explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

224: Lisp

2014-07-13T20:05:19Z

141.101.99.237: /* Transcript */ remove butts

{{comic
| number = 224
| date = February 16, 2007
| title = Lisp
| image = lisp.jpg
| titletext = We lost the documentation on quantum mechanics. You'll have to decode the regexes yourself.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Lisp (programming language)|Lisp}} is a computer programming language with highly regular syntax. The language's most notable feature is that programs take the same form as the language's primary data structure (the list). This blurs the line between code and data and permits programs to inspect and even alter their own source code, thereby opening up opportunities for metaprogramming. Lisp is also a {{w|Functional programming|functional programming language}} (more or less), meaning that programs are expressed in terms of lambda calculus, a mathematical framework for computation.

The phrase ''A suffusion of blue'' is a reference to {{w|Douglas Adams}}' book ''{{w|The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul}}''. In it, an ''{{w|I Ching}}'' calculator calculates everything above the value of 4 is ''a suffusion of yellow''.

In the comic, Cueball marvels at the fundamental and complete nature of the language of creation that he sees in his dream. In the lisp programming language, "car" is a fundamental function which produces the first item in a list. The line "It's full of '{{w|CAR_and_CDR|car}}'s" is a pun, referring to the book {{w|2001: A Space Odyssey}} in which astronaut David Bowman accidentally activates a star gate and exclaims as he enters it "Oh my God - it's full of stars!"

Cueball's remarks about patterns, metapatterns, and the disappearance of syntax are reactions to the elegant simplicity of the lisp programming language.

God replies that the universe was actually hacked together with the programming language {{w|Perl}}. Perl employs an idiosyncratic syntax which borrows from a number of other languages. Although a versatile language often employed for assembling projects quickly (some might say "hastily"), the language has a reputation for being ugly and inelegant. It was famously described as a "Swiss-Army chainsaw", because it is very powerful but also unwieldy and unattractive.

The joke is that the Creator, like many software developers, was in a bit of a hurry and chose to throw something together rather sloppily.

The title text continues the analogy by suggesting that the theory of {{w|quantum mechanics}} was written in {{w|Regular expression|regular expressions}} ("regexes"), a complex language for pattern matching used heavily in Perl. Regular expressions are often criticized as being a {{w|write-only language}}, that is, a language so complicated that any significant program cannot be understood by anybody (often not even the original author). Documentation is essential to assist in the understanding of complex regular expressions. The title text claims that at some point, the documentation for quantum mechanics was lost, which explains why quantum mechanics is so bizarre and complex.

==Transcript==
:[Floating in space.]
:Speaker: Last night I drifted off while reading a Lisp book.
:Cueball: Huh?
:Speaker: Suddenly, I was bathed in a suffusion of blue.

:[Floating in space before a vast concept tree.]
:Speaker: At once, just like they said, I felt a great enlightenment. I saw the naked structure of Lisp code unfold before me.
:Cueball: My God
:Cueball: It's full of 'car's
:Speaker: The patterns and metapatterns danced. Syntax faded, and I swam in the purity of quantified conception. Of ideas manifest.

:[Close-up of floating in space before part of a concept tree.]
:Truly, this was the language from which the gods wrought the Universe.

:[Floating in space with God appearing through a line of clouds.]
:God: No, it's not.
:Cueball: It's not?
:God: I mean, ostensibly, yes. Honestly, we hacked most of it together with Perl.

==Trivia==
*In his [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJOS0sV2a24#t=29m11s Google-speech], [[Randall]] said that he spent 3–4 hours on getting the blue shading just right.
*Comic [[208: Regular Expressions]] also references regular expressions.

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

187: The Familiar

2014-01-27T12:34:00Z

141.101.99.237: /* Explanation */ grammar

{{comic
| number = 187
| date = November 22, 2006
| title = The Familiar
| image = the familiar.png
| titletext = When I say we should do something sometime, I'm secretly hoping you'll say 'Why not now?'
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] asks a friend to go with him to view the sunrise over the ocean. The friend refuses by giving a list of excuses including the statement that "rationalizing the familiar is easy." This statement is amusing because the friend is acknowledging the fact that he is making excuses and seems to refuse going out on the basis that rationalizing going with Cueball to see the sunrise would require much more effort. This criticizes some people's tendency of not trying new things or going out with friends even though one would likely get more fulfillment by doing these things.

The title text indicates Randall's frustration with this mentality and his hope that when he wants to make plans with someone they are just as eager.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball's friend sits at a computer, Cueball is standing behind him.]
:Cueball: Let's go see sunrise over the ocean.
:Friend: That's a long drive, it's cold, I'm tired, and rationalizing the familiar is easy.
:[Cueball leaves. In the next two frames the friend remains at his computer.]

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

Talk:201: Christmas GPS

2014-01-27T06:15:03Z

141.101.99.237:

Why the car is on the left side? Did Randall move to UK? Over water? Still so many questions.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:59, 31 July 2013 (UTC)

: It is a valid line of inquiry, but there are many more gaping, unexplained things in xkcd to worry about. I'd guess the car was easier to draw that way, or something. --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 04:57, 24 August 2013 (UTC)

:: He might be driving on the wrong side because he is drunk. With a bit of work we could eliminate some of the possible birthdays for these characters(assuming they ended up at a plausible place). Through elimination via clues in various comics we might one day figure out the birthdays(assuming Randall is track this information and leaving clues, which he most likely is(everything he does has some sort of code or secret(seriously... everything))). [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 02:07, 27 August 2013 (UTC)

: The simplest explanation is that the GPS coordinates corresponded to the left side of the road, and given that the road seems remote or secluded, it was probably easier to just pull over to the left rather than make a legal U-turn. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 16:23, 31 December 2013 (UTC)
I agree: the lines behind the car seem to be tire tracks and brake lights. P.S I'm a big fan of your ruby WLP (assuming you're the same person), keep up the good work![[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.237|141.101.99.237]] 06:15, 27 January 2014 (UTC)

Talk:209: Kayak

2014-01-27T05:57:05Z

141.101.99.237: Created page with "I have successfully invented a police box that travels through time. All I need is a way to change the travel speed from the default 60-second-per-minute and we'd have an oper..."

I have successfully invented a police box that travels through time. All I need is a way to change the travel speed from the default 60-second-per-minute and we'd have an operational TARDIS! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.237|141.101.99.237]] 05:57, 27 January 2014 (UTC)

287: NP-Complete

2014-01-26T19:33:48Z

141.101.99.237: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 287
| date = July 9, 2007
| title = NP-Complete
| image = np_complete.png
| titletext = General solutions get you a 50% tip.
}}

==Explanation==
Another entry in the “My Hobby” series of cartoons. [[Cueball]] is embedding {{w|NP-complete|NP-complete problems}} in restaurant orders. Specifically, he is ordering appetizers not by explicitly stating the names, but by the total price of them all. This is a simplified example of the {{w|Knapsack problem|knapsack problem}}. This is a problem in combinatorial optimization, as follows: If you have a knapsack (backpack or rucksack) which can hold a specific amount of weight, and you have a set of items, each with its own assigned value and weight, you have to select items to put into the knapsack so that the weight does not exceed the capacity of the knapsack and the combined value of all the items is maximized.

In {{w|Computational complexity theory|computational complexity theory}}, NP stands for “nondeterministic polynomial time,” which means that problems which are NP take polynomial running time (i.e. the time a CPU would take to run the program would be polynomial in the input size) to verify a solution, but it is unknown whether finding any or all solutions can be done in polynomial time. Polynomial time is considered efficient; exponential and higher times are considered unfeasible for computation. NP-complete problems are ones which, if a polynomial time algorithm is found for any of them, then all NP problems have polynomial time solutions. In short, particular guesses in NP-complete problems can be checked easily, but systematically finding solutions is far more difficult.

The waiter's problem is NP-complete, since a given order's price can be found and checked quickly, but finding an order to match a price is much harder. (Formal proofs of the NP-completeness of the knapsack problem can be found at the above link.) The most straightforward way for a human to find a solution is to methodically start by first listing all the (6) ways of choosing one appetizer, and their total costs, then list all the (21) ways of choosing two appetizers (allowing repeats), and then list all the (56) ways of choosing three appetizers, and so forth. As any combination of eight appetizers would be more than $15.05, the process need not extend beyond listing all the (1715) ways of choosing seven appetizers.

Another famous NP-complete problem is the {{w|Travelling Salesman problem}}, mentioned by Cueball at the end, referring to the waiter's claim that he has 6 more tables to get to. (see also [[399: Travelling Salesman Problem]]).

The title text refers to the fact that NP-complete problems have no known polynomial time general solutions, and it is unknown if such a solution can ever be found. If the waiter can find an efficient general solution to this he will have solved one of the most famous problems in mathematics. This problem is one of the six remaining unsolved {{w|Millennium Prize Problems}} stated by the Clay Mathematics Institute in 2000, for which a correct solution (including proving that such a solution doesn't exist) is worth US$1,000,000. A 50% tip is slightly less than fair.

;The Solution
There are exactly two solutions to the problem posed in the comic strip, combinations of appetizers which total $15.05:
*Seven mixed fruit orders
*A combination of two orders of hot wings, one order of mixed fruit, and one sampler plate

==Transcript==
:My Hobby:
:Embedding NP-Complete problems in restaurant orders
:[A menu is shown.]
:Chotchkies Restaurant
:Appetizers
:Mixed Fruit 2.15
:French Fries 2.75
:Side Salad 3.35
:Hot Wings 3.55
:Mozzarella Sticks 4.20
:Sampler Plate 5.80
:[Three people sit at a table, including Cueball who is ordering from a waiter.]
:Cueball: We'd like exactly $15.05 worth of appetizers, please.
:Waiter: ...Exactly? Uhh...
:Cueball: Here, these papers on the knapsack problem might help you out.
:Waiter: Listen, I have six other tables to get to-
:Cueball: -As fast as possible, of course. Want something on traveling salesman?

==Trivia==
*A film reference is embedded in the menu in the first panel: The restaurant is called “Chotchkies”, a fictional restaurant featured in the film {{w|Office Space}}. In that film, the character Joanna, played by {{w|Jennifer Aniston}}, quits her job at Chotchkies, a typical family-oriented chain restaurant, over their policy that she wear a large number of tchotchkes, or “flair” items – tacky pins, buttons, or other adornments to a worker’s uniform which can often be seen on waiters and waitresses at chain family restaurants, as well as those who work at movie theaters or large retail chain stores.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Math]]

1305: Undocumented Feature

2013-12-18T12:07:40Z

141.101.99.237: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1305
| date = December 18, 2013
| title = Undocumented Feature
| image = undocumented_feature.png
| titletext = And it doesn't pop up a box every time asking you to use your real name. In fact, there's no way to set your name at all. You just have to keep reminding people who you are.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Incredibly short}}
Cueball (presumably) has found a secret support chatroom. Eventually, the comic comments on how nothing is forever, but eventually subverts this by attacking Facebook's video ads that had been announced the day just before the release of the comic.

The title text expands on this by mentioning the pop-ups on Youtube asking for your channel/user name. Youtube would like to make you use your real name. On Facebook you're supposed to use your real name anyway.

==Transcript==
:[A support window is shown.]
:An old Windows utility has an undocumented feature. If you open "help" and click on the background, you get dropped into a "support" chat room.
:Support Window: Launching support forum...

:[An active conversation between two people is shown.]
:Only a few of us ever found it. But we became friends.

:[Cueball and Ponytail are at computers.]
:We kept launching the program to check in. Eventually some of us were running VMs just to keep accessing it.

:[Another conversation.]
:As the Internet aged, so did we.

:[Three question marks.]
:We don't know who runs the server. We don't know why it's still working so many years later. Maybe we're some sysadmin's soap opera.

:[A group of people are shown in a bubble.]
:It will probably vanish someday, but for now it's our meeting place. Our hideaway.

:[The bubble is now smaller, and some parts of a web are shown.]
:A life's worth of chat,

:[More of the web is shown.]
:Buried in the deep web.

:[A flat landscape is shown with the sun at the horizon.]
:But even if it lasts forever, we won't. When we're gone, who will remember us?

:[Cueball and Hairy are shown standing together in a bubble.]
:Who will remember this strange little world and the friendships we built here?

:Nobody.

:[An empty bubble is shown.]
:This place is irrelevant. Ephemeral. One day it will be forgotten.

:[The bubble starts to fade away.]
:And so will we

:[The bubble has almost completely faded away.]

:[The bubble is now completely gone.]

:But at least it doesn't have fucking video ads.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

1305: Undocumented Feature

2013-12-18T12:05:25Z

141.101.99.237:

{{comic
| number = 1305
| date = December 18, 2013
| title = Undocumented Feature
| image = undocumented_feature.png
| titletext = And it doesn't pop up a box every time asking you to use your real name. In fact, there's no way to set your name at all. You just have to keep reminding people who you are.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Incredibly short}}
Cueball (presumably) has found a secret support chatroom. Eventually, the comic comments on how nothing is forever, but eventually subverts this by attacking Facebook's video ads that had been announced the day just before the release of the comic.

The title text expands on this by mentioning the pop-ups on Youtube asking for your channel/user name. Youtube would like to make you use your real name.

==Transcript==
:[A support window is shown.]
:An old Windows utility has an undocumented feature. If you open "help" and click on the background, you get dropped into a "support" chat room.
:Support Window: Launching support forum...

:[An active conversation between two people is shown.]
:Only a few of us ever found it. But we became friends.

:[Cueball and Ponytail are at computers.]
:We kept launching the program to check in. Eventually some of us were running VMs just to keep accessing it.

:[Another conversation.]
:As the Internet aged, so did we.

:[Three question marks.]
:We don't know who runs the server. We don't know why it's still working so many years later. Maybe we're some sysadmin's soap opera.

:[A group of people are shown in a bubble.]
:It will probably vanish someday, but for now it's our meeting place. Our hideaway.

:[The bubble is now smaller, and some parts of a web are shown.]
:A life's worth of chat,

:[More of the web is shown.]
:Buried in the deep web.

:[A flat landscape is shown with the sun at the horizon.]
:But even if it lasts forever, we won't. When we're gone, who will remember us?

:[Cueball and Hairy are shown standing together in a bubble.]
:Who will remember this strange little world and the friendships we built here?

:Nobody.

:[An empty bubble is shown.]
:This place is irrelevant. Ephemeral. One day it will be forgotten.

:[The bubble starts to fade away.]
:And so will we

:[The bubble has almost completely faded away.]

:[The bubble is now completely gone.]

:But at least it doesn't have fucking video ads.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

Talk:1295: New Study

2013-11-27T07:12:03Z

141.101.99.237:

There was a joke in Czech Republic a few years ago: American scientists discovered, that 80% Europeans believe in everything that starts with: "American scientists discovered". {{unsigned|‎Jiří Dobrý}}

The main reason why the Browser Usage hoax was so successful is that it's very plausible. Especially regarding the old versions of Internet Explorer. How can people still be using crap like IE 6.0?
:Because 86% of people just use computers as a tool that comes as-is, without wanting to understand how it works and/or could be modified.[[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 15:11, 25 November 2013 (UTC)
:"''How can people still be using crap like IE 6.0?''" That's like asking how people could still be using crap like a single-flux nonwidget carburetor. Don't they realize that's so out of date? Answer, of course not. To the VAST majority of people aren't, and don't need to be, aware of what version of a browser they use any more than teh vast majority of people don't know (or need to) what components are under the hood of their car. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.89|199.27.128.89]] 17:37, 25 November 2013 (UTC)
::But when the mechanic has a single-flux non-widget carburetor, there's a problem somewhere. I can personally vouch that all of Radioshack's POS computers run on Windows XP and use IE 6 for all operations except ringing up purchases and taking credit card payments. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.52|108.162.215.52]] 01:20, 26 November 2013 (UTC)
::IE6 or IE8? IE8, I could understand, being the highest level of IE normally installable upon XP (and, apart from the looming 'desupporting' date for XP, a solid enough platform for things that already work well on it). Although I could also understand IE6 if it involves some legacy proprietry scripting code that doesn't run well on IE>6, etc. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.229|141.101.99.229]] 03:59, 26 November 2013 (UTC)
::: This is the epitome of "if it ain't broke". The last stable release of IE6 was five years ago. For applications like POS computers, any large business would be foolish to the point of actual irresponsibility if they went round changing their hardware and software on a five year cycle. Doing that is hard, complicated, expensive and time-consuming. If your POS (or any other) computer works, and does everything you need it to, you don't change it. There are process control computers running the chemical plant I work on that have been in more or less continuous operation since the 1970s. They'll be replaced when they fail.

Note that I find hard to believe this was created due to something happening in 2011. While related, I would assume there was some other, more recent study this reacts to. [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131003-bohannon-science-spoof-open-access-peer-review-cancer/] ? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:01, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

New to editing. Trying to add this line and it isn't showing up. I believe this is the event he's referring to. <nowiki>* [http://eldeforma.com/2012/08/27/samsung-paga-multa-de-1-billon-de-dolares-a-apple-en-monedas-de-5-centavos/#axzz2lfjwKjjt Samsung pays $1bn USD fine to Apple with 20 billion 5 cent coins]: widely reported on news networks in November 2013</nowiki> [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.54|108.162.216.54]] 15:47, 25 November 2013 (UTC)Eastwood
:But that story has nothing to do with a "new study" (or any "study," for that matter). [[User:Elsbree|Elsbree]] ([[User talk:Elsbree|talk]]) 19:47, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

Nevermind... figured it out. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.54|108.162.216.54]] 15:49, 25 November 2013 (UTC)Eastwood

I think the title text of this comic is particularly clever...in that it infers that that the news being reported in the comic IS the study itself, creating an infinite loop. This should absolutely be reflected in the explanation!!! Can someone add it? [[User:Rmyere|Rmyere]] ([[User talk:Rmyere|talk]]) 04:27, 26 November 2013 (UTC)
----
The TV reporter seems to have an impressive head of hair. Is it supposed to be a toupee? [[User:Wwoods|Wwoods]] ([[User talk:Wwoods|talk]]) 21:32, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

1295: New Study

2013-11-27T07:06:07Z

141.101.99.237: /* Explanation */ Vic Reeves Guinness ad did the "stats made up on the spot" joke 11 years before Dilbert.

{{comic
| number = 1295
| date = November 25, 2013
| title = New Study
| image = new_study.png
| titletext = When the results are published, no one will be sure whether to report on them again.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another of Randall's jabs at modern news networks.

Some examples of how true this can be:

* A July 2011 hoax study correlated {{w|Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and Browser Usage}}, specifically asserting that Microsoft Internet Explorer users had a significantly lower I.Q. than other users. The study was reported by over 30 news outlets including NPR, ''Forbes'', CBS News, ''San Francisco Chronicle'', ''The Inquirer'', and ''CNN''. The perpetrator made little effort to conceal the deception by publishing it on a freshly created domain name with a parking lot as the corporate address, and was surprised that so many reputable outlets did no fact checking.
* [http://eldeforma.com/2012/08/27/samsung-paga-multa-de-1-billon-de-dolares-a-apple-en-monedas-de-5-centavos/#axzz2lfjwKjjt Samsung pays $1bn USD fine to Apple with 20 billion 5 cent coins]: widely reported on news networks in November 2013
* Even many low-tier scientific journals don't do proper checking. Over a hundred of them accepted a fake, error-ridden cancer study for publication in a spoof organized by Science magazine, as reported by National Geographic: [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131003-bohannon-science-spoof-open-access-peer-review-cancer/ Fake Cancer Study Spotlights Bogus Science Journals].

The title text refers to an issue with publication timing. Sometimes, scientists (or their press departments) issue press releases about studies before they are published in a peer-reviewed journal. News organizations often publish stories based on the press release, even though the full details are not available. In some cases, another story (or an update) is also published when the journal article comes out. However, some readers may find this duplicative.

Related jokes:

* "87% of statistics are made up on the spot" (which is itself completely fictitious). This joke has most famously been referenced by the [http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2008-05-08/ May 8, 2008 Dilbert comic strip]. It was also (with a more precise figure of 88.2%) the punchline of a television advertisement for Guinness in 1997, where it was attributed to the comedian Vic Reeves. (http://youtu.be/5in-3BmKtFI)
* "64 percent of all the world's statistics are made up right there on the spot, 82.4 percent of people believe 'em whether they're accurate statistics or not" - Statistician's Blues, by Todd Snider ([http://www.cowboylyrics.com/tabs/snider-todd/statistician-blues-10809.html lyrics]; [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUK6zjtUj00 video]).
* 83% is the made-up statistics number that {{w|How I Met Your Mother}} character {{w|Barney Stinson}} uses to charm ladies.

Side note: People making the substitutions in [[1288: Substitutions|a comic posted two weeks before this one]] will read this comic as one about {{w|Tumblr}} posts.

==Transcript==
:Reporter: ...And in science news, according to a new study, 85% of news organizations repeat "new study" press releases without checking whether they're real.
{{comic discussion}}

1094: Interview

2013-11-23T16:20:05Z

141.101.99.237: /* Explanation */ the interviewer doesn't say that, and saying it here ruins the joke farther along.

{{comic
| number = 1094
| date = August 13, 2012
| title = Interview
| image = interview.png
| titletext = Hey, before you go, can you explain to me what job I now have?
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is based on a common annoyance when job hunting, being told that they'll "keep you in mind", but don't offer you a job. A job interviewer tells [[Black Hat]] exactly that.

Black Hat offers a briefcase to his interviewer. From the vague phrasing "this" and the context, one would expect the briefcase to contain money to bribe the interviewer into hiring Black Hat. Instead, it contains a portal or gateway into an impossibly deep chasm.

After falling through the chasm, the interviewer lands in the interviewee's seat, and Black Hat is now sitting in the interviewer's seat, effectively switching their roles.

The former interviewer tries to pull the same trick on Black Hat, creating a momentary illusion of an {{w|infinite loop}} through {{w|recursion}}, a common theme in xkcd comics.

When Black Hat opens the briefcase, however, he reveals another common annoyance when job hunting, being told that the opening has already been filled. Black Hat's statement works on two levels, one meaning that "the job opening has been filled", and the second meaning "the opening to the briefcase's chasm has been filled".

The title text is said by Black Hat. It refers to the fact that, even though Black Hat now has the interviewer's job, he has no idea what his function is.

Another job interview was portrayed in [[1088: Five Years]] and [[1293: Job Interview]].

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is interviewed by another person.]
:Person: ...but thank you for applying. We'll keep your résumé on file.

:[Black Hat pushes a suitcase over the table.]
:Black Hat: Perhaps ''this'' could change your mind?

:[The Person opens suitcase.]
:''Click''

:[Suitcase opens up to reveal a hole with horizontal lines along the walls.]

:[Camera pans over the suitcase to reveal a deep hole.]

:[Camera zooms into the hole.]

:[The Person is falling into the hole.]
:Person: AAAAAA

:[The Person falls into a chair with the suitcase falling on his lap.]
:''THUMP''

:[The Person is dazed.]
:Black Hat: ...but thank you for applying. We'll keep your résumé on file.

:[The Person looks bemused at the the suitcase.]

:[The Person lifts suitcase.]

:[The Person pushes the suitcase over the table.]
:Person: Perhaps ''this'' could change your mind?

:[Black Hat opens suitcase.]
:''Click''

:[Black Hat looks inside.]

:[Black Hat turns suitcase around.]
:Black Hat: I'm sorry—

:[Suitcase now has some paper and an envelope in it.]
:Black Hat: —that opening has been filled.

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Recursion]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

User talk:Jeff

2013-11-05T05:59:39Z

141.101.99.237: /* Re: the latest puzzle */ new section

{{notice|This is the talk page of Jeff, the creator of Explain XKCD. If you have a comment about the wiki, please use the [[Explain XKCD:Community portal]]. Use this page only for personal messages to Jeff, of for requests that require server access.}} 

== ParserFunctions ==

Hi Jeff,

Just thought I'd run this up the flagpole... any thought about installing the ParserFunctions extension? I think this site could benefit from a few templates that would aid in indexing/categorizing the entries as content is migrated, and ParserFunctions would make some really impressive things possible... but installing any extension or not would be up to you.

Also, do you have any feelings about us users creating templates in the Template namespace, which we could use to maintain the content? Just wanted to get your thumbs-up before/if I did something like that. Just want to play nice. Love the site, and the new wiki format.

- PT [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 03:05, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
:ParserFunctions are awesome, yup! --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 06:56, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
::{{done}} Yes to both. I have enabled ParserFunctions and Templates sound like a great idea. IronyChef, please send me an email at the address on the blog and I'll make you an admin if necessary to edit templates. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 08:03, 1 August 2012 (EDT)

== Extension:Variable ==
Just wondering what you thought about adding the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Variables Variables extension]. I'm toying with revising {{tl|LATESTCOMIC}} to not be so expensive (both in terms of template expansion, and ongoing maintenance.) I could do that now, but the wiki would have to re-expand and re-evaluate the same expression about six times, being slightly counter-productive. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:54, 25 August 2012 (UTC)
:: any thoughts ... up, down, sideways? Thanks! -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 15:34, 1 September 2012 (UTC)
::: I'm up for it... Let me get it installed on the wiki side when I get a chance. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 23:13, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

== Bugging you again.... ==

Could you take a look at [//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?limit=10000&tagfilter=&title=Special%3AContributions&contribs=user&target=Philosopher&namespace=8&year=&month=-1] and tell me if I'm thinking in about the same way as you are here? Also, I've brought up [[MediaWiki:Tagline]] and [[Explain XKCD:Community portal]], as it'd be cool to have a tagline. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 10:46, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
:With you 100% on the File Delete reasons. Thanks. I agree also about having a tagline. What do you think it should be? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 11:13, 1 August 2012 (EDT)
::Nothing's coming to mind right now. Perhaps someone else will think of something. --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 17:54, 2 August 2012 (EDT)
Discussion continued at [[Explain XKCD:Community portal/Proposals#Tagline]].

== Automatic Import ==
Moved to [[Explain XKCD:Community portal/Proposals#Automatic Import]]. (Header left to avoid breaking links.) --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 00:30, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Please watch [[Explain XKCD:Community portal/Administrators' noticeboard]] ==

I'd like to ask that the admins consider adding [[Explain XKCD:Community portal/Administrators' noticeboard]] to their [[wikipedia:Help:Watching pages|watchlists]]. On a similar note, I've just started a discussion there about spammers. -''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 02:02, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

== Images from Wikimedia Commons and SVG ==
Please set <code>$wgUseInstantCommons = true;</code> in the wiki's LocalSettings.php, so we can use images from Wikimedia Commons without having to reupload them here.
Also, I'd be neat if you could [[mw:Manual:Image Administration#SVG|enable svg images]]. Thanks! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 04:20, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
: {{done}}, Instant Commons is on. Will need a little more work to get SVG images to work. What renderer to do you suggest I use? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:05, 6 August 2012 (UTC)
:: That'll depend on what you have available in your server. They say there that ImageMagick seems to be an acceptable choice, but rsvg seems to be the best one if the dependencies can be sorted out. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 13:20, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

== Search suggestions ==

Hi,

could you please set $wgEnableMWSuggest [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgEnableMWSuggest] to true? This enables search suggestions for the search field, and often this helps you to skip the search results. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 09:10, 4 August 2012 (EDT)
:{{done}} OK, this is has been added to the LocalSettings. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:06, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

== Time zone ==

Please set the wiki to UTC (<tt>$wgLocaltimezone = "UTC";</tt> in LocalSettings.php), as it's the most neutral option for our international community. In any case, each user can choose their time zone in their preferences.
:{{done}} Ok, set. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:07, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

== Short urls, site logo, lowercase xkcd ==

Hi,
I'm not sure if you tried it but http://shorturls.redwerks.org is a great (and simple :D) tool to implement clean urls with mediawiki. That would make urls much nicer around here.

Also, if you could, please take a look at [[Explain XKCD:Community portal/Proposals#Naming conventions]], where your assistance is needed for some server changes. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 15:31, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

:Hi again :) just to remind you about the short urls thing. I think it would be great if we could have wiki links in the form "explainxkcd.com/wiki/link_title". It might be necessary to move the wiki into a different folder name than "wiki", but that's just a matter of renaming the folder and changing <code>$wgScriptPath</code> in LocalSettings.php accordingly. The link above makes things really straighforward, it should really only take you a few minutes to set everything up.
:Another cool thing that could be done is set up a server redirect so that links in the form of explainxkcd.com/number would point to the comics in the wiki instead of returning a 404 error (for instance, http://explainxkcd.com/123 would point to http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/123). That way, we could replicate xkcd's own url system for comics and people could simply type explainxkcd.com/123 and get the explanation for the corresponding comic. This redirect can probably be set up in the hosting company's web interface, but in case it can't, let me know if you need any help. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 22:03, 11 August 2012 (UTC)
::Hi Waldir - I'll work on the short URL thing. I want that to work for sure. With regards to the redirect, I have been working on it for a while and I have a few .htaccess files and etc that don't work. I'll be grateful for the help on it. Please send me an email if you know how to get it done. This would also allow anyone from xkcd.com/435 to just add explain and go to the comic explanation. Very helpful. Been working on it unsuccessfully for a while. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 01:41, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
:::Ugh, it must be my hosting because I did all of the shorturls correctly it just sent it to a 404 page for the site over and over again. The url seemed to be the right one, but didn't send it to the right location. It should NOT be this difficult. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 02:25, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

== wgCapitalLinks ==

Hi Jeff! When you have a few spare minutes, please add the following to LocalSettings.php:
$wgCapitalLinks = false;
This allows page titles not to be automatically capitalized by the software, which is important for filenames and for some comic titles such as [[s/keyboard/leopard/]]. Cheers, [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:34, 11 August 2012 (UTC)
:{{done}} --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 01:37, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
::...and this broke our templates (and maybe [[Special:RecentChanges]]?). See [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Admin requests]]. Can't we just style the page titles so they appear as though they aren't capitalized when they really are? (As done at [[wikipedia:Xkcd]], using the DISPLAYTITLE magic word (called through [[wikipedia:Template:DISPLAYTITLE]]).) --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 04:42, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
:::Looks like transition pains would be inevitable. I think everything is sorted out for now. See the Admin requests thread for details. As for using DISPLAYTITLE, I understand the rationale, but this is xkcd and attention to capitalization is necessary in several pages, and I believe we'd rather use a complete solution (so that pages actually have the correct title) rather than hacking what is shown to viewers. In any case, we shouldn't have many problems in the future because of this; People will only capitalize the first letter of a title when it's actually necessary; otherwise, lazyness/convenience makes us all use lowercase everywhere (besides, redirects can be used just in case, such as {{tl|yesno}} → {{tl|YesNo}}. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 09:06, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

== External Images ==

Has there actually been a decision on external images? Or is it just to be decided later?  [[User:Grep|grep]][[User_talk:Grep|talk]] 
: No decision yet. What do you think? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 21:16, 28 August 2012 (UTC)
::Well, the whitelisting seems an OK idea. This would help you save space on the servers that you are hosting on, so that's a plus. I say go for whitelisting.  [[User:Grep|grep]][[User_talk:Grep|talk]]  Mostly I am wondering because I created a PHP script that creates an image to display the results of a poll (like on the Moving the Wiki topic in Proposals). For my situation any method of something external being placed on this site will work.
::'''I just''' got an idea... what if there was a group of moderators that check external images and approve them. The more approvals a person gets, the more "reliable" they are considered to be... ?  [[User:Grep|grep]][[User_talk:Grep|talk]] 

== Short Link Problem Fix? ==

Is <code>mod_rewrite</code> installed and enabled? 
[https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Short_URL/Apache MW ShortURL] 
Are all of the config files (including the wiki one) set up?

 [[User:Grep|grep]][[User_talk:Grep|talk]] 

== New admin please? ==

This is a bit forthright of me, but nothing appears to be being done about it. Would you read this [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#Spampage Rampage]] and comment on it? Thanks, [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] and the community 17:47, 13 November 2012 (UTC)

== Small change ==

Hi Jeff! Long time no see. Look, could you add
:<code>$wgGroupPermissions['autoconfirmed']['autopatrol'] = true;</code>
to LocalSettings.php? That will allow edits by [[mw:auto-confirmed|auto-confirmed]] users not to be marked with a red exclamation mark in recent changes so we can more quickly spot edits that might need reviewing. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 02:16, 22 November 2012 (UTC)

:Btw while you're at it, please also add
::<code>$wgAllowUserJs = true;</code>
::<code>$wgAllowUserCss = true;</code>
:So users can make their own scripts and styles to enhance the wiki (I need that, for instance, to test stuff without affecting anyone else, before integrating them on site-wide javascript/css pages) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:52, 22 November 2012 (UTC)

{{done}} and {{done}} --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:55, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

:Thanks! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 19:57, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

:: Sorry, I forgot a small detail: it is necessary to set up the following so that "auto-confirmed" doesn't mean "any registered user":
:: <code>$wgAutoConfirmAge = 60*60*24*3 // accounts become auto-confirmed after 3 days</code>
:: <code>$wgAutoConfirmCount = 10 // ...and 10 edits</code>
:: Cheers, [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 21:32, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

::: {{done}} --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 21:49, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

:::: Thanks, again. Also, since the wiki didn't break, I take it that you noticed the missing semicolons which I stupidly forgot to include at the end of the lines, and added them. Sorry for the slip-up. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:31, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
::::: No worries, I know that much at least! :) --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:36, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

Did you by any chance write "auto patrol" instead of "autopatrol"? [[Special:ListGroupRights]] suggests so, and if that's the case, that explains why the changes don't seem to have had the effects I expected from them (edits by auto-patrolled users still marked with the red exclamation mark in Special:RecentChanges). Could you check that the line reads exactly <code>$wgGroupPermissions['autoconfirmed']['autopatrol'] = true;</code>? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:54, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
: That's what I thought I put even though autocorrect wanted to change it. Can't look now, will have a look when I get home. ---[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:55, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
:: Any news? No pressure, I'm just curious :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 15:34, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
::: Bah - I keep forgetting when I get home. I'll try to get it done this weekend. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:35, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
:::: Much delayed, but {{done}} --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 02:50, 4 December 2012 (UTC)
::::: Thanks, Jeff. I'll let you know if there's any further issues, but I believe everything should be working now. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:34, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

== Links to category pages ==

I couldn't help but notice the number of your edits to your page. You can link to category pages by putting a colon in front of "Category". <code><nowiki>[[:Category:Pages to delete]]</nowiki></code> produces [[:Category:Pages to delete]]. It also doesn't add the category to that page, it just links to it. Cheers, [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:30, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
: Oh geez. You saw that? That's a little embarrassing with not knowing what to do, I kept trying to figure out how to put the link there. Thanks for the help! I couldn't find that information anywhere. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:31, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

::When I had to learn about that trick the edits on that page looked fairly similar. I eventually found the right page [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links] (ctrl+f "category", it's buried) and managed it. I have the Recent Changes page set to auto-refresh every minute. I see a few things. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:43, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

== Your opinion? ==

Please comment [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Technical#We need more maintainers|here]]. Cheers, [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:21, 5 December 2012 (UTC)
:Update: we've been offered help by [[mediawiki:User:Dantman|an experienced MediaWiki developer]], I think we can finally solve the server-side issues now! Please take a look at the thread linked above. [[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 20:07, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

== I am really dumb ==

and this morning, while creating a user name, I goofed it and wrote .mau, (with a trailing comma) instead of .mau. (with a trailing dot, which is my trademark). I know that a bureaucrat on MediaWiki can change a username which had few edits (my own edits are three including this one): could you do this, or at least delete this username so that I may recreate it without leaving a dead one? TIA, [[User:.mau,|.mau,]] ([[User talk:.mau,|talk]]) 15:09, 16 January 2013 (UTC)
:You can actually change your signature to .mau. if you want, to mask that for now. Just make a page called User:.mau,/sig and craft your signature to your liking, then go to my preferences at the top and set your sig to <nowiki>{{SUBST:User:.mau,/sig}}</nowiki>. If you want an example, [[User:Lcarsos/sig]] is a near-vanilla and quite clean example of a custom sig, while [[User:Omega/sig]] and my sig, [[User:Davidy22/sig]] are slightly more tricked-out options. Wikipedia's guidelines to signature crafting are {{w|Wikipedia:Signatures#Customizing_your_signature|here.}} '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:53, 16 January 2013 (UTC)
::ok, thanks! [[User:.mau,|.mau.]] ([[User talk:.mau,|talk]]) 09:55, 17 January 2013 (UTC)
:::Aw, that's it? No bling or anything? Meeehhh. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:16, 17 January 2013 (UTC)
:(to Jeff) I believe user renaming is not possible in vanilla mediawiki. An extension is required: [[mw:Extension:Renameuser]] --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 18:21, 17 January 2013 (UTC)
::I find a bit disturbing to have a "wrong" username, especially because I may not remember it somewhen (yes, the word does not exist, but I like its sound); but I don't need any flashy signature, so I just changed the traling comma to a dot. --[[User:.mau,|.mau.]] ([[User talk:.mau,|talk]]) 14:09, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

==/wiki/==
Now that the site apparently redirects to the wiki, could the entire wiki URL just be explainxkcd.com, without the trailing wiki? It's mostly for cleanliness, but also to throw off the spambots for a while. Those accursed spam happy bots. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:29, 4 February 2013 (UTC)
: Sounds good, I'm working on that part next. It is next on my "to-do" list complete some URL work like that. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:05, 4 February 2013 (UTC)
::''nag''. Also, the spam is becoming an issue. A pretty big issue. Time to switch captchas? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:04, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
::: OK - sounds good to me, any ones you recommend? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 13:33, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
:::: I don't remember which captcha the wiki uses, but I know securimage and recaptcha are two very competent options. Alternately, you could use [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:ConfirmEdit ConfirmEdit] to screen anon edits. Much of the spam seems to be automated, so questycaptcha should screen out most of the chaff. Just simple questions, like "What webcomic does this site explain" or "Who created XKCD" should be sufficient to screw up our current spammers. Also, rm /wiki/ plx. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:41, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::Confirm edit is in and Recaptcha is out. Let's try that. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 14:11, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
::::::The questions appear to be case-sensitive. To avoid frustration, could you add a notice to every question saying that the answers have to be in all lower/upper case? I got "What's the name of this wiki" wrong a bunch of times, and I think it's due to capitalization. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:30, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::::Ok - cool. I changed it to $wgSitename instead of just writing it out. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 14:32, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
::::::::If we get no spam tomorrow, I will hold a party in your talk page. Oh, and /wiki/. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:38, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::I'll just hijack this thread and ask: Isn't it time Davidy22 got admin tools? It's long overdue. And please promote Lcarsos‏‎ to bureaucrat, so he can make new admins if needed. And seconded: <code>/wiki/</code> ! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 02:39, 19 February 2013 (UTC)
::::::::::Could you also put confirmEdit in general page creation for anonymous users? There's still a couple of spam pages being made that don't actually advertise anything. There hasn't been an account creation in a long time, so I think we've killed off the spam accounts. The rate of spam has definitely dropped significantly ever since we switched to confirmEdit. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:42, 20 February 2013 (UTC)
::::::::::We've just had a surge of pure griefer spam. Anons who don't insert any links, they're just throwing spam at us out of malice. Could you make anonymous users have to pass through confrimEdit to create pages? Thanks. On a side note, what's the ratio in terms of file size between current explanation pages to logs and diffs? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:53, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::::Wow those suck. Wiping out whole pages with anon edits. I can't change the settings from here, but I'll do it when I get home. Also, I'm not sure what you mean by filesize? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:51, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
::::::::::::Eh, how much space do explanations and images take up on your hard drive when compared to the space that log files and diffs take up? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:01, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

== Promote Davidy22 ==

:''Breaking this discussion out from where it was, because it merits its own section. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]])''
I'll just hijack this thread and ask: Isn't it time Davidy22 got admin tools? It's long overdue. And please promote lcarsos‏‎ to bureaucrat, so he can make new admins if needed. And seconded: <code>/wiki/</code> ! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 02:39, 19 February 2013 (UTC)

:'''Heartily Agree''' on promoting Davidy22, he's almost always more on top of spam patrol than I am these days (burn-out for the lose). I'm not sure I can speak for my own promotion without sounding self-serving and power-hungry. However, in my few spare moments this semester I am looking closely at getting a bot up and running to automate the clean up of spam (mostly because manual spam patrol is the most soul-sucking and disheartening activity I've ever done), so it would be nice to be able to get a bot account promoted to bot status without misrepresenting it as my account. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:13, 19 February 2013 (UTC)
:: Davidy22 is up to admin (honestly, I thought he was already one, so no issue there on my end.) and lcarsos has been updated to bureaucrat because we should have more redundancy there. Also, create a bot account and let me know what it is and i'll give it bot rights. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:36, 19 February 2013 (UTC)
:: Or now, you can do it! :) --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:41, 19 February 2013 (UTC)
:::WOO, power! '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:42, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

== Small ConfirmEdit change ==

Can you change the line:
<pre>$wgCaptchaTriggers['create'] = false;</pre>
to true? I think this would solve most of our bot vandalism/griefing problems. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 21:19, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
:: {{done}} I changed 'edit' to true as well since we've seen a bunch when editing user's talk pages. We will see if I have to move that back to false. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:16, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

== DeleteOldRevisions ==

There's a script built into mediawiki called DeleteOldRevisions.php that seems to have deprecated the deletehistory plugin. A link to the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:DeleteOldRevisions.php manual page.] A hard drive upgrade would be apt for the future though. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:15, 20 March 2013 (UTC)
: I'm looking into it. I'm not sure how the wiki got back up and running without me running the update. I'll try the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:DeleteHistory] and see if that can help in the meantime. The expanded HD might be a no-go, but I'll see on that too. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 01:27, 20 March 2013 (UTC)

==Server Hardware==
The website is getting really slow and throwing internal errors all over the place, and it looks like both the main page and the page for the newest comic [[1190: Time]] are climbing rapidly in views. If one ambiguous comic is hitting us like a DDoS, we're going to get it in the shorts if Randall ever actually acknowledges our existence directly, or some other geeky media outlet posts a link to us. Is there a donate button anywhere? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:18, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: We certainly can get a Donate button. We may need to migrate the server to get it upgraded. This is one of those big days, I guess. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:39, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:: How about a Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:37, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
:::Kickstarter and Indiegogo are one-time things. No good for this. I recommend modifying the donate button so that there is a PayPal "Subscribe" button near it so people can also do small monthly subscriptions. I recommend a dropdown with $1, $2, $5, $10, $20 options.
:::Does 1&1 give you stats like how much bandwidth (or rather how much data) you are using. That could have an effect on where is best to get the new hosting; Rackspace Cloud, Linode, AWS, or even a real server with access to other network options like paying for actual Mbps bandwidth with unlimited data.
:::When you get a server I'd like to properly set it up with varnish, nginx, apc (or Zend_Optimizer+ considering it's going to be part of php 5.5), memcached, and perhaps php-fpm instead of mod_php. Varnish will allow anonymous pages to be cached hopefully reducing the load issues. And nginx should serve out static things better than Apache. [[User:Dantman|Dantman]] ([[User talk:Dantman|talk]]) 05:23, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:::: Regarding the Paypal button, besides the subscribe option, I would recommend removing the credit card logos, as they make it too wide for the sidebar and not fit the design well. Besides, I personally think they give it kind of a corporate feel; instead, a simple "donate" button, while still recognizable as paypal's, feels simpler and more "personal", for lack of a better word.
:::: Also, I think you should place it above the AdSense block, since that makes it more visible, and prioritizes a form of supporting the site that people have direct, active control over, rather than the passive, choice-less (modulo AdBlock) AdSense.
:::: And also capitalize "donate" in the section title, to match the other titles ("Navigation", "Toolbox", etc.)
:::: Since we're at it: maybe more donation options would make sense: [//flattr.com Flattr], [//gittip.com Gittip], [//tiptheweb.org/ TipTheWeb], and possibly [//bitcoin.org/ Bitcoins].
:::: Finally, is it possible to make the AdSense background transparent, or at least the same as the site background of #F3F3F3? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 14:15, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:::::Is it possible to add the ad and donate buttons without including a section title? Minimizing unused space is gooood. Also, I noticed that you installed the deletehistory plugin, but it's trying to use another version of PHP that's installed on the server. deleteoldrevisions.php in the maintenance folder oughta work fine, though it'd probably be apt to run it over the weekend when we're not expecting absurd floods of visitors like we are now. We may need it too, after we've filled up the hard drive again with archives of Time.'''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:39, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:::::: Yes, it is possible for me to edit, I will have to go into the settings for each since I used extensions for them. I hate the credit card things too. Will take a look at all options tonight.
:::::: The Deletehistory plugin doesn't work, sadly because of the PHP version. Hopefully, when we migrate, it will be on a newer version and that will work. Hopefully, we will have more disk space too... --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]])
::::: Hey Jeff. Could you change the width of the paypal donate button so that it matches the google ads and the bitcoin donate button? Maybe using a custom button rather than the paypal-provided one?
::::: Also, any news regarding the possibility of changing the background of the google ads? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:21, 8 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::: It did not work out with Google ads for a reason they will not disclose to me, but I'll work on the buttons and the banner ad. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:11, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

== Everything's good ==

Except for the (currently) occasional server error, I have no problems.

I've turned on HotCat and Popups, imported wikEdDiff and my HideTopContribs, all of which make me fairly efficient at watching changes.

A minor request would be the Redirect toolbar button.

[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 17:13, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

:When you turn off enwiki's "Enable enhanced editing toolbar" all of the toolbar buttons explainxkcd has are in the same order (it skips Math) and the very next one is Redirect #R. It seems to be defined at http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MediaWiki:Common.js/edit.js&action=edit
:I've tried adding just Redirect #R myself [[User:Markhurd/common.js|here]], but something's going wrong. (And I should be sleeping!)
::Seeing as it is only one button I wanted, I simplified the code down to calling addButton directly and it is now working fine. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 13:07, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

:Re being an Admin: Yes, please, as long as you note this would be my first actual Admin bit. (I'm a Bureaucrat on another MW wiki so I could give myself Admin rights whenever I wanted.) [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 19:39, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

== Sidebar ads ==

Hi, we're having a discussion about the sidebar ads on [[Talk:Main Page#sidebar ads?]]. --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:42, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

== Economic transparency ==

Hi! I made a request on economic transparency on the proposals page. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:05, 27 May 2013 (UTC)

==Thumbnails are not working==
I'm relatively new here but I think each picture should get it's proper thumbnail when the original is to large to embed. Mediawiki is using some applications in the background maybe not available here. But there are some workarounds. And since "onlinehome.us" is well secured I still do even not know what OS is running in the background. But whatever the OS is, it should be solvable.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:13, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

== Last missing page ==

Hi, I'm hoping you don't mind about my adds to Natalie Dee. I was working on that at the same time.
BTW: Can I help you on that thumbnail issue? I really would be happy if it could fixed here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:42, 18 June 2013 (UTC)
:: No problem on the Natalee Dee comic, I was just working on it because it was the last one, edit away. What's the thumbnail issue? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 21:43, 18 June 2013 (UTC)
:::Thanks for your reply. I am still talking about this: [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Errors_and_symptoms#Image_Thumbnails_not_working_and.2For_appearing Image_Thumbnails_not_working]. I am sure there is a need to fix the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/LocalSettings.php LocalSettings.php]. Maybe some paths are wrong or it's just using wrong image tools. I can help on any OS except Apple computers.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:07, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

== Congratulations! ==

You just created the last unexplained comic of ''xkcd''! [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 23:38, 18 June 2013 (UTC)
: Thanks Greyson! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 03:04, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

==Math==
A lot of comics have formulae in them. Could you set $wgUseTeX = true in LocalSettings.php? That lets us use latex in pages. It'd be useful for comics like yesterday's. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:12, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
:Yeah, this would be nice. But you have to install an extension, LaTex must be available, then compile something, and at least adjusting the LocalSettings.php config file. We also sill do not have all image features here. But I can help, Windows or Linux.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:55, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
:: I'll look into it. Let me know if you find an extension that will do the trick. Send me some links to anything that would help and I can get them set up. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 14:44, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
:::Go here [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Math Extension:Math] and read the installation instructions first, it's not easy. For Fedora (Linux) there is a package called "mediawiki-math.x86_64" available. I will test this at my own computer.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:57, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
::::It's the hell, but I got a first crappy version at my local installation. I have had to install ''latex'' and ''ocaml'' packages and now its working, but it still renders many lines before the <nowiki><math></nowiki> tag, So it's still not usable for this site.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:35, 13 July 2013 (UTC)
===Seeing injected banner ads?===
I'm seeing banner ads (viewing on my iPad) that cover the actual banner of the site and never scroll out of view. It's as if they've been infected by a downstream server (ISP?). Anybody else? I'm in Wisconsin using TDS. Jeff M.
: That's terrible, I've got to fix that. bah. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:36, 2 August 2013 (UTC)
:: Is there a place I can email some screenshots? Jeff M.{{unsigned ip|69.130.242.120}}

== Full cache kills this page ==

Hi, it seems this page was not reachable for 15 hours again. The cache here has to be cleared sometimes, but since I can do it with my account I will create a script running once per day. 15 hours outage are bad, I try to avoid this in the future. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:50, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
:Which page was dead? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:11, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
::The entire site was dead. Look here: [[Special:RecentChanges|Special:RecentChanges]]. My last post was at 23:44 yesterday, no actions here after my reset at 14:54 today. The site was dead. I'm not a hacker, but I'm a programmer and I used this base of knowledge to fix this problem. If you do need more details, please send me an email. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:25, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
::: Agreed. Tried to visit yesterday PM, but a lot of pages were spilling guts: user pages, category pages, no comic explanations (as far as I could tell with my limited browsing.) A chron-job script to keep that at bay would be good medicine, assuming it didn't have other side effects. [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 03:19, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
I will set up a cron job running once per day. Maybe this entry at the config file [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:LocalSettings.php LocalSettings.php] would be the better solution:
$wgMainCacheType = CACHE_NONE;
I'm using the MidnightCommander (Linux) for editing this file.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:11, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
:::: Cache_None is already set in the LocalSettings. I believe this is usually a database error that we are getting. It usually resolves itself as I'm not able to resolve it myself. I believe that we are getting hit with a brute force attack at our database during those times because the database is totally unreachable. I'm working on moving to a new host where the database will be better protected. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:16, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::Cache_None or CACHE_NONE? This should be case sensitive. Nevertheless I did purge the cache and the site was instantly available again (after approx. 15 hours). Also Davidy22 explained that he did clear the cache to bring the site back. The error messages are misleading and not showing the real problem.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:43, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::: Yes, CACHE_NONE, sorry, I was typing fast. I've ran my clear cache script a few times when I've had that same problem and haven't seen results, so I'm glad we at least have something that's working. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:18, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::You are doing a great job, I feel I just have to say thanks! When the next outage does happen I will activate a small script, but for now I just try to avoid unnecessary traffic to this server.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:15, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::: Thanks Dgbrt! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:07, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

== New host ==

Great job, but please check this link: <code>/wiki/</code>. I can browse the entire folder and more. It seems that "htaccess" should be renamed to ".htaccess".--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 08:32, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
: Oh geez. That's bad. Thanks! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:02, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:: Should be good now. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:45, 30 October 2013 (UTC)

I found an other serious issue belonging to DNS entries:
Name: explainxkcd.com
Address: 108.162.198.131
Name: explainxkcd.com
Address: 108.162.199.131
This works fine because 108.162.'''198'''.131 is correct. But most DNS servers showing up with this result:
Name: explainxkcd.com
Address: 108.162.199.131
Name: explainxkcd.com
Address: 108.162.198.131
This just leads to the old server at 108.162.'''199'''.131. Check Google DNS server 8.8.8.8 with nslookup, the wrong IP is shown first.
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:34, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
: Weird... I'll research. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:35, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
::Yes, it's weird. After I discovered this I did enter an entry for this at my local "/etc/hosts" file. But it seems most people can not access the new site.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:20, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
::One more: The logo on the left top is broken. ''style="background-image: url(/wiki/skins/common/images/explainxkcd.png)'' does not exist.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
::: Yea, what happened to that logo... it was there this morning. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 20:56, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
::::Oh, after a computer crash I'm back. Right now even the editor is broken here. I don't know if I can send this message. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:22, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::Ok, it does work, but all images for short cuts on top of the editor are also broken now. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:26, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::: The editor works fine for me, I'll research the images. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 21:27, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::It seems all links like "/wiki/skins/common/images/button_bold.png" are gone. Additionally I'm getting an JavaScript error "TypeError: document.getElementById(...) is null". http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/skins/common/images/button_bold.png redirects me to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page. Maybe you still get some content, maybe cache, from 108.162.199.131? Or is the real site now on that IP? Remember, I have had to restart my computer; most of my cache is gone and I'm just seeing the real page.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:48, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::: I fixed the images. I did that stupidly through the htaccess page. I've got to figure a better solution for what I'm trying to do to solve another problem. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 21:58, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::Looks great right now. So that DNS glitch seems to be the most worse problem right now.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:08, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::: I think DNS is still propagating with the updates from yesterday. Not every one has the correct information yet... those two DNS IPs are the load balancers, I believe. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 22:09, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::::Strange "load balancers", but it's working now on both IPs. Many thanks again for your hard work, you must have invested many hours on this migration. Let's see tomorrow if other users will be able to find this site again.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:30, 30 October 2013 (UTC)

== Please remove subaddressing from my account email [[user:tbc]] ==

Hi Jeff,

I requested a password reset, but I forgot that my account still has an old email registered: timc+explainxkcd@divide.net. My ISP, pcisys.net née divide.net, disabled subaddressing during an email upgrade earlier this year. If you will update that email to remove the plus sign so my account email is timc@divide.net, I will be able to reset my password. I was logged in from my iPad to write on the [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Admin_requests#Please_remove_subaddressing_from_my_account_email_user:tbc|community portal]] page, but since I needed my password, which I have forgotten, to change it, I got stuck. – ''[[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 30 Oct 2013''
: You should be good to go now. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:07, 31 October 2013 (UTC)

== Forbidden ==

You don't have permission to access /wiki/ ([http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/ http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/]) on this server. I think a simple redirect would be a better solution.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:45, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

== Re: the latest puzzle ==

I don't know how to contribute in the discussion section on the page, so I'm throwing ideas at you.

Just quick thoughts.
I feel like Cpl klinger and the water type kingler is too solid a connection to ignore even though I can't really use it.
Kingler was owned in the series by Ash.
Ash is a three letter word and the last three letters of the phrase monstermash.
Monsterm=8 letters so the first block ash=3 letters in the second block.
Monsterm is about the monster.com thing, therefore purloined. It's a double reference, the .co has been purloined from the purloined website.
Then blastoise -3, or rather blastois3 - 3 (mocking the common password meme of replacing letters with numbers)
So the last password, which is super hard to guess and well chosen even with the clue is, blastoisash? It's a feasibly memorable password that would not be quickly forgotten by a pokemon fan while still being hard to guess.
Can you think of a way to check it? Maybe go into the old command line xkcd and try it as a password?