explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2232: Hotel Room Party

2019-11-23T17:41:51Z

172.68.54.112:

Is the "aa" in the hovertext intentional? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.233|172.68.132.233]] 17:12, 22 November 2019 (UTC)

::I don't think so [[User:Duraludon|Duraludon]] ([[User talk:Duraludon|talk]]) 17:34, 22 November 2019 (UTC)
:::Ii agree it's probably aa typo. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 18:03, 22 November 2019 (UTC)
::Should we rename Ponytail to Katie? IIRC she has been named such in several comicx

378: Real Programmers

2019-11-22T21:48:15Z

172.68.54.112: /* Explanation */ punctuation, word choice

{{comic
| number = 378
| date = February 1, 2008
| title = Real Programmers
| image = real_programmers.png
| titletext = Real programmers set the universal constants at the start such that the universe evolves to contain the disk with the data they want.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a satire on the idea of a {{w|Real Programmer}}. To quote Wikipedia "...the computer folklore term Real Programmer has come to describe the archetypical 'hardcore' programmer who eschews the modern languages and tools of the day in favour of more direct and efficient solutions—closer to the hardware." The implication is that modern programmers are coddled by today's tools of the trade, which eschew detailed understanding for simple workflows.

The first figure is writing a piece of code when another programmer ridicules him for using {{w|GNU nano}}. Nano is a {{w|text editor}} - a program often used to edit the source code of other programs; it is modern, simple, and easy-to-use. He goes on to say that "REAL" programmers use {{w|Emacs}}. {{w|GNU Emacs}} is a popular editor known for its vast profusion of features and extensions to perform all sorts of functions beyond simple text editing, and is widely regarded as one of the best examples of software. The comic continues from here as a series of programmers state progressively more obscure or outdated methods. Culminating in the final programmer who claims that "real" programmers use butterflies.

His description of his rather surreal programming method is ludicrously complicated and would require an absurd amount of knowledge and forethought to pull off, bordering on omniscience. In the final panel the Emacs programmer claims that there's an Emacs code to do that.

Emacs and {{w|Vim (text editor)|Vim}} are both text editors. {{w|ed (text editor)|ed}} is a {{w|line editor}}. These represent progressively more "old school" solutions to the problem of editing code. {{w|cat (Unix)|cat}} is a Unix program that concatenates and outputs the contents of files; and it's usually run from a {{w|Unix shell}}, which allows its output to be written or appended to a file.

Using a magnetised needle to flip bits on a hard drive requires nanometric precision and intuitive mastery of binary code, but in the early days of programming people did use needles sometimes to fix bugs on {{w|Punched card|Punched cards}}.

When final character suggests the utterly surreal idea of using butterflies he is referring to the {{w|Butterfly effect in popular culture|Butterfly effect}}, a "phenomenon whereby a minor change in circumstances can cause a large change in outcome" as illustrated in the short story {{w|A Sound of Thunder}}. The joke at this point relies on stretching the connection between the ideas of "difficult-to-use" and "requires detailed understanding of underlying principles", to suggest that not only do ''Real'' Programmers know everything about how computers work, but they know how to manipulate the ambient physical environment in elaborate ways to cause computers to do what they want, akin to performing {{w|trick shot}}s that accomplish feats of programming.

The fact that Emacs already has a command for this simply exacerbates the programmers' frustration with modern programming tools.

{{w|GNU Emacs}} succeeds despite being riddled with {{w|Feature creep|featuritis}}.

Emacs commands are usually referred to by the key sequence required to activate them, such as "C-x M-c" (Control-x Meta-c, though this exact key sequence is a bit different from most Emacs commands. The butterfly programmer saying "Dammit, Emacs" plays on Emacs' notoriety for its kitchen sink design approach of tossing in all the features and options that anybody might ever conceivably want. By way of example, later versions of Emacs actually added a totally useless "M-x butterfly" command as an easter egg, in reference to this very comic: see the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQtxhuX6ano YouTube demo] and [http://www.screenr.com/a2s screenr demo].

The title text further suggests manipulating the {{w|Physical constant|universal constants}} in order to create a universe in which the required computer data will exist. Programming of this sort would require power and knowledge akin to the Abrahamic God.

According to the logic, the programmers shown may even represent the fulfillment of this master programmers plan. The universe may have been designed in such a way that the programmers ancestry would result in his parents, who would meet and have a child, who would learn programming and eventually find himself in a position where he undertakes the task of creating a program, which fills the disk with the desired data. In tandem, of course, all of the people involved with creating and developing all the required hardware, software, raw materials, computer science, electricity, logic (etc., etc., etc.) would have to be part of the master plan. Put simply, it would probably be simpler just to use Emacs.

The use of a magnetized needle may also be a reference to the {{w|Apollo Guidance Computer|Apollo AGC guidance computer}}, whose instructions were physically written as patterns of wires looped around or through cylindrical magnets in order to record binary code.

This comic hints at the "{{w|editor wars}}", an ongoing debate of Vim and Emacs users over which of the two editors is the best. The editor wars are mentioned again in [[1823: Hottest Editors]].

==Transcript==
:[A Cueball like man sits at a computer, programming. Cueball stands behind him and looks over his shoulder.]
:Cueball: <code>nano</code>? Real Programmers use <code>emacs</code>.

:[Megan appears behind him.]
:Megan: Hey. Real Programmers use <code>vim</code>.

:[A second Cueball like man appears behind her.]
:Ed Cueball: Well, Real Programmers use <code>ed</code>.

:[A third Cueball like man appears behind him.]
:Cat Cueball: No, Real Programmers use <code>cat</code>.

:[Hairbun appears behind him.]
:Hairbun: Real Programmers use a magnetized needle and a steady hand.

:[A fourth Cueball like man enters, facing them all. We see him facing the last two Cueball like men and Hairbun.]
:Butterfly Cueball: Excuse me, but Real Programmers use butterflies.

:[A Cueball like programmer is standing and holding out a butterfly in front of his computer. The butterfly flaps its wings.]
:Butterfly Cueball (narrating off-screen): They open their hands and let the delicate wings flap once.

:[The next two panels are smaller and the two texts below are written uninterrupted respectively above and below both panels. The first panel is the Cueball like programmer with the butterfly, and above him four curved arrows pointing up or down. The second panel shows the upper atmosphere, with large clouds far below and the earth even further down. Also here are shown seven of the same type of arrows.]
:Butterfly Cueball (narrating off-screen): The disturbances ripple outward, changing the flow of the eddy currents in the upper atmosphere.
:Butterfly Cueball (narrating off-screen): These cause momentary pockets of higher-pressure air to form,

:[Also the next two panels are smaller and the texts below are written uninterrupted above both panels. The first panel shows the atmosphere, again with clouds, and four parallel lines coming from above, and then they begin to merge, getting quite close at the bottom of the panel. The second panel shows the four lines merging on a driver platter.]
:Butterfly Cueball (narrating off-screen): Which act as lenses that deflect incoming cosmic rays, focusing them to strike the drive platter and flip the desired bit.

:[All the programmers who has commented so far stands in the order they have commented facing the last Cueball like man who slaps his forehead.]
:Cueball: Nice. 'Course, there's an emacs command to do that.
:Cat Cueball: Oh yeah! Good ol' <code>C-x M-c M-butterfly</code>...
:Butterfly Cueball: Dammit, Emacs.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Emacs]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Rankings]]

2227: Transit of Mercury

2019-11-11T22:26:02Z

172.68.54.112:

{{comic
| number = 2227
| date = November 11, 2019
| title = Transit of Mercury
| image = transit_of_mercury.png
| titletext = For some reason the water in my pool is green and there's a weird film on the surface #nofilter
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The hashtag #nofilter is used to punctuate posts containing strong, often unpopular, opinions. This hashtag is also quite common on instagram, where it is typically used to humblebrag about having encountered situations so photogenic that no further image enhancement ("filter") is required to prepare them for general advertisement.

In this comic, the hashtag is used to cap off posts about situations where failure to use proper filtering equipment has led to damage or decay of personal property.

==Transcript==
[Panel showing the sun partially obscured by clouds. The image is very bright and blown out, with no details visible.]

[Caption below the panel:]

This photo of the transit of Mercury fried my telescope's imaging sensor [Frowning Face Emoji] #nofilter

[Title text:]

For some reason the water in my pool is green and there's a weird film on the surface #nofilter

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1965: Background Apps

2018-03-11T02:40:36Z

172.68.54.112:

Honestly, the fact that there isn't closing tag doesn't bother me that much. It might bother me more if HTML tags were the same length. When I
first started HTML, I styled all my opening tags with a space < like-this>, just so it could be the same length as a closing tag, </like-this>.
It worked, but I eventually gave up and accepted it... [[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 18:50, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

;App closing advice
Okay, so I've never edited before, but I found an article from a year and a half ago [https://www.wired.com/2016/03/closing-apps-save-battery-makes-things-worse/ here] that relates to closing apps and batteries. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.244|172.68.211.244]] 16:22, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

That's better than the CNET article I found. Updated to use yours, thanks. [[User:TheAnvil|TheAnvil]] ([[User talk:TheAnvil|talk]]) 17:52, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

;Not necessarily true
This sounds like good advice if you have a flagship phone with boatloads of RAM, but those of us that have to save money by having a midrange or budget phone absolutely can not leave everything running and using RAM when not in use. On my Nexus 5X (2GB) if I don't close absolutely everything other than what I am actively using the phone will run too slow to be useful, and some apps will even crash. Especially true with Google Maps which just dominates resources. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.52|172.69.69.52]] 17:57, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

I don't know how Android works, but on iOS, if low on memory, the system [https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/iPhone/Conceptual/iPhoneOSProgrammingGuide/TheAppLifeCycle/TheAppLifeCycle.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40007072-CH2-SW3 will automatically purge background apps] to free up RAM. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.82|172.68.174.82]] 19:10, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

I too have a low end android phone (v4.1.2), and I can tell you that it doesn't automatically close apps when it runs out of memory. I can have my foreground app crash (while seeing the IOU memory message) and the background apps are still open. It drives me mad when people claim that the memory management is perfect, and cannot be improved by human management. The user has special knowledge that the OS doesn't. I.E. I am done with a certain app, and won't be using it for a while.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.119|162.158.79.119]] 19:39, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

My experience shows that an Android phone indeed tries to conserve memory, but is rather stupid about it. E.g. if I have a couple of tabs open in Chrome, this usually means I'm actually ''switching'' between them. Yet, even though I'm ''in'' Chrome at the moment, when memory runs out it will not kill unused apps - no, it will look for room in the cache, meaning that the tabs will reload at every switch. More bandwith usage when not on WiFi. Slower browsing. Losing state for script-driven sites, start again. Dynamic content reloaded, that random article link that looked interesting - good luck finding it again... And so on. Killing apps really makes room for more tabs. So, the advice from first panel looked just weird at first sight - what does battery life have to do with that? I kill unused apps all the time and never even considered whether it would have any effect on battery. Logical fallacy: assume the reason for some action and criticize that. Surprizing on Randall's part. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.212|141.101.77.212]] 20:59, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

: It sounds like you're assuming Randall is making this statement out of his own belief in it, which I don't believe is the case at all; he's just using it as a comic device. Besides, you're all falling for his nerd-sniping trap! Stop while you still can! [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 21:18, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

: This drives me crazy too; The sheer number of apps which launch upon system startup is idiotic. Every app wants to open quickly, so they preload as much as possible, ''even when I haven't used them & have no intention to.'' The phenomena of tabs getting cleared from the cache is particularly loathsome. One might as well just not have tabs at all & only show a series of History links, if several pages can't be kept open at once. I frequently open secondary tabs to locate & cite references for a comment in an existing tab, only to have the comment page reload when I return to insert the relevant link into my comment. '''Note to Android developers:''' Don't clear downloaded data out of the cache if there's any local data you could clear instead. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 15:04, 10 March 2018 (UTC)

;Meaning of "<marquee>" banner
It may be that the "<marquee>" banner is not a blank template but rather a reference to the obsolete HTML tag (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/marquee).
* You're absolutely right, except that "deprecated" is only half the story: it was never a W3C-compliant tag to start with (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquee_element). And, given the nature of plane-pulled banners, it's also very obviously a reference to the similarity of behavior. Plus, it also meshes with the title-text, since that also delves into HTML both by talking about the Div tag and by the fact that the plane-pulled marquee tag is also un-closed. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.95|108.162.238.95]] 16:58, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

;Comic is about compulsive messaging, not battery usage specifically?
Per the edit performed by 172.68.58.11, I don't believe this comic is specifically about background apps or airplane banners. As that added content in the explanation points out, this comic seems to be a commemtary on typical exchanges in forum discussions across the web on a variety of topics. It makes me wonder if Randall has recently come across a similar exchange himself and is making jabs at the absurd posts that are so common in that type of environment. It seems the title of the comic is not directly related to its primary focus, which IMHO is not uncommon for Randall! (Warning: Randall may be nerd-sniping us in this case, maybe seeing if he can start a similar exchange within our discussion!)

On a separate topic, aren't we supposed to avoid adding section headers within the discussion comments because they somehow mess with automated page layout templates? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 19:25, 9 March 2018 (UTC)
:Agreed and have removed and made bold headers in stead. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:27, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

;nontrivial resources
"but there are non-trivial resources involved in the global distribution of electronic communication" ... well, technically, yes. Except that unlike the planes, those resources are optimized for high capacity; your forum post would "consume" very little of those resources, if anything at all, as most devices involved will consume same amount of electricity when turned on no matter how much communication they exchange. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:11, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

;Banner prices
Looks like these banners cost on the order of $500/hour (e.g. http://www.flyskyads.com/what-it-costs/). --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.112|172.68.54.112]] 02:40, 11 March 2018 (UTC)

1946: Hawaii

2018-01-24T15:16:06Z

172.68.54.112: Clarified that having forgotten the password wasn't the cause for the 30mins delay. And adding link to news

{{comic
| number = 1946
| date = January 24, 2018
| title = Hawaii
| image = hawaii.png
| titletext = Ok, I've got it, just need to plug in my security key. Hmm, which way does the USB go? Nope, not that way. I'll just flip it and- OH JEEZ IT FELL INTO THE VENT.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TWITTERER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
On January 13, 2018 an emergency alert for the state of Hawaii was sent out warning of an incoming ballistic missile attack. The message was specifically noted to NOT be a drill, and this caused widespread panic and fear amongst the island residents. It was eventually determined that the alert was sent in error -- the explanation is that a technician accidentally sent out the "real" version when they were supposed to just be testing the system during an end-of-shift changeover -- but the fact that it took half an hour for the correction to be sent drew widespread criticism. Many people had already begun panic reactions, and there were follow-up confirmations from local entities who thought the original warning was real.

On January 23, [http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/23/us/hawaii-governor-password-trnd/index.html it was revealed] that that the governor of Hawaii knew the alert was a false alarm only two minutes after it was sent, but couldn't notify the public because he had forgotten the login information for his twitter account.

This comic shows Cueball, representing the governor, frantically trying to log in to twitter and being stymied by the security features. Off-panel, another person is screaming at him that people are beginning to panic and warning sirens are going off, underscoring the need to get the correction out as fast as possible.

The alt-text refers to USB security keys, physical USB devices that act as tangible 'passwords' for various accounts or devices. In the context of this comic, the governor attempts to sign into his Twitter account using one such key, but can't insert it into his computer correctly (as USB devices are infamous for needing to be inserted in a particular orientation despite having a symmetrical outer appearance.) Trying to flip the key around, the governor drops it into a vent - similar to what happens in [[1518: Typical Morning Routine]].

==Transcript==

:[Cueball is at a desk with one hand on a laptop and the other holding his phone.]
:Off-screen voice: '''''Hurry!'''''
:Cueball: It keeps saying "Wrong Password!" I've tried everything it might be!
:Off-screen voice: '''''The clock is ticking!'''''
:Cueball: I requested a reset but haven't gotten it! Which email did I use?!
:Off-screen voice: '''''Sirens are going off!!'''''
:Cueball: It's not in my password manager! Is it in a browser? Which browser? Is Autofill synced to my phone??
:Off-screen voice: '''''OH MY GOD THE SCREAMING!!'''''
:Caption below the comic: I feel bad for everyone in Hawaii, but when the governor couldn't get into his Twitter account, he live out one of my very specific nightmares in real life.

{{comic discussion}}

1935: 2018

2017-12-31T11:48:11Z

172.68.54.112: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1935
| date = December 29, 2017
| title = 2018
| image = 2018.png
| titletext = We should really start calculating it earlier, but until the end of December we're always too busy trying to figure out which day Christmas will fall on.
}}

==Explanation==

In this [[:Category:New Year|New Year comic]], [[Megan]] wonders if 2018 will be a {{w|Leap year|leap year}}. [[Cueball]] thinks 2018 will not be a leap year, and Megan responds that she "doubts anyone knows at this point." This appears to be a jab at the complexity of the leap year system. As Cueball says, leap years occur every four years (though there are a few exceptions), adding an extra day to account for the fact that Earth takes a bit longer than 365 days to orbit the Sun. Therefore, most years that are a multiple of four are leap years. As Megan says, this is easy for odd-numbered years, since no odd numbers are divisible by four. However, for even-numbered years, it isn't always obvious.

The last panel expresses a misunderstanding of modern public-key {{w|Cryptography|cryptography}}, which relies on the fact that it is difficult to factorize large numbers. Megan is applying this concept to the year, claiming that it is hard to determine whether or not 2018 is a multiple of four and hence is a leap year. In reality, factorization is not needed here, since we already know the factor, which is four. Megan states that if it were possible to factor large numbers with a calculator, modern cryptography would collapse. While true, it is only true for truly large numbers (hundreds of digits), and no factorization is needed in this case.

At the end of the strip, Megan hopes the answer can be {{w|Brute-force attack|brute-forced}} by February. Brute force is a method of breaking cryptography by trying every possible option until one works. This is a misdirection upon misdirection, in that even if we needed to factorize 2018 (which we don't), the simplest brute forcing algorithm would only need to try 43 numbers - from 2 to square root of 2018 (44). In cryptography, the algorithms use numbers much, much bigger than 2018 -- on the order of hundreds (or even thousands) of digits.

The title text refers to calculating which day {{w|Christmas}} will fall on. Given that it always falls on December 25th (in western countries), there is nothing to calculate. They could mean which day of the week, but this is still information that any calendar will easily tell you. This is a reference to Easter whose date jumps from year to year according to a complicated algorithm that most people don't know. The changing date of Easter was recently included in [[1930: Calendar Facts]].

==Transcript==

:[Megan is walking.]
:Megan: I wonder if 2018 will be a leap year.

:[Now it turns out that Cueball walks behind Megan.]
:Cueball: ...it won't be, right?
:Megan: I doubt anyone knows at this point.

:[Same scene in a frame-less panel.]
:Cueball: No, it's definitely not. Leap years are divisible by 4.
:Megan: Right, and for odd numbers, that's easy.
:Megan: But 2018 is even.
:Megan: 50/50 chance.

:[Zoomed-out view with both walking in silhouette on a dark slightly curved ground.]
:Cueball: I can settle this with a calculator.
:Megan: No way. If it were easy to factor large numbers like that, modern cryptography would collapse.
:Cueball: I see.
:Megan: I just hope we manage to brute-force it by February.

==Trivia==
*Released on Friday, December 29, this is the last comic of 2017. The next scheduled comic will be on New Year's Day of 2018.

*Every year that is exactly divisible by four is a leap year, except for years that are exactly divisible by 100, but these centurial years are leap years if they are exactly divisible by 400. For example, the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years, but the years 1600 and 2000 were.

*Since 100 is divisible by 4, only the last two digits of a number are needed to determine if that number is divisible by 4. So to determine if 2018 is divisible by 4, we only need to check whether 18 is divisible by 4, which is easy.

*2018 is not divisible by 4, so the year is not a leap year. 2016 and 2020 are leap years. Assuming your calendar is Gregorian! A year is roughly 365.2422 days long. (Actually, also the case if it is 2018 on the old Julian calendar. The century year rules for leap years are different on the Gregorian calendar from the Julian, but the non-century year rules are the same).

*{{w|Eastern Christian Churches}} celebrate Christmas also on December 25 but of the older Julian calendar, which currently corresponds to January 7 in the Gregorian calendar.

*This is the third year in a row with New Year's comics with only the year used as the title, before that there were two more comics with such titles, but those two (and thus the first three) were only released in the even years: [[998: 2012]] in 2012, [[1311: 2014]] in 2014, [[1624: 2016]] in 2016 and [[1779: 2017]] in 2017.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:New Year]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|2017]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Time]]
[[Category:Cryptography]]

1927: Tinder

2017-12-13T16:10:04Z

172.68.54.112:

{{comic
| number = 1927
| date = December 11, 2017
| title = Tinder
| image = tinder.png
| titletext = People keep telling me to use the radio but I really hate making voice calls.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Swiped right by a FAKE PROFILE. Explanation is basically a plane wreck of conflicting interpretations right now, and needs to be reworked. Don't delete this tag until the issue is resolved.}}

{{w|Tinder (app)|Tinder}} is a social media/dating app. The main interface of Tinder shows photos of people using the app. Users swipe right for matches that they like, and left otherwise. The purpose of the app is to get dates, with the intent of a romantic relationship or sexual intercourse. However, in the comic, [[Cueball]] is trying to use it to request assistance flying a plane instead. If the request is genuine, this is a bad situation, because it suggests Cueball is in charge of a plane he is unable to fly, and unless he finds a match with someone who can, and is able to provide assistance, the plane will crash. Even then, unless the matched person happens to be on board, and therefore able to assist directly, providing help through Tinder messages is unlikely to be a sufficiently efficient way of solving the problem.

Alternatively, Cueball may be simply be pretending that there is an emergency so that he can get matches on Tinder. In either case, depending on the jurisdiction, Cueball may be violating the law by using a cell phone that is not in "airplane mode" (in some phones, flight mode or offline mode) when on an airplane. WiFi can be enabled on some flights during the entire flight; in others it may be banned during takeoff and landing. Even if he is either uploading the picture after the flight or using the in-flight internet service, he is still violating other, more serious laws (if he is a pilot, he may be liable for negligence, and if he is an ordinary passenger, God knows what he may have done...)

The title text explains that Cueball's unwise method for getting help stems from astonishingly skewed priorities and no small amount of selfishness. He claims to strongly dislike conversing over audio-only channels, and this dislike is apparently so overwhelming that he would rather jeopardize his life and that of any passengers on the plane, than put aside his own hang-ups. Even if we give Cueball the benefit of the doubt and assume that he has a phobia of public speaking, most human beings tend to automatically suspend their irrational anxieties when experiencing the fear of imminent mortal peril, at least until after the danger has passed. For example, those normally afraid of dating Cueball would "match" with him to prevent a plane crash, which may be his secret intent after all.

Randall may be satirizing people who use Tinder (and other similar social apps) by portraying an extreme caricature of a Tinder user.

This comic is similar to [[1897: Self Driving]], and as well as [[582: Brakes]], which also is about bad ways to get help in emergencies and other time-critical situations.

Note that the selfie is at an angle but the view out the window shows the airplane to be in level flight. This suggests that Cueball is making the situation seem worse than it is for whatever reason. Or it's a visual typo, which seems much less likely, and less fun.

==Transcript==

:[An iPhone-esque device is shown with the screen facing the viewer. On the screen is the Tinder UI. The main photo is of Cueball, in the cockpit of a plane which appears to be tilting to the right, holding up a makeshift sign saying:]
:If you know how
:to fly a plane
:please swipe
:right ASAP

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Social networking]]

Talk:1912: Thermostat

2017-11-07T02:50:53Z

172.68.54.112:

Maybe the the last sentence is about moses parting the sea so he can walk through it.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.221|162.158.91.221]] 05:55, 6 November 2017 (UTC)
: I interpreted it that way. In computing, partitioning separates parts of a drive that are to be used for different purposes, so parallels might be drawn there. - [[User:Emmia|Emmia]] ([[User talk:Emmia|talk]]) 07:24, 6 November 2017 (UTC)
: Not so sure about that. It's possible, I guess, but it's not obviously funny. I think it's more related to the title text about the helpline operative being afraid to upset whatever god of technology has cursed him with this unfathomable tech problem, and suggesting to him that the situation is so dire he may as well just end it all. (Obviously overreacting, as the failure of an IoT-enabled thermostat is definitely a First World Problem and not the horrendous event the characters are considering it to be.) 09:57, 6 November 2017 (UTC)
:I also thought about the "parting the sea" idea...consider that in the Old Testament, the gods of other cultures were spoken of as alive, and the Israelite God as directly challenging and defeating them (see the challenge issued to the Egyptian deities in Exodus). Perhaps, rather than helping Cueball himself, Hairy thinks that by invoking the Most High, Cueball might be able to defeat whatever technology god he has angered. Hence, Hairy suggests that Cueball try to play the role of Moses. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.76|172.68.34.76]] 16:11, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

I think there's additional humor to the extent of his boot problems. Monthly Energy Report (1).doc would be a normal document a smart thermostat may create. But if it became a boot volume it'd brick the device.

: Maybe "Monthly Energy Report (1).doc" was meant to resemble a malware-laden email attachment. The "(1)" could indicate a name-collision-avoidance suffix of a downloaded file. [[User:Bob Stein - VisiBone|Bob Stein - VisiBone]] ([[User talk:Bob Stein - VisiBone|talk]]) 11:48, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

I believe Cueball has accidentally discovered that the thermostat—supposedly simple device—is actually doing surveillance on the house (and is poorly coded). Now the tech support guy is astounded by the fact that somebody has found out, but then promptly suggests suicide in a non-direct manner to clean up evidence, covering this is with religious explanation. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.244.24|172.68.244.24]] 06:37, 6 November 2017 (UTC)
I'm not sure about the surveillance. It seems to me that the .doc is somehow a record of power usage of the thermostat. However, it remains to be determined a. why it is running Android b. why it is mounting and booting a .doc c. how it got there [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.12|162.158.106.12]] 07:11, 6 November 2017 (UTC)
: The .doc file is the trojan that was installed on the device. It was supposed to look innocent, but actually contains an encoded sysroot with the real spyware. It's just also terribly written. Very genuinely Russian.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.106|162.158.202.106]] 21:46, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

I took it as a variation on this joke in HHG:
: "Many were increasingly of the opinion that they'd all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. And some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the oceans."
...Which in the BBC TV series was accompanied by visuals of Douglas Adams himself walking into the ocean. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.86.58|172.68.86.58]] 07:27, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

Might be a reference to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nest_learning_thermostat Nest Thermostat], which like Android is an Alphabet thing. While Nest doesn't run Android, its OS is Linux-based like Android. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.89|108.162.246.89]] 08:07, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

While reading the title text my first thought was http://americangods.wikia.com/wiki/Technical_Boy [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:16, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

Not sure if "Android error screen" deserves emphasis in the explanation, as lately many very simple devices have Android, it shouldn't be surprising to find a thermostat running it. [[User:Fvalves|Fvalves]] ([[User talk:Fvalves|talk]]) 10:12, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

https://xkcd.com/349/ also mentions tech issues and the sea. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.78|141.101.107.78]] 10:36, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

As a (former) network engineer for the largest IoT deployment at a major ISP, I can say with complete certainty that this is nothing. A hard reset (typically, holding the power and some other button down for 5+ seconds) will skip the attempt at local boot and go directly to a BOOTP wipe from the mothership, which should have that thermostat up and running the Russian military/mob's firmware in ten minutes tops. Soon your thermostat will be mining bitcoin and staging attacks on your local vital infrastructure like all the other thermostats, don't you worry. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.196|141.101.98.196]] 11:14, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

Should we make a category for this? It's becoming a recurring theme on xkcd. [[User:RamenChef|RamenChef]] ([[User talk:RamenChef|talk]]) 15:49, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

: Sounds like this may be referrng to recent news where some Google Pixel 2 owners received phones [https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/11/2/16599938/google-pixel-2-xl-operating-system-shipping-quality-control-issues without any operating system]. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 16:59, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

Refer to https://xkcd.com/801/ on using a complex OS for single purpose Hardware [[Special:Contributions/172.68.46.101|172.68.46.101]]

Perhaps it's referring to the story of Jonah. In an effort to get Jonah to go back to where he was supposed to go, God sent a terrible storm that devastated the ship that Jonah was escaping on. In order to appease God, the crew had to throw Jonah into the sea, where he was subsequently swallowed up by a giant fish.

Talk:1895: Worrying Scientist Interviews

2017-09-28T15:07:42Z

172.68.54.112:

Why not use Heliologist? :~) [[User:DarkJMKnight|DarkJMKnight]] ([[User talk:DarkJMKnight|talk]]) 14:49, 27 September 2017 (UTC)

If the sun is local breaking news, could be an impending dark age (solar activity destroying all technology) or a dark age (solar implosion/explosion/death). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.5|162.158.79.5]] 15:42, 27 September 2017 (UTC)

P

Why not use Heliologist? :~) [[User:DarkJMKnight|DarkJMKnight]] ([[User talk:DarkJMKnight|talk]]) 14:49, 27 September 2017 (UTC)

If the sun is local breaking news, could be an impending dark age (solar activity destroying all technology) or a dark age (solar implosion/explosion/death). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.5|162.158.79.5]] 15:42, 27 September 2017 (UTC)

: Destroying *''all''* technology would require something on the scale of a solar expansion (hydrogen exhaustion) Solar flares (even those strong enough to burn all life from the face of the Earth) still would not be sufficient to destroy subterranean shelters like NORAD. Only a total extinction event would be capable of destroying all technology. Even if 99.9% of all humans on Earth were killed off, there are very well secured (& insanely well funded) facilities which will survive any event short of total crust-upheaval, at least for a generation or so. Reverting to primitive lifestyle may possibly happen for a *''majority''* of humans, but modern military systems are such that some humans with tech are almost guaranteed to remain, no matter what terrible events occur. In other words, the wealthiest technocratic elite aren't going to die off any time soon. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.125|172.68.58.125]] 00:59, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

: Which makes me wonder why only a local reporter is covering the story. Sounds like a media beat-up. The joke appears to depend more on someone's imagination than on the actual news story. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.34|198.41.238.34]] 23:10, 27 September 2017 (UTC)

Everyone else is dead except for the reporter who happens to be beret guy

Marine biologist is probably about oil spills or coral reefs/fish dying etc, rather than invasive species --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.209|141.101.99.209]] 16:18, 27 September 2017 (UTC)

The explanation for "ornithologist" uses "avian dinosaurs" instead of "birds." There's a link to the wikipedia page for birds, but it's still a potentially confusing inside joke. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.106|172.68.54.106]] 19:01, 27 September 2017 (UTC)
: The reference to "ornithologist" is almost certainly a reference to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birds_(film) Hitchcock's "The Birds"] [[Special:Contributions/172.68.253.209|172.68.253.209]] 01:52, 28 September 2017 (UTC)
:: Definitely, rather than the obscure Birdemic movie --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.81|141.101.69.81]] 06:32, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

So, wait: worried about what the hell is so wrong with interviewers for them to actually want to talk to these kinds of researchers; or about what is happening to the world are we all going to die is it the end times? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.71|162.158.79.71]] 19:54, 27 September 2017 (UTC)

The solar physicist would most likely be talking about an incoming solar flare, which could shut down the electric grid, satellites, and a bunch of other stuff, potentially within minutes, making it the most pressing of the issues. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.112|162.158.75.112]] 01:11, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

I think economists and nutritionists are at the lower end for being notoriously wrong in their predictions --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.81|141.101.69.81]] 06:35, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

Wow, this comic came on the morning right after the night in which I had a terrifying nightmare about the sun going supernova. I'm SERIOUSLY spooked. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.148|162.158.92.148]] 08:53, 28 September 2017 (UTC)
:Well don't worry, the sun is too small to go Super nova. My nightmare as a kid was that it swelled up and swallowed the Earth... This will probably happen, but in 5 bill. years fro now. But when you are 6 years old that is not a number that makes any sense, and I had just heard about the death of the sun :D --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:33, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

Bayes! Uuuh-vey! Considering you should pre-multiply with the probability that the
desaster happens in the first place (which is rather unlikely for the sun),
I definitely would be worried with the economist most. (Mkay, big stock crashes are as
probable as volcano eruptions, but I don't live near one.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.29|141.101.104.29]] 10:10, 28 September 2017 (UTC)
:But economists are interviewed before and after every meeting of the [Federal Reserve / Bank of England / whoever] discussing whether to change interest rates. That's a lot of non-critical interviews. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.76|162.158.34.76]] 10:52, 28 September 2017 (UTC)
:If this is a joke about disaster movies like I think it is, then the probability of a disaster happening is basically 1, then this scale becomes a question of how scary the disaster is. I, for one, definitely think Jaws is a more scary announcement than anything an economist can come up with. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.112|172.68.54.112]] 15:07, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure this is a joke about disaster movies not a serious scale. So Marine Biologist is pretty worrying because it's a shark attack or a giant octopus. Ornithologist is scary because of the birds, astronomers are meteors, etc. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.112|172.68.54.112]] 15:07, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1895: Worrying Scientist Interviews

2017-09-28T15:04:12Z

172.68.54.112:

Why not use Heliologist? :~) [[User:DarkJMKnight|DarkJMKnight]] ([[User talk:DarkJMKnight|talk]]) 14:49, 27 September 2017 (UTC)

If the sun is local breaking news, could be an impending dark age (solar activity destroying all technology) or a dark age (solar implosion/explosion/death). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.5|162.158.79.5]] 15:42, 27 September 2017 (UTC)

P

Why not use Heliologist? :~) [[User:DarkJMKnight|DarkJMKnight]] ([[User talk:DarkJMKnight|talk]]) 14:49, 27 September 2017 (UTC)

If the sun is local breaking news, could be an impending dark age (solar activity destroying all technology) or a dark age (solar implosion/explosion/death). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.5|162.158.79.5]] 15:42, 27 September 2017 (UTC)

: Destroying *''all''* technology would require something on the scale of a solar expansion (hydrogen exhaustion) Solar flares (even those strong enough to burn all life from the face of the Earth) still would not be sufficient to destroy subterranean shelters like NORAD. Only a total extinction event would be capable of destroying all technology. Even if 99.9% of all humans on Earth were killed off, there are very well secured (& insanely well funded) facilities which will survive any event short of total crust-upheaval, at least for a generation or so. Reverting to primitive lifestyle may possibly happen for a *''majority''* of humans, but modern military systems are such that some humans with tech are almost guaranteed to remain, no matter what terrible events occur. In other words, the wealthiest technocratic elite aren't going to die off any time soon. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.125|172.68.58.125]] 00:59, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

: Which makes me wonder why only a local reporter is covering the story. Sounds like a media beat-up. The joke appears to depend more on someone's imagination than on the actual news story. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.34|198.41.238.34]] 23:10, 27 September 2017 (UTC)

Everyone else is dead except for the reporter who happens to be beret guy

Marine biologist is probably about oil spills or coral reefs/fish dying etc, rather than invasive species --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.209|141.101.99.209]] 16:18, 27 September 2017 (UTC)

The explanation for "ornithologist" uses "avian dinosaurs" instead of "birds." There's a link to the wikipedia page for birds, but it's still a potentially confusing inside joke. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.106|172.68.54.106]] 19:01, 27 September 2017 (UTC)
: The reference to "ornithologist" is almost certainly a reference to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birds_(film) Hitchcock's "The Birds"] [[Special:Contributions/172.68.253.209|172.68.253.209]] 01:52, 28 September 2017 (UTC)
:: Definitely, rather than the obscure Birdemic movie --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.81|141.101.69.81]] 06:32, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

So, wait: worried about what the hell is so wrong with interviewers for them to actually want to talk to these kinds of researchers; or about what is happening to the world are we all going to die is it the end times? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.71|162.158.79.71]] 19:54, 27 September 2017 (UTC)

The solar physicist would most likely be talking about an incoming solar flare, which could shut down the electric grid, satellites, and a bunch of other stuff, potentially within minutes, making it the most pressing of the issues. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.112|162.158.75.112]] 01:11, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

I think economists and nutritionists are at the lower end for being notoriously wrong in their predictions --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.81|141.101.69.81]] 06:35, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

Wow, this comic came on the morning right after the night in which I had a terrifying nightmare about the sun going supernova. I'm SERIOUSLY spooked. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.148|162.158.92.148]] 08:53, 28 September 2017 (UTC)
:Well don't worry, the sun is too small to go Super nova. My nightmare as a kid was that it swelled up and swallowed the Earth... This will probably happen, but in 5 bill. years fro now. But when you are 6 years old that is not a number that makes any sense, and I had just heard about the death of the sun :D --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:33, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

Bayes! Uuuh-vey! Considering you should pre-multiply with the probability that the
desaster happens in the first place (which is rather unlikely for the sun),
I definitely would be worried with the economist most. (Mkay, big stock crashes are as
probable as volcano eruptions, but I don't live near one.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.29|141.101.104.29]] 10:10, 28 September 2017 (UTC)
:But economists are interviewed before and after every meeting of the [Federal Reserve / Bank of England / whoever] discussing whether to change interest rates. That's a lot of non-critical interviews. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.76|162.158.34.76]] 10:52, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure this is a joke about disaster movies not a serious scale. So Marine Biologist is pretty worrying because it's a shark attack or a giant octopus. Ornithologist is scary because of the birds, astronomers are meteors, etc.

1870: Emoji Movie Reviews

2017-08-11T16:36:11Z

172.68.54.112: /* Explanation */ typo fix

{{comic
| number = 1870
| date = July 31, 2017
| title = Emoji Movie Reviews
| image = emoji_movie_reviews.png
| titletext = There's this idea that emoji are bad for communication because they replace ambiguity and nuance with a limited set of preselected emotions, but it doesn't really survive a collision with real-world usage of the thinking face or upside-down smiley.
}}

==Explanation==

This comic discusses reviews of ''{{w|The Emoji Movie}}'' (previously covered in [[1857: Emoji Movie]]) between the cynical, Internet-equipped point of view of Megan and Cueball's language-enthusiasm. They ultimately agree the movie is bad.

''The Emoji Movie'' was released to theaters in late July 2017 and received nearly universally-negative reviews. It is particularly notable for having just a 6% rating on the review aggregator site {{w|Rotten Tomatoes}}. Many critics of movie point to superficial problems like the subject matter and the product placement. Here, that train of thought is articulated a bit more, and ultimately it's argued that the real reason the film is bad is because the creators cashed in on a trend without doing any research into it.

When [[Megan]] first mentions the movie's negative reviews, [[Cueball]] initially accuses the audience of being overly judgmental of the subject matter. He further expresses his fondness for {{w|emoji}} as an interesting and quirky part of language.

Cueball offers an early defense of ''The Emoji Movie'' by comparing it to ''{{w|The Lego Movie}}'', which – despite effectively being an entire movie of {{w|product placement}} for {{w|Lego}} – received generally positive reviews.

They start talking about a "Meh" emoji, who is the main character of the movie. The idea of "{{w|meh}}" as an emoji is actually ambiguous, as various emoji can be used to describe being unimpressed or neutral towards something. As given in examples from comic those are 😒 ({{w|Emoticons (Unicode block)|U+1F612}} Unamused face), 😐 (U+1F610 Neutral face) or 😕 (U+1F615 Confused face). The selection of a less identifiable emoji for the leading role also contrasts with the fact that the movie also features more iconic emojis.

Megan mentions that one of the attempted jokes in the film is a room full of emojis that are unpopular. Bizarrely, the eggplant emoji (🍆, U+1F346 Aubergine) is featured among them. This is a clear sign that the creative team in charge of this movie had limited first-hand experience with SMS messaging; as any frequent user of emoji will tell you, the 🍆 is a sly stand-in for a penis, due to its similar shape. [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/eggplant-emoji-%F0%9F%8D%86] Cueball's reaction is to ask whether the creators of this film might be trying to be controversial on purpose, as it is popular lately (like for example in film {{w|Sausage Party}})

The line from the Wikipedia plot summary was a {{w|Special:Permalink/793251548|direct quote from Wikipedia}}. The sentence was introduced to the article by editor {{w|User:Voicebox64|Voicebox64}} on {{w|Special:Diff/792689187|July 28, 2017}}, and the exact phrasing quoted in the comic came from editor {{w|User:SubZeroSilver|SubZeroSilver}} on {{w|Special:Diff/793088884|July 30}}. Cueball's response to hearing this line, stating that "it's possible this movie is bad", is likely due to the fact that piracy is the act of obtaining media illegally, generally without paying for it over the internet. This means that there is a very low chance of there being a 'piracy app', as an app such as this would not be allowed on any online app store. (A few piracy-focused apps do exist, like {{w|Popcorn Time}}, but they are not available in app stores for obvious reasons.) This plot point is made more ludicrous as there is no hacker emoji, or even an emoji that could be mistaken for one. Jailbreak's design in the movie also does not bear a resemblance to any existing emoji. Furthermore, the blatant product placement of the protagonists' desires to use Dropbox, the proprietary software of a for-profit company, is the final nail in the movie's coffin in Cueball's opinion. The fact that Jailbreak's plans to live 'in the cloud' superficially match with Dropbox's cloud storage service does not salvage the concept.

The title text is an argument against the common prediction that emojis would lead to less nuanced communication, and as evidence it cites the thinking face emoji (🤔) and upside-down smiley (🙃), both of which are used in ways that have developed difficult-to-define nuances and meanings. In the first case, the thinking-face emoji is often used sarcastically -- for example, feigning confusion when presented with contradictory/hypocritical statements from the same source. The upside-down smiley also has specific usage, indicating a tone of silliness or even insanity, and is also often used sarcastically, such as when reacting to bad news.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are walking. Megan is checking her phone.]
:Megan: Reviews for The Emoji Movie are... not good.
:Cueball: People are just snobs about emoji. I like them! Language is cool and weird.

:[Zoom on Megan; Cueball is outside of the frame.]
:Megan: It's apparently 80% product placement.
:Cueball (off-screen): Whatever. So was The Lego Movie, and I liked ''that''.

:[Zoom out; Cueball looks at Megan's phone.]
:Megan: It features the emoji we all know and love - with a "Meh" emoji in the starring role!
:Cueball: Wait... a "Meh" emoji?
:Megan: I wondered about that, too; the others are all familiar. Do they mean 😒? Or 😐 or 😕?
:Cueball: That's a little confusing...

:[Zoom in on both heads; Megan is looking at her phone.]
:Megan: There's a joke in the movie about the "emoji that no one uses" that includes the eggplant emoji.
:Cueball: ...was that on purpose? Or did they not run the script by enough people?

:[Megan and Cueball continue walking.]
:Megan: Here's a line from the Wikipedia plot summary:
:Megan: ''Gene and Hi-5 come to a piracy app where they meet the hacker emoji Jailbreak, who wants to reach Dropbox so that she can live in the cloud.''
:Cueball: Okay.
:Cueball: It's possible this movie is bad.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Emoji]]

1870: Emoji Movie Reviews

2017-08-11T16:35:09Z

172.68.54.112: /* Explanation */ fixed wording

{{comic
| number = 1870
| date = July 31, 2017
| title = Emoji Movie Reviews
| image = emoji_movie_reviews.png
| titletext = There's this idea that emoji are bad for communication because they replace ambiguity and nuance with a limited set of preselected emotions, but it doesn't really survive a collision with real-world usage of the thinking face or upside-down smiley.
}}

==Explanation==

This comic discusses reviews of ''{{w|The Emoji Movie}}'' (previously covered in [[1857: Emoji Movie]]) between the cynical, Internet-equipped point of view of Megan and Cueball's language-enthusiasm. They ultimately agree the movie is bad.

''The Emoji Movie'' was released to theaters in late July 2017 and received nearly universally-negative reviews. It is particularly notable for having just a 6% rating on the review aggregator site {{w|Rotten Tomatoes}}. Many critics of movie point to superficial problems like the subject matter and the product placement. Here, that train of thought is articulated a bit more, and ultimately it's argued that the real reason the film is bad is because the creators cashed in on a trend without doing any research into it.

When [[Megan]] first mentions the movie's negative reviews, [[Cueball]] initially accuses the audience of being overly judgmental of the subject matter. He further expresses his fondness for {{w|emoji}} as an interesting and quirky part of language.

Cueball offers an early defense of ''The Emoji Movie'' by comparing it to ''{{w|The Lego Movie}}'', which – despite effectively being an entire movie of {{w|product placement}} for {{w|Lego}} – received generally positive reviews.

They start talking about a "Meh" emoji, who is the main character of the movie. The idea of "{{w|meh}}" as an emoji is actually ambiguous, as various emoji can be used to describe being unimpressed or neutral towards something. As given in examples from comic those are 😒 ({{w|Emoticons (Unicode block)|U+1F612}} Unamused face), 😐 (U+1F610 Neutral face) or 😕 (U+1F615 Confused face). The selection of a less identifiable emoji for the leading role also contrasts with the fact that the movie also features more iconic emojis.

Megan mentions that one of the attempted jokes in the film is a room full of emojis that are unpopular. Bizarrely, the eggplant emoji (🍆, U+1F346 Aubergine) is featured among them. This is a clear sign that the creative team in charge of this movie had limited first-hand experience with SMS messaging; as any frequent user of emoji will tell you, the 🍆 is a sly stand-in for a penis, due to its similar shape. [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/eggplant-emoji-%F0%9F%8D%86] Cueball's reaction is to ask whether the creators of this film might be trying to be controversial on purpose, as it is popular lately (like for example in film {{w|Sausage Party}})

The line from the Wikipedia plot summary was a {{w|Special:Permalink/793251548|direct quote from Wikipedia}}. The sentence was introduced to the article by editor {{w|User:Voicebox64|Voicebox64}} on {{w|Special:Diff/792689187|July 28, 2017}}, and the exact phrasing quoted in the comic came from editor {{w|User:SubZeroSilver|SubZeroSilver}} on {{w|Special:Diff/793088884|July 30}}. Cueball's response to hearing this line, stating that "it's possible this movie is bad", is likely due to the fact that piracy is the act of obtaining media illegally, generally without paying for it over the internet. This means that there is a very low chance of there being a 'piracy app', as an app such as this would not be allowed on any online app store. (A few piracy-focused apps do exist, like {{w|Popcorn Time}}, but they are not available in app stores for obvious reasons.) This plot point is made more ludicrous as there is no hacker emoji, or even an emoji that could be mistaken for one. Jailbreak's design in the movie also does not bear a resemblance to any existing emoji. Furthermore, the blatant product placement of the protagonists' desires to use Dropbox, the proprietary software of a for-profit company, is the final nail in the movie's coffin in Cueball's opinion. The fact that Jailbreak plans to live 'in the cloud' superficially match with Dropbox's cloud storage service does not salvage the concept.

The title text is an argument against the common prediction that emojis would lead to less nuanced communication, and as evidence it cites the thinking face emoji (🤔) and upside-down smiley (🙃), both of which are used in ways that have developed difficult-to-define nuances and meanings. In the first case, the thinking-face emoji is often used sarcastically -- for example, feigning confusion when presented with contradictory/hypocritical statements from the same source. The upside-down smiley also has specific usage, indicating a tone of silliness or even insanity, and is also often used sarcastically, such as when reacting to bad news.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are walking. Megan is checking her phone.]
:Megan: Reviews for The Emoji Movie are... not good.
:Cueball: People are just snobs about emoji. I like them! Language is cool and weird.

:[Zoom on Megan; Cueball is outside of the frame.]
:Megan: It's apparently 80% product placement.
:Cueball (off-screen): Whatever. So was The Lego Movie, and I liked ''that''.

:[Zoom out; Cueball looks at Megan's phone.]
:Megan: It features the emoji we all know and love - with a "Meh" emoji in the starring role!
:Cueball: Wait... a "Meh" emoji?
:Megan: I wondered about that, too; the others are all familiar. Do they mean 😒? Or 😐 or 😕?
:Cueball: That's a little confusing...

:[Zoom in on both heads; Megan is looking at her phone.]
:Megan: There's a joke in the movie about the "emoji that no one uses" that includes the eggplant emoji.
:Cueball: ...was that on purpose? Or did they not run the script by enough people?

:[Megan and Cueball continue walking.]
:Megan: Here's a line from the Wikipedia plot summary:
:Megan: ''Gene and Hi-5 come to a piracy app where they meet the hacker emoji Jailbreak, who wants to reach Dropbox so that she can live in the cloud.''
:Cueball: Okay.
:Cueball: It's possible this movie is bad.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Emoji]]

1870: Emoji Movie Reviews

2017-08-11T16:33:18Z

172.68.54.112: /* Explanation */ explained why the mention of Dropbox in the movie is another knock against it

{{comic
| number = 1870
| date = July 31, 2017
| title = Emoji Movie Reviews
| image = emoji_movie_reviews.png
| titletext = There's this idea that emoji are bad for communication because they replace ambiguity and nuance with a limited set of preselected emotions, but it doesn't really survive a collision with real-world usage of the thinking face or upside-down smiley.
}}

==Explanation==

This comic discusses reviews of ''{{w|The Emoji Movie}}'' (previously covered in [[1857: Emoji Movie]]) between the cynical, Internet-equipped point of view of Megan and Cueball's language-enthusiasm. They ultimately agree the movie is bad.

''The Emoji Movie'' was released to theaters in late July 2017 and received nearly universally-negative reviews. It is particularly notable for having just a 6% rating on the review aggregator site {{w|Rotten Tomatoes}}. Many critics of movie point to superficial problems like the subject matter and the product placement. Here, that train of thought is articulated a bit more, and ultimately it's argued that the real reason the film is bad is because the creators cashed in on a trend without doing any research into it.

When [[Megan]] first mentions the movie's negative reviews, [[Cueball]] initially accuses the audience of being overly judgmental of the subject matter. He further expresses his fondness for {{w|emoji}} as an interesting and quirky part of language.

Cueball offers an early defense of ''The Emoji Movie'' by comparing it to ''{{w|The Lego Movie}}'', which – despite effectively being an entire movie of {{w|product placement}} for {{w|Lego}} – received generally positive reviews.

They start talking about a "Meh" emoji, who is the main character of the movie. The idea of "{{w|meh}}" as an emoji is actually ambiguous, as various emoji can be used to describe being unimpressed or neutral towards something. As given in examples from comic those are 😒 ({{w|Emoticons (Unicode block)|U+1F612}} Unamused face), 😐 (U+1F610 Neutral face) or 😕 (U+1F615 Confused face). The selection of a less identifiable emoji for the leading role also contrasts with the fact that the movie also features more iconic emojis.

Megan mentions that one of the attempted jokes in the film is a room full of emojis that are unpopular. Bizarrely, the eggplant emoji (🍆, U+1F346 Aubergine) is featured among them. This is a clear sign that the creative team in charge of this movie had limited first-hand experience with SMS messaging; as any frequent user of emoji will tell you, the 🍆 is a sly stand-in for a penis, due to its similar shape. [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/eggplant-emoji-%F0%9F%8D%86] Cueball's reaction is to ask whether the creators of this film might be trying to be controversial on purpose, as it is popular lately (like for example in film {{w|Sausage Party}})

The line from the Wikipedia plot summary was a {{w|Special:Permalink/793251548|direct quote from Wikipedia}}. The sentence was introduced to the article by editor {{w|User:Voicebox64|Voicebox64}} on {{w|Special:Diff/792689187|July 28, 2017}}, and the exact phrasing quoted in the comic came from editor {{w|User:SubZeroSilver|SubZeroSilver}} on {{w|Special:Diff/793088884|July 30}}. Cueball's response to hearing this line, stating that "it's possible this movie is bad", is likely due to the fact that piracy is the act of obtaining media illegally, generally without paying for it over the internet. This means that there is a very low chance of there being a 'piracy app', as an app such as this would not be allowed on any online app store. (A few piracy-focused apps do exist, like {{w|Popcorn Time}}, but they are not available in app stores for obvious reasons.) This plot point is made more ludicrous as there is no hacker emoji, or even an emoji that could be mistaken for one. Jailbreak's design in the movie also does not bear a resemblance to any existing emoji. Furthermore, the blatant product placement that the plot of the latter half of the movie revolves around the protagonists' desires to use Dropbox, the proprietary software of a for-profit company, is the final nail in this movie's coffin in Cueball's opinion. The fact that Jailbreak plans to live 'in the cloud' superficially match with Dropbox's cloud storage service does not salvage the concept.

The title text is an argument against the common prediction that emojis would lead to less nuanced communication, and as evidence it cites the thinking face emoji (🤔) and upside-down smiley (🙃), both of which are used in ways that have developed difficult-to-define nuances and meanings. In the first case, the thinking-face emoji is often used sarcastically -- for example, feigning confusion when presented with contradictory/hypocritical statements from the same source. The upside-down smiley also has specific usage, indicating a tone of silliness or even insanity, and is also often used sarcastically, such as when reacting to bad news.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are walking. Megan is checking her phone.]
:Megan: Reviews for The Emoji Movie are... not good.
:Cueball: People are just snobs about emoji. I like them! Language is cool and weird.

:[Zoom on Megan; Cueball is outside of the frame.]
:Megan: It's apparently 80% product placement.
:Cueball (off-screen): Whatever. So was The Lego Movie, and I liked ''that''.

:[Zoom out; Cueball looks at Megan's phone.]
:Megan: It features the emoji we all know and love - with a "Meh" emoji in the starring role!
:Cueball: Wait... a "Meh" emoji?
:Megan: I wondered about that, too; the others are all familiar. Do they mean 😒? Or 😐 or 😕?
:Cueball: That's a little confusing...

:[Zoom in on both heads; Megan is looking at her phone.]
:Megan: There's a joke in the movie about the "emoji that no one uses" that includes the eggplant emoji.
:Cueball: ...was that on purpose? Or did they not run the script by enough people?

:[Megan and Cueball continue walking.]
:Megan: Here's a line from the Wikipedia plot summary:
:Megan: ''Gene and Hi-5 come to a piracy app where they meet the hacker emoji Jailbreak, who wants to reach Dropbox so that she can live in the cloud.''
:Cueball: Okay.
:Cueball: It's possible this movie is bad.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Emoji]]

1872: Backup Batteries

2017-08-06T14:49:23Z

172.68.54.112: not bad at all and in fact good and adequate

{{comic
| number = 1872
| date = August 4, 2017
| title = Backup Batteries
| image = backup_batteries.png
| titletext = If it falls below 20% full, my bag turns red and I start to panic.
}}

==Explanation==

A backup battery is a source of energy that may be used to recharge an electronic device. Backup batteries for phones are typically similar in size, shape and energy capacity to a smartphone. Cueball gets stressed when at low battery because a low battery may run out at any moment, interrupting activities being done with the phone.

In an effort to prevent stress, Cueball decides to carry a backup battery. This way he can recharge his phone should its battery run low. Cueball realises that the backup battery is itself prone to depletion, and so carries a second. He then comes to the same realisation for the second backup battery, and indeed every subsequent battery he can carry. This leads to an unending series of backup batteries, hence his speech is cut off, becoming unending as well.

What Cueball never grasps is that his irrational need to hoard a supply of batteries tending to the infinite is the real cause of his stress. In reality, he only needs to consider the maximum amount of time that he spends between recharging his phone, and divide that by the average lifespan of a phone battery, and round up that figure to get the minimum number of batteries required to avoid a power outage (multiplied by 1.5 if the mere state of running low causes stress). If he charges up his phone and backup batteries every night, he would only need 2 to 3 backup batteries, tops.

The title text says that Cueball's backpack will turn red if it is below 20% of its energy capacity, which the same thing happens to the battery indicator on an iPhone/most Android phones when at low battery to warn the user. Cueball gets similarly stressed when that happens, perhaps requiring a backup backup-battery backpack.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball is talking to White Hat. He is wearing a large backpack and holding a phone battery.]
:Cueball: I get stressed out when my phone battery is low, so I carry this backup battery.
:Cueball: But then I worry about the backup running low, so I carry this second backup.
:Cueball: Then I worry—

:[Caption below the frame:]
:My bag is 90% backup batteries.

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

{{comic discussion}}

1871: Bun Alert

2017-08-03T20:14:25Z

172.68.54.112: re-included the inane sentence in order to achieve desired article quality

{{comic
| number = 1871
| date = August 2, 2017
| title = Bun Alert
| image = bun_alert.png
| titletext = Since buns range from crepuscular to nocturnal, it's recommended that you enable the scheduled "Do Not Disturb" mode on your phone to avoid being woken by alerts about Night Buns.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic opens with [[Beret Guy]] identifying a "bun", the name given to a {{w|rabbit}} in [[1682: Bun]]. He expresses that a bun has been identified by saying "bun alert!", which might be thought to just be a manner of speaking before the actual "Bun Alert" system is shown to exist.

Upon seeing the bunny, Beret Guy uses his phone to send an alert about the "Bun" with a [[wikipedia:Push technology|push notification]]. He is still looking for investors, though such an app would likely not appeal to a wide market. In response to [[Ponytail]]'s confusion, he explains that bunnies are "like loaves of bread that hop" perhaps making a pun by comparing rabbits to bread, as "bun" can commonly refer to a small loaf of bread. Beret Guy is known to be fascinated with bakeries, as shown in the comics 434 and 442 and 452, so it makes sense that this sort of comparison occurs to him. It is known that the word "bun" is similar to the word "pun".

As Ponytail leaves, apparently to remove herself from the situation, [[Megan]] hurriedly approaches, excited to see the "bun". This serves as a punchline as despite Ponytail appearing to be the voice of reason, it seems that Beret Guy's inane bun alert system has gathered a dedicated following after all.

Megan's question "Is it small?" and her amazement when she find out that it is parallels the idea in [[1682: Bun]] where the bun's size is said to be inversely correlated with its status; smaller buns such as the one in this comic are thought of as higher-ranking "king buns" by the characters in both strips. In real life, smaller rabbits are more likely to simply be young. It is also possible that she simply thinks smaller buns are cuter, which might have been the motivation for the whole bun-ranking system thing in the first place.

The title text refers to buns being {{w|crepuscular}} and {{w|nocturnal}} animals, meaning they are primarily active at twilight and night, respectively. This means that someone with the app would get a lot of notifications while they would most likely be asleep.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy and Ponytail see a rabbit sitting in the grass; Beret Guy points to the bun.]
:Beret Guy: Bun alert!
:Ponytail: Oh, yeah! Cute!
:Beret Guy: Gotta document this. I'll notify everyone, send out a push alert.
:Ponytail: ...to who?

:[Zoom in on Beret Guy and Ponytail; Beret Guy taps on his phone.]
:Beret Guy: Everyone subscribed to the alert system.
:Ponytail: Alert system?
:Beret Guy: Yeah! We built it over the last few years. It's pretty small. Still looking for investors.
:Ponytail: But...''why'' are you alerting people about rabbits?

:[Zoom out; Beret Guy points at the bun.]
:Beret Guy: I mean...look at them. They're like loaves of bread that hop.
:Ponytail: I see.
:Beret Guy: ''People need to know.''

:[Zoom on Beret Guy in a frameless panel.]
:Beret Guy: They need to know:
:Beret Guy: '''''There are buns.'''''

:[Ponytail walks off, Megan comes running towards Beret Guy with a phone in her hand.]
:Ponytail: Okay, uhh, I'm gonna go.
:Megan: ''I got the alert!'' Where's the bun? '''''Is it small?'''''
:Beret Guy: ''Extremely.''
:Megan: Oh my God.

==Trivia==
*In [[1682: Bun]], it was Ponytail who was infatuated with "buns", while Megan was the incredulous one questioning the situation. In this comic, the roles are reversed. This is a strong indication that the characters represented by Ponytail and Megan in this comic are not the same characters from ''1682: Bun''.
*The title text of ''1682: Bun'' also refers to a "BUN ALERT," the system for which apparently Beret Guy has now been implemented.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]

Talk:1866: Russell's Teapot

2017-07-24T19:45:10Z

172.68.54.112:

In this case, nesting the teapot in a catapult/cannon which is launched by another catapult/cannon might perhaps be sufficient to get past NASA regulations. (Catapults/cannons only launching the payload and not themselves...) --[[User:Nialpxe|Nialpxe]], 2017. [[User_talk:Nialpxe|(Arguments welcome)]]
:Though there's still the matter of an equal and opposite force pushing the satellite away from its gravitational bonds of the catapult. Even if the 2nd catapult is no longer associated with the Earth or Earth's gravity, the catapult will continue to be a launcher. That's just changing what it is launching *from*. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.125|172.68.58.125]] 18:31, 24 July 2017 (UTC)ColinHeico
:But make sure it is a mobile cannon, otherwise it would not qualify as a launch '''vehicle'''. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.19|162.158.89.19]] 11:32, 21 July 2017 (UTC)
::I immediately thought "railgun". And the payload can still be a rocket; once it's not touching the ground it's accelerating, not launching. (Also Russell failed to account for female barbers. Honestly, people!) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.4|108.162.241.4]] 09:42, 22 July 2017 (UTC)
::: One such company did exist, Quicklaunch had the idea of launching via a space gun. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quicklaunch {{unsigned ip|172.68.141.142}}

::: He didn't need to account for female barbers (or anybody who isn't a man) because the barber in the paradox shaves precisely those men who don't shave themselves. He ''only'' shaves men, and all men in the town are ''only'' shaved by him or themselves. Everyone else is a completely different story, so they can be shaved by whoever they want (except the barber, who only shaves men). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.88|108.162.241.88]] 00:14, 23 July 2017 (UTC)

:::Only if you assume that females who are barbers don't shave their legs, armpits, or their various lady parts. This only further confuses the paradox. {{unsigned|Mjm87}}
::::For much of Bertrand Russell's life, they didn't. http://mentalfloss.com/article/22511/when-did-women-start-shaving-their-pits [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.4|108.162.241.4]] 09:42, 22 July 2017 (UTC)

When I first saw this comic I immediately thought of the Utah Teapot, it's a model used in computer graphics because it's simple and has both convex and concave surfaces. Both teapots, I would assume, (I've only just heard of Russel's Teapot so I could be wrong) are well known to different parts of the nerd community? {{unsigned ip|162.158.255.22}}

Hopefully it will support HTCPCP-TEA. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.34|108.162.241.34]] 17:48, 21 July 2017 (UTC)

i think people just really like teapot examples {{unsigned ip|108.162.246.23}}

:The major problem here is that CubeSats are currently only launched into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and are expected to re-enter the atmosphere within days to weeks. Russell's teapot is (allegedly) in orbit between Earth and Mars and Cueball's device is not likely to have enough delta-v to leave Earth orbit. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 18:18, 21 July 2017 (UTC)
"A teapot orbits the Sun somewhere in space between the Earth and Mars" This implies that the teapot is physically located between Mars and Earth at all times. Which if true would be a highly irregular orbit requiring constant velocity changes, which is an impossible feat to achieve with current teapot technology. {{unsigned|Mjm87}}
:Nonsense. It would be a ''highly regular orbit'' and many asteroids are already there, despite the most of them are between Mars and Jupiter (Asteroid-Belt):--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:22, 21 July 2017 (UTC)
:Since we're nitpicking. Having velocity changes does not preclude being in orbit: objects in orbit are always accelerating. Having a constant velocity change does preclude being in orbit, but it also precludes remaining between Earth and Mars, since it would result in eventually leaving the solar system.--[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.112|172.68.54.112]] 19:45, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

I can see both of your points. As mjm87 says, "between the Earth and Mars", taken literally, would mean "on a line between the two planets", which would be a very unusual orbit. And, I agree, it would be impossible without constant velocity changes, so wouldn't be an "orbit" in the usual sense.
On the other hand, I took Russell's words the way Dgbrt seems to have, as meaning "between the orbits of Earth and Mars", as this is the way most astronomers would interpret it. A don't know that there are "many" asteroids that remain between Earth and Mars, but there are quite a few crossing the space, and at least a few with average distances in that range. - N Kalanaga {{unsigned ip|162.158.74.159}}
:There is also quantifier scope ambiguity there. I believe that there is a large constellation of teapot statites, and at any given moment at least one of them is directly between Earth and Mars. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.58|172.68.54.58]] 06:29, 22 July 2017 (UTC)
Since Russell was going for absurdity, I favour the more absurd interpretation namely Mjm87's. [[User:Capncanuck|Capncanuck]] ([[User talk:Capncanuck|talk]]) 08:21, 22 July 2017 (UTC)
:Taking "on a line between the two planets" literally would simply reduce to "inside the orbit of Mars". The Earth moves faster than Mars and right now the Sun is exactly between them on that line. NASA, ESA, and ISRO can not communicate with their orbiters and rovers until the beginning of August (see {{w|Solar conjunction}}). So the meaning "between the orbits of Earth and Mars" is still much more plausible.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:11, 22 July 2017 (UTC)

Don't worry we have been working on it. Launching the project in a few months.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSmdiMSFBSb/?taken-by=hate_plow
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSwW4MIlE0b/?taken-by=hate_plow
[[User:Zackdougherty|Zackdougherty]] ([[User talk:Zackdougherty|talk]]) 03:10, 22 July 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1838: Machine Learning

2017-05-20T17:46:20Z

172.68.54.112:

Appearently, there is the issue of people "training" intelligent systems out of their gut feeling: Let's say for example a system should determine whether or not a person should be promoted to fill a currently vacant business position. If the system is taught by the humans currently in charge of that very decision, and it weakens the people the humnas would decline and stenghtens the one they wouldn't, all these people might do is feeding the machine their own irrational biases. Then, down the road, some candidate may be declined because "computer says so".
One could argue that this, if it happens, is just bad usage and no inherent issue of machine learning itself, so I'm not sure if this thought can be connected to the comic. In my head, it's close to "stirring the pile until the answers look right". What do you people think?
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.2|162.158.88.2]] 05:39, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

It's a good point but I don't think it's relevant to the comic. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.252|141.101.107.252]] 13:55, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

Up the creek *with* a paddle. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.121|162.158.111.121]] 07:52, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

It's a compost pile! Stir it and keep it moist until something useful comes out.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.64|162.158.75.64]] 11:40, 17 May 2017 (UTC)
]

Actually I doin't think the paddle has anything to do with canoes - paddles like that are often used when stirring large quantities. In Louisiana its called a crawfish or gumbo paddle

I think the entire paragraph that goes "One of the most popular paradigms of..." needs to be cleaned up to make it human readable. [[User:Nialpxe|Nialpxe]] ([[User talk:Nialpxe|talk]]) 12:09, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

The comment that SVMs would be a better paradigm, rather than neural networks, is kind of wrong. Anyone who's worked with neural networks knows they're still essentially a linear algebra problem, just with nonlinear activation functions. Play around with tensorflow (it's fun and educational!) and you'll find most of the linear algebra isn't abstracted away as it might be in Keras, SkLearn or Caret (R). That being said, interpretability is absolutely a problem with these complex models. This is as much because the world doesn't like conforming to the nice modernist notion of a sensible theory (ie. one that can be reduced to a nice linear relationship), but even things like L1 regularisation often leave you wondering "but how does it all fit together?". On the other hand, while methods like SVMs still have a bit of machine learning magic in resolving how its hyperplane divides the hyperspace (ie. the value is derived empirically, not theoretically), the results are typically human interpretable, for a given definition of interpretable. It's no y= wx + b, but it's definitely possible. Same same for most methods short of very deep neural nets with millions of parameters. Most machine learning experts I've met have a pretty good idea what is going on in the simpler models, such as CARTs, SVMs, boosted models etc. The only reason neural nets are blackbox-y is that there's a huge amount going on inside them, and it's too much effort to do more than analyse outputs! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.142|172.68.141.142]] 22:43, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

Does anyone else think the topic may have been influenced by Google's recently (May 17) featured article about machine learning?[[https://www.google.com/intl/en/about/main/gender-equality-films/]]
--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.35|162.158.79.35]] 12:17, 17 May 2017 (UTC)
:Google has been saying a lot about machine learning recently, particularly w.r.t. android. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.30|141.101.107.30]] 04:43, 19 May 2017 (UTC)

Maybe one day bots will learn to create entire explanations for xkcd. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.179|141.101.99.179]] 12:38, 17 May 2017 (UTC)
:Good, then maybe we won't have over-thought explanations anymore.
:: "That was a joke, haha" [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:36, 18 May 2017 (UTC)
:: I lovingly think of this site as "Over-Explain XKCD"[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.112|172.68.54.112]] 17:44, 20 May 2017 (UTC)

The fuck is "{{w|Pinball}}"? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.122.66|162.158.122.66]] 03:59, 19 May 2017 (UTC)

On the topic of 'Stirring', I'm not sure why it's being associated with neural networks. It's a common thing in machine learning to randomize starting conditions to avoid local minima. This does exist in neural networks, as edge weights are typically randomized, but it's also the first step in many different algorithms, such as k-means where the initial centroid locations are randomized, or decision trees where random forests are sometimes used. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.186|173.245.50.186]] 13:18, 19 May 2017 (UTC) sbendl

====Fixing the explanation====
Right now, the explanation has two parts, one that is simply trying to explain it for the casual reader, and another that goes into the details of machine/deep learning, linear algebra, neural networks etc. (I almost forgot composting!) The way the two parts are jumbled together makes no sense. Perhaps having a simple initial explanation with subsections for more detailed explanation of individual topics relevant to the comic would fix the mess. [[User:Nialpxe|Nialpxe]] ([[User talk:Nialpxe|talk]]) 14:08, 19 May 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1838: Machine Learning

2017-05-20T17:45:37Z

172.68.54.112:

Appearently, there is the issue of people "training" intelligent systems out of their gut feeling: Let's say for example a system should determine whether or not a person should be promoted to fill a currently vacant business position. If the system is taught by the humans currently in charge of that very decision, and it weakens the people the humnas would decline and stenghtens the one they wouldn't, all these people might do is feeding the machine their own irrational biases. Then, down the road, some candidate may be declined because "computer says so".
One could argue that this, if it happens, is just bad usage and no inherent issue of machine learning itself, so I'm not sure if this thought can be connected to the comic. In my head, it's close to "stirring the pile until the answers look right". What do you people think?
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.2|162.158.88.2]] 05:39, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

It's a good point but I don't think it's relevant to the comic. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.252|141.101.107.252]] 13:55, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

Up the creek *with* a paddle. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.121|162.158.111.121]] 07:52, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

It's a compost pile! Stir it and keep it moist until something useful comes out.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.64|162.158.75.64]] 11:40, 17 May 2017 (UTC)
]

Actually I doin't think the paddle has anything to do with canoes - paddles like that are often used when stirring large quantities. In Louisiana its called a crawfish or gumbo paddle

I think the entire paragraph that goes "One of the most popular paradigms of..." needs to be cleaned up to make it human readable. [[User:Nialpxe|Nialpxe]] ([[User talk:Nialpxe|talk]]) 12:09, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

The comment that SVMs would be a better paradigm, rather than neural networks, is kind of wrong. Anyone who's worked with neural networks knows they're still essentially a linear algebra problem, just with nonlinear activation functions. Play around with tensorflow (it's fun and educational!) and you'll find most of the linear algebra isn't abstracted away as it might be in Keras, SkLearn or Caret (R). That being said, interpretability is absolutely a problem with these complex models. This is as much because the world doesn't like conforming to the nice modernist notion of a sensible theory (ie. one that can be reduced to a nice linear relationship), but even things like L1 regularisation often leave you wondering "but how does it all fit together?". On the other hand, while methods like SVMs still have a bit of machine learning magic in resolving how its hyperplane divides the hyperspace (ie. the value is derived empirically, not theoretically), the results are typically human interpretable, for a given definition of interpretable. It's no y= wx + b, but it's definitely possible. Same same for most methods short of very deep neural nets with millions of parameters. Most machine learning experts I've met have a pretty good idea what is going on in the simpler models, such as CARTs, SVMs, boosted models etc. The only reason neural nets are blackbox-y is that there's a huge amount going on inside them, and it's too much effort to do more than analyse outputs! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.142|172.68.141.142]] 22:43, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

Does anyone else think the topic may have been influenced by Google's recently (May 17) featured article about machine learning?[[https://www.google.com/intl/en/about/main/gender-equality-films/]]
--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.35|162.158.79.35]] 12:17, 17 May 2017 (UTC)
:Google has been saying a lot about machine learning recently, particularly w.r.t. android. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.30|141.101.107.30]] 04:43, 19 May 2017 (UTC)

Maybe one day bots will learn to create entire explanations for xkcd. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.179|141.101.99.179]] 12:38, 17 May 2017 (UTC)
:Good, then maybe we won't have over-thought explanations anymore.
:: "That was a joke, haha" [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:36, 18 May 2017 (UTC)
: I lovingly think of this site as "Over-Explain XKCD"[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.112|172.68.54.112]] 17:44, 20 May 2017 (UTC)

The fuck is "{{w|Pinball}}"? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.122.66|162.158.122.66]] 03:59, 19 May 2017 (UTC)

On the topic of 'Stirring', I'm not sure why it's being associated with neural networks. It's a common thing in machine learning to randomize starting conditions to avoid local minima. This does exist in neural networks, as edge weights are typically randomized, but it's also the first step in many different algorithms, such as k-means where the initial centroid locations are randomized, or decision trees where random forests are sometimes used. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.186|173.245.50.186]] 13:18, 19 May 2017 (UTC) sbendl

====Fixing the explanation====
Right now, the explanation has two parts, one that is simply trying to explain it for the casual reader, and another that goes into the details of machine/deep learning, linear algebra, neural networks etc. (I almost forgot composting!) The way the two parts are jumbled together makes no sense. Perhaps having a simple initial explanation with subsections for more detailed explanation of individual topics relevant to the comic would fix the mess. [[User:Nialpxe|Nialpxe]] ([[User talk:Nialpxe|talk]]) 14:08, 19 May 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1838: Machine Learning

2017-05-20T17:44:55Z

172.68.54.112: snark

Appearently, there is the issue of people "training" intelligent systems out of their gut feeling: Let's say for example a system should determine whether or not a person should be promoted to fill a currently vacant business position. If the system is taught by the humans currently in charge of that very decision, and it weakens the people the humnas would decline and stenghtens the one they wouldn't, all these people might do is feeding the machine their own irrational biases. Then, down the road, some candidate may be declined because "computer says so".
One could argue that this, if it happens, is just bad usage and no inherent issue of machine learning itself, so I'm not sure if this thought can be connected to the comic. In my head, it's close to "stirring the pile until the answers look right". What do you people think?
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.2|162.158.88.2]] 05:39, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

It's a good point but I don't think it's relevant to the comic. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.252|141.101.107.252]] 13:55, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

Up the creek *with* a paddle. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.121|162.158.111.121]] 07:52, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

It's a compost pile! Stir it and keep it moist until something useful comes out.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.64|162.158.75.64]] 11:40, 17 May 2017 (UTC)
]

Actually I doin't think the paddle has anything to do with canoes - paddles like that are often used when stirring large quantities. In Louisiana its called a crawfish or gumbo paddle

I think the entire paragraph that goes "One of the most popular paradigms of..." needs to be cleaned up to make it human readable. [[User:Nialpxe|Nialpxe]] ([[User talk:Nialpxe|talk]]) 12:09, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

The comment that SVMs would be a better paradigm, rather than neural networks, is kind of wrong. Anyone who's worked with neural networks knows they're still essentially a linear algebra problem, just with nonlinear activation functions. Play around with tensorflow (it's fun and educational!) and you'll find most of the linear algebra isn't abstracted away as it might be in Keras, SkLearn or Caret (R). That being said, interpretability is absolutely a problem with these complex models. This is as much because the world doesn't like conforming to the nice modernist notion of a sensible theory (ie. one that can be reduced to a nice linear relationship), but even things like L1 regularisation often leave you wondering "but how does it all fit together?". On the other hand, while methods like SVMs still have a bit of machine learning magic in resolving how its hyperplane divides the hyperspace (ie. the value is derived empirically, not theoretically), the results are typically human interpretable, for a given definition of interpretable. It's no y= wx + b, but it's definitely possible. Same same for most methods short of very deep neural nets with millions of parameters. Most machine learning experts I've met have a pretty good idea what is going on in the simpler models, such as CARTs, SVMs, boosted models etc. The only reason neural nets are blackbox-y is that there's a huge amount going on inside them, and it's too much effort to do more than analyse outputs! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.142|172.68.141.142]] 22:43, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

Does anyone else think the topic may have been influenced by Google's recently (May 17) featured article about machine learning?[[https://www.google.com/intl/en/about/main/gender-equality-films/]]
--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.35|162.158.79.35]] 12:17, 17 May 2017 (UTC)
:Google has been saying a lot about machine learning recently, particularly w.r.t. android. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.30|141.101.107.30]] 04:43, 19 May 2017 (UTC)

Maybe one day bots will learn to create entire explanations for xkcd. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.179|141.101.99.179]] 12:38, 17 May 2017 (UTC)
:Good, then maybe we won't have over-thought explanations anymore.
:: "That was a joke, haha" [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:36, 18 May 2017 (UTC)
; I lovingly think of this site as "Over-Explain XKCD"[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.112|172.68.54.112]] 17:44, 20 May 2017 (UTC)

The fuck is "{{w|Pinball}}"? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.122.66|162.158.122.66]] 03:59, 19 May 2017 (UTC)

On the topic of 'Stirring', I'm not sure why it's being associated with neural networks. It's a common thing in machine learning to randomize starting conditions to avoid local minima. This does exist in neural networks, as edge weights are typically randomized, but it's also the first step in many different algorithms, such as k-means where the initial centroid locations are randomized, or decision trees where random forests are sometimes used. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.186|173.245.50.186]] 13:18, 19 May 2017 (UTC) sbendl

====Fixing the explanation====
Right now, the explanation has two parts, one that is simply trying to explain it for the casual reader, and another that goes into the details of machine/deep learning, linear algebra, neural networks etc. (I almost forgot composting!) The way the two parts are jumbled together makes no sense. Perhaps having a simple initial explanation with subsections for more detailed explanation of individual topics relevant to the comic would fix the mess. [[User:Nialpxe|Nialpxe]] ([[User talk:Nialpxe|talk]]) 14:08, 19 May 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1823: Hottest Editors

2017-04-12T18:14:49Z

172.68.54.112:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRISPR, a procaryotic immune defense system that, coupled with Cas9, has been used by molecular biologists as a technology for precise edition of a the genome of virtually any organism.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.216|141.101.105.216]] 14:59, 12 April 2017 (UTC) LinVl

So.. the M-x crispr command? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.172|172.68.51.172]] 15:54, 12 April 2017 (UTC)ZZ

The first editors are not for machine-readable Text. But for sourcecode which is human-readable.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.192|162.158.90.192]] 16:49, 12 April 2017 (UTC)
:Well, the compiler or interpreter can hopefully read your source code, so in some sense it's machine-readable :P. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.112|172.68.54.112]] 18:13, 12 April 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1823: Hottest Editors

2017-04-12T18:13:32Z

172.68.54.112:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRISPR, a procaryotic immune defense system that, coupled with Cas9, has been used by molecular biologists as a technology for precise edition of a the genome of virtually any organism.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.216|141.101.105.216]] 14:59, 12 April 2017 (UTC) LinVl

So.. the M-x crispr command? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.172|172.68.51.172]] 15:54, 12 April 2017 (UTC)ZZ

The first editors are not for machine-readable Text. But for sourcecode which is human-readable.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.192|162.158.90.192]] 16:49, 12 April 2017 (UTC)
:Well, the compiler or interpreter can hopefully read your source code, so it's in some sense machine-readable :P. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.112|172.68.54.112]] 18:13, 12 April 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1813: Vomiting Emoji

2017-03-21T19:43:02Z

172.68.54.112:

Did anyone else think of the Akatsuki member Deidara from Naruto when they saw the vomiting hand emoji? [[User:GoonPontoon|GoonPontoon]] ([[User talk:GoonPontoon|talk]]) 17:52, 20 March 2017 (UTC)

The "Vomit Comet" was not a rocket, it was the name of NASA's KC-135 aircraft which simulated weightlessness on parable flights. Given that rockets must be airtight, it is a bit strange that you could vomit out of a rocket.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.82|162.158.150.82]] 22:19, 20 March 2017 (UTC)

I wish Randall used a vomiting face vomiting (using the vomiting modifier) or a unicorn puking rainbows (U+1F984 U+1F93F U+1F308 🦄🤢🌈). --[http://windowsfreak.de/ Björn Eberhardt] 08:01, 21 March 2017 (UTC)

For those thinking of making a real proposal, it's not actually needed. You can combine any characters with the special combining character. Originally intended for languages such as arabic, it works with emoji too.--[[User:Henke37|Henke37]] ([[User talk:Henke37|talk]]) 10:03, 21 March 2017 (UTC)

There seems to be a minor edit war over citing the fact that the Moon is made of rock. I think we should just remove the citation entirely as well as the {{Citation needed}}. Should I go through with this? [[User:RamenChef|RamenChef]] ([[User talk:RamenChef|talk]]) 15:46, 21 March 2017 (UTC)

Keep "Citation Needed" -- it's the best laugh I've had all day (and references xkcd #285

The emoji is a Man in the Moon vomiting and "he" is made of imagination, not rock. OTOH, the moon has vomited lava in the past, but can AFAIK no longer do so [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 18:34, 21 March 2017 (UTC)

== Emoji Madness? ==

Anyone else think that the whole set needs a complete overhaul as there are seven different co?ours of binder, but no computer mouse or a chop / steak to name a few omissions.

Also the latest iPhone set have Male and Female versions of cowboy, police, guardsman et al. With some of them the difference iis small, but in all of them the female version appears to have her moth open, whereas the male ones do not. Is this sexist? [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 18:58, 21 March 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1810: Chat Systems

2017-03-13T16:31:04Z

172.68.54.112:

"Wall (bathroom)" might be a reference to the Spaceballs movie. President Skroob is using the bathroom when he gets a video call from one of his officers. "Ahh! I told you never to call me on this wall! This is an unlisted wall!" [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.112|172.68.54.112]] 16:31, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1809: xkcd Phone 5

2017-03-13T05:05:34Z

172.68.54.112:

Darn, I was almost fast enough to get the cot-caught merger explanation in there. That being said, now I really want a phone with a Zelda style hook shot. [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 14:02, 10 March 2017 (UTC)
--I just came to say the same. I want the hookshot! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.100|172.68.78.100]] 14:05, 10 March 2017 (UTC)

It's way more likely that this refers to the Zelda hook shot, as it looks like a little tube where some sort of grappling hook could potentially shoot out from. It doesn't look like it could shoot out basketballs, though. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.17|108.162.238.17]] 15:28, 10 March 2017 (UTC)

It looks like "Hook Shot" is a clever suggestion for a feature name: the lens attaches to the camera with a 'hook' so you can take great 'shot's. [[User:Schnitz|Schnitz]] ([[User talk:Schnitz|talk]]) 18:01, 10 March 2017 (UTC)

It's worth noting that most of the Loran-C system (which presumably is what would be used on a phone) has been decommissioned in the last decade or so, including all the stations operated by the US and Canadian governments. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.201|162.158.62.201]] 15:52, 10 March 2017 (UTC)

'''Notice''' the new [[what if?]] ''{{what if|156|Electrofishing for Whales}}'' released the day before this comic! Only 9 days between releases... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:33, 10 March 2017 (UTC)
:OFF TOPIC: Can you imagine how much Randall must have been laughing while looking at all those funny electrofishing sources he is citing... ROFL--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:44, 10 March 2017 (UTC)

LORAN -- I was under the impression that the US LORAN base stations were turned off in 2010. Perhaps a few years later in some other parts of the world. So a LORAN reciever is of less use than a chocolate teapot.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.21|162.158.62.21]] 18:08, 10 March 2017 (UTC)

I understand "Can Feel Pain" as the next step up for Siri (or Google or Alexa or...) to become conscious. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.160|108.162.219.160]] 18:18, 10 March 2017 (UTC)

The phone is slightly round. What could this mean? It's not like Galaxy Edge.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:44, 10 March 2017 (UTC)

I think part of the joke of "Squelch knob" is that a lot of people simply don't know what a squelch knob does. May as well put this mysterious knob on a phone, too. Does anyone else agree? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.18|162.158.106.18]] 01:36, 11 March 2017 (UTC)

;Layout question
We have five xkcd phone explanations. Three of them are using a bullet list and two (including this) use a table. I prefer the bullets, not only because it's easier for editors. A table cell where the text needs a couple of lines is either bad text or bad layout. I think it's the layout. What do you think?--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:57, 10 March 2017 (UTC)
:I like the table but I do not wish to use the time to change any of these explanations. Also it is not important to me but I would prefer the five explanations used the same layout. So I would not object if all where made into bullets lists. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:14, 11 March 2017 (UTC)

It was really funny for me personally that this comic came out this Friday as right before I came home and saw the new xkcd phone I had just picked up my new smartphone. It was "just" a Samsung so great I didn't see this first because then I would have been disappointed by the few features my new phone has. But at least it is now easier to make such a comment like this on the phone --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:17, 11 March 2017 (UTC)

Pokemon spoiler inside (rot 13): Va rcvfbqr 16 bs gur Cbxrzba bevtvany frevrf, Nfu, Zvfgl, Oebpx, Wrffvr, naq Wnzrf, nybat jvgu gurve znal Cbxrzba, ner genccrq ba n obng. Orvat irel uhatel, gurl pbafvqre rngvat Wnzrf'f Zntvxnec, hagvy Zrbjgu ovgrf Zntvxnec...naq oernxf uvf grrgu.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.208|162.158.78.208]] 21:05, 11 March 2017 (UTC)
:Vf vg ernyyl n fcbvyre gb erirny n cybg cbvag 18+ lrnef nsgre gur bevtvany nve qngr?[[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 03:14, 12 March 2017 (UTC)

Every time I see another one in this lame series I get a stronger impression that this is Randall's way of "phoning in" a comic when his creative well goes dry. ''— [[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 04:32, 12 March 2017 (UTC)''

"there is an xkcd Phone 2 available" - really? (Not really.)
Real "haptic" (touch) technology on devices includes producing the sensation of touching a real version of a virtual object, as well as a device sensing not only being touched, but how it is touched. On the other hand, I don't think our relationships with devices will be improved if they can feel pain. Or fear, which logically comes next. That's wrong, even if they are already doing it to us. rja.carnegie@excite.com [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.160|141.101.98.160]] 03:34, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

I think "retina storage" is like a retina scanner -- except it's not read-only. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.112|172.68.54.112]] 05:05, 13 March 2017 (UTC)