explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1256: Questions

2013-08-26T10:19:00Z

178.104.103.140: Created page with "Why did I just type the following in, when doubtless someone else has already done this..? :(Questions :Found in Google autocomplete) :Why do whales jump :Why are witches gree..."

Why did I just type the following in, when doubtless someone else has already done this..?
:(Questions
:Found in Google autocomplete)
:Why do whales jump
:Why are witches green
:Why are there mirrors above beds
:Why do I say Uh
:Why is sea salt better
:Why are there trees in the middle of fields
:Why is there not a pokemon MMO
:Why is there laughing in TV shows
:Why are there doors on the freeway
:Why are there so many SVCHOST.EXE running
:Why aren't there any countries in Antarctica
:Why are there scary sounds in Minecraft
:Why is there kicking in my stomach
:Why are there two slashes after http
:Why are there celebrities
:Why do snakes exist
:Why do oysters have pearls
:Why are ducks called ducks
:Why do they call it the clap
:Why are Kyle and Cartman friends
:Why is there an arrow on Aang's Head
:Why are text messages blue
:Why are there mustaches on clothes
:Why are there mustaches on cars
:Why are there mustaches everywhere
:Why are there so many birds in Ohio
:Why is there so much rain in Ohio
:Why is Ohio weather so wierd
:Why are there male and female bikes
:Why are there bridesmaids
:Why do dying people reach up
:Why aren't there varicose arteries
:Why are old klingons different
:Image: :Why are there squirrels
:Why is programming so hard
:Why is there a 0 Ohm resistor
:Why do Americans hate soccer
:Why od rhymes sound good
:Why do trees die
:Why is there no sound on CNN
:Why aren't Pokemon real
:Why aren't bullets sharp
:Why do dreams seem so real
:Why do testicles move
:Why are there psychics
:Why are hats so expensive
:Why is there caffeine in my shampoo
:Why do your boobs hurt
:Why aren't economists rick
:Why do Americans call it soccer
:Why are my ears ringing
:Why are there so many avengers
:Why are the Avengers fighting the X-Men
:Why is Wolverine not in the Avengers
:Why are there ants in my laptop
:Why is Earth tilted
:Why is space black
:Why is outer space so cold
:Why are there pyramids on the moon
:Why is NASA shutting down
:Why are there tiny spiders in my houise
:Why do spiders come inside
:Why are there huge spiders in my house
:Why are there lots of spiders in my house
:Why are there spiders in my room
:Why are there so many spiders in my room
:Why do spider bits itch
:Why is dying so scary
:Why is there no GPS in laptops
:Why do knees click
:Why aren't there E grades
:Why is isolation bad
:Why do boys like me
:Why don't boys like me
:Why is there always a Java update
:Why are there red dots on my thighs
:Why is lying good
:Image: :Why is sex so important
:Why are there slaves in the bible
:Why do twins have different fingerprints
:Why are Americans afraid of dragons
:Why are there swarms of gnats
:Why is there phlegm
:Why are there so many crows in Rochester, MN
:Why is psychic weak to bug
:Why do children get cancer
:Why is poseidon angry with odysseus
:Why is there ice in space
:Image: :Why are there ghosts
:Why is there an owl in my backyard
:Why is there an owl outside my window
:Why is there an owl on the dollar bill
:Why do owls attack people
:Why are AK47s so expensive
:Why are there helicopters circling my house
:Why are there gods
:Why are there two spocks
:Why is Mt Vesuvius there
:Why do they say T Minus
:Why are there obelisks
:Why are wrestlers always wet
:Why are oceans becoming more acidic
:Why is Arwen dying
:Why aren't my quail laying eggs
:Why aren't my qual eggs hatching
:Why aren't there any foreign military bases in America
:Why is HTTPS crossed out in red
:Why is there a line through HTTPS
:Why is there a red line throught HTTPS on Facebook
:Why is HTTPS important
:Image: :Why aren't my arms growing
:Why are my boobs itchy
:Why are cigarettes legal
:Why are the ducks in my pool
:Why is Jesus white
:Why is there liquid in my ear
:Why do Q Tips feel good
:Why do good people die
:Image: :Why aren't there guns in Harry Potter
:Why are ultrasounds important
:Why are ultrasound machines expensive
:Why is stealing wrong
:((The following are vertical.))
:Why are there weeks
:Why do I feel dizzy
:Why is YKK on all zippers
:Why are trees tall
:Why do iguanas die
:Why aren't there dinosaur ghosts
:Why are dogs afraid of fireworks
:Why is there no king in England
:Why is life so boring
:Why is there lava
:Why are there female Mr Mimes
:Why is GPS free
:Why is there Hell if god forgives
They probably need error-checking/rearranging/something. And feel free to delete this entire comment if it becomes superfluous. [[Special:Contributions/178.104.103.140|178.104.103.140]] 10:19, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1255: Columbus

2013-08-23T16:16:29Z

178.104.103.140:

Megan's version of the story is one big reference to the {{w|Silmarillion}}, in case you're wondering. [[Special:Contributions/100.40.49.22|100.40.49.22]] 06:00, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

I fail to see how the fact scholars and other educated people knew the Earth is round means he couldn't have difficulty getting sponsorship because of that. He wasn't asking scholars for sponsorship, did he? :-) Actually, according to {{w|Christopher_Columbus#Quest_for_support|wikipedia}}, "Columbus presented his plans to Queen Isabella, who, in turn, referred it to a '''committee'''" ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:14, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

Because it wasn't just scholars - ''everyone'' knew that the world was a sphere. Sailors, for example, took the monumental task of noticing that when objects appeared in the distance, they seemed to "rise up" over the horizon (hence the phrase). For that to happen, the sea (and by extension the rest of the world) had to be curved.
[[Special:Contributions/109.76.209.186|109.76.209.186]] 12:08, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

: Farmers were famous for believing the world was flat, but it might as well just be city prejudice or jokes on farmers behalf. They would anyway be in the worst position to know any better. [[Special:Contributions/62.220.2.194|62.220.2.194]] 12:30, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

Looking at the moon and at the earth's shadow during a lunar eclipse would probably make many realize the earth is round. [[User:Ghaller825|Ghaller825]] ([[User talk:Ghaller825|talk]]) 12:45, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
:Unless "round" as in "circular", rather than "spherical". A disc-like Earth could give the same effect. A ''non-tidally-locked moon'' would have been an interesting thing for early understanding of the universe, as it would have shown a clearly spherical ball rotating and let the layperson imagine sphericality under their own feet a lot easier in their own childhood, thus flat-earthing would have been culturally invalid, not just lazy/unthinking. Whether or not farmers 'knew'/cared/were-told-by-the-church that the world was flat isn't really relevent on the scale of farming where you need to worry more about localised hills on your land than global curvature on its actual order of magnitude. Of course, in the absence of any other clues you tend to think of everything as flat as your (crudely worked) kitchen tabletop by default. [[Special:Contributions/178.104.103.140|178.104.103.140]] 16:16, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

I am not sure what people knew and what they believed in earlier times. For example: {{w|M-Theory}} says that the space we live in has 11 dimensions. Assuming this is correct, what will people in 500 years say about us? Did we know it or did we not? Could we have expected what will hit us in a couple of years from out of one of the dimensions that we do not visually perceive?
To apply this to the quesion of whether they knew that the world was round: There is a {{w|Deep-sea_exploration#Milestones_of_deep_sea_exploration|story}} about Magellan (who certainly believed that the world was round because he tried to sail around it): He tried to measure the depth of the ocean with a 700m long rope. When the rope failed to reach the bottom, he concluded that the ocean was infinitely deep. Now how can a round object with a finite perimeter have and infinite radius? (I realize that wikipedia does not give any sources for the story and its origin is somewhat obscure, someone translated the story from the German wikipedia in July 2011; in the German wikipedia it had first appeared in 2006, but the story was around on German language websites since at least [http://www.scinexx.de/dossier-detail-40-11.html 2000]; I have no idea where it originally comes from, but it would be interesting to have a look at Magellan's ship's log if it had such a thing.)
[[User:Y4cy|Y4cy]] ([[User talk:Y4cy|talk]]) 13:41, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1254: Preferred Chat System

2013-08-21T13:50:50Z

178.104.103.140:

It seems like an owl to me, a Harry Potter reference maybe.{{unsigned ip|186.56.198.178}}
:Please sign your posts with <nowiki>--~~~~</nowiki>. But you are right, it's an owl.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:12, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

Clearly that owl is a reference to the owl who carries written messages in the Harry Potter series.

Google voice bills itself as a number that is "tied to you [the user]" instead of a device [like a phone]. Cueball is operating under the assumption that like begets like; that is, if I phone you, you are on a phone. Google voice negates this because it allows the user to control how messages reach the receipient. The comic takes this a step further and applies it to any method of communication [[User:Zim|Zim]] ([[User talk:Zim|talk]]) 12:32, 21 August 2013 (UTC)zim

[[Special:Contributions/24.91.233.200|24.91.233.200]] 12:01, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

Can I coin the term "e-synaesthesia"? [[Special:Contributions/178.104.103.140|178.104.103.140]] 13:50, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1253: Exoplanet Names

2013-08-20T11:39:10Z

178.104.103.140:

One of the planets is similar to the child in Exploits of a Mom (http://xkcd.com/327/)
Robert Drop Tables
[[Special:Contributions/90.200.204.77|90.200.204.77]] 12:12, 19 August 2013 (UTC)
:Yes, they've seemed to have learned to sanitize their data inputs or just stick to parameters. [[Special:Contributions/69.14.148.254|69.14.148.254]] 12:33, 19 August 2013 (UTC)
Hair covered planet might be a reference to the book The Carpet Makers{{unsigned ip|41.221.193.211}}

The Blogosphere and Blogodrome planets are cited as synonyms of "blog." I believe this is an error, in that blogosphere is synonymous with "the collection of all posted communication." I would change it myself, but I don't feel like I'm sufficiently expert to state with conviction.~Anthingy{{unsigned ip|76.105.133.220}}

I'm still missing the ''New Netherlands''... Lorenz [[Special:Contributions/142.244.63.246|142.244.63.246]] 15:34, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

Along with no ''New Netherlands'', I'm also disappointed to see ''Planet #14'' but no ''Planet 9 from Outer Space''. [[User:Ccurtis|Ccurtis]] ([[User talk:Ccurtis|talk]]) 16:04, 19 August 2013 (UTC)
:I'm sure my explain does cover this very well.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:04, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

If memory serves, Stampy is the name of Bart Simpson's elephant. [[Special:Contributions/99.108.140.97|99.108.140.97]] 17:59, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

A* ("a star") is also a pathfinding algorithm taught in introductory Artificial Intelligence classes. I don't see the connection to the planet yet. [[User:Lastorset|Lastorset]] ([[User talk:Lastorset|talk]]) 22:19, 19 August 2013 (UTC)
:For the first, I did remove the corrupt wiki link. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:23, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

I just wonder where New Jerseys II through V are .... [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 03:24, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

'''Skydot''' could as easily be equivalent to the "Pale blue dot" that is Earth, from afar. '''New Jersey VI''' reminds me of the "New (New New New New .. New) New York" as visited in Doctor Who. '''help@gmail.com''' is either another bad input (as in "How Do I Join the IAU") or something more insidious. '''Moon Holder''' also reminds me of "Moon Watcher" from the (book of, at least) 2001: a Space Odyssey. '''Blainsley''' sounds to me like one of those portmanteau-names applied to a couple ("Blair-and-Ainsley"?). '''Unicorn Thresher''' could either be a random word string (I'd not have been surprisedto have seen "Correct Horse battery Staple" in the list) or ''perhaps'' something to do with the Invisible Pink Unicorn. '''Liz''' sounds like someone trying to get a planet named after their girlfriend or daughter or perhaps mother. [[Special:Contributions/178.104.103.140|178.104.103.140]] 11:39, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1252: Increased Risk

2013-08-16T14:22:41Z

178.104.103.140:

I think this is to address the old chestnut of "<something> will ''double'' your risk of getting cancer!", or the like, where the risk of getting that cancer (in this example) is maybe 1 in 10,000, so doubling the risk across a population wouldmake that a 1 in 5,000 risk to your health... which you may still consider to be an acceptable gamble if it's something nice (like cheese!) that's apaprently to blame and you'd find abstinence from it gives a barely marginal benefit for a far greater loss of life enjoyment. Also, this sort of figure almost always applies towards a ''specific form'' of cancer, or whatever risk is being discussed, meaning you aren't vastly changing your life expectancy at all. In fact, the likes of opposing "red wine is good/bad for you" studies can be mutually true by this same principle (gain a little risk of one condition, lose a little risk from another). (Note: I don't know of any particular "cheese gives you cancer!" stories doing the rounds, at the moment. I bet they have done, but I only mention it because I actually quite like cheese. And I probably ''wouldn't'' give it up under the above conditions.)

It's also possible that this covers the likes of "<foo> in <country> is 10 times more dangerous than it is <other country>" statements. Perhaps ''only'' ten incidents happened in the former, and a single instance in the latter, out the ''whole'' of each respective country. Or a single incident occured in both, but the second country is ten times the size, so gets 'adjusted for population' in the tables. And, besides which, that was just for one year and was just a statistical blip that will probably revert-towards-the-mean next year.

Finally, for a given risk of some incident happening on the first two trips, with no 'memory' or build-up involved, it pretty much is half-as-likely-again for the incident to have happened (some time!) in three separate trips. (Not quite, if those that lose against the odds and get caught by the incident the first or second trip never get to ''have'' a (second or) third trip... but for negligable odds like thegiven example, of the dog with the handgun, it's near-as-damnit so.) [[Special:Contributions/178.104.103.140|178.104.103.140]] 11:12, 16 August 2013 (UTC)

Where did "dogs with shotguns" come from? I only saw "handgun" in the comic. Besides, I interpreted the risk as being hit by a negligent discharge from the handgun, not being deliberately attacked by the dog. Also, since probabilities are the set of real numbers between 0 and 1 inclusive, there are an uncountable number of them. "A x% increase in a tiny risk is still tiny" is an inductive statement, which means it could only be used to argue that a countable set of numbers is tiny. [[Special:Contributions/76.64.65.200|76.64.65.200]] 12:24, 16 August 2013 (UTC)

:If induction base is uncountable, you can prove it for the whole [0; 1]. For example your induction base may be "every risk under 0.00000000000000000001% is tiny". --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 12:38, 16 August 2013 (UTC)

I think it's worth mentioning that this comic doesn't [[985|distinguish between percentages and percentage points]]. --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 12:35, 16 August 2013 (UTC)

Is it the case that doing something three times increases risk by 50% over two times inherently? I feel like this is the case, but it's early, here. Also, I'm not sure Randall is attacked by a dog, he may be using it as a diversion. I think that he's done this before. [[User:Theo|Theo]] ([[User talk:Theo|talk]]) 12:56, 16 August 2013 (UTC)
:(First, good point, DiEvAl, about the percentages/percentage-points. I ''knew'' I'd missed something out in my first thoughts. I actually tend to assume ''against'' percentage points, which is somewhat the opposite from what I've seen in the general public.)
:Actually, depends on how you count it. But I was using the "encounter 'n' incidents per trip", "encounter '2n' incidents per two trips", "encoutner '3n' incidents per three trips" measure, where 3n==2n+50%. But that works best with a baseline of >>1 incidents per trip assumed. In reality, if the chance is a fractional 'p' for an occurance in one instance, it's (1-p) that it ''didn't'' occur thus (1-p)n that it didn't occur in any of 'n' instances and 1-(1-p)n that it did (at least once, possible several times or even all). Not so simple, but for p tending to zero it 'does' converge on 1.5 times for across three what you'd expect for two (albeit because 0*1.5=0). Like they say, "Lies, Damn Lies...", etc. ;) [[Special:Contributions/178.104.103.140|178.104.103.140]] 14:22, 16 August 2013 (UTC)

I don't think Randall is being attacked by a dog at all. What he's saying is that if you are going to think getting attacked by a shark is so likely, then you better be watching out for that never-gonna-happen dog scenario too. [[User:Jillysky|Jillysky]] ([[User talk:Jillysky|talk]]) 13:56, 16 August 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1252: Increased Risk

2013-08-16T11:13:51Z

178.104.103.140:

Talk:1252: Increased Risk

2013-08-16T11:12:19Z

178.104.103.140:

Talk:1249: Meteor Showers

2013-08-09T23:00:57Z

178.104.103.140:

The dates are not in order {{unsigned ip|‎99.108.140.97}}

Maybe the tennis reference is to Bob and Mike Bryan, they are twins. [[Special:Contributions/83.227.33.35|83.227.33.35]] 09:36, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

The date for Dromaeosaurids was originally June 12, but on the page displayed at 9:44 ET, is now July 22.

Lyrids: Scream because of the similarity to "Lyrics"? [[Special:Contributions/74.125.57.36|74.125.57.36]] 15:08, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

I don't know if it's relevant, but pyramidal cells are needed in complex object recognition and in vision-guided motor function. By closing your eyes, you're basically not using much of your pyramidal cells' capabilities. They're also one of the largest neurones, but I doubt that's relevant. [[Special:Contributions/83.173.97.36|83.173.97.36]] 15:28, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

When it comes to the Leonids, John Lennon (I know it's a stretch), made his "bigger than Jesus" comment in '66

For Draconids, are there any movies with dragons that would fit the given description? --[[User:Irino.|Irino.]] ([[User talk:Irino.|talk]]) 18:56, 9 August 2013 (UTC)
:{{w|Reign_of_Fire_(film)|Reign Of Fire}} first came to mind as far as dragons are concerned, but unlike the Jurassic Park T-Rex (which ''might'' be an influence, given their co-billing alongside the 'Raptor threat) I don't ''think'' they were blind to the motionless (just had bad vision at sunset?) and neither were they were notably slow (far from it!). Various zombies (non-Rage ones) are slow but surprisingly good at catching people who trip, but I don't see any obvious connection there either. Maybe there's another Monster Movie which has the same sort of thing with dragons? I had also considered Komodo Dragons, which are often filmed lumbering about, although they've got a turn of speed on them when attacking so... Anyway, my thoughts, FWIW. [[Special:Contributions/178.104.103.140|178.104.103.140]] 23:00, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1247: The Mother of All Suspicious Files

2013-08-09T05:37:41Z

178.104.103.140:

LNK and ZDA...Link and Zelda? [[Special:Contributions/76.64.65.200|76.64.65.200]] 13:43, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

http://www.ip-tracker.org/locator/ip-lookup.php?ip=65.222.202.53, some place in the USA. Looks random, but still... - Actually this IP hosted some javascript that exploited some FF17 weaknesses on Windows NT during the last LEA TOR raid.

The IP address 65.222.202.53 geolocates to a Starbucks just outside the beltway in Washington. DC.

Someone mentioned you see the word Hackers as well as a pirated movie... In fact the pirated movie is the 1995 movie named Hackers. Edited it to make the reference clear.{{unsigned|Sonofaresiii}}

I am missing DMG or other "Mac" suspect executable{{unsigned|145.64.134.242}}

WRBT.OBJ.O.H WhiteRabbit.obj from Jurassic Park. Not sure about the O.H [[User:Andym|Andym]] ([[User talk:Andym|talk]]) 14:56, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

Fixed .O.H - these are file extensions with C compilers and C headers, respectively.[[User:blackhatm|BlackHatm]]

.tar.gz stands for tarred and gzipped (archive) files; here .co. was introduced to make it look like a domain name
.obj can also be a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relocatable_Object_Module_Format
cia-bin is a play on cgi-bin Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/178.26.118.249|178.26.118.249]] 15:06, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

After the reference to the FBI in the (currently) final paragraph I was thinking of adding something like the following:
:This would also 'explain' the initial directory structure of "/PUB/CIA-BIN/ETC", something like an FTP /pub/ directory for publicly open files, and conflating the CIA with /cgi-bin/ as a somewhat common location for {{w|Common Gateway Interface|dynamic web-pages}}, then /etc/ which is another Linux/Unix directory reference, strangely stored underneath a doubley-referenced 'tilde' directory, what with ~foo as the root directory generally redirecting to the home directory for user "foo". These are all usually lower-case (and case-sensitive), but if the INIT.DLL has anthing to do with it it might mean it's an uppercase-dominated and yet actually case-insensitive Windows-based system, with that Windows Dynamically Linked Library as a dynamic responder.
...but I've rushed that and it looks messy/may have errors in it, so feel free to clean it up if it inspires you. Or not... [[Special:Contributions/178.98.215.19|178.98.215.19]] 16:34, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

I think [SCR] actually refers to a screener.{{unsigned|83.160.118.125}}

> Agreed. The capitalization and brackets are the standard formatting in pirated movie titles, and before a movie release, Screeners (much better quality than theater cams) are excellent bait on fake downloads. Updated in the wiki. [[User:Daemonf|Daemonf]] ([[User talk:Daemonf|talk]]) 23:09, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

Of course, if the user is on Windows, the only extension that matters is the last one which is ".exe" - an executable. [[User:Hax|Hax]] ([[User talk:Hax|talk]]) 16:43, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

I edited the line on the 'save' button being greyed out. This doesn't change with HTTPS, but is instead a modern browser feature preventing a user from agreeing indiscriminately or with a mistaken click. I hope I didn't step on anybody's toes. [[Special:Contributions/72.29.184.195|72.29.184.195]] 00:12, 6 August 2013 (UTC)
:That's incorrect, the web server can identify if it's a secure connection or not and render the content of the page depending on this.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 06:48, 6 August 2013 (UTC)

What is the joke?That the prescence of a huge number of extensions makes this file extremely suspicious?And the punch is that he is suggesting a secure connection to download this file?--[[Special:Contributions/117.194.199.185|117.194.199.185]] 01:24, 6 August 2013 (UTC)

: Yes, this is a joke. I it is a comic. [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 05:06, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

"...CO - looks like a top-level domain. Many countries use .co.tld in front of their main TLD, e.g. .co.uk...." Aha! I always thought co.uk meant "Cornwall, United Kingdom." And I couldn't figure out why all their domains were mediated through Cornwall. Every day, I meet a new opportunity to feel clueless...{{unsigned|24.79.13.247}}
:Well... traditionally many of our transatlantic communications links (starting back with telegraph cables) came ashore at {{w|Porthcurno}}, in Cornwall. However, that's just a historic co-inky-dink. ;)
:(I was ''going'' to say as how most of the secondary-level-domains to .uk were two-letters (as opposed to .com.au, for example), with a few exceptions that I could name, except that I've just looked it up and found that .co(mpany) and .ac(ademic) are actually the ''only'' historic ones (and .me.uk coming along later). Of course, those (the first two) were the only ones that ever bothered me (along with things under the .gb TLD), twenty years or so ago. And now we've got Police and Parliament as verbose SLDs. Not that this is relevent, but I just find it interesting to be reminded of how much things seem to have changed...) [[Special:Contributions/178.104.103.140|178.104.103.140]] 05:37, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

On a scale of 'party' to 'judge' in the 'Sketchiness' scale ( http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Sketchiness ), how sketchy is this file? [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 13:38, 6 August 2013 (UTC)

"UNIX" with all caps is a trademark, whereas "Unix" is probably what you should use when you refer to the family of OSes.{{unsigned|108.85.129.37}}

It is probably important to explain that:
* The information in that dialog box gives absolutely no indication of what the file being downloaded will be actually named (let alone what is inside), including its extension: it can just as well be downloaded into a harmless text file named "anything.txt" by default. The server may as well just silently ignore anything after "?", especially if INIT.DLL library does not expect an argument named "FILE". (If INIT.DLL even exists - see below)
* Normally, with such a syntax (DLL-file in a cgi-bin-like directory with a "?" query), "init.dll" should be viewed as benign, as it should execute on the server instead of itself getting downloaded. If it was called "init.exe" nothing would have changed. However if the server is not configured to execute that file, by default it will in fact get simply downloaded as a file, and in that case everything after "?" is completely ignored by the server.
* Please note that "normally" the URL indicates that on the server somewhere there are nested folders called "~TILDE","PUB","CIA-BIN" and "ETC", last one with a file "INIT.DLL" inside. However it is a perfectly normal practice for a server to interpret that part of URL arbitarily, i.e. there may be only one file named "whatever.php" on the server, and it then may be configured to execute or allow download of that file when anyone tries to request whatever is mentioned in the comic, or request anything at all from that server, or even if anyone types more than 10 "A" letters after the server name, whatever.
* Thus, the point of this comic is largely that the depicted warning message is almost completely useless: unless a user can somehow make sure that they trust this particular URL, there is no way to know if the file being downloaded could or could not be malicious by looking at its extension because that extension is not displayed.
Could anyone please rephrase some of the above and add it into the article? Because I am new here and dislike digging through all the guidelines before posting. [[User:Leftload|Leftload]] ([[User talk:Leftload|talk]]) 18:52, 6 August 2013 (UTC)

I also noticed that the requested path ("/~TILDE(...)A.OUT.EXE") is exactly 255 characters long. This could be a joke on 255-character path limitation on windows, however the actual file path should have ended with "?", and even if it somehow did not, there would be no extra space for the drive letter then. [[User:Leftload|Leftload]] ([[User talk:Leftload|talk]]) 18:52, 6 August 2013 (UTC)

I think a significant and unexplained element of the joke is the fact that by switching to https, the download would ''not'' be scanned by many anti-virus gateway products on the market, because the scanner is unable to inspect the content within the encrypted stream. By clicking on "Save" (if it weren't greyed out) without switching to https, the file is likely to be scanned for virus/malware signatures. By switching to https, this scanning is not available.

Also, I think the 255 character size is important, either as an attempt to overflow a buffer, or as as a means to bypass a scanner (as some scanning systems limit their scope to only the start of a file, where virus signatures are generally found, to maintain throughput). Perhaps if the Windows filename limit is 255 characters, then a 256 character filename might not be detected as having a .EXE extension, thus bypassing a gateway scanner.

[[Special:Contributions/120.144.147.191|120.144.147.191]] 09:19, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
:When you save the file to your file system it is not encrypted any more. The virus scanner will test this file. The length of the file name is 250 characters because "FILE=" is not part of the name.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 10:48, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
::I think by “anti-virus gateway“ he means something like a web proxy that scans all your traffic. That’s quite common in bigger networks – and quite annoying sometimes … [[User:Quoti|Quoti]] ([[User talk:Quoti|talk]]) 11:19, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

I think the grayed out save button is a reference to Firefox behavior, which doesn't let you to immediately save the file after dialogue pops up. [[Special:Contributions/90.156.115.72|90.156.115.72]] 16:46, 8 August 2013 (UTC)
:No, this behavior is only valid for installing Add-ons, etc. When downloading a simple file you can save it immediately. But maybe there is an Add-on to change this.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:46, 8 August 2013 (UTC)