explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2415: Allow Captcha

2021-01-23T10:26:56Z

108.162.215.235: Date

{{comic
| number = 2415
| date = January 22, 2021
| title = Allow Captcha
| image = allow_captcha.png
| titletext = To prove you're human, please click all the number pairs that appear together in your Social Security number.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a malicious design practice that already exists out there. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Captcha is designed to prevent spambots from being able to post on websites by posing challenges that humans can easily solve but that spambots and other automated programs cannot solve. The original version (used in [[632: Suspicion]]) asked users to identify text that was rotated, warped, or otherwise modified in order to make it more difficult for automated programs to solve. Once automated programs got good at that, new captchas were put out that exploited the fact that computers tend to be bad at image recognition, e.g. asking the user to select only images that contain cats from a grid of images of cats, dogs, and other objects. This captcha appears to combine the two methods—with the additional hurdle that in order to pass the captcha, users must be able to not only read but also understand (i.e. know the definitions of words). However, if the goal is to allow humans but not computers to pass (although, as the next paragraph will describe, it is not the goal), this is not a good method of differentiating between the two. The English language has no distinction between nouns and verbs by spelling, only grammatical usage, and many words in English are both nouns and verbs. On the other hand, any computer program that can accurately read text (and there are now many programs that can do so) would not get confused between ale and ail or between skew and askew and would be able to look up the definitions (including parts of speech) online, so this would not be effective as a captcha.

In reality, however, the window is merely disguised as a captcha in order to trick human visitors into allowing the website to install "a helper tool", which may be malware, on their computer. The fact that the top uses a similar shade of blue to the current version of reCAPTCHA (currently the most common brand of captcha), the top includes the phrase "to prove you're human", and the grid is similar to the grid used by reCAPTCHA. However, positioned to appear to humans as two reCAPTCHA boxes is a window asking viewers whether they want to allow or deny the website's request to install "a helper tool", which may be malware, on their computer. The idea is that because allow is a verb beginning with the letter A, human visitors would click on what they think is the box with the word allow in it but actually allow the website to install potential malware on their computer. The window attempts to disguise this by formatting many of the words in boxes as buttons and including other text in smaller font on other boxes as well. In addition, the captcha may be intentionally difficult so that users will be too distracted by wondering whether ail or ale is a verb and the like.
It should be noted that simply tricking humans would not necessarily be enough to install malware on their computer. First of all, while a person can select any part of a grid box in order to select that box, only clicking on the actual button that says allow will allow malware unto the computer. If a person clicks on another part of the supposed box, nothing will happen, so the person will likely take a closer look in order to see why the window is not being selected and then possibly realize that this is a trick as a result. In addition, in order for the user to install software, a second window may pop up requiring the user to type in an administrator password, which will likely startle the user. Also, the user's computer may have an anti-virus software that will prevent the computer from executing malicious code downloaded by the website.

Shady websites often use similar tactics to trick you into allowing notifications, including saying "[https://www.bleepstatic.com/swr-guides/c/click-allow-to-verify-that-your-are-not-a-robot/notification-subscription-page.jpg Please allow notifications to confirm you are not a robot]". This comic combines that with a traditional recaptcha to try and trick savvier users too.

Title text is a another trick recaptcha which is trying to make you give out you social security number by clicking pairs of numbers that appear in you Social Security number. If you can find all of the pairs then they would be able to guess your real number and thus this would be a weird kind of phishing attempt.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}

2408: Egg Strategies

2021-01-07T17:47:06Z

108.162.215.235: The explanation for "Chaotic Good" missed an important bit of symmetry, namely that the eggs and non-eggs are distributed in a way that ensures reflective symmetry about a vertical line.

{{comic
| number = 2408
| date = January 6, 2021
| title = Egg Strategies
| image = egg_strategies.png
| titletext = Neutral Evil is for people who like keeping the weight nicely centered in the carton, but also hate everyone else who wants that.
}}

==Eggsplanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EGG LISTENING ANXIOUSLY TO THE RADIO. Please mention here why this eggsplanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic shows nine egg cartons, each of which contains between five and eight eggs. The cartons are presented in the format of a ''{{W|Dungeons & Dragons}}'' {{w|Alignment (Dungeons & Dragons)|alignment chart}}. Originally created as a way of categorizing game characters' motivations, the chart has three possibilities on each axis: lawful/neutral/chaotic on the X axis and good/neutral/evil on the Y axis. Used outside its original purpose, the chart has become a meme used for categorizing things it has no real applicability to. This comic is such a meme. The rationale for deciding how good or evil is based on the TitleText which links how they are balanced in the carton.

A standard egg carton has 12 cups for 12 eggs, but the egg owner is unlikely to consume all 12 eggs at once (unless feeding a great many people, or perhaps making a traditional {{w|pound cake}}). Because of that, the carton will be emptied gradually according to the owners' preference. This comic depicts various possible storage schemes for the unused eggs and assigns them D&D alignments. The final carton, "chaotic evil," shows what appears to be six eggs (counting the yolks) smashed inside the carton.

The center of gravity of the different arrangements shifts as well, contributing to the "goodness" and "lawfulness" of the solutions.

{| class="wikitable"
!Alignment
!Description
!Explanation
|-
|Lawful Good
|Eggs are picked from the edges, with the eggs in the center remaining
|Taking eggs away from the edges of the carton first keeps the center of gravity of the carton in the middle. It also minimizes the moment of inertia, making it easy to rotate the carton to change its orientation. According to Randall, this is considered good.
|-
|Neutral Good
|Eggs are picked from the center of the carton, leaving the eggs on the edges.
|This leaves the center of gravity slightly towards the left. While the center of gravity is at the center of the carton when the number of eggs is even, the carton has a relatively high moment of inertia. Randall interprets this as “Neutral Good”
|-
|Chaotic Good
|Eggs are picked randomly, while preserving reflective symmetry between eggs and non-eggs.
|Randomly choosing eggs keeps them roughly equally distributed across the carton, while also being chaotic. If an egg is removed from one side, its reflection (about the central vertical line of the carton) must remain in place for the sake of balance.
|-
|Lawful Neutral
|Eggs are picked from the top row first, then the bottom, starting on one side.
|This is a very organised method of picking eggs from a carton, but the center of mass shifts to one side.
|-
|True Neutral
|Eggs are picked from one side, with both rows being roughly equal.
|The geometry of egg carton allows for easy inserting in the refrigerator shelf. If the carton is inserted with the remaining eggs facing outwards, then the center of the mass is where you would typically grab the carton which allows for very good handling and small chance of accident. Some people consider this method to be optimal [source missing]. However if the carton is inserted with empty space facing outwards – then this is a disaster waiting to happen.
|-
|Chaotic Neutral
|Eggs are picked in a chessboard pattern.
|The center of mass is kept central, but this is a very unusual way of picking eggs from a carton.
|-
|Lawful Evil
|Eggs are kept in the middle of the carton, stacked atop each other in a pyramid shape.
|This keeps the weight nicely centered, but makes it impossible to close the lid of the carton.
|-
|Neutral Evil
|Eggs are stacked in the exact middle of the open carton, in the top row and on the open lid.
|This keeps the weight centered in the carton only when the lid is open. Since the lid is not rigid, someone picking up the carton would have to hold the lid and carton separately so that the eggs don't fall off.
|-
|Chaotic Evil
|Eggs are smashed in the center of the carton.
|The weight is centered but the eggs are broken. They cannot be easily transferred from the carton, and will likely spoil quickly.
|}

An alignment chart was also featured in [[2251: Alignment Chart Alignment Chart]], which was published exactly one year earlier.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[3x3 grid of egg cartons, each containing between 5-8 eggs in an arrangement matching a description of lawful/neutral/chaotic paired with good/neutral/evil]

[each egg carton is depicted from a top-down view, with the lid open and the eggs and their places visible]

'''Top Left - Lawful Good'''

[6 eggs centered

3 in the top row, shifted to the right

3 in the bottom row, shifted to the left]

'''Top Center - Neutral Good'''

[7 eggs

4 in the left side

3 in the right side, with one in the top row and two in the bottom row]

'''Top Right - Chaotic Good'''

[6 eggs spread randomly, while preserving reflective symmetry between eggs and non-eggs]

'''Middle Left - Lawful Neutral'''

[5 eggs all on the bottom row, starting on the left side]

'''Middle Center - True Neutral'''

[7 eggs all to the left side

4 in the top row

3 in the bottom row]

'''Middle Right - Chaotic Neutral'''

[6 eggs staggered in every other space so that each egg is diagonal from the two nearest

no two eggs are directly next to each other side-to-side or up-and-down

3 in the top row, starting in the left most position

3 in the bottom row; starting position second from the left side]

'''Bottom Left - Lawful Evil'''

[8 eggs

6 in the egg carton, centered but offset one place to the left; 3 eggs each on the top and bottom

2 eggs are on top of the 6 that are placed in the carton]

'''Bottom Center - Neutral Evil'''

[8 eggs

3 on the bottom edge of the lid

2 in the top center positions in the egg carton

3 centered on the edge and on top of/between the eggs on the lid and the eggs in the proper positions]

'''Bottom Right - Chaotic Evil'''

[broken eggs in the center of the carton and spilling/splattering over the rest of the carton and onto the lid

6 or 7 yellow-orange yolks are visible

the spilled egg whites are colored light yellow-greenish

several pieces of egg shells, varying in size from approximately one-half to very small chips are mixed in with the yolks and whites]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Food]]

Talk:1756: I'm With Her

2016-11-07T18:38:57Z

108.162.215.235:

The "I'm with her" and H with an arrow are CLEARLY the respective campaign slogan and campaign logo for Hillary Clinton, not some vagueness having to do with bringing a significant other. --[unsigned]
:I see it more as him endorsing voting regardless of who you vote for (as evidenced by half the comic is about "Here's how you vote" without any mention of candidates or issues) and the endorsing Clinton part is an add-on as if to say "This is how I'm voting; vote for her if you agree with me." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.235|108.162.215.235]] 18:38, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Has Randall endorsed a presidential candidate before? --[[User:Dfeuer|Dfeuer]] ([[User talk:Dfeuer|talk]]) 17:14, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
He supported Obama on his blog in '08, not in the comic though.

He could have said any number of clever things about the election, and all he did was put up a campaign sign. Disappointing. [[User:Gmcgath|Gmcgath]] ([[User talk:Gmcgath|talk]]) 17:37, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

what a cuck --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.63|172.68.51.63]] 17:45, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:: leaving aside the most ridiculous slur of the past few years, I don't know what else did you expect from Randall. I guess you must have stumbled upon this wiki by chance and have never heard of xkcd before.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.130|141.101.98.130]] 17:59, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

This is the first time I still don't get the joke even after reading the explainxkcd page [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.123|108.162.219.123]] 18:09, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
== Bit disappointing... ==

I was hoping for a comic today. oh well. Interesting to see how he's planning to vote, though - it's a shame that there are no candidates this year in favor of strong encryption.

Funny how females outdo males in this 'comic' but in terms of frequency and of elevation. Oh well. xkcd has long been overrepresenting females, it was to be expected. <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>

Seriously? You're whinging 'what about the men?' in a geek web comic?! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.212|108.162.215.212]] 18:21, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

The only disappointing this are comments like those two above. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.201.96|162.158.201.96]] 18:11, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

A little disappointing to have a normally lighthearted comic dive seriously into politics, if even for one strip. Not really a fan of either candidate, but would like to see stuff like this stay above the fray.
:Completely agreed. [[User:SeanAhern|SeanAhern]] ([[User talk:SeanAhern|talk]]) 18:27, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1741: Work

2016-10-05T00:42:34Z

108.162.215.235:

Whoa, I've never been early enough to beat the explanation before. {{unsigned ip|173.245.50.82}}
:To 173.245.50.82, please remember to sign your posts. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 13:21, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

I wrote the transcript. Feel free to change it so it's not so bare and write the explanation. Thanks. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 13:20, 3 October 2016 (UTC)
:Done ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:37, 4 October 2016 (UTC)

To prevent fire hazards, objects in California are not allowed to surpass a certain temperature, 140 °C if I'm correct . Can't find the actual law quick. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.230|162.158.114.230]] 18:01, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

I think Randall underestimates the problem. I used to work for the research arm of the electronics multinational, Philips. When a product design was "finished", it had to go to a special committee who decided where, exactly, on the product did the word "PHILIPS" and their little shield logo go - and (rarely) whether these things should be done in black or white. It was VERY frequently the case that the committee would take longer to come to a conclusion than the product took to design. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 20:32, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

I often wonder about those tiny, cheap plastic toys that come in Xmas crackers (UK) or the 25 cent toy vending machines (USA). They are completely crappy things - but thinking that someone thought about what kind of toy should be made - then designed the shape of it, thought about the color of plastic to use, spent tens of thousands of dollars machining an injection mold for it - and STILL turned out a complete piece of junk...it's anyone's guess what effort that took. I know it costs around $40,000 to make a mold like that - but those toys look like someone who was being paid very, very little, spent no more than an afternoon designing each one! [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 20:32, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

What a coincidence. I just got out of my Product Development class. I remember having to deal with so many of these things that it's completely relatable. [[User:Jeudi Violist|Jeudi Violist]] ([[User talk:Jeudi Violist|talk]]) 21:17, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

Wow, that curve would be a bitch to draw in AutoCAD. I still shudder... [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 21:22, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

If anything, I'll bet the timeframes listed are shorter than they really took (only months of tip-over tests? only 9 hours of meetings on the arm?? David Lang {{unsigned ip|173.245.48.105}}

I don't know anything about glass production, but is it true that "what compounds are allowed around the glass during production" matters? It sounds like those martini recipes where one waves a bottle of vermouth towards the glass. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 05:47, 4 October 2016 (UTC)
:I'm no expert, but if impurities gets into the glass the color or refraction may change or the strength. And if it is a drinking glass there may be any kind of toxic products that may be used in creating window glass etc. that could not be allowed to enter the production. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:37, 4 October 2016 (UTC)

Randall may, indeed, be annoyed about the cord switch, but there is nothing in the comic or the title text to suggest that. He does, however, have a strong opinion on the "cord switch _firing_ incident". Perhaps that bit of the explanation should be amended? [[User:RoyT|RoyT]] ([[User talk:RoyT|talk]]) 06:48, 4 October 2016 (UTC)
:I think they say that because he implied in the title text of a previous comic that having the switch on the cord is worse than having your dog possessed by a demon. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.136|108.162.218.136]] 11:43, 4 October 2016 (UTC)
::Both are true. I have corrected the explanation to say that he is upset about the firing. And then by referring to the old comic makes sense of why he might have such a strong op--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:37, 4 October 2016 (UTC)inion.

Removed an abusive and trolling "disclaimer" asking us to evaluate our life choices and our support of the comic. Trolling is unwelcome. [[User:Enfield|Enfield]] ([[User talk:Enfield|talk]]) 17:41, 4 October 2016 (UTC)

I think about design a lot and however many hours are spent on some products it never ceases to amaze me how the primary feature can fail so terribly, like pouring a liquid without the liquid spilling. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.235|108.162.215.235]] 00:42, 5 October 2016 (UTC)