explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2822: *@gmail.com

2023-08-31T15:28:55Z

172.69.70.155: Naming the services mentioned in the title text

{{comic
| number = 2822
| date = August 30, 2023
| title = *@gmail.com
| image = gmail_com_2x.png
| imagesize = 305x269px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hi all, just replying to loop in *@outlook.com and *@yahoo.com.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by BOT@COMPUSERVE.NET - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A wildcard symbol, such as the asterisk, is not generally usable via email servers, although email ''clients'' may sometimes implement such a function, internally, perhaps to support mailing-list functions (though more commonly this is done via named address-book 'groups'). That said, the asterisk character is a valid one for a mailbox, including group-boxes that might facilitate server-side distribution.

The address *@gmail.com, as illustrated in the comic, is a proposed feature from Randall that would send an email to ''every'' {{w|Gmail}} user, without having each and every valid Gmail address at hand (manually typed in or via pre-populated email client address books). For obvious reasons, this is not actually a feature, but Randall suggests that if Google ever wanted to shut Gmail down, they could do either do it this way (possibly causing a service-ending overload of resources) ''or'' allow someone this one last boon (as a farewell gift, knowing that there would be relatively few additional repercussions to deal with).

Reply-all is a sometimes useful feature of email that nonetheless commonly causes headaches and annoyances for both users and administrators. By allowing users to simply reply to everyone copied on the email, it encourages users to do this rather than think carefully about which people their response should be addressed to. This causes lots of users to receive irrelevant emails, and email servers to have to store a lot of unnecessary data. Randall's email is essentially designed to induce every Gmail user to email every other Gmail user, generating an unfathomable number of emails.

A recurring phenomenon for email users, especially in the early Internet days of the 1990s and 2000s, was a reply all storm – someone would start a message to a very large group, perhaps hundreds, and even if only 5% of recipients replied to say something like “take me off this list“, a storm of dozens of replies would soon follow. Inevitably, new replies to everyone would start saying things like, “stop Replying All!” If this were done with millions of Gmail users instead of just dozens or hundreds, their result would be apocalyptic.

The title text suggests the possibility of a similar iteration over {{w|Outlook.com}} (formerly Hotmail) and {{w|Yahoo! Mail}} two further well-known mail services with similarly large userbases, but this time attempting to expand the resulting lists within the mail body of the above email, which would make the broadcast message much, ''much'' larger than the simple broadcast 'spam' that the originally illustrated email would be. It's likely this would annoy a few more people then the original message did {{citation needed}}. This also alludes to a occurrence in email chains where a user replies to simply add another user into the chain, which doesn't add much information to the group.

==Transcript==

:[A typical gmail UI]
:To: *@gmail.com (+expand)
:Cc: [Empty field]
:Bcc: [Empty field]
:Subj: New Friends

:Hey all! Go ahead and introduce yourself!

:[Caption:] If Google ever decides to shut down Gmail, they should let one user trigger a global reply-all apocalypse.

==Trivia==

The number of this comic (2822) is the same as the number of [https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2822 RFC 2822], which is the 2001 version of the email specification (it was replaced in 2008 by RFC 5322).

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Email]]

2677: Two Key System

2022-09-27T13:52:23Z

172.69.70.155: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2677
| date = September 26, 2022
| title = Two Key System
| image = two_key_system_2x.png
| imagesize = 645x316px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Our company can be your one-stop shop for decentralization.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SELF-TURNING BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

As an allegory, the comic relates the results of software development to the reputed safeguards of nuclear missile launch systems.

Such precautions include the {{w|Two-man rule|need for two independent operators for authorization}}, to prevent honest mistakes or the rogue actions of lone-actors. This in several ways may include the use of the {{w|Nuclear Briefcase}} (or 'Football'), where a verification process involves senior figures other than the current leader, but in this case it is more clearly depicting the kind of procedure used at a launch site, where two duty officers need to turn two respective keys at the same time, physically separated so that neither can possibly initiate the sequence by themselves.

In being related to software development, and perhaps the rise of 'auto-filling' password fields in a browser, it is shown that the 'nuisance' of the safeguards (e.g. having to remember your password every time you visit a site) has prompted the development of a method to circumvent the previously enforced requirement. Rather than typing in passwords on every visit, browsers have long since been capable of remembering authentication details, and/or web-sites often providing {{w|HTTP cookie|'cookies'}} if you ask them to "Remember your login" each time you connect to them – which may be fine for most situations. Thus, in the comic, something else is developed to make the safeguards easier to deal with, a dual key-turner device that allows the deliberately secure operation (the requirement that you provide your password) to be accomplished as if it were a single-operator task (the computer does that all by itself).

And thus we find out that the thing used to make the safeguards less of a nuisance actually defeats the purpose of the safeguards. As with website passwords, where the use of a computer or device by someone else could allow ''them'' to use the autologin capabilities, or even to view all passwords used locally and take away for their own use, the whole point of the deliberately included security factor has been negated. It was only the perceived need for two independent operators that created the initial situation of requiring two separated keys, or indeed any keys at all!

Hence, after a further cycle of development, in order to restore the security of the two-key system, the two-key turning device (rather than being removed or made unworkable) is provided for use but ''only'' if it can be removed from a secure cabinet (labelled as giving access to the 'key turner', much as the original unit was labelled as giving access to a missile) with the requirements to open it being… …two seperate keys to be used at the same time! This could be seen as the same as {{w|password manager}}s being introduced, either as a part of a browser or third-party add-ons, which automatically provide the user's passwords for any given access attempt but only when they are given a password (or other security factor) themselves.

And so, rather than removing a 'problem', a new safeguard is added which does the exact same thing as the original, the possible nuisance (but hopefully also the necessary element of security) included.

Password management, as a process, is substantially similar to key management: Common failure-modes for both passwords and keys, include forgetting your own long-term passwords (especially if you changed computers after asking your computer to remember your passwords for you) which is functionally similar to misplacing your keys, or tending to use just a single password or key for every lock (which, if ever compromised in one situation, may lead to being compromised across many others). A Password Manager can reduce such issues, as it can be capable of 'spitting out' or transfering login details at will and letting you use many different passwords (even generating and using the kinds of passwords nobody should be able to guess, [[936: Password Strength|or remember!]]) across your many different websites, etc. But this passkey storage must itself be secure, and so should be functionally accessible perhaps only through use of a 'master passkey' or some other kind of authentication process, which may be subject to the same issues of forgetting, copying, or theft. Similarly, a central lockbox full of keys (such as those used at some car dealerships), can make handling multiple keys much easier, while introducing a single point of failure in the event that lockbox is illicitly accessed. Various forms of {{w|multi-factor authentication}}, plus auxiallary authentication methods for password recovery/reset, go some way to alleviate these challenges, at the expense of further intermediary steps and hardware requirements; but the balance between ease of use and security is never quite so simple and universal.

This could also be something of a reference to ‘two factor authentication’ a security annoyance which also requires ‘two keys’ that was implemented by many secure websites in reaction to password managers.

The title text mentions a one-stop-shop for decentralization. The drive to make use of one-stop-shops (such as a website aggregating searches for the best insurance) and ''also'' to decentralize (in this case not relying upon any one vendor, even that single aggregator who might actually not be the best aggregator) is another self-contradiction — because a one-stop-shop is by definition centralized.

This comic is posted on September 26th as an apparent reference to Stanislav Petrov correctly rejecting the false detection of an incoming nuclear missile strike from the US on September 26th, 1983. [[2052: Stanislav Petrov Day]]

For related xkcd on software cycles, see [[2044: Sandboxing Cycle]] and [[1306: Sigil Cycle]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Caption:]
:All software development, eventually

:[Cueball is talking, while pointing to a drawing. It represents two keys, pointing to Cueball and Ponytail turning keys at either end of a missile launch system - a large anonymous cabinet except for a picture of a missile upon it]
:Cueball: We've installed a two-key system to prevent accidental missile launches.

:[An arrow is pointing to the next panel:] Soon

:[The drawing now represents a device with two inward-facing keys connected by a long bar with a further handle, and below that is shown how it is used with a cabinet such as above to let Cueball to activate the unit by himself]
:Cueball: We've developed a dual-turner device to allow a user to efficiently turn multiple keys.

:[An arrow is pointing to the next panel:] Soon

:[The drawing now represents two keys, pointing to Cueball and Ponytail turning keys at either end of a large similarly anonymous cabinet, except for the picture upon it being of the device of panel 2]
:Cueball: We've installed a two-key lock on the dual-turner device to prevent accidental use.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Nuclear weapons]]

2673: Cursed mRNA Cocktail

2022-09-16T19:27:31Z

172.69.70.155:

{{comic
| number = 2673
| date = September 16, 2022
| title = Cursed mRNA Cocktail
| image = cursed_mrna_cocktail_2x.png
| imagesize = 331x513px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Serve one each to guests whose last cursed cocktail was more than 2 months ago.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a VACCINE DRINKER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Ever wondered what it would be like to drink the new COVID booster?
:This recipe approximately recreates the taste and nutritional profile!
:''(Note: does not protect against COVID.)''
:"...What? Eww." -CDC spokesperson
:"Please stop." -Dr. Anthony Fauci
:
:Ingredients
:
:2 cups water
:3 tbsp mayonnaise
:¼ tsp MSG or nutritional yeast
:1 tbsp sugar
:
:Directions
:Pour 1 cup of water into a blender. Add the mayonnaise and MSG. Blend until smooth.
:Pour the other cup of water into a glass. Add the sugar and 1 tsp of the mixture from the blender. Stir well.
:Serve in shot glasses.

{{comic discussion}}

2673: Cursed mRNA Cocktail

2022-09-16T19:26:28Z

172.69.70.155:

{{comic
| number = 2673
| date = September 16, 2022
| title = Cursed mRNA Cocktail
| image = cursed_mrna_cocktail_2x.png
| imagesize = 331x513px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Serve one each to guests whose last cursed cocktail was more than 2 months ago.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a VACCINE DRINKER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Ever wondered what it would be like to drink the new COVID booster?
:This recipe approximately recreates the taste and nutritional profile!
:''(Note: does not protect against COVID.)''
:"...What? Eww." -CDC spokesperson
:"Please stop." -Dr. Anthony Fauci
:
:Ingredients
:
:2 cups water
:3 tbsp mayonnaise
:¼ tsp MSG or nutritional yeast
:1 tbsp sugar
:
:Directions
:Pour 1 cup of water into a blender. Add the mayonnaise and MSG. Blend until smooth.
:Pour the other cup of water into a glass. Add the sugar and 1 tsp of the mixture from the blender. Stir well.
:Serve in shot glasses.

{{comic discussion}}

2673: Cursed mRNA Cocktail

2022-09-16T19:25:37Z

172.69.70.155:

{{comic
| number = 2673
| date = September 16, 2022
| title = Cursed mRNA Cocktail
| image = cursed_mrna_cocktail_2x.png
| imagesize = 331x513px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Serve one each to guests whose last cursed cocktail was more than 2 months ago.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a VACCINE DRINKER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Ever wondered what it would be like to drink the new COVID booster?

This recipe approximately recreates the taste and nutritional profile!

''(Note: does not protect against COVID.)''

"...What? Eww." -CDC spokesperson
"Please stop." -Dr. Anthony Fauci

Ingredients

2 cups water
3 tbsp mayonnaise
¼ tsp MSG or nutritional yeast
1 tbsp sugar

Directions

Pour 1 cup of water into a blender. Add the mayonnaise and MSG. Blend until smooth.

Pour the other cup of water into a glass. Add the sugar and 1 tsp of the mixture from the blender. Stir well.

Serve in shot glasses.

{{comic discussion}}

416: Zealous Autoconfig

2022-07-08T17:45:30Z

172.69.70.155: /* Transcript */ 3rd panel is ambiguous - i thought he was covering his mouth in shock.

{{comic
| number = 416
| date = April 28, 2008
| title = Zealous Autoconfig
| image = zealous_autoconfig.png
| titletext = I hear this is an option in the latest Ubuntu release.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is seen in an attempt to connect his laptop to a Wi-Fi network using, as the comic title suggests, a particularly zealous "Wifi Autoconfig" utility — "zealous" being a synonym for {{Wiktionary|zealous|"eager" or "enthusiastic."}} The utility manages to find a secure access point named "Lenhart Family," presumably [[Miss Lenhart]]'s home Wi-Fi access point, and attempts to connect to it.

Instead of requesting a password, the program automatically begins a {{w|Dictionary attack|dictionary attack}}, entering in various commonly-used passwords in the hopes that Miss Lenhart has little regard for proper security measures (a flaw shared by many computer users). When this fails, the program attempts to exploit a {{w|Wired Equivalent Privacy|WEP}} vulnerability, which surprises Cueball. This also fails, possibly because Miss Lenhart used {{w|Wi-Fi Protected Access|WPA}} instead of WEP.

In the third panel, the autoconfig then connects to Cueball's Bluetooth phone and uses it to call a local school in order to locate the Lenhart children, who are attending there, and it reports that it has found them. It acts on this information in the fourth panel, notifying "field agents" to kidnap the Lenhart children for nonmonetary ransom, and then reports that the children are acquired (very fast it seems). With the children as hostages, the program begins negotiations with the parents, offering their safe return in exchange for the Wi-Fi password.

This puns on the computing sense of "negotiation": network protocols (such as HTTP) often specify routines whereby a server and a client computer can agree on the best format in which data can be transferred. This is called content negotiation or format negotiation (see for example [https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7231#section-3.4 section 3.4 of the specification for "semantics and content" in HTTP]).

Cueball, frightened by these actions, repeatedly presses Ctrl+C in an attempt to cancel the process, with little success. Ctrl+C is used to abort programs started from a terminal (Unix/Linux) or a command line prompt (cmd.exe under Windows). (The alternative use of Ctrl+C in many Windows programs, as a shortcut for copying a text selection, is probably not what Cueball has in mind at this point.) Part of the humor is that he only attempts to cancel quite late in the process, well after (for instance) the school was first called, probably because of a morbid curiosity to see what happens.

The title text mentions {{w|Ubuntu}}, a Linux distribution that attempts to be as user-friendly as possible. [[Randall]] mentions that he has heard that this "user-friendly" ''Zealous Autoconfig'' option has already been installed in the latest Ubuntu release....

Problems that arise when you leave decisions to a computer program are also explored in depth in comic [[1619: Watson Medical Algorithm]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting on a chair with his laptop in his lap. The text written on the laptop is shown above him, and there is a zigzag line from the laptop to the bottom of the last sentence.]
:Laptop: Starting WiFi autoconfig... searching for WiFi... Found no open networks.
:Laptop: Found secure net SSID "Lenhart Family"

:[Same setup, but Cueball has changed position. This time there are two zigzag lines between the two sentences from the laptop.]
:Laptop: Trying common passwords... Failed. Checking for WEP Vulnerabilities...
:Cueball: Um.
:Laptop: None found.

:[Cueball is still sitting with laptop in his lap, but his hand is on his chin, or perhaps covering his mouth in shock. A phone on table across room starts vibrating. Again, there is only one zigzag line to the bottom sentence from the laptop.]
:Laptop: Connecting to Bluetooth phone... Calling local school...
:Laptop: Found Lenhart children.

:[Zoom back to Cueball, who is furiously typing on his laptop, legs stretched out.]
:Laptop: Notifying field agents. Children acquired. Calling Lenhart parents. Negotiating for WiFi password...
:Cueball [typing] on laptop: '''''Ctrl-C Ctrl-C'''''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Linux]]

Talk:2640: The Universe by Scientific Field

2022-07-03T15:54:21Z

172.69.70.155:

I have a feeling reproductions of this particular XKCD will be popular on the doors of many offices in astronomy departments around the world. A bit like Gary Larson's Far Side cartoons are found everywhere in biology departments.

I just discovered Safari's "Live Text" feature. It allowed me to copy the numbers with all the digits, so I don't have to count them to create the transcript. But then someone else beat me to creating it. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:44, 1 July 2022 (UTC)

I wonder if we should mention the area of telescope apertures compared to, say, the surface area of all laboratory glassware or something like that. Too much of a stretch? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.81|172.70.214.81]] 23:18, 1 July 2022 (UTC)

“Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.129.117|162.158.129.117]] 00:40, 2 July 2022 (UTC)

Agreeing with the argument in the current version of the explanation as I write: it is really, really hard to argue that astronomy covers more than physics, which lays claim to including all the physical sciences as subfields. Also, is "field" a pun on the force fields of ... physics? [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 03:32, 2 July 2022 (UTC)
:I don't think most chemists would say that they're in a sub-field of physics, but chemistry is a huge part of astronomical spectroscopy. Similarly mathematicians relative to trigonometry. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.36|172.70.211.36]] 03:47, 2 July 2022 (UTC)

There's a bit of a problem here. Yes, Astronomy is the study of pretty much anything that isn't Earth. But the other part is pretty much limited to studies of life on earth (biology excluding exo-/astrobiology as well as pretty much all branches of social sciences), studies of earths atmosphere (meteorology and related fields), studies of earths water (e.g. hydrology as well as aspects of biology and others), studies of earths lithosphere (terrestrial geology and subfields) and various tangential branches thereof (like studies of earth's past - as part of pretty much any subject mentioned before). Fields like physics (pretty much everything "real", i.e. 100%), chemistry (any condensed matter) or geology (any rocky bits) have claims to various (already "taken") parts of the universe. Mathematics and philosophy (mentioned in alt text) don't have a claim to much of anything "real" in the universe (except maybe the pieces of data storage (paper, brain, digital) used) but have a claim to all of the (not "real, I guess) sciences mentioned before. Of course, that makes them subject to, at least, physics, chemistry, biology and social (including historical) sciences in turn. - - - TL/DR: I seem to be in a bit of a mood to kill jokes today. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.251.112|172.70.251.112]] 13:16, 2 July 2022 (UTC)
:of course to continue the joke, while all those fields may have applicability beyond earth, the vast majority of what they actually study is ON earth (although to make the stretch, you have to consider any field that studies things off earth as a subset of astronomy, which would make for many very angry scientific debates... hmmm... science thunderdome, I kinda like this idea =D [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.127|172.69.71.127]] 15:05, 2 July 2022 (UTC)
:Don't feel bad. The entire second half of the explanation at present is devoted to casting the joke as absurdist exaggeration and hyperbole. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.36|172.70.211.36]] 15:30, 2 July 2022 (UTC)

Maybe the idea of the comic is that the diagram was created by astronomers to justify their existence, which explains the bias. Many lay people wonder why we spend so much money studying "out there" when there are so many problems here that could use the money (never mind that the fraction of government budgets devoted to astronomy is miniscule, and some of the discoveries do have terrestrial uses, particularly regarding climate change). And as alluded in the title text, other researchers could probably make a similar diagram that emphasizes their discipline. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:01, 2 July 2022 (UTC)
:Climate change? Only thing astronomy can tell us about climate change is where to move to when we inevitably destroy Earths climate. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 01:03, 3 July 2022 (UTC)
:: The greenhouse effect was originally described in terms of {{w|albedo}} when the absorption spectra of CO2 was first characterized, but I can't think of any other examples. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.6|172.69.34.6]] 01:16, 3 July 2022 (UTC)

:: Solar astronomy tells us what contributions are made by the sun and it's various cycles, general astronomy gives us orbital and therefor seasonal modifiers on that, both of which can then be accounted for to determine both local contribution, and expected trend changes. Further it gives both examples of what various conditions can result in (venus and mars especially) and even possible useful modifications we can make (eg solar shades for reducing, and reflectors for increasing solar effects, albedo modification for either). Not to mention minor things like knowing if a country sized rock might ruin our day --Not an Astronomer [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.155|172.69.70.155]] 15:54, 3 July 2022 (UTC)

There should be a large proportion for "Dark Knowledge" to imitate those astronomical summaries that try to emphasise how much of the universe is dark matter and/or energy [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.64|172.70.86.64]] 01:38, 3 July 2022 (UTC)

As to the alt text, you also have Max Tegmark, a physicist at MIT, who believes the entire universe is literally made of mathematics: {{w|Mathematical universe hypothesis}}. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.52|172.70.211.52]] 06:54, 3 July 2022 (UTC)
:Could be... although just like Holographic Theory, and to some degree Simulation Theory we'd be hard pressed to tell a difference. As long as the rules are consistent, and resist self modification, there's nothing to say the experience from the inside is any different between, physical, simulation, holographic, or mathematical realities. Hard to know which box you're in if you can't look outside it to confirm what the walls are made of [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.155|172.69.70.155]] 15:54, 3 July 2022 (UTC)

2141: UI vs UX

2022-06-30T19:55:49Z

172.69.70.155: consistent unicode symbols across explanation and transcript - note that ∝ is not alpha but the "proportional to" symbol

{{comic
| number = 2141
| date = April 24, 2019
| title = UI vs UX
| image = ui_vs_ux.png
| titletext = U[unprintable glyph]: The elements a higher power uses to bend that moral arc. U[even more unprintable glyph]: The higher power's overall experience bending that moral arc.
}}

==Explanation==
[https://www.google.com/search?q=UI+vs+UX UI vs UX] is a discussion in software engineering of the differences between {{w|User_interface_design|user interface}} design (UI) and {{w|user experience}} design (UX). As explained in the comic, UI design is typically concerned with the elements of the interface that a user encounters, while UX design is more concerned about the user's overall experience in using such interface. UX design can be seen as more holistic & abstract than UI. This comic extends the idea, adding increasingly all-encompassing, abstract & fanciful design perspectives.

To start, the two real categories are:

;UI - '''Elements of the interface that the user encounters'''
:This standard software engineering practice involves trying to come up with a user interface - icons, colors, placement or text and elements, etc. that works well together, that isn't confusing, and that hopefully makes it easy for the user to view the information they need to digest, as well as make whatever choices the user is expected to make. They also look at things like how long it takes to move from one screen or task to another, etc.
;UX - '''The user's experience of using the interface to achieve goals'''
:Sometimes a UI designer makes choices that they think are easy for the user, but it turns out not to be as easy as expected when it comes to real users and practical situations. So the UX designer focuses on observing how a user uses a product, both how they use the user interface as well as other less technical aspects of their experience such as how they come to find out about the product, what they tell others about the product, etc.

The comic takes this to absurd levels by adding these additional categories:

;UZ - '''The psychological roots of the user's motivation for seeking out the interaction'''
:The comic says that UZ is the investigation of the psychological roots of why the user even wants to use the interface. This is not normally something that computer programmers do{{Citation needed}}, and is usually best left in the hands of psychologists {{Citation needed}}.
:"The psychological roots of motivation" is a [http://playbook.amanet.org/brian-tracy-the-root-of-motivation/ buzzword phrase] from [http://www.maccoby.com/books/WhyWork.php management theory] which may not have a particularly well-defined meaning. {{w|Motivation}} is itself the psychological root of behavior. While motivations certainly have causes, they are usually not clear enough to meaningfully treat in formal or clinical contexts.
;Uα - '''The user's self-actualization'''
:"{{w|Self actualization}}" is the most abstract, immaterial form of motivation, meaning the need to find comfort in one's own goals and achievements. Available only when more material needs such as those for food, shelter, warmth, security, and a sense of belonging are met, it forms the pinnacle of {{w|Maslow's hierarchy of needs}}.
:''α'' is ''{{w|alpha}}'', the first letter of the Greek alphabet. It's often used to show the "beginning" or "first" of something (including in philosophical contexts). And as the first Greek letter, it can be thought of "beyond Z" in a sense; the Atlantic hurricane name list uses the Greek alphabet this way, for example (as [[944: Hurricane Names|944: Hurricane Names]] alludes to).
;UΩ - '''The arc of the user's life'''
:"The arc of one's life," means the overall thematic elements present in a person's existence. It occurs in the philosophical humor novel ''{{w|The World According to Garp}},'' which remarks on how easily the arc of any human life can turn on a single sexual relationship.
:Continuing the philosophical theme, ''Ω'' is ''{{w|omega}}'', the ''last'' letter of the Greek alphabet. As such, it's often used to show the "last", "end", or "ultimate" of something.
;U∞ - '''Life's experience of time'''
:"Life's experience of time" is a very rare phrase which does not seem to have a coherent meaning across the handful of times it occurs.
:''∞'' (U+221E) is the mathematical symbol for ''{{w|infinity}}'', again furthering the philosophical abstraction.
;U⬤ - '''The arc of the moral universe'''
:"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice," is a famous line from a speech by {{w|Martin Luther King}}, referring to the slow pace at which social progress is often achieved, and paraphrasing parts of a 1853 sermon by abolitionist minister {{w|Theodore Parker}}: "I do not pretend to understand the moral universe. The arc is a long one. My eye reaches but little ways. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by experience of sight. I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends toward justice." President Obama had the sentence from King's speech woven into a rug in the Oval Office.
:The ⬤ is a filled-in circle the size of the letters around it, represented here by the Unicode "black large circle" character ({{w|Miscellaneous Symbols and Arrows|U+2B24}}). Continuing the philosophical abstraction, it comes well after the Greek alphabet and most mathematical symbols in Unicode, and is especially unlikely to be used as a text character in its own right like this.{{Citation needed}}

The title text refers to a higher power bending the moral arc, but mirrors the UI and UX categories, with the implication that the list continues in a spiral through ever more rarefied levels of higher powers, with even less likely symbols denoting them.

;U[unprintable glyph] - '''The elements a higher power uses to bend that moral arc'''
:Essentially UI for the higher power's moral arc bending utility.
;U[even more unprintable glyph] - '''The higher power's overall experience bending that moral arc'''
:Essentially UX for the higher power's moral arc bending utility.

==Transcript==
:[Two underlined headings are above two columns of text with seven lines. The left "symbol" (labelled "Designer") is explained by the text to the right (labelled "What they are responsible for").]

:UI: Elements of the interface that the user encounters

:UX: The user's experience of using the interface to achieve goals

:UZ: The psychological roots of the user's motivation for seeking out the interaction

:Uα: The user's self-actualization

:UΩ: The arc of the user's life

:U∞: Life's experience of time

:U⬤: The arc of the moral universe

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Programming]]