explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

406: Venting

2019-12-12T01:37:04Z

172.69.22.200: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 406
| date = April 4, 2008
| title = Venting
| image = venting.png
| titletext = P.P.S. I can kill you with my brain.
}}

==Explanation==
This is yet another xkcd comic referencing ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}'', but it's not so much about ''Firefly'' itself as about {{w|Summer Glau}}. Summer Glau is an American actress best known for playing {{w|River Tam}} in ''Firefly'' and ''{{w|Serenity (film)|Serenity}}'', as well as Cameron in the ''{{w|Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles}}'' series.

[[Cueball]] claims that he gives a long and seemingly well-researched reply to a stupid comment on a blog, just to let out his anger. In this particularly long comment at first he becomes what is known over the internet as 'Grammar Nazi'. Then, he proceeds to rip apart the commenter by citing his/her historical and political ignorance. He signs his comment as 'Summer Glau', after which he reminds the blogger to watch the next season of ''Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles series''.

One likely reason that he uses 'Summer Glau' is that she is worshiped by geeks the world over, even those incapable of writing coherent blog posts. CrackMonkey74 would not risk responding negatively to the post, just in case it was actually written by Summer Glau and by so doing he would ruin any chance he has of sleeping with her<ref>https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/59yke5/why-couples-fight-more-when-theyre-having-less-sex</ref>. In this way, Cueball is assured of the last word in this argument, which makes for a most satisfying vent.

Another possible explanation is that River Tam has a genius-level intellect and is also mentally disturbed. Given xkcd's trend of comparing ''Firefly'' characters to their respective actors (Especially 577-581), Cueball is probably using Summer Glau's name simply because an exhaustively researched blog comment seems like something River Tam -- and thus possibly Summer Glau -- would do.

The title text refers to the famous dialogue delivered by River Tam in ''Firefly'' Episode 11: "{{w|Trash (Firefly)|Trash}}".

==Transcript==
:When I need to blow off steam, I find a particularly stupid blog comment and reply with an exhaustively researched word-by-word rebuttal, which I sign 'Summer Glau'.
:Cueball (typing): In conclusion, on examining the above post by CrackMonkey74, after carefully working my way through the haze of spelling errors (documented in section 3), abuse of capitalization (section 4), and general crimes against grammar and syntax (sections 7-8), I have demonstrated that, beneath it all, the work betrays the author's staggering ignorance of the history and the workings of our electoral system. While the author's wildly swerving train of thought did at one point flirt with coherence, this brief encounter was more likely a chance event (see statistical analysis in table 5) than a result of even rudimentary lucidity.
::-Summer Glau
:P.S. Don't forget to check out the next season of the Sarah Connor Chronicles this fall on Fox!

==Trivia==
*Cueball's statement has been widely reused by many bloggers after the release of this comic.
*The name ''CrackMonkey74'' also appears in [[202: YouTube]] as one of the clueless YouTube commentators, and later appears in [[574: Swine Flu]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Summer Glau]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Terminator]]

Talk:314: Dating Pools

2019-12-07T21:19:38Z

172.69.22.200: not a bell curve

The following text is exactly 160 characters long, which is the maximum length of an SMS:
:(2013-08-17)-(199X-XX-XX)=6XXX days
:(2013-08-17)-(199X-XX-XX)=5XXX days
:7 =2556.75 days
:6XXX/2+2557=5XXX
:Standard Creepiness Rule: Don't date under age/2+7
Don't ask me how I found it :P (some digits are replaced with X for privacy reasons) --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 10:08, 17 August 2013 (UTC)

Don't ask you how you found it? I'm a little concerned about that credo...[[Special:Contributions/121.222.232.156|121.222.232.156]] 06:18, 14 September 2013 (UTC)

By this standard, 14 is the minimum dating age. As a father, I approve [[User:Cflare|Cflare]] ([[User talk:Cflare|talk]]) 14:49, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

The chart appears to be using the following function for the maximum age: max_age_other <= (your_age - 7) * 2
The max age is determined by the oldest the other person can be before you are too young for them according to the age/2 + 7 rule.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.100|108.162.216.100]] 17:20, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

Am I the only one who thought of this? http://www.roundstable.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Screen-Shot-2013-11-19-at-8.32.48-AM-690x377.png
(as far as making charts on stuff like love and shtuff.{{unsigned ip|108.162.217.89}}

... And ''this'' is how he spends the pi comic. Oh well :/ [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 06:14, 22 June 2018 (UTC)

The second graph, while a unimodal distribution, is not a bell curve like it says in the transcript. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.200|172.69.22.200]] 21:19, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

Talk:1994: Repairs

2018-05-16T04:46:22Z

172.69.22.200:

I think the bot on here and xkcd OS might be broken[[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.200|172.69.22.200]] 04:46, 16 May 2018 (UTC)

1992: SafetySat

2018-05-12T16:23:10Z

172.69.22.200: /* Guncotton */

{{comic
| number = 1992
| date = May 11, 2018
| title = SafetySat
| image = safetysat.png
| titletext = During launch, in the event of an unexpected sensor reading, SafetySat will extend prongs in all directions to secure itself and any other cubesats safely in the launch vehicle until the source of the problem can be determined.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CubeSat so dangerous, I corrupted the image file and crashed the server (the first image upload was corrupt)- Maybe expand it a little? Some of the individual items need more explaining. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|CubeSat}} is a standard format for small satellites that can fit in a 10×10×10 cm format with a mass of less than 1.3 kg. They have been widely used by academics for research satellites, and by both small and large companies.

CubeSats are normally launched as a secondary payload often beside a deployment to the international space station. There are multiple safety rules to ensure that the CubeSat cannot damage the primary payload. However, the joke in this comic is that [[Randall]]'s design seeks to break as many rules as possible.

Items counterclockwise from bottom left:

====Americium corners====
{{w|Americium}} is a very dense, highly radioactive substance. Depending on the amount of Americium involved, this alone could shoot the mass over the 1.3 kg mass limit.

====Guncotton====
A form of {{w|nitrocellulose}}; an explosive.

====Crude Oil====
{{w|Exxon Valdez oil spill}}, {{w|Deepwater Horizon explosion}}... need we say more? Of course the leakable volume would not be near those levels, but plenty dangerous nonetheless if it were to leak though a faulty seal... And this is not helped by the fact that it is in orbit or if it leaks during launch...

====Volatile Epoxy Seal====
When this goes, everything gets coated in flammable crude oil.

====Celebratory Firework====
Explosive Fire Source that can hit other satellites in the vicinity.

====CFCs/Ozone-depleting CFC Spritzer====
{{w|Chlorofluorocarbons}} (CFCs) are fully halogenated paraffin hydrocarbons that contain only carbon, chlorine, and fluorine, produced as volatile derivative of methane, ethane, and propane. {{w|Freon}} is a common example of a CFC, and the use of CFCs has been linked to a depletion of the Earth's {{w|ozone layer}} leading many countries to ban their use. So spritzing CFCs in an area closer to the Ozone layer sounds like a good idea?

====Laser Pointer (Hubble-Seeking)====
Aiming a red laser at a visible light telescope is really bad for the telescope in question and its optics{{Citation needed|reason=Not obvious to non-experts why visible-light laser is damaging to a telescope designed to read visible spectrum, disruptive perhaps?|date=May 2018}}.

====Laser Pointers (Fixed)====
These three laser points will effectively point in 3 different random directions, which is not safe for other objects around this Cubesat{{Citation needed|reason=Why is a laser pointer dangerous?|date=May 2018}}.

====SDR/{{w|Software-Defined Radio}} (Code Editable via Public Wiki)====
A radio which can be programmed to broadcast and receive in a range of frequencies, and formats. Since anyone could change the radio's instructions; the radio could interfere with other satellites, or with the launch vehicle. This counts as a huge security risk, as ''anyone'' could edit it.

====BIC Mini-Lighter====
Fire source, resting on the can of crude oil. The pressurized butane could also make the lighter burst, allowing the sparkp lug to ignite the volatile butane gas.

====Rare-Earth Magnets====
{{w|Rare-earth magnets}} are very powerful magnets that have a high likelihood of messing up the electronics on nearby electronics, like other CubeSats. Might also stick to other satellites.

====Wet Sand Dispenser====
Possible reference to the {{w|Kessler syndrome}}.

====Batteries (eBay)====
The quality of batteries bought on the auction site can vary widely, and certain batteries exposed to conditions outside their design specifications can {{w|Battery_(electricity)#Explosion|explode or leak corrosive acids}}. These batteries might also be connected to the adjacent spark plug.

====Solar Panel (Found)====
The quality of the solar panel and the power it produces would have to be investigated thoroughly before being cleared for space flight.

====Spark Plug====
Fire Source, if it was connected to electricity. Excess mass if not.

====Prongs (title text)====
Prongs that extend in the event of an unexpected sensor reading at launch could damage the rocket and/or nearby cubsats/payloads. Along with this, it is not unlikely that this cubesat might be the source of any internal problem that might arise; in such a situation, having such a dangerous cubesat further secure itself would be counterproductive.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A prototype for a small cube-shaped "CubeSat" satellite, with labels on various components.]

:[Labeled on top:]
:Rare-Earth Magnets
:Bic Mini Lighter
:Software-Defined Radio (code editable via a public wiki)

:[Labeled on right:]
:Laser Pointers (fixed)
:Laser Pointer (Hubble-seeking)
:Ozone-Depleting CFC Spritzer

:[Labeled on bottom:]
:Celebratory Firework
:Volatile Epoxy Seal
:Filler (Guncotton)

:[Labeled on left:]
:Americium Corners
:Spark Plug
:Solar Panel (found)
:Batteries (eBay)
:Wet Sand Dispenser

:[Labeled from within drawing in white text on top of a black rectangle:]
:Crude Oil

:[Caption below the panel:]
:My CubeSat proposal was the first to be rejected for violating every design and safety requirement simultaneously.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1983: Clutter

2018-04-20T20:55:57Z

172.69.22.200:

So that book mentioned in the title text is real. I had to Google it because I'm a horribly cluttered person and have never been interested in actually being organized. https://www.amazon.com/Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering-Organizing/dp/1607747308 ... Just in case anyone else was also curious. From the product description on Amazon, the main concept of the book is that you should only retain items in your home that "spark joy" - thus there is a joke implied that Randall is already doing the main concept from the book without having ever read it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.53|108.162.221.53]] 15:11, 20 April 2018 (UTC)Martin

I've always also seen spring cleaning as a time to go into storage and pull out the warm weather clothes and pack away the snow clothes until the next year. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.200|172.69.22.200]] 20:55, 20 April 2018 (UTC)Rowan

1977: Paperwork

2018-04-06T17:04:17Z

172.69.22.200: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1977
| date = April 6, 2018
| title = Paperwork
| image = paperwork.png
| titletext = Plus, the photo was geotagged, my unlocked password manager was visible on the laptop, AND you could see my naked reflection in the dark part of the screen.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TAX RETURN - Reword explanation; Link to similar comics- (privacy and naked stick figures); . Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Cueball is complaining about how much tax paperwork he has to do on social media. He posts a picture of all his tax documents. Tax documents will usually contain many specific and important personal information in a very small area. Thus, this is the most efficient way to leak personal information. Although, it is generally a bad idea to give out your personal information online.{{Citation needed}}

The title text further adds to the issues. First, it explains the picture was [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geotagging geotagged]. Anyone could easily find Cueballs home because of this. Next, it also says his [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Password_manager password manager] was on his laptop screen, unlocked. Many, if not all of his logins saved to the manager would be shown, so anyone could easily hack his account. Finally, the title text suggests Cueball's naked body was reflected off the laptop screen (which was in the picture). This is a common joke in the comics, as stick figures are all technically naked. Having a picture of oneself naked on the internet, is also generally a bad idea.{{Citation needed}}

Filing tax papers is topical as April is the tax season in the United States, with this year's {{w|Tax Day (United States)|Tax Day}} falling on April 17, 2018.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball hold his phone and takes a picture of his desk with sheets of paper and a laptop on it.]
:Phone: Click

:[Cueball types on his phone in a smaller frame on the right.]
:Ugh, check out how much tax paperwork I have to do.
:<span style="color:gray">(Cancel)</span> (Post)

:[Caption below:]
:I've accidentally discovered the world's most efficient way to leak personal information.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1912: Thermostat

2017-11-06T20:08:53Z

172.69.22.200: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1912
| date = November 6, 2017
| title = Thermostat
| image = thermostat.png
| titletext = Your problem is so terrible, I worry that, if I help you, I risk drawing the attention of whatever god of technology inflicted it on you.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Rough draft, could still use work. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Hairy]] is working at a tech support office, and receives a call from [[Cueball]]. After the scripted greeting, Cueball, who [[1084|has the]] [[1586|weirdest]] [[1700|tech issues]], tells Hairy that his thermostat - a single-purpose device used to adjust the settings of indoor heating and air conditioning - is showing an ''Android error screen'', and asking if he wants to partition the volume. The android error seems to imply that it is trying to mount a file with .doc extension (most likely a [[1459|Microsoft Word document]]) as the {{w|Boot_device|boot device}}. An added twist is the "(1)" in the filename, which is appended by Windows when a user attempts to copy a file into a directory that already has a file with the same name. The error message suggests a system problem at the core of the device. Not only is the operating system completely missing, but the device is trying to locate the operating system inside a Microsoft Word document, something that has nothing to do with regulation of temperature and should have no way of getting to the device in the first place, let alone be considered as a boot volume. This is so abnormal that Hairy is briefly struck silent, and upon recovering, he suggests Cueball {{tvtropes|SuicideBySea|walk into the sea}} as a form of suicide (most likely a reference to Chopin's ''The Awakening''). The title text elaborates that the situation is so insanely absurd that it must be divine punishment, and Hairy does not want to try and help him for fear of invoking the wrath of whatever deity is issuing it.

==Transcript==
:[Hairy, with a head set on, is sitting in an office chair at a desk hands ready on they keyboard of his computer.]
:Hairy: Tech support, how can I help you?

:[Cueball is on his smartphone while looking at a small blinking panel on the wall on front of him.]
:Cueball: The little LCD on my thermostat says <small>''Error: Android system recovery: Unrecognized boot volume "/MONTHLY ENERGY REPORT (1).DOC"</small>
:[In a frame-less beat panel Hairy just stares at his screen hands in his lap.]

:[Back to Cueball, now with Hairy's reply coming from the smartphone in a box with a jagged arrow pointing to the smartphone.]
:Cueball: It's asking if I want to partition the volume. What should I do?
:Hairy (on the phone): Have you tried walking into the sea.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]