explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2019: An Apple for a Dollar

2018-07-14T19:23:20Z

Meunstercheese:

Is this a reference to how shops in America don't include VAT in price labels?
(It's my first time trying to contribute to this so sorry if I get some format stuff wrong){{unsigned ip|141.101.107.132}}

:Yeah, Randall would love it in Europe! (you should sign your posts with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> though) --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.22|172.68.51.22]] 15:53, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

:It is a commentary on overly complex taxes and fees on things that really shouldn't have fees applied (I can think of hardly anything that really should have a fee applied, or be taxed really, but that's a political-philosophical discussion for another space-time coordinate) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.239|172.69.70.239]] 16:18, 13 July 2018 (UTC) Sam

:We call it sales tax, and it doesn't have the chaining-effect on every stage of production that VAT does, but yeah. It's rarely calculated into the sticker price. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.246|162.158.106.246]] 16:27, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

Is food taxed where Randall lives? It's not where I live and I was under the impression that it's not in most of the US. It's not uncommon for me to go to a store after working out and buying a protein bar for exactly $1. {{unsigned ip|162.158.63.22}}

:Living smack-dab in the center of the US and I can tell you that pretty much everything has a sales tax. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.239|172.69.70.239]] 16:18, 13 July 2018 (UTC) Sam
::Groceries, such as apples, should not be taxed, but I believe that processed foods are taxed. Actually, nevermind, this is state dependent: [https://blog.taxjar.com/states-grocery-items-tax-exempt/] [[Special:Contributions/172.68.46.137|172.68.46.137]] 16:27, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

:In my experience food is indeed taxed like everything else, but businesses will sometimes set the actual price of the item slightly below $1, such that the tax makes it cost exactly $1. The example that comes to mind is the soft-serve ice cream at IKEA. [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 16:31, 13 July 2018 (UTC)
::That has been my experience as well, although it varies by region. — AfroThundr <sup>([[User:AfroThundr3007730|u]] · [[User talk:AfroThundr3007730|t]] · [[Special:Contributions/AfroThundr3007730|c]])</sup> 16:37, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

The closest thing this can relate to a for a European is buying dinners or hotel rooms if you come from a corrupt East or Southern European country where "tourists tax" is a real thing and added out of nowhere on top of the regular price, because the regular price only have to include regular taxes.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.58|162.158.202.58]] 16:39, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

I'm thinking on the analysis I tentatively added to the explanation above. I assumed Megan was an engineer, but re-reading the comic ("Should I solve for something ??") I think it's more possible she no longer has to do math in her career, and is being portrayed as having a flashback to school again when she encounters a similar situation to her education. The examples are common in math and physics in grade school. It's hard for me to figure out in my head how to combine all the different interpretations, or which ones are likely wrong; it would be great if somebody could clean it up. If not, it's just a tiny wiki on the internet. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.160|172.68.54.160]] 18:25, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

Is this really a grocery store? I thought of it more as a coffee shop. Minimalist decor and whatnot. It's also one of those places where you would explain introductorily that you want just the apple. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.130|108.162.237.130]] 18:15, 14 July 2018 (UTC)

The exact fraction of an apple needed to spend exactly $1.00 is 0.46082949308. [[User:meunstercheese|MuensterCheese]] misspelled their username. [[User_talk:Meunstercheese|Chat \o]] 19:23, 14 July 2018 (UTC)

1966: Smart Home Security

2018-03-15T21:40:21Z

Meunstercheese: mini typo fix ;)

{{comic
| number = 1966
| date = March 12, 2018
| title = Smart Home Security
| image = smart_home_security.png
| titletext = If they're getting valuable enough stuff from you, at least the organized crime folks have an incentive to issue regular updates to keep the appliance working after the manufacturer discontinues support.
}}

==Explanation==

With the proliferation of smart appliances in recent years, there is a growing trend of hackers taking over smart "Internet of Things" devices and adding them to {{w|botnets}}. The hardware is then used for DDOS attacks, crypto mining etc. The "Mirai" botnet made of over 500,000 compromised routers, refrigerators, TVs, DVRs, baby monitors, thermostats, and webcams was used in October 2016 to take down DynDNS, one of the core infrastructure providers for the internet in North America.

With the constant potential threat, security updates must be constantly published, and exploits must be found by the original developers and "white hat" hackers (The faceless team of engineers [[Randall]] describes), before they could be found (and get used) by "black hat" hackers. At any time, these people could quit, leaving devices defenseless.

The graph shows the various cases of how well things go on the y axis, compared to how long it has been owned on the x axis. The probability of compromise briefly dips (indicative of first rounds of security fix updates & the time window when you can easily exchange the product if you find out it's faulty) within the 1st year, then rises: The older a device/software is, the less likely it is to consistently receive security updates for protection, so they are more likely to be hacked, even in the best case. After 10 years, the device/software, is most likely outdated and is not being used anymore. Companies then no longer find it profitable to continually update the product. Thus, they pull the support out, even if people are still using the device, leaving customers vulnerable.

The title text suggests that there may be some silver lining to having your device controlled by organized crime professionals: These criminals have a vested interest in keeping your device working well enough that you keep it plugged in. So the more organized & pragmatic attackers will in fact secure it against competing attackers, especially those of a more prankster mindset, who'd cause more noticeably malicious changes. Advanced malware in the wild does frequently block & evict competing malware, so he's probably right. Some IOT malware may thus provide 'regular security update service' after the manufacturers give up - some at a conceivably acceptable cost of a few cents electrical usage for a crypto miner for instance. However, it could very easily go horribly wrong - for instance if that miner is hiding by letting a refrigerator run 2°C higher than its outputs allege, & using the energy difference to max out the processor on mining operations

==Transcript==
:[A graph is shown inside a frame. There is one dotted line going from the middle of the left edge, then dipping slightly before rising slowly at first, then more rapid and finally slowing its ascend down as it nears the top right corner.]

:[Above the frame is the title of the x-axis, and from each end of this text, there is a small line going out and then down, to indicate a time range, which is shown below with four times:]
:How long you've had your smart appliance
:6 months     1 year     5 years     10 years

:[Along the left part of the frame there runs a double arrow and at the top and bottom of these arrows there are legends at the top and bottom of the panels height:]
:Best-case
:Worst-case

:[Inside the panel there is text above the dotted line to the left, and below the dotted line to the right:]
:You're constantly being rescued from peril by a faceless team of engineers who could wander away at any time

:Your appliance is part of a botnet run by organized crime

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Virtual Assistants]]