explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1546: Tamagotchi Hive

2015-07-03T22:35:36Z

141.101.89.223:

Should we have a "My Hobby" category? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.135|141.101.98.135]] 14:14, 3 July 2015 (UTC)
:You mean like the [[:Category:My_Hobby|My Hobby]] category? Yes, that would be a good idea. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.216|108.162.254.216]] 14:39, 3 July 2015 (UTC)

This explanation should probably include a reference to the Matrix. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.251|198.41.242.251]] 14:29, 3 July 2015 (UTC)p

: Most definitely.

: Which should also reference the Title Text's modern usage of the term "Singularity". The Matrix (for humans) would imply a relatively large step _beyond_ the Singularity, as surpassing the capabilities of one human mind does not necessarily impart the capacity to simulate full sensory information for thousands of them. I believe the joke there would be that a Tamagotchi Matrix would be trivially simple as compared to one for humans. Therefore the Singularity has arrived for Tamagotchis, while our own complexity remains rather far beyond the capacity of large-scale distributed computing platforms. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.152|108.162.221.152]] 15:03, 3 July 2015 (UTC)

Only Randall Munroe fantasizes about creating a legion of digital, mutated woodland creatures.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.88|173.245.54.88]] 14:34, 3 July 2015 (UTC)

: I could not disagree more. The popularity of PocketMonster digital games speaks to the broad appeal of such fantasies. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.152|108.162.221.152]] 15:03, 3 July 2015 (UTC)

The singularity reference is worth explaining: The Singularity is a frequent trope in Science Fiction stories that postulates a time when AI technologies become all-pervasive, often alongside ubiquitous computing. This can include a situation where human minds can be uploaded into AIs, effectively running as simulations within these large distributed computers.

: Actually "The Singularity" only means that an artificial system has grown in complexity beyond our ability to understand or predict it; In many ways this has already occurred. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.152|108.162.221.152]] 15:07, 3 July 2015 (UTC)
::I always thought 'The Singularity' was misnamed, anyway. In the way it is commonly used it is more like 'The Event Horizon'... Not that this has anything to do with the comic, but perhaps worth a side-note, anyway. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.181|141.101.98.181]] 19:35, 3 July 2015 (UTC)
:::The way I get it "singularity" it more about AI improving itself in a positive-feedback loop and gaining (near)infinite processing power in a finite time. One of the related themes is that since whatever emerges from that will have infinite amounts of processing power, it may take to simulating human brains, in vast amounts, just for fun or for some purpose - the joke here, as I understand it, is that since tamagotchi brains are significantly less complicated, it's already possible for us to simulate vast amounts of them, for fun. So from the tamagochis' point of view it's pretty much like the singularity is already here and we're it (the slight difference is we're not evolved from AIs made by the tamagotchis[citation needed], but other than that detail, yup pretty much like the singularity).--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.223|141.101.89.223]] 22:35, 3 July 2015 (UTC)

Someone needs to get on this and create a BOINC project or something. In all seriousness though, I wonder how many Tamagotchis you could simulate at once on the average home computer. [[User:Saklad5|Saklad5]] ([[User talk:Saklad5|talk]]) 14:55, 3 July 2015 (UTC)

: First you'd need to actually make a 100% accurate Tamagotchi Simulator/Emulator. There's a Tamagotchi P1 (original 1996 model) simulator that exists out there but it's of unknown provenance, touchy and probably (I wouldn't know for sure since the code isn't available) inaccurate. Likely the best way to at least determine the behavior of a Tamagotchi on the low level would be to decompile Namco Bandai's discontinued free Tamagotchi L.i.f.e. android app, which has a Tamagotchi P1 Simulator mode. One would assume, being the original developers, they can create a 100% accurate simulation. Having that code to refer to, one could probably eventually code an accurate simulator. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.220.119|108.162.220.119]] 19:37, 3 July 2015 (UTC)

I'm very tired, and have been looking at something complicated for a long time - so may be seeing patterns where there are none - but is Randall [http://googleresearch.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/deepdream-code-example-for-visualizing.html? satirising Google here?] [[User:Bish|Bish]] ([[User talk:Bish|talk]]) 22:34, 3 July 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1525: Emojic 8 Ball

2015-05-15T16:40:46Z

141.101.89.223:

I'm not sure that "This is an obvious parody" counts as an explanation of the cartoon. I looked up "Magic 8 ball" (with which I was unfamiliar). I looked up "Emoji" (with which, too, I was unfamiliar). I then turned back to the cartoon, and I still don't understand it. What's more, there is no explanation of the practically unique absence of mouseover text. [[User:BinaryDigit|BinaryDigit]] ([[User talk:BinaryDigit|talk]]) 05:55, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
: Lack of mouseover / alt and title attributes is common in **interactive** comics. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 06:23, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
:: Randall has published several interactive comics: [[1350: Lorenz]], [[1110: Click and Drag]], and [[1416: Pixels]]. All of these have title text. The only other without was this year's April Fools (which was also interactive. However, this is definitely '''not''' a common feature of interactive comics. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 13:20, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

It seems that this comic may be poking fun at the reliance of the modern generation on emoji for communication. By trying to answer serious questions only in emoji, their inadequacy in conveying information is shown. After all, a telephone and party ball hardly answer how one will die. It's all left to the imagination.
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.179|173.245.56.179]] 06:01, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

There might be a horoscope component to it too, i.e. you can interpret the emoji as a meaningful answer no matter which one you get. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.162|108.162.215.162]] 06:30, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
: I believe you may mean to refer to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divinatory,_esoteric_and_occult_tarot tarot cards]. I had a similar thought. [[User:Azule|Azule]] ([[User talk:Azule|talk]]) 07:16, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
:: Both horoscopes and tarot cards qualify; they're two ways of eliciting the same sort of Rorschach test. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.183|173.245.52.183]] 11:58, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
: It also bears similarities - particularly with its default question of "How will I die?" - to the fictional [http://machineofdeath.net/ Machine of Death], which tells a person how they will die, often in a particularly obtuse or cryptic manner. Randall has previously submitted a short story to the collection: [http://machineofdeath.net/pod-question Machine of Death Podcast 33] [[User:Studley|Studley]] ([[User talk:Studley|talk]]) 07:21, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

I'm guessing Randall is using Unicode emoji characters, i.e. from a font I don't have. I get a small rectangle with "01F40C" (two rows of three characters), which is indicative of "A character I have no font support for", in the browser I'm using (although from previous experience it isn't a browser thing, it's that I haven't deliberately installed the specialist font involved). Which rather spoils things for me, this time round, but I suppose doesn't cause problems for most people who have been persuaded to install emoji-characters to use in the place of 'mere' emoticons... [[Special:Contributions/daily141.101.98.213|141.101.98.213]] 06:36, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
:(reply to self), I've found a good guide, for someone like me, would be to consult the document http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1F300.pdf to see what one ''should'' see. Apparently "How will I die?" is answered by a snail, and my flippant "Where do I get the Emoji font from?" is answered by a man's face. It remains to be seen whether that's 100% correct on both counts. ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.213|141.101.98.213]] 07:58, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

Linux folks can install the ttf-ancient-fonts package to add support for the Unicode emoji characters.
:Ok, I've given in. As a non-Linux folk, I followed various signposts and went to http://users.teilar.gr/~g1951d/ and went straight for the "Symbola: 08-03-2015" download (extracted and installed the .ttfs by the age-old method). In case anyone else as out-of-date as me needs and wants to do it manually. It instantly converted my "Man's Face" code (see reply-to-self, above) into the actual man's face, on that browser tab. FYI. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.213|141.101.98.213]] 08:12, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

Note that, although the emojis do seem to be chosen at random (I haven't attempted to check any code), the URL is changed to encode your question and the result, so [http://xkcd.com/#eyJxIjoiSXMgdGhpcyBhIGdvb2QgcXVlc3Rpb24gdG8gaW1tb3J0YWxpc2U/IiwiYSI6WyImI3gxRjM2NTsiLCImI3gxRjQxMDsiLCImI3gxRjM1RDsiXX0= this link] encodes my question and a three-emoji result. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 07:07, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
: Is that 3-emoji result hack free? I've only gotten 1 or 2 emoji results so far. Edit: Nevermind. I clicked a bunch in a row and got a 3 emoji result. Now the question is: Can 4 be hacked in? [[User:Azule|Azule]] ([[User talk:Azule|talk]]) 07:19, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
:: I had to be horrible and hack every single emoji into the page. 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For the lovers of overflow]! [[User:Azule|Azule]] ([[User talk:Azule|talk]]) 07:54, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
::From the code there appears to be an 8/19 chance (42.1%) of one character, 10/19 (52.6%) of two, and 1/19 (5.2%) of three.--[[User:Laverock|Laverock]] ([[User talk:Laverock|talk]]) 07:52, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
: It is just a base64 encoding of the question and answer characters as a JSON object, the part of the link given by Markhurd after the "#" is the encoding of {"q":"Is this a good question to immortalise?","a":["🍥","🐐","🍝"]}. So you can add extra characters to the answer array, but after 3 they start clipping out of the triangle. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.158|108.162.249.158]] 07:32, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

In the edit history it is noted that the emoji are in color. They are in color for me, too. But I question whether this is universal (where the glyphs are supported). Anyone having a black and white experience? [[User:Azule|Azule]] ([[User talk:Azule|talk]]) 07:36, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

From the code, here's the list of possible characters: 🙅, 🙆, 🙇, 🙋, 🙌, 🙍, 🙎, 🙏, ✂, ✈, ✉, ✊, ✋, ✌, ✏, ❄, ❤, 🚀, 🚃, 🚄, 🚅, 🚇, 🚉, 🚌, 🚏, 🚑, 🚒, 🚓, 🚕, 🚗, 🚙, 🚚, 🚢, 🚤, 🚥, 🚧, 🚨, 🚩, 🚪, 🚫, 🚬, 🚲, 🚶, 🚽, 🛀, ⌚, ⌛, ⏰, ⏳, ☁, ☎, ☔, ☕, ♨, ♻, ♿, ⚓, ⚡, ⚽, ⚾, ⛄, ⛅, ⛪, ⛲, ⛳, ⛵, ⛺, ⭐, ⛽, 🃏, 🌀, 🌁, 🌂, 🌃, 🌄, 🌅, 🌆, 🌇, 🌈, 🌉, 🌊, 🌋, 🌏, 🌙, 🌛, 🌟, 🌠, 🌰, 🌱, 🌴, 🌵, 🌷, 🌸, 🌹, 🌺, 🌻, 🌼, 🌽, 🌾, 🌿, 🍀, 🍁, 🍂, 🍃, 🍄, 🍅, 🍆, 🍇, 🍈, 🍉, 🍊, 🍌, 🍍, 🍎, 🍏, 🍑, 🍒, 🍓, 🍔, 🍕, 🍖, 🍗, 🍘, 🍙, 🍚, 🍛, 🍜, 🍝, 🍞, 🍟, 🍠, 🍡, 🍢, 🍣, 🍤, 🍥, 🍦, 🍧, 🍨, 🍩, 🍪, 🍫, 🍬, 🍭, 🍮, 🍯, 🍰, 🍱, 🍲, 🍳, 🍴, 🍵, 🍶, 🍷, 🍸, 🍹, 🍺, 🍻, 🎀, 🎁, 🎂, 🎃, 🎄, 🎅, 🎆, 🎇, 🎈, 🎉, 🎊, 🎋, 🎌, 🎍, 🎎, 🎏, 🎐, 🎑, 🎒, 🎓, 🎠, 🎡, 🎢, 🎣, 🎤, 🎥, 🎦, 🎧, 🎨, 🎩, 🎪, 🎫, 🎬, 🎭, 🎮, 🎯, 🎰, 🎱, 🎲, 🎳, 🎴, 🎵, 🎶, 🎷, 🎸, 🎹, 🎺, 🎻, 🎽, 🎾, 🎿, 🏀, 🏁, 🏂, 🏃, 🏄, 🏆, 🏈, 🏊, 🏠, 🏡, 🏢, 🏣, 🏥, 🏦, 🏧, 🏨, 🏩, 🏪, 🏫, 🏬, 🏭, 🏮, 🏯, 🏰, 🐌, 🐍, 🐎, 🐑, 🐒, 🐔, 🐗, 🐘, 🐙, 🐚, 🐛, 🐜, 🐝, 🐞, 🐟, 🐠, 🐡, 🐢, 🐣, 🐤, 🐥, 🐦, 🐧, 🐨, 🐩, 🐫, 🐬, 🐭, 🐮, 🐯, 🐰, 🐱, 🐲, 🐳, 🐴, 🐵, 🐶, 🐷, 🐸, 🐹, 🐺, 🐻, 🐼, 🐽, 🐾, 👀, 👂, 👃, 👄, 👅, 👆, 👇, 👈, 👉, 👊, 👋, 👌, 👍, 👎, 👏, 👐, 👑, 👒, 👓, 👔, 👕, 👖, 👗, 👘, 👙, 👚, 👛, 👜, 👝, 👞, 👟, 👠, 👡, 👢, 👣, 👤, 👦, 👧, 👨, 👩, 👪, 👫, 👮, 👯, 👰, 👱, 👴, 👶, 👷, 👸, 👹, 👺, 👻, 👼, 👽, 👾, 👿, 💀, 💁, 💂, 💃, 💄, 💅, 💆, 💇, 💈, 💉, 💊, 💋, 💌, 💍, 💎, 💏, 💐, 💑, 💒, 💓, 💔, 💕, 💖, 💗, 💘, 💙, 💚, 💛, 💜, 💝, 💞, 💟, 💠, 💡, 💢, 💣, 💤, 💥, 💦, 💧, 💨, 💩, 💪, 💫, 💬, 💮, 💯, 💰, 💲, 💳, 💵, 💸, 💺, 💻, 💼, 💽, 💾, 💿, 📀, 📃, 📅, 📆, 📈, 📉, 📌, 📍, 📎, 📓, 📔, 📕, 📖, 📞, 📟, 📠, 📡, 📣, 📦, 📧, 📫, 📰, 📱, 📷, 📹, 📺, 📻, 📼, 🔊, 🔋, 🔌, 🔎, 🔐, 🔑, 🔒, 🔓, 🔔, 🔜, 🔥, 🔦, 🔧, 🔨, 🔩, 🔪, 🔫, 🔮, 🗻, 🗼, 🗽, 🗾, 🗿, 😴, 🚁, 🚂, 🚆, 🚈, 🚊, 🚍, 🚎, 🚐, 🚔, 🚖, 🚘, 🚛, 🚜, 🚝, 🚞, 🚟, 🚠, 🚡, 🚣, 🚦, 🚮, 🚵, 🚿, 🛁, 🌍, 🌎, 🌜, 🌝, 🌞, 🌲, 🌳, 🍋, 🍐, 🍼, 🏇, 🏉, 🏤, 🐀, 🐁, 🐂, 🐃, 🐄, 🐅, 🐆, 🐇, 🐈, 🐉, 🐊, 🐋, 🐏, 🐐, 🐓, 🐕, 🐖, 🐪, 👬, 👭, 📬, 📭, 📯, 🔬, 🔭 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.158|108.162.249.158]] 07:38, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
::Those are mostly the SAME character. An eye chart.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.191|108.162.238.191]] 14:12, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
: I added them to the page body in table form (my two new favourite tools for the day: [http://rishida.net/tools/conversion/ Bulk unicode code converter] and [http://excel2wiki.net/ Excel to Mediawiki table converter]). However, even converted to three columns, it does seem to take over the page somewhat; it's nice to have the descriptions, but maybe a simple character list like yours would be better. [[User:Studley|Studley]] ([[User talk:Studley|talk]]) 07:44, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
:: Moved the emoji list to a separate page, problem solved (or at least deferred). [[User:Studley|Studley]] ([[User talk:Studley|talk]]) 08:04, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

Most of the characters show up as squares with hex digits for me, both on the comic itself and on this wiki. Bad choice of font, I guess... Randall should learn how to use web fonts. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.91.91|141.101.91.91]] 09:04, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

I wonder if this is related to "Machine of Death" (see http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Death-Collection-Stories-People/dp/0982167121). It's a collection of stories that were written by many different people. The story-starter was that a machine existed that could tell you the manner in which you would die, The day you turned a certain age, you could insert money or a credit card, it would take a tiny blood sample, and spit out a piece of paper with your manner of death. But no specifics were given. Thus, "swimming pool" might cause you to avoid swimming in pools, but one day you'd die after being hit by a truck delivering a prefab pool to some distant location. I believe the xkcd cartoonist (I'm blanking on his name--sorry--it's early and I'm old) had a hand in that book. The emoji concept is similar--even after you decipher "your" symbol's/symbols' meaning, you know nothing. {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.150}}
** You're thinking of Ryan North, of [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php| Dinosaur comics]. Munroe (the actual author of XKCD) is clearly well aquinted with (at least that part of) North's body of work, so the "How will I die" line could be a reference. Then again, it's a common enough question (along with "does Bobby like me") [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.164|108.162.254.164]] 12:54, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
::: Machine of death is a collection of short stories. Munroe wrote one of them. He is well acquainted with MoD. I would suggest that Machine of Death be added to the description as a reference for "how will I die?" as the default question. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.182|173.245.54.182]] 13:48, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

This comic does not have a title text which is uncommon. Should this be mentioned in the article? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.92.135|141.101.92.135]] 11:03, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

I see this cartoon as a comment on the stupid questions asked of these "magic 8-ball"-type devices, and the expectation that the answer gained will have any relevance - i.e., ask a silly question and you'll get a silly answer." [[User:Grutness|Grutness]] ([[User talk:Grutness|talk]]) 12:07, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

:I think it is a shame that this was not tested on linux. I see a bunch of squares with numbers. I am running a modern version of Mint and I have no intention of installing icon based fonts on my system. How very windows. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.160|173.245.48.160]] 13:56, 15 May 2015 (UTC)
::This isn't a Windows vs Linux thing, this is a do you have a font that includes additional symbols thing. For my part, it didn't work in multiple browsers on my Mint Linux box, but it also didn't work on a Windows XP box. It did work on a Windows 7 box.[[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 14:24, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

Could someone on a system with the right fonts replace the picture above with a picture showing emoji, i.e. showing the after-clicking-the-button version of the picture rather than the before version. Or better yet, an animated GIF showing both states. I think that would really help explain it for those for whom the interactive version isn't working properly and they're only seeing squares.[[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 14:04, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

Try using a smartphone .Emoji are made for smartphone.

People act all superior when they talk down to people who use emoji, but what do you care how other people communicate? [[User:YourLifeisaLie|Yourlifeisalie]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 16:00, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

I see gun, is it a price question?
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.223|141.101.89.223]] 16:40, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1422: My Phone is Dying

2014-09-19T06:09:17Z

141.101.89.223: I don't see the decaying particles here...

The dying of Beret's phone is similar to the dying of the sun.

The Sun does not have enough mass to explode as a supernova. Instead it will exit the main sequence in approximately 5.4 billion years and start to turn into a red giant. It is calculated that the Sun will become sufficiently large to engulf the current orbits of the solar system's inner planets, possibly including Earth. (via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun) [[User:Oicebot|Oicebot]] ([[User talk:Oicebot|talk]]) 04:43, 17 September 2014 (UTC)

I thought, this might be a TARDIS reference. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.93.210|141.101.93.210]] 07:03, 17 September 2014 (UTC)

----

The main page of this explanation mentions White Hat... he's not even in this comic, only Beret Guy and Cueball. Not sure about editing policies/things here yet, so figured I'd mention this on the talk page :P Hope this helps! [[User:Tanos|Tanos]] ([[User talk:Tanos|talk]]) 06:43, 17 September 2014 (UTC)
:Fixed. --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 10:55, 17 September 2014 (UTC)
::And anyone is welcome to edit the comic. Thanks for the input! [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 16:06, 17 September 2014 (UTC)
:::Sorry - t'was me. Note to self: Do not edit in the morning[[User:Tier666|Tier666]] ([[User talk:Tier666|talk]]) 16:27, 17 September 2014 (UTC)
----

Reference to the iPhone (and may be other smartphones) which becomes bigger and bigger with every release. At the same time iPhone becomes less popular and it is 'dying' this way. So - the bigger iPhone becomes the closer it is to 'death'. And it was like a star among other smartphones.
In the title text it may be a jesting prophesy - one on future generation of iPhone will be like a set of some separate devices.

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.229|108.162.246.229]] 07:42, 17 September 2014 (UTC)

:: I had a similar interpretation of a symbolic equivalency between the iPhone and a star (playing on the double meaning of "star" — the celestial body, and that of someone or something that has great fame). Though, not with it getting bigger with each version, but rather within the lifespan of each version (each version grows in fame until it dies with the release of the next version).
:: [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.242|108.162.221.242]] 05:31, 18 September 2014 (UTC)

----

The first paragraph assumes that the phone is going to become a white dwarf and the supernova is not mentioned until lower down. Personally, I read the "collapse in a violent explosion" comment from the fourth panel as implying that it was already on its way to becoming a supernova(-analog) and the charger would speed it up. Unless red dwarfs actually explode and leave white dwarfs (which I didn't think they did, but maybe I'm wrong there) concluding that it's analogous to the white dwarf doesn't make sense to me, at least. Thoughts? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.86|199.27.128.86]] 08:42, 17 September 2014 (UTC)
:A red giant will have its outer layers blown away (though not in anything like the violent way of a supernova) and the core that remains is a white dwarf. A much larger star that goes supernova will often leave behind a neutron star or, if the star was really massive, a black hole. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.190|141.101.98.190]] 12:57, 17 September 2014 (UTC)

----

There is a conspiracy theory that Apple allegedly kills iPhones just before the release of a new model. This comic seems to make a play on that. {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.193}}
-Unusual conspiracy. Presumably it's to make sure old customers buy the new iPhone, but wouldn't most Apple fans do that anyways? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.109|108.162.216.109]] 12:37, 17 September 2014 (UTC)

----

Lol, I didn't even notice the phone was getting bigger until the last panel. Derp. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 14:20, 17 September 2014 (UTC)
: I have an old iPhone3 which have popped open by an enlarged battery after having been sitting in a box unused for a few years -- but it would be great if somebody could provide a scientific reference to whether this is normal and expected [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 18:55, 17 September 2014 (UTC)

----
The two way pager in title text might be a reference to black holes, under the assumption that they act as worm holes to other regions in spacetime. It could explode and leave behind a slowly fading PalmPilot
(netron star), Calculator(brown dwarf), Two way pager (blackhole). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.217.125|108.162.217.125]] 15:14, 17 September 2014 (UTC)BK

Somewhat relevant, but mostly just funny, link: http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/140820 [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 20:43, 17 September 2014 (UTC)

----

"However, this is something phones usually don't do.[citation needed]" Do we really need a citation that normal phones don't consume their battery, grow in size and explode, leaving a white dwarf behind? There was the story a while back about iPhones exploding in peoples pockets, and I know that Li-ion batteries can expand and burst, but rarely do they leave white dwarf stars behind. [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 15:48, 18 September 2014 (UTC)

Personally, I found this [citation needed] hilarious, and urge you to keep it.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.169|108.162.221.169]] 15:52, 18 September 2014 (UTC)

----
"Additionally, some particles and atoms decay by breaking into smaller, more elementary particles. It is humorously implied that a PalmPilot [...] are the more elementary components [...]" no it isn't implied at all? I see no similarity here.

379: Forgetting

2014-04-27T14:18:47Z

141.101.89.223: /* Transcript */ Making transcript a bit more accurate.

{{comic
| number = 379
| date = February 4, 2008
| title = Forgetting
| image = forgetting.png
| titletext = Of course, the assert doesn’t work.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is writing a piece of code (probably in the programming language {{w|C++}}) which removes an item from a data structure called a {{w|Linked list}} (the first two lines of the text). Then, he writes a {{w|Comment (computer programming)|comment}} (which is delimited by the double slashes) relating the code to his personal life. Finally, he adds an {{w|Assertion (computing)|assertion}}, which is normally a formal specification of a condition which should always be true (with which the programmer ensures that e.g. mass is not negative). But in this case, instead of asserting a software-related predicate, he asserts that “it’s going to be okay.”

An "assert" is a programming statement that allows you to insert sanity checks into your code. For example, if you were writing a program to calculate the speed of a neutrino, then at the end of the calculation you could say:
:assert ( velocity_of_neutrino <= speed_of_light );

If the assertion fails, then the program will stop with an error. This would be much better than publishing an embarrassing paper, for example.

The title text explains that assertion in question fails: we cannot be sure that things are going to be ok.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball sits at computer, coding.]
prev->next = toDelete->next;
delete toDelete;

//if only forgetting were
//this easy for me.

:Cueball: <sniff>

:[Cueball lowers his head into his hands and cries.]

:[Cueball types again.]
assert "It's going to be okay.";

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Programming]]

1360: Old Files

2014-04-25T08:12:52Z

141.101.89.223: /* Files */

{{comic
| number = 1360
| date = April 25, 2014
| title = Old Files
| image = old_files.png
| titletext = Wow, ANIMORPHS-NOVEL.RTF? Just gonna, uh, go through and delete that from all my archives real quick.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Missing explanations for most of the various files.}}
Cueball is sifting through a pile of old files, either a theoretical one that exists on a hard drive, making fun of how hard it is to search through old files, or a real room of old hard drives. He discovers several files he is embarrassed about, including a poetry file that surprises him, since he does not remember writing poetry, and an "Animorphs Novel" mentioned in the title text, most likely a fan fiction of the Animorphs series, although possibly a copy of one of the original books.

This comic came out the day after [http://news.sky.com/story/1248397/andy-warhol-originals-found-on-floppy-disk Sky News published the story] of original [[wikipedia:Andy Warhol|Andy Warhol]] artwork, created in 1985 on an [[wikipedia:Amiga 1000|Amiga 1000]], was recovered from recently found floppy disks.

=== Files ===
* Documents 47GB
* Misc.txt
* Video projects
* Old desktop 12GB
* Facebook pics
* Pics from other camera
* Temp
* Misc PDFs
* MP3
* Recovered from drive crash 4GB
* Temp
* Work misc
* Audio books
* My documents 570MB
* Downloads
* [[wikipedia:Kazaa|Kazaa]] is an internet file sharing service.
* AYB
* EV Override
* [[wikipedia:Angband|Angband]] is a rogue-like computer game.
* GIFs
* Fight club.wmv
* [[wikipedia:Elasto_Mania|Elasto Maina]] is a 2D motorbike computer game
* AIM Direct Connect files
* 4Chan
* [[wikipedia:ICQ|ICQ]] is an early (1996) instant messenger client.
* High school zip disk 94MB
* Lovenote.txt
* [[wikipedia:Gorillas (video game)|Gorilla.bas]] is one of the games that came with QBasic.
* AOL
* AOL Citadel
* NYET
* Jokes.txt
* Korn midi
* Photos3 Prom
* Dream.txt
* James.txt
* [[wikipedia:QBasic|QBasic]] is an IDE and intepreter for a dialect of the BASIC programming language, originally bundled with MS-DOS 5.0 and newer
* AAAFiles 9.4MB
* TXT 850k

==Transcript==
:Megan (on top of stack of files): You OK down there?
:Cueball (deep inside stack): Oh my god. I wrote '''POETRY'''.