explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2966: Exam Numbers

2024-07-31T18:11:15Z

108.162.237.4: /* Algebra */

{{comic
| number = 2966
| date = July 31, 2024
| title = Exam Numbers
| image = exam_numbers_2x.png
| imagesize = 553x400px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Calligraphy exam: Write down the number 37, spelled out, nicely.
}}

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

== Pre-Algebra Final Exam ==
x = 3x - 8

3x refers to the multiplication of 3 and x. 3x is a convenient shorthand.

By subtracting 3x from both sides, -2x = -8. Divide both sides by -2 to find x=4.

Verify by plugging x=4 into the original equation. 4 = 3*4 - 8 -> 4 = 12 - 8 -> 4 = 4.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
6 Different math test questions. The first one says: Kindergarten math:Write down the biggest number you can think of
{{comic discussion}}

2966: Exam Numbers

2024-07-31T18:10:08Z

108.162.237.4: Explained algebra

{{comic
| number = 2966
| date = July 31, 2024
| title = Exam Numbers
| image = exam_numbers_2x.png
| imagesize = 553x400px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Calligraphy exam: Write down the number 37, spelled out, nicely.
}}

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

== Algebra ==
x = 3x - 8

3x refers to the multiplication of 3 and x. 3x is a convenient shorthand.

By subtracting 3x from both sides, -2x = -8. Divide both sides by -2 to find x=4.

Verify by plugging x=4 into the original equation. 4 = 3*4 - 8 -> 4 = 12 - 8 -> 4 = 4.
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
6 Different math test questions. The first one says: Kindergarten math:Write down the biggest number you can think of
{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2467: Wikipedia Caltrops

2021-05-24T17:23:45Z

108.162.237.4: reply to flares v. caltrops

seems more like flares (which distract) than caltrops (which physically impair) to me. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.122|162.158.222.122]] 16:31, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

I'd say "Well, I now know what I'm doing for the next few hours!", except that I suspect that this isn't even going to be the half of it... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.46|141.101.98.46]] 16:37, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

except 'caltrops' is a funnier word than 'flares' and we get the gist anyway. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.4|108.162.237.4]] 17:23, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2465: Dimensional Chess

2021-05-20T01:45:48Z

108.162.237.4: infinite dimension = king can escape

How best to describe the addition of dimensions? The admirable first author goes as far as the second row, but there appear to be more... ahem... 'depths'. The first is 'sideways', though from this non-playing angle it's depthways; the second adds verticality; the third initially looks to be '4d represented in 3d' perspective (now further represented in 2d, by perspective method), but the sole cube atop confuses me; the fourth is... busy... and seems to go with a hyper(hyper)cubic continuation. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.161|141.101.99.161]] 18:05, 19 May 2021 (UTC)

not quite what is demonstrated in the comic but there is a game called 5 dimensional chess with multiverse time travel --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.57.189|172.68.57.189]] 19:00, 19 May 2021 (UTC)

I think this would require 5 dimensions rather than 4 as the middle rows are 4d slices of a 5d space just as the second row is a 2d slice of a 3d space
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.35.193|172.69.35.193]] 20:23, 19 May 2021 (UTC)
:I see it as there being a basic 1D between the opponents. On the Nth row away from you (on your half of the board) there's an additional N lateral dimensions. Row 1, sideways (8 columns). Row 2, sideways and up/down (7 levels). Row 3, those plus some form of superimposition indicated by scale/perhaps a sub-gridlevel elevation (6 of these?). Row 4, all those plus ??? (gonna assume 5). (...Row 5=Profit?) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.131|162.158.158.131]] 22:25, 19 May 2021 (UTC)

Is there an error on the top board of this image? If I look at the sequence of squares on the vertical, they alternate black/white except for the top board. Even if I were missing some aspect of the logic, I feel like there should be some symmetry between top and bottom. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.70|108.162.221.70]] 20:52, 19 May 2021 (UTC)

Note that white made a horse move on the left side of the board, forward one and up two [[Special:Contributions/172.68.57.189|172.68.57.189]] 21:11, 19 May 2021 (UTC)
:There's at least one black piece on (its) row 3, possibly a knight, and both players have at least one of their pieces on (their) row 4. There are four obvious white pieces forward of the two starting ranks (with no obvious sign that these are established starting positions in this esoteric board*) so there may be a third black piece out there, obscured from clear view. Or more likely that black Knight's movement (two squares forward, three up, one sideways and 0+ squares in the fourth-way direction) is multiple moves (2f1u then 2u1s would be the most simple projected moves).
:(* - The starting ranks appear to be as per 2D chess, with white's far bishop no longer in starting position, but if that's the one now in the nearest start-level 4th rank then it must not have made just one single 2D-like bishop's move to get there, nor is it obviously a pawn brought forward (2f starter then 1f second move, with or without an en-passant), so it may not be quite so simple, or else we've seen more than 4 white moves (and 3/4 black ones). Or both plus some possible exchange of pieces already.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.131|162.158.158.131]] 22:25, 19 May 2021 (UTC)

I interpreted the comic as the first row is normal chess- 2 dimensional. The second row starts the boards above and below- 3d. The third row would be 4d, and the 4th row would be 5d. ----

Pretty sure this is just funny commentary on people making more and more complex variations of chess, Quantum Chess, 4D Chess, 5D chess with time travel etc... but part of me looks at this and goes "that could be a real game... that could actually be a good game." just me? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.20|108.162.221.20]] 21:35, 19 May 2021 (UTC) Sam

Looking at this, I note that there seems to be an assumption in the explanation that n-dimensional chess means chess with an unlimited number of dimensions. I believe that what Randall was actually saying with the "N" was "any number N", not "all numbers N together", i.e. "The problem with 3, 4, 5, 6, ... , N dimensional chess is", and that his objection is that you always only get one number for N. His board, of course, is designed to give you as few as two dimensions up to five dimensions available for any particular piece depending upon the row.

True n-dimensional chess, where there are an unlimited number of dimensions, would probably be unplayable by any Turing machine, including, of course, humans. [[User:Geek Prophet|Geek Prophet]] ([[User talk:Geek Prophet|talk]]) 23:58, 19 May 2021 (UTC)
:If you have an infinite number of dimensions to work with, there is a straightforward means for a king to escape forever - just alternate linear moves with diagonal moves, always away from the opposing pieces, and always along a dimension not previously traversed (there are an infinite number of these, so always one more). Any opposing piece will be one dimension behind, at the very least. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.4|108.162.237.4]] 01:45, 20 May 2021 (UTC)

It looks like the 3rd row adds a cube on a stack of alternating colored squares, and then the 4th row does something similar with a tesseract. It gets a little crowded, so hard to be sure. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 01:36, 20 May 2021 (UTC)

2380: Election Impact Score Sheet

2020-11-06T05:36:15Z

108.162.237.4: /* Table */ Added a note about the Arizona senate seat

{{comic
| number = 2380
| date = November 2, 2020
| title = Election Impact Score Sheet
| image = election_impact_score_sheet.png
| titletext = You might think most people you know are reliable voters, or that your nudge won't convince them, and you will usually be right. But some small but significant percentage of the time, you'll be wrong, and that's why this works.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SOMEONE NOT IN ARIZONA. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic was published the day before {{w|Election day in the United States}} (November 3, 2020), which features a contentious {{w|2020 United States presidential election|presidential election}} between the incumbent, President {{w|Donald Trump}}, and the challenger, former Vice President {{w|Joe Biden}}. The United States does not elect presidents by popular vote, but instead uses an {{w|United States Electoral College|electoral college}} system, with each state getting a predetermined number of electoral votes, and a majority of electoral votes needed to win an election. The previous presidential election in 2016, which involved Trump and {{w|Hillary Clinton}}, was won by Trump, who lost the popular vote by 2 percentage points, but won the electoral vote 304-227 (270 was needed to win the election).

Electoral college votes are distributed based on the number of congressional representatives of each state, with the most populous state, California, receiving 55 votes, and the least populous states which are Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming receiving 3 votes each. Because the United States Congress has two legislative houses, with only one (the House of Representatives) apportioning representatives to the states based on their percentage of the US population and the other (the Senate) allocating two senators to every state regardless of population, smaller states have a higher ratio of electoral college votes to population than larger states do.

Additionally, most states (all but Nebraska and Maine) give all of their electoral college votes to whoever earns the most votes in their state. This means that a small change in the percentage of voters who favor one party's candidate over another within a state doesn't make a difference on the final outcome unless that change tips the scales between the two candidates. Therefore, it's easy to predict the final electoral college votes of many states where one party has a clear lead. Other states, including some of the ones listed by Randall, are considered "{{w|swing state}}s", as they are competitive to both of the two major parties, the {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party}} and the {{w|Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party}}.

Together, these factors make voting in some states - "swing states" with smaller populations - much more likely to influence the outcome of the election than others. Randall in this comic is encouraging his readers to "{{w|get out the vote}}" and encourage voting among their friends and family who live in 18 of these states which are most likely to affect the outcome of the election. The rest of the 32 states are grouped under the "all other states" bucket, presumably as their election outcome is "safely" for Biden or Trump.

Per many analysts, the state of {{w|Pennsylvania}} is considered an absolute necessity for Trump, and considered very important for Biden. This is why Pennsylvania is weighted the most heavily in Randall's comic.

Of course, just because a state may be a clear win for one party does not mean the votes of anyone who votes for the other party are wasted. A higher percentage of voters voting for the losing candidate sends a signal that the state is more competitive than assumed, which forces representatives to compromise and could make future voters more likely to show up because they believe their vote is more likely to matter. Additionally, many "down-ballot" races, like races for governorships, US Congress, state legislatures, and county governments, may be more competitive than the presidential race, and may have just as much or more impact on most people's lives. Randall accounts for some of these local races in deciding how to rank the states on the scoresheet.

The text at the bottom says to post your scoresheet with ''#Hashtag''. The "#" symbol is typically pronounced "hashtag", and so this tag for the scoresheet is nonsensical ("HashtagHashtag"), and doesn't describe anything useful. It also refers to Nate Silver's famous election forecast model at {{w|FiveThirtyEight}}. Randall closes by urging people to contact Nate Silver to tell him to adjust his model to account for the added votes they have caused, but as the form doesn't indicate which candidate the filler has voted for or plans to vote for, never mind the people contacted, there's no way for him to know what sort of update to make. Perhaps the flurry of posts bearing the hashtag "#Hashtag" and indicating an effort to increase civic engagement will be a heartwarming surprise on a day that will probably be very busy and stressful for him.

The title text explains that even if one thinks that their family and friends always vote, or that their reminder to vote won't work, they should do so anyway because of the chance they may be wrong.

As shown in previous comics ([[1756: I'm With Her]] and others), Randall was a supporter of 2016 candidate {{w|Hillary Clinton}} (who ran against Trump), but this assesment should be equally applicable to supporters of either of the two main candidates in the current presidential race.

The comic includes a link for a printable version: https://xkcd.com/2380/election_impact_score_sheet.pdf

===Table===
{| class = "wikitable"
! State
! Bonus
! Electoral votes
! Explanation
! Actual Effect
|-
|Pennsylvania
|x5
|20
|Pennsylvania is considered an absolute necessity for Trump, and considered very important for Biden. Pre-election polling showed Biden leading by 3 points.
|
|-
|Maine
|rowspan="3"|x4
|4
|Maine is worth 4 electoral votes, but awards 2 based on the statewide popular vote and 1 vote each for the winners of its 2 congressional districts.
|
|-
|Arizona
|11
|Arizona is not typically a swing state, as it usually votes for the Republican Party candidate. However, it is considered a swing state this year, with Joe Biden leading by 2 percentage points in pre-election polling. Additionally, polls predicted a high likelihood of a Senate seat flipping from the Republicans to Democrats.
|
|-
|Nevada
|6
|
|
|-
|Alaska
|rowspan="3"|x3
|3
|
|
|-
|Montana
|3
|
|
|-
|New Mexico
|5
|
|
|-
|Wisconsin
|rowspan="7"|x2
|10
|Wisconsin was surprisingly won by Trump in 2016, as pre-election polling had him trailing by 6-7 percentage points. Polling for the 2020 election favored Biden by 7 percentage points.
|
|-
|Minnesota
|10
|Minnesota was won by Hillary Clinton in 2016, but by a close margin of 1.5 percentage points. Polling for 2020 has Biden favored by 7 percentage points.
|
|-
|Iowa
|6
|
|
|-
|North Carolina
|15
|North Carolina is not typically a swing state, as it usually votes for the Republican Party candidate. However, it is considered a swing state this year.
|
|-
|New Hampshire
|4
|
|
|-
|Georgia
|16
|Georgia is not typically a swing state, as it usually votes for the Republican Party candidate. However, it is considered a swing state this year.
|
|-
|Nebraska
|5
|Like Maine, Nebraska splits up its votes, awarding 2 votes to the winner of the statewide popular vote, and 1 each for the winners of its 3 congressional districts.
|
|-
|Michigan
|rowspan="5"|x1
|16
|Michigan was also surprisingly won by Trump in 2016, as he was also trailing in pre-election polling. Biden has a 6 point lead in polling in 2020.
|
|-
|Florida
|29
|With 29 electoral votes, Florida has the 3rd most electoral votes to be distributed. It is also typically a swing state and determines the winner of an election.
|
|-
|Kansas
|6
|
|
|-
|Mississippi
|6
|
|
|-
|Colorado
|9
|
|
|-
|All other states
|x1/2
|''varies''
|Randall considers other states as less important than the above 18 in influencing the outcome of the presidential election.
|
|}

==Transcript==
<big>Do you know anyone in Arizona?</big>

Research shows that reminders from friends and family to vote have a bigger effect on turnout than anything campaigns do.

One of the best ways you can help is to scroll through your contacts (or use apps like VoteWithMe) to find people you can check in with to see if they plan to vote or need help doing it.

This chart lets you tally the effect of your reminders on the outcome based on who you've contacted and where they live.

<big>Election impact score sheet</big>

{| class = "wikitable"
! State
! Check-ins
! Bonus*
! Points
|-
|Pennsylvania
|
|x5
|
|-
|Maine Arizona Nevada
|
|x4
|
|-
|Alaska Montana New Mexico
|
|x3
|
|-
|Wisconsin Minnesota Iowa North Carolina New Hampshire Georgia Nebraska
|
|x2
|
|-
|Michigan Florida Kansas Mississippi Colorado
|
|x1
|
|-
|All other states
|
|x½
|
|-
| colspan="3" align="right" | '''Your election impact:'''
|
|}

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Multiplier based on 538 presidential vote impact, plus points for senate and local elections

''In smaller text, to the right of the main score sheet, a duplicate of the score sheet with red tally marks and points is shown''

{| class = "wikitable"
! State
! Check-ins
! Bonus*
! Points
|-
|Pennsylvania
| (2 tally marks)
|x5
| 10
|-
|Maine Arizona Nevada
| (1 tally mark)
|x4
| 4
|-
|Alaska Montana New Mexico
| (1 tally mark)
|x3
| 3
|-
|Wisconsin Minnesota Iowa North Carolina New Hampshire Georgia Nebraska
| (3 tally marks)
|x2
| 6
|-
|Michigan Florida Kansas Mississippi Colorado
|
|x1
|
|-
|All other states
| (6 tally marks)
|x½
| 3
|-
| colspan="3" align="right" | '''Your election impact:'''
|26
|}

''Followed by an arrow, pointing to the "Your election impact" total box in the main table, is this text''

Based on turnout experiments, 10 points on this scale has roughly as much effect on the outcome as one average vote. For every 10 points you tally, it's as if you voted again!

''Below the main score sheet table''

 [Click for printable version]

Share a pic of your score sheet with ''#Hashtag'', and be sure to send a copy to Nate Silver to let him know to include those extra votes in his model!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Nate Silver]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:2375: Worst Ladder

2020-10-22T01:09:48Z

108.162.237.4: self reference

Their ladder is obviously placed somewhere where they all have to walk under it to get into the boardroom. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.247|162.158.158.247]] 00:59, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

I find it extremely pleasing that within 20 minutes the XKCD itself in on the front page of Google results [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.4|108.162.237.4]] 01:09, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

Talk:1074: Moon Landing

2019-09-15T17:12:55Z

108.162.237.4:

The distance from Earth to Moon (the farthest we have gone away from earth) is twenty four times the diameter of Earth. If the Earth was a Basketball, the farther we have gone would be three meters from it, as the basketball is about 12 cm. The Randall statement is either wrong or purposely wrong. [[Special:Contributions/189.60.126.96|189.60.126.96]] 00:55, 28 September 2012 (UTC)

:The previous comment is wrong because the title text says that "[...]if the Earth were a basketball, in 40 years no human's been more than half an inch from the surface." Randall said "in 40 years" not the life of human space travel as a whole.
::Further clarification: The last manned moon landing was in 1972, 40 years ago. Since then, no human has traveled past close Earth orbit. A regulation men's basketball is 29.5 inches in circumference, or roughly 9.4 inches (~21cm) in diameter. Using the basketball as a model for the Earth, half an inch off the surface of the basketball is about 340km from the surface of the Earth - a decent approximation for the average orbital distance of the International Space Station and other recent targets of human spaceflight. [[Special:Contributions/72.169.224.103|72.169.224.103]] 19:29, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

Removed text that reads like a personal comment in the Title Text section: "And that is terrible to hear in the image text that we haven't been more than half an inch from the surface of the Earth if it were the size of a basketball. Personally, I'm putting most of my hope in Space X. With most of the NASA layoffs, a lot of the people went over to Space X. (A private company dedicated to space travel founded by former eBay founder Elon Musk.) I think they (or another private company) are the only hope of getting back into space and permanently this time." [[User:Frijole|Frijole]] ([[User talk:Frijole|talk]]) 21:30, 10 September 2013 (UTC)
:How can one be a FORMER eBay founder? Once you've done something, such as founding a company, you always will have done it.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.174|173.245.50.174]] 19:20, 7 September 2015 (UTC)

It's January 2015 and somewhere in Los Angeles, the Tyrell Corporation are developing the Replicants that die in 2019. Sometime in the next four years someone is going to be off the shoulder of Orion. I have no idea what the hell this comic is alluding.[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 19:18, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Why the ch*rp isn't this comic in [[:Category:Space]]? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.75|141.101.104.75]] 16:23, 20 June 2015 (UTC)
:Done... --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:27, 20 June 2015 (UTC)

Basketball is a peaceful planet, we have no weapons -- Hardware Wars. [[User:Danshoham|Mountain Hikes]] ([[User talk:Danshoham|talk]]) 03:40, 11 February 2016 (UTC)
:There is no living possible on Basketball. All the irregular shaking, rotating, bouncing off a gray giant planet won't let the catastrophes end for quite some time. {{unsigned ip|162.158.83.240}}

I wonder if the "faking" comment has a second layer of meaning as in faking an orgasm? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.4|108.162.237.4]] 17:12, 15 September 2019 (UTC)

2101: Technical Analysis

2019-01-21T18:56:27Z

108.162.237.4: added a thought about a report that might have prompted this comic

{{comic
| number = 2101
| date = January 21, 2019
| title = Technical Analysis
| image = technical_analysis.png
| titletext = "I [suspect] that we are throwing more and more of our resources, including the cream of our youth, into financial activities remote from the production of goods and services, into activities that generate high private rewards disproportionate to their social productivity. I suspect that the immense power of the computer is being harnessed to this 'paper economy', not to do the same transactions more economically but to balloon the quantity and variety of financial exchanges." --James Tobin, July 1984
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| Comic is still undergoing TECHNICAL ANALYSIS (this is just the prologue). Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Technical analysis}} is a field which attempts to study stock markets, cryptocurrency markets, etc. statistically (without regard to the fundamental value of the assets), seeking to profit off the patterns that are found there.

The theoretical value of a stock is the sum of all its future earnings, with earnings in the future discounted appropriately to account for the {{w|time value of money}}. Because these earnings are never fully predictable, traders may have different ideas about the true value of a stock, and buy the stock if they believe the currently offered prices are particularly low, or sell it when the prices are high.

Technical analysis, however, does not even attempt to understand the earnings of the stock, instead focusing on the shapes and patterns that result from traders making their moves. While there is a human behavioral component to stock trading, it is not clear that one can extract much information from the shapes of stock charts. To the extent it does work, a substantial part of its success may be simply an artifact of the herd behavior of traders who engage in technical analysis, a zero-sum game.

The comic displays a {{w|Candlestick chart|stock price chart}}, annotated with labels which purport to be technical analysis. These labels are nonsense from the perspective of technical analysis, but do accurately describe the graph itself: "{{w|allegro}}" (a musical term to set the tempo at the beginning of a score), "{{w|prologue}}" (an introductory opening section for a play, book, or similar), "{{w|lumbar}} support" (the thing in a chair shaped to better support your back), "bathtub" (possibly a reference to the so-called "{{w|Bathtub curve}}"). One label celebrates that "these two points define a line! Promising signal." (In Euclidian geometry, any two points define a line.)

The mouseover text is a quote from {{w|James Tobin}} (from his 1984 paper [https://economicsociologydotorg.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/tobin-on-the-efficiency-of-the-financial-system.pdf ''On the efficiency of the financial system'']) that raises a question of very talented people building systems to make themselves a lot of money without actually accomplishing anything worth money. This concern is perhaps not in and of itself about technical analysis, but more about the stock market and related trading ecosystems in general, in particular high speed traders. While it is not always easy to understand why certain forms of market activity might be valuable, and hard to put a price tag on concepts like "risk," "liquidity" and "price discovery," sometimes people are just working to trick others into bad deals, or forcing market participants to pay them {{w|Rent-seeking|unearned money}}. This may make the smart people a lot of money, but it does so by harming society, not helping it.

Interestingly, this comic appeared the day after [http://www.oxfam.org Oxfam] reported that the world's 2,200 billionaires had added 12% to their wealth in 2018, while the 3.8 billion people comprising the poorest half of the world's population had lost 11%. Perhaps this prompted what appears to be Randall's jab at those whose business is merely making money.

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

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Christmas]] 
[[Category:Music]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

Talk:149: Sandwich

2018-11-27T05:16:32Z

108.162.237.4:

Note that it is more effective to write "sudo !!" to redo the last command but with sudo added to it. {{unsigned|Agge.se}}

:Using <code>sudo !!</code> outputs the previous command with sudo into your bash (other shells as well) history, so to bash what you said was "sudo make me a sandwich" not "sudo !!". [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 16:46, 29 October 2012 (UTC)

<code>sudo</code> requires '''user''' password, not admin password, but you need to be in <code>sudoers</code> file. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 12:14, 15 December 2012 (UTC)

:How many people will know the difference? In a typical Ubuntu-family install with only one human user, root doesn't ''have'' a password, but the one user who does is a sudoer (and has to use <code>sudo</code> or <code>su</code> to act as root, rather than doing so starting at login). [[User:Promethean|Promethean]] ([[User talk:Promethean|talk]]) 06:08, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

"the user first must type their password" This is not accurate. It is the default, but many domains disable that requirement.
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.92|173.245.52.92]] 06:47, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

I believe the original comic actually read "Sudo bang bang" instead of "Sudo make me a sandwich". Here's a link to what I think is a copy of the [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15137461/what-is-sudo-bang-bang original]. I'm not sure which of the two is actually the original. {{unsigned ip|‎99.95.158.248}}
:The words "bang bang" (particularly the first B) look a bit fuzzy/pixelated compared to the rest of the text, which gives me the feeling that it was edited from this one, which is the original. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 23:03, 23 January 2014 (UTC)
::If you click on the image (on the Stack Overflow link), it leads you to http://justinsomnia.org/2006/09/sudo-bang-bang/, which says: 'This just occurred to me' [comic] 'Original comic from xkcd by Randall Munroe', implying it was indeed edited. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.14|141.101.99.14]] 20:42, 11 August 2014 (UTC)
:::Also, Randall doesn't make his Gs like that. You can see in the strip immediately previous. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.4|108.162.237.4]] 05:16, 27 November 2018 (UTC)
: On a different, but totally related note: [https://github.com/nvbn/thefuck Here] you can find an aptly named little program with which the charming conversation would be: "Make me a sandwich." - "What? Make it yourself." - "Fuck." - "Okay." [[Special:Contributions/162.158.85.135|162.158.85.135]] 08:24, 28 June 2016 (UTC)

Comment: This conversation is an easter egg in Google Now on Android tablet. Using voice search to say "make me a sandwich" will give the reply "what? make it yourself", adding "sudo" will get the response "ok". I assume the Google now implementation came later and is based on xkcd. {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.27}}
:Siri will also respond "okay" if you say "sudo make me a sandwich:", though she doesn't respond with the XKCD response to "make me a sandwich". [[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.35|198.41.235.35]] 13:32, 27 October 2015 (UTC) (MSC)

This reworked for the Make utility:
<code><pre>
$ make sandwich
Must be root
$ sudo make sandwich
cc sandwich
mv sandwich /etc/sandwich
sandwich installed in /etc
$ _
</pre></code>
[[User:Alexbuzzbee|Alexbuzzbee]] ([[User talk:Alexbuzzbee|talk]]) 02:50, 23 August 2015 (UTC)

* It also reminds me the ''Star Trek: Voyager'' episode where Q tampered with the ship's replicators:
::Janeway: "Coffee, black."
::Replicator: "Make it yourself."
(But she didn't try "Sudo coffee, black.") - [[User:Mike Rosoft|Mike Rosoft]] ([[User talk:Mike Rosoft|talk]]) 18:14, 13 March 2016 (UTC)

* This forfells the advent of Alexa and the other personal home assistants. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.50|162.158.155.50]] 20:19, 14 October 2017 (UTC)

* I wonder whether Cueball pronounces "sudo" the right way (because surely he knows the right way) or the wrong way (engaging his hobby, or matching the expectations of the friend.) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.89|172.68.142.89]] 16:04, 15 June 2018 (UTC)

1975: Right Click

2018-04-02T18:08:17Z

108.162.237.4: Tweak to corrosion description

{{comic
| number = 1975
| date = April 1, 2018
| title = Right Click
| image = right_click.png
| titletext = "Right-click or long press (where supported) to save!"
}}
'''NOTE: The above is the first panel of an interactive comic.''' 
To experience the interactive content, click [https://www.xkcd.com/1975/ here].

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please add an explanation table of all functions This is an April Fools comic, so it'll take a while to get organised and much longer to fill out. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is an interactive comic which manipulates the context menu of the browser. This menu is typically accessible by a right-click or a long press on mobile devices without a mouse.

The comic uses {{w|Javascript}} and {{w|HTML5}} to override the standard context menu. Since modern browsers use the same features to integrate Add-ons into that menu, the behaviour may be different depending on the browser environment.

The manipulated context menu is described below:
;Main Context Menu

{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"
! # !! Menu Item !! Explanation !! Sub-Menu Items
|-
!1
| '''Save'''
| Only appears after successfully completing the ADVENT.EXE game or getting the easter egg in mornington crescent.
| Save image> Downloads this image. [https://xkcd.com/1975/v6xso1_right_click_save.png]

|-
! 2
| '''File'''
| Normal submenu
|Close> Closes menu, does nothing.
Open: A:\, C:\, / (See more [[#Table - Filesystems Menu|below]])

Find: Where, When, How, (not usable) What, Why

|-
! 3
| '''Edit'''
| Enables a mode allowing the user to draw on the webpage. Pressing Esc asks "Aw, that looks nice though. Really delete?" and the page returns to normal if OK is clicked.
| None
|-
! 4
| '''System'''
| Normal submenu
|Shut Down> Changes the only menu option to "Power on", then once that is used, system returns to normal.

/ (See [[#Table - Filesystems Menu|below]])
|-
! 5
| '''View'''
| Normal submenu
|Cascade>Links to [http://wiki.xkcd.com/geohashing/Mt._St._Helens,_Washington]

Tile> Links to [[245: Floor Tiles]]

Minimize> Changes pointer to a smaller pointer.

Full Screen> Enters full screen.
|-
! 6
| '''Utilities'''
| Normal submenu
|Park drives> Nothing.

Check space usage> (cannot click) Space usage: -Dark matter -Hydrogen -Helium -Scattered clumps of heavier elements -Stars -Rocks -Some space probes -Earth

Spell check> English (links to [[1069: Alphabet]]) and Colors (links to [https://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/])

Train AI> links to [[1838: Machine Learning]]

Identify song> opens a long word-by-word menu for song lyrics; it's actually a menu-ised version of [[851: Na]].

Advanced> several Unix commands, all absurd (or dangerous) for some reason:
* <code>apt-get install /dev/null</code>: <code>apt-get</code> is the standard package manager used in Debian-derived Linux distributions (including Ubuntu); it is normally used to install software; <code>/dev/null</code> is the "bit-bucket" device on any Unix system, which can be used as a dummy output file to discard output or as a dummy empty input file. This command would attempt to install <code>/dev/null</code> (which is a device, not a package!) or, more correctly, would try to install a package reading its data from <code>/dev/null</code> (if <code>apt-get</code> is given a file name it tries to interpret it as a .deb package), which is obviously impossible.
* <code>brew install apt-get</code>: <code>brew</code> is a third-party package manager for macOS; it is generally used to install "missing" open-source utilities on a macOS system; the command is attempting to install the aforementioned <code>apt-get</code>, which is both impossible (<code>apt-get</code> doesn't run on macOS) and hilariously recursive (did you install a package manager - brew - to install another one?). Even if this were possible, the package would have been called <code>apt</code>, as apt-get is only one of the commands in the package manager.
* <code>/usr/local/bin/wine xen-hypervisor.exe</code>: <code>wine</code> is a compatibility layer used to run Windows executables on Linux (and on macOS); the fact that it is in <code>/usr/local</code> hints that it has been manually compiled on this machine; Xen is a Linux-based hypervisor, i.e. a software used to run and manage virtual machines over a Linux host, but the .exe suffix here hints that it is a Windows executable. The command would try to launch a Windows build of a Linux-based virtual machine manager on a Unix machine through a Windows emulation layer (wine).
* <code>source .bash_history</code>: the <code>source</code> shell command reads the file that is given as argument and executes each of its rows as a command in the current shell, roughly as if you typed them in; <code>.bash_history</code> (located in the user home directory) is the file where the bash shell saves the history of the commands that have been run. This command would re-run all the command that have been typed in the shell.
* <code>rm -rf $DIRECTROY/*</code>: <code>rm -rf</code> deletes recursively and forcefully the paths it is given as arguments; <code>$DIRECTROY</code> is a shell variable, probably containing some directory that whoever typed in this command wanted to clean; however, it is misspelled (it says <code>$DIRECTROY</code>, not <code>$DIRECTORY</code>), and, due to how POSIX shell work, it is thus expanded to an empty string; so, the command becomes <code>rm -rf /*</code>, which deletes all the files and directories in the root of the disk, effectively killing the system instead of just deleting the content of some directory. Notice that this particular misspell manages to circumvent the builtin protection of many <code>rm</code> versions, which refuse to do a plain <code>rm -rf /</code>, as <code>/*</code> gets expanded by the shell, so <code>rm</code> never has the chance to see explicitly that you are killing all the data in the root directory.
* <code>:(){:|:&};:</code>: this is [https://askubuntu.com/q/159491/208527 a classic shell fork bomb], i.e. a small program that keeps launching copies of itself, until all resources have been exhausted or the user somehow manages to kill all its copies.
* <code>echo "source .bashrc" >> .bashrc</code>: <code>.bashrc</code> is a file that gets executed whenever the <code>bash</code> shell is started in interactive mode; this command appends the string <code>source .bashrc</code> to it, which effectively executes it again recursively; this would pretty much make it impossible to open an interactive shell when launching it with the default parameters.
* <code>alias gcc=php</code>: the <code>alias</code> shell builtin create an alias for another command; <code>gcc</code> is the GNU C compiler driver, which is used to compile programs written in the C language; <code>php</code> is the command-line interpreter for the PHP language. This line creates an alias such that when typing <code>gcc</code>, <code>php</code> is actually invoked, which would generate completely absurd error messages. This is doubly devious, as PHP isn't generally held in high esteem by large part of the programming community (especially by someone writing stuff in C).

'); DROP TABLE Menus;-- links to [[327: Exploits of a Mom]]
|-
! 7
| '''Games'''
| Normal submenu
| Twenty Questions> A Twenty Questions interface that gets really confusing.

Rock Paper Scissors> A Rock Paper Scissors game where the computer always matches your move.

D&D> A complex Dungeons and Dragons interface. Allows you to cast various spells from D&D 5e which link to various pages, including xkcd comics (e.g. [[1331: Frequency]]), what-ifs (e.g. {{what if|144|Saliva Pool}}) and other external sites (e.g. [https://www.nasa.gov/sun The Sun | NASA]).

ADVENT.EXE> A text-based game. If played correctly, you can win, unlocking 'Save'>'Save image' from the beginning menu, which links to [https://xkcd.com/1975/v6xso1_right_click_save.png]. 'ADVENT.EXE>Castle>Well>Wish for...' has links to comics [[572: Together]], [[1053: Ten Thousand]], [[152: Hamster Ball]], [[1196: Subways]], [[231: Cat Proximity]] and to what-if articles {{what if|111|All the Money}} and {{what if|9|Soul Mates}}.

Hoverboard> Links to [[1608: Hoverboard]].

Mornington Crescent> This is a simulation of the well-known game {{W|Mornington_Crescent_(game)|Mornington Crescent}}, which bears a surprising resemblance to {{W|London_Underground|London's Underground}} railway network. Players name a station, in turn, endeavouring to reach Mornington Crescent. The rules of play are very complicated and beyond the scope of this article; interested persons are referred to ''N. F. Stovold’s Mornington Crescent: Rules and Origins'' (sadly out of print). In this variation, one may reach 'Vauxhall'>'Easter basket'>'Take egg', also allowing you to save.
|-
! 8
| '''Help'''
| Contains various submenus, all of which, barring Credits, loop back recursively to this menu:
|Tutorial
Support

Manual

Troubleshooting

FAQ

Guide

Q&A

User forums

--------------

Credits> 'Some people who helped with this comic:
[http://chromakode.com/ @chromakode]
[https://twitter.com/aiiane Amber]
[https://twitter.com/fadinginterest @fadinginterest]
[https://twitter.com/wirehead2501 Kat]
[https://twitter.com/cotrone Kevin]
[http://90d.ca/ Stereo]'
|-
! 9
| '''Do Crimes'''
| Contains several "crimes" that can be committed. This option is unlocked by File > Open > C:\ (or /home/user) > Bookmarks/ > Secret > Enable Dark Web.
| Steal Bitcoins > Grayed out.
Say swears > Several clean swears that all link to [[771: Period Speech]].

Hack > Three sub-options that link to various related comics. (Gibson: Nothing. Election: [[1019: First Post]]. Planet: [[1337: Hack]].)

Forge a Scrabble Tile > Several sub-options that don't do anything. (U, Z, <this menu option intentionally left blank>, and two special characters, one appearing like a reversed 'E' modelled on a 'C', or Russian 'Э', as low-pitched [eh], and the second being crossed swords)
|}

;Filesystems Menu

{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"
! Drive !! Menu Item !! Explanation !! Sub-Menu Items
|-
! A:\
| '''Insert'''
| Only appears before inserting a floppy disk.
|Floppy disk> Unlocks other options for drive A:\, which are identical to drive C:\
Chip card> A long sequence of being told 'Please wait. Authorizing...' ending in 'Chip error! REMOVE CARD NOW!'
|-
! C:\
| '''Documents/'''
| Nothing.
| None.
|-
! C:\
| '''Music/'''
| Leads to a long string of prompts for song lyrics. 'Hey now / Hey now na now / Sing "This Corrosion" to me' inverts the webpage's color before Easter egg mode is enabled, and plays the referenced song in the browser with inverted color and flashing if the Easter egg mode is enabled.. It's actually the same menu that is shown under Utilities>Identify song (which itself is a menu-ised version of [[851: Na]]).
|-
! C:\
| '''Bookmarks/'''
| Similar to Music/, Bookmarks/> Comics leads to a chain from which many comics are titled and linked. Bookmarks/> Secret> Enable Dark Web adds the 'Dark Web' option to the initial menu.
|-
! C:\
| '''Games/'''
| Same as 'Games' from the initial menu.
|-
! C:\
| '''Sequences/'''
| The options are the lines from a ''Tim and Eric'' sketch [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/celery-man Celery Man]; the final option links to a YouTube video of the sketch.
| After several single-option menus, it links to this Youtube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHWBEK8w_YY
|-
! /
| '''home/'''
| Nothing.
| guest> links to [//uni.xkcd.com]

user> Same files as C:\

root> Displays 'You are not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.'
|-
! /
| '''opt/'''
| Does nothing.
| None.
|-
! /
| '''sbin/'''
| Does nothing.
| None.
|-
! /
| '''usr/'''
| Opens an infinite sequence of options, each similar to the last, but replacing the previous selection with another folder; probably a reference to the fact that [https://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Filesystem-Hierarchy/html/usr.html the /usr hierarchy] does contain a list of subdirectories pretty much identical [https://www.tldp.org/LDP/Linux-Filesystem-Hierarchy/html/the-root-directory.html to those of the root directory].
|-
! /
| '''dev/'''
| Nothing.
|random/> links to a random xkcd comic.
urandom/> links to [[221: Random Number]]
|}

In an additional fool it introduces the [https://uni.xkcd.com/ Unix XKCD] as a reference to the {{W|Telenet}}. (More on UniXKCD commands can be found [[721:_Flatland#UniXKCD|here]].)

==Transcript==
:[Empty frame with Cueball slightly right of centre.]

:[Caption below the frame:]
:Editor's Note: Today's comic is optimized for local viewing. To see the full version, just save a copy of the image!

{{comic discussion}}



[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:April fools' comics]]

Talk:1311: 2014

2014-01-01T14:37:42Z

108.162.237.4:

Just a note that the PNG file for this comic is (or was initially) actually a TIFF file with a PNG extension. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.236.19|108.162.236.19]] 05:37, 1 January 2014 (UTC)
And now it's fixed. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.45|173.245.54.45]] 06:07, 1 January 2014 (UTC)

I presume most of the quotes are genuine, but surely Randall has made up the one about subsisting on jellies? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.219|141.101.99.219]] 11:08, 1 January 2014 (UTC)

:I wouldn't be so sure. The Book-Lover - Vol. 4. (No. 17 to 22) 1903 [http://www.abebooks.com/Book-Lover-Vol-1903-Poe-Edgar-Allan/1224029705/bd contains] Poe, Edgar Allan and Dickens, Charles and Emerson, Ralph Waldo ... maybe it refers to some of Poe's horror stories? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:10, 1 January 2014 (UTC)

:Spherical jelliies and creams were very fashionable in the era in which it was written, so it may have been simply a prediction of great luxury for the future. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.4|108.162.237.4]] 14:37, 1 January 2014 (UTC)(Kyt)

:Ok ... William Carey Jones quote: [https://archive.org/stream/universitycalif08goog/universitycalif08goog_djvu.txt] ... I would say that while technically true, he didn't meant it because he doesn't refer to first world war but instead some problems of American democracy which were probably forgotten ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:21, 1 January 2014 (UTC)

:Christopher Baldwin: [http://books.google.cz/books?id=Fiu4czMiCeYC] ... I would say good luck with preserving everything printed :-), but the idea is certainly good and projects like Google Books are attempting to solve the problem he was talking about. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:25, 1 January 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1310: Goldbach Conjectures

2014-01-01T02:08:19Z

108.162.237.4:

If a bot can create the text I read here, we have made great strides in artificial intelligence. Probably a human editor forgot to change the "incomplete/incorrect" heading. [[User:Tenrek|Tenrek]] ([[User talk:Tenrek|talk]]) 05:53, 30 December 2013 (UTC)
:You never know, AI has come a loong way. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:39, 30 December 2013 (UTC)

::Let's ask: Tepples, are you a bot? And 199.27.128.62, what about you? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:09, 30 December 2013 (UTC)

:::Yes, I'm a bot. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.62|199.27.128.62]] 21:42, 30 December 2013 (UTC)

I thought that <nowiki>{{incomplete|Created by a BOT}}</nowiki> means that the template was inserted by a BOT. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.84|173.245.50.84]] 13:55, 30 December 2013 (UTC)
:It does mean that. But as others edit the page, they should keep the "incomplete" reason up-to-date. I've changed it to "incomplete|surely not quite complete yet..." ;) [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 14:28, 30 December 2013 (UTC)
::I will change this text template beginning at the Friday update when I'm back home. Happy NEW YEAR to everybody! --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:16, 30 December 2013 (UTC)

It all seems to work except that the extremely strong seems to imply the opposite of the extremely weak [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 02:19, 31 December 2013 (UTC)

I always find it amusing that people assume that something phrased 'scientifically' is therefore right, whereas something phrased unscientifically (eg religious beliefs taken on faith) are automatically wrong. There seems to be an unexamined assumption that science is some magical dark art for uncovering infallible truths. Of course science is really just a methodological system for testing theories. Whenever I try to explain this concept, I try to come up with a general, untestable (non-scientific) assertion that is nonetheless true, alongside a very specific, repeatedly testable (falsifiable) assertion that is therefore eminently scientific, but which happens to be wrong. (Eg "it sometimes rains on Wednesday" and "it rains at least 100mm every Wednesday in Riyadh"). So for me this comic is a commentary on that principle - that the "strength" of a statement is only really impressive if it has also survived testing. [[User:Tarkov|Tarkov]] ([[User talk:Tarkov|talk]]) 10:47, 31 December 2013 (UTC)

According to the strong twin prime conjecture, all positive numbers greater than one are prime, due to 2 and 3 both being prime and extrapolation on primes from there. Thus, this nearly proves the very strong Goldbach conjecture, excluding one. Should this be noted in the explanation? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.4|108.162.237.4]] 02:08, 1 January 2014 (UTC)(Kyt)