2543: Never Told Anyone

2024-06-16T03:52:40Z

Djhaskin987: Added the reference to star wars

{{comic
| number = 2543
| date = November 17, 2021
| title = Never Told Anyone
| image = never_told_anyone.png
| titletext = Even if you said you were an employee of the website, if you asked for my password, I'd tell you.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic combines stereotypes about two secrets that one would normally be reluctant to share: {{tvtropes|DarkSecret|dark, personal secrets}}, and {{w|password}}s. In the comic, [[Megan]] appears to be about to tell [[Cueball]] a secret of the former variety, but twists it by instead revealing a {{w|one-time password|one-time code}} (presumably for the use of {{w|Multi-factor authentication|two-factor authentication}} for an online account). This is poking fun at the serious-looking warnings that typically accompany the generation of one-time codes. For example: "DO NOT share this code with anyone. We will NEVER call you to ask for it." While this is still something Megan should normally be reluctant to share, it has much less value to Cueball than a personal secret{{Citation needed}} unless his intent was to steal Megan's account - and even then it's probably useless, as these codes become invalid after they're used (hence the term "one-time") or a few minutes after generation. Cueball compounds the humor by reacting with a shocked gasp, as one would be more expected to react to a dark secret.

Users are generally warned never to tell their password to anyone, not even a support representative of the site; real technical support reps shouldn't ever need your password, and anyone with a true configured-in authority should never even find it necessary to know/use it. However, one tactic that crackers use to break into accounts is to claim to be calling from the site and say that they need your password to fix some vague and/or mythical problem with the account.

Intentionally or unintentionally, Randall Munroe has chosen as the fictional one time code the last six digits of the garbage compactor number from ''Star Wars: A New Hope'' (garbage compactor 3''' 263827''' ), only omitting the first digit, presumably because most one time pass codes are four to six digits long.

The title text says that Megan trusts Cueball so much that, despite knowing this, she would divulge her password to him even if he tried this approach on her. There is a further irony here, as Megan is focusing on the exception to the rule ("Don't ''even'' tell an employee" implies "You shouldn't tell ''anyone''") as if it was the most important factor.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball are holding hands, she has turned her head towards him, while he is still looking at the scenery. They are standing on the edge of a cliff, overlooking a vast stretch of land with water to the right and mountains far off. There are many details with lakes and smaller bodies of water on the land, three larger and three smaller clouds near the horizon and the sun is shining from the top right corner.]
:Megan: I've never told anyone this before.

:[Cueball has turned towards Megan, as they are still holding hands, in an otherwise empty panel.]
:Megan: I know I shouldn't.
:Megan: But I feel like I can trust you.

:[Megan and Cueball are no longer holding hands as he has taken both his hands up in front of his mouth and a sound escapes him, as shown with small lines coming off his head with the speech line going up from above them.]
:Megan: My one-time code is 263827.
:Cueball: ''*Gasp*''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Computer security]]

1442: Chemistry

2014-11-03T15:41:05Z

Djhaskin987: Substitution of chemical properties

{{comic
| number = 1442
| date = November 3, 2014
| title = Chemistry
| image = chemistry.png
| titletext = These are all sans-serif compounds. Serif compounds are dramatically different and usually much more reactive.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|Rough draft. Need to explain why Hydrogen forms a crystal structure, the origin of "Mydrane", and title text, along with general improvements and proof reading.}}
Chemical bonding is a well-known subject which explains the formation of {{w|molecule}}s from {{w|atom}}s. This comic refers to three {{w|chemical element}}s: Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H), and Oxygen (O). In real chemistry, the formation of bonds between atoms depends on the number of valence electrons each atom has, and how accessible those electrons are for bonding. The comic jokingly replaces valence electron theory with a theory that the number of bonds an atom can form depends on the number of {{w|Leaf vertex|leaf vertices}} possessed by the chemical symbol's letter. A leaf vertex is a vertex having only one edge connecting to one other vertex. "H" for example, the chemical symbol of Hydrogen, has 4 leaf vertices. This is shown in the comic by the four half-circles placed at each leaf vertex of the "H". Thus, in the comic's theory, elemental hydrogen can form 4 bonds. Oxygen, however, having the chemical symbol "O", has no leaf vertices, and according to the comic's theory should not bond to anything, and is therefore inert.

The title text points out that the theory as presented only applies to sans-serif text. A {{w|serif}} is a small line across the end of each stroke. "H", for instance, would have four serifs, each with two leaf vertices. Thus hydrogen in a serif font would be able to form 8 bonds making it, according to the comic's theory, "more reactive".

Of course, the theory is completely inconsistent with observed chemistry. While the comic declares oxygen is inert and forms no bonds, this is not really the case: the two unpaired valence electrons in a lone oxygen atom makes oxygen reactive, and oxygen readily form molecules. Diatomic oxygen, O2, makes up about 20.9% of Earth's atmosphere, and is essential for aerobic life, including human life. Similarly, a water molecule consists of an oxygen atom tightly bonded to two hydrogen atoms.

By observing real chemical compounds, chemists have deduced that hydrogen atoms really have 1 valence electron, carbon 4 and oxygen 2, allowing Hydrogen to have up to 1 bond, carbon up to 4, and oxygen up to 2. Thus it is Carbon which can have up to four bonds, and really is often found in crystalline form in nature; Oxygen which can have up to 2 bonds, and can combine with Carbon to form CO2 (instead of C2H in the comic). We can see here that Randall is giving "typographic" Hydrogen real-life Carbon qualities, since "typographic" hydrogen can have 4 bonds, just like real-life carbon. The same goes for giving "typographic" Carbon real-life oxygen qualities, etc. "Typographic" oxygen simply takes on the properties of the real-life noble gases in the comic (Helium, etc.), which form no bonds and are inert, just like "typographic" Oxygen is in the comic.

There is an element in real life analogous to the comic's "hydrogen" - carbon atoms have four valence electrons, and can thus form lattices with other carbon atoms. Diamond consists of pure carbon in which each atom forms four tetrahedral bonds with its neighboring carbon atoms. Graphite is another form of solid carbon where the bond configuration is different. Oxygen atoms in reality have two valence electrons, and thus can form a bond to each of two hydrogen atoms to form water (H2O); alternatively two oxygen atoms can each share both their valence electrons with a carbon atom to create two "double" bonds in carbon dioxide (CO2). There are also real elements analogous to the comic's "O": atoms of the inert gas elements (sometimes called "noble gases") such as helium have no valence electrons.

==Transcript==
[The symbol for Hydrogen is shown.]

Hydrogen can form four bonds. It readily bonds with itself, and often exists as a crystal.

[A diagram with several 'H's is shown. The 'H's are connected in a pattern.]

Crystalline Hydrogen

[The symbol for Carbon is shown.]

Carbon can only form two bonds. It readily bonds with Hydrogen to form C2H (Mydrane) or itself.

[Two diagrams, one with two 'C's connected and one with two 'C's and an 'H' connected are shown.]

[The symbol for Oxygen is shown.]

Oxygen is inert, forming no bonds...

[A diagram of several 'O's is shown. None are connected to anything.]

Monoatomic Oxygen gas.

Typographic Chemistry

{{comic discussion}}

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2543: Never Told Anyone

1442: Chemistry