explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:897: Elevator Inspection

2015-12-11T20:48:31Z

108.162.216.41: yay! a comment

I wonder, how fast does elevator technology advance? Is there like a Moore's law for the speed and safety of elevators or something? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:05, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

This comic has my doubts. If you placed the certificate in the actual elevator, it might be vandalized, stolen, or otherwise destroyed. Of course, you could just put a photocopy of the original certificate in the elevator, but not very many pointy-haired bosses are that clever. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.217|108.162.245.217]] 03:41, 7 June 2014 (UTC)
:That's why the certificate goes behind shatterproof clear plastic in a tamper-resistant frame. Casual vandals seldom carry the right kind of screwdriver. At one job, I used to hear people complain on a regular basis about expired certificates in the cars. Even with the building's management keeping up a diligent and ongoing maintenance program (be foolish not to. Who needs that kind of exposure?) an underfunded and overworked inspection bureaucracy can take their own sweet time making the rounds.
:Elevator manufacturers, like submarine sailors, do not like change for its own sake. They don't get very effusive about innovation, so no Moore's law need apply. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.153|173.245.54.153]] 14:31, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

I did add the incomplete tag because all elevators should be registered in the US. A regular inspection is mandatory. This comic is more about people trust in that devices or not. They are joking while they are frightened. Many people don't like to be inside of an elevator because they suffer on claustrophobia. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:33, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

Does the bottom button look different? like someone might have taped 'zeppelin' over it?
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.41|108.162.216.41]] 20:48, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

1604: Snakes

2015-11-16T05:26:44Z

108.162.216.41: Fixed punctuation.

{{comic
| number = 1604
| date = November 16, 2015
| title = Snakes
| image = snakes.png
| titletext = The last band of color indicates the snake's tolerance for being held before biting.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a n00b - Please change this content to something better when editing this page.}}

The comic applies the color coding band system of resistors to snakes. Usually, resistors have 3 bands to identify the resistance in Ohms.

The comic references a saying for identifying one of 2 types of snakes: "Red on yellow, angry fellow; red on black, friendly jack."
The saying identifies the distinction between the two similar snakes: the snake with a yellow stripe next to a red stripe is venomous, while the snake with the black stripe next to the red stripe is nonvenomous.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

[Megan and Cueball are standing in some grass. Megan is holding a snake with red and black stripes]

Megan: Red touches yellow, which I think means this is a 24(Ohm) snake.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1459: Documents

2014-12-26T05:23:04Z

108.162.216.41: comment!

742 Evergreen Terrace.docx
742 Evergreen Terrace (2).docx

[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.51|141.101.99.51]] 07:24, 12 December 2014 (UTC)

I'm sure everyone can relate to using poor filenames occasionally. As far as default filenames go:

*Notepad (XP) = *.txt - Cannot save without choosing a new filename.
*Word (2003) = Title (if set by template) > First sentence of document > Doc1.doc, Doc2.doc, etc
*Paint (XP) = untitled.bmp
--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 08:58, 12 December 2014 (UTC)

Using the image format (.jpg) to store text information (like addresses) will also contribute to an annoying future if you ever need to copy data from that file into some other programme. [[User:SirKitKat|sirKitKat]] ([[User talk:SirKitKat|talk]]) 09:58, 12 December 2014 (UTC)
: oo good point -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 13:13, 12 December 2014 (UTC)
:: Could be a JPEG because it's a camera photo of the address on something. That'd make it even more perverse because most cameras create files with names like DSC01234.jpg meaning he's given it the "Untitled" moniker on purpose. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.78|141.101.99.78]] 14:23, 12 December 2014 (UTC)
::: It's a screenshot. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.62.169|173.245.62.169]] 18:15, 12 December 2014 (UTC)
::: Screenshots begin with "IMG_XXXX". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.41|108.162.216.41]] 05:23, 26 December 2014 (UTC)
: Placing an email address in a graphic is often used when the email address is to be displayed on a web page to make it difficult for email-address harvesting programs to grab the email address for spamming. But that's probably not relevant here.--[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 15:28, 12 December 2014 (UTC)

Something I come a cross now and then is the result of the following situation: You are in the process of selecting multiple files while holding CTRL. During the process of quickly selecting the next file, you accidentally move your cursor/mouse while clicking the next file, resulting in copying all the selected files on the same location :) [[User:SirKitKat|sirKitKat]] ([[User talk:SirKitKat|talk]]) 13:36, 12 December 2014 (UTC)

Title is an impossible file name in most operating environments because it is too long at 277 characters. 255 characters is the limit for any file or folder name in Linux, and is the limit for a fully defined file name (file and full path the file is in) in Windows. So the Title/Alt text is 22 characters too long for Linux and at least 25 characters too long for Windows since being in the root of drive takes 3 characters, each folder adds at least 2 characters (a letter and the slash). I encounter clients pushing this limit all the time, complaining why they can't access their files with the novel length file names, so this comic REALLLYYY spoke to me. As an IT consultant, I get to see and occasionally cleanup such poor file naming conventions.
[[User:Chaosadventurer|Chaosadventurer]] ([[User talk:Chaosadventurer|talk]]) 15:34, 12 December 2014 (UTC)
:Technically, Windows can handle paths longer than 260 characters (the definition of MAX_PATH in Windows API), but it requires special nomenclature (eg. "\\?\D:\very-long-path), and each individual backslash-delimited component is still limited to 255 chars. The maximum length of that type of path is 32,767 characters AFTER Unicode expansion. Most Unix-based file systems have a max filename length of 255 chars and a max path length of 4,096 chars. [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 20:54, 12 December 2014 (UTC)
::Mostly correct, ReFS supports up to 32,767 Unicode characters, but is limited in Windows 8/8.1(and I guess by extention 2012 and 2012 R2) to 255 characters. Most filesystems specify bytes and not characters, so it could vary based on if it's unicode or not. [[User:TuxyQ|TuxyQ]] ([[User talk:TuxyQ|talk]]) 09:57, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

I suppose it's just the OCD but the fact that the filenames are not in alphabetical order is the first thing that hit me. They're not even alphabetical by file type/extension. About the only thing that would result in this ordering is if the files were sorted by timestamp (which we don't see). Of course, if I were looking over someone's shoulder at their timestamp sorted list of files, I might be just as horrified by the ordering as I would by the names.
[[User:MrBigDog2U|MrBigDog2U]] ([[User talk:MrBigDog2U|talk]]) 15:40, 12 December 2014 (UTC)
:Sometimes it is useful to sort by timestamp. When looking for the latest file, for example. Given the filenames are near useless in this example, sorting by timestamp could be the easiest way to find something. ("I'm looking for the fine I worked on about two weeks ago.") -- Equinox [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.117|199.27.128.117]] 18:53, 12 December 2014 (UTC)

Does anyone know why "Untitled 241.doc" and "Untitled 40 MOM ADRESS.jpg" are out of order. The rest seem to be in accending order? {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.135}}
:Assuming it wasn't just an oversight on Randall's part, it's likely using a non-alphanumeric sort on the directory listing. The operating system (likely Windows) usually sorts things alphanumerically, but can also sort them by date (created or modified). In a DOS-style listing, you can also list them in the order they were inserted into the file system (effectively unsorted). On the other hand, Windows listings also contain special logic to process numbers in "natural order" rather than alphanumeric order, so that (1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 20) would be listed in that order instead of (1, 10, 11, 2, 20, 3). However, that doesn't appear to be happening in this case. [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 20:48, 12 December 2014 (UTC)

Could the alt text be a reference to "successor of" notation from set theory. I'm not an expert at all, but the explicit use of "copy of" over and over makes sense as another mathematical but absurd document naming schema. I think it's called successor ordinals or something like that. {{unsigned ip|173.245.50.179}}

The "copy of copy of copy of" thing is actually a quirk related to passing around files via email (happens often within an office network) where the other person does not save the file but rather opens it first then proceeds to save it after reading/editing, since MS Office has originally designated that file as 'from another computer'/read only, it will add the prefix 'copy of' to properly save a copy of the original file. This file is then further forwarded to someone else, continuing the chain. In a file that is heavily edited you can often get names with 4 of 5 "copy of"s before the actual name.

Someone may want to edit the explanation to add this detail as it is the most common reason for multiple "copy of"s in front of each other.
[[User:TjPhysicist|TjPhysicist]] ([[User talk:TjPhysicist|talk]]) 05:28, 19 December 2014 (UTC)

A more likely/common reason for "copy of copy of copy of" relates to files opened directly from email programs (instead of saved then opened), upon saving them after editing like this the phrase "copy of" will be added to the filename indicating that this is a copy of the original file (the original file being somewhere in a temp folder, since it was never saved). This trend often continues, especially in office settings, where files are passed around via email a lot, every user that edits it adding one extra "copy of". Editing to mention this

[[User:TjPhysicist|TjPhysicist]] ([[User talk:TjPhysicist|talk]]) 05:42, 19 December 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1410: California

2014-08-25T12:06:28Z

108.162.216.41: Added comment.

''and remark that "They've gone plaid!"''
I heard them say:
"They've gone Plait!"
I think it was "They've gone to plaid!" [[User:Chrullrich|Chrullrich]] ([[User talk:Chrullrich|talk]]) 08:16, 20 August 2014 (UTC)
:Correct, the [http://sfy.ru/?script=spaceballs script] contains: They've gone to plaid. [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 08:36, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

Spaceballs was parodying the use of surreal colours and patterns and the like when travelling at high speeds (ludicrous speed in the movie, hence its use in the legend of the graph) in older science fiction movies like 2001 a space odyssey. Plaid refers to the common textile pattern see:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaid_(pattern). Also see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygE01sOhzz0. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.186|141.101.99.186]] 09:30, 20 August 2014 (UTC)
:Spaceballs is really full of movie references! I originally saw the movie on BBC1, so I was surprised to see the Alien reference in the restaurant when I bought the DVD, because the BBC decided to cut the sequence for being distasteful! [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 11:36, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

:Another thing to note with regards to the Spaceballs reference which is itself referencing 2001 relates to the actual mechanical process by which Kubrick created the famous 'beyond' light-tunnel sequence. The technique called slit-scan photography was adapted to motion pictures from its then-traditional still photography roots by Douglas Trumbull while he worked with Kubrick on this iconic sequence. The technique involved a process of exposing the film to an abstract image being lit/seen through a thin vertical slit. The means by which we see California squeezed down to a slit-like slice to produce this graph over time actually resembles greatly this process we see employed by Kubrick and Trumbull. See: http://vimeo.com/41747091 as well as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slit-scan_photography for a little more in-depth information. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.211}}

And here we have evidence of global warming. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.190|173.245.54.190]] 12:54, 20 August 2014 (UTC)
:Or at least climate change. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.41|108.162.216.41]] 12:06, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

Looking at the color key reminds me of an aviator's scale of turbulence: nil, mild, moderate, severe, extreme. Extreme is when the rotating air overwhelms any possible control input (elevator, rudder, and aileron) so the plane's attitude is at the mercy of the wind, without recourse. AFAIK, plaid turbulence has not been reported by any surviving pilot. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.153|173.245.54.153]] 13:20, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

@108.162.238.144: While I agree that "ludicrous" is a normal English word, it isn't used very often. A Google search for "ludicrous" only turns up 2 dictionary references before linking to the wiki page for Spaceballs. So I think it's plausible that Randall thought of Spaceballs when using ludicrous instead of exceptional. [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 14:14, 20 August 2014 (UTC)
: Plausible? Pretty much certain, given that he backs it up with the plaid reference. [[User:Jim E|Jim E]] ([[User talk:Jim E|talk]]) 16:12, 20 August 2014 (UTC)
It is also a play on the fact that plaid and warp are both terms in weaving. --[[User:I'll Get It In A Moment|I'll Get It In A Moment]] ([[User talk:I'll Get It In A Moment|talk]]) 12:38, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

;Unclear how the morphing of California works to compress horizontally and provide a point for the vertical axis of graph

The top of California goes east-west, and the bottom actually slopes a bit north as it goes east, and of course the the initial image is rotated a bit clockwise. The way the bottom of california morphs, it looks clear that drought values are being averaged across horizontal parallels that are not straight east west. But the top of california seems to be treated differently - rotating quickly back to east-west. Does anyone know where the detailed data is? Is it only available as the images from NOAA, or are there data values? Can anyone reproduce this graph? [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 21:07, 20 August 2014 (UTC)

I disagree that the use of "ludicrous" is not in reference to Spaceballs. Yes, it might not be; but the other reference to Spaceballs in the title text suggests that it is. Context, people. [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 13:26, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

The data can be found here

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/MapsAndData/DataTables.aspx?CA
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.99|173.245.52.99]] 02:54, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey

2014-08-25T11:56:16Z

108.162.216.41: /* Transcript */ Adjusted wording for clarity. (Circles don't have corners.)

{{comic
| number = 24
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey
| before = [[#Explanation|↓ Skip to explanation ↓]]
| image = godel_escher_kurthalsey.jpg
| titletext = I love the idea here, though of course it's not a great-quality drawing or scan.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|the bubbles, expanding text, shreds & ending are not yet explained.}}
Before starting xkcd, [[Randall]] worked on robotics at {{w|NASA}}'s Langley Center. This drawing was apparently made during that period, while attending a talk that he didn't like.

The name of the comic is a portmanteau-like play on the following:
* {{w|Gödel, Escher, Bach}} is a book by {{w|Douglas Hofstadter}}. He is an American author who has written several books about philosophy, mathematics, and science. This particular book is his most famous one, about "strange loops", self-reference, and recurring patterns, partially shown through the works of the three people in its title:
** {{w|Kurt Gödel}} was a 20th-century mathematician most famous for proving that in our commonly used axiomatic systems, there are true propositions that cannot be proved from the axioms. His proof used a self-referential paradox.
** {{w|M. C. Escher}} was a 20th-century artist most famous for mathematically-inspired engravings of tessellated animals, impossible scenes, [http://philosopherdeveloper.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/devilsangels.jpg fractals], and so on. The form of this strip resembles one of his [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2c/Escher,_Metamorphosis_II.jpg Metamorphosis etchings].
** {{w|Johann Sebastian Bach}} was a German composer and musician from the Baroque Period, famous for numerous works such as the Brandenburg Concertos.

* [http://www.kurthalsey.com Kurt Halsey] is a comic artist from Oregon. His work often contains introspective philosophical musings.

The comic is drawn in the form of a {{w|storyboard}} and is clearly intended to be visualized as an animated sequence.

In the first part of the comic, two people discuss the difficulty of comparing past and present generations, since the person making the comparison invariably belongs to one of the two groups.

It's unclear whether the hatted guy is [[Black Hat]], because Randall hadn't standardized his character designs yet. The sarcastic comment suggests that it is.

The assembly of text panels found in the middle of the strip is similar to his [[124: Blogofractal]].

==Interpretations==
''While I feel this article can't be improved with rational arguments, I believe a standalone section with different hypothesis is a great way to tackle the problem. If the goal here is not to go into subjective interpretations of the comic, then I think its better tagged as closed, because you obviously can't go any further by ignoring the symbols. (You may want to edit meta-comments out, but I wanted to make my point first). Please add to or adapt my interpretation to whatever suits you or the community here. It would be very nice if we could have a subjective section for people to explain what they interpreted out of the strips.''

* The bubbles may illustrate ideas, memories or subjects that one could wonder about. In the context of the boring talk, this would mean that Randall is lost in thoughts and gradually looses focus of things going on around him. He sees the talk as mundane, as a part of so many other "subject bubbles".
** Even the comic vertical lines (and therefor the strip's structure) seems to loose their sense to Randall as they collapses and become part of the scene, eventually merging three panels into one. They later reappear for the last six panels.
* The big bubble pushing the small ones further outside may demonstrate how shallow the surface bubbles are to him or represent an infinite (or very large) amount of small bubbles.
* The quote stating "There's too much. And so little feels important." tell us that he feels overwhelmed by the world; maybe by information given in the NASA talk or by events in his life. He recognizes what is important to him, and feels it is small compared to the size of the worries of the world (or the big bubble). He may have experienced a sort of existential crisis before turning to his feeling of love in the last panels, when asking himself "What do you do?".
* The structure of the strip has some abstract connections with the structure of the book. The beginning, middle, and end sequences reflect back on themselves; the strip displays some symmetry. In the book there's an interplay of contributions from the artist, the musician, and the mathematician; some of this is present in the strip [Lots of citations missing]

The biggest bubble is expanding, and on it is a fractal arrangement of articles describing various scientific and philosophical discussions. A subjective interpretation is that the fractal nature of the excerpts are a comment on the unending attempt to rationalize and justify the unchanging nature of humanity. The largest bubble bursts, leaving the two figures on a shred of what once was. The final question is "What do you do when the bubble bursts?" It seems his answer is to find someone, and love them; in the end that's all that matters. The rest is just air.

==Transcript==
:Drawn during an unending NASA lecture.
:[Two people are talking, one in a hat.]
:Cueball: it's just so hard to compare kids now with kids in the past. you can't help but to belong to one group or the other.

:Cueball: and of course every generation seems awful to the one before it. look at quotes from throughout history.

:Hatted: yeah, and it sure would be nice to have some historical perspective on some of this stuff. I just don't know what to make of it.
:[Circles are appearing--maybe snow?]

:Cueball: i guess you do what you can to help the people around you and hope it turns out okay.

:Cueball: in the end, what else can you do?

:Hatted: lead a crusade?

:[We can no longer see the people, just the circles.]
:it's presentism, man. the idea that historical context is irrelevant, that we understand it

:all that we need take no warnings from the follies of the past. that we're facing something new.

:socrates couldn't imagine the internet. but people don't change.
:[We can start to see a darker circle in the lower right corner.]

:(The borders between the three panels on this line are cracking.)
:have you seen those collections of historical pornography? talk about historical context.

:did you know the first porn photo was bestial in.
:[inside a circle:] nature?

:at least that stuff was out of the mainstream
:[each word in one circle:]
:no
:just
:in
:history

:(the three panels have merged into one on each row.)

:i don't know about you, but
:[circled] I
:[uncircled] never

:even once seen

:[The circles are highly variable in size now, and pressed up against a larger one on the right side.]

:[There is mass of circles of different sizes, with some dark fissures in between, against the side of a large circle which we can see part of in the right half of the panel. They look like cells. There's a tiny square in the center of the giant cell.]

:[We see only the tiny square, centered. It has a few marks inside it.]

:[Closer, the square is divided into rectangles of different sizes, each of which has text in it.]

:[Much closer, we can see fragments of the text. Some are sideways, some are cut off, some are too small to read.]
:machine language translated by principles of isomorphism it is a consequence of the Church-Turing thesis that ...
:but how do you select the channel you wish to se-
:thou ... shou ... palin ... stri ... it is a ... crab ...

:[Closer still, we can just see a huge sideways s and h.]

:[Those letters are faded and mixed with a faded version of the next panel.]

:girls take boys away ...
:never be further than a phone call and a goosebumped shiver away ...
:drove all night listening to mix tapes ...
:the past is just practice
:[There is a heart at the bottom and, in the lower left, the name Kurt.]

:[The same as the previous panel, but with the words blurred out to scribbles.]

:[Jagged, shaded shapes and strands start to fall. Faint panel borders appear again. There is a person on the far right.]

:(Back to three panels per row.)
:[Cueball and Megan are standing amid the fragments.]

:Man: There's too much. And so little feels important.

:[The jagged edge of the shaded area is encroaching on the sides of the panel.]

:What do you do?

:[We see them from farther away through a rough hole in the shaded area. Bits continue to fall around them.]

:[They are holding hands.]

==Trivia==
*This is the sixth comic originally posted on livejournal. The previous was [[1: Barrel - Part 1]]. The next was [[13: Canyon]]. View archive [http://liveweb.archive.org/web/20070927001941/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=40 here].
*[Original title]: "Strip series"
*[Original [[Randall]] quote]: "One of a series of strips I drew during a long and boring NASA lecture. It careens wildly from intellectual to chaotic to Godel, Escher, Bach to Kurt Halsey to chaotic and sappy." This might suggest that the image on LiveJournal was only part of this strip. Unfortunately, the image link on LiveJournal is broken.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

Talk:1411: Loop

2014-08-25T11:38:37Z

108.162.216.41: Reformatted comment.

First explanation. How did I do, veterans? [[User:Lacedemonian|Lacedemonian]] ([[User talk:Lacedemonian|talk]]) 04:45, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Not bad.
I reorganised the content and fixed some stylistic flaws.

Awaiting older veterans to cross-reference with older entries. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.70|108.162.229.70]] 05:11, 22 August 2014 (UTC)Sylvertech

I count 4 devices: monitor, laptop, tablet, phone.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.22|108.162.216.22]] 05:52, 22 August 2014 (UTC)J. from Mi.

All he needs is to have been wearing a Google Glass-type device, and this can simultaneously be both a smaller display (by absolute scale) to recurse onto after the smartphone and a possibly larger display (by proportion of view) to recurse back out of onto the 'smaller' computer monitor display... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.233|141.101.99.233]] 09:14, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

I rather think that the image text is ironic. How many people, when reading a book, absentmindedly read a page (so far so good, possible) let your mind wonder (ok) and then pickup another book to start browsing (I think not). --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.175|108.162.231.175]] 09:26, 22 August 2014 (UTC)
: I did that. It used to happen in situations when I was stuck somewhere (like sitting in a camper on a rainy day during holidays, or riding a train on a long way home etc.) and had limited access to entertainment (like a few books that I have taken with me just in case). I would then read a couple of pages, get bored, take another book, get bored after several pages, than take another that I have read three times already, get bored... then stare out of the window for some time, get bored... then pick one of the books again in hope it might keep me occupied for a while... and so on. Interactive media are somewhat better for time-killing but not by much. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.29|108.162.254.29]] 17:45, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

:There's a scene in Harry Potter (book) where Harry himself does this, albeit while studying for some exams. He's tired and studying, he reads the same line four or five times before realizing that he's done so, so he starts studying another subject. The knowledge from that line gets used sometime later as a non-essential plot point (I think). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.41|108.162.216.41]] 11:37, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

They could pick up a magazine - my wife does it all the time. [[User:Mattdevney|Mattdevney]] ([[User talk:Mattdevney|talk]]) 09:33, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

It's not a flowchart in the traditional sense, which would have separate boxes for each step (and this doesn't, it's just a step, no container of any kind, with an arrow to the next). [[User:RChandra|RChandra]] ([[User talk:RChandra|talk]]) 12:42, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Let's not forget about smart-watches![[User:Sirvanilla|Sirvanilla]] ([[User talk:Sirvanilla|talk]]) 5:09, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Came here from news site... Strange. [[User:Multimotyl|Multimotyl]] ([[User talk:Multimotyl|talk]]) 21:08, 22 August 2014 (UTC)
:Already had an account, less strange? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.41|108.162.216.41]] 11:37, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1411: Loop

2014-08-25T11:37:47Z

108.162.216.41: Added comment(s).

First explanation. How did I do, veterans? [[User:Lacedemonian|Lacedemonian]] ([[User talk:Lacedemonian|talk]]) 04:45, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Not bad.
I reorganised the content and fixed some stylistic flaws.

Awaiting older veterans to cross-reference with older entries. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.70|108.162.229.70]] 05:11, 22 August 2014 (UTC)Sylvertech

I count 4 devices: monitor, laptop, tablet, phone.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.22|108.162.216.22]] 05:52, 22 August 2014 (UTC)J. from Mi.

All he needs is to have been wearing a Google Glass-type device, and this can simultaneously be both a smaller display (by absolute scale) to recurse onto after the smartphone and a possibly larger display (by proportion of view) to recurse back out of onto the 'smaller' computer monitor display... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.233|141.101.99.233]] 09:14, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

I rather think that the image text is ironic. How many people, when reading a book, absentmindedly read a page (so far so good, possible) let your mind wonder (ok) and then pickup another book to start browsing (I think not). --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.175|108.162.231.175]] 09:26, 22 August 2014 (UTC)
: I did that. It used to happen in situations when I was stuck somewhere (like sitting in a camper on a rainy day during holidays, or riding a train on a long way home etc.) and had limited access to entertainment (like a few books that I have taken with me just in case). I would then read a couple of pages, get bored, take another book, get bored after several pages, than take another that I have read three times already, get bored... then stare out of the window for some time, get bored... then pick one of the books again in hope it might keep me occupied for a while... and so on. Interactive media are somewhat better for time-killing but not by much. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.29|108.162.254.29]] 17:45, 22 August 2014 (UTC)
:There's a scene in Harry Potter (book) where Harry himself does this, albeit while studying for some exams. He's tired and studying, he reads the same line four or five times before realizing that he's done so, so he starts studying another subject. The knowledge from that line gets used sometime later as a non-essential plot point (I think). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.41|108.162.216.41]] 11:37, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

They could pick up a magazine - my wife does it all the time. [[User:Mattdevney|Mattdevney]] ([[User talk:Mattdevney|talk]]) 09:33, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

It's not a flowchart in the traditional sense, which would have separate boxes for each step (and this doesn't, it's just a step, no container of any kind, with an arrow to the next). [[User:RChandra|RChandra]] ([[User talk:RChandra|talk]]) 12:42, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Let's not forget about smart-watches![[User:Sirvanilla|Sirvanilla]] ([[User talk:Sirvanilla|talk]]) 5:09, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Came here from news site... Strange. [[User:Multimotyl|Multimotyl]] ([[User talk:Multimotyl|talk]]) 21:08, 22 August 2014 (UTC)
:Already had an account, less strange? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.41|108.162.216.41]] 11:37, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1406: Universal Converter Box

2014-08-11T13:57:02Z

108.162.216.41: Added comment.

Would like to see what a gender changer for the petrol pump looks like... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.219|108.162.250.219]] 04:37, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

: It’s a funnel. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.129|108.162.216.129]] 04:45, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

:: Im more intereted in understanding how the conversion between 87, 91 and 93 octane and Diesel is taking place -- some mini refinery most be included [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 07:34, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

: I guess those folks still using their ADB keyboards are out of luck.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.129|108.162.216.129]] 04:45, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

Oh god... there are quite a few blank spots on that gas pump, and we all know what Randall likes to do with [http://what-if.xkcd.com/35/ tape]. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.211|173.245.56.211]] 04:55, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

Where's the old Mac DIN based serial port? I've got a Color Classic I'd like to resurrect! (No, seriously. It's got a math program on it that I paid about one fifteenth of what they're going for today!) [[User:ExternalMonolog|ExternalMonolog]] ([[User talk:ExternalMonolog|talk]]) 05:21, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

Probably related: [http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/21b3ob/walking_through_my_local_electronic_store_i_found/ HDMI — garden hose adapter] for pouring sh*t from the TV directly on your lawn. {{unsigned ip|141.101.75.19}}

I hate the fact that I can think of multiple standards that are not covered here. A gazillion DIN connectors, mini HDMI, RS232, Canon/XLR,... All the AC power adapters just on their own will weigh more than 22.7 kilograms. And seriously, how are we meant to connect our coaxial network cable to an iPhone2 with this? --[[User:DivePeak|DivePeak]] ([[User talk:DivePeak|talk]]) 06:04, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

:: +1 [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 07:30, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

I'm just a little pissed that all those plugs and it still doesn't include an Australian 240v power plug... sigh. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.219|108.162.250.219]] 06:09, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

:: There are no power adapters in this afaik -- the title text talks about DC adapters, but they come in a separate bag [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 07:30, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

While we're mentioning things Randall forgot, we have eSATA, 9-pin serial, there are at least three types of firewire, Multiple SCSI interface sizes, TRRS audio/mic connectors, 1/4" inch audio connectors, XLR, varous RF connectors, and a ton of power connectors. {{unsigned ip|173.245.56.210}}

:: The STA and SCSI are mostly internal connections which users rarely had to worry about [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 07:30, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the magsafe 4 connector was the 'hair connector' from the avatar movie. That would really be the ultimate self-connecting magsafe successor. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.78|141.101.104.78]] 08:05, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

Many of the video cables in this comic actually are compatible: DVI is backwards-compatible with VGA, HDMI is (mostly) compatible with DVI, S-video is compatible with composite RCA, and SCART is compatible with VGA in addition to supporting both types of composite. Might want to note that somewhere in the article. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.195|108.162.219.195]] 08:20, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

The male/female adapters has me wondering slightly... Does the kit come with adapters for the fuel and the power plug? Might make for a light generator. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.75|108.162.215.75]] 08:26, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

I was mildly sad to see that the token ring was not accompanied by a Tolkien ring. —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 08:58, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

'''Some more "missing" items, and I'm wondering if we need to add all our suggestions in a single list to the main article.''' -- BigMal // [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 12:08, 11 August 2014 (UTC)
:IBM PC keyboard DIN
:IBM PC joystick
:Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)
:GPIB/HPIB (RS-485?) -- for electronics lab equipment (power supplies, desktop DMM, oscilloscope -- before USB and Ethernet)
:BNC (compostie video or analog signals)
:12V DC automotive power (old "cigarette lighter" port)
:Off-Board Diagnostic Connector (ODBC II -- automotive per SAE).
:Deutsch triangular SAE J1939/CAN connectors and "H1939" circular 9-pin Service Tool connector
:Other kinds of plumbing, inspired by the fuel pump -- US garden hose, various sizes of US NPT (National Pipe Thread?), various sizes of US "compression" thread
:and Pneumatic too -- all four of the most common pneumatic tool quick disconnects plus Schrader valve fitting (US standard for pneumatic tires) {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.209}}

According to Wikipedia, the 1st and 2nd gen MagSafe connectors in this image are swapped: What Randall labeled as MagSafe 1 is actually MagSafe 2 and vice-versa. [[User:Mezgrman|Mezgrman]] ([[User talk:Mezgrman|talk]]) 10:31, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

Do any of these connectors interface with the Raspberry Pi's GPIO? (Wow, it took me surprisingly long to find the name of that.) If not, can we add that to the list? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.41|108.162.216.41]] 13:57, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1340: Unique Date

2014-03-11T02:46:27Z

108.162.216.41:

My first thought was that he makes fun of people that consider dates like the 12.12.12 as important. As any other date they occur only once and are thus not more special. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.66|108.162.254.66]] 04:37, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:Good point, I have added something about that. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 04:49, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

Possibly related to the upcoming Pi Day. Also, next year's Pi Day will be 03-14-(20)15, which a few images going around on the Internet have made an annoyingly big deal about. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.64|108.162.237.64]] 06:24, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

So - Maybe I suck at searching (I do), but I can't find any information about us being limited to 4 digits in our calendar system...?[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.107|173.245.53.107]] 08:38, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:Most of the computer software that handles dates would have problems with more (or less) then four digits. Why bother with variable year length when you can just take the first four characters of "2014-03-10" and it works for the next 8 thousand years? [[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.103|103.22.200.103]] 09:42, 10 March 2014 (UTC)
:Also, most digital displays are limited to four digits for the year. [[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.103|103.22.200.103]] 09:43, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

::And I don't think we actually start address that sooner that in September 9999. It will be Y2K over again! .... not sure where will people of 9999 get {{w|Fortran}} and {{w|Cobol}} programmers, though. Maybe we should freeze some before we run out of them. :-) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:20, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:::Check [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_billennium#In_literature this] out.--[[User:Rael|Rael]] ([[User talk:Rael|talk]]) 21:38, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:I'm with you. I suppose there may be places where leading zeros are used (somewhere in software where memory space has been set aside, I suppose) but I can't think of '''any''' common system where one has to use five digits when using a four digit number.
:When we get to December 31, 9999 (assuming he Gregorian calendar is still in use (BIG assumption)) the next day will simply be January 1, 10000 because, as you said, the Gregorian calendar isn't limited to four-digit years. And, as I say, anyone who think there is some problem with writing years as four digit numbers is simply demonstrating that they are not someone to take seriously. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 16:32, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

After visiting the website for the "Long Now Foundation", I find I'm left wondering - why, oh why, would they stop at using a five digit year? why not six? eight? ten? sixteen? thirty-two? [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 12:06, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

I think the point in the comic title is that writing years always with 5 digits is as significant as the zero to the left it will take to do so for most of the next 8000 years. [[User:FlavianusEP|FlavianusEP]] ([[User talk:FlavianusEP|talk]]) 12:25, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

My first thought was that the comic was about date formats and yyyy-mm-dd being better than yy-mm-dd or dd.mm.yy. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.138|173.245.53.138]] 12:40, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

;Dynamic?

Wanna bet that this comic always shows the current date?--[[User:Henke37|Henke37]] ([[User talk:Henke37|talk]]) 10:23, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:Haha, that's a great observation! I wish it were so, I'll check again tomorrow. If it's not, someone email Mr. Munroe to make it so, great idea. {{unsigned|Adityarajbhatt}}

:It's 00:07 (11th of March) right now in China where I am currently located and it still shows 10th of March...just for the record [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.191|108.162.225.191]] 16:13, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

It's funny that Randall seems to have never heard of [http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2550 RFC 2550], which goes than the Long Now Foundation in expanding the representable date range. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.161|173.245.53.161]] 15:05, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:Technically, there will be another 2014-03-10; on October 3rd. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.65|108.162.219.65]] 16:01, 10 March 2014 (UTC)
::It would actually be 2014-10-03 "under our system" as stated in the comic. Technically. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.64|108.162.237.64]] 17:14, 10 March 2014 (UTC)
::It's like me saying that there will be another 2014-03-10 on March 14th. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.63|173.245.50.63]] 19:45, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

I wonder if this is also somehow related to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interesting_number_paradox Interesting number paradox]. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.29|199.27.128.29]] 18:48, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

The problem of the date rolling back is partially mitigated by storing the year as an integer instead of as characters, such as how certain Spreadsheet programs, such as OpenOffice Calc, stores years as a 16-bit signed integer. This doesn't solve the issue, only pushing it back to be the year 32768 problem. This is even less of an issue for 64 bit Unix time, which expire on 15:30:08 UTC on Sun, 4 December 292,277,026,596. It's also important to note that the dates, such as 99, or 00 should not be seen as digits, they should be seen as characters (unless, of course, they are BCD digits, which entirely defeats the purpose of shortening the date to 2 characters length). This might seem trivial, but I think it's an important difference.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.41|108.162.216.41]] 02:46, 11 March 2014 (UTC)