explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1261: Shake That

2013-09-08T21:04:37Z

108.3.190.56:

Worst xkcd Ever! [[Special:Contributions/78.55.145.25|78.55.145.25]] 08:31, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Hey, it's not the worst xkcd ever. What about the early xkcd strips, where most of them were just sketches or drawings? [[User:GameZone|GameZone]] ([[User talk:GameZone|talk]]) 08:37, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Surely "Worst. xkcd. Ever!" No? Turning to the explanation, I like the phase lag explanation. Never thought of sexual exhibitionism in those terms before.--[[Special:Contributions/203.166.249.26|203.166.249.26]] 08:46, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

:The explanation is definitely pushing this strip up. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:30, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Hugely impressed by the explanation. I would never have thought you could write so much about such a dry comic. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 09:34, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

This explanation makes me so happy. Make an account, anonymous user at IP 220.224.246.97 and come collect your praise for such a great explanation! --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:27, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Perhaps the XKCD website was hacked? {{unsigned ip|‎88.174.225.205}}

Truly stunning explanation. Come and collect your internets. [[Special:Contributions/78.105.231.184|78.105.231.184]] 20:49, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Haha, PHASE LAG cracked me up. Props for the explanation; I didn't understand the comic at all. {{unsigned ip|223.239.158.130}}

:+++1 for the whole *phase lag* line!{{unsigned ip|92.230.220.144}}

To the nay-sayers: "<nowiki>[XKCD is]</nowiki> A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and '''language'''." Quit with the downers, man, and get with the groove!

(Also, it'd probably be a general rule that, paid-for bodysculpting aside, a girls breasts and/or buttocks have a good chance of being like those of her mother. Thus she 'gives you'(/her) that big butt (''not'' a universally desirable feature amongst womankind) or set of boobies that the DJ/MC/whoever is probably after encouraging the physical highlighting of. But that's a boring (and only half right) detail about the explanation. All praise to the current version, and don't add any more to it on my account.) [[Special:Contributions/31.126.86.231|31.126.86.231]] 19:17, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Interpreting a "yo mama" line literally was also done in [[502: Dark Flow]]; that connection may give this one similar poignance... [[Special:Contributions/90.197.95.152|90.197.95.152]] 19:24, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Female breast endowment genes don't express in men. Therefore, although a woman's breast size will about equally correlate (on average) with her maternal grandmother as with her paternal grandmother, it is most definitely more correlated with her mother's bust size than her father's. I'm trying to find a way to add that to the explanation too, but can't find the right pithy phrasing. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 20:20, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

This is now my favorite description --[[Special:Contributions/108.3.190.56|108.3.190.56]] 21:04, 8 September 2013 (UTC)

869: Server Attention Span

2013-02-17T09:11:51Z

108.3.190.56:

{{comic
| number = 869
| date = March 7, 2011
| title = Server Attention Span
| image = server_attention_span.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = They have to keep the adjacent rack units empty. Otherwise, half the entries in their /var/log/syslog are just 'SERVER BELOW TRYING TO START CONVERSATION *AGAIN*.' and 'WISH THEY'D STOP GIVING HIM SO MUCH COFFEE IT SPLATTERS EVERYWHERE.'
}}

==Explanation==
The comic shows - in human language - part of the conversations that a browser and web server do in order to get the right page. The protocol they use is called {{w|Hypertext Transfer Protocol|HTTP}}.

This comic makes fun of the issue that many webservers that see a mobile browser will automatically suggest to load the mobile version of the website, but then serve the front page of the mobile site, not the page the user had requested.
In quite a few sites, there is no 1-to-1 correspondence of pages between the regular and the mobile site, yet this habit is annoying.

A second issue with the HTTP is identified in the last pane. The HTTP is {{w|Stateless_protocol|stateless}}. After serving the web page, the connection is severed. Any new request for a page will have to start afresh - which is where
the server starts with again: "Hi! I'm a server!".
Of course, browsers do not have egos nor do they hold grudges, but for users, it can be annoying. This design issue can also slow down the browsing experience.

The title text is a joke that all the other servers in the rack think the web server is being childish. <tt>/var/log/syslog</tt> is where Linux and other posix systems store their system log messages. The 'trying to start conversation' comment is probably a joke on {{w|Address Resolution Protocol|ARP}} discovery packets that are sent out to the network to see who is who. All servers send out ARP packets to see what other machines are on the network, but some machines send them out every 5 minutes, which can be extremely annoying for someone monitoring network traffic logs.

The coffee comment is another jab at web servers. Some websites use {{w|java}}, or other {{w|jvm}} based languages ({{w|Grails}}, {{w|Scala}}, and others) as the back end of the website, as opposed to using {{w|PHP}} or {{w|Active Server Pages|ASP}}. Of course, java is another word for coffee, so a web server running on coffee is likely to be well-caffeinated, and well-caffeinated people tend to bounce off the walls with enthusiasm.

==Transcript==
:[single blade in a server rack]
:Server: Hi! I'm a server! Who are you?

:[mobile device with a web browser]
:Browser: I'm a browser. I'd like to see this article.

:Server: Oh boy! I can help! Let me get it for- ..whoa! You're a ''smartphone'' browser?

:Browser: Yeah.
:Server: Cooool! Hey, I've got this new mobile version of my site! Check it out! Isn't it pretty?

:Browser: Sure, but this is just your mobile site's main page. Where's the article I wanted?

:Server: What article?
:Browser: The one I-
:Server: Who are you?
:Browser: I-
:Server: Hi! I'm a server!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]

534: Genetic Algorithms

2013-01-02T04:32:46Z

108.3.190.56: I probably did quite a bit wrong, but hopefully it is now easier to clean up than to create it anew.

{{comic
| number = 534
| date =
| title = Genetic Algorithms
| image = [www.http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/genetic_algorithms.png]
| titletext = Just make sure you don't have it maximize instead of minimize.
}}

==Explanation==
Cueball is seen here defining a program (possibly in python). The title is a reference to the type of program Cueball is writing, a Genetic Algorithm.

In the computer science field of artificial intelligence, a genetic algorithm is a search heuristic that mimics the process of natural evolution. This heuristic is routinely used to generate useful solutions to optimization and search problems. Genetic algorithms belong to the larger class of evolutionary algorithms, which generate solutions to optimization problems using techniques inspired by natural evolution, such as inheritance, mutation, selection, and crossover.

The line indicated by an arrow is a reference to the Terminator series, in which the main antagonist is an artificial intelligence known as Skynet.

The line about water crossing is a possible reference to the old computer game Oregon Trail, in which crossing water was hazardous.

==Transcript==
[[Code displayed, presumably from an IDE]] / def getSolutionCosts(navigationCode): / fuelStopCost = 15 / extraComputationCost = 8 / [[There is a giant arrow pointing to the next line]] / thisAlgorithmBecomingSkynetCost = 999999999 / waterCrossingCost = 45 / Narration: Genetic algorithms tip: *Always* include this in your fitness function. / {{title text: Just make sure you don't have it maximize instead of minimize.}}

{{comic discussion}}