explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1579: Tech Loops

2015-09-20T10:08:40Z

141.101.99.42: /* Transcript */ A couple of clarifications; More needed?

{{comic
| number = 1579
| date = September 18, 2015
| title = Tech Loops
| image = tech_loops.png
| titletext = And when I think about it, a lot of "things I want to do" are just learning about and discussing new tools for tinkering with the chain.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Now two different explanations. Should be merged/deleted. What is really missing is a list of all items in the comic, and what they mean, both in general, and in the context of the place in the comic, as when there are several libaries... Does it mean different things?}}

The comic is about how much of the time one might spend on a computer as a geek tends to be in maintaining the system itself rather using it, up to the point where maintaining the system becomes the main goal. Often the operating system needs periodic updates, which might break some apps which in turn need to be updated; apps themselves might need to be updated, which can create all sort of incompatibilities which one then needs to spend time fixing.

Most people consider computers as tools to achieve something else -- e.g. to surf the web, read news or balance their bank account -- and they rather not have to maintain the OS or the computer if they can avoid it. However here Randall finds he's spending most of the time using his computer just for the sake of maintaining the OS or the hardware on said computer. It's tools for the sake of tooling, rather than tools as helpers to build something else.

A hardware equivalent would be reprap: get a 3d printer and end up spending all the time printing 3d parts for the printer instead of creating something else like toys or art.

The perils of hardware updates have been shown in [[349: Success]]

''(previous explanation below, somebody please edit and reconcile if you find both points of view interesting.)''

This comic is about how technically oriented people find more and more complex tools to solve simple problems, which is frustrating.

Usually, people who have used computers in the 1980s and 1990s feel that current tools are very powerful, but aimed at the wrong targets. A real life example of this can be someone who finds the Android keyboard lacks non-English characters, so this person thinks about programming a new keyboard app adding a few keys for characters used often in another language. This user tries to find simple example of Android programs to start learning the basics, and finds surprisingly that the "simple" application in Android is one that finds the GPS coordinates of the current position, searches for nearby gas stations and presents the user with a map for those gas stations.
This would be considered really, really difficult for traditional programming, especially if compared to the relatively simple task of presenting a keyboard on screen. One of the sections of the loop, where "VM" (virtual machine) and "Chat Client" are listed is likely a reference to the virtual machines that are used to run an old operation system to acces a chat room in [[1305: Undocumented Feature]].

So, in the comic [[Randall]] finds that the things he wishes to do with his computer (maybe presenting a simple keyboard on screen or performing some simple calculations) can't be done easily, however there are plenty of libraries and tools for other, much more complex, tasks, which in some cases could be related to what he is trying to do but in any event are far too complex to learn and not well suited for the simple goal in his mind.

This is similar to a traditional joke which can be found on [http://www.pfccheatsheet.com/fnpgmr90.htm this link].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:[A flow chart]
:→ means supports (key)
:<br/>
:Things I actually want to use my computer for [isolated box with no links into or out of, by any of the following]
:
:DLL needed by something → ? [two exits to unknowns]
:
:Library (1) → Awful hack from 2009 →
::Awful hack from 2009 → IRC for some reason → Awful hack from 2009 → (Loop)
::Awful hack from 2009 → Library (2) → Library (3) → Repository
::Awful hack from 2009 → Library (4) → Library (5) → Custom Settings → Library (6) →
:::Library (6) → Chat Client → Repository
:::Library (6) → Hardware Workaround →
::::Hardware Workaround → VM → Chat Client → Repository
::::Hardware Workaround → Awful hack from 2009 → (Loop)
:::Library (6) → Tool (1) → Updater →
::::Updater → Repository
::::Updater → Library (6) → (Loop)
::::Updater → Tool (2) → VM → Chat Client → Repository
:
:(Note the Repository node leads to nowhere)
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Computers]]

1516: Win by Induction

2015-04-24T10:22:03Z

141.101.99.42: /* Transcript */ Changed "Pikachus" to the correct plural - "Pikachu"

{{comic
| number = 1516
| date = April 24, 2015
| title = Win by Induction
| image = win by induction.png
| titletext = This would be bad enough, but every 30th or 40th pokéball has TWO of them inside.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This explanation is quite short, and the title text is not explained}}
{{w|Pikachu}} is a type of {{w|Pokémon}} from the cartoon series Pokémon. In the show, characters frequently 'fight' each other. This involves both characters choosing a Pokémon, who will then attack each other. Choosing a Pokémon is done by saying "I choose you, - name of the Pokémon -", and throwing a Pokéball to the ground. A Pokémon then appears from the Pokéball.
This comic suggests that a Pokémon chosen at some point was a Pikachu, but that this Pikachu does not intend to fight himself: carrying a Pokéball instead, Pikachu chooses another Pikachu to fight for him. This process then repeats itself. Behind the Pikachu with the Pokéball is a long line of other Pikachu's, suggesting that this process has been going on for a while.
The joke in this comic comes from analogy with the mathematical proof by induction, which is a proof with a base case, followed by a never ending sequence of steps, in which each step leads to the next, thus proving something for all cases. This title seems to suggest that the process of Pikachu's choosing Pikachu's will not end, effectively postponing the battle until the other Pokémon (not depicted) gives up.

If there was single Pikachu in each ball, this would spawn infinite, but countable, number of Pikachu (as many as integer numbers, N), forming a single line. If, as title text suggests, there's occasionally two of them in a Pokéball, this would lead to an exponential growth, forming a huge mob.

==Transcript==
[There's a long queue of {{w|Pikachu}} just out from their ball, standing in front of Megan and Cueball on the right, Cueball holding an opened pokeball while Megan checks the time on her watch. The front most Pikachu speaks.]

Front most Pikachu: Pikachu, I choose ''you''!

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

Talk:1516: Win by Induction

2015-04-24T09:50:19Z

141.101.99.42:

Is the alt text a reference to double-yolkers (eggs with two yolks)? [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16118149 They're only about 1 in every 1000] but it seems like an obvious reference. --[[User:Fenn|Fenn]] ([[User talk:Fenn|talk]]) 08:32, 24 April 2015 (UTC)
:Makes sense to me. I didn't even think of double yolks until you mentioned it here. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.89|173.245.50.89]] 09:04, 24 April 2015 (UTC)BK201

The explanation currently says that doubling makes it uncountably infinite. I'm pretty sure that doubling at each step (or every few steps) is still a countable infinite set. Proof here: http://practicaltypography.com/the-infinite-pixel-screen.html (see section "The internet demands a recount", because the first attempt is wrong). We can also prove it using the same argument as when proving that N x N is countable infinite (making zig-zag), but in this case making a breadth-first search of the tree of Pikachus: map 1 to the first Pikachu, map 2 and 3 to the two Pikachus at the second level, map 4, 5, 6, 7 to the four Pikachus at the third level, map (2^(n-1))…((2^n) - 1) to the 2^(n-1) Pikachus at level n. {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.177}}
:Saw this too late. Yes, I agree, and I have fixed it accordingly. --[[User:Stephan Schulz|Stephan Schulz]] ([[User talk:Stephan Schulz|talk]]) 09:28, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

"infinite, but countable" {Cough.} Someone doesn't understand infinity. Perhaps they meant "enumerable". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.155|108.162.250.155]] 09:29, 24 April 2015 (UTC)
:Someone doesn't understand countability. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.217|141.101.89.217]] 09:46, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

"The front most Pikachu speaks." Hey, look, it has those little lines to show it's speaking, not the blank white space behind it. Duh. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.155|108.162.250.155]] 09:32, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

Looks like Megan is looking at her watch as well. Mention in transcript/explanation? [[User:Fenn|Fenn]] ([[User talk:Fenn|talk]]) 09:34, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

Friendly reminder: Grammatically speaking, Pokémon are like sheep or deer. Singular and plural are both written the same. One Pikachu, many Pikachu, all the Pikachu. You'd be surprised at how much rage forgetting this causes in certain corners of the Internet.

435: Purity

2015-03-18T08:54:17Z

141.101.99.42: /* Explanation */ The others are standing to the left of the mathematician, unless we are referring to the mathematician standing on the right?

{{comic
| number = 435
| date = June 11, 2008
| title = Purity
| image = purity.png
| titletext = On the other hand, physicists like to say physics is to math as sex is to masturbation.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Mathematics}} is the abstract study of topics encompassing quantity, structure, space, change, and others. {{w|Physics}} is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through space and time, along with related concepts such as energy and force. They do this using mathematics. {{w|Chemistry}} is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. That is, they study a subset of physics, using a subset of physics. {{w|Biology}} is the subset of chemistry that is concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. {{w|Psychology}} is the study of mental functions and behaviors, why living things do what they do individually, which makes it a subset of Biology. {{w|Sociology}} is the study of society, or, the study of groups of people and their interactions, which sounds an awful lot like taking the skills of psychology and applying them.

Taking this logic to the extreme, one can say that a field is 'more pure', and thus matters more, than the fields derived from it. This is a topic often used in jokes between scientists of various fields as to who is more important. The physicist, of which everyone else's work is based upon, feels that he is at the top... but is ultimately upstaged by the mathematician, whose field is so pure that ultimately everything else could be seen as derived from it. After all, physics could not exist without math, thus ultimately everything can be expressed as a mathematical equation. Thus, the mathematician snobbishly says that she didn't even see any of the other fields standing so far over to the left on the graph. Alternatively they are not snobby - they are just so far detached from the real world - that they do not even understand that there could be a comparison between them and other fields. That is if they even know about these other fields!

The title text points out math is all just in your head, only for your own pleasure. Physics involves interactions with other objects. This leads to a comparison between sex (physics) and masturbation (mathematics), implying that physics is the real joy in the world.

==Transcript==
:Texts reads 'Fields arranged by purity'. An arrow is shown pointing right with the text 'more pure'.
:Six people are shown representing six scientific fields. They stand on a scale of purity with the left end representing less purity and the right representing more purity. They appear in this order, from left to right:
:Sociology, Psychology, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics.
:The mathematician stands much further to the right than any other field.

:Sociologist: Quiet.

:Psychologist: Sociology is just applied Psychology.

:Biologist: Psychology is just applied Biology.

:Chemist: Biology is just applied Chemistry

:Physicist: Which is just applied Physics. It's nice to be on top.

:Mathematician: Oh, hey, I didn't see you guys all the way over there.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Psychology]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Sex]]

Talk:1005: SOPA

2015-03-06T18:35:49Z

141.101.99.42:

Anyone try the brightness-contrast with the XKCD [[521: 2008 Christmas Special|2008 x-mas Special]]? [[Special:Contributions/66.19.70.101|66.19.70.101]] 02:20, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

:Negative. [[Special:Contributions/108.233.253.211|108.233.253.211]] 02:53, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

:Yes. There is NO color information in those black panels, all pixels read 0x000000. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.53|108.162.216.53]] 20:52, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:I tried it in Microsoft Office 2010 and got a faint, but very readable image just like the one above.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.42|141.101.99.42]] 18:35, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

What do they mean "typical XKCD fashion"? What other comics have hidden messages in them? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.91|173.245.48.91]] 22:11, 8 August 2014 (UTC)