explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1698: Theft Quadrants

2016-06-24T16:19:06Z

Elipongo: /* Explanation */ clean up link

{{comic
| number = 1698
| date = June 24, 2016
| title = Theft Quadrants
| image = theft_quadrants.png
| titletext = TinyURL was the most popular link shortener for long enough that it made it into a lot of printed publications. I wonder what year the domain will finally lapse and get picked up by a porn site.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|How difficult is it really? Is it a real problem}}

It is hard to steal nuclear launch codes. And a good thing too since they could be used to start a nuclear war.

It is also hard to steal the [http://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/visit-us/top-things-to-see-and-do/the-crown-jewels/visiting-the-crown-jewels/the-crown-jewels/ Crown Jewels], since they are protected by a [http://yeomenoftheguard.com/Windsor%20Castle.jpg complex security system]. But if they were stolen, it wouldn't be so bad for most people.

It wouldn't be hard to steal the [http://www.oscarmayer.com/wienermobile Wienermobile] (a car shaped like a hot-dog, advertising the Oscar Mayer brand), and there would be little consequence if it were stolen.

It wouldn't be hard to steal the [http://tinyurl.com/ Tinyurl.com] domain name, but the consequences of that could be significant.

Tinyurl offer a url shortening service. They provide short urls that redirect to long ones. This is useful if you want to write down a very long url as it saves typing and is more accurate. Other companies including bit.ly offer a similar service, as do Google and Twitter. Tinyurl was, for a while, the most popular of these url shortening services. If their domain name were stolen, all the redirects from short URLs could be changed to forward traffic to sites hosting malware. This would have significant effects on a large number of people.

Domain hijacking is relatively common. If a hacker can obtain personal information about the domain owner, they can impersonate them to the domain registrar, and obtain control of the domain, and with that control defraud a large number of people.

As the title text notes, sites can be particularly vulnerable if they do not maintain their web site, as the registrar is free then to sell the same domain to any third party. A [https://reports.internic.net/cgi/whois?whois_nic=tinyurl.com&type=domain whois search] finds that the tinyurl.com domain is next due for renewal in June 2018.

Randall has written about stealing the weinermobile before in [[935: Missed Connections]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete|Added basic transcript. Please improve on it by editing it.}}

:[Square four-panel diagram.]
:[Top-left panel labeled "The Crown Jewels".]
:[Top-right panel labeled "The Nuclear Launch Codes".]
:[Bottom-left panel labeled "The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile".]
:[Bottom-right panel labeled "The tinyurl.com Domain Name".]
:[Axis increasing in the upper direction labeled "How hard thing would be to steal".]
:[Axis increasing in the right direction labeled "How bad it would be if someone stole it".]

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1698: Theft Quadrants

2016-06-24T16:16:53Z

Elipongo: Giving credit where credit is due

Come to think of it, I haven't accidentally hit a porn site in years. Is Randall even referring to a real problem? Anyone remember whitehouse dot com? And for the record, kids, [http://purl.net/net/tbc/writing/xxx.htm don't do porn]. ''— [[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 12:27, 24 June 2016 (UTC)''

I think the sentences "It is hard to steal nuclear launch codes. And a good thing too since they could be used to start a nuclear war." are weird... to me on the first read it sounded like it is a good thing to steal them... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.85.63|162.158.85.63]]

What is it with Randall and stealing wienermobiles? [http://www.xkcd.com/935/ xkcd 935] [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.62|173.245.52.62]] 15:12, 24 June 2016 (UTC)
:I added it to the explanation, thanks! [[User:Elipongo|Elipongo]] ([[User talk:Elipongo|talk]]) 16:16, 24 June 2016 (UTC)

1698: Theft Quadrants

2016-06-24T16:12:48Z

Elipongo: /* Explanation */ previous comic with stolen weinermobile

{{comic
| number = 1698
| date = June 24, 2016
| title = Theft Quadrants
| image = theft_quadrants.png
| titletext = TinyURL was the most popular link shortener for long enough that it made it into a lot of printed publications. I wonder what year the domain will finally lapse and get picked up by a porn site.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|How difficult is it really? Is it a real problem}}

It is hard to steal nuclear launch codes. And a good thing too since they could be used to start a nuclear war.

It is also hard to steal the [http://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/visit-us/top-things-to-see-and-do/the-crown-jewels/visiting-the-crown-jewels/the-crown-jewels/ Crown Jewels], since they are protected by a [http://yeomenoftheguard.com/Windsor%20Castle.jpg complex security system]. But if they were stolen, it wouldn't be so bad for most people.

It wouldn't be hard to steal the [http://www.oscarmayer.com/wienermobile Wienermobile] (a car shaped like a hot-dog, advertising the Oscar Mayer brand), and there would be little consequence if it were stolen.

It wouldn't be hard to steal the [http://tinyurl.com/ Tinyurl.com] domain name, but the consequences of that could be significant.

Tinyurl offer a url shortening service. They provide short urls that redirect to long ones. This is useful if you want to write down a very long url as it saves typing and is more accurate. Other companies including bit.ly offer a similar service, as do Google and Twitter. Tinyurl was, for a while, the most popular of these url shortening services. If their domain name were stolen, all the redirects from short URLs could be changed to forward traffic to sites hosting malware. This would have significant effects on a large number of people.

Domain hijacking is relatively common. If a hacker can obtain personal information about the domain owner, they can impersonate them to the domain registrar, and obtain control of the domain, and with that control defraud a large number of people.

As the title text notes, sites can be particularly vulnerable if they do not maintain their web site, as the registrar is free then to sell the same domain to any third party. A [https://reports.internic.net/cgi/whois?whois_nic=tinyurl.com&type=domain whois search] finds that the tinyurl.com domain is next due for renewal in June 2018.

Randall has written about stealing the weinermobile before in [[935:_Missed_Connections]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete|Added basic transcript. Please improve on it by editing it.}}

:[Square four-panel diagram.]
:[Top-left panel labeled "The Crown Jewels".]
:[Top-right panel labeled "The Nuclear Launch Codes".]
:[Bottom-left panel labeled "The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile".]
:[Bottom-right panel labeled "The tinyurl.com Domain Name".]
:[Axis increasing in the upper direction labeled "How hard thing would be to steal".]
:[Axis increasing in the right direction labeled "How bad it would be if someone stole it".]

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1464: Santa

2014-12-24T09:03:07Z

Elipongo:

Merry Christmas! --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 06:29, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

I think I have done the transcript... [[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 06:38, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

And I did the explanation and put everything in there, I think. Looks like we're already pretty much done! [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.174|173.245.56.174]] 06:44, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

It should maybe be mentioned that this comic is a turn of the screw on the many "The physics of Santa" joke articles - The usual chain e-mail or satire web page calculations that take it seriously the logistical calculations for Santa and end up concluding that he should beat the speed of light to deliver the presents. Randall doesn't settle on calculating the logistics for reindeer performance or route planning, he goes a step further and makes the calculations for the refuse. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.106|173.245.49.106]] 08:31, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

Well maybe all those calories are what allows him to move at the insane relativistic speeds needed to visit every house on Christmas eve. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.56|108.162.216.56]] 08:47, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

We have video proof of how Santa handles this! http://youtu.be/b9TTz3R5SmI --[[User:Elipongo|Elipongo]] ([[User talk:Elipongo|talk]]) 09:03, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1460: SMFW

2014-12-15T05:34:53Z

Elipongo: Created page with "Reading this is like listening to the video of that lady who imitates the sound patterns of different languages, but without actually saying any real words! --~~~~"

Reading this is like listening to the video of that lady who imitates the sound patterns of different languages, but without actually saying any real words! --[[User:Elipongo|Elipongo]] ([[User talk:Elipongo|talk]]) 05:34, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1414: Writing Skills

2014-08-29T08:53:20Z

Elipongo:

Scoring higher on grammar and spelling tests could be related to constantly using the English language - however I think an opportunity was missed with this one: the correlation between kids who have access to texting devices and kids who have access to good schooling and tutoring.

Is the double "writing" at the beginning of the title text a typo, or has it a meaning? (Non-native english here, so I probably missed something). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.156|108.162.229.156]] 08:13, 29 August 2014 (UTC)
:As a native english speaker, I don't see any reason why it is double. Either a typo, or maybe a joke on sloppy writing skills.. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 08:16, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

I have to take issue with Randall on the alt-text, they don't use the written word so much as the ''typed'' word -- <u>penmanship</u>, which was already on the wane when I was in school 25+ years ago, is no longer being taught, or so I've been told by young people coming in to work. Surprisingly, neither are kids being taught to touch-type! The new kids coming to the job are constantly surprised that I can type without looking at the screen or keyboard, not to mention my typing speed! Additionally, composition beyond the sentence level is simply abysmal nowadays; paragraph and essay structure are simply no longer being taught. I myself only got one class in it during my high school sophomore year in 1984/5 -- and the administration eliminated it even before I graduated. In short, while kids are great at writing sentences nowadays, the ability to write coherent longer communications, and yes, handwriting too; despite their being in increased use in today's workplace, are simply things that young people are arriving unequipped with. [[User:Elipongo|Elipongo]] ([[User talk:Elipongo|talk]]) 08:53, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

37: Hyphen

2014-06-06T19:34:42Z

Elipongo: /* Explanation */ Donkeys and a real ass-car!

{{comic
| number = 37
| date = October 28, 2005
| title = Hyphen
| image = hyphen.jpg
| titletext = I do this constantly
}}

==Explanation==
This is the first "[[My Hobby]]" comic in ''[[xkcd]]''. In these comics, [[Randall]] suggests an obscure activity or pastime he enjoys which he declares as his "hobby". In the premiere "My Hobby" comic, Randall's hobby is mentally re-interpreting what people mean when they say "[adjective]-ass [noun]" by moving the hyphen to after the word "ass" instead of before.

The semi-{{Wiktionary|scatological}} suffix "-ass" is used as an intensifier in informal US English speech, usually attached to an adjective directly modifying a noun, as in "big-ass car" or "funny-ass comedian". In this comic, [[Cueball]] is exploring the increased humor aspect of changing "-ass" from a suffix modifying the adjective, to "ass-", a prefix modifying the noun, yielding a "big ass-car" or a "funny ass-comedian", the former presumably being a large car for carrying buttocks, the latter being a humorous comedian specializing in jokes about lower back. The prefix "ass-" may also have a negative connotation, indicating that something is disliked. An "ass-car" may be a very crappy car, for example.

Another explanation would be that, since this suffix/prefix refers to an element of human anatomy, the car would be in the shape of said anatomical piece.

Outside of North America, most English speakers use "arse" to mean the buttocks, so to them it may sound as if Randall's talking about Donkeys.

On an interesting note; there '''really is''' such a thing as an [[Wikipedia:ASS (car)|Ass-Car]]!

==Transcript==
:My hobby: whenever anyone calls something an [adjective]-ass [noun], I mentally move the hyphen one word to the right.
:[Cueball is talking to a friend about a car that resembles a Volkswagen Beetle.]
:Cueball: Man, that's a sweet ass-car.

==Trivia==
*Original comment from [[Randall]]: "Tune in Monday for the conclusion to the story of the boy and his barrel." The comic posted on Monday was [[25: Barrel - Part 4]], which really wasn't the conclusion of the story of the boy and his barrel.
*This is the twenty-fifth comic originally posted to livejournal. The previous was [[23: T-shirts]]. The next was [[25: Barrel - Part 4]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Language]]