https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=GrygrFlzr 2026-04-19T10:00:15Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.30.0 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1381:_Margin&diff=69431 2014-06-13T04:42:48Z

<p>GrygrFlzr: </p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1381<br /> | date = June 13, 2014<br /> | title = Margin<br /> | image = margin.png<br /> | titletext = PROTIP: You can get around the Shannon-Hartley limit by setting your font size to 0.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|Still needs more information!}}<br /> This is a reference to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermat's_Last_Theorem Fermat's Last Theorem], where Fermat claimed he had a proof that was too large to fit in the margin of a copy of ''Arithmetica''.<br /> <br /> If information was actually infinitely compressible, the writer would be able to fit the proof in the margin due to his own proof.<br /> <br /> The title text makes a reference to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon%E2%80%93Hartley_theorem Shannon-Hartly Theorem], which tells the maximum rate at which information can be transmitted. Setting the font size to 0 would be the same as not giving any information at all. While it is technically possible to 'transmit' information with 0 bits, the information must always the same and known beforehand.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> Written on the margin of a page:<br /> <br /> :I have discovered a truly marvelous proof that information is infinitely compressible, but this margin is too small to...<br /> :...oh<br /> :never mind :(<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}</div>

GrygrFlzr https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1381:_Margin&diff=69430 2014-06-13T04:37:20Z

<p>GrygrFlzr: </p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1381<br /> | date = June 13, 2014<br /> | title = Margin<br /> | image = margin.png<br /> | titletext = PROTIP: You can get around the Shannon-Hartley limit by setting your font size to 0.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|Still needs more information!}}<br /> This is a reference to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermat's_Last_Theorem Fermat's Last Theorem], where Fermat claimed he had a proof that was too large to fit in the margin of a copy of ''Arithmetica''.<br /> <br /> If information was actually infinitely compressible, the writer would be able to fit the proof in the margin due to his own proof.<br /> <br /> The title text makes a reference to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon%E2%80%93Hartley_theorem Shannon-Hartly Theorem], which tells the maximum rate at which information can be transmitted. Setting the font size to 0 would be the same as not giving any information at all.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> Written on the margin of a page:<br /> <br /> :I have discovered a truly marvelous proof that information is infinitely compressible, but this margin is too small to...<br /> :...oh<br /> :never mind :(<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}</div>

GrygrFlzr