explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2146: Waiting for the But

2019-05-08T06:50:20Z

162.158.111.61:

Added a basic backbone for explanation, but needs to be worked on more, definitely.
Suggest all comments to use a but somewhere in them - [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.240|141.101.107.240]] 11:28, 6 May 2019 (UTC)

Done the transcript - please check as this is my first edit(s!) - [[Special:Contributions/162.158.231.25|162.158.231.25]] 11:33, 6 May 2019 (UTC)
:It was basically fine. I added a bit more description (no need for no wiki around a single [ ] brackets of those types... And some formatting details. Great work. I now completed it. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:45, 6 May 2019 (UTC)
::"It was basically fine [''but''] I added a bit more description." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.172|108.162.216.172]] 15:19, 6 May 2019 (UTC)

Expanded the explanation a bit. I'm new here and not trying to complain, but how many edits (or other criteria) do I have to meet before I can edit without solving the captcha each time? Or does that never go away?[[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:56, 6 May 2019 (UTC)
:It will go away, but I have no idea when. I think it was not here when I began, and having made top 3 with most edits its been a while... ;-) We had some problems with bots posting I think... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:45, 6 May 2019 (UTC)
:I think I never needed to fill the captcha since I created an account, so it must've changed since. Hmmmm ... did you tried confirming your email address? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:09, 6 May 2019 (UTC)

Everything after "but" is horseshit. (Someone in GoT). {{unsigned|Jkrstrt}}
:It's "everything '''before''' ''but'' is horseshit" and Eddard Stark said it according to John Snow. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 14:03, 6 May 2019 (UTC)

Look, whenever a comment starts with "Listen," I know that no matter how long the disclaimer, what follows the "but" is going to be bad. (the same applies to comments starting with "Look," ;^) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.34|162.158.214.34]] 13:20, 6 May 2019 (UTC)

Ponytail:"... but using Phoenix as flying cars could be cool."
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.54.69|172.69.54.69]] 15:38, 6 May 2019 (UTC)
:"...but movie companies that add anything to the credits aside from actual credits should be tied to the middle of a highway and have their houses burned down." --[[User:Youforgotthisthing|Youforgotthisthing]] ([[User talk:Youforgotthisthing|talk]]) 00:11, 7 May 2019 (UTC)

Finally got around to making an edit for something here on the wiki for once! lol --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|'''JayRules''XKCD''' ]]<sup>[[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|what's up?]]</sup> 10:58, 7 May 2019 (UTC)

(cartoon) but....Wouldn't it be cool to see a horde of elephants roasted to death in a horrific freeway accident where their truck is lit on fire by an arsonist that saves a town from starvation? [[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 15:20, 7 May 2019 (UTC)

(tagline) but...we really need Amway salesmen to start pushing and enforcing scriptures against witchcraft.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 15:20, 7 May 2019 (UTC)

Is it really smart to use a current sensitive political topic as example for "I don't wanna be racist, buuuut....." ? How about something along the lines of "I'm not saying you're stupid, but that was really dumb" or something more innocent like that ? There actually are some valid arguments against this migration wave, like overpopulation in europe or clashing cultures, and there are no easy answers here. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.61|162.158.111.61]] 06:50, 8 May 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2140: Reinvent the Wheel

2019-04-26T11:40:42Z

162.158.111.61:

I took a screenshot of google image search at 2:24 PM ET on 4/22/2019, and a bicycle wheel is indeed the first result. I'm trying to figure out how to get my image into the wiki ;p [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.82|162.158.78.82]] 18:25, 22 April 2019 (UTC)
: (same user) Man! I found an old account I made and logged in with it to upload a file, but it says I need special permission to do so! [[User:Baffo32|Baffo32]] ([[User talk:Baffo32|talk]]) 18:33, 22 April 2019 (UTC)
: If somebody with permission could upload this, it would be great: https://ipfs.io/ipfs/Qmf1a9NFFAcgWRUe45Ueg4FggXTUAd9BHMgEqWp23izchU [[User:Baffo32|Baffo32]] ([[User talk:Baffo32|talk]]) 18:43, 22 April 2019 (UTC)
:: I get this (in the UK, using Google UK, and same result in a fresh Incognito session): https://www.makerlab-electronics.com/product/65mm-rubber-wheel-blue/ It looks like a decent wheel, albeit probably a bit small for most uses [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.11|141.101.99.11]] 22:41, 22 April 2019 (UTC)
: Here it is on imgur: https://imgur.com/a/8nHemgW [[User:Baffo32|Baffo32]] ([[User talk:Baffo32|talk]]) 19:38, 23 April 2019 (UTC)
::Added the image to a trivia section, and links to it from the explanation. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:59, 24 April 2019 (UTC)

I looked for a cheese wheel by searching wheel but couldn't find any. there was, however, a roulette wheel [[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.72|172.68.47.72]] 20:41, 22 April 2019 (UTC)

Looks like beret guy is working for an automotive startup, possibly one of the many software companies that are developing AI for self-driving cars? It is true that tires are made by outside suppliers (not by the auto companies) so in terms of software development tires could be called "external dependencies". However, tires are far from a semi-random selection as intimated here. A large amount of time and effort is spent developing special tires for each vehicle model to give the best possible compromise between many conflicting requirements such as: dry/wet/snow traction, noise, ride, wear, high speed durability (for high performance cars) and so on, the complete list has many more items.

If Randall is looking for new tires for his vehicle, I offer my standard recommendation: If you were fairly happy with the tires that came with the car, try and replace them with the closest possible equivalent to take advantage of the original development effort. This is not always possible, and of course if you are using the vehicle for a special purpose (mostly drive on dirt roads, use your car in weekend autocross competition, etc.), you may do better with something different.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.58|162.158.75.58]] 18:36, 22 April 2019 (UTC)

This comic could also be talking about coding, where reinventing the wheel is writing your own code from scratch, as there is other code which works perfectly well. This makes particular sense as the "external dependencies" could be in terms of code as well
[[User:Gollum|Gollum]] ([[User talk:Gollum|talk]]) 18:45, 22 April 2019 (UTC)

I think the point is that their company is having to reinvent their cars to fit each dependency wheel, rather than develop a wheel that will fit their preexisting car. For cars, wheels are for the most part interchangeable, but external dependencies in software are very much not so. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.100|108.162.229.100]]

I suspect this is a comment on JavaScript (JS) coding for the web, specifically the NPM node.js package manager. I'm not a front-end Web developer, but apparently lots of web pages use NPM to pull down dependencies, bits of code to accomplish some task, rather than write it new (thus, avoid 'reinventing the wheel'). The problem is there's poor control over what those dependencies do and how they might get modified on you unexpectedly. See the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Npm_(software)#Notable_breakages Wikipedia article] on NPM for some history of bad breakages that have occurred.
: I second this comment as being the key to the explanation. Especially when your external dependencies are also hosted on sites that you don't control; any functionality that you depend on can be replaced at any time, analogous to swapping out a sedan's tire for a bicycle tire. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.202|108.162.215.202]] 20:03, 22 April 2019 (UTC)
: thirded. googling a solution to your coding problem and then implementing it (as a third-party library or as code directly) is very much as described in this comic. yay, randall! --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.241|162.158.154.241]] 09:39, 23 April 2019 (UTC)

The point of the comic is likely that the term "Reinvent the Wheel" is not typically used in a literal sense to refer to actual wheels, as it is in this comic. Instead, it usually refers to exerting effort on something that adds no value over re-using something that already exists, whether it's a product's design or something intangible like an idea or study. We could probably provide a link to the Wikipedia article on the topic to help readers who are unfamiliar with the phrase. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 19:38, 22 April 2019 (UTC)

I don't have a problem with the explanation mentioning that the comic might be making some statement about software developers carelessly using code off the Internet, but I'm not sure we can say with such certainty that this IS the point of the comic, as it currently states. I certainly don't get any indication that it's specifically about JavaScript. I think Randall just thought the phrase "Reinvent the Wheel" would be funny if he had a character using it literally, and anything deeper than that might just be our own personal issues. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 22:32, 22 April 2019 (UTC)

There is nothing in the comic that's specifically about JavaScript, although the issues with NPM are a good example of what can happen more generally in other environments. But the terms "external dependencies" and "reduced overhead", plus looking for wheels on Google and the title text mentioning reinventing the vehicle to fit the wheel, to me are a clear sign that this is an analogy for software development. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.226.195|172.69.226.195]] 02:28, 23 April 2019 (UTC)

"That one time a wheel of cheese got dangerously close to the front page" - Is this a reference to that time SpaceX launched a wheel of cheese into space as a demo payload? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.255.104|172.68.255.104]] 08:01, 23 April 2019 (UTC)

This seems like it could be a reference to some independent game development communities, where users tend to enjoy making things "from scratch", but are often encouraged (sometimes quite aggressively) to avoid reinventing the wheel (often those exact words). I don't know if Randall is aware or involved in these communities, but it seems to fit perfectly. [[User:Probably not Douglas Hofstadter|Probably not Douglas Hofstadter]] ([[User talk:Probably not Douglas Hofstadter|talk]]) 13:35, 23 April 2019 (UTC)

This might be a python joke. Python packages on pypi are usually distributed in a file format called wheels. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.183.5|162.158.183.5]] 19:00, 23 April 2019 (UTC)

The influence of this comic on the popularity of searching the word seems to have been minor, but noticeable: https://imgur.com/dkuBK5h [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.190|162.158.238.190]] 19:29, 23 April 2019 (UTC)
: What I want to know is, how can we make a cheese wheel show up? Can we google bomb this image search?
[[User:Keybounce|Keybounce]] ([[User talk:Keybounce|talk]]) 05:08, 24 April 2019 (UTC)

I wonder, could there be a type of cheese hard enough to be viable as wheels for some kind of vehicle? There certainly exists some real hard types of cheese out there, it should not be impossible to use a cheese wheel, even if it were to be ridiculously expensive.
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.182.160|172.68.182.160]] 07:50, 24 April 2019 (UTC)
:well, hardness is not necessarily the factor to look for. A very hard wheel would mean you would feel each and every of the smallest bump in the road (or would need a suspension that can handle them. Suspensions usually are more for the medium sized bumps). Also hardness often means brittleness. Imagine building a wheel of marble for your car. it wouldn't dent, but break as soon as there is a major hit on it... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:20, 24 April 2019 (UTC)

;Change to the header text - is it related to the comic?
I have updated the [[Design_of_xkcd.com#Header_text|header text]] section on the [[Design of xkcd.com]] page with the [[Design_of_xkcd.com#2019-04-23|new header text]] out with this comic. I can see that in the "loong" explanation someone has mentioned Google Reader already, probably because of this. So I have also added a link to this change to the explanation. How relevant is Google reader for this comic, and is that actually a reason to expect the comic is about computer programming and not inventions... (As per the [[#To include or not to include|To include or not include section]] here below)? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:03, 24 April 2019 (UTC)
: I don't feel it's relevant. Maybe something for the trivia section? [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:45, 25 April 2019 (UTC)

== To include or not to include ==
I deleted a part of the explanation which I feel doesn't add anything to the explanation of the comic. This change was reverted. And since I don't want to delete them again just for them to re-appear I'll open the discussion here. In my opnion the explanation can be understood very fine without these paragraphs. I'm talking about the paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 of the current explanation. These make the explanation unnecessarily convulted. Especially since they introduce terms which need a further explanation (Among others: What's a library in this context? What is npm?) [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 13:42, 24 April 2019 (UTC)
:I thought your edit was appropriate, as there's way too much information in the current explanation. If others think some of the information is helpful, then it should be significantly pared down in size rather than just reverting your edit. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 13:55, 24 April 2019 (UTC)
::I agree that there is too much on software development. There is not even any guarantee that the comic refers to this. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:59, 24 April 2019 (UTC)
:For what it's worth, I noticed that you didn't have any bias because you hadn't contributed to the explanation before your last edit. However, the user that reverted you had previously added all of the content you removed, so they clearly thought it was necessary even before you removed it. I'd like to hear from anyone else on how they feel about the contested content. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:03, 24 April 2019 (UTC)
:: That's why I opened this topic :) [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 14:39, 24 April 2019 (UTC)
: I put it back because I think it's useful to show that there really are people/industries who behave as Beret Guy does, and who get burned by it. I could go for shifting it over into the 'trivia' section. --[[User:NotaBene|NotaBene]] ([[User talk:NotaBene|talk]]) 20:14, 24 April 2019 (UTC)
::Which is in my opinion covered by "even if it wasn't initially designed to handle the task for which it is being used and thus may have unintended side effects or other issues." This part (or the part before that) could be generalized some more so it applies not only to code and programmers but engineering in general and it would be sufficient to explain the comic. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:41, 25 April 2019 (UTC)

The comic does not expicitly or implicitly mention the automotive industry. At best, you can assume beret guy is manufacturing vehicles.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.61|162.158.111.61]] 11:40, 26 April 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2135: M87 Black Hole Size Comparison

2019-04-10T19:52:05Z

162.158.111.61:

inb4 anti-semitic troll vandalizes the page [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.64|162.158.78.64]] 19:38, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

Am I the only to one who is amazed at just how *far* Voyager has come? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.61|162.158.111.61]] 19:52, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

7: Girl sleeping (Sketch -- 11th grade Spanish class)

2018-08-07T09:41:33Z

162.158.111.61: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 7
| date = September 30, 2005
| title = Girl sleeping (Sketch -- 11th grade Spanish class)
| image = girl_sleeping_noline_(1).jpg
| titletext = I don't remember her name at all, but she fell asleep on the floor in front of me.
}}

==Explanation==
The early comics sometimes do not present a particular point, but are just pictures drawn by [[Randall]].

This is as the title says - a sketch of a girl sleeping. Drawn during a Spanish class.

According to the title text, she is also on the floor.

==Transcript==
:[Girl sleeping on her side, facing away from view.]

==Trivia==
*This was the 1st comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].
**The next was [[4: Landscape (sketch)]].
*Original title: "Girl sleeping"
*Original [[Randall]] quote: "I drew this in 11th-grade Spanish class. We were watching a movie and she was asleep on the floor in front of me."
*This was one of the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|thirteen first comics]] posted to LiveJournal within 12 minutes on Friday September 30, 2005.
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].
*The drawing returns in [[1506: xkcloud]] as one of the [[1506: xkcloud/Pictures of other pages#Help! We lost the text|Help! We lost the text]] given images.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 01]]
[[Category:First day on LiveJournal| 01]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]

Talk:1976: Friendly Questions

2018-04-05T13:07:35Z

162.158.111.61:

same
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.160|162.158.238.160]] 15:57, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

>How many apples have you eaten?

IS THAT A JOJO REFERENCE? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.82|172.68.211.82]] 16:22, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

:Are you referring to the singer or the NY restaurant? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 19:32, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

::He's referring to the manga, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. In it, Zeppeli asks Dio, "How many lives have you sucked away to heal those wounds?" Dio responds, "Do you remember how many breads you've eaten in your life?" [sic] [[Special:Contributions/172.69.54.63|172.69.54.63]] 21:29, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

:::Ok, thanks. Would not have gotten that in a lifetime! Your IP addresses are very close to each other - do you two know each other, or is this particular manga more popular than one might think? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 23:01, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

::::It’s definitely a well known manga, with numerous internet memes spawned from it. Personally, I’m experiencing a Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon with it since Team Fortress 2 just had an update including an outfit that looks like the main character Jotaro Kujo. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.82|172.68.211.82]] 04:34, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

I can relate way too much to this comic. Then again, I bet most of us here relate to xkcd in general, and are probably logically, socially inept, nerds. [[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 17:54, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

The last one of these was published a mere 15 comics ago. I assume this is becoming some sort of satirical how-to series.
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.112|172.68.211.112]] 22:46, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

:Nah, Randall has just returned to some of his old themes recently. Check out the categories! Oh, and should we try to get the numbers on how many apples an average guy eats in his lifetime? I fell like maybe we could just write it, as a fun fact. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 23:51, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

I would assume "Do you like apples" might be weird unless there is some apple context, but at least answerable. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:47, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Noone else feels like this could be a reference to the - by now a few weeks old - news story in which the US president used a note on how to show human emotions to the vicitims of a massshooting? [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 05:26, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

The "I should go" reminds me of Mass Effect token phrase when ending dialogues. Could that be relevant to the post? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.61|162.158.111.61]] 13:07, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1925: Self-Driving Car Milestones

2017-12-07T09:08:49Z

162.158.111.61:

This page is, without offense to the creator, a mess. We're gonna need a table for this. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.78|172.68.47.78]] 19:14, 6 December 2017 (UTC)
* Or at least a list. I have created one, but it could use fleshing out.[[User:WingedCat|WingedCat]] ([[User talk:WingedCat|talk]]) 19:55, 6 December 2017 (UTC)
::List is fine. You don't need a table for everything - expecially if this table had only one or two columns...
: none taken, it's my first time (I only wrote the first three points from a blank page) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.61|162.158.111.61]] 09:08, 7 December 2017 (UTC)

I'm going to go with a [citation needed] on that "sex in a self-driving has probably already happened." Are there stats suggesting the amount of coitus per vehicle in the relevant counties?

"This a joke about Boolean satisfiability, as evaluating an arbitrarily complex bumper sticker and determining whether to honk is NP-complete." What? Determining whether to honk has nothing to do with the satisfiability problem; this is more of a joke about getting a computer to evaluate the truth of Boolean expressions that it may have no information about. [[User:Checkmate|Checkmate]] ([[User talk:Checkmate|talk]]) 22:07, 6 December 2017 (UTC)Checkmate

I believe the "Autonomous canyon jumping" is related to the self-loathing; a self-loathing is likely to autonomously jump off a cliff. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.179|108.162.212.179]] 22:30, 6 December 2017 (UTC)

"As of 2017, self-driving s require a human to be able to take over just in case, but any such trip where the human never actually took control would qualify for this milestone."
I seems like not all places require a human backup driver: https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/7/16615290/waymo-self-driving-safety-driver-chandler-autonomous
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.146|172.69.22.146]] 23:19, 6 December 2017 (UTC)
Time to start printing "Honk if this statement evaluates as 'do not honk!'" bumper stickers! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.28|162.158.63.28]] 01:24, 7 December 2017 (UTC)

Is this related to the Vsauce Mind Field video about self-driving s and the trolley problem the literally released today, or is it just a weird coincidence?[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.225|162.158.74.225]] 05:13, 7 December 2017 (UTC)