explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1555: Exoplanet Names 2

2015-07-24T08:51:57Z

188.114.110.47: /* Novella */

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znxFrgql5dc "This Land"] is a ''Firefly'' reference. [[User:Keavon|Keavon]] ([[User talk:Keavon|talk]]) 05:11, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

Is there a pun I'm missing by spelling Kevin Costner as "Kostner"? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.241.7|198.41.241.7]]

.. I almost feel like that titletext gives enough reason for there to be (some) pages about the [[what_if?|''What If?'']] series, but ehhhh... [[User:Pixali|Pixali]] ([[User talk:Pixali|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Pixali|contribs]]) 05:02, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

What is with Kepler-283? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.214.137|108.162.214.137]] 05:09, 24 July 2015 (UTC)
:283b is the phonetic spelling for Uranus (your-a-nus) and 283c is the phonetic spelling for Uranus (your-ay-nus) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.77|141.101.104.77]] 05:33, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

== Novella ==

I'm not 100% sure what "Novella" refers to, aside from the dictionary definition of the word (and if that's the case I'm unsure of the context), but in case it's not widely-known on this wiki, I want to suggest the possibility that it's a tribute to the Novella brothers, who are among the co-hosts of the popular science podcast The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.175|108.162.241.175]] 04:43, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

:Seems like a cool podcast, sadly I don't have time to listen to 10 years Witt of podcasts. Any specific ones I should listen to and where should I start for new ones? {{unsigned ip|173.245.55.63}}
: Considering the sex-themed names Novella it is grouped with. I will assume it is a joke on 60/70's exploitation/B-movies, some of which had names or leadcharacters named something..-ella. In this case the prefix is just particularly confusing ;) [[Special:Contributions/188.114.110.47|188.114.110.47]] 08:51, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1555: Exoplanet Names 2

2015-07-24T08:51:23Z

188.114.110.47: /* Novella */

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znxFrgql5dc "This Land"] is a ''Firefly'' reference. [[User:Keavon|Keavon]] ([[User talk:Keavon|talk]]) 05:11, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

Is there a pun I'm missing by spelling Kevin Costner as "Kostner"? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.241.7|198.41.241.7]]

.. I almost feel like that titletext gives enough reason for there to be (some) pages about the [[what_if?|''What If?'']] series, but ehhhh... [[User:Pixali|Pixali]] ([[User talk:Pixali|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Pixali|contribs]]) 05:02, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

What is with Kepler-283? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.214.137|108.162.214.137]] 05:09, 24 July 2015 (UTC)
:283b is the phonetic spelling for Uranus (your-a-nus) and 283c is the phonetic spelling for Uranus (your-ay-nus) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.77|141.101.104.77]] 05:33, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

== Novella ==

I'm not 100% sure what "Novella" refers to, aside from the dictionary definition of the word (and if that's the case I'm unsure of the context), but in case it's not widely-known on this wiki, I want to suggest the possibility that it's a tribute to the Novella brothers, who are among the co-hosts of the popular science podcast The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.175|108.162.241.175]] 04:43, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

:Seems like a cool podcast, sadly I don't have time to listen to 10 years Witt of podcasts. Any specific ones I should listen to and where should I start for new ones? {{unsigned ip|173.245.55.63}}
: Considering the sex-themed names Novella it is grouped with. I will assume it is a joke on 70 exploitation/B-movies, some of which had names or leadcharacters named something..-ella. In this case the prefix is just particularly confusing ;) [[Special:Contributions/188.114.110.47|188.114.110.47]] 08:51, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1495: Hard Reboot

2015-03-08T12:03:28Z

188.114.110.47: A and The

My interpretation is that the 1-10 hours is how long it would take to troubleshoot the problem and the 5 minutes is how long it would take to get kitchen timer and put into socket. So slides are showing the two solutions (one techy and liable to take up to 10 hours vs. the hacky but fast solution). {{unsigned ip|‎108.162.225.118}}

:At first I thought the ten hours was troubleshooting, but 5 minutes sounds about right for the granularity of the timer. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 06:51, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

''Of course, the problem could be solved without a reboot simply by increasing the swap size.'', my understanding is that the SWAP is overflowing and not just 'too little'. So no, ''simply increasing the swap size'' wouldn't solve the problem. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.214|173.245.53.214]] 07:36, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

::I agree, and have removed that sentence, because there is no way to be sure that increasing the swap size will help. In fact increasing the swap size is the first step down the '1-10 hours to troubleshoot' path. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 08:52, 6 March 2015 (UTC)
::I think it deserves mention. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 09:37, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

"Also, it can be scheduled during, say, the middle of the night when most users are sleeping to minimize disruption." That would be ''so'' annoying in my case. I'm glad Randall has a better discipline of schedule than me, with my Windows NT machine which these days definitely needs its manual weekly reboot and ''really'' needs to be functionally replaced except for all the additional fuss it'd require. (Also, I'm not sure about the "first sentence of the title text" bit, as currently stated, but doubtless it'll all be adjusted slightly.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.181|141.101.98.181]] 12:02, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

:I would recommend 5:00 (am). It's nowhere near the middle of the night, but it's the time when it's most probable everyone is sleeping. Alternatively, considering it's just HIS router, he should know his sleeping patterns ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:11, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

:: When a reboot is least disruptive also depends on whether the machine is being used by users in other time zones. It really annonys me when I'm presented with "Server is down for scheduled maintenance", and the powers that be have decided that the best time to do that is in the middle of the day (for me). --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 12:42, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

:My reaction to the solution (instead of using cron) was similar to when I see somebody emailing a photo by embedding it in a word document. I guess Randall did that on purpose! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.195|141.101.98.195]]

Re: ''"Why everything I have is broken"'' - I think better explanation would be that by applying soem workarounds you can use broken things without actually fixing them. E.g. you can use server with memory leak without spending 10+ hours fixing the problem. Using this approach you can end up with a buch of broken things that are still useful. {{unsigned|Jkotek}}

:This was my understanding of the statement as well. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.192|108.162.216.192]] 16:25, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

I think the ''"Why everything I have is broken"'' text refers to the fact that he has spent 10 hours troubleshooting the problem, then implements a hacky fix in 5 minutes which just makes the problem worse - hard rebooting a server every day is not likely to fix the problem and will probably make it worse, and the server will ultimately break. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.87|141.101.99.87]] 14:37, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

"The title text's first sentence refers to situations where the given solution to a problem is just the original problem rephrased to sound like a solution." I don't think that's right... it makes it sound like the solution to the problem is to not have the problem, but the first sentence of the title text doesn't reference a solution at all. It's just noting that there's no point in the user looking around for other posts because this is exactly what he's getting, so if there's no solution for this problem then the problem can't be solved. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.105|108.162.219.105]] 14:05, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

Thank you for the description! I was reading the 1-10 hours as the time it took for the system to crash, and the 5 minutes as the on-off time -- which obviously conflicted with the 24 hours text in the comic. This makes so much more sense now. =8o) [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:42, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

Should one of us ask [[Randall]] if he can tell us which bug this is (assuming it exists), or do the square brackets purposely ask that we should stifle our curiosity? Assuming it's an open-source project, this is an opportunity for readers to make a difference, rather than just humor (cf. [http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=71411&sid=b56036e3caa6b410cc34302852c7570f&p=2626767#p2626771|"Randallism"]). [[User:Chrstphrchvz|Chrstphrchvz]] ([[User talk:Chrstphrchvz|talk]]) 22:21, 6 March 2015 (UTC)
:I don't think it's a specific bug. It's just humour. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 01:26, 7 March 2015 (UTC)

::It might not only be humour. I can say we use the latter technique for a router. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 01:49, 7 March 2015 (UTC)
::It's xkcd, ''is never just humor''. :P By way, more than hackish, this is just a plain sloppy duck-tape solution.(I mean, at least use a cron job!) [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.133|173.245.48.133]] 18:31, 7 March 2015 (UTC)

In the title text, it's THE kitchen timer, not A kitchen timer, so it may mean "the (light) timer from the kitchen"...[[Special:Contributions/188.114.110.47|188.114.110.47]] 12:03, 8 March 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1493: Meeting

2015-03-03T21:54:20Z

188.114.110.47: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

It's been registered since [http://who.is/whois/http://companyname.website November], just what the hell was Randall planning on doing with this site four months ago? [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|Speak to me]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|What I've done]]) 05:32, 2 March 2015 (UTC)
:He's said before that he buys domains and holds them until he finds a use. Maybe this was one of those? {{unsigned|Mikemk}}
::Just went to the site. It redirects to xkcd.com [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.171|108.162.238.171]] 16:01, 2 March 2015 (UTC)

I want to know what that "physically cannot die" thing is about. {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.179}}
:Let's see... mystical powers check. Immortality check. If he weren't so naive and clueless, I'd think Beret Guy is supposed to represent God. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 07:54, 2 March 2015 (UTC)
::The phrase that comes to mind is "Quantum Immortality", although that doesn't seem to produce what I want from a web-searth, so perhaps I've got the term wrong. Basically, at every point where a quantum-level decision leads (immediately or eventually) to death or life for an individual, we only follow the probability path (in a many-worlds type scenario) that leads towards life. The fully observed "living cat" in Schrödinger's experiment, each and every time you try the experiment, so to say. Forever, given that accidents can be avoided by taking a different route home, serious diseases can be avoided by not catching them, physical aging/illness can (probably!) be avoided by not accumulating various nasty biological copy-errors (not sure what happens with mental processes, even assuming the physical impediments to brain function (such as plaques) are already dealt with, but let's assume that there's a "best result" in this life-path, also). Call it "life save-scumming", perhaps. Given how White Hat seems to have a charmed life, it would certain explain how things things seem to always turn out for the better (and more interesting, in a nice way) for him. Though obviously there's also a "many worlds" White Hat company board that has been this 'lucky' so far but ''now'' finds that their offices get struck by a de-orbitting bit of space-debris, against all odds. (Not that we'd follow them. We'd be more likely to see the versions that had built/rented their offices fifty yards further down the street, thus avoiding that fate.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.181|141.101.98.181]] 11:50, 2 March 2015 (UTC)
: That which can eternal lie, can not die.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.98|108.162.254.98]] 16:25, 2 March 2015 (UTC)
:Remember that this is Beret Guy we're talking about. They may actually be unable to die. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.189|173.245.56.189]] 19:54, 2 March 2015 (UTC)
:I have a feeling that it's from Beret Guy's mystic powers, that maybe he actually can't die. In that case, while the other two "strengths" are pretty useless, Immortality easily makes up for them. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.187|108.162.249.187]] 07:54, 3 March 2015 (UTC)

Ok I may be way off base here but could it be possible that he is referencing the show Helix? In the show there is a group of immortals who formed a corporation name Ilaria and it's not clear how they make their money. {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.85}}

Now that we have [[1032|three]] [[1293|comics]] on the subject ([[1021|arguably]] [[1117|more]]), should we have a Category:Beret Guy's Business? '''''[[User:LockmanCapulet|LockmanCapulet]][[User talk:LockmanCapulet| I plead the third!]]''''' 08:01, 2 March 2015 (UTC)
:Done :-). --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 16:01, 2 March 2015 (UTC)
:I added the two other pages to the category, but then realised that the wiki was getting confused about slight character differences (’:U+2019 vs ':U+0027) so I set up a redirect and now Category:Beret_Guy’s_Business (broken link to keep this page out of the cat) contains its self? Halp (although it does seem fitting of how Beret Guy frequently bends the laws of physics). [[User:Pixali|Pixali]] ([[User talk:Pixali|talk]]) 23:52, 2 March 2015 (UTC)

Could the immoralitly refer to the whole "corporations as a legal person" thing? [[User:CDave]]

I think 'beetle' might refer to a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_New_Beetle VW Beetle] given that they're talking about cars. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.54|108.162.254.54]] 09:00, 2 March 2015 (UTC)
:I doubt it, because it was in the hall. Probably a literal beetle. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.217.119|108.162.217.119]] 16:01, 2 March 2015 (UTC)
::Just because they were talking about a car earlier doesn't mean they're still talking about a car. I suspect he's talking about the insect. Adding a layer about Volkswagen into the joke just doesn't seem funny enough. I think the line claiming it could be a Volkswagen should be removed from the explanation. --[[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.38|199.27.133.38]] 18:52, 2 March 2015 (UTC)

Could this be an intentional parody of Randall's own business model for xkcd? Since, beyond the store and his book he hardly operates as a standard business, but people just keep giving him money to do what he does anyway. {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.21}}

Is the "cool red beetle" a ladybug? Would be consistent with Beret Guy not knowing many common nouns. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 15:42, 2 March 2015 (UTC)

To be fair, corporations aren't really immortal, in much the same way a football team isn't. The team, of course, is constantly changing out its members, and in this sense can remain vigorous long beyond the lifespan of an ordinary human. But corporations are vulnerable to the fatal flaw of being utterly dependent on engaging the interest of quite a lot of people during their whole lifespan. Football needs players, investors, managers and coaches, children playing and learning the game in the decades leading up to league level play - not to mention millions of fans. If any of those groups lose interest, the whole enterprise evaporates, practically overnight. So the chief concern of corporations, even above profits, is to convince large groups of people to engage them, as buyers, workers, suppliers and so on. I am not sure how aware they are of this, nor am I sure I want them aware of it, but that's what it boils down to. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.84|108.162.242.84]] 16:38, 2 March 2015 (UTC)

I thought "State Police" (probably Highway Patrol) was a reference to a police car chase. Usually police chase cars to stop them for violating laws. This time the police chased a car just to stop it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.121|108.162.210.121]] 22:53, 2 March 2015 (UTC)
:I was under the assumption that the car was being chased down for some kind of violation. The statement "Has come to an end about 90 miles out of town" is the kind of thing you'd have in a news report describing the events of a real police chase. Of course, for Beret Guy, it looks like it was more or less a successful test. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.187|108.162.249.187]] 07:54, 3 March 2015 (UTC)

I remembered the mysterious apple car spotted weeks ago, that "launched" by accident the company's self-driving car project rumors. [[User:Nantunes|Nantunes]] ([[User talk:Nantunes|talk]]) 13:40, 3 March 2015 (UTC)

It looks like Beret Guy turns into a child in the last panel . . . doesn't it? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.108|173.245.50.108]] 19:52, 3 March 2015 (UTC)

Aren't the "three main strengths" a reference to the Spanish Inquisition?[[Special:Contributions/188.114.110.47|188.114.110.47]] 21:54, 3 March 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1452: Jurassic World

2014-11-27T08:55:05Z

188.114.110.47: Complex phrase in the commentary

Uh ... maybe, just maybe, is Megan referring to the ACTUAL tyrannosaurus, the animal which lived several millions years ago? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:47, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

Any reason why "white hat" is not wearing his hat in the final panel? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.194|173.245.54.194]] 12:20, 26 November 2014 (UTC)
: Good catch. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:31, 26 November 2014 (UTC)
: none that I feel confident about - perhaps the T-Rex ate it or blew it off swinging his tail around? -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 14:35, 26 November 2014 (UTC)
: Logical reason: Randall forgot.
: Fun reason: the surprise blew away the hat! [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 16:07, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

Is it just me, or does this particular episode of xkcd just not come off as funny? [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:31, 26 November 2014 (UTC)
: I suppose not particularly, but that happens regularly - it's not always supposed to be funny... -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 14:35, 26 November 2014 (UTC)
::I really enjoyed this comic. It's probably because I did not see the punchline coming on my small smartphone screen. [[User:RecentlyChanged|RecentlyChanged]] ([[User talk:RecentlyChanged|talk]])
:::It's funny if you've read Dinosaur Comics [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 16:20, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

I believe that Rex from ''We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story'' would be even more 'improved'! [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 16:07, 26 November 2014 (UTC)
: Barney would have been more logical as it (he?) already appears on a TV in JP III :-) {{unsigned ip|108.162.254.100}}

I'd think that Dinosaur Comic's T-Rex is actually quite intelligent for a dinosaur. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.169|108.162.221.169]] 18:26, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

"But Megan objects to this notion that the T.rex is only 20 years old, staying with the line of thought that White Hat started with."
This phrase is very confusing for a non-native english speaker... I nearly edited it as a mistake from the author before understanding its actual meaning.
Maybe it should be rephrased in a simpler way?[[Special:Contributions/188.114.110.47|188.114.110.47]] 08:55, 27 November 2014 (UTC)