explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2315: Eventual Consistency

2020-06-04T02:02:01Z

141.101.98.194:

The current explanation says that "Cueball's employer wants him to continue his work in the COVID-19 pandemic," but that's a "citation needed" sort of statement. Even if the comic is taken to be literally occurring on the day it is published (which is not always the case as comics have taken place in the past, the future, alternate presents, and even spanning large periods of time), there are perhaps multiple things adding up together to make it "hard to focus right now." In the USA, there's hot temperatures, civil unrest, economic woes springing from or accelerated by the pandemic, and even political considerations that may make it hard to focus (governmental responses to current events potentially being out of proportion with the events, etc). If Cueball is elsewhere in the world, there may be other local conditions that might make things hard to focus. There's stuff going on in Hong Kong, the Middle East, Brazil, Somalia, and all over the world that could be making it hard for someone in those locales to concentrate on their work even if the pandemic weren't a possible contributing factor.
: Is it me, or is "continue his work *in* the COVID-19 pandemic" also incorrect? It's a database, not (necessarily) anything to do with COVID-19. Perhaps "in" should be "during" (leaving aside the other arguments)? [[User:John.Adriaan|John.Adriaan]] ([[User talk:John.Adriaan|talk]]) 01:37, 4 June 2020 (UTC)
::Hi, this is the "makes an edit before checking if anyone already thought to comment about it" contributor. Same again, with added complication of an edit-conflict (someone posted whilst I was trying to identify bicycles, fire-hydrants and traffic lights in the CAPTCHA). Reworded the thing to identify the situation as being ''popularised'' (not the right word!) by the pandemic. Though if Cueball were an existing home-based worker, I'm surprised they didn't fire him at the first hint of an excuse to do so. Anyway, moved the Citation Needed that the conflicter edited into the midst of my chosen edit, hopefully a mutually agreeable spot. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.194|141.101.98.194]] 02:02, 4 June 2020 (UTC)

Then, of course, since the comic doesn't specify what is causing it to be hard to concentrate, it's a bit deictic, and the comic can be linked as a response to multiple future situations (not all of them bad -- having a baby, for instance, can make it hard to concentrate on work.) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.52|108.162.216.52]] 20:58, 3 June 2020 (UTC)

Side note: YouTuber Tom Scott explained ''eventual consistency'' in one of his ''[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL96C35uN7xGLLeET0dOWaKHkAlPsrkcha The Basics]'' videos: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY_2gElt3SA "Why Computers Can't Count Sometimes"]. --[[User:Aaron of Mpls|Aaron of Mpls]] ([[User talk:Aaron of Mpls|talk]]) 21:30, 3 June 2020 (UTC)

2315: Eventual Consistency

2020-06-04T01:53:03Z

141.101.98.194: /* Explanation */ Whoops, left the original clash in, must have copied, not cut.

{{comic
| number = 2315
| date = June 3, 2020
| title = Eventual Consistency
| image = eventual_consistency.png
| titletext = Later I'm going to get a head start on the heat bath.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EVENTUALLY CONSISTENT BOT. First revision. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Cueball]]'s employer wants him to continue his work, probably<nowiki>[</nowiki>[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/285:_Wikipedian_Protester citation needed]<nowiki>]</nowiki> as a home-based remote worker as per encouraged by the common current advice during the {{w|COVID-19}} pandemic. The stated task is to "test the database" and "guarantee eventual consistency". Trying to avoid work, Cueball points out that the {{w|second law of thermodynamics}} itself "guarantees eventual consistency", as the {{w|universe}} is ''guaranteed'' to ''eventually'' die a {{w|Heat death of the universe|heat death}}, at maximum {{w|entropy}} and perfect ''consistency''. His boss retorts that in a heat death, nobody can work; Cueball claims that he's simply getting a head start on this.

''Eventual consistency'' has a double meaning here. In computing, many systems are ''{{w|distributed computing|distributed}}'' (spread out) across multiple servers, sometimes in very different parts of the world. When data changes -- like the number of views on a video or the likes on a social media post -- updating it across ''every'' server can be a challenge, and it's often not practical to keep the data perfectly in synch everywhere. So the system will use {{w|eventual consistency}} instead. Each individual server will record changes, and after a certain amount of time or a certain amount of change, the results will be synched across the whole network. At any given moment, an individual server's data will be a little off -- but ''eventually'' everything will get recorded correctly.

The title text constitutes another play on the words "heat bath", which can refer to the thermally uniform state of the universe at heat death. However, in this context, we can assume Cueball instead plans to prepare a literal warm bath for his own relaxation and enjoyment after or during (or instead of) his work.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball sits at a home desk.]
:Laptop: I know it's hard to focus right now, but we should try to finish testing the DB.
:Cueball: ''Ughhhh.''
:Cueball: Okay.

:Laptop: The system needs to guarantee eventual consistency.
:Cueball: I mean, it does.

:[Closeup of Cueball.]
:Cueball: Eventual consistency is guaranteed by the 2nd law of thermodynamics.
:Cueball: Sooner or later this will all be a uniform heat bath.
:Cueball: Maximum entropy.

:[Back to Cueball and desk.]
:Laptop: Maximum entropy means no useful work can be done!
:Cueball: I'm getting a head start by doing no useful work ''now''.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2315: Eventual Consistency

2020-06-04T01:51:02Z

141.101.98.194: /* Explanation */ Though highly likely to be inspired by the situation, especially as Cueball seems motivationally unsuited for remote-working and remote-supervision. Hit an edit conflict, so mixed our two edits as I saw fit, in order to hedge our bets.

{{comic
| number = 2315
| date = June 3, 2020
| title = Eventual Consistency
| image = eventual_consistency.png
| titletext = Later I'm going to get a head start on the heat bath.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EVENTUALLY CONSISTENT BOT. First revision. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Cueball]]'s employer wants him to continue his work, probably<nowiki>[</nowiki>[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/285:_Wikipedian_Protester citation needed]<nowiki>]</nowiki> as a home-based remote worker as per encouraged by the common current advice during the {{w|COVID-19}} pandemic.<nowiki>[</nowiki>[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/285:_Wikipedian_Protester citation needed]<nowiki>]</nowiki> The stated task is to "test the database" and "guarantee eventual consistency". Trying to avoid work, Cueball points out that the {{w|second law of thermodynamics}} itself "guarantees eventual consistency", as the {{w|universe}} is ''guaranteed'' to ''eventually'' die a {{w|Heat death of the universe|heat death}}, at maximum {{w|entropy}} and perfect ''consistency''. His boss retorts that in a heat death, nobody can work; Cueball claims that he's simply getting a head start on this.

''Eventual consistency'' has a double meaning here. In computing, many systems are ''{{w|distributed computing|distributed}}'' (spread out) across multiple servers, sometimes in very different parts of the world. When data changes -- like the number of views on a video or the likes on a social media post -- updating it across ''every'' server can be a challenge, and it's often not practical to keep the data perfectly in synch everywhere. So the system will use {{w|eventual consistency}} instead. Each individual server will record changes, and after a certain amount of time or a certain amount of change, the results will be synched across the whole network. At any given moment, an individual server's data will be a little off -- but ''eventually'' everything will get recorded correctly.

The title text constitutes another play on the words "heat bath", which can refer to the thermally uniform state of the universe at heat death. However, in this context, we can assume Cueball instead plans to prepare a literal warm bath for his own relaxation and enjoyment after or during (or instead of) his work.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball sits at a home desk.]
:Laptop: I know it's hard to focus right now, but we should try to finish testing the DB.
:Cueball: ''Ughhhh.''
:Cueball: Okay.

:Laptop: The system needs to guarantee eventual consistency.
:Cueball: I mean, it does.

:[Closeup of Cueball.]
:Cueball: Eventual consistency is guaranteed by the 2nd law of thermodynamics.
:Cueball: Sooner or later this will all be a uniform heat bath.
:Cueball: Maximum entropy.

:[Back to Cueball and desk.]
:Laptop: Maximum entropy means no useful work can be done!
:Cueball: I'm getting a head start by doing no useful work ''now''.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Physics]]

Talk:1409: Query

2014-08-18T12:27:37Z

141.101.98.194:

----
I assume the Cueball sitting on the box is being accused of being Hairy. I'd say no. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 07:26, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Is there any particular point Randall would be making where 2 females and only one male, out of 5 each, have watch porn in the last half day? [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 07:26, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
:I wasn't sure about one of those 'females', because of the various visual cues.
:What do we know/can assume about the figures? From Left to Right...
:Dark-haired ponytail and mobile phone, on own: *above 30*, not high-earning, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Possibly she's a professional woman, but not smashed through the glass ceiling.)
:Assumed Megan with the 'device', standing apart: less than 30yo, not high-earning, *fears flying* (hence her inspiration), not a recent porn viewer. (Could this be the archetypal Megan, or just ''a'' Megan?)
:Taller cueball, in 1-to-1 conversation: *above 30*, not high-earning, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Grown up, doubtless socially comfortable.)
:Shorter, buzzcut cueball, in 1-to-1 conversation: *above 30*, *high earner*, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Probably an pre-middle-aged Exec "going places", perhaps his success and choice of 'young' haircut are as a result of a mild case of Napoleon syndrome, but if people will talk to him he's probably not being a dick about his success.)
:Sitting ponytail, in conference: less than 30yo, not high-earning, flies easily, *recent viewed porn*. (From the companions and the position, probably high 20s recent graduate relaxing with a long-term social group.)
:Sitting cueball, in conference: *above 30*, not high-earning, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Another graduate, early 30s, probably exercises in order to find that sitting position relaxing. Part of the same social group.)
:Sitting flowinghair, in conference: *above 30*, not high-earning, *fears flying*, *recent viewed porn*. (''Sex indeterminate'' as that hair could indicate a metrosexual male. By 30 the look is probably starting to wearing thin, but still not overly embaressing. It certainly doesn't look like (s)he has settled down in a familial relationship yet, but has quite obviously flown the parental nest and is now with friends from college/university. Or might have been met on a round-the-world backpacking holiday and discovered they were from his own home city, except for the fear of flying (unless worked passage on ships). Probably knows all the cool scenes in this city, though, so well worth socialising in the park with.)
:Perched cueball, with icecream, hanging out: less than 30yo, not high-earning, flies easily, not a recent porn viewer. (Probably a teenager, with a close-cropped haircut. Might or might not know the other two behind him, but hard to tell what he thinks except perhaps "I've got an ice-cream! Yay!" Perhaps after a busy day of not-watching-porn.)
:Leaning ponytail, with device, hanging out: less than 30yo, not high-earning, *fears flying*, not a recent porn viewer. (Teenage girl. Big on social networking. Probably not so big on face-to-face-talking.)
:Smallest cueball, with device, hanging out: less than 30yo, not high-earning, *fears flying*, *recent viewed porn*. (Teenage boy. Typical teenage boy. As girl, but probably in-between Tweeting with the girl next to him he's serrupticiously viewing a video someone sent him (see his furtive look?), and maybe of the girl next to him. Or something 'sexted' ''from'' her, if that wouldn't count for her SELECTion on that criteria. One way or another, ''probably'' with the sound off.)
:...what's more, presumably none of those fiogures were Terminator Units, Alien Shapeshifting Lizards or ''already'' ghosts of some kind (or whatever class of individual would not belong in TABLE PEOPLE). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.7|141.101.99.7]] 09:34, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

::Thats racism! I mean speciesm. Alien Shapeshifting Lizards are people too! -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:15, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Sounds a lot like watch_dogs. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.201|108.162.229.201]] 07:42, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Is this Zuckerberg's phone? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.34|108.162.254.34]] 09:33, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Is there any particular reason this comic isn't appearing on the homepage at the moment? For some reason xkcd.com is displaying 1408 "March of the Penguins". No actual navigation on the site will take me to this comic, I have to manually type /1409 into the URL bar. --[[User:Zagorath|Zagorath]] ([[User talk:Zagorath|talk]]) 10:20, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

I'm under the impression that Megan is using the device to look for potential mates. The age and income queries point to this, the other two are less common but still make sense in the context of a relationship. Finding no one who matches all of her criteria, she then deletes the list.
[[User:Dromaeosaur|Dromaeosaur]] ([[User talk:Dromaeosaur|talk]]) 10:41, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
:Well, there's obviously something to the idea of those directing her choices (for positive ''or'' negative selection purposes - I assume <=30 && >$100k, but would she want someone who shares her fear and would ''never'' suggest a plane trip, or someone who could be reassuring when one ''is'' taken? And someone who is 'wholesome' or likely to be open-minded about pornography?) but, although it's likely there's no Mr(/Mrs) Right, she finds just proclaims it "neat" and only seems to inadvertently 'tidy up' (albeit too much), rather than doing it in deliberate (if again misjudged) frustration... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.7|141.101.99.7]] 11:39, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Why does the explanation call it "SQL-esque"? That looks like fully valid SQL to me. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.230.119|108.162.230.119]] 10:49, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

I think the comic is a reference to "Big Data" and the claim I read this morning that one organisation has a file on 10% of the world's population with around 1500 pieces of information on each of them. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.194|141.101.98.194]] 12:27, 18 August 2014 (UTC) Dan

1402: Harpoons

2014-08-01T11:20:11Z

141.101.98.194: Fixed up transcript to match comic.

{{comic
| number = 1402
| date = August 1, 2014
| title = Harpoons
| image = harpoons.png
| titletext = To motivate it to fire its harpoons hard enough, Rosetta's Philae lander has been programmed to believe it is trying to kill the comet.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:Title: NUMBER OF HARPOONS IN SPACE by year
:y-axis: 0 to 3
:x-axis: years from 1950 to 2020
:[The graph starts at 0 harpoons in space.]
:At 1970 [the graph shows a pic at 1 harpoon in space]: Apollo 12 rum incident
:[After 1970 the graph resets to 0 harpoon in space.]
:At 200x [the graph goes up to 2 harpoons in space]: Rosetta comet mission launched carrying lander with harpoon tethers
:[After 200x, the graph stays at 2 harpoons in space.]

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:308: Interesting Life

2014-06-27T12:33:05Z

141.101.98.194:

The "interesting life" is a reference to a purported Chinese curse, "{{w|May you live in interesting times}}." There is no such curse recorded in Chinese -- it's apocryphal.

The adventure is being contrasted with working a 9-5 job in a {{w|cubicle}} farm, considered a boring and safe occupation. [[Special:Contributions/66.202.132.250|66.202.132.250]] 18:36, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

This makes me think of the early scene in the Matrix, where Morpheus tries to convince Mr. Anderson (Neo) to escape his office through the window. {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.204}}

Someone should actually perform the tensile test on the cat6 cables. Does anyone have access to such equipment? It is very likely that it varies highly across different brands. If anyone does have access, I can provide samples of different brands for testing. [[User:BK201|BK201]] ([[User talk:BK201|talk]]) 17:15, 12 December 2013 (UTC)BK201

A minor point, but Megan appears to have come to the end of her rope, could this be another hidden metaphor?