.] | |
− | :Cueball: ... | + | :Cueball: ...but the exponential growth is slightly slower than Moore's law, so whatever. |
− | : | + | :Offscreen voice: Oh my God. |
− | : | + | :Offscreen voice: You are why we can't have nice things. |
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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