explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1084: Server Problem

2015-03-12T16:18:11Z

173.245.54.212:

It reminded me of the [http://articles.cnn.com/2012-04-13/tech/tech_web_apple-mac-virus-fix_1_mac-users-malware-mac-os?_s=PM:TECH Flashback Virus] that happened on Macs --[[User:Toddr|Toddr]] ([[User talk:Toddr|talk]]) 21:41, 9 August 2012‎ (UTC)

;WooWoo Science from La-La Land

I love this paragraph:
"Proponents of the singularity typically state that an "intelligence explosion",where superintelligences design successive generations of increasingly powerful minds, might occur very quickly and might not stop until the agent's cognitive abilities greatly surpass that of any human."

"OK team, you can stop now, we are much more intelligent than they are"
"Don't we need to keep learning"
"Nah!" {{unsigned ip| 86.16.130.17|12:59, 16 August 2012‎ (UTC)}}

:Whence comes the quote (and the follow-up commentary)? Attribution requested. Posted by an IP-address contributor; if you'd like to see this retained, please follow up with sources, explanation, and signature... otherwise, I think the content is just tangential enough to be removed. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 14:42, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
::I don't know what the section heading is referring to, but I'm pretty sure the quote is from {{w|Technological singularity|wikipedia}} ([http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Technological_singularity&diff=next&oldid=501171200 diff]). [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 15:16, 13 April 2013 (UTC)

:I believe the assumption is that they will hit some sort of fundamental physical limit on intelligence (At the extreme long-term end, perhaps latency due to the finite speed of light) and stop, rather than simply grow tired of advancing and focus attention elsewhere. [[User:Thirgfloorgreg|Thirgfloorgreg]] ([[User talk:Thirgfloorgreg|talk]]) 23:02, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

I think there are two ways of interpreting it. The most likely is that Megan's "What did you do!?" is a cry of frustration and amazement that Cueball has managed to *so* break the server. First, how on earth did Cueball's $PATH get changed *at all* so that executing "ls" in the shell ran anything but the usual /bin/ls? Second, how did it end up pointing to that ls.jar? And third, what the heck did Cueball do to end up with that ls.jar being installed there anyway!? Then her "You should shut down..." comment should be interpreted as being preceded with the phrase "You are so clearly not qualified to use a computer that ...". On the other hand, she may be expressing awe and amazement at his ability to interact with his system in such a bizarre way. And then her "You should shut down ..." comment should be preceded with the phrase, "You are clearly so at one with computing machinery that ..." TK 2012-08-17

:alias ls='sudo java usr/share/Adobe/doc/example/android_vm/root/sbin/ls.jar' [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 23:35, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

or you could edit $PATH and do a soft link from the first member of PATH/ls to /usr/share/Adobe/doc/example/android_vm/root/sbin/ls.jar, anyway if i was Megan i wouldn't give up just yet, i still have /bin/ls and dir in my disposal... (and always check the environment variables... never assume the user's environment is clean.. it's just most likely that $PATH got screwed up (happened a bit too often for my liking in my previous company.. some people just love to use the command "set PATH=/myprog" instead of set PATH=${PATH}:/myprog ) and all you had to do is to reset the variable and we are done :) (but ya.. Megan's reaction is also my reaction.. it's fun to see people helpless and think that they have royally screwed up their system when you swoop in like a super hero to miraculously repair their system) [[Special:Contributions/118.101.220.167|118.101.220.167]] 09:59, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

Considering Cueball's response, which suggests he is completely unaware of the unlikeliness of the error message, we can assume that the latter is not the case. Cueball totally fails to miss the point by suggesting a simple solution while not realizing how messed up his system would need to be to not even be able to operate the ls command. --[[Special:Contributions/88.75.181.101|88.75.181.101]] 02:45, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

Cueball has somehow messed up his path so that 'ls' now points to ls.jar, which executes the command on an external device (presumably an Android device). {{unsigned ip|134.134.139.72|18:15, 28 August 2012 (UTC)‎}}

Cueball's last line is a reference to an error message from the 8-bit era that went something like "Device not ready" or "device busy, try again later" which led some people to interpret it (literally) that they should try again later, when it really meant "the drive can't read the floppy disc that's in it". [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206|75.103.23.206]] 20:39, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

:"Device not ready" and "Device busy, try again later" messages are usually emited when the driver tries to communicate with device and doesn't get expected response in some defined time. If there would be no timeout for its actions, the computer would freeze. Sometimes (especially in case of old devices), the choosen timeout is too short and trying later actually WILL solve the problem - for example, if you insert CD in optical drive and immediately try to access it, you may get timeout because it takes the drive some time to determine what type of medium was inserted and read TOC. More often, though, the "not ready" is actually caused by persistent problem which will not solve itself - for example again with CD, the CD may be unreadable. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:44, 21 November 2013 (UTC)

Why Ray Kurzweil would be annoyed by 'Cybersingularity' ? [[User:Osias|Osias]] ([[User talk:Osias|talk]]) 01:03, 19 September 2013 (UTC)

I agree - the explanation on Ray is not good enough. I have amended it a bit by putting in four relevant links to Wikipedia in the last phrase - but I cannot explain the title text, and has just assigned the explanation to be incomplete. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:13, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

If Megan actually knows whats going on, wouldn't she run "PATH="/usr/share/Adobe/doc/example/android_vm/root/sbin:$PATH"? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.212|173.245.54.212]] 16:18, 12 March 2015 (UTC)

1486: Vacuum

2015-02-13T10:21:12Z

173.245.54.212: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1486
| date = February 13, 2015
| title = Vacuum
| image = vacuum.png
| titletext = Do you think you could actually clean the living room at some point, though?
}}

==Explanation==

According to quantum mechanics there is tremendous energy density in space-time itself: this is known as: vacuum energy, zero point energy, vacuum foam, etc. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_energy]
Of course, this energy is not literally available to be tapped.

In the cartoon, Beret Guy appears to be making a silly mistake, confusing the metaphorical 'vacuum' referred to in calculations of the theoretical energy density of space time with the partial vacuum of a vacuum cleaner - a device commonly used to clean dust from households.{{Citation Needed}}

Cueball tries to correct him, but it turns out that Beret guy really is able to tap into this fundamental source of energy.

==Transcript==
[Beret guy is holding an upright vacuum cleaner upside-down by the handle, waving it around above his head]

Cueball: What are you doing?

[The vacuum cleaner is upright on the ground, and Beret guy is standing on its body, wiggling the handle]

Beret: Trying to unlock the tremendous energy of the vacuum.

Cueball: That's not what that -

[Beret buy rides the vacuum cleaner as it begins to lift off, propelled upward by an unkown force]

Beret: HA HA! IT WORKS!

Cueball: I said that's -

Beret: The universe is mine to command!!

[Beret guy rides away on the vacuum cleaner]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1486: Vacuum

2015-02-13T10:20:41Z

173.245.54.212: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1486
| date = February 13, 2015
| title = Vacuum
| image = vacuum.png
| titletext = Do you think you could actually clean the living room at some point, though?
}}

==Explanation==

According to quantum mechanics there is tremendous energy density in space-time itself: this is known as: vacuum energy, zero point energy, vacuum foam, etc. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_energy]
Of course, this energy is not literally available to be tapped.

In the cartoon, Beret Guy appears to be making a silly mistake, confusing the metaphorical 'vacuum' referred to in calculations of the theoretical energy density of space time with the partial vacuum of a vacuum cleaner - a device commonly used to clean dust from households.{{citation needed}}

Cueball tries to correct him, but it turns out that Beret guy really is able to tap into this fundamental source of energy.

==Transcript==
[Beret guy is holding an upright vacuum cleaner upside-down by the handle, waving it around above his head]

Cueball: What are you doing?

[The vacuum cleaner is upright on the ground, and Beret guy is standing on its body, wiggling the handle]

Beret: Trying to unlock the tremendous energy of the vacuum.

Cueball: That's not what that -

[Beret buy rides the vacuum cleaner as it begins to lift off, propelled upward by an unkown force]

Beret: HA HA! IT WORKS!

Cueball: I said that's -

Beret: The universe is mine to command!!

[Beret guy rides away on the vacuum cleaner]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1486: Vacuum

2015-02-13T10:18:59Z

173.245.54.212: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1486
| date = February 13, 2015
| title = Vacuum
| image = vacuum.png
| titletext = Do you think you could actually clean the living room at some point, though?
}}

==Explanation==

According to quantum mechanics there is tremendous energy density in space-time itself: this is known as: vacuum energy, zero point energy, vacuum foam, etc. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_energy]
Of course, this energy is not literally available to be tapped.

In the cartoon, Beret Guy appears to be making a silly mistake, confusing the metaphorical 'vacuum' referred to in calculations of the theoretical energy density of space time with the partial vacuum of a vacuum cleaner - a device commonly used to clean dust from households {{citation needed}}.

Cueball tries to correct him, but it turns out that Beret guy really is able to tap into this fundamental source of energy.

==Transcript==
[Beret guy is holding an upright vacuum cleaner upside-down by the handle, waving it around above his head]

Cueball: What are you doing?

[The vacuum cleaner is upright on the ground, and Beret guy is standing on its body, wiggling the handle]

Beret: Trying to unlock the tremendous energy of the vacuum.

Cueball: That's not what that -

[Beret buy rides the vacuum cleaner as it begins to lift off, propelled upward by an unkown force]

Beret: HA HA! IT WORKS!

Cueball: I said that's -

Beret: The universe is mine to command!!

[Beret guy rides away on the vacuum cleaner]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1482

2015-02-04T05:26:28Z

173.245.54.212: Created page with "This page is empty"

This page is empty

1473: Location Sharing

2015-01-18T04:11:16Z

173.245.54.212: it isn't true that the uncertainty principle doesn't apply to macroscopic particles. it does, it just isn't RELEVANT because the uncertainty is so small (like particle wave duality/wavelength)

{{comic
| number = 1473
| date = January 14, 2015
| title = Location Sharing
| image = location_sharing.png
| titletext = Our phones must have great angular momentum sensors because the compasses really suck.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|First draft.}}
In this comic, [[Megan]] is visiting a website on her mobile phone. After loading it, the website {{w|Location-based service|asks for her location}}. The choice between allowing or denying a website or app access to certain information is common among smartphones. The term "location sharing" specifically refers to when a smartphone user shares their location with such an entity. An example is a weather app which would need your location in order to automatically find the correct forecast.

Megan is then asked her {{w|momentum}}, which she denies. The joke is based on the Heisenberg {{w|uncertainty principle}}, which, in quantum mechanics, states that one cannot accurately know both the location and momentum of any particle simultaneously.

The ramifications of the uncertainty principle being violated in this context are unknown, but the comic might be alluding to security problems that appear if an untrusted application is given access to momentum data generated by the gyroscope. Access to gyroscope data can be used for reading passwords entered into the on-screen keyboard or even guessing keyboard strokes on a keyboard lying on the same table as the phone.

It could also be an attempt to get [[Megan]] to unwillingly reveal her weight (mass to be more exact), as the mass can be inferred by dividing the momentum by velocity (the velocity in turn can be obtained by observing the change of the location over time). In order to be feasible, the location must be polled at least twice, as at least two location points are necessary to compute the velocity. It is a stereotype in many Western cultures that women tend to keep their weight secret. The stereotype implies that women tend to obsess about controlling (and not revealing) their weight in order to conform to societal and sexual pressure.

The title text refers to the inclusion of {{w|gyroscope}}s in modern cell phones that measure angular momentum, mostly to detect when the phone is tilted, but also used in a few mobile games. Randall suggests the poor accuracy of the compasses in mobile phones (measuring the angular position) is due to the gyroscopes being too good. If both the gyroscope and the compasses were completely accurate to a subatomic scale, it would violate the uncertainty principle. Modern phones also include varied technologies (such as GPS) to pinpoint the user's location, with varying degrees of accuracy.

The uncertainty principle has previously been referenced in [[824: Guest Week: Bill Amend (FoxTrot)]]. It has also been discussed in relation to the two comics [[1404: Quantum Vacuum Virtual Plasma]] and [[1416: Pixels]].

==Transcript==
:[Megan is holding her phone. Above her is the text she can see on the screen:]
:This website wants to know your location.
:[Two buttons are below this text. The first is white with a black frame and black text. The second (the chosen button) also has a black frame, but inside the frame is a black rectangle with white text. Around the chosen button are small lines indication rays.]
:Deny
:'''Allow'''

:[Megan is holding her phone.]

:[Megan is holding her phone. Above her is again the text she can see on the screen.]
:This website wants to know your momentum.
:[Two buttons are below this text. The first (the chosen button) has a black frame, but inside the frame is a black rectangle with white text. The second is white with a black frame and black text. Around the chosen button are small lines indication rays.]
:'''Deny'''
:Allow

:Megan: Nice try.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

1458: Small Moon

2014-12-10T06:57:30Z

173.245.54.212: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1458
| date = December 10, 2014
| title = Small Moon
| image = small_moon.png
| titletext = GENERAL JAN DODONNA: An analysis of the plans provided by Princess Leia has reinvigorated the arguments of the 'artificial moonlet' and 'rogue planet-station' camps. I fear this question is fracturing the Rebellion.
}}

The comic depics a dialog from the film Star Wars episode IV, where the heroes follow a spacecraft to the never been seen before Death Star, a huge battleship in the size of an arguably small moon, capable of destroying an entire planet. This dialog ignites an argument similar to the one discussing whether or not Pluto should be classified as a planet or as a dwarf planet.

==Transcript==
:[Millenium Falcon follows a Tie Fighter towards an unidentified orb in the distance]
:Luke: He's heading for that small moon.
:Ben: That's no moon - it's a space station.
:Luke: It's too big to be a space station.
:Ben: But it's too '''''small''''' to be a moon.
:Three hours pass
:Luke: Fine! What if we agree it's not a moon, but we make a new category called "Dwarf Moon"?
:Ben: And what's the cutoff, asshole?! Is this '''''ship''''' a dwarf moon now?
:Luke: Screw you.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]

Talk:1454: Done

2014-12-01T06:11:55Z

173.245.54.212:

Is it a girl? I was thinking the hair is a bit like mick Jaggers... - Palitu

Consider this as a possible reference to Kim Kardashian's photo.. An effect of her trying to "break the internet" -KLee

Talk:1454: Done

2014-12-01T06:10:45Z

173.245.54.212:

Is it a girl? I was thinking the hair is a bit like mick Jaggers... - Palitu

Consider this as a possible reference to Kim Kardashian's video.. An effect of her trying to "break the internet" -KLee