Editing 1817: Incognito Mode

Jump to: navigation, search

Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.

The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision Your text
Line 8: Line 8:
  
 
==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
A woman (maybe a different version of [[Blondie]], or Rachel from Animorphs) warns [[Cueball]] about not browsing for more than two hours in {{w|privacy mode|incognito mode}} as he might get stuck there forever.
+
{{incomplete|Is it Blondie, just with more details to her hair?}}
 +
A woman (maybe a different version of [[Blondie]], or Rachel from The Animorphs) warns [[Cueball]] about not browsing for more than two hours in {{w|privacy mode|incognito mode}} as he might get stuck there forever.
  
Incognito mode/private mode is a feature in a web browser that automatically clears any cookies and web history when the browser window is closed, but [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/common-myths-about-private-browsing does not shield you from censorship, malware, or tracking]. One could become metaphorically "trapped" in this mode if they don't want to lose this data (for example if they've found a useful page which they want to refer back to, or if they're on a website like YouTube which uses cookies to provide recommended videos and they're finding the recommendations interesting), meaning that they can never close the browser again. Presumably this is more likely to happen after a longer browsing session. The only option to keep browsing data when the incognito/private session is closed is to bookmark or write down the URLs of interesting pages; there is no way to keep the cookies (except by using features of certain browsers to view the cookies, then setting them outside of incognito mode; this is usually too complex for the average user), so things such as recommended YouTube videos from within the incognito browsing session will inevitably be lost when it is closed.  
+
Incognito mode/private mode is a feature in a web browser that automatically clears any cookies and web history when the browser window is closed. One could become metaphorically "trapped" in this mode if they don't want to lose this data (for example if they've found a useful page which they want to refer back to, or if they're on a website like YouTube which uses cookies to provide recommended videos and they're finding the recommendations interesting), meaning that they can never close the browser again. Presumably this is more likely to happen after a longer browsing session. The only option to keep browsing data when the incognito/private session is closed is to bookmark or write down the URLs of interesting pages; there is no way to keep the cookies, so things such as recommended YouTube videos from within the incognito browsing session will inevitably be lost when it is closed.
  
As a side note, desktop users can use a browser extension to export the list of open tabs, but mobile browsers usually can not. However, mobile browsers might deny basic features such as saving pages and screenshots in incognito mode, making it unattractive to use. And currently, there is no way to back up cookies from incognito mode on either browser type.
+
''{{w|Animorphs}}'' is a book series by {{w|K. A. Applegate}} featuring several children who have a special power: they can {{w|shapeshifting|morph}} into various animals whose DNA they have absorbed through alien technology. However, if they stay morphed for over two hours, they will get stuck in that form until they die (this is presumably where the "two hours" in the comic comes from).
  
''{{w|Animorphs}}'' is a book series by {{w|K. A. Applegate}} featuring several teenagers who have a special power: they can {{w|shapeshifting|morph}} into various animals whose DNA they have absorbed through alien technology. However, if they stay morphed for over two hours, they will get stuck in that form until they die (this is presumably where the "two hours" in the comic comes from).
+
In this comic [[Randall]] pokes fun at this by relating it to surfing in incognito mode/privacy mode in a browser. As explained above, staying for too long in incognito mode may cause the user to become "stuck" in this mode until something causes the browser to close, such as the browser/computer crashing or a power failure. This is analogous to the animorphs who become stuck in animal form if they spend too long in that form.
 
 
In this comic [[Randall]] pokes fun at this by relating it to surfing in incognito mode/privacy mode in a browser. As explained above, staying for too long in incognito mode may cause the user to become "stuck" in this mode until something causes the browser to close, such as the browser/computer crashing or a power failure. This is analogous to the Animorphs who become stuck in animal form if they spend too long in that form.
 
  
 
An alternative interpretation revolves around the use of incognito/private browsing modes when the user is paranoid. They may use this mode if, for example, they don't want the risk of anyone else discovering what they've been doing online, and they find it safer to simply use incognito mode rather than manually deleting the relevant cookies and browsing history afterwards. If they use this mode a lot, the sense of paranoia that initially led them to use incognito mode can reinforce itself, and over time they may become uncomfortable browsing outside of incognito mode. This is another way in which one may become "trapped" in incognito mode after extended use.
 
An alternative interpretation revolves around the use of incognito/private browsing modes when the user is paranoid. They may use this mode if, for example, they don't want the risk of anyone else discovering what they've been doing online, and they find it safer to simply use incognito mode rather than manually deleting the relevant cookies and browsing history afterwards. If they use this mode a lot, the sense of paranoia that initially led them to use incognito mode can reinforce itself, and over time they may become uncomfortable browsing outside of incognito mode. This is another way in which one may become "trapped" in incognito mode after extended use.
Line 22: Line 21:
 
===Relation to Animorphs===
 
===Relation to Animorphs===
  
The caption explains that tech tips from Animorphs are the worst, i.e. the woman is an Animorph, and this was not good advice.<sup>&#91;[[285: Wikipedian Protester|''citation needed'']]&#93;</sup>
+
The caption explains that tech tips from Animorphs are the worst, i.e. the woman is an Animorph, and this was not good advice.
  
The title text continues the idea that an Animorph tech support team would be the worst possible explaining that their solutions are always the same. And then it gives an example which references a common occurrence in the Animorphs book series wherein the protagonists uses their ability to morph into animals to infiltrate enemy strongholds. In the example it is an update for {{w|Apple Inc.|Apple's}} {{w|MacOS|OS X}} (a popular commercial operating system), that broke something. The solution is to infiltrate Apple by morphing apples. Morphing into fruit is nonsensical within the rules for morphing (as put forth in the books), since the children can only turn into animals (and not into fruit, like apples). It would also be very ineffective, since fruit can't move on their own.{{cn}} Plus, Apple Inc. has little to do with actual apples, so this is not a good form to infiltrate their headquarters (morphing into bugs or even Apple's employees would be more effective, and is allowed by books' rules). Randall is [http://arthur.wikia.com/wiki/Vegemorphs not the first] to propose morphing into vegetables as an [https://www.amazon.com/Vegemorphs-Fungus-Among-Chris-Steinbach/dp/0061070858 Animorph's parody].
+
The title text continues the idea that an Animorph tech support team would be the worst possible explaining that their solutions are always the same. And then it gives an example which references a common occurrence in the Animorphs book series wherein the protagonists uses their ability to morph into animals to infiltrate enemy strongholds. In the example it is an update for {{w|Apple Inc.|Apple's}} {{w|MacOS|OS X}} (a popular commercial operating system), that broke something. The solution is to infiltrate Apple by morphing apples. That advice, however, is nonsensical within the rules for morphing, put forth in the books, since the children can only turn into animals and not into fruits like apples.
  
 
Animorphs has been referenced before, first only in the title texts of [[1187: Aspect Ratio]] and [[1360: Old Files]], and then later in the main comic in [[1380: Manual for Civilization]], with the books being the actual manual...
 
Animorphs has been referenced before, first only in the title texts of [[1187: Aspect Ratio]] and [[1360: Old Files]], and then later in the main comic in [[1380: Manual for Civilization]], with the books being the actual manual...
Line 38: Line 37:
  
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
 
 
[[Category:Computers]]
 
[[Category:Computers]]
 
[[Category:Animorphs]]
 
[[Category:Animorphs]]
[[Category:Internet]]
 

Please note that all contributions to explain xkcd may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see explain xkcd:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!

To protect the wiki against automated edit spam, we kindly ask you to solve the following CAPTCHA:

Cancel | Editing help (opens in new window)