Editing Talk:1812: Onboarding

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Carbon actually is used a lot in servers.  Plastics, which are heavily used in electronics, are made of carbon chains.  [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.40|172.68.54.40]] 14:05, 27 March 2017 (UTC)
 
Uff, Americans really say "carbon-neutral". Taking this literally and there is no greenhouse problem, only some black dirt... Nevertheless bismuth is an important element in electronics, not only IBM.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 08:43, 17 March 2017 (UTC)

:Given that this is Beret Guy, it doesn't have to mean solder. It's entirely possible one of his mysterious shops has sold him a generator that burns bismuth powder or something; in which case "produces bismuth" would really mean releasing it into the atmosphere in the same was most power plants release carbon. Or some kind of nuclear process that does actually produce bismuth. Or maybe someone's told him to use a server once then recycle it, and due to not knowing what they're doing the recycling team has ended up with a massive surplus of one metal. All crazy options, but this is a guy who's plumbed soup into the electrical system, so… who knows? -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.187|162.158.154.187]] 13:42, 17 March 2017 (UTC)
::Carbon is a solid like bismuth. No power plant releases carbon, this American inaccuracy about "carbon-neutral" is part of the joke because "carbon-'''dioxide'''-neutral" would be correct. More on bismuth see below.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 03:47, 18 March 2017 (UTC)

Considering Beret Guy has shown that he was able to [[1293: Job Interview|get soup from an electric outlet]], maybe those all-digital restrooms are actually able to digitize bodily waste to dispose of it easily.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.22|141.101.88.22]] 08:52, 17 March 2017 (UTC)

Digital Restrooms - no pipes. 
You have to move the wase by hand, and a hand has fingers == digits? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.233|162.158.91.233]] 10:09, 17 March 2017 (UTC)
: Is it just me? Digital restrooms with no pipes together with the mention of cursed WiFi did remind me of those tubes the internet is made of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_of_tubes]... ;-) --[[User:Felis Catus|Felis Catus]] ([[User talk:Felis Catus|talk]]) 11:04, 17 March 2017 (UTC)
:: Yes, that was my reaction also. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.10|108.162.222.10]] 11:38, 17 March 2017 (UTC)

Lin-Manuel Miranda did some skits on PBS's The Electric Company.  I suspect that is the reference to the mistake. 00:53, 18 March 2017 (UTC)

;Bismuth?
Might this be over complicating things a bit? Carbon is an element. Bismuth is another element, albeit a more improbable one.

That may be the only joke: they have no carbon footprint but instead spew massive amounts of bismuth, which what?

To suggest this is a joke about nuclear reactor technology or (very old) mainframe assembly technology seems to be a stretch. 14:20, 17 March 2017 (UTC) Skeptic

I'm inclined to agree with Skeptic; I actually think the sole point of using bismuth might have been to make the horrible pun in the alt-text. 15:09, 17 March 2017 (UTC) CGH

Antimony is used as a replacement for lead in common solder. Bismuth is used in low temperature solder. I have some coils of it somewhere on the desk here. (It's tough soldering to LEDs on star boards!)  [[User:ExternalMonolog|ExternalMonolog]] ([[User talk:ExternalMonolog|talk]]) 14:35, 17 March 2017 (UTC)

TBH I was wondering if the bismuth/business joke was also a slight reference to Steven Universe, since the comic Hoverboard would indicate Randall is familiar with the show.{{unsigned ip|108.162.246.185}}
: I read bismuth as a pun on bi-monthly (or bi-month) for short. Most teams within a business will have a regular meeting every week or fortnight - the latter happening (typically) twice a month. 'Business' sounds closer, but doesn't fit so well logically for me. -- Ray

I don't think the SU connection is very likely because there's no real connection made to the show. I think that the first mention is just for the surrealism of it producing something unrelated to (and much less common than) carbon, and the second just for the pun (which, if I'm honest, probably made me laugh harder than all the actual good jokes on xkcd over the years).{{unsigned ip|162.158.155.68}}

: I actually mentioned the SU thing because that specific pun (bismuth/business) is used several times by the character Bismuth.{{unsigned ip|108.162.246.185}}

There are in fact two possibilities for the source of bismuth:
*Since 2006 in the European Union the usage of lead is restricted (see: {{w|Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive|RoHS}}). Like many other manufacturers IBM adopts this regulations on its [https://www.ibm.com/ibm/environment/products/46g3772_oct2016.pdf Baseline Environmental Requirements For Supplier Deliverables to IBM] for "Lead in solders for servers, storage and storage array systems." A common replacement is bismuth. Furthermore tin-bismuth has the advantage of its low melting point when used as solder.
*The smallest lead-bismuth cooled reactor {{w|Gen4 Energy}} would not fit into a server room. But a coal plant doesn't either so the statement needs some rework.
So both possibilities make sense but only the solder is actually in use. No such reactor is build yet, it's only a design proposal.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 03:47, 18 March 2017 (UTC)

I'd agree with those above to remove reference to bismuth coming from mainframe solder - that would be 'extracting,' not producing.  Whatever the mechanism, IMO the reasons are for the pun and ... because bismuth is [https://goo.gl/images/rTNpXJ ''stunningly beautiful!''  [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 18:59, 18 March 2017 (UTC)]

I'm amazed how far discussions can go to find the hidden meaning of a nonsensical sentence. Shirluban [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.106|141.101.88.106]] 12:27, 21 March 2017 (UTC)

I agree with Shirluban, LOL! Remember, this is Beret Guy. He often mentions impossible things. I understand this to mean that something about how the server works makes it literally magically eject pieces of bismuth. And so does (presumably) Ponytail, as she predicts that metal piles up in the server room, which Beret Guy confirms. It seems pointless to try to figure out how this could realistically happen, Beret Guy is by nature unrealistic. :)

As for "carbon-neutral", it's my understanding that this is a widely accepted shortcut for the term "carbon-dioxide-neutral", just that this shortcut has the unintended side effect of leaving less intelligent people unaware that the "dioxide" is implied, and therefore thinking there's something wrong with carbon itself. I'm certain that this comic by no means is referencing carbon - the solid metal - itself. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.76|162.158.126.76]] 04:38, 22 March 2017 (UTC)
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
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-[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.160|162.158.255.160]] 04:29, 28 May 2017 (UTC) It should be Jabba Flow from The Force Awakens!
-"Ba Ba Boo Too Moony Moony..."
 Carbon actually is used a lot in servers.  Plastics, which are heavily used in electronics, are made of carbon chains.  [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.40|172.68.54.40]] 14:05, 27 March 2017 (UTC)
@@ Line 9: / Line 6: @@
 :Given that this is Beret Guy, it doesn't have to mean solder. It's entirely possible one of his mysterious shops has sold him a generator that burns bismuth powder or something; in which case "produces bismuth" would really mean releasing it into the atmosphere in the same was most power plants release carbon. Or some kind of nuclear process that does actually produce bismuth. Or maybe someone's told him to use a server once then recycle it, and due to not knowing what they're doing the recycling team has ended up with a massive surplus of one metal. All crazy options, but this is a guy who's plumbed soup into the electrical system, so… who knows? -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.187|162.158.154.187]] 13:42, 17 March 2017 (UTC)
 ::Carbon is a solid like bismuth. No power plant releases carbon, this American inaccuracy about "carbon-neutral" is part of the joke because "carbon-'''dioxide'''-neutral" would be correct. More on bismuth see below.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 03:47, 18 March 2017 (UTC)
-:::Fie.  The oxygen in carbon-dioxide comes from the atmosphere and is returned to the atmosphere.  The carbon in the carbon-dioxide, however is _added_ from another source by the power plant (similarly, in the reverse direction a plant removes carbon from the atmosphere into it's cells, but returns the oxygen from the carbon-dioxide).  It's the carbon that's added or removed, the oxygen isn't relevant.
 Considering Beret Guy has shown that he was able to [[1293: Job Interview|get soup from an electric outlet]], maybe those all-digital restrooms are actually able to digitize bodily waste to dispose of it easily.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.22|141.101.88.22]] 08:52, 17 March 2017 (UTC)
@@ Line 49: / Line 45: @@
 I agree with Shirluban, LOL! Remember, this is Beret Guy. He often mentions impossible things. I understand this to mean that something about how the server works makes it literally magically eject pieces of bismuth. And so does (presumably) Ponytail, as she predicts that metal piles up in the server room, which Beret Guy confirms. It seems pointless to try to figure out how this could realistically happen, Beret Guy is by nature unrealistic. :)
-As for "carbon-neutral", it's my understanding that this is a widely accepted shortcut for the term "carbon-dioxide-neutral", just that this shortcut has the unintended side effect of leaving less intelligent people unaware that the "dioxide" is implied, and therefore thinking there's something wrong with carbon itself. I'm certain that this comic by no means is referencing carbon - the solid metal - itself. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.76|162.158.126.76]] 04:38, 22 March 2017 (UTC) I finally signed up! This comment is mine. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:42, 13 June 2017 (UTC)
+As for "carbon-neutral", it's my understanding that this is a widely accepted shortcut for the term "carbon-dioxide-neutral", just that this shortcut has the unintended side effect of leaving less intelligent people unaware that the "dioxide" is implied, and therefore thinking there's something wrong with carbon itself. I'm certain that this comic by no means is referencing carbon - the solid metal - itself. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.76|162.158.126.76]] 04:38, 22 March 2017 (UTC)
-Maybe the turning to dirt bit is that all of Beret Guy's atoms turn into dirt. Like, Beret Guy will still be alive, but all of the atoms that were him a while ago have all been lost through pee or whatever, turning back into dirt. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.192|173.245.50.192]] 19:41, 1 April 2017 (UTC)
-Miranda mistake: This could be a reference to the UserFriendly webcomic, where Miranda Cornielle is one of the Techs. http://www.userfriendly.org/cartoons/miranda/ [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.28|172.68.51.28]] 18:18, 14 April 2017 (UTC)
-I think the bismuth just appears like the money from a previous comic. No nuclear reactor involved. {{unsigned ip|172.70.131.68|20:22, 28 October 2022}}