explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2284: Sabotage

2021-07-03T10:20:53Z

162.158.88.164: Undo revision 214181 by 162.158.74.177 (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2284
| date = March 23, 2020
| title = Sabotage
| image = sabotage.png
| titletext = So excited to see everyone after my luxury cruise home from the World Handshake Championships!
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is the tenth comic in a row in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] about the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic|pandemic}} of the {{w|coronavirus disease 2019}}, COVID-19 for short.

In the wake of the COVID-19, the advice from many professionals in the United States is to avoid public gatherings to slow the spread of the disease and "flatten the curve".

In this comic, some group of people (we're not told who) are planning a public event, which is very much contrary to the widespread professional advice, and is said to put everyone at risk by accelerating the spread of the disease in the general population. In an effort to sabotage this event by deterring people from attending, [[Cueball]] applies reverse psychology, pretending to be enthusiastically planning various activities at the gathering that most people would go out of their way to avoid: a wild skunk petting zoo, which would most likely result in everyone getting heavily sprayed with violently foul-smelling skunk scent that wild skunks use to drive away predators; and {{w|karaoke}} featuring the song "{{w|Baby Shark}}", which is a song for small children that is generally considered annoying to adults, made even more direly annoying in this case by being spoken rather than sung.

In the title text, Cueball has stepped up his game from merely threatening to spoil everyone's fun to making them fear that they might get infected. He claims to have attended the "World Handshake Championships", which presumably would involve shaking hands with as many people as possible; this would facilitate the spread of diseases such as COVID-19. He furthermore claims to have traveled home from the championship via a cruise ship, which may also cause concern because cruise ships are known for their densely populated environments and lack of extensive medical facilities making prevention and treatment of infections very difficult or impossible. Cruise ships have been a recent topic of interest in relation to {{w|SARS CoV-2}} due to many people being stranded at sea with infected patients because of COVID-19 pandemic on board.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball is seated at a desk, typing on a laptop. The top half of the image is the text he is typing in a reply message:]
:"I see you're still getting together today! I'll be there, doing my spoken-word ''Baby Shark'' karaoke all evening.
:We'll also be setting up a petting zoo for the kids. We've spent all week trapping wild skunks!"
:[Below the text is a white-on-green "reply" button.]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:In the coronavirus era, desperate times call for desperate measures.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

Talk:1957: 2018 CVE List

2018-02-20T00:46:38Z

162.158.88.164:

[[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)
: 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 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)

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)

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)

Talk:1957: 2018 CVE List

2018-02-20T00:45:38Z

162.158.88.164: /* I before E */ new section

[[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)
: 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 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)

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)

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)

== I before E ==

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)

Talk:1905: Cast Iron Pan

2017-10-23T20:44:37Z

162.158.88.164:

Wouldn't you mean solstices instead of equinoxes? Why travel to the Arctic during an equinox? The day is 12 hours long there during an equinox just the same as anywhere in the world. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.233|108.162.246.233]] 04:55, 20 October 2017 (UTC) An Arctic Inhabitant
:There is only one solstice (the summer one) that has 24-hour sunlight (a.k.a. midnight sun) in the Arctic circle. However, near the North pole, you have close to 6 months of daylight (a.k.a. polar day), bounded by the equinoxes. So, you could theoretically visit the North Pole in late March and mid-September to have two days of 24-hour sunlight nearly 6 months apart. [[User:Nialpxe|Nialpxe]], 2017. [[User_talk:Nialpxe|(Arguments welcome)]] (From the subtropics) 
::It is also for this reason it says close to the equinoxes. At the equinoxes the sun sets for the first time in 6 months at one of the poles (rises at the other), splitting that 24 hour cycle in two times 12 hours of sun/no sun. And then it either stays up of stays down the next half a year. So if you come just after the sun rose and then again just before the sun sets on the North Pole you could get 24 hours sun shine with about a half year apart, but not completely. So this is White Hat's objection, although the title text also states that it doesn't have to be equally spaced. But in White Hat's opinion (of his teasing Cueball) it should be exactly half a year apart, and probably preferably on the two poles when the sun is highest at the Summer/Winter Solstices... ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:29, 20 October 2017 (UTC)
:Two details:
:a) The equinoxes are not exactly 6 months apart. The earths orbit is not circular. A daylight "day" at the south pole is about 9 days longer than at the north pole. There is a narrow window to pull off 24 hours of daylight six months apart using only the south pole, whether "6 months" is 6 calendar months or exactly half a year.
:b) Because sunrise and sunset (and direct sunlight) are defined by the upper limb of the sun and because of refraction polar, polar sunrise is about 3 days before the equinox and polar sunset is about 3 days after the next equinox. This widens the window at the south pole and just about makes it possible to do at the north pole.
: [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.232|162.158.63.232]] 18:01, 20 October 2017 (UTC)

Just to make sure, the "iron filings" part has no real use. Isn't it? --[[User:Lou Crazy|Lou Crazy]] ([[User talk:Lou Crazy|talk]]) 09:21, 20 October 2017 (UTC)
:Yes the two last advice has no meaning and also has no myth they are based on. The soap myth may be a problem if the coating is just oil based and could in principle be a problem with some old pans --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:29, 20 October 2017 (UTC)

You don't need to throw away pans if the seasoning gets messed up, just reseason them, in case of rust or extreme gunk attack it with an angle grinder until it is shiny. Use safety equipment! Then reseason it. [[User:BlakeFelix|BlakeFelix]] ([[User talk:BlakeFelix|talk]]) 12:23, 20 October 2017 (UTC)

It is my understanding that you don't want to use soap on a cast iron pan because the soap will get into the pores and cause any food you cook on it after that to taste like soap. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.34|172.68.54.34]] 14:26, 20 October 2017 (UTC)
:Nope. After the soap quickly comes rust, and to remove the rust, you have to scrub away the seasoning. If you did use soap, wipe the pan with an oily cloth afterwards. Or just use hot water and a brush. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.92|162.158.88.92]] 17:29, 20 October 2017 (UTC)

So what is this a metaphor for? There's something you can't own unless other people believe you are taking good care of it, even if the care is nonsensical... The first thing I thought of was a baby, but that doesn't really seem likely to me. Any other ideas? [[User:Maplestrip|Maplestrip]] ([[User talk:Maplestrip|talk]]) 14:34, 20 October 2017 (UTC)
:It’s not a metaphor. There are people who are actually super fanatical (or pretentious) about cast iron pans.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.64|162.158.75.64]] 15:06, 20 October 2017 (UTC)
::Oh yes. And then there are people who very nearly faint every time someone with a butter knive comes close to their teflon pans. ;-) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.92|162.158.88.92]] 17:35, 20 October 2017 (UTC)

:Swords obviously, possibly specifically [http://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/touching-the-katana-blade-dos-and-donts.html Katanas]. You need to care a lot to keep sword in optimal condition, AND there is definitely the angle of "not being worthy for sword". Note that pan can be used as weapon in anime or cartoons, which makes it more funny. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 04:28, 21 October 2017 (UTC)
::I just realized it could definitely be a metaphor for pets, which take a lot of work to properly take care for. It seems unlike Randal to make fun of people who are advocating for people to take care of their pets better, though. Another thing that comes to mind now is books, but surely anyone who damages books in any way is a heretic. [[User:Maplestrip|Maplestrip]] ([[User talk:Maplestrip|talk]]) 12:33, 23 October 2017 (UTC)

The ambiguity in the transcript of which hand White Hat is holding his pan suggests a 50% chance he mutated a third arm.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.58.123|162.158.58.123]] 06:31, 21 October 2017 (UTC)

The first sentence of the explanation claims that the do-not-soap-thing is a myth and gives three sources from "the internet". The first source only refers to the third (actually using the same image), so it's only two sources. Secondly, this website recommends to re-season the pan after each use (and cleaning), which is kind of contradicting to the statement, that the seasoning is not harmed. Not at all convincing to me - but I do believe there is some dissent on the issue. mb (who does not believe in every blog post)

Talk:1786: Trash

2017-01-19T09:57:14Z

162.158.88.164:

I put in an explanation, but I'm on a mobile device, so someone will need to fix all the spacing, and necessary links, and probably fix a bunch of other stuff too. [[User:Yosho27|Yosho27]] ([[User talk:Yosho27|talk]]) 07:26, 16 January 2017 (UTC)

Yucca Mountain is a nuclear waste storage. [[User:Sten|'''STEN''']] ([[User talk:Sten|talk]]) 07:33, 16 January 2017 (UTC)

Perhaps one should mention that Narnia is a retelling of the Christian tradition. Aslan created all 'dimensions' or worlds including ours and is the allegorical Jesus. Narnia is a wonderful world for children, at least most of the time, when there are no witches, where they can have fun and are able to prove more noble than in the real world. Both makes dumping trash in Narnia quite sacrilegious. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.115|162.158.89.115]] 08:07, 16 January 2017 (UTC)
:I have mentioned some of it. But I do not think it is especially important for this comic, only for the fact that Aslan is God everywhere, and since Narnia is a dead world today, then Aslan could be in a different world that Blacl Hat taps into. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:50, 16 January 2017 (UTC)

Presumerably also the whole comic is a reference/cynical look at human's history of dumping things in the sea and so on? ( see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_debris for example) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.162|141.101.107.162]] 11:25, 16 January 2017 (UTC)
:Added some on this especially regarding the nuclear waste --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:50, 16 January 2017 (UTC)

Is Black Hat getting his furniture from Beret Guy's new shop? The wiki itself says that this seems like something that would happen. Comic [[1772: Startup Opportunity]].
[[User:SteelStarling|SteelStarling]] ([[User talk:SteelStarling|talk]]) 15:10, 16 January 2017 (UTC)
:Yeah but probably rather this shop: [[1533: Antique Factory]] ;) The wiki says what the users can agree upon. I wrote most of the current explanation. (And then someone else was so nice to copy edit all my spelling mistakes - not a native English speaker!) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:45, 16 January 2017 (UTC)

If we dumped radioactive waste into Narnia, wouldn't Narnia receive much less waste per unit time, than we are inserting? Therefore the nuclear waste problem would be much less severe than on Earth? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.59.70|162.158.59.70]] 23:31, 16 January 2017 (UTC)
:Well for some isotopes the half life is billions of year (Uranium for instance) so that kind of waste would not wither away in Narnia which only reaches an age of a few thousand years... So they would sum up even though they came in over a longer period. And most importantly, it was not their problem but ours. Just like 1st world problems are exported to 3rd world countries... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:24, 18 January 2017 (UTC)

Actually, subduction zone tectonic deposition of nuclear waste is a very promising form of nuclear waste disposal that would be considered oceanic disposal, which is why no one's been able to try it yet. Additionally, I'd like to point out that oceanic disposal of nuclear waste isn't really a current issue, since it's been banned by a number of treaties, and nuclear power plants are monitored closely enough that it doesn't really happen anymore. {{unsigned ip|162.158.122.108}}

Anyone else think that this is pretty derivative of this SMBC comic? Similar themes of Narnia and the nuclear waste: [http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=3513 Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]. {{unsigned ip|129.59.122.25}}
:Yes, added it to the explanation. Thanks ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:21, 18 January 2017 (UTC)

The first two panels read naturally with "Narnia" as a metaphor for a culture's sacred narratives, and "garbage chute" as a metaphor for the exploitation of those narratives by sociopathic individuals/corporations/subcultures (in the person of Black Hat). Then per the Narnia Wiki ( http://narnia.wikia.com/wiki/Cat ), the name of the "large cat" is Ginger, whose Narnia-fate is to become soulless; transparently a reference to a "ginger"-haired American politician "He Who Must Not Be Named". [[User:John Sidles|John Sidles]] ([[User talk:John Sidles|talk]]) 11:02, 18 January 2017 (UTC)
:Could be, but more probably Aslan is referenced as cat. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.164|162.158.88.164]] 09:57, 19 January 2017 (UTC)

Do we need a Narnia category? There are quite a few references to the books now... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:18, 18 January 2017 (UTC)