Talk:3064: Lungfish

2025-03-19T07:51:37Z

F beer:

Huh, first time I've seen a comic the literal minute it was posted. Weird seeing a completely empty explainxkcd page. [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] [[User talk:Beanie|talk]] 16:10, 17 March 2025 (UTC)

Got the basics of a transcript going. --[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al|talk]]) 16:21, 17 March 2025 (UTC)

People often talk about DNA being the program that builds life, but it seems to me more as if its the static-data used by the program that builds life [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.236|172.70.90.236]] 16:24, 17 March 2025 (UTC)
:Agreed. I'd say RNA sequences seem more like the program that builds life, to me?
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 15:02, 18 March 2025 (UTC)

::{{w|Von Neumann architecture}} makes clear distinction between program and data. Biological organism don't. Sure, by [[3056: RNA]] it would seem DNA being mostly static data makes more sense, but the distinction is just not clear. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 02:47, 19 March 2025 (UTC)

Anyone know how to add categories? If so, I can handle those. --[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al|talk]]) 16:25, 17 March 2025 (UTC)

I was thinking of creating the category Genetics as a subcategory to biology, if it hasn't already been done. --[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al|talk]]) 16:29, 17 March 2025 (UTC)

Hi chat, we got a new undiscovered xkcd page to talk about: [[Dot]]. Any info would be helpful. [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 16:52, 17 March 2025 (UTC)

"a common issue when coding" or it could be just editing a doc, a picture, a video, etc.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.151.21|172.71.151.21]] 17:09, 17 March 2025 (UTC)
: I DON'T KNOW HOW TO CODE, OKAY??? {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|17:10, 17 March 2025 (UTC)}}

Somewhat related, is is quite common for someone to have filenames like "Thesis (final)", "Thesis (really final)", "Thesis (really really final)" (instead of "Thesis" it might be "Presentation"). I have just checked the RCS log of my MSc Thesis: the 2.16 version was the final, but then there were the 3.1 and 3.2, which were the correction of two typos. [[User:Rps|Rps]] ([[User talk:Rps|talk]]) 18:48, 17 March 2025 (UTC)
:Using words like "Final" is optimism. So is "Newest". Version numbers and dates are the correct way to name things. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 02:47, 19 March 2025 (UTC)

Anybody else notice that the science in this one is completely incorrect? I added a note, but I'm curious why the comic doesn't instead mention something like Trichomonas or rice/cotton/bread wheat, which actually *do* feature widespread gene duplication [[User:tofudragon7]]
:I think the incorrectness of the science is the basis of the joke [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.39|172.70.206.39]] 14:10, 18 March 2025 (UTC)

''"append "Copy of" to the start of the filename"'' Append comes after. I think the word we want is "'''prepend'''". Not as familliar as append, but Google reports wide and serious usage. A further note: MS's hack ruins the idea of alphabetized filenames, all the "Copy of" in one place. --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 21:24, 17 March 2025 (UTC)
: I think the word we actually want is 'add', since 'prepend to the start' would be tautological.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.4|141.101.99.4]] 10:30, 18 March 2025 (UTC)
:: The older and still probably more common meaning of "append" is just "attach", with no particular implication of where (e.g. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/append#English). The narrower sense of "add at the end", and the back-formation "prepend" for "add at the beginning", are relatively recent, and mostly computing jargon. Apparently, there's also occasional use of "postpend" as the complement of "prepend", but I don't think I've ever come across it in the wild.
:: So, either "append to the start" or "prepend" is fine, I think.
:: Or go for maximum redundancy: "prepend a prefix to the start before the existing text" :P - [[User:IMSoP|IMSoP]] ([[User talk:IMSoP|talk]]) 15:29, 18 March 2025 (UTC)
::: 'add to the start' is still better from a Plain English/Thing Explainer perspective, though.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.241.51|172.71.241.51]] 16:17, 18 March 2025 (UTC)

Anecdotes: I've got both "5etools (3).json (16)" & "5etools (9).json" on my phone ''right now.'' [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 15:07, 18 March 2025 (UTC)

April fool's comic is coming soon and I simply can't wait. [[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al|talk]]) 19:16, 18 March 2025 (UTC)

It may be a coincidence, but just recently genetically modified wolly mice were born, and now Randal writes a comic about genetic manipulation. Is there a connection between these two? [[User:F beer|F beer]] ([[User talk:F beer|talk]]) 07:51, 19 March 2025 (UTC)

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3064: Lungfish