explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1983: Clutter

2018-04-20T15:11:54Z

108.162.221.53: today I learned something new.

So that book mentioned in the title text is real. I had to Google it because I'm a horribly cluttered person and have never been interested in actually being organized. https://www.amazon.com/Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering-Organizing/dp/1607747308 ... Just in case anyone else was also curious. From the product description on Amazon, the main concept of the book is that you should only retain items in your home that "spark joy" - thus there is a joke implied that Randall is already doing the main concept from the book without having ever read it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.53|108.162.221.53]] 15:11, 20 April 2018 (UTC)Martin

Talk:1973: Star Lore

2018-03-28T15:13:15Z

108.162.221.53:

Doesn't appear that "Five Sisters" is a reference to anything, according to my Google searches. Does anyone have anything on that? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.53|108.162.221.53]] 15:13, 28 March 2018 (UTC)Martin

1973: Star Lore

2018-03-28T15:09:02Z

108.162.221.53: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1973
| date = March 28, 2018
| title = Star Lore
| image = star_lore.png
| titletext = That one is a variable star which pulses every 30 seconds. Its name comes from a Greek word meaning "smoke alarm."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT running on a COMPUTER with TOO MANY STATUS LEDs - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Computers, chargers, and other electronic items often have status lights in various colors. In a dark room, these lights appear as pinpricks of light, similar to constellations.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
(white dot) (space) (white dot) (blue dot) (space) (blue dot) (space) (white dot)

(space) (white dot) (space)(two red dots) (space) (yellow dot) (space) (white dot)...

'''First speech bubble''': "That cluster was known to the ancients as the Five Sisters.
The red one was a supergiant and will probably explode within the next million years."

'''Second speech bubble''':
"Wow!"
{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1970: Name Dominoes

2018-03-22T14:51:53Z

108.162.221.53: added a comment in talk.

This comic is a long list of names overlayed onto black domino tiles, arranged so that each touching side corresponds with the first or last name of another person. This will be difficult to transcribe. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.53}}
:Would it be possible to use a fixed width format and try and transcribe like an actual scrabble board? I think there are unicode characters for upside-down and rotated text that we could use for the flipped names. But yes, definitely will be difficult.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.244|172.68.211.244]] 18:21, 21 March 2018 (UTC)
::The transcript doesn't need upside-down and rotated text. It should be enough to mention that some tiles are. A first draft with all names would be good, but even mentioning all the connections would be to complex to read. Think about the reader... --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:39, 21 March 2018 (UTC)
::How about using a fixed-width font and then representing each domino with an alphanumeric character, and then put a list below of what each character corresponds to? Even though there are more dominoes than characters, duplicate uses of a character (but referring to different names) can be easily disambiguated if we assign each character in order, left to right and top to bottom. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.71|172.69.70.71]] 20:04, 21 March 2018 (UTC)
:::I have made an image where each tile is numbered from left to right. See this [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/73/1970-_Name_Dominoes_-_The_large_image_with_numbers.jpg picture] and [[1970: Name Dominoes/Numbered images|Explanation]] here. I have created a transcript from this list. And the table --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:01, 22 March 2018 (UTC)
:::Do you think that maybe Randall created this comic just to screw with this wiki? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.53|108.162.221.53]] 14:51, 22 March 2018 (UTC)Martin

I see alternative names or nicknames sometimes matches together. But is the Chris Pratt/Chris Evans match with Topher Grace a bit of a stretch? I see that Topher is a variation of Chris'''topher''' and Chis is a shortening of the same. But I guess it must be an acceptable move if Randle put it in the comic. Maybe it’s worth special points or something. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.38.70|162.158.38.70]] 18:14, 21 March 2018 (UTC)TheStewart

Walter White/Walt Whitman is a reference to Breaking Bad. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.101|172.68.58.101]] 18:20, 21 March 2018 (UTC)Pat

And Garnet being used to join Ruby and Saffire is clever...
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.64|141.101.98.64]] 18:23, 21 March 2018 (UTC)
This is a reference to Steven Universe where there is a character, Garnet, who is a fusion of Ruby and Sapphire.

"The title text spells out a rule that a player may only place a tile if they know who that person is" is mention as a reason for it not to be a fixed set of dominos, But I took it to mean you can't use "Jim Jones" unless you know of Jim Jones; as in, I could challenge your use of it by asking "okay who is he?". Maybe saying "oh, he went to school with me" or something wouldn't count, anymore than "crft is too a word!" works in Scrabble [[User:Afbach|Afbach]] ([[User talk:Afbach|talk]]) 19:36, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

Harrison Ford is from Blade Runner I believe. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.124|162.158.2.124]] 23:07, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

Ma Bell is interesting... is it the only one that not an actual person? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_System

Alistair Cooke's name is misspelt "Alistiar"; it'll be interesting to see if this gets corrected (as errors sometimes do). Not to be confused with Alistair Cookie, a short distance away! -- [[User:Peregrine|Peregrine]] ([[User talk:Peregrine|talk]]) 08:45, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

== Maybe a table? ==

I think a table would be a useful and user-friendly way of capturing everything that's going on here. Forgive this feeble attempt. I am not an html coder. I know enough to go steal something somewhere and see if it works:

{| class="wikitable"
!style="width:15%"|Domino
!style="width:35%"|Notability
!style="width:15%"|Connections
!style="width:35%"|Mode
|-
|Alistair Cookie
|A parody of Alistair Cooke "played" by Cookie Monster in the Sesame Street sketch "Monsterpiece Theatre" in the 1980s, a parody of the PBS series "Masterpiece Theatre".
|James Cook 
Alastair Reynolds
|Last-Last (approximate) 
First-First (approximate)
|-
|James Cook
|18th century British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy.
|Alistair Cooke 
Cokie Roberts 
Alistair Cookie 
James Fenimore Cooper
|Last-Last (approximate) 
Last-First (approximate) 
Last-Last (approximate) 
First-First
|-
|Chris Columbus
|Film director and screenwriter.
|Columbo 
Christopher Columbus 
Chris Hughes
|Last-Only (approximate) 
First-First (approximate) and Last-Last 
First-First

|}

[[User:Imperpay|Imperpay]] ([[User talk:Imperpay|talk]]) 23:27, 21 March 2018 (UTC)
: I like that idea. Especially because it would mean that all those links are removed from the transcript. As far as I understand transcripts (at least in this wiki) they don't inlcude any meta information (e.g. nothing that is not shown in the comic). [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:48, 22 March 2018 (UTC)
::Yes great example of a table, and yes no wiki links in transcript. I will put this in the explanation now. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:42, 22 March 2018 (UTC)
:::I have now made an image where each tile is numbered from left to right. See this [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/73/1970-_Name_Dominoes_-_The_large_image_with_numbers.jpg picture] and [[1970: Name Dominoes/Numbered images|Explanation]] here. I have created a transcript from this list. And the table --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:01, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

1970: Name Dominoes

2018-03-21T17:34:17Z

108.162.221.53: /* Discussion */ And dang, this will be hard to transcribe.

{{comic
| number = 1970
| date = March 21, 2018
| title = Name Dominoes
| image = name_dominoes.png
| titletext = In competition, you can only play a name if you know who the person is. No fair saying "Frank ... Johnson. That sounds like a real person! Let me just Google him real quick."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

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

{{comic discussion}}
This comic is a long list of names overlayed onto black domino tiles, arranged so that each touching side corresponds with the first or last name of another person.
This will be difficult to transcribe.

1645: Toasts

2016-02-19T17:10:24Z

108.162.221.53: /* The toasts */ unclobber DaB.'s change

{{comic
| number = 1645
| date = February 19, 2016
| title = Toasts
| image = toasts.png
| titletext = Platonic solids for my real friends and real solids for my platonic friends!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|There may be more jokes and more on the different words.}}
A {{w|Toast (honor)|toast}} is a ritual in which a drink is taken as an expression of honor or goodwill. The term may be applied to the person or thing so honored, the drink taken, or the verbal expression accompanying the drink. Thus, a person could be "the toast of the evening," for whom someone "proposes a toast" to congratulate and for whom a third person "toasts" in agreement

The comic is based on the quote {{w|Champagne for My Real Friends, Real Pain for My Sham Friends}} which, though often attributed to the painter {{w|Francis Bacon (artist)|Francis Bacon}} or to {{w|Tom Waits}}, is a toast dating back to at least the nineteenth century. It is also the entire title of a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7q9i6KYmzQ song], the {{w|From_Under_the_Cork_Tree#Track_listing|ninth track}} on {{w|From Under the Cork Tree}}, a 2005 album by {{w|Fall Out Boy}}.

The comic plays on a permutation structure between two words (a [[wikipedia:Spoonerism|Spoonerism]]), yielding puns with various effects
In this comic eight persons drink a '''toast''' for their "real friends" and then for some other type of "friends". For the real friend they wish them to have one specific thing. This something is a word (X-Y) that can be split up in two meanings (X and Y), where one of them are then put in front the word friend, to explain what type of friends they are now toasting (often a bad/false type of friend) and then these friends get a wish for having what the word that are left of the original word means: "X-Y for my real friends and real Y for my X friends"

The first example is a typical toast, in Champagne, where this word can be split in the two phonetically similar words Sham and Pain, and the sham friends then get pain. [[#The toasts|Below]] all examples (including the ninth from the title text) are listed with explanation for all words.

===The toasts===
*''Champagne'' sounds like a combination of the two words ''sham'' and ''pain''.
**{{w|Champagne}} is an expensive sparkling wine.
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sham Sham] friends means false friends.
**{{w|Pain}} is not so nice to hand out.
***So [[Cueball]] toast his real friends in Champagne and wishes real pain to his false friends.
*''Pseudopods'' can be divided into ''pseudo-'' and ''pods''.
**{{w|Pseudopods}} (which translates to "false feet") are temporary cytoplasm-filled parts of the cell wall that are able to change their form in order to move. They are used in some eukaryotic cells to move around or to eat. Most cells that do this are called {{w|Amoeba|amoeboids}}. The {{w|Amoeba (genus)|amoeba}} is a common example.
**{{w|Pseudo-}} (lying, false) is used to mark something that superficially appears to be (or behaves like) one thing, but actually is another.
**{{w|Pods}} or {{w|pod}} is not clearly defined. It could refer to {{w|Glossary_of_plant_morphology#Fruit_types|seedpod}} – a dry dehiscent fruit containing many seeds. Pods, both malevolent and benignant, appear in many works of SF and Fantasy. In this toast, it could refer to the pods in {{w|Invasion of the Body Snatchers}}, which take over or replace humans with alien creatures. It might refer to the dangerous podracers in {{w|Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace}}. It could also refer to the [http://thehungergames.wikia.com/wiki/Pod pods] from {{w|The Hunger Games}} where they are specifically used as the city defense in the last book {{w|Mockingjay}}.
***So the blonde girl will give her real friends a special part/adaptation of the amoeba (Doesn't everyone wish they had pseudopods? I'm sure Randall does.), while her pseudo-friends receive real pods with intricate ways to kill them.
*''Petticoats'' sounds like a combination of the two words ''petty'' and ''coats''
**{{w|Petticoats}} or underskirt is an article of clothing; specifically an undergarment to be worn under a skirt or a dress.
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/petty Petty] means small (in rank of importance), insignificant or narrow-minded. See for instance {{w|petty crime}}.
**A {{w|Coat (clothing)|coat}} is a garment worn by both men and women, for warmth or fashion.
***So [[Megan]] will hand out undergarments for her real friends (a very personal gift) and coats for her less important/insignificant or narrow-minded friends (they seem to be the luckier ones here).
*''Loosestrife'' can be divided into ''loose'' and ''strife''.
**{{w|Loosestrife}} is a common name for plants within two different genera (which are not related): {{w|Lythrum}} (example: {{w|Lythrum salicaria|purple loosestrife}}) and {{w|Lysimachia}} (example: {{w|Lysimachia ciliata|Fringed Loosestrife}})
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/loose Loose] in this case means free from restraints, as the opposite of {{w|close friend}}. Loose can also refer to being sexually promiscuous, especially when used as an adjective for people.
**[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/strife Strife] refers to bitter, sometimes violent, conflict or discord.
***So the "brunette" girl (i.e. similar hair but less dark than Megan) will give her real friends flowers and her promiscuous friend she wishes to end up in a real violent conflict.
*''Ladybugs'' can be divided into ''lady'' and ''bugs''.
**{{w|Ladybugs}} (or Ladybird) is a family of insects common all over the world. They are considered cute: [https://pinterest.com/lisalynnburns/lady-bugs-so-cute/], [http://photobucket.com/images/cute%20ladybug], [http://www.zazzle.com/cute+ladybug].
**{{w|Lady}} is a civil term of respect for a woman, specifically the female equivalent to {{w|gentleman}} or {{w|lord}}, but in many contexts a term for any adult woman.
**{{w|Bugs}} in this case refer to to {{w|insects}} or {{w|arachnids}}
***[[Hair Bun Girl]] will give ladybugs for her real friends (a cute type of bug that most people are not afraid of), and real bugs (beetles, flies or spiders) to her lady friends. This is not necessarily all her female friends, it could be only those that are {{w|Lady#British_nobility|noble}} or at least think they are more important and thus would like to be called lady. No matter what most ladies dislike most types of animals that are commonly referred to as bugs.
*''Single-payer'' can be divided into ''single,'' and payer, a word that rhymes with ''player''. In this case this word is then put together with real to form the word ''RealPlayer''.
**{{w|Single-payer}} refers to single-payer healthcare, a system in which the state, rather than private insurers, pays for all {{w|healthcare}} costs, a system used in several countries, but not so far in the US, although {{w|Barack Obama}} has gone some of the way with {{w|Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act}}.
**{{w|Single person|Single}} refers to a person who is not in a relationship or is unmarried.
**{{w|RealPlayer}} is a cross-platform media player app, developed by RealNetworks. It is compatible with numerous container file formats of the multimedia realm. In the past it has been {{w|RealPlayer#Reviews_and_critiques|criticized}} for containing adware and spyware. This was back from 1999 and up to the 2004 version.
**It is specifically not the word ''{{w|Single-player video game|single-player}}'' that is used! this word could refer to video games that only one player can play at a time, or when choosing to play single-player in a game where more could have played. ''RealPayer'' is not a word in use.
***[[White Hat]] thus wishes that his real friends have access to state-funded health care, and all his single friends will get RealPlayer. Since [[White Hat]] is normally benevolent, if naïve, he may imagine that RealPlayer will help his single friends enjoy Internet media, when they are home alone. Maybe he wishes to impress these singles with a free app as a present in the hope that he {{w|Get Lucky (Daft Punk song)|gets lucky}}. (If it has been [[Hairy]] this would have seemed very likely… see [[1178: Pickup Artists]]. White Hat has not previously displayed these tendencies too clearly). As mentioned there have been some issues with RealPlayer in the past, but it has stayed on the market for more than a decade. However, since it has {{w|RealPlayer#Current_Status|recently been change}} into ''RealTimes'' it may not be so cool a gift anyway. Also White Hat might wish to give away the old spy ware version of RealPlayer. But as opposed to most of the special friends, single-friends is not in it self negative, especially not if you are yourself single. So no direct reason to make bad wished for single friends as opposed to sham friends.
*''Tumbleweeds'' sounds like a combination of the two words ''Tumblr'' and ''weed''.
**{{w|Tumbleweed}} is a structural part of the above-ground anatomy of a number of species of plants, a {{w|Diaspore (botany)|diaspore}} (of seeds) that, once it is mature and dry, detaches from its root or stem, and tumbles away in the wind. The tumbleweed's {{w| Tumbleweed#Symbolism|association}} with the Western film genre has led to a highly symbolic meaning in visual media.
**{{w|tumblr}} is a microblogging platform and social networking website
**{{w|Weed}} is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation but in this case it refers to {{w|Cannabis (drug)|Cannabis}} also known as marijuana and many other names including weed and would be used (again in this comic) as a {{w|psychoactive drug}}, i.e. to {{w|getting high|get high}}.
***[[Ponytail]] thus gives her "real" friends a western movie symbol, that will spread seeds over their house, but with her friends on her favorite blogsite Tumblr she will share her expensive weed.
*''Fauxhawks'' can be divided into ''faux'' and ''hawks''
**{{w|Mohawk_hairstyle#Fauxhawk_variants |Fauxhawks}} copies the style of a {{w|Mohawk hairstyle}}, but without shaving the sides of the head and not extending past the peak of the cranium.
**{{w|Faux}} is a French word for "false".
**{{w|Hawks}} is a common name for some small to medium-sized diurnal birds of prey, widely distributed and varying greatly in size.
***[[Beret Guy]] thus wishes to cut his real friends hair in a very special way, maybe to his liking and thought of as a favor, but not necessarily liked by all his friends, cause although Beret Guy is weird, it seems that those around him are not. His false friends can have a predatory bird (maybe coming after them), but rather knowing Beret Guys love of all things, just as a present of something he likes, like animals.
*'''Title text:'''
*''Platonic solids'' can be divided into ''platonic'' and ''solids''
**{{w|Platonic solids}}: In three-dimensional space, a platonic solid is a regular, convex polyhedron. It is constructed by congruent regular polygonal faces with the same number of faces meeting at each vertex. Five solids meet those criteria, and each is named after its number of faces: Tetrahedron, Cube, Octahedron, Dodecahedron and Icosahedron.
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/platonic Platonic] means ''not sexual in nature'' as in {{w|platonic love}}, which is a type of love that is celibate and non-sexual. Typically friends would not be called platonic, but they are normally also not the opposite.
**{{w|Solid}} is one of the three fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid and gas). ''Doing someone a solid'' can also mean ''doing someone a favor''.
***[[Randall]], must be speaking the title text and he wishes his real friends to have material in regular, convex polyhedron shape where as his {{w|platonic friends}} can get any other kind of solid material.

==Transcript==
:[There are two rows of 4 panels each. Each panel shows a different person offering a toast. Each one has some kind of drink in one hand which they hold up.

:[Cueball holding up a wine glass to the right:]
:Cueball : Champaign for my real friends and real pain for my sham friends!

:[A blonde girl holding up a regular glass to the left:]
:Blonde girl: Pseudopods for my real friends and real pods for my pseudo-friends!

:[Megan holding up a drinks glass to the right:]
:Megan : Petticoats for my real friends and real coats for my petty friends.

:[A "brunette" girl (i.e. similar hair but less dark than Megan) holding up a normal glass with a small umbrella in it to the right:]
:Brunette girl: Loosestrife for my real friends and real strife for my loose friends!

:[Hair Bun Girl holding up a wine glass to the left:]
:Hair Bun Girl: Ladybugs for my real friends and real bugs for my lady friends!

:[White Hat holding up a regular glass to the right:]
:White Hat: Single-payer for my real friends and RealPlayer for my single friends.

:[Ponytail holding up a regular glass to the right:]
:Ponytail: Tumbleweeds for my real friends and real weed for my Tumblr friends!

:[Beret Guy holding up a wine glass to the left:]
:Beret Guy: Fauxhawks for my real friends and real hawks for my faux friends!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hair Bun Girl]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Animals]] 
[[Category:Food]] 
[[Category:Music]] 
[[Category:Social networking]]

explain xkcd:Sandbox

2014-05-08T08:36:33Z

108.162.221.53:

__NOINDEX__
Make changes, try things out, or just have fun with the wiki here! Just leave everything above the line alone, please.
------
[[stupidddddddddd]]
[[stupid]]
[[xkcd]]
[[explain xkcd]]
{{#expr:1220+({{CURRENTWEEK}}-23)*3+{{#switch:{{CURRENTDOW}}|1|2=0|3|4=1|5|6|0=2}}}}
15:39, 17 January 2014 (UTC)
{{Comicbox sandbox
| number = -1
| date = 0000.1
| title = Sandbox
| image = 0000.1
| titletext = 0000.1
}}

<nowiki>{{Incomplete|Not incomplete, but it's hard to remember the syntax for incomplete tags}}</nowiki>
{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-2000}}

https://www.google.com/images/srpr/logo11w.png

[[{{PAGENAME}} | Next> ]]

explain xkcd:Sandbox

2014-05-08T08:34:44Z

108.162.221.53:

__NOINDEX__
Make changes, try things out, or just have fun with the wiki here! Just leave everything above the line alone, please.
------
[[stupidddddddddd]]
[[stupid]]
[[xkcd]]
[[explain xkcd]]
{{#expr:1220+({{CURRENTWEEK}}-23)*3+{{#switch:{{CURRENTDOW}}|1|2=0|3|4=1|5|6|0=2}}}}
15:39, 17 January 2014 (UTC)
{{Comicbox sandbox
| number = -1
| date = 0000.1
| title = Sandbox
| image = 0000.1
| titletext = 0000.1
}}

{{Incomplete|Not incomplete, but it's hard to remember the syntax for incomplete tags}}
{{#expr:{{CURRENTYEAR}}-2000}}

https://www.google.com/images/srpr/logo11w.png

[[{{PAGENAME}} | Next> ]]

Title text

2014-05-08T08:23:59Z

108.162.221.53:

The '''title text''' is an {{w|HTML attribute}} [[Randall]] puts on each xkcd image which normally adds something tangentially relevant to the topic of the comic. It can be accessed via hovering the mouse pointer over the image on the main site or clicking the Alt Text button on the mobile site. Many users refer to it as "Alt text" rather than "Title text".

[[Category:Meta]]

User talk:St.nerol

2014-05-08T08:11:05Z

108.162.221.53: /* Blue Eyes */ new section

==We're trying to cut down on new categories==
Hello, welcome to the wiki. Thanks for spam fighting. We're using Categories as a broad way of finding related comics. By creating lots of specific categories it limits the number of related comics to just a few. We've decided to not use Categories as a kind of ad-hoc tag cloud, but to help people find possibly related comics. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:18, 24 November 2012 (UTC)
:Hi! Well, I have actually read your long post about the categories in the portal, and I can't say anything more than that I really agree with you! I think that several of the existing categories feels too specific. (For example, I suspect that we never will find more than two comics related to the "Axiom of Chioce", but on the other hand, Logic and Set theory are two areas related to math that I know Randall is often coming back to.) Flowcharts was probably the most specific I created, and even though I only tagged two (?) I think that there exists at least a handful of them. (One named "Flow Chart" was not yet explained.) I worried instead that maybe some of the categories I created were almost too broad, like "Computers". – [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 09:44, 24 November 2012 (UTC)

::Eh, more tags also make it harder to completely tag pages, because there's more to remember. Brains can only process so much when creating new pages. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 09:59, 24 November 2012 (UTC)

:::And some comics will also be borderline cases whether they fit in a certain category or not. So I think we shouldn't have too high expectations on being completely "done". But the way I think, someday I might go through all comics and try to complete for example the Sarcasm and the Language tags. Or the Physics and the Math tags. Or the ones with color. So we're in a progress. --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:48, 24 November 2012 (UTC)
:::"Puts on sunglasses", "Windmills", "Wingsuit", "Airships", and "Axiom of Choice" are, I think, superfluous categories. Though there might be more comics on these subjects than I know about, and if somebody finds them useful I don't really mind them being there. :) --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 11:10, 24 November 2012 (UTC)

Uh. Please, I can barely remember all the categories we have right now. Try to hold back and finish what we already have. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:27, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

:Seconded. Again. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 23:33, 4 December 2012 (UTC)
::I'm disappointed. Do you really think that "Physics", "Music" and "Philosophy" are bad categories, or are you just worried that ''you'' won't remember them? Well, maybe I should just leave this and focus more on my studies instead. -[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:49, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

:::There's a [[:Category:Comics by topic|lot of categories]] right now, and I think the wiki would be better served if we finished applying all the categories that we already have. When we're finished polishing what we have off, we can start making new categories. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 10:47, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

:::I could be wrong, but I'm under the impression the messages above were triggered by the Julia Stiles category, which, indeed, is too specialized at the moment. On the other hand, there is no need for a single editor to be able to know all categoies by heart. The wiki way is "progressive enhancement" and comics will ''eventually'' be tagged by editors if they notice a missing category. Besides, there's a [[Special:Categories|list of categories]] precisely for that, as well as [[Special:SpecialPages|several other]] category-related special pages. But regardless of the outcome of such opinion differences, let's not let such disagreements discourage either side. We are very few and every helping hand is precious. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 14:35, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

::::I've never heard about Julia Stiles. I think it was triggered by the Philosophy category. I ''have'' been working a lot on applying the categories we have. It's when I do this that I sometimes see a category wanting. I think it saves some effort if I can create the category while I'm at it, instead of having to wait and later go through the comics again. --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:32, 6 December 2012 (UTC)

==[[Proof]]==
Nerol, you are espousing a minority view. http://www.google.com/search?q=zeno+arrow+instantaneous+derivative - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 21:09, 4 January 2013 (UTC)
:The derivative can be written as dx/dt. This presupposes an (arbitrarily) small time interval. The definition of the derivative involves taking a limit. And we can talk about the limit value. We get the velocity. Honestly I think the greeks knew about "velocity" too. But in the paradox: could dt in dx/dt actually be zero? -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 11:50, 5 January 2013 (UTC)
::Yes. That's the whole point of limits and derivatives. If values arbitrarily close to a point are convergent, then the derivative exactly at the point is equal to the limit. That's why dx/dt is called instantaneous velocity.
::The articles in that search also cover infinite steps in finite time. Majority views of science consider Zeno's paradoxes resolved, and the explanation should reflect that. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 12:41, 5 January 2013 (UTC)
:::An example: you don't need modern mathematics to calculate ''exactly'' when Achilles overtakes the tortoise. And you don't need a rigorous formulation of limits to make sense of the concept of velocity. Math here is an excelent ''tool'', but it ''describes'' motion, it doesn't ''explain'' it. (Heck, if anyone could even explain to me how it can be that a formal intellectual game so wonderfully relates to the physical world.) Also, it seems to be an open problem whether space-time is fundamentally continuous or discrete. If it is discrete, a calculus description becomes purely nonsensical at small enough time intervals. -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 15:29, 5 January 2013 (UTC)
::::If we were relying on physical reality for this argument, then Zeno's paradoxes are trivially disproven by counterexample. Motion exists, things get hit by arrows, and the article should baldly mock him for claiming otherwise.
::::Therefore, I assumed we were sticking to the realm of theory, where time and space are uniform, flat, and infinitely divisible. In that realm, infinitesimal calculus is generally considered superior to Zeno, and the article should reflect that. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 15:04, 6 January 2013 (UTC)
::::p.s. Limit discussion to Zeno vs Leibniz (vs Law), because that's what's in the comic.
:::::Yes, that was a sidtrack. (though quantum theory is very theory-heavy) My strong understanding is that calculus splendidly ''describes'' physical reality, but not so well ''explains'' metaphysical concerns. I'm a student in both these diciplines, though by far yet an expert, and very interested in the intersection between physics and philosophy. And I agree that the analogy with the infinite sum adds interesting input. On the other hand, "derivative" would in the context be rather excangeable for "velocity", which I'm sure the greeks had a word for. I don't feel that it adds any perspective. Others do, so I hesitated in removing that sentence, but I also felt it was a bit confusing. Please add a reasonable sentence about the derivative if you want to.
:::::Lastly, one can easily find that professional and other opinions about the paradoxes show a vast variation. (Btw, Wikipedia just taught me an tough variation on the paradoxes: {{w|Thomson's lamp}}. There are several proposed solutions to them, but the question is by far settled, and there is no academical consensus. The explanation surely does reflect that? -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 19:53, 6 January 2013 (UTC)
{{outdent}}
:(resetting indentation because too many colons)
:Thought experiments in "idealized classical reality" are fun. It's a Cartesian Newtonian universe containing infinite flat planes (optionally frictionless) and perfectly spherical cows.
:Thompson is a bit less "real" than Zeno because it requires infinite acceleration & velocity. But it reminds me of a similar paradox involving an infinitely large ball pit (or jar, or bag, or other container). At every step, you add X balls (arbitrary integer > 1) then remove one of them. At midnight, obviously there should be infinite balls in the pit. However, if the balls are numbered, and you add them in numerical order, then remove them in the same order, it is clear that for every number, you can compute the exact time before midnight that it is removed. In this case, the ball pit is empty at midnight. {{w|Georg Cantor}} for the win!
:I will attempt to compose a more balanced approach to Leibniz vs Zeno. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 18:33, 7 January 2013 (UTC)
::I read your changes & they were good, really. I added a parenthesis about continuous vs discrete spacetime, but I don't think that you will find it objectionable. Please check it so that I can know you are happy with the reading! --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 23:32, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

==Preview feature==
Hi, please do always a preview before you save a page. The recent changes page would be much smaller and more easy to explore.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:18, 11 June 2013 (UTC)
:I have a feeling it might take some time to make that routine, but I'll try. ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:19, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

== Blue Eyes ==

I added the page [[Blue Eyes]]

Blue Eyes

2014-05-08T08:08:43Z

108.162.221.53: Created page with "{{Incomplete|I started it, someone else (preferably who's actually solved the puzzle) can finish}} XKCD's [http://xkcd.com/blue_eyes.html Blue eyes] puzzle is a logic puzzle p..."

{{Incomplete|I started it, someone else (preferably who's actually solved the puzzle) can finish}}
XKCD's [http://xkcd.com/blue_eyes.html Blue eyes] puzzle is a logic puzzle posted around the same time as comic [[169]]. [[Randall]] calls it "the hardest logic puzzle in the world" on it's page; whether or not it really is the hardest is up to speculation.

The solution is at [http://xkcd.com/solution.html xkcd.com/solution.html].

The page contains two comics. On the top is [[82: Frame]], and on bottom is [[37: Hyphen]].

[[Category:Meta]]

Talk:757: Toot

2014-05-08T07:48:13Z

108.162.221.53:

The YouTube link in the explanation is a sarcastic video, that makes anyone who views it laugh out loud at how "seriously" the three men in tuxedos are acting as they blare out awful sounds with those horns. Calling the vuvuzela a "highly sophisticated" instrument based on that video is misleading at the least. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.11|173.245.54.11]] 16:00, 7 November 2013 (UTC)

:Use #2: http://www.sfw.furaffinity.net/view/4078940/
:Use #3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kofsc-0aqK8
[[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 06:34, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

I wonder what the other 4 situations where a V thingy is appropriate are? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.53|108.162.221.53]] 07:48, 8 May 2014 (UTC)

1071: Exoplanets

2014-05-08T07:41:19Z

108.162.221.53: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1071
| date = June 20, 2012
| title = Exoplanets
| image = Exoplanets.png
| titletext = Planets are turning out to be so common that to show all the planets in our galaxy, this chart would have to be nested in itself—with each planet replaced by a copy of the chart—at least three levels deep.
}}

==Explanation==

{{Incomplete|Should have a description of each planet in the comic. Since that's a lot, maybe just the more well known/closer to earth ones.}}

''A larger version of the comic is at [http://xkcd.com/1071/large/ xkcd.com/1071/large].''

An {{w|exoplanet}} is a planet outside of our solar system, orbiting a different sun. [[786]] exoplanets were known in mid-2012; since then astronomers have found thousands more. In the comic, our {{w|Solar System}}'s eight planets are depicted in the small square above the central text. From this we find that the largest dots (red) and second largest dots (dark brown) indicate planets larger than Jupiter, light brown is roughly {{w|Jupiter}} or {{W|Saturn}}-sized, blue is roughly {{w|Uranus}} or {{w|Neptune}}-sized, and the tiny dots are small {{w|terrestrial planets}} (like {{w|Earth}}).

We only have a few ways of {{w|Discoveries of exoplanets|finding exoplanets}}. Astronomers initially used {{w|doppler spectroscopy}}, which detects minute changes in a star's movement towards or away from us to infer the presence of large gas giants or {{w|brown dwarf}}s. Currently the most successful method is to notice when a star seems to briefly get dimmer on a repeating cycle. This may indicate that a body of matter has passed between that star and us, blocking some of the light. The {{w|Kepler (spacecraft)|Kepler space telescope}} was designed for this purpose, and has made the vast majority of exoplanet discoveries.

Most of Kepler's discoveries are between the sizes of Earth and Neptune, but it's sensitive enough to detect planets smaller than Mercury (if the orbital plane is aligned with us). Kepler is only able to observe relatively close stars in a {{w|File:LombergA1024.jpg|narrow field of view}}. The great number of nearby planets implies there should be {{w|Carl Sagan|billions}} of planets in our galaxy, [[1339|assuming]] our local arm is not uniquely abundant.

The title text refers to this by saying that to show them all each dot on the chart, should hold another chart with the same amount of dots; each of these dots should then also have a similar chart, and then do this one more time for a three level deep chart. This chart would have space for 786^4 planets (786*786*786*786 = 382 billions). This may be more room than needed? But if the chart were only two levels deep there would "only" be room for 786^3 = 0.5 billion planets.

This comic's design is similar to the {{w|color perception test|Ishihara Color Test}}, a series of circular pictures made of colored dots, used to detect red-green color blindness. However, Randall's picture probably does not contain a hidden number like it did in [[1213: Combination Vision Test]].

Two different xkcd comics have the title "Exoplanets". The first was number [[786]], and this one was drawn at a time when 786 exoplanets had been found. Probably not a coincidence when it comes to [[Randall]].

See also [[:Category:Exoplanets]].

==Transcript==
:[An enormous diagram of dots, mostly of varying shades of brown and greenish yellow, with a number of smaller blue dots and larger red dots.]
:All 786 known planets (as of June 2012) to scale.
:(Some planet sizes estimated based on mass)
:This [indicating a small section of 8 planets out of the several hundreds] is our solar system. The rest of these orbit other stars and were only discovered recently. Most of them are huge because those are the kind we learned to detect first, but now we're finding that small ones are actually more common. We know nothing about what's on any of them. With better telescopes, that could change. This is an exciting time.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Exoplanets]]

886: Craigslist Apartments

2014-05-08T07:10:43Z

108.162.221.53: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 886
| date = April 15, 2011
| title = Craigslist Apartments
| image = craigslist apartments.png
| titletext = $1600 / 1386153BR 3BATH, MODERN SLIDING DOORS, GUEST ROOMS, GARBAGE DISPOSAL. FREE MANDATORY PARKING (ENFORCED). CONVENIENT TO ALDERAAN.
}}

==Explanation==
First and foremost, just like all {{w|Craigslist}} apartment postings, all of these posts are in all caps and some of the posts are re-posted several times, which is very annoying, but must work, otherwise the agents would not do it. Additionally, lots of posts use lots of tildes, exclamation points or asterisks as above to set their posts apart from others.

*'''$1600 / 2BR <nowiki>~~~</nowiki> Hardwood floors, utilities included. Cats OK, limit one per square foot.'''
:This ad is aimed at "crazy cat ladies/bachelors" who compulsively keep a number of animals much greater than is appropriate to the living space.

*'''$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****'''
:This is the first repetition of an entry that appears multiple times. It is also extremely generic, telling the reader little useful about the house. The square house might be a garage, or just a regular square house. Beside that, most houses have a door in front, there's nothing special about a door.

*'''$2300 / 3BR !!!!!!!! Elegant apartment permanently lit by strobe light!!!! No floor.'''
:A strobe light is a very bright light that, instead of remaining on, flashes very quickly. It's frequently used in parties. Living in an apartment with a constant strobe light might degrade the tenant's health. Many lights with faulty wiring flicker repeatedly, producing a strobe effect; therefore, the listing may be a cheery spin on an apartment with bad wiring. Also, the stated lack of a floor would probably make standing (and indeed living) in the apartment somewhat difficult.
:

*'''$980 / 1BR New "hammock"-style dwelling. Water and heat free from same dispenser. Viking landlord.'''
:This seems to be a post to live as an oarsman on a {{w|Viking ship}}. The water and heat presumably both come from the sky, in the form of rain and sunlight.

*'''$1550 / 2BR (one inside the other). Has running water, in a sense. Free heat in short, intense bursts. Klein stairs.'''
:This place is possibly a reference to {{w|Klein geometry}}.

*'''$3200 / 1BR W/trimmed carpet and pert fixtures. Previous tenants clean. Call now, want you inside. $120/night (no animals)'''
:This is probably a disguised "adult services" (sex) posting, with references to trimmed pubic hair, an attractive body, and a lack of {{w|Sexually transmitted disease|STD}}s. Craigslist no longer allows posts for this, because prostitution is illegal in most places in the US. This post tries to evade the adult services ban by pretending to be something else.

*'''$2100 / 3BR on scenic Ash Tree Lane. Builder unknown; house has always existed. Walls shift; center of house may contain minotaur.'''
:The {{w|Minotaur}} house is a reference to the Labyrinth and Minotaur on Crete from ancient Greek mythology, as well as the novel ''{{w|House of Leaves}}''.

*'''$600 / 5BR Three floors w/pool, rooftop garden, beautiful glass facade, no catch, 5-min drive to historic Pripyat.'''
:This is a reference to the ghost town of {{w|Pripyat}}, which is near the {{w|Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant}} in northern Ukraine. It may also be the nuclear facility itself, depending on interpretation; the pool and 3-story structure are part of the power plant's design, the rooftop now has plants growing on it after years of neglect, and the glass facade references radioactive glassy minerals created by the explosion.

*'''$7100 / 60BR Sleek modern w/extreme running water. Previous tenants may resist entry. Contains all new wiring and is a submarine.'''
:This house is a submarine, as indicated by the advertisement, presumably operated by the navy. The "previous tenants", being members of the armed forces, would undoubtedly resist entry of someone attempting to board their submarine. The sixty bedrooms refers to the crew members' bunks on board the ship, which are in extremely tight quarters and can be very uncomfortable. This may also be a reference to [[496: Secretary: Part 3]], which makes reference to [[Black Hat]] stealing a submarine - apparently this is him trying to get rid of it.

*'''$1616 / 3BR + 2Bath, tub full of blood. Closet full of board games which play themselves. Pets OK but won't survive long.'''
:The last one on the list does not seem to be a direct scary movie reference, but a horror movie reference in general.

The title text (''$1600 / 1386153BR 3bath, modern sliding doors, guest rooms, garbage disposal. Free mandatory parking (enforced). Convenient to Alderaan.'') is a reference to the {{w|Death Star}} in ''Star Wars''. {{w|Alderaan}} is the home planet of {{w|Princess Leia}}, which was obliterated by the Death Star. Mandatory parking references the tractor beams used to drag nearby ships (such as the Millennium Falcon) into the base. It seems somewhat inconvenient that this "apartment" has over a million bedrooms but only three bathrooms.

==Transcript==
:[The comic is a single panel, presented as an apartment search.]
:[Title bar.]
:All apartments
:Search for: [_______] in: All apartments ( ) Title only (*) Entire post Search
:Rent: [Min] [Max] 0+ BR [ ] Cats [ ] Dogs [ ] Has image
:[Date bar.]
:Fri Apr 15
:[Begin the apartment listings.]
:$1600 / 2BR <nowiki>~~~</nowiki> Hardwood floors, utilities included. Cats ok, limit one per square foot.
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$2300 / 3BR !!!!!!!! Elegant apartment permanently lit by strobe light!!!! No floor.
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$980 / 1BR New "hammock"-style dwelling. Water and heat free from same dispenser. Viking landlord.
:$1550 / 2BR (one inside the other). Has running water, in a sense. Free heat in short, intense bursts. Klein stairs.
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$3200 / 1BR W/trimmed carpet and pert fixtures. Previous tenants clean. Call now, want you inside. $120/night (no animals)
:$2100 / 3BR on scenic Ash Tree Lane. Builder unknown; house has always existed. Walls shift; center of house may contain minotaur.
:$1100 / **** GREAT DEAL SQUARE HOUSE DOOR IN FRONT!!! ****
:$600 / 5BR Three floors w/pool, rooftop garden, beautiful glass facade, no catch, 5-min drive to historic Pripyat.
:$7100 / 60BR Sleek modern w/extreme running water. Previous tenants may resist entry. Contains all new wiring and is a submarine.
:$1616 / 3BR + 2Bath, tub full of blood. Closet full of board games which play themselves. Pets ok but won't survive long.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:1197: All Adobe Updates

2014-03-29T02:13:01Z

108.162.221.53:

Is there the additional joke of choosing "Ok (to download)" or "Download (it's ok!)"? And all the strip it lacks (for space, opportunity or brevity) is an all-but-forced toolbar download. Unless that's counted as part of the Java download. (Ask? Really?) [[Special:Contributions/178.99.244.212|178.99.244.212]] 13:00, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
:In my eyes the joke goes a bit further: The window ask the user to install an update for the update-manager so it can download new updates for the update-downloader – so software A would like to update software B that might update the real software in/at the end. --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 13:12, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

I am surprised noone commented on the connection to the Rush Song 2112 and it's Oracle. [[Special:Contributions/99.102.154.28|99.102.154.28]] 01:19, 10 August 2013 (UTC)

Title text: It's because you're still running Windows 2000 or XP. (Windows NT 5.x) You need at least Windows Vista (6.0) to apply the update... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.53|108.162.221.53]] 02:13, 29 March 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1011: Baby Names

2014-03-29T02:07:59Z

108.162.221.53:

"Old lady" names like Edith or Margaret are also pretty awful for a girl. She's gonna have to live her early years with a name that makes her sound like she's 50. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:13, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
:There's a young Margaret in ''A Wrinkle in Time''. Also, I know a young woman named Margaret. However, I can hardly imagine a worse name than Bertha. [[User:Dfeuer|Dfeuer]] ([[User talk:Dfeuer|talk]]) 16:09, 2 February 2014 (UTC)

Remember that they are only "Old Lady" names because they were popular baby names 50 years ago! In 50 years time people will say don't name your child Hunter! That's a grandpa name! (Yes people actually call their sons that!) --[[User:LostFire|LostFire]] ([[User talk:LostFire|talk]]) 09:54, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

I'm from Brazil and I find interesting that the concept of names that makes children feel much older exists in other languages. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.119|108.162.254.119]] 03:47, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

:It's common to pretty much all cultures, name fads come and go. In Brazil, for example, you don't see many girls named "Lourdes", or old men named "Felipe". --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.241|108.162.210.241]] 15:18, 2 February 2014 (UTC)

I suspect "friendly" is so it would play out in introductions as such: "Nice to meet you. I'm ''friendly''." --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.148|108.162.225.148]] 14:05, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

Still can't think of a name dumber than 'Renesmee'. 'North West' comes close. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.53|108.162.221.53]] 02:07, 29 March 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1274: Open Letter

2013-11-07T19:49:22Z

108.162.221.53:

If you believe in a shadow government, it seems likely that you would actually see a goverment shutdown as part of the conspiracy. {{unsigned ip|108.13.108.44}}

:Is this another shadow fact? http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1272 --[[User:MauroVan|MauroVan]] ([[User talk:MauroVan|talk]]) 09:33, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

:Actually, theoretically speaking, a government shutdown ''would'' be part of the conspiracy. Think about it. If there was a shadow government, then the only thing that can stop them is the people uniting against them. So, in order to keep the people from finding out, you would have to destroy their unity. And, unity in the US is at an all time low with people vehemently fighting amongst themselves. So, I don't think that the argument in this strip is valid. An orchestrated chaos would certainly be a tool of a shadow government. Theoretically speaking, of course. [[User:Kwyjibo|Kwyjibo]] ([[User talk:Kwyjibo|talk]]) 20:13, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

I guess Randal is only right as long there is only ONE group involved ;-). --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 11:01, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

Randall knows ''exactly'' which group is in control, but has been forced by them to leave their name completely off of the aforementioned list. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.212.190|178.98.212.190]] 13:25, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

I removed the words 'Self-proclaimed' from the description of Scientology. It's so vague to be meaningless. Aren't most religions and churches self-proclaimed? Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, etc all started with somebody claiming secret knowledge. It should either be applied to all religions, or none.[[Special:Contributions/154.20.80.41|154.20.80.41]] 13:50, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

Is "Sincerely, A Concerned Citizen" really a Half-Life 2 reference? The phrase is generic enough that it actually appears before Half-Life 2 was released ([http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x372352 example]). --[[Special:Contributions/75.119.250.35|75.119.250.35]] 15:21, 7 October 2013 (UTC)
:Agreed, people have been using the "Concerned Citizen" phrasing for years. [[User:Mattflaschen|Mattflaschen]] ([[User talk:Mattflaschen|talk]]) 17:41, 7 October 2013 (UTC)
:It's not just the wording, but the context, so it does seem to be a reference. [[Special:Contributions/108.13.108.44|108.13.108.44]] 18:22, 7 October 2013 (UTC)
::The context being that of somebody concerned about their government? That seems a wee bit broad to be a contextual reference.[[Special:Contributions/154.20.80.41|154.20.80.41]] 03:01, 8 October 2013 (UTC)

Wow! The actual group secretly running the government is so powerful they had themselves removed from the explanation table, apparently! (There's no Trilateral Commission entry right now.) [[User:Imperpay|Imperpay]] ([[User talk:Imperpay|talk]]) 16:29, 7 October 2013 (UTC)
:Fixed. :) [[User:Mattflaschen|Mattflaschen]] ([[User talk:Mattflaschen|talk]]) 17:41, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

No mention of what an open letter is? [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 04:08, 8 October 2013 (UTC)
:I just added something. It got wordy. Probably could be improved (and/or wiki-link to at least their page on Open Letters). But it's there, FWIW. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.212.190|178.98.212.190]] 13:36, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

Seems he left off Monsanto (according to the hippie types I hang around for some reason, they're running the entire world). Who else was left off the list? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.53|108.162.221.53]] 19:49, 7 November 2013 (UTC)MR

1286: Encryptic

2013-11-06T03:59:32Z

108.162.221.53: /* Passwords */

{{comic
| number = 1286
| date = November 4, 2013
| title = Encryptic
| image = encryptic.png
| titletext = It was bound to happen eventually. This data theft will enable almost limitless [xkcd.com/792]-style password reuse attacks in the coming weeks. There's only one group that comes out of this looking smart: Everyone who pirated Photoshop.
}}

==Explanation==
Web sites and other computers that authenticate users via passwords need to be able to know if the user typed in the right password. But storing the password itself on the computer has been known to be unnecessarily risky since the publication of [http://www.neurosecurity.com/articles/security/passwd.pdf Password Security: A Case History] in 1978. In that paper, Robert Morris and Ken Thompson demonstrated the practice of using a slow, cryptographically-secure one-way {{w|Hash function|hash function}}, so that even if the password file is stolen, it will be very hard to figure out what the passwords are, so long as the passwords themselves are suitably complex. They also pioneered the use of {{w|Salt (cryptography)|a “salt”}} which makes each password hash completely different even if two users use the same password. See [http://security.blogoverflow.com/2011/07/a-tour-of-password-questions-and-answers/ A tour of password questions and answers] for background on salts and suitably slow hash functions.

Adobe, however, ignored these well-known principles, and instead stored over a hundred million passwords in a reversably encrypted way, using a terrible choice of encryption methods which exposes a great deal of information about the passwords, and does not involve a salt. This password database was recently obtained by someone and released on the Internet.

In particular, Adobe used {{w|Triple DES}}, an older encryption algorithm which can still be relatively secure when properly used but they used it improperly. It works on 64-bit (8 character) blocks. Assuming that the passwords are stored in plain ASCII, this means that a sequence of 8 characters in a password which starts on a character position which is a multiple of eight is always encrypted to the same result. Therefore two passwords starting with “12345678” would start with the same block after being encrypted. Furthermore, this means that you can actually get a very good idea of the length of the password since anything with only one block is a password with length between 1 and 8 characters, and having two blocks implies it has between 9 and 16 characters, etc.

Adobe also stored hints users created for their passwords. That means that an attacker knows not only if the same 8 characters are used for multiple passwords but also has some hints for guessing them. That means that common password portions should be easy to recover and that any user may be “compromised” by someone else using a part of the same password and providing a good hint. As an example, a password having three hints “Big Apple”, “Twin Towers” and “If you can make it there” is probably “New York” (or a simple variation on that). The weakness here is that no decryption and therefore no hard cracking has to take place, you just group the passwords by their encrypted blocks and try to solve them like a crossword puzzle. These weaknesses have already been used to presumably identify a password used by {{w|Edward Snowden}}, as discussed at [http://7habitsofhighlyeffectivehackers.blogspot.com/2013/11/can-someone-be-targeted-using-adobe.html 7 Habits of Highly Effective Hackers: Can someone be targeted using the Adobe breach?].

The examples are not taken from the actual leaked file, since that [http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/11/how-an-epic-blunder-by-adobe-could-strengthen-hand-of-password-crackers/ uses a different format], and the examples are evidently cleverly crafted to make a nice crossword-like puzzle, which can be solved as shown in the Passwords section below.

As mentioned on http://filosottile.github.io/analyzing-the-adobe-leaked-passwords/ the data isn't real and contains a hidden message.
If the "user password" hashes are Base64 encoded, they read:
<pre>ThiswasnotagooduseofyourtimeButthenagainitwasprobablynotagooduseofmytimeeith
erAndyethereweareXOXOXOLetsLiveHereInThisTinySecretEncodedTextWorldUoreveg==</pre>

E.g., with the initial unique hash blocks: <tt>python -c "print '4e18acc1ab27a2d6a0a2876eb1ea1fca'.decode('hex_codec').encode('base64')"</tt>)

The title text makes a reference to a previous comic: [[792|Black Hat’s trouble with what to do with stolen passwords]]. It also states that users of pirated Photoshop are the winners here. This is because in order to make Photoshop pirate-able, it was modified (cracked) by removing the requirement for registration so their passwords were not sent to Adobe and therefore are not present in the leaked file.

The title itself is a reference to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptic_crossword cryptic crosswords]

==Passwords==
Note that characters in the passwords could be upper or lower case, and they may involve common substitutions like "0" (number zero) for "O" (letter O); therefore, the clues cannot guarantee that the answer shown here is precisely correct. Nevertheless, we have plenty of information for a brute force attack.

{|class="wikitable"
! Input
! Hint
! Password
! Explanation
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6</tt>
|weather vane sword
|<tt>matthias</tt>
|In ''Redwall'', several characters are associated with a sword hung from a weather vane, but only Matthias shares the name of an apostle (6 lines down).
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6</tt>
|
|<tt>matthias</tt>
|Although no hint was used, we know this password too, since it matches the previous one.
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6 a0a2876eb1ea1fca</tt>
|name1
|<tt>matthias1</tt>
|Even without knowing the user's name, we already know how this starts, so the clue gives us a pretty good idea how it finishes (and another block useful 2 lines down)
|-
|<tt>8babb6299e06eb6d</tt>
|duh
|<tt>password</tt>
|Unfortunately, this is all too common, and the user practically told us that it's an easy one.
|-
|<tt>8babb6299e06eb6d a0a2876eb1ea1fca</tt>
|
|<tt>password1</tt>
|Although no hint was used, we know this by combining the previous two.
|-
|<tt>8babb6299e06eb6d 85e9da81a8a78adc</tt>
|57
|<tt>password57</tt>
|Since we know how this begins, this is a good guess.
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6</tt>
|favorite of 12 apostles
|<tt>matthias</tt>
|This has only 12 possibilities to begin with (plus variant spellings, variant lists, and one replacement), but actually we know already which one by combining with the clue 6 lines up. (Surprise: it's the replacement!)
|-
|<tt>1ab29ae86da6e5ca 7a2d6a0a2876eb1e</tt>
|with your own hand you have done all this
|<tt>Judith1510</tt>
|This is a quotation from Judith 15:10 in the Bible.
|-
|<tt>a1f9b2b6299e7a2b eadec1e6ab797397</tt>
|sexy earlobes
|<tt>Charlie Sheen</tt>
|This refers to an episode of ''Two and a Half Men''. Other answers are possible, but only this one fits the next line.
|-
|<tt>a1f9b2b6299e7a2b 617ab0277727ad85</tt>
|best TOS episode
|<tt>Charlie X</tt>
|"TOS" refers to the original series of ''Star Trek''. Although this had dozens of episodes, only one fits the previous line as well as the next line.
|-
|<tt>39738b7adb0b8af7 617ab0277727ad85</tt>
|Sugarland
|<tt>HoustonTX</tt>
|Sugarland is a suburb of Houston, Texas. This fits with the previous line.
|-
|<tt>1ab29ae86da6e5ca</tt>
|name + jersey#
|<tt>Judith15</tt>
|Even if we knew this user's name, we wouldn't know their jersey number. But the clue 4 lines up already gave us the answer.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|alpha
|<tt>abc</tt>
|This password is also far too common, but this clue still isn't enough to narrow it down. Combine with the clue 4 lines below, however, and it's quite easy.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|
|<tt>abc</tt>
|No hint, but the same as the surrounding passwords.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|
|<tt>abc</tt>
|No hint, but the same as the surrounding passwords.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|obvious
|<tt>abc</tt>
|Same as the surrounding passwords.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|Michael Jackson
|<tt>abc</tt>
|Michael Jackson did many songs, but only one was alphabetical (4 lines up).
|-
|<tt>38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5</tt>
|
|
|No hint, but the same as the one below.
|-
|<tt>38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5</tt>
|he did the mash, he did the
|<tt></tt>
|''probably a reference to the {{w|Monster Mash}}, or to an actor in the show/film {{w|M*A*S*H}}''
|
|-
|<tt>38a7c9279cadeb44</tt>
|purloined
|<tt>letter</tt>
|A reference to a book in the Sherlock Holmes series The Purloined Letter
|-
|<tt>a8ae5754a2b7af7a 9dca1d79d4dec6d5</tt>
|fav water-3 Pokemon
|<tt></tt>
|''possible second block per [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Water_3_%28Egg_Group%29 Bulbapedia] are "el", "l", "le", "r", "t", "ta", "h", "a"''
|-
|}

==Transcript==
:Hackers recently leaked '''''153 million''''' Adobe user emails, encrypted passwords, and password hints.
:Adobe encrypted the passwords improperly, misusing block-mode 3DES. The result is something wonderful:

<pre>
User password Hint
------------- ----

4e18acc1ab27a2d6 weather vane sword
4e18acc1ab27a2d6
4e18acc1ab27a2d6 a0a2876eb1ea1fca name1
8babb6299e06eb6d duh
8babb6299e06eb6d a0a2876eb1ea1fca
8babb6299e06eb6d 85e9da81a8a78adc 57
4e18acc1ab27a2d6 favorite of 12 apostles
1ab29ae86da6e5ca 7a2d6a0a2876eb1e with your own hand you
have done all this
a1f9b2b6299e7a2b eadec1e6ab797397 sexy earlobes
a1f9b2b6299e7a2b 617ab0277727ad85 best tos episode
39738b7adb0b8af7 617ab0277727ad85 sugarland
1ab29ae86da6e5ca name + jersey#
877ab7889d3862b1 alpha
877ab7889d3862b1
877ab7889d3862b1
877ab7889d3862b1 obvious
877ab7889d3862b1 Michael Jackson
38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5
38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 he did the mash, he did the
38a7c9279cadeb44 purloined
a8ae5754a2b7af7a 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 fav water-3 pokemon
</pre>

:The greatest crossword puzzle in the history of the world

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]