explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

395: Morning

2013-04-24T20:42:11Z

Evbneto: added wikipedia links

{{comic
| number = 395
| date = March 12, 2008
| title = Morning
| image = morning.png
| titletext = I'd press on them to try to unstick them, but I can't reach. Can we try cycling day and night really fast?
}}

==Explanation==
This comic makes reference to the idea, as presented in the movie {{w|The Matrix}}, that reality is a computer simulation. In {{w|Liquid-crystal display|LCD screens}}, specially {{w|TFT LCD}}, a {{w|Defective Pixel|dead pixel}} is a pixel that does not work properly, usually set as black or as some other colour. Megan realizes that the reality is a computer simulation when she sees dead pixels in the sky, indicating that what she sees is an LCD screen.
Usual techniques for fixing a dead pixel are applying pressure and releasing it, which isn't possible for Megan due to the distance of the sky, and making that area of the screen change colors really quickly, which could happen if the day-and-night cycle was fast enough.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is standing to one side]
:We've all seen The Matrix
:We've all joked about "What resolution is life"
:But it doesn't blunt the shock
:Of waking up one morning
:[Megan looks up from field and sees several colored pixels in the sky]
:And seeing dead pixels in the sky.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]

395: Morning

2013-04-24T20:35:47Z

Evbneto: Created page with "{{comic | number = 395 | date = March 12, 2008 | title = Morning | image = morning.png | titletext = I'd press on them to try to unstick them, but I can't reac..."

{{comic
| number = 395
| date = March 12, 2008
| title = Morning
| image = morning.png
| titletext = I'd press on them to try to unstick them, but I can't reach. Can we try cycling day and night really fast?
}}

==Explanation==
This comic makes reference to the idea, as presented in the movie The Matrix, that reality is a computer simulation. In LCD screens, a dead pixel is a pixel that does not work properly, usually set as black or as some other colour. Megan realizes that the reality is a computer simulation when she sees dead pixels in the sky, indicating that what she sees is an LCD screen.
Usual techniques for fixing a dead pixel are applying pressure and releasing it, which isn't possible for Megan due to the distance of the sky, and making that area of the screen change colors really quickly, which could happen if the day-and-night cycle was fast enough.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is standing to one side]
:We've all seen The Matrix
:We've all joked about "What resolution is life"
:But it doesn't blunt the shock
:Of waking up one morning
:[Megan looks up from field and sees several colored pixels in the sky]
:And seeing dead pixels in the sky.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:894: Progeny

2013-04-18T18:37:24Z

Evbneto:

I believe Megan is talking about actual teaching, not programming. Computers can gather data, can analyze data, can learn, and can mimic human behavior. But, they can't teach others what they know. Cueball's response indicates how little value we as a society place on this skill (i.e. look at the salary of a teacher versus an entertainer of any kind). The title text makes fun of teaching our children values by suggesting we are just trying to hold on to our ability to beat them in something. [[Special:Contributions/67.78.183.206|67.78.183.206]] 19:34, 2 January 2013 (UTC)

I've changed most of the explanation. The first change was that Watson was actually fed a text file containing the question as Trebek was reading it to the human competitors. The game would have been much different if IBM also had to invent a world class speech-to-text system that would then feed into the trivia database. Second change is to why Megan is saying we're good at teaching, programming is a form of teaching: allowing a computer to understand. Third, replaced the title text explanation. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 19:50, 2 January 2013 (UTC)

Maybe a link to xkcd.com/1002/ would be good?
[[User:evbneto|evbneto]] 18:30, 18 April 2013 (UTC)