explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1159: Countdown

2018-11-22T07:37:43Z

162.158.255.172: /* Transcript */ 1 box table is still a table

{{comic
| number = 1159
| date = January 11, 2013
| title = Countdown
| image = countdown.png
| titletext = For all we know, the odds are in our favor.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic shows a {{w|seven segment display}} (aka [http://www.ece.mtu.edu/labs/EElabs/EE2304/pages/bcd_to_seven_segment_TAversion.html calculator-style numbers]) with a countdown. [[Black Hat]] explains that it is a countdown, maybe to a {{w|supervolcano}} eruption. However, an unfortunately placed picture blocks view of the full display. Due to the form of a seven-segment display, the first digit could be 0, 6, or 8, and five digits are completely blocked by the picture. [[Cueball]] is worried and asks him to move the picture, but Black Hat lazily or teasingly refuses to move it.

He has already teased that he doesn't know what the countdown is for. His reply can either be understood as if he do not know which one of the ({{w|Supervolcano#VEI_8|seven potential}}) supervolcanos it is counting down to, or to which other {{w|Global catastrophic risk|cataclysmic event}} it is a countdown for (such as a {{w|Impact event|meteor strike}} or global {{w|Nuclear warfare|nuclear war}} for instance - it could also just be a general {{w|Doomsday Clock}}). Since it seems to be Black Hat's countdown, it is safe to assume that he knows both what it counts down to and when it stops, but he just likes to mess with peoples' minds.

The fully visible part starts at 2409, and based on the pace of the scene, it seems to be in seconds. Thus, it is unclear when the eruption might occur. If the obscured digits are all 0s, it could be as soon as 40 minutes. On the other hand, if the obscured digits are '899 999', there's another 2.85 million years to go; if they are '000 001', we have a little more than 3 years.

The choice of the picture is probably also interesting. The image is distorted enough that you can imagine it as being two very different images.
#It could depict a setting sun either reflecting in an ocean or with a river (possible also a lake) running out of the picture. But if it is a sun it is not very circular, although there do appear lines to indicate it is shining. This could maybe be explained with atmospheric interference.
#Alternatively it depicts an exploding volcano, a mountain with lines away from it to indicate the explosion or the eruption. And then it is lava flowing away from it or collecting in lakes.
In either case it makes sense, so maybe this is on purpose. If it is a volcano, the supervolcano clock makes sense. On the other hand, we are talking about the possible end of the world as we know it, and for this kind of theme a sun setting upon humanity would be a great metaphor.

The title text: "For all we know, the odds are in our favor" could imply the assumption that since we can't see the digits behind the picture, we can treat them as random. If so, chances are only 1 in 300 000 they are all zeros. However, because of statistical principles such as {{w|Benford's law}}, the digits are not entirely random, and the {{w|odds}} are higher than 1/299 999 for all the digits to be zero, since the middle 4 digits are zero.

In an alternative view, the strip is not about pondering at distributions of digits on an oracle countdown. It's more of a grim view of our natural disasters prediction capabilities. As they say – the question is not if it will happen but when it will happen. "Move the picture" would mean investing into research and warning systems - that would correspond to shifting the picture to the left. If we disregard the 40 minutes, but instead think of it as arbitrary interval of interests, minuscule as we folks have them, say - one's lifetime; or grimmer yet - some {{w|term of office}}. Because, hey, year after year passes and no apocalypse has been observed - the empirical odds are low indeed. An interesting question is what we would use the knowledge of the timing of our impending doom, if it is an event we can do nothing about, such as stopping a supervolcanic eruption or a large asteroid with direct impact course on Earth. Would we not have lives more happily for our remaining years, how few that might be, while not knowing... On the other hand, if the event is something we might prevent given enough time to plan (and the funding resources such knowledge would ensure), then it may have saved us, if we moved the picture just in time!

Using a countdown theme for comic #1159 could be a subtle joke, as 11:59/23:59 is one minute to midnight (on the Doomsday clock!)

Supervolcanos was also referenced in the title text of [[1053: Ten Thousand]] and it is the subject of in [[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar]].

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is sitting with his laptop on a desk when Cueball, standing behind him, looks up on the wall and asks him about the large digital countdown timer with red numbers which is hanging high up on the wall. It has a white frame around the black display with the red numbers. Most of the left part of the counter is covered by a framed picture which hangs on a string attached to a nail above the counter. The picture depicts either a setting sun reflecting in an ocean, or an exploding volcano with lava flowing away from it. The picture does not block the left most part of the frame around the counter, and it is also possible to see the two left-most lines of the first digit on the countdown, so they are both turned on. This proves that the numbers goes all the way to the left end. The next five digits are covered by the picture. Then one digit is only partly covered, as only the two most left lines are not visible. From the visible lines it is though clear that this digit shows a 0. The next seven digits are fully visible, giving eight discernible digits.]
:
:'''00002409'''
:
:Cueball: What's that?
:Black Hat: Countdown.
:[Same picture, but Cueball is looking at Black Hat. The counter counts down.]
:
:'''00002400'''
:
:Cueball: To what?
:Black Hat: Supervolcano, I think. I forget which one.
:[Cueball looks up again for about 18s (between 2nd and fourth image) - beat panel.]
:
:'''00002396'''
:
:[Cueball looks at Black Hat again.]
:
:'''00002382'''
:
:Cueball: Maybe we should move that picture?
:Black Hat: Too hard to reach. It's probably fine.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Time]]

2067: Challengers

2018-11-02T14:13:09Z

162.158.255.172: /* Explanation */ Added more new information and explained several of the unexplained minicomics

{{comic
| number = 2067
| date = November 2, 2018
| title = Challengers
| image = challengers.png
| titletext = Use your mouse or fingers to pan + zoom. To edit the map, submit your ballot on November 6.
}}
To see the full zoomable picture go to the [https://xkcd.com/2067/ original] comic page.

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Need more explanation of the subcomics. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[File:challengers_loading_screen.png|thumb|200px|Loading screen]]
This comic shows all challengers to the {{w|United States elections, 2018|midterm elections}} hold on November 6, 2018. Many larger names provide a link to the homepage of the specific person, or an article about the election that candidate is participating in. The landmarks are taken from this {{w|List of U.S. National Historic Landmarks by state|Wikipedia}} page. Since the map is large there's also a [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/challengers.png loading screen] present that can be seen while the map is loading.

There are also a total of nine comics embedded into the map at various locations. They are all loaded when you zoom in enough into the map to the appropriate section.

===House===
[[File:challengers_subcomic_washington_dc.png|thumb|200px|House]]

; Location
: '''Washington, DC'''

; Transcript
: [We can see Cueball standing in the middle of Washington, DC]
: Cueball: I can see my house from here!

; Explanation
: Subcomic probably referencing the White House.

===Ballot Measures===
[[File:challengers_subcomic_weed_california.png|thumb|200px|Ballot Measures]]

; Location
: '''Weed, California'''

; Transcript
: [We can see Cueball holding a piece of paper talking to Megan]
: Cueball: Question #1 voids all 2018 ballot measures except itself.
: Cueball: Question #2 retroactively lowers the threshold for passing ballot measures to 5%
: Cueball: Question #3 requires a re-vote on all failed ballot measures a day later
: Cueball: Question #4 requires a re-vote on all passed ballot measures a day later
: Cueball: Question #5 bans those annoying phone scammers, but also says that if an odd number of ballot measures pass, Christmas is canceled
: Cueball: Question #6 makes a "yes" count as a "no" on odd-numbered ballot measures
: Cueball: Question #7 does nothing but counts as a ballot measure passing
: Cueball: Question #8 says that-
: Megan: I'm leaving these all blank and voting against whoever approves ballot measures

; Explanation
: This probably refers to a ballot which would change how ballots are counted in the future. Lot of the proposed ideas sound complex and self-referential as well, therefore Megan just says that she doesn't wish to vote to any of them. This might refer to a fact that some people believe non of the choices on a ballot are good, and instead vote to no-one or deface their ballot papers

===Carlymandering===
[[File:challengers_subcomic_seattle_washington.png|thumb|200px|Carlymandering]]

; Location
: '''Seattle, Washington'''

; Transcript
: [We can see a presentation by Cueball to a group of people including White Hat and Hairbun sitting at an office desk. The presentation shows a map of a district]
: Cueball: Under my new Carlymandering plan, we'll create five red districts, five blue districts, and one district which contains only Carly Rae Jepsen
: Hairbun: That seems fair.

; Explanation
: This refers to a Gerrymandering, a tactic used to re-shape voting district boundaries to make sure one candidate prevails over the other. The name is conflated with Carly Rae Jepsen, who is a Canadian singer.

===Attack Ads===
[[File:challengers_subcomic_abernathy_texas.png|thumb|200px|Attack Ads]]

; Location
: '''Abernathy, Texas'''

; Transcript
: [We can see Black Hat and Cueball talking]
: Black Hat: Starting on November 7th, we're going to blanket the airwaves with attack ads
: Cueball: Isn't the election on November 6th?
: Black Hat: Yeah, the advertising rates go way down after that.

; Explanation
: Attack ads are campaign advertising that usually attack the opponents' campaign instead of promoting one's own. The comic also refers to the fact that media outlets usually spike their advertising prices during the campaign, and it becomes cheaper afterwards. However there's usually no point in advertising afterwards for a campaign as the polling has already taken place.

===Scholten===
[[File:challengers_subcomic_storm_lake_iowa.png|thumb|200px|Scholten]]

; Location
: '''Storm Lake, Iowa'''

; Transcript
: Queball: The midterms are so stressful.
: Megan: I just hope J.D. Scholten wins.
: Cueball: Why?
: Megan: Google Steve King.
: [Cueball looking at his phone]
: Cueball: Yikes.

; Explanation

===Polls===
[[File:challengers_subcomic_primm_nevada.png|thumb|200px|Polls]]

; Location
: '''Primm, Nevada'''

; Transcript
: [We can see a group of people]
: Remember: The only poll that counts is the one on Election Day. And the ones that help campaigns allocate resources. And the ones that drive media coverage and the ones that inform us all about what our fellow members of the public believe. And the ones that...

; Explanation
: During campaign there are usually polling done by survey companies to determine each candidate's changes. This comic refers to the fact that usually the candidate that is behind in the polls usually says that they don't matter, as it's just a survey and not the final result. This is usually to encourage their voter base that it's still worth voting for them.

===Spanberger===
[[File:challengers_subcomic_richmond_virginia.png|thumb|200px|Spanberger]]

; Location
: '''Richmond, Virginia'''

; Transcript
: [Cueball is holding a sign that says: Abigail Spanberger for Congress]

; Explanation
: Abigail Spanberger is a candidate running for Congress in Virginia's 7th district, which includes Richmond.

===St Louis===
[[File:challengers_subcomic_saint_louis_missouri.png|thumb|200px|St Louis]]

; Location
: '''Saint Louis, Missouri'''

; Transcript
: [We can see two people near the Gateway Arch talking]
: Ah, Saint Louis. Home of America's largest... Whatever that thing is.

; Explanation
: Saint Louis, Missouri is the location of the Gateway Arch, the largest arch in the United States. (It's also one of the most recognizable arches in Saint Louis, according to [[1368: One Of The]].) Since in this comic they are next to the side of the arch, it is possible its sheer size stops them from determining what it is, although they should probably know.

===Punish===
[[File:challengers_subcomic_chadron_nebraska.png|thumb|200px|Punish]]

; Location
: '''Chadron, Nebraska'''

; Transcript
: [Woman standing at a podium]
: If elected, I vow to find and punish the voters responsible.

; Explanation
: Often candidates make promises of things they will do when they are elected. Vowing to find and punishing people responsible for a certain action, oftentimes criminals, is also common. However, these two things are conflated here to ludicrous effect.

===Title text===
The title text shows the hint that the reader can zoom in and move over all US-States revealing many details can't be seen at the overall view. Furthermore [[Randall]] does a call to vote: he requests people to take an active part in the elections to change that picture.

==Transcript==
:[A loading screen appears shortly before the large picture has rendered. We can see an American flag in an oval badge with the text:]
:"I voted"
:[And beneath a text saying:]
:Loading...

:2018 Midterm
:'''Challengers'''
:The bigger the candidate's name, the higher the office and the better their chances of success.

:[In a frame a zoomable map shows all US-States (Alaska and Hawaii are shown in the left lower corner.) The candidates are shown colored mainly in red and blue at different sizes. Each state has many landmarks shown in gray. There are also many comics embedded into the picture.]

:By Randall Monroe, Kelsey Harris, and Max Goodman

:Landmarks from Wikipedia. Success odds estimated from district voting history, special election
:results, and seat ratings. Thank you to Dailykos Elections for their spreadsheets, shaplefiles election
:ratings, and advice, and to @davidshor, @charlotteeffect, and @thedlcc for additional candidate data.

==Trivia==
*The comic [[Design_of_xkcd.com#Header|header]] had changed to:
:''Find out where to vote: [https://www.vote.org/ Vote.org]''
:''See what's on your ballot: [https://www.ballotready.org/ BallotReady.org]''
:This happened on the day this comic came out, as it up till [http://web.archive.org/web/20181101081612/https://xkcd.com/ the day before], had been a different reminder of the election only with the vote.org link.
*The interactive picture does not work in many browsers when using the link ''[https://www.xkcd.com www.xkcd.com]'', only the short ''[https://xkcd.com xkcd.com]'' works properly because the page uses an absolute link to a file ''[https://xkcd.com/2067/asset/map-data.json map-data.json]'' at the domain ''<nowiki>xkcd.com</nowiki>'' which is not allowed from ''<nowiki>www.xkcd.com</nowiki>'' according to {{w|Cross-origin resource sharing}}.
* The internal comics have a kind of "comic" inside the [https://xkcd.com/2067/asset/map-data.json map-data.json] file that contains all of the details shown on the map. All other locations, including politicians and landmarks inside the map-data.json have a kind of "label"

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Elections]]

522: Google Trends

2018-10-14T06:08:31Z

162.158.255.172: /* Transcript */ “wikitable” is searched up on Explainxkcd the most in [MY CITY REDACTED]

{{comic
| number = 522
| date = December 26, 2008
| title = Google Trends
| image = google_trends.png
| titletext = Obama has been writing Lincoln/Obama erotic fan fiction on his secret livejournal. Excerpt: Lincoln lay back on the bed, nude save for his trademark stovepipe hat. 'Tell me,' he purred seductively, as he and Obama formed a more perfect union. 'When you come, is it 10% ethanol?'
}}

==Explanation==
Google keeps track of which searches are most popular in which regions as part of more general data mining to improve their service. For the enjoyment/education of others, they release select, non-personal parts of this data under the banner "[http://www.google.com/trends/ Google Trends]."

The first statistic - that "Men kissing" was popular in Utah, a state normally opposed to homosexuality - is real. The others are made up for the sake of the joke. In order:

*'''"Installing Ubuntu" - Redmond, WA''': {{w|Ubuntu}} is a Linux distribution; Redmond, WA is home to {{w|Microsoft}}, the company that makes rival operating system Windows.
*'''"Running for President in 2010" - Wasilla, AK''': 2010 was not a presidential election year in the United States; Wasilla, AK is home to {{w|Sarah Palin}}, a politician known for making such gaffes.
*'''"Lincoln Fan Fiction" - Chicago, IL''': {{w|Abraham Lincoln}} was the US president from 1861 to his assassination in 1865; Chicago, IL is home to {{w|Barack Obama}}, who apparently reads (presumably {{w|erotic}}) {{w|fanfiction}} about the former president.
*'''"Raptors on Hoverboards" - Somerville, MA''': {{w|Velociraptors}} is a favorite xkcd topic; There are also frequently references to Back to the Future as with the {{w|hoverboards}} here. Somerville, MA is home to [[Randall Munroe]]. The speed of a ''Raptor on Hoverboard'' is given in [[526: Converting to Metric]].
*'''"How is babby formed" - Wasilla, AK''': "How is babby formed?" was the title (and most of the content) of an infamous Yahoo! Answers question (see the title text of [[481: Listen to Yourself]] and [[550: Density]]). Wasilla, AK is, again, home to {{w|Sarah Palin}}; a few months prior to this comic's release, Sarah Palin revealed that her daughter, Bristol Palin, was pregnant.
*'''"I hate this website" - Mountain View, CA''': Mountain View, CA is home to Google headquarters. The implication is that Google employees are putting "I hate this website" into Google.

With regards to the excerpt Randall provides in the title text:
*{{w|Slash fiction}} is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on homosexual behavior.
*Lincoln/Obama (pronounced Lincoln slash Obama) fan fiction normally should be between Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama.
*However we later see that {{w|Lincoln (car)|Lincoln}} is a car.
*The "more perfect union" line comes from the preamble to the US Constitution: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union..."
*{{w|Ethanol}} is the more scientific name for drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol.
*"{{w|Common ethanol fuel mixtures#E10_or_less|10% ethanol}}" refers to automotive gasoline that includes 10% ethanol (usually made from corn or other vegetables), with the hopes of reducing the dependence on oil for fuel.
*With regards to the title-text, the verb "[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/come come]" means "to have an orgasm" or "to ejaculate". In this mock slash fiction the Lincoln is supposed to ejaculate gasoline, and expects Obama to do the same.

==Transcript==
:Bloggers were recently amused to discover that,
:according to Google Trends, the search term:
:"men kissing" is most popular in conservative Utah.
:A few other embarrassing correlations:

:[A two column table]

:;Search Term
::Top City
----
:;Installing Ubuntu
::Redmond, WA

:;Running for President in 2010
::Wasilla, AK

:;Lincoln Fan Fiction
::Chicago, IL

:;Raptors on Hoverboards
::Somerville, MA

:;How is babby formed?
::Wasilla, AK

:;I hate this website
::Mountain View, CA

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Linux]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Google Search]]
[[Category:Homosexuality]]

2055: Bluetooth

2018-10-09T00:40:18Z

162.158.255.172: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2055
| date = October 5, 2018
| title = Bluetooth
| image = bluetooth.png
| titletext = Bluetooth is actually named for the tenth-century Viking king Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson, but the protocol developed by Harald was a wireless charging standard unrelated to the modern Bluetooth except by name.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Bluetooth}} is a technology invented in the mid 1990's and intended for devices to connect wirelessly over a relatively short range for the purpose of transmitting information and/or audio. For example, a headset that connects via Bluetooth could be connected to a computer that's also Bluetooth-enabled, and then whatever would normally come out of the computer's speakers would come out the headset's ear pieces instead, and whatever was spoken into the headset's microphone would be transmitted to the computer's audio input system as if coming in through the computer's microphone. For this to work, the two devices need to be paired, which means they need to know the unique identification number of the other device and have been given permission to communicate with it, as well as knowing what kind of data exchanges are both possible and allowed. This pairing process is not always a smooth process, especially given the somewhat limited methods some of these devices have for user interaction -- for example, headsets typically don't have screens and user interfaces that make it easy to select what computer or other device you want them to connect to, so you're often confronted by blinking lights and/or sounds to make it through the pairing process, with each device having its own method for initiating or accepting a pairing request.

[[Cueball]] is talking to [[White Hat]] about {{w|Bluetooth}} and wireless connectivity. He asks if it has become easier to stream audio via Bluetooth since he last used it. White Hat then replies that it has become an easy-to-use and streamlined service, where connecting devices is easy, and he gives some examples of how easy it is to use. Cueball is excited about this, until White Hat reveals that he was lying and that Bluetooth is still as hard to use as ever. Cueball then invokes the name of "Josiah Bluetooth", a fictitious person implied to have invented the eponymous Bluetooth. "Josiah" is an old-timey name and suggests the amusing idea that in the 1700s or 1800s a hardy inventor named Josiah Bluetooth came up with the idea for wireless audio. (Note that while there is no "Josiah Bluetooth" person, there is a "[https://www.impossible.com/josiah/ Josiah]" Bluetooth ceramic speaker.)

This comic also references the common problem of audio playing through the wrong device when Bluetooth is activated.

The title text is another misdirection joke because while the first part of the sentence is true (Bluetooth was indeed named after a tenth-century Viking king), it goes on to make the silly claim that King Harald himself developed a wireless charging standard. This is a reference to the {{w|Qi_(standard)|Qi wireless power transfer standard}} that, like Bluetooth, is a well-branded industry standard with a catchy name and wide adoption that also does not work quite as well as promised even 10 years after its first release. (It could also be a reference to Medieval Vikings charging into battle, which is, by most accounts, usually a fairly wireless affair (assuming one discounts chainmail armor).)

Specifically, the Viking king referenced in the title text, {{w|Harald Bluetooth|Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson}}, usually called Harald Bluetooth, was a ruler of Denmark and Norway who died in 985 or 986. Jim Kardach of Intel named the Bluetooth protocol after him, apparently as he united the various Norse tribes of Denmark into a single kingdom just as Bluetooth unites communication protocols. The {{w|Bluetooth#Logo|Bluetooth logo}} unites the two Norse {{w|runes}} corresponding to "H" and "B" for Harald Bluetooth.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and White Hat are talking, Cueball is holding a cell phone and wireless headphones.]
:Cueball: I haven’t used a wireless/bluetooth thingy in like ten years. Is audio stuff still a nightmare?
:White Hat: Nah, it’s great now.

:[Zoom in on White Hat, Cueball is off-screen.]
:White Hat: You tap devices together twice to link them and they flash in sync. (It pairs using accelerometer timing and sound.) Tap them three times to disconnect.
:White Hat: You can pair multiple inputs and outputs and it handles it smoothly.
:Cueball (off screen): Nice!
:White Hat: It just works. Sound comes from where you expect.
:Cueball (off screen): Wonderful.

:[Zoom out to White Hat and Cueball facing each other.]
:White Hat: Haha, just kidding, it’s a nightmare.
:Cueball: ''Noooooo!''
:White Hat: When I connect to my car, music starts blasting from my headphones while the car repeatedly plays a “New connection!” chime.
:Cueball: ''This is not what Josiah Bluetooth intended!''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]

2052: Stanislav Petrov Day

2018-09-29T19:55:48Z

162.158.255.172: Figured I would also link to the instructions

{{comic
| number = 2052
| date = September 28, 2018
| title = Stanislav Petrov Day
| image = stanislav_petrov_day.png
| titletext = I was going to get you an alarm clock that occasionally goes off randomly in the middle of the night, but you can ignore it and go back to sleep and it's fine.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please edit the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. This tag may be a FALSE ALARM. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Stanislav Petrov|Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov}} was a lieutenant colonel of the {{w|Soviet Air Defence Forces}} who became known as "the man who single-handedly saved the world from nuclear war" for his role in the {{w|1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident}}. The incident was unknown to the public until it was revealed shortly before the {{w|Dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolution of the Soviet Union}} in 1991.

On 26 September 1983, during the {{w|Cold War}}, the satellite-based early-warning system of the {{w|Soviet Union}} reported the launch of multiple {{w|Intercontinental ballistic missile|intercontinental ballistic missiles}} from the {{w|United States}}. At the time, tensions with the U.S. were on edge, and high officials of the Soviet Union, including General Secretary {{w|Yuri Andropov}}, were thought to be highly suspicious of a U.S. attack.

Petrov checked ground-based radars that indicated the report was a false alarm, noted that the warning system had detected only 1-5 missiles instead of the hundreds that would have been expected in the event of a {{w|pre-emptive nuclear strike|first strike}}, and chose to ignore it. This decision is seen as having prevented a retaliatory nuclear attack, which would have probably resulted in immediate escalation of the Cold War stalemate to a full-scale nuclear war and the deaths of tens to hundreds of millions of people. Investigation of the satellite warning system later confirmed that the system had indeed malfunctioned.

While it's highly probable that if Petrov had reported this incident to his superiors they would have come to the same conclusion, it was a point in time when many people feared that the Cold War may become hot. Andropov, the new Soviet leader, was considered weak by the US president {{w|Ronald Reagan}}, and the western counties were deploying new missile installation in Europe to counter existing missiles in the Eastern Bloc. This fear of nuclear war meant that at this time the {{w|Peace movement|peace movement}} in most western countries reached one of its highest levels.

In this comic [[Cueball]] reacts on a simple alert on his phone like most other people do. Too many ''alerts'' reach everybody on their mobile devices, ignored often without deeper knowledge about the issue behind.

The title text presents a much less important false alarm when Cueball made a gift to [[Megan]] in which the donated alarm clock alerts randomly in the middle of the night. After that alarm she just can breathe a sigh of relief and go back to sleep because it's still not early in the morning. Petrov may have taken also a deep breath, but like Megan nobody knows by their time.

====History of Petrov Day as a holiday====

The events of September 26 1983 were not made public until much later,{{Citation needed}} so it wasn't originally a holiday.

However, on the 2007 anniversary, {{w|Eliezer Yudkowsky}} wrote a [https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QtyKq4BDyuJ3tysoK/9-26-is-petrov-day blog post] for {{w|LessWrong}} suggesting that "Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, take a minute to not destroy the world.".

Not destroying the world has since evolved into an annual tradition.{{Citation needed}} There is a [http://petrovday.com/ website] for the holiday, with several variations of a ritual involving lighting and snuffing candles. The intended mood is that of a somber holiday, somewhere between {{w|Thanksgiving}} and a funeral.

However, there are also [https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/XJxwFMSL5TPN2usC6/modes-of-petrov-day more lighthearted takes]. A "hardcore mode" would be just like the normal holiday, but "During said ceremony, unveil a large red button. If anybody presses the button, the ceremony is over. Go home. Do not speak." Alternatively, "you use a website connected to *another* house where people are also celebrating Petrov Day. If anyone in one house presses the button, the other house receives a launch alarm. They have 60 seconds to respond. At the end of 60 seconds, their party is over, and they must go home silently. The website has some chance of giving you a false alarm." The website can be found [https://petrovday.bubbleapps.io/ here] with instructions on how to use it [https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/XJxwFMSL5TPN2usC6/modes-of-petrov-day#s4XtBX7Qg9btGf5Kx here].

Stanislav Petrov himself died in 2017, but in 2018 the {{w|Future of Life Institute}} decided to [https://futureoflife.org/2018/09/26/50000-award-to-stanislav-petrov-for-helping-avert-wwiii-but-us-denies-visa/ award] his surviving family a $50,000 prize for his contributions. However, the fact that Petrov's son couldn't "get a visa to visit the city his dad saved from nuclear annihilation is emblematic of how frosty US-Russian relations have gotten, which increases the risk of accidental nuclear war.”

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Megan is looking at her phone while Cueball stands in front of her.]
:Megan: Hey, Wednesday was Stanislav Petrov Day. We missed it.
:Cueball: Oh, shoot!
:Cueball: I got a calendar alert for it, but I assumed it was a false alarm.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

2052: Stanislav Petrov Day

2018-09-29T19:54:03Z

162.158.255.172: Another link syntax change. Really not used to this syntax.

{{comic
| number = 2052
| date = September 28, 2018
| title = Stanislav Petrov Day
| image = stanislav_petrov_day.png
| titletext = I was going to get you an alarm clock that occasionally goes off randomly in the middle of the night, but you can ignore it and go back to sleep and it's fine.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please edit the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. This tag may be a FALSE ALARM. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Stanislav Petrov|Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov}} was a lieutenant colonel of the {{w|Soviet Air Defence Forces}} who became known as "the man who single-handedly saved the world from nuclear war" for his role in the {{w|1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident}}. The incident was unknown to the public until it was revealed shortly before the {{w|Dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolution of the Soviet Union}} in 1991.

On 26 September 1983, during the {{w|Cold War}}, the satellite-based early-warning system of the {{w|Soviet Union}} reported the launch of multiple {{w|Intercontinental ballistic missile|intercontinental ballistic missiles}} from the {{w|United States}}. At the time, tensions with the U.S. were on edge, and high officials of the Soviet Union, including General Secretary {{w|Yuri Andropov}}, were thought to be highly suspicious of a U.S. attack.

Petrov checked ground-based radars that indicated the report was a false alarm, noted that the warning system had detected only 1-5 missiles instead of the hundreds that would have been expected in the event of a {{w|pre-emptive nuclear strike|first strike}}, and chose to ignore it. This decision is seen as having prevented a retaliatory nuclear attack, which would have probably resulted in immediate escalation of the Cold War stalemate to a full-scale nuclear war and the deaths of tens to hundreds of millions of people. Investigation of the satellite warning system later confirmed that the system had indeed malfunctioned.

While it's highly probable that if Petrov had reported this incident to his superiors they would have come to the same conclusion, it was a point in time when many people feared that the Cold War may become hot. Andropov, the new Soviet leader, was considered weak by the US president {{w|Ronald Reagan}}, and the western counties were deploying new missile installation in Europe to counter existing missiles in the Eastern Bloc. This fear of nuclear war meant that at this time the {{w|Peace movement|peace movement}} in most western countries reached one of its highest levels.

In this comic [[Cueball]] reacts on a simple alert on his phone like most other people do. Too many ''alerts'' reach everybody on their mobile devices, ignored often without deeper knowledge about the issue behind.

The title text presents a much less important false alarm when Cueball made a gift to [[Megan]] in which the donated alarm clock alerts randomly in the middle of the night. After that alarm she just can breathe a sigh of relief and go back to sleep because it's still not early in the morning. Petrov may have taken also a deep breath, but like Megan nobody knows by their time.

====History of Petrov Day as a holiday====

The events of September 26 1983 were not made public until much later,{{Citation needed}} so it wasn't originally a holiday.

However, on the 2007 anniversary, {{w|Eliezer Yudkowsky}} wrote a [https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QtyKq4BDyuJ3tysoK/9-26-is-petrov-day blog post] for {{w|LessWrong}} suggesting that "Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, take a minute to not destroy the world.".

Not destroying the world has since evolved into an annual tradition.{{Citation needed}} There is a [http://petrovday.com/ website] for the holiday, with several variations of a ritual involving lighting and snuffing candles. The intended mood is that of a somber holiday, somewhere between {{w|Thanksgiving}} and a funeral.

However, there are also [https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/XJxwFMSL5TPN2usC6/modes-of-petrov-day more lighthearted takes]. A "hardcore mode" would be just like the normal holiday, but "During said ceremony, unveil a large red button. If anybody presses the button, the ceremony is over. Go home. Do not speak." Alternatively, "you use a website connected to *another* house where people are also celebrating Petrov Day. If anyone in one house presses the button, the other house receives a launch alarm. They have 60 seconds to respond. At the end of 60 seconds, their party is over, and they must go home silently. The website has some chance of giving you a false alarm." The website can be found [https://petrovday.bubbleapps.io/ here].

Stanislav Petrov himself died in 2017, but in 2018 the {{w|Future of Life Institute}} decided to [https://futureoflife.org/2018/09/26/50000-award-to-stanislav-petrov-for-helping-avert-wwiii-but-us-denies-visa/ award] his surviving family a $50,000 prize for his contributions. However, the fact that Petrov's son couldn't "get a visa to visit the city his dad saved from nuclear annihilation is emblematic of how frosty US-Russian relations have gotten, which increases the risk of accidental nuclear war.”

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Megan is looking at her phone while Cueball stands in front of her.]
:Megan: Hey, Wednesday was Stanislav Petrov Day. We missed it.
:Cueball: Oh, shoot!
:Cueball: I got a calendar alert for it, but I assumed it was a false alarm.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

2052: Stanislav Petrov Day

2018-09-29T19:52:29Z

162.158.255.172: Removed unnecessary parentheses that only make sense in markdown

{{comic
| number = 2052
| date = September 28, 2018
| title = Stanislav Petrov Day
| image = stanislav_petrov_day.png
| titletext = I was going to get you an alarm clock that occasionally goes off randomly in the middle of the night, but you can ignore it and go back to sleep and it's fine.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please edit the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. This tag may be a FALSE ALARM. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Stanislav Petrov|Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov}} was a lieutenant colonel of the {{w|Soviet Air Defence Forces}} who became known as "the man who single-handedly saved the world from nuclear war" for his role in the {{w|1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident}}. The incident was unknown to the public until it was revealed shortly before the {{w|Dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolution of the Soviet Union}} in 1991.

On 26 September 1983, during the {{w|Cold War}}, the satellite-based early-warning system of the {{w|Soviet Union}} reported the launch of multiple {{w|Intercontinental ballistic missile|intercontinental ballistic missiles}} from the {{w|United States}}. At the time, tensions with the U.S. were on edge, and high officials of the Soviet Union, including General Secretary {{w|Yuri Andropov}}, were thought to be highly suspicious of a U.S. attack.

Petrov checked ground-based radars that indicated the report was a false alarm, noted that the warning system had detected only 1-5 missiles instead of the hundreds that would have been expected in the event of a {{w|pre-emptive nuclear strike|first strike}}, and chose to ignore it. This decision is seen as having prevented a retaliatory nuclear attack, which would have probably resulted in immediate escalation of the Cold War stalemate to a full-scale nuclear war and the deaths of tens to hundreds of millions of people. Investigation of the satellite warning system later confirmed that the system had indeed malfunctioned.

While it's highly probable that if Petrov had reported this incident to his superiors they would have come to the same conclusion, it was a point in time when many people feared that the Cold War may become hot. Andropov, the new Soviet leader, was considered weak by the US president {{w|Ronald Reagan}}, and the western counties were deploying new missile installation in Europe to counter existing missiles in the Eastern Bloc. This fear of nuclear war meant that at this time the {{w|Peace movement|peace movement}} in most western countries reached one of its highest levels.

In this comic [[Cueball]] reacts on a simple alert on his phone like most other people do. Too many ''alerts'' reach everybody on their mobile devices, ignored often without deeper knowledge about the issue behind.

The title text presents a much less important false alarm when Cueball made a gift to [[Megan]] in which the donated alarm clock alerts randomly in the middle of the night. After that alarm she just can breathe a sigh of relief and go back to sleep because it's still not early in the morning. Petrov may have taken also a deep breath, but like Megan nobody knows by their time.

====History of Petrov Day as a holiday====

The events of September 26 1983 were not made public until much later,{{Citation needed}} so it wasn't originally a holiday.

However, on the 2007 anniversary, {{w|Eliezer Yudkowsky}} wrote a [https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QtyKq4BDyuJ3tysoK/9-26-is-petrov-day blog post] for {{w|LessWrong}} suggesting that "Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, take a minute to not destroy the world.".

Not destroying the world has since evolved into an annual tradition.{{Citation needed}} There is a [http://petrovday.com/ website] for the holiday, with several variations of a ritual involving lighting and snuffing candles. The intended mood is that of a somber holiday, somewhere between {{w|Thanksgiving}} and a funeral.

However, there are also [https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/XJxwFMSL5TPN2usC6/modes-of-petrov-day more lighthearted takes]. A "hardcore mode" would be just like the normal holiday, but "During said ceremony, unveil a large red button. If anybody presses the button, the ceremony is over. Go home. Do not speak." Alternatively, "you use a website connected to *another* house where people are also celebrating Petrov Day. If anyone in one house presses the button, the other house receives a launch alarm. They have 60 seconds to respond. At the end of 60 seconds, their party is over, and they must go home silently. The website has some chance of giving you a false alarm." The website can be found here[https://petrovday.bubbleapps.io/].

Stanislav Petrov himself died in 2017, but in 2018 the {{w|Future of Life Institute}} decided to [https://futureoflife.org/2018/09/26/50000-award-to-stanislav-petrov-for-helping-avert-wwiii-but-us-denies-visa/ award] his surviving family a $50,000 prize for his contributions. However, the fact that Petrov's son couldn't "get a visa to visit the city his dad saved from nuclear annihilation is emblematic of how frosty US-Russian relations have gotten, which increases the risk of accidental nuclear war.”

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Megan is looking at her phone while Cueball stands in front of her.]
:Megan: Hey, Wednesday was Stanislav Petrov Day. We missed it.
:Cueball: Oh, shoot!
:Cueball: I got a calendar alert for it, but I assumed it was a false alarm.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

2052: Stanislav Petrov Day

2018-09-29T19:51:25Z

162.158.255.172: I built the Petrov day app and linked it here on LessWrong: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/XJxwFMSL5TPN2usC6/modes-of-petrov-day#s4XtBX7Qg9btGf5Kx

{{comic
| number = 2052
| date = September 28, 2018
| title = Stanislav Petrov Day
| image = stanislav_petrov_day.png
| titletext = I was going to get you an alarm clock that occasionally goes off randomly in the middle of the night, but you can ignore it and go back to sleep and it's fine.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please edit the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. This tag may be a FALSE ALARM. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Stanislav Petrov|Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov}} was a lieutenant colonel of the {{w|Soviet Air Defence Forces}} who became known as "the man who single-handedly saved the world from nuclear war" for his role in the {{w|1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident}}. The incident was unknown to the public until it was revealed shortly before the {{w|Dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolution of the Soviet Union}} in 1991.

On 26 September 1983, during the {{w|Cold War}}, the satellite-based early-warning system of the {{w|Soviet Union}} reported the launch of multiple {{w|Intercontinental ballistic missile|intercontinental ballistic missiles}} from the {{w|United States}}. At the time, tensions with the U.S. were on edge, and high officials of the Soviet Union, including General Secretary {{w|Yuri Andropov}}, were thought to be highly suspicious of a U.S. attack.

Petrov checked ground-based radars that indicated the report was a false alarm, noted that the warning system had detected only 1-5 missiles instead of the hundreds that would have been expected in the event of a {{w|pre-emptive nuclear strike|first strike}}, and chose to ignore it. This decision is seen as having prevented a retaliatory nuclear attack, which would have probably resulted in immediate escalation of the Cold War stalemate to a full-scale nuclear war and the deaths of tens to hundreds of millions of people. Investigation of the satellite warning system later confirmed that the system had indeed malfunctioned.

While it's highly probable that if Petrov had reported this incident to his superiors they would have come to the same conclusion, it was a point in time when many people feared that the Cold War may become hot. Andropov, the new Soviet leader, was considered weak by the US president {{w|Ronald Reagan}}, and the western counties were deploying new missile installation in Europe to counter existing missiles in the Eastern Bloc. This fear of nuclear war meant that at this time the {{w|Peace movement|peace movement}} in most western countries reached one of its highest levels.

In this comic [[Cueball]] reacts on a simple alert on his phone like most other people do. Too many ''alerts'' reach everybody on their mobile devices, ignored often without deeper knowledge about the issue behind.

The title text presents a much less important false alarm when Cueball made a gift to [[Megan]] in which the donated alarm clock alerts randomly in the middle of the night. After that alarm she just can breathe a sigh of relief and go back to sleep because it's still not early in the morning. Petrov may have taken also a deep breath, but like Megan nobody knows by their time.

====History of Petrov Day as a holiday====

The events of September 26 1983 were not made public until much later,{{Citation needed}} so it wasn't originally a holiday.

However, on the 2007 anniversary, {{w|Eliezer Yudkowsky}} wrote a [https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QtyKq4BDyuJ3tysoK/9-26-is-petrov-day blog post] for {{w|LessWrong}} suggesting that "Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, take a minute to not destroy the world.".

Not destroying the world has since evolved into an annual tradition.{{Citation needed}} There is a [http://petrovday.com/ website] for the holiday, with several variations of a ritual involving lighting and snuffing candles. The intended mood is that of a somber holiday, somewhere between {{w|Thanksgiving}} and a funeral.

However, there are also [https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/XJxwFMSL5TPN2usC6/modes-of-petrov-day more lighthearted takes]. A "hardcore mode" would be just like the normal holiday, but "During said ceremony, unveil a large red button. If anybody presses the button, the ceremony is over. Go home. Do not speak." Alternatively, "you use a website connected to *another* house where people are also celebrating Petrov Day. If anyone in one house presses the button, the other house receives a launch alarm. They have 60 seconds to respond. At the end of 60 seconds, their party is over, and they must go home silently. The website has some chance of giving you a false alarm." The website can be found (here)[https://petrovday.bubbleapps.io/].

Stanislav Petrov himself died in 2017, but in 2018 the {{w|Future of Life Institute}} decided to [https://futureoflife.org/2018/09/26/50000-award-to-stanislav-petrov-for-helping-avert-wwiii-but-us-denies-visa/ award] his surviving family a $50,000 prize for his contributions. However, the fact that Petrov's son couldn't "get a visa to visit the city his dad saved from nuclear annihilation is emblematic of how frosty US-Russian relations have gotten, which increases the risk of accidental nuclear war.”

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Megan is looking at her phone while Cueball stands in front of her.]
:Megan: Hey, Wednesday was Stanislav Petrov Day. We missed it.
:Cueball: Oh, shoot!
:Cueball: I got a calendar alert for it, but I assumed it was a false alarm.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

Talk:1989: IMHO

2018-05-09T14:12:37Z

162.158.255.172:

I mean, the dress is b&w if you have one of the forms of colorblindness. Although, what colors ''is'' it? [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 16:33, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
: The gold/black part is 61522F hex and the white/blue part is 8190B2 hex. So it's brown and blue. [[User:Grabadora304|Grabadora304]] ([[User talk:Grabadora304|talk]]) 16:55, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
::So that explains the colors represented by the photo; what about the colors of the dress itself? I'd guess black & gold, based purely upon the discussions I've heard. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 20:52, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:::The dress was blue with black lace. And I've added the fact that Randall had made a comic because of the dress ([[1492: Dress Color]]). [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 01:04, 5 May 2018 (UTC)
Currently adding transcript. [[User:Chbs|Chbs]] ([[User talk:Chbs|talk]]) 16:38, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:Did top row. Feel free to format it differently. [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 16:42, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
::''Screams in edit conflicts.'' [[User:Chbs|Chbs]] ([[User talk:Chbs|talk]]) 16:53, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:::Okay, I've normalized the formatting to what seems to be the standard: uniform indent with ":".[[User:Chbs|Chbs]] ([[User talk:Chbs|talk]]) 16:57, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:::: What about using tabs? ;D
::::[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 20:52, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

AFAIK In normal (British) usage the phrase is "In my humble opinion" and I have heard it said, when someone prefaces their contribution with IMHO it is rarely humble but is definitely an opinion. [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 16:47, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:The weirdos reading/using it as "honest" _might_ have a problem with the relatively common "IMNSHO." [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.41|172.68.58.41]] 14:34, 7 May 2018 (UTC)

No lie, I had a manager who used to refer to the database language as Squeal. As in a high-pitched animal sound. We had an in-house database tool called PiggySQL. [[User:Thaledison|Thaledison]] ([[User talk:Thaledison|talk]]) 17:26, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:I've always preferred that pronunciation too. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 20:53, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

Dammit. Now my brain will always translate "OMG" to "oh, my genitals".[[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.167|172.68.58.167]] 17:45, 4 May 2018 (UTC)Pat
:Actually I will keep this in mind. If someone OMGs me in a "discussion" on the web my response will be: Just scratch... [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.10|172.68.51.10]] 18:08, 6 May 2018 (UTC)
::+1 And I didn't even know what "tbh" means, but then Im probably getting old. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.100|172.68.110.100]] 10:17, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

The single space convention became the standard [[wikipedia:History_of_sentence_spacing#Movement_to_single_sentence_spacing|waaay before HTML]]. [[User:Cgrimes85|Cgrimes85]] ([[User talk:Cgrimes85|talk]]) 18:13, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:Standard, but less readable. For printed documents (especially stories with a lot of lengthy paragraphs) I'd still strongly recommend using double spaces because it's easier for the reader to discern sentence breaks. Incidentally, I had points deducted from English papers lacking that extra space as late as 1998.
:(By the way, that link you gave is broken:
:"Trouble Encountered ~ can't fetch document")
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 21:10, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:: If you print documents with monospace font, using just single space is NOT the main reason it's hard to read. You should use proportional font and tool actually designed to handle printing, which include having better option than using two spaces. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 03:25, 5 May 2018 (UTC)
:Using extra-wide space between sentences (not necessarily two spaces) goes back to the earliest days of printing, long before the invention of typewriters.     As a matter of fact, the practice of double-spacing sentences with typewriters got started by trying to mimic the printing practices of the time.     It was only in the mid-20th century (with the 1949 edition of the Chicago Manual of Style) that the recommendation became "one space", in 1969 when they stopped mentioning the earlier customs, and in the 21st century where they explicitly prohibit any alternative.     There's a [https://web.archive.org/web/20171207185025/http://www.heracliteanriver.com/?p=324 great article about this] that explains the history in great detail.     (Sadly, that blog no longer exists, but the Wayback Machine has preserved the content).     [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 15:44, 5 May 2018 (UTC)

Tabs vs Spaces might also be a reference to the programmer's war on how to indent code correctly. [[User:Ruffy314|Ruffy314]] ([[User talk:Ruffy314|talk]]) 19:25, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:Agreed. I prefer " " (U+2003, A.K.A. &emsp;)
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 21:10, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
:: Did you ever manage to RUN some of those programs? :) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 03:25, 5 May 2018 (UTC)
Maybe I'm reading too much in this, but there is a popular product called "cramp tabs" for use during and right after a period [[User:Sysin|Sysin]] ([[User talk:Sysin|talk]])

I hate to be that guy, but I pronounce Giantess and Gift the same way.--[[User:Henke37|Henke37]] ([[User talk:Henke37|talk]]) 11:06, 5 May 2018 (UTC)
:LOL! (Lots of love [or lots of luck for you old-schoolers])[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.172|162.158.255.172]] 14:12, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

== SQL Pronunciation ==

For Microsoft's ''SQL Server'', "SQL" should be pronounced "sequel" because it's Microsoft's product, and that's how they pronounce it. I notice young I.T. people tend to try to make abbreviations into pronounceable words (acronyms) rather than go letter-by-letter (initialisms). Many older I.T. people I've met prefer initialism pronunciation. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.150.10|172.68.150.10]] 17:36, 5 May 2018 (UTC)

The term "SQL" existed long before Microsoft started playing; they do not get to change the pronunciation. I do not think that it is necessarily young IT people who prefer pronouncable words. "SCSI" being pronounced "scuzzy" has a long tradition. For myself, I usually say "S-Q-L" but have also used "squeal". I am 57. Gene Wirchenko genew@telus.net [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.220|108.162.216.220]] 01:06, 6 May 2018 (UTC)
:I'm aware SQL existed long before Microsoft got into the act. It started as SEQUEL for "Structured English Query Language". Nor did I intend to say that Microsoft dictated the pronunciation for all SQL. In the first sentence, I was only referring to their product. I use "sequel" for Microsoft's product, but mostly "ess-kew-el" for others. For some reason, my remarks as typed came out shorter than as thought. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.150.76|172.68.150.76]] 14:39, 6 May 2018 (UTC)

Is it possible the last panel is punning on menstruation?

ANOTHER one where talking about a debate invents the debate for me! For decades GIF was pronounced "jif" by literally everyone since they were invented, until Big Bang Theory taught me some people (including them) pronounce it wrong. Then SQL, which everyone I've ever met - including in SQL class - pronounced it as S.Q.L., by letters (my favourite was when I learned of this debate, someone saying they used another word with the letters in the right places that was odd, I think "Squeal", which I resolved to use myself, but forgot since it never comes up for me). Now IMHO? This comic is literally the first I hear of this. Another one with a clear answer and no reason for debate: It's an acronym applied to an ages old phrase, which predates all this texting / internet stuff. The saying is "In My Humble Opinion", therefore so is the acronym. That's it. Mixing it up with TBH doesn't make it correct, just like "Should of / would of" isn't correct, nor is "for all intensive purposes", or "ect", or many, many others.

== Typing Spaces ==
As for the spaces-after-period thing, I was taught 2 in several typing courses, but quickly dropped it to one as a waste of space (I don't mean I think there's a limit to how many times we can use the space bar, I mean to keep things compact, LOL!) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:31, 6 May 2018 (UTC)

I, too, was taught to type two spaces after a full stop. I think it had something to do with the font most typewriters used. On a web page, the HTML processor seems to remove extra spaces. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.150.76|172.68.150.76]] 14:39, 6 May 2018 (UTC)
:Yes, HTML collapses all whitespace.    Runs of whitespace characters (spaces, tabs, newlines) are all collapsed and rendered as a single space.    But there are workarounds.    One of the easiest is to use non-breaking-space characters (<TT>&nbsp;</TT>), which are not collapsed.    You can see the effect of using them in this comment.    [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 13:43, 7 May 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1986: River Border

2018-05-02T14:37:13Z

162.158.255.172:

The title text doesn't have a typo.
[[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:06, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

"It then occurred to Megan that she could break Nebraska state laws and the police couldn't catch her (because the river was in the way)."
:I ''think'' it might actually be because Megan is under the mistaken impression that it's neither Nebraskan nor Missourian territory, so neither set of cops actually have jurisdiction (similar to that thing where apparently there's an area of [https://www.forbes.com/sites/robinandrews/2017/11/26/icymi-you-can-get-away-with-murder-in-part-of-yellowstone-national-park/ Yellowstone] where no one has jurisdiction).
::I believe you're right. The title text seems to confirm this.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.172|162.158.255.172]] 20:03, 27 April 2018 (UTC)
:::While I saw the possibility of the Lawless Unclaimed Territory explanation (i.e. nobody has jurisdiction), I feel very sure the intended meaning is that the state that can get there has no jurisdiction and the state they're in can't get to them because of the river. (Mainly because Unclaimed Territory is a bit of a logical leap, while Cops Are Cut Off is fairly logical and somewhat true. Note the wording that "cops can't do a thing", not "there are no cops"). What amuses me is that I've heard of this location before AND that it is indeed true that there are no bridges, so it is indeed quite true that you can't reach this location from the rest of Nebraska. But of course I'm sure cops wouldn't hesitate to pass through Missouri. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:01, 1 May 2018 (UTC)
::::Good thoughts! I was having a tough time wrapping my head around why the cops wouldn't just use a boat or helicopter, if necessary. That's why I didn't immediately consider it was the river stopping them.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.172|162.158.255.172]] 14:36, 2 May 2018 (UTC)

:I'd edit it myself, but I'm not entirely sure if I'm right. Thought I'd bring up the possibility so others could decide. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.24|172.68.47.24]] 16:33, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

::I fixed it. [[User:Grabadora304|Grabadora304]] ([[User talk:Grabadora304|talk]]) {{unsigned|Grabadora304}}
:I also read it as the river physically keeping the police out of the region so I added it back (before even reading these comments), but only as a second possibility, leaving the jurisdiction as the primary. Note that the river actually IS a physical barrier, there are no roads across the river there. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 21:07, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

This isn’t the only place in the US, or even in Nebraska, where this has happened. The town of Carter Lake, Iowa is only accessible by car by driving through Omaha.
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.84|172.68.143.84]] 17:08, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

'''The story of the similar situation on the Walloon (Belgian)-Dutch border, and the headless corpse.'''
There used to be a situation like this on the border between Visé, Wallonia, Belgium; and Eijsden-Margraten in the Netherlands.
The border used to follow the path of the river Maas/Meuse at the time of the Treaty of London of 1839. Between 1970 en 1979, the river was straightened, and until 2018, the border no longer followed the path of the river. That led to situations similar to the one in this comic ''on both sides of the river''. Especially the Belgian bit at the Dutch side of the river became popular for drug dealings and illicit sexual escapades. At one time, a group of Antwerpians with moustaches proclaimed the area the independent Republic of Snorravia.
In 2012, a headless corpse was discovered there. (I have heard that it was a suicide, though details are scarce.) That lead eventually to a land swap agreed in 2016–2017, effective January 1st, 2018. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/belgium-netherlands-land-swap-agreement-river-meuse-borders-a7445751.html
— [[User:Adhemar|Adhemar]] ([[User talk:Adhemar|talk]]) 21:32, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

: ''The Martian'' allusion - The joke about high seas, piracy, and maritime laws jumped out at me as echoing a joke made in ''The Martain'', which we know is xkcd-approved. Does anyone else think that it's an intentional allusion? [[User:PvOberstein|PvOberstein]] ([[User talk:PvOberstein|talk]]) 23:45, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

:How exactly can you commit suicide by beheading? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 04:46, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
::He could have committed suicide by slitting his throat, then something happened that caused his head to fall off. But who knows? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 07:30, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
:::Or by putting on the [[https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blindpanic.com%2Fhumor%2Fvecna.htm Head of Vecna]] [[User:Kazzie|Kazzie]] ([[User talk:Kazzie|talk]]) 05:48, 30 April 2018 (UTC)
::A guillotine would be a handy device for a suicidal beheading. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 13:37, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Wait, so, basically, two people buy plots of land with river flowing between them, after years the river changes course, and they go to court and hire experts to find ''why'' the river changed course and, depending on the outcome, one person can win a chunk of land the other person had paid for? And this is common in 21st century law systems? That's quite depressing. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 09:44, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
:...Except these aren't the property lines of people buying land, these are the borders of subsections of a country. If two people had bought land at this spot, one would now be on the other side (but would still live in Nebraska), the other just wouldn't have waterfront property any more (but would still have property in Missouri). [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 03:38, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Congrats Randy, your title text made me claw my eyes out. Thankfully, I know kung-touch-typing-fu. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.11.155|172.68.11.155]] 11:29, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

I removed the incomplete because I can't imagine how this explanation could be made any more complete than it is. In fact, this is one of most complete explains I've seen. Great job everybody! [[User:Gbisaga|Gbisaga]] ([[User talk:Gbisaga|talk]]) 18:15, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1986: River Border

2018-05-02T14:36:40Z

162.158.255.172:

The title text doesn't have a typo.
[[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:06, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

"It then occurred to Megan that she could break Nebraska state laws and the police couldn't catch her (because the river was in the way)."
:I ''think'' it might actually be because Megan is under the mistaken impression that it's neither Nebraskan nor Missourian territory, so neither set of cops actually have jurisdiction (similar to that thing where apparently there's an area of [https://www.forbes.com/sites/robinandrews/2017/11/26/icymi-you-can-get-away-with-murder-in-part-of-yellowstone-national-park/ Yellowstone] where no one has jurisdiction).
::I believe you're right. The title text seems to confirm this.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.172|162.158.255.172]] 20:03, 27 April 2018 (UTC)
:::While I saw the possibility of the Lawless Unclaimed Territory explanation (i.e. nobody has jurisdiction), I feel very sure the intended meaning is that the state that can get there has no jurisdiction and the state they're in can't get to them because of the river. (Mainly because Unclaimed Territory is a bit of a logical leap, while Cops Are Cut Off is fairly logical and somewhat true. Note the wording that "cops can't do a thing", not "there are no cops"). What amuses me is that I've heard of this location before AND that it is indeed true that there are no bridges, so it is indeed quite true that you can't reach this location from the rest of Nebraska. But of course I'm sure cops wouldn't hesitate to pass through Missouri. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:01, 1 May 2018 (UTC)
::::Good thoughts! I was having a tough time wrapping my head around why the cops wouldn't just use a boat or helicopter, if necessary. That's why I didn't immediately consider it was the river stopping them from.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.172|162.158.255.172]] 14:36, 2 May 2018 (UTC)

:I'd edit it myself, but I'm not entirely sure if I'm right. Thought I'd bring up the possibility so others could decide. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.24|172.68.47.24]] 16:33, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

::I fixed it. [[User:Grabadora304|Grabadora304]] ([[User talk:Grabadora304|talk]]) {{unsigned|Grabadora304}}
:I also read it as the river physically keeping the police out of the region so I added it back (before even reading these comments), but only as a second possibility, leaving the jurisdiction as the primary. Note that the river actually IS a physical barrier, there are no roads across the river there. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 21:07, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

This isn’t the only place in the US, or even in Nebraska, where this has happened. The town of Carter Lake, Iowa is only accessible by car by driving through Omaha.
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.84|172.68.143.84]] 17:08, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

'''The story of the similar situation on the Walloon (Belgian)-Dutch border, and the headless corpse.'''
There used to be a situation like this on the border between Visé, Wallonia, Belgium; and Eijsden-Margraten in the Netherlands.
The border used to follow the path of the river Maas/Meuse at the time of the Treaty of London of 1839. Between 1970 en 1979, the river was straightened, and until 2018, the border no longer followed the path of the river. That led to situations similar to the one in this comic ''on both sides of the river''. Especially the Belgian bit at the Dutch side of the river became popular for drug dealings and illicit sexual escapades. At one time, a group of Antwerpians with moustaches proclaimed the area the independent Republic of Snorravia.
In 2012, a headless corpse was discovered there. (I have heard that it was a suicide, though details are scarce.) That lead eventually to a land swap agreed in 2016–2017, effective January 1st, 2018. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/belgium-netherlands-land-swap-agreement-river-meuse-borders-a7445751.html
— [[User:Adhemar|Adhemar]] ([[User talk:Adhemar|talk]]) 21:32, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

: ''The Martian'' allusion - The joke about high seas, piracy, and maritime laws jumped out at me as echoing a joke made in ''The Martain'', which we know is xkcd-approved. Does anyone else think that it's an intentional allusion? [[User:PvOberstein|PvOberstein]] ([[User talk:PvOberstein|talk]]) 23:45, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

:How exactly can you commit suicide by beheading? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 04:46, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
::He could have committed suicide by slitting his throat, then something happened that caused his head to fall off. But who knows? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 07:30, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
:::Or by putting on the [[https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blindpanic.com%2Fhumor%2Fvecna.htm Head of Vecna]] [[User:Kazzie|Kazzie]] ([[User talk:Kazzie|talk]]) 05:48, 30 April 2018 (UTC)
::A guillotine would be a handy device for a suicidal beheading. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 13:37, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Wait, so, basically, two people buy plots of land with river flowing between them, after years the river changes course, and they go to court and hire experts to find ''why'' the river changed course and, depending on the outcome, one person can win a chunk of land the other person had paid for? And this is common in 21st century law systems? That's quite depressing. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 09:44, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
:...Except these aren't the property lines of people buying land, these are the borders of subsections of a country. If two people had bought land at this spot, one would now be on the other side (but would still live in Nebraska), the other just wouldn't have waterfront property any more (but would still have property in Missouri). [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 03:38, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Congrats Randy, your title text made me claw my eyes out. Thankfully, I know kung-touch-typing-fu. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.11.155|172.68.11.155]] 11:29, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

I removed the incomplete because I can't imagine how this explanation could be made any more complete than it is. In fact, this is one of most complete explains I've seen. Great job everybody! [[User:Gbisaga|Gbisaga]] ([[User talk:Gbisaga|talk]]) 18:15, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

1986: River Border

2018-04-27T20:05:09Z

162.158.255.172: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1986
| date = April 27, 2018
| title = River Border
| image = river_border.png
| titletext = I'm not a lawyer, but I believe zones like this are technically considered the high seas, so if you cut a pizza into a spiral there you could be charged with pieracy under marinaritime law.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a PIERACY [sic] EXPERT - TOO much descriptive. - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Ponytail]] explains to [[Megan]] that the Missouri-Nebraska state line is based off the river. She then explains that the river once changed course abruptly, and that the state line didn't move with it. That meant that they were on the Missouri side of the river, but in Nebraska. It then occurred to Megan that she could break the law in this area because she is under the mistaken impression that it's neither Nebraskan nor Missourian territory, so neither set of cops actually have jurisdiction. The final panel shows Megan going to cut a pizza into a spiral. The joke is that Megan thinks it's illegal because nobody does it.

The title text claims the region Ponytail and Megan are in is considered the high seas. It sets up a pizza pun about piracy under maritime law: "Pieracy" combines ''pie'' another name for a pizza and "piracy". Marinara sauce is frequently served with pizza, so "Maritime" law is rendered "Marinaritime"

The region mentioned in the comic can be seen here at [https://www.google.com/maps/@40.5270132,-95.6954944,10627m/ Google maps] and is known as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKissick_Island McKissick's Island]

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Ponytail and Megan are standing next to a river.]
:Ponytail: This is a cool spot.
:Ponytail: The Missouri-Nebraska state line follows this river. If the river's path changes gradually, the border moves with it.

:[A map is shown with a river from the left to the bottom. A dotted arc is connected on both ends to the river, extending to north-east. An arrow with the text "Old riverbed" points to the arc and it's labeled Nebraska on south-west and Missouri on the other side. The text above the map reads:]
:Ponytail: But when it '''''abruptly''''' changes course, the border stays behind.
:Ponytail: This is a spot where that happened. We're on the Missouri side, but we're in Nebraska.

:[Frameless panel back to Ponytail and Megan.]
:Megan: Wow.
:Megan: So...
:Megan: We can commit all the crimes we want here and the cops can't do a thing!

:[Megan points up her finger.]
:Ponytail: What? No. Why would you even think that?
:Megan: I'm going to cut a pizza into a '''''spiral!'''''
:Ponytail: That's not even illegal!
:Megan: '''''Crimes!'''''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

Talk:1986: River Border

2018-04-27T20:03:04Z

162.158.255.172:

Talk:1979: History

2018-04-12T14:04:15Z

162.158.255.172:

Heh. I accidentally misread the line, so I thought it said: "I honestly have enough trouble with just the ''president''". [[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 11:48, 11 April 2018 (UTC)
:Same here. Then I thought "What the heck?" and read the last line again. Lol. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 13:20, 11 April 2018 (UTC)
::And same here, lol! I was actually wondering about what the possible motivations could have been to use Megan as the character to say that. Then I read it again :D [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.172|162.158.255.172]] 14:26, 11 April 2018 (UTC)
:::Considering Randall's opinion on Trump, it made a little sense. But he hasn't ever attacked him directly.[[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 15:22, 11 April 2018 (UTC)
::::It's a reach, but it's POSSIBLE this was the intention. Planting the seed by talking about a president, then a comment closely resembling "I honestly have enough trouble just with the president". It may have garnered the intended response. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.172|162.158.255.172]] 14:04, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

I only make comments, and let others figure out how to edit it into the above. I once read someplace that there is a reasonable limit to accurate historical research at about 3 centuries- events more than 300 years in the past become more mythological than factual, and events more than 500 years in the past are so remote that we can't even begin to understand the culture in which they occurred. While there are famous exceptions to this rule, they occur entirely in the realms of either archaeology or theology and religion, not in the science of history.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 13:32, 11 April 2018 (UTC)
:What is "accurate historical research"? No scientist would use those words. And a historian as an expert - let's say of the Roman Empire or the medieval - would strictly disagree. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:12, 11 April 2018 (UTC)

:Even shorter periods of time. There were a lot of changes in the twentieth century. I was born in 1960. At that time, there were people alive before the automobile, powered airflight, the telephone. How about photocopiers which really got going in the 1970s? Can any of you younger people understand not being able to photocopy something? Then, there are the developments in computers and mobile phones.
:On a USENET newgroup that I follow -- alt.talk.royalty -- there is one monarchist who posts a series of posts on Queen Elizabeth II. Sort of. He takes the current length of her reign and goes back that far before it (less a day, I think). He then describes the world at that time and finishes with "Consider all the changes, natural and manmade, visited upon the world in all the time since. And now consider this...Queen Elizabeth II has been on the Throne for MOST of that time since then." Twice her reign length from present time is now in the 1880s. A very different world.
:[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.220|108.162.216.220]] 15:16, 11 April 2018 (UTC) Gene Wirchenko genew@telus.net

My maternal grandfather was born in 1873. When I was a child, he told me glorious stories about living in a log cabin in Michigan as a child, riding his penny-farthing bicycle as a teenager, and moving to a boomtown called Venice (CA) in the 1920s. He was 30 when the Wright Brothers made their first flight, and he wound up manufacturing aircraft parts during WWII. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.106|172.68.54.106]] 08:36, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

The link to the actual page of the paper is fantastic - especially the ads along the right side - "Anti-Morbific, the Great Liver and Kidney Remedy" and "Trash's Magnetic Ointment". So, a question - there's no by-line. Is there any way to figure out who wrote this? I assume maybe multiple people, like and editorial board? [[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 13:36, 11 April 2018 (UTC)

Regarding the link to the actual page of the paper, the article immediately after it talks about a discussion over the tariffs on whiskey, beer, and tobacco covering the differences of opinion within the Democrat and Republican parties and protectionism vs free trade and producers vs consumers concluding that the tax is good because it could be used to pay down the national debt and finance national education initiatives. Despite burgeoning taxes the speculated benefits never arrived. We deceive ourselves if we believe that the discussions we have today were never debated before. The debate is eternal and the promised goods are never delivered. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 21:15, 11 April 2018 (UTC)

I think this comic is referencing how so many people are commenting on how unprecedented Trump’s presidency has been, how it’ll be the sort of think future students will read about in history classes, and overall how dramatic it is, like you’d find unbelievable, even in a movie. This comic is commenting on how people in the moment often think that way, yet Trump’ll likely be a footnote in 200 years too. [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 19:24, 11 April 2018 (UTC)

:I need to comment, but I'll do my best to temper it a bit. I think it's a stretch to think this is saying anything about Trump. It seems like this comic is just a reflection on how difficult it is to ever have a complete and thorough account of everything that happens in the history of our world. The best we can hope for is a summary of the general facts, but that will always omit important details - as it says, history is BIG! In summary, can we not make every comic about Trump, please? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 20:43, 11 April 2018 (UTC)

There is an erroneous period at the end of the first line of the last paragraph: "...the present. period may...". I added the period to the transcript, but I'm not sure if the local policy is to include "[sic]" in the transcript, to note that in an "errors" section, etc. I'd invite someone who knows the policy to edit the page accordingly. --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.46|172.69.69.46]] 20:50, 11 April 2018 (UTC)

Seems to me like most of the major events in history classes (at least the events I can remember the year of) happened on even years: 1066, 1492, 1776, 1812, ...
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.251|162.158.79.251]] 23:29, 11 April 2018 (UTC)

;Second lesson
I think, there is a second lesson in this strip: We tend to massively overestimate the importance of current events, and Americans specifically tend to overestimate the importance of their presidents. Today, Garfield is just <s>a cartoon character</s> one of many presidents, in 100 years Kennedy will also be seen as just one of even more presidents, and one day, even 9/11 will be only something that happened sometime in the distant past.

In other words: Not only is history bigger than we think, we also tend to exaggerate the importance of current events. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.170|141.101.77.170]] 12:51, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

1979: History

2018-04-11T14:29:59Z

162.158.255.172: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1979
| date = April 11, 2018
| title = History
| image = history.png
| titletext = HISTORIANS: We've decided to trim the past down to make things more manageable. Using BCE/CE, would you rather we lose the odd-numbered or even-numbered years?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Needs to be expanded, and explain the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic quotes a [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19134214/httpswwwxkcdcom1979/|a lengthy section of the Bloomington Daily Pantagraph's September 30, 1881 issue]. The tragic event referenced throughout is the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_James_A._Garfield assassination of President James A. Garfield]. Interestingly, the article is about how closely studied the incident will or will not be in the future. Garfield's assassination is rarely more than a quick note in a history class, leaving only the "dry and tedious" historians to comb through the details.

The punchline comes from not how insignificant this assassination has come to be viewed, but from Megan and Cueball being baffled by the sheer scope of information contained in the past.

A user commented, "I only make comments, and let others figure out how to edit it into the above. I once read someplace that there is a reasonable limit to accurate historical research at about 3 centuries- events more than 300 years in the past become more mythological than factual, and events more than 500 years in the past are so remote that we can't even begin to understand the culture in which they occurred. While there are famous exceptions to this rule, they occur entirely in the realms of either archaeology or theology and religion, not in the science of history.Seebert".

==Transcript==
:[In a small panel top left, Cueball walks up to Megan who is sitting on an office chair holding a tablet showing a screen full of (to the reader) unreadable text.]
:Megan: I read this article in an old newspaper, and I can't stop thinking about it.

:[Below is a large panel twice as wide as the first, and much longer. It contains the newspaper clip that Megan talks about. Three sections of the text is in normal black font, the rest is in gray font:]
:'''The public events of the last three months are of the class which will go into its permanent history. We have been living in an atmosphere of history which will be immortally preserved.''' Even the brief series of important dates to be collated for the use of the schoolboys of centuries hence will contain the day of the assassination, and the day of the death of President Garfield. 

:The intermediate events co-related, like the defeat of Roscoe Conkling, will be of great interest, but will scarcely be likely to stand prominently out from the page of history written in 1881. To us who have been the witnesses, so to speak, of the tragic incidents of the times, it seems entirely probable that future generations will eagerly scan every feature of the recent bereavement which the nation has suffered. 

:'''How accurately will future generations know the immense volume of grief and sorrow which has rolled over the land? Will those who come after us ever be able to understand the extent of our loss?''' Is there anything in the first century of our history—even the death of the great Lincoln—which can be used as a parallel? 

:Perhaps a careful reading of the daily papers of the present period may give some future antiquarian a fine idea of the feelings of the nation during the past summer. '''But these journals are so large, so full of detail, that we imagine the coming American will never find time to read the record.''' He must depend on a brief statement, meagerly compiled by sonic dry and tedious historian. 

:::-The Bloomington Daily Pantagraph 
::: September 30,th 1881 

:[The third and final panel is the same size as the first, below and to the right. It contains a zoom in on Cueball and Megan talking.]
:Cueball: Man the past is so '''''big. '''''
:Megan: How do historians even cope?
:Cueball: I have no idea.
:Megan: I honestly have enough trouble just with the present.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

Talk:1979: History

2018-04-11T14:26:35Z

162.158.255.172:

Talk:1978: Congressional Testimony

2018-04-10T14:07:13Z

162.158.255.172:

We should change the logs and stuff so it looks like this page was created before the comic came out (say, on 2018-04-07) [[User:Blacksilver|Blacksilver]] ([[User talk:Blacksilver|talk]]) 15:54, 9 April 2018 (UTC)

I was about to change the bot to Mark Zuckerberg's terminator double, but somebody was faster. Ah well.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.106|108.162.219.106]] 15:24, 9 April 2018 (UTC)
:Damn that's actually better than what I put. [[User:Cgrimes85|Cgrimes85]] ([[User talk:Cgrimes85|talk]]) 15:25, 9 April 2018 (UTC)

Not sure it has anything to do with the comic, but I think the blob near the top of the tree is a squirrel's nest. You can see the squirrel climbing down the trunk in the 2nd panel, there's something on the left branch in the 3rd panel (squirrel or bird?), and I think the squirrel is climbing back into the nest in the final panel (a tail hanging down from the nest?). [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 16:32, 9 April 2018 (UTC)
:That had me curious, too. I think you're right about what you described, and it seems to me it's just a bit of artistic flair.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.172|162.158.255.172]] 14:07, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

I'm still confused about "the phone book becomes skynet". Any thoughts? [[User:Cgrimes85|Cgrimes85]] ([[User talk:Cgrimes85|talk]]) 17:54, 9 April 2018 (UTC)
:The way I interpreted it, megan is referring to the Facebook glitch that caused it to "turn against its creators", not the actual skynet in the film. She is pointing out that it is ironic that the code running our nuclear launch facilities and robots isn't what is causing the most difficulties, but the code for helping people communicate. I am also reminded of comic [[1539: Planning]], specifically its title text.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.16|162.158.75.16]] 18:21, 9 April 2018 (UTC)
:Arnold finds Sarah through the phonebook, antics ensue, resulting in parts of Arnold being left behind, which (according to Terminator 2) led to and fed the research and development that became Skynet. If no phonebooks existed - like today - Arnold wouldn't have been able to find Sarah, and wouldn't have left parts which could be found, etc. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:43, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

::I disagree with this interpretation, which now appears in the explanation as well. Megan is clearly stating that SkyNet did not originate from any weapon or robotic system but instead from the system that provided info sharing to all of the parts of the government. It was only later that it was elevated to the functionality that eventually caused the system to take control of those systems away from the humans and eliminate them. This is a commentary on how this is the same function currently being served by Facebook. It doesn't need to be any more complicated than that! [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 22:43, 9 April 2018 (UTC)

I came here hoping someone who knows the movies would explain this to me, but I suspect the "phonebook" = Assbook. [[User:Yngvadottir|Yngvadottir]] ([[User talk:Yngvadottir|talk]]) 18:17, 9 April 2018 (UTC)
: In the first Terminator, like it says in the explanation, the Terminator (played by Arnold) travels back in time to hunt down Sarah Conner. He finds a phonebook in which he finds 3 Sarah Conners, killing the two others before finally finding the one he was looking for. In the end he gets mostly destroyed. In Terminator 2, a reprogrammed-into-a-good-guy Arnold travels back in time (landing something like 16 years later), and reports that the previous Terminator's arm and CPU chip were found by a company who's been reverse engineering it since, and this research will lead them to creating Skynet (the artificial intelligence who's the primary adversary in the future that's trying to wipe out mankind and created the Terminators to do so). So if the first Arnie hadn't found a phonebook, he wouldn't have been destroyed in a way that would lead to creating Skynet. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:43, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Right now there are 3 (well, 4) listed thoughts on what Randall is trying to say:
<blockquote>
It is unclear if Randall is:
*1. Commenting on his lack of interest in the news regarding yet another internet tool being used for purposes for which it was not intended by comparing it to the much more interesting movie "Terminator".
*2. Pointing out that using programs in ways for which they are not originally designed is actually quite common in both reality and fiction.
*3. Pointing out that Facebook stores names and phone numbers and could thus be considered to have a phone book database...
*4. All of the above
</blockquote>
My initial interpretation, and what I still find most likely, is None of the above. MY interpretation is that Randall (and for him Megan) is likening this Facebook thing to the phonebook, that it's how a Terminator will now find Sarah Conner and start the cycle portrayed in the movies. Seeing as Randall likes to be fatalistic and paranoid. :) Before this, there haven't been phonebooks any more, so we've accidentally protected ourselves from the events of Terminator, but now with the information leak, if a Terminator travelled back to now, he'd once again be able to get contact information. In fact, wasn't it only a few comics ago where Randall put a Terminator timeline, where he said most people are afraid of the moment AI and killer robots turn on us, while the time HE worries about is the time before that, but after computers are able to MAKE killer robots? [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:43, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

:I agree with you, but with the main point of the comic being that Facebook or a system like it could evolve into a Skynet-like intelligence in the future. I think that's the real concern for him! [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 13:14, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1972: Autogyros

2018-03-26T15:19:34Z

162.158.255.172: /* Land vertically? */

== Land vertically? ==

Hi, searching 'autogyro' has led me to find autogyros can't land vertically. Could this be a mistake on Randall's part, or am I missing a joke here?

[[Special:Contributions/172.69.186.58|172.69.186.58]] 13:55, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

:I just read about them on Wikipedia and I see that they can't take off vertically, but there are kinds (possibly all) that can land vertically [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.76|108.162.219.76]] 14:01, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

::The Wikipedia article was edited this morning to claim that they could not land vertically, but the edit was short-lived and reverted. So, be careful what you trust. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 14:37, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

::It appears they can land vertically with the correct wind conditions. Here is a YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAoK9zM8FFQ - and they say "Actually it is a 'Zero GROUND Speed Landing' approx. 25 kts headwind".

::Here is a YouTube video of a zero ground speed takeoff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd7_V4pW--Q

Talk:1972: Autogyros

2018-03-26T15:18:25Z

162.158.255.172:

== Land vertically? ==

Hi, searching 'autogyro' has led me to find autogyros can't land vertically. Could this be a mistake on Randall's part, or am I missing a joke here?

[[Special:Contributions/172.69.186.58|172.69.186.58]] 13:55, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

:I just read about them on Wikipedia and I see that they can't take off vertically, but there are kinds (possibly all) that can land vertically [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.76|108.162.219.76]] 14:01, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

::The Wikipedia article was edited this morning to claim that they could not land vertically, but the edit was short-lived and reverted. So, be careful what you trust. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 14:37, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

::It appears they can land vertically with the correct wind conditions. Here is a YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAoK9zM8FFQ - and they say "Actually it is a "Zero GROUND Speed Landing" approx. 25 kts headwind".

::Here is a YouTube video of a zero ground speed takeoff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd7_V4pW--Q

Talk:1972: Autogyros

2018-03-26T15:16:17Z

162.158.255.172:

== Land vertically? ==

Hi, searching 'autogyro' has led me to find autogyros can't land vertically. Could this be a mistake on Randall's part, or am I missing a joke here?

[[Special:Contributions/172.69.186.58|172.69.186.58]] 13:55, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

:I just read about them on Wikipedia and I see that they can't take off vertically, but there are kinds (possibly all) that can land vertically [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.76|108.162.219.76]] 14:01, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

::The Wikipedia article was edited this morning to claim that they could not land vertically, but the edit was short-lived and reverted. So, be careful what you trust. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 14:37, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

::It appears they can land vertically with the correct wind conditions. Here is a YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAoK9zM8FFQ - and they say "Actually it is a "Zero GROUND Speed Landing" approx. 25 kts headwind".

Talk:1968: Robot Future

2018-03-16T16:37:42Z

162.158.255.172:

Seems strange that the only "explanation" so far is a plug for a YouTube video.

Can we get some text up in here?

It seems the video says it all.

Talk:1957: 2018 CVE List

2018-02-20T15:57:54Z

162.158.255.172:

[[First]] post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, the explanation looks like a train wreck, and I'm not sure if a rearranging it into a table or just adding bullet points to everything is better. I'm guessing that a table would be better, but I don't know how I can rearrange it. Can somebody help? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 06:35, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: Added a table layout to the sandbox. Might be of some use to another editor. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.45|162.158.74.45]] 07:32, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: ''Edit: Looks like it's been adapted in; I've cleared the sandbox for future use.'' [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.45|162.158.74.45]] 11:53, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:: Thanks, I think a table is a good way to go. I'm adding it to the article as a place to start. Rather than format the original explanation into the table, I'm leaving the cells blank. The original poorly formatted text can be a starting point, but isn't directly adaptable. --[[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 09:55, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

Never ever have I heard anyone pronounce SQL as "sequel" - Is that a reqional dialect? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.15|162.158.93.15]] 07:41, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: I heard it's common among MS-SQL users.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.137|162.158.91.137]] 08:02, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:: Oh BTW, look at our IPs. Are you an easybell customer? :-) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.137|162.158.91.137]] 08:09, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
::: I somewhat doubt we are using easybell, from the looks of it it's not suited for the size of our company. But I can neither verify nor deny that claim as I am not responsible for the WAN connection at our company. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.9|162.158.93.9]] 15:09, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: Some people pronounce it that way, yes. Don't know if it is "common among MS-SQL users", though. The only person I encountered saying "sequel" never used MS-SQL. [[User:LordHorst|LordHorst]] ([[User talk:LordHorst|talk]]) 09:54, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: Not sure if it's regional or not. I personally say "sequel" and I'd say anecdotally that it's about 50/50 among people that I've worked with. I went to school and work in the Midwest US. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.94|108.162.216.94]] 15:40, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: I've also seen references to Oracle users saying "sequel" rather than S-Q-L. That would make sense as it's the DB I'm primarily working with. http://patorjk.com/blog/2012/01/26/pronouncing-sql-s-q-l-or-sequel/ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.94|108.162.216.94]] 15:43, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:Monty (BDFL for MySQL) always pronounces it as "My ess cue ell". [[User:RandalSchwartz|RandalSchwartz]] ([[User talk:RandalSchwartz|talk]]) 18:22, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
::I've always said 'sequel' but then 'my ess kyoo ell'. Which makes no sense really. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.26|162.158.155.26]] 09:40, 20 February 2018 (UTC)
: When I was in college a couple decades back I have memory of the professor that taught SQL saying that pronouncing it "sequel" had been registered as a trademark of Micosoft. He instructed us to avoid that pronunciation whenever possible because of this. I have not fact-checked this statement. [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 22:00, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:I like to pronounce it "squeel" because that's equally correct phonetically & it never fails to raise eyebrows. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 00:33, 20 February 2018 (UTC)
: I hear it occasionally, even myself once in a while. However, I seriously doubt EVERYBODY who does so is referencing the predecessor, pretty sure everybody I've heard say "sequel" does so because SQL looks like it's short for "sequel", thats all. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:04, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

I want to take a moment to congratulate the dedication of whomever wrote the original explanation. Second languages are hard, bro. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.10|108.162.215.10]] 07:48, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

Has someone tried contacting Randall about "extploit"? If not, what would be the best way? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 08:22, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:Hack his computer to display a message demanding he fix it if he wants his hard drive decrypted.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.26|162.158.155.26]] 09:24, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
::Thanks, will do.

::how to hack complooter
::why does google not work
::how to delete text
::[[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 09:44, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:If anyone is getting this changed to correct silly errors, removing the full stop in “…<tt>one. Computer</tt>…” would be nice. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.197|141.101.99.197]] 15:22, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:Urban Dictionary suggestion: EXTploit - A trojan (usually bearing a harmless looking icon) which takes advantage of the idiotic practice of hiding filename extensions by default within major operating systems. This increases the likelihood that a user will execute the trojan, thinking it is a media file because they cannot see the actual file-extension. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 00:33, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

Regarding "Factor a prime": Factoring a prime is easy: The prime itself is the only factor, so it's sufficient to use [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AKS_primality_test AKS] or whatever to check that. Public-key encryption relies on how hard it is to factor the product of two primes, which is a much harder problem. Maybe this is a typo in the comic? {{unsigned|Comment Police}}
: I don't think it is a typo. It's exactly the type of "inside-joke" I would expect from XKCD. :) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.214|162.158.134.214]] 10:09, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:: AFAIK, there aren't any primality tests known to run in O(log n). For instance, AKS runs in O(log n ^ 7.5). So for numpy to actually achieve factoring as stated would require assuming the input is prime and just returning (1,n). --[[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 12:45, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:::Doesn't testing for primality (just) require a list of all primes up to sqrt(n)? So the best possible time is sqrt(however fast you can calculate primes up to a number). That time can at most be square (divide every number by every other number below it), so a primality test only needs O(n) time. Or do I understand something wrong? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 13:46, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
::::Oh yes, I missed that log(n) is less than n. Nevermind then. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 13:50, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:On the other hand, consider the following phrases that describe a process using the end result of the process as their direct object: "cook scrambled eggs", "bake a cake", "chop firewood", "encode an MP3", and "factor primes". One would "factor primes" out of the semiprime associated with an RSA key. --[[User:Tepples|Tepples]] ([[User talk:Tepples|talk]]) 15:58, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

Can I edit some spelling errors? There seems to be some spelling errors here and there.Boeing-787lover 10:19, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:Of course, that's what a Wiki is for. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 12:10, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
I think the explanation of the one about injecting arbitrary text onto a page with the comments box is overthinking the joke. I think it really is just about the fact that you can write whatever you like in a comment. Look, I just hacked this page to display the word "penguin". [[User:Jeremyp|Jeremyp]] ([[User talk:Jeremyp|talk]]) 10:26, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

Since when is Bruce Schneier not real? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.93.75|162.158.93.75]] 13:05, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
: He never was - it's a cleverly executed art project. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.209|141.101.99.209]] 14:20, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

I've added some clarification to the "CRITICAL" item. I know there are several xkcd comics referencing similar problems but I unfortunately don't have the time to look them up, can someone do that and link them appropriately in the table? [[User:Domino|Domino]] ([[User talk:Domino|talk]]) 13:11, 19 February 2018 (UTC)domino
:Isn't the joke really in the hilarious severity assessment? The vulnerability is supposedly CRITICAL!!!!11!1!!one!, while description shows both a ridiculously small vulnerable population and ridiculously low impact. Population: a single, very old kernel version on a rare, outdated architecture, in one timezone only - and WHICH timezone! UTC+14 means just a couple of islands in the Pacific (Tonga, Kiribati...) - the probability of even one vulnerable system actually existing seems almost zero. Impact: the only possible consequence is switching from 12h to 24h (only in this direction)? This whole entry is very creative - just TRY to come up with a possible vulnerability (yes, it would classify as an actual vulnerability, why not?) that would have a LOWER severity than that...--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.89|162.158.91.89]] 13:41, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
::Agree [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 15:45, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

I think the article should start with an explanation of what is the CVE. From https://cve.mitre.org/
"CVE® is a list of entries—each containing an identification number, a description, and at least one public reference—for publicly known cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
CVE Entries are used in numerous cybersecurity products and services from around the world, including the U.S. National Vulnerability Database (NVD)."
-{{unsigned|Comment Police}}

"MySQL server 55.45" it is 5.5.45 if you zoom in a bit. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.161|162.158.91.161]] 13:41, 19 February 2018 (UTC)Blocki

"An attacker can execute malicious code on their own machine and no one can stop them" might be a jab at the trend toward more closed systems, where even the owner of a device is limited in what they can do on it. 
"A flaw in Mitre's CVE database allows arbitrary code insertion" could be meant as an explanation for the whole comic, i.e. those joke vulnerabilities were added to the CVE database using this flaw. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.225|141.101.69.225]] 13:52, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

It's my first comment here, so I may be wrong. I see the "CRITICAL" as a "differential” joke exhibiting that the requirement standards may be very different from a constructor to another. In fact, it seems that the apple’s bugs described here (crash, fire, remote access granted) are the mosst critical ones. The only two concerning Linux are the one labeled as critical and the one about bribery. I don’t know what to think about the almost complete absence of windows though. Feriaman.

Could we get an ''Air Bud'' category? It seems to be a recurring theme in his comics. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.246.88|162.158.246.88]] 18:50, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
:List of direct mentions of "air bud" in the explanations: [[115:_Meerkat]], [[1439:_Rack_Unit]], [[1506:_xkcloud/Table_of_Permalinks]], [[1552:_Rulebook]], [[1819:_Sweet_16]], [[1957:_2018_CVE_List]]
:List of direct mentions of "air bud" in the transcripts: [None]
:Beep, boop, I'm not a bot. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 20:41, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

Anyone happen to notice that instead of writing "mischievous," Randall opted for the non-standard spelling "mischevious?" The standard form would have been an I-before-E word... --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.164|162.158.88.164]] 00:45, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

"Diacritics are the accents found on letters in some languages (eg. č, ģ ķ, ļ, ņ, š, ž). These would not be found on emojis." This misses the point. There is nothing that stops a unicode emoji being followed by unicode combining diacritical mark. The rendering engine does not have to display this in any particular way, but catching fire would be considered a bug by must users.{{Citation needed}} [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.213|162.158.74.213]] 03:35, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

"Flash was discontinued", really? Someone should tell Flash. And Facebook. I'm STILL experiencing issues on Facebook over their sloppy Flash programming interfering with my ability to watch Facebook videos (extra irritating as I'm sure my newly built computer is more powerful and capable than the computers owned by anyone I know, and certainly any phone or tablet, which don't experience these problems). And my last Flash update was a couple of weeks ago - seeing as this bug likes to include telling me I need to upgrade my Flash, even if I did so that day and Flash assures me I'm up date. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:04, 20 February 2018 (UTC)
:Flash hasn't been discontinued, but I think one could call it deprecated. Adobe announced that they will [https://theblog.adobe.com/adobe-flash-update/ stop updating and distributing Flash in 2020] so it will be "discontinued" in 2-3 years. Which means that if you're a web site owner, now's the time to migrate any Flash content to another platform (like HTML5/JavaScript). Additionally, most modern browsers make a point of disabling flash by default, forcing you to enable it on a per-site basis. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 14:53, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

Timing Attack to exploit a race condition in garbage collection refers to Meltdown and Spectre CPU flaws that can be exploited in cloud server like the ones in Wikipedia.
I don't think this is correct. Garbage collection is a technique of freeing up memory no longer used by a program, completely unrelated to speculative execution and the Spectre/Meltdown exploits... [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]]) 07:34, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

Apple products execute any code printed over a photo of a dog with a saddle and a baby riding it.
... This "bug" would not only require the device to figure out specifically what the photo contains image-wise, something that's REALLY HARD for computers to do reliably, it would also require OCR (Optical Character Recognition) type code to convert the text superimposed on the photo into executable code. In other words, it's hard to believe in 2018 that such a bug could exist. Maybe in the future when such things are more routine...? ...
The funny thing is that I don't think it's beyond the realm of plausibility. Given the fact that modern operating systems try to index as much as possible, for faster searches, it seems logical that some OS (if not now, then in the future) would try to run OCR against every image and video in order to index whatever text it finds (much like how YouTube auto-generates captions by running speech-recognition over the entire soundtrack). Ditto for more generic image recognition to identify and index the picture content. A system that does this could easily end up with a bug (or back door) where certain kinds of image content result in an attempt to execute the its OCR results as code. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 15:03, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

Does anyone think the 'I before E' could be a stab at Apple, in reference to Internet Explorer?

1252: Increased Risk

2017-06-25T01:49:06Z

162.158.255.172: /* Explanation */ added what-if reference

{{comic
| number = 1252
| date = August 16, 2013
| title = Increased Risk
| image = increased_risk.png
| titletext = You may point out that strictly speaking, you can use that statement to prove that all risks are tiny--to which I reply HOLY SHIT WATCH OUT FOR THAT DOG!
}}
==Explanation==
The panel satirises the common misunderstanding of the concept of percentage. Quoting a percentage change without mentioning the base probability that this ratio acts on is meaningless (outside of arithmetic for arithmetic's sake). Most everyday communication, however, succumbs to such incompleteness. In the aftermath of this ambiguity, people tend to conflate relative and absolute changes.

If the probability of a shark attack at the North beach is 5 per million, then the probability of shark attack at the South beach is still not more than 6 per million. The difference between these values is not enough to normally justify choosing one beach over the other, even though a "20% greater" chance sounds significant when stated out of this larger context.

[[Cueball]] parodies the concern by noting that by going to a beach three times instead of two, their chances of attack by dogs with handguns in their mouths (a ludicrous and unrealistic scenario as dogs cannot buy guns and are not likely to pick one up off the ground) increases by 50%. If the chance of the dog attack is one per billion on each visit to the beach, then the chance of attack increases over multiple visits regardless; it's still one in a billion for any specific visit. This does not change the overall improbability of there ever being a dog swimming with a gun in its mouth.

[[Beret Guy]] misunderstands Cueball's probability, exhibiting the {{w|Gambler's fallacy}} by believing that since they haven't been attacked in their first two trips, the chance of attack by dogs with handguns is higher on their third outing.

This is a common misunderstanding of statistics. While the overall probability of an attack in three trips would be higher than in a single trip, it doesn't change the fact that in each individual trip, the probability is still the same; whether or not they managed to avoid being attacked in their first two trips, the results of these trips do not factor into the probability equation of the third trip.

This also can be illustrated by coin flips: if one flips a coin ten times in a row, no matter what the result of each previous flip is (even if it were nine heads in a row), the odds of getting heads on the tenth coin flip remains 50%. In other words, past experience does not impact subsequent flips.

The caption clarifies Cueball's point, but without sarcasm.

Then again, the title text objects to this point (that a tiny risk increased by 50% is still tiny). If this 50% increment is done repeatedly, the risk can get arbitrarily high, while the statement says that it is still tiny. This can be compared to the {{w|Sorites paradox}} (the "paradox of the heap"), which involves a "heap" of sand from which grains of sand are removed individually. If one assumes that, after removing a single grain, a heap of sand is still considered a heap of sand, and that there are a limited number of grains of sand in the heap, then one is forced to accept the conclusion that it can still be considered a heap of sand even if there is only a single grain of sand (or even none at all).

Being shot by a swimming dog with a handgun in its mouth is also specifically referenced in what if? 146, [https://what-if.xkcd.com/146/ Stop Jupiter].

==Transcript==
:[Three figures are standing around. Two have beach towels. Ponytail is looking at her cell phone. One of them is Beret Guy.]
:Ponytail: We should go to the north beach. Someone said the south beach has a 20% higher risk of shark attacks.
:Cueball: Yeah, but statistically, taking three beach trips instead of two increases our odds of getting shot by a swimming dog carrying a handgun in its mouth by '''''50%!'''''
:Beret Guy: Oh no! This is our third trip!
:Reminder: A 50% increase in a tiny risk is ''still tiny''.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Sharks]]

1800: Chess Notation

2017-02-17T15:40:11Z

162.158.255.172: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1800
| date = February 17, 2017
| title = Chess Notation
| image = chess_notation.png
| titletext = I've decided to score all my conversations using chess win-loss notation. (??)
}}

==Explanation==
In Chess there are 3 possible results, a win, a loss, or a draw. Those are denoted respectively 1–0, 0–1, and ½–½. Apparently Cueball believes that since Tophat doesn't care, this is a drawn conversation.

==Transcript==
Cueball: "I've decided to score all my conversations using chess win-loss notation."

White Hat: "I don't know or care what that means."

Cueball: "Fine."

White Hat: "Fine."

[Caption below drawing:] "½–½"

{{comic discussion}}