explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1509: Scenery Cheat Sheet

2015-04-08T14:00:44Z

173.245.54.168: Fill in the table a bit

{{comic
| number = 1509
| date = April 8, 2015
| title = Scenery Cheat Sheet
| image = scenery cheat sheet.png
| titletext = At the boundary between each zone, stories blend together. Somewhere in the New Mexico desert, the Roadrunner is pursued by a tireless Anton Chigurh.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|Only just started page.}}

{{w|GeoGuessr}} is a game using {{w|Google Street View|StreetView}} images that drops the player in a random location and challenges them to work out where they are. It is also referenced in [[1214: Geoguessr]].

The [[title text]] references ''{{w|Anton Chigurh}}'' (portrayed by Javier Bardem), who is the main antagonist of the film ''{{w|No Country For Old Men}}''.

Note that this is a map of where the stories are set, not where they were filmed.

==Transcript==
===Title===
:A '''cheat sheet''' for
:figuring out where in the US you are
:by recognizing the background from movies
:(for use by GeoGuessr players and crash-landed astronauts)

===Map===
[From top left, left to right, top to bottom]
{| class="wikitable"
! Movie title
! Area(s) covered
! Filming Location(s)
! Notes
|-
| {{w|Twilight (film)| Twilight}}
| rowspan="2"|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Fifty Shades of Grey (film)|50 Shades of Grey}}
|
|
|-
| {{w|Dances with Wolves}}
| rowspan="2"|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Starship Troopers (film)|Starship Troopers}}
|
|
|-
| {{w|Fargo (film)|Fargo}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Wild Wild West|Wild Wild West}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Sandlot|The Sandlot}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Napoleon Dynamite|Napoleon Dynamite}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Brokeback Mountain|Brokeback Mountain}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Oregon Trail (video_game)|Oregon Trail}}
|
|Video Game, not filmed
|
|-
| {{w|Interstellar (film)|Interstellar}}
| rowspan="3"|
|
| "Earth Parts"
|-
| {{w|Star Trek (film)|Star Trek (2009)}}
|
| "Earth Parts"
|-
| {{w|Field of Dreams|Field of Dreams}}
|
| Technically, all the earth parts of this movie too.
|-
| {{w|The Music Man (1962 film)|The Music Man}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Blues Brothers (film)|Blues Brothers}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|A Christmas Story|A Christmas Story}}
| rowspan="2" |
|
|
|-
| {{w|Jack & Diane|That song about Jack and Diane}}
|
|
|-
| {{w|8 Mile (film)|8 Mile}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Groundhog Day (film)|Groundhog Day}}
| Western Pennsylvania and New York
| Woodstock, IL
|
|-
| {{w|My Side of the Mountain|My Side of the Mountain (book)}}
| Adriondack Mountains, NY
| Catskill mountains, near Delhi, NY
| The area shown on the map is actually the Adirondack mountains, not the Catskills. I suspect this is an error.
|-
| {{w|Super Troopers|Super Troopers}}
| Vermont, NY ("Somewhere near the border")
|
|
|-
| {{w|Pet Semetary|Pet Semetary}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|What About Bob?|What about Bob}}
|Lake Winnipesaukee, NH
|Smith Mountain Lake, VA
|
|-
| {{w|The Departed|The Departed}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Signs (film)|Signs}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Village (2004 film)|The Village}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|War of the Worlds (2005 film)|War of the Worlds (2005)}}
|
|
| Also referenced in [[556: Alternative Energy Revolution]]
|-
| {{w|Jaws (film)|Jaws}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Rock (film)|The Rock}}
| {{w|Alcatraz Island}}
| {{W|Alcatraz Island}}
|
|-
| {{w|Zodiac (film)|Zodiac}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Sideways|That movie about wine & talking}}
|
|
| He clearly means ''Sideways''
|-
| {{w|Top Gun|Top Gun}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Independence Day (1996 film)|Part of Independence Day}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner|Roadrunner cartoons}}
|
|Animated, not filmed
|
|-
| {{w|The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz}}
|
|
| The Judy Garland version, presumably. The earth parts.
|-
| {{w|Twister (1996 film)|Twister}}
|
|
|
|-
| Anything by {{w|Mark Twain}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Walk the Line|Walk the Line}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|October Sky|October Sky}}
|
| East Tennessee
|
|-
| {{w|Dirty Dancing|Dirty Dancing}}
|
|
|
|-
| [Generic City]
| Washington DC, Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia
| N/A
|
|-
| {{w|Deep Impact (film)|Deep Impact}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Hunt for Red October (film)|The Hunt for Red October}}
| Atlantic Ocean
|
|
|-
| {{w|Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Forrest Gump|Forrest Gump}}
|
|
|
|-
| Every movie with a big budget ...
|
|Hollywood, CA
|
|-
| {{w|The Truman Show|The Truman Show}} but with desert in the background
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|No Country for Old Men (film)|No Country for Old Men}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|True Grit (1969 film)|True Grit}}
|
|
| Or the {{w|True Grit (2010 film)|2010 version}}
|-
| {{w|Office Space|Office Space}}
| rowspan="3" |
|
|
|-
| {{w|Dazed and Confused (film)|Dazed and Confused}}
|
|
|-
| {{w|Kill Bill|Kill Bill}}
|
|
|-
| {{w|Duck Dynasty|Duck Dynasty}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Princess and the Frog|Princess and the Frog}}
| rowspan="2" |
|Animated, not filmed
|
|-
| {{w|All Dogs Go to Heaven|All Dogs go to Heaven}}
|Animated, not filmed
|
|-
| {{w|Big Fish|Big Fish}}
| rowspan="2" |
|
|
|-
| {{w|O Brother, Where Art Thou?|O Brother Where Art Thou}}
|
|
|-
| {{w|Beasts of the Southern Wild|Beasts of the Southern Wild}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|The Truman Show|The Truman Show}}
| Northern Florida
| {{w|Seaside, Florida|Seaside, Florida}}
|
|-
| {{w|Adaptation (film)|Adaptation}}
|
|
|
|-
| {{w|Miami Vice|Miami Vice}}
|
|
| Or the {{w|Miami Vice (film)|film}}
|}

==See also==
*[https://geoguessr.com/ GeoGuessr's official website]
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Maps]]

900: Religions

2015-02-27T22:21:31Z

173.245.54.168: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 900
| date = May 18, 2011
| title = Religions
| image = religions.png
| titletext = But to us there is but one God, plus or minus one. —1 Corinthians 8:6±2.
}}

==Explanation==
The late {{w|Harold Camping}}, a Christian pastor, falsely predicted that the world would end in May 21, 2011. After that prediction failed, he moved the date to October 21 of that year, and when that passed uneventfully, he recanted his belief that the end time could be calculated. In the Christian mythos, the end of the world is called "the second coming" (referencing the return of Jesus) or "the Rapture."

The first frame is a reference to raptors in {{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}}, and certainly not Randall's first raptor joke. In this film, the raptor dinosaurs get much more dangerous once they learn how to open doors. [[Cueball]] mishears [[Megan]], which is why he thinks she said "raptor" instead of "Rapture".

In the second frame, Cueball references three major religions. Christian and church for {{w|Christianity}}, Mosque for {{w|Islam}} and Rabbi for {{w|Judaism}}.

The third frame is a math joke in which Megan references error bars which are used on graphs to indicate the uncertainty. So, Megan believes in one God (monotheism), as she says in the comic. But if she is still trying to find the error bars, and from the title text it is "one, plus or minus one", that could be in the range of zero ({{w|Atheism}}) to two ({{w|Dualism|Bitheism}}).

The title text is a supposed excerpt from the holy text of experimental monotheism. {{w|First Epistle to the Corinthians|First Corinthians}} is a book of the {{w|Christian biblical canons|Christian Bible}}. Megan refers to chapter 8 verse 6 (±2), which would be [http://www.bibleserver.com/text/ESV/1%20Corinthians8:4-8 verses 4–8]. In the actual bible text, this section refers to idols and "so called gods", but also states "There is no God but one."

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan talking.]
:Megan: So are you worried about the rapture?
:Cueball: No, unless it figures out how to open doors.
:Megan: I said ''rapture.''

:Cueball: Oh, I'm not really into that. I'm the kind of christian who only goes to church on Christmas and Easter, and then spends the other 363 days at the mosque.
:Megan: ...I don't think that's a thing.
:Cueball: Our rabbi swears it's legit.

:Cueball: What religion are you?
:Megan: Experimentalist Monotheism.
:Cueball: Which is?
:Megan: We believe there's one god, but we're trying to find the error bars on that number.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Math]]

Talk:936: Password Strength

2014-10-13T22:22:30Z

173.245.54.168:

You still have to vary the words with a bit of capitalization, punctuation and numbers a bit, or hackers can just run a dictionary attack against your string of four words. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:12, 9 March 2013 (UTC)

No you don't. Hackers cannot run a dictionary attack against a string of four randomly picked words.
Look at the number of bits displayed in the image: 11 bits for each word.
That means he's assuming a dictionary of 2048 words, from which each word is picked randomly.
The assumption is that the cracker knows your password scheme.
[[Special:Contributions/86.81.151.19|86.81.151.19]] 20:17, 28 April 2013 (UTC)
Willem

:I just wrote a program to bruteforce this password creation method. https://github.com/KrasnayaSecurity/xkcd936/blob/master/listGen936.py Once I get it I'll try coming up with more bruteforcing algorithms such as substituting symbols, numbers, camel case, and the like. Point is, don't rely on this or any one method. I wouldn't be surprised if the crackers are already working on something like this. [[User:Lieutenant S.|Lieutenant S.]] ([[User talk:Lieutenant S.|talk]]) 07:03, 8 September 2014 (UTC)
:It took 1.25 hours to bruteforce "correcthorsebatterystaple" using the 2,000 most common words with one CPU. [[User:Lieutenant S.|Lieutenant S.]] ([[User talk:Lieutenant S.|talk]]) 07:09, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Sometimes this is not possible. (I'm looking at you, local banks with 8-12 character passwords and PayPal) If I can, I use a full sentence. A compound sentence for the important stuff. This adds the capitalization, punctuation and possibly the use of numbers while it's even easier to remember then Randall's scheme. I think it might help against the keyloggers too, if your browser/application autofills the username filed, because you password doesn't stand out from the feed with being gibberish. [[Special:Contributions/195.56.58.169|195.56.58.169]] 09:01, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

The basic concept can be adapted to limited-length passwords easily enough: memorize a phrase and use the first letter of each word. It'll require about a dozen words (you're only getting 4.7 bits per letter at best, actually less because first letters of words are not truly random, though they are weakly if at all correlated with their neighbors -- based on the frequencies of first letters of words in English, and assuming no correlation between each first letter and the next, I calculate about 4 bits per character of Shannon entropy). SteveMB 18:35, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

Followup: The results of extracting the first letters of words in sample texts (the {{w|Project_Gutenberg|Project Gutenberg}} texts of ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'', ''The War of the Worlds'', and ''Little Fuzzy'') and applying a {{w|Entropy_(information_theory)|Shannon entropy calculation}} were 4.07 bits per letter (i.e. first letter in word) and 8.08 bits per digraph (i.e. first letters in two consecutive words). These results suggest that first-letter-of-phrase passwords have approximately 4 bits per letter of entropy. --[[User:SteveMB|SteveMB]] ([[User talk:SteveMB|talk]]) 14:21, 4 September 2013 (UTC)

Addendum: The above test was case-insensitive (all letters converted to lowercase before feeding them to the [[http://millikeys.sourceforge.net/freqanalysis.html frequency counter]]). Thus, true-random use of uppercase and lowercase would have 5 bits per letter of entropy, and any variation in case (e.g. preserving the case of the original first letter) would fall between 4 and 5 bits per letter. --[[User:SteveMB|SteveMB]] ([[User talk:SteveMB|talk]]) 14:28, 4 September 2013 (UTC)

I just have RANDOM.ORG print me ten pages of 8-character passwords and tape it to the wall, then highlight some of them and use others (say two down and to the right or similar) for my passwords, maybe a given line a line a little jumbled for more security. [[Special:Contributions/70.24.167.3|70.24.167.3]] 13:27, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
:Remind me to visit your office and secretly replace your wall-lists by a list of very similar looking strings ;) --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 13:53, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

Simple.com (online banking site) had the following on it’s registration page:

“Passphrase? Yes. Passphrases are easier to remember and more secure than traditional passwords. For example, try a group of words with spaces in between, or a sentence you know you'll remember. "correct horse battery staple" is a better passphrase than r0b0tz26.”

Online security for a banking site has been informed by an online comic. Astounding.
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.78|173.245.54.78]] 21:22, 11 November 2013 (UTC)

The Web service Dropbox has an Easter egg related to this comic on their sign-up page. That page has a password strength indicator (powered by JavaScript) which changes as you type your password. This indicator also shows hints when hovering the mouse cursor over it. Entering "Tr0ub4dor&3" or "Tr0ub4dour&3" as the password causes the password strength indicator to fall to zero, with the hint saying, "Guess again." Entering "correcthorsebatterystaple" as the password also causes the strength indicator to fall to zero, but the hint says, "Whoa there, don't take advice from a webcomic too literally ;)." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.95|108.162.218.95]] 15:17, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

The explanation said that the comic uses a dictionary[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=936:_Password_Strength&oldid=59309]. In fact it's a word list, which seems similar but it's not. All the words in the word list must be easy to memorize. This means it's better not to have words such as ''than'' or ''if''. Also, it's better not to have homophones (''wood'' and ''would'', for example). The sentence ''dictionary attack'' doesn't apply here. A dictionary attack requires the attacker to use all the words in the dictionary (e.g. 100,000 words). Here we must generate the 17,592,186,044,416 combinations of 4 common words. Those combinations can't be found in any dictionary. At 25 bytes per "word" that dictionary would need 400 {{w|tebi|binary terabytes}} to be stored. [[User:Xhfz|Xhfz]] ([[User talk:Xhfz|talk]]) 21:37, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

This comic was mentioned in a TED talk by Lorrie Faith Cranor on in March 2014. After performing a lot of studies and analysis, she concludes that "pass phrase" passwords are no easier to remember than complex passwords and that the increased length of the password increases the number of errors when typing it. There is a lot of other useful information from her studies that can be gleaned from the talk. [http://www.ted.com/talks/lorrie_faith_cranor_what_s_wrong_with_your_pa_w0rd Link]. What she doesn't mention is the frequency of changing passwords - in most organizations it's ~90 days. I don't know where that standard originated, but (as a sys admin) I suspect it's about as ineffective as most of our other password trickery - that is that it does nothing. Today's password thieves don't bash stolen password hash tables, they bundle keyloggers with game trainers and browser plugins.--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.75|173.245.50.75]] 18:14, 2 July 2014 (UTC)
:Password-changing frequency isn't about making passwords more ''secure'', but instead it's about ''mitigating the damage'' of a successfully cracked password. If a hacker gets your password (through any means) and your password changes every 90 days, the password the hacker has obtained is only useful for a few months at most. That might be enough, but it might not. If the hacker is brute forcing the passwords to get them, that cuts into the time the password is useful. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.168|173.245.54.168]] 22:22, 13 October 2014 (UTC)

Just because you are required to have a password that has letters and numbers in it doesn't mean you can't make it memorable. When caps are required, use CamelCase. When punctuation is required, make it an ampersand (&) or include a contraction. When numbers are required, pick something that has significance to you (your birthday, the resolution of your television, ect.). Keep in mind that, if your phrase is an actual sentence, the password entropy is 1.1 bits per character (http://what-if.xkcd.com/34), so length is key if you want your password to be secure. (Though no known algorithm can actually exploit the 1.1 bits of entropy to gain time, so it might be more like 11 bits of entropy per word. Even then, my passwords have nonexistent and uncommon words in them, (like doge or trope), which also adds some entropy.) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.213|108.162.246.213]] 22:18, 1 September 2014 (UTC)

Talk:753: Southern Half

2014-10-09T14:37:48Z

173.245.54.168: commenty

OF COURSE! A Penis-Shaped Obelisk on Mars! And it's got to be big enough to been seen with an ordinary backyard telescope.--[[Special:Contributions/138.163.128.41|138.163.128.41]] 00:31, 20 March 2013 (UTC)
: And, yes, I imagine it ''would'' be hard. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.192.132|178.98.192.132]] 23:17, 4 May 2013 (UTC)
::"Hard" .... *facepalm*. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.168|173.245.54.168]] 14:37, 9 October 2014 (UTC)
Woah, woah, no cloned velociraptors in spaaace. Not on my watch. [[User:BruceJohnJennerLawso|BruceJohnJennerLawso]] ([[User talk:BruceJohnJennerLawso|talk]]) 05:25, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
:However, leave off Latin America and the rest seem to be pretty much in the hemisphere centered at the Persian Ocean.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.9|108.162.215.9]] 07:14, 27 May 2014 (UTC)
I was under the impression that latin America did not include south America, just the part of north America south of the USA. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.7|108.162.219.7]] 02:20, 19 June 2014 (UTC)

1406: Universal Converter Box

2014-08-11T20:31:53Z

173.245.54.168: split left and right

{{comic
| number = 1406
| date = August 11, 2014
| title = Universal Converter Box
| image = universal_converter_box.png
| titletext = Comes with a 50-lb sack of gender changers, and also an add-on device with a voltage selector and a zillion circular center pin DC adapter tips so you can power any of those devices from the 90s.
}}

==Explanation==
Converter boxes are used to connect two devices together which otherwise couldn't be, due to differently shaped plugs, different voltages, or different protocols of communication.

Converter boxes or converter cables are commonly found for several of the plugs at the top of the list - such as from USB to micro-USB.

The humour from this comic comes from the sheer number of [[927: Standards|different standards]] that at different times aimed to be the universal way to connect two devices (at least in their target market), as well as the progressively ridiculous conversions that this box is capable of doing, for example, converting audio from a 1/8inch / 3.5mm headphone jack, into a variety of petrols suitable for running your car.

===Different connectors===
====Left side====
*{{w|VGA_connector|VGA}} (Video Graphics Array): A type of video connector, it has fifteen pins in a D-shell (a trapezoidal metal skirt that protects the pins, prevents the connector from being plugged in the wrong way, and makes the physical connection more secure). First used in 1987, and with new versions being developed since then, it is an extremely common type of video connector.
*{{w|Digital_Visual_Interface|DVI}} (Digital Visual Interface): Another type of video connector, it also uses a D-shell connector, except the pins are flat instead of round. DVI is not compatible with VGA ports, though DVI can transmit an analog signal.
*{{w|HDMI}} (High Definition Multimedia Interface): A connector that can transmit both video and audio over the same cable, HDMI has slowly been replacing DVI and VGA ports on newer devices due to the simplicity (both audio and video in one connector) and the smaller footprint and overall dimensions.
*{{w|Thunderbolt_(interface)|Thunderbolt}}: A multimedia/data connector, Thunderbolt can transfer both video signals to a monitor, audio signals to speakers, and send and receive data at the same time, over the same port. It also is far faster than almost any connector on the market for transferring data. However, the limited adoption by manufacturers, the higher costs of the hardware, and the security concerns inherent to the interface have limited the adoption by consumers.
*{{w|IEEE_1394|Firewire}} (IEEE 1394): A bidirectional data transfer connector, similar to USB, Firewire can be used for many applications (e.g. networking computers), but it mostly finds use connecting audio/video equipment to computers.
*{{w|Component_video|Component}} and {{w|RCA_connector|RCA}}: Both component video and RCA are ways of transmitting video and audio signals. Technically, RCA is the name of the connector type that they share; the "RCA" video connection is also called composite video. Both use two plugs for audio (left and right channels), but RCA (composite) uses one plug for video where component uses three: Y (luma), Pb (Blue - Y), Pr (Red - Y).
*{{w|Phone_connector_(audio)|1/8" audio/video}} (3.5 mm phone connector): A very common type of connector, perhaps best known as a headphone plug, but also used for other audio equipment and (as the comic indicates) for some video equipment. The video plug only has 3 contacts (Tip, Ring and Sleeve) so it isn't the reasonably common 3.5mm video + audio plug on some equipment which has 4 contacts (Tip, Ring, Ring and Sleeve).
*{{w|Parallel_port|Parallel port}}: A largely obsolete computer interface, mostly used to connect printers to PCs. While no longer common in homes or offices, parallel connections are still used in some embedded systems.
*{{w|S-Video_(analog_video_standard)|S-video}}: Another video standard similar to component and RCA, but with the video signal split in Y (luma) and C (chroma).
*{{w|In-flight_entertainment#History|Airline pneumatic tube audio}}: Connector for pneumatic headphones used by in-flight entertainment systems manufactured from 1963 until 1979. The seat would contain a passenger control unit (PCU) that contained an audio transducer with 2 loudspeakers. The headphone connected to this unit only needed a pneumatic tube to conduct the sound which made them very cheap to produce.
*{{w|PS/2_port|PS/2}}, PS/3 and PS/4: The PS/2 connector was used for mouse and keyboard connections in older computers; it has been superseded by USB. There are no such connectors as PS/3 and PS/4 -- the joke here is that the {{w|PlayStation 2}} console is also abbreviated to PS2, and there have been two models of PlayStation since, abbreviated PS3 and PS4.
*{{w|NEMA_connector|120V AC}}: This style of plug is used for domestic power outlets in the US, Canada, Mexico, and some other parts of the Americas. (Interestingly, while AC adapters are necessary—and widely available—to suit sockets in other countries, this "universal" convertor does not feature any other AC power plugs.) The pin marked "removable" is the ground pin; not every device requires a ground pin, and some (older) sockets do not have a hole for it.
*{{w|Floppy_disk|Floppy}}, {{w|Parallel_ATA|IDE}}, {{w|Hard_disk_drive|2.5"}}, {{w|SCSI_connector|SCSI}}: These are various disk drive {{w|Insulation-displacement_connector|IDC connectors}} for different numbers of pins, and hence different widths of {{w|Ribbon_cable|cable}}. Despite this similarity, real plugs do not have break-away parts for different devices as the pinout has no similarities at all and the connectors are all keyed differently.

====Right side====
*{{w|USB#Connectors_and_plugs|USB}} connectors: This bidirectional data connection is used for connecting many different devices to computers, each other, and to power supplies and chargers. The USB standard has many different types of plugs, necessitating convertors like the one in the comic (though generally less featureful). The types present here are USB-A ("USB"), USB-B ("USB weird other end"), mini-USB, micro-USB, and the non-existent "macro-USB" (a joke on the previous two as a macro i.e. larger version of USB). Note that some embedded systems (such as cash registers) actually do use larger USB connectors to include 12V and/or 24V power connections. These are not, however, called "macro-USB", and are not as large.
*{{w|F_connector|F connector}}: A type of coaxial plug used for various television signals and for cable modems.
*{{w|Optical_fiber_connector|Fiber}}: Optical fiber cables are used for various data transmission purposes. Interestingly, the fiber depicted does not seem to have any of the (many) typical optical fiber connectors; it may be simply a loose end.
*{{w|Registered_jack#RJ11.2C_RJ14.2C_RJ25_wiring_details|RJ11}}: The "smaller than RJ45" connector which is used for land-line telephones.
*{{w|Registered_jack#RJ45|Ethernet}} (RJ45): The most common consumer-grade fixed wire connection for computer networking.
*{{w|Token_ring|Token ring}}: A now-outdated networking technology, token ring was a late-80s competitor to Ethernet for fixed-wire network connection. Its connectors were large and boxy, but were unique in that they were genderless, so no gender changing adapter will be needed in that bag.
*{{w|MagSafe}}: Magnetically-attached power connectors used on Apple devices. The original MagSafe (introduced in 2006) was later replaced by MagSafe 2 (introduced in 2012); both come in "L" and "T" shapes (as shown here for MagSafe and MagSafe 2, respectively), but are incompatible. MagSafe 3 and 4 do not actually exist (yet). Also, the MagSafe 4 "connector" appears to be broken; this may be a joke about the poor quality of the fictional MagSafe 4 cables.
*{{w|Bluetooth#Communication_and_connection|Bluetooth dongle}}: A wireless network standard mostly used to connect accessories to phones and computers. This would usually be incorporated inside the device itself and not attached to a cable.
*{{w|SCART}}: An audio/video connector mostly used in Europe; it replaced other connectors like component video, but has itself been superseded by HDMI.
*{{w|Tin_can_telephone|String}}: For connecting to a "tin can telephone", an analogue device for transmitting sound through a physical connection rather than electronically or via radio waves.
*{{w|Fuel_dispenser#Nozzles|Fuel nozzle}}, with a switch to choose between different {{w|Octane_rating|octane ratings}} and {{w|Diesel_fuel|diesel fuel}}: Dispensers for fossil fuels used to power internal combustion engines. There are two common systems for showing octane numbers on fuel pumps; the numbers shown (87, 91, 93) most closely map to {{w|Octane_rating#Anti-Knock_Index_.28AKI.29|Anti-Knock Index}} values which is used for the North American market and a number of other countries. In the AKI system; 87 octane is regular US, 91 octane is regular European and 93 octane is premium/super US.

The title text is referring to connector "gender," which is a further complication in getting a connection. A connector is capable of making a connection to another device only through another connector of the opposite gender ("male" connector is plug, "female" connector is socket). Gender adapters flip the gender of a connector, so that two connectors of the same gender can connect. Due to the number of connections this box is capable of, there would be a significant number of connectors, which would lead to them weighing 50-lbs in all. The weight of the petrol pump gender adapter is probably responsible for the bulk of this.

The "circular center pin DC adapter tips" in the title text are barrel jack power plugs. These were developed in the 1980s, and come in a staggering variety of dimensions. The "barrel" has both an inner diameter and an outer diameter, so even if the outer diameter of the barrel jack (which can be easily measured) is correct, the inner diameter might not be. Furthermore, there is the complication that the device requires power at a certain voltage and the supply must provide the correct voltage, and the polarity also has to be correct: positive on the barrel and negative on the inner pin, or vice-versa. This leads to frustration on the part of users when the original power supply cannot be found.

==Transcript==
:Universal converter box with wires to connectors:
::VGA
::DVI
::HDMI
::Thunderbolt
::Firewire
::Component
::RCA (sharing connectors with Component)
::1/8" Audio
::1/8" Video
::Parallel Port
::S-Video
::Airline Pneumatic Tube Audio
::PS/2/3/4
::120V AC
:::Removable (pointing to ground pin)
::Floppy/IDE/2.5"/SCSI
:::Break here (pointing to sections in IDC connector)
::USB
::USB (weird other end)
::Mini-USB
::Micro USB
::Macro USB
::F Connector
::Fiber
::RJ11
::Ethernet
::Token Ring
::MagSafe
::MagSafe 2
::MagSafe 3
::MagSafe 4
::Bluetooth Dongle
::SCART
::String (fits most cans)
::(Fuel nozzle with selector for) 87/91/93/Diesel

{{comic discussion}}

795: Conditional Risk

2014-07-02T16:23:26Z

173.245.54.168: /* Explanation */ you forgot...

{{comic
| number = 795
| date = September 20, 2010
| title = Conditional Risk
| image = conditional_risk.png
| titletext = 'Dude, wait -- I'm not American! So my risk is basically zero!'
}}

==Explanation==
The comic deals with the difference between general probability of certain event based on entire past history and the probability of the same event in particular circumstances. The chance of any American selected randomly from general population to be killed by lightning is very low, but part of the reason for this is that an average American would seek shelter and safety when caught in a lightning storm. The joke is that someone armed with this particular statistical knowledge would not take the normal precautions and therefore leave themselves far more vulnerable.

Since the statistics provided talks only about Americans, the other character wrongly assumes the chance to be struck by lightning for non-American is non-existent - which underlines the difference between knowing certain event can't or didn't happen and not having any data about the event.

The "one in six" statistic is probably invented by the author - which also illuminates the danger of dealing with "statistical data" provided by random sources without any attribution to actual statistical surveys or hard data. And of course, now all xkcd readers know the statistic, likely bringing down the death rate.

==Transcript==
:[Lightning strikes the ground, illuminating trees with a bright white light. Two people are standing near it. One has a walking stick.]
:''CRACK''
:''BOOM''
:First person: Whoa! We should get inside!
:Second person: It's okay! Lightning only kills about 45 Americans a year, so the chances of dying are only one in 7,000,000. Let's go on!

:The annual death rate among people who know that statistic is one in six.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Statistics]]

773: University Website

2014-06-20T06:05:53Z

173.245.54.168: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 773
| date = July 30, 2010
| title = University Website
| image = university website.png
| titletext = People go to the website because they can't wait for the next alumni magazine, right? What do you mean, you want a campus map? One of our students made one as a CS class project back in '01! You can click to zoom and everything!
}}

==Explanation==
This comic uses a Venn diagram to point out that there is often a significant disparity between what a university displays on the front page of its website and what users — particularly prospective students — are primarily interested in finding there.

This is often because those who are making the university website instinctively believe, from their perspective, that the website should contain things that the university is proud of, or that they personally find useful, so they are unable to look at it from the perspective of a person who is new on campus and simply wants to know what number to call for campus security. Thus, simple details like contact information and university data are often overlooked.

The title text presents a satirical response from the school defending their site design. It points out that they seem to think people care about the alumni magazine. It also uses sarcasm to make fun of university websites that have wildly out of date site design (web technology was relatively primitive in 2001) and a CS (Computer Science) student built it instead of a professional.

==Transcript==
:[A venn diagram.]
:[The left circle is labeled "Things on the front page of a university website" and contains:]
:"campus photo slideshow"
:"alumni in the news"
:"promotions for campus events"
:"press releases"
:"statement of the school's philosophy"
:"letter from the president"
:"virtual tour"

:[The right circle is labeled "Things people go to the site looking for" and contains:]
:"list of faculty phone numbers and emails"
:"campus address"
:"application forms"
:"academic calendar"
:"campus police phone number"
:"department course lists"
:"parking information"
:"usable campus map"

:[The only item in the overlapping section is:]
:"full name of school"

==Trivia==
*Some university administrators reportedly took this cartoon to heart. For further discussion of this cartoon, see [http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/08/04/websites Inside Higher Ed], [http://dylanwilbanks.com/blog/2010/07/30/this-is-my-truth-tell-me-yours/ DylanWilbanks.com], and [http://doteduguru.com/id5577-redesign-your-university-website-according-to-xkcd.html .eduGuru].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Charts]]